Vintage

Am back in the frame for doing Challenges so here is my take on the Lots to Do Challenge this week which is Vintage.

I used one of my new Nestabilities - Labels Ten - for the little girl and the frame.  The frame was cut out in Gold Mirri Card and then dabbed over with Mushroom and Terra Cotta Alcohol Inks.  Then I used my new Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to colour the flowers and the lace down the side and along the edge of the book page.  That is another Spellbinders die (Labels Seven - it makes great books if you use the graduating dies).

I used one of my Lazer Cut Keys (cannot remember the name of the company - they are Australian - and coloured it with Mushroom and then Espresso Dabbers.  Finally a few gemstones (freebie in my Create and Craft baggie from weekend) and some paper from my stash and the card was completed.

I am hoping I get to do another as I have a couple of ideas running around in my head but just in case (I have a busy week) thought I'd get one up quickly.  Now to get back to EZ mounting all my um's bought at the weekend.

Yes, the Plastic Came Out

Oh dear, got a bit carried away and the plastic had to come out.  There were so many goodies I wanted (note, not needed) at the NEC yesterday.

Got to Rainhill for the coach at 7.15 AM and we left at just turned 7.30 with the nicest coach driver you could ever wish to have.  If you book Red Kite (don't know where they are) be sure to ask for Gary.  He was a 'treasure'.

If any of you have been to the NEC you will know that it is a "l o n g" walk from the car park - well Gary took off down another road and he dropped us off in the taxi rank directly opposite the entrance.  He picked us up there as well.  What a guy!

Whilst we were there something else must have been going on as we had all manner of people walking about.  Perhaps you might recognise some of them:

now this guy had a friend

and this friend scared me half to death.  I was taking a photograph of the other guy when this one snuck up behind me and tapped me on the head with his gun.  You should have seen me run!

Indiana Jones, Me and Mo

 (you should have seen him cracking his whip)

Stig was there (no not the real one, I know)

But Chas loves Top Gear so I had to have a photo

The show was huge - Mo was dumbstruck at the size of it and we didn't manage to get into the Stitching section, mainly because we got stuck watching Leandra demonstrating both metal and the Viva products.  She is so talented!

Saw lots of my vendor friends so that took up time with me nattering but, as I said above, I did manage to get quite a haul.  Got the remainder of the Distress Pads I wanted (thanks so much Tracey from Oyster Stamps) and two of the Spellbinders dies, the other two are being sent out to me when they come back in stock.

Spent a fortune with Leandra and Mark, but then I am a bit of a PaperArtsy rubber stamp fan and her new Hot Picks are fab, but also I was bowled over by the lovely Crafty Notion sprays she has, so had to have some of those.  They spray so well and so much better than some I have.  Forgot to go back to Ali-Crafts for some Crafty Individual stamps and also to Fourth Dimension as I believe they have some super 1930's ladies so I am hoping they will both be at Aintree next month (when I have saved up a bit).

As you can see from the photograph I succumbed to buying some Promarkers - now to learn how to use them - Vix - I can see me being on your blog a lot.

Didn't I do well?

A great day out with a lovely bunch of ladies and lots of rubber now waiting to be mounted.

When's the next trip?

Well, today I am at the NEC in Birmingham so my purse will be empty when I get home and I might even owe Mastercard some money too.

Yesterday I made some ATC's for a swap I am in - the subject was "Grunge" and here are my efforts.  Not into "Grunge" in the extreme way so mine are a kind of "mild grunge".

This one has a number two on painted in Crackle Paint - 'two' for the two little boys and I did some cross stitches around the image.

This one has a letter "g" for "grunge" or it could be "girl" which was coloured with Distress Embossing Crystals.

This one has a lock (painted Pitch Black - Dabber) and a key (painted brown - Espresso Dabber) on it.  

All the above embellishments are from Tim Holtz Grungeboard and this little girl's crown was painted with a Gold Dabber and then heated quickly to get a bubbly look.

This one and the one below have Glossy Accents on the centres of the watch faces.

I had great fun creating the backgrounds for these atc's.  First of all I used some heavy paper from one of my sketch books, large enough to create backgrounds for all six atc's.  Then I painted it all over with Gesso to give it a bit more stability and provide "tooth" and texture for my paint.

Then I used Kaiser Pistachio and Sea Breeze paint in splodges all over, brushing them on with a fairly dry brush so that they did not provide complete coverage in the textured areas.   A coat of PVA was then added to the whole page and torn pieces of glossy paper (from  a magazine) adhered to it in a random fashion.  It was then dried and sanded to rough it up.

The next stage was to put some more water on (the roughening helps with this stage) and I rubbed bits off with my fingers and peeled some bits off completely whilst it was still wet.

Next I scribbled some Caran d'Ache watercolour crayons on, using both yellow and ochre and brushed water over the whole page to spread the crayons.  Normally I put some white paint on at this stage but I decided to miss this out as I wanted the colour to stay completely.

Finally I sprayed it (using my new spray booth from CHA) with Adirondack Stream, and I should have left it at this stage because it was 'Grungy' but I had to use some Tattered Angels Spray (Bubbles) - just because I wanted to.

When it was dry I was quite happy with it and so I just began stamping in Archival Black ink with various rubber stamps to make the background and putting some paint on glue caps to create the circles.

Hope they are ok for a Grunge Swap!

Birthday Card

This is a birthday card I made for my friend Cath.  I bought this stamp (because I liked it) when I was in America and knowing Cath likes birds I took the opportunity to use it.  

The main image is done on an ATC and put on with those foam buddies so that she can take it off and add it to her ATC collection if she wants to.

Must get on - doing some Grunge ATC's for a swap I am in - getting me back into stamping I hope, but before I do I must enter Gingersnap Creations Challenge "Celebrate" with this diecut card I have made.

I just love this die from Spellbinders and although it is not "Fat Tuesday" it could be used for any celebratory occasion - wouldn't you just love to go to a masked ball wearing a mask similar to these?

BLOG CANDY WINNER

Well, do not know how to do one of those "thingies" to do a random draw so I sat down and typed in everyone's names on a piece of paper and then cut them up

Then when my friend Martin came to see me I got him to select one of the names which I had folded up and put in my teeny craft bag

Here's Martin with the winning name which he pulled from the bag - and it is .......

............. Von 

So Von, if you let me have your details (I will not publish them if you put them in the "comments") I can get the goodies off to you.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the draw.  I hope you will pop in now and then to see what is happening on my blog.  I do appreciate all my followers and would like to thank you.  There will be some more blog candy coming up shortly so keep a look out for it being on offer and Good Luck to you all when it happens.  

Aunties Birthday

The other week Chas's Aunty was 80.  Normally we would have been going out for a meal somewhere as she loves to eat out but as she has been ill going out has had to be postponed until a later date.  I could not let this auspicious occasion pass without doing something so I made her a little buffet and a birthday cake.  The cake was a simple sponge and I had one of those candles for the top, which is a bit of fun, as you light the top and the petals unfold to show lots of small lit candles - and it plays "Happy Birthday".  Aunty was thrilled.

I took a few photographs during the day and have just scrapbooked them.  Now I am NOT a scrapbooker but I am sure my meagre attempts (started and finished last night) will please Aunty and will be something for her to look back on.  I also thought it would be nice to send copies of the pages to her sister in Ireland so she can see how Eileen spent her special day.

This is the first page which shows Aunty and has some of the flowers from the top of her cake in the top left hand corner.  I had to cut a new "80" as the other was full of icing.

Her friend, Diane, had had one of those "books" made for her - and she even brought a stand for it to sit on.  It looked lovely on the actual electric fire - sort of its own special place.

I just had to use one of my Martha Stewart punches so I made a border.

This is my MS Punch bought at weekend - I need to pay more attention to how to use it to make complete circles.

Those border punches do come in handy - here's Aunty with some of her neighbours

Just a small collection of some of her cards.  Top right photograph - bottom left card - that is the one I made for her - forgot to scan it - doh!

She had lots of flowers but I only took photographs of these two bouquets - don't know why - maybe because those arrived on the day.

Now to get myself off to see her and take this extra little gift to her from us.

REMINDER:  BLOG CANDY CLOSES TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT - DRAW WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW LUNCHTIME BUT NO ENTRIES AFTER MIDNIGHT PLEASE.  GOOD LUCK!

Lots to Do - I'm Back

I cannot believe I have not blogged since last week.  Well, I can and I have so wanted to but not had anything to show so last night I sat down and started a card for the Lots to Do Challenge this week.  Good job I looked as I almost did "Vintage" as my theme.  Here is my "Springtime" card - cute (not really me) but a gentle session of watercolouring, using one of my friend, Jo's lovely images and hopefully I will be back in the crafting mood.

Worked the show at Harrogate this weekend, had a great time, I really do enjoy demonstrating Spellbinders dies (and I am not a diecutter at all).  They are so lovely - had a ball with the Pendant dies until I realised we had sold out.  In fact by Sunday afternoon the grid-walling was looking decidedly empty, we had run out of Cuttlebugs early in the show (had loads on order forms on Saturday evening - don't know about Sunday), Martha Stewart Punches went like hot cakes (they were really dem'd excellently).  

I was really looked after by Tracey and have offered to have 'a sit down' at the NEC for a couple of hours if she wants me to do something when I go with my friends on Saturday.

Graham, Tracey and Tom

Saw lots of lovely people, lots of my friends called to say hello and I had a big surprise.  I knew Hilda from Lots to Do was calling and I was so looking forward to meeting her at last, but then Sam came and stood by me introducing herself.  I've so wanted to meet Sam so she swore Hilda to secrecy and came to see me.  What a lovely surprise and how fab to meet both of them.

Well, I must get back to my scrapbook with aunty's photographs from her birthday - want it ready for tomorrow and only done one page (yikes!).  But ... before I go I must show you my bracelet that a friend, Annie, made me for my birthday. 

There's so much on it, little keys, tiny flowers, tiny hearts and loads of gorgeous beads.  Wish you could see all the delightful colours - some of them change in the light from blues to greens and vice versa.  She had to make all the jump rings too - must have taken her ages to make this so a BIG THANK YOU Annie.

TOMORROW THE BLOG CANDY CLOSES - WILL MAKE THE DRAW ON THURSDAY AT LUNCHTIME WHEN MY FRIEND MARTIN CALLS BUT WILL CLOSE IT AT MIDNIGHT TOMORROW NIGHT.

Good Luck everyone and thank you to all my lovely followers, to everyone who has posted comments - it means so much to me - more than you will ever know.

Oh Johnny Depp ...

This is one of the posters when we came out of the cinema - Johnny Depp was his usual marvellous self.  He is so suited to these comedy roles - you wouldn't really think so when you see him as he really looks - so handsome.

This was another poster.

We missed out on a large one when we went in - too eager to get seated

The clickety click girls (plus Jayne)

Wow!  What a large screen at the Imax.  Had one second of feeling dizzy so closed my eyes and it passed.  Mo fell asleep with closing her eyes, Jo had a few dizzy spells so closed her eyes a few times and Jayne was fine (young stuff so it didn't affect her).

Fab film, new experience with three dimensions and a big screen.

Steampunk Printworks

Afterwards we went for a coffee - this is Victoria Railway Station - lovely old building - the structure for the clock always fascinates me.

Mo and I went shopping afterwards (Jayne and Jo had to leave early) and this is Mo outside The Shambles.  Now how on earth did they move these old buildings from one site to this one?

Mo and I bought carrier bags - I got one for my dil who is Johnny Depp crazy - wonder what she will think?

Of to See Alice ... so ...

Thought I would quickly show you some more artwork from weekend.  A couple of shots from other people's work.

This was Amy's - isn't it stunning?  We worked on tables according to what colourways we had put down - I just love how she painted her metal too.  Check out the rose at the top.

Here it is - gorgeous or what?

Kay was also on the same table and she did a full blown rose on her Arch.  Can see these becoming very popular - make lovely brooches.

Kay and Freema debating what to buy (don't you think that is a clever photograph?  Reflection in the mirror and all that.)

So much room to work in - think everyone had gone for a break except Rosemary sat diligently working

That's it folks!  Now for Johnny!

My Stuff

Well, here it is.  Was going to change the top of my Arch and redo the clock as I do have the stamp at home but haven't had the time today.  I rushed through yesterday and forgot to work on the clock face to puff it out - perhaps I will do it another day (but not tomorrow as I am going to see Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland - swoon).

This shows you the centre, was really pleased that mine padded out as it did but not so pleased with my stitching (Leandra took the mickey out of my sewing skills).

I just loved the brushed effect we got on the background where you see the lettering.  Looked really good when we put some paint on it - old and worn.

These are my Leandra Beads - I chose Coral for my colour and I am so glad as I feel it picks out the Rusty Hinge colour I used on my fabric.

A closeup of the beads and how they hang.  Impossible when working with that hard wire to get them exactly the same length but I think that all adds to the fact that it is handmade and not manufactured.  Don't you?  I was determined to work at it and do the wrapping that Leandra is well-known for - was I the only one who chose this way of hanging beads?

To break up the workshop we did a couple of small things, leaving our arches to go back to.  Think this was a very clever strategy by the two "L's" as it certainly kept our interest going and we were all the more keen to get back to our arches so we could finish them.  This is the outside using Viva Paints.

This is the inside.  Leandra wanted to show us how to get a border around the inside and she used mine.  Then she told me I could paint it out and do one myself if I wanted.  I declined - well, wouldn't you have?

The last thing we made was this dish.  Can you spot my error?

Look at my birds.  A "DOH" moment when choosing this Cuttlebug folder - and "someone" helped me line my pieces up and didn't twig either!

Whoo Hoo!  I am on the next weekend workshop.  Rang Linda this morning and she laughed when she heard it was me - she knew I would be on first thing letting her know I was attending.

They really are superb workshops.  Drinks, choccie biscuits all day long and a lovely hot buffet lunch.  In fact in the interests of Health and Safety the two "L's" insist you take breaks (preferably leaving the room), drink plenty and eat chocolate.  The timings are perfect, all equipment is provided and there is no shortage of it either - and the two of them are a perfect duo at teaching.

If anyone is thinking about signing up for one of these workshops, stop thinking and do it - the experience is such a lovely one and you learn so much ... and bring something completed home.  Never heard one person say they did not like what they produced.