Play Time! WOYWW (#123)

So here we are, another day in the life of a “What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesdayer” and a good excuse for a good old nosey at everyone else’s work space.
 Julia has all you need to know on her blog if you feel like bearing all and joining in with this fun weekly blog hop.

Here at Chez Krafty Kards it’s been a busy seven days since we last meet, with Wedding stationery, Christmas cards, Heritage LO’s and Cross Stitching all in the mix.

The one sad thing is that the winner of the duplicate Holly Mask that I brought didn’t reply to my email last week and hasn’t claimed her prize so I’ve picked another name.

And the winner this time is ………………

Sunshine Girl



So this week my own workspace is just a big clutter really and nothing much to show.

The table is more or less how I left in on Monday afternoon after my lovely friend Lythan left.
We get together every so often and spend the day crafting together, which is really fun.
She’s the most amazing scrapbooker , so she spent the time working on a couple of LO’s while I made a few more Christmas Cards.

Here's a few of the cards I made.

My other workspace on my computer table is covered with heritage stuff at the moment because yesterday I was doing the write up for the page I was working on last week of my Gt. Grandparents.

I’m please to say the LO’s all finished, except for the perishing clock hands that still haven’t come to light. I think they must be buried in “The Sands of Time”, Lol!
I’ve ordered some on Esty now, so when they arrive they will be added to the LO and then it ‘will’ be finished then.

If you’re interested, please feel free to visit Family Footprints in the Sands of Time and become acquainted with my ancestors and read their story.

For those of you who visited there last week and left so many wonderful messages, not only on the newer post but the older ones too, many thanks to you.
I’m pleased you are enjoying my trip back in time. I’m going to change the way the comments are done on here because I hadn’t realized that so many of you had left messages on the older posts.


I’ve also spent time adding some more of my completed cross stitch projects to I’d Rather Be Stitchin……than in the kitchen!

It’s getting to be quite a tedious job really and I did think about adding things as I finish them from now but then they wouldn’t be on there in the order that I stitched them, which is really what I wanted, so I just need to keep plodding on with it until I have it up to date.

The final bit of good news is that Carol picked up her Wedding Stationery samples last night and is over the moon with them and she also was thrilled with the Christening card that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago.
All I’m waiting for now is numbers and then I can get everything ordered and make a start on the invitations.
It’s more than a year since I worked on a big order like this and I’m really excited about doing it.

I’m off to grab a coffee now and have a blog hop to see what everyone’s up to this week, so sees you later.

Happy Crafting!

Sue
x

Where’s Mr. Blue Sky gone? WOYWW (#122)

I suppose I shouldn’t complain because we were given that extra week of beautiful scorching hot weather last week but why does the temperature have to drop by more than 10 degrees in one fail swoop.
I’m freeeeezzzzing…..........….ok that is an exaggeration, but it does feel flipping cold and I’m even contemplating putting the heating on.

I’ve been busy since last we spoke, making Christmas cards, setting up templates for the Wedding Stationery and also playing with a few of my new goodies.

I’ve even been setting up another blog.

I know I already have two, this one and Family Footprints in the Sands of Time, my heritage blog but I wanted to have somewhere I could record all my cross stitch projects, going back to the 1980’s when I first got hooked.

I’ve actually been working on it for the last few weeks but I’m nowhere near up to date as yet and still have loads to put on there so it’s really a work in progress at the moment.
If you’re interested in cross stitch and would like to see some of the projects I’ve stitched pop across to I’d Rather Be Stitchin……than in the kitchen!

Now then, Julia is mustering the troops again for another day of blog hopping in the name of What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday and my photo is duly taken and ready to show the world.

As you can see I’m attempting another page of the Heritage album and have been sorting out some photos of my Great Grandparents on my Father’s side of the family.
There are quite a few to choose from but most were either out of focus or had damage on them so I’ve had a play in Photoshop again and finished up with some pictures that will just about pass. I think I might be trying to be too fussy with them and have to keep reminding myself that we are lucky to have the photos in the first place. I'm sure that whoever inherits the albums in years to come will be only to pleased to see the slightly out of focus pictures of their ancestors.

I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing with the LO and am making it up as I go along Lol, but I’m using some of the lovely TPC Studio and Pink Paislee ink resist papers that Lythan brought me for my birthday.

Watch this space to see what evolves!

One thing I had planned to do thought was add some black filigree hands to the clock face.
I’ve been saving a pair to use on a LO and they’ve been kicking around on my desk for ages but do you think I can find the darn things now I want to use them. They must be here somewhere so it looks like the rest of the day is going to be spent searching for them.

Well, thanks for dropping in on me this week and for all the lovely messages last week but before I go I need to announce who the winner of the Holly Mask is.
I made a list of the people who voiced an interest in winning it, put all the names in a bowl and picked one at random.

And the lucky winner is…………….
Claire.

Email me Here Claire with your details and I’ll get it in the post to you as soon as I can.

Enjoy your blog hopping and I’ll see you all soon.

Happy Crafting!

Sue
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My Prize

Well, I’m going the break with tradition and do a ‘What’s on your Workdesk Thursday’, as well as Wednesday’s one this week, and the reason……….………I wanted to share with you the gorgeous goodies that arrived in the post this morning.


This is the lovely stash that was my prize from the Particrafts draw at Alexandra Palace on Sunday and I can’t believe how much was in the box.

Lots of Cosmic Shimmer stuff including Mist, Fine Glitter, Mica Pigments and Iridescent Glitter Film and as well as that little lot the was also four sets of stamps, Lumin Arte Pure Colour Concentrate, 3D Crystal Lacquers, Ranger Distress Ink and Perfect Medium, Stick Pins, the most gorgeous Burgundy Organza ribbon and a Heat proof craft sheet (someone must have known I needed a new one)


What with all the bits I brought and this little lot I’m going to be having lots of fun over the coming weeks.


I’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Particrafts for putting such a wonderful prize together, it’s absolutely fab!

Foot Soak anyone? WOYWW (#121)

That would be me then!

Oh yes, since seeing you all for last week’s What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday my poor little tootsies have done a far few miles in the name of crafting and I spent Sunday ambling around all the lovely stands at the Alexandra Palace Big Scrap and Stamp Show.
In the past I’ve usually gone on the Saturday but Sunday was much nicer, you could actually get to the stands and see what you were looking at without getting pushed and shoved from this direction and that….all very civilized I must say!


Needless to say I came home with a few new goodies and didn’t over do it for once, Lol, but can you spot the deliberate mistake?

My new stash includes, Distress Stains, two sets of Marianne spiral flower dies, a beautiful Lili of the Valley stamp and some of their die cuts, pin flair glue and glue dots, two bags of Christmas Card Candi, some Platinum Stickles and no less than five Masks to use with the Distress Stain......and eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that one of the designs I’ve managed to buy from two separate stands...........what am I like!

Oh well never mind, I’ve decided to give it as blog Candi to one of my commenters this week so if you fancy having a play with a Christmas mask just leave me a comment and mention that you would like to win it and I’ll do a random draw and announce the winner next week.

So now onto my desk and what’s on it this week.

As you can see I’ve already been playing with some of the new stash and made a Christening card using the stamp, Flower dies and spotty mask.

I’ve also used the Sketch from Cutie Pie Challenge

The card for the lady who asked me about the wedding invitations last week and there’s some good news on that front too. She’s asked me to do them for her so I’ll have lots of work coming up but I don’t mind.

I’ve managed to track down the special card she wanted so my next job is to make a proof for her to sign off and then I can get stuck in. The wedding is in August next year so the bulk of the order can be done after Christmas but she would like to get her invites in the post in early January so the sooner I make a start on them the better………….so pleased I make an early start on the old Christmas cards now.


If you want to see more desks go and see head desk hopper Julia and she’ll set you on the right road to see the craft spaces of the world and I’ll be back next week to reveal who’s the lucky winner thanks to my stupidity.

Until then……….

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x
Update :- Well they say that generosity is returned twofold and that seems to be the case here.


Ally Pally has certainly turned out to be a lucky day out for me because I’ve just received an email from The Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show team informing me that I have won the prize draw on the Particrafts stand…………and to think I wasn’t even going to bother filling out the slip.

Do I need to tell you all I’m a very happy bunny!

Morning all,




Just thought I would pop in before heading off to Alexandra Palace for ‘The Big Stamp & Scrapbook Show’.

Will let you know later what goodies I snap up while I’m there.



I have some good news on the Wedding Invitation front……I’ve been given the commission, having tracked down the correct card stock, so watch this space…………yah!



I also thought I would pop a quick link on here to the bits I have up for grabs on eBay….well I needed to finance my imminent spend this morning Lol!

There’s still some bargains to be had and few finishing today so it might be worth you having a look.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/budrose7/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562


Well, my carriage awaits, so I’m off to the ball!



See you soon.



Sue

x

WOYWW?……….Lots! (#120)

As you must know by now Wednesday’s are the day we all join in a worldwide blog hop to visit everyone’s craft desks and generally have a good old nosey at what everyone has been up to this week.

I've taken some photos of my desk this morning but they’ve got nothing on the pictures that greeted me when I popped in to visit Wipso   this morning………........beautiful photos of the Twins that we have all been waiting for with bated breath.

Thanks to Wipso we’ve had updates on their development all through ‘M’ pregnancy and so many of us have been waiting for the news of their arrival.
So it’s Congratulations to ‘M’ and her OH and of course to Nan and Granddad and a big welcome to the world for little Lexi and Sam. They’re so beautiful!

Ok so now to what’s on my desk this morning……well, it’s a collection of things really that are left over from yesterday.

First is the Album sitting at the back of the desk under the pile of Christmas cards.

This is out because it’s full of Wedding Stationery that I’ve made in the past and a few samples and I was showing it to a friend of my God Daughter who has asked me to possibly do her stationery for her.
I haven’t worked on any big orders like this since doing Nichola’s at the start of last year so it will be a nice change to have something to get my teeth into.

(These are the ones I did for my God Daughter last year)

Carol already has an idea of what she wants so it’s just a case of sourcing the materials, making a sample and coming up with a price, so watch this space!

Next up is a pile of cards I’ve been working on.

All of these were made using toppers that I had made in the past but still had to mount onto the actual card and one of them was mounted onto one of my ‘need a card in a hurry’ card blanks. These are the ones I make with the scraps I have out after a crafting secession. Instead of putting paper scraps away never to be seen again now try to make a few card bases so that if I need a car in a hurry I just need to slap, sorry I mean add the topper. I have quite a collection now and although the one I’ve used wasn’t for a card I needed in a hurry on this occasion, it seemed to suit the topper I had to hand.

Last but not least are the Christmas cards I was working on last week.

Because I tend to work a stage at a time when I work in batches so I still don’t have a completely finished card to show you. I’m almost there though, I just need to add the greeting.

30 made and 20 to go!


So that’s the weekly tour of my desk, why not show us yours if you haven’t already?
Go visit Julia at The Stamping Ground and she’ll set you on the right road to join in with What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by.
I’m off to grab a coffee now and settle in for a trip around your Workdesk myself now.

Happy Crafting until next time!

Sue
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Answer - Just One.

Question ………How many candles?

And that’s exactly what the The Daring Cardmaker’s are asking us this week.

They want us to make a card with candles on to celebrate the launch of the new Funky Hand CD, Happy, Happy Birthday and Anice from Funky Hand is even offering a copy of the said CD as a prize, so it’s well work making a card and joining in which is exactly what I’ve done.


I don’t actually have much in the way of candles in my craft stash, a QuicKutz die and just one stamp to be precise, but the stamp is rather a cute one so I’ve used that.

I also took the opportunity to use up a few scraps of some really old (and I mean rearlllllly old) papers and play with my Prisma Colour Pencils too, which was quite satisfying.

So here’s my card

Card – Craft Creations, Creative Cover.
Patterned Papers – Blonde Moments, Sugar Dumpling
Inks – Tsukineko, Black Staz-On.
Pencils – Prisma Color
Rubber Stamps – Penny Black Critter Party (image and sentiment)
Glitter Glue - Stickles

Other BitsBrads
Fibres
Ribbon
Button

Christmas is coming!………….WOYWW (#119)

A very Good Morning to my What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday pals out there and what a beautiful morning it is.
It’s still a little breezy here but the sun is shining and that makes a big difference in my book.


I can’t really say that I’ve had a very productive week to be honest and the heritage LO that I had hoped to make a start on hasn’t happened but I have made a start on the dreaded Christmas cards.
I like to get my own ones done and dusted before my friend start asking me to do theirs for them so an early start is essential if I don’t want to be chasing my tail come the start of December. And would you believe, I’ve even made a start on buying my Christmas presents so I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself.

My desk today is actually my desk yesterday and it shows the makings of my Christmas cards.
Just for speed I usually try to stick just a couple of designs for my own cards, so yesterday I was stamping and embossing with my new Penny Black stamp and getting in a right old mess with the Gold embossing powder.

Is it just me who ends up with it sprinkled all over the table and myself despite having a craft sheet down and one of those plastic trays to catch everything in?

So my first photo gives you a shot of my computer desk and some of the stamped images drying after I had coloured the berry’s and covered them with Glossy Accents.

The idea was that once it dried I would ink over the image with Distress Ink which I did on some of them and others I coloured with my Promarkers. As it goes I like the finish of those ones better but in reality when I need to make more than fifty the Distress Ink is going to be the quicker option.

My next photo shows the mess I was talking about previously.

Here I’ve cut out some of the tags from the images with the intension of layering them onto the card after coloring them with more Distress Ink and then I decided that instead of leaving it with the stamped snowflake I thought I would emboss some chipboard ones to stick on the top.

The other part of this card that’s time consuming is that I’m doing a spot of ‘fussy cutting’ (I only heard the term last week and Oh how I love it) by cutting around the images before putting them on the card so it’s just as well I’ve made an early start.

So that’s my desk this week.
Don’t forget to visit our ‘Queen of Snoop’ Julia for all you need to know to join in, but beware, it’s very addictive so don’t expect to get anything else done on Wednesdays. Lol!


And just before I go can say Thank You to anyone who had a look at the crafty bits I’m selling on eBay and made a bid on any of them. I’m pleased to say it’s gone really well and I’ve made around £40 to be split between the two charities, so Thanks again for your support.

I still have a few bits up for grabs Here here but they are not on eBay at the moment, so if you’re interested in anything just let me know.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sue

Wonderful day with a ‘Crafty’ friend…….WOYWW (#118)

Hi all!

Well it looks like we’ve seen the last of our Summer and yesterday felt more like November rather than the start of September. I personally don’t mind it being a bit cooler or even windy but I have to draw the line at the torrential rain and I spent a good part of the afternoon watching the water level rise on my patio.


Still, it was a good excuse to stay inside and finish off the LO that I started on Monday over at my wonderful friend Lythan’s.


We take it in turns to visit each other for a play from time to time and this week it was my turn to go to hers which also meant a trip to her local craft shop Imagine That…….….needless to say I didn’t come home empty handed. Lol!

New Papers, some Distress Stains, 3D K & Co Stickers and beautiful adhesive Pearl Flourishes where part of the haul I came home with as well as a mystery package that is a pressie from Lythan for my birthday on Friday…… Thanks Lythan, I can’t wait to find out what’s inside!


Anyway, the main reason I’m here is because it’s Wednesday and that means it’s time to show you what’s on my work desk. I’m sure by now there can’t be anyone out there now who doesn’t know what this is all about but just in case you’ve been on another planet for last two years pop across and see our boss Julia, she’ll explain what What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday is all about.



So here’s my desk.

I have a few things going on, some left over from last night and a few parcels that I’ve packed up this morning to go in the post. They are the bits that I’ve managed to sell on eBay to raise some money for St. Clare’s Hospice and the Charity Stitching Project so I’m really pleased that I’ve managed to sell a few bit.

There’s still lost on there so if you fancy picking up a bargain pop across to Here and see what’s on offer.


I haven’t done very much to the address book that I started last week, in fact I didn’t do anything more to it until yesterday when I covered the front and back with some of the new papers that I’d brought on Monday and I’ve now got as far as adding ‘Address Book’ to the front in chipboard letters. I just need to think about what I’m going to do for the pages inside now…..you never know, I might just have thought of something by next week!


Also on my table is the ‘sort of finished’ Lo that I started at Lythan’s on Monday.

It’s the second part of the double Lo I was doing for Mum and Dad’s wedding
(The first page is here) I couldn’t completely finish it because I want to add a couple of 11mm Mother of Pearl buttons to the seam binding as I have on the first page but I’ve used all the ones I had so I’m going to have to go on line shopping to see if I can find some more. Apart from that everything else is done and I’m pleased with the way the picture of the church they got married in looks printed onto the Vellum.

Unfortunately the photos are not that great.
I tried copying them but they had so badly deteriorated with lots of marks and that metallic sheen you sometimes get on old photographs that no matter what I did they weren’t coming out well at all. The saving grace is that there were multiple copies of each of the photos so I’ve actually used originals.

I’m already planning my next two pages.
They will be of my dad’s Grandparents and I hope to have at least one of them done by the time I’m back here next week, so keep a look out for it.

In the mean time I hope everyone has a good week with lots of time free to pursue your crafty activities.

I’ll try and get round to as many as I can this week especially as I was rather bad at replying to those who left me messages last week. Please forgive me if you were one of them, it wasn’t intentional, the week just got away from me but I hope to do better this time round.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Crafting!

Sue

x

I’m tired and want to go to bed.

Just a quick post from me tonight as I’m tired and want to go to bed.

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve put some more bits on ebay today.

They had a free listing weekend and so I’m hoping to raise as much money as I can for our charity stitching project and St. Clare’s Hospice it was a good time to put them all on there.
Mind you it’s taken me nearly all evening to do it and I have a numb bum now!
Please pop over to the other page on my blog to see what’s on offer and if you’re interested in anything I’ve added links under everything so it will take you straight there.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Sue
X

And the award goes to......................Me!

Last Thursday the lovely Twiglet, aka Jo, contacted me to say that she had left a blog award for me and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve only just got around to putting it on here, so apologise Jo.

The delay is probably down to the fact that I’m still in denial that she chose me because it’s the ‘Appreciated Followers award and when you consider that Jo has 88 other people that follower her blog, how she came to pick me I will never know.
Apparently she says and I quote, “I’m a very positive lady who takes a real interest in all of their crafty activities and is one of those really clever card makers”.
All I can say to that is that it’s easy to be positive and encourage people when they (Jo and her sister Annie) create such beautiful things. I know they’ve been a true inspiration to me since I found the two of them.

I decided to have a snoop at the other people she gave to award to as well.
Annie I’m already a follower of so I know what she gets up to in her craft/sewing room anyway, but I can’t say that I have ever visited Suz’s Blog before and wow, what a blog it is! It’s so full for beautiful colourful crocheting and it’s encouraged me to show you the very first double bed cover that I ever crocheted.

I was probably about seventeen when I made this so it’s been around for around 38 years.
It doesn’t get used on the bed anymore because It doesn’t go with the room, but I would never part with it.


Now I have to pass the award on to three of my own followers which is not going to be easy to do because I've always appreciated every single one of my followers,so for that reason I'm giving it all of you so please feel free to pick up the award if you would like.

But if I really have to pick just three who I feel have a made a big differance to me since I've been blogging I’m going to cheat little here and mention four.


My first award is going to go right back in the direction it came from to Jo, and her sister Annie, the sisters of crafty creations.
I envy these two ladies for their skill with a sewing machine and for all the beautiful things they make….......…a real inspiration!
I also can’t thank the pair of them enough for all the kindness and support they gave me last year when my dad was so ill.
Annie, I still carry my little Red teddy in my handbag!


Next I’m going to pass the award on to Angie from Glimpsing the Past.
If it wasn’t Angie I would never have got my finger out and continued plodding away with the Heritage Album that I started three years earlier.
She a real inspiration and full of encouragement, as well as being a fab scrapbooker herself.


And last but not least I'm going to pass the award onto someone who’s talented beyond belief, the lovely Vicki, from Stamped Smiles.
Apart from being an amazingly creative card maker her blog has loads of tutorials that she’s written from her own experiments, which are so helpful.

So pick up your awards girlies and display them with pride, as I intend to do.

Thanks again Jo for making my day!

Sue
x

Crafty Sort Out …….WOYWW (#117)

Good morning my fellow What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesdayer’s!

I’ve actually made a big effort to get here a bit earlier this week seeing as it was turned 5pm when I joined you all last week. Julia our blog hop leader must have thought I wasn’t coming, I was so late.


My desk this morning is a mixture of new and old stash and a newly started project, which translates to one enormous clutter.

I started yesterday morning with the idea of making myself a new address book , you can just see it at the back of the table.
I was so fed up with my family and friends moving house and having to cross out entries making my current book look a real mess that I decided to try and make a ring binder type book, then doing a separate page for each person so that if anyone else should ever move I can just remove the old page and add a new one.
The theory sound good but will it work…….we shall see!

As you can see, I didn’t get very far.

This is the start of the two panels for the front and back.
I’ve run some Black card through my Cuttlebug with Nesties and an Embossing Folder and then swiped across the top with a VersaMark Pad and clear embossed it. The next step was paint it with Acrylic paint, wait for it to dry slightly and then wipe off some of the paint with a damp cloth, leaving it looking slightly distressed.
At this point I’m not sure what was more distressed, the covers or me because I don’t use Acrylics very often and I was getting in a right old state Lol!

While I was waiting for it to dry completely I got a bit waylaid.
I started having a sort out of craft bits I don’t use any more, mostly rubber stamps but other bits and bobs as well and I spent the afternoon getting some of it on eBay, which explains the piles of stamps still scattered all over my desk this morning.
If you’re interested in seeing what’s up from grabs there’s a full list Here with pictures and links that will take you to the eBay page or you can click the link at the top of this page.

I’m especially hoping to sell lots of the cross stitch threads because they are being sold to raise money for the Kids Company stitching project that I stitch for. If anyone is interested in them you can contact me direct rather than go via eBay because I had 30 or 40 of them.

Finally on my desk I have some new goodies.
While I was having a sort out postie came and brought me some new Promarkers, Distress stains and this gorgeous Penny Black stamp……..can’t wait to play with this one.

Well that about it from me this morning but before I go I just want to say that I hope everyone over there on the East coast of America are safe and well after that enormous storm. I can’t imagine what it must be like living with that threat every year.

So, I’ll be round to see what everyone is up to later.
Take care and …………

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Completely Forgot …….WOYWW (#116)

Oh no, I almost missed it!
Can you believe that I forgot it was Wednesday and it’s turned 5pm and I’ve only just remembered to take a photo of my desk today for What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday.


The reason is that I’ve been completely engrossed in making birthday and new home cards so my desk is in a right old state.

I really wish I was one of those people who finish a card and put the stuff they won’t need again way before they start on the next one but as you can I’m definitely not one of those.

All I can show you of my days work at the moment is this birthday card using one of the fab stamps that were sent to me by Nicky aka Minxy a while back. Oh how I love these!

I’ve paired the image up with some Craftworks Cards papers from their Ohh La La collection which works well I think.


If you’re interested I’ve also finished off the LO that I was working on last week. You can see how it was done Here and read all about my mum and dad’s wedding on Family Footprints in the Sands of Time, my heritage blog.

I’ll try and get round as many desks as I can tomorrow when I have some time to spare but for now, thanks for stopping by and …………………………….

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Kid's Company Charity Bike Ride

Please scroll down for my more recent posts but please read this first and consider helping us.

This post will stay at the top of my blog until the Charity bike ride is completed on 20th August. Thanks so much.
Sue
X

I don’t know if you’re aware of the work that Kids Company do, but their focus is on helping vulnerable children who can find themselves in all sorts of horrible situations through no fault of their own.
The Kid’s Company website explains what they do far better than I ever could so please pop along and read about all the good work they do for these children but naturally their work costs money and they are always looking for way to raise the 9 million pounds their website says they need this year.

As part of the fundraising, two fab guys, Dom Wright and Dom O’Neill set out on Friday 29th July to undertake a mammoth cycle ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats and they are looking for sponsors.
If you feel you can help by adding your name to their list of sponsors your donation would be gratefully received and I thank you in advance for your support.
Check out their blog for all you need to know to sponsor them and read about their progress.

Thanks once again for your help………..
and rather you than me boys, my legs (and other bits) ache just thinking about what you’re doing!

My Parents Wedding

OK, panic over……….I’ve managed to get in touch with my brother and now know the name of the church were my mum and dad were married, so I’ve been able to finish my LO

I even managed to find this fab photo of it.

I’ve had a play with it in Photoshop to change to opacity, printed it out onto some white vellum and I’m planning to use it as a backing sheet for another page I’m going to do with more of the wedding photos, so that’s my next task.
But while you wait with batted breath for that one, here’s one I made earlier!

Click on the picture for a clearer look.

The frame was made by cutting the panels from one of the Basic Grey patterned papers and I’ve mitred the corners so that it fits together.
I’ve then cut out extra flowers and decoupage them to the frame and finished it off with some Glossy Accents and some Gold Peel-Off corners.

I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out to be honest!

The flowers were put together with some that were in my stash.
I’ve no idea where the large velvet ones came from but the Cream ones were bargain silk flowers that I brought in Dunelm Mill and pulled to bits………..really cheap and you end up with loads.
For the centres I’ve used some of the little Lemon Roses were in the candy that Brenda sent me recently.

I had fun with the ribbon too.

It’s actually seam binding rather than ribbon, that came from The Ribbon Girl.
To add interest to it I’ve folded it back and forth as I stuck it down and then sewed antique Mother of Pearl buttons along it at intervals.

But even after all that I still felt my page needed a something else so I decided to add the little dove and heart charms but they were Silver and didn’t really go with the page so it was my Krylon pen to the rescue and……….. ta dah……… Gold Charms!

Please pop across to my heritage site Family Footprints In The Sands Of Time, to read the full story of my mum and dad’s wedding day and find out an interesting little bit of trivia regarding someone famous.

Oh, I almost forgot, The Ribbon Girl Blog have a challenge on at the moment to use ribbon on a card or project so I’m going to enter my LO in the off chance of winning some fantastic bling.

Thanks for stopping by.
Sue
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I've used :-

Patterned & Plain Papers
Cappella – Basic Grey


Other Stuff
Journaling Sticker and Wedding Tag – Basic Grey (Cappella)
Distress Ink – Ranger (Scattered Straw)
Yellow Roses - Recollections (Boutique Fleur)
Cream Seam Binding - The Ribbon Girl

From Stash
Velvet & Silk Flowers
Vintage Mother of Pearl Buttons
Heart & Dove Charms
Gold Brads
Gold Thread

Picture in a Frame…..at last! & WOYWW (#115)

Hi all!

You know, I can’t believe that a week has gone by and we’re all back here nosing around the WWW again. That’s ‘World Wide Work desks’ in this case and as usual our hopper in chief is keeping us up to scratch with proceedings over at the The Stamping Ground, so pop over and join in the fun why don’t you.

I actually started the day making another LO for the family tree album, this time of my Mum and Dad’s wedding but when I came to do the journaling I couldn’t remember the name of the church they were married in.
The obvious place to look is on their marriage certificate but unfortunately my brother still has that and I couldn’t get hold of him so it was no help, but then I remembered the box file I have, full of all sorts of papers that dad had got together when he started to research the family.

I wondered if there might be anything in there, so the LO got pushed to the back of my desk and then I started to go through the papers……….now I know why I hadn’t tackled it before!

This is how my desk was looking last night.

As you can see, I have papers all over the place.

There’s lots of information there but it’s in no order what so ever, which is understandable given that dad could hardly see, bless and I’ve found multiple copies, sometimes as many as eight, of the same pages so I decided to leave the LO for a while and try and sort it out.

There’s lots of stuff in there for people I’ve never heard of but who are definitely part of the family so I need to take time to study it all and get in contact with a couple of the people dad was corresponding with via email in a bid to get some order to it all.

Oh, and despite all that sorting I still didn’t find out the name of the church so the LO will have to wait until I see my brother at the weekend.

You can just see a glimpse of the LO poking out from the pile of papers and the lovely vintage Mother of Pearl buttons that I plan to use somewhere on it.

And last but not least I thought I would share a photo of my mum and dad with you.

We don’t have many photos of them together, mainly because mum was so thin due to illness and hated the picture being taken but this one was snapped at a family wedding back in the 1980’s and I’ve only just this week managed to find a frame that I liked for it.

Hope you all have a fantastic week and …………………………



Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Anniversary Waltz - WOYWW (#114) & Cupcake Challenge

Good morning fellow crafters, I hope you are all safe and well after all the riots that have been going on across the country in the last few days……….. It’s all so scary, isn’t it?

I live quite close to London but fortunately far enough out not to have been affected personally so far.
I believe there were a couple of incidents in our high road with windows being broken and the police were out in force by the station just in case the thugs got on the central line trains and came down this way but that was the extent of it.
I did get up to find my garden covered with lumps of Black stuff that looked like polystyrene though. It had blown across from the Sony Warehouse fire in Enfield and you could see the plumbs of Black smoke from here too.

I’m sure that most people as I do respect the right of the family and friend of the guy that was shot (the incident that sparked this all off) to hold their peaceful demonstration but then the gang elements who have nothing to do with it get involved just for the sake of it and then all hell breaks loose.
My heart goes out to all those poor people who have lost homes and businesses through those mindless louts who are just out to cause trouble and words just fail me when you see images of youngsters of ten or eleven out on the streets joining in….where are their parents for heaven sake.

Sorry, rant over but I just had to get it off my chest.


Now then, on to happier things and what’s on my work desk this morning.
(click on the pictures for a clearer view)

As you can see it’s a bit untidy but that’s because I was working on a few Anniversary cards yesterday. You can see two of the finished ones there, the first is this one.

I’m entering it into this week’s Cupcake Challenge , which is to use stitching on our cards.

The stamp I’ve used is one of my favorites, Flying Stars, by Penny Black which I’ve water coloured with Distress Inks and added some tiny gems to
I’ve also used my new seam binding from The Ribbon Girl……..why is it that I’ve only just decided to give this a try…….......I love it, I love it, I love it!
As you can see if you look in front of my distress inks, I have brought a few colours to play with and I’m sure I’ll be going back to order more.......…oh yes!

For the second Anniversary card I thought I would get out my tapestry stamps which I’ve not used for a while.

I’ve dry embossed the heart using a brass stencil in my Cuttlebug and then stamped the flowers and leaves over the top, adding a few sticky pearls that I’ve coloured with Promarkers to the centre of some of the flowers.
I finished it off with a stamped greeting (Write Big – Imagine That) and some Gold edged organza ribbon.

Don’t forget to hop on over to the The Stamping Ground and join in with the fun of seeing what’s on other crafters desk this week.

Stay safe and ……………

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Flower of the Month

It’s been a couple of weeks since I joined in with my old friends The Daring Cardmaker’s,  but today I thought I’d make a card for their ‘Flower of the Month’ challenge and there are two to choose from this month, Poppy or Gladioli.

In a bid to use up some very old craft bits that I brought way back when I first started card making I thought I would use some Peel-Off’s.


Now I know that peel-off’s have a bad name in some camps and if I’m honest I don’t used them often myself other than the occasional greeting, but I remembered that I had these rather nice Poppies sitting in the box and they don’t look to bad when they are coloured.

I've printed the background directly onto my card, using the Artylicious ‘Season’s Greetings’.
I love this CD because although it’s intended for Christmas, there’s an awful lot that can be used at any time really, making it a good buy.

The Peel-Off’s were stuck to white card, coloured with Promarkers and then cut and layered along the edge of the card and around the bottom edge of the ovals that I cut with my Nesties.

And there you have it…..quick and easy, the way I like them!

What I’ve used:


Craft Creations – Embossed Hammer Card Stock

Craft Creations – Poppy and Butterfly Peel-Off’s

Craftworks Cards – Greeting

Promarker Permanent Ink Pens

Artylicious ‘Season’s Greetings’ CD

Ranger Distress Ink – Black Soot & Barn Door

Introducing ..........My Granddad

I’ve finally finished the page for my Heritage Album that I was working on yesterday, so let me introduce you to my Granddad, Frederick James Gowers, my Mum’s Father.

I had fun with this Lay Out because I thought I would give that lacing technique try.

I’d seen it done on someone else’s blog in my travels, sorry, I can’t remember where, but I made a mental note at the time to give it a go at some point.

I think it works well on my page but I didn’t stop there, I decided to do cross stitching all around the edges too and ended up with nice sore fingers after all that hand stitching, but I think it was worth it.

Embellishment wise I was a bit stuck but then remembered that some time ago I had brought a pack of big Brass looking round stickers. I also came across the metal photo corners but the colour on all of them wasn’t right for what I wanted, so I’ve given then a dab of Alcohol Ink. Even after that the round stickers weren’t really right, so I had a rummage in my stash again and found the vintage brads which I proceeded to cut the prongs off and stick them to the middle with Diamond Glaze.

I also had the ‘Grandfather’ plaque to hand but I didn’t want to stick it directly onto the page so I decided to use one of the fab Brass tags that Lythan brought for me at Ally Pally as a thank you for driving there. I stuck the plaque to the tag added one of the brad top as well, just to tie everything together.

You can read all about my Granddad over at Family Footprints In The Sands Of Time, well as much as I know about him at the moment that is, but hopefully I’ll be able to add to it as the weeks go by.


Thanks for stopping by

Sue

x

I've used :-

Patterned Papers & Card Stock
Timepiece – Bo Bunny
Bazzill Basics

Other Stuff
Alphabet Stickers – Papermania & Basic Grey (Life of the Party micro stickers)
Brass tags – Vintaj Natural Brass Co.
Photo Corner – EK Success Architexture
Hemp Cord – Create Cousin
Distress Ink – Ranger (Vintage Photo)

From Stash
Grandfather Plaque (Costco Kit)
Brads
Eyelits
Dymo Tape

Sleepless in......Essex!……..WOYWW (#113)

Doesn't have quite the same ring as Sleepless in Seattle does it but that was me last night.

Now, while I do love my little maisonette it has it’s disadvantages at times. I couldn’t sleep because of the heat and I couldn’t have the windows opened right up because I live on the ground floor, so I had them on the snib but they were letting hardly any air through.

Needless to say I was up at silly o’clock this morning playing in my craft room and as Wednesday’s here again that means that The Stamping Ground’s weekly blog hop is in full swing today.

Here's my desk this morning.

I turned out three very quick cards, two of which you can see on the back of my desk and now I have my Heritage album out and am working on a page of my Grandfather (Mum’s dad) Frederick James Gowers.

I’ve messed around with the photo to the best of my abilities in Photoshop but it’s really just trial and error because I have no idea how it should really be done, but I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

I’ve gone from this:-

To this:-

I never knew my Granddad because he died at the age of 55 from lung cancer before I was even thought of. But what I do remember is this very picture in a rather large frame, hanging on the wall in my Nans home.

I've always thought he had a slight resemblance to a young Prince Philip, what do you think?

Once the page is finished I’m going to have to do a lot of digging because I know very little about his life.

Obviously he was in the army and the census shows he was a soldier in 1918 so he fought in the 1914-1918 Great War but I’ll have to try and get hold of his service records to find out where he actually was.

He married my Grandmother Emily on 31st October 1918 and after leaving the army he worked for the London and North Eastern Railway, first as a General Labourer and then an electrician.

That's about as far as my knowledge of him goes so hopefully my investigations through various members of the family will come up with some more intresting facts about his life.

Thanks for stopping by this morning, I hope to repay the visit very soon myself once I've armed myself with a cup of coffee.

Happy Crafting
Sue
x

How Old!

That’s exactly what the team over at the Cupcake Challenge Blog are asking this week.

It’s not often that I make cards that have an age on them but just like busses, you wait ages a then they all come along together.
Last month I had to make two for my friends four year old twin grandchildren, neither of which I remembered to blog about I might add and now I’ve been asked to make a 21st and 40th so this challenge has come along just at the right time.

The 40th card is still in the making but yesterday I finished of the other card and here it is……..yes I know, it’s another stepper!

The shoe and flowers are all digital stamps The Digital Stamp Boutique which I’ve coloured them with Promarkers and the greeting is also a digital stamp from Cindy Close.

What I've used

Patterned & Plain Papers/Card
White Creative Hammer Card – Craft Creations
Urban Prairie – Basic Grey

Equipment
Spellbinder Nestabilities – Scalloped Rectangles
Ranger Distress Ink – Worn Lipstick
Promarkers – Pastel Pink, Dusty Rose, Pastel Green, Soft Green & Black
Digital Stamps – The Digital Stamp Boutique & Cindy Close
Ranger Stickles - Diamond

Stash
Organza Ribbon
Gold Brads

Anniversary Wishes

Challenge Up Your Life have an Anniversary theme this week and as I have no less than five to make this month I thought I would share this one with you.

The Dark Grey and Black & White papers are from the Colorbok pad that I brought in the USA while I was on holiday in February and it’s perfect for anniversary cards so you can expect to see a lot more of it!

The pretty stamp was a freebie on the cover of an old Craft Stamper. It’s been stamped with Black Versa fine and embossed with clear embossing powder and then I’ve given it a rub with some Silver wax rub-on but when the card was finished I decided it was looking a little plain. I gave it some thought and decided to add the Navy and Crystal gems because that was their wedding theme last year and I also added the Silver heart charm to finish it off.
The greeting was computer generated.