Next TV Show

Just to let you know Lynnda will be on Create and Craft Freeview 36 next Wednesday - that's May 5th at 12 noon - so make a note in your diary.
I'm not exactly sure of everything in the programme but as well as some Oak House Studio stamps, she'll be demoing pen pots and desk organisers together with ink pads, embossing powders etc.

Here's a card I've made with the Stitch in Time set of stamps which includes 6 fabric hearts, 3 rows of stitching, 5 buttons and some words. I just used the buttons with primary coloured inks - it makes a great card for young children or as here, a congratulations card for a new baby.



Anyway the sun's shining so I'm off out to make the most of it!!

The Craft Barn Mini Album

Here's my entry for The Craft Barn's latest challenge - 9 sketches to create a mini album. All the photos are of flowers in my garden this spring (except for the snowdrops) and I tried to keep it bright and cheerful!
Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Back Cover


I'm not sure the photos do the colours justice but I hope you like it. It's great to use the photos rather than leave them loitering on the computer where no-one sees them!

Here is what I used:
Colours are Distress Inks and Adirondack Dimensional Acrylics
Stamps are Oak House Studio, 7gypsies and Elusive Images
Embellies are Bazzill Just the Edge, Graphic 45 Botanicabella Tags, assorted flowers and gems

Thanks to The Craft Barn for this challenge. If you're tempted to have a go, the deadline for entries is not till May 15th so check out their website.

Union Jack

It's St Georges Day today here in England - the day George slayed the dragon, many years ago I guess! Anyway I was looking through my stamps the other day and came across my Union Jack stamp - yes I know today we should fly the St George's Cross, but the Union Jack is the closest I have.


I just scribbled on the stamp with a blue and red Tombow marker - I know it looks messy but I think it looks great. I also used it on the ATC below as a background to the crown - very patriotic don't you think!


Bearing in mind the story I'm thinking it would make a great background to our dragon stamps .... yes, I know our dragons are chinese but .....
Anyway enjoy your day!

WOMDTT

Those that browse the web will no doubt have come across posts on Wednesdays entitled WOYWW ie. what's on your workdesk wednesdays. If not, check out www.acraftingjourney.blogspot.com. As I don't have a work desk I've never actually joined in but it's interesting to see what people are up to. Anyway I craft on about a quarter of my dining table so thought I'd post a photo of what's on my dining table today.


I'm busy doing The Craft Barn's mini album challenge - mine is based on spring flowers so I've been waiting for the final sketch so I can print all my photos for all 9 pages. In the meantime I've been distressing my backgrounds - I always find it difficult matching green papers with the green of photos so I thought I'd do some distressing - some yellow with a hint of orange and red; and some green with a hint of purple and pink. Hopefully they'll match the photos once they're printed.


I've stamped some pages with the Scroll Frames - it's a set of 4 stamps that you can make into a heart or frame for cardmaking but they're great for scrapbooking too. Embellish your papers, stamp into corners or use across the page. Hopefully next week I'll have more time to finish all my pages so please come back and take a look.

Monday?

Can't believe it is Monday night already - where does the time go??

Had a busy weekend organising a target shooting competition - we had 55 shooters who came from all over the south-east. The sun shone, there was very little wind and the scores were good. I spent most of the weekend in the office sorting out the paperwork or in the kitchen frying bacon.

Thanks to Katie and Sam for their hard work too. They put all the scores in the computer, did all the printing, collected all the shot cards and walked about 5 miles each day - no wonder they were complaining of aching feet. Anyway school tomorrow so they can have a rest!

Well I have started on my mini album for The Craft Barn's challenge - I've distressed all the backgrounds and stamped scrolls etc but I'm going to add photos and want to print them all out in one go....so nothing to show you as yet. Maybe later in the week.

Mack Rose

I'm in a bit of a lull as far as crafting is concerned- no birthdays in the near future, no recent photos to scrap and no 2010 mini book to keep up-to-date - I blame the snow and exams in January as I never got started this year!!
So I had a look through my photos to see what I haven't shown you on here. One of the things I'd like to do more of is melt art - I invested in a melt pot and have had a few sessions playing with embossing powders and using cookie cutters. Its fascinating the colours and patterns you can create. My philosophy is if its looking a bit boring add some more!

The photos show both sides of a necklace and to be honest I'm not sure which I like the best - the pearly mackintosh rose front or the marbled back. What do you reckon??


I placed a frame over the Mack Rose stamp and then poured utee over the top. Once it cooled I rubbed perfect pearls over the surface, added one of t!m's philosophy tags and attached to cords using jump rings. E is for Elaine, not really excellence - for professional info on melt art then look at the videos on the Ranger website or on Suze Weinberg's blog.

Just spotted on The Craft Barn's blog they are doing a mini book challenge (a sketch a day for 9 days) so I might have a go at that although I'm out all weekend and working next week. Anyway I shall give it a try - if this appeals to you, check out The Craft Barn's Blog for details.

Z Cards

So how old are you? Did you think I was going to write about Z Cars? Or Softly Softly! I do remember these programmes but I was young at the time ....honest!!

The cards that attracted attention at Ally Pally were the shaped cards so here are a couple of my cards similar to those at the show. I'm not sure what they are officially called, bi-fold cards, concertina cards, Z cards - let me know.

No need for templates or anything complicated - a pencil and ruler, fold an A4 sheet of card into 3 and then cut off a diagonal from the front two-thirds.



On the left is a very simple card showing off the Christmas Corner stamp embossed in China Red.


On the right the card is stamped with the Sunflower in 2 shades of Brilliance and embellished with ribbon and a shrink plastic sunflower.


As I said before the cards are so simple to make, just cut the front on an angle to suit your corner stamp or design, but they give that little bit more dimension. Enjoy!

Ally Pally

Had a great time at Ally Pally - the Big Stamping and Scrapbooking Show - and hope those of you that went had a great time too. Certainly by the weight of some of the bags I saw people with on the Underground, most people enjoyed themselves. There are loads of stands with stamps, inks and papers, demoes and in a lovely setting too. At lunch I even managed 5 minutes sat outside in the sun looking over the rooftops of London to Canary Wharf and the centre of London.

I digress! I did actually go to work on the Oak House Studio stand where Lynnda and I took turns to demo stamps, inks, Aquash watercolours, pastels etc and Martin wore his fingers out on the till. We had lots of interest in our stamps and stamping card along with craft sheets, acrylic blocks and the pen pots Lynnda had on Create and Craft last time. I was let off for good behaviour at about 3.30pm (when the show quietened down a little) so managed to treat myself to a few things!

So thats Ally Pally done with till September. Next job is preparing for the TV show on May 5th. I'll show some samples nearer the time but I found this card I hadn't shown you so thought I'd do that today.


The stamps are the Sketchy Flowers from the Get Stamping kit clear embossed over Colour Chemistry Purple Pigment Ink. The oval backgrounds are both made using the 'mopping technique'. Wipe the Purple Pigment Ink onto a craft sheet, spritz with water and then mop up with card, heat set it, then mop again till you have a pleasing mottled effect. Spritz the craft sheet again and use up the remainder of the purple ink to create a lighter version. Then its just a case of matting and layering, cutting out the flowers and adding the sentiment. If you like the flowers then they come by themselves in a slightly larger size and are called Spring Blooms and Words - check out the Oak House Studio website.

Well the washer has finished so I'd best go hang it outside - a new experience but it must mean the weather is improving - and then I can go get inky!

Show Dates

Well I hope you all had a good Easter weekend - it seems so long ago already. I've been busy this week motivating my daughters to get on with their homework. Wasn't very successful as they seem to need the internet for everything these days and ours has been slow to non-existent. A quick poke of the router with a cocktail stick and things seem to be back to normal!! Now it's just a case of getting them out of bed....
At least with the computer down I've been making a few cards for the next TV show - it was going to be next Friday but it's just been moved to May 5th at noon I think....I'll confirm nearer the time. Along with pen pots and desk organisers will be a selection of stamps including the Stitch in Time set - 6 fabric hearts, 5 buttons, 3 rows of stitching and words.


Here's one of my cards at a very jaunty angle - note to self: mirri card is difficult to photo without getting a view of me and my camera too!! Anyway the card uses the largest button embossed in Colour Chemistry Midnight Sparkle, the cross stitched Best Wishes and the satin stitch clear embossed over Colour Chemistry Powder Blue Pigment Ink. My favourite colours - turquoise, black and silver.....hope you like it too!

So the next job is get organised for Ally Pally and the Big Stamping and Scrapbooking Show this weekend. Luckily I live too far away to help load the van but I'm sure Lynnda and Martin will have everything organised by the time the show starts at 10am on Saturday.
If you've never been before it's a great show with lots of stamps, inks and scrapbooking papers to tempt you in a beautiful setting, Come and say hello!

Happy Easter

Well I'd like to say its a lovely spring day here but I can't - its Ok when the sun comes out but there's a cold wind too...brrr. Anyway we went out for a drive yesterday and bought a few things for the garden in the vain hope the weather warms up and we feel like spending time outside.


As its Easter I treated myself to some daffodils and they certainly cheer the place up. Now I don't profess to be a great photographer but I do like taking macro shots of flowers!
Not done much crafting this week as I've been catching up with other things. Which reminds me I'd best go find where the easter bunny hid the Easter eggs before my daughters realise they are missing something this morning.
Hope you all have a good Easter!