Sorting Out Day!!!

Cooo I have been a busy old bee today. When I got up I decided that today would be the day that I took control over my humungous collection of 12x12 papers and so that is what I have done.
Previously they were in a haphazard kind of filing system in storage bags and as there were five of them plus a huge pile of unsorted stuff.......I could never find anything without a search through all these bags and the pile. Well not never no more.......you should see how organised I am now. It's all in one big strong plastic storage box with dividers for each company and I know exactly where everything is. It's taken me all day apart from the time out to watch Britain's Got Talent this evening but it's all done and dusted now.
Obviously not had time to do any cardmaking as such today although I am going to be starting shortly............so today's card is one I made last week for a special order. I'm not usually very good with childrens cards but when the request was just for something pink and girly I didn't think I could go far wrong with this Woodware fairy and some glitter.

I was gutted that Signature didn't win BGT as I thought they were fantastic but George was brilliant too so I am glad that he won and not an act that was singing or playing opera.............I am sooooo not into opera.....well apart from the odd tune that you hear on ads. DD is very heavily into it so when she is playing anything I have to put headphones on to listen to something else.........I sometimes wonder who exactly is in charge in our house.......lol!!!

Well if it turns out nice tomorrow I am going to try and get out in the garden for a while and tidy up my Aquilegias which are looking a bit battered now after the winds we had. I'm hoping to go and pick up a few new plants from Bridgemere next Friday if DD doesn't get called in to work and she is going to treat me to lunch out too.
I have to try and get rid of a blackcurrant bush that hubby shoved in right next to my Caryopteris. He sends for things from all over the place (freebies) and just shoves them in without a thought for how big and wide they'll grow or how they will affect anything else growing there. I can nurture and care for things for months and they die on me but he just puts in what looks like a dead twig and the next minute we have a ruddy triffid growing.......it's so unfair. I'm sorry though........the blackcurrant bush has to go.

Right well I am off to stamp for a bit.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Fancy Fold Card No 2

Here is another Fancy Fold Card like the one I used for the DCM dare earlier today.

The first one was made in some paper from my oddments pile so I have now done this one in a better quality paper from the Costco Kit.

Thanks for looking.

Sheila-x-

DCM-It's All In The Shape!!!

The weekly dare at DCM is for shaped cards this week and just by chance I happened to be halfway through this when the dare was posted.

The inspiration for this came from HERE a treasure trove of video tutorials and ideas.......it's a fantastic place to visit.

The card is made from an 11x11 sheet of paper and is surprisingly quick and easy to make.

Cupcake stamp and text stamp is Hero Arts.

Thanks for looking.

Sheila-x-

Facelift For An Old Friend!!!

There's a fab challenge this week over at Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog.
It's called Facelift For An Old Friend and you are challenged to use a favourite stamp in a new way.
Well I have used my Mona stamp for numerous cards and some ATC's all done in a grungy style so now meet Funky Cupcake Mona.......lol!!! She's looking a bit green round the gills after eating one too many I think.
I have also used a stamp from the Hero Arts clear cupcake set, one of my new Prima Flowers and a silly verse made up by me for which I am thoroughly ashamed.......and I will never attempt it again.....I promise...lol!!!
The cakes are coloured using my Dottariffic pens and the icing has been left white but gone over with a Marvy Just Glitter Pen.
Obviously the thought of three days off work has sent me a bit doolally but I hope it gives you a laugh anyway.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Oooooh Look At This Lot!!!!

You all know that I am a pushover when it comes to craft stuff........right?
Well just look at this little lot that came home with me tonight....what am I like?
This is only about half of the stuff I have my eye on and by next Thursday there will be more as I pick stuff up as I go round the shop. I have a permanent basket on the side behind the till which gets fuller and fuller as the week goes on. Deb is always laughing at me and saying 'Oh no what has she got now'.......lol!!!
The box of ribbons is fantastic as there is 60 metres in there and the top has openings where you can push the end of the ribbon through so that they can stay nice and clean in the box. It even has a thing on the back where you can hang it on the wall. How cool is that?
I am not going to even try and justify why I bought all this......I just wanted it but it will all look gorgeous in my new room when I get in there. DS will be moving out around the 27th of June so I will move in after that. I have asked hubby in advance if I can have an island unit to work at rather than sitting at a desk so he is going to see about getting that made over the next month.
I can't wait to have all of my stuff set out properly and I am going to be so tidy.....if you believe that you will believe anything.
Now do I break into all these goodies or do I keep them all bright and shiny for my new room? Decisions, decisions..............lol!!!

Bye for now

Sheila-x-

DCM & Tanda Teaser!!!

Doing well here..........I have managed two DCM dares in a row plus this card fits the bill nicely for Wendy's fab challenge over at TandaStamps this week.
DCM are in their 5th week of their midweek dares which involve using anniversary gifts as the starting point of your design. This week it is the 3rd anniversary for which the gift would be Leather or Crystal/Glass.
I have chosen the leather as I love making my own leather look paper and here I have used a dark brown for the background which has been overstamped with a crackle stamp from the TandaStamps Background Set 1. I have then used another image from my B Line Designs car cube to stamp onto a lighter coloured piece which ties in with Wendy's Challenge.......All Our Yesterdays where she would like us to dip into the past for ideas for our designs.

Well my day didn't start too well today. I got a phone call from DS this morning to say that the house where his girlfriend lives had been burgled. His phone had been stolen and three laptops had also been taken from other tenants in the house which is student accomodation. I hope the thieves hands drop off or that they at least break out in boils and pustules........nasty little cretins!!!

Despite the rain it got very busy at the shop today and I didn't get half the prep done for Thursday's class so I have to go in early in the morning.
We had two deliveries and I managed to get some of one priced up and put out.......look out for new goodies being used on a blog near you very soon. As I was pricing I was going....three for the shop.....one for me.......five for the shop.....one for me.....until I had amassed quite a little pile.
We got the K & Co Blue Awning in at last......oh it it just so stunning.......and the hundreds of different flowers we have had in just lately makes me wonder if we are going to stage our own version of the Chelsea Flower Show.......lol!!! We have had Bazzill Strips and some new stamps but my Cuttlebug bird folder still hasn't come and neither did my Cosmo Cricket paper pads or ribbons which I was very dischuffed about as I was looking forward to playing with that for a bit of a change. Mind you Deb went to Costco today and picked up the most amazing 12x12 paper storage bags which have 300 sheets of paper in for about £20. The papers are double sided and absolutely gorgeous. Sort of Basic Grey....ish. There are some I don't like the pattern of but with it being double sided it will all get used as most of the other sides are plain or distressed.

Right off to the land of nod if I have to be up extra early in the morning.
Night Night
Sheila-x-

Got My Car Cube......Yay!!!

I have had my eye on this car cube stamp by B Line Designs for absolutely ages now....well over a year and now I have it in my collection. I'm so happy!!!
Only had time to do this quick card tonight as I have a huge amount of stuff to pack to take to work with me tomorrow and some of it is going to be a tad difficult to find....lol!!!
I stamped and coloured the image first and then had difficulty finding any backing paper or even a stamp that would go with it so I created my own background with the help of a ruler and a CD. Coloured the stripes with pencils and then smoothed out the colour with LOT's. Attached the car image with foam pads and added screw head brads and a sentiment stamp from a set by Hampton Art.

I forgot to tell you yesterday that hubby's numptiness continued after the table saga.
He cleaned out the fire place ready to lay and light the fire in the evening and set fire to the wheelie bin as the cinders from the previous days fire had caught alight again when I burnt some rubbish in the fire place.......... I am leaning towards the meat cleaver at the moment......lol!!!

Well it's been a long day today and I feel quite weary so I'm off to pack my bag and then I think I will turn in and read for a bit before I get some sleep.

Night all........and thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Ooooooh forgot.......a couple of questions..........
Does anyone know of anyone who stocks envelopes to fit a 3X3 square gift tag......and also does anyone know of a stockist for the Scor Pal scoring board in the UK?
Any help would be much appreciated as I have Googled and searched until my eyes are nearly dropping out and can't find either anywhere.

Happy Monday!!!

Today has been a proper giggly day. Hubby as been on top form as the family 'numpty'. His antics have had me wondering what exactly I was on when I accepted his marriage proposal 33 years ago.
He decided that today he would get the new garden furniture out of it's box and assemble the table but instead of doing it out in the garden like a sensible person would.....he decided to bring it into the kitchen and do it there. Now our back door/kitchen door arrangement does not go well with bringing in unassembled items to take out again assembled. DD and I could see this but hubby couldn't so we spent a good fifteen minutes rolling our eyes and silently giggling while he did his man with a spanner routine. Come to get the table out and it wouldn't go. He shoved and pushed, huffed and scratched his head while DD and I were helpless with laughter. In the end I solved his problem by getting him to nudge my tall bookcase about an inch forward and lifted the table about six inches higher to clear a window ledge and out it slid like a dream. According to him I am too clever for me own good.........I am still trying to decide between the meat cleaver and the carving knife.
Oh he does make me laugh.......bless him.

The wind has been a bit scary today. I've not seen any real damage anywhere but the trees have been nearly bent double. Now it is thrashing it down with rain but nice and cosy in my little room.

I've spent most of the day scoring and folding card blanks but I did take time to have a play with another of my new stamps. This is Paris Socialite from Stamps Happen. I have stamped just part of the image onto a three inch square of card and painted it with various strengths of watered down Adirondack ink in Slate. I then added some cerise pink accessories and coloured the edges of the card with a black StazOn ink pad. It has then been attached to a double mat of two greys with lace tape embellishment. I didn't add a greeting as I felt it would spoil it a bit so it will just be a blank card.
Tomorrow will probably be a card with cars on as I will have my new B Line Designs car cube....or it could be cupcakes.....I shall see how the mood takes me.......lol!!!
Hope you all had a fab Bank Holiday weekend.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Stormy Sunday!!!

Ooooh it has been such a smashing day today. My favourite weather........wet and windy.......so no guilty feelings for not being out in the garden or having lines full of washing out. It meant I could get on with a couple more orders without any distractions.
I will just apologise for the weather if has spoilt your weekend. Hubby bought a new set of garden furniture as he had planned a BBQ for Saturday so what else would it do but rain.
The card I have posted is for a lady to give to her husband on their anniversary and she wanted musical notes and hearts. It just so happened that I have just bought this Penny Black stamp which I have wanted for a long time but didn't get around to buying until Saturday.
It's all very simple stamping and colouring with pencils and LOT's but I am very pleased with how the violin turned out. It was stamped and embossed in gold which I then tried to age with a couple of coats of Tea Dye Varnish but I couldn't get the depth of colour I wanted. Being a 'try anything bar hanging' kind of girl I decided to add a puddle of walnut ink and let it dry naturally. It has a beautiful glow about it now which is a bit lost in the photo but I am well pleased with it.

Well as I said it has been a smashing day. Hubby cooked for us, he does a real mean Sunday lunch and he did an early one today so the afternoon has seemed gloriously endless. Then tonight we watched Walk The Line a film about Johnny Cash. Not my most favourite singer ever but very intriguing I always thought and the film was fabulous.
Now I am all snuggled up in my workroom with the heater on to combat all the draughts sneaking in and I am going to start some more stamping projects off. I may finish them, I may not, who cares as I have the day off tomorrow.....yay!!! Gotta love Bank Holidays.
Kathy wants to know how I got my sprinkles so evenly spaced on my cupcake card I posted yesterday. Well Kathy I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to sprinkles so I marked them out with a pencil before adding a dot of glue and then the the bead. I can't be doing with untidy sprinkles.......lol.
Ann very kindly pointed me in the direction of some storage boxes....thank you Ann. I have lots of those boxes already and I love them but I was needing drawer sets to reorganise my ink pads. Hubby found some in the sale at WH Smith which were an absolute bargain at £1.75 for a set of 3 A4 drawers but there were only two sets. They were only at this price because they are the most disgusting shade of orange you ever saw but I will eventually paint them or cover them in some way.
Right I am going to make myself a nice cuppa to enjoy in peace now that everyone else has gone to bed and then I will get on with my stamping.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

DCM-Beady Eyes!!!

So sorry for the lack of blog posts over the last few days. It's been a bit hectic here what with classes and special orders. I have been working quite hard and just flopping into bed most days.
Anyhow.......I thought that I had better do a card for the DCM dare this week as I haven't had time to do one for a while...........trust me to pick the week that it's beads....lol!!!
I'm no good at sewing beads on so I have drawn and handcut this giant cupcake which I then coloured using pencils and low odour thinners. The icing was then brushed over with a coat of glitter glue and seed beads were added with Glossy Accents once the glitter was dry.
The card edges have been coloured in the same way and the sentiment has been hand written.
I did treat myself to a couple of hours off this morning and went out for a ride with DD to Tamworth as I wanted to see if the WH Smith there had any storage boxes left. They did but they weren't as cheap as the bargainous ones hubby picked up for me on Friday so I left them and went to Hobbycraft for some of the 99p ribbon and ended up buying a couple of stamps too......bad girl. It's not like I need any more......lol.....but the pictures were sooooo pretty.
My friend M went down to LB Crafts in the week to take a class and she very kindly asked if I wanted anything bringing back so I am now (or will be on Tuesday when I get back to work) the proud owner of the car cube from B Line Designs which I have lusted after for ages. Can't wait to play with that and we also had a delivery of a few Hero Arts stamps at the shop.....I have my eye on two sets of the cupcakes.
Deb was in SuperBoss mode on Thursday and ordered me a couple of Cosmo Cricket 8x8 paper packs. Surprisingly I don't yet have any papers from this company and I could have ordered the lot but I was very good and just had Cogsmo and Fleuriste plus ribbons to go with both. I have to stop spending now as we have decided that we may go away to the Lake District for a week later in the summer and it's always good to have spare pennies when you are near the Paper Mill and GHP.
Right well I am going to hit the sack.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Tanda Teaser-Flowers In The Round

Hi There
Just a quick post to let you know that the Tanda Teaser challenge for this week is now posted.
This week the theme is Flowers In The Round. You can make a card for any occasion but you must incorporate circles and flowers into your design.
Easy Peasy........lol.

Musical Monday!!!

Had a request for a 4oth birthday card for a male guitarist and I am so chuffed with how this turned out. I just love this paper from All Around The Block.
The guitar is hand cut and pieced using a pattern I found in a magazine. I even used silver thread for the strings..........yes I am truly bonkers...lol!!!.........if you knew the tight space there was to fit five strings on then you would agree I'm sure.


This morning's class for one turned into a class for three as Deb had taken a booking for the extra two on Friday when I wasn't at the shop. We did eventually finish the cards but we spent most of the class giggling and being a bit cheeky.
The ladies very kindly let me out of school for five minutes to go and have a quick look at the wares of a rep from a new company to us. I liked, Deb ordered and let's just say I won't be bringing home any actual money for quite some time.......lol!!! There are also a couple of deliveries due in this week which will without doubt tempt me even more. Oh dear...I shall never be rich at this rate.


Night night
Sheila-x-

Bloomin' Men!!!

I seem to be having a bit of trouble adding pictures to my blog posts. I can add one but then it won't take another until I have written my post and saved it as a draft......then I can go in and add another pic......most annoying. My blog is nowhere near full so I don't know what's up with it.
Anyhoo.......I've been having a bit of a blitz on men's cards this weekend to take down to the local shop. Mostly Father's Day cards but I did a few without specific greetings so that they can be left in for other occasions. These are a couple that I have done and I have to admit to using a bit of inspiration from Jo Kill for the boat card and a fab layout that Sue Hyde did for the DCM Recycle A Card dare from last week.

Can't believe the weekend is over already can you? I get to Thursday evening and I'm full of plans for doing loads over my three days off and then it's gone before I even get started.
Hubby was helping a friend do some fencing all weekend so I have been in charge of the cooking. Saturday I made a lasagne and I would usually use a jar of pasta sauce but decided to make my own from scratch.......it went down very well. Then Sunday we didn't bother with a roast dinner I just marinaded some chicken in lime and coriander for DD and meself and did Cajun chicken for DH then did new potatoes roasted in garlic oil and a salad. I am once again a Domestic Goddess as far as DH and DD are concerned......oh and I mustn't forget Smudge who got some of my leftover chicken. He is at this moment lying on his back, legs to the four corners of the room with a fat pink tummy on show snoring most contentedly.


Best go and get some sleep so I'm bright and shiny for the class in the morning. I'm doing my Agatha Panthus cards with my regular Monday lady so I don't want to be falling asleep.
Night night.
Sheila-x-

TandaStamps-Egypt Set 2

Ooooh looky what dropped through my door about an hour ago. A scrummy set of Egyptian stamps from TandaStamps.
This is Set 2 in the Egyptian theme plates and is roughly A6 in size with ten images. This is a lovely stand alone set if you want small images for ATC's or backgrounds but it would be fab to use with the larger set too.
Here I have used the two figure images together and stamped a layer for using on a large square card.
The background which I had in hand after a session the other week is a piece of card which has been dabbed and dragged through inks applied to a plastic mat. In the last layer of ink I spritzed some silver spray.
The figures image and the border have been stamped with a dark blue pigment ink and then embossed using Midnight Obsidian Moonglow Embossing Powder.
The background has been stamped using Midnight Blue StazOn.

Sheila-x-

Meet Agatha Panthus!!!

Hi there,

Well the old migraine monster seems to be in retreat now and I am feeling more like my old self thank goodness. I don't seem to have acheived very much tonight but my room is like a pit and I couldn't put a postage stamp down on the desk let alone a card so I need to have a tidy......as usual.

I am however just a teensy weensy bit chuffed with myself as I have had a go with my digital camera and the two pics above are the result. I don't think they are too bad despite breaking all of the rules regarding digital photography......I only took them about half an hour ago and the light in my room isn't great at the best of times....just an overhead strip light but I stood the cards in front of a folded sheet of cream card which is backlit by my desk lamp.

I'm sure I will get better with practice............she says..........lol!!!

Anyway, the cards are made with my new set of Agapanthus stamps by Stampendous.

I have wanted these for ages, finally got my hands on them yesterday when they arrived at the shop and just couldn't wait to play with them.

The first card is done on acetate with a lengthways wrap of paper by All Around The block. The flower stems are peeloff lines and the heads have been stamped onto acetate and cut out and are attached to the front with foam pads.

The second card is stamped onto the same paper in black Stazon with the open flowers coloured in pencil and smoothed out with Low Odour Thinners. I then stamped the smaller stamp over the top in Versamark and embossed with white powder. The coloured flowers were then glittered with stickles.

The inspiration for this came from HERE.

Right......I am off to put the kettle on and then pack my bag ready for work in the morning.

Night all.

Sheila-x-

The Migraine Monster Returns!!!

Sorry folks.......I have been having a problem with my old enemy....The Migraine Monster. I've been quite ill with this one which I have had since last Thursday.
I'm starting to feel better and I've made a few cards which I will scan and post tomorrow. I'm going to have a bit earlier night which will hopefully chase the last of it away.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Paris Collage Card!!!

Hi there
Sorry I have been MIA for a couple of days. I have been spending some time with my daughter as she is on holiday from work and I have also started work on some new projects and stuff for the shop and of course we have just started opening on a Wednesday due to public demand......lol!!! Had quite a busy day for our first opening.

In between all that I have been fiddling with the Paris card up yonder. I only started making a background really on glossy card with Adirondack inks and then I started adding stamped images and rubbing them back with steel wool (much kinder to card than sandpaper)adding more ink and images and then doodling a bit. The Eiffel tower shape started off life as a printed chipboard piece which got rubbed over, inked and stamped.

Stamps are a combination of Clarity, MSE and Royal and Langnickel (I think) once I get started I lose track of what I have used.

Anyway I hope you like it I have entered it for the Arty GirlZ Challenge HERE

I am away to sort out a bit more of the stuff on my computer to put onto cd's. I am a very untidy computerer and have things in the oddest places....lol!!!

Bye for now.

Sheila-x-

The Lights Go Down!!!

Sorry no pics tonight. We have had a power cut here just as it was going dark and card making by candle light is not very easy.....lol!!! Instead I have been sorting out rubber stamps and other stuff for my next lot of sale sheets which I will try and send out tomorrow.
I'm off to put my feet up for a bit......and get them warm actually as they have been freezing all day and I can't find my fluffy socks:(
Night night.
Sheila-x-

Fab Music!!!

Came across this fab music while watching a crafting video of all things. Went straight to Amazon and ordered the CD. It's really weird as I don't go on You Tube very often but I'd gone on to listen to a song by Leona Lewis then thought I'd have a look at crafts. The first one I looked at was playing this and Bic is a New Zealand artist who I had never even heard of until today. Found a few more songs by her on there and I think I am going to be to buying more of her stuff in the future....... I love it.

It's Play Time!!!

Guess who's been getting all inky and mucky tonight........lol!!!
I made three cards for my stand at the shop and then decided I wanted to play and dragged out a pad of black, white and grey papers.......which I went off pretty quickly after I bought them........and some inkpads that are on their last legs. I didn't know if it would work very well as the grey is quite dark but I was very pleased with the result.
I re-colour paper quite a bit.......with variable results depending on the quality of the paper......and one little trick I use to get the inks to glide and blend better over slightly rough paper is to give the it a coat of Versamark before you start adding any colour. The ink pads I was using were.....to put it bluntly.......cheap and nasty and were leaving blotches on the first sheet I did so I took another sheet and applied Versamark first and the blending was much easier to do with far better results on the finished piece.
After adding the lime and turquoise inks I coloured the centres of the shapes with an orange crayon.
This will now get left overnight to dry thoroughly before I use it to make a card tomorrow.

I'll go and scrub my inky fingers then and get some sleep..........I didn't realise what the time was...lol!!! How it flies when you are having fun.

Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Tanda Teaser-Yeee Haa!!!

This week it is Wendy's turn to set the challenge over at TandaStamps and here is the card I have made for it.
The image I've used was black and white but I changed it to sepia in my picture programme.
Papers are from the Dovecraft Men's Collection. Sizzix stars cut from chipboard, covered with paper then distressed and inked. I then added a star cut from the paper and held it all together with a brad.
You're the Best stamp is Melissa Frances.
Thanks for a fab challenge Wendy.
I haven't done a card for the DCM Little Extra yet as it is a template and I don't do so well with templates I'm afraid. I will have a go but don't hold your breath for the results.......lol!!!

Had a lovely peaceful day today.......well apart from DD having a hacking cough with this cold she has. Couldn't feel guilty about not going out to tidy the garden as it has been thrashing it down with rain all day just about.
I have work tomorrow and then four whole days at home and I'm hoping to make a start on painting up in what will eventually be my studio.....as long as I don't have to move any of DS's junk to get to the walls. He has made a start on tidying up there.......he kicked a pile of washing down from his room to the landing..........lol!!! DD sorted it all out and I think she just gave up counting after fifty of the tshirts that needed washing.
DH doesn't know it yet but he will be out in the garden if it's fine as all of the lawn edges need recutting and then I want him to edge the borders with log roll or something to try and keep them tidy. I've also decided I want some lighting in the garden for when we have BBQ's so he is going to be a busy boy.
Just need to find a job for dog now......lol!!!

Had a go at making a watermark last night and failed miserably. I thought I would be able to work it out after watching a video of how to do it Photoshop but no it didn't work. I may have to commision someone to make me one.

Well I am off to the Land Of Nod now..........night night
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-