WOYWW #99

It's that Wednesday again. You know, the day that comes around quicker than any of the others in the week. It's also the one that turns us into snoopers and encourages us to sneak into fellow crafter's rooms and have a nosey in their cupboards, on their desks and admire their craft tools and wips.. Want to join us? then pop over to our leader, Julia, for all the info.
Mine is like this today -

Not a lot different from last week or any other come to that. I'm one that just has to clear away each time I use something so that I have room  to work and also so I know where to find that something the next time I need it. One reason I can always put my fingers on my 45yr old Fiskars scissors you see in this photo.

In between other things over this past week, I have actually made another page for Toby's album. I'm ahead of myself with this one because it's for his birthday on the 24th May which is when I'll blog it. It turned out nice but should have had the photo you see on the shelf in it too, however, I decided to use an on the edge die from Tim's range and ended up cutting the photo in half!!!! I was destraught as I hate cutting his photos.  I played around with some Claudine Helmuth paints and distress stains yesterday to make backings for ATCs. This is how they turned out.

I like them very much. No idea what I will add to them but they are for my stash so only time will tell. The idea was launched this week by Hels, you know the lass who is whizzing off to Ranger U tomorrow! She did a bit of splodging and splashing of paint and ink and the idea appealed so I had a go too. My mind boggles at the thought of what she will get up to when she comes back and what fabulous creations will be aired. I can't wait and wish her an amazing trip. Keep us informed of everything along the way Hels. xx
Well today is going to be busy. We are replacing the fascia boards with plastic today in readiness for having the outside walls re-rendered next week with a polymer resin material which will be covered with ----- crushed sea shells. Well I do live near the sea! Actually it's an insulation product discovered by a firm called Testa Teres which should give a 50%+ reduction in heat loss.
But how can your 'peg leg' be doing that today after having a double hernia operation yesterday, I hear you asking. True to form, the NHS decided to ignore him by not sending a letter or phoning him with details to go in for the op. So much for having a date. We are now back to waiting and wondering what is going on. On the up side though, the motorhome passed it's MOT (2nd time of trying) after having to have a new stainless steel exhaust made because you CANNOT buy a replacement one for our van. Just another little problem of late.
Thanks for reading this far - if you have - I had better get dressed and go climb a ladder I suppose.

ANOTHER FLOWER ATC

I hope you all had a lovely Easter break in the sunshine. I captured plenty of the warm sun at every opportunity, did some gardening - slowly, and had a BBQ with family. Sadly though, no eggs. I've never had an Easter egg since I was little - she waits for the ahs and sobs - maybe next year eh? Still, I'm lucky not to be a chocoholic, but give me a ton of salted peanuts any day!!! Actually though, I did have the odd glass of wine whilst sat in the sun. Odd being the operative word...............

Not sure whether I had one too many or the person who bottled it had.........
I made another ATC using some of the paper roses in my stash and did my usual trick of making the background, stamping with distress inks then trying to cover it with crackle paint. When will I ever learn that this doesn't work. Having said that, I stopped quickly and the result is ok this time.

What do you think?

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

It's another glorious day and a BIG BIG holiday for those of you who work.
I received these very special Easter cards from 2 of my crafting friends and I would like to share them with you as a greeting for everyone.

The lovely tulip card is from the super talented Barb, and the spirelli lilac card is from the super talented Sylvia.
I treasure all my friend's cards and these will be no exception. Thank you so much ladies.
May I also wish Kobe (one of Sylvia's Japanese Spitz doggies) the very best of luck with his leg operation. He had a little accident the other day and has done himself a bit of damage. However, his vet will soon have him running around again.

Here is my special friend, Sylvia with Kobe and his pal, Asa,  3 treasures.

IT'S WEDNESDAY AGAIN - WOYWW

I am very late in posting a picture of my workdesk today because I have been soooo busy looking for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday!!!!! To no avail I'm afraid so they have disappeared into the galaxy of days along with most of the others from this year. It's impossible for there to be just 1 week or so left in April, meaning a whole 4 months of 2011 have slipped by. Mind, I am glad the freezing weather has gone. That was just awful.
Anyway, I am waffling so in order to make things more clear for you, here is a link to our leader Julia, whose lovely blog explains all there is to know about Wednesday.
My desk has been productive since the last woyww, but not so much now.

I have been making ATCs for my swap box, using some of the paper flowers I've made over the weeks. Other than that, nothing much to report.
Now for those of you who have been following the NHS story at our house, 'peg leg' should be having his double hernia operation next Tuesday. That was according to the booking officer I spoke to. However, true to form, he hasn't received any form of notification one way or the other. This is just so ridiculous. Our life is on hold because we just don't know what is happening at all. I think I'll buy a manual and have a go myself!!
Enjoy woyww folk.

USING MY PAPER ROSES

I've gradually been using the paper roses I made over the past few weeks, mainly on ATCs.
Some of the backgrounds were in my stash box just waiting to be used too. I generally mop up spare ink from my craft sheet on ATC-sized card or mount board, ready for such an occasion.
Here is the first one I made yesterday.

I love all the browns on this one. The image is cut from a Crafty Individuals sheet - Love Letters 1. She is lovely. I used K & Co paper to make this flower, spritzed with heirloom gold perfect pearl. I like this one.
The flowers on this 2nd card are made from Tim's lost and found stash.

The feather and little charm finish it off.
All a bit of fun and a boost to my ATC swaps.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOG

Today, my blog is 3 years old.
Congratulations to those of you who took part in my little giveaway and got the answers to the 4 questions right.
I thought I would let Toby pick the winner so I laid one of his photos down flat, folded the papers containing the winners name and decided that the one that fell nearest to the middle of the photo would win. So here goes:

Drum roll........

and the winner is:

Well done Zoe.
Please email me with your address and I will send you some crafty candy.
A big thank you to everyone for joining in the fun.

BLOG CANDY

This is short notice, but then it could be good.
Leave a comment, after becoming a follower, with the answers to these questions and on Monday afternoon you may just win some 'mystery' blog candy.

1.  Who am I?
2.  Who is my DH?
3.  How long has this blog been - blogging?
4.  How did this blog get it's name?

Good luck.

Also see http://craftingpets.blogspot.com/

METAL FLOWERS AND 3 EXHAUSTS!!!!

Ok, so that's a daft heading. But I have been making some metal flowers -

and I've just driven a car - mine actually - with 3 exhausts!!
Obviously mine has an exhaust, but in the back was the old exhaust off the motorhome plus a new one to replace it, hence 3 -

Back to the flowers. I made 3 of those too and they look lovely.

I ran some copper through my Big Shot using Tim's tattered florals die and cut the same flowers from card which I then stuck together before running them through again in an embossing folder. I them stamped and embossed them with lovely 'smelly' powder after colouring some of them with dabbers and Claudine's acrylic paint. The effect is stunning. Here they are assembled.

The little beads finish them off.
I've been making some ATCs and have used 2 of the flowers so far.

The background is a mixture of the new distress stains, perfect pearls mists, a bit of stamping and general 'messyness'. The gorgeous word stamp is from some that I was given at Xmas by a very special person.
This card is my favourite so far.

The colours came together like magic as I didn't plan the finished piece. The base is made from mopping up ink on my craft sheet and then over-stamping with one of Tim's background stamps from his urban grunge set.

I was given the tiny skeleton leaves years ago and the pins are from Abakhan and only cost 70p for a whole circle of them. Here is the finished card - sorry about the quality, camera has a mind of it's own.

Well, that's me for now. I have another 5 cards in progress but that doesn't mean any will be finished today, or tomorrow, or Monday and definitely not Tuesday as I have the dentists!!!!!! 'Peg leg' is supposed to be going in hospital a week on Tuesday, but true to form, the NHS has decided not to confirm this and no letter or phone call has been received to date. Watch this ever boiling space..............................

GIFT CARD ATC

My little pal and best friend, Susanna, sent me a gift card for Mother's Day. The colours were my favourite and the flowers on it, simply devine. The top part had a slit cut in it which showed the same flower underneath. I decided the top would make a lovely ATC. Here it is:

I stamped an Anna Griffin image on a 1"x3" glass slide and coloured it using alcohol inks. It fit perfectly behind the slit in the card. I had to build up the base to match the slide and then covered the edges with tissue tape, again coloured with ink.

I added a sample bottle of perfume and attached an old handbag charm.

I am really pleased with this as it used up items instead of throwing them away.

SORRY ABOUT THESE PHOTOS

They are really blurred. Sometimes my camera behaves but other times it plays up and does just what it wants despite being on the correct setting.
Anyway, I played around yesterday and came up with these.

The words are from Tim's 'stuff to say' stamps and are the bottom few from the long stamp - imagine a journey of creative stuff ideas and things to discover.
The flower is one from the pile of stamped pieces I had laid out on Wednesday. The background is dark green card covered with Claudine Hellmuth classic teal acrylic paint. I love the way it turned out. What a fabulous colour. The rest speaks for itself.
This next one took an age.

I already had the base card made from dabbing up spare ink on my craft sheet. Again the flower is one made earlier - I like having a stock of stuff already made to just grab and go.
The time consuming bit was making the bead loops. I used Tim's ruler to mark equal holes at the bottom of the card before taking a really long length of copper wire, adding different beads and threading backwards and forwards to make the loops. A strip of black lace over the top and voila. I distressed a length of tissue tape, tore it to pieces and stuck it to the card together with the rose, a pre-embossed black tattered flower and some punches branches. Job done.
Off to try my hand at some metal flowers now.

A 'BLOOMIN' WOYWW

Oh dear! sorry about the title of this post, but I couldn't think of anything better just now. It just goes with all the flowers I'm in the middle of making.

These are all the parts, neatly laid out ready for assembly. I used the medium flower stamp from the Artistic Stamper and Tim's lost and found papers. I even managed to stamp a few small flowers and punch some leaves from the scraps.

Next comes the fiddly bit. That will happen as time permits I'm afraid. My neck gets too painful if I stay in one position for too long.
I wondered whether some of you were interested in how 'peg leg' is getting on with his guitars. Both are finished and look amazing. He has tidied his shed and made it really comfortable in there so he can sit quietly and practice. Here is a sneak peek.

He pinched the rug from under the dining table, bought a little stool, plugged a heater in - again - and has made himself at home. When he gets a bit more practice under his belt, I'll try and upload a little video.

May be some time away though because he is supposed to be going in hospital for his hernias operation on the 26th - that's if the letter ever arrives!!!!!

Anyway, if you pop over to Julia's blog, you will understand why I've shown work spaces at mine today, and be able to nosey around dozens more all around the globe.

Going 'gadding' today as it's raining like mad and need a bit of fun. See you next week.

AND THE WINNER IS...............

ME.

I just won a set of the new flower stamps from the Artistic Stamper. Yippeeee.
Jennie is so excited to have reached 700 followers, that she is offering another blog candy - see the right side bar for details.
This one runs 'til 21 April and only requires you to leave a comment on her blog and be a follower. The candy is
3 new background stamps
the tag in  the picture
 3 random colours of Tim Holtz distress stains

I reckon that's a good prize and well worth the 'no effort' required to have a go. I have.

FANCY BINDIES

Just have a look at these gorgeous little gems that my neighbour has brought back from her 6 months in Goa, India for me.

Minute sticky gems for my crafting.

And these beauties are the most sparkly, fine glittered stick-ons I have ever seen. The large rub-on at the left is a full hand embellishment similar to the gorgeous henna tattoos.
These are going on only special cards. Woohoo! lucky me.

IF YOU WANT SOME FUN

pop over to Heather's blog and join in this months ATC challenge - Victorian men and pink.
One of the comments on my woyww post this week suggested that this really was a challenge. I must agree. I was so out of my comfort zone with this one as I have never really been a fan of Victorian stuff and definitely not men's cards etc.. However, not one to be beaten I've given it a go.

This one arose from my 'naughty' side. As you can see I stuck a man's head on a 'cheeky' Victorian lady and made it into a simple burlesque show.

I used a couple of nestabilities to cut the frame and acetate for this card. I alcohol inked the acetate to give it a pink hue. The rest speaks for itself.

A bit of grunge for this one. I used Tim's paper from his shabby vintage stash, his swirl stamp and distress inks. The dictionary paper is from the page Tim gave me at his workshop in February. Nothing complicated again except I used wax over the image and added a sprinkle of beadazzles whilst it was melted - not an easy task believe me.

It was a fun challenge despite the subject, so why not have a go yourself. You may just be surprised at what you can create.

MEN IN PINK AND WOYWW

Morning all. A late start for me today as I slept for England last night. Not had many good sleeps lately so I think tiredness caught up on me. Anyway, I'm up now and here is my workdesk this morning.

Victorian men and pink is the theme for Heather's ATC challenge this month. Simply email her and let her know you want to join in. You simply have to make 3 ATCs with the theme by the end of the month. They can be different or all the same, it doesn't matter because it's all a bit of fun.
I haven't had a look at our leader's desk yet as the web connection was playing up after all the rain last night. So I had better pop over to Julia's and see what she, and others around the world, are up to.

COMPETITION CANDY

Pop over to Andy Skinner's blog - link here - http://andyskinnerorg.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-time.html
for the chance to win some wonderful new competition candy.
Andy is a Personal Impressions stamp designer and creates magic. His stamps are a delight and the new ones form part of the prize along with some of Lindsay Mason's new stamps and lots and lots of other goodies, including Ranger.
The competition runs all April and the winner will be announced on 4 May.

2.75" x 2.75"

That's how big this canvas is:

It isn't going on the tag, that is there to show you how it turned out after mopping up the spare ink from the other day. The canvas is the first one I've used which is so small - and I've got a couple even smaller!


I painted it all over with trad. tan Studio paint then used dusty concord distress stain all over including the edges. How quick a job these stains make, just brilliant.

I then used a lolly stick to 'splodge' some Indian coloured Terra over parts to give some depth and interest. I dried it sparingly with a heat gun before rubbing purple and gold metallic rubbing wax over it. I then gave it all a good spray with heirloom gold perfect pearls. Had to let that dry in the sun as I wanted to keep the droplets.

The flower is one of the ones I made when we went away the other week. Matches perfectly. I mounted it onto the small cog which I cut from grungepaper and coloured with the dusty concord again. The leaves are cut from paper using an MS punch.

Just look at the lovely sparkle from the perfect pearls spray.


To finish off, I added some seed beads and a bit of purple stickles.

What a fun little project. I've decided to use it as a centre piece for a large card. I placed it onto a fancy piece of paper I had previously punched using an MS round the edge punch, and placed the whole thing into the middle of an 8"x8" card. It looked super. Having said that, the card was white and it needs a cream one. So that's what I shall do.
Thanks for looking.

SWEET BIRDIE ALCOHOL INK TAG

by Ranger Ink.
I saw this gorgeous little project on Tuesday whilst zapping around the net and just had to have a go at it.
This is my version

I used a Hero Arts stamp, Tim's bird from his Caged Bird die, the dictionary page from Tim's workshop, a couple of stamps off packages from abroad, a key from an old clock found at a car boot sale plus other bits and bobs.

It's a really easy tag to make although a bit fiddly in parts, but I liked the use of alcohol inks for the background as opposed to distress inks. I think it's really cool.

The little bird could have looked better, but I kept to the menu of colours and he turned out quite colourful I think. No idea of his species though!
Great fun and quick, which gave me time to pull more of my hair out on these questions of Linday's. There is one that has really got me and no matter how I go about it (which includes bribery, searching the PI website, looking through dictionaries etc) I cannot think clearly for the answer. The worse bit is, I just know it will be staring me in the face!!!!!