Forgotten Friday: Number 3

Hi all, I'm away from home this week, so I'm hoping that this post appears as it should do on Friday. Fingers crossed, anyway! I'm cheating slightly this week, as not all of the stash that I've used is neglected, owing to time constraints. I am posting a picture of Lesley's Circle Journal pages that I made for her, which I will be giving to her on Wednesday. We are meeting up at Graphicus for a class, which will be really lovely. It will be smashing to spend some time together, and fabulous to craft together too.
Anyway, onto the pages! My neglected stash this week is some Tattered Angels masks, poor things, they don't get out much. I used two sets, Winter Trees, and Blossom. I also used some lovely Prima Flower embellishments that I'd had hanging around for ages too. Therefore, I think that the pages can fall into my Forgotten Friday category quite easily.
I used Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, and Brushed Sage DIs to colour my pages. I used a very good quality watercolour paper as my base, because it's nice and thick. I have used old and new Paper Artsy stamps throughout both pages, and Paper Artsy dies to cut the two birds out before stamping them with Stazon. I used one of my chiffon flowers and some Magnolia briolettes on one of the pages, as I wanted to personalise the page with a trademark that was very 'me'. As I make jewellery, I had to have some beads in there somewhere, and these two tone green ones are lovely!

I hope that those of you who are now on holiday are enjoying the break, and I will be back on Sunday to visit your blogs if any of you care to join in with your forgotten stash. Thanks for looking, Judith xx

Fantastic News!

Today is the day that I can finally reveal the news that I've been keeping to myself for the last few weeks. I'm proudly displaying in my sidebar my shiny new logo, showing that I'm a member of the Elusive Images Design Team To say that I am excited is an understatement! Myself and the other new team mates are rather in awe of the challenge ahead of us, as we all love the Elusive Images range of stamps so much. Glenda Waterworth, the company owner is a lovely lady, and I feel honoured and proud to be working for her in this capacity.
If I didn't have such a bad back, I'd be cartwheeling around the garden Lol! So, hopefully, from time to time, you'll be seeing some of my efforts over on the Elusive Images Blog.
Bye for now, Judith xx

Forgotten Friday: Number 2

Well, I'm back a little earlier this Friday, trying to be a bit more organised! This week I have decided to make use of some very much neglected ATC blanks. I have only ever made ATCs once, which was for the Graphicus Retreat last November. We swapped them with each other as an ice-breaker, which worked really well. I'm going again this year, so these two can be the first for my pile to take there this time. I have used one regular ATC blank, and one Eco Board ATC blank.

The stamps that I have used have been sadly languishing in a filing cabinet drawer for years. I made a coming of age card with them for my niece, who was studying Fashion Design at Uni, and they were very apt, as they contain lots of sewing images. My favourite stamps are the background stamps however, which contain the words, 'Be still woman, and know who you are' My own daughter will be 21 in September, (oh dear, I don't feel old enough!), and I always wanted her to know her own mind, and have confidence in herself. This stamp seemed to say that, it was empowering. The stamp is a Non Sequiter set, but the main image that I have used on the ATCs is from elsewhere, and again, is a bit long in the tooth, and I can't remember where it came from now. It is an unmounted stamp, which again came with sewing images.

On the blue ATC, I have used Broken China, and Scattered Straw DIs, and I gave her a sleeve, to make her dress appear quite tattered. I have used Stazon, to be able to go over everything without fear of smudging. I have used Coloursoft pencils to colour the image. On the second ATC, I have used Victorian Velvet and Bundled Sage DIs.

I hope some of you will join in this week with your forgotten stash, and I'll pop around your blogs to visit you. Thanks for looking, Judith xx

WOYWW

I decided to join in the ever increasing number of people showing their desks to Blogland on a Wednesday. If you don't know what this is all about, then hop on over to Julia's Blog to see.

I have spent several days tidying my craft room before I have dared show you my work desk! It is normally buried under an absolute mountain of stuff threatening to become an avalanche at any minute. It will not stay this tidy for long, I guarantee you that! Through my window, you can see the lovely view of the trees that I now have. We have recently had an extension, and my window has been moved from the side of the room, to the end wall, and the view is so much better now. My yellow wooden ducks take pride of place on the windowsill. I have a weakness for wooden ducks, the house is full of them, and I also collect hares, like Hels , so I may show you those another time.

On my desk, I have the stamps that I used from my 'Forgotten Friday' post, as I am still working on the beige version. I have also just received some new Paper Artsy stamps and want to make something with those. I have a necklace to repair, so that is waiting to be restrung too.
You can just about make out in the first picture, a pencil pot made with Stampbord, using an Elusive Images butterfly stamp near my computer screen, a pile of magazines, and a couple of Stampotique stamps, the other side of my computer screen, again, waiting for a project.
This is the first time that I have joined in WOYWW, I'm away next week, but hopefully, I'll be back the week after, thanks for looking! Judith xx

Forgotten Friday: Number 1

I'm tidying up my Craft Room at the moment, and as I was sorting through some old stamps, I thought that I should be using them, and some of my other stash, that has sat unused for ages. I decided that every Friday, I would post a piece of artwork using forgotten, or neglected stash. If anyone would like to join in with me, then that would be great. You can leave a link to your work in your comment, and I'll visit your blog. If we get enough people joining in, and someone tells me how, (I know, I'm an idiot!), I'll get Mr Linky. Next week, I'll be more organised, and post my artwork earlier on during the day, (I've had a busy day today), you don't want to know!

I found two stamps this week, the first one from Stampendous called 'Fresh Bloom' and the second one is from Hobby Art, and is a sonnet by Shakespeare 'Shall I compare Thee to a Summer's Day' I based my card on some samples created by Trish Latimer in June's Craft Stamper. They were so pretty, and rather than rush out and buy the same stamp that she used, I knew that I had something similar. I have also used some pretty coloured vellum, in this case orange, and added red Stazon to the reverse, to mimic my inking on normal card for the other two flowers. I intend to make a paler version, using creams and beiges, and want to use the Martha Stewart punch on that one, which is why it is in the photograph. Time permitting, I'll finish that one, and blog it over the weekend.

However, on to my finished card! I have used an Artylicious paper from the Echoes of  Italy pack mounted onto green Bazzil card. I stamped the sonnet onto plain white card with Stazon, and then coloured the card with Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey Distress Inks. I stamped two flowers onto white card with Stazon as before, and coloured those with Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, and Fired Brick DIs. I then made the last flower with vellum, as described earlier. I stuck my flowers on with silicone, after curling them slightly.

My next version will have a more romantic feel, possibly for a wedding, but this one speaks of the summer to me in these colours. Anyway, that's week one of using forgotten stash. Join in if you'd like to, and I'll pop over to your blog. Bye for now, Judith xx

A full set

I am now the proud owner of a full set of pages for my circle journal, mentioned in a previous post. I made it with my blog friends with who I run Craft Stamping Quartet and we made some of the pages when we went on holiday together at the beginning of June. I have yet to make my final pages for Lesley, and then I will be finished with my commitment to everyone else's journals.

We gave each other ideas about colours, and trends but we then had free rein to make what we liked for each other. We all had arch shaped journals, the same size for simplicity.

The first pages are from Jo. She has used beautiful Mariposa papers from DCWV in aubergine and peach shades. She has used gold embossing, and butterfly images. She has attached a gorgeous Vintaj butterfly on one page. She has made a little book on the other page, which is beautiful, and written me a message inside, tied with a gold ribbon. She has added some lovely sentiments.They are such pretty pages, thank you Jo.

My second pages are from Lesley. She has used some beautiful masking effects on her pages, with Glimmer mists.She has added some gorgeous flowers, purple on one side, and a cream lace one on the other. She has used some Paper Artsy stamps which I really like, and added some lovely sayings about friendship on both pages.She has added a Tim Holtz hanging sign with my name above stamped wildflowers, including poppies, my favourite flower. Thank you Lesley.


My third set of pages are from Elaine. She has used Basic Grey Wisteria paper, a range that I have on my wish list (along with the Mariposa pad!). She has incorporated my love of poppies with two lovely flowers stamped on Mulberry paper and layered up with beads in the centre. She has added some little Crafty Individuals Butterflies that she has stamped, and another CI image of a little girl that I love. She has picked up on my love of family by adding a picture of myself and Megan, (my daughter), pinched from my blog details, printed onto canvas, and mounted into a little frame, and the large word coloured with DIs.The little Vintaj fairy hits the spot with me too, (they listened, those girls!). Thank you Elaine.
Every time I look at the pages, I am reminded of my three lovely friends, their time and patience, and how lucky I am to know them. It also reminds me of our lovely holiday, and the good times that we had. This is truly a happy journal, and a treasured item indeed. Thanks for looking, and I know that they will appreciate any kind comments that you leave, Judith xx

ISC Birthday Card

Hi all, I loved the free stamp on the front of August Craft Stamper. I loved the samples on pages 6 and 7 even more, and really liked the look of the stamp sheets available from ISC. Their website is http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ I had seen this company mentioned before, and really like their stamps. Anyway, I decided to make the following birthday card for my friend using some of their stamps.

I have used a sheet of Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby paper stack in a grey colour, which is great, because you can use whatever colour Distress Inks you like on it. I have used Tumbled Glass, Victorian Velvet, and Dusty Concord. I have made two flowers, stamping large and small flowers onto the same paper, and over stamping the dictionary definition stamp onto them. I have used the same colour DIs, and then scrunched them up, and put a large brad in the middle. I have used the lovely girl's face from the 'Friendship' plate, I love this stamp, it is so expressive. I have coloured it with Coloursoft pencils and Zest it. I have used a little bit of Bazzil, and a piece of cream lace and there you go! A card with my friend's favourite colours and techniques all rolled into one. I am sure that I will be using these stamps a lot more, as they are really lovely,; there are some more flowers, some butterflies, and a linen weave background. There are some beautiful sentiments, so I will be busy for a while. Watch this space! Thanks for looking, and any comments would really be appreciated, Judith xx

June Craft Stamper Project

Hello, just a quick post to let you know that I did get my flag book finished, and I have posted the complete results on our blog here I hope that you will go and have a look. It's so hot here today, and I suffer with the heat. It's been hard to get anything done, and I really need to tidy away the after effects of my crafting. I'm stocking up on more storage boxes in an attempt to restore order to my Craft Room which is so untidy. So, as the school year winds down, I'm gearing up to have a good sort out, and hopefully become more organised in my creative space. It's not looking good at the moment!

Anyway here are a few pictures to tempt you over to our sister blog. Thanks for looking, and any comments are really appreciated, Judith xx

Nearly there

Well, we are safely back from our Center Parcs break at the weekend. We had lovely weather, which is probably a first. I didn't even take a coat, another first! We love going to Center Parcs, at any of the locations, walking through the woods, and enjoying the atmosphere. This was the view from our patio doors, and we saw plenty of wildlife to go with the view. There were lots of squirrels and birds. We get lots of both at home, but they are very tame at Center Parcs, as they are so used to people.

We had a relaxing time, but we enjoyed lots of activities while we were there too. The others went out onto the Lake a couple of times in canoes, we played crazy golf, went bowling, ate far too much, and generally had a good time. On Saturday morning, Terry and I met my blog friend Lesley, as she lives nearby, and we had a coffee and a natter. She and I even managed to pop into a local Craft Shop and make some purchases!

Since I've been home, I've been trying to finish my project for our blog Craft Stamping Quartet I'm a bit late finishing mine this time, which is a first for me, and I don't like being late. I was a bit under the weather last month, and it set me back a bit, plus we had our Retreat, and it was invigilating time of year with school exams, so all in all, June just flew by. However, I'm almost done now, hopefully, I'll be finished tomorrow. I thought that I'd show you a couple of sneaky peeks on here today to whet your appetite. I've been a bit selective with the photos that I've chosen, so as not to give too much away. It's no secret that I've gone with flowers and butterflies, and I have gone more dimensional than Jo and Lesley, using decoupage, and layers on my tags to add interest. Hopefully there is a twist that you will enjoy when you see the completed project. Thanks for looking, and don't forget to pop over to our shared blog to see Jo and Lesley's completed flag books, Judith xx

I should be packing!

Just a quick post before I go away for a long weekend to Center Parks near Nottingham tomorrow. It's a bit like taking coals to Newcastle, as we have a Center Parcs right on our doorstep here at Elveden, about eight miles away. We often go there too.

I made a card with my card class this evening, using the new Birthday Belle stamp set from Elusive Images. It's a lovely set, really versatile. I've also made a handmade flower using my Blossom Nestabilities, and overstamped the flower with a Wendy Vecchi background stamp. I have used Stream Adirondack Ink for the Background, the flower, and the Girl's Dress, I love this colour!

  I'd also like to show you a picture of my youngest, Ryan. It was his Summer Ball last week. He doesn't get dressed up very often, so here he is looking smart. He's with a friend, he doesn't have a girlfriend at the moment. They all travelled on a bus to the venue and had a great time. They grow up so fast don't they?

Back soon, hopefully rested after my break, Judith xx