Guess what - it is raining!

Awake at the usual unearthly hour, but I am trying to retrain my body clock, so managed to get back to sleep until 6 a.m.,  far more civilised.  I could hear the rain falling on the window,  not a sound that encourages you to get out of bed.  And suddenly the clock was saying it was after 9 a.m.,  how does that happen?   Dragged myself into the world,   Sadly second duty of the day, after my morning cuppa, was to go to supermarket... ugh.   But we needed a few vital supplies, bread and milk, which seem to disappear fast in this place.

So after brunch,  I settled down to some crafting that I hoped I would enjoy!   And this is what appeared on my craft mat.  Cut some flowers,  wasn't sure how many I would use so cut a few.  Stamped on the card,  a music score and a postcard type stamp,  then added the metal tape embossed piece,  and the lettering.  Far happier with this piece than yesterday's effort. 

This is the 'after', when I'd added a few swirls round the border,  and why is the word 'sing' looking wrong?   Bad spacing I think,  my quickie glue pen failed...   it was neither quick or had glue!    I'm getting a tad tired of stuff that you buy in good faith and that then fails to work, or fails to work for very long!   I also spent some time with Craft Artist, doing some work for a group,  which I really enjoyed.   But I did get sick of the CD stuff on CnC today,  I thought that if I saw one more I'd scream!   Back to proper crafting please CnC! 

Not sure what will get produced tomorrow,  could be anything!   But I do need to get the brayer out to produce some stuff for a craft fair.

I hope you've had a largely dry weekend.   Thanks for stopping by

Tis the weekend

The weekend...  but I am wishing I was back at Swarthmoor Hall.  

So here I am, at my desk,  all duties done, delivered birthday present,  managed to avoid craft shop, yes I was tempted!  But they'll not have any new goodies for a couple of weeks - I checked on my last visit.

I started this piece yesterday, but still not happy with it.   I'm happy with bits of it,  but it ain't working!   Hence no entries for the challenges this week.  Once again I am just trying to be too clever.   I'll take it apart tomorrow and have another go.   I tried something else and that half worked,  but it wasn't to my liking and ended up in the bin.     I am all at sixes and sevens with my crafting area,  I'd got the bedroom ready for the new desk, which I expected to have in situ by now - thanks to Sainsbury's inertia it won't be here till the 4th - I made more space so that I can put it together,  but that means things aren't were they should be, which makes sense to me, but not to you!

Mum is also having a moan about me not sitting with her, well tough,  she has friends she can talk to, who she can go and visit, I'd take her, but will she budge, no.  And even if I do sit in the living room with her what does she do - she falls asleep.   She's like this because last weekend my sister was here, and of course sis had a lot to tell mum,  what mum forgets is that she and I see each other ever blinking day so there isn't much stuff to share!   I also need my own space,  and time to myself, which is what my crafting gives me.

I'll be back at my craft table tomorrow, hopefully with more success!

Blue sky and sun

Hooray - some blue sky!   At long last some relief from the rain, we even enjoyed some sunshine this morning.   The birds were certainly making the most of the dry spell,  tho I think they must be feasting on snails as there are an awful lot of broken snail shells.

I had a play on Craft Artist today,  I'd written a short poem at the weekend and wanted to 'scrap' it.   This is it, a mix of digi kits,  just seemed to come together.   I had been tempted to get the new version from CnC,  but I'm content with what I've got for now.   I also made a couple of scrap pages of the weekend, the Halloween digi kits came in very handy!   I got a few more of the freebies as well,   there is never such a thing as having too much is there?    My swap card made it to its destination, have to say I'm impressed given the awful weather that it got there the next day,  well done Royal Mail.

So today I challenged myself to use the two new pieces of stash I'd bought, which are the kaiser clock background stamp, and the silhouette dies. I used an A5 piece of card,  and applied some of the copper and gold radiant rain,  then with the stamp I made a border.   I chose 4 of the die cuts, the mirror frame, and 3 of the ladees!   I embossed the frame, and the 'mirror' bit.  I mounted the piece onto some cream card but felt I needed a bit more, so using some DST I added the gilding flakes,  well I was watching CnC, the Indigo Blu slot and the lady was also using gilding flakes!   So that was that, a very easy page,  which is for my art journal.

I do want to have a go at the two challenges,  which I'll do tomorrow.  Sunday Stampers wants masks,  only got two, but have got lots pieces of card where I've cut the dies,   the Stamp man is all about glitter, so thought I could use my new Indigo Blu Christmas stamps.

Thanks for stopping by to listen to my wafflings...   have a good day tomorrow

Still raining... can someone put the plug back in?

Back to crafting today.  Still pouring with rain this morning.  Took advantage of a lull to pop out to see a friend.

I made the background for my piece yesterday,  put several coats of gesso on,  then the dylusions, and spattered some water over it.

This was based on the canvas I started at the weekend but didn't quite finish.  So once this was dry it was time to start the fun bit!

On the original canvas I'd stamped some rings using the base of a mug, then stamped smaller rings round them.  Wasn't sure why, just liked the idea.  That was as far as I got on Sunday, so today with all my materials I was able to really go mad.  This had to reflect our weekend, so since I'd seen loads of orbs it felt apt to dedicate this to them.  So using the slice I cut some letters,  and the Bug for the corners.   A Kanban acetate butterfly got the glitter job, and I dotted lots of glue around and covered them with lots of different coloured glitters,  there are also lots of stars sprinkled around.  The Angel is actually a brooch with a lot of pinflair underneath.   The flowers just finished it off, I already had them,  been making a few flowers of late.  The letters and corners got a good coating of UTEE.

Also have a couple of new toys to play with, a new Kaiser stamp and some dies, which I want to use for something tomorrow.   Sainsbury's rang to confirm the delivery date, 4th October,  which I am very angry about, sadly I wasn't in to take the call,  but I am going to call them tomorrow, I just don't think that is good enough, plus on my order they say the goods have been dispatched!   What are they using for transport: a steam roller?

A relaxing weekend

Hard to believe that I took this picture on Saturday,  this is where I was staying, Swarthmoor Hall in Ulverston.   A beautiful place,  apparently it was were Quakerism was founded.   Part of the house is a B&B, and the rest is being restored.   The lovely warden let us wander round the rest of the house,  a very spooky place.  There were ten of us taking part in an art weekend,  it was really great fun.  There was lots of nattering,  late nights,  wine flowing and much giggling.   We're all on FB, and belong to the same group, but that, aside from a couple of people, has been my only contact with the rest.  Who says modern media has killed the art of conversation, were it not for FB I'd never have met any of these people. 

I'm now back at my craft desk.   I did take some of my craft stuff with me, inks, stamps and the dylusions,  everyone loved them.  I was able to pass on some techniques.   The Indigo Blu stamps were very popular!   That didn't surprise me as they are gorgeous.   I was also sketching,   if you notice in the photo that at the front there are 3 toadstools carved from wood, well I sketched them.  I'd been wandering round the gardens and sat down on the bench for a rest, then spotted the toadstools.

In fact here they are.  I liked the roughness of the carving, which appeared to be very crude but wasn't.  And having been left out in all rain, hail, snow and sun, the wood has become very weathered.

I'm now half way through a picture,  craft stuff, it is on my desk waiting to be finished.  Also made my swap card, a tad late - oops.   I knew what I wanted to do, so it was just a question of putting it all together, and it did come together rather nicely.  That will be in the post tomorrow, as will my friend's Satnav,  which we had been going to use but didn't need to, the good old map book proved to be enough.  Besides the Satnav actually helped my friend get lost on the way to mine after she hit some road works and needed to take a diversion, in the end I guided her to my house, so much for technology.

Sadly my craft desk won't be here till next week!  I am annoyed, it said on Sainsbury's website that it was a 7 to 10 working days delivery,  I placed the order on Wednesday evening, so that means two working days had already passed (four in my view as Sainsbury's is a 7 day a week operation),  before they phoned me on Monday to confirm the delivery slot which they said wouldn't be till the 10th October,  that soon got changed to 4th October,  now don't tell me that they don't deliver on a Saturday or Sunday?   So that means the weekends are also working days - yes?    

Hopefully I'll have some craft pictures tomorrow, and must check the challenges for this week.   Wondering when it will STOP raining? 

Crafty Notions

I've been trying to come up with a solution for my craft storage,  I wanted something I could store it in but also use for crafting, and I found what I wanted!  A hideaway desk, but at a price I could afford,  as in half price!    So my stash can be neatly stored, and at the end of the day I can just close the doors of the cupboard...  it should be here next week, then I have to put it together. 

So did a spot of crafting today,  just doing stuff in my journal at the moment.  Like this page,  which I didn't think was going to work,  cos it is the Art Journal it is just about trying stuff, no worries if they don't turn out quite as I hoped.     I have a new die,  the flourish...  was after a lamp post,  but can't find what I want!   Ratsfink.   And sadly craft shop has put silly prices on the spellbinder stuff.   The only thing of interest I got from the craft shop was the flourish and the stamp, which is just behind it,  Indigo Blu of course!     The other two items were boring but necessary,  some pva glue, no idea where my flowersoft glue has got to, but it has wandered off...   it was on my desk,   now it isn't - if you find it can you return it please?  

I've also been using the gesso, giving the canvas boards few liberal coats,   I also found that it is good for covering up inadvertent mistakes,  like the odd inky fingerprint! 

Just a day and a bit separates me from my weekend away,   I'm counting the hours,  my patience has been stretched way beyond its limit.  

Well that's it for now,  busy day tomorrow...   now off to do some writing.

Gesso!

 At last I have my gesso,  a very large pot of it.  Took a trip to the Range,  they do at least have a decent stock of art materials, also picked up two more canvases and some much needed blades for my paper cutter,   and this -

My Art Journal,  I know what you're thinking, she already has one, well yes and no. What I'd bought first time was a notebook, which I will use for arty stuff, but I wanted something more robust, the various AJ blogs I visited all suggested a skecth book/pad.   So when I saw this lovely thing at the Range well I couldn't resist.  I has a lovely shiny black cover,  which is about to be covered,  and good strong paper inside.

So with the gesso I prepped some canvases,  they are now ready to use tomorrow. 

With stuff drying I did the first page,  seemed apt to use this tag,  I like the sentiment on it.  There will be more journalling as I go along,  but I was just content to use the quotes, including one from Maya Angelou. 

I've got a few tags  lurking round all needing to be put in something!   I put the TH tag on the opposite page,  some scribbling to be done on that,  but dinner time was calling, time for me to prep our dinner, cauliflour cheese,  which I have to say was rather delicious,  real comfort food. 

So lots to do tomorrow,  must get going on the swap card!   I had almost forgotten all about it.  As with my mammogram tomorrow, ugh, hate having it done,  lets face it breasts are not anotomically designed to be xrayed!   The appointment time is 9.57...  I mean what is that about?  Why not 9.55, or 10 a.m.?  

This is a close up of the Maya Angelou quote,  I love this as it is so true, we do remember how someone has made us feel.   I just need to find the decal paper...  yes it is here somewhere,  put somewhere safe!   I must stop doing that, putting things where they belong as I can never find them. 

I almost forgot,  I bought a bag of wotsits,  best way of describing them,  a bag of small bits and bobs for cards, discs, small hinges...  think it will last forever.  Now need to think about the ABAC challenge,   and Sunday Stampers...  oh and the swap card!  

Thanks for dropping by, your company is much appreciated. 

A bit of this and that..

Need first to say thank you for all the lovely comments,  the mojo is now thoroughly rejuvenated!  And I can wave goodbye to the stamp maker,  it will be on its way down south tomorrow.

As for today,  it was back to the craft table - did someone say you can become addicted to dylusions?    Today I wanted to make the first creative piece to go into the art journal using a teeny tiny deck of cards I got in a Christmas cracker.  I also incorporated a few bits from Craft Artist pro (and I am being tempted to go for version 2!)  So having chosen the bits from C.A.P,  I then knew what colours to use for the background,  it would have to be green, or bluey green...    I used some linen card,  it has a lovely texture to it,  though not quite sure if that alone would fit the bill for the new ABAC challenge.

So with the background made, and stamped, lets see, Kaiser stamps, Indigo Blu,  Tim Holtz...   Yep that covers the lot.  It was time to decorate.  I printed out the C.A.P stuff, and had already put the sentiment on the weathered piece of paper,  also printed a tag,  nice thing about C.A.P is that all can be resized and recoloured.   The tag had the green edging, which is why I chose green/blue for the background.  I covered the edges of the tag and did some stamping on it,  added the cards, a couple of flowers,  umbrella man, who got embossed,  tucked a few clocks under the tag, have no idea why it just looked  nice.   And bob's your uncle, a page. The sentiment reads:

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.

It's like everything, we always have a choice.   Too many get caught up in the blame game,  they want others to be responsible for them and how their life turns out.   We can be dealt a bad hand, but as the quote says,  it is up to us 'how we play the hand',  we can hunker down and be the victim and all that goes with it, apathy,  selfishness, inertia,  and holding everyone to account for our  misfortunes - it was the fault of our parents, or my school failed me!   Or we can take responsibility and move on,  if we bother then we will meet inspirational people,  and those who will help and encourage us, but only if we are receptive and show willing.      I did this page to remind me not to be negative, and while I may feel that I haven't been dealt a good hand,  the rest is up to me. 

 Still not got my gesso,  and I do need it as I have quite a bit of canvas that I want to use to make some small pictures.  So tomorrow's activities are:  post parcel,  pay cheque into bank,  go get Gesso!  Just had a very soggy end to the weekend,  felt so sorry for the golfers at the Women's Open,  it was lashing down in Hoylake,  which is right on the coast,   I bet the 19th Hole is now very busy with golfers trying to warm up. 

 

 

 

 

Anything But A Card

At last I got there...   and with a suitable entry.  I chose the Art Journal as it gave me the most sastifaction to make, and incorporated all the new techniques I've been learning, or rather getting to grips with! 

Today was the finishing off,   I added 3 smaller flowers to give some balance,  and then once I was happy with the position of the flowers I added some stamps,  Indigo Blu and Tim Holtz.  I added a second sentiment, cos I like it.

I did also use the bubble wrap thingy, inking a piece and then laying it down on the background, just in the two corners, again for added interest. 

To me this has come together nicely. 

This is that extra sentiment.  Why do I like it, because it is so true, we hold ourselves back all the time because of self doubt, lack of belief and fear.   I've just read Rosemary Merry's blog,  she also talks about being positive, and being aware when she is feeling or being negative.   I can talk myself out of anything, it is a habit I am trying very hard to break,  most of the time I am successful, but I still have the odd rocky moment.

The close up also shows nicely the effect the rock salt left,  it has a bleaching effect.  It is far too chunky to stay on, so I tend to remove it all,  some smaller chunks are left behind. 

Of course now the journal is finished I have to start putting things in it.   Already had some ideas,  I've been wanting to use  small, and I mean small, deck of cards that came in a Christmas cracker,  but so far not been able to come up with any ideas of how to use them, had a light bulb moment today, so hopefully that will be the first entry.

The bedroom looked like a bomb had hit it after I'd finished,  I also made a small picture after the journal was finished.   But everything is now neatly packed away,  just as well I am forced to tidy up after each session, I can imagine what it would be like if I had a dedicated craft space! 

One last photo, a close up of the larger flower,  it was inked, stamped and embossed, then enamelled for good measure.  The bit in the middle is a brad,  with its legs chopped off,  why - cos I put the hole off centre!    So legs got chopped off and brad stuck down with pinflair glue. 

Well best get this on the ABAC  blog.   I've seen some of the entries and they are gorgeous, so many talented folk out there!

A Riot of Colour

Just hope this fits the bill for the Sunday Stampers  challenge A Riot of Colour. 

This is to be my Art Journal, my first one. I think I've just about thrown every new bit of stash I have at this, dies, dylusions, radiant rain,  new stamps...    Everything has been inked, stamped,  embossed. 

For the centre of the large flowers I used brads, but cut the legs off them so I could raise them a bit using pinflair glue.

Stamps are Indigo Blu and Tim Holtz,   corners are my new dies, inked and enamelled. 

Only taken me two days! 


Off to put the link on Hels blog.

Art Journalling

Thought it was time I began this Art Journalling stuff.  Not quite got the right sort of pad, but this will do for a few bits and bobs till I get something more substantial. 

So attention was turned to making it look nicer,  yes you've guessed, out came the dylusions!   This time I diluted them with water and brushed them on, after I'd spritzed the card,  then chucked a load of rock salt on it,  and spritzed again for good measure.  Left that to dry and turned my attention to what would go on it.  I'm still experimenting with the flowers, so that seemed a good idea, so cut out two sets of flowers, and some corners,   actually I had a bit of a die cutting session! 

So with this piece drying nicely on top of TV, it was briefly over to something I started earlier in the week.

The frame, which is finally finished!  I found some lovely copperish coloured card,  stuck it on, mitred the corners and added the gold embossed corners.  My lovely brayering isn't showing up.

So my attention went back to the journal,  after I'd looked at a few Art Journal blogs,  which proved very useful.   I do need some proper gesso,  local craft shop has none,  so looked on amazon, found some at a reasonable price, pity the postage was stoopid!   I'll head into town where there is an arts shop. 

So back to journal and the flowers,  inked them,  embossed them with gold,  and then gave them a coat of enamel.  Was going to just go with the big flowers, but think it needs some small ones to give some balance.  Cut some of the other corners,  they got inked and enamelled, and added the sentiment.  Still got lots of work to do on it, stamping and stuff,  nothing is stuck down yet. 

I realised that my craft disasters happen when I try too hard,  or if I put pressure on myself, if I just relax and go with my instincts,  then things generally work out.    Getting much better with the Radiant Rain stuff, and the dylusions, the latter can be a bit scary to use as the colour is so intense,  I was happier today with diluting the stuff.  The Radiant Rain is the opposite,  less intense, but a little does seem to go a long way. 


I'll be back at it tomorrow.   Only a week to go to my art weekend!    Have a lovely weekend all.

Thursday crafting

The second envelope book!    Same materials:  stiff card for covers,  thinner card 25gsm for spine, paper, glue, other decoration to taste.

These are all my bits,  the stiff card came from the back of a paper pad,  the spine was some coredinations card.  At the bottom is the paper and the envelopes.   Measurements are of course according to the size of your envelopes, but for the spine (to take five pages) you need a piece of card 20cm wide. I left 2cm strips at each end to secure the covers,  then folded every 1.5 cm.  To prep the envelopes, tuck in the flap and stick it down.

So it should look like this!   I used DST,  use the super sticky stuff.   Remember to punch two holes in the covers.  The rest is really about decoration and that has to be up to you.  This time I stamped on the envelopes.

For the covers I used Radiant Rain,  I've had hit and miss success with this, but realised where I was going wrong, I was using the wrong type of paintbrush, no seriously!   You need a flat paintbrush to get the best results, and remember to spritz the paper.   I used some hammered card,  then sprayed on the green/turquoise,  after that I gave it a light coat of gold,  which sadly doesn't show up on the photos, and chucked on some rock salt    I got some corner dies today,  and finally worked out the embossing bit on the Bug.  So they got cut, embossed,  sprayed with dylusions London Blue and Lime Green,  plus some Copper Radiant Rain,  then a good dollop of UTEE enamel.  After that I did the stamping, and glueing.

And we end up back here.   Lots of fun to make,   but well within reach of most crafters.  

I also picked up some much needed glue at craft shop,  was so tempted by some Indigo Blu stamps but somehow I managed to resist - just.   Well it was a toss up, more dylusions or the stamps... dylusions won, then I spotted the corner die,  and only a fiver, and that was me done.    Then back home to find mum still at home,  she'd decided against going to see a friend, it was too much effort... then of course she moaned about being bored all afternoon - you just can't win sometimes!  

Finally unearthed the book I'd bought for my art journal,  Lord knows what is lurking in this room!   Have one pile left to declutter...   ugh. 

Thanks for stopping by

Thankyou Rosemary!

I caught the Trimcraft show on CnC and to my delight it was Rosemary Merry, wasn't that taken with all the kits, but it was what Rosemary demonstrated that caught my eye, and envelope book.   I have envelopes galore,  so I decided to have a go.  It looked pretty easy,  here's what you need:  envelopes,  stiff card (for outside of book), another piece of card (to make the spine),  DST,  paper to decorate the covers, and glue.

The size of the book will depend on the size of the envelopes you choose.  I went for some slim envelopes, which just happen to fit the tags!    My envelopes measured 19 cm by 7.5 cm.   I cut the card for the covers and spine slightly bigger.

For the spine I left two 2cm strips at each end to attached the covers,  then concertina folded the middle bit, I used 1.5 cm increments,  that gave me five pages,  again, how many pages you want to include is up to you. 

I decorated the front and back covers, and used a hole punch for the ties.   You need to do a bit of work on the envelopes,  fold in and stick down the flap, then slip inside a piece of paper and glue down.  Then attach the spine to front and back covers with glue or DST,  place strips of DST on each fold of the spine,  and attach envelopes.  I trimmed mine with some ribbon and left it overhanging each end.  As you can see the envelops fit the tags nicely.   You could ink or stamp on the envelopes.

Here's the front and back covers,  I used a plain paper,  inked round the edges,  did some stamping and added a few embellishments and stuff.   That was it!    Think this may be my ABAC challenge entry.    It didn't take long,  a couple of hours.     It would also make a  nice gift. 

I've only ever bothered with ready made books, so this was really enjoyable to make.

Happy days!

Take 3?

Whose stupid idea was it to decorate a frame?  This is take 3...  best not to ask about take 2.  This is also doubling up as a present for my sister who is 60 next week, well part of her present.    Used the bike picture,  as I think she'll like it,   no stamping on the bike (sorry Julia!),  cos not every understands or likes grunge.    So now just got the outside bits to do, already cut the card for that,  next lots of stamping and stuff.

Also had a bash at a technique I saw Sheena try on CnC, were you use an embossing folder, ink it up with versamark,  then add embossing powder.  First attempt was a disaster,  but second wasn't so bad.   Then had the natty idea of using an embossing pen... that worked much better, only the pen I have is rubbish.    Also watched Sheena using her Radiant Rain inks,  was seriously tempted to get more! 

More hassles on the home front, looks like mum has an infection, another one,  of course it took her all day to agree to go the doctor, by which time all the appointments were gone, so now we have to do the routine of phoning first thing,  but she will only see one of the doctors...  oh the joys of being a carer! 

The cheer up was the parade of the Olympians and Paralympians,  it has been a washout with the weather this summer, yet it will be one to remember.   Disgusted with the Beeb, they're NOT showing the US open final, there is just no continuity,   they did the first time he was in the final, so why not now?   Guess it will have to be Five live!  

Just seen the Craft Barn challenge,  art journal, never made one of those,  but it looks interesting.

Well all for  now. 

Almost there!

This has been a long project!    The end is in sight, just.    Think it needs a bit more bits and bobs,  and some wording.   Today was spent making the flowers,  that took almost all afternoon, with some cutting, stamping, glueing.   I actually drew the heart,  did I hear someone say that 'you can tell?' humph,   I wanted quirky.   It was smothered in red distress ink,  stamped,  I painted round the edge with some gold mica, and plonked on two coats of UTEE for good measure.

It was also a beautiful day,  very warm once the sun got going.  I had a very lazy start to the day,  then needed to do something with hair,  talk about bad hair day, it was more like a whole weeks worth! 

Then sadly it was off to the supermarket,  where I did my good deed for the day.  There was a charity collecting food,  to make up food parcels for people in our area,   I felt angry that such a thing needed to be done.   The workers were handing out lists of things they needed, which was a very good idea,  I picked up five items off the list for them,  figured if everyone at least bought one thing they'd have done very well, plus Tesco said they'd add another 20%.   But what depths is this country plumbing if there is a need for food banks?    Chief plonker in charge wants everyone to build a conservatory, well I would, but can't afford it and also there is the matter of  living in a first floor flat!    And what is this new phenomena called Social housing?   What's that all about?   To me it sounds like discrimination,  council housing used to be very well built and spacious,  unlike today's boxes. 

And it is almost the end of the paralympics,  I read a very daft article in a newspaper this week claiming that the paralympics proved that the disabled were capable of full employment...  some are,  but there also needs considerable work to be done to make all buildings accessible,  many still aren't,  and access to public transport needs improving, especially train stations.   When I was in America the bus drivers did not moan when they saw someone in a wheelchair,  they simply did what they were supposed to do, lower the platform and help the person on to the bus.  And that was in LA, the land of the car!   Many disabled people would like to work, they can't because there are still so many barriers in their way. 

Best get off my soap box!   More crafting tomorrow, and more pics, that'll shut me up.

Rocked by salt

Not sure why I bothered going to bed last night, was up and down like a fiddlers elbow.  Would you believe I made mum tea and toast at... 4 a.m.! She was also having a restless night.  Of course when it was time to get up I was fast asleep. 

I had an amusing walk to the high street, was asked directions by a postie?!   He told me that our posties were on strike and he was from Wales, and totally lost,  made me wonder why they didn't hand out some AtoZs?    I think more post was being taken back to the van than was being delivered,  I did point him in the direction of the newsagent so he could get directions. 

So after yesterday's practise run with the inks it was time to start the frame.

Which is pictured above, slightly different from first frame.  I stuck the leaves in the corners, then covered the lot in metal tape,  before adding a copper alcohol ink, that now needs to be burnished and some further decoration added. So while that was drying I turned my attention to the background.  I used the radiant rain set to colour a piece of card, then chucked the rock salt over it and left it to dry.   Once dry I brushed off the loose stuff,  the really chunky bits,  and discovered this lovely pattern under it.   It still has some salt on it so it does have texture.  I cut the card slightly smaller than the aperture, about 1mm smaller all the way round, and it fitted perfectly.

Then I stamped round the edge using a TH stamp, and espresso adirondiac ink pad.  It was going as planned, thankfully!   I cut out more flowers, this time in colours to compliment this background,  I found my canvas paper,  so wondered if the Bug would cut it, and it did, took a couple of passes.  The canvas paper takes the Radiant Rain beautifully,  I used some distress inks first,  brown, red and orange,  sounds like an odd mixture, but under the copper and gold they really worked to make a lovely autumnal colour.  No photos of the flowers as they're not finished yet and are still drying.  My TV makes an excellent craft dryer! 

Next is the task of decorating/inking/stamping a piece of the canvas paper to go in the centre.  That will be the job for tomorrow. 

Might have got that done but it was off to pick up mum from the hairdressers, she had of course, forgotten what I'd said, that I'd pick her up about 5pm, but that if she was going to be later than that to phone me - she didn't phone me so I had another 30 minute wait when I got there.  Mind you I was kept entertained by Cath's new kitten, Tigger,  who seemed to enjoy having his tummy tickled,  then he sat on my shoulder to get a better view of the outside world,   his next trick was to keep us all amused by hairing around the salon and skidding to a halt.

Well the craft stuff is now packed away for the night,  stamps have been cleaned,  and all tools neatly stored away. 

Have a lovely weekend all, thanks for stopping by.

Deliciously inky

These are my dylusioned and radiant rained flowers,  cut with my new die!   I went to craft shop to get some utee,  then spotted the dylusions...   after that it was just a rocky road,  saw the die and...  it kind of fell into the basket.  Mind you I did resist the new spellbinders!  Had no choice, out of my price league.   Makes you wonder though, how can one die cost twice the price of another with offers much more? 

And don't get me started on price of petrol!   The stuff has gone down in price on the markets, yet up at the pump.

Back to craft stuff,  I got two dylusions, couldn't resist the purple, and the whacky pink was screaming at me. The assistant had only come back on shift that day so hadn't seen all of the new stock, so she was wondering what they were,   I just told her that everyone was using them.   I've promised to take back what I make so she can see the finished results.

I just did my usual thing of 'have a go', but bore in mind what some folk had said about them being messy, so had plenty of kitchen roll to hand.  I spritzed the flowers first with some water, on top of the kitchen towel, then sprayed on the dylusions,  I found a little goes a long way!   I found them much easier to use than the cosmic shimmers,  which went everywhere when I tried using them,  then stopped working.

These are my other new goodies,  Radiant Rain, as demoed by Sheena on CnC last week.  I used the gold on the flowers, so now they have mica powder on them, which isn't showing up much on the photo.   These are also economical to use,  you don't need much, a few drops,  or you can use the dropper that comes in the kit, which I did, then just sponged it over the flowers.  No fancy sponge either,  just the very cheap kitchen sponges.

The flower die was X cut, which to my delight I discovered came with a magnetic mat, what a good idea!   It has six flower dies of various sizes, plus the middle bit of the flowers.    I needed to use a shim to cut the flowers, but that is no hardship,  I've cut some shims and keep them with the cutting plates.

Tomorrow I have to make a sympathy card,  a sad task,  not my favourite thing to make.

All for now.

Heavy metal

No update on the frame, well other than it all went pear shaped and I've started again!  So rather than risk further frustration I decided to do my own take on the Tim Holtz September tag.

So covered a tag in metal tape,  cutting out small shapes as per instructions,  he then uses a pen to do some faux rivets,  did that, and then used a large ball tool,  then added the alcohol inks, didn't have black, so went with espresso!   I did have some steel wool, so did the burnishing,  then I did some stamping using TH stamps and Indigo Blu,  finished off with a metal wotsit round the hole,  brought out the Big Bite,  some die cuts,  and a few die cut letters which were re-inked,  finished off with the sentiment,  stamped on back of TH tickets.   Oh there is a strip of text from a book,  stapled using normal stapler.   Headlights were added to die cut using embossing pen and silver embossing powder.   At least I achieved something today!  

Yesterday was a disaster,  just did not like what I did with the frame so took it all apart.   My new paints arrived and they are yummy.   Took time out to watch a few of Sheena's youtube videos,  just to get a few more hints and tips.  At the supermarket I found some rock salt going cheap, so will be experimenting with that at some point,  it is the chunky stuff so should give some good effects. 

Had to throw away my perfect medium, which has been stored the same way as my versamark stamp pads, the perfect medium, by a very well known brand, had rotted, well the sponge bit had!    Was going to see if it worked any better on the particular type of enamels I have. 

Well no crafting for me tomorrow,  sister is skyping mum, so that is my craft space out of action.  No worries, maybe a day off would do me good?    Off to craft shop tomorrow for some alcohol inks, I have finally run out of green! 

Thanks for stopping by

Danger - woman in altered state of art!

Amazing how the mood is instantly improved when the sun shines.  Seems we are having a late summer, or is this the summer we were meant to have?    So no languishing in bed,  it was up, out and at 'em.  Well sort of,  put the sizzix boutique in post,  stampmaker is being watched by several buyers! 

So after sending the parcel I popped into our 'everythingincluding the kitchen sink' store, well you name it, it seems to stock it.  It can be a bit of an Aladdins cave,  and today it provided me with the metal tape!  And a cheap frame.  The frame is for the Anything But a Card challenge, £1.50,  a bargain.  Tape wasnt that expensive either, and best of all my bank balance is healthy!   So I enjoyed a nice stroll home via the gardens,  which is a far nicer walk than trudging along the main road.

 So here is the covered frame,  still a work in progress, waiting for the new paints to arrive.   I popped some die cuts under the tape, and used an embossing tool to bring out the shape.  Still lots of grunge work to do, stamping and who knows what!   The tape also worked with the slice,  now need to get hold of some of the copper tape. 

Now I've got the tape I can also have a bash at the TH tag.  of course I know what will happen when I get the paints, I will want the rest of them.  Was watching Sheena on youtube, she gets so wonderfully messy! 

Well nothing too exciting for today,  a case of watch this space for progress on the frame.  I've done all my cutting,  now it is a question of getting very messy over the next day or so  - love it.

Bits and bobs...

Was wondering what to do with the bits and pieces I didn't manage to use the other day - all (the clock faces and mat for sentiment) printed off from Craft Artist Studio from a digi kit.  I found a tag already cut so, got the new TH stamps out and set to work, used from the TH set of distress ink pad: Old Paper,  Frayed Burlap and Walnut stain for stamping, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade for the background.  I used 3 of the TH stamps,  clock face,  birds on a wire and the numbers, stamped them twice, then cut one lot up.  Used the teeny tiny flowers, and that was it.   Stuck everything down, trimmed the clocks, but left a bit of the sentiment mat overhanging.   Everything is flat,  oh except for the butterfly, a last minute addition,  you can't quite pick it out, but it the white flappy thing!

Was also chuffed to have sold the Sizzix Texture Boutique, didn't get quite what I wanted for it price wise, but at least it is going to a good home.

So this is the next thing on ebay Stampmaker
I got it a couple of years ago,  it does work,  I just have no room for it.    It is pretty much complete, except for the paper and stamp pacs,  which I used,  and is in very good condition, it has been stored in its box.   I checked it and it is in full working order.   A great gadget for the arty types who want to make their own unique stamps.

This is what's inside the box, all the instructions,  pacs for stencils and embossing things, the CD and some pre-prepared stamp images.

Still got quite a few more bits to go on ebay, but think I'll stick to putting them on one and a time.  There is some stuff that I'm wondering if I will use again,  like the light box?    Not sure when that last saw any use,  and I need to sort out my stamps, what stays and what goes!

The delightful Barbara was on CnC this morning, she is just so creative, and inventive.

Yes it is that darned bike!   But different sentiment.  and the bike is a different colour.   Think it was also watching Barbara Gray brayering,   think I definitely need one of those splodge mats, she's right it saves a lot of time and paper.

Other things to think of like the new 'Anything But a Card Challenge',  very intrigued by that,  and my new stuff is on its way from CnC,  perfect timing I think.  Oh and there is the new TH tag,  not taken part much,  but this latest one is more up my street, and more doable for me since I am lacking a lot of the TH stuff.   I know he doesn't expect you to copy him, but it is nice to have most of the right things.

Weather hasn't lived up to the forecast, which said a sunny day, yeah right,  it rained ALL morning,   and was cloudy most of the afternoon - is there any point to the Met Office? 

Well that is me blogged,   hope you all had a lovely weekend,  thanks for stopping by.

Sunday Stampers week 220 Green Tambourine

Another week has flown by and at last I've managed to squeeze in my Sunday Stampers challenge.  This week it was green,  so out came the green ink pads (wish I'd had my new paints!)  anyway,  I decided to go with a tag.   And the postie brought my new set of TH stamps,  can't believe I got them for £6!  

Did a lot of stamping,  lamp post came into play again,  along with a flourish, and the clock from the TH set of stamps, lots of inking went on,  also tried a tip from Sheena, which was to spritz the card after the inking,  seemed to give a richer blend. A few flowers,  from a punch this time,  which were then painted with brass enamel,  a few teeny tiny flowers,  which had been ivory before my permanent marker went over them.  Oh and a butterfly, well why not?

Just to prove that there is green there and  smidge or two of yellow,  or whatever TH calls his yellow.   Did the bubble wrap technique as well using some archival ink.  Then today Barbara Gray reminded us of the cling film inky thing... must try that tomorrow.

Was full of good intentions today,  had planned another walk to high street, but my knee was just too sore.  So made do with a small walk to paper shop,  and a spot of gardening.   Then having watched Barbara with her brayer,  I got mine out again and...

My brayering is definitely improving.   I was most impressed with Leonie's attempt this morning,  okay she is a talented crafter, but she did admit that she wasn't so hot with the brayer.  I loved the shadow technique that Barbara did, that is definitely one to do,   a further trick I saw on CnC was someone using low tac tape as washi tape,  they'd run it through the printer, but you could also use stamps and ink.  It was a very informative morning on CnC!   I am prepared to put up with the hard sell as long as they let the crafters craft. 

I did the bike picture, but this time added the TH umbrella man,  and I found this quirky sentiment so popped it on.  This will be turned into a card and be on its way to someone shortly.

Now have to turn my attention to a swap card challenge, somehow have to include fish...  I'm sure that lurking somewhere in my stash is some fishy stuff,  if not it may come down to a toss up between the dolphins stencil and craft artist studio...

Well best head over to Sunday stampers and get my link on there.  Enjoy the weekend.