WOYWW

Is anyone else having problems with photos taking forever to download?

I had to abandon loading photographs up yesterday as they would just not appear and when they did the button to upload them to the blog did not light up.  Anyway, here goes with this posting which I am doing the night before and scheduling - otherwise I will be sat at my computer for hours and 'miss the boat' as they say.

Well, last week whilst on holiday in Derbyshire, the day of the Tramway Museum, I got a phone call.  The hospital had had a cancellation so tomorrow (Thursday) I will be going in for my cardioversion.  Just hoping that it works and I can throw off my shackles and return once more to walking around without all the breathing problems I have at the moment.  Can I ask for a little prayer tonight for it to be successful please.  I'm a little scared if I am honest.

On to WOYWW now.  I have not been very productive, have three images watercoloured but not made into cards yet - these are for upcoming birthdays of friends and you might sneak a peek at them.

To the left is my matchbox.  Remember last week I showed you the tiny one I had sent to someone?  Well this is the one I received from AJ.  Here you can see all the goodies I got inside (major drool)

Here goes:  lace she painted herself, charms because they all relate to the sea and she lives on the UK's most remote inhabited island - Fair Isle and wait for it fibre and yarn she hand spins herself.  In fact, when I contacted her through a bit of detective work (there had been no addie in her box) this is what she told me "The wrapped fibre is fleece from my own Shetland sheep, blended with combed silk fibers then ran through my combing hackle, it's amazing stuff felted ! Very visually dimensional just through the play on light the sheen from the silk gives you."  I wish you could all see the sheen on it.  I have to think long and carefully how I am going to use this - Twiglet and Wispo are you listening?

As you can see, the matchbox itself is covered in Wizard of Oz paper and has The Scarecrow on top with yet more charms attached and there is a notebook as well.  Thanks AJ, I love my matchbox of your life.

Well, for those of you who read my holiday story yesterday here are some photos from Chatsworth.

The Hall itself

My favourite of all the bedrooms - just loved the colour of these drapes.

Had to show you this one, the big bed has another one attached at the bottom - is this for when she throws him out for snoring?

Ever wondered where they keep it in posh houses?  A thing 'a purpose!

I cannot begin to tell you how organised Chatsworth is for disabled people.  Because I was in a wheelchair it was like a military operation but without the militariness (is that a word?).  As they put me in the lift between floors they radioed to the floor I was going to and someone met me at the top to set me off on my way.  It was a pleasure to visit so a BIG THANK YOU to all the staff at Chatsworth and I encourage anyone who is disabled to visit there, you will be made to feel special.

Anyway, there is to be an exhibition in the grounds in September - of sculptures - here are some of them:

This lion looked as if it was made from tyres

This was my favourite, despite the fact that I couldn't get near to it (no access for a wheelchair at the moment) but it had literally just gone up.  Chas, bless him, went and took a photo for me - it is HUGE - and very Asian.  There was something being assembled further on, we could see a crane, and Chas found out that it is a sculpture by Damien Hurst.  Think I am going to have to go back to see all of these.

The last one I have for you is called Chloe, as some of you know my friend has a little girl (apple of my eye) whose name is Chloe so this ends my Chatsworth journey for today ... hope you enjoyed it.

A Few Days in Derbyshire

As you probably read we decided to have a few days away last week and chose a hotel in Derbyshire to celebrate (late) Chas' birthday.  On the way down we called at Dunham Massey and to my delight we saw lots and lots of Fallow Deer (think they are "Fallow" ones)

We were lucky to see a heron flying over the lake - he landed in this tree and I actually got a few shots of him.

Unfortunately people in wheelchairs can only go on the ground floor of the house and watch a virtual tour so we decided not to bother, then it came on raining so we headed back to the car.  Saying that we had spent a fair amount of time outside so heading on to the hotel was fine.

Next day we went to Crich Tramway Museum.  This was Chas' choice and I was kind of "not bothered" until I read about it and then I was as enthusiastic as he was.

This is the conductor stood at the back of one of the trams as it makes its way up the main street and on to show passengers stunning views of the Derwent Valley.

This is the Sweet Shop  ...

... the Tardis Police Box which originally stood on the North Circular Road in London and was operated by the Metropolitan Police, and finally ...

... The Red Lion Pub which was rescued from Stoke on Trent and rebuilt brick by brick at the Tramway Museum where we had a glass of cider whilst sat outside in the sunshine.

It really was a great day out and you should look it up on the internet and if ever in the vicinity call in and spend a day wandering and seeing all the trams they have rescued and rebuilt in the Grand Hall. It only costs you one old penny to ride the tram so that is something else you can do - but there is more.  Lots more.

Finally on our third day in Derbyshire we called at Chatsworth on our way home.  What an experience!  Especially for someone in a wheelchair.  They are so lovely with you, nothing is too much trouble and it is all organised so very very well.  I didn't want to go home!

Will post some pictures from Chatsworth another day as I am having problems dowloading them - is this Blogger?

Hope you have enjoyed the ones I have uploaded.

Another Black, White and Silver Card

I meant to upload this card on Thursday but somehow, with being away, it got forgotten.  This is a card someone sent to me a long time ago but one which I have kept because I loved how she had done it.  Sorry but I no longer remember who sent it to me but I am fairly sure it was someone from Ready Steady Stamp (a Yahoo Group).  I really must try this out, don't have the stamp but bet it is a Magenta one - probably not available now!

Each little section is cut out and then there is some silicon glue underneath one side to give it an undulating look - this might explain better

Whilst on this I thought I would show you the fold on my sample for JFF as the photograph did not portray it as it is.  This is one in the making with the square missing at the moment.

So you just fold the front of your white card up as in the picture above,  put a sheet of black card (A6) behind and stick down.  Then place your square image on top.  (See Thursday's post).

Birthday Card

I did say I would upload Chas' Birthday Card the other week and am finally getting around to it.  For some reason it would not scan at all well and so I ended up taking a photograph of it.

It started off like a card I had seen on the internet but I could not understand the instructions at all - you had four 'fanned' pieces of card (stay with me on this one - mountain and valley folds?).  You had to put glue in the valleys of one of the pieces and attach the other one to it.  Now how do you do that?  No cutting is involved so how does one piece fit to the other?

Anyway, 'dipsy doo' here had it firmly in her mind that she wanted to do this particular card for 'himself'.  So she set about making four card fronts - each one to be another layer attached with mounting foam.  This is the result:

The stamps are Elusive Images and Crafty Individuals and the colouring was with watercolour crayons - at least the painting was nice and restful.

What I realised after I had painstakingly cut each of these out, leaving the frame intact, was that I could have just stamped the images, yes I would still have had to cut them out, and then mounted them one over the other with different thicknesses of foam tape.

Then you wonder why I am blonde!!

Black, White & Silver

Over on Just for Fun Sam's additional colour this week is Silver.  So now we are challenging you all to make something in Black White and Silver.

I've always loved the folds of this card done in Black and White so with the addition of a silver square here is my entry for this week.

WOYWW

Nothing to show you on my desk because I am not there.  Had a night away from home in a hotel so done a scheduled post and hoping some kind soul will link me.  If you go over to see what Ms Dunnit has been up to you will find lots of desks where people have lots to show you so head over to the Stamping Ground but maybe linger here a while and tell me what you think of my handbag.

Recently I joined in a swap on Neil's blog where you had a matchbox (either size/choice yours) which you decorated and filled with "things" to show the recipient a bit about you.  Well, maybe it is the dizzy blonde in me that did it but I chose to decorate and fill the small matchbox.  I can upload it now as I think the recipient (who has not a clue who I am) has no link to my blog and should have received it.

One thing I like is handbags.  I collect them like other women collect shoes.  So turning my matchbox into a handbag seemed the sensible thing to do (a clue to me).  I like working with metal so the front piece was copper and I love art nouveau, hence the design.  The remainder of the handbag was coloured using my favourite -  Distress Inks!

The back had labels on a) because I like to Travel, b) because I like Vintage (Past) and c) because I value Friendships.

Inside were further clues about me

A cat printed on a piece of material (I like cats - like dogs too), a mini domino book (used to be well known for my domino stamping), a dumfing (just got into this) kite bookmark, a polymer clay (love clay) bead, a Shrink Plastic jigsaw piece, some Friendly Plastic (love these medias), cogs (love Steampunk), a clockface charm (love "Time" as a theme), a glass bottle with a message inside (lots of bits written on hand decorated paper about me), hearts to signify my health problem at the moment and a smiley face because Von said I had to include one.  Phew!  

A bit of a struggle to get everything in as it was just about chock-a-block.  Wonder what other peeps have done?

Thank You

This card is a "Thank you" for a guy named Phil who I have never met, and am never likely to meet, but who has kindly loaned me his wheelchair to help me get about whilst my breathing is so bad.  I need to pick up my new specs but the shop is a fair walk (for me) from the nearest car park and as for getting my hair cut - that would have been a complete "no no".

So big thanks to Jo and Dave for asking their friend Phil if I could borrow it.  Hopefully after the cardioversion in 6 weeks time I will be back to normal and able to get about without all the problems I am experiencing at the moment.

The card was one done at Vicky Stampers with Caz the other week - lost mine (really how can you lose a card?) so have had to make another one which bears no resemblance to the previous one.  This view is the front cover

Apparently Phil likes Action Movies and that is all Jo could tell me - I know this is not strictly "action" but it is film themed.  It opens out and there are tags with slide mounts inside them - for the purpose of showing you I have taken scans at various stages.  This is the inside before the tags are attached.

When we did it with Caz we stamped in bleach, went over with Chalk Inks and then used Lumieres over stencils and sequin waste to create pattern on the cover.  I used Brilliance Ink and stamps for this one! All the pictures and words are ones I once downloaded when I did an album for Chas for his birthday.

Here are the tags and the slide mounts that sit inside them.  The slide mounts were coloured with Lumieres and sequin waste/stencils whilst the tags were coloured using Distress Inks.

Each slide mount is double sided so there is another actor on each one.  

This is the inside of the completed card showing the tags attached.

I hope it is ok for Phil and he likes old movies as well as his "Action" ones.