Alcoholinky

Memory Box stamps

2012-01-29T17:47:00.001Z

This is a tag made with one of the Memory Box stamps which also has a matching tag die. Memory Box have built in a very nifty way of lining up their stamps and matching dies so that you get a perfect cut out every time too. You can see the video here

The paper I've used is also from Memory Box (hooked or what! lol)

Memory Box.. again..

2012-01-26T13:06:00.000Z

Just a couple more samples for you. This one's very simple but with such a beautiful die cut you don't need much. It'll be lovely for Valentine's Day (if you do that sort of thing ...)

The word stamp I've used here is from Stempelglede. If you enlarge the pic you should be able to see the hint of glitter. The colours aren't great here and it shouldn't look as dull as this!. Roll on the brighter days

In love with Memory Box

2012-01-25T20:34:00.000Z

I've just recently discovered the Memory Box dies and I just love their intricacy. I got some through the post at the beginning of the week and this week has been a perfect chance to play. (can you see my curly hazel that the tag is hanging from?)

This is the gorgeous Vivienne (top) and Darla (base) butterflies. Considering how intricate the dies are, they cut beautifully.

.. and this is the Cupid Heart (base) and the fab Serafina Heart (top). Have a look at the detail below.

I can see I will be adding to my collection of these.

A birthday card..

2012-01-24T22:56:00.001Z

Ok so this is not my usual style. It was my best mate's birthday earlier this month and she's an absolutely mad, bonkers Alice Cooper fan. If you like Alice you should go here. Anyway, I decided I would have to make her a card to feed her obsession. lol

A week off work!

2012-01-24T11:13:00.000Z

Hooray a week off to craft! So yesterday, I had a go at something I've been wanting to try for a long time.... dying fabric. I got some white cotton velvet in a sale some time back and this is the result. Plain colours to start off with -

.. and then random. These were done in a very similar way to using spray inks. The fabric was soaked in soda first - I think this is the fixative for the dye (you can see I'm not very knowledgeable yet!) and then I just sprayed dissolved dye crystals all over the fabric. It was a very wet day (lots of washing and rinsing) but I'm very pleased with my results so far.

And this morning this lovely little parcel arrived in the post as my winnings in a blog competition.

If you love stitching and you've never visited Karen Ruane's blog do go. Thanks Karen. Your little puffs are just beautiful!

Angie Hughes Workshop

2012-01-14T11:41:00.000Z

Last weekend, I finally managed to attend one of Angie Hughes' workshops feeling that my stitching skills were finally okay enough to have a go! Angie has a new workshop just outside Ledbury at Trumpet Corner Art Studios and Tea Rooms (which also just happens to serve scrumtious food).

This workshop was called Tantalising Textile Tagbooks. I decided to follow a vaguely medical theme...

The most exciting thing I learnt during the day was how to image transfers with Bondaweb. I've always found transferring images can be a bit hit and miss...

but using a combination of Bondaweb and inkjet copies, it worked every time....

I also learnt about adding foils to fabric ...

.... and was reminded about how to add your own words to binding tape using the printer.

A really enjoyable day! If you are not near Ledbury (which is a lovely part of the country and well worth a visit), Angie has started uploading instructions to her workshops on her website so that you can create the projects in your own home.

The Joys of Cell Division

2012-01-09T21:30:00.000Z

The Sketchbook Challenge has started the year of 2012 with the theme of Doodling. I meant to join in with this most of last year and waffled around and never made it. I guess this is a pretty traditional zentangle type drawing but it was all inspired by bacteria and cells. Some of the more medical among you might even recognise some of the shapes! It struck me that bacteria and cells were made for doodling and I found this wonderful clipart resource site too... here

Gingersnap Creations GC133

2012-01-08T14:46:00.000Z

The current Chestnut Theme Challenge is "Use a Set" so here's my tag using Jo Capper-Sandon's stamps as I seem to be gathering quite a few!

2012 here we come!

2011-12-31T17:28:00.000Z

It's that time of year when I start mucking round with my blog design so don't think you're in the wrong place if things look different over the next few days.

Thanks to everyone who has visited my blog and left lovely comments over the past year (and longer). Wishing you a happy, peaceful and creative year in 2012!

Paperbag Studios - Journal Girl Stamps

2011-12-29T19:26:00.000Z

Back in November, a new designer, Samantha Kira Harding was announced at Paperbag Studios and she came up with these fab journaling stamps.

Here are some ideas below on how you can use them....
The background on the one below was courtesy of an Andy Skinner video.
.

The stamps lend themselves to a casual style of journalling which I really enjoyed.

And if you use a bit of imagination you can adapt the shapes.

This one will resonate with a few people! (click to enlarge if you can't see the writing)

If you would like some more inspiration have a look here and if you decide that you just have to have the stamps you can buy them here.

Pop up gift card/money holder

2011-12-23T22:02:00.000Z

As most of the kids in my family are now in their teens, the present they most appreciate is money. I found this great clip on YouTube here. It's a bit old but you can just about make it out! Time was running out and I had to make half a dozen so these are quite simple....

but you could add a lot more detail if you had the time and they will hold money or a gift card...

and be careful what you offer if you make a voucher!

December Calendar Challenge

2011-12-10T09:45:00.000Z

I've finally managed to get some decent pics of my December challenge pages. Going out of the house in the near dark and returning in the near dark is not conducive to photography!! I've stuck with traditional colours...

Spot the deliberate mistake (upside down angel!)
A close up of the month's lettering...

I specifically didn't melt all the UTEE on the angel as I like the textural effect.

Better go and fill in the missing dates now!

Stampotique Designers Challenge - non traditional Christmas

2011-11-28T21:24:00.000Z

The current Stampotique DC is non-traditional Christmas so I raided my vast box of hand made backgrounds and picked a couple that matched, found some matching cotton and added embellishments with the sewing machine. The scalloped edges at the top are an automatic stitch on my machine, stitched on card. I then gently tore away the surrounding card and because the stitches are so close together it just came away, leaving the scallops.

November Calendar pages

2011-11-04T23:20:00.001Z

Can't believe I've managed to keep up the calendar pages this long. I'm really not a diarist but I have enjoyed making the pages. So... here's October's calendar challenge finished

Here's my Hallowe'en in close up. I forgot it was a 31 day month so did a little fold out for the 31st

I was really pleased with the grave stone. It's actually a cuttlebug folder pressed out with shrink plastic and embossed. Note to self: don't expect to emboss shrink plastic and expect the pattern to remain once you heat it!!!. So instead I embossed it again (black shrink plastic), stamped my skull in the middle in white and then swiped white ink round the edges of the stone. Then when I shrank it the outline of the embossing remained.

It's getting to that time of year when photography lighting becomes a pain and there are some lovely purple shades in this which I just couldn't manage to show but you get the drift!

Stampotique - just playing

2011-10-22T09:18:00.000+01:00

I had a couple of spare hours to sit down at my craft table and ended up with this....

All the stamps apart from the star are Stampotique. The star is the freebie from last month's Craftstamper by Jo Capper Sandon, so it's virtually Stampotique :). The background is Dylusions inks.

A stitched birthday tag

2011-10-13T16:49:00.000+01:00

I recently bought a flower stitcher foot for my machine which is one hell of a gizmo (see below)

As I was lucky enough to be off during the last week of September (when we had all that wonderful sun), I had a chance to play. I hadn't planned on ending up with this but it just evolved and was perfect for a forum friend's birthday. It also gave me a good chance to get to grips with my sewing machine and I feel much more comfortable with it now. As usual - click on it for a larger picture.

October Calendar Challenge

2011-10-01T15:36:00.000+01:00

I've been very lucky because I chose to take this week off work and the weather has been just gorgeous. So I'm up to date with my September & October's Calendar Challenge pages. Here's September completed.

I did like the background I made for October and it seemed a shame to cover it up ...

but here's the finished item. It should be called "Octopoder" really(!) October's a strangely laid out month and so that I didn't loose the weekday layout, I made 30th and 31st as a little fold out.

That Owl....

2011-09-28T14:40:00.000+01:00

Ooh - I got a delivery of some of the new Stampotique stamps today, one of which was this gorgeous owl by Jo-Capper Sandon. I've used him with the new Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings leaves. Must admit I'm feeling well out of practice at making stuff - just doesn't seem to flow at the mo!

Cupcakes

2011-09-28T12:14:00.001+01:00

Gina, whose blog is Fan my Flame (of whom I'm a huge fan) has asked for knitted cup cakes so that she can construct a huge regency style wig... made entirely from knitted cakes. She will donate to Breast Cancer Care and Cancer Research UK for every single cake received, the final date for arrival being 28th October. If you want to read more click here to see the post. She can also provide you with a pattern - of which you can see my samples below! If you know your basic knitting stitches, you can knock these up really quickly.

Along came a spider.......

2011-09-26T11:25:00.001+01:00

You know sometimes you see something and you think .. "I've got to make that." So I saw this YouTube video and I had to make this fab spider.

And (silly me!) I've been all round the garden taking his picture.

Sunday Postcard Art - Autumn

2011-09-25T17:21:00.000+01:00

I don't think I've entered the Sunday Postcard Art challenge before but seeing the theme I knew I had a stamp that I wanted to enter with.

.. and here's a close up of the little embellishment that I added.

A work in progress...

2011-09-18T17:55:00.000+01:00

Studying done for the day and I needed to make something. I've been thinking about making a combination of paper and fabric journal for a while so off I went. The pages are torn from an old book and glued together in threes, left to dry and then painted. I didn't like the first lot of painting, it was too loud so I toned it down.

Not being one to plan ahead, I hadn't thought about how I was going to bind the pages so looking through my library of craft books for ideas (!) I've stitched a fabric tab to one edge. I just happened to have some curtain lining which I'd painted with diluted PVA lying around so it seemed appropriate. Sometimes I'm amazed at what's in my stash.

Haven't decided on the next step lol.

.... and here's something I made a few weeks back.

2011-09-11T12:00:00.000+01:00

This is a 4 x 4 journal that I add to from time to time. I made these pages not long after I started my course and was feeling somewhat boggled. I think it gets the point across :) I'm just over half way through now and I think there are more words falling out than staying in! lol

I made something...

2011-09-10T15:20:00.000+01:00

As soon as I saw this gorgeous stamp on Jo's blog I knew I needed it. It seems just right for this time of year.

September Calendar Challenge pages

2011-09-02T09:54:00.001+01:00

I'm actually running on time with my calendar challenge pages! So here's the finished August:

... and here's September. I really enjoyed making these. The falling leaves idea wasn't mine - came from a recent Dyan Reavely video but I really liked the effect.

Mermaid

2011-08-27T00:06:00.001+01:00

LOL - nearly 2 posts in one day!!! Crazy Amigos challenge this week is mermaid. I started off with this tag. I wasn't totally happy with the colours but I love the expression on this child's face. She looks so ticked off.

Then I remembered this lovely stamp:

I found the quote in my bottomless stash and some lacey stuff that exactly matches the cardstock. I used plasma as my card base and stamped it with white ink.

Bookmark

2011-08-26T12:12:00.001+01:00

It feels like a L O N G time since I really made anything and certainly longer since I entered a challenge and I'm feeling very out of practice. Anyway, here's my bookmark entry for the current Stampotique Designers Challenge. Apols for the awful humour.

I used part of a picture of a group of rooks flying around and coloured it with ink sprays. (Apparently rooks are known collectively as a "building of rooks"!)
Edit: also entered for MAWTT Bird Challenge this week.

Festival of Quilts Aug 2011

2011-08-23T19:41:00.001+01:00

Festival of Quilts Aug 2011, a set on Flickr.

I made my first visit to the Festival of Quilts this year and wasn't quite sure what to expect but the creativity, skill and imagination was stunning to see. I took buckets of photos and have been trying to post them in a slide show but given up in disgust so here are some pics if you can be patient enough to click on them.

August Calendar Challenge Pages

2011-08-06T15:57:00.001+01:00

Jeez - I'm getting later each month. I'll be posting December at the end of January if I'm not careful lol. Anyway.... here's July completed

... and this is August ready to go...

Here's a little quiz for you. What do you think this is a picture of?

.. it's my BBQ sauce on my dinner plate lol..... I could just see it being in turned into something stitchy but not sure how yet....

Anyway must get back to the studying. Hope you're all well.

July Calendar Challenge Pages

2011-07-05T18:46:00.000+01:00

Well I seriously didn't think I was going to get my June Calendar Challenge pages finished and July's pages started but I've managed to give myself a good talking to and here we are....

I was very taken with Jules delicate colour scheme this month and it strongly influenced by own choice of colours though nowhere near as gentle and calming! lol

I don't think I'm going to be doing much crafting over the next six months as I'm taking a City & Guilds course in medical terminology. For starters, it's pretty full on from the look of it and secondly, it's being paid for by work so I can't afford to fail (!) but I still plan to go blog hopping.

June Calendar Challenge pages

2011-06-03T13:33:00.001+01:00

Here are my Calendar Challenge June pages. Promise I'm doing my May pages but am about a week behind - good thing I write down a prompt for each day as I'd never remember what I've done.

I've resorted to using the Dylusions sprays again. These are first becoming firm favourites for backgrounds. The cover and depth of colour is so good (and I've just got some more!!) I came across the Dr Seuss quote while looking for June ideas. The quote is:

"How did it get so late so soon?

December is here before it's June.

It's night before it's afternoon.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon? "

I think actually it refers to the end of the year rather than the middle but I'm certainly aware of the year whizzing by now....

Ernst Haeckel and free machine embroidery

2011-05-30T18:22:00.000+01:00

I've been somewhat fascinated by Ernst Haeckel for a while and recently treated myself to a book of his illustrations which are incredibly detailed. I knew I wanted to do something stitchy with them so this afternoon experimented by printing a couple of the images on fabric, layering up on some background fabric, lowering the feed dogs on the machine and away I went. It's been a good exercise in practicing free machine embroidery. I wasn't going to post them but they are quite interesting. So here's the first one...

and here's where I went with it...

Here's the second one...

... and the results...

it's quite a bit smaller than the previous one. I'm not finished with these yet so you may see some more ideas.

Stitchin'

2011-05-15T20:33:00.000+01:00

I spent yesterday at a class run by Carole Bury at my local Embroiderers' Guild. It was very stimulating and gave me lots of food for thought. We started off my cutting strips of tissue and (carefully) stitching them together, then cutting them again and sewing them vertically, offsetting them and then adding more than one type of paper. Apparently it's based on seminole patchwork carried out by the Seminole Indians.

From that I could see all sort of possibilities. The sample below is three layers of paper with narrowly stitched lines. I then cut through the top two layers between the stitched lines. The top layer was cut away more than the second layer

The two samples below used handmade marbled paper as the top layer. I pushed up the edges for a more textured effect.

a close up....

The sample below, I stitched up and down the rows in a continuous line and then cut through the top two layers from the open end.

I can see all sorts of ways of developing this. You know how it is when you can feel your mind buzzing with ideas??? These are all papers that have been sitting my stash years. You never quite know what effect it's going to create which is exciting in itself. Those of you who do patchwork probably know this as reverse applique but it's a whole new thing to me!

More alcohol ink cards

2011-05-10T16:54:00.000+01:00

Finished off my batch of alcohol ink cards at the weekend. Love this Lost Coast doorway.

some Japanese shoes from Artistic Outpost (not totally sure about my colour combination here)

these are Lazar Studiowerx (variation on a theme from the previous post), and Artistic Outpost

.. and finally another Lazar Studiowerx. LOVE this purple. Sorry if I'm driving you mad using discontinued stamps.

Playing with old friends

2011-05-02T16:47:00.000+01:00

Dug out the alcohol inks the other day and borrowed some colours too (thanks for the loan Pen!) and made some backgrounds in preparation for replenishing my stash. Then rummaged through the stamps and dug out some favourites.

I spent a happy afternoon yesterday matching up cardstock and here's a few of the results:

I'm not sure I'm ready to give away the one below on the left here yet as I like it so much. The background paper is Studio 45. I stamped the central image on a spare piece and cut out some of the flowers, stuck them on the central piece and finished with a rub on.

The stamps are a mix of Lazar Studiowerx, Cornish Heritage (both sadly gone), Stempelglede and Third Coast. I've got another half dozen in various states of completion so will post as I finish.

April/May Calendar Challenge

2011-05-02T12:21:00.002+01:00

I settled on writing just one or two words to describe my days in April - found it much easier! Its a very bright page....

and I seem to be having a purple phase for May.

PS - the link to the main page for the challenge is here

A bit grungy...

2011-04-26T20:17:00.000+01:00

It was Jo's birthday recently and this is what I ended up making.

The background, bees and flowers are coloured with Dylusions sprays. I've used a mixture of Jo's stamps, Dylusion and Stampotique stamps and a grungy alphabet although the company name escapes me at the moment! I've used some gold UTEE round the edge and the face and her wings are stamped on vellum.

Crazy Quilting

2011-04-24T12:48:00.000+01:00

I've thought I'd like to try crazy quilting for some time. So over the past week I've been cutting up patchwork squares, (and nearly slicing my finger off with my rotary cutter in the process!), piecing them together and machine stitching onto a base.

As you can see, no colour theme here but I intend to use it as a sampler. It's about 30 cm square ( 12 x 12 inches). The next step is to hand embroider the seams and embellish with beads, lace, ribbons etc or whatever seems to fit. That's unless I give in and do some decorating of the house instead lol.

If you've never seen Crazy Quilting before- here is an example:

By way of interest - a few months back, I came across these little dresses (would fit a 3 year old) in a little shop that was closing down.

I couldn't believe the detail that had gone into making them and were only £2 each so I bought them with the view that some day I might be able to incorporate some of the beads or decoration into something I was making.

Here are some close ups of the decoration.

Those little pink raised areas round the silver beads are actually tightly coiled very fine wire. They must take hours to put together.

Again on this one the silver straight lines are tightly coiled wire. So much skill.

Today's offering

2011-04-17T17:59:00.000+01:00

I had no idea I was going to make this when I started out this afternoon. I had planned to do some stitching so there you go. The Tim Holtz rosette die does double up as a fence too. I think you could probably cut between each fold to separate the fence posts for a variation but I liked this. The background paper is a piece I had from an old Stampington mag but the leaves and flowers are from my own background stash. I do love it when the weather gets better and I can photograph my creations in the garden.

A birthday and the colour of spring

2011-04-16T19:47:00.000+01:00

It was the birthday of one of my forum friends recently. She had recently had a great technique published in Craftstamper called "floating front" and I thought it would be fun to use the same technique for her birthday.

My son also showed me a cool technique in Photoshop where you can blur the background and create a false depth of focus without the need for an expensive camera that does it for you. I'll be using this again!

I also included a small pressie as it was a bit of a landmark birthday. I was trying to think of a way to make the wrapping more interesting. As Joanne is always coming up with interesting and quirky bits of knitting and crochet, I added this crocheted flower with a brad in the middle.

Spring is well on the way now and while photographing some craft items I took some pics in the garden. Our flowering cherry tree never fails but it's only at full bloom for 3-4 days before the petals drop. If you've noticed the huge pile of "straw" down the bottom of garden, I'm trying to spring clean the pampas grass!

I've never seen so much blossom as there is on our apple tree this year.

A birthday tag.

2011-04-14T20:27:00.000+01:00

One of my forum friends Paula had her birthday recently. This is an image I've used recently - it's very cute.

A productive day

2011-04-02T17:35:00.004+01:00

I've been lucky enough to be able to spend most of the day crafting in between the odd chore so I've finished by March 365 Calendar Challenge pages

My April pages are all things Dyan Reaveley. The background was created using a ghosting technique by Dyan here apparently discovered when she was "pratting" around lol.

I've also used my latest and first stamps from the Dylusions range and the Dylusions spray inks. They are fabulous colours and cover card really well. You can tell I've become hooked! I love the colours of these pages.

and finally.... I finished another book wrap today. It's strips of sari fabric which you can buy in a skein. I've ironed them out and stitched them together with metallic thread and added some beads and hand stitching.

I thought I'd come up with an original idea but I must have absorbed it from Heather's blog without even realising until I was looking at her lovely stitching projects again recently. Thanks Heather!

Craftstamper Ezine

2011-04-01T20:30:00.002+01:00

As of today, you can download the new Craftstamper Ezine.

It's available to download FREE of charge for a period of six months.

The current ezine contains 12 complete step-by-step projects which have been selected from the top rated projects of 2010 as chose by the readers (via the feedback section on the Giveaway and Trade It coupons)

You can click on the button in the sidebar to take you straight to it.

You have to laugh.....!

2011-03-23T08:07:00.000Z

Okay.... so I decided to have a go at a drawing exercise - "Let Go of Looking Good" on the Sketchbook Challenge blog. The idea is to draw yourself with white crayon on a white background. Look at yourself in a mirror and draw yourself without looking at the paper. Once the exercise is finished, paint over the white crayon with watercolours to reveal the image. Now I know how Picasso did it. No rude comments please. LMAO!

Mixed Media Book Cover

2011-03-22T17:05:00.003Z

I've been looking for projects to give me ideas and techniques to play with and saw this book cover designed by Angie Hughes in an old copy of Stitch Magazine. I've pretty much stuck exactly to her instructions and I've had such fun making this! It surprised me how many different techniques are involved.

The above pic is curtain interlining which has been sploshed with watered down PVA glue and allowed to dry. A layer of scrim has been added to the top section and crumpled tissue to the bottom section with the assistance of Bondaweb.

I then couched cord to the bottom section and along the middle dividing line, adding a vertical layer of hand stitching.

The top section was then covered with punched flowers and a bead hand stitched onto each. I then painted the top half with fluorescent pink and the bottom half with bright yellow (you wouldn't know it would you?!) and finally sploshed on watered down prussian blue followed by a layer of Lumiere metallic paint. I've also ironed on some gold foil to highlight the raised areas and added a backing fabric to the underside.

Lastly, I stitched a cord all round the edge (once I had dyed it) and finally added a cord to hold it together. I think I'm going to decorate the cord and add some dangly things but I'll look for those at the NEC show in Birmingham which is on later this week (anyone going??) Anyway - you may think it was a lot of work but it was huge fun to make and I've learnt a lot too.

Guest Designer - City Crafter Challenge

2011-03-15T20:29:00.001Z

I was so pleased to be asked by Kirsty to be the guest designer on the City Crafter Challenge blog. It's not a challenge site I've come across before and there's some gorgeous creativity there. You can find guest designers from all over the world.

The theme this week is "The King and I" which set me thinking. I'm not much good at doing male themed items so I used a bit of artistic license here and called it "King and I", King, obviously being the dog!

A couple of cards

2011-03-10T16:58:00.000Z

Two of my forum friends had birthday's recently. I'm still not sure what crafting direction I'm heading in at the moment so have been trying some slightly different styles.

I've been mucking around with this one in Photoshop. It is actually black and white but because it was very dark you couldn't see the layers so I've lightened it slightly (and not very professionally lol).

I do like the stamps that are made to fit exactly with the nestabilities die cuts but you do have to be a clean stamper (hence my full rubbish bin!)

365 Calendar Challenge - Feb completed

2011-03-03T17:29:00.000Z

Just to prove I have really completed my Feb pages. I am finding that the most difficult thing about this challenge is keeping up to date with the writing and actually finding something to say. The days just seem to roll into one and sometimes, they're really not worth writing about lol.

A bit of knitting....

2011-03-03T16:57:00.000Z

I have to thank Joanne for another slightly bonkers character courtesy of Rebecca Danger who's knitting patterns can be found here. He now stands beside the PC with my ipod inside. I decided he didn't really need a mouth as the opening for the pocket doubles up as the same and he looks like he's ready to gobble anything. lol

365 Calendar Challenge - March

2011-03-01T18:32:00.000Z

Have managed to get it together for my March pages - hooray already a quarter of the way through the year lol!

I promise I've finished Feb - just not been home in time to get a good enough daylight picture.

TSC8: Travel

2011-02-15T17:25:00.000Z

Being submersed in my stitching for the past few months, I've not managed to get my head round DT work but the current Stampsmith Challenge is Travel and I've put this picture hanging together using the Beach Landscape photostamps and the middle image is from the "Those were the days" plate. I've used a thin sheet of cork (which I've had for YEARS), as backing and threaded the images together with some natural coloured twine. Gold coloured Beadazzles are used along the bottom of each image.

Craftstamper, March - Stamping Contrasts

2011-02-05T11:51:00.001Z

I made a couple of cards for the featured plate (Creative Expressions, Vintage Sewing) in the latest issue of Craftstamper which was out yesterday. It's a lovely set and I really enjoyed making these cards with it....

Here's a sneak peak...

I used the GCD Paris Nights card pack to make

these which suited the style really well.

The black and white ribbon was originally two separate pieces, one slightly wider than the other, which I stitched together.

365 Calendar Challenge - Feb

2011-02-01T15:41:00.001Z

Well I managed to keep up with January - it's not a very exciting life I lead lol.

I couldn't think what colour February was initially but of course the obvious one is pink for Valentine's Day. I used the Octopode images here. I do love these and I really enjoyed making the pages.

PS - if you do click on the pics and see the comment about the cat for January - it wasn't our cat but we saw next door's cat get run over and killed and then it turned out not to be next door's cat - long story that I won't bore you with but not a happy start to the day!

Slightly embarrassed!

2011-01-22T23:26:00.000Z

erm.... I've just discovered over 50 blog comments which I hadn't published. Usually they come through to my gmail but for some reason these didn't. As I often send a quick comment back if they're not anonymous, apols, if anyone thinks I've been rude and ignoring them- it's been totally unintentional! lol

I'm Back (I think..)

2011-01-20T16:54:00.001Z

I've been pretty quiet over the past 3 months because I have been doing a City & Guilds module in hand embroidery. I've always wanted to have a go and just by chance was given the opportunity to take part in a research project into distance learning which meant only having to complete one module (there are 12!) It's made me realise what a lot of work is involved and no way I could commit to doing it whilst working nearly full time. Anyway, it's been an interesting process. I've had to draw and paint (not done since I left school and I'm rubbish at it!) and produce samples and a final piece and I've uploaded it and sent it all off today!!

Anyway, here are a few of the pieces I've completed. I've taken the attitude it's the creative process I've been learning because I've definitely not been completely satisfied with some of the samples!

So .... I decided to work with peppers

Got a chance to use by doodling skills....

Another photo and my interpretation of it in pencil

And an interpretation in stitch...

This is only a small selection of the work involved but if you've never thought about the design process before, and have an interest in hand embroidery or machine embroidery (and the time!) it's well worth thinking about.

Now I have to wait for the feedback.

Happy New Year and Calendar Challenge

2011-01-02T12:48:00.000Z

Happy New Year everybody! I'm still here. Work has been very busy the last few weeks and I've been taking part in a City & Guilds hand embroidery course which I'm due to finish in the middle of January so I'm just having a break BUT, I've decided to join in Kate and Jill's Calendar Journal Challenge this year. Have no idea if I'll manage to keep going all year but the results from last year's calendar journallers have been very impressive. I'm sure you could still join if you wanted to. So, here are my blank pages for January.

I've decided to use a ring bound Pink Pig journal which I'm going to take apart and paint as I go. I'm completely hooked on Pink Pig journals - I need one in every size. lol They have a very speedy service too.
Have you spotted the deliberate mistake? Who didn't leave enough room for the 31st Jan!

A wedding

2010-11-14T11:54:00.001Z

A good friend of mine at work is getting married in a couple of weeks and as part of a close-knit team, we're all going to the wedding. As she likes my lacy, flowery creations, I've put together this wedding card (using a Stampsmith Stamp) for all of us to sign.

Here's a close up of the detail

As a memento of the day, I've also made a little lacy heart and the hanging has got their names on one side and the date of the wedding on the other.

... and I was very lucky to find the perfect matching box!

PS - for those of you who are aware of the different spellings for boys and girls' names, her name is spelt the male way(!)

Don't miss this....

2010-11-05T18:18:00.000Z

Don't usually do blog candy but I would so love these so had to do a link!

If you want them too go here

Craft Stamper, December - Winter Wonderland

2010-11-05T16:25:00.000Z

I've got some Christmas ideas in Craftstamper this month on a theme of blue and brown. The cardstock is by GCD Studios and readily available.

Being a pack of matching cardstock, it also makes it much easier to combine your layers as it's virtually already done for you

And should you want tag ideas, there's also a Web Extra on the Craft Stamper website.

Hope you like them and if you have any questions, I'm always happy to talk crafts!!!

TSC3: Ovals

2010-11-01T14:49:00.001Z

Time for the next Stampsmith Challenge which this time round is "ovals." Use one or more oval shapes in your project. You don't have to use Stampsmith Stamps but obviously if you do have some the team would love to see them.

The template I've used here is for a Diamond Fold Card and there are plenty of videos available on YouTube explaining how to do this.

Hallowe'en Journal

2010-10-27T16:51:00.003+01:00

I fancied making something really light hearted and have been messing about with this little Hallowe'en journal. The backgrounds are a mixture of acrylic paints, distress inks, sprays, stencils and general splattering about. The stamps are Inkadinkado and Stampotique.

This page uses one of the new Hallowe'en Spellbinders Shapeabilities dies. I've used a couple of items here book that I haven't used for a long time - shrink plastic and lightly coloured the tree and grave stones with metallic rub ons (the coloured waxy stuff!)

These little characters who have suddenly appeared all over the place can be acquired from The Octopode Factory. As usual, you can click on the images to get a more detailed view.

Edit: Realised this could be entered into this weeks Simon Says Stamp and Show which is "Something spookay" (I can just hear Bill from True Blood saying that lol)

TSC2: Black and white and one other colour

2010-10-15T16:37:00.000+01:00

The second challenge is just up on the Stampsmith Challenge blog and this week it's to create a project in black and white and one other colour. If you need some inspiration and want to have a go, here's the link.

This is my effort. I have no idea where the damask paper came from. It was buried in my stash but if anyone has any let me know because I LOVE it! lol I've used a Tim Holtz texture fade to accentuate Marilyn who's image is from Marilyn Sheet 1.

Two birds with one stone...

2010-10-03T17:22:00.000+01:00

... as in two things at once. This is a tag I've just completed for our forum swap for Karin who chose sea and nature as her theme. The stamps I've used are some fairly recent releases from the Stampsmith called Beach Landscape.

It's a little on the darker side than in reality, partly because it's such a cruddy, dull day here lol. In keeping with the theme, the background is Ecoline inks wash with salt dried on it which reminded me of coral and I've not melted the UTEE round the edge too much to keep it looking like sand. The starfish are the real thing that I brought back from Cyprus.

Journalling - it's that Hallowe'en time of year!

2010-10-03T17:15:00.002+01:00

EDIT: I've entered for this week's Play Date Cafe (PDCC49) thanks to the certain person who pointed out that the colours are pretty similar!

I had great fun doing these pages. The images are Dyan Reaveley's (Art from the Heart) and available to buy and download.

The pic below is a close up of the bottom left hand page. It's a really fun Spellbinder's die that I think has just come out. (as is the skull and cross bones)

Click on the pics for a more detailed view.

Hot News! - The Stampsmith Challenge Blog

2010-09-28T21:59:00.000+01:00

The Stampsmith has a brand new Challenge Blog. There will be two challenges, on the 1st and 15th of every month and the Stampsmith will be supplying a prize for one lucky random winner every challenge. For your chance to win, simply play along! Check back on October 1st when the first challenge will be revealed along with some inspiring ideas from the design team! The button below is available for use on your blog so grab one and join in the fun.

PDCC 48

2010-09-28T16:00:00.002+01:00

Just managed to squeak an entry into this weeks PDCC which I think are a gorgeous choice of colours....

.. I had no idea this is what I was going to produce when I started, it's just plain silly really. LOL

Steampunk Wedding Cake anyone???

2010-09-26T17:57:00.000+01:00

Usually, I keep my blog for my own creations but couldn't resist this. In case you hadn't noticed there are some breathtakingly talented cake making artists about these days and I've just come across this......

To see more detail and to give you a better idea of the size and dimension click here

Stampotique Designers Challenge - Vintage

2010-09-25T14:37:00.000+01:00

SDC16 is set by Milo this round and is vintage. I guess everyone has slightly different interpretations of what this means to them. Mine usually includes a bit of lace somewhere LOL

Stampsmith DT - Bring out the star in you!

2010-09-12T15:01:00.000+01:00

Well here's Marilyn who was definitely a star. The background paper is Webster's Pages with flowers from Prima. The cardstock and the flowers have been edged with Golden Rod Stickles. Although I swore I would never own anything Magnolia the tag is one of their DooHickey dies (what a name! LOL) and it's very cute.

More journalling

2010-08-30T19:45:00.000+01:00

Having had a couple of weeks off, I had a chance to visit the treasure trove which is the Stamp Attic which seems to be getting bigger every time I visit it! I couldn't resist buying a couple of the Graphic 45 Alice papers and being somewhat influenced by Mrs Roddis at the moment decided to complete a couple more journal pages in my book.

I really recommend journalling - I don't feel pressurised by it. It's like being back at school, cutting up, slapping on paint, stencilling and doodling. Great fun. (please click on image for a more detailed view)

PBS Doodles and Daters - Journal Pages

2010-08-24T18:26:00.000+01:00

The new PBS stamps are perfect for journalling so this afternoon I set to and added to my journal pages. (click in the image for a more detailed view) The journal I made previously in a class with Sarah Anderson at the Stamp Attic (see here).

Stampsmith DT Let your light shine....

2010-08-20T19:50:00.000+01:00

A more simple layout than I usually make. This is a gorgeous image and she certainly seems to have some sort of inner glow. The papers are a digital download from Bearly Mine.

PBS Doodles and Daters

2010-08-16T18:45:00.000+01:00

Paperbag Studios have just released a new sheet of rubber (yay!!) which I have had a chance to play with this afternoon. There are a lot of stamps on this plate.

I think these little houses are going to be a favourite but the others you'll be able to use in all sorts of different ways. See what your imagination comes up with!

For more samples, go look here

Stitchy Squares

2010-08-15T18:57:00.001+01:00

Some time ago, I bought my first copy of Sew Somerset (Summer 2010) which I thought was just fabulous. Loads of projects I wanted to try. So I've been raiding my local upholstery shop for their grab bags. There was a particular project by Donna Downey in there that I thought I already had the pieces for and after a few weeks of playing I've finally come up with this hanging. It's about 23 x 23 cm (or 9 inches in old money). You can enlarge the image for a closer view.

Fly free

2010-08-14T17:28:00.000+01:00

Just been playing about this afternoon and came up with this. Must admit to lack of mojo at the moment and consequently my objectivity is a bit awry so I'm not completely sure if this has worked. Stampotique Designers Challenge and Simon Says Stamp and Show (a new challenge blog) are both have wings as a theme this week so I've entered it for both.

Meet Mr Snail who happened to be out for a walk while I was taking pictures. It's just been raining. Doesn't the wet wood and lichen look fab?

Stampsmith DT - Disdainful

2010-08-05T17:24:00.000+01:00

This image always raises a smile. If looks could kill....... There's another card made with this image on the Stampsmith website which says "we've been through a lot together and most of it was your fault." It makes a great humerous anniversary card. The quote here is from Bette Davis. You can click on the image to enlarge it . It says "I'd love to kiss ya but I just washed my hair." LOL

Little Puffy Hearts .... again!

2010-08-04T19:35:00.000+01:00

Some of my mates seem to be going through ups and downs at the moment so I made a couple more of these gorgeous little hearts to send to them. I made both of these in an afternoon and I've got to grips with the "lettering" facility on my wonderful sewing machine. I just need to find a flea market now to replace my supplies of old lace and tablecloth edgings! LOL

A change of scenery....

2010-08-02T19:49:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine has recently had a baby so over the past few months I've been making this. Had to do a final rush to finish it and get it off as soon as possible as he's a bouncing 10lb 2 oz (4.610kg) and he'll be grown out of it before long! LOL

and here's close up for all you knitters.

It's an interesting pattern. You start off with one square that's decreased on the diagonal and build up from there. I'm doing myself a waistcoat in the same pattern with a random cotton yarn. It might look really naff on me when it's done but the completed version at the Hobbycraft show looked fab.

Tag swap

2010-08-01T15:41:00.000+01:00

Another tag for our forum swap is due. Audrey chose butterflies. I feel slightly guilty as there is no stamping on this at all but I did enjoy putting it together. Those inners that come with the Prima flowers are so useful. As you can see I've used one here for the tag base. Another discovery is that my branch of the Range sells a very good glitter glue which I've used here (enlarge the image to see it). Three 20 ml bottles for £2.99 which is a bargain. I think the brand is "Glitz-it." The background paper is Webster's Pages.

The Silent Majority

2010-07-31T15:28:00.000+01:00

I've had a play for my own amusement today which covers the entry for a couple of challenges this week. Firstly Stampotique SDC12 which is a sketch challenge and secondly Play Date Cafe PDCC40 which is colour splash week - ie black and white with a hint of green.

I thought these two stamps went well together. They are both Stampotique and the words are by Jo Capper-Sandon. Click on the pic for a more detailed view.

Stampsmith DT - My husband and I.....

2010-07-25T15:12:00.000+01:00

I've used this stamp a lot over the years. It's been fun to use in overseas swaps because of it's very (if rather old fashioned) Britishness. The papers are from Craftwork Cards and the die cut is from this Etsy seller.

... you can put any relevant greeting inside - doesn't just have to be birthday! It's also perfect ATC size.

Little Puffy Hearts

2010-07-13T23:07:00.001+01:00

I was perusing Roben-Marie's blog earlier and came across these and knew I just had to go and make some immediately! LOL Now I need to go and raid the junk shops and car boot sales for more old haberdashery items. I could get very hooked on these.

Click on the picture for a better close up. I put a little birthday greetings hanger on the one on the right. They would make a nice little gift for a crafty friend.

Stampsmith DT - Adore

2010-07-11T09:31:00.000+01:00

I've got two sets of friends getting married later in the year and this may well be a wedding card for one of them. I've been very influenced by Lisa Pace's style recently so you may see similarities here! I had to invest in a pair of pinking shears too!

The frame is Maya Road, covered in a book page and then sprinkled with Diamond Dust German glass glitter (thanks Chris!)

Fun with Flowers at Paperbag Studios and PDCC 37

2010-07-10T17:42:00.001+01:00

Roben Marie has just posted a challenge for this month over on the Paperbag Studios blog which is as follows:

" I think we will focus on flowers for this month. Use one of our flower stamps or add a fabric or paper flower to your creation! We want to see your best take on flowers!!

To be included in the challenge, please leave a link to your project in the comments of this post by August 1 to be entered! Have fun!

Winner will receive a $10 gift certificate good toward Paperbag Studios goodies!! "

This flower is made with Tim Holtz's Tatterered Florals die and I used the thistle stamp from the Little Feet plate as my inspiration.

... and here's a close up of the flower so you can see it in all it's 3D-ness!

.... and as Sarah wants to reach 100 entries on Play Date Cafe (PDCC37) this week I've entered it into their challenge as well . I thought it might be stretching it slightly colourwise but looking at some of the other entries, maybe not!

Stampsmith DT - Butterfly Kisses

2010-06-28T18:35:00.000+01:00

This is a lovely detailed stamp and it's always worked well for me. The first sample is layered on one of the fabulous Webster's Pages sheets. The letters are Maya Road, coloured in the same green ink as the image and covered with glitter embossing powder.

This smaller image gives a closer, clearer view of the glittery sheen and the same was done to the butterflies.

Finally, another tag for our forum tag swap. This one's for Chris who chose the theme of children.

The velvet flowers are from Maya Road and yes I know I should have made my own! LOL

beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez!

2010-06-27T22:09:00.000+01:00

I almost forgot, these guys came bumbling along our road about a week ago and landed in next door's front garden on a bush. There were thousands of them and we got a local bee keeper to come along and remove them which was fascinating and then he had to come back the next day because there were still loads left on the bush. Apparently there were two queens in the swarm and he only got one of them.

I know why the caged bird sings....

2010-06-27T13:19:00.002+01:00

I've got another article in August's Craftstamper which hits the stalls this Friday. I don't know how I came across the poem that inspired it but I must have heard it at some point and it's stayed with me. Tim Holt's bird cage die was an obvious element to use.

I've also been making lots of hand made fabric flowers recently. They're very easy and the instructions are included in the article.

AJ3 at the Stamp Attic

2010-06-27T13:10:00.000+01:00

Pen and I attended our third class with Sarah Anderson yesterday at the Stamp Attic. We had huge fun getting covered in ink and dabbers using stencils and masks to make mini books to go in our journals. They are made from a piece of A3 decorated on both sides then cut and folded to shape

The books are nowhere near finished yet but you can see how we've added little notebooks inside as well.

This is the reverse side of mine. That mushroom stamp (by Jo Capper-Sandon) is fab!

Finally, Pen gave us the idea of adding lists to our journals so we decided to make a tag with a list on. The owner of the tag suggested the idea for the list and the rest of us added to it. My tag was "your favourite word." I originally wanted to use favourite swear word but it didn't come off - next time perhaps! No 4 is the Japanese word for paper (if I remember rightly).

An apology.....

2010-06-13T20:23:00.000+01:00

The Stampsmith produce a(n) hilarious plate called "Oooh Baby" which features different photos stamps of baby expressions. I think the one used here really sums up the sentiment, which is also a Stampsmith Stamp.

Journalling

2010-05-31T15:05:00.000+01:00

I've added to some new pages to my journal. They're not finished yet .. (Are journal pages ever finished??) .. but I really like them and wanted to show them to someone.... anyone..... LOL

I've used moulding paste and a Tattered Angels stencil on this one.

This is the back inside cover. Didn't plan it this way. I started off by stamping "The End" and then just started adding all my favourite word stamps.

.. and my favourite. Don't know why as it's a bit dark and grungy (and as said above - not finished yet I think). I've used more moulding paste, distress inks and dabbers. I've always loved this image and the phrase is one I try to follow.

My mum's 80th

2010-05-31T14:54:00.000+01:00

Can't believe my mum's 80 in a week's time. This card was inspired by Sarita who's blog is a must see. She has a tutorial on her blog for the lotus flower which I've made for this card. Be warned - you have to be in patient mood to do this.

It's a dull day here so I did a flash photo of the flower for a more accurate representation of the colour.

PDCC31 Think of me..

2010-05-29T15:46:00.001+01:00

I thought this week's Play Date Cafe colour combination was interesting and not my usual choice so it was a bit of a challenge to work with LOL. The colours are pretty accurate IRL but the camera has distorted them slightly.

.... and in case you're wondering the picture is of Lucille Ball (a Stampsmith Stamp).

Hello Cheeky!

2010-05-25T22:38:00.000+01:00

Yes, some of you may recognise this card but it just goes to show that changing the sentiment can change the whole ethos of the card. This is for my dad for Father's Day next month (he's 85!) and I've also entered it for Tuesday taggers which, this week, is to make a man's card.

Remember the tea towel bag?

2010-05-23T15:02:00.000+01:00

Well here's the napkin bag! About 18 months ago, a few of us bloggers got hooked on making bags out of tea towels. Really useful tote bags and I'm still using mine. The other day while strolling through John Lewis I spied these colourful napkins and it occurred to me they would make really cute bags. They are about 17 x 17 cm high with an 8cm gussett. The handles were virtually ready made as they are two of the side seams that I cut off in order to make the bag. They even have their own little label on.

A really useful little bag for those summer evenings when you don't need to carry much. Actually I think my friend's daughters might be after them - I've already given one away!

Tag swap

2010-05-16T17:10:00.000+01:00

I've just finished the next tag in our forum swap for Paula. I did enjoy making this as it involved a quite a few different techniques. The background is made with distress ink and glimmer mists with a Tim Holtz mask overlaid. I got my delivery of Jo's stamps this weekend so used the butterfly with the long splatter and French text adding to the depth of the background.

Jo's stamps can be ordered direct from Stampotique or Happy Daze in the UK. Other stamps are by SU and Stamp in the Hand and the whole thing was edged with gold UTEE.

No regrets...

2010-05-16T12:27:00.000+01:00

I'm not quite sure for what occasion you would want to use this card. If any of you find it appropriate, let me know and I will send it your way!

Oh yes... and if your interested, I made all of those little holes with a Japanese screw punch. There's dedication for you.

Stampotique Designers Challenge - Template

2010-05-15T11:23:00.000+01:00

As the title suggests, the current Stampotique Challenge is to use a template. I'd just made this little box the same day.

and as you can see it's the perfect size for your ATCs......

It's very easy to make and you can find the instructions on Amazing Paper Grace . If you love Spellbinders and not seen Becca's blog before it's fascinating and full of ideas..

Happy Birthday Craft Stamper!!!

2010-05-06T20:56:00.000+01:00

Craft Stamper celebrates ten years in print this year with the June 2010 issue. This month's issue is a bumper issue with eight extra pages of projects. There is also a special birthday competition with £1200 worth of prizes up for grabs. There's a retrospective feature looking back on ten years of the magazine - which I must admit I'm looking forward to as it will be really interesting to see how styles have changed over the past ten years. On top of that, the website is getting a new look and a new interactive gallery to which readers can upload their work.

So if you've never bought a copy - this is probably a good month to give it a go!

Toot Toot for Jo Capper-Sandon

2010-05-03T11:26:00.000+01:00

If you haven't already heard, Jo has been desigining some gorgeous new stamps for Stampotique Originals. You can go and see them here and Happy Daze will be selling them in the UK. Jo also has some lovely samples over on her website here if you would like some ideas about how to use them.

Stampsmith DT giveaway

2010-05-02T20:16:00.001+01:00

As promised, I have done a draw on the Random Generator site for my last but one Stampsmith DT piece - Lilly The number that came up was 16 and the winner is .............................. JAN! Congrats Jan. My email is in the left side bar so please let me have your address and I will post it on over to you.