WOYWW 80

i thought i would have a go at showing my work desk this week, not that anything is being made!!!! check out the stamping ground blog WOYWW80

this is a bit of a dumping ground really.

lots of abandoned projects. at the back is a stack of atc books i need to make up for uksn, i must try and finish them this week as i expect there will be more next week. there is  some knitting wool that i have just undone (again) i think i was making a mug hug for my daughter, but it didn't look right.

i think there might even be some christmas stuff there too.

tim holtz blog candy



TIM HOLTZ GIVEAWAY

 hi

 saw this lovely blog candy (lets see if i can do this right) click the link  tim holtz blog candy to see what you could win, although obviously i want to..

no crafting today as busy busy busy at work.

but here is a pin cushion calendar i made for a friend yesterday

the cup cake is made from different sized yoyo's and stuffed quite firmly. There is wire going through the middle which is wound around so that the card is held inside the coil. the backing card is made from grundge paper and decorated with alcohol inks. the calendar is from papermania.

rudolph and his little army of red noses

i foolishly asked my daughter if she wanted any cards to give to the kids she looks after at work. she did, but only 6. then she changed her mind and wanted 28 instead. i had  to get busy!!!   these little cards are ATC sized. the stamp is from Butterfly Kisses, there is also a back view with rudolph holding some mistletoe, very cute. They are stamped and coloured with aqua promarkers then finished with red stickles, very quick, thank goodness.

yet another card

hi

 there are so many of my work colleagues who have birthdays at this time of year.  it is difficult to find time, buthere is the card i made for our sewing specialist.
 something a bit different for me. it is not a very good scan as it is quite thick.

the background is sprayed with cosmic shimmer (more of the intense purple).

 the stamp is from papermania 's new oriental collection, then i fixed an ATC envelope on top. the greeting is also stamped and covered with glossy accents. i glued a zip on top. i spread the top of the flap with glossy accents and put all the little notions on top. i think there could have been a few more 'bits' on top.



why dont i start earlier

hi guys

why dont i start earlier on my christmas shopping. i finally started today... and got a lot done. i had to sent a parcel to some friends today (it will be done tomorrow).

anyway i had to finish the bags i made......decorated with more leather flowers, i think they turned out quite well

the bags are organic hemp... very green!

i just added the leather flowers cut with my big shot and curled them with the heat gun, then i fixed them with brads. on the inside i glued some felt circles over the brad ends as i thought they might catch and cut fingers. 

intensely purple

my (no1) daughter and her partner are here for a visit this weekend, so not much crafting going on, never mind. i was supposed to go to my lace group but we had to cancel because of the weather.
i did however find time to make a card for a colleague at work. she likes purple, but i'm not sure she likes this much purple, i hope she does.
i brought a cosmic shimmer mist in purple violet, my god is it purple, i was amazed at how purple it was. i had to change the whole idea of what type of card i was going to make, well i didn't have to but hell go with it.

here's the card

i used a mask for the background card and sprayed the cosmic shimmer over the top. i also sprayed some flowers and crunched some paper as well but didn't use it all as it was just too much purple. i added tag to break up the purple but then made that pale purple as well. chris is a yarn-a-holic so i added some fibres to the tag. the greeting is stamped with glossy accents on top.

a shimmery purple haze!!!!

25 done. . . rock and roll

hi world
i was rocking today, i made 25 christmas cards, i think that is a record, even for me.
ok they weren't very big or very complicated cards, but they only took about 2 hours. i hate big cards they are such a waste of  card and stuff, as i have dozens of atc envelopes left from making atc's for uksn i decided to make christmas cards to fit.

 i think they worked out quite well. my youngest daughter wanted little cards for her kids at nursery, so the rudolf cards were just right.
the little bear was a free stamp from last year and the baubles were from craft stamper a couple of months ago.  the snow flakes are punched out except for the large forground piece which is a tim holtz die cut using the big shot.
anyway got to go
off to see Rich Hall at the point. not so clever daughter no2 got tickets in the front row . . . mmmm!

new handbag; dont think so!

i love handbags!!!

 i mean i really love handbags.

during staff training yesterday, we went to look at gifts on the first floor, (most interestingly handbags!
there was one i really liked . . .  black leather with little leather flowers and diamontes in the middle.
but it was £100 even with 25% off, and my discount it was still too much to justify at the moment, oh well never mind.

anyway,
 at home today i had an idea to bling up an old boring bag using my new big shot.

i brought some leather pieces in a bag for £1 a while ago, they were a perfect colour.

i used the tim holtz tattered floral die and cut out several flowers .

they were a bit flat so i painted them with golden medium and left them to dry.

when they were nearly dry i heated them with the heat gun, hopefully to make them curl up at the edges. . . they did beautifully.

then i layered them and fixed them to the bag with big brads... luckily there were  holes cut in the surface of the bag so it was really easy.

hey presto instant £75 bag. well nearly!

look what i found

on the way to work today, just outside the back door to the shop i saw something on the ground. i couldn't beleive what it was as it was so out of place. . .  a ginko leaf. not what you would expect to see in the middle of winchester, there are no ginko trees in the area. it was quite big for a ginko leaf and dried up. but a great shape.
i have a history with ginko leaves. one of my favourite beaded pieces is my ginko leaf and the  first piece of silver clay  i made was the same. i even saw a tree in toronto earlier in the year.... but it was too high to get a leaf.
anyway it is a lovely shape so i have scanne dit and i am ging to make a stamp of it so lookout for stuff made with the stamp. oh for time at the weekend to do it.
night night

oh here's the picture

give up on blog candy

well i think i have given up trying to put the link to weememories on the last page ... even with vicky's help it still didn't work. dont think i will be doing the challenge now as no time.
i did make a very quick flower with my new toy today. . .  i brought a big shot with my birthday money, happy happy happy! i got in the range for £49.99 brilliant price. i already have a sizzlit, but it is a bit limiting with the size of the dies
i ordered some bigger dies  from the stamp man and crafty devils web site, here i used tim holtz, tattered florals.

this flower took me about ten minutes to make. i used grunge paper with acrylic paint on which i dried with the heat gun, this also helped to shape the petals. then i used alcohol inks and a big brad in the middle
i also stamped a light text on top with black stazon
then i glued a brooch back on and . .. hey presto an instant brooch

lovely blog candy

have a look at this lovely blog candy giveaway on
http://WeeMemories.blogspot.co.uk/
i give up, i dont know what i am doing wrong . . . obviously!
HELP!!
HELP this is about the fourth time i have tried to do this link, but it's not working . .  grrrrrr.
i dont know why this link isnt working, how do you all know how it works
? it is supposed to be easy
 i have just joined this blog and will hopefully attempt to enter the challenge. it will be the first challenge i have entered, the challenge is a little bit of pink which appealled to me, so watch this space . . .  if i can work out what to do!
dont hold out much hope.

congratulations sarah

hi world
my friend jane is the first of my close friends to become a grandma, well done to her daughter arah and hubby alex. baby imogen was born a healthy 5+ lbs both mum and baby are doing well (after a difficult start) here i the card i made for them, long with a pretty knitted cardy that i made too. i do like the easel card at the moment. we had a good evening in romsey wetting the baby's head, hic!

the atc's....they just keep coming

last week i had about 9 atc and stiggot books in the post, so today i thought i ought to get on and make my contribution and send them on.
 i also brought the perfect stamp for my hubby's birthday card.
we have 2 tortoises who live in our dining room.

i thought the sentiment was really nice, although i had to change the word turtle for tortoise for les, they look more like tortoises anyway.

this is another easel card, but i have scanned it flat.

the background is stamped with distress inks through sequine waste in 3 different colours. i also included a piece of the sequine waste as extra texture.

lovely dinner

hi world,

i am blogging really early tonight as i am being very lazy. les (hubby) has just made cornish pasties for dinner . .  and they were delicious and now amy (daughter no 2) and matt (daughter' no 2's boyfriend) are washing and wiping up, yay  . . . . no work!! we have had a bit of a tidy up and clear out today . .  even in the craft room, so i have not done much crafting today, but my desk is very tidy!!

here is the card i made for mum -in- law's birthday.







it is an easel card like the ones vicky makes on her blog (here's one i made earlier ).

the stamp is from a set i won from craft stamper on their givaways.

 i have been lucky in the past on winning freebies. it was  a set of mabel lucie attwell designs. 

 i have coloured it in with aqua promarkers and sakura pens, the edges are inked with distress inks and the flowers  are from . . .  somewhere!

i hope she likes it as it has an old fashioned feel to it. . .well she won't mind me saying that she is 84.

 i will definately make this type of card again they are very effective and stand up well.

see ya!

yet more atc's

hi world
well i have been busy making atc's again, but now i have finally finished a book for everyone on the lists (not even thinking of the postage!!!)

The theme here is quite obvious. . . trees, all the stamps I made using my imagepac stamp system, the top 2 were taken at Claverton Manor near Bath.

the bottom 3 are from Eastleigh rec where i live.

t

These atc's have the theme of giggle, a bit different for me, as they are not really floral like a lot of my stuff is. 

While i was making these my daughter was clearing her room out and she put some stuff in my bin.

One thing was a bra she didn't like. . .  ahh, thinks I,  my next theme, as it is breast cancer month i decided to make some 'think pink' cards using bits from the bra. I think I like these the best, maybe because it is a cause i support. .  pardon the pun! the backing card was rescured from a birthday card.

I'm of to make a card for my mum in law, i think i will try an easel card like the one vicky made me for my birthday.

atc 's everywhere

hi world
today i decided i must get on with making the atc's for the uk stampers group.

i managed about 4 on sunday and today i made a few more today, here are some of them

it is hard to get started on these  with no ideas so i decided to have a theme. i joined the group at the artisan show so i thought i would only use the stamps i brought there . . simples!

the pink one and the hummingbird i didn't buy there, but i made them before i decided.

the buiding stamp is from crafty individuals,

the theme was sunset.

the next theme i choose was post cards. this is from a stamp set from germany which only cost about £4, brilliant value. the stamp of the lady is one i made with my new imagepac clear stamp maker  . .  it's brilliant much better than the old one, much easier to use. the 'stamps' are real postage stamps. only about another 15 to do.

on my desk on tuesday

hi world this is on my desk today
no i'm not trying to copy the  other blog ' whats on my workdesk wednesday'.
it's just that tuesday is my day off so i usually manage to get some crafting done or at least started
when i went to the artisan show i joined uk stampers, so now i have lots of atc's and embossing books to make.

it was  a bit daunting to start with as there is a lot to do at the begining, but i think i have sorted it now, here is some of the stuff i have done.

these are are the embossing books,

this is how it works;  i decorate a stamped and embossed image on the front of the book  for a each member and also enclose an undecorated copy it is then sent off to another member who adds another image and copy.

eventually it is sent to the person it was made for , who gets about 5 new images to use for there own cards etc.

i hope i get better as i go along, when as i have less to do i will have more time

i think this is my favouite so far. it was tempting to make them all the same . .   but that wouldn't be as much fun , now would it

see ya

christmas starts here...sadly

hi world ,

well its no good, Christmas has to done !

and as i have to make about 150 cards . . . for kids , hubby etc, i have to make a  start sometime. so now is the time.

actually i did make some in January, but not many.

so here are the first ones of  this season.

i am trying to use up a lot of stuff that i have had for a while.

the background is stamped through sequin waste. the ribbons are woven together and then the topper greeting on foam layered on top. the topper is cut from some old Christmas cards and stamped ontop. quite pretty! i made a few of these.

i think this card is cute, the stamp is from butterfly kisses. it is stuck onto acetate and the reverse of the stamp is stuck on the back of the acetate, he is holding mistletoe behind his back. Rudolf is coloured with aqua pro markers. i just love his expression, there is a reason he has a red nose (too much red wine. . .  is there such a thing!) 

happy crafting

janet 

congrats gary

hi world
what's happened to my blog?
dont know what everyone else can see but i seem to have lost the pictures,
not sure how i got them back, so i hope the stuff i am putting on here is ok!!
i actually managed to play with some of my new crafty stuff today.
my daughter's partner has a new job in london, well done gary!

here is the card i made him

the background is sprayed with cosmc shimmer and a music mask ( you cannot see much of it). the stamps are from crafty individuals (i brought them at artisan show), time to celebrate is a free stamp from craft stamper a while ago.
the label is covered with distress inks and stamped with other stamps i brought at artisan. there is a real stamp on the label. i hope it goes well for him.

i also made another card for my daughter's work collegue.

the background is distress inks, mustard seed, rusty hinge and barn door, the same process as the ones i did before, very quick!!! i stamped the cat on the card and on another piece of card and then cut it out, i layered it with foam pads...simple.

 this is the first time lucy has asked me to make her a card , she usually buys them, hope she likes it, it will cost her £1 for breast cancer research.

craft stamper card

there is a lovely card in craft stamper magazine this month that i just had to try

the card was really easy to do. for best results buy the magazine. if not here's a quick run through. mask off a rectangular area on the backing card, it looks best on glossy card using sticky notes (better than masking tape which can rip the backing card). stamp the area with ink pads using the pads directly or use a brush or cut and dry foam. the sunset colours look best.

stamp the image using stazon add a sentiment if required and hey presto, done. it was so easy i made about 12 in a hour!!! it also works well using liquid ink dropped onto the card like the card below. the gecco and dragonfly on the bottom 2 cards are done using the new dream weaver embossing paste. looks good !!

happy stamping

janet

finally finished it

last week i finally finished a piece of goldwork  i have been working on for the last 2 years. i am very pleased with it ..... all i have to do now is mount it and frame it, i hope that wont take as long.

 the design is by tracy franklin.
i really should have scanned it the right way up, rotate it 90' clockwise.

au revoir jill

a long serving work colleage left this week, only she is coming back occasionally when needed, she will miss the ribbons i'm sure so she wont stay away long.

anyway here is the card i made her, i also made a beaded box but forgot to take a picture of it so never mind.

jill and i worked together for about 3  years then she changed her days so we didnt work on the same days anymore. so every time we saw each other at social things or on notes we would always  write merry christmas. i thought i should include this on the card. i also have to say jill loves purple!

the circle is a spinner with choices of greeting from christmas,  retirement, birthday and crafting. it should cover most of the rest of the year.

the spinner part did take a bit of working out, so that the greetings were in the right place.  i sprayed the backing paper with cosmic shimmers and it is lovely and shimmery. i think she liked it 

my crafty week

it has been quite a busy week for me this week. but i did get some crafting done on my day off.

 my daughter moved again last week and i finally got around to making her a card, although instead of a card i made her a hanging tag for her sunny lounge window.

the base is a chip board tag. i wiped it with various inks pads in her favourite  purple colours.

i stamped some flowers and hearts on top with stazon. as it was a new home card i also used a little house stamp free from craft stamper a few months ago.

finally i added a layered punched flower and some text; home is where the heart is.

hanging from the bottom are some shrink plastic tiles with new home spelt out and my favourite fairy stamp from butterfly kisses.

an old workmate had a baby this week: a little boy this is the card i made her.

on thursday i came home from work to find i had a parcel in the post, 3 set of beatrix potter rubber stamps and cds from crafters companion. i had won them in a giveaway competition from papercrafts essentials. they are lovely, i am so lucky.
anyway peter rabbit is perfect for a new baby card. it was quite simple, i just coloured the stamp in with aqua promarkers and layered it on top of some ribbons. i added a tag and wrote on it with sakura glitter pen.

it was a very quick card but i am quite pleased with it

collage folder

i just love this folder.

i had a brilliant day at itchen valley lacemakers this weekend. we have workshops most months, the projects vary greatly,  including lace, embroidery, felt and sticky, glue experimental stuff. this month was definately the latter.

we started the day by dying our fabric with procion dyes (i haven't used these before and i love using new products. i used a combination of turquoise and yellow, the fabric was dry so we needed to use more dye which made the colours more intense.

next we dyed some paper with brusho dye and made some paper batik by scunching up paper and rubbing on distress inks when it had been smoothed out flat again, this produced a really good effect.

next we made some texture stamps and rubbings using piece sof lace and anaglypta wallpaper

the final piece of experimenting we did was some transfer printing, we usedthe pieces of lace, if you have done this you will know how effective it is.

not only did the impression of the lace come out well on the net but the lace was dyed as well, again i used blue and yellow which of course gave me a lovely green colour. i used the best pieces on my folder but still have some left to make another one.

finally we gathered all our bits and pieces together and glued them onto the pelmet vylene that susanne had prepared and folded for us earlier. the fabric  and paper was layed across the vyene in an 'organised' random fashion, it was very sticky, then i glued the pocket inside, this will hold the notebook in place.

 i added the decoration, pieces of transfered lace and i stamped it with a flower  i had taken with me. i used stazon, not recommended for fabric but it seemed to work ok. i also stamped the same flower onto some spare dyed fabric and cut them out. sadly we ran out of time, but i was amazed at how much we had done in the time.

when i got home my hubby was still out so i finished it off. i used  some paper flowers and brads. the last job was to sew all the way around the edges and down the middle. then the final, final job was to make a wrap and toggles. i made fabric beads with some of the dyed  material i had left and then covered them in utee. the cord was a piece i had previously made on my lucet

i cannot believe how many different techniques i have used on this folder it is a real sampler, even some of the lace is hand made.

well we are a lace group after all.

i'm back

hi world
 i have had a blogging break . . . . been too busy
but maybe i'm back for a while, till i get fed up again coz not many people leave comments.
anyway i had a fabulous crafty day yesterday at my craft group.... itchen valley lacemakers. we dont just make lace. yeasterday we had a workshop to make a note book folder, it was fab spent all day playing with dyes, stamps, inks and gluey stuff, i finished my folder this afternoon and i am reaslly pleased with it. no pics yet coz my camera has broken and i need to borrow my fellas. will do tomorrow, so look out then
janet

my perfect day

had a really good day off today.

started off with a healthy trip to the gym and a dog walk. then a little bit of housework (just to appease my guilty conscience . .  not!)

then i had lunch and catch up with an old friend.

finally finished off with a bit of craft shopping and finally some crafting!!

perfect . . even had time to cook a proper dinner.

the first thing i made was some more dominoes, i really enjoyed making the last one, wasn't quite as pleased with these but they are ok, the most difficult bit is working out how to make the bails to thread the cord through. this time i did some wire wrapping.

i had  a commission to make 4 cards for a friend for various occasions.

 these are a few i made for her to choose from.

i love these simple forever friends cards and i think i will be making quite a lot of them, they are not just for valentines!

i also had to make some cards with my new stamps. this one i think will be ok for an adult as well as kids, who wants to be a grown up anyway. the outline is embossed with copper powder. it is coloured in with aqua promarkers and sakura pens.

finally i made a couple of cards using the stamps from craft stamper. this is my favourite from the set, it is a lovely stamp. i will be a bit more creative with it when i have more time.

 now to finsh the day of i am going to do some beading.... no time to sleep too much to do . . i've got a beret to finish too, i'd better get on then. bye