Play time for me

Firstly like to welcome my newest followers.

 Yesterday I had a bit of a play day, not much else to do as rained all day... so I decided to follow Neil Walker's footsteps and cover the front of my journal.  Using a pack of Tando Creative Twinchies which are 2ins square, which I also cut down to !inch and 1 by 2 inches .   I got out some very old ink pads from Colour box, blended etc then stamped in Archival ink.  Images are from Lynn Perrella I have had for years, plus a couple from Graphicus now Chocolate Baroque.   Then it was practising the triple embossing, trying not to burn my fingers, plus I edged in Cosmic shimmer embossing as well.  Still have a couple of squares to do, but need to get some more to finish the front then on to the back.   Hope all you at there are having a great holiday, wishing you a Happy New Year.

WOYWW-#186-Boxing Day

Boxing Day here in the UK, 3rd day of Christmas for me, all went well yesterday.  Had my parents for dinner and they taste very nice...HA HA.  Turkey cooked to perfection if I say so myself.  Not much to so on my desk apart from 2 of Santa's pressies via my hubby.  One of Dyan Reavealy Journals and a Timmy canvas bag with little bag inside.  On top is a new page I started in my learning journal I'm doing with Neil Walker, rest is stuff left over from Christmas inc hat....Hope everyone has had pr is having a good time.  To find out how to join the snoopers going over to the lovely Julia's.

Phew All Done.....

 Just an update for you, this is the final card I designed on Wednesday.  so all cards done and delivered.  Plus repair to my Angel, who head fell off when I unpacked her this morning.

This is my minimalist tree this year, angel still to go on top.   Turkey defrosted, sprouts peeled, cranberry sauce made, brandy butter made, relish made....Phew all done....now worried I have forgotten something.  My hubby is telling me to relax all's ok... In my family we celebrate Christmas tonight 24th...So to everyone in blog land wishing you a happy Christmas....Hugs all round.

AHHH it WOYWW #185

There I am sitting on a pouf hemming some curtains, watching the rain come down, thinking what day is it.....Ahhhh its Wednesday, run upstairs take a pic of my desk as of 11.30am this morning.

Somewhat better than last week, more organised.  Card on the left is based on a card done by Liesbeth Fidder  in the November issue of Craft Stamper.  On the right is another one I have done and the middle is one I'm creating for the last 9 cards I need to do.  I tend to make a template on a tag first  to see how it will work.  I think I will be changing the trees from white to gold flakes on a black background to give my impact.    If you want to see other desks hop over to Julie's Blog for all the T+C's.   Wishing all my followers a Happy Christmas and peaceful New Year :).

Start of a Journal......

I have done journal pages before but seemed to get stuck, so decided to join Neil Walker's class at the Craft Barn on Sunday to see how a professional does it.  Had a great time with my friend Karin and finished with some pretty good results.  Green page was the first, randomly placing Distress stains together and merging with tissue adding water.  2nd again with DS but with the added stencilling as well.

Last 3 are the finished products with birds , flags and rods supplied by Neil.  Really enjoyable.

Christmas Tag

 

Had a play today, away from trying to catch up with the the Christmas things.

I decided to limit myself to 3 colours plus white.  the tag base is a combination of Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo and Walnut stains distress inks.  Stamped with words from Darkroom doors, pines needles  from Tim Holtz , plus trees which have been embossed in white.  Dies again from Tim Holtz and ribbon to tie all together. 

 

I'm entering the tag onto  Fashionable stamping Challenge #36 To Die For.

DragonsDream Tag It On# 131 - Christmas

Frilly and Funkie - Make a Tag

WOYWW #184

 Not too many sleeps now until Christmas, this is my first Christmas card I received all the way from the USA, from another WOYWWer, SandeeNC.  Isn't it fab!  I missed last week had so much going on including going to a Stumpwork class, medieval embroidery . Below is my effort.

 And to my shame this is my desk this morning or how I left it last night,( to be fair this is normal for me) I have been frantically making birthday cards for friends who have the nerve to have birthdays in December.....well really, plus more stuff to make Christmas cards.

To join in the fun hop over to the lovely Julia,s where all is revealed.  Have a good week everyone...

WOYWW #182 - Sunshine

The sun is out all right with the world, and its Wednesday again! So that can only mean snoopy time again.  If you don't know what I mean, go over to the STampinground run by the lovely Julia for details.

On my desk are the result of a class I did with Helen Chilton at the Craftbarn on Saturday, Gothic Arches in a semi Christmas theme.  We used paint crackle medium embossing stamping ( with the Lynne Perrelli Xmas stamps by Paperartsy) wire and beads.  It was a great day and really enjoyable.  The 3 unadorned arches are experiments I have done yesterday using different mediums.  the one in the middle is actually all gold with hints of crimson and crackle.  I hope to finish today so will blog when done.  Have a good day all.

WOYWW #181

Its that time again, to allow the snoopers of the world to look at your desk.  for the details go over to the lovely Julia's at Stampinground. So this is my untidy messy desk today.  I have been playing with Stampbord which I have had for years and re discovered, plus a xmas tag.  The tag is based on an idea I did at the show at the NEC, unfortunately I have misplaced the ladies card who demoed.  But this is my take on her demo.

This is a close up the one that looks faded, was actually an error, I stamped with Distress instead of Archival, so the ink sank into the stampbord, but managed to save it.  So wishing everyone a good WOYWW.

Wave Bye Bye

Yesterday or rather Friday evening as I was taking a class on Saturday, i waved bye bye to my parents.  Off on a months cruise around the Caribbean.  This is the card I made for my Mum's 83rd birthday whilst they are away.  thought it was apt, plus could use the fab Graphic 45 papers, plus try out the Frantage embossing power .  Those are the splodges to make it look like sand.  The reason my Dad had to go on the cruise now is Mum has always wanted a Bar-b-que on her birthday, unfortunately having a birthday in Dec and being in the UK, abit cold.  So he has taken her on the cruise so she can have the BBQ....well that is his story.   Lovely sunny day here today but cold .  Have a good one.

WOYWW 180#

Where oh where are the weeks going, missing last week due to a power break .  Followed by getting ready to go to the NEC in Birmingham  for the Hobbiecraft craft show etc, how manic Saturday was, but Sunday far better.  1st pic shows my new stash, some new Tim Holtz stuff which had been reduced, some Treasure Gold and gold leaf paint , stamps, new inktense pencils, plus lots more........

This is a journal page I made, using Pan Pastels at the show, really enjoyed my self.  As you can see used some Dylusion stencils, stamp not sure who's there were, and some iridescent paste.  Nice way to spend 3/4 hour.

Last a piece I'm working on.  Base is Distress stains, then I have stamped my image plus another image onto tissue paper, cut out and added to highlight the pianist and music.  Then I have used my new Inktense pencils to highlight.  So that what is on my desk, if you want to see others go over to the lovely Julia's blog.  Have a good week everyone.

WoYWW #178 (Boo)

All Hallows Eve and WOYWW, its that time again.   To look at other desks go over to the lovely Julia's @ Stamping Ground.  On my desk is my effort following a class with a very nice man Neil Walker on Sunday at the Craft Barn.  The book is made with out an glue etc, it is held together in a clever way with Bar-b-que skewers,  The pages are made with 5ins cards, that have been coloured with distress inks, then stencils and stamping.  I have added extra  with the girls head and autumn leaves., abit of spraying.  The front cover badge is made with triple embossing and stamping into it, I have added some black ink to hi-light.    Now I have to complete some more pages, have a good day everyone.

WOYWW #177

 Well these are not sitting on my desk, just thought I would show my babies.  This is in fact Mose's chair at the mo, ie the ginger one, but Delilah is trying to muscle in, they would normally not sit together if they can help it.  But the weather...

 Here Lilah is slowly trying to push him off while he's asleep.....

 Back to WOYWW this week, missed last week as lots on , not to do with craft.  The coloured item is in fact a book cover I have created, it started life as a piece of cotton fabric,  to stiffen I added layers of PVA glue and colour, let that dry , then more colour , spraying, the add bit of glitter etc.  Let it dry, now stiff as a board, now a book cover.   The bloke that look like tomb stones are the beginnings of a class I will be taking on Sat.  will show the result on a later date.

So if you want to have a snoop world wide, hop over the the Lovely Julia's and see.  Wishing you all a good week.

New Stash

Sunday, my friend Amanda & I decided we would go the the Sew & Stitch exhibition at Ally Pally. We had prebooked our train tickets and event ticket.  So due to engineering works to get there on time we needed to be on the 6.06am from Barnham, meant getting up at 4.00am.  Then when we arrived @ Victoria, tube engineering works so had to go to South Kensington to pick up Piccadilly line to Wood Green, the free bus to Ally Pally, so we actually just made the opening time @ 10.00am.  I have never been before and found it fabulous.  Managed to the main hall in relative peace, but by 12.00getting packed etc.    So the the picture working from left to right.

 1.Japanese indigo dyed fabric, plus a panel kit.
2. two pieces of lace , bought from the nice gents from Holland.
3. 5 skeins of Perle thread in autumnal colours
4. Undyed mulberry bark and some raw silk fibres
5. two quilting books
6. heap of silk fibres all types all colours
mixed in 2 knitted roses I made at the make and take.  They are the blue.
After seeing all the students work , which was awesome, we finally made our way home.  Finally got thru the door at 8.00pm.....after starting home at 3.45pm.  But it was worth it!!!!!

Copper Patina

 Good afternoon, this is my effort on the Copper Patina effect  which I did on Saturday,from the Time Worn online course with Andy Skinner.  Yesterday I went to the Ally Pally Sew and Stitch Ex, more about that tomorrow.  I have used an Ikea mirror as my base, some Grunge board bits and embossed 300 gsm paper.  Then the paint effects, looks pretty good to me but any criticism welcome.

 Couple of close ups ......

WOyWW #175

 Its that time again, where does the week go.  Firstly I would like to thank everyone that put a comment on my blog last week, and I can safely say I'm no longer in the blue zone!  That aside this is my desk as of last night after finishing a challenge (see previous post)  Made a card as in trees in the background ,& a tag.  Yellow is a piece I still need to create with.

Close up of tag.  So if you wish to look at other creative desk, pop over the Julia's at the Stamping Ground.

Seasons of Mist....

When Autumn comes this is the poem I think about, its one of the many I studied for my A level Lit exam, many moons ago.  This is what I use for my inspiration for the challenge over at Fashionable stamping challenge #32 Shade of Autunm/Fall. Sponsered by Cottage Crafts.

                                                    

From John Keats' poem, To Autumn, 1820:

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells

 

I started out with the wrinkle free distress using the limited edition autumn colours plus spiced marmarlade , fired brick & mustard seed.  masking for the sun, perfect pearls mist.  Various tree,birds  stamps.  Leaf embellishments, rock candy, sizzix bird die.

I have also deceided to enter card into Range ink challenge as well., don't normally do this.  

Image Transfer Class with Andy

 

 

A great day was had by all on Andy Skinner's Image Transfer class at the Craft Barn on Sunday.

We had alot of laughs but alot of work, so didn't actually complete my piece until today.  The image of one of Da vinci ladies was done with matt medium, sun burst and strip are grunge board. the rest is done with paints effects.  Thanks again Andy for a great class. 

Tweety Bird

 Had a lovely day on Saturday at the Craft Barn with Karin at a class taken by Jo Firth Young( you know the one who has just had her first stamps she has designed come out)  However back to Saturday, we all had a great day using the new dies and masks from Crafty Individuals.

 These two were my favourites , found my inner goth, well I like black.

 The lovely Jo, practising for the paprazzi

Or maybe not........

WOYWW #174

 I have returned after missing last week's WOYWW.  I have had a bad case of the blues, but no more feeling sorry for myself, there are people worse off,  So last night following a good weekend which I will blog later, I decide to try my hand at a new journal page......  I'm not a great one for journalling inner most thoughts etc, so just laid some colour down.  Base is Dylusion spray, plus distress inks through sequin waste.  Seed pod of a bottle brush plant for the odd white bits (Fresco Paint)  Some tissue tape in the middle to hid an error......plus the new metallic distress stain Brass.  Started to stamp
with Dylusions stamps- Off the Edge I think, plus Tim's balloon.  Some more colouring in I mixed some of the Dylusion spray with fresco paint.....Still a work in progress but aleast I have started.

 Couple of close ups.... to see more desks around the world, go to Julia's and have a look.

Have a good week everyone.

Metal Tag

 I have not been in the best of spirits this week, the rain has really got me down, worst day yesterday.  Although I should not complain, seeing the pictures of the flooding up North.  However Tuesday had a lovely afternoon playing with Karin.  We decided to do the CCVolII challenge 22 over at Studio L3, being sponsered by Funkie Junkie Boutique.  this also fits in with Tim's Sept Tag, so will post there as well.

Will not tell what has been done as not fair on the CC challenge.
Items used
Adhensive metal, alcohol inks, grunge boards shapes and waste, Tim's clock Die, Distress inks, Glimmer mist owl shape, Tims gears, Rub & buff, clock face.

WOYWW #172

 Good morning all, yet another sunny but cool morning, but its Wednesday again, time for worldwide snoop of other peoples workdesks, run by the lovely Julia, go have a look.
So here's my desk this morning, couple more examples fron my online course with Andy Skinner, the bluey one is my chipped and Rusty look, the orange is the started of my copper patina.  Thease are leaning on a project I'm doing not yet finished so will show later.  To the left some stash I bought on sunday after the class with Helen Chilton,some new sizzix dies, how on earth have I lived without these.

Close up of my Chipped and Rusty item.  Well thats all , happy watching.....