Busy Bee Sunday

Well I have been a proper busy bee today. I've been finalising the card designs for the workshops and demo in Devon so that I can let the stamp company have a list tomorrow of the stamps that will need to be sent to the shop I am at.

The design below is my final one and I have used the TandaStamps Far East Set 3 along with my Bondaweb technique over hand stamped paper.

Have to say that I'm pretty chuffed with it.

I've had to scan it over three views as my scanner wouldn't take the full width of the card.

View 1 is the card closed and folded. Like this it will fit into a C6 envelope.

View 2 is with the left panel open..........

and View 3 is with the right panel open.

When the card is standing the front panel stands forward........a little bit like a chimney breast.

So that is now all prepared......workshop packs done, instructions typed up and a list of materials that need to be packed is all done so I just need to finish the other packs and instructions before next Saturday and then I have promised myself a day out on either Sunday or Monday for a little crafty spend up at Crab Apple Crafts in Cheshire.

It will only be a little spend as it's just a ride out to get me out of the house for a few hours and spend some quality time with my DD.

Hope you've all had a smashing weekend in the lovely sunshine.

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

More DCM Tempting Template Cards

Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs..lol!!!

Having said that I wasn't over fond of or very good at templates I've been on a bit of a roll with the one that Jane gave us for the Daring Cardmakers challenge yesterday. It is still only the very basic template but by card three I was thinking that maybe I didn't have to put my stamped image onto a rectangle of card....so a slight improvement.

The butterfly on the square card looks so much nicer in real life. It has been stamped onto overhead projection film, run through a Xyron Sticker Maker and had crumpled Fantasy Film applied to the reverse.

When it's not squashed flat to a scanner bed the butterfly is 3D as I have stamped and painted it onto a piece of pale blue card and then mounted the film one over the top, attaching it just in the centre with a piece of DST. The light catches the Fantasy Film beautifully.

Now I warned you on Wednesday that I would be coming home from work Thursday with goodies for my stash didn't I?.......Well the gorgeous lady stamp at the top is just part of that stash. She is from Clarity Stamps and I was shown the technique used to pattern her dress by the fabulous Barbara Santerelli(owner of Clarity Stamps)herself at the trade show.

So I have stamped the image in black Stazon onto smooth white card and colourwashed her using an Adirondack ink pad in Slate.

I stamped her again onto copier paper and removed the areas of her dress to create a mask. Placing the mask over the stamped image I then used a pattern stamp from a set of Elusive Images stamps to add pattern with the black Stazon...I think it's very effective.

The Glamour stamp is from a Rubbadubbadoo set.

I'm afraid I didn't stop at just one stamp and ended up with three. The others were a ruler and a rather gorgeous shoe which I am sure I shall be doing something with very soon....once more pressing jobs are out of the way.

Thanks very much for stopping by.

Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers-Tasty Template

This weeks challenge set by Jane from the Daring Cardmakers is a template.

Now I nearly didn't do this one as I'm not really over fond of templates but I've been feeling a bit off it today and couldn't concentrate on making lists or doing up class packs so I decided to have a play and I really quite enjoyed it.

I have followed the template quite closely as I am not proficient enough at using them to start moving things around etc.

So here is my effort........nothing groundbreaking or innovative.......although I was very pleasantly surprised at the lovely vintage wash on the stamped rose which is done with Memories ink pads. I've never tried painting with these before and thought they would be very strong colours but picked up with a waterbrush they give this lovely soft, faded, chintzy look. The rose and text stamps are Elusive Images.

Paper is by K&Co and I have chalked it to age it a bit.

Thanks again to the DCM team.........I just don't know how you do it week after week.

Beside meself with excitement!!!

Oh gawd I am sooooooooo excited today.

I have just opened my mail for today to find a preview copy of the June issue of Craft Stamper magazine and....................I have been published (fainty type smily needed here)...lol.

I have stopped looking at it long enough to scan the cover to show you but I don't think I would be allowed to show the inside article which is a six page spread........six blooming pages.......oh my life!!!

Here is the cover(I screamed when I saw it and hubby is now calling the men in white coats).

I am going to let you guess which is my effort to see if you get it right.Back later I just need to go and check that I wasn't seeing things.

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

No wonder they call me Manic!!!

I've had quite a busy day today.......quite being a bit of an understatement.

This flippin' Domestic Goddess keeps fighting to get out and if I didn't know better I would think I was nesting or something for a new little arrival.

I seem to have developed a mania for wanting things to be tidy and nice, fresh flowers in the lounge, waste bins emptied every day, dusting......I am getting quite frightened.

I've done more home cooking in the last fortnight than in the last two years and me and the hoover seem to have become bosom buddies.

If I start letting you all know where the best prices on groceries are instead of craft stuff........somebody take me out and shoot me.

Anyway...last night I was sorting out a box of A5 card and found loads of odd sheets left over from projects which I would normally either die cut or take to the shop and put on the paper stand. Instead I decided to have a bit of a play with my jar of bleach, the kitchen scrub pad and an old syringe from an inkjet refill kit.

Before I start I always paint a spot of bleach onto the back of the card to see how it will turn. After all there is no sense in wasting time artistically applying bleach if the colour underneath is horrible or the card doesn't react at all.

In the past I have had some absolutely amazing colour changes happen and also my fair share of disappointing results.

The top three pieces have been done with the kitchen scrub pad......the flat green ones not the ones on sponge.

I cut a piece from the pad and stuck it to a spare wooden block with DST which makes it much easier to handle.

I poured some bleach onto an old plate......just a small puddle which I then spread out to give a thin layer.

Then its just a case of dipping the pad and stamping it onto the card twisting the block to get a more random pattern.

This second set has been done using the inkjet refill syringe.

Just fill the syringe with bleach......thick is best for this method.

Then hold the syringe in one hand and gently depress the plunger for a constant stream. Move your hand in a scribbling motion and take the bleach off the edges of the card for a more natural look.

Leave on one side to dry.

This technique never ceases to fascinate me as every piece is unique.

These pieces will be worked on some more with stamps and inks to produce some one off background papers for use on some collage cards I have in mind. They probably won't get done until later in the week as tonight I am trying to put the final touches to some class projects for the shop.........ooh talking of which.........the Clarity Stamp order has arrived. I got a very excited call from the boss to let me know they were here today so as it is payday tomorrow you can almost certainly expect to hear of new additions to my stash when I get home.

Well best go before I bore you to death.

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers Little Extra

Here is my effort for the Daring Cardmakers Little Extra challengeThe backing paper is a scrap of patterned paper that I have recoloured using Scrappers Dyes in a mixture of Crimson and Blackberry. It has then been overstamped in black Versafine.

The harlequin patterned layer started life as a piece of red card which I bleached, applying the bleach with a piece of green kitchen scrub pad. Once dry I overstamped in black Versafine.

The boy image (Paper Artsy) has been stamped onto cream copier paper and coloured with Scrappers Dye in Blue and Autumn Inks in Autumn Gold.

The crown has been cut on my best friend Jiminy Cricut.

Text is computer generated and coloured with Scrappers Dyes again in Crimson and Blackberry.

The inks are by a company called Sticky Fingers based in Coppull, Lancashire.

Thanks for looking

Sheila-x-

Mmmmm just been looking at this on screen and the colours aren't very true to life.They are more 'primary' than they look.....the blue is definitely not that odd turquoise colour IRL.

Daring Cardmakers Felt Challenge

Well a toughie challenge this week from The Daring Cardmakers.

The challenge was to make a card using felt which is not something I use very much usually but......and how spooky is this..........I had just been out and bought a pile of felt to die cut into flowers to make some embellishments.

The first card isn't perhaps what the challenge had in mind but I went with my first flash of inspiration to produce a piece of work which I have called 'After The Rain'.

It is an abstract piece representing a garden after it has rained using sequins in the rainbow colours and sparkly thread and glitter glue to represent the rain on flowers and foliage.

I had the most perfect stamp for this .........a huge background of circles by Just For Fun........which I stamped onto a piece of felt using Stazon in black.

The coloured sequins were hand sewn on and then the circles were outline in silver chain stitch done by hand.

The black sequins were added with Glossy Accents and then some of the smaller circles were embellished with Diamond Stickles.

I managed to make two cards this week because I thought perhaps the stitched piece was a little self indulgent.

So this one is what I first intended to use the felt for.

The flowers are die cut using a Sizzix Flower Charms die. I have layered them and stitched a little detail then added a gem to the centre.

Stems are strips of silver card and I used a scrap of black card for the vase.

Sorry about the rubbish scan but the knot on the ribbon was a bit of a problem.

Time for me to get to grips with this digital camera I think.

Thanks for looking

Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers-New Home Card

As usual I am days behind everyone else.
This is my effort for the Daring Cardmakers mid week challenge to make a new home card.
The colour scheme is not actually planned as the Bazzill pieces and the spotted paper were on my desk from some previous projects and after squinting at them for five minutes thought they looked quite pretty together. The house is a tag and I drew around the top of another tag for the roof.
Flowers are some peeloffs that I am trying to get rid of so I will make another card like this and then they are outta here.
Have to admit that I am pretty chuffed with the sentiment as I hand wrote it. I did play safe and do it first in pencil though.........lol!!!
Thanks for the challenge.........I have been thinking about doing new home cards in a larger size and I think I shall definitely do this one again.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

The rest of my birthday cards

Hazel and Jeans cards..........they were hiding........lol.

The last few of my cards from the Birthday Club Laura

Jukie

Helen Mc

The cards below are from people who are not members of the Birthday Club but I just had to show them as they are so lovely.

There should be one from Hazel and also Jean but I must have left them at work when I took my cards to show Deb

Deb

Wendy

Sue
Meryl

I'm just a girl who can't say no!!! Edited to add picture

Scanner is now fixed and picture added.
Isn't this stamp just gorgeous? The words also come in the set along with two others.
The stamping is just Stazon black onto white card and then the colouring has been done with Hi-Text Mini Metal markers which I have had in my drawer for several years but rather than colour straight from the pen I have scribbled onto plastic and then picked up colour with a water brush to get a soft pastel wash. Memories Metallic Markers also work very well.
Didn't have the right pink card so coloured just around the edges that would show with a wash of the same colour as the rose.
I think this set will get lots of use.
Yes as you may have guessed.........I have been spending again.
One day I will come home with all my wages in cash and not in a carrier bag......lol!!! This week I could no longer resist the urge to buy the small set of rose stamps by Elusive Images. I also added to my collection of patterned Bazzill as I want to use some to make up some of the handbag cards. Nabbed a couple more sheets of Basic Grey too as stocks are getting pretty low and a few metres of ribbon........like I really need any.......lol........but it was just sooooo pretty......a pale pink with brown dots and a soft green with brown dots.........yummy!!!
Rushed home and made a lovely card with my new stamps, went to scan it to share it with you and the flippin' scanner won't work for some reason. It will have to wait until DD has a look at it for me in the morning as I have checked what I dare but I don't do wires and plugs as I am scared of putting something in the wrong place and blowing it up.........stupid I know but that's just me.
So I'm sorry there are no pictures tonight.
Well I think I will go and get a bit of diecutting done. I was looking in a drawer for some tag templates which weren't there but I found a huge pile of Bazzill and DCWV card offcuts which I thought I had used but obviously not so I need to get that sorted out and used up.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

It's me again!!!

Hello

Sorry I haven't blogged for a couple of days.........I'm having problems with the computer due to the warmer weather and I have been a busy little bee trying to design some new classes for the shop.

One I have done is way, way outside my comfort zone and that is the handbag card above. I wanted to design a handbag that didn't have zig zag folds in the base but opened like a card. I also didn't want it to have just straight sides so I have designed a template which you lay along the fold of an A5 card resulting in this tapered shape.

I designed it so that the flap of the bag is cut as part of the front of the card but also have designed a second template for doing different flaps.

Boy it was a tough one for me to get spot on as I really don't usually do such exact work as you all know.

I've made several up and decorated them in different ways but the one above is my favourite as I have stamped it..........there has to be stamping for me.

I used my favourite stamp from the Elusive Images Roses set and stamped onto ivory pearlised card using a Brilliance-Coffee Bean ink pad after cutting out the handbag shape.

The flap was made separately from some Stardream card and I cut the thin strips from that too.

The clasp is made from punched circles the smallest one is cut from part of a stamped rose and has been coated in Crackle Accents. Once that was dry I applied some brown chalk with my finger to enhance the cracks.

I'm fairly pleased with it I must say and I'm now working on some cards with different folds to add another class to the schedule.

Getting excited now about my workshops and demos in Devon. The hotel is booked and a provisional list of used materials sent to the shop owner so that he can start ordering in supplies.

Both days are fully booked which is exciting and then the demo in the shop on Saturday is always such fun so lots to look forward to.

I also have something else rather exciting coming up but I ain't telling at the moment........you will have to 'watch this space' for a little while.

Had loads more lovely handmade cards for my birthday which I will share with you as soon as I get them scanned.

My thoughts and prayers this week are with-:

The families touched by the terrible shootings in America.

The family of Roger White who shared my birthday and sadly passed away just days before his 65th.

Hazel who is going through a worrying time with her health but still manages to be a rock for her husband and a supportive friend to others.

Gail, my friend who has collapsed twice in the last week and is now in hospital undergoing tests and who has probably by now demolished half the hospital and flashed her bum at other unsuspecting patients.......forgetting that hospital gowns don't do up at back. She is a pure joy to have as a friend......get well soon matey.

Right I had best go and sort out my stuff for tomorrow.

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

For Rainbowgirl

O'er.......I have had a request for the recipe for my tomato and red onion flan as made during my Domestic Goddess moment the other day.
I have to be honest and admit that I don't work from recipes as I am a bit of a 'bung it in and hope to God I don't poison everybody' kinda cook.
So here goes.....the recipe is basically a quiche so you can add anything you want to it and I'll give you a few of the fillings I have used in the past at the end of the instructions.
My flan dish is about a 9 inch one
Line a flan dish with shortcrust pastry and cover the base with grated cheese.....a good full flavoured cheese is best.
Cover the cheese with thinly sliced onion.......I use red onion cos I love it but when cooked it does take on a rather strange blue tint so use white onion if preferred.
Slice a pack of cherry tomatoes in half and arrange over the top of the onions covering the whole flan.
Beat 3 large eggs with a little milk, salt and freshly ground black pepper and then pour into the flan dish. Sprinkle with dried or fresh Parsley.
I have an electric fan oven and bake this at 170 for about 45 mins or so. A normal oven would be about 190 and if you have gas you will need to check what the equivalent is as I haven't cooked on gas for years unfortunately.
Eat warm or cold.

Other fillings that go down well with my family are........
Flaked Tuna with Green Peppers
Stilton with halved Walnuts
Bacon and Mushrooms....I always dry fry the bacon first to give it some flavour and then drain on kitchen paper.
Sliced cooked sausage with onions and green peppers.
Cubed Corned Beef with onions and sliced or cubed cooked potatoes.

Hope you like it

Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers Crossing Continents

This week the lovely Saffa has challenged us to make a celebration card for a culture other than our own.

I have chosen to make a card for Diwali the festival of light.

The colours are inspired by the sari's that the ladies of the family I used to live next door to wore......an absolute feast for the eyes.

Because I wanted to use jewels I have kept the design very simple. The silver lines are drawn with a gel pen which I have also used to outline the lettering.

The jewels have been glued with Glossy Accents.

Saffa......thank you so much for this wonderful dare. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well I don't know what got into me today but I was in the mood for cooking......very , very unusual for me but hubby, although he is on holiday from work, has been helping a friend to erect some fencing and it's quite a big job. I knew he would be starving when he got in so I did some marinated pork ribs and some chicken breasts with a new coating I just whisked up and then I decided I would make a savoury flan. I did a veggie one.........just red onion and cherry tomato as I don't eat much meat any more and it was flippin'gorgeous......even if I do say so myself.

It's alright this cooking lark.........it's the washing up I object to.........lol!!!

I've got a day almost to myself later today as hubby is off out again, DD will be in bed as she is on a night shift and DS will be at work. Just me and the dog.......lovely......as long as he is not as big a pain as he was yesterday. I think he barked at just about everything that moved.....just when you don't want it with DD being in bed.

2:17am and I am still wide awake so I think I'll do a bit of diecutting ready for making up some cards later today. If I get them done early I might go out in the garden and do a bit of weeding if it's nice enough.

Hope you all have a fab weekend.

Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers Midweek Recipe

Oh dear.......the scan isn't very good for this one.
The recipe was to use 5 circles, 3 squares and one flower so this is what I did with it and I just love this green and red together.
I was going to use the green brads from the same collection (MM) but the colour was just wrong so went with the red ones.
Sentiment is a rub on from a sheet by Royal and Langnickel (sp?).
I'm off to check out the new dare now to see if I dare....lol.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Just A Quickie!!!

I've just been making quick and easy cards today to build my stock up for sale at the local shop. Well when I say quick and easy I tend to mean not stamped and no arty backgrounds or noxious chemicals........lol!!!

Played with my new Cuttlebug Embossing Folders using them in the Bigshot.....are they fab or what? This is the first time I've used them properly and I must say I do like them........a lot.

I'm not 100% sure about the one I've used on today's card......I think it may be just a bit too funky for me. I prefer the textures and script ones but it looks OK with the flowers.

The paper I used is from a Sizzix Sizzles pad. Cuttlebugged it and then cut around the design and distressed with a fine sanding block. The flowers are cut from some leather effect paper I have had for years using the Thick Cuts, Daisies die. some punched circles with hand drawn swirls to finish off and there you go.

I did swipe around the edge of the paler blue card with a silver Versacolour ink cube and dragged it over the large flower too.

It's been a gorgeous day today again so it looks like spring is here to stay. My beautiful Grape Hyacinths are out and there are some huge fat buds on my Peony. I can't wait until that flowers again.

There was someone flying about in a microlight around lunchtime........how brave are they? You wouldn't get me up in one of them for a lifetime's supply of Basic Grey. They do make the most annoying noise though......like a huge fly buzzing around.

I ought to get off to bed as I have to be up and out earlier in the morning. I need to call at the supermarket and pick up a cake for the class. I promised I would take one as it's my birthday on Sunday and I won't see the ladies again before.

I can't believe that I will be 50........I don't feel old enough.......lol!!!

They say you are as old as you feel so I'll just say that my brain is 25 but the wrapping got battered.........ha ha ha!!!

Night night then

Sheila-x-

Not A Bit Of Bondaweb In Sight!!!

A new background for you tonight which I have been working on since getting home from the shop and I am pretty pleased with the results.

I have mentioned before about using Isopropyl Alcohol with Stazon inks on silver mirror card......one of my favourites. The only trouble with it is that most of the time when you come to scan it, it just looks like a solid black mess as metallic card just doesn't scan well. I have also used the same ingredients on pearlised card but I wanted a cleaner sharper finish than that gives as the pearl tends to show through the inks.

Tonight I have tried the technique using just plain old gloss card and it worked a treat.....I got exactly the look I wanted.

The gloss card I use is the one that is sold for encaustic wax work. A pack of 100 105mm x 148mm is around £6.00 and as it is double sided you get a second chance at whatever you are doing on it if you mess up on one side.....fabulous.

So take a piece of gloss card and dab all over with a black Stazon pad.......no need to cover it completely. Then spritz with Isopropyl.......the ink will 'bead up' and spread.

Dry with a heat gun.

If you think it needs another coat just repeat.

Next I trimmed the card to size for my project and then using a sanding block I distressed the ink all over and then removed more around the edges.

I used stamps from a set by Elusive Images.......the same set as used on the Vintage card I did for the DCM midweek dare........don't they look different?

The face stamp is Hampton Art and it has been coloured by using a Tombow blending pen to pick up chalk which gives a stronger colour. Marvy also do a blending pen.

Card number two is for those of you who like something a bit brighter. I've just changed the inks to Cactus Green for the first layer, spritzed and dried then Mustard for the second layer, spritzed and dried and then distressed.

The tulip stamp is by Magenta. It's a single tulip so I did a bit of masking with a Post It note and then coloured in with pencil crayons.

I must say that although I am a bit of a 'grunge girl' I do love the tulip card

I don't know if you can see it on the scan but when you heat the green layer of ink, for some reason you get some blue colouring appear on the card. I didn't worry too much....it all looks fine when it's been distressed.

I really need to be good now and get some cards done to stock up the stand in the local shop and then I have to finalise my projects for my workshops and demo in Devon next month so that I can send a product list in. I'd like to get that done before the weekend if possible but early next week if not. After that I shall make up the project packs for the workshops or at least make a start on them and type up my lists of stuff to pack before starting on the stuff I shall need for the demo.

Now is when I start to get excited because I absolutely love going to Finishing Touches of Totnes...........it's like going home......although as far as I know I have no ties whatsoever with anywhere south of Birmingham........lol!!!

To work then.........or shall I go and have a nice bath first? Gawd I am so dilatory!!!

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

Ooh just need to say Hi Kerry............thanks for dropping in and it was lovely to see you today too..........it's been sooooo long!!!

I Found My Lost Inchies

When I joined the Inchie Swap over on UK Stampers I made 5 of the little blighters and then had to put them away for a few days while I moved some new furniture into my workroom and then when I came to start them again.....they had disappeared and I couldn't find them anywhere.
Well guess what..........today I found them on the window ledge behind the very piece of furniture I had moved into the room......honestly I could have said some very bad words if it wasn't for the fact that I am a lady.
So that's them up there. I was doing 'The Five Senses' and this set is sight......can you see the teeny tiny eye peeking out of the door of the Taj Mahal? It nearly killed me cutting that out and the Statue of Liberty nearly ended up as the Venus de Milo.......minus an arm. The things you do in the name of art.
I've spent most of the day pottering about in between sleeping again......the iron tablets haven't kicked in yet so I must have got a bit more run down than I thought. Thanks Bex for the suggestion about iron injections. I am due at the docs soon so will ask about them.
So I've altered some nasty pastel dew drop paper and turned it a nice grungy terracotta and olive, made a few spotty watering cans for some gardening cards and put the finishing touches to a couple of golden wedding cards for delivery to a customer tomorrow. After that I didn't want to start on anything else really as I have to go to work tomorrow......or should I say later today.......and wanted to leave my desk tidy so I decided to have a sort out of my stamps. While I was sorting them out I also decided to count them which in hindsight was not the best idea I ever had due to the shock I got.
I thought that I maybe had around 600 or so stamps but just counting the stamps that are actually in my workroom I found that I have about 2,500 individual stamps and a rough estimate of stamps I have stored away would take the total to around 3,500. Besides these I also have 20 different alphabets. Poor old hubby nearly had to scrape me up off the floor.
I think then it is safe to say that I have a bit of a problem. I wonder if you can get counselling for rubber addiction......lol!!!
It's a good job that the majority of them are unmounted or I'd need an extension on the house to store them in.
Had some upsetting news this evening. One of our lovely elderly neighbours is in hospital after falling and breaking her hip. She and her husband live about five houses away from us so we hadn't heard or seen any ambulances or anything. Hubby found out when he popped up to have a chat this morning. Poor lady.......prayers for her recovery would be much appreciated.
Well I'm for the Land of Nod again if I want to be up for work.
Night night peeps
Sheila-x-

Sleepy Sheila

I think it must be time to start taking the iron tablets again......yuck!!! I seem to have been having a bit of a dozy day today and have spent quite a lot of time asleep.

Made a total of two cards today when I really should have been making up loads for the local shop but never mind......I obviously needed a day off.

So my card today is just a bit of messing about with stamps, inks, Bondaweb and Perfect Pearls.

Started off with a piece of smooth white card and stamped the Paper Artsy images using Versamark which I then embossed with clear powder.

I then used a variety of Vivid ink pads to add the colour and then with a piece of copier paper laid over it I ironed with a hot iron to melt away the embossing. You could leave the embossing there if you wanted to but I don't particularly like the shiny finish it gives so always remove it.

I then laid a piece of light Bondaweb over the top and heated it. The lighter one melts away more than the Ultra which allows more of the images to show through.

Perfect Pearl was then brushed over the top of the Bondaweb and reheated. Perfect Pearl is the white powder which looks silver when applied.....I do wish they had called it a different name like simply..... Pearl.

Once cool I stamped further images over the top using Midnight Blue Stazon and added the Journey strip.

I hope you are not all getting bored with the Bondaweb. I am so fascinated by it and keep trying it on all sorts of different things to see what it looks like and this time using it over stamped images it reminds me a little of craquelure......a paint effect I once tried that never ever worked properly which annoyed me as the mediums to do it had been quite expensive.........shoulda bought some Bondaweb instead......lol!!!

Feeling a bit mad at myself today. I am trying slowly to gain more control over my stash of card and papers and reduce the amount of storage space they take up.....which is probably about one third of my workroom. I thought I had run out of smooth white card for stamping on and bought a box last week........opened a drawer today and found about two boxes worth.......I could have kicked myself if I'd had the energy....lol!!!

I know it will get used but it will take an awful lot of stamping to even make a dent in that lot.

Ah well I think I shall go and have a shower to try and perk myself up a bit and then I had best tidy up the mess I've made.

Hope you are all having a good weekend

Sheila-x-

I Love Happy Accidents!!!

Don't you just absolutely love it when nothing goes to plan but you end up making something better than your original idea?

That very thing happened to me today and the card above is the result.

I was using the dusky pink card I have used for the card blank, which is a piece from a small wodge that I picked up from somewhere thinking it would make nice feminine vintage cards, but it has just never gone with anything I have wanted to do so today I started using it up by having it as protection on my desk while doing some bleaching.

I was doing the magnolia on some green card that quite strangely turns pink when bleached but it just wasn't going well as I had embossed then bleached which looked fine but in trying to add another element the embossing was turning from gold to black and spreading.........not a good look believe me.

Anyway I had splashed some bleach onto the pink card and when it dried it was a lovely creamy white so I quickly grabbed a spare piece and stamped the image in black Stazon and started painting on the bleach very carefully as I wanted to leave the shaded areas pink. I also bleached out the colour from the cone and the leaves.

Once dry I used pencil crayons and Gamsol to add colour to the leaves and the cone and then a soft pink crayon was used to add a mid colour between the dark pink and the creamy white of the petals. I have to admit that I am absolutely stunned that card I was virtually throwing away has turned out to look so amazing.

The magnolia is just one stamped image, there is no layering at all and yet it has such depth.

I shall have to go and lie down in a dark room now to get over the excitement.....lol!!!

The piece is mounted straight onto a card blank that has been stamped using Versamark with an ornamental image which echoes the cone shape in the centre of the flower.

I hope you like it.

I have just spent a couple of hours watching the non musical version of The King and I starring Jodie Foster.........what a fab film. I thoroughly enjoyed it.....it made me laugh, cry and go all gooey.....and no annoying songs.........fantastic.

Have now made a quick exit from the lounge to avoid watching Dambusters....yet again.....which hubby has just shoved into the DVD player. Not my idea of Saturday night thrills I'm afraid.

I shall have to start a Saturday Night Stampers club for all of us who need to get away from whatever the men are watching on TV.......lol!!!

Well I'm away to drop a few things onto the desk to see what my next 'happy accident' will bring.

Have a good night

Sheila-x-

Two for the price of one.....DCM Cards

I thought I would get both of the cards done for the Daring Cardmakers challenges before I posted them.........not like me to be so sensible but there you go.....lol!!!

First up is the Midweek Vintage challenge.

This card took me absolutely ages to do. The arch background and the image were fine but I just couldn't make them look right on anything.........I swear doing all that pink stuff addled my brain.

Anyway......the arch background is stamped with some gorgeous new Elusive Images stamps using brown ink on beige card. This has been hand coloured using 7 Gypsies Colour Wash inks in Walnut Forest, Walnut Scarlet, Walnut Ochre and Walnut Walnut. I then gave the whole thing a wash of the Walnut Ochre.

The arch has been edged in gold Krylon and mounted onto brown card.

The side lacing is gold ribbon.

I did stamp the background paper with the same stamp as the bottom of the arch using Versamark but the scanner doesn't seem to have picked that up.

Today's dare is Art and although I am not a great lover of modern art I wanted to do something that was bright and very simple but also to have a meaning. I have called this piece 'Pushing the Button'........having been thinking about how many times in a day we push buttons whether at work in an office, a factory or the home or during leisure time watching TV, listening to music, using the computer. Most things we do involve pushing a button of some kind.

So this is just a white square card blank and each area has been masked before colouring using cotton wool and ink from a Palette Hybrid Inkpad-Lautrec Rainbow.

The black lines were drawn with a permanent marker and the button is a clear bubble sticker over black card.

I'm not sure about the artist that inspired me to do this. I think it's probably just an impression left by several artists but even then I can't be sure.

I actually like this one quite a lot though and thought this challenge was absolutely brilliant.....Thanks Rhi.

Well the upstairs spring clean is done and I feel like a couple of cart horses have done a Flamenco dance up and down me back but boy am I glad I got it done.

There are three boxes of stuff to go to the charity shop and about seven bags of unwanted stuff to go to the tip tomorrow. I shall sleep like a rock tonight.

Now I am just going to tidy my desk and then have a play with some of my new Cricut cartridges as I have four that have not been out of their boxes yet.

Happy Easter to you all.

Sheila-x-

More Dabbing and Dragging with H20's

Just another couple of cards I did for today's class with the H20's using an image from the TandaStamps Retro Women Set 2.

The spotty background on the turquoise card has been done with a Dottariffic pen....I haven't had those out for ages. The larger spots have been done with the big end but I didn't trust myself to be lighthanded enough to do smaller dots with that end so just did the tiny dots with the thin end. I think I need some more of those pens.

Other than that just very simple layering as these are quick cards to make if there is time to do one of them after all the cutting and painting of the Magnolia card.

Came home with half my wages in a carrier bag.......yet again and am now the very proud owner of a stash of patterned Bazzill........be still my beating heart!!!
Also couldn't resist a couple of new sets of Elusive Images stamps from today's delivery. I'm just in the process of using one of the sets to do the DCM midweek vintage challenge which I will post later so that my desk is clear for tomorrow's challenge.
Plus another sheet of Basic Grey to add to my collection but I don't think that counts as the boss gave me that for being a good girl.........well I can be....when I try.

Need to get the housewifey stuff out of the way tomorrow that didn't get done earlier in the week and then I can sit and stamp me heart out all weekend without feeling that I should be doing something else. If the weather is nice though I would like to spend a little time out in the front garden doing a bit of tidying up and perhaps giving the fence a new coat of preservative to smarten it up...........don't trust hubby with that else the fence and all the plants would end up the same colour.
Crikey I need a lie down just thinking about all that lot never mind doing it......lol!!!

See ya later
Sheila-x-

EDIT
I am going to have to finish this vintage card later today.........things aren't going quite to plan and I'm getting tired and grumpy so I think I'll go and get some sleep and come back to it with a fresh eye.
Night night

Getting a bit too fond of this pink!!!

Evening all...........it's turned out pink.....erm I mean nice again.........lol!!!

I am so in danger of ruining my reputation with all this girly pink I am using lately but I must admit it does make a bit of a change from all the black and brown I usually use.

This card is one we will be making in the class tomorrow afternoon and I have used the Silken Mist technique for the background although I have given it slightly more texture by dabbing and dragging it through the H2O's rather than just swooshing it around.

The Magnolia stamp is by All Night Media and although I don't particularly like the real thing I really love this stamp as you can do so much with it.

Here I have stamped several images and painted them with H2O's. Then I have cut them as for decoupage but just glued the layers rather than using foam pads. I've started doing this quite a bit now due to the new postage thing....just to show that you can get as good an effect without the pads.

Gawd.....11.30pm and I still have several jobs to do before I can turn in and get some sleep. My own fault as I sat with DD and watched a film earlier while we ate tea and it has set me behind a bit.

Bless her....she came back from town this morning with the film of my favourite Maeve Binchy book......Tara Road. Not the best film I have ever seen seeing as how it starts about halfway through the book but it was OK for an early evening watch. Isn't she just so thoughtful though....ooooh I love her to bits my little angel.

Right...off for a shower and back to work. I daren't get in a bath as I think I would fall asleep and not wake up until morning.......eeeeeeeeewwwww imagine waking up in a cold bath!!!

Sleep tight peeps

Sheila-x-

Doing things by the book.

Well the ladies at the class this morning were suitably shocked at my very pink card and we had a very enjoyable morning....it must have been good as one Belle ended up legless......ha ha ha ha ha......or very nearly anyway. We did manage to locate the missing limb and re-attach it.

Two very gorgeous deliveries today....one containing my two new Cricut cartridges...Alphalicious and Going Places. They both look fab and according to a notice on the side of the boxes, each is capable of producing 5940 variations......phew....best get making then eh?

The other delivery had us swooning and slobbering all over the place........the patterned Bazzill has arrived.....OMG it is sooooooo gorgeous you could eat it. We just had two of the patterns in every colour so we got the spotty one for funky cardmaking and a more elegant one that looks like fabric. The black and white one looks very shabby chic.....I just gotta have some.

We have absolutely nowhere to put it on the paper stands and I (very kindly I thought) offered to bring it home and look after it.......nice try but no go on that one....lol!!!

Had to have a bit of a clear up in the workroom before starting anything tonight as I couldn't even find the desk let alone work on it and by the time I had done didn't feel in the least like making cards so decided to do an altered notebook instead. I want to make a load for the local shop to sell at Christmas and for the couple of fairs I do so I thought I might try and do a few a week and build my stock up that way.

It was lovely to do something different and here it is

I decided to do a mans book for someone who is maybe into DIY and found some fab paper in my stash by HOTP which had wood effects and hinges on it. I used that to cover the book and then used various Paper Artsy images to overstamp the paper. I cut an extra hinge and glued that on and then applied the letters which were also from a sheet by HOTP.
The red gaffer tape is by 7 Gypsies and after attaching a piece of that I grunged the whole front with a Timber Brown Stazon ink pad.
The metal saw embellishment is by Crafty Bitz and this has been glued on using Glossy Accents which I use for just about everything. It seems to be very well stuck but I am going to make myself a similar book to test whether or not it will stay put before letting them go public as it were.
I really loved doing it. It made a nice change from doing a card.
I forgot to mention in last nights posting that the Belle stamp is from Creative Expressions.
Thanks for stopping by.
Sheila-x-

Introducing Belle

If you're thinking........mmmmm I've seen that card somewhere before.....just scroll down and you will see that I have used the same layout as I used for the Oriental card I posted yesterday.

I needed to make a background for the image of Belle that was fairly quick to do as all of the work in this card is actually in the stamping and cutting out of various layers.

It started with stamping Belle onto a piece of flesh coloured card. I had to use Bazzill as it was the only card I had of the right colour but stamping on the textured side didn't work too well so I just flipped it over and stamped on the reverse. The stamping was done in brown as I thought black was a little harsh for the paper I was going to use to make her clothing.....Sari from the Basic Grey Perhaps range.

I stamped several images of Belle onto the Sari paper and began cutting the layers which I then glued to the base image as I didn't want a decoupaged look.

For the white pieces I just inked the top half of the stamped and stamped it onto the reverse of a scrap piece of the BG paper.

For a touch of bling I added a self adhesive jewel for an earring and a touch of silver Stickles to her bracelet.

The patterned paper used for the layering is BG, Perhaps, Julia. Both papers used are extremely lush and it nearly killed me to cut it......but hey ho....just means I'll have to buy some more.

I'm not sure what you would call this technique as it isn't strictly decoupage and I'm not sure that it is paper piecing either.Whatever it is I really enjoyed doing it.

The ladies who come to the shop for classes will be quite shocked that I have done a pink card and especially a pink card with bling.

I've got a feeling that this is one card I will become heartily sick of by the time I have done several classes with it.

How much spring cleaning did I get done today? I got absolutely nothing done......shame on me.

DD was going to be helping me as I have a bit of trouble lifting due to a back problem and also kneeling due to a strange lump that appeared on my kneecap a few months ago and I needed to do quite a bit of both.

So first thing this morning she said she needed to nip into town first to pay a bill.........an hour at the most ....or so I thought.

Three hours later she returned laden down with shopping by which time it was too late really to think about starting anything major.

I couldn't be mad at her though as she came back with some goodies for me too in the shape of a few sheets of All My Memories Herbanella paper in the most gorgeous green and navy and a new mug which is so big I could use it as a foot bath. I may have to use it as a soup bowl as drinking tea out of it would cause me slight problems IYSWIM.

So instead of actually doing today we sat with a pot of tea and had a long discussion about what wants doing and made a plan of action which makes such scary reading that I am thinking of taking my vows and entering a closed order for the rest of my life.

Well best go and catch some ZZZZZZZZZ's as I have work tomorrow and we have two classes booked in.

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

Manicstamper goes East

Being a cardmaking tutor I often get asked where I get my inspiration from to come up with new card designs all the time. The short answer is that I don't know. Much of the time they just happen which is good because if they didn't......I'd be out of a job.

The longer answer....and the one that most people want to hear is that sometimes I lack imagination to use materials that I already have to produce something new and then an explanation of how I overcome this.

What works for me is sorting and tidying.........and it works just about every time.

So I'll get up in the morning and think that I maybe don't feel like making cards today but will decide to tidy my paper storage or sort through one of my jars of ribbons and what happens is that two pieces of paper will be lying on the desk that I would never have chosen to put together but somehow they work. Or I'll discover a length of ribbon buried at the bottom of a jar that I had completely forgotten.

Whatever........it gets my creative juices flowing and off I go for a few more weeks until the 'I don't wanna's' hit me again.

I had a touch of it this morning as I was up until the early hours and didn't get much sleep so I decided to attack the drawer where I keep all my experimental background pieces and have a really good sort out.

I came across a pack full of pieces of card that I had used for some bleaching experiments last year. Fed up of just stamping and then painting with bleach or just stamping with bleach I decided to try applying the bleach with different tools to see what effects I could produce.

A lot of the pieces had been lightly sponged with neat bleach and looked really nice so for todays card I used two of the sponged pieces in a slightly unusual combination of colours for this Oriental card made using stamps from TandaStamps Far East Set 3.

The burgundy card bleached beautifully to give the mottled effect and the yellow card started it's life as a lovely olive green.

I repeat stamped the text stamp onto the burgundy card using Versamark and then embossed in gold and then used the same to stamp the image onto the yellow card.

The image was then bleached some more until the card became a smoother yellow.

Both were mounted onto black card and then attached to the card. The yellow layer is on foam pads.

The black strips are cut from leftover card and attached with DS tape.

Well I think I am going to have a slightly earlier night tonight as tomorrow is the start of my big spring clean and I am off upstairs armed with bin bags and a grim determination to declutter and clear up some jobs that have needed doing for a while........like getting rid of the box full of a 1970's DIY part work that hubby collected and has never even looked at which is why to this day his solution for any DIY job is a hammer and a six inch nail........bless him.

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

Yesterday Mono, Today....Colour with bells on!!!

Hi.........I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend.

Mine is going off with a bang after the postie delivered the latest TandaStamps sets this morning. I had to stop myself from dancing around the house when I saw the set of Paisley stamps........they are divine and I am so happy because I have had a set of stamps of this design on my wish list for so long.

Once I had got over that excitement I checked out the other stamps and there are three sets.......butterflies, leaves and zodiac inchie stamps.

Just had to start with the Paisley stamps and what better to go with them than the India set.....also from TandaStamps.

After the Mono dare from DCM I was ready for a bit of colour and I started this card by taking a piece of paper from the Dovecraft Designer Paper pad......gorgeous hot and spicy colours which are just right for the images.

I took the largest and most ornate Paisley stamp and using Stazon in Blazing Red stamped the image all over the paper and then highlighted parts of the design with a copper coloured Stardust gel pen.

I wanted some gold dots on the background but I'm not very good with those bottles of Liquid Pearls so went for some peeloff dots instead.

The India images have been stamped onto some red mottled card and I bleached out a few small areas and filled back in with the Stardust pen.

All three images have been attached with foam pads.

There are still loads of Paisley stamps to play with so I will probably have a play with those tomorrow after I have made a few more cards for the local shop.

I did really well today and made 12 A5 anniversary cards which I know they are short of so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

DD came back from town today with a party bag from Au Natural which cost £1. Most of the contents ended up in the bin.........I just can't see me wearing a purple spiky fur scrunchie in my hair somehow.......lol.

However we did manage to salvage 18 two and a quarter inch gingham fabric blooms from a bracelet plus 19 really pretty beads, four pony tail bands....two with red glittery lips and two with pink sparkly hearts plus two hair slides with two silver and pink metal daisies on each. I think that little lot is well worth the pound.

It's amazing what you can find to use as embellishments on cards.

Well it's just gone 3am so I suppose I ought to go and get some sleep. I'd love to stay and stamp some more but I have visions of me falling asleep with the heat gun still running or something.

Night night

Sheila-x-