A Challenge

Lots To Do have a Challenge on this week which is either Trees or Leaves.  I have managed to make a card which fits in with the topic and use a couple of my favourite of the new Distress Ink colours.

The colours used on the cardstock for the tree to be stamped on (and the two narrow strips below) are Rusty Hinge (my fave) and Tumbled Glass with a bit of Forest Moss on the edges.

I am terrible at joining in Challenges on one of my Yahoo Groups so have followed the layout for the Sketch Challenge this month with this card.

Done My Workshop (And a Must Visit Website)

Am now shattered - have just been and done my workshop and that was after three days of cleaning at Aunties.  My friend Mo kindly took me and ended up helping show some of the ladies down one side of the room the cut they had to make for the slidey card.  Before that I went to her house and my other half met her two charming grandsons (twins - identical) - Dominic and Liam.  When we got back to Mo's he said that Dom had rung him when he (Dom) had got home to make sure Chas knew where the coffee etc was at his Grans.  Then he rang him again to tell him he was "now going to bed".  What charming boys they are.

These two young lads are trying, with the help of their families, to raise £30,000 to allow them to go to Chethams School in Manchester so I am donating half of my fee for tonight to the cause.

If you go to their website you can actually read all about it and hear them singing (and I have had the pleasure of hearing them over the phone when they both sang to me a while back). Well worth a visit.

On the card making front, despite taking loads of stuff to do I have not managed to make a single thing whilst at Aunties but hopefully tomorrow ....

Well ...

Aintree Show put me in bed for the whole of Sunday.  Boy oh Boy did I suffer!  Yesterday I had to do some cards for an upcoming workshop - similar to some others I did not long ago but with different stamps.

This is one of those Double Diamond cards - this time using Non Sequitur stamps from one of the Plates.

This is the front of one of those foldy flippy cards (not a clue what they are called) and shows the card when it is closed.

Notice how they seem so different in colour.  One is a scan and the other a photograph.  This is it with the flip flipped showing two images of Sassy Women and the words at the back say "Here she comes, Just a walkin' down the street, Singing Doo Wah Ditty ... Ditty Dum ... Ditty Doo ..."  Cannot for the life in me remember who the stamps are by but I bet my friend Cath does.

Didn't do a photograph/scan of the other one as it is too similar to my last one that was a Single Diamond Fold.  Hope the ladies enjoy doing them on Thursday.

A Quick Card and Aintree Show

Went to Aintree Show on Saturday with a couple of my friends, Mo and Jeannie.  Met up with Lorraine and her fab friend Sue so that was a laugh (they are so jolly).  Just what I needed after the week I have had.  Anyway, here are some photos from the Show - some fab knitting/embroidery and a showing of the costumes worn in The Duchesse.

If you think this knitted house is fab

Wait to see the next one

When I saw this I realised how incredibly tiny Keira Knightly must be.  This was Mo's favourite from the whole collection.

Guess my card will now fade into insignificance at the side of this incredible work but as it is my son and dil's 17th Anniversary this weekend I thought I had better do something in the way of a card.

Hope it is not too cutesy for them but I love this stamp from Paperartsy and just had to use it.  My fave combo of the new Distress Ink Colours - Rusty Hinge and Tumbled Glass were used for the background.

Happy Anniversary Andy and Sam - long may you stay as you are - so happy.

Difficult to Photograph

Not having a good week, so today I said "blow it", and decided to have some crafting time to myself.  I needed the break from all that is going on around me.  What better way than to enter one of my favourite Challenges - Lots to Do.

Having spent time on this piece of altered art I was disappointed to find it difficult to photograph it as it looks so much better IRL.

I bought this "thing" at a sale somewhere but cannot for the life in me remember where.  One of the tubes contained salt but the other two were empty - all had corks in the top.

I decided to alter it and use my Alcohol Inks to colour the 'glass test tube like containers' and painted the base with Croco paint in Bronze. Then I tried wrapping wire around the glass tubes but it kept slipping - back to the drawing board!  I then stamped some flowers on OHP film which had been coloured with alcohol Inks - they didn't show up. Next thought was to do the flowers in metal, puffing them up a bit and that worked better than anything I had tried so that is what you see.  I also embossed some metal with the word "Dream" and used one of my tools to give it a bit of texture at the base.

Unsure which photograph show it best

The tubes laid in a row

This is my entry for the Lots to Do Challenge this week - which is Alcohol Inks.  It is going to get used for specimen flowers so the corks are surplus to requirements but I am sure I will find a use for them one day.

My Love of China

Ever since I was a child I have had a fascination with China.    I can remember going with my father to the library for his travel books and always persuading him to take one on that country.  In 1997 I was fortunate to go to visit China and Hong Kong and I lived my dream, and loved every moment of it.

In my rubber stamping all things Chinese featured very strongly at the beginning but I soon came to realise that lots of the rubber stamps out there really featured Japanese figures so my love became more Asian.

In a corner of our utility room I have my 'Asian bit' with some things I brought back with me, some things my friends have bought for me since they knew of my "addiction".  Chopsticks stand in a container from Thailand, the balancing balls, the abacus, a buddha, the water buffalo and the tiny figures in front of the mirror all came from my wonderful holiday.

The two dolls in bags are from Thailand as is the yellow orchid carved from soap which just sneaks in at the bottom right hand corner.  The other things were gifts from friends and the pink thing is a container I once made from wooden dominoes.

Central to this display is an old Cutlery Box which I painted with a red lacquer.  It has become quite tired looking now so when I saw the Gingersnap  Challenge "Found Objects" I took the opportunity to revamp it a bit.

There are skeleton leaves, chopsticks, coins, jewels, an ink block and some Washi paper on top of it.  On top of the Washi paper are 12 dominoes which I have rubber stamped with a couple of images and then painted with Twinkling H2o's.  They have then been sealed with Glossy Accents.

I found an embroidered Chinese dragon in my stash and put that on as well but as I look at it more and more I do not think it fits in so it may well have to be removed.

On the wall behind the cupboard on which my little display stands are some pictures, including my Palooza which I have featured in my blog previously.

The fan was from another holiday in Thailand, as were the straw pictures on the wall to the right.  The only picture here from China is the embroidered blue one shown on the left.

There are other items standing on top of the cupboards on the opposite wall but I won't bore you with showing them all.

I just hope that the revamped box is eligible for the challenge but I am hoping to do another one in the coming days if I get the time.

Alice

Had to do another Gingersnap Challenge - this time "Growth".  I couldn't get my head to go away from Alice in Wonderland and her "growth" - maybe it is something to do with the lovely bag a friend bought me for my birthday with a picture of Johnny Depp (sorry, The Mad Hatter) on the front of it.

I used one of the concertina cards I got at the NEC show but the cardstock is a bit thin to use when spraying with inks so it has had to sit under a weight to make it completely flattened.  Sprayed it with Adirondack Inks - Lettuce and Butterscotch as I wanted a garden set of colours.  Then I used my Non Sequitur and Stamp Attack stamps for the images.

At first I stamped directly onto the card but decided that the colours did not show up enough so I re-stamped the Alice images on plain cs and after colouring them in with my Twinkling H2o's cut them out and stuck them down.

Hope this works for "Growth".

Card Opened

Tried to keep the images in order so this one shows Alice about to drink from the bottle marked "Drink Me".

This is to show "Growth" and the start of Alice beginning to grow with her neck elongating at this stage.

Here's a BIG Alice, checked in my Lewis Carroll book and this is the image of her when she had taken the drink.  I tried to show this with a small picture of the Mad Hatter which she is looking at as he runs off.  That bit is out of context but it is one of the smallest images I have and the words fit in with him.

Stepping Back in Time

Wednesday we went to Southport, I had forgotten I had taken these photographs but simply had to upload them as they are a "Step Back in Time" - well some of them.

It was a lovely sunny day and we went for a walk along the Pier.    I always think it is nice when you look across the boating lake towards the funfair - just love the bridge..

As we walked along we saw a skateboard park with some young people showing off their talents.  You can just about see one young man in action as he makes his leap in the centre of the photograph.

We walked to the very end of the Pier and because it was quite a cool breeze when you got so far out we went into the Amusement Arcade to get warm.  What a surprise we got.  A blast from the past.

You had to use Old Pennies

Remember this?  Steering the ball?

I just had to have a go at these

And what about these

What the Butler Saw

Chas changed some money and he had a great time playing the slots - didn't win a thing but what the heck - it was fun.

On our way back we saw something else very reminiscent of childhood.  Now you might not agree with donkey rides but it completed my trip down Memory Lane.

A lovely sunny day, a lovely day out at the seaside - and think of the health benefits of the sea air.

Hope I am in Time

Phew!  Back from Ormskirk, tired but still going.  Before I left I so wanted to enter the Gingersnap Challenge - Copper, Ginger or Rust as I love those colours.    Made a card, messed about with it but didn't like it - should I really post it on here?

Anyway, got up early this morning as I couldn't sleep and made another one.  Not for the purists amongst us as there is only one word stamped on it but I did give in and use my favourite piece of Rust cardstock for this one.  Had a terrible time with my MS punch which would not work on the cs so I had to change it and use another one.  Used my Spellbinder's dies for the oval shape and the tag at the bottom and my NEW Embosslit "Beautiful Wings" for the tiny butterflies.  Love those teeny weeny ones!  Anyway, here it is and it is being entered in the Gingersnap Challenge.

Just No Time

Haven't had much time this last week or so to do any crafting at all.  Missing doing my Blog Challenges, in fact missing doing all the things I so enjoy.  Will be away for three days now so tonight I hastily made some quick cards - not a lot to them but here they are

This one is for Aunty who is not well and went into a Nursing Home last Friday.  Inside it says "You Need a Hug!"  Hope it cheers her up a bit.

This is for a friend who needs to know I am thinking of her as she has just lost a good friend of hers and I know just how upset she is.

This is for another friend who has had an accident and has to undergo surgery this coming weekend.  The ones below are RAK's for friends.

This friend is in to Theatre and that kind of thing.

Still got some more to do - pity really that this week's Challenge on Lots to Do wasn't Black and White - trust me - that was last week's Challenge.

It's an Illusion

Made another card for my workshop on Saturday, this time using an image from Leandra's new plate.  It's another fancy fold type card, the same as one I did in America but if you look at it it seems to have a curve on both sides.  It has not!

It's actually the fold that is turned back that gives it that illusion.

Anyway, I stamped the birdcage (Paperartsy) in black and embossed with clear ep and then cut it out carefully with scissors.  The other two images are also Paperartsy - the flower from Flora and Fauna 6 and the words from Clocks 4.

The inks I have used to colour the cardstock are Distress ones, the new colours - Rusty Hinge (I am hooked) and Tumbled Glass.  I so want to play with lots of Paperartsy stamps and the new Distress colours but I have more than enough in my workshop to keep them going all day.  Just wish the colours would show up as they do IRL - guess you will just have to try this combo.

By the way, I have just put The Stampman blog logo on my page - well worth going and making an entry - about to do it myself.

A Last Minute Challenge

Do not feel like I can let Ready Steady Stamp challenges down so I was delighted when I realised the card I had made for my friend Lynn comprised of most of the things included in their recipe for this challenge.

I did, however, feel a bit of a cheat because the background paper I had used contained the colours cream, brown and had leaves on it.

I was lucky in that I had already added a piece of green ribbon and the words, mounted on foam dots, on cream cardstock so all there was to do was put some numbers on which I did using Morning Rose Adirondack Ink to colour them.

All ingredients accounted for except the corrugated card but then it didn't matter as long as you had used three things.

However, thinking about it I felt a bit of a cheapskate so I made her a mail slider as well which does cover all the ingredients.

Painted all over with cream acrylic paint, with a corrugated card oval with two coats of Morning Rose on it and then another plain one with one coat on plus the lace effect (MS Punch) down the side took care of two of the colours.  The brown butterfly took care of another.

More Morning Rose coloured cardstock for the flowers, green for the leaves, brown along the edges and on the words.  There, I feel better about this challenge now.

Origami Tag Book

Today I am doing a workshop teaching the Origami Tag Book which was first taught to me by Lenna of Lenna Lines.  Lenna is a lovely friend in America (we've never actually met) and is quick to mention that it was Chris Pedden who designed this tag book.  It did appear in a magazine over in America but as far as I know it has not been featured in one over here in the UK.

A few years ago Jane Pinder wanted to feature it in Craft Stamper but the photographer never managed to get a decent photograph and so it eventually found it's way back to me.  I have taught it several times at workshops in the north of England but it is a while ago so now it is having another airing over Liverpool way.

This is one, showing the tags hidden inside the structure and this one has a dangly ribbon coming down the centre.  The images on this one are embossed in gold.

Not easy to photograph but I hope this gives you a little peek at the pictures inside.

This is another one showing the tags hanging down.  On this one I stamped the images inside and coloured them with Twinkling H2o's.  I cannot remember how I lined the cranes up on the top - must have been in the mood that day.

Now you can see why it didn't get featured in the magazine - I have opened one of the pages out to show you the stamping.

This was the first one I ever did.  I followed the instructions to the letter and tied an overhand knot at the top with the yarn.  It does give a nice effect as the tags then hang at different heights.

This shows the books closed - as you can see I have left two of them with the tags hanging outside (only because that is how I want them for display at the workshop).  The cream one - gold cover - has the tags tucked up inside just as you would do when giving it to someone.

And lastly - a view of the top of two of them.  Hence me calling them Japanese Tea Houses and, being a fan of all things Asian, carrying the theme throughout with my stamping.

I promised Lenna I would never reproduce her notes and so I make my own up (totally different to Lenna's) but I am going to ask her permission to post them on this blog - if she agrees I might even do a video!!!

Phew!

With a bit of luck the Lots to Do Challenge will get up to 50 this week and I am putting another one up to boost numbers.

This started out as a fairly quick card but 

1.  Couldn't find the paper I wanted, 

2.  The pearl beads took ages to stick down, and

3.  Hadn't a clue where the embellishment was

Anyway, here it is, finished, as you see I managed to overcome the above problems.  I am having a great time with the vintage children images I downloaded but realise I am lacking in stamping at the moment.  Still, I am enjoying making these cards using my Spellbinders Labels and MS punches.

Using Stash from NEC

This is a slide mailer that I decorated with some of my things from the NEC last Saturday.  I have decided to enter it into the Lots to Do Challenge for this week - Vintage - hence the letter "V" on the front.

The slide mailer had already been painted, white and a pinky mauve so I kept with those colours and used my Blackberry Ferro Paint on my new stencil (bought from Leandra at Paperartsy last weekend).  The rectangular piece was one of the things in my C & C goodie bag so I removed the centre (think it was an icecream sundae) and replaced it with a piece of mauve cardstock and a letter V cut from a Spellbinders alphabet.

For the inside I stamped the words with Brilliance Violet Ink and then put the picture in on the other side, added a few flowers at the top to hide the glue holding the glass slide and some paper lace which I threaded with baby ribbon at the bottom.

That's my second contribution to this challenge this week and I am hoping their might be a third although time is running out as tomorrow and Saturday are busy busy busy.