WOYWW 282

Glad you could make it back for another WOYWW - can you believe it's going to be November on Saturday?
I haven't done a  great deal since you were last here - although I have made 2 whole Christmas cards!!

The eagle eyed Elizabeth spotted some new mica powders last week which now are on the work mat, together with the brushos which arrived, although there's one missing I realised when I put them in this box - I have contacted Oyster Stamps to query this but not heard back yet. The raindrop stamps are fab, aren't they- just need to mount them up now, and I've run out of EZ mount...which is fine, as I hate mounting stamps!

The photograph is of my Dad, taken in Christmas 1942 - we've just about emptied the house now and it's about ready to go on the market, at the weekend my brother and I went down and I brought back a box of old photos, and this was one of them. He was serving in the Navy; in Egypt at the time I think, when this was taken.

I hope to get some of the old photos scanned so I can (when I sort my printer) make some copies... another job to be done!
So, that's me - another fairly blank desk, so I'll let you back to Julia's for the link up and some more fun desks to visit.

Christmas cards - inspired by Anneke

Finally, I've been inspired into action with this year's Christmas cards - at last!! - by the lovely cards shared this week at Paperartsy by Anneke de Clerk - over two days she produced some absolute beauties!

I loved the idea of stamping with a stencil, but didn't have one with enough negative space that worked well, so used the stencil the normal way, to make my background

 I used a star stencil, and JoFY's turquoise Fresco, on Smoothy white card..
Trimmed the stencilled background into two pieces for my card blanks..

 painted some more turquoise on a piece of the white Smoothy  and stamped two of the Christmas baubles and cut out.  I don't have the JoFY stars set (why not?) but I quite like how the same idea looks with the baubles...

 used foam mounts to add the baubles to the backgrounds, on the card on the right, where there was "hanging room" I used some thin wire through the holes in the baubles (used a pokey tool to make the hole as I don't have a small enough punch)

 stamped some JoFY greetings and trimmed, edged in turquoise again, then used foam mounts to mount and hide the wires.

woops, this one's a bit crooked...

Entering the Paperartsy challenge here.... now, I should go and make some more, but I may need a little rest first!

DragonsDream TIO - D - Red

Hi, time for another DragonsDream challenge at TIO - this fortnight, May would like us to use the letter D and red.

 I think you may be able to guess what my word is!!
I started by embossing the hearts (Dina Wakley) on the tag and painted the tag with Cherry Red Fresco (from the second of JoFY's Limited Edition sets)
I stamped the large Dream (Clarity, from on of the word chain sets) at the top in black archival, and then repeatedly stamped the Ompression Obsession stamp in Wendy Vecchi's red geranium archival ink..




but forgot to take a photo before I sprayed the tag with the Prima Colour Bloom spray Peony.
It's um - quite shimmery!!

 this one taken without flash shows it a little clearer!
I distressed the edges and inked it with first the red archival and then Walnut Stain distress ink,

 added a chitchat sticker and some red fibres with just a little white for contrast

Hope you'll find time to check out the rest of the Dragons tags, and have a go yourself - we'd love to see you join in - just don't forget at least one real stamp.
It's nearly time for a new theme as we're almost at the end of the alphabet - wonder what the Dragons will come up with!!

WOYWW 281 - not a lot going on!

Well, there isn't much happening here this week, so I won't keep you from the other desks for long...the link up is here at the Stamping Ground  Took this one standing up to get in more of the "view" of the floor-desk

the green canvas bucket - which confused many of you last time -  is still full of dirty water (though it is different dirty water!)
The journal is closed now - the pages did get finished, in case you didn't see the post, this is how they ended up

it's funny how different people view these,I am not as keen on the page on the left (mainly because of how I applied the Plum Fresco over the Grunge Pasted bubbles) but do like the one on the right...

anyhow, that's me this week - no new shopping (it's on it's way though...!!) Catch you at a desk nearby very soon!

It's Not Easy Being Green...

Got to love a bit of Kermit... anyway, my lovely friend Sam is a big fan of green, and it's her birthday, so it seemed right to make a card for her in her favourite colour...

I decided to create a masterboard with Frescos , because I love masterboards and Frescos make it so easy.

 I brayered various greens on my paper - Guacamole, Limelight and Sage then added a little Beach Hut for contrast,

added some stamping in Guacamole and Beach Hut then a watery Honeydew

 before some more stamping in Hey Pesto  - Ellen Vargo's stamps throughout.

Added some script stamping using Olive archival ink - a quick spritz of Colour Bloom (Glistening Waves)

Trimmed a piece to fit a 6x6 card, distressed the edges and edged it with Evergreen Fresco,

 then used one of the die cut/embossed dragonflies Emma did for us when we went to Port Sunny - this is a grungepaper one, I painted it with Beach Hut then added Colour Bloom sprays in Glistening Waves, a spritz of Cobalt, and Sunshine, and when it was dry, a brushing of silver Treasure Gold

 Stamped the happy birthday from JoFY25 and cut them out, painted the letters with Twinkling H2Os

Happy Birthday,Sam!!

Those part done journal pages..

these journal pages from WOYWW on Wednesday, have sat on my floor for days, for about a week and I got fed up looking at them, so decided to try and finish them off...

 it looked a bit like this for a while too!
Marlin Fresco with Chalk (probably, I started it so long ago)

Didn't take any more photos along the way... various stamps on the right, then the strips of paper on the right, are leftover from the masterboard I used for Julie Ann's birthday card in September.

I added some Grunge Paste through Lin's circle stencil on the left, and just with paint on the right page.

added some daubs of Plum Fresco over the grunge paste but it looks a bit odd in the photo - a bit better in real life! and stamped some of the words from the Clarity word chain sets Lin and I got at Ally Pally, trimmed and edged with Plum Fresco.

Not very happy with the page on the left, quite like the one on the right!  Glad these are done, and I did wonder about showing them, but there are some good bits amongst the bad!

Craft Barn Q&L 21 - Nowhere/Hug

This fortnight's Q&L challenge from the Craft Barn is Nowhere/Hug.  Whilst my lyric flew straight into my head, I did check out some quotes too, and found a couple I really liked.  But, sticking with my first instinct "Nowhere Man" - the Beatles, of course. I decided to keep it fairly simple, with a Sixties kind of feel...

 I started with a layer of gesso, then Antarctic Fresco, before stencilling Turquoise through the 12x12 Burst stencil (crafters workshop)

I stamped my small Umbrella Man on a scrap of paper, omitting his umbrella, and cut him out, sticking him to the centre of the stencilled pattern.

I knew I wouldn't fit all of the words in, but wrote as much as I could, as neatly as I could!

Rectified a mistake which I spotted as I was uploading the photos...

Entering the Craft Barn Q&L challenge here

WOYWW 280

Hello again, thanks for all your comments last week - dinner and Evita were both brilliant! I am very lucky to have such a great boss!!

I haven't been particularly crafty since Port Sunlight and still haven't started my Christmas cards, which I really should have... my floor space today has a partly done journal page, and that's it - everything else that is surrounding it, is the normal stuff on show!!

Don't look too closely at the dirty water in the bucket!








The page on the left has been through various stages, including some Christmas trees which didn't come out very well (my black archival pad needs re-inking!) and which I stencilled back over on top again. We'll see where this page goes soon... probably.
I should be making a couple of birthday cards, but haven't had any ideas for what to do yet... can't leave it much longer though, or they'll be late!

so, that's me, short and sweet today, just how Julia likes it... Check out the links (join in, why don't you?! here at the Stamping-Ground...  you're looking for WOYWW.

Journalling my way back to Paris..

I've been meaning to journal (or scrap, is probably a more appropriate term) some more of my Paris photos for a while, and (I wasn't putting off starting my Christmas cards, at all, how very dare you!) I have done another one today.

I had printed out some photos of Notre Dame when I stayed with Julia for the WOYWW crop in May and used one here, with some more mementoes of the trip.  If you fancy revisiting the rest of the photos, Notre Dame is on this post here

 To protect the page and to prevent anything seeping through to the pages beneath that are already completed, I gesso'd the page first, then applied a thin layer of Antarctic Fresco, then used the Stencil Girl stencil with Stone Fresco, and mixed a small amount of Tikka Fresco into the leftover Stone, to add a few highlights of the mixed colour, through the stencil.
I had to use this stencil, as it complements the staggeringly beautiful architecture of Notre Dame, perfectly.

the fleur-de-lis is from Technique Tuesday, stamped along the top and bottom in Potting Soil archival, using both first and second generation printing.
the sentiment in the middle is a Tim Holtz one.

 added the photograph and a Metro ticket,

 and snipped out a piece from a French brochure we picked up in the hotel, about the Cathedral, and a piece of the city map

"remember" is from my Clarity Word Stamp set I got at Ally Pally.

Lovely memories of a great trip with friends. April - seems so long ago already!

Thanks for looking.

Craft Barn Q&L 20 - Destiny

Last week when I was enjoying the sights and delights of Port Sunlight, the new Craft Barn Q&L (quotes and lyrics) challenge was announced - Destiny and/or Gift.

I only had time to start my research on quotes this morning as it took me a couple of days to recover from that trip, and then we had a work outing on Wednesday to see Evita (after dinner at Ramsey's Savoy Grill!!) and it took me a couple of days to recover from a fabulous - late - night out!

Anyhow, I decided to play with some of my new goodies - as you do!

 I applied pan pastels to my journal page, I used yellow/oranges with some blue - and my new colourless blender, which is fabulous fun

and my Lavinia toadstools

then came a bit of a disaster and I should have started again really... I wrote out my quote, that was ok.  but I attempted a flourish by hand instead of searching for a stamp..

 so out came a Kaisercraft border

I also attempted to use some Chunky White Embossing powder to create some star effects in the background, I think I need to practice this!

but overall, it has turned out reasonably ok...

Entering the Craft Barn challenge here

Dragons Dream - TIO - V and Feather

Welcome back to another challenge from the DragonsDream - this time my talented team-mate Sylvia wants us to use the letter V and feather(s)... Now, I had lots of V words in mind, but wasn't sure how I could incorporate feathers with them...

Eventually I found a beautiful B-Line stamp that looked as if it had never seen ink (and bearing in mind I bought it from Lin Brown when she had her shop and regularly attended shows in her own right, that is disgraceful!) Anyhow the stamp is called French Plumes; and the penny dropped.

Painted the square tag with a good layer of Chalk Fresco paint,
scribbled a pink and a couple of blue Fibralo markers on my craft mat and using water, picked up a very little amount of colour to delicately colour the feathers.

Ok, so I know it's not a peacock, but it looks quite vain to me, so my word is Vanity - which I stamped out in a small alphabet set on white card. I used a little of the pink pen again, watered really well, to colour the letters

Stamped the Paperartsy mini MN98 feather, using Ice Blue Fresco, lightly in the four corners, and then two very feathery feathers from my stash

 Which I glued using some Structure Gel

Hope you like it!  Do stop by to see what the other Dragons have created. We'd also love to see what you do - don't forget you must use a tag, and at least one real stamp. Have fun!

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WOYWW 279 - the secret is out!

If it's Wednesday, it must be What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday? Head here to the Stamping Ground for the details and link up

.. not unpacked the bag of crafty buys since I got home!  there may be a hidden project under the journal - you'll have to check back this afternoon to see what it is!

 So, do you want to know where I was last week, on my secret trip?!
Well, if I show you this....

 ... some of you may recognise it and guess! (or you may have read the previous post!)





My friends Sam Lin (on the left in the photos) and Emma (missing from this photo) and I decided we'd go to the Happy Stampers show in Port Sunlight and, with huge thanks to  our very own WOYWWer Chris (third from left in this pic)
we got our tickets - following a chance comment at the WOYWW Crop in May - once again, Chris, a big thanks from all of us!

The reason I couldn't say in advance we were going, is the two ladies on Chris's left didn't know we were going, and were SO surprised to see us!



We had a great weekend, just wish we could have spent longer exploring more of Liverpool itself.
Port Sunlight itself is beautiful, you can read about
the trip here 

Oh, you want to see what's IN the crafty bag?? oh, ok, then as you asked so nicely...

there you go! restrained, wasn't I!  well it's not long since Ally Pally, after all...

I won't be able to visit many of you until at least Thursday as my boss is taking 3 of us to dinner and theatre tonight - Gordon Ramsey's restaurant at the Savoy no less, and then to see Evita!! How cool is that!  So, I'll catch up with you soon.  Happy Wednesday indeed.

Port Sunny - Happy Stampers

You probably already know, if you've seen my friend Sam's post  yesterday (she took her laptop!) that my secret trip this weekend was to Port Sunlight and the craft show known as Happy Stampers. The post on the "photosbyh" blog, the pictures of Port Sunlight itself, is here. This though, is the crafty bit!

Several months ago, we (Sam, Lin Emma and I) decided that we'd try and get tickets for this show as everyone who talks about it, says it's fabulous... you have to get tickets in advance, and they're limited, so it was a bit stressful - till I met Chris at the WOYWW crop in May who said she was already on the mailing list so is able to order tickets as soon as they're released.... phew... just the trains to book then, as Sam had in January found a great hotel yards from the venue.... sorted!

 Friday saw us heading from our various starting points, to Liverpool Lime Street station... (cue visit to t'other blog for the photos)









Saturday morning was wet, but by the time the show started, dry... off we headed.
The reason we wanted to keep it secret was to surprise fellow #PAtwits Lin and Christine; which we did, you could hear the screams of delight miles away!

 Sam, Emma, Lin, Chris and Lin

 swap Lin at the end for me...

 Sam, Lin, Chris (who got us the tickets) Lin, Chris and Leandra

We also met Massofhair and Keren and Sarah Anderson who's blog I've followed for ages (another ticket enabler if we'd needed her!) but I didn't get any pictures!  (Edit - also turns out I met Elizabeth from the DragonsDream Team I'm on,only she thought I was Julie Ann... nice almost meeting you too, Elizabeth!)

Towards the end of the show we congregated back at Paperartsy to say our farewells  - when you stand this side of the PA stand you tend to end up...

 demoing!! Emma's trying out the fabulous Fibralo pens

and having a laugh with Lin.

 This is PA's Emma elf who had stepped away momentarily - caught her mid chocolate!

 some last minute buying from Lin but Mark seems more keen on the rugby updates...

and my purchases.  Not much, as I have only just been to Ally Pally, but enough, and you have to don't you?!

Thanks for a great weekend girls, lets do it again sometime somwhere!