Guess Where I Am

If I show you a card I made - before I set off I hasten to add - it might give you a clue as to where I am at this precise moment (yes, this is a scheduled post):

Yeah!  It's a Finnabair stamp (from Oyster Stamps at the Leigh weekend) and I am with the lady herself!!  I am on another Finnabair weekend but this time in Stockton on Tees.

Went up with Lorraine on Friday and home again after a class this morning and one all day on Sunday.  Can't wait to get there and see what we are going to make.

The card above?  Well, it is a birthday card for my dil - no worries they never go on my blog - do they know I have one?  Neither of them like handmade cards, well mine, but I thought I would try this new stamp out.  Just did some Distress Inks for the background and then painted some circles with H2o's, and there is a tiny gem in the bottom right hand corner.

Oh, it's Sam's birthday Tuesday.

Will have to see what I do with the other stamps - watch this space - I have three sets ... at the moment ...

Artful Times New Challenge - Birds

Well, we managed to have a few more entries last time and we are hoping for more for this one as Wendy has chosen "Birds".  I think everyone likes birds and I was delighted not long ago to see a woodpecker visiting us again.  He was having a good old go at the branch - wonder if it is the same one we saw once before?  Today it looks as if the Coal Tits are back, we really need to get another nesting box up and I am hoping they still get fed each morning as I am away with a friend of mine this weekend. More on that another day.

Here is my little card

I made this for this challenge but with the idea of sending it off to someone to let them know I was thinking of her.  Lost it!  Honestly, that's the second or third thing I have totally misplaced recently. Found it when it was too late and I had had to make another card - under the cover of the scanner. Why did I not think to look there!

I cannot remember who makes this stamp, looks like an Inkadinkadoo to me.  I stamped and embossed it in black and then coloured in with a tiny paintbrush and my H2o's.  I chose those because of the great colours they come in and also because of the sparkle they give.

Luckily I found some paper which co-ordinated very well with the colour on the flower and I just left it plain with just the mount as I am sure the person it was intended for would prefer a CAS card to a fussy one.

Why not pop along to Artful Times and see what our Guest Designer came up with this time.  It is the second time for Chris and I would like to thank her for joining us and hope she enjoyed making the cards as much as we enjoyed seeing them.

WOYWW 299

Today I am showing you my alternative desk because the other one does not really have anything on it.

This one has some of the things I brought home with me from Leigh Show at weekend.  The heartshaped pieces and the circles (that have squares underneath them) are waiting for me to Gesso them and then I am making some sets up ready as samples for the show at Harrogate in March.  Can you just see something at the side of the bowl - well that is a coaster set and hopefully in a week or two I will have something made up to show you.  It's a great bargain at only £5 and you get six coasters and a little box type thing to stand them in.  Great for kids to decorate for Mothers or Grandmothers for birthday presents, or Mother's Day which is just around the corner.

Underneath the heart is my spray booth and above it is a lovely design from Poppy Stencils which I managed to acquire as I wandered around the show.  The little pot with the green circle on is a teabag with strong tea in it ready for my dripping down a canvas that I am hoping to do.  In the bowl?

Gesso, Glue N' Seal and the most fantastic sprays.  They are by Prima, have Mica in them and I just fell in love with them.  OK so I have lots of Mica sprays - yes, but these do not seem to clog up.  I shook one when I first got it from the shelf to activate it but then at the end of two days all I needed to do was rock it from left to right and back again and it sprayed brilliantly.  At only £4.50 I can see me buying lots.  Maybe I will work for nothing at Harrogate and just spend my wages on sprays!

These are on my real table in my craft room.  Two sets of stamps by Ryn and two of Finnabair's stencils.  I forgot to take a photo of her stamps that I got - you can wait until next week though and maybe then I will have some samples for you.  Two more stencils too - but I cannot find them - BUT I DID FIND MY BLACK BOX LAST WEEK (put away in the correct drawer - but I forgot I had designated this drawer for more Hearfelt Creations stuff).

All of these goodies are courtesy of Oyster Stamps who I was working for, well, it is supposed to be work but it was like 'playtime heaven' for me with all the new Finnbair stuff to use.  What a wonderful boss Tracey is to let me loose with this lot.  Remember to call back next week to see what I have done with an image or two from Finnabair.

In the meantime go along to the stamping ground and see what Julia has to offer and then mosey on down to some other desks - a great time will be had I can assure you.

WOYWW 298

Well, my desk is completely bare.  Looks tidy but it isn't, there is stuff all over the place and I have lost my Sunflowers and my mats to do my flowers on.  Not a clue where to look but they are in a smallish black box somewhere.  Anyway - here are the cards I was making last week

and todays desk?

Went for a stroll around the lake at a local park on Sunday to see the local bird life.  Not as many geese and swans as usual but the seagulls - they took over. They would soar and swoop and then all come back and sit on these posts, starting with the one furthest on the left and working up to the right of the photo.

This handsome swan would not turn for a photograph but stood on the small lake edge having a a preening session.

and I wore my flat cap in true Northern style

What a lovely day, and early February.

Now to hop over to Julia's blog and see what she has been up to - loved the magpie picture she showed yesterday.  See you there!

Romance Anyone? - Challenge 74 Artful Times

"Love is in the air, 

Everywhere I look around, 

Love is in the air,

Every sight and every sound"

I think that must have been going through my head as I got ready for the 74th Challenge at Artful Times.  It is certainly what materialised in the afternoon that I was "humming and aahing" what to do.

Defeated by my first attempt at making a romantic card for a girl-friend I then thought I would make one for my other half.  Somehow I went in my head for black and red - was that more manly?  No. Well what was it then that was sending me down that road?  Still not a clue but this is what I ended up making ... a box for his pens and pencils on his desk at home.

Uncertain that my box maker would deal with something so long (it is just over 8.5" in length) I decided to map out what I thought was the shape I wanted for the base.  Well, I got that right and it fitted together perfectly despite the cardstock being quite strong (and stiff).

Not so easy with my first attempt at the sleeve to cover it.  Awkward to allow that tiny bit of a difference in the measurements but necessary to allow it to fit snug but yet be easily moved back and forth.  Eventually it was completed - now what to do for the decoration?

A bit of lace (cardstock) to cover the marks I had made when I went "off piste" with my bone folder on the board.  Oh Gosh!  This is looking 'tarty'!  Hearts?  do I have any small enough to go in the gap, and if so how do I fill the long central gap?

Two 'birds' later I cut out the word "love" with my favourite alphabet die (Memory Box from Oyster Stamps) then wondered if I could fit in the lyrics that kept going through my head.  In for a penny I decided to cut the rest of the letters out and there you have it.  Or rather there he has it.

Not entirely happy with my finished product but still with no other ideas coming up that has to be it. So if you wish to see something much better I suggest you pop along to Artful Times and see what else there is to show.  Something new on there as well as what Wendy has made but I am keeping 'zipped up' so as not to spoil it but it is worth popping along to see us.

Late Night Edition:

On looking for inspiration to paint/decorate this heart (first picture underneath) which I must have bought three or four years ago at Michaels I wandered on to Pinterest and quite liked the look of a box someone made.  However, I was "boxed out" so I made mine into a card instead (second picture underneath).  All made with Spellbinders dies - hope you like it.  It's a card where you put the die to the fold.

Think I will keep the box and just give him the card - it's a bit more masculine!

WOYWW 297

We creep ever closer to that 300 mark - 'we' being the faithful bloggers who like a nosey around one another's desks who report to our glorious creator, Julia, each Wednesday with a view of our desks.

Again not much to see on mine, well that is a fib but what I mean is I have not got any pretty crafting to show you - again!

This is it - complete with pretty pink mat

(courtesy of my friend Mary in America)

As you can see I am supposed to be making some flowers for a card for this weekend - I had better get a move on as I have other things to do and I need to finish the last episode of The 100 that I did not manage to watch last night before anything.  I have started colouring the flowers in purples and I somehow don't think I have made enough.  

To the right of my pink mat is a matchbox or two which houses Flat Susan.  Do you remember her? She has just arrived from visiting Kate in Spain and she needs a new suitcase to continue her travels with.  She is resting at the moment but should be off shortly.  I hope all the people who have said they would let her visit are still available, it's so long since they made the commitment..

Behind the Flat Susan stuff is a pretty striped box that held some gorgeous hand made soap from a friend in America.  (Mary's eldest daughter, Cindee, actually) and next to it is a box I used to transport even more handmade soaps home in.  Cindee's daughter in law makes these soaps and they are beautiful to look at and smell wonderful.  I don't want to use them!

Behind the soaps is my tub of Cola Bottles - I love these little guys and they are ideal to pop in your mouth when you want something to refresh you whilst crafting (or just passing by).

Well, that is it - my desk - maybe next week there will be something interesting on it - you just never know.  See you over at Julia's!

WOYWW 296

Well, to make up for last week's great long post I will try to keep this one short.  Plus I have still got jet lag.  Yes, I know, I should be over it by now but when I waken up (around 5 am) my head starts buzzing with all sorts of things - some good, some not so good.  So I have to get up to avoid it all. Then I am sound asleep early evening and napping on and off all day.

Anyway, last night I tried to keep awake (after my sleep) and had another go with the Oil Smudge technique I had done at CHA.  Did one completed card but never copied it for you to see - and it had a bird on - but I don't think I have got the hang of birds yet.  Why one of the cards below has strokes to the left and one to the right I haven't a clue?  I think one of them looks wrong.  Anyway, they now want words on them, maybe some trees and then making into cards - or dumping in the bin!

Turned my scrap paper over for you to see the wording on it - I think the Class Rules are brilliant and should be mounted in a few craft rooms - "rules of the craftroom" not "class".  *Who is Marah Johnson and where did I get this paper?

See you over at Julia's place?  I feel like a mooch around some desks.

* Looked her up she is at Huntington Beach and she has some pretty cool stuff on her FB page and her blog - wow, she is an artist!  I am impressed!