Port Sunlight stamp festival

Yesterday was HSNW stamp show. I got my tickets weeks ago, then on Friday my dad died suddenly. I decided to go to the show anyway, but I wondered around in a bit of a daze. Didn't buy much at all and even came home with cash (which was a shock!)

It was lovely to meet up with friends, the hugs were very much appreciated. I didn't break down in tears as I thought. When I spoke to Jennie from The Artistic Stamper, she told me that I had probably done my crying and grieving already. And she was right. Watching dad waste away with various forms of Altzheimers was soul destroying. His death was a blessing, but it was such a shock.

Anyway, I did pick up a few stamps at the show which I had no intention of buying....just couldn't resist them!. I fell in love with Jennie's new stamp designs so watch this space for eye candy in the next few days. I'll need to keep busy for the next week or so until the funeral. here's a link to Jennie's blog with links to her website and other fun sites:)

Jennie's blog

Necklace for my sister

I've been busy making a necklace for my sister's birthday. Took ages to attach the beads. I think she'll like it though. If she doesn't like it my middle daughter says she would love to wear it...LOL

Wednesday Stamper Challenge

This challenge this week on
Wednesday Stamper
is to use a Pattern in your artwork. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder to make my diamond pattern. The stamps are from stampattack Background was made with Distress inks. I added a dotted outline to a swirl or two with my Ranger opaque white pen.
My friend Tracy and I had a great play day today. Now if I could only persuade her to start a blog, she could show off her challenge cards:)

Cards for the birthday boy

My oldest grandson will be 12 yrs old next week. Where did all those years go? Seems like it was only yesterday he was toddling around here playing with Postman Pat. Now the only postman he is interested in, is the one who delivers fan mail from his many girlfriends! LOL
I'm not terribly good at making cards for males as you can see. But if I send him a shop bought card he will be very hurt......so I've done my best using cuttlebug embossing folders, and an alcohol ink background I found lying on my work top. This Paperartsy stamp fits the bill because he loves watching movies. The little balloon peel offs were coloured in with gelly roll pens, then added a few drops of Diamond glaze.

I used 2 embossing folders for the blue card. Got a new *friends* cuttlebug folder last week and each word of phrase has it's own embossed outline so I cut some of the words out and fixed them on with pop dots. The words I chose are: rambunctious, happy, wonderful, unforgettable,laugh, enjoy and yippee! I also made him a chain mail bracelet but when he tried it for size, he didn't want to take it off! Can't see me doing any more chain mail, it was too fiddly and painful on my hands.

Wall Hanging finished at last

I've been working on this canvas for a few weeks. Nothing turned out how I wanted it to be and I feared it would never get finished! Eventually, I had a brainstorm and got out my Distress Inks. I love Ranger Earthtones, no matter what combination of colours you use, they always look fabulous. Once the background was finished, I played around with various bits and pieces until I liked what I saw. I can live with this as it is, but I might hang some beaded dangles and butterflies.

New stamp arrived

Some time back, I wrote my first ever Haiku verse for a contest on OSA (oriental stamp art) yahoo group. Candice (art neko) made a plate of rubber stamps from the winning entries. A million thanks to dear Heather Taylor for the work she did on the design. I love what she did:) So when my stamp arrived yesterday, I couldn't wait to play with it. Didn't even mount it onto EZ-mount! This is the card I made....

Tag

Tim Holtz had a blog challenge in April which I never got around to doing! So after following a link someone shared on one of my yahoo groups, I decided it would be a great technique to try out yesterday when Tracy came to play. I wanted to do a floral theme but I can't seem to associate grungy with flowers. First 2 attempts went into the bin! Still not sure if I like grungy flowers..... maybe it will grow on me eh?

New addition to the family

When our last Sheltie died, I swore I would never have any kind of pet again. (Apart from fish) My 2 younger girls persuaded their dad to adopt a baby kitten. I reluctantly agreed to their pleading and whining just to shut them up. I made it clear that I am NOT responsibe for any animal they get!
So they went to a local cat rescue. A cardboard box containing 4 kittens was dumped outside the rescue gates a few weeks ago and they needed to find homes for the kittens urgently. Amy fell in love with a tiny black kitten sitting alone in a corner. So after a £50 donation, it was arranged that DH would go with Amy to collect the kitten the following day. She is approximately 8 weeks old and very tiny. First 24 hours were worrying because she didn't want to eat kitty food or drink water (she was getting in the bath to lap at water near the plug hole for some reason! The owner of the rescue told Amy not to feed her milk. Why is that?

By the 3rd day, I was on the verge of taking the kitten to the vet! Then I suggested they try a different flavour kitty food. The little mite scoffed loads of tuna flavour. She continued to refuse the chicken whiskas. Day 4, I gave her a tiny piece of corned beef....and she almost bit my finger off! She appears to be a fussy little madam! She seems to be settling down now and is drinking water and eating small amounts of dry and moist kitten food. Thankfully she is litter trained so we haven't had to deal with that. She will be spayed when she's 5 or 6 months old. There are too many unwanted kittens in the world already.
She seems to like sitting on the sofa, on my desk, on the back of my computer chair, anywhere except the pretty girly pink cat bed. She is very sweet, I can't help falling in love with her.

Wednesday Stamper

The current challenge on Wednesday Stamper, is Two Tone.
Here is my card for the challenge. Thanks for a great theme ladies.

Stamps by Stampattack

Oriental ATC

After weeks of disruption due to DH painting and decorating, I finally got time to do something creative. This ATC was made with scrapbook paper from
Far Flung Craft
The flower is sticky backed fun foam from my gd's stash. I also *borrowed* her scallop scissors. hmm...... maybe I need to keep those with my scissors:) The holograph dots were a gift from dear friend *Legs*.
I took photos of our living rooms so might upload them later to show what I mean by disruption:) What a flipping nightmare.

Edited to ADD a scan of the ATC! duh!

What have I done!!

Oh dear, after months (or years) I finally let my DH start painting my litte craft room. He's only done the ceiling so far and I'm getting nervous......very nervous!
I've been trying to get myself and my stuff organised, it's an ongoing project.
About 6 months ago, I got some new shelves. They were designed to hold CD's, only I ripped out the plastic bits that hold the CD's in place. Never did get around to covering the shelves to make them look a bit prettier!
Anyhow, yesterday I realised that I hardly ever use my mounted stamps since they got put into boxes. Out of sight, out of mind. So I asked DH if he still had my narrow shelf unit hidden in the shed. Was so pleased when he told me it was! So he's taking down a pine shelf unit and putting my narrow shelving back up so I can get those mounted stamps out and use them again. Maybe it's time for me to have a real good sort-out. Got tons of stuff that never gets used so I think I'll give it to my grandkids school to use in the after school club. They don't have any funding from the education authority so art materials are always in short supply. Kids need to get messy painting and drawing, in my opinion. So there's one problem solved for me. I won't mind getting rid of stuff if I know it's going to a good home:)

I'm sitting here at my desk holding my breath, hoping that my husband won't start painting the walls in my room. I know they could do with a lick of paint, but where will I put everything? Last time he painted the room, he moved all my art supplies into the living room, and the bathroom, and the parlour (ooh that sounds posh!) We had nowhere to sit for 2 days because every chair and sofa was piled high with *stuff*. In case you don't know this, stuff is the junk we keep. And junk is the stuff we throw away after we've taken the *stuff* we need. Sounds a bit confusing but I know what I mean.
Oh NOooooo he's got the spirit level out now! This could turn into a very big job.
Can't stand the suspense. I'm going to go see what he's up to!

Wednesday Stamper

This week on Wednesday Stamper, the challenge theme is Sisters.


Background layer is alcohol inks on foil, then embossed with a cuttlebug folder.
The sisters image by stampattack was stamped on a background I made with home made shimmer sprays.

I really enjoyed this challenge. Thank you ladies for the inspiration.

more stamps I made

I'm having a great time with my imagepak stamp making kit. Made these 2 stamps yesterday. The one on the left, I had to chop a bit off cos one of the stems wasn't quite thick enough to get a decent stamped image.
Still a lot to learn about getting the depth/floor of the stamp right. I think I'll have a play with some photographs next to see what kind of stamps I can make with those:)...

Stamp making kit

My DH bought me an Imagepac stamp making kit for our wedding anniversary last weekend. Using it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be! After using up almost all the sachets of *gunge* stuff (polymer or whatever it is) I decided to phone the company to see what I was doing wrong. I knew my printed designs were OK, because I had exactly the same problem with the images that came with the kit! So that narrowed it down to a) timing b) light c) positioning of said light. I wish I'd known they sold an angle poise lamp because I would have bought one with the kit!
But instead, had to get one from Asda (WalMart) When Tracy came to play Wednesday, we spent the entire time experimenting with the kit, and stacking boxes to lay my lamp on it's side so it was facing directly above the clamp at the correct distance.
The stamps were still not right, either too solid or not solid enough. Tracy left here to go collect her boys from school and she still hadn't seen a decent home made stamp. By this time, I was absolutely certain the problem was the timing. So I kept experimenting until finally, I got a stamp design that was just what I wanted. The company sent me a box of replacement sachets which was very good of them. They told me to phone back if I needed any help or advice. Once I knew what the problem was, it was just a case of trial and error. Still got a lot to learn but I'm happy with the stamps I made over the last day or two.

New Rubber

I went to HSNW Stamp Festival at Port Sunlight last weekend. It's one of the highlights of my year. I so enjoy meeting up with stamping buddies from online groups and forums.

Got lots of lovely new rubber from some of my favourite stamp companies:)

I was surprised to see stampattack had Jo's mini geisha plate on the stand. Didn't think they would be ready yet in the smaller size. So, I was choosing which plates I wanted, then a woman standing nearby reached over my shoulder and took the last Geisha plate! I wasn't too worried, just went to ask Fred and Caz to put more rubber out. Then, I found out that they had sold every single plate! I didn't cry, I was very brave....did a lot of muttering under my breath though! They had free postage for plates ordered and paid for on Saturday, 3 half plates for £25 is a good deal:)

Anyway, the rubber arrived today and I couldn't wait to play with it. (was supposed to be making an anniversary card to give DH on Sunday. (24 years!)
So today I was mounting the images onto EZmount, then Tracy stamped them to see how they looked.... (Wednesday is our play day)

These geisha sitting side by side are going to be one of my favourite stamps, I know already. I stamped them onto an alcohol ink background, then mounted on black. Cut some elements from Far Flung Craft Tulis scrap paper. The stone in the centre of the coin made the left side of the card a bit blurry when I scanned it.

More about the stamping show in another post. It's been so hot here again. Not complaining, but on hot days like this, I get terrible headaches.

Scrap layout

I had some lovely scrap papers from Far Flung Craft in yesterday's mail. So I thought I'd have a bash at doing a scrap layout. After a very shaky start, I finally got stuck into it and here is the result. I had to scan the page in 2 halves then piece it together in photoshop. Not bad really for a first attempt.

Freebies from TenTwo studios

Lisa Vollrath is doing another super give-away to celebrate Mother's Day.
All you have to do is, post a link to TenTwoStudios on your blog/group/website/yahoo group etc. then go and download the freebies. Can't get much easier than that, can it?
Thank you Lisa:)

Inky background card

Made this background for a challenge on katyscorner. This is one of my favourite stamps.

Some recent stuff

Thought I'd upload a couple of recent cards while I ponder on what kind of card to make for a baby that hasn't been born yet. All I know is that baby will be born today cos it's being induced. I'm hoping to make a congratulations card today for youngest son who has his driving test at 12-43pm today in a town that he doesn't know! Enough chatter.

This card was for my Uncle's birthday.
Those FFC scrap papers are very versatile, aren't they?

Accidental background

Last Wednesday when Tracy came to play, she fancied doing some resist techniques.
My memory is pretty hopeless and on bad days, nothing goes as it should.

This background started out as a marvy marker background. Only, I had problems with the pens (hadn't been used for years) the pink one left scribbly marks that didn't react to with water. I threw the card to one side in frustration!
Decided to use it to experiment on. I stamped Tracy's new stamps and embossed with clear EP. Then, silly idiot, I decided to use alcohol inks to colour the background of the card. I intended to wipe the ink off the stamped images. I totally forgot that alcohol ink sticks to pretty much everything it touches! DUH! When I spritzed some alcohol solution on, the inks reacted beautifully. I rather like the effect.....maybe I'll play some more with this.

Asian fan card

Made this card for a friend who loves anything Oriental.
The scapbook cardstock is from FFC (monsoon) Charm is FFC too. Love those charms.
The cardstock is pretty close in colour to the scrapbook paper but the scan doesn't show that!

Far Flung Craft

Tagged by Craftygirl

I was tagged by my mate Craftygirl

So I have to list 6 quirky or little known things about me:) THEN, I have to tag 6 people:)

Here goes:

1) I don't like frogs! Seriously, we have loads of them in our garden and they wait for me to walk down the garden path, THEN they jump out and scare the living daylights out of me. My DH loves them:(

2) Still on frogs (can you see how they ruin my life?) I was walking with my grandkids on the common land at the back of my house. Oldest grandson, (then 8) lifted a sheet of wood that was lying on the ground. And there, gawping at me was the biggest frog I'd ever seen in my life (it was probably a toad!) I screamed so loud, it scared the kids half to death. Then, I yelled at them, run for your lives! Save yourselves! And I was gone....(shame on me) They've never let me forget that incident!

3) When I was a child, I wanted piano lessons. The only teacher in our area was a guy that mum went to school with and she said he was useless on piano! She told me to get on the piano and just *play it*. So that's what I did, starting with 3 Blind Mice! I had some lessons when I was 40. My teacher used the American method of teaching music theory...and it ALL made sense to me! I understood maths!!! YES I DID! Sadly, the lessons ended after I completed grade 1 because she had to go back to the USA :(

4) When I was in school, I had some poems published in a local magazine. Recently I wrote my very first Haiku for a competition on Oriental Stamp Art yahoo group. My entry got second place. Maybe I should write some more:)

5) I have a problem with my eyesight. After attending hospital for a few years, they finally confirmed that it is macular degeneration. Apparently, this is very rare in someone my age. It usually affects people in their 70's. In my *good* eye, I have a naevus. This is like a freckle, and can turn cancerous so I have to have tests every year to check how it's growing (or not growing)

6) I talk too much! Yes, even when composing an email or updating my blog..I talk far too much.

Mel's Bookie Joint swap

I've been taking part in Melanie's *Bookie Joint* swaps for some years now. The idea is, make 8 pages using whatever theme and size Mel stipulates. We send the pages to her and she collates them and makes the most beautiful art deco books to send back to each player.
This time, the theme was Oriental, but we had to make our pages in the shape of a house. It was lovely to do something different. I made my backgrounds using Distress inks DTP, then spritzed with some home made shimmery sprays. The butterflies were cut with a spellbinder die from FFC scrapbook papers. Charms are also from Far Flung Craft
These are 2 of my pages.

Chance to play today

My mate Tracy came to play today and I enjoyed our time together:) I made a birthday card for dad (he's got Altzheimers and it's his 77th birthday soon)
Bird stamp by: stampattack










And I made the card below for a lovely friend.

Flapper in pink

I finally had time to play with my new embossing folder(s). I quite like this diamond pattern. I dragged some Tattered rose distress ink over the embossed areas. Had a tin of Maya Road chipboard flower shapes here and wanted to play with those as well. After using the flowers, you're left with this neat circular frame. I coloured it with Aged mahogany distess ink (love those inks)
Flapper is by: stampattack

Wednesday Stamper Challenge

This week’s challenge on Wednesday Stamper is to make some artwork with the first letter of your first name. Today is the first time I've joined this challenge, it was great fun.
Background was made with Distress inks, Milled Lavender, Tattered Rose and Dried Marigold which were applied with cut n dry foam. After drying with a heat gun, I spritzed with homemade shimmer sprays. (Vintage photo/Forever red perfect pearls) and as an experiment, I mixed Faded Jeans Distress ink, Interference Teal moonglow powder with water and liquid gum arabic. I edged the cardstock with aged mahogany Distress ink. The woman stamp is from Paperartsy.

Alcohol Ink challenge

The March challenge on katyscorner is Alcohol inks. As I was sorting through some cardstock, I found some AI backgrounds I'd made months ago. This pink one was the perfect size to use as a layer. The inkjet transparency of Great Aunt Annie was crying out to be used. The key was made by layering cardstock and fun foam die cuts together, and colouring with perfect pearls. The swirly background stamp is by Stampattack

Which Austen Heroine are You?

Take the Quiz here!

Another Distress card

Here's another card I made with a Distress inks.

Rubberstamp by:
Stampattack

Easy crackle background technique

My friend Tracy told me about this technique last week. It was *discovered* by Lyn Stonehewer. Lyn is multi talented and is fearless when it comes to experimenting with techniques. This uses clear glue. In the UK, we used to use this glue at school. The rubber bottle top is angled, has a slit in it and is used to apply the glue. I didn't have any, but I did have a clear glue pen by UHU. I spread the glue onto an ATC size piece of white card. It needs to be quite a thick layer. Then Acrylic paint is applied over the wet glue. I refused to experiment with my Paint Dabbers cos I didn't want to get glue all over the dabber tops. So I grabbed some cheap and cheerful Acrylic paint, and rubbed it on top of the wet glue with my fingers! The paint dries faster than the glue, which gives the crackle effect. I need to play with this technique some more, but it has a lot of potential. Thanks Lyn (and Tracy)

Glossy accents on Alcohol ink Background

One of my online friends went to watch a demo by Tim Holtz. He certainly has a way of inspiring stampers. From what I remember, you basically stamp images, like a flourish stamp. then go around the outline with Glossy Accents. I'm useless at remembering instructions but I was quite pleased with the results I got.

Distress inks DTP

Made this tag by adding Distress inks DTP using Cut n Dry foam. The way those colours blend is just brilliant. I stamped the flourish stamp with Distress ink. I'm in love with Distress inks.

Distress inks

When my friend came to visit a few days ago, she brought some samples using Distress inks and other Ranger products. They were fantastic. Made me realise i need to get the entire range of colours:) I couldn't remember all the techniques she showed. Here's a card I made with Distress ink.
Vintage images by:Monthly Muse

Hectic but productive weekend

Had 4 of the grandkids here this weekend so oldest DD could go partying! She deserves a few treats. A single mum of 4, doing 1 full time college course and 2 part time evening courses. These qualifications will compliment her IHM qualification. (Indian Head massage)

She was waiting for me to make her a necklace because I'd made some for my 2 youger girls. I asked what style she wanted....and she said *Cleopatra* style!
We searched online and looked through some jewellery catalogues and she pointed out a couple of styles she liked. So I did a few sketches, measured her neck....and
I made this necklace for her. I won't be making many more of these. Far too fiddly and time consuming.

Tomorrow, I WILL make my "wing" themed ATC's for a swap.Then make a start on a chunky book swap. The first thing I must do is made a card for my lovely friend Pixe, who is in hospital.

I'm a Daffodil, what flower are you?

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

You have a sunny disposition and are normally one of the first to show up for the party. You don't need too much attention from the host once you get there as you are more than capable of making yourself seen and heard. Says it all really doesn't it?!
ROTFLOL

Wax resist challenge

Over on katyscorneruk yahoo group, list mom Cath (erine) set a challenge for Feb using wax as a resist. The artwork uploaded to the group files is stunning to say the least. There are some very talented members. This is my card for the challenge.

New cuttlebug embossing folders

At last, my new cuttlebug folders arrived. I love love love them......

So I made a card using Far Flung Craft new range of scrapbook papers. The cardstock has a white core so when it was embossed, it looked kind of grungy. So I picked up some distress ink pads and distressed them a little bit more. The paisley embossing works well with Bollywood *chakra*. A few eyelets charms, gems, a bit of ribbon and SU happiness stamp. The little flower die at the base of the card must have come packaged with my big shot machine. I dont remember seeing it before....it's a neat little die...

Daring cardmakers challenge

This week's challenge is to use orange or yellow. The scrapbook paper is by farflungcraft, stamped images by katyscorner

The punch is by SU, it's a tab punch but I like using it this way!

Daring Cardmakers

Mothers Day

I made this card for my dear mother in law for Mother's Day. I twisted sheer ribbon and tied a smaller piece around it as a faux bow. The fan is coloured with radiant pearls (haven't used them for such a long time) and layered 3D style. The teardrop gems added a nice touch. Also added a tiny amount of gelly roll glaze to parts of the image.

SU stamps arrived

I think I'm going to become fond of these SU stamps. I'm also challenging myself to use yellow more often! Here's my first SU card:)

Girls just wanna have fun card

As I was tidying my craft papers, I found a pad of acrylic paper hiding in a cupboard. I wondered how it would work with Acrylic dabbers. My dabber tops were a bit dry so I used a babywipe to moisten the dried paint, then rubbed it onto the acrylic paper. Think I'd like to play some more with this stuff.
Here's a simple card I made. I stamped the women in Memories black ink. Was going to use black acrylic but went for the easy option. I often forget to clean my stamps when I finish using them....and wasn't sure if the acrylic paint would clean off easily.
Rubber stamp is by stampattack

Freebies to download from tentwostudios

The lovely Lisa has done it again. There are Valentine themed freebies to download. All you have to do is post this link to your blog yahoo group or website
Valentine Freebies

Now go download the goodies.

Linking experiments

Thanks to a little help from my friends, I think I might be able to add links to my blog. If it works (and I think it does!) I will provide links to loads of super blogs loaded with eye candy:)
Far Flung Craft

Today's playtime results

Today I played with FFC's new range of scrapbook cardstock. I love double sided papers and card, they take all the guesswork out of colour co-ordinating projects. Does this mean I'm lazy, not really! Just gives me a little more time to play with new ideas and techniques. I love playing more than anything:)

I spotted some luggage tags that I'd coloured a few months ago. One of them was perfect to use with FFC's new scrap papers. So I let myself play awhile to see what would happen. I'm sure my online friends won't believe that I really used all those charms... but I did, I promise...LOL

Click title to visit FFC gallery for more scans of the tags.

A great play session today:)

After weeks without a decent play session, I sent my mate Tracy a txt and asked if she could come to play today. It was lovely to catch up with what she's been doing. And she brought her new stamps to show me. Nice they were too:)

I decided to make that birthday card for my daughter to give to her friend. I wanted to do something a little bit different, so made a flap card. It took ages for me to decide on a layout I was happy with. Then, I used turquoise and cream, a colour combo I wouldn't normally choose. But it worked out rather nice eventually. My photography skills are improving albeit ever so slightly. ROTFLOL. All in all, it was a lovely play session. Thanks for coming Tracy.





Front of flap card. Left side opens like a book.





Card standing upright, right hand side is a flap that lifts up.





Inside of card with flap opened.
Photo taken on my very messy work area, notice the mucky heat gun! Now that definitely needs some more alcohol ink to smarten it up a bit.

Playing with beads

Last year I decided to try my hand at making jewellery. Didn't really expect to have any success because my central vision is bad. But after making a couple of handbag and mobile phone charms, I was hooked. Then of course came the addiction.....buying beads, chain, bead caps, oh and don't forget the tools! I searched the internet daily to learn as many techniques as I could.

I think papercrafts will always be my first love, but making jewellery is a close second. Middle daughter Sarah, loves fashion jewellery and is always eager to wear my latest creations, she even goes out to buy an outfit to match them! Here's a necklace I made over the weekend for her. I used a variety of beads in various shades of blue. I always found blue a difficult colour to work with in papercrafts, yet I have absolutely no problem using blue beads! Doesn't make sense does it?

Today I'm making a jewellery set and birthday card for youngest DD's friend at University. She shares my birthday (Jan 29th) and is a rubber stamp addict! I'm going to make her something special....got to encourage the younger generation to be creative, haven't we?

A Da Vinci card for DH's birthday

It's my DH's birthday on Wednesday so I had to make him a card. He would have known if I gave him last years card (cos I did that last year!)

It often takes me a while to get motivated at the beginning of the year. This year was tougher than expected...............due to a stressful time last year. I thought I might have to buy him a card..... shock, horror!

until I remembered....

Kristy and Faye sent me some of farflungcraft's new line of scrapbook papers to play with a few weeks ago:) I'm not a scrapper by any stretch of the imagination so I expected to have problems when I came to use them. Doncha love a challenge?

So today, I looked through the papers and the Bamboo "Batik Prints" really shouted *use me*. The colours are very good for male cards. So I stamped *self portrait* (stampington) onto vellum using black ink, attached it to a small panel of bamboo paper, layered it onto bronze pearlescent card, then attached the panel to a larger piece of the reverse side of the same scrap paper...pretty simple.....I love quick and easy cards.

Bet those papers will make wonderful Valentine cards too:)