All Confused

Here's the code I have to post.  Would I have lost all my loyal followers had I not done this?  Oh dear, this old lady is so confused.  Hope I have done it correctly. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

A Birthday Card

Was tidying my blog photo file up earlier and came across a birthday card I sent to a friend a couple of weeks ago so thought I would show it today.  I was up early this morning and crafting up to lunchtime (late lunch) but I am not sure if I will show what I was doing in a day or two or leave it to enter for a blog challenge.  Mmmmm.....

Anyway, short and sweet, which is not me, here is the card I sent to Jo.

Knowing Jo likes purple and footwear I thought this was the perfect stamp.  It's one I bought when in America from my friend Mary.  I used Twinkling H2o's to paint it and did a bit of cutting out and mounting of parts of it so they stood out proud.  Think I used Glossy Accents on the clock face - it is so long ago that I cannot really remember now.

The cogs peeking out from the white card are die cuts (Tim Holtz).

Before I forget I will be teaching at the Oyster Stamps Retreat 16 - 18th August in Northampton.  Enjoy a weekend at the Hellidon Lakers Golf and Spa Hotel, Daventry and get Grungy with me!  Would be lovely to see some of you there.

WOYWW 212 Recycling

Well, the weather has picked up again but I believe today is going to gradually go off and then Thursday is forecast for rain - let's face it we need it, we never get enough (scoff).

Stayed up late to get this on the road (as I forgot all about it until just now) and see if Julia is posting at just gone midnight - if not I am going to bed as I want to be up early in the morning.  So what have I been up to?  Making more things with my cat food boxes.  They are proving great for storage and I have an idea for four of them.

Here they are, cut down and ready for covering or painting.  These three plus one more are going to be painted on the base, not the sides, and the inside.  Am hoping I do not need to Gesso the insides and that the paint will cover straight away.

These three are painted with my Dabbers - reconstituted - yes, it worked and they are fine now.  The blue one has crackle on it.

These two are holding my PaperArtsy paints - I just love those Frescos - great finish.

One of these has bits and bobs in it and the other has blank cards ready for decorating.

Hopefully I will get the foursome done soon and then I can show you what I am doing with them - maybe even decorate some of these, above, too. In the meantime I will show you one of my one layer cards

done for a challenge on an internet group.

you can never have enough Male cards

Pop over to the stamping ground and see what everyone is up to. What has Julia got to show us this week?

Artful Times Challenge 32 - White on White

The Challenge over on the Artful Times this fortnight is "White on White" which simply means making something that is all white - no colour at all.  You can of course use things to embellish that are white, like pearls, perhaps clear stones would count, lace, ribbon etc - as long as it is white.

I don't have a particular style but I do find it difficult to do "pretty" and remember Barbara once challenging me to do something "pretty" so for this challenge I decided to do just that.  Well as pretty as I could.  Hope you like my decorated box.

It measures 10" x 8"

As you can see it is decorated with diecuts (Spellbinders) with the edge done with a Martha Stewart Punch - all available from Oyster Stamps.

This shows the centre with those delightful ovals (Opulent Ovals) and the flower I chose to use (Anenome).

Even more detail of the inner ovals but really this was supposed to show you the flower which is a total of three flowers layered.

Here is a single flower which I put at each corner and the diecut I used to put a greeting on when I decide what is going in it and to whom it is going.

Hope you all join in with this challenge and pop over to Artful Times and seer the latest exciting new - you won't be disappointed - I can promise you.  Far from it!

WOYWW 211

It's time for you all to see what is on my work desk and it is the 211th edition from Julia of her ever so popular program.  Sounds like the opening line of a tv show.

Well to keep it short and sweet in the way Ms Julia likes it here is my desk as it stands this morning because I took the photo just before bedtime last night.

Pan Pastels, Distress Inks and brushes and a few plain white square cards.  (Ignore the decoupage sticky stuff and the upside down Paint Dabbers (the ones that are soaking in water to try to reconstitute them - it has worked on some - honestly but then they have been stood for weeks).

What am I doing?  I am entering a challenge on one of the Yahoo groups which I belong to and doing some 'one layer cards'.  That should bump my box of cards for birthday up a bit as it is sadly depleted at the moment.

What is that to the right hand side of the k-roll?  Why it is the lovely gift from Sam that I don't think I have shown to you before.  I love it and am going to have to buy some dies on the strength of making something similar.  Want a closer peek?

I have the stamps!

Why not pop over to Julia's blog and see what she and others have been up to - here's the link.  Enjoy!

(Did I link Julia enough?)

Flag Tag Book Instructions

I hadn't realised that you would not all have made a Flag Tag Book before so I went on the hunt for a good tutorial.  Try watching this video - this will explain it all and you will see just how easy these books are to make.  No need to make them as complicated as the one I showed you yesterday with 21 tags in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agEh_0ajaUw

Here are two others I received, in swaps, in the past.  Both of these were swaps in the Ready Steady Stamp Yahoo Group many many years ago and I can still tell you who they came from although neither of them have a name on.

Kath's very boutique styled Flag Tag Book

Liz's Travel Themed Flag Tag Book

So, as you see you don't have to have as many tags in as I did yesterday.  The secret is making sure they are all the same size (in each row) and getting them on the mountain or valley folds of the spine.  Hope you give this a try!

Flag Tag Book

What a lovely surprise to visit Out of a Hat Creations (at last - I have joined in again) Challenge which is a tag book.  Coincidence or what? Today I decided to complete my Flag Tag Book started with Gill at Vicky Stampers the other week.

Here is the cover

with a bit of label stamping and some lettering (not on labels) and two ribbon enclosures.

and this is another example of label stamping which I used on the inside cover.

Here is the inside with the tags showing

And here is the final example of label stamping - a Willow Pattern Circle inside the back cover.

Now to upload a picture to Out of a Hat Creations and see what other peeps have been up to.  Why don't you pop along and see what the Design Team have done - some gorgeous samples there - go on, you know you want to.

WOYWW 210

Cannot believe I got so many ATC's from the 4th Birthday Swap of WOYWW - all truly scrumptious.  Wanna see the ones received this last week?  OK then:

Joy

Krisha

Maureen

Nan

Roudi

Sandy

Jill

Well, it really is just gone midnight, the above was done yesterday but I can't sleep.  This is my desk - I have stage set it for all my atc's by simply swiping everything to the left.  Just been making a little card to tell my neighbour how sad and sorry I am.  They moved in about nine years ago with two cats, Pepsi and Max (get it - Pepsi-Max), sister and brother.  Pepsi went quite ferel but Max was a lovely big ginger cat who wormed his way in once we had lost our ginger cat.

Anyway to cut a long story short every time the neighbours went away we looked after the cats.  Then we started buying food for Max as he included us on one of his "cat milk rounds".  How mad can you get? Today he had to be put to sleep.  He had stopped eating, had lost 40% of his body weight in a week and had made himself a bed in the undergrowth on the edge of our front garden.  I guess he chose where to die.  Needless to say his owner, Carol, was devastated and so was I.  I am going to miss him so much.  Keep having a weep!

Enough of that, or I will be up all night here is my desk as it is - animal stamps to the left in the drawer - inkpads piled up as I looked for the Sepia one - card in her letterbox with some chocs.

Guess I should clear away now.

On a happier note I would like to share a lovely card from Krisha and say a BIG THANK YOU for all the lovely atc's and kindness shown.What a lovely band of friends Julia has brought together.  Congratulations to her too for inclusion in Issue 4 of Featuring Magazine.  Thanks Julia for what you have achieved!

Thoughts and prayers are with those in Colorado who may be affected by the fires.

Flat Susan Moves On and a Button!

Just thought I would give an update to those of you who have been following Flat Susan and her journey through Slovenia, Liverpool and Germany via Jo's blog.  She is now wending her way to Scotland to visit with Elizabeth who is taking her on holiday - they might even search for Nessie!!
Amendment - she is with Elizabeth and has already got a post about her trip to Scotland.

If you are hosting her, or indeed if you are just following her travels, please help yourself to the button at the side which was designed by my friend Paul.  Thank you so much Paul, you are a treasure.

In total Flat Susan will visit and stay with 36 families before she returns home to me.  Yes, thirty six!  That's a lot of travelling for such a tiny person.  If you have not read Jo's account of her trip to Dolores in Ljubliana, her dropping her in a puddle in Italy, her stay in Liverpool and final destination with Jo to Germany I strongly advise you to do so - it is so funny in parts and such wonderful photographs.  The weather was a far cry from when she was handed over to Jo to begin her epic journey one wet day at Port Sunlight.

Now I have to sort out where she will go after she has been to Scotland.  She will be visiting Spain, South Africa, the USA and Australia before she begins a massive journey around the UK.  Think she will be exhausted when she gets back.

I am hoping to copy all the journeys she does into a book for the little girl in America who inspired me to do this and if you have a grandchild you might want to do the same.  You are quite welcome to.

Happy Nessie Hunting FS!

Shoes and Summer

I forgot to post a picture of the birthday card I made for one of my friends BUT first of all I must say a BIG WELCOME to my new followers.  Hope you find it worth joining up to my blog as I post pictures of my 'makes'.  Thank you so much for taking the time.

Anyway, we are having wall to wall sunshine at the moment so I am spending a lot of my time outside. We never know when it is going to break (forecast is Tuesday) so we have to grab it whilst we can.  Our patio table is out for the second time in three years and (gasp, shock, horror) the umbrella came out of its packing!!!  Oh and the chiminea has had it's first airing - cooking burgers.  Hope this week of sunshine is not the sum total of our summer - again!

The big black table at the end (seats 8 - just to give you an idea on size) is where I have been doing my painting of boxes - not a success so they will now be covered in paper.  DOH!

And now to the birthday card.  I bought this stamp from my lovely friend Mary G in America when I was over in January and this is the first time it got used.  Hope Alison liked it and hope you do too. Painted with Twinkling H2o's.

See you later!

Maps - Challenge at Artful Times

Cartography I think is the posh name for maps.  I like anything connected to travel and as it is coming around to the time of the year when lots of folks will be getting ready for their holidays I thought "Maps" an appropriate theme for the challenge.

That was a while ago when we were compiling our list of what to have throughout the year.  When it came to making a sample I sort of froze and then went looking in my box of bits (big box) for some kind of atlas I could tear up.  I came across two small books both dealing with France, and more to the point, Paris.  Well, always a sucker for a bit of "ooh la la" I began tearing and covered a manilla tag, first in distress ink (walnut stain) and then with bits of maps, underground timetables etc.

A quick look through my stamps and I chose this rather elegant lady to go alongside the tag which I had, by now, decided not to cover up with an image - a bit of red and blue cardstock and this was the result

I left room at the bottom right for a greeting for when I send it on to someone and have just the perfect situation to use it coming up so it will probably feature "Good Luck" or "Bon Voyage" shortly.

Why not pop along to Artful Times and see what other inspiration is there and what news there is following Von's departure.  I know Von has been busy over the weekend and she has a lot on at the moment but I do urge you to visit her new blog where she showcases her jewellery - click here to look.

WOYWW 209

The birthday has passed, the crop has been and gone (and I can't wait to hear and see more about it - have seen Julia's and Jan's accounts) and still ATC's are coming in - love it like this as it extends the birthday celebration.

Just one little blot on the horizon, are there any/many of you getting "anonymous" emails?  I had 17 one day last week!  Nothing offensive but obviously spam which I don't bother to publish.  Just thought I would mention it as I make sure I check my comments before publishing and thought I'd give you the warning.

Now to the exciting bit - my desk - carefully prepared to show off the exciting ATC's I have received up to date.  OK so this doesn't look like my desk but it is my temporary one stationed outside in the garden where I spent yesterday afternoon doing some crafting.  Beats indoors!  Got to make the most of this sunshine.

 here they all are - but then to some close ups

Jo (Jozart)

Anne (Redanne)

Annette  (Voodoo Vixen) with sleeve

Annie (Wipso) with verse

Jo (Twiglet) with card

Back of ATC from Julie Ann

Julie Ann - front and envelope

Shaz in Oz with verse and message 

to say items used were bought in Manchester

with me!!!

Lyn (Spyder)

Nikki with her talking tag

(wish you could see the glitter)

There, you have seen my gorgeous ATC's now so dash off via Julia to see lots more.  You might even see one of mine.