Friday 24 December 2010

Twas The Night Before Christmas

Firstly I'd just like to apologise for not being around so much in the last week. Christmas preparations have taken over as they have a tendency to do.

Secondly I'd like to wish all my followers and anyone who stops by a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope Santa is kind to you all and brings all the things you wish for. I've really appreciated all your comments over the last year and the support and lovely inspiration you have provided and look forward to a New Year of crafty goodness.

I have no crafting to share with you today but thought these photos taken during the last week where nice and festive. Our river is frozen solid and today is covered with a fresh sprinkling of snow. It looks beautiful and I can't remember seeing it like this in my 40 years so it doesn't happen often. Mind we don't get daytime highs of -9oc very often either!!


The swans and ducks are all congregated in the little bit of water there is under the bridge.


Lastly I took these frost patterns on the car window last Sunday when we went out. The cold can be very difficult but it certainly provides lots of photo opportunities.


Stay warm and safe and enjoy all that you do over the festive period and I will see you in a few days.

Thursday 16 December 2010

A Couple More Tags

Hello dear Bloggers. How are your Christmas preparations going? I hope you are getting there slowly.

I keep shopping, getting home and remembering something I've forgotten, saying lots of naughty words and going out again the next day. My freezer is now bursting and the cupboards overflowing just in case the snow returns and I can't get my car to the shops. I don't drive in snow and groceries are too heavy to carry if I walk so hopefully all we need is a bit of fresh veg now nearer the big day. The presents are all bought and just need delivering, again all local so it doesn't matter what the skies throw this way.

I have a rare day to myself. DD has her school Christmas lunch and then party until 3.30pm followed by 2 hours of drama class so she doesn't get home until 5.30 and my very kind Hubby is picking her up so I have lots of hours to fill. Not that that's difficult. My Craft Room has been tidied and all the Christmas card making stuff put away, I've written the letters that need to go in the last few Christmas cards, I've had lunch and seen Neighbours and now I have the afternoon to do a bit of crafting. Bliss!!!! I may even manage to catch up on my very bad blog visiting!!

Here are the other two tags I made last week inspired by Sir Tim. There are a further two still in pieces so once they're done I won't have done too bad keeping up with him this year. I may manage to get the rest done at some point, you never know!!!


This first one was very straight forward. Tim showed a brilliant technique using cut n dry foam and reinkers but as I didn't have reinkers I just inked up the holly stamp using different inks. The general result was the same. I should have coloured the leaves a bit darker though. It all seems a bit insipid to me. I made the bird out of shrink plastic but again would have preferred a little metal charm. Still you live and learn.


The background for the second tag has been run through a wood texture plate and then inked over to highlight the grain, with distress stickles added.


The poinsettia and leaves were made by my Mum using Glimmer misted card and a die she has. The middle was cut out of gold glitter paper and a jewel added. They were made for cards that never got made but they found a good home in the end.

The wording was cut from a Sissix die, inked in Barn Door DI and then text stamped over and the swirl was a TH Sissix die of course. The little 25 was also a TH stamp with glossy accents over the top.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Thursday goes well. Wrap up Warm.

Saturday 11 December 2010

Tim Tagstic

Evening dear Bloggers. I hope you have all made the most of this tropical weather and got all your Christmas shopping done before the Arctic conditions return!!! I even managed to spend a few hours in the garden today, admittedly it was only getting rid of what the cold had spoiled but it was lovely to be outside pottering again and amazingly enough apart from the remnants of the Summer bedding nothing seemed to be too worse for wear.

I have been loving Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas again this year. Have been following them? He has shared some amazing techniques and when you love to play it's a great excuse to get all the inks and stickles and stamps out and create just for the fun of it.

Apart from the blue Santa I managed to do last weekend I've been itching to have a go so yesterday after a quick bit of housework I had the luxury to spend a few hours playing and managed to do 4 of them. I'll share two today and two next time, don't want to give you tag overload.

As you know, I currently own very few TH stamps, texture plates and dies so my tags have all been made with other things but following the general Tim idea!

The first one is Tag 5 and Tim's looks like this.


And here's mine.


It has a white acrylic paint border and is inked with Barn Door DI. The ink wipes off the paint leaving the border. My trusty Habico Santa takes pride of place and the holly was from a Forever Friends Christmas set. I coloured it with promarkers and added some stickles.

The label was hand cut, painted with green acrylic paint and Peeled Paint DI rubbed over the top, the music was from an old torn sheet of music with Walnut stain DI rubbed along the ripped edges and the 25 was cut on my Slice, painted with white acrylic paint and rubbed around the edge with black ink. The little flower and leaves were hand drawn. Unfortunately, I didn't line up the Merry Christmas very well but as we are being arty I lived with it!!

Onto Tag 6 and again here is Tim's


And here is mine.


I embossed the tag with a cuttlebug leaves folder and inked with Broken China, Peeled Paint and Walnut Stain DI. There is a swirl stamped onto it as well but it didn't work very well. Lastly I inked the edges with gold ink using a texture sponge.

The little deer was cut on my slice, embossed with a Cuttlebug snowflakes folder and painted with pale blue acrylic paint and rubbed over with Walnut Stain which I also used to colour his antlers and then they were glazed with glossy accents. The music ribbon is from the same piece of old sheet music and the greeting from a set of Hero stamps. I added a green ribbon and red bell instead of the garland. The Christmas decs are still in the loft so I couldn't raid them for this bit of embellishment!

I know Tim's are far far superior to mine but I really enjoyed having a go. I'll show you the others another day as promised but as Frankie at Tag It On is also playing along this week for her challenge I shall enter either tag , take your pick Frankie, you can have them both!!!!

Sioux's Splinter group is also having a lot of fun with their tags and there are some brilliant works of art being created. It's definitely worth having a look at.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely evening and enjoy your Sunday.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

WOYWW

Hello Lovely Bloggers from a still freezing Yorkshire. I was upstairs in my sunny Craft Room this afternoon finishing off my last cake order before Christmas and it was quite toasty but when I came downstairs the lounge thermometer said just 13.8oC, a little parky I think. Thankfully it's lovely and warm now.

Because of cakey business upstairs my craft is back on the dining room table so here's whats happening today. I'm in the middle of finishing off a little box for our very special neighbours Golden Wedding Anniversary on Friday. They are surrogate Grandparents to our DD and we are very lucky to have them so I wanted to do something a little bit special. I would have made them a cake but she is diabetic so that was not really appropriate.


My little butterflies need putting in and then it's done. I intend to get them a yellow rose bush for the garden to go with it.

The rest is just general mess, the white boxes are my special new SU inks, which I adore using at the minute and you might just spot a very special chap who has just joined The Craft Garden.

Yes, at last I've managed to track down Sir Tim's Umbrella Man on a set of stamps where I actually love all of them. As you may remember back in the Summer, I was trying to track him down as a single stamp as his set had lots of images I'd never use. I did find him but at quite a high price and as a crafter on a budget I just couldn't justify it. Having a snoop round Google the other week, however, I found this clear set called Visual Artistry from Inkylicious. There are lots of other sets if you are interested in Tim's stuff and they are only £8 a go.

The green card is one DD is making, they have been making them at school and it's a really clever idea. She has been showing me how to do it and once we get some put together in a card, I'll show you them. It's just folded and cut to look like a tree.

If you wonder why I'm waffling on about all this then you need to pop over to see Julia who started the wonderful WOYWW and get sharing your space. It's a fantastic way of meeting new friends.
I was really bad at getting round everyone else's desks last time for which I apologise. I shall try to do better this week. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are keeping safe and warm.

Monday 6 December 2010

Just Playing Around

Afternoon all my lovely Blogging friends. Do you know how nice it is to know you are all out there to chat too. It doesn't half cheer a girl up. You are such a fantastic bunch of people and I never take you for granted. Just wanted to say that!

I think I was all Christmas carded out at the weekend. I have many to make for friends and family, but I'm taking Jules' advice and keeping my Fayre cards for next year. I don't think I can face sending them all out. Anyway, I prefer sending more "me" cards if that makes any sense at all. When you are making them to attract people with pennies to spend they have to be fairly generic, the general public don't "get" arty cards I've found. Sorry I'm waffling.

What I meant to say was that I spent the afternoon yesterday just playing with a tag inspired by one of Tim's 12 days of Christmas tags. Have you been following him, they are a pretty impressive collection so far aren't they?


The background of the tag was done with my new SU inks, which I just adore at the minute and then the Habico Santa was stamped in the same blue as was the snowflakes to blend him into the background.

I didn't have any of the things Tim used so I white embossed some snowflakes and then covered them with glossy accents to represent the glints. The pearls at the bottom are liquid pearls and the gem swirls were stuck on by hand. The little tag was one I had saved from the internet and I made a paper clip from some silver wire. Santa's glasses were picked out with a silver gel pen and a few beads added to the tassel.

I'm entering him into the Tuesday Taggers challenge this week which is St Nick. They are being sponsored by The Craft Barn so it's well worth checking out if you're very quick!!!

And also The Stampman's fortnightly challenge which is Christmas in Three Colours. Mine are blue, silver and white.

I've also linked my Tim inspired tag to Artyjen's splinter group who are playing along with the 12 days of Christmas tags. If you are tagging too go and check them out, there is some absolutely gorgeous tags being created


Just before I go I thought I'd share with you the view I had today from our Conservatory window this morning. Yes, the ice is on the inside. It got down to -14oC apparently.

Thanks for stopping by and keep safe and warm.

Thursday 2 December 2010

It's Been A Funny Old Week

I hope you are all keeping safe and warm in this freezing weather.

We had such a dollop of snow yesterday. I haven't seen anything like it for years. The flakes were huge and coming down so fast it was hard to see across the road. We had 4 or 5 inches in a few hours and everything ground to a halt. It took DH 2 hours to do a 20 minute journey home.

Today thankfully, apart from a few showers, has been a much better day and the gritter has now cleared the hill outside so we are able to get in and out again.

The most disappointing thing is that the School Christmas Fayre on Saturday that I have been making Christmas cards for for the past few months for a stall I was having has been cancelled so all that work has been for nothing!!!!!! Guess how I feel tonight.

Enough doom and gloom. I have just managed to finish the cover for my Journal Your Christmas book in time to enter it into The Stampman's challenge this fortnight which is to create something for Christmas using Tim Holtz products.


I painted the cover of the book with Acrylic daubers and then stamped around the edge with part of the only TH stamp I currently own, which is one of the components Christmas stamps. I used Broken China and Worn Lipstick DI for all the stamping. The edging was clear embossed.

The negative part of the TH swirl die was used as a stencil and the swirl itself was inked and glittered with crystal stickles. The flowers were coloured in the same way.



The letters were triple embossed with Moon Glow Midnight Emerald Obsidian which is just gorgeous and then the TH stamp inked with Silver brilliance and pressed in while the powder was still hot. My favourite technique.


It's surprising what you can do with one little stamp but I really need to expand my collection of TH stamps. Maybe Santa is listening!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm.