Size Matters

This is the first time I have ever had to come up with a theme for a month for the Just for Fun Challenge.  I think I was probably influenced by the fact that I had come back from the Tim Holtz workshop with the ArtsyCrafty team (Leandra and Lin) and we had all made "inchies" to give to Tim in a book as a little gift which we could all contribute to.

Well, that's my excuse anyway!

Sorry I am having you working in miniature but it is not as formidable as it first seems.  I made my inchies out of mountboard, coloured them with Distress Inks and then stamped partial images on them.  You don't have to stamp whole images on so don't be rushing out to buy small stamps.

Here are mine:

Stamps - Invoke

I stamped them just like I stamp my dominoes, taking the mountboard to the stamp rather than the stamp to the mountboard - that way you have more control over what part of the whole image you are going to use.  You can't see it in the scan but I selected parts from each image and highlighted the part with Glossy Accents.  It is mainly the words that I used for highlighting but the other two images also have it on them.

A couple of links to help you get started are: MCJULIO'sBlog and  spottedcanary plus the ones on the JFF blog:

art by christi    Or this one to give you some ideas on how you can use them in cards
all in an inch (scroll down to April 23rd)

I know if you Google "inchies art form" you will find lots more (including embroidered ones)  but in the meantime here is a bracelet I did using Stampbord.  If you have some hanging around why not try one of these inch sized pieces.

They are such good fun and the Stampbord punches like a dream with your Crop-a-dile.  I did have another bracelet which I would have liked to have shown you, done many moons ago, but can I find it, can I heck!  Here is the pendant that went with it anyway - the bracelet had smaller side view heads on in the polymer clay.  Otherwise it was the same Stampbord base.

Not an inchie but an accompaniment to one

(just to give you ideas)

Hope I am not driving you all mad with my miniature works of art and certainly hope we get some entries - now I will be having sleepless nights!  Promise next week's challenge will not be so small.

WOYWW is it Really 100?

Is this really the Century for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday or have I gone bonkers with my counting?  Not that I have been doing it from the beginning but I sure have met some nice folks since I started doing it.  Pop along to Julia's blog to see what  I am on about - get a cuppa first as you will be there ages - snooping around all the links.

Not much to show today as it has been another of those "medical days".  Went to Podiatry this morning, then the nurse at lunchtime and she went mad when she heard how I was wheezing.  Tried to find me a doctor but they had all gone to lunch so she made me an emergency appointment with one of them this afternoon.  Got some antibiotics and steroids now so hopefully I will start to feel better - trust me to get an infection at the start of a Bank Holiday.

Came home and started to colour in a couple of images, didn't get very far as you can see.  Hopefully after having my INR's checked in the morning I will do some more.

Need to move with these as I am behind with birthday cards and one is for someone special.

A nice thing did happen over the weekend - my parcel arrived from Jude.  I had won some blog candy from her and the parcel arrived at just the right moment.  You know when you are feeling down and the Postie Van comes (not Pat and his little Black Cat though) and the parcel you thought had vitamin tablets in contains some crafting goodies for you!  Well, I was absolutely delighted.  Thank you so much Jude.

Look at all these goodies.

Can't begin to list them all so click on the picture and it should open up in a new window much larger so you can sit and drool.

Rightio, must toddle back to bed now as I have missed so much sleep these past few days.  Do remember to go to the link above and have "a right royal gander"!

A Late Entry for JFF?

I fully intended doing a book for the Just for Fun Triangle Challenge this last week but I fell by the wayside and was nowhere near finished when I had to upload it to the blog for Zoe.

Because I had papers cut and ready I decided I would carry on, little did I know I would end up cutting more and more papers and making the beginnings of more and more of these books.

Here's a little video to show you what these look like and how easy they are to construct.  Before you go any further let me say that I did contact Lynne (Wilkinson aka 'Whacky Wilky') and get her permission before doing this.  What I have done is all down to her teaching skills but I cannot find her instructions anywhere - good job it is only my short term memory that fails me these days.

Just one more thing - the stamp that says "Across the Miles" is by Non Sequitur and not Paperartsy as I say on the video.  Apologies to both companies!

Hope you enjoyed this and will have a go yourself.  Remember it does not matter what the size of the paper is  - wonder if someone will have a go at a 1" x 1" one?  Or a 12" x 12" - as long as it is square it should work.  You will notice a boo boo (or two or three) in the video when I mention the sizes of paper at the end - I say 8 x 12 when in fact it should be 12 x 12 - doh!  I haven't a clue how to put writing over the top of my picture - come on, can just about manage to get a video up.

Just for Fun - Triangles

This week the shape Von has chosen is a triangle.  First thing I thought of making was a banner and then one of my pyramid boxes - did I do either?  No!

I did intend doing a pyramid book like the one Lynne had shown me once at Katy's Corner on a workshop I attended but the best laid plans of mice and men and all that.  Instead I made a trionimo pendant. Here it is:

I am sending this down to Zoe for inclusion in the swap for this month.

I first of all stamped the image with Stazon on a lightly sanded trionimo and then coloured it in with my Caran d'Ache water crayons. Then I applied Glossy Accents over the top to give it a protective layer and also a nice sheen to it.  The sides were coloured with Brilliance Peacock (the turquoise colour) and a bead was added to the top.

Hope that whoever gets it enjoys wearing it.

Can't wait to see what creations you ladies (and men if we have any entering) all come up with for this week's challenge.  Pop along to the Just for Fun Challenge and let us see your entry - promise I will try to come along and comment.

WOYWW 99 (oh wow!)

Not much to show you on my workdesk again this week - I have been doing a lot of resting since my ordeal last week so crafting has had to go on the slow cooker.  What you see on my desk is something I am working on for tomorrow - yes, last minute, adrenalin and all that.

Instead of my dirty green cutting mat you now have my equally dirty red foam stamping mat.  I would not be without it, it is fabulous - thanks Mary!  I did try to keep it pristine but it soon got stamped on, hence the grubby look.  So what is on it?  To the left you can see a bit of a tin that I store my um's in.  Then there is the window for my domino stamping, a matchbox with some tags that I once did with Lynne and a blank one in front as I want to do another and some bits and pieces to the right for something the "thing" I am doing for tomorrow which is part of my DT piece.  I am hoping to do a video tutorial for it as well.

I'll show you the tin and give you some idea of how I store my um's.

This is my "Women" tin

I try to categorise my stamps and then I stamp the images on a sheet of A6 and laminate it, then put my um's on the reverse side and put them in the appropriate tin.  Some tins are way too full and have spilled over into others and some, I must confess, are still in drawers.  

You can see a bit of one of my drawer sets - these mainly house my mounted stamps and A4 sheets like Oxford Impressions and Non Sequitur but there are some others that get put in there.

How do you store your um's?  Would love to read all about it on one of your postings on The Stamping Ground.  If you are new to the "snoop of the week" you won't know what on earth I am on about or what the title of this blog stands for.  Pop on over to Ms Dunnit's blog and see - click on one or two of the names and have a good old nosey around to see what others are doing.  

Oh, get a cuppa first, it is addictive!

Birthday Cards at Last

At last I have got around to uploading my birthday cards on my blog.  These are the handmade ones from my friends and there is a huge selection of styles and techniques.  Each one is a beauty in its own right and the video starts with one from Chloe, my friend's little girl, aged 3.  My surrogate grandchild.

Hope you enjoy.

This is my first attempt at doing a video on my blog so apologies for any bloopers, lack of closeups etc etc but hopefully the dynamic duo (Chas and myself) will get better at it as time goes on.  Who knows what you will watch next time!

Just for Fun - Square - Well a Curly One

I really wanted to use this canvas that I had prepped ages ago - months probably - and done nothing with apart from stamp some frayed canvas on and put some runny bits on.  Can't even remember what I used - suppose it could have been Stewart Gill Paint - that's what it looks like.

Then the other week Florence had this amazing piece of work on her blog which was a rectangular piece with squares on it - that got me thinking.  So I cut out a large Curly Square (Spellbinders Grand Labels One) in purple, then a smaller one in pink cardstock and mounted the pink on the purple.

I just had to use my Dressmakers Dummy die from Tim Holtz (The Sewing Room) and I included the button (well three of them with thread through the centres) and the bobbin of cotton which I wound round with some thread after colouring with Antique Linen Distress Stain and edging with a bit of Walnut DI to give it some depth.  The needlepack is from Oxford Impressions "The Dressmaker" and I love it - don't think I have used this before and the thimble was a button which I cut the shank from to stick it down.

The Dummy was first cut in mountboard and then coloured with Walnut Distress Stain and then I put Glossy Accents over the parts to be exposed so that they looked like polished wood.  Then a canvas one was cut for the dress only, coloured with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and stuck on.  Embellishments were added - pearls around the neck, a rose (thanks Dot) at the waist and a beaded fringe at the bottom.

I had made some lace flowers with my friend Dot when she stayed with me a while ago and I am sure she will be pleased to see they got used at last - I put a button for the centre of each.  Then I put a further three teeny buttons in a cluster below to tie off the stamping.

Finally a bit of braid got some colour on it with a swipe across an ink pad (Milled Lavender).

This is my DT piece for Just for Fun this week - I hope you like it and I look forward to seeing what Square pieces you come up with.  Hopefully I'll be around to have a look and leave you a comment.