Another Sheena Peak

Afternoon lovely Crafters. Another week has sped by and it's Friday again. It'll be Christmas in a blink of an eye at this rate.

I just popped in to give you another Sheena sample to tempt you with these lovely stamps.


With this card I used three different plates to create a typical Lakeland scene using just distress inks for that soft light. The tree was embossed with Bark and Olive WOW embossing powders and cut out before being stuck on. You could emboss straight onto the card if you feel brave enough. I didn't with this and find cutting out quite therapeutic really.

Don't forget to watch Sheena's programmes on Create and Craft on Sunday. There's bound to be lots of inky techniques occurring.

Sorry to be brief today, there's lots happening in The Craft Garden at the minute and time is pressing.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Another Sheena Sneaky Peek

Morning lovely Crafters from a damp drizzly Yorkshire. It's definitely an indoor day today so lots of crafting is going on.

Before I get involved with anything I'd like to share with you another card I made for Sheena Douglass using her gorgeous new stamps.


These are something a bit different, lovely silhouette flowers that you can get all arty with. I stamped these onto glossy card with versamark, white embossed them and then rubbed distress ink over the top. I then stamped the flowers onto the base card in the same colours and added one of Sheena's lovely new greetings.


Hope you like it and if you're really good I'll be back tomorrow with yet another one.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your Thursday whatever you are up too.

WOYWW 125 & a Sneaky Peek

Morning lovely Crafters and WOYWWer's. Here we are again at another mid point of the week and a beautiful sunny one it is too. I know some of you haven't been so lucky this week but for once we've had a lovely week of mild temperatures and sunshine, perfect for half term.

I've had a busy few days having some lovely trips out and then grabbing a few hours in my craft room doing DT work for the launch of a new set of gorgeous stamps from the lovely Sheena Douglass on Create and Craft next Sunday 30th October.

More of that later but in the meantime, as the cards are now parcelled up to be sent off to Douglass Towers this morning, there is nothing, not a jot, on my desk as I tidied up and put everything away ready for the next project.


Doesn't look tidy to me I hear you cry. Well, when I went up to take my photos late last night I'd forgotten I'd got a load of papers out looking for my MOT and Insurance documents to tax my car today. Don't you just love having to do these jobs.


Just to give you a glimpse of the other side of my desk, the one I normally keep hidden, you can see the organised chaos. I like to keep all my Nesties and embossing folders close to hand so they sit in a basket on my desk all mixed up with my cake decorating bits and bobs and other crafty things.


My ribbon stash is also outgrowing it's space, can you ever have enough ribbons?

If you have something interesting happening on your desk today or just want to share your crafty space then pop over to see the Desk Headmistress, Julia HERE and share it all with us.

Now, back to Sheena's gorgeous new stamps. These have been right up my street. Those of you who know me well know of my love of The Lake District so when these little beauties fell through my letterbox I was thrilled to discover they are all Lakeland inspired. I feel like I've been travelling sitting at my desk.


Here's a Sneaky Peek of one of the samples I made. The sets all combine beautifully to build up scenes but I love these rowing boats so I decided to keep them simple and just used Vintage Photo Distress Ink for it all.

The rest of the team have produced some gorgeous creations and you can see more by popping over to Sheena's blog.

I will share some more with you tomorrow.

Well, better go and get the car taxed and then I think we are going into Leeds for some lunch and a look round the big shops, now there's an adventure for you. I used to work in Leeds every day but now we go once in a blue moon so it really does feel like an adventure.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's A Nightime Challenge at The Stampman

Morning folks. I just have to say I have the nicest Followers in Blogland. Your comments give me a lovely warm glow. Thank you all.

After the crisp sunshine of the last couple of days it's grey and dark here today but we have to be grateful for all the nice days we get at this time of year so I'm not complaining.

It's time for a new challenge over at The Stampman again and this time my dear friend Michelle has set a NIGHTIME theme. This panicked me slightly to begin with and then I was inspired by a stunning tag the very talented Artyjen created here and this got the old juices flowing.


Not having a black distress ink I used Chipped Sapphire and Walnut Stain blended over the masked moon. I liked the idea of a big moon and the Tim Holtz clock seemed to work with it. I used some clock hands my DH had brought me from bits and pieces he found at work. Goodness knows what they use them for but they are perfect for crafting.


Mr Umbrella Man had to come out again but I silver embossed him this time and he's walking in the shower of stars stamped with Brilliance Starlite Silver with Diamond Stickles added. (The stamp was actually the flower centre from the Funky Flowers stamps)


The sentiment was computer generated and I clear embossed the black background with some text just to add some extra interest.

The rest of the Design Team have created some simply stunning work so don't forget to pop over to the Challenge blog and have a closer look. Mrs Stampman is offering a £10 voucher to spend at their sparkling new website for the winner so lets see all your nightime projects.

Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely weekend whatever you are up too.

WOYWW 124

Morning lovely crafters. I hope I find you well this Wednesday morning. I've just realised I've not posted since last Wednesday, goodness where did that week go. No excuses, just trying to get ahead of myself ready for half term which, for us, starts tomorrow and they go back on 1st November. Three training days have been added on so crafting will be hit and miss for the next week or so. My DH is also off next week so lets hope the weather behaves itself so that we can get out and about.


You find me with a busy workdesk again this week. I'm trying to get some Christmas pressies made and put away and I have a canvas in progress for my MIL. She doesn't have the internet so I know there's no risk of her spying anything. She admired the one I did for my Mum in the Summer so I thought I'd do one for her in her colours. She has a burgundy colour scheme so I've started with pale pink and will work up to the darker shades, hopefully. I just tend to play and see what happens.


I've shown you mine so lets see what you are up too. Pop over to see the desk Headmistress, Julia, HERE and get snooping.


As we are at the mid point of another month it's time to provide a bit more inspiration for The Stampman ATC swaps, which this month has an Oriental theme. I am still struggling with ATC's but was quite pleased with how this one turned out. I used Barn Door DI on glossy paper and overstamped with some text. The flower was gold embossed and then coloured in with promarkers using darker reds. I found the beads in a toy shop in Italy and thought they had a lovely antiquey feel. Funny the things you find when you're not looking.

I am also walking round with a warm glow this morning, and not from sitting on the radiator either. You may remember the Christmas Paint Fusion wall hanging sample I did for Sheena's Pick Of The Week shows some time ago. If you don't you can see it here.

Anyway, Sheena asked me if I would mind if she taught it at her workshops. Mind, I was thrilled that she thought it was worthy and there is a photo of some of the hangers her ladies have produced on her blog today. They are really lovely and it has made me want to make another one now to hang up with the decorations come Christmas.

Right, my washing machine has just finished so I must dash and get them outside before the weather changes yet again. The sun's out and there's a good breeze today so I'll just say thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting.

WOYWW 123 or What 'Orrible Yucky Wet Weather

Morning all. Wednesday yet again. I'm sure someone is winding these weeks on faster and faster. It seems to be time to bare all on my workdesk every other day. It maybe has something to do with the terrible weather we have been having here in Yorkshire this week. It started raining on Saturday morning and apart from a quick glimmer of sunshine yesterday afternoon, hasn't stopped since. Oh how I long for that glorious weather of only a week ago!!


Here is the view out of my kitchen window this dismal Wednesday morning.


Still, it's perfect crafting weather, so onto my desk. You can see my first attempt at an inked panel, which I've been meaning to try for months after first seeing them in Craft Stamper and then all over Blogland at one time or another. The circle Fairy card from the last post was meant to be one of these but the inking went wrong, hence the lengthy process. I think I've cracked it now and today's attempt was fairly successful.


I hand cut a rectangular mask trying to keep things simple and inked it with Bundled Sage and Broken China Distress ink before spraying it with gold mica powder and giving it a quick dry with the heat gun.


The stamps are all from Inkylicious, my new favourite company. I'm in love with all their stamps at the minute. I finished the card with just a simple black mat and some stickles.

While we were on holiday in Italy my Mum fell and broke her wrist and since we got home I've been taking her to hospital on a regular basis to first have a new pot on, then have it taken off and this week for physiotherapy. She has now been signed off and after we got home on Monday afternoon I had my lunch and thought if I don't go and do something with this dark weather I'm likely to doze off which is definitely not allowed so I decided to tidy my craft room. Well, this turned into a huge reorganisation and clean. It is now very tidy and very clean and I love this new storage idea, a shoe hanger that hangs over the door, another thing I saw in Craft Stamper this month. It's a brilliant way of creating extra storage without taking up anymore space.


Well, that's me this week. If you want to join in with all this desk nosiness then pop over to see our leader of desks, Julia, HERE.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have found some sunshine in your part of the world and if you have can you send some my way please.

Circle It With The Stampman

Morning lovely Crafters. Another week done and dusted and as it's Friday again that must mean a new challenge over at The Stampman. Lisa Sparkle has asked us this time to CIRCLE IT!!!!!!


After many attempts this is what I finally came up with. A circle Easel. I had the initial idea of the little fairy scene but couldn't decide what to do with it and several cards ended up in the bin. Once the circle easel popped into my poor brain though things started to work and I just kept going adding the embossed stars and edging. You would never believe it's taken me three days would you???


The background to the fairies was done with Bundled sage and various blue distress inks, starting with Stormy Sky and working through Faded Jeans to Chipped Sapphire and then over sprayed with gold mica spray. I always stick the moon on after inking now, saves the hassle of masking and I quite like the raised effect. I added some stickles to the edge of it for a touch of sparkle and some to the stars too. All the stamps come from the Aspects of Design Starburst Fairies and Daisy Daydreams.


The greeting stamp on the bottom is straight but I found by bending it it would stamp out curved. It had to be done quickly though before it popped back into shape being rubber.

I'm still not sure about the flowers, they were punched out and sprayed with water and scrunched, with stickles added when they were dry. They look better in real life but I need to try this technique again with some brighter paper. Still they do the job of keeping the card upright.

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team have been up to, there are some gorgeous projects to look through and we are delighted to welcome another new team member, Caroline this week.

So lets see all you circle projects. Jill is offering a £10 voucher to spend at her brand new website which will be up and running very shortly, please bear with her, there is a tremendous amount of work involved.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely weekend. I don't think we are going to be lucky enough to have the weather we enjoyed last weekend but at least the wind and rain seems to have calmed down today and we have some sunshine again even if it's a bit chilly.

WOYWW

Morning everyone, or is it Afternoon. Anyway, I hope I find you well this Wednesday. Not sure what is happening with our weather this week. It was freezing yesterday but I've just been outside to stand up some blown over pots and it's really warm in the sunshine again today.


It's time to bare all with those WOYWWer's again and I've had a busy morning in my craft room with some DT work which is determined to cause me grief. Why is it that some projects just go together nicely and others are a struggle. I can't show it yet so you can see on my desk a card I'm making for a lovely girl by the name of Willow, don't you just love that name, the daughter of our good friends, who reaches the grand old age of 13 this week. It was also our 13th Wedding Anniversary last Monday so you can imagine the size of her Mum on our Wedding photos!!

I haven't got any stamps suitable for a teenager so decided to use some images from the Polkadoodles Sundae of Seasons CD. I'm not a CD crafter usually but I love this one, it's so bright and cheerful.


The first shot is a daredevil one taken by standing on my stool so I thought I'd show you the other end of the table where my lovely promarker rack has pride of place with some lovely artwork from my Australian friend Shaz displayed on top. My heatgun is cooling from lots of action this morning, yes I know, highly dangerous stood on a pile of paper!!

My lovely old key came from Italy this year and has hooks. I haven't decided what to use it for yet but it's ideal for hanging up little canvases. The rest of the desk is just a mess, but it is organised mess if that's any excuse!!

I've shown you mine so let's see yours. Pop over to see Julia and find out what it's all about HERE.

Well, I need to go and make myself respectable and get up to school for some crafty fun with the children so I'll say Cheerio for now and thanks for stopping by.

A Sweetpea Hanger For A Special Lady

Evening lovely Bloggers. I hope you've all managed to enjoy this fabulous Indian Summer we've been having. It seems to be over in this part of the world today. We have had cloud and rain on and off all day but it's still been very warm and hasn't stopped me pottering in the garden.

Before all the hot weather started I made this little hanger for a very dear neighbour of ours whose birthday it was last week. I thought it made a nice alternative to a card and doesn't have to be put away after a few days.


I cut each of the ovals with a nestie with a matching backing just out of white card to hide the painty mess on the other side and the ribbon attachment. The poem is stamped from a set from Inkylicious and then I fusioned sweetpeas on the other two and rubbed the edges with peeled paint distress ink.


I'm no painter and the results of the fusion always amazes me as it makes flowers so easy to paint and to achieve results I'm really happy with, which I can assure you, is no easy task as I'm a born fiddler when it comes to painting.

Before I go and get my weekly dose of Downton Abbey I'd just like to give you a heads up about some great Blog Candy Jill from The Stampman is offering at the moment.


She has recently been selling some incredibly popular Old Bags which contain all sorts of lovely goodies. They have all sold out now but Jill spirited one away for one lucky Winner.

The Bag she is offering has a game theme and is filled with all sorts of things which are perfect for, among other things, configuration boxes.

You have until Midday (GMT) Tuesday 25th October to enter and full details can be found on Jill's blog HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a really good week.