Crafty Boots - Sweet Treats

Welcome to another Crafty Boots challenge - this time the theme is picked by Lisette

She would like you to show us sweet treats - cakes, cupcakes, lollipops, gingerbread... I freely admit this isn't my normal sort of style, but as luck would have it, Jo Firth-Young has just launched some more stamps with Paperartsy - and one of them is a cupcake.... how well timed is that, and more so that I grabbed on at Ally Pally last week....

A quick, simple card from me as I have been away this weekend just gone, and had very little time!

I painted some Sherbert Fresco paint on some white card, and stamped the image onto it with black archival ink... To make the icing on the cupcake white again, I used my white Sharpie pen.  Trimmed it and mounted it on a card blank.

Stop by and see what the other girls have done, and we look forward to seeing your sweet treats!

A fabulous weekend...

I've just (literally, 90 minutes ago!) got home home a fantastic weekend just outside Milton Keynes with some lovely blogging/twitter friends where we took two classes with the amazingly talented Lin Brown (one of which is available for you to take too - check here for info - spaces still available!)

So, although it was a busy, tiring but overall FUN weekend, I just had to get the second project from today, finished (mainly so I remembered what I had left to do....) and now I can share it with you. There are LOTS of pictures!

 Lin S and I travelled up by train from Euston and Lin collected us at Milton Keynes, where we proceeded to the gorgeous Bead Scene shop and helped set up... here it is all ready to go!

 In full swing on project one - L-R - Lesley, Jaqui and Lin

my first project in it's early stages..
This is called Life is Good and as mentioned above, Lin is doing this class again.... if you get a chance, GO!

hard at work, Sam's taking millions of photos as usual...  for the finished projects see the end of the post!
L-R from front left - Jacqui, Sam, Lin, Lin, Jax,
Janet and Emma

 We all went out to dinner afterwards.... Sam took more photos in the restaurant than I did...

 Sunday (don't ask about the hotel! Just don't go to the Travel Lodge at Old Stratford....)

Emma and Sam, and Lin working hard!

Day two's project  - a hinged double frame-type-thingy (sorry, Lin, not sure what this was called!!)

 went for greens not blues today...

 all hard at work again

class photo after "school" - look at the gorgeous sun! And thanks to Karen who came over to see what we'd been up to, for being star photographer for us all.

L-R back row - Emma, Jax, Lin, Lesley, Janet
L-R seating - Sam, me, Jacqui, Lin.

the gorgeous stable courtyards where the classes are held - so pretty!

this is the class room/shop itself (ooh must show you what I bought.. cos it would have been rude (and impossible) to go away without shopping. )

beads, buttons, fabric.... lace.... scrummy stuff!

This is my 2nd project.... a hinged niche piece.. This is the front

 Inside right

 back and front

front again

inside left - love the niche

inside right

 and the Saturday project... Life is Good indeed!
I chose shades of blue, I think everyone had different colours, and I did have some of everyone's projects somewhere!!

 details

got some good crackle going on!

Thanks to Lin for giving these classes - they really were the first I've ever done! We all had a great weekend.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday... an Ally Pally aftermath..

Well, I did warn you that I was going spending... I love the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace (known as Ally Pally to all) and had a lovely day... you can see an in depth report here (lots of you have already) So for my WOYWW desk today.... oops (I'm not feeling guilty really!)

I make no apologies for sharing the pics of my crafty spends again here today!  But be warned... I was bad, very bad!!

1 of 4.... lots of wooden things to alter, gems, stamps,

2 of 4

stencils, canvases more stamps, paper, buttons,

3 of 4
8 of the new Fresco colours (and a glaze)

 

4 of 4....
Prima embellishments and stamps and gorgeousness!

You do NOT want to know how much this lot cost (though being crafters you can probably guess!!)

It was a seriously good day!

And this was the view from my sofa on Tuesday night - my journal, a list of things I have to get packed for the weekend - I am going away to stay with some friends for some crafty classes and we can't wait!!! and all the normal stuff that surrounds my workspace on the floor!

Thanks for taking the time to look (sorry, Julia that it's a long post again!)

Some more drippage...

Once more I had some leftover Fresco paint on my craft mat that wound up on a journal page....

I quite like how this finished up, though for a while in the middle I decided I'd ruined it... daylight, as my friend Sam says, makes everything look different...

 Worked on two pages at once with different amounts of leftover paint!

The left hand one is the one I went through agonies with - at this stage, here, I loved it....Colours are various greens the new Spanish Mulberry (LOVE this colour!) and Space Cadet. The stamp on the left hand side is one of JoFY's new Minis.  The lines are a stencil.

The right hand page is just the SM and SC - love that colour too!  The chevrons are stencilled Snowflake Fresco.

then I went for some dripping with my Bombay Inks (turquoise and white) tipping the page to get the runs to go this way and that... at this point I was tweeting to my mates that I wished I could undo the dripping....

The words helped, though!

 these stamps are by Tim Holtz and got them for a good price at Ally Pally.

Time to rescue the left hand page.... I painted some thin white card with Spanish Mulberry Fresco and stamped 3 of Darcy's steampunk hearts.

Ok, I think I'm happy!

Been playing - new stash, inspired by Lin Brown

After a couple of hours this morning re-organising some of my stash (new and old) and putting away and cataloguing the stamps (I write them in a ring binder by manufacturer, so I can take the list with me so I don't duplicate...) it was time to play..

Well you may have seen in the post yesterday, some of Lin Brown's gorgeous samples using the new Paperartsy Fresco colours.  This is inspired by one of hers, with different colours - Spanish Mulberry and Yellow Submarine, primarily. I love these colours!  There's a bit of Tango in there too..

 Take a piece of grey board and cover with half a sheet of Anna's "sunrise sunset" Prima papers

Cover with paint of your choice - I used Spanish Mulberry and Yellow Submarine, though should have watered them down more, you can't see enough of the paper through the paint..

Using the waste from Lin's die cut flowers, add Snowflake, then one of the paints - I used the Spanish Mulberry, and with the template still in place, stencil a contrast colour (I used French Roast but it's too dark because it then hides the script stamp really)

Add leaves (a mixture of greens, as the first version was too pale/translucent so I had to fudge it and start again!!  and some Snowflake splatters

 which you then add Tango to with a baby wipe

An arch die cut from waste packaging, and tore some of the top layer back, painted with a mixture of the same colours as in the background, and French Roast round the edges.  Edged both the arch and the whole piece, with Onyxite Treasure Gold.

The little flower is one of the resin ones I got yesterday, painted with Spanish Mulberry and had Onyxite TG added to it.

I think Lin's colour way worked better, but it was fun to try with these new paints (and I do love these colours!!)

Thanks for looking.

Ally Pally - September 2013

Well - what can I say - I was going with a non existent budget in my head... and a vague list that said "new Paperartsy stuff" and MDF.... and some other bits that I didn't get...

I met Lin at Ally Pally at 9 - an hour before the doors open but we were keen!  We decided that we would go to MDF man first to get some tags and plaques... but then Gillian and Nicky came out and said that lots of Leandra's new Prima lines were quite limited.... so when we eventually got in at 10, we headed there first..

 

 Darcy's stamps looking good with the new minis

 always a crowd at Paperartsy

 Lin's demos - didn't really stop to watch many today, too busy shopping!

more of Lin's demos

and more

 this was a great one with some of the new paint colours

 Gillian and Nicky looking quizzical...

 ahh, smile!!

 one of Leandra's

MDF man - lots of metal feet and knobs and drawer handles for his wooden bits... shame he had no plaques and tags which I really really wanted!

some of the fantastic murals on the wall on the way into the Great Hall where the show was...

 these tags looked great, they're really shiny with a great glossy finish. Will be trying this.  The stand was Crafting Time (where Lin Brown does some classes)

 the Palms outside in the entrance to the Palm Court

Karen and Lin having a rest - lots of bags at our feet...

 I had to drag this lot home - good job the trains weren't too crowded after we left!!

 and this is what I got.... lots of wooden bits, gems, stamps, trinkets and bits and bobs

stencils, card, canvases, papers, more stamps,,,

 new Prima embellies from Paperartsy.. these flew off the shelves!

and some of the new paints! I got 8 of the new colours (no pinks, Sam...) and a pearl glaze.

Am cream crackered now, need to put my feet up!!

Hope you can see enough in these pics as I really can't take any more!!

It was lovely to see so many friends again - Lin and Leandra of course, Gillian, Nicky, Lin (thanks for your company all day) Karen, Anna, Kirsten, Jo, Jo, Jacqui Rachel and Janet, Brenda (briefly) and I am sure I have forgotten some... if so, I am sorry!!

Edited with closeups for Sam of the Prima embellies Paperartsy had