Rubber Addict

More Secrets.....

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000Z

Hi there...
Following on from yesterday's post about the Secret Books swap.....
Here are some photos of my favourite book..the theme is
SteamPunk...

This is the cover created with Distress Stains, Gadget Gears cut out of grungeboard and painted..Grunge Letters coloured with Distress Stains and Rock candy crackle over the top...

I made this page similar to my favourite Tim 12 Tags of Christmas...using masks, gears and a Crafty Individuals stamp..

This page is created with lush Graphic45 papers and old foreign coins..

and these two with some of my favourite PaperArtsy Hot Pick stamps

This one

and this one...the background is coloured with Distress Inks..

Thanks for looking.....any ideas on what I can do with about a zillion matches....best answer could win a prize......

I'll see you soon..

Books Of Secrets......

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000Z

Hi there....
I am taking part in a Book of Secrets swap.....don't think I'll be doing much more in the way of swaps this year.....so I tried to make the most of this one....
If you have a look here you'll see what they are supposed to look like....
Now of course in the King household nothing ever goes even slightly to plan...and you must all know by now I am not good at anything that requires accuracy, straight lines or measuring.....
So what happens when I buy matches that a different size to the instructions????? Of course I ended up drafting Bry in to help and as usual he saved the day with his patience and accuracy skills...
I somehow ended up having to make 3 books...don't ask!!! so I'll split the pictures into 2 blog posts otherwise you'll be asleep before the end of the post....

The first theme was 'Fairies'.....

Love this stamp she is by Smeared Ink and coloured with my ProMarkers..

This is a stamp I got from the NEC last year, again coloured with ProMarkers..

Don't you just love ♥♥♥ Stampotique?

I have used 'Angel Boy'

and...'Angel'

The backgrounds for these were created with finger painting with my Dylusions Paints...

For the next two pages I have used some gorgeous Lavinia stamps and a distress inked background...

My second book was about Time and Vintage...

Just a couple of photos to share...this was the first book that I made and I'm not altogether sure I like it or it is good enough....

I used FAB PaperArtsy stamps on this on...

And an 'Alice' ATC on this one....The backgrounds were created by stamping and clear embossing a clock stamp and then colouring with Distress Inks..

I just hope my swapees like them......

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my very favourite pages......'SteamPunk'..

Thanks for looking..

All Dylusional.......

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000Z

Hi there....
I had a couple of spare hours yesterday so I thought I'd play with some of my favourite things.....
Canvas
Dylusions Paints
Dylusions Stamps....
and here is what I came up with......

I had so much fun..........very inky painty fingers :-)

The background was created with Dylusion Paints....about to be relaunched as part of Ranger :-) a lot of splattering and some painty circles.....

I stamped 'Pondering Petunia' onto a spare piece of card and coloured her in with my ProMarkers.
I stuck her on with Multi Matt Medium and the background looked a little bare.....if I'd have planned ahead...like I perhaps should have done....I'd have done the borders before I stuck her.....

I used 'Around The Edge' which I stamped with Versafine and clear embossed.....I coloured the leaves with Distress Stains...
The words are from..'Say What You Mean'
I am really pleased with how this has turned out.......though I had no idea when I sat down yesterday morning what I was going to do....

Thanks for looking, I'll catch up with you very soon....hopefully!!!

*edited to add* I am linking this to the Sunday Stampers Challenge the theme is 'My Eyes Adored You'....

Framed.....

2012-01-21T19:22:00.000Z

Hi there...
I needed a bit of rest and relaxation today after a rather stressful day yesterday....so I thought I would alter the little wooden photo frame that has been languishing for an age in my craft room.....

It started off looking something like this....this is actually the other frame I have and the 'frame' bit is the other way round...foolishly I didn't take a photo before I started..........I am almost sure I got them from PaperArtsy but I can't see them on the website now... anyways, I'm waffling now.....

I painted it with my dabbers and then put a thickish layer of Rock Candy crackle paint on it..after it had dried I toned it down a little with my Walnut Stain Distress Ink....I used the fabulous Dylusions stamps 'Around The Edge' they are stamped with Versafine and clear embossed and then coloured in with slightly watered down acrylic paint...The top looked a little bare so I added some buttons and a metal word...

And here it is with the photo...

Memories of the most fantastic birthday with my gorgeous friend Gez

Thanks for looking I'll catch up with you soon...I have some 'Secret' Book pages to show you......

April Showers!!!

2012-01-19T20:07:00.000Z

Hi there...
Today is my day for posting on the MTDS Blog

My 2 little cards have been made using the FAB 'April Showers' stamp set by Flourishes and available form the lovely Emily here

I have used ProMarkers to colour this image...

and water colour pens on this one...

I made these 2 cards out of one piece of A4 card just folded in half and then cut the other way....

I have had some lovely new Rubba off Emily today....Smeared Ink oh they are fab, if a bit gruesome!! Love ♥♥♥ them.....I can't wait to have a play....thanks Emily...

Thanks for looking and I'll catch up with you soon...

New Blog...........

2012-01-07T12:48:00.001Z

Hi there....
I have started a new Blog, as I hope to take some more photos this year and also do lots more Journalling.....
It is here
I have copied my friend Gez, yet again...Thank you darling girl.....Hope you don't mind...
Thanks for looking.....

She loved it......

2012-01-05T10:26:00.001Z

My lovely mum that is.......
You may recall I made a Scrapbook page of mum and dad's wedding for Christmas and I'm very pleased to say that mum loves it ♥♥♥.....dad wasn't all together very enthusiastic, but then he doesn't really 'get' it and isn't very enthusiastic about much any more :(
But here is mum, in the most used room in her house...the kitchen, which also had the best light!!

This one has a glare on it...but I just love mum's smile :-)

The Stampman Challenge is hosting it's award for the best / favourite crafting project.....this is my favourite, so thank you to the lovely Jane Goff, without whom I wouldn't have been able to make it....

Just a little ps....mum loves knitting, even though she suffers with Arthritis badly in her hands....here is the Nativity scene that she completed for this Christmas....
Don't you just love that Lamb and baby Jesus nestling in his manger....

Thanks for looking, I'll catch up with you soon....

Favourite Cards of 2011.......

2011-12-31T11:28:00.000Z

Morning......
The lovely Debby is again hosting 'Our Favourite 5 (or more) favourite cards...this time of 2011...
Looking back I don't seem to have blogged all the cards that I made...But still couldn't limit it to FIVE!!!

I had to have some 'Sugar' in the form of a couple of Sugar Nellie stamps....One a digi and one a rubba!

Well 3 actually....I can't count....but I do love Joy

I am lucky enough to be on the design team for Make The Day Special so have had chance to use some wonderful rubba in the past year...Thanks Emily....

My first go at one layer cards....love these stamps....They are 'Flourishes'

And last from MTDS....one of my all time favourite stamp sets...

'The Artist In You' and a favourite Black and White theme....

There had to be Lili of The Valley too

My last 3 are from Workshops I have been lucky enough to attend during the year....

I made 'Mona' with Lindsay Mason....

Paris with Rachel Grieg

And my lovely lady with Jane Goff.....

Thanks for looking and to Debby for hosting......

I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. I hope 2012 brings you everything your heart desires....and that it's better than 2011......

Favourite Christmas Cards....

2011-12-24T09:41:00.000Z

Morning and a very Happy Christmas Eve to you :-)
The lovely Debby is asking us to share our 5 favourite Christmas cards....so here are mine...

I was lucky enough to attend a couple of Workshops with the lovely and talented Jane Goff and I made this gorgeous card.....just love the vintagey feel to this and all the inky techniques we used...

Another workshop make, but this time with Lindsay Mason...love the Alcohol Inked background...

And here is the card that was inspired by the lovely Debby herself...Thank you.xx

And who couldn't love Mo Manning's images?? Here

And lastly....my favourite new stamp this year...have too many Christmas ones really...but can't resist Snowmen

Thanks Debby for a great idea.....it's always good to look back on what we have created.....didn't think I'd managed 5 different ones this year!!! Just goes to show....
Do check out Debby's blog I always come away feeling inspired...

Also A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours....

My Lovely Mum and Dad....

2011-12-23T23:41:00.003Z

Hi there!
Last month I was very lucky and attended one of Jane Goff's workshops... :-) we did some lovely cards in the morning and scrapbooking in the afternoon.

Recently I found some of mum and dad's Wedding photos and decided that for a Christmas present I would make a Scrapbook page and frame it... AND here it is...

Thanks Jane, I love ♥♥♥ the page you helped me create....There is an Acetate 'window' and lots of distressing and embossing......I so enjoyed making this...The Cream card base was sprayed with Vintage Photo Distress re-inker and water and the Flowers were given the same treatment.

And here it is after Bry framed it for me :-)

I just know mum will love it and she will take great delight showing all her friends :-)

And guess who was helping me wrap the presents??

Apologies, the photos are a bit blurred...but Archie joined in the fun, he loved the Christmas ribbon....we had a good chase round the lounge with the Gold ribbon going on my parcels...and then I emptied this box and it's Archie's new home... :-) He loves it...oh and he has a little mouse with Cat Nip in which he has licked to death and he now lies in the box rubbing his face with it and smiling :-)

All that remains for me is to thank you for all the lovely comments and support the last difficult year...

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and 2012 is better for us all :-)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

I'll catch up with you very soon....

A Couple More......

2011-12-22T09:14:00.000Z

and I'm done...I started so well with my Christmas cards and sort of fell at the final hurdle!!!
Will try harder next year....another New Year Resolution......We'll see how long that lasts!!!
These are my family cards for mum to send out....she enjoys sending my creations out, but my family don't appreciate what goes into them, so they are always simple designs, but designs I am happy to be sent out....My own worse enemy really....

This one is for my teenage niece, always hard to get right!!

I used one of Mo Manning's gorgeous images..Ragged Angel coloured with ProMarkers and I added some glitter to the wings.....I also used my slightly forgotten about Martha Stewart punches to do the borders and a lovely new scroll by Marianne Designs.....Frames/Swirls and some little flowers that my lovely friend Gez gave me...A bit of ribbon and I was done..Not sure what the BP is...possibly Dovecraft....

This is the card I made for both of my brothers....LOVE ♥♥♥ my Snow Couple I used part of an EK Success punch to do the corners.....

Things went slightly wrong with the 2nd one.....I put the punched edges on the wrong side of the matt and had to turn the card round.....

Thanks for looking, Christmas prezzie wrapping for me today...could be a long day!! Still a couple of cards to make......I'll be back soon...

Nothing like Tim's!

2011-12-12T16:59:00.000Z

Hi there...
I wasn't too keen on yesterday's Tag, but still wanted to get a bit inky and messy....

So I made some Tags using some of my favourite stamp designs 'Octopode'...these stamps are from the Christmas range...

I used Dylusions paints for the backgrounds..with a bit of Black 'splattering' (which went everywhere!!)..

For the first Tag I used Sugar Plum Fairy and Christmas Words both stamped onto extra pieces of card...she is coloured in with ProMarkers....

I did the same background for this one, but used Present Porter Elf.....I rather like the way this turned out..he looks like he has a bird at his feet....which is just a Black splodge of paint!!!!!

So Tags, but not like Tim's.....will try and have a go with the last one later or tomorrow...I'll let you know how I get on...looking at the list he used, it'll be lots more improvisation!! But that has been the fun of it...

Oh and here are the four Tags that I made all together....

Thanks for looking...I'll try and catch up and do a blog hop very soon...

Tag No 9!

2011-12-11T10:15:00.001Z

Hi there......
I did the last 2 tags the opposite way round......much prefer yesterday's Tag...which is why I did it first!!!!
Here is my take on No 9!

Love the background technique......Love anything to do with heat embossing! I used the fabulous Holly Background stamp by Hero Arts....I didn't have either of the dies Tim showed, so I stamped and coloured his Lamp post and cut it out.....I didn't have any small swirls, so I cut into some swirly gems, which have been sitting in my drawer for about 2 years!!!!!

Thanks for looking...I'm just off to try today's Tag.....must find an alternative Santa..

Tag No 10......

2011-12-10T15:51:00.001Z

Hi there...
Can't believe we are up to Tag No 10....only another 2.....It really has helped and has got my mind focused on other things...rather than 'normal' life....so thanks Tim for that......
I think what I have enjoyed most is finding other things and improvising to make the Tags...
Today's is lovely and here is my take on it....

Again, I didn't have everything he used.........Loved doing the Baubles though....the rectangular one hasn't come out too well in the photo...but it looks really good...it's the first time I've tried this technique and I was quite chuffed that it worked!! I used some Silver film on the back as I don't have the metal foil....I didn't have the banner or letters he used, so I just used my trusty bug and die cut some using Tim's 'Once Upon a Time' letters. I made my own little bit of 'greenery' and added some bells...

I'm just off to do yesterday's now! I'll catch up with you later...

After....

2011-12-08T22:01:00.001Z

the disaster that was yesterday's Tag......which my bin ate.. the only redeeming feature was that I found out tracing paper loves Alcohol Inks and when scrunched makes great leaves....didn't have any Glassine or anything else that Tim used yesterday....
I LOVE today's ♥♥♥

Again a lot of improvisation, but I so enjoyed making this tag....I had the Gear die, but not the clock...I had the clock mask so I just used that instead. I don't think my paint must have dried properly after I stamped the background as it seems to have taken some of the Distress Ink colours, but I still like the effect...I didn't have the stamps Tim used, so I used some by the very talented Andy Skinner for my background :-) I feel sure I have some sprockets somewhere in my stash, but I couldn't find them, so just added the spinner instead. The Gentlemen are by Crafty Individuals and the letters and numbers are American Crafts Thickers unfortunately this particular pack has lost all it's stickiness, but I just used Glossy Accents to stick them on! The Hand stamp is also by American Crafts.

All was well and I was so pleased with the way it has turned out, so I did as I always do after making something and showed Bry...he reckoned the 'Joy' said 'by' and couldn't figure out what 'by 25' meant....MEN!!!!

Thanks for looking and I'll catch up with you again soon.

Oh and a couple of people have asked me about the charm I used in the last tag....it is a small metal charm by Crafty Bits that was in a TSV off QVC years ago...I just knew it would come in handy for something :-) Nothing gets thrown away in this house!!!!

Today.....

2011-12-08T16:12:00.001Z

is my day for posting on the Make The Day Special Blog check it out here
Here is one of the cards..

I'm just in the process of getting messy making today's Tim's Tag :-) I'll hopefully be baxk later to share it with you...

Thanks for looking...

Not too sure about this one....

2011-12-06T22:48:00.001Z

Hi there!
Time for Tim's Tag no 6, can't believe we are half way through all ready....

Lots of improvisation from me today....the only things I have that were used were the Tag and a couple of the Dabbers!!!

Not to be outdone, I give it a go!!

I haven't any foil so I used Silver Mirri board and a Cuttlebug Christmas Ornament embossing folder.....I then painted and embossed and found a little metal embellishment.....

Wasn't too sure myself but it's growing on me and I could see myself trying it with some of my other embossing folders....

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon...

White Christmas!

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000Z

Hi there!
Gosh it's ages since I had a play with a challenge, especially the Penny Black one.
This was a real challenge for me as I'm not good at keeping things White!! But I was so pleased with how it turned out I have got another 3 almost done! I am always so impressed with the Design Teams on Challenge blogs....and the PB team never fail to inspire.

I used 'Snowy' and coloured him with ProMarkers. I embossed the matt with a Tim Holtz embossing folder and finished with some ribbon.

Thanks for looking I'll catch up with you soon.

Tim's Tags Day 5!

2011-12-05T22:33:00.001Z

Hi there!
Love the technique on today's Tag...still need a bit more practice though.....

Again a lot of improvisation, as the only thing I had today were the Alcohol Inks!

I used a large Hero Arts background stamp of Holly and made my own little wreath of greenery :-)

A lot more practice I can see where I have rubbed instead of being gentle and just dabbing!! But this is the first time this technique has worked for me, so I feel quite chuffed...Also less Glossy Accents to stick the Acetate next time I think!

May be even later posting tomorrows Tag...got a full day, so I might just be playing catch up later in the week!

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon.

Medallion Snowman!

2011-12-04T16:50:00.001Z

Hi there!
Another 2 posts in one day...won't be able to keep this up...work tomorrow :(
Here is my variation on Tim's Tag 4.....
Again I did improvise....but I'm finding that is the fun of it!!
Rather like my Blue Medallion Snowman!!

I didn't have the colours of Stain that he used, so I used Broken China and Scattered Straw to go with my Picket Fence....I die cut the numbers out of music paper...thinking now I could have used Grunge Numbers, but I rather like the music paper....It was my first time using Bry's glue gun and I was a bit nervous, so Snowy didn't go quite where he should have....but at least he is stuck down!!I coloured seam binding and used sheer ribbon for his scarf. I have used my Martha Stewart snowflake edger onto shrink plastic and left it unshrunk! as I couldn't use it with acetate.....

Love how the background was created..I can see me doing this technique again...

Thanks for looking and I'll catch up with you soon....

A little late....

2011-12-04T08:30:00.001Z

for the challenge.......
I started this card in the hope that I could join in this Penny Black challenge.....as is always the way of things I started in time, but didn't finish in time!! Thought I'd share it anyway, as I am quite pleased with how it turned out!

I used the Penny Black stamp 'Give Us A Kiss' coloured with ProMarkers and then layered....the base matt is embossed with the Snowflakes embossing folder. I cut the border with one of my Martha Stewart punches and the Poinsettia is the lovely Marianne Miniature Poinsettia I just finished with some stick on gems and a Craftwork Cards message.
Thanks for looking, I am off to play Tags!!

Tim's Tags Day 3.....

2011-12-03T19:43:00.001Z

Hi there!
Wow......2 posts in one day.....never been known before!!

Here is my take on Tim's Day 3 Tag....

Even more improvisation with this one, but I really like the way it has turned out....this might just be on my parcels this year......

I don't have any of Tim's new stamps and no stamps and matching embossing folders....so I thought I would just use one of the universal Christmas message embossing folders.....I coloured the embossed bits with my ProMarkers and then coloured the Tag with my Distress Inks....The Holly and Fern are Martha Stewart punches....and the baubles and bell are just little bits I have been saving, knowing they would come in useful!!!!

Thanks for looking, we'll see what tomorrow brings......

Tim's Tag Day 2!

2011-12-03T07:49:00.001Z

Morning!! It's THAT time of year again..... Oh yes Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas. I look forward to seeing what he creates and hopefully pick up some tips on how to use the stash I have.....I don't expect to make all of the Tags......*expecting to be shot down in flames now* I didn't much like the first tag, though I love how he did the background....so another technique to try and surely that's the reason he does them???
Here is my version of Tag No 2.......

I don't have the Seasonal Resist pad, so I used the ordinary one and stamped and clear embossed the sentiment.......I then stamped the Holly twice and coloured with a bit of Red and Green....I used one of his Muse tokens and as I don't have the Edge Dies I used a pair of decorative scissors and cut a very wonky edge!! I thought the brads should be a bit wonky in keeping with it too!!!
I'm off Christmas shopping with mum now, so I hope you all have a good Saturday and I'll hopefully catch up with you soon....
Thanks for looking..........

Introducing............

2011-12-01T07:02:00.001Z

ARCHIE .......

Bry and I were devastated when we lost Jess in August.....We both knew one day that a new Fur-baby would come into our lives....I am a great believer in fate and know things happen for a reason, though we don't always know why at the time...
One of my friends at work was telling me about a gorgeous kitty that had been abandoned and needed a new home with lots of love....We decided to go and visit him, now in the care of a local 'Animal Haven' ......Otterspool Animal Haven well he had us under his spell as soon as we saw him....and on Tuesday he came to live with us :-)

We are so happy and I hope he is too....Jess will forever have a very special place in our hearts and Archie isn't and never will be a replacement for her...he is a very special 'one off' which is exactly what he should be. We can't believe how quickly he has settled in and has become a very special part of our lives....

Here are a few photos of our handsome boy...we (meaning Bry...the camera man!!) will take some more when the light is better, as he doesn't like the flash on the camera....

Thanks for looking.....I will be sharing more photos as soon as we have some more....
Have a good day, I'm going to be spending the day with my bestest friend the very lovely Gez so I'd best go and get organised...I'll see you soon...

Make The Day Special....

2011-11-28T18:00:00.001Z

Hi there!
Today is the day for my post on Make The Day Special....

Here is a little peek of my card...

Thanks for looking......

Santa is on His Way!!

2011-11-26T08:31:00.001Z

Morning, a bit later than planned, but here is my latest 'Santa' card.....

I do love my Kanban Santa :-).......I have used some of the other stamps in the Kanban Christmas kit and loosely followed one of the ideas on the sheet....
The little Poinsettia is a Marianne Die....Santa is coloured with ProMarkers....
Thanks for looking...

The Choir!

2011-11-22T17:39:00.001Z

Hi there......
I follow the lovely and very talented Debby's blog and always come away inspired....I am also a fan of Mo Manning and have quite a few of her designs in both Digi and rubber. So when I saw this post I couldn't resist doing my own...It was a little dark when I took this photo and my camera skills aren't great, so apologies.....

I so enjoyed making this and I just love their little faces :-)

Thanks Debby for the inspiration, I hope you don't mind me doing my version......If you have never visited her, please do her cards are amazing......

Thanks for looking, I'll be back tomorrow with another Santa.....

Santa Claus Is Coming....

2011-11-15T09:41:00.001Z

to town.......
I thought I was doing so well with my Christmas cards....mums are all done and I thought I'd be able to get mine done really quickly!!! HA!! HA!!
I thought I'd try some quick and simple designs...why is it these always take me far longer than any of the others????
Love my Kanban Santa stamp :-)

This is an 8"x8" card..I used the matts that came in the kit and coloured him with ProMarkers...I used a couple of small stamps and the new Festive Distress Inks....love ♥♥♥ these onto White card for the matt and then just ripped some Red card to go over the top.. The Gold ribbon I have had longer than I care to remember...one of my first purchases off QVC!!!

I tried to keep this one 'clean' very difficult for me!!He looks as though he has been on the Sherry, doesn't he?? One day I will be able to get things straight!!!

Thanks for looking, I'll hopefully be back soon.....

Inspired by.....

2011-11-13T10:03:00.001Z

the lovely and very talented Leandra of PaperArtsy.......
Last Saturday I went to the NEC Craft Show and the PaperArtsy stand was the first one I made sure I found...I do tend to just wander round aimlessly and miss people.....
Leandra was demoing with some lovely Portfolio Oil Pastels which are just like wax crayons for grown ups :-) They go on so easily and blend beautifully.
She was using the new stamps by Lynne Perrella.....some of which did fall into my basket.......I did spend most of my cash there....
I was so lucky, Leandra gave me one of the gorgeous Tags she had made...

I have only just had chance to have a play.....and here is what I made....

well it had to have Orange, didn't it?

One for a Pink loving friend.........

Love this lady....

and a card to match.....I used a Black card blank coloured with the Pastels and then Gold embossed...I am hoping it'll flatten in the post.....

Last but by no means least...I found Anneliese Bates who received one of my Tags in a swap a couple of months ago...she was due to take part but was ill. I wanted to catch up and say 'Hi' to her and see how she was...

She made me a Tag whilst we were stood talking...

isn't it lovely? Thank you Anneliese, hope all goes well with your treatment...

Thanks for looking, I'll hopefully be back soon....I have got some Workshop photos to show you...just need to add some photos to the Scrapbook pages.

It was a really busy weekend last weekend, I went to Amy's Workshop, great day. Thanks Amy, so good to catch up with you and the 'regulars'...looking forward to our Christmas party :-).........

A Dylusions Tag!

2011-11-01T09:59:00.000Z

Morning!
I enjoyed making my first Dylusions Tag for my Giveaway so much that I decided to make one for me...which meant a slightly different colour......

ORANGE, of course!!

I made it the same way that I made the first one here using different colours and different stamps!
Here is the back of the Tag....

I sprayed Glimmer Mist on, which has made taking a photo a bit more difficult for me!!!

So enjoyed making this and getting very inky and messy into the bargain!

Stamps used.. Dylusions...Dependable Dotty Pondering Petunia Around The Edge

Thanks for looking and I'll see you again soon....

More Christmas!!!

2011-10-31T09:46:00.000Z

Hi there!
I have been making more Christmas cards!!.....not usually this well organised....I have just finished the one for mum, so next week will make a start on ours...hey they could be done before Christmas Eve...that's never been known before!!

This one was going to be so easy and quick to make......it started out just being Black and White...it looked really good on the ideas sheet....couldn't get it straight, couldn't get it without black marks (inky fingers and messy craft sheet!) and then just when I thought I had cracked it..I coloured it a little with my Gel pens...turned it over to put sticky on and the pen was still wet and rubbed all over the image....I now had a bin full of card...never one to give up I tried again!!!

This isn't perfect, but looks an awful lot better than the others...coloured with my ProMarkers. The stamps are from the Christmas Kanban kit...lovely!! The backing paper is K&Co and I have clear embossed one of the Scroll stamps in the corners!! Phew, was I glad that one was done!!
I then thought I'd try an Easel card, with a difference...I do wonder why I do things sometimes!!

I decided to make a 'Shaker' card.Love these Girlies!

Stamp used....Lili of The Valley 'Three Angels' coloured in with ProMarkers
Brads....from a very old HOTP kit!
Papers from a freebie on a magazine!!
Scrolls...Spellbinders Mega Shapeabilities

I love ♥♥♥ this stamp..and the card! I got it as part of a kit and as I wanted to make another one, I traced the design onto one of my card blanks and cut round it! Couldn't emboss it though..so just used one of my Hero Arts 'Spotty' stamps! I managed to get some more card blanks so have made a few more cards.....

Stamp used.....Little Claire..Christmas
House

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon with another 'Dylusions' Tag!!

Workshop Cards!

2011-10-30T09:19:00.002Z

Good morning!
I was up even earlier this morning....forgot that the clocks changed..DOH!!!
I was lucky enough to do a workshop with the lovely Jane Goff at Dawn Bibby's Design Studio last Sunday...What a fantastic day...I met up with my lovely friends Elaine and her mum Kath, always great company and I got very messy into the bargain! I am still scrapping Gesso from my nails!

This is the first card we made...

We created a background matt with Gesso and then covered some bubble wrap with Distress Inks and 'stamped' it all over, re-gessoed and then used a glue stick and Gold embossing round the edges....then came the hard bit...ripping card...I don't know why I have so much difficulty doing this..but the effect is fantastic. The sentiment is from a piece of cream card put through the 'Bug with a Christmas embossing folder..we just added Distress Inks. The Leaf is one that Jane collected on one of her 'Nature' walks, which was Gold embossed. A Timmy fastener, a Black bow and a gorgeous Pearl pin (which I have almost chopped off, due to my awful camera skills!!) and we were done....

This is the 2nd one we created....

Beautiful Graphic45 card image which we covered with Acetate after adding a button and some flowers and then added the frame. We did the same Gesso background, but the Gold embossing rather covered it! Less glue stick next time I think.....another Gold embossed leaf and some lovely Heather flowers and little paper buds...This is my favourite...LOVE her...♥♥♥

Our last card...

We gessoed a piece of Cream card and put it through the 'Bug with the Christmas embossing folder..did a little sand-papering and added Distress Inks over the top...The image is from the Seasonal Stash...it does look quite a bit brighter 'in the flesh'.....

Thanks Jane for the fantastic afternoon, can't wait for the next one.....

Thanks for looking, I'll be back soon....with more Christmas :-)

Winner!

2011-10-27T21:35:00.001+01:00

Hi there!
Sorry it's taken me so long to pick the winner of my Tag. It's been non stop since Sunday. I had a great afternoon getting inky and messy with Jane...I'll try and get some pictures sorted very soon! I am so pleased with my cards something very different for me.....

The winner of my Tag is Louise I'll bring it with me to the workshop next week, if that's ok?

Thank you for the very kind comments, they are much appreciated.

A Bit of a Dylusions Tag Giveaway!!!

2011-10-24T18:19:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
THIS POST WILL STAY AT THE TOP UNTIL 24TH OCTOBER.....PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR NEWER POSTS!

I hope you all have had a good Sunday.....I have spent most of the day getting very, very inky and messy! Great day!!
A little while ago the very talented Dyan posted a Tag tutorial for this gorgeous Tag I printed the instructions off, meaning to attempt to have a go!!

I haven't felt much in the mood for any crafting and felt that this was the kick start that I needed and I decided today was the day!!!

Two very obvious differences, whilst I have an awful lot of stash and I am a huge fan of Dyan's stamps and paints I didn't have everything she used....but her Tag was just a guide, right?? Also I don't have her talent.....BUT I have had a fantastic few hours just ~~playing~~ creating!!!!

Here are the fruits of my labour....

The image is coloured with ProMarkers. I was going to use the stamps that Dyan used, but my Birds are bit lower down the Tag than hers and she wouldn't fit! I do intend to make some more though!

I love making Tags but I never thought of decorating 2 tags and then sticking them both together....DOH!! I know better now....Here is the lovely back!....

The Tag is 6"x8". It is coloured with Distress Stains and I have sprayed through an Alphabet Tag with a Rangers ColorSpray, turning it over to get the 'extra' impression..The little Bird is a PaperArtsy stamp...All the others I used are Dyan's designs. Bry cut me the little Birdy Hats out of an old book page and I just drew round them with a Black pen.

The 'Bunting' is some little off-cut pieces of Mountboard that I just knew would come in handy for something!!

Stamps used....Pondering Petunia, Doolally Dorris ,Round The Edge, Say What You Mean.

Distress Stains to colour

To celebrate what I hope will be the return of many more inky, messy, painty days I thought I would GIVE this Tag AWAY. That's if anyone would like it??? Just leave me a little comment here please....

I am doing a workshop next Sunday with the lovely and very talented Jane at Dawn Bibby's Studio so will select a winner then..So you have a week to say if you like it and if you could give it a new home.....

Thanks for looking, I'll hopefully be back soon....I just have to clear my desk...which I can't see at the moment with all the inks and stamps!!

Christmas Cards!

2011-10-17T10:22:00.000+01:00

Morning!
2 Posts in 2 days....things are looking up!!
Here are a few of the cards that I have made for mum's Christmas list this year....

This is an image I actually stamped and coloured in last year.....oh dear.....The stamp is an an Elzybells one, sadly no longer available :( coloured in with my ProMarkers. On the photo the Silver matt doesn't look as though it fared too well..but it looks a lot better 'in the flesh'!!

Variations on a theme, I think for my next few....

I thought I would do some 'clean' (unusually for me!!) cards. Coloured with ProMarkers and glitter glued around the edge...the Snowflakes are the 'offcuts' from a Martha Stewart border punch...

Stamps used....Sweet Snowman, Snowy.

Martha Stewart Punch......Snow Flurry

The next 2 cards are variations on one of the cards that I made when I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with the lovely and talented Lindsay Mason

The backgrounds were Alcohol inked onto gloss card and then sprayed with StazOn spray cleaner...love this technique, every one turns out different! The Palm Trees were stamped straight onto the background using Archival Black ink, which is also 'dragged' across the bottom of the card to colour it..The Minarets are stamped onto spare card and coloured with ProMarkers..I didn't have the 'Peace' stamp we used in the workshop, but I got a huge wooden stamp with lots of words in a sale last year and just stamped a bit of the stamp, went round with Black pen and cut the word out..

Alcohol Inks to colour background

Archival Black to stamp and colour.

Stamps used....Nativity, Unto us a child

I love these new stamps by Lili of the Valley...coloured with ProMarkers...the card base is actually an 8"x8" double fold card that I knew I wouldn't use 'as is' I just cut the two folded sides off to make a little narrow card and saved the middle for stamping on! I just put a small strip of Blue card down the middle and covered with patterned Vellum...that I have had since I don't know when! I am never quite sure what to do with it, but quite like the effect it gives to these cards...

Stamps used.......Three Little Angels and Mary and Joseph

Lastly another card with Lili of the Valley...

This is a variation on a sketch I saw on one of the challenge sites a while ago and kept....knew it would come in handy! Background card is from a QVC Kanban kit...

Stamp...Mary and Joseph

Thank you for staying with me through a long post.......don't forget to enter my Tag giveaway...please

A Couple of Cards!

2011-10-10T08:22:00.002+01:00

Hi there!
Gosh I didn't realise how long I had been absent........Something to do with 'real life' jumping up and bitting me on the bum! I am at the moment, TRYING to make Christmas cards....so hopefully I will have more to share with you soon.
Here are a couple of cards I made recently but for some reason never blogged......

I love this little lady......coloured with ProMarkers. I used the largest Nestie shape for her and then handcut the base one!
She is a stamp set by Mo Manning...unfortunately I can't remember where I got her from.....backing paper is PaperMania, flowers are Prima and ferns are one of my favourite Martha Stewart punches.

Here is another favourite Lady! I love this girlie!

I made one of my 'usual' painty backgrounds with Dylusions Paints and coloured 'Flower Girl with ProMarkers. The Flower I made from a Hero Arts Stamp.

Image..... 'Always the Flower Girl'

Paints...... the very lush Dylusions

Flower.....Hero Arts 'Dotty Flower'

Sentiment...Very old Anita's stamp!

I am using what looks like a new format for Blogger.....looks very strange...it always seems to change between posts!!

Thanks for looking, I'll try not to leave it too long next time!! and I will try to have a blog hop later!!

Another Canvas OR Two!

2011-09-24T08:49:00.000+01:00

Morning!
I have another couple of Canvases to show you....
The first one is 'Alice' ...........well it had to be.....I just had to have another play with her!

I created my 'usual' painty backgrounds...using a colour I don't use much..Blue!

Stamps used by Octopode...

Alice

Alice, Tiny Alice Elements

Alice Words 2

Legs, by Dyan

Dylusions Paints

Hand written 'Alice'!

For my next projects, I have gone a bit Green in colour!!!

I have used Dylusions paints again, but this time I have sponged (or fingered!!) Gesso through a Flower stencil dried with a heat tool and then used a combination of Ranger Sprays and Dylusions over the top, spraying through different parts of the stencil to give it a bit of depth...

I used some Washi tape for my Flower Girlie to stand on which I have stamped over..

Image...'Always the Flower Girl' by Tiddly Inks (used by the very talented Kate Crane here)

Words....very old 'Anita's Stamp'

Flowers by Prima and Petaloo...

Dylusions Paints

Tim Holtz 'Dots'

I made a matching card and Tag....

Same products on this card.....but I wrote the words!

Thanks for looking, I hope you have a good weekend....

A Canvas or Two!

2011-09-20T10:41:00.001+01:00

Hi there!
We have just returned from a lovely break in Anglesey..it has really helped recharge the batteries! I have got some photos to share...once I sort out the ones where I don't look like a laughing policeman or the back end of a bus! I don't know what Bry sees sometimes when he takes a photo and says 'Ah that's a lovely one!' I even managed a paddle! It felt very strange coming home and not seeing Jess though....it's the first time we have been away and she hasn't been here to greet us loudy on our return....

I haven't felt much like crafting, but on Sunday I thought I'd better finish a Canvas or two that I had already got painted, so here they are....

I saw this lovely girly on Kate's blog the other day here If you haven't looked at Kate's blog before, you are missing a treat, fabulous artwork from a very lovely lady...

I couldn't resist this image though, I got her from here.

I have painted the Canvas with the very lush Dylusions Paints and done some splattering, you should see the state of my lamp and the boxes on my shelves.... I have renamed my lamp...'The Kate Splatter Lamp'!!!

I have then done some doodling. She is coloured with ProMarkers, I was then very brave and wrote the words onto the Canvas....The three words that look a little different have been Glossy accented. I then just added some flowers.

I so enjoyed making this one! Dylusions paints again and Dyan's stamps..

Stamps used...

Doolally Dorris

Pondering Petunia

Say What You Mean

I love how Dyan's stamps all work together..

Thanks for looking...I'll hopefully be back soon,

Apologies I haven't had chance to blog hop just recently, but I am hoping I'll be able to catch up with you all this week...

A Tag and A Card!

2011-09-10T09:27:00.000+01:00

Morning!
I haven't felt much like crafting :( but I needed a couple of Tags and cards for lovely friends who have been very supportive to me....BIG, BIG THANK YOUS to them.....
I decided possibly the best thing to kick start me were my very lush Dylusions Paints and my fantastic Dylusions Stamps

I coloured my Tag with the paint and then played until I got this....

I then stamped and coloured Pondering Petunia with my ProMarkers and stamped one of Dyan's 'Say What You Mean' phrases.

And here she is all together....

I then made a card to match...

Here they are both together....

Thanks for looking, I hope you have a good weekend.....

I'll hopefully see you soon....

Art From The Heart 10th Birthday Blog Hop!

2011-09-03T09:59:00.002+01:00

Hi there! How excited am I to be part of this fantastic blog hop to celebrate Art From The Heart's special 10th BIRTHDAY!

Welcome to a very exciting blog hop in Celebration of 10 years of Art from the Heart!

Lots of exciting things happening at Art from the Heart next weekend where the big birthday bash is happening. Want to know more then do click here

So in Celebration we are having FIVE birthday blog hops.

You should have reached my blog from here and are on the Stampotique hop

Here is my project

Which started life as this...

And after lots of inking and painting ended up like this...

I used what I can only describe as a 'solid' Tag!! I bought it from AFTH, unfortunately I can't see them on the website, but I am sure that Ben will be able to help :-) I did try stamping straight onto the Tag, but didn't like it, so I used lots (and I do mean lots!!) of Gesso straight over it. As it was drying I pressed some of my bottle lids into it and also made marks with my trusty old credit card. After that had dried completely I blended Dylusions Paints (which are lush) over the tag...I didn't use a brush, just my fingers!!
I used Winter Puss, Puss and Hanging Hearts
I stamped 'Winter' onto cardstock and coloured with ProMarkers and cut out. I just stamped and embossed Puss, Puss and Hanging Hearts straight onto the Tag. The sentiment is also a Stampotique one...'Quiet Place' number 3011. I just stamped it onto spare cardstock and cut it out. I think that Ben may be able to help you if you would like that one....
Bry did the word at the bottom for me...using his computery drawing wizardary!!

Before you move on - you will need to collect a letter from me which is I

This is part of an anagram of a Stampotique product

Once you get back to Dys blog please email your answer to Ben.

So after leaving me a comment you need to move on to

ANN

Thanks for looking...

Have fun hopping!

Birthday Weekend!

2011-08-29T11:32:00.001+01:00

Morning!
Saturday was my Birthday and as an extra special treat I went to AFTH to take part in a workshop with the fabulously talented and lovely Kate Crane if you have a look on her blog she has put some photos on....including this 'beauty??'

Which I have just nicked from her...Thanks Kate :-)

I had a Birthday Balloon tied to my chair courtesy of my fabby friend Gez (thank you darling, you made my day so special xx) and also a CAKE :-) My good friend and fantastic chauffeur for the day Elaine got me the 'Birthday Girl' Badge...thanks hunny :-) You and 'mum' were great company as always, it was so good to spend the day with you xxxxx

Gez had bought me a lovely little Journal to play in....'THANK YOU' xx

We used lots of painty techniques, stamped images and rub-ons...don't you just love that Octopode girly? She is 'Willow' and I just had to have her :-) The phrase is one of Dyan's new sets..Quintessential Quotes

Here are just a few more pictures of my day.....

I was wanting a photo of Kate with me and Gez.....hopefully we got there in the end after lots of giggling....

And here we are....me and the fabulous Gez......

Me and my lovely ladies...Kath and Elaine xxx

Elaine, doing what comes naturally......a bit of crafty shopping and then a chat!!

Thank you to everyone that made my day so special.....Hopefully this will be the kick start I need to get crafting again......

I have some birthday cards and pressies to show you, but I'll leave that until next time, as Blogger is being a bit slow about uploading photos....

Thanks for looking...

A Star Book!

2011-08-23T08:48:00.000+01:00

Morning.
Last Saturday I had a workshop booked at the wonderful Art From The Heart I booked this a while ago and to be honest didn't feel much like it...But I am so glad I did!!! My lovely friend Elaine was driving us..All I had to do was make it to her equally lovely mum's Kath's house.....easy peasy?? I had written directions, google directions and the ever unflappable Bry going through the directions with me....I got lost about 10 minutes away from Kath's and when I rang home Bry said it would be a bit complicated to explain..at this point I burst into tears and said I'm coming home....his answer was 'fine but you still have to get on the other side of the dual carriageway.... and you are so near...' After negotiating several roundabouts I found the slip road that I managed to miss first time around...Kath and Elaine soon calmed me down and it seemed in no time at all we were in Harrogate...
Dyan was supposed to be taking the class, but couldn't, so one of her DT members Bezzy Su took the reins, she was supposed to be taking the class..never having made one before! She did an amazing job and we had a fantastic day. But poor Elaine she managed to cut both of her thumbs :( you should have seen the size of the plaster she found in her bag.....

Here is what we made...

Here is the Front...we used Timmy papers....and lots of ribbon and fibres..

Here it is open...and it works a Star!! All that measuring wasn't in vain...

We made Pocket pages and cut the Tags, which are waiting to be decorated....

Lots of number plates...

Here is the back cover..

All I have to do is decorate the pages and Tags....I haven't decided quite what with yet.......

Sorry the photos aren't the best, I wasn't sure how to photograph them and my ace photographer is still snoring.......

I have to say, this is the first workshop I have been to where I have stayed clean.....I was in a White blouse..which was still White at the end....Thanks to Elaine, Kath and the lovely Su..after a tearful start I had a lovely day..

Looking froward to the next one..which is OH my Birthday one on Saturday..my fantastic friend Gez is joining us for a inky, painty Art Journal workshop with THE Kate Crane I won't be wearing White then...

Thanks for looking....I'll see you soon and I will try and do a bit of Blog Hopping as soon as I can..

Last of The Tip Ins!

2011-08-22T10:51:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
Just a quick post from me today....many thanks for all your comments and good wishes after we lost our gorgeous Jess....We miss her dreadfully...she has left a huge gap in our lives....

I thought I would show you my last Tip In pages....

This one was for a 'Quotes' theme...very painty background and I sprayed through square plastic canvas! The stamp, is of course a Timmy one....

Well there had to be an 'Alice', didn't there?? Painty background again and some of Dyan's legs and Octopode images and stamps...
Thanks for looking, I'll be back soon with pictures of my Star Book.....

In Memory of Jess.......

2011-08-11T19:46:00.002+01:00

Hi there!
It's been a very sad day today as we said 'Good Bye' to our beautiful Furbaby Jess.... She has been poorly for a few weeks and when we took her to the Vet on Tuesday she could feel a lump in her tummy. She decided the best course of action was an exploratory operation as quickly as possible. She went in today, but unfortunately the tumour was just too large to treat, it covered 75% of her poor little tummy....We had absolute trust in our lovely Vet, who I know did her best for her, but couldn't save her....

She has been part of our family for over 8 years and has left a huge gap already....

I just needed to share a few photos with you of our beautiful girl..

In the garden..

She loved boxes...

Quite Sphinx like...

Inspecting my stash....

Waiting for Christmas dinner to be served.....

One of her favourite things to climb.....

Rest in peace lovely Jess.......

Almost the Last!

2011-08-07T09:19:00.002+01:00

'Tip Ins' that is!!

Hi there, I have almost finshed showing you my 'Tip In' pages, I have really loved this swap and as it is my last for a little while it has been very special to me....
Here are the next 2......

The first one is my 2nd 'Paris' page....I have had this stamp such a long time and found her again when I was having a little sort out...She is 'Paris Socialite' by Stamps Happen. I coloured her with my ProMarkers and then I stamped a background text all round her with VersaMark and clear embossed. The background was then coloured with my Distress Inks. After adding Glossy Accents on her, I just finished with a couple of charms..

This page is for the theme 'Nostalgia' I don't why that always makes me think of clocks?? But who knows how my brain works.....I used 'Scripts and Timepieces' used to be Elusive Images....thank goodness that Glenda is now Chocolate Baroque Great name, isn't it? And fabulous stamps... The clocks were stamped with VersaMark and clear embossed. The title was stamped in Black and embossed and I've stamped the main image with Archival Coffee. The background is coloured with my Distress Inks and water splattered....

I will be taking a little blogging break....just for a week or so. I just need to take stock and get things sorted here and hopefully make some Art to show you soon.....

Thanks for looking, I will be back and I hope to be able to catch up with everybody very soon..

Morbidly Tarot!

2011-08-01T10:20:00.000+01:00

Hi there! and a happy Monday to you..Can't believe that it's the 1st August already....who is pinching my year?????
Today I have a couple more 'Tip In' pages to show you....these are for altered books, to replace the pages taken out of the book and they follow the theme of the book...
In my groups there were a couple of Gothic type themes and the 'Morbidly Tarot' set available for a limited time from the lovely Emily here fitted the bill...

The theme for this one is 'Gothic' i simply stamped and clear embossed the image and then created the background with Distress Inks....After doodling a bit I was very brave and wrote the words MYSELF!!!

The theme for this one is 'Dark Angels' Love ♥♥♥ the 'High Priestess' stamp! I created a 'painty' background using the lush Dylusions paints available here

This is what it looked like after painting with a baby wipe and a bit of finger painting!
I stamped the image onto a separate piece of card and coloured her in with my Promarkers. To 'blend' her in a bit with the background I created some Black and Gold circles round the edges... A bit more doodling and more handwriting!! and then I was done...

Thank you for your enquiries about Jess, we thought she was improving, but she has been sick the last couple of days, so I think it'll mean another visit to the Vet for her :( Her blood test showed nothing, but there is a sign that she may suffer from kidney problems in the future....

Thanks for looking, I'm off very soon to spend some time with my lovely friend Gez I'll be back soon..

More Tip Ins!!

2011-07-29T06:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
I'd like to share another 2 'Tip Ins' today....I have so enjoyed this swap! I only have another couple to do and will really miss making them.......

This is for a Tim Holtz themed page...One of my favourite stamp sets...love ♥♥♥ the Umbrella Man! All the stamps are from the same set. I stamped and clear embossed the main images and then gold embossed the words. I blended Distress Inks on hte background, trying to get the dark Blue at the top! I then water splattered and added some Glossy Accents Raindrops!

I thought that this could be used as a 'Fashion' Page..Using one of my first Timmy stamps..she is HUGE! I coloured her with Promarkers and used DIs to colour the base.
And here is a background I made using my latest purchase...Dyan's 'Dylusions' Paints...oh they are scrummy...

Using a baby wipe and then finger painting! I added splatters and circles from my pot lids! I would show you the finished page...but my camera battery has just died! So I'll be back with that very soon...

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a good Friday....

ps...did I tell you I'm off to Harrogate next month...NO?? I am sooo excited I am doing a Starbook workshop on the 20th August and then the next Saturday on my birthday...and my birthday present off Bry :-) I get to do a workshop with the lovely and talented Kate Crane.....how lucky am I?? I am very, very lucky to be doing workshops with some very special friends and I will be getting more excited (if that is possible!!) as time goes on!! S xxx

Gorgeous Girl!!

2011-07-28T06:00:00.004+01:00

Hi there!
I needed a card for a very dear friend and work colleague.........she was off on holiday on her birthday, so you would think that given the extra time to make the card I'd have it done in plenty of time....Ohhh no...I finished this late on Monday night ready to take to work on Tuesday...but I am very happy and relieved to say she loved it and is definitely going to keep it...
Here it is...

I used the digi stamp 'Grace Standing' available here she is a gorgeous girl, isn't she?

I used a Go Kreate frame for her and the matts. She is coloured with my ProMarkers. I cut a couple a corners with my trusty 'bug whilst I had it out...The circles are an EK Success border punch which I've punched down each side of a strip of card. The flowers are from a QVC kit as is the little birthday message...the leaves are my favourite Marhta Stewart punch.
I'd like to enter her in the following challenges..
Allsorts.... the theme is 'Free and Easy'
Totally Gorjuss.... the theme is 'Punch or Die'
Clear It Out Tuesday .....the theme is 'Anything Goes'

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a good Thursday :-)
I'll see you again very soon with some more 'Tip Ins'!!

Bookmarks!

2011-07-27T06:00:00.001+01:00

Hi there!
The lovely Heather has organised another swap...YAY!
This time it's for Bookmarks... We had to make 3 different ones and here are mine....
I love reading and looking through my small selection...I think I have nearly as many books as I do stamps....I do have a lot of Murder Mysteries and there was no way I was going to try and make a Bookmark about them....
So I spent several happy hours.....when really I should have been doing something else perusing my books...
Here are what I came up with....

My first is 'Pygmalion' though strictly a play, I am hoping Heather will let me off with it!

I used a lovely Kanban Lady stamp and coloured her with ProMarkers. The background is coloured with Distress Inks and 'water splattered'. I then doodled round the edge and embossed it. I wrote the letters myself....first with pencil, then pen and finally because I wanted them to stand out a bit..an embossing pen and clear embossed them. I went over the background with a favourite Crackle stamp..

My 2nd book is 'A Christmas Carol' well I had to have some Stampotique in somewhere....I have got a Christmas music stamp but couldn't lay my hands on it so I've used a Crafty Individuals one clear embossed and then coloured with DIs. Don't you just love this little guy?? He is 'Oh My Dear' coloured with ProMarkers. I wrote and embossed the lettering again....I had to add another 'BAH' as I had done the first one to far up....

Last, but by no means least...well I had to have 'Alice' didn't I???

I used my new Rubber Alice stamps along with some of Dyan's Legs!!

I used the small set of stamps for the background and clear embossed them and then coloured with DIs and 'water splattered'. Then a bit of doodling and I was done...

All I have to do now is write something on the back about the book and the author...OH and POST them...probably the hardest part....

Thanks for looking and I'll see you soon...

Alice Tags and A 'Tip In'!!

2011-07-26T06:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
Here are my 'Alice' Tags ready to go.....

I had so much fun making these, I can't tell you!! Here is the original post, all I have got to do now is get them to the Post Office....
I thought whilst I had an 'Alice' theme going on I'd show you my latest 'Tip In' page....

I used the wonderful 'Alice' digi stamp by Octopode love her and I now have her in Rubber.........WooHOO..from here

She is coloured with ProMarkers. I have used Distress Inks to colour the background and 'water splattered'. The words are computer generated and I've done a bit of doodling!! I then put Crackle Accents over the words....think I might have to cut the top off all together and use a paintbrush soon...really hard to get out....The Crown is a Martha Stewart punch with Glossy Accents on....

Thanks for looking, I hope you have a good day....I'll see you soon with some Book Marks for Heather's swap....

A Mother's Love! and More!!!

2011-07-25T06:00:00.001+01:00

Hi there and a happy Monday to you :-)
I was just about to show you my latest 'Unity' make, when I realised I hadn't shown last weeks Tag!
So without further ado, here it is......

Totally inspired by the workshop I did with Lindsay....I stamped with Distress Stains. I used one of my favourite kits..'Insightful Meadows' available from the lovely Emily here another kit designed by Donna Dewbury...♥♥♥ it! I used Distress Inks to colour the background. The Flowers are cut with a small circle punch, scrunched up and sprayed with a Distress ReInker mixed with Perfect Pearls and water. I added a few metal 'swirly' bits!! I coloured the lovely fibres with Distress Stains too...
Here is today's 'Unity' make....it started life like this...

And with the aid of some wonderful stamps and inks it ended up like this..

I have used the Unity Store kit 'A Mother's Love' available from the lovely Emily here I have used the background stamp with my non to clean VersaMark pad and clear embossed. I used Distress Inks to colour the background and then stamp and clear emboss the message stamp, which is mounted onto 3D foam...The Butterfly is stamped onto Shrink Plastic and coloured with the same DIs before heating.

I am so pleased with the Flowers...here they are in close up...

I did exactly the same with another Tag only using different colours and embossing with White powder instead of clear. I just used a small circle punch to cut them out, before scrunching and spraying them with a mixture of Distress Re-Inker, Perfect Pearls and water..

The leaves are a favourite Martha Stewart punch..

Thanks for looking, I'll be back tomorrow with a Tip In page or two!

Just off to the Vets now with Jess, with all fingers and toes crossed...

I'll see you soon...

Lindsay's Workshop!

2011-07-24T09:03:00.000+01:00

Morning!
Goodness, where has the week gone?? Seems to have gone in a whirlwind of Vet visits, work and parent visits....huge apologies to Karen and Chris. I haven't got to the Post Office as yet....I'm aiming to do it tomorrow after another Vet visit, poor Jess can't eat after 8pm tonight, she has to have a 'fasting' blood test and we have to try and keep her indoors overnight......Wish me luck!!

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the first of the lovely Lindsay's new workshops and meet up with 'old' and new friends and have a giggle along the way!!
Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I can only show the cards and Tag I created...I know Lindsay has done a blog post, luckily without the flattering photos that she and David took of me....

We made this card with Alcohol Inks sprayed with StazOn spray Ink cleaner (which I have to track down!) The Trees are Timmy stamps and the others are Lindsay designs....the message was supposed to be on 3D foam, but I was too busy nattering or laughing to hear that bit! The ribbon is also coloured with Alcohol Inks...ooh love ♥♥♥ doing this..

Then Lindsay plugged in an iron??? I never use them personally for anything!! Oh and one of her wonderful book pages from Grimm's Fairytales....always love reading these!!! The images were stamped and cleared embossed and then coloured with Distress Stains....then came the 'ironing' bit...we ironed over a piece of brown paper until the embossing was removed......great fun! The flowers and leaf were also coloured with the Stains..

This is the only one I'm not sure about.......we used Tissue Tape to make a fringe and then Lindsay presented us with a circle die cut which we also had to cover with Tissue Tape....some more successfully than others!!!

This is my very favourite!! We used a lovely embossed card blank.....which I think I managed to turn upside down.....and Timmy's Resist paper and Stains...Don't you just love those Flowers?? Die cut circles scrunched and sprayed with Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists. The 'twirly' bits with very thin pieces of the Resist, which my friend Elaine very lovingly cut for me. I knew if I tried to cut anything that thin that I'd just rip it in two! (which I have done since!!) These were twirled round my pokey tool and stuck underneath the Flowers.

We finished the day with one of my favourite things to make, a Tag....using the Stains to stamp with to get a water colour effect...gorgeous stamps by Darkroom Door....Lindsay also showed us a very nifty trick using a piece of card dipped into the Stains and pressed onto the Tag to create extra 'stalks'...

Thanks to everyone for making my day so enjoyable and to Lindsay and David especially who work so hard to make sure that everyone enjoys the day...I'm looking forward to the next one Lindsay, can't wait to see you both again xx

Thanks for looking, I'll be back later.......

Winners!

2011-07-17T11:49:00.000+01:00

Hi there.....
Here are my 3 winners for the 'Get 'Em While You Can' blog hop.......

Thank you for all the lovely comments......I have used the Random Number thingy to pick the winners....but being techy challenged I don't know how to put it on here.....

The winner of the first set of stamps is......

Comment Number 2...............GEZ

The second set of stamps goes to....

Comment number 4.................KJJC

And the winner of my 'Canvas' is .............. comment number 14.................Chris

I wish you all could have won...thank you for all the lovely comments......

Keep an eye open I may just be doing a Giveaway if my own very soon........

Have a good Sunday and I'll be back soon with photos of my Lindsay workshop yesterday...

Get 'EM While You Can Blog Hop!!

2011-07-16T09:07:00.005+01:00

This post will remain at the top until next Saturday, please scroll down for newer posts....
Hi there!!
AND Welcome to our Make The Day Special 'Get 'Em While You Can!' Blog Hop.
Emily is reducing some lines :-( but only to make space for more delicious goodies :-)
You should have arrived here from my lovely teamie Poppit if you haven't, please go to the MTDS Blog here where all my very talented friends are listed and they are showcasing some of the stamps and some fantastic creations....
I decided to use the wonderful Smeared Ink Set 'Morbidly Adorable Tarot' for my make and GIVEAWAY...but more of that later.....here she is in all her glory...

This started life as a 7"x5" flat Canvas board

I coloured it with a Pink acrylic paint using a baby wipe, then added some more colours...it looked a bit too bright, so I painted over with White acrylic paint.I then added some lines with an old credit card and some circles with some bottle tops...I coloured round the edges of these with my ProMarkers and also doodled round the edge of the Canvas. The image is also coloured with ProMarkers...
Now to the really good bit....
The ever generous and lovely Emily has given me not one, but TWO stamp sets to give away :-)

Both Unity Store Kits this one is 'Life Becoming'

And this one is 'Quiet Essence'...These retail at £16.50, so are really good value to buy, but I am GIVING them away......all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post before next Saturday 16th July and I will pick TWO winners....I'll even include a Tag (as yet unmade!!) using the stamps for each winner...Both of these sets are brand new....

Also a third lucky??? person will win my little Canvas board :-)

No catches...just leave me a comment to win.....

Please check out Emily as she has some fantastic stamps and wonderful service...

Thanks for looking, I hope you have enjoyed our 'Blog Hop'

See you soon......

Bits and Pieces!

2011-07-11T17:41:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
Hope you are having a good Monday....

I have a couple of things to show you today....A couple of Tags to go with my Giveaway Stamps here
and my very, very late, not filled in Calendar pages!

I like to play with backgrounds :-) and also like to get extra mileage, if I can out of my stamps, so I decided to use the same set of stamps with different coloured backgrounds.....

Here is my first one, a bit PINK, but with flashes of my Orange!

I think this is more 'me'!! I dusted off my brayer after watching my Barbara Grey DVDs, this lady is incredible! So armed with my Big 'N' Juicy Inkpads, which I have had forever and hardly used, I started to play....I need a lot more practice, but I had such fun, scrunching up copier paper and rolling the inked brayer over it and then over the Tag!

I used the stamp sets in my Giveaway....namely

'Quiet Essence' and 'Life Becoming' both available from the lovely Emily here. I used the background stamp to add a little more texture. Don't you just love that sentiment? Stamped, clear embossed and Glossy Accented, as are the Flowers after colouring with my ProMarkers. The Bird I stamped onto Shrink Plastic, something else I've not played with in a while!

Whilst I was playing I thought I'd better get my Calendar pages done. It's been a while since I have joined in, but if you have a look at the very lovely and talented Kate here you will see lots of great Art and inspiration.I started with a Pale Blue Acrylic paint for my background applied with a baby wipe, what would we do without them?? and then applied other colours over the top, splattered Black paint and of course there had to be some Orange splatters didn't there?

Before adding the Orange splatters....credit card lines and bottle tops!
And here they are....

I have used some lovely {Ippity} stamps again available from Emily here

I have used the 'What Matters Most' set and of course my very favourite Unity set 'The Artist In You' as made an appearance!

Here they are individually...

Life is so hectic for me these days, and I'm now thinking of the things that really matter to me, such as my home and my wonderful friends who really keep me going and I think these pages reflect how I feel, I definitely do take 'One Day At A Time'

Thanks for looking, I'll be back later in the week.......

Another Tip In!!

2011-07-10T10:10:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
I can show you my next 'Tip In' page now......
This is for the theme of 'Moon, Shadows' My first thought was to use Alcohol Inks and Fairies....after checking with my swapee what she was expecting I tried Alcohol Inked backgrounds and managed to fill my recycling bin with lots of card!!!! I decided to go with my trusty Distress Inks and Lindsay Mason Fairy stamps...

Here is what I came up with....

The Trees are a Tim Christmas stamp inked and clear embossed. the lovely 'Mushroomy Houses' are by Lavinia The fairy is a Lindsay stamp......don't know who makes the Moon shadow stamp, but it's ever so useful!! I stamped and clear embossed a Lindsay 'wavy' stamp and then coloured with Distress Inks and water splattered! The little houses are coloured with my ProMarkers...

I am very happy and relived that my swapee likes her page!

Before I go, I should make a quick mention about Lavinia Stamps I have loved this little stamp for ages and bought it at the NEC last November......As is the way of things, these days this is the first time I have used it and I was carefully taking it off the acrylic block it split in two...........I can't tell you how disappointed I was...I sent them an e-mail on Monday and Tracey very kindly said if I returned it she would replace it....now I had no receipt or anything!! I couldn't post it until Tuesday and I got a lovely new stamp on Thursday....how good is that?? So I just want to say a big 'thank you' to Tracey for the fantastic service and I will look after my little stamp....oh and I'm sure I'll be spending with you again!!

Thanks for looking....don't forget to look at my MTDS Blog Hop Post....I've got 2 sets of stamps to give away!

Alice Again!!

2011-07-06T22:20:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
I know I promised another 'Tip In' page but I finished an 'Alice' Tag and I had such fun getting messy making this I thought I'd share this with you instead......

These are for an 'Alice In Wonderland' Tag swap on UKScrappers...

Here are the backgrounds I created for the Tags....I have been totally inspired by the lovely and very, very talented Kate Crane I got her DVDs a couple of weeks ago and oh my they are FANTASTIC, if you are thinking of getting them, my advice is 'Get them NOW!!' I decided to use a background technique she has used in the DVDs... I painted Pink acrylic paint onto my Tags in a very thin coat with a baby wipe...then came the messiness :-) I started Finger Painting with some Green, Red and White paints :-) I then added some Black and Gold lines using an old credit card and some bottle tops dipped in paint. I then 'splattered' with some watered down Black and White paints...great fun!!

And here she is......I used this fantastic 'Alice' Digi stamp by Octopode....isn't she fabby?? I coloured her with ProMarkers and added some Dyan legs. I tried to 'ground' her a little and put one of her feet onto a piece of card that I doodled on...I doodled round the edges of the Tag and added a little crown, which is a Marhta Stewart punch. The text is computer generated and I've doodled round the edges to match.

I had so much fun making this and I hope my swapees like them as much as I enjoyed making them..

I have just found Lily's new Challenge blog! She is the designer of 'Alice'. The first theme for this new challenge is 'Alice' :-) so I'm going to enter my Tag! Thanks Lily who has also got some great Blog candy :-)

Thanks for looking..

Dream Big!

2011-07-04T09:04:00.001+01:00

Morning, goodness where is the time going?? I can't believe it's July already and we are in the middle of Clearance at work, as well as all the renovations....busier than ever, also everything is being moved round (sometimes more than once or twice!!) so when someone asks me where anything is I usually have a very blank expression on my face!!

Today I have my Unity make to show you....

A very GREEN card :-) Unfortunately I made it before I checked to see if the lovely Emily had it in stock....luckily she has now let me off the naughty step and the good news is, she will be having more in very soon....
I have used one of Unity Itty Bitty stamp sets...normally available here I've stamped it on a shape cut with my trusty 'bug, embossed it and coloured it in with my Sakura Gelly Roll pens....I've forgotten how good these are!! The little sentiment is stamped and clear embossed. The paper pad that I have used came free with a magazine...lovely papers. The scroll is a Timmy die and I've just added a flower. The teeny little Butterflies are one of my latest purchases....a little punch set that I got here along with a few sale stamps...well it would have been rude not to really....as always fantastic service from The Glitter Pot Thank you..

Please check back with me later in the week, Emily is having to say 'Goodbye' to some of her ranges of stamps, to make room for lots more lovely stock.. The good news is...we are going to be having a very special blog hop..I am so excited, because I have stamps, lovely stamps to GIVE AWAY and also the piece that I will be making to show on the day of the 'Hop' Don't know what it is yet, but I'm sure all will come out right by weekend....

I will be back later with another 'Tip In' for my swap on UKScrappers...

Thanks for looking, have a lovely day..

*Edited to add I am entering this in the 'All Things Unity' Challenge, where the theme is 'Butterflies'.*

A Tag and

2011-06-28T08:56:00.003+01:00

A Grand Day Out!! With lots of photos!!!!
Hi there! I had the most fantastic day yesterday, but firstly my Tag.........

It seems ages since I made an Inky, Stampy Tag....so last Sunday I sat down to get a little 'messy' :-)
I have used lots of my favourite things, including Unity Stamps, Distress Inks and of course clear embossing powder and Glossy Accents.....

I have used the Unity Store Kit 'Life Becoming' available from the lovely Emily here and of course my very favourite set 'The Artist In You' also available here

I swooshed some Distress Inks on my craft sheet and sprayed water onto them to create droplets...I then dipped the Tag in several times and dried in between with my heat tool. The images are all stamped and embossed and I've added Glossy Accents to a couple of the words.....
I have brushed a couple of colours of Perfect Pearls over the Tag, which gives it a lovely sheen, not seen too well in the photo!
The Butterfly is painted with Perfect Pearls, mixed with a little water....
I put the ribbon between 2 metal holders as there a was a little gap between the foliage and leaf stamp!
A couple of Primas and I was done! This Tag is HUGE......I'll have to make sure I take a template of it, as I can't remember where I got them from!!
*edited to add....I'm entering this into the 'All Things Unity' challenge where the theme is 'Butterflies' *
*and also Bloggers Challenge where the them is 'Things with Wings* Thank you Gez, for the link!

I was lucky enough to spend the day yesterday with my wonderful friend Gez and I'm very pleased to say she liked her Tag!
Here are some pictures of our day........

Here is the gorgeous, very smiley Tom..we collected him from Nursery and stopped off at the park on our way home....

Here he is on the 'BIG' slide!!

Gez and I met through the sale of my stamps on e-Bay, here we are in front of the very same dresser that I saw the stamp on!

Here I am with 'the stamp!' that started a wonderful friendship...thank you sweetheart...

We stopped off at Dawn Bibby's shop in the afternoon and met the very lovely Jane....she always makes me smile :-) and I just had to have a piccy of her in those boots....gotta love them!!!

I admired this Journal page soo much that Gez gave it to me....it never fails to raise a smile :-)

and some lovely ART off Tom, who has obviously got his clever mum's genes....

And last, but by no means least, my gorgeous Canvas, isn't she beautiful? Thanks sweetheart, I shall treasure her always...
Thank you sweetheart, for the most fantastic day, that flew by....I'm hoping we get to do it again, very soon.....
Thanks for looking, have a lovely day and I'll catch up with you very soon....

Race For Life 2011!

2011-06-25T07:26:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
Goodness what a week........I've had no chance to do anything......I've hit the ground running each day!!

Last Sunday I took part in my annual 'Race For Life' in the beautiful surroundings of Tatton Park. The Park is situated in the glorious Cheshire countryside.....whilst waiting to enter the park we were admiring the fabulous houses (most of which were behind HUGE Iron gates!) If you are ever over Cheshire way, the Park is definitely worth a visit and we have some gorgeous Deers at winter time and lovely little lambs now!

Here are some pictures of my 'Race'. I did the 10k in just over 90 minutes, which I was pleased with, as I am certainly not as fit as I was last year!

Ready to GO!!!

This is the only day of the year i wear PINK! As you can see it was just a sea of PINK!

Finished!!!!

We then went to see mum and dad who took us out for a meal.....to celebrate our Anniversary and both of their Birthday's plus Father's Day....
I don't think I have one decent picture of my dad.....He wasn't at all happy at being taken away from his beloved cricket on the TV, but if mum didn't insist, he'd just spend all day, every day with his eyes glued to the box!!

Mum, dad, hiding behind a menu and Bry...

Me and mum and dad......I did take a photo of them both, but dad is pulling such a horrid face, I won't show it.....

Thanks for all the sponsorship money, I'll have raised over £100 by the time it all comes in.....so a big heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone...

I am off to spend the day with mum, but I'm hoping to meet up with my FAB friend Gez on Monday and really need to get organised.....I'll be back soon.

Have a great weekend, hope the weather is better where you are.......

Life Becoming!

2011-06-20T09:23:00.001+01:00

Morning! What a lovely Monday morning it is too....
Today I'd like to show you a really quick and easy card...

I have used 2 of the Unity Store Kits, 'Life Becoming' and 'Quiet Essence' available from the lovely Emily here I started with a 6"x6" card blank and covered it with patterned paper (I think PaperMania) and I used the lovely Scroll stamp from my most favourite kit...'The Artist In You', again available from Emily here stamped in Sage Distress Ink...I really don't know what I'd do without this kit, it's so useful! The Frame is stamped and embossed and I've just stamped and clear embossed the Sentiment. The Flower is stamped on to printed paper (K&CO this time!) twice and layered, with just a little Glossy Accents in the middle..

To show how versatile these stamps are, I have made a Tag using the same stamp kits....

I had so much fun making this! Didn't have any idea what I had in mind when I started, just knew which stamps and inks I wanted to use! I have used the very same kits as in the card....see that Scroll has made another appearance! I stamped and clear embossed the background stamp and one of the Flowers, then coloured all over with Distress Stains and blended Distress Inks over the top. I then 'water splattered' stamped the Bird and embossed again! The Flower is stamped onto the same paper as before and layered.
I have just embossed the Scrolls and top of the Tag with White embossing powder. All that was left was to add some ribbon!
And there you have it! Two different things using the same stamps! I love how versatile Unity stamps are!

Thanks for looking, have a good Monday. I'll see you soon with some 'Race For Life' photos.

Dad!!

2011-06-18T20:56:00.002+01:00

Hi there!
I seem to live by that saying 'If It Wasn't For The Last Minute Nothing Would Get Done!' Mum calls me 'Last Minute Minnie!' I blame it on Bry...he is so laid back he is horizontal!! and some of it has rubbed off....
It's Father's Day here in the UK tomorrow and I've just finished dad's card!

And for a change, this has turned out exactly like I planned it to!!!
I have used my lovely new Kanban stamps.....from the QVC TSV a couple of weeks ago...will be using these a LOT! I stamped the Anchor and Bird first and then masked them and stamped the Lighthouse over the top and then clear embossed it all...
The background papers are by HOTP from a very old QVC TSV....I just cut the striped paper and stuck the Black over the top and then added the border cut from another piece of paper...I have so much of these papers, so this is a good way to use them up....
Hey!! I've wrote the sentiment myself.....very nervously, quite pleased with it, even if it is a bit uneven!! I then just added a couple of buttons threaded with Bakers Twine and knotted some Twine across the top..

I am entering this into 2 challenges...
Papertake.......theme is 'Dads and Lads'

Stamptacular Sunday Just in time for this one!! theme is 'Dads or Grads'

Thanks for looking.....
I'll be back tomorrow, with hopefully, Race For Life piccies!!!

Tip In's!!

2011-06-18T09:10:00.000+01:00

Hi there! Goodness what a week I've had.......glad it's Saturday, going to have a rest today....and hope that the weather is fine for tomorrow.....I'm taking part in the 'Race For Life' tomorrow, and fine weather is always a bonus!!...

I love taking part in swaps and I'm always on the look out for something a bit different.....and 'Tip In's' are certainly that......

They are really aimed at Altered Book lovers.....just have a little read here and Craft Stamper Web Extras have a good article here The very lovely Netty on UK Scrappers is running the swap and the pages we have to decorate are 7"x5" and have to be flat and to the swapees chosen theme....Let me tell you, 7"x5" is an anwfully big area to fill!!!
Here are the ones I've made so far.....

My theme is 'Paris' and I had to use my favourite stamp again, didn't I?? She is coloured with ProMarkers and the background is coloured with my Adirondak pads and water splattered. The wax seal is by 7Gypsies..

This one is for 'Beatrix Potter' I have had this little stamp for ages and knew it would come in useful at some point! I found a couple of book pages and pictures that I could print off and ripped the edges and coloured them with my Distress Inks..I've coloured the background with Distress Inks too...I'm sure I have some 'Button' stamps somewhere...but of course couldn't lay my hand on them! So I used a letter 'O' from one of my many Alpha sets and just drew some centres on with a pen...I just did a little edging then with my Brown Pitt pens love ♥♥♥ these.
I know the pages are supposed to be completely flat, but I just had to make that stamp into a little card, as it really is small..

Here it is opened....

This one is a 'Van Gogh' page....the first painting I thought of was 'Sunflowers'....these are designed by the very talented Sheena Douglass I just stamped both Sunflower heads and leaves and made my own 'stalks'! Colured in with ProMarkers.

This one is for a 'Wizard of Oz' theme....the wonderful image is by Octopode I am not a huge fan of Digi stamps...love my Rubba :-) but I couldn't resist these images....

Here is Peter Pan :-)

I have really enjoyed making them so far......it has been a challenge at times!!

If you like swapping too, pop over and see Heather a lovely and very talented lady who is running a new swap....'Book Marks' be sure to tell her I sent you!!!! :-) :-)

Have a good Saturday and I'll see you soon...

Quiet Essence!

2011-06-13T09:13:00.000+01:00

Hi there! Gosh it's cold and wet today.....hope it's better where you are.
I have my Unity card to share with you today....

I made it with one of the Unity Store Kits....'Quiet Essence' available from the lovely Emily here I have used this set a few times, but unusually for me, not the Flower!! The base card is 6"x6" and before I covered it with some pretty background paper, (which I think is PaperMania) I stamped and embossed one of the sentiments. It still needed a bit of something more, so I reached for my all time favourite Unity kit 'The Artist In You', also available from Emily here it's automatic that I reach for this one now!! I stamped and embossed the Flourish down the side..
I stamped and cut out the background following the 'squares'! The Flower is stamped twice and coloured with my ProMarkers. I then cut it out...really easy design to cut, even for a scissor challenged person such as myself! and 3D the smaller part of the Flower using silicone glue..some ribbon and gems and I was done!
Thanks for looking..I hope you have a lovely Monday. I'm just about to make a move to my crafty space :-) I am getting inky and messy today making ATCs and 'Tip In' pages for a swap...more info about these here something a bit different for me and 7"x5" is quite a big area to fill! I'll hopefully be back later to show you my results!

Happy Birthday Gez!

2011-06-09T22:13:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
Yesterday was my lovely friend Gez's Birthday. I was lucky enough to meet up with her on Monday to give her, her present, card and Grungy Book :-)

Now I can share the card that I have made her, the pages that I made and the lovely photos when she opened the book. She is delighted with it, thank you ladies you all helped put a smile on a very special lady's face....

Here she is opening it....

A lovely smile that says how pleased she is with it....

Her theme was...'Be Happy'.....she wanted us to make pages that made us happy....how lovely is that?

Here are my pages.....

The original one.... I felt bad because she really didn't want to see her page and I couldn't resist showing it to her....Using my favourite stamp coloured with my ProMarkers and then I coloured the background with my Adirondak Inks and water splodged!! All that was needed then was the charm, wax seal and metal word.
Seeing as though she had seen this one, I thought it would be good to make her a couple that she hasn't seen....

For this one I used the Timmy 'Kraft Resist' pad to cover my Mountboard and then stamped one of my favourite stamps 'Pattern Pieces'. Coloured in with my ProMarkers and then I have added a bit of colour with my Pastel sticks.

My favourite Sugar Nellie stamp...she is gorgeous.... 'Joy' Coloured in with ProMarkers and I've used a textured piece of Mountboard for the base so that I could add a little texture with my Pastels. The sentiment is by Crescendoh. I have just added a couple of flowers to finish....oh and a bit of Glossy Accents!!

Thanks Gez for a great theme, I loved making these pages for you....

Lastly here is her Birthday card....Joy again!!!

She was stamped onto textured card and coloured and then I added a few Pastel colours! Sentiment is a favourite Penny Black one and the gorgeous flower (only for you sweetheart!!) is a Prima one....

I hope you had a lovely day and we get to meet up again very soon.

Thanks for looking....:-)

I Don't Normally.............

2011-06-07T21:16:00.000+01:00

Do PINK.............
Hi there!
Now most of you know that this is normally a PINK free zone..........but I do make the exception when I make something for my fantastic friend Gez

I have been wanting to make her a Canvas for ages and when the very talented and lovely Lindsay let me have some copies of her incredible drawing of a 'Guardian Angel' I knew I wanted to put her on a Canvas... I put book pages on the base of the Canvas, I hope Gez can't read them, as I seem to remember the novel being quite racy..........Over this I put some Gesso and stamped in parts, which create the White 'resist'. I don't have much in the way of Pink paint or accents...so I ended up mixing the paint colours...it is quite bright!!!! I coloured in her in with my ProMarkers and added 'splodges' of Gilding Flakes. All I needed than was some Glitter and Beadazzles. I hand wrote the words with a Black Sharpie pen and went round it with a glitter pen.

I was lucky enough to meet up with her yesterday with her lovely little man Tom and her gorgeous daughter Rachel....

I think she liked it!!

Tom and Rachel.

Clever boy with a lovely smile :-)

Lovely people that I'm honoured to call friends :-)

I also gave Gez her 'Grungy Book' and girls she is absolutely delighted with it......I wish you could all have seen her face when she opened it...I will share those pictures and my pages tomorrow.....

Oh and before I forget

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

sweetheart for tomorrow, I hope you get totally spoilt..

Wishes And Kisses!

2011-06-06T08:23:00.000+01:00

Hi there! and a good, if wet :( Monday morning to you.....

I have a really quick card to show you.......I'm off to meet my lovely friend Gez today and don't feel at all organised!! No real surprise there then!!

I used the FAB Unity Store kit 'Wishes & Kisses' available from the lovely Emily here
I have just stamped one of the Hearts in red ink and clear embossed....it took me longer to try and get them straight and even than anything else!! The sentiment is stamped and clear embossed. I just added some Velvet ribbon and some stick on gems...
It's mine and Bry's anniversary this week...15 years.....eek..where has that time gone??? He likes very 'unfussy' so I thought this would be ideal :-)
I hope you have a great Monday....I'm giving Gez her Grungy Book today, so I'll be able to share photos of the pages later.....

Thanks for looking....

My Lovely Mum!

2011-06-05T10:06:00.001+01:00

Morning!
Wasn't the weather glorious yesterday? It's pouring down now!!
I spent the day with my lovely mum and dad.....dad wasn't so well, so the day didn't go quite as planned, but we made the most of it.

I love my hats and mum loves trying them on...........not all of them fit, as mum has a very small head...but she was rather taken with my bargain Liz Claiborne hat.....

It was her Birthday last week and I realised I hadn't taken a photo of her card, let alone blogged it!!

I used the 'brushless water colour' technique.....with my gorgoeus Darkroom Door 'Friendship Flowers' inked with my Adirondak inkpads I sparyed with water before stamping. I then stamped the sentiment in Versafine and clear embossed. The gorgeous 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is by Penny Black 'Special Time'
For the background, I have used Ivory coloured Pearlescent paper stamped with a LaBlanche border stamp and then smudges with a piece of Cut 'n' Dry. A couple of stick on gems and some gorgoeus velvet ribbon (sent to me in a recent swap) and I was done.
My mum had a lovely 88th Birthday and is a real inspiration...Love you lots mum.....

I'd better get my bum off this chair and get organised, hoping to meet my lovely friend Gez tomorrow and want to make sure I have something to take with me.........

I'll see you soon, have a great Sunday.....

Some ATCs......

2011-06-04T07:00:00.000+01:00

Hi there.
I had a great afternoon yesterday playing and getting messy :-) I needed some ATCs to swap, so I thought I'd better get on with them....
I felt the need for inspiration, so I turned to one of my favourite books 'Rubber Stamping ATCs' I have had this for ages and love just looking through....I found an ATC made with Tims 'Pattern Pieces' stamp set....

I stamped and clear embossed the image...she is HUGE!! and coloured her with my ProMarkers. I got some Derwent pastels at a really good price a while ago, thinking they were pencils....I wasn't sure what to do with them and when I was reading my book I realised I could colour the background with them.....I am really pleased with the new (to me!) effect. I was able to smudge and blend them with my finger. I then embossed round the edge and added a bit of ribbon...a little flower brad and black enamel accents for her buttons...

I used the same colours and everything in this 2nd one and it has turned out different!

I am doing an online colouring course with the very talented Glenda Waterworth and she uses Pastel pencils....I'll just have to stick with my lovely ProMarkers and my Derwent Inktense pencils...

I thought I'd see if one of my favourite Sugar Nellie stamp would be ok on an ATC...Joy...and she fitted perfectly!

Simply stamped, clear embossed and coloured with my ProMarkersI used my Pastels to create the background again.

I just added a little knot and some writing...

Thanks for looking, I had such great fun making these, I hope my swapees like them as much as I enjoyed making them :-)
Oh and if anyone does fancy a swap....love ♥♥♥ swapping with friends old and new!! just shout...If Mr Blogger won't let you comment my e-mail is on my profile, just drop me a line...I'd love to hear from you...

I'll see you soon, I hope the sun shines on your weekend.. :-)

Just A Couple More..........

2011-06-03T15:18:00.000+01:00

Grungy Book pages, that is!
Hi there!
Karen left me a comment yesterday to say she was looking for her pages....well I didn't want to post them, before she got them............but seeing as she looked and couldn't see hers....well here they are.........

I LOVE ♥♥♥ this stamp.... Karen's theme was 'Build It' I figured this had the Eiffel Tower on it, so it sort of counts and I know she loves Paris. She is coloured with my ProMarkers and then I have used Adirondak Inks to colour the background and sorayed them with water, before clear embossing...I then just added the wax seal, a little 'Eiffel' charm and a metal word.....

For her next one I thought I'd play with my Claudine Hellmuth House stamps and make a little whimiscal one for her....

As you can see, true to form I have used my favourite colours :-) I just added the extra little words stamped onto spare bits of Mountboard and glossy accented. All I needed was a little clock charm and a key....which I have alcohol inked......
I hope you like these pages Karen and don't mind me sharing them....I know you will love the book when you do get it...

Thanks for looking, I'm off to get a bit inky....I have a few ATCs to make and post.....

See you soon...

Grungy Pages

2011-06-02T19:54:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
I can now show you some of the pages I made for my Grungy Book Swap.......

Here is Cheryl's. Her theme was 'Journey Through Time' I used Paper Artsy Images, Distress Inks and lots of Wax.....

Here is Joanne's... she chose 'Months Of The Year' as her theme and I did 'October' for her....Tim Holtz stamps, lots of Crackle Glaze and a little badge I found on e-Bay...

I made a couple of pages for Netty....'Inspired By Nature' Unfortunately she was unable to take part in the swap, but I had enough pages to make her a nice little book...

I used PaperArtsy stamps....the Rose is a big background stamp...I've had it almost as long as I've been stamping!!

A couple of pages for Elaine, whose theme was 'Magical and Mystical' I did try and make them Pink for her...but somehow they had an Orangey tinge!!!

I was lucky enough to be there on Sunday when she opened her book and she is absolutely delighted with it...

Zoe's page....whose theme was 'Steampunk in the Sky..or with Wings' I wasn't entirely sure what to make when I made this....having done a couple of Steampunk things since..this may turned out differently.. Background are Distress Stains and Timmy stamps and a Graphics45 'body' with lots of crackle paint.. I will share the rest of my pages as soon as I know people have received them :-)

Thanks girls for a great swap, I hope you enjoyed it and like your finished books....

Thanks for looking. :-)

What a Busy Weekend!!

2011-06-01T10:21:00.001+01:00

Hi there!
This weekend I was lucky enough to attend 2 full days of workshops with the very lovely Sheena Douglass.....gosh what fun we had...lots of laughs...some mild hysteria and lots of wonderful inspiration from the lady herself...

We were 'paint fusioning'......oh my Sheena had an uphill task on her hands with me.....I'm not known for my painting talent.....but she did it...sometimes I think she did despair...but we had lots of laughs along the way...

Saturday morning our first task was to create a Tag..easy I hear you cry...AHH...

We crackled the background.....worked first time, I was sooo impressed! Then when I looked at the stamp, it looked like small grasses....we had to extend it and add 'Lavender' blossoms.....I would have been ok, but my grasses were a bit thickly painted....so I had Heather instead of Lavender...but I like it...We used Sheena's gorgeous sparkly embossing powder round the edges..

Next up was a little topper...I so enjoyed making this..we 'splodged' the background with Light Green and then added the Flowers with the end of a cotton bud....the Blue dots were just added with the round end of the paint brush....
It was lovely to see Chris who popped in, I think knowing I would probably be there......I hope you had a lovely weekend and I'm thinking of you today....xxx
In the afternoon came the candle........I did feel like hiding under the table at this point......
We used the lovely Daisy stamps with Black Staz-On.....and it didn't matter when we missed bits of the stamp as we painted over them...

First with Pink paint and then White and Yellow for the centres with a bit of Brown added later....

I am soo pleased with the end result, I never thought I could achieve anything like this...Thank you Sheena....
I was really pleased after I'd painted my Daisies....Sheena the offered to add some Green fronds....

She did need Chocolate before too long....

Here we are at the end of the day...

Sunday brought more stamping and colouring in..........and also another chance to meet up with my fantastic, lovely friends Elaine and her wonderful mum Kath...
We created a watercolour scene using 'Big 'N' Juicy' inkpads...

and fluffy clouds! This is all ready for me to add Daisies at the bottom.....I did have quite a psychedelic background at the bottom, but we were shown how to hide all of that with Black Soot DI blending!

The afternoon brought a mirror to paint leaves and berries on..........

This brought lots of hysterical laughter from me.........at one point I was concentrating so much..trying to get it right...I heard Elaine laughing and when I eventually looked up she said that I'd had my tongue sticking out...concentrating soo much....really glad she didn't have her camera.......I think you can probably tell which leaves Sheena painted and which I did.....she did say some people 'got' it first time and others took longer.....think I definitely come in the 2nd category...but I intend to practice more....and I will get there....

We created the berries with thumb prints of Pink paint....I didn't think my thumbs were the right size or shape......but it looked a lot better after we added the Blue with the rubber end of a pencil....and then the White highlights....
I know I need a lot more practice....but I thought I'd try at home on Sunday morning before I left for the 2nd workshop with some of my lovely Flourish Gerbera Daisies, available from Emily here

I was quite pleased with how it turned out......this is a piece of 4"x4" Mountboard destined for a FatBook swap on UKS....

Thank you so much Sheena for a fantastic weekend and also the lovely and very talented ladies who attended the workshops and kept me going with words of encouragement and chocolate.....and who coped with my groans and sometimes hysterical laughter....

A GRAND WEEKEND!
Thanks for looking.....I'll catch up with you soon...

A Very Grand Day Out!

2011-05-27T07:38:00.001+01:00

Hi there!
A couple of weeks ago I had a lovely 'Grand Day Out' with my lovely friend Gez and her gorgeous little man Tom.......
It was very wet, but that didn't dampen our spirits!

Feeding the ducks......very important!

What lovely people, with lovely smiles :-)

After feeding the ducks and playing in 'Mr Bubbles' it was time for lunch!

It was Gez and Mark's 21st Wedding Anniversary last week. CONGRATULATIONS.....sorry sweetheart that my card was so late.....I so enjoyed making this card for them both..using one of my favourite PaperBag Studio stamps...'May You Love' Mine is actually a wooden mounted one......I have had it so long, don't know if they still do it wood mounted! I do love ♥♥♥ my wooden stamps! It was stamped and clear embossed and then coloured with my trusty ProMarkers.....I then coloured the background with my Adriondak Ink pads...and water splattered! The ribbon I was given, came from a box of choccies I think! Everyone that knows me saves me things 'that might come in handy'!! Hate throwing anything away! The sentiment is made up of little StudioG letters...the inside reads 'of your life'..I can't get anything straight! but I quite like the look of 'haphazard' stamping!!!

Very special 'Thanks' to Gez and Tom for my fantastic day....looking forward to our next one, hopefully not too far away........

Grungy Books that need to be posted are all parcelled up ready for me to take to the Post Office today :-) Any 'hand delivered' ones will be handed over as soon as I can.....

At Long Last..............

2011-05-23T21:36:00.000+01:00

Look..........what's on my desk..........

Oh YES, Grungy Books.........almost ready to post.......

I have been making the back pages today...

'Bingo' splatters and Wendy Vecchi :-)

Here they all are......

I'll get the ones I need to post to the Post Office in the next couple of days...........just need to sort out bubble wrap etc for them.........

Thank you to all my 'ladies' who have taken part, coped with everything I have thrown at them and have been very patient. I hope you have all enjoyed my swap....we have some truly stunning books girls.

A great big heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to all of you...

So This Is........

2011-05-23T09:40:00.001+01:00

LOVE!!

Morning from a very cold, drizzly, very damp Stockport.......

Today I have a card to share with you that I have made with some of the new stamps that the lovely Emily has sent me.. thanks Em, love these ♥♥♥

I have used 'Garden Wall Frame' by Layers Of Color, available from Emily here This stamp is made to fit in the Nesties shape.......it took me longer to get the image on the shape than anything else!! I ended up stamping and embossing and then lightly sticking the nestie to it! I then drew round the Nesties and cut out my Purple paper layer...it doesn't look too bad for a scissor challenged person such as myself! I have coloured in with my ProMarkers and (of course!) Glossy Accented the Bird. The sentiment is an {ippity} stamp 'So This Is Love' also available from Emily here A paper flower and some lovely ribbon (which I think was round a box of choccies.....I never throw anything away!!) completes the card....

I seem to be in a 'Purple phase' at the moment.......I have made a card for my lovely friend Gez which I know she hasn't received yet *blushes madly* sorry sweetheart, it's still sat on my desk.........so I'll share that with you when I know she has received it and also some more lovely photos of our day out last Monday.....

Thanks for looking, I hope the sun is shining near you..........and if it is send some to me........please.......

I'll be back very soon, have a good Monday...

What a Busy Weekend!!

2011-05-20T21:40:00.003+01:00

Hi there!
Can't believe it's so long since I posted...........

I had the most fantastic weekend last weekend.......lots of photos to share with you :-)

On Saturday I was lucky enough to be taken to the Stamp show at Port Sunny......and here are 2 of the lovely people I met up with......

The lovely Lindsay who even though she was in one of the darkest rooms I have ever seen (not part of the official Port Sunny) managed to shine through in her own unique and lovely way.....

The very lovely and uber talented Jo Capper-Sandon it was my first time meeting this very lovely lady and I hope it won't be the last....

Here is my Tag which she created whilst I stood there! She also very kindly signed some of her stamps for Gez and me :-) Thanks Jo, I had been looking forward to meeting you for so long and it was the highlight of my day :-)

Whilst Jo was taking her well earned break Joanne was on the stand....unfortunately I didn't get any photos...but you should see what she can do with a bit of Lego!!!

Some gorgeous stamps!

More stash.......

I also met up with Chris ......always lovely to see you :-)

Sunday brought the wonderful workshops that have been eagerly awaited and that I have been so excited about :-) with Lindsay and Amy and they certainly didn't let me down.......

Unfortunately, thanks to my non existent sense of direction and also sign posts not saying what I thought they should say........I was a little late.....Amy, bless her waited for me to arrive and was waiting at the door with a big hug :-)

Here are the cards....

I cheated a little with this one, as for the life of me I couldn't make the flower Amy had created............

Everybody else did though.........

I love making Amy's cards as they are so unlike what I normally make and I really enjoy 'something different'

We also made this beautiful Tissue Flower........

Here it is on Gez's pressie :-)

The afternoon was Lindsay's!
I'll show you what the table looked like.........a typical fantastic Lindsay workshop........

I think actually I was holding Lindsay's card in this one.....

Don't you just love these 'Bingo Splatters' created with Distress Stains....

Gorgeous Darkroom Door stamps and Martha Stewart Punch.....
We did make an Alcohol Inked card, which I gave to my lovely friend Gez when I met her on Monday.....more of that over the weekend :-) but here is one I was inspired to make using my favourite Unity stamps available from the lovely Emily here

I used my very favourite 'The Artist In You' and the 'With Sympathy' store kit

It was so wonderful meeting up with friends.....thank you....I was sat next to Jolene...always lovely to meet up with her. Joanne on the other side.....oh and Jolene I haven't forgot your post......I just want to put the 'finishing tweeks' to it......

Thank you Amy and Lindsay and the lovely David XX for all the hard work that went into making this day so wonderful..........and Amy it was worth all the excitement :-) Roll on the next one........

To complete my fantastic weekend I met up with these lovely people...

Feeding the ducks in the rain!..................More on my fantastic day with Gez and her gorgeous little man Tom over the weekend............thanks for the most wonderful day sweetheart, hope we can do it again very soon.......

Thanks for looking and I'll see you over the weekend............

All About The Boy!

2011-05-09T14:19:00.001+01:00

Hi there!
Today I have a couple of very easy makes to show you using one of my newer Suzi Blu stamps......'And Then There Was A Boy' available from the lovely Emily here
I do a lot of reading and usually use the nearest piece of paper or ticket to hand as a Bookmark! So I thought I'd make myself one!

Done in Black and White, but of course!!! with a 'splash' of Orange........well I had to really, didn't I?? Coloured with ProMarkers, the Black card is textured and I just 'ran' it through my ribbler for a bit more texture. I added some fibres, which I think will be ideal for Jess to play with whilst I read!!

Whilst I had the stamp out, I thought I'd make a quick card :-)

Just added some more of the fibres, stick on Gems and a Metal Word...

Please check out 'Make The Day Special' Emily has some great stock and I just know you won't be dissapointed.

Thanks for looking.....enjoy the rest of Monday :-)

I'll see you soon.

Water Colour!

2011-05-08T08:54:00.000+01:00

Hi there and a very happy Sunday to you :-)

I know I said I wouldn't be back until tomorrow because of the lack of a camera..........but now I have remembered.............I do have lots of 'blonde, senior, very fluffy' moments!! :-) I haven't showed you the Unity card I made last week.......

Using one of my first purchases from Emily it's one of my favourites........along with my all time favourite
'The Artist In You'

I have used 'Insightful Meadows' this isn't a new technique, but one for some reason I'd been afraid to do......no longer!!!
The watercolour card did start off as a square....but you know how straight my cutting is.......I thought I'd better try and stop getting it straight before I had no paper to stamp on......

I stamped the sentiment in Brown StazOn first as I wanted to be sure where I could place the flowers.....for these I used my Distress Inks and sprayed with water before stamping. I love how every one looks different.
I even got a bif thumbs up from my Artist hubby Bry.......who doesn't give compliments lightly......
As you can see, I have reverted back to 'my' colours!! I just needed a couple of matts and some ribbon and I was done.....

I'll see you tomorrow, have a good day.

Thanks for looking :-)

More Cards!

2011-05-07T22:17:00.000+01:00

Hi there!
Goodness, where has this week gone???.......I'd planned to do so much too.......

But I have got some Birthday Cards that I made for mum to share with you........

Using favourite images from Sugar Nellie and Lilli of the Valley.
Here are a close up of my favourites......

She's gorgeous, isn't she?

I took the photos outside and had a little 'helper'

She has just come in from 'playing out' in the rain......now I've got muddy pawprints everywhere!

Thanks for looking......I'll be back on Monday, as Bry is away with the camera.......so I can't take any photos!

Enjoy your Sunday and I'll see you very soon.