Stampotique saved my mojo

 My mojo had just up'd and left me, I had got some wonderful crafting surprises for xmas, two of Linda of LB crafts mystery boxes, but nothing would come to mind, no matter how long I sat in the craft area . .  nothing . . nada, I even balanced the cheque book (scarey), had it gone for ever, was this it . . . , but no Stampotique Designers Challenge came to the rescue with a new challenge "What's your wish for the new year" with some inspiring work from the DT.  This is a stampotique stamps only challenge, so had to think creatively, now I love this stamp and I realised that 2012 could only be better for everyone if we all smiled more . . .

. . . dont you agree, used one of my new Twilight Journals, pack of four in a tin with the book cover artwork on them and including sayings from the books, supposed to help me write that one in a million novel, but I reckon that would be a long time coming, so thought an art journal would be good, should keep me busy for a while, LOL

this shot shows the opened book complete with a  "Twilight"quote and a mask imprint of the circles I used with watered down white fresco finish paint, am trying to think of something subtle for that page.

Anyways, I shall love you and leave you with all the Best Wishes for 2012, and dont forget how powerful a smile can be . . . 

Christmas Cards 2011

How I wished I was organised and started my cards earlier, have managed to do some for close family and friends, just gotta do my two boys and that will be done for another year . .  phewee ...  who knew making xmas cards could become such a chore . . LOL

  

  

Wishing each and everyone of you who visit me during the year that you . . 

Have a very Merry Christmas

and the new year brings us all we could wish,

for our families and loved ones

Jo Capper-Sandon

Jo was kind enough in my time off work to arrange a class for me to attend, she had us working on a project which she had designed for the Crafty Individuals Christmas Challenge (see here), a Christmas squash book . .

This is it all tied up

Then beginning to open up

Totally open

and the back

I was so pleased with it I decided it would be my OH xmas card, but then I want it back LOL.

Jo is a gem of a teacher and I met some lovely ladies there too, Jo even kindly waited for me to arrive as I took the coastal route to get to her (oops), very scenic it was though. Christmas had also arrived early with fully decorated tree and mince pies to snack on, and xmas vids on Sky to sing along too. Jo was also very lucky I was on my best behaviour, as I could have sat there all day crafting and chatting, (next time LOL).

To see more of Jo's brill work pop over to her blog here.

Tim Holtz Christmas Tags 2011 - day 4

Here we go, couldn't resist day 4's tag, had to do some replacing of items, but did me best.  Again colouring could have done with a bit more practice, and as for my Rock Candy it was in a sorry mess when I opened it up, I admit I haven't been paying it enough attention and it  was in a sort of gel like state when I opened it, so I smeared it on with my fingers, LOL.  Got some of the effect anyway.  (Note to self I am a bad crafter I should treat my lovingly bought products with more TLC) ...LOL

For those that don't know, (where have you been) pop over to here to see the original tag

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas - Day 2

This is my second year of following and last yea,r I could only wish to be able to have the time to take part, but here I am, I've done one, it may be the only one I manage as back to work Monday, but I really enjoyed doing it, had to veer slightly off season as I only have Halloween Kraft Resist, and not sure I got the inking of it quite right but I persevered and here is my attempt, to see the original Tim Holtz, pop over to here.

Didnt know which photo to pick, flash showed off the colours and dark matched the tag style, so you got both. LOL

December Calendar Challenge

pheweeeee, I've done it, a year long challenge organised by the super dooper Kate at the Kathryn Wheel for the second year I think.  It's been a good challenge, not too overly demanding of your time, and even though as I'm sure like everyone this year has bought some challenging moments, we have survived.  I must admit to failing towards the end of the year of writing in the squares daily and having to really test the old brain cells to remember what I'd been doing, notice the two gaps in November, no idea on those days at all (LOL).  Through this challenge I've found some great art from other participants, which I will continue to follow, so without further ado, I present the very last month DECEMBER

no real plan when I started this one, just tried different things to add that seasonal feeling, nice cheery blocks of xmas paper to write on, some of them may be a wee bit challenging to actually write on, LOL, and here is my finished November page

to all those who have been kind enough to visit this year and to leave comments, I thank you and wish you all a very Happy Christmas and lets hope 2012 brings the whole country a better year.  And to Kate who has also had a very challenging year,but continued with the challenge and creating her great art, oh and two fab DVD's, thank you so much.

Mwah !

Stampotique Challenge

One more challenge before the christmas card task beckons, this time we are working to a sketch

for more details pop to the post which highlights the last challenge a Poison Bottle, wish I'd been able to do that one, some amazing makes .

Again tried to attack it from a different angle, am pleased with this, and it's my first xmas card, wonder who I'll send this one to.....

Octopode Challenge

Wow this is my third post of the day, before I unearthed the xmas box, I thought I would have a go at some challenges, haven't done any for ages.  This weeks challenge from the Octopode Factory is "Flourishes & Swirls", now I tried to be clever and include another challenge on one piece, I don't know how you ladies manage to get two on one piece let alone more, but whilst trying to fathom it out came up with a great idea, so here is my entry

the other challenge was the stampotique sketch, so I'm gonna go off and have a go at that whilst watching X factor and I'm a Celebrity, have a good week everyone . .  xx

An eclectic collection ...............

....................  of the bits and pieces I've been playing with recently, I thought I would round them all up for you all, as the christmas card task is looming.

First off, I bought this at the Craft Barn on my recent visit, amongst a few other bits and bobs, LOL.

and turned it into this

Check out my cool storage for distress stain and dabbers behind, its a metal cutlery tray stood on its side, works really well as stickers on the top show me the colour and then I just have to pull out the one I want, carefully LOL.

Now some journal pages I've been playing/experimenting with different paint application techniques, this one I used my fingers to pick up distress stain and smeared it on the page, quite a good effect, really messy fingers though, I wasn't actually feeling sad when I made this, but it just seemed to match the background.

Next in my mini journal, lots of different techniques, used a journal pic of a lady in a mac, distressed unintentionally with wax pastels, as I smeared them in the ink came off, liked the effect so used it some more.

This weeks offering, applying paint with wet wipe, oh so easy, then lots of layering on top

loved the lady lying down pic, couldnt bring myself to alter her, did the journalling before adding the leaves, so had huge space on one side, then remembered Dyans lovely on the edge leaf die,so painted a book page and then stamped onto it with the stamps and cut out and stuck to the page.

So that me and what I've been doing, apart from work, which is the pits, but one more week and I'm on holiday for two weeks so hope to have a lot of me time to create.  List of other things I need to do though is growing alarmingly.

The Craft Barn Celebration

Check out this mahoosive blog candy to celebrate over 600 followers, follow this link to find out more.

Jo Firth-Young at the Craft Barn

Treated myself to an all day class at the Craft Barn with Jo Firth-Young last Sunday.  Its quite a drive, fine going there, bit knackered on the way home, kept myself going with the thought of the yummies I had treated myself to.  The shop at the Craft Barn is amazing full of so much I needed (like everything), thankfully I don't have a Credit Card so had to exercise some restraint.

Our class with JoFY was using Claudine's stamp range and Paper Artsy Fresco paints, I'd used the paints in fact I have them all because they are lush in a chalky sort of way, had never used the stamps before but they are really easy to use and the effect was really good, so treated myself to the Doodles sets as I thought they would go well with the layering technique I use so much.  Also discovered Tando Creative range, managed to only buy three pieces but could easily have bought so much more, a whole wall of them on display and I probably need most of them, LOL.

This is Jo's sample, we were stamping on sticky back canvas, paper and book pages, for ease Jo said it would be easier to do if we all used the same colours as the stamps wouldn't need washing in between, but I'm just not a pink person, don't mind bits of it, but not all over, so had to go slightly off piste, I know I can't help it, but it puts a piece of me into it, so here is mine

It actually involved a lot of work, so had to finish it at home, had done all the stamping it was just the cutting out and the positioning and that took some time I can tell you, I'm pleased with the finished result and I hope Jo is proud of my effort.

We also made a door hanger in the morning . . . .

 . . . getting used to using the stamps, I have to admit I wasn't happy with my effort on this, so ripped all the flowers off the next day, shall have to finish it off again another day.  All in all it was a great day, Jo is a lovely teacher and as you will see on her blog she manage not to brain herself, though some might say (leandra) it might be an improvement . . LOL .  I have to admit it was a great day but I haven't got the stamina any more and could have done with a day off from work to recover, no such luck though.

November Calendar

wow I cant believe it only one more month to go, I have never got past the middle of January with a diary before so this really is a miracle, without further ado. . . November

and a finished October, a month of ups and downs

to find out more about our fearless leader and the calendar challenge, click here.

FACT: - Mess is good for you

This week I took a picture for WOYWW, but didnt have a chance to load it, this working full time lark is not all its cracked up to be, no time to do anything else.

So my desk has looked like this since Tuesday, but I actually liked working in a mess, finding more and more things to use and not putting them back, (so not me). I think it gave me a lovely feeling of creativity and freedom, and it seemed the mojo  flowed out of me easier this way, normally I sit and stare at a tidy desk and feel I have to force it out sometimes, so today I sat down to finish off the large tag you can see here, I did really enjoy making it, I stole an idea of Kaz's re the jump rings and the glossy accents, all credit to you Kaz brilliant idea. So here is my tag with flash and without, couldnt decided which showed it off better so here are both photo's for you to see.....

 

And finally a card that I made for my sister in law, love this stamp just got it recently, and I just love the detail it has, so I just used it very simply with one of Dina's fab stamps.

Tomorrow I have to unearth my winter shoes as flip flops are getting a wee bit chilly, especially in the morning, (bye bye summer see you next year), even put the heating on today, but I, also hoping to mess the desk up again, yes I must admit I tided it up after the tag was done, soz, have a good one everyone. 

October 2011 calendar page . . .

. . .  at last I have done it a personal record to be 9 days behind, on this challenge, time is so hard to find now but I am determined to make it to the end of the year.  This month the background was finger painted with acrylics, I wanted to get the effect of a autumn dusk and then to add the halloween images. So without delay ta dah . . .

and Septembers page completed.

 to see more pages check out Kate's blog The Kathryn Wheel

Taylor is 18

Quick post showing my lovely son Taylor's 18, that I made for his 18th (funny that . . aye), the paper is from his many purchases online from All Saints, (basically if its not from there its just not hip, LOL) its a lovely scripted paper so may have to steal some more for some other art.  Tried to keep it quite simple as he is a very picky boy and I 'm hoping they may stay on display in his bedroom.

here's a little piccie of my little man on his eighteenth, LOL

and here is on his first, (awwww)

much as I moan about my kids, they are both lovely children/men and I am proud of them really.

Ledger meets ink . . .

 My first bit of ink on the ledger, I'm liking the effect but not sure where to go with it, so moved on to another page, perfect for Sunday when I was in a major grump (I blame it on the hormones), so I just got inky, started off very dark and as my mood lifted it got a bit lighter, not too much mind . . LOL

 Here is my friends 40th card, Im a bit ashamed off it as I think I could have done better, but time was an issue, she loved it so thats what matters

 and then Rusty moved house so I made her a stampotique style card, which she also loved, phew!!!

This weekend is my ES 18th, so think I shall end up a bit behind on my October 365 calendar page, but am hoping he has a fab day, see you all soon.

PS anyone who doesn't think I'm old enough, can be my best friend forever, LOL.

The A-Z of me

A. Age:  48
B. Bed size: King
C. Chore that you hate: Picking up after my messy kids.
D. Dogs: Not for me, though I love my SIL dog Nelson and he loves me.
E. Essential start to your day: A lie in.
F. Favorite colour: teal/silver/lime green/purple
G. Gold or Silver: Silver.
H. Height: 5’2″
I. Instruments you can play : I played the cello in Junior school, before it got broken . . oops
J. Job title: Personal Banker.
K. Kids: Two too many, as I'm fond of saying.  Taylor, 18 on October 2 and training to be a hairdresser, very handy and Evan 13 "Mischief maker in training."
L. Live: Maidstone, Kent.
M. Mother’s name: Margaret.
N. Nicknames: My name doesn't shorten too anything nice, in my twenties "She bonks em," don't know what they meant
O. Overnight hospital stays: Both babies and staying with them in hospital.
P. Pet peeves: Just plain rudeness and people who think they are better than me, we are all equal.
Q. Quote from a movie:  FREEDOM (braveheart)
R. Right or left handed: Right with left tendencies.
S. Siblings: One sister and two brothers.
U. Underwear:   Not a good look.
V. Vegetable you hate: Gotta be brussels and tomatoes.
W. What makes you run late: Snooze button or my husband just having to pop to the loo.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth,pelvis.
Y. Yummy food that you make: Hot chicken and bacon salad.
Z. Zoo animal:  Penguins, elephants and giraffes.


Copied this from Dyan's blog why dont you have a go, link it back to me so I can have a nosey.

A collection of cards . .

. . .  or could we call it a cacophony, no that's a noise, though I do like my cards to stand out from the crowd of shop bought cards on the mantlepiece . . .  any ideas anyone . . .

So from the title you would be right that I have some cards to show you, first up is my mums birthday card, I loved this stamps and had to buy it and as it is my mum, I  made an extra  big effort with it and stamped it on some cotton cut it out and coloured with distress stains and marker pens.  My artistic gene comes from my mum, I remember getting a beautiful babydolls cot when I was young, which mum had made out of a fruit crate for me, wish I still had it, perhaps it's in mum and dads loft, mum is still creative and at her local fete designed the cake stall for her ladies group, with hand made pennants, and uniform along the lines of the Ace of Cakes, and great big cards of the King Queen and Jack all hand made . .

next is one of my best friends, who has two kids and fosters three brothers under 7, hence the saying . .

and last but not least my firstborn niece was 21 yesterday, I must have only been 3 when she was born LOL, and she is studying fashion journalism at Southampton Solent, so I tried to reflect this in her card

today Ive got a 40th to make, hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

General Ledger 1957

I've had my eye on this book for some time now and I finally got to bring it home.  It's a bank General Ledger, dating back to 1957, it is such a great size, 8 inches wide by 18 inches tall, with numbered pages and writing on virtually every page (nothing personal), and the heading are just beautifully lettered.  I'm going to use it as a journal, but am going to make sure the original shows through in places as it would be a crime not to.

Having got it home though I have loads of cards that need doing before I can play, my niece is 21 next week, my BFF is 40 the week after and the week after that my ES is 18. . . .OMG, and I havent done anything for any of them yet.

 

So here are some pictures of my new love . . . 

Can't wait to get painty with it, have a great weekend everyone, I'm off to make a 21st card.