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:)