Time Flies....

I'm so sorry for being a bad Blogger recently. Can't you tell the weather has improved? It's been so lovely to get outside in the garden again and tidy up the winter debris and enjoy seeing the buds beginning to appear. A lovely promise of things to come.

I hope all you Mums out there enjoyed Mother's Day yesterday. I had a lovely day with a cup of tea in bed and a beautiful hand made card and some new stamps to play with. Perfect. We also visited our Mums as well so it was a nice relaxing day. I will share the cards I made with you in a later post.

I've been having another play with Alcohol inks, something I don't feel I've fully got to grips with yet. Sometimes, they work but more often than not I don't like how they come out.


In last months Craft Stamper there was a technique to create landscapes with them by wiping blending solution over the gloss card first and then applying the ink over the top and swooshing it about with the blending tool. By deciding what the swooshing looks like and stamping accordingly it creates little scenes.


I haven't been very adventurous and just used my favourite Crafty Individual tree stamps for both of them but I quite like the results. I tried two different colours but think I prefer the blue one best. I shall definitely try it again with different types of stamps to see what happens.

Thank you, as always, for stopping by and I hope your week goes well.

Birds and Pearls

Brrr it's so cold isn't it and we've had no daylight here today, it's been dark, damp and foggy all day so apologies for the photos tonight, I've scanned one and photoed the other with flash to get the best results but nothing like taking them in daylight.

Before I get going with this post I must just say a huge thank you for your support, I was feeling really bad over that cake but I know I did the right thing. Family time is so precious at anytime but more so at Christmas.

Following my last post, I have been asked whether the clear embossing powder sticks to the mica powdered card from the original inking. I made the card such a long time ago I couldn't honestly answer 100% so I had another go last night and found out two things, yes the clear EP sticks but to get the best results with the mica powder you need to use watercolour paper. Not sure why this is but ordinary card just doesn't work. So here are step by step instructions.

1) Cut a piece of watercolour paper the required design size you want.

2) Liberally ink with versamark or similar.

3) Apply mica powders with a large brush until they cover the paper really well.

4) Ink a stamp with the versamark and stamp into the powder. This will remove it to show the stamped design (If you are really organised and have a piece of triple embossing to hand stamp the mica powdered stamp into this so as not to waste it). Otherwise clean the stamp each time before reinking & restamping into the powder

5) Sprinkle clear EP over the whole area and heat emboss from underneath to get a glossy finish.

Hope this helps.

Here is the piece I did last night and a piece of triple embossed chipboard I made after stamping the dragonfly card in the last post.


The Tag It On challenge theme this week is birds and this is what I came up with.


The tag was glimmer misted with various shades of pink. The Crafty Individuals stamp was inked in Brilliance pearlescent Ivy and Crimson and clear embossed. The little hearts were then decoupaged.

I realised after I'd finished it that the stamp is very swirly so I've added some pearls and am also entering it into the Allsorts challenge. Their theme is swirls and pearls this week. You have to be a speedy crafter at this time of year when time is so precious so hope this is ok.

Thank you as always for stopping by and I hope you are all wrapping up well and keeping warm.

Tags Galore

I've been desperate to catch up on some tags all week and this morning have managed to do two, Wow! that's good for me. Only problem is they are both late for what they are intended for, still I'll post them anyway.

The first one is for last weeks Tag It On challenge which was Blue Moon. Sorry it's late Frankie!


I masked the moon and dabbed baby blue eyes blue gold and wisteria purple blue (don't they have fantastic names) starburst stains all over the tag and let it dry. The Crafty Individuals trees were stamped in brilliance blue and embossed with holographic powder and a colourbox dark blue and clear EP to give a bit of depth.


I then worked darker ink over the top of the tag and shaded the moon and hand drew some clouds with pencil. Lastly I went over the top of the tag with Frosted Forget Me Nots Starbust stain to get the glimmer back. For some reason this stain has lost it's blue but it's great for applying glimmer when you don't want any colour.

The second tag is a take on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas. If you haven't seen them yet, have a look, he's doing some amazing stuff again this year.


I think this was Tag 7 which was all about masking. I've used my own Santa stamp which is one I've had for ages and not really used. It's been rediscovered again this year though. He was stamped in Graphite black Brilliance and clear embossed. The swirls were then stamped with white acrylic paint and left to dry thoroughly. Peeled paint Distress ink was applied and a red pigment ink (unfortunately I don't have a red DI yet!!) and then the white swirls were buffed to remove the ink from them.

I added a gold embossed greeting but it looked terrible so I added some more swirls and gold embossed those to disguise it. I think looking at the whole thing I should have stamped the image at the top and put the greeting at the bottom. What do you think?

Well it's not a patch on Tim's who had stickles and music on his as well but at least I've managed to have a go.

I hope your week is going well so far.

Thank you as always for your wonderful comments, I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading them, they are so much appreciated.

Tags, Bags and Flu Jabs

I am so relieved that I'm at least a bit normal, thank you all those folk who agreed with the handbags and shoes thing!!!

My friends all think I'm nuts!! To me bags are just for stuffing all those things in you can't leave the house without, purse, camera, tissues, keys, wet wipes, phone, pen, tub of mints, carrier bag and many other assorted necessities. I then end up with Hubby's keys and phone when he's got nowhere else to put them and that half drunk bottle of juice we invariably seem to have after having a coffee out. Why can't children ever finish their drinks!! It's no wonder I need something the size of a suitcase that always weighs a ton.

At the end of the last post I promised you the tag for the Tag It On Challenge, the original reason we made the alcohol ink background,(the theme this week is alcohol inks and faces)... so here it is.


I cut the tag shape out of the photo paper and stamped all over with the same script stamp using Brilliance Galaxy gold. The ladies were stamped in Brilliance crimson as with the last card.


I stamped the swirl in the corners, covered the ladies with a mask and sprinkled gold embossing powder over the rest of the tag and very very carefully heated it. Photo paper buckles and bubbles really easily under heat but I got away with it... just!!!!!

I've really enjoyed playing with the inks and these stamps, they are something a bit different for me but I will definitely play with them again soon. It's been nice to get away from the Christmas thing for awhile. I've still got those cards to finish!!!!!! Keep finding more interesting things to do!!!!!

I hope your week is going well so far. Mine has been stressful, have you ever tried to get a flu jab appointment from a doctors receptionist. It's harder than getting into China!! My Mum is on the list of vulnerable people and has the flu jab every year but her surgery didn't contact her and she forgot this year. I also said it was a good idea if she has the Swine flu jab. She's on medication which means she has no immune system. Anyway, to cut a very long story short, when she rang to get an appointment yesterday, they said the earliest appointment she could have was for the next flu clinic in 2 weeks time!!!!
This is not good enough me thinks!! She could very easily catch flu in this time. After several telephone calls I ended up speaking to the practice manager who told me they hold flu clinics every day but these were totally full of chronically ill people. I appreciated they were very busy but pointed out the differing stories I was being told. She then said she had just noticed they had an appointment today at 9.30am!!! What is all that about!!

Anyway it's all done with now. Sorry to rant. I don't get upset often but when I feel an injustice is being done I can't leave it alone.

Thank you for stopping by.

A Hint Of Green

This weather is certainly perfect for crafting and not a lot else, although we did have a lovely morning shopping in Harrogate yesterday.

Lots of little bits of secret Santa shopping needed doing so plenty of sneaking into shops while creating a diversion was going on. Freya is very good, we can get away with buying things when she's with us and saying it's being sent away to Santa, although she will be getting plenty of surprises so don't worry!

It was thick fog and drizzly rain while we were out and by the time we got home the wind had got up and it was pouring. A perfect excuse for a crafting afternoon.

Freya and I had a play with alcohol inks, her results were better than mine, I was too heavy handed so I did them all again. Fancy being shown up by an 8 year old. Anyway this was all in aid of Frankie's Tag It On Challenge which was to use alcohol inks and faces. I have made my tag but you'll have to wait to see that one 'cos I had so many bits of inked paper left I decided to make a card and while I was putting it together realised it fitted the Tuesday Taggers challenge this week of red, gold and green. I have to confess to having to think hard how to get the green in but if you look closely you'll see the little green gems!!!


We made the background by putting the alcohol ink onto a craft mat and squirting it liberally with blending solution and then twisting some cheapy photo paper around in it and just kept going until we had something we liked. The gold ink was added in the same way at the very ink. I think I used Cranberry and Denim Blue for the card.

The Crafty Individual ladies were stamped in Brilliance Crimson and the background was a script stamp also from Crafty Individuals which was stamped several times and gold embossed. I gold embossed the chipboard swirls to match.


I was also honoured by receiving this lovely award from the very talented Rhonda who lives in beautiful Vancouver and makes gorgeous tags.

Apparently, I have to tell you 5 interesting facts about myself, how hard is that!!!!

Well here goes-

I'm very grumpy first thing in the morning until I've had my first cup of tea, which my lovely hubby brings me in bed every day, how lucky am I!!!!

I love to be outside in the sunshine, it just makes me so happy, which is why Spring and Summer are my favourite months.

I can't understand people with a handbag and shoe fetish, I only have one bag and a couple of pairs of shoes for Winter and Summer, but I absolutely love buying plants and craft stash instead.

I love my music. Music of all kinds, I don't really have a favourite. Some music makes me happy and want to dance (not very well I hasten to add) and some just makes me want to sit and listen. But I have music on all day!

I adore silly American dramas like Everwood, Brothers and Sisters and ER and cannot miss them, yes I know ER has finished now. I shall be in mourning for ever. If I'm going to miss an episode I'll go to any lengths to see it!!! Sad I know.

Blimey that was a struggle.

I don't normally pass awards on, it's so hard to choose but because I'm nosey and some blogs especially make me smile I'd like to pass this award to the following.

Jill (Mrs Stampman)
Sarah (In The Zone)
Polly
Kathy
and Ei for her wonderful e-mails.

and everyone else who'd like it.

Well I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. I'll be back soon with that tag. I think I've wittered on enough for one day.

Thank you for stopping by.

Burst Of Colour

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. What a contrast in the weather. We had gorgeous sunshine on Saturday and howling gales and torrential rain yesterday. Perfect crafting weather with the photos I took on Saturday though so I'm not complaining.

I think I've just scraped in with the Tuesday Taggers challenge of a "Burst Of Colour" this week, which is again sponsored by The Craft Barn.
I hope my card is colourful enough to qualify, I got stuck with the blues again but tried to inject some colour with the green holographic matting card.


I've used one of the Stamptivity stamps again on a pencil watercolour background. The BP was made with a flower head stamp from an Autumn Leaves set and stamped with a mixture of watered down and full strength Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord Distress inks and the sentiment was from Crafty Individuals. The dragonflies were cut out and stuck on and then stickles added here and there.

I hope your Monday is going OK, we have had a Training Day which has extended half term nicely. Back to normal tomorrow though.

Thank you for stopping by.

Embossing In A Power Cut!!

I got home from doing my shopping last Thursday to find we had a power cut. I don't know about you but you don't realise how much you use power until it's not there.

I threw my shopping in the fridge and freezer as quick as I could so that the doors were not open too long, made a sandwich and thought I can't sit in silence and eat it so I went hunting for my battery travel speakers and hooked up my Ipod. Music, great!!!!

I then decided I'd make a birthday card for my blogging friend Lynne and it was all going really well, one of those cards that just flowed, which is rare for me. I stamped out the birds, applied the embossing powder, got out the heat gun and then...........how do I plug this in I thought!!!! Now what do I do. Think Think Think. Mmmm I wonder if I can emboss it on the gas ring. After hunting round for a lighter to light the gas, I put the smallest ring on the lowest setting and held the card over and hey presto the powder melted. I did keep checking I wasn't setting fire to the other side!!!! Just shows what you can do when you have to!!


Anyway, this is the end result. The birds (from Crafty Individuals) were stamped onto moonglow spritzed card and embossed with clear powder. I stamped the hearts onto a scrap of card I'd used to wipe up some overspraying of glimmer mist from another project. These were cut out, decoupaged and glossy accents applied.


The cuttlebugged background had matching colourbox inks swipped over and I must say I was quite pleased with the results. The greeting was from a Kay Carley Flitters and Flutters stamp set.

Thankfully the power came back on after about three hours so I could have a much need cuppa!!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and I hope you enjoyed your special day Lynne.

Thank you as always for visiting.

Autumn Trees

I really tempted fate last time by saying how nice the garden looked didn't I? What happened, we had gale force winds on Saturday that blew all the leaves off, broke down the lovely grasses and left the garden looking decidedly the worst for wear. I've put most of it right now, but it's definitely past it's best!!!! Still, looking on the bright side, at least the sun is still shining.

There seems to be lots of challenges out there at the moment which all have similar themes, so I have combined one tag for two challenges this week, hope that's ok.


I blended lots of lovely coloured inks all over the tag to try and re create that lovely misty sky you get as the sun goes down in the Autumn. It seems to be on fire and the leaves on the floor are reflected in the sky. The tree stamp was from Crafty Individuals and I inked it in very dark blue and clear embossed it.

Tuesday Taggers have the theme of Trees sponsored by The Craft Barn and the Dragon' s Tag It On has the theme of Autumn so I hope my Tag fits both.

Thank you for visiting and I hope your Monday has gone well.

Such A Glorious Day

Doesn't the sun make you happy?

After a week of cloud and cold we woke up to the sun streaming through the curtains this morning and nothing to do but enjoy it, a rare luxury!

I had my first load of washing out but 10am and then my lovely Hubby took us out for a delicious lunch. I'm still full to bursting now, even after spending the afternoon gardening. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky and I've had my camera out taking lots of photos hopefully to scrapbook. Everything always looks so much better in the sunshine and set off by beautiful blue skies.

So down to crafting. While the dragon is on holiday we have ages to create a tag for her so I thought I'd have a go at the Tuesday Taggers challenge, which this week has been set by the very talented Mrs Jill Stampman and is Sepia. I've been missing my tags, so this was an obvious place to start.


I sprayed the background with Treasure Island Aqua Moonshadow Mist, what a fantastic name it has. This gives the sepia look but with a green glimmer, (I hope that's not cheating, but I love to get glimmer in somewhere).

I then stamped the Crafty Individuals stamp in Walnut distress ink and pulled in some of the colour with a waterbrush. I wiped a spare piece of card over the overspray of the mist on the craft mat and re stamped the image on this and used chestnut Whispers ink to colour it with the waterbrush, cut out the flower and the pod and decoupaged it on the original. The chestnut ink gave a slightly redder colour which I thought gave the poppy a bit of aged colour! The Walnut Distress was then rubbed round all the edges just to finish things off. Very simple but I'm quite happy with the results for once.


Thank you for visiting. I hope you are all having a great weekend and the sun is shining for you too.

Texting In Purple

The theme for this week's Tag It On challenge is a purple tag with lots of text.

I had a lovely play last night, not really knowing what I was going to do just getting some inks and stamps out and seeing what happened. I had the idea of books and letters unlocking all sorts of things and was going to include a key and key hole but decided in the end to just add the key hole as the key was too big.

The only ink used was Dusty Concord distress ink. I added lots of water for the pale background and then went over a tattered angels mask with it at full strength. I stamped an Elusive images stamp that had very ornate writing on around the edges and then a Crafty Individuals stamp in the centre in black. The key hole was also from Crafty Individuals and I darkened it with more distress ink to make it stand out a bit.

For once I was quite pleased with the results and knew when to stop adding things, a rare event for me.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your Tuesday has gone well.

Tag It On Challenge

The theme of this weeks Dragonsdream Tag It On challenge was to create a postcard. There have been weeks when the theme of this challenge has made me think about what to do for a few days, but this one had me completely stumped. Tags I understand but postcards!!!!, so I decided to have a break this week.

I was blog visiting a few days later and I saw Debbie's postcard and it was really beautiful. It also made me realise that I probably could do something worth entering, it was only like doing a big tag.

Then on Friday I started with an absolutely streaming cold. Reading everyones blogs I know I'm not on my own and along with everyone else you are so loath to go anywhere because everyone is so frightened about Swine Flu, even though YOU know you've only got a heavy cold. We were due to visit my Mum in Law for lunch yesterday but I quarantined myself and stayed behind so had several hours to myself and even though I didn't feel my best decided to have a go at this postcard.


I inked it all over with Whispers Whisper Blue and then went round the edges with chestnut brown. I used an Elusive Images french set, can't remember the name now, for the background which was inked with various whisper inks. The address was done with whispers Royal blue and then distress faded jeans to get a shadow effect. The swirls were a Heidi Grace set and the stamp of the lady was from Crafty Individuals which I enlarged slightly by scanning it in to the computer first and then printing it and adding the same colour inks before sticking it on. The swirls were coloured with colourbox ink and the flowers were from prima. Small gems made the centres.

Thankfully this afternoon I'm feeling much better and my nose has stopped running at last so I shall be able to go back into the world tomorrow, which is good because Freya has to go to school for her last day of term, one day, I ask you!!!!

Thank you for visiting and I hope you've had a lovely weekend.