Friday 28 September 2012

Dreaming of a ‘Blue’ Christmas


Just getting in with this one by the skin of my teeth but Enfys over at Going Buggy was running another fun challenge this month and it was to make a Christmas card in non-traditional colours.

I’ve gone with shades of Blue and Brown.


It’s a slightly larger card than I usually make because I treated myself to some 8 x 8 scalloped edge card blanks……….I know, you’re saying that card isn't scalloped, but because as the card is for a man I thought I would trim off the edges.

I started by inking the card itself with Stormy Sky and Frayed Burlap Distress ink and them over stamped sprigs with the Frayed Burlap.

The main image is a Kanban Crafts one, stamped onto Kraft card stock with the Stormy Sky inkpad and then given a light touch of Frosted Lace Stickles and a sprinkle of Polar White Flower Soft.


The greeting is a LOTV one, stamped onto Kraft card and distressed around the edges.


I’m also linking this into the  All Sorts - challenge where the theme is 'Inspired By A Song'.


Thanks for stopping by.


Happy Crafting!

Sue
x

Wednesday 19 September 2012

WOYWW #172 - Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly, Fa la la la la la la la la


Can you tell I’m in Christmas mode?

My desk on this bright and sunny  What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday is covered with all things Christmas and my Christmas cards are well on the way to getting made.

It’s funny how you can’t face making a start on them but once you get into it it’s really fun.


The cards that are already in my box on the Left of the table are the ones that I made and didn’t send last year due to being stranded in Germany with my cousin for three weeks.
I just simply run out of time in the end and decided it was best not to send any handmade ones at all and keep them so I had a head start this year.
I’ve still lots to make thought so this week I’ve had the stamps out (you can still see them in the box beside my table) as well as some decoupage and die cuts.

Now for those of you who visited me last week and wanted a better look at the Advent Calendar that I’m stitching, you can see it better over at I’d Rather Be Stitchin’, my stitching blog.
It’s coming along nicely but I still have a lot of stitching to do, as well as eventually tackling the backing piece for it, so it should keep my occupied for a while.

And last but not least for those of you who left me comments last week, I said I would put all the names in the virtual hat and pick a winner for my birthday blog candy.

At the time I hadn’t a clue what I was going to offer but in the end I decided on this little lot.


12 sheets Memory Box 12 x 12 double sided decorative papers
Book Print A5 pad - Papermania
1 pack 10 sheets Grunge board – Tim Holtz
1 pack Bazzill Chips Garden Flowers – Bazzill
1 chipboard Flower Book
1 Cosmic Shimmer Mist – Mallow Blush
1 Distress Ink Pad – Fired Brick
6 Maya Road Ribbon Slides
1 pack Creative Acrylics Mirrored Ribbon Slides
1 pack Red Flower and Lace Trims
1 Box Red, Pink & Clear Glass Beads
12 Red Roses
1 pack Forever Friend Spring Time Decoupage Sheets
1 pack Daisy & Dandelion Decoupage Sheets
1 pack Papermania Gemstone Butterfly Stickers
1 pack EK Success Dainty Black Flourish Stickers
1 pack Heidi Swapp Daisy Stickers
1 pack Special Moments Stickers
1 pack Eno Craft Pirate Stickers
1 pack Heidi Swapp Puffy Floral Centres
1 pack Skeleton Leaves
1 pack Go West Studios Acrylics (Thanks & Happy,Smile,Laugh)
1 pack Dress It Up Bakers Dozen Buttons


So without further ado…….the winner (as chosen by Random Org) is


Claire from Cardz By Claire

  Please Email me here Claire  and I will get it in the post to as soon as I can.  Fingers crossed there's something in there that you'll be able to play with!


I hope you all have a wonderful week and until we meet again………

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

Wednesday 12 September 2012

WOYWW #171 - Another Year Older


OK, it's just a few days older, but Sunday was a bit special as I was born in 1956 and this birthday was my 56th, so if ever there was a reason to celebrate, that was it and I want all my regular WOYWW friends to be a part of the celebrations too.

My Blogaversary managed to slip by somehow in July without me noticing, so I’ve decided instead to have some Birthday Candy if you're up for it.  I'm not sure what it’s going to be yet but I’ll pick a winner from everyone who visits my blog and leaves me a massage this week and announce the winner next week. By then I should have something together to send to you.

Now then, onto the reason we are gathered here this bright but chilly Wednesday morning and unveil me desk for you to see.


There’s not actually very much going on at the moment but I’ve been getting a few Christmas bits together and today's the day I make a start on the long list of Christmas cards I have to do each year.

After winning the all those lovely LOTV stamps I thought I would also treat myself to their new set of Christmas Grungy Messages and two of their Christmas paper stacks, so they are sitting ready and waiting along with a pad from Hobbycraft and Do Crafts and a Goody Bag from Craftworks Cards, so that little lot should keep me going for a while.

Over to the Left, just behind my box of Promarkers you can see my sewing machine which is seeing the light of day for the first time in years I think!

After dusting it off ….boy was it thick………I was using it to make up some of those little pillows for the advent calendar that I showed you last week.

The stitching still continues in the evenings while I’m watching TV and I now have six completely finished.  Just 36 motifs left to stitch equating to 18 little pillows to make up……should get it done before December……..I hope.
All I have to do now is find some very simple instructions for making up the quilted backing that they will all hang against.

The Stamping Ground is the place to go if you want to link your desk for the weekly blog hop that is What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday, so pop across and join in, but beware, it’s very addictive.


Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

Wednesday 5 September 2012

On a Journey with Slimming World

So here we are then, my second post in a day and my altered frame is all finished.

It's gone from this £1.99 photo frame from Dunelm Mills


to a celebration of food, fit for a Slimming World Consultant about to leave her job.


I started by giving the frame a coat of White and Green Acrylic paint that was sponged on in layers, then when it was dry I stamped swirls (My Paper World – Grasses & Embellishments) with pale Blue Acrylic and finally gave the whole thing a light going over with a metallic Gold Rub-On

I wasn’t actually planning to use the photo mount but in the end I decided to keep it and coloured it direct to card with a Tumbled Glass Distress ink pad and them stamped the leaves and flowers ( Rubber Stamp Tapestry Clear – Nature Plate 4) in Bundled Sage and Worn Lipstick, finishing with some tiny gems in the centre of each of the flowers.

Next up was the outside decoration.

Two chipboard Flourishes coloured with a Promarker and a polish of Gold Rub-On. Flowers cut using Timmies Tattered Flower die and a Martha Stewart punch for the leaves, all topped off with some sticky backed pearls. The centre of the large flower has one of the rolled flowers from my new Craftworks Cards ‘Elegant’ flowers and paper pad, which I’ve coloured with Tumbled Glass distress ink.  All the flowers were then given a brush of Stickles and a touch of Gold Rub-On.

Then last but not least I printed the ‘On A Journey’ on my computer, cut it using nesties to make a tag and tied it to the flowers in the top corner along with a heart shaped charm.

And there you have it!

But as you can see from this photo, I didn’t stop there because I then made a matching card to go with it.



I’m linking my project to the following challenges :-

The Stamp Man - Alter something

and

The Daring Cardmaker’s - Focus on Flowers

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Crafting!

Sue
x

WOYWW #170 - You’ve been Framed


A photo of my desk in the sunshine, now there’s a rare thing, Lol!

It’s deceiving thought because when I put my bins out this morning it was decidedly nippy so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will warm up a bit later and I can grab an hour in the garden with my cross stitch or reading.


Before I show you what’s on my desk today I’ll just give you a little update on my eye situation.

I was at the hospital on Monday and had the laser treatment to remove part of the secondary cataract that had grown and I’m pleased to say it went well and no pain or discomfort, so that was a bonus.

My sight improved almost immediately but because it was thicker than they first thought I have a lot of little floaters in my eye from the debris left behind after the treatment but they tell me that they will settle down in a day or two which I hope is correct because it’s distracting……like lots of little black flies buzzing around me.

My only worry now is that one of the side effects of the treatment can be a delayed retinal detachment (which I had in the first place and started the whole nightmare off) so it’s a waiting game and only time will tell, so fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again.

So now it’s back to crafting for me big time and here’s what I have to show all you Whatsonyourworkdesksaholics  (I’ve just invented a new word, Lol)  who congregate over at The Stamping Ground every Wednesday.


All I can say about this today is that it's all Trish’s fault because until she sent me all those lovely paints and the canvas a few weeks back I had never ventured into the realms of Acrylic paint but now, here I am altering a picture frame and getting very messy with it.

I wanted to make a little gift for my Slimming world consultant who is leaving us this week, to say thank you for the support she’s given me over the last Eight months, because without her help to keep me on track (most of the time) I don’t think I would have lost the two stone that I have.

As soon as I saw the chart for this little cutie I knew it was just right for Emma because she’s surrounded by all the good thing we can eat on our plan, Pasta and fresh veggies.
Maybe not the cake she seems to be making but we can pretend she’s whipping up an omelette, Lol!


I’m still not sure what I’m doing with the frame, it will evolve as it goes along I'm sure, so pop back in a day or two and you’ll see how it turned out.

Also on my desk this week are the lovely pile of LOTV stamps that I was lucky enough to win. I’ve not used them yet other than to stamp out the images you see in each packet but I really do need to make a start on ‘Christmas’ so over the next few weeks I’m guessing they are going to get a good bashing.


Well, I have nothing else to report so I’ll say ‘Happy Crafting’ for now and I’ll be stopping by later to see what masterpieces everyone is working on this week.

See you in a while.

Sue
x

Update - You can see the finished frame here.