Oh be still my 50s design loving heart!!....

Sanderson's have a FAB.U.LOUS 50s designs range!! I've resisted looking because I wasn't thinking about decorating, but now I'm starting to and some/one of these designs will be cropping up somewhere in our home - even if its just as cushions (the Festival print (below) would great on our black leather sofa!)....
here's some eye candy for you so that you know what I'm getting excited about:

 

I wish this blog had sound  - you could hear me happy clapping and squeeling a little - LOVE these designs!  I really like the 50s surface designs.

Which is probably why I like this artist so much (her lino prints are delicate & gorgeous!) and find her work really inspirational:

And why I reeeeeaaaally like Claudine Hellmuth's 'Creative Layers' stamps... the combination of foam & clear rubber stamps allows you to create the slightly offset lino/screen print look of 50's illustrations..LOVE..LOVE..LOVE!!
This is the first tag I created using the Dwelling stamps set... keeping it quite simple (but not completely simple: two colour on the foam).. The tag was created with Sticky back canvas stuck to a chipboard tag and stamped using PaperArtsy's Fresco Finish paints (LOVE these!) which went really nicely onto the canvas (another surface they'll work on, but I don't know how stable they'll be for washing (I'll ask PA) so maybe just use them on decorative items for now....)

busy - but in a good way...

Been flitting about doing a lot of this'n'that:

: at the studio hanging my small amount of exhibits as part of the Studio's Leigh Art Trail exhibits - Tricia, Tessa & Brons work looks FAB hanging in our oh-so-neat studio, sorry that should be Art Gallery (for 1 week of 52 thats what it is! lol for the other 51 weeks its a working studio - enter at your own risk!)

: at the College putting card making samples into the exhibition to advertise the course I teach starting in September.

: going to Imagine That for a chat with Emma.... watch this space..
: spending the day(s) at PaperArtsy HQ contemplating 1) Operation BSCO (big shed clear out)... its got to have a title 'cos its not a small job.. there is talk of a skip being needed! lol and 2) creating samples for an uncoming event... fun fun fun.. (roped in  DD Franich No3 as a guinea pig for timing purposes - she did a top job! and modelled too! Star)

: writing an article

: writing a course

: making samples with some lovely new Banana Frog stamps

: spending the day at The Craft Barn - their Extravaganza weekend - a great day indulging in watching demonstrations, chatting, and buying nice new stash - mostly paints, inks, a couple of dies and a pad of the lovely new Basic Grey Kraft collection.  I also had my practical head on and bought some blending foam (its like gold dust!), a sheet of foam for the bitch  lovely butterfly die to help it punch out successfully (?), MASSIVE book rings, and some lovely little foam 'brushes'.
: creating samples with PaperArtsy stamps - LOVELY new HotPicks - go check them out on the website

: just generally getting creative - love it!
: and now contemplating moving my craft workroom to a different room in the flat ... but having given it some thought I think that sounds far too much like hard work! lol

These are the Cosmic Shimmer Mists I bought - how lovely are they?!? and thats one of the stamps I bought - lovely for backgrounds....

WOYWW + a whole lot of other stuff....

its been a week since I last posted anything - that's neglectful of me isn't it!?  But its not as if I've been sat on my tush watching Jeremy Kyle and Loose Women - I've been busy behind the scenes....

This past weekend was spent helping out at the second Flights of Fancy ArtsyCrafts weekend - it was such a good weekend spent with 50+ painting, metalling, inking ladies creating some great projects... I went indoors at 7.00 friday night and didn't come back out into fresh air until 9.00 on sunday evening and i don't think I even noticed!  I was having too much fun (ahem.. working hard).  I love working at these events. There was lots (and lots) of paint, and just as much metal to be worked, sweets, prizes, lots and lots of die cutting and embossing - oh we worked those die cut machines- the Big Shots (mine is affectionately known as Bertha) and the Cuttlebugs... and Linda and I counted 50 kits out and back in, ....oh and I had a lift journey with a whole load of lively 70's-costume-clad party goers.. don't ask

Here are the uber talented Lin Brown and Leandra Franich:

How could you not be inspired when you look at these colours: 

Tables at work (or is it play?):

A couple of sneakypeeks of one of the projects:

And it was all going swimmingly until we got back to PaperArtsy HQ and I discovered I'd forgotten to pack my weekend bag in the car to come home! (in fairness there was a lot of stuff to pack in the cars, and I'd at least remembered to pack all my craft equipment (all the important stuff!)) Doh! How could I have forgotten the bag with my clothes etc in! When I hear of people doing the same thing I can never understand how they can forget something so fundamental!  Well quite easily apparently - I had to laugh really... 

I've since been reunited with said bag, thanks to Lin at LBCrafts (big thanks to her!) for organising TNT who brought it home on Tuesday:

I laughed a lot when I saw the size of the lorry it turned up in! The bag and contents are all safe and sound - even the banana and 4 apples that I had packed inside for snacks! roflol

Right, enough of this waffle - WOYWW:  here is my desk: ok, small confession - this is my desk on Tuesday but believe me it's not going to change much (at all) today! lol
I bought some new distress colours while I was at ArtsyCrafts, and so I'm in the process of making myself some colour charts inspired by the ones I made for the tables at AC(2nd photo).

I'm testing out the format in my sketchbook (I do that with most projects etc), and that cute little castle on the bottom left of the page is one of the new images by Banana Frog (called fairytale princess) .. and please note all that nice white space - thats the worktop! TaDaaaa!  yes we can actually see the worktop!

That's all folks - I'm determined to visit everyone this week.. so I'd better get to it! I have a feeling it could take a while! lol

Oh, one last thing - if you fancy coming to one of the ArtsyCrafts weekends (and why wouldn't you?!) details are on LBCrafts website and PaperArtsy's.

EDIT / ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN COMMENTS:
1: My overnight bag is actually not too big - shown here
2: The picture of cushions was a colour inspiration for the Banana Frog design team - you can see how they interpreted it here and here
3: The BigShot:  well, I'm a Cuttlebug fan really - I have been known to stroke my Bug while saying 'i love my cuttlebug'! lol Its a great little machine - portable, it suckers to the table so it doesn't wander off when you're turning the handle, and its very versatile...... BUT then I tried the BigShot!! its as good as the Bug but feels sturdier and smoother and because of the depth of the dies will go through a bigger variety of materials.. but the dies are expensive and gererally only come one to a die plate whereas the Cuttlebug dies often come in a pack that has a die and coordinating embossing folders.... no definitive answer I'm afraid - its all swings and roundabouts... it'll all come down to personal choice in the end..

Colour schemes eye candy...

These ads were in the ES magazine on Friday - love the clour schemes...(especially the one of the left)

The picture on the right isn't so much for the colour scheme - though it does have a lovely vintage feel to it - its more for the loviness of displaying items in big jars like that! Nice, very nice!

oooh look at the prettiness...

 

My mum has sewn things - dolls, my clothes, furnishings - for as long as I can remember - these are pictures of the drawers she keeps the cotton reels in - how FAB are they!! all the colour groups in seperate drawers - LOVE THEM!! Very inspiring..

(Stored in Ikea Moppe drawers - love them too! - but who is the person(numpty) at Ikea responsible for deciding that Moppe drawers should now be sold flat and we should make them ourselves!! Send them to me 'cos I'd like to have a chat... I don't want to make them... I want to buy the drawers ready made so that I can bring them home and immediately fill them with stuff!

Mad Men

I've only just discovered this TV series - and though not very much happens in each episode it is strangely compelling - its visually REALLY good - set in the v late 50's / early 60s the costumes / sets etc are so good!

I'm envying several dresses that have turned up!

The programme is so well written (loads of Grammys) - really subtle (maybe that's why I'm not see the plot!) but its such a good insight in to how things used to be - all the best dressed men wear a hat; the ladies all have matching handbags, shoes, and gloves; everyone smokes in the office; and drinks; the women are doing a lot of the work for the deals being made (and not getting any credit for it - or asking for any credit/reward!) while the men go and schmooze the clients with lunch; married women stay at home.

If you love the 50's/60's then watch this program - its completely brilliant eyecandy.