WOYWW #164 - What’s New!

The Sun is shining, I have all day to ‘Play’ and it’s the middle of the week which means it’s What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday, what more can a girl ask!

I intend to make the most of the sunshine while we still have it by doing a bit of work out in the garden this morning before it gets too hot and then position myself in the shade and do a spot of cross stitching, but before I head off to the garden here’s a picture of my table as I left it last night.

It’s actually very tidy, which makes a change for me, Lol!

I was playing with my lovely new Distress Markers and inspired by a card that  Kath’s  had made I decided to do mine the same just to get the hang of it. Mind you, I didn’t have those gorgeous Penny Black stamps that she used but they might just be on my shopping list already!

I absolutely love the markers, more so than my Marvy LePlumes I think, which is saying something considering I have almost every colour in them.

So you see on my desk the pens and Distress Ink Pads that I was using and the two finished panels.

There are also the stamps I used waiting to be cleaned and a bag of new Organza ribbon and Lace that I brought when I was out yesterday and that’s about all there is to see.


Now I have a couple of finished things to show.

Several of you were asking to see the table plan when it was finished, well here it is, all done and dusted and the bride will be collecting it on Saturday.

And also the Palce Names for the table.

And lastly I have a piece of finished stitching to share with you if you haven’t already seen it on my sewing blog I’d Rather Be Stitchin’

BoJangles portrait is finally finished,Yah!

I started stitching this towards the end of October last year but then had a break of about four months while stitching for Kids Company, so I recon it’s taken me about six months to complete.

I sent a picture of the finished piece to Photo2Stitch (that’s where I had the photo charted) so they could see the outcome and a very nice lady came back to me to say that they are in the process of building a new web site and would like to put BoJangles picture on there because of all the detail in it……how lovely is that!


So that’s it for another week.

The list over at The Stamping Ground is getting longer so I’d best get over there pretty darn quick and link up. Stop by there to see what WOYWW is all about and show us what’s on your desk this week.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

WOYWW #163 - The best laid plans

Did I fall asleep or something and lose six days?

It can’t possibly be time for What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday again, can it?

Surly Not!


Well it seems it really is, so I’d best show you what you’ve called in here to see…….my desk!

Today I’m working on a Table Plan and am having real fun and games with it.

Originally I was under the impression that the bride wanted the tables stuck directly onto the mirror but after meeting with her I discovered I had got the wrong end of the stick and she wanted the mirror covered with Navy card.  (I’m glad in a way because I was thinking it was going to look very odd)

So, it was a quick trip to Craft Creations (My second last week) to get the card stock.
The trouble was they didn’t do it large enough to cover the mirror in one piece, so we decided it would be ok to have a join half way down seeing as it would mostly be covered when the tables were stuck over the top.

Next I had to cut it to fit by hand because I didn’t have a trimmer big enough to fit and guess what?.............You’ve got it………I managed to cut it wonky...............Aggghhhh!

So it was yet another trip to Craft Creations yesterday to get more card stock and this time I’ve managed to cut it correctly, Phew!

I already had the tables done and ready to be attached, all accept for the top table which was waiting for it's mount, but just as I was about to assemble it all I realised that I still didn't have all the correct card.  I was still missing a piece of the wide Stardream card stock.......why didn't I think of that yesterday?…......…Double Aggghhhh!

Well, I really don’t want to have to drive over to Craft Creations a fourth time, especially not until after the Olympic Games anyway because to get there I have to drive right passed the entrance to the  White Water Olympic Venue and it was busy enough there yesterday, so I’ve just ordered it on line instead.
I just hope they are good with order processing and don't take too long to get it in the post.

My next job will be all the place names, so the rest of my day is going to be spent printing, cutting and assembling.



Julie, over at The Stamping Ground should be pleased with me because I’ve managed to keep my blog short for once and only one photo too….don’t know how I managed that!

To find out what WOYWW is all about and to join in, visit the link to her blog where you’ll find all you need to know but I can’t honestly believe for a minute that there’s anyone left out there that don’t have a clue about this weekly phenomenon.

Enjoy your week and …………….

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x x x

Girl on a Swing

Another card from me this morning and this time it actually a gift card to put some money in.

I’ve used this latest template from Sweet Sketch Wednesday

and a digi from Dearie Dolls Digis which is a great site for free digital images.

Here’s my card

I’m entering this into the following challenges:-


Crafty Calendar – Fun in the Sun

Digi Haven Fun in the Sun

I Love Promarkers - Promarkers & Circles


Card Stock and Papers - Craft Creations White Hammer. Crafts House – Tutti Frutti
Distress Ink – Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar & Squeezed Lemonade
Dies – Nestabilities Standard Circles Large & Tear Drop Circles
Digital Image – Girl on a Swing from Dearie Dolls
Embossing Folder – Free from a magazine
Pens – Promarkers
Pearls – Bling Bling
Glitter – Stardust Stickles
Sentiment – Craft Works Cards
Ribbon – from stash

Have a great day and thanks for your visit.

Happy Crafting!

Sue
x

Golden Years

I’ve finally finished another card that I’ve been working on, but not before I realized I’d made a fundamental error with it and had to do a quick alteration this morning.



As you can see, it’s a Golden Wedding Anniversary card that’s intended for some friends of my brother.

It was only while I was blog hopping for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday   that I saw another Golden Wedding card made by Lisa.   I commented that she had used a die that was very similar to the one that I was using on my card and that was when I realized my mistake.  Stupid me had put a 60 in the centre as opposed to the 50 that it should have been….........I ask you........what a numb skull!

All I can say is a big thank you to Lisa for making her card because if she hadn’t I’m not sure I would have noticed my error and it would have been really embarrassing, especially if my brother didn’t notice it either. Anyway, it’s done now.

I’ve used up quite a few Peel-Off corners which I’m a big fan of as it goes. I know Peel-Off get a lot of bad press but I find the corners and borders so useful and the occasional butterfly too, like the one on my card from yesterday.

I’m entering my card into the following challenges:-

UnstampaBells Challenges -  Celebrations

The Craft Place  - Anything Goes

I think this one is ok because my card is the same as the sketch but obviously you can't see the top bit because of the way it's folded.
Fetch-a-Sketch - Sketch

Card Stock and Papers - Craft Creations White Hammer & Gold Mirri - Hot Of The Press Vellum
Distress Ink – Scattered Straw
Dies – Memory Box La Rue Flourish – Nestabilities Standard Circles Large & Small – Sizzlets Girls are Weird Numbers – Cuttlebug Asterisks(Vellum flowers)
Peel-Offs – Craft Creations
Flowers - Boutique Fleur Mulberry Roses
Pearls – Bling Bling
Diamanté – Anita’s Tiny Gems
Glitter – Platinum Stickles

Computer generated Greeting and Insert.

Have a great day and thanks for your visit.

Happy Crafting!

Sue
x

Hydrangea

I’ve been playing around this afternoon with a stamp that I’ve not used for such a long time that I had to clean about half inch of dust off of it before I could ink it up.

Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration, Lol, but it must be more than a year ago that I used it last and I don’t know why because I really love this stamp. It’s ‘Hydrangea’ by Rubber Stampede and it lends itself to so many different projects but today I made a simple birthday card

My starting point was this sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp.

The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then coloured with Promarkers and some Stickles for a touch of sparkle.

It’s then been layered over a Papermania ‘Book Print’ background sheet that’s been coloured with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, a plain White piece of card that’s been embossed in the Couture Creations ‘Waterfall’ folder and a band cut using a Martha Stewart punch which has an Organza ribbon and bow tied around it.

For the finishing touches I’ve added a birthday greeting and a Peel-Off butterfly which has been stuck onto Acetate, coloured with Promarkers and finished off with some more Stickles.

As well as Sunday Sketch and Stamp I'm also entering this into the following challenges:-

The Stamp Man - Anything goes / Summer Colours
Penny Black and More- Summer Blooms
Frosted Designs Stamping
Crafty Ribbons Photo Inspiration

Thanks for stopping by and........................

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

WOYWW #162 - Can it really be Summer?

Like most of you, I’m sure that this summer is the worst that I can remember weather wise. The rain has been lashing down and it’s been decidedly chilly in the evenings, so much so that I was even considering putting my heating back on for a while a couple of nights ago. I didn’t I might add and my resolve has paid off because there is a bright yellow thing in the sky this morning and if I remember correctly it’s called The Sun.

Fingers crossed it stays put for a while err!


Now then, as always on a Wednesday I awoke to the siren calls from Julia hailing all her crafting compatriots to congregate at The Stamping Ground for another round of What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

I’ve had a busy week again, still working on Wedding Stationery and the odd card or two….that’s not odd in the strange sense, Lol.

I’ve also been continuing with the re organising of some of my craft paraphernalia which is what the picture of my desk this morning shows.

I’ve finally got around to labelling all my Promarkers and I’ve made another swatch ring of all the colours which will make matching pens to patterned papers much easier.

 

I’ve also decided to number the tops of the pens to make putting them away in the correct place after use a little more straight forward………I’m dreadful at putting things back where they belong, so hopefully this will work for me.

Towards the back of the desk you can see the two new sets of pens that arrived yesterday, the Summer 2012 Limited Edition set and Metallic Set 2

Next up I tackled my dies.

I was running out of room in the CD case that I keep my Nesties in, so while I was out last week I brought a new larger one in Tesco, a bargain at just under £15 and it has enough space to hold 200 dies........…not that I have that many, but may be one day!

I’ve now managed to get all my thin dies in one place, grouped by manufacturer,

and also had room for my embossing folders too.

Right at the back I’ve created a section just for Christmas so I can go straight to them when the time comes but I don’t want to think about that just yet, Lol!




So that’s what my desk is looking like today.

I’m off to the garden to have a tidy up out there while that thing is still shining in the sky and I’ll be along later to see what’s on your desk later.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x x x

More Flowers

It’s all this rain we’re getting….it’s making the flowers bloom faster, Lol!

Actually I’ve made another card for Crafty Cardmaker’s and Crafty Calendar, where the challenges are Handmade flowers and Flowers in Bloom.

This time it's an easel style in shades of Pink.
 


 
I've used large White Papermania blooms for the base of my flowers and given them a good going over with Distress Inks and Glimmer Mist. I then cut some Hydrangea flowers using a couple of Martha Stewart punches and built them up on top, finishing with an Opaline just for good measure.

Have a great day and thanks for your visit.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

Say it with Flowers!

And that’s exactly what I’m doing with this card. 

It's made using my recently purchased Marianne die and has flowers with handmade elements making it eligible for the challenge over at Crafty Cardmaker’s where the challenge is to create your own flowers and Crafty Calendar Challenge where the theme is Flowers in Bloom.


It's for an 80th birthday and is made using my favorite base material, Acetate. I can’t get enough of this at the moment and I’ve decided that I’m going to make some of my Christmas cards this year using it.

The larger flowers have been die cut, embossed and inked and them smaller die cut rolled roses adhered to the centers and finished with some Stickles for that added sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by and …………..

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x


Edit

I'm pleased to report that my card was chosen as the winner of the Crafty Cardmakers challenge.

WOYWW #161 - Always Out

Just lately, when it’s time to show my desk off for  What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday,  I seem to be heading off out somewhere for the day and this week is no different, so I’ve taken my photos on Tuesday afternoon instead so that I can still join in before I go.

As you can see my desk looks a lot busier than it did last week, with a card in progress (one of many on my list of things to make for the coming month) and a little project that I’m been intending to do but never get around to.

Out on the table are a few Mather Stewart punches, some Marianne & Spellbinder Dies as well as some Distress Inks and a Glimmer Mist that I’d forgotten I had….......it’s surprising what the occasional clear up brings to light at the back of the cupboard, Lol.

If you’re interested, you can see the card that’s laying on my desk in its finished state  Here


You’ll also notice a big box of Cherries that have now all gone because once I started eating them I couldn’t stop………sooooo delish!


The project I mentioned is this little baby.

It’s a swatch book of all my Distress Inks which I’ve inked direct to paper and then stamped over in the same colour to show the shades.

On the back I’ve inked and spritzed with water to show the effect and then I've written whether I have the Distress Stain and Re-Inker in that colour, which will make it a lot easier to see if I have them rather than searching through everything only to find I don’t.


One last thing to show you before I go as I'm trying to keep it short again as requested by our illustrious leader Julia.

This is the lovely card and wonderful ATC that I received from Hazel, beautifully coloured in shades of Pink, Blue and Lilac using a combination of Flexmarkers & Promarkers. 

Thanks so much Hazel.

You can find out how to join in with WOYWW over at  Julia's  blog, The Stamping Ground  and I look forward to visiting your desk sometime during the week, so until then……..

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

WOYWW #160 - No Show

Bet you were all thinking that I hadn’t made it to Julia’s today for the weekly show of desks over at The Stamping Ground.
Well, I nearly didn’t because I’ve been out all day and to be honest there’s nothing on my table anyway.

As clear as it can be, with just a Sweet Pea paper pad from Craftworks Cards that’s waiting to be used and not much else really so this could be a very short post.


What I will share with you this evening thought is some photos I took while I was out today.

I've had a lovely day visiting my Goddaughter Kelly at work in London.
She works in the HSBC building in Canary Warf and myself and her mum Sue were lucky enough to be able go up to the 34th floor of her building for lunch and then to the 40th floor to admire the views over London.

It’s a shame that it wasn’t a clearer day but I still managed a few nice shots.

Here you can just see the Olympic Stadium in the distance.

Zoom in on the stadium

Zoom in on the Red Curly tower thing. (Can’t believe they are going to charge £15 to go up it)

This one’s from the other side of the building and you can just make The Shard out through the murk.

Zoomed in again on this one and you can see the London Eye between the buildings and just down to the Right of the Shard you can see Tower Bridge.

After we left Kelly we stopped off at Stratford to have a look at the new Westfield shopping centre. It was very nice, but I think I prefer Bluewater or Lakeside so I don't think I'll be visiting there too often.  It's great for John Lewis though and if you go up to the third floor they have an Olympic shop and from there there’s a great view of the Olympic Park, which is right outside.

So, I'm sorry I don’t have any crafting to show you today but hopefully next week I’ll have something a bit more interesting with a bit of luck.

Now it's 8pm and I have a Thank You card to make this evening, so I’ll be round to visit as many as I can tomorrow, but in the meantime,

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

WOYWW #159 - Back to Normal…………………………..

Well, sort of.


The decorating is all finished now and I have to say I’m pleased with it, despite the upheaval of last week.

Most stuff is back in its rightful place but I’ve gone into cleaning mode and have spent the last couple of days sorting out some of the toot that has accumulated in the kitchen cupboards over the years.

It’s surprising what you find lurking in the dark corners and I’m ashamed to say I came across jars of herbs dated 2005…..shock….horror.   But in my defence, I’ve grown my own for years now and use fresh herbs when I cook so I’ve not been in danger of poisoning anyone, Lol!

As you can imagine, it’s been a busy old week and now, here we are at the middle of the week again which can only mean one thing, What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday!
Thanks to Julia,  The Stamping Ground  becomes the meeting place for lots of nosey crafters who like nothing better than a good old snooping at what’s on your desk, so why not nip across to her blog and join in, I’ll be doing exactly that when I get back this afternoon. 

Here's my space this week.

This picture was taken last night and my desk is not in too bad a state for a change.

You can see my little fold up table is beside my desk with my Promarkes on and at the back of the table is the card I finished on Monday for one of my friends twin Grandchildren, which is still awaiting it’s insert.
I used some Pee Wee glitter on part of the background of it and now I have glitter everywhere.
The table, my clothes, even BoJangles has a nice glittery coat despite the fact that thought I had cleared it all up last night…......obviously didn’t make a very good job of it.


On the cutting mat is the birthday card for the other twin and to the Left is the stack of MME papers that I was using.

The card is finished now and I used the template from last Tuesdays challenge over at Skipping Stones Design but I was too late to enter it.

I tried to make it look like the little boy, who is another digi stamp from Mo’s Digital Pencil was skateboarding down diagonal edge of the pocket.

The only other thing that might be of interest is my bargain Sizzix 'Nouvau' alphabet. 
Now when I say bargain, I mean bargain because if I remember correctly I managed to grab this back in 2004 when it was listed on a web site (sorry, can't remember where) for the incorrect price of around £20.  It was a massive mistake on their part because they were selling for around £60 at the time and everyone on the forum I belonged to was buying them, but to give them their dues, they fulfilled every order that was placed before the mistake was found.

I’m off to meet my friend Susan and her hubby at the garden centre now for a spot of lunch before the weather changes again…….you have to make hay while the sun is shining!

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles!

I seem to be using more and more digi stamps these days especially when I just want to colour but it will never stop me using conventional stamps.
There are so many techniques that you can do with rubber or acrylic stamps so they will never be replaced entirely but what I love about digi stamps is that you can make the image whatever size you like, opening it up to so many possibilities.

I fell in love with this digi image as soon as I saw it.

It’s from   Mo’s Digital Pencil  and is called   Fairy Tabia.

I’ve used a few of Mo’s images in the past and knew it would be fantastic, so when my friend Hazel asked me to make birthday cards from her grandchildren, the twins I made the Christening Cards for a couple of weeks ago, I knew exactly what I was going to use.

For my starting point I’ve used this template from  A Gem of a Challenge #48

and then doubled up on the challenges by working with the colour inspiration from The Ribbon Girl – Challenge #20

Here’s a close up of some of the detail.

Her wings have been painted with Pearl Ex-Press water colours to give a pretty iridescent shine when the light hits them and her bubbles are tiny pearls.

Thanks for dropping by.

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

WOYWW #158 - What a mess!

Coffee and breakfast at the ready……time for another worldwide blog hop thanks to our hopper-in-chief   Julia,  over at The Stamping Ground.


This week it’s not just my craft room that looks like a bomb has hit it but the whole of my maisonette.

And the reason………..a couple of weeks ago I asked a guy who does my decorating for me if he could give me a quote to paint my kitchen and bathroom and also paper and paint my hall way. I didn’t hear anything from him for weeks but then out of the Blue at 7.30 on Monday morning I had a phone call from Pete saying he was at a loose end this week and could he start here.

Well, to say I panicked slightly is a bit of an understatement because I had made plans to go out for the day on Monday to meet up with a couple of crafty friends but if Pete wants to start you don’t put him off otherwise it’s months before you see him again, so I was rushing around to move things in readiness before going out. Fortunately I know him well and was able to leave him my key and still go out but when I arrived back home at around 4.30 in the afternoon I discovered that he and his son had started to work on all three rooms at the same time, so you can imagine the mess in my tiny flat, not to mention the dust.



Today they plan is to do all the paintwork which involves four doors, all off the narrow hallway and emulsion the hall, bathroom and kitchen, so I think I’m going to get right out of the way today and go shopping in search of a new mirror because it’s not going to be easy to get in and out of my craft room or any other room for that matter.

This morning’s shot of my Workdesk was taken at 7.30 before I’d even opened the curtains and is from a slightly different angle than usual giving you a wider view but what you can’t see behind me is all the stuff, including a cabinet that’s come out of my bathroom.

You can see a little collection of cards that I made at the weekend on the one side of my table and one that I was working on last night, waiting to be finished.

My computer desk is as bad and has become a dumping ground too, with lots of paperwork that need sorting and putting away and my breakfast is on there too, which I’m eating as I type!


The large mirror you can see is rather gorgeous isn’t it?

Alas, it’s not mine but it’s something like that I want to look for today when I go out.  I think it would look rather nice on the wall in my hall.

This one is destined to be the base of the table plan I have to make for Carols wedding in August and is my next biggish project.


Well that's about it for today, the boys have arrived and I’m getting out of the way as fast as I can. 
I'll be calling in later this afternoon to see what you're upto this week.

And one last picture before I go.

Even BoJangles is put out by the mess!

Have a good week and.........

Happy Crafting!

A quick update – Just back from the shops and I'm please to say I managed to find myself a nice mirror. 
Not quite the same as the one in my photo but very similar in a Bronzy colour to tone with the new light fitting I brought yesterday…....did I mention that, Lol!