Be Still, My Beating Heart!

Oh, I love WV stamps!!  My set that I won in the draw from The Stamp Attic arrived today and I had to ink them up right away.. I made this tag to show a couple of them off:

I think it's turned out better than I originally intended, through an accident!!  I was going to stamp a WV background stamp onto the square tag to form the background behind the metal, but - fundamental error here - I stamped it upside down - and it wasn't a background that can go upside down!!  So I had to think again. (I know I could have just turned it over, but I also didn't like it after all!)

I had the red metal already squished (Lin Brown's controlled squish method) and scribbled (ditto) - waiting for the heart stamps to arrive!!

So when I messed up the tag, I rummaged around in one of those boxes I showed you on WOYWW this week, and found this great background paper - decided I could use it as a love letter to fit in with the heart theme.

I stamped the heart on grungepaper and inked it with barn door and worn lipstick inks, with a touch of wild honey over the top, and some rock candy distress stickles on the top of the heart.  I attached a "Timmy" muse token with a brad. The text is from the same set and I love it already.  I made up the grungepaper flowers and added a metal flower from a box of bits'n'bobs.  The cuttlebug'd butterfly was a present from Lori - it's cut from an old coca-cola can!!

I am entering this for the alphabet challenge - T for Tag - which comes hot on the heels of my last minute entry for last week's challenge!

I almost couldn't post anything at all, because when I got home from work, keen to catch up on my blog-hopping, I found no internet connection AND most of my cable TV channels "unavailable".  When I rang they said "oh, you'll need an engineer, he can come Tuesday..... "  no way!! I can't go without blogging - or watching the football - for 4 days!!! Fortunately, shortly after booking said engineer, I got a message to say there was a problem in the area and an eningeer was working on it, and service would be back within 8 hours... luckily, I only had to wait about an hour and a half.  Phew!!

S is for Stamping

The Alphabet challenge has got to S - which this week is for stamping.  As I am getting to know my new WendyV stamps, I have made a(nother) tag using this great stamp from It's Face Art and the new Barn Door DI.

In truth I had the tag, stamped up and unfinished. Seeing I was about to run out of time for this week's alphabet challenge spurred me on to complete it.

I have covered the face with rock candy distress paint, added some leftover cuttlebug'd metal (see I do sometimes use up stuff!!) and the flowers are by Prima and Heidi Swapp, held on with a trinket pin.

It looks a bit wobbly on the scanner, the rock candy has  - rocked! But I am at work now so can't do much about it, sorry.

Come On Over to My Place.... WOYWW?

Hey, you, we're having a party - nosying round your workdesk!

Well, as you all know, I don't have a digital camera so these are the photos I took last week of my "workdesk" and the promised swing round inside my drawers!!

This is an aerial shot of the floor space I work "at", including some of the stash from the Stevenage show on 28th Feb, and my new Wendy Vecchi stamps.

You can see on the craft sheet the prepartions of the Gingersnap yahoo group swap I am doing (gone in the post ready for swapping now, will show the finished articles after the swap). There is a right mess of stamps that has overflown from the wooden boxes in the next shots, and all sorts of "must have immediately to hand stuff" that doesn't fit anywhere else.
I did also take a swing round shot to the left of this but it didn't come out - think the camera strap got in the way, how lame is that! I was going to show you the inside of the blue box you can just see in this pic, which is my "Idea-ology, Prima, Glimmer mist etc box of accessories", so you'll just have to imagine it... Don't look too closely at the pile of cakes and sweets that seem to have crept into the viewfinder.  I said, DON'T look...

It looks a real muddle and I am quite ashamed of it - I may even get round to trying to sort it out soon... ha ha. I visit some amazing blogs and they all look so neat and tidy, I promise you I do -more or less - know where everything is..... usually. (like, I know "that" stamp is in...one of "those" drawers, lol!! 

These two are the peaks inside the drawers - some of them - as promised.  The one on the left here I wobbled a bit so it's a bit out of focus (I was standing on the sofa...) but you may be able to see some of the stamps. I couldn't pull them out too far as I didn't want everything to fall over, Leaning Tower of Pisa-like!!  (can you imagine the mess..)The stamps that are in these drawers are categorised, some by make (magenta, stampscapes) some by type (cats, fairies, flowers, more flowers..... )

I took this one in case the one above was too out of focus.  I was standing on a low stool by now! There is the Flower Fairy drawer, a couple of flower drawers, the cat stamps drawer, at the back. The ones in front, show a Magenta drawer, two (!) of the Stampscapes drawers, a script stamp drawer... at the front.  You may be able to make out an oven timer - that's so dinner doesn't burn whilst I'm faffing around with the camera.... and Eggheads on TV...

So, although it's not "this" Wednesday, this is my workspace! Someone asked the other week, how I get to the drawers at the back.  Well, I have to clear off one or two of the boxes on top (they hold tags, the smaller packs of patterned papers - I haven't got as far as showing you the A4 or 12x12 area yet! and my Craftwork Cards box of mats & layers, shapes, frames etc etc) and kind of lean over (there is space for one foot beside the TV - whilst not slipping on the craft mat or knocking everything else off..... must be a sight to behold - thank goodness there is never anyone there to witness it!!)

I am trying to schedule this as I will be out at work all day (I leave home at 6.30, don't ask why it's too long and boring a story and won't be home till 6) and will sneak onto Julia's blog to link it when I can, during the day; but I am coming to find you all!!   (edit at 8.50 a.m Yay! the link is up early today)

And if you've got this far down the post (sorry it's so long, hope you're still with me) and don't know what the heck I'm on about, check it out here at our host Julia's,  to join lots of likeminded (i.e. nosy) people to see WOYWW (what's on your workdesk Wednesday). See you all soon. (if I can get away with it during the day, if not later on tonight)

Thank you for visiting.

Aww - Sunshine Award

My dear blog friend Lori, passed this Sunshine award on to me!!   Not only that, we have this kind of "thank you for the thank you for the thank you" going on at the moment that stems originally from when I won some blog candy from her before Christmas - and today, I received MORE goodies from her in the post, today - so thanks again, Lori.  This could get very sillly - if we weren't both sensible grown up, mature, ladies, of course!!

Now I'm meant to pass it on to 6 more blogs. But because it's very late (look, I get up at 5.30 a.m ok,!) I am very tired, and another cup of tea is getting cold whilst I write a blog post, and I really need to drink it; I am going to cheat, and award it to all of you, my loyal blog followers, I appreciate each and every one of you and all your lovely comments. You mean a lot to me and so do your kind thoughts and words.

YOU are my sunshine (to quote from the song Lori has now got buzzing round my bloody head!!)  Go check out her art, if you don't know it already, now THAT's talent.  Thank you and good night.  See you all on my work desk tomorrow, there's the promised swing round inside my drawers ready for you!!

PDCC 19 - Bring on the sunshine

This week's Play Date Cafe Challenge is to use deep yellow,pale yellow and white.  I don't often "do" yelllow although I love the colour especially after a long - very long! - cold winter.  So, as it's Mother's Day here in the UK this coming Sunday, I have made this card for my Mum:

I love sunflowers and this is a PSX stamp I got probably when someone was having a clearance sale and horror! it didn't look as it it had been used.

I stamped it in versafine black on a sheet of watercolour paper which is almost cream in colour, and coloured it using Tombow pens.  I attached it to a white card and stamped and embosssed the greeting, adding a few small prima yellow and white flowers.

When I went to Kew Gardens in the autumn, I came across some beautiful sunflowers in all their glory:

Sunday Stampers - week 94

To honour the release of Alice in Wonderland, Hels' Sunday Stamper challenge this week is to use rabbits or Alice images in your stamping.  There is also some amazing candy on offer this week so make sure youcheck it out.

I don't have any Alice stamps but I do have these cute rabbits from Art Impressions' "back to back" range,

This is the front of the card showing a bunch of naughty rabbits getting inky - well,painty!

And this is the inside!

The large tree is by PSX so it's very old now!

I couldn't find any suitable text stamps so have left it blank.

Gingersnap Birthday

Gingersnap Creations is a year old and to celebrate they're having a party! There's some great candy on offer - check the link for details.

I have made them a birthday tag using some new and some old WV stamps and the Gandhi quote is a new Penny Black stamp. I've used Wild Honey DI again - love it!

Happy Birthday, Gingersnap!