Sporty Men

Well, I cannot believe how many entries we have had so far for our month of MEN.  I really thought I would tax you all with this but now we have a wealth of ideas to draw upon when we look at the Just for Fun blog for this month.  Congratulations to everyone who has joined in - and Thank You from me.

This week I chose "Sport" but went off to America not having managed to produce anything before time ran out.  Whilst there it was Robert's birthday and I just had to produce something in the way of a card but knew he was not into Baseball or anything like that.

I had been showing Mary various ways how to use Distress Inks and had coloured in with them with a paint brush, first pressing the pad down on an acrylic block.  That's how I did this twisted easel card for him.

Most men like messing about in boats and most boys like lighthouses so I combined a couple of stamps, did a bit of masking and there was the card.  Wish I could remember the sentiment that I used for the "stopper".

So "boating" is my chosen sport - head on over to JFF to see what Von and Zoe have come up with, I think you will be delighted with their samples.  Good luck and hope to see you joining in.

I've decided to enter this also for the Creative Card Crew's challenge which is "Men" also.  Don't usually do this but what the heck!  (Mean enter one card for two challenges, didn't mean don't usually do the CCC challenge although this is the first time but hopefully I'll enter again).

Old Men or Vintage Man

Well, if you have been over to JFF you will have seen that this week I have chosen something Vintage for the men.

As I am just back from our trip, and suffering jet lag (oh how I suffer and sometimes for about three weeks) I am not doing my usual chat on here instead I am posting my card.

As you can see I have used PaperArtsy stamps from the Man of Numbers range and used my Distress Inks to colour the paper with the man stamped on.  The background paper is Basic Grey, one of my favourites and one which I have been guarding with my life.  Shows what jet-lag does - I have used it!

Now to see what you can all come up with.  Looking forward to seeing your Vintage Men - read what I had to say on JFF before I went away.

It's Raining Men

Alleluia, It's Raining Men!  Amen!

Well, that's kind of how the lyrics go (or went) so I have decided that this is the month we are going to think about men.  Big ones, little ones, tall ones, short ones, fair ones, dark ones ... anything goes as long as they are men.

In my blurb over on JFF I did think about the single people and said it could be for a brother, nephew, cousin, dad, uncle, anyone of the male species and for my first week I chose to use black and white.  I love black and white and find it lends itself to a man's card so easily and so I went along with a postoid stamp and a motorbike for my Design piece.

I did that funny fold I once told you all about but this time I put some black pen where the folds are as when it was scanned in it looked kind of dirty around those edges.

Here's my card

Have loved seeing what Von and Zoe came up with and am looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.  If I don't manage to visit you this week (you can see how busy I have been and, as you can no doubt guess, realise how shattered I am) I will try to visit you at a later date - but please don't shout at me if it's a quick one.

Middle Ages or Medieval?

Oh Von, this was a difficult one for me to think on.  Being in a rush to get ahead with my design work ('cos I was going to be missing for a month and had to get ahead) I felt I was floundering so I enlisted the help of my other half and took him through my catalogue of stamps that I have.  Page after page I turned and occasionally pounced and said "is this one" but always the reply came back "No". Thankfully I had a couple of  rubber stamps that he thought could fit in with the theme and so I made this card.

The stamp is a huge wooden one (Anna Griffin - All Night Media) and I must have had it for years and years but why I bought it I do not know as it doesn't seem like something I would go out and buy.  Maybe for a swap all those years ago.  Anyway, I stamped it in Black and then used my Distress Inks to colour the image and the surround.  I was very careful not to get the colour beyond where I wanted it but then the border looked lifeless so I pounced some bits of the other colours on.  Honest!  I know you will think I smudged but I didn't.

I bet lots of you lovely people out there on JFF have oodles of ideas which will put me to shame.  He did point one other stamp out for me but as I know it is a difficult one to stamp and it was rather late in the evening I declined.  Wonder how many people will use that image?  Over to Just for Fun now to find out.

Wish I Had Art Nouveau ...

... throughout my house.  I just love those elegant lines.  When I go to a certain shop that has a name reminiscent of "olden days" I immediately head over to the Art Nouveau section and drool over the lamps and things that they have on display.  Love the fluidity of it all.

So - I just had to dig out my Art Nouveau stamps and see what I could make with them.  Well, here it is:

Yes, I am afraid it is a card, seems like the easy option to me and I feel I should be doing something different but despite ALL the stamps I have for this period my head kept wanting to make a card.  Wonder what everyone else will make.

Heading off now to JFF to see what the others have done and what all you delightful people out there will make for this week's theme.

Bargello

Bargello is a technique which reminds me of the Art Deco Period in that it is built up with clean straight lines reminiscent of an eclectic style of geometric figures, jagged lines, and polished textures, the streamlined features of art deco.

So for Von's theme this week on JFF I decided to marry Bargello with one of my favourite designers Erté. "Erté is perhaps most famous for his elegant fashion designs which capture the Art Deco period in which he worked. One of his earliest successes was designing apparel for the French dancer  Gaby Deslys who died in 1920. His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion into the 21st century". (Wikipedia)

Luckily I have lots of rubber stamps showcasing Ertés style (naturally since I am a HUGE fan) and the hardest thing was deciding which one to use. In the end this was my piece for the Challenge with not one but two Erte images:

For this one I just used Designer paper from one of my 6 x 6 pads cut into strips but I decided to leave small gaps between them on the first stage.

I once taught Bargello at a Stamp Camp run by Cath Wilson (Inky Fingers) so somewhere in my stash of things I have a storyboard which I used for the classes. Not promising it will be soon but I will put a tutorial up on here at some time.

This is the display I did at Stamp Camp showing this technique but this time I created my own backgrounds by using Alcohol Inks on some glossy card and then stamping patterns all over. These were then cut into strips and the Bargello technique used:

Bet Jo remembers this

Mary Quant and Flower Power

Oh how Von's theme on JFF this week takes me back.  Back to the days when I was a young mum who wore mini-skirts that were almost micro and flowers in her hair.  How I loved the fashion and eventually had to have the Quant look and have my hair cut in a bob.  No photographs available - I looked like "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" - not my finest haircut!  We will not go there though, suffice to say I loved the "Swinging Sixties" almost as much as being a "mum" to the most adorable little boy anyone could wish to have (except when you returned downstairs, having put him to bed, only to find him standing there a few minutes later, slippers in hand, dressing gown over his arm and a cute grin on his face as if to say "mummy, I'm here").  Yes, those were the days.

I suspect a lot of readers will not remember those days but will have heard of them.  Mary Quant may be familiar and may not be but she was a very influential Welsh fashion designer taking credit for introducing us to the Mini Skirt and Hot Pants, although two other designers also claim fame for the mini.  I wore the mini - boy oh boy did I wear the mini!

Pop over to JFF and see what Von and Zoe have done - we have all created something very different this week.

I did not know what to do for this theme but in the back of my mind knew I had a stamp with a fairly MQ hairstyle so here it is - very "less is more" this week.

Now where are those photos of me in my minis?

Welcome April, my latest follower.  Just joined in nice time as there will be some blog candy up for offer within the next few days. Thanks so much for following.

Autumn

Well we have left my favourite season behind now for at least another nine months.  I love Autumn.  I love the colours it conjures up, especially when walking through the woods and the fallen leaves are rustling beneath your feet.  The occasional glimpse of a tree still holding its leaves which have turned a magical red colour, the crispness of the air on your face and the beautiful sunsets you watch and try to recapture on film.

Isn't it wonderful to wrap up with scarf, hat and gloves and walk with that pale sunshine on your face?  Returning  home to a steaming hot cup of cocoa and a ginger biscuit?  Oh the delights of Autumn.

Despite Autumn being my favourite season I found it very difficult to come up with something for this challenge.  Thanks Zoe!  I had tins out for redecorating, boxes, journal, calendar dates ... just about everything.  What did I do in the end?  A tag.

So here is my tag - I first coloured it with Distress Inks - Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge (fave) and finally a touch of Gathered Twigs around the edges.  Then I used Sepia Archival Ink to stamp some autumnal images from Graphicus (Autumnal Hedgerow) on the edges.  I inked up a plastic letter "A" for Autumn, then I got to thinking.

I wanted something different, didn't want the usual leaves and things.  So is Autumn just about leaves etc?  No, we hear about "living in our Autumn Years".  Off to one of my PaperArtsy boxes for the perfect image.  One image later (stamped and embossed), a piece of old negative (glad I saved it) and some copper wire netting that I have had for ages and not used, a bit of bandage with various Distress Stains on it and voila!  The tag is complete.

Not too sure about it but here it is.  A bit close to my mad couple of days before the biggie one.  Hope you like it.  Now to go and see the delights of Just for Fun and what the Design Team have come up with - some great stuff going on.

Summer - Hot Hot, Hot

If only!

OK, so Zoe is transporting us to warmer climes this week with her challenge on JFF of "Summer".  Hot sizzling oranges, lagoon blues and palm frond greens were what first sprung to my mind.  What did I choose? Why Hot Hot Hot oranges and Reds.  To be precise my Distress Ink Stains in Mustard Yellow, Scattered Straw, Worn Lipstick and Aged Mahogany.  Wow! Quite a few there.

Didn't want to do a card, I make so many and to be honest Christmas did my head in (memo to self - make "C" cards in summer 2012) so I went on the look about at home and found ... a photo frame I once bought at Michaels in America.  Let's Summer it up!

Here it is - got the hot colours on, first of all used the two yellows over most of it and then put the Worn Lipstick on with a baby wipe and finally when that had dried off a bit added some streaks of the Mahogany - again with a baby wipe but this time quite a wet one.

A bit of stamping direct to the wood, a bit on cardstock and voila - my new picture frame

It actually looks better in real life but I love the way you can see the streaks at the top with the wood grain - reminds me of the sky in summer.

 A close up of the seagull and the lighthouse

and here's the bathing belle.

Hope some of you find inspiration from the fab things my two 'mates' have done over on the Design Team and join in yourselves - it really does make you feel good to get some different stamps out.

Spring - Is It Just Around The Corner?

NO!  "Don't be silly" I can hear you say.

Following on the success of Zoe's challenge last week on JFF which was Winter, she has now decided to take us to another Season - namely Spring.  Every time I hear that word my mind goes to a cute little stamp I have of a chicken popping out of a plant pot saying "is it Spring yet?"  But, we all know "we don't do cute on here" so I had to think of something else and put my little chicken firmly back in his box.

Right, Spring.  Apart from the boing, boing springs (as in your bed or settee or even Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout) ) it makes me think of rebirth, leaves starting to sprout on the trees, flowers pushing their way up to greet the early sunshine.  Crocus, Daffodils, all those early flowers that make us look eagerly towards the better weather that heralds the fact that summer is on its way.  (That is, of course, unless you live in England where the summers are often wet, and sunny days are few and far between.)

But let's not dwell on that - let's fill our minds with all the lovely colours of Spring, enjoy the early morning light streaming through our windows, the pale sunshine that makes you want to get up and create.  Let's all think of that and enter JFF's Challenge with renewed gusto at the chance to do something other than the "C" cards we have all been so diligently creating.  Here's my attempt:

Daffodils, the flowers that always remind me of my mum, stamped and coloured in with my Twinkling H2o's and masked, then a couple of Distress Inks used for the background to add colour.  A tiny bow from string that is the same colour as the background has been added to the sentiment "For You".

Looking forward to seeing what you make for Spring.

Winter? Of Course It Is.

Thank goodness I still had my Christmas stamps out and could manage to do something to fit in with this theme of Zoe's.

What does "winter" conjure up for you?  "Chestnuts roasting on an Open Fire, Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose".   Are you all singing along?  Cold, crisp mornings, pretty frosty patterns on leaves and plants, bare trees prettying up the landscape, warm fires and hot drinks.

In my case, as I am in Munich at the moment, (oh so clever being able to blog from there without my laptop - just kidding this is a scheduled post) I need to add Gluhwein, hot steaming cups "mitt Rhum".  Oh what a different woman I become when out of my own country, knocking back those steaming alcoholic drinks.  I can vouch I will be having two or three of these per day, along with Reibekuchen, Bratwursts and anything else that takes my fancy.  But is Munich ready for me and my new boots and my stripey socks?

Trendy or Wot?  (one son thinks NOT)

But I digress as I sit dreaming of my few days away visiting the Christmas Markets in Germany the weekend before I go.  But to the task in hand.

I did not want not make another Christmas Card and so I thought of bare trees as a landscape but to be honest I did not want to even make another card.  So I turned to my dies and a current favourite - Spellbinders Poinsettia.  Isn't it a gorgeous die?  At the moment that and the Anemone are my two favourites. Had a little bit of paper left over from when I was dem'ing at Leigh for Oyster Stamps (hi Graham and Tracy) which is absolutely gorgeous.  Wish I had had the forethought to buy some.  It is like a parchment type paper, in a sort of smoky blue but one side has this almost greeny yellow iridescence about it.  It's fab - pity it won't show up here in the photo.  Wonder if they still have it at the shop?

Anyway, I cut the poinsettia out and then took a tin from my cupboard, painted it with Snowflake Fresco paint to give it a light base and then put Ice Blue over the top.  When it was dry I dabbed Sky Fresco over it with a piece of crumpled up Cling Film.  It was finished off with Ultramarine Stazon snowflakes.

The Poinsettia was stuck to a circle of silver mirror card and placed in the centre to cover up the clear middle that said "National Trust".  All I have to do now is make something to go inside it and I have a gift for someone.

This photo does not do the die justice.

Rightio - now to see what Zoe has said in her intro to this month's themes on JFF - hope to see lots of entries.

Favourite Technique

Oh heck - so many things I like and one or two are favourites for different reasons.  I love the grid technique or retiform as it is sometimes known but it takes so long to do properly and I love the look of Caught in Crystal but wasn't in the mood for that, besides which I am going easy on my Johnsons Klear as I don't have that much left now and it is no longer available.

Thought about using the embossing paste like Lorraine showed us at a recent Victoria Stampers - oh heck - Zoe beat me to it.  Use my Distress Inks more than anything else I own but Von had already used them as her favourite and even though I was referring to them with a different technique to that of Von I decided that JFF needed something totally different for this week.

So what did I settle for - Serendipity.  (Check Von's tutorial on this) One of my favourite Christmas Cards of all time was one sent to me by Debbie Shelton (I know of at least one person who might read this who will remember it too) where she used Serendipity to make some tags.  I have made this card over and over but never have managed to get mine to look quite as good as Debbies.  She is the Queen of Serendipity.

Anyway, enough chatter and about time I showed you the card.  As I said the tags are Serendiptity, the rest is just gold stamping and that is about it - I must get on - I want to make some more and once again strive to make mine as nice as the one I have saved that Debbie sent to me.

I am so looking forward to the different techniques that you will all use and show us on Just for Fun, well, at least I hope you do show us lots.  Also hope you are ahead of me in the making of the "C" cards!

Do You Have a Favourite Colour?

After my months choice of "Favourites" I really thought it would be easy but now I realise it is not.  My favourite colour changes with my mood.  What is my favourite colour to wear is is nothing like my favourite colour to craft with.   Oh dear, I am so sorry if I have given you all a dilemma.

Thanks to all those of you who entered last week but can I just say that some of you did not say which was your favourite stamp which makes life difficult if you have used more than one.  It does help us if you give us little hints - please ... pretty please.

Anyway, for my Christmas Cards I do like "blue" so here is my effort this week.

I say "effort" because I was feeling quite rotten with a head cold and sore throat when I had to make it to allow Zoe time to add it to the challenge site.  Zoe would be the first to tell me not to bother but I feel I should make the effort to do something so here it is.

I coloured some white cardstock with a couple of blue Distress Inks and then stamped this Aspects of Design stamp over it.  Took some core card in another shade of blue and put it through the CB with an embossing folder.  Sanded it to bring out the design and attached the stamped card with brads.  As you can see there were two other layers - all different blues.

Hopefully this cold will not be with me too long and I can spend more time preparing next week's challenge - now I wonder what "favourite" it can be?  Hope to see lots of you with entries - thanks in advance.  Remember, if you use more than once colour do say which is your favourite and try to make it the dominant one please.

BTW as a point of interest tomorrow at eleven seconds after eleven minutes after eleven o'clock the time and date will be all the elevens.

Favourites?

When I was a little girl (yes, I can remember so far back at times) I used to ask my mum "what is your favourite colour?" and could never understand when she said she didn't have one.  At that time of my life everyone had to have a favourite everything.  So I think I had slipped back years (no comments please) when I decided to ask you all to use your "Favourite" stamp for this week's challenge.

Then I realised it was not so easy to choose your favourite stamp - but I did find it easy to choose a favourite one.  This is mine.  It is a stamp I have wanted for ages and finally have bought.  I love this era and was delighted when I found this stamp had my name on it - well, almost.  Long story but "Nita" was what all my college friends shortened my name to but then it got further shortened to "Neet" in the card making world because of someone joining a Yahoo group a month after me with the same name, Nita.  Therefore I answer to Anita, Neet and Nita depending on who is talking to me. So now you all know the story - too long to go into all the other names I have because I also have a middle name which my family know me by.  Complicated or what!!

I used my Grand Calibur to cut out the main shape of the card and then just went down a notch with my layers.  A few flowers and a bit of feather and it was all complete.  So here it is, my entry for this week's challenge over on JFF.  Hope you can find a favourite to join in with - see you over there!

Just a Pebble on the Beach

Hi Everyone - I am Back!  You didn't even know I was gone - go on say it!  Well, I have been having a much needed week away in the sun.  After all the staring at walls I did over the summer months it was good to get away.

What did I bring back - a pebble.  What did I do with it - put some Friendly Plastic on the top of it - and now it is a paper weight.

Does it look like a potatoe?

First of all I sprinkled a little embossing powder on the pebble, heated it and let it dry before I got to work with my left over bits of FP.  It was Angie who taught me to do this many many moons ago so thanks Angie - you helped me do a quick blog entry to fit in with the challenge of "Anything Goes".  

All you do is put one or two, or three or four, of your messed up bits of FP that you saved (you do save them - tut tut if you don't), on your pebble, heat them and then drag your needle tool through them to make weird and wonderful shapes.  Easy Peasy!

Right, will make this a quick post today as I have lots to do (like washing and ironing and cleaning and ... oh heck - sleeping!  All I want to do is get back to my crafting)

Hope to be visiting you soon to see what you have all come up with and sorry my trip away coincided with the Challenge which stopped me from commenting on anyone's entry.  Off now to have a peep at what you all did.  

JFF - In the Sewing Box

Well, what is in my wardrobe stays in my wardrobe but what is in my sewing box can come out at any time.  It is such a pity that this challenge did not come up earlier when I was doing my little House on the first of the month isn't it - lots of things from my sewing box went in there.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with this week.

I had not a clue what to do and then the light switched on and I had a "ding" moment and remembered that people used to make "button fairies".  So out with the button box (don't tell anyone, it lives in my craft room), a bit of wire and we were halfway there.  At first I thought it might be too cute but Zoe assured me this was "arty" so I heaved a big sigh of relief and here it is - reminds me of something from "Alice":

Or should I say - here they are:

Yes, I got a bit carried away.  They are not really me but I did enjoy making them - had great fun rummaging through my button stash which now has got itself sorted into "shank buttons", "large buttons", "small buttons".  As you can see the two above have Friendly Plastic 'heads'.  They did not photograph very well as they both were made with a metallic strip.  The top one has a rubber stamped pair of wings with wire antennae and the baby one has a Spellbinders butterfly diecut for wings and antennae.

Thought I would do one a bit different so this one is stamped with a photostamp image and the wings are from a Marianne Die.  I left a bit of wire at the bottom on this one and gave it a twirl.

Perhaps now I will attempt the necklace with the buttons I bought at Aintree last year - now where on earth did I put them?

Recycling - from the Kitchen

Well, last weeks recycling on JFF gave me lots of ideas as I checked through the entries.  I just need to find the time now to do them.  Have decided to write ideas down on a piece of paper and pin it up in my room - then when I get my Mr Mojo buzzing off for a break I can whistle him back with a look at my list.  Now to Von's brill challenge for this week.  I'm loving her theme.

At first I thought I might do a bottle with either Alcohol Inks or Clay but as I have done both of these things before I decided to upload my "fairy in a bottle" but then decided that was cheating so went back to the drawing board.  I once got little "wickies" when I did some salt dough stuff (must add it was a while afterwards) so that went through the window and then the local Council came to my rescue.  The day I was doing all of this thinking, and hurting my head in the process, they delivered these boxes.  Hideous boxes - for me to have on display in my kitchen!!!  Oh no no no!

Would you want that in your kitchen?

Now, keep this quiet, they delivered two to us.  We are only a couple but our bungalow has two doors at the front so I guess they, like so many callers, thought it was two bungalows.  Well, that gave me chance to play. The first one I tried car paint on - it does peel off but it is such a nice colour.  It is sat in the bathroom at the moment with foot salts in (don't ask).

The second one I gessoed, then put two coats of white emulsion paint on (had used this on plastic tubs before and they have endured a few years in the garden with plants in them) but it did not give good coverage.  Out with some Acrylic Paint - bright yellow - should make the kitchen look a bit sunny - oh my goodness it looked awful.  Next Acrylic Paint on top of that - the EcoFriendly stuff  from Julia Andress.  Still a bit streaky and what an awful colour.  What next?

Cover it with images!  What theme?  (See, such a lot of thinking.) In the kitchen we have some framed postcards I once brought back from a trip to France - one is breads and the other cheeses - so Paris came to mind as I do have a small collection of stamps suitable.  Chas loves Paris anyway, so whilst he was doing breakfast (can do boiled eggs much better than I can) I got in with it.

I began by using paper from the printer to stamp and emboss on - first stamping my image in black and then putting clear ep on top, heating it and then colouring.  For my colouring I decided that it would take too long to colour individual images besides which I love my Distress Inks so I coloured with them.  Don't ask me what any of the combinations are - I have not got a clue - it was just a mad production line.

I began on the front and decided to make it into a collage, overlapping images in places and boy oh boy I did enjoy myself.  Ran out of images to use with a Paris theme so did have to use the same on on both sides of the box.  Doesn't matter as it won't show where it stands.

Looking at these photographs you would never believe that the base colour of the bin is now green -

The top

So there it is - now drying having had a coat of watered down PVA to give a bit of protection to the images but it looks so much better in my kitchen - and Chas Loves It!

Now what can you recyle from your kitchen (or your friend's, relatives - or anyones) - love to see it on the Challenge Blog.

Just for Fun - and it Certainly Was this Week.

What a lot of lovely entries we had this past week with our Anything Goes Challenge.  I thought we may be much lower on numbers with the twist of not being able to make a card but no, those crafters can always find something to make.  Thanks for all the super entries which had me hastily playing catch up with my comments.

Have had a busy time this past couple of weeks which all started with my trip to Caernarfon Castle for Liz's Friendly Plastic weekend.  You'll have to scroll down a bit to find that blog entry if you want to see it.  Closely followed by my coming home from Wales, having to do a quick final prep for my workshop (26 people were booked on it) for the Saturday (previous posts - worth looking at) and then working at Leigh for Oyster Stamps on the Sunday doing my usual demonstrating Spellbinders machines and dies.

It was Saturday evening when I got home, tired but happy as the crafters had done such a wonderful job, that I realised I had not done my DT piece for this week over on Just for Fun.  Now we do have to have them in for Zoe to upload by Sunday evening and as she is so busy with her moving house I did not want to let her down with a late picture.  But what could I do?  What was the topic?  A new month - what had Von chosen?  A quick visit and I found it was - oh nightmare of nightmares - "Recycled" and it was "Books or Magazines" this week.  I must add it was only a nightmare because I had not even given this a thought up to now so was entirely clueless.

Then I remembered that Annette had posted a tutorial for me to make a paper doll from a newspaper or magazine.  Newspaper went out the window, the only one we had had gone to Vicky Stampers that day for painting over, besides which you got so dirty from handling them.  Magazine - oh heck, the ones I had were intended for my dil and I dare not upset her.  Then the TV magazine was there, waiting to go in the recycle bag - perfect!

So here it is - thank you so much Annette - you saved my bacon, gave me a lot of pleasure (plus gluey fingers, mat, tray, etc) and enabled me to have an untroubled night of sleep.

Trying to show you the pages better by lying it down

This used up a full TV magazine which has something like 90 pages in it and each page was cut in half.  Memo to self:  Need to buy more magazines - these are fun!

Anything Goes on Just for Fun but ...

... not a card.  "Oh heck", thought I, I was running out of ideas as I was busy packing for my weekend away and have a workshop coming up and then another weekend away for which I have to make 40 polymer clay inchies - oh heck indeed!  Not much time to think.

However, as I was getting things ready for my FP weekend I needed something to put my jewellery tools in and this tin, which had previously held my Klimt watch, was just the ticket.  So, out with the alcohol inks, a few dabs here and there and the tin was covered.

But ... I could still see the name of the manufacturer through the tin as it was embossed and there was no way it would hide with a bit of alcohol ink - straight in with the copper and gold, a Spellbinders die and my Grand Calibur and voila - it covered the words up.

So here it is

My slim jim tin just holds all the tools I need for a weekend of jewellery making.  The lid is a good tight fit too.

 

Here's a close up of the butterfly

Well, I am late posting this, didn't have time for a scheduled post which I normally do and this morning had to go for a check up at the docs, then had a visit from my favourite little girl so now it is almost lunchtime and Zoe and Von will wonder what I am up to.  I am now off for a visit to Just For Fun to see what is being said about this latest challenge.  Hope to see some of you entering this week so I can pop in and say hello.

More Than Four Edges

A nice easy peasy one for you this week you are producing a card like I have done.  Zoe chose this theme and both of us chose an easel card.  Thanks for all the lovely entries in the "Shades of Green" challenge last week.  We do hope you are having fun but we do say no cute and no digi please and sometimes I find myself getting close to the border with cute but I do manage to pull myself back quickly, well, most of the time.

Anyway, enough of all that, here is my entry for this week, using one of my Dimension Fourth polymer stamps.  Didn't get chance to see what Roy had on his stand at Harrogate so hope to catch up with him when I am less busy by visiting his website.

Fancy Labels (two stacked on top of one another) from Spellbinders and coloured in with my Twinkling H2o's.

Looking forward to seeing what you all can do.