Special Delivery!!!

Card number two done with the set of stamps by Papermania and a slightly better picture this time.
Papers are gcd Studios again. They were just perfect to go with the image and to give a summery, shabby chic feel to the project.
The stamps are only £3.99 a set which I think is not a bad bargain if you like cutesy images.

I'm in a bit of a tizz at the moment and am considering giving up blogging. I don't seem to be getting enough time to craft for me so am not really producing the sort of thing I became known for at the beginning. I think the blog has become a bit boring so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. I'll miss it I expect but never mind.
I'll leave it up for a few weeks and then remove it if I decide that I am giving up altogether.

I'm very grateful for the support I have had from so many people.....my followers and friends I have made both online and through the shop.

Thanks
Sheila-x-

Funky Owl!!!

Mmmm.....not my usual thing but I quite enjoyed making this paper pieced card today. Sorry the pic isn't too good but the light in my room in the early evening is rubbish and I just hadn't the energy to troll down two flights of stairs to take it outside.
The stamps are Papermania and the paper is gcd Studios.
The branch is hand drawn onto brown card and the leaves are the wings from the owl I stamped onto the green striped paper for his tummy.
The only embellishment is a small gem in the centre of the flower.
I started another one with this stamp set but didn't get chance to finish it before home time so that will get finished on Thursday.

Tomorrow we are off to see DS at lunch time as it is his birthday.....and of course that means we get to see Ruby too....more kisses and cuddles.....oooooh luvvly!!!

Feeling a bit like a wrung out dishrag now with this heat and the tail end of a migrain so I am going to schlomp on the sofa and read for a bit.

Night night.
Sheila-x-

Beautiful!!!

This little face just begs to be covered in kisses doesn't it?
We had such a lovely time with Ruby staying over for the night on Saturday. She slept her usual twelve hours so obviously being away from home doesn't faze her one bit.
The t shirt she is wearing was bought especially by DDIL for her to wear on Sunday and says Lots of kisses and big hugs for Grandpa. Hubby was thrilled to bits over it.

Today has not been so good. I have felt pretty poorly all day although I couldn't tell you why. I think maybe it has been the heat.
Felt quite a bit better after I had a lie down by the open window and I did fall asleep for a while. Now I feel totally fine and am in the middle of having my head chemically enhanced......lol!!!

As you can imagine there hasn't been much crafting going on with the Princess in residence but I have managed some time for it today just going through my obscene pile of Christmas papers and making up card fronts ready to decorate.
I also got out my sewing machine and gave it a wipe down and a bit of a test run as I am thinking of making some things with another obscene pile.....of felt......and a less obscene pile.....of fabric.
I can't remember if it was last year or the year before but I bought some lovely fleecy throws from Ikea for the most ridiculously cheap price and I want to make Ruby a Christmas stocking in the blue and cream.

While DDIL and I were washing up after lunch yesterday we were discussing the colour scheme for the wedding. Ivory and black with a splash of red.....gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I am so glad it's not pastel colours.

Oooh best go.......I'm cooked according to the resident hairdresser.
Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Vintage Floral!!!

I got to the point yesterday where I had to stop trying to design stuff for classes and make something just because I wanted to.

So this is a really old Penny Black stamp which a good friend gave me and it's stamped onto a Tim Holtz diecut background then coloured with ProMarker pens.

Background paper is K & Co and I have used a Making Memories ink cube called Espresso to colour the edges of the paper, the diecut and add a bit of colour to the roses.

Back to doing stuff I 'have to' today until HRH Princess Ruby arrives to stay for the night.

OK...........computer is driving me mad now..........on a go slow. It's taken over half an hour to type to type this short post so I am off and may be back later.

Thanks for dropping by.

Sheila-x-

Domestic Drudgery!!!

Domestic drudgery indeed.....lol!!!
I've quite enjoyed myself today catching up with all the household chores that got neglected at the weekend.
I've had all the washing out on the line flapping in the sunshine and Manic Towers is looking pretty tidy for a change.
I am in bad books with the other residents though as I haven't done any baking. Still you can't please everybody can you?

Can't show any project pics at the moment because most of what I am working on is for a Christmas workshop next month and the one thing I have ready that isn't Christmas themed is for this months all day workshop so I'm not showing that until the workshop is done.

Today I took delivery of a Martha Stewart scoring board and have to say that I am pretty impressed so far and I love the fact that it has an envelope scorer and instructions to make A2 envelopes. I love the A2 size of card rather than our C6.
It was ordered from Joanna Sheen's website on Monday only £17-99 with free postage.

Hubby has been for an interview today and hopes to hear Friday if he got the job. Keep your fingers crossed for him please. Much as I love him and like having him around I am ready for him to have something to occupy himself a bit more as he does have a tendency to sit watching tv more than is good for him. Plus I really would like to have a bit of time in the house on my own. I get on with stuff so much better when I have the house to myself.

Anyway I am going to tootle off and have a cuppa before I whack the old plates up on the sofa for a bit of a read. I have two books on the go at the minute and don't know which one to choose though.

Nighty night
Sheila-x-

Awful Day-Post 2!!!

So......what should have been a fab day out at Cosford Air Show turned into a day of one disaster after another and carried on into today.
It started off about three quarters of an hour into the journey there when for some reason I took the tickets out of my bag and started reading them. When we got them I just checked that there were three and they were all adults tickets and put them back in the envelope. So in small print at the bottom of the ticket it said.....no dogs allowed on the airfield......and guess who was in the back of the car....Smudge. Anyway we decided that we would carry on and see what happened when we got there and if we were turned away then so be it.
Next thing the car started making a funny noise so we pulled into a lane and found that one of the back tyres had split.......a new one only six weeks old. Hubby opened the back up to get the spare tyre and the huge pump action flask we always take out with us had fallen over and come open spilling it's contents into the back of the car. Everything that wasn't in a plastic bag was soaked including DD's canvas bag which had her mobile phone in and the brand new book she had bought with her to read if she got bored.
Tyre changed we got to Cosford without further incident and I have to say that they were brilliant. We said that we would keep Smudge at the car and that somebody would be with him at all times but they said it would be fine to take him round so we did but he didn't much like all the crowds so I went back to the car with him and we settled down to watch the airshow. It was all fine until the Tornado came on. Poor Smudge was absolutely frantic and I thought he was going to have a heart attack so that upset me but he was fine again after that had finished.
Then it started thrashing down with rain and the display hubby had been waiting for didn't go ahead so we thought we would set off for home. We pulled into the line of traffic and there we sat for one and a half hours.......in the same place. It was another hour on top of that before we got out and that was only because we managed to turn around and get to another exit.
.........and to add insult to injury.......hubby took the car in today and he's had to have a new wheel at a cost of £212.
So all in all it was a pretty crap day though there were a couple or three bright spots......we got hubby some fabulous t shirts for Father's Day, DD bought me a beautiful two tier cake stand which is something I have wanted for ages and I bought the matching tea cup and saucer, the Team Breitling display was two Boeing Stearman's with wing walkers and I have never seen such an amazing display in my life......it was awesome!!!........Oooooh I nearly forgot to mention all the very yummy men in uniform.........I think my blood pressure medicine struggled......lol!!!
After all that I think I shall be staying at home for a while where it's safe........lol!!!

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Awful Day!!!

Today has been an absolute bl**dy nightmare so I am going for a soak in a hot bath and then I am going to chuck the duvet over my head and not come out until morning.
I shall tell you all about it tomorrow.
Sheila-x-

Spotlight Stamping & Ruby Pics!!!

My little angel is four months old today bless her. Here she is blowing raspberries at grandma....................

..................................and here she is laughing at grandma blowing them back.
We have had a wonderful day with her today and I get to see her again tomorrow night as I am babysitting at her house for a couple of hours. Then next weekend she is staying overnight on Saturday and for most of Sunday.

Tonights card is Spotlight Stamping using the Creative Expressions stamp set again. I have used Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour Paints for the coloured area and added Stickles-Stardust to the dragonflies.

I'm off to put the old feet up for a bit now......I'm shattered...lol!!!

Bling, Bling!!!

Dreadful picture due the bad light in my room tonight.
This is the Crushed Foil technique with Fantasy Film embellishments in the form of a stamped butterfly from a stamp set by Creative Expressions and a flower cut from Fantasy Film which has had Beadazzles ironed between the layers. I used the Tattered Florals die by Tim Holtz.

I don't expect I shall get much time....if any....to craft tomorrow as HRH Princess Ruby Doodle will be arriving at half eight in the morning and is staying until late evening. Hopefully it will stay fine enough for me to take the pushchair for a drive.....with the 'L' plates on as I haven't driven one for twenty five years.....lol!!!
DD will be home and has been tagged for nappy duty.....I won't tell you what she called me when I informed her of her job for the day....it was very rude....lol!!!
Better have an early night tonight as I am sure I shall need the strength.

Thanks for your visit today.
Sheila-x-

A Bit Of A Do!!!

Despite a pretty shaky start to the new year with my health problems I have to say that this is turning into one heck of a smashing year. We've had the birth of Ruby and last night DS phoned to let me know that he and DDIL have set the date for their wedding. I am so happy I could burst (hooey......that would be messy....lol!!!).
They don't want a big fussy affair so it will just be family at the actual ceremony and then a 'do' for friends and relations later in the day.
The date is November 5th and I am excited already.

Spending this morning in the kitchen baking and then this afternoon I shall be upstairs and will hopefully be back later with something I have made.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Even Brighter Colours!!!

WOW........bit of a bright one tonight.
More of my inky backgrounds. These are all pigment inks on gloss card again spritzed with Isopropyl to help them set and then buffed with tissue to remove any ink that hasn't dried. This leaves some amazing patterns sometimes.
The flowers are stamps by a company called Imaginations which I have had for years. I don't think the company is around any more but if anyone knows differently please let me know as I used to have a list as long as my arm of their stamps that I wanted.
The sun is a Sizzix die and once again the sentiment is a Penny Black stamp.........although I did miss a huge chunk out of it and had to go over it with a pen.....lol!!!

Don't know where I got my energy from this morning but I spent most of the morning mucking out Manic Towers. The windows are twinkly, the utility room is looking pretty tidy and I have cleared the rubbish from under the kitchen sink in preparation for the plumber who is coming to fit my new sink and tap in the morning.
When we did the kitchen thirteen years ago we had what I call a plastic sink which probably has some posh name.......I don't recall.....and I have hated it for twelve years and three hundred and sixty four days......give or take the odd Leap Year.
Tomorrow we are going back to good old stainless steel......yay!!!

I've had a nice soak in the bath and started to watch a film with hubby and DD. It's The Wolfman and it's pretty dire so I am off upstairs to get my stuff ready for work tomorrow.

Toodle-oo for now.
Thanks for your visit.
Sheila-x-

Bright Colours....For A Change!!!

Today I have been using some of the inky backgrounds I made earlier in the week.
I have quite a collection of one inch pigment ink cubes that I very rarely use so they have been swooshed onto gloss card and spritzed with Isopropyl alcohol, rubbed down and sanded and I have some really nice pieces ready for stamping on.
The flower stamp is Magenta and the sentiment stamp Penny Black.

I have also been playing with some ideas for the festive season as we will have a Christmas in July all day workshop next month and my tidy desk that was......well it ain't any more.......lol!!!

Went into town this morning to see if I could get some sandals as my feet have been so hot. Well that was the plan but two tops and two pairs of leggings fell into my arms as well. Wish I had won the lottery last night as Evans have some really gorgeous stuff in at the moment.

Hubby is watching Robin Hood......again. I have seen it so many times I think I know the script so I am passing on it tonight and having a browse round t'internet for a while then I'll see what IPlay has to offer.

Thanks for dropping by.
Sheila-x-

Wine Label!!!

Another card done with the Wine Label stamp set from Creative Expressions.
Background papers are from the Paris Nights collection by g.c.d Studios. Fabulous double sided papers.
So just very simple for this one. Images are stamped onto cream card and dusted over with black chalk.
The middle panel is not quite that white.......it's just the way the light is hitting it.

Had a fabulous hour last night sloshing ink and noxious liquids about to create some gorgeous backgrounds to stamp on. It was just what I needed.

Came home from work today with rather a lot of new goodies. Tim Holtz dies and embossing folders. I finally have the bird cage and the butterfly......yay!!! Need to have a day to myself to have a play with those.

So looking forward to next Friday as a certain little girl called Ruby Doodle is coming to spend the day with grandma and aunty DD. We are hoping to take her out to Bridgemere if it's a nice day.
Then Sunday we are off to the air show at RAF Cosford. We've not been for a few years so I am looking forward to that too.
But before I get to those two pleasurable events I am afraid that I am going to be working hard on some designs for a Christmas in July workshop plus some projects for our full day workshop at the end of June.......busy, busy, busy.

Right I am off for a browse and then I want to try and finish my book. I am reading Caroline's Sister by Sheila O'Flanagan at the minute and thoroughly enjoying it.....as I do all of her books.

Nighty night.
Sheila-x-

Drunken Chalks!!!

How gorgeous is this stamp?
This is from another set by Creative Expressions as is the sentiment.
I have used the Drunken Chalks technique to create the background and then stamped the images in Stazon.
The dragonflies are glittered although that doesn't show too well in the picture.

Despite being quite busy in the shop today I managed to get a couple of cards made and cut up the stuff for the class on Thursday. I was quite chuffed with myself.
Amazed myself even more when I got home........I cleared my desks totally and now have acres of bare space to muck up again......lol!!!
All the stuff I use most of the time is neatly stacked in trays on my desk and what's the betting that I won't be able to find anything when I go up tomorrow.....lol!!!

Thanks for dropping by
Sheila-x-