clearing my desk

hi world
today i decided to clear my desk  of all the atc books i have to do for uk stampers.

i have had some of them on the desk for a couple of weeks while i was doing the invites.

the stamps i have used here were free on a new magazine called simply homemade.
it is a very pretty set especially the bunting.

 i have used a lot of these little purple squares, they were left over from the invites so i thought i should use them up now rather than chuck them or stash them away. the image is much clearer on this atc as it has been embossed with glossy black

 more squares and a paperflower with a glittery center. i have stamped on top with white swirls but it doesn't show up very much.

 the stamped image here is a design emma and i  did for the invites. i made the stamp  using my imagepac  stampmaker. i have got the hang of it now and they are coming out much better. the dandelion clock has been embossed using stardust.

this isn't an atc but an embossed image  which goes into a book with a spare undecorated image for the recipiant to use. 4 others members will add to it as well. the image is from crafty individuals and was free when i re -newed my subscription. it is lovely i think i will use it a lot.
anyway those done, all i have to do is work out who to send them to and post them off. the price of stamps goes up on 1st april so stock up now.

WOYWW94

Hi Wednesday world

This is my desk as I left it last night, just before I watched the new sitcom on BBC3 'white van man'. (quite good, but a bit fast and furious and manic).
anyway i have been trying to make flower brooches for my table top sale  next month. i thought i would get a head start now that i have finished the wedding invites. sorry i can't show them before Emma has seen them can I.
the brooches are mostly made from grunge paper and painted with Tim Holtz dabbers.
they are cut out using the big shot and Marianne's creatable dies. i have also used patterned card and brads for the middle. none of the brooches are actually finished except for the red one in the middle which was made for me by Vicky from work. it is my inspiration for the others. hopefully i will get them finished in the next few days.
here's looking at your desks now. WOYWW94     stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
janet

opps nearly forgot

Hi world,
I have been so busy this week working on Emma's wedding invites i nearly forgot to make my brother in law's birthday card. I remembered just in time (but not to catch the post) sorry Derek.

like most of us, i find it quite difficult to make masculine cards. These images are from elusive images and are perfect for most men.
The backing paper is from basic grey. the calligraphy is stamped in sapphire blue distress ink with smudges of old paper as well. The bicycle was stamped  and embossed before cutting it out with a nestie, sometimes they just don't fit the right size so i decided to crop it a bit, i didn't want to cover up too much of the writing. I also inked the paper flowers to match. this was a nice quick card so i could get back to the invites.  The invites are quite complicated, well not complicated, they just have a lot of elements to make.
Anyway I'm going to relax with a bit of knitting now. there is a new book out called knit your own royal wedding. I'm off to knit prince William for my knitting group!!!!!

on a roll

hi world
i've been on a roll today.

 i have had lots of atc books in a box for a while, just sitting there waiting to be added to and sent on.

i finished all 14, here is a selection.

all of them have been made from bits and pieces left over from other projects.

the little houses are from a tim holtz die cutter.

the paper flower has another flower stamped on top (a freebie from craft stamper mag.

the stamps i used here are from the papermania oriental collection. the tile has been embossed with gloss black embossing powder.

this atc was recycled from my husbands birthday card (well he didn't want to keep it, did he?)

the backing card here is a business card from a coffee house in london, i just liked the design in the background and thought it was too good to throw away. chocolate cake was a perfect partner.

i had some more books in the post today, but they will have to wait, i have wedding invitation to make!!!!

janet

WOYWW 92



hi world

there has been a lot going on on  my work desk this week. have a look at some more desks at the stamping ground web site http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-92.html

 i have been making the mock ups for my daughters wedding invitations, but i can't show anything now as i have posted them off to her for approval!!!!

after all that wedding gooo i needed a change,  so i had a little play with mixed media.

i had some artist paste stuff i brought in Lidl (of all places, lol) it is a bit like fine polyfiller.

 i have had a few atc's from my  stampers group recently so i thought i would have a go at something diffferent on them. back to the drawing board!

i'm not sure i like what i've done, i was  a bit rushed.

 i roughly spread the paste onto corrigated card, quite thickly, then i dropped alcohol ink on to the paste, it spread out quickly and blended together. i also sprayed on some cosmic shimmer in a toning colour. then i pushed a gold coloured ingot into the paste and sprinkled some beads on.

 i wish i had spent more time planning and having more of a theme, sometimes whatever is great, but not this time. when they had dried the card curled up quite a bit too.

i will have another go another day

WOYWW 91

hi world
it's wednesday again and time for   WOYWW91 
i actually did quite a lot on the desk yesterday this is the left overs.

i went to farnborough's 'make it ' show last week, it was very good better than last year.

 there were some different suppliers than last year with lots and lots of cutting dies.

here is my 'buyers' journal i am doing this year, just stuff i buy  and where i get it etc. i'm including a sample of everything so i can look back and see what from where etc. i brought quite a lot of little things , so it has taken quite a while to finish,  i'm also die cutting lots of little cardboard 'buttons', some of which i used on some atc's yesterday but i forgot to photograph the coz i had to hurry and post them of.

but, the best thing on my desk is . . .  the A1 cutting mat i brought for £18 what a bargain, it was interesting bringing it home on the train.

i bes ti still work on an A4 sized area though

  

crafting and cake

hi world

well it's been a while since i last blogged. . .  i've been busy, stuff like housework and eating cake.

anyway today i had to make a couple of cards. 1 for my brother who's birthday is today whopps! sorry pete it's in the post. well it will be in the morning.

i used a page from an old recipe book from the 1930's and aged it a bit more with vintage photo distress ink. the clock image is from elusive images. i brought a set at 'make it' for half price, wow. it has a lot of old images like cars and men. the image is embossed with shiney black powder. then i die cut the outside circle in shiney black card. the buttons at the top are also a new purchase from make it. there was a lot of new die cut producers, these button were from 'joy', i cut them in brown cardboard packaging and embossed them in black and silver.

the second card is for a fellow stamper who has just had an op, so get well to her

the background has been stamped through sequin waste with 3 different colours of distress inks. the bottom stamp is from dovecraft (holly swirls but you dont notice the holly). i wanted to make the card quite simple so it just has a simple message and flower.

i am still working on a stamp for my daughters wedding invitation

so hopefully i will have something to show soon.