Pretty things

My Daughter is home from University for the weekend with her Boyfriend, which is a rare occasion. One of the girls who comes to my card class made some cup cakes and dropped them off for Megan, as she knows that she loves her cakes. Aren't they pretty?

They are lemon flavoured, and really moist, I can personally vouch for how delicious they taste!

I have been cutting out and burning some more chiffon and organza flowers ready for future projects over the last couple of days. They just need some beads, brads, or other embellishments in the middle.

I love how the edges go crinkly, and they curl up beautifully. Each material reacts a little bit differently.

Yesterday, while I was photographing my tag for the previous post, the chickens came to see what I was up to. They made me smile, and I thought that I would show you their curious faces.

Now talking of pretty things, hop over to the Chocolate Baroque Blog where Glenda has added another free download to mark 200 followers on the Blog. It's a really lovely download, the flowers remind me of poppies, in soft pastel hues. I hope that you're having a great weekend whatever you're up to, it's raining here, but I'm with family, and that's what counts, Judith xx

Forgotten Friday Number 6

Hi folks, it's Friday again, and time to dig out your neglected stash again, to make something and play along with my weekly post. If you make a comment, post a link, and I'll pay a visit to your blog.

This week, I've been trawling through my embellishment baskets, and the stuff in here is seriously neglected! There's ten years worth of goodies stuffed in here; brads, chipboard pieces, buttons, all sorts of things. I got a packet of domino sized pieces of Stampbord out, and decided to use one of those.
I have chosen to use an unused stamp set this week, called 'Parfum de Paris' from Elusive Images. Hopefully this will be available again under the Chocolate Baroque label when the new Company starts up very shortly. I stamped the word 'amour' onto my coloured piece of Stampbord, and inked up a piece of card with Distress Inks, before stamping the large image in Vintage Sepia Versafine ink. I tore around the edges, and then inked those edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I used a Tim Holtz flourish die cut, and made a chiffon flower from my old chiffon scarves, another neglected item.

I added a flower from an old Primark necklace, and some very forgotten fibres were threaded through the tag at the top.

Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx

Bah Humbug use a cd or dvd

Hi folks, well I've had a whirlwind two days with Jo, the weather has not been kind to us, but we've had a lovely time, crafting, craft shopping, and consuming way too many calories. I'll miss her now that she has gone home again, but we are meeting up again soon, at the GNPE at Harrogate in March with another Craft Stamping Quartet friend Lesley. In April, the four of us are hoping to get together at Ally Pally, which will be a rare but treasured occasion. I've made my Bah Humbug card by the skin of my teeth this week, as the deadline is lunchtime tomorrow. The challenge was to use a cd or dvd in some way. I chose to stamp on my CD, using Teal Stazon ink, using an Elusive Images snowflake stamp, to match the gorgeous turquoise backing paper that I have used. I have stamped and coloured a Crafty Individuals image called Snow Baby, cutting it out with a Nestie shape, and mounting it onto a lovely teal coloured card. I have used a piece of teal coloured ribbon underneath my image, and hung a snowflake charm from the bow. Don't forget to pop over to the Bah Humbug blog to see what everyone else has been getting up to this week. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

An award

Hi folks, it's been a busy weekend, and tomorrow is an exciting day, because my friend Jo is coming to stay. We met through the Graphicus Guild, and became firm friends, along with two other Guild members, Lesley and Elaine, with whom we run our blog, Craft Stamping Quartet. We meet up as often as we can at Craft Shows and have the odd day together, but live apart, so keep in touch mainly by email. Jo coming to stay, is therefore a big deal! We have made plans, but probably won't achieve half of them, because we'll be chatting too much, but we'll see! Number one on the list, is a lovely cream tea in Ely, just after I've picked her up from the Station, I'm sure we'll manage that one!

A few days ago Marlena gave me an award on her blog. It was the Stylish Blogger award. Marlena's blog is stunning, and I feel very honoured that she gave me this award. It's taken me a couple of days to gather my information together to post my reply on here.
I need to Thank Marlene, and link back to her blog.
Pass the award on to eight other people who write blogs that I love to visit.
Share eight things about myself with my lovely blog readers.
I have tried to pass the award on to people who I haven't given an award to before, and who I feel really have given me lots of inspiration along the way. Their blogs are full of beautiful ideas, and handy tips too. Some of them are quite private, and may choose not to pass this award on, but I still wanted to let them know that I appreciate what I enjoy every time I visit their blogs. The blogs I have chosen are:
A New Beginning
Ink on My Fingers
A Splash of Colour
Ink Stains with Roni
Anneke
Sarita
Suzz Stamping Spot
Little Birdie Secrets
Okay, so eight things about me, I don't know that many interesting things!

1. I have been married to my childhood sweetheart for 25 years this year.
2. I can't eat cauliflower or dark chocolate, they make me ill :(
3. I am on the Design Team for Chocolate Baroque (that makes me so proud!)
4. I had a piece of work published in Craft Stamper magazine
5. I am a tea drinker (excessively!)
6. I love Italy, and visit as often as I can
7. I have two children, one 21, at University, one 19, living at home.
8. My cat Buzz has to be into everything that I do, including my crafting and my emails.

Don't forget to pop over to the new Chocolate Baroque Blog where there is a chance to win some free stamps, a free download, and inspiration from the Design Team. If the number of followers reaches 200, Glenda will add another free download.
Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx

Forgotten Friday Number 5 and exciting news!

My project for this week's Forgotten Friday post is a little tag box, that I bought ages ago. It was one of those brown flat pack kits that you buy and think, 'oh yes, I'll make that', and it sits for ages, and never gets made. I also had some lovely napkins that I received in a napkin swap last year organised by a lovely lady in the States. I am currently taking part in her altered charm swap. So, I had a look through the napkins, and found a gorgeous egg covered napkin, which I cut up. I covered my tag box first in Gesso, then in Aqua Adirondack paint dabber. Then I added strips of old book pages, and the eggs from my napkin. I also added two little chipboard birds, that have been gathering dust. I coloured these with Vintage Photo Distress Ink,and stamped them with a music stamp. I covered the whole lot with a coat of Claudine Hellmuth Matte medium for durability.

This will be perfect for popping my tags and ATCs in that I receive from blog and Guild friends. I had an audience earlier, she doesn't look too impressed by what I'm doing, or the mess that I'm creating! Don't forget to have a look through your own stash for any forgotten or neglected items and play along with me on a Friday, making something, leave me a comment, and I'll hop over to your blog to take a look.

Now, onto the exciting news! Glenda has launched the new Design Team blog today. We have been beavering away creating new artwork, and working with some lovely new stamps. There is a chance to win a set of four new stamp plates, so pop over to http://chocolatebaroque.blogspot.com/ to take a look. You can see something that I have created over there too. The new Company will be launching soon, so keep checking for news of that, either over there, or I will let you know once I have any information. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Bah Humbug Doilies

The challenge over at Bah Humbug this week is to make a card or something incorporating 'Doilies'. I chose to use this lovely angel stamp'Guardian of Hearth and Home' by Carmen Medlin for SCACD which I bought from Quixotic Paperie recently. I used a backing paper called'Twinkle' from Basic Grey, and coloured my image in pale blues to match.

Although I have some actual paper doilies, I chose to use my Martha Stewart doily punch, to create a frill around my image, an idea I saw on this blog and then added a border with the same punch on the base of my card too. I also used a pretty acetate doily on the base of the card, underneath the sentiment, which came from Lili of the Valley.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this week's challenge is now, although I have several craft commitments to get done and dusted first! Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx

WOYWW 89

Hi folks, it's Wednesday again, where do the weeks go? This week has just flown by, and I still have so much to do!
As you can see, my desk is cluttered with bits and bobs, left over from various jobs that I've been doing this week. I've been taking part in an altered charm swap, with some bloggers in the States, so my jewellery tools are still out, with some leftover pieces of clutter. I love my Tronex snips, they cost the earth, but they cut stringing wire like nothing else, and I guard those like I guard my Dressmaking scissors. No-one gets near them!
I've been working on DT stuff, so I've got lots of trims, and ephemera to put away, and my Copics have had an airing, which doesn't happen all that often.

I've got some stamps from Art Journey to cut and mount on EZ mount, before I have a play with those, and my obligatory cup of tea!

Why not hop over to Julia's desk and see what the other folks have been up to this week?

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

PDCC 68 and Forgotten Friday 4

This week Serendipity struck when I was looking to make my 'Forgotten Friday' piece. I had chosen a gorgeous heart stamp from Elusive Images, which was a Guild stamp at one time or another. I wanted to make a romantic card, as that was what I was covering with my card class this week. I decided to go for a vintage, shabby chic feel, with lace, and a faded peaches and cream feel to my card. The colours over on The Play Date Cafe this week seemed to fit perfectly. While blog hopping this week, I saw a fabulous card over on Helen's Blog with a lovely pleated ruffle and a dangly charm on it. As you know, I've been making charms all week, and the ruffle looked like a lovely idea to add to my card too. So, I gathered my stash, and set about making my card.

The colours for this weeks Play Date Cafe challenge were beige and pink, and cream seems to feature in most of the designers offerings too. So, I based my card on those colours. I used a treasured piece of Designer paper that I have had for an age, by Basic Grey, Porcelain in the Chatsworth range, it's gorgeous. I added a brown card pleated ruffle, and inked the edges with Vintage photo Distress Ink. I added some lace, and salmon pink velvet ribbon to this. I made two dangly pieces, and added heart charms to the ends. I stamped my heart out twice, and decoupaged sections of the heart, mounting it onto corrugated card to give it some height. Three flat backed pearls finish the card.

It's the first time that I have used this beautiful stamp, but it won't be the last. I love these colours, and the pleat effect is lovely, so I want to make more cards with this effect, so thank you Helen for your inspiration.
I've made two more charms today, with bottle caps that my OH flattened for me last night. He cut his finger in the process, so that's two of us with injured digits!

I had to make a minimum of five charms to send off to the swap, so I'm done now. I'll make a tag for my recipient, so that she knows who I am, and then I'll just wait to get some charms back in a couple of weeks time. I'll blog what I get, so that you can see them. Here are all of the charms ready to go now.

Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx



More charms

Hi folks, I made another two charms yesterday, in spite of the cut finger! It is still really sore, but Buzz doesn't care, she just wants her dinner, ah well, I'll recover.

I bought these tiny wooden cotton reels on Sunday from Stamperama, and thought that they would make really cute charms. I painted the tops and bottoms with precious metal paint, added some  TH tissue tape around the middle, and glued a metal rondelle to the top and bottom. I've added a clasp at the top, so that they can clip onto a hanbag if the recipient likes, or they can take that off, and just use the jump ring. At the bottom, I've added some beads, and a little brass sewing machine.

A fellow forum member, who is an Art Teacher, put out a call, asking for us to make journal pages for her students, on the subject of 'Time' recently. I haven't made any completed journal pages before, I've prepared pages, with watercolour backgrounds, stamped on them, and inked them, but this was a bit of a first for me. I had two ideas, and wanted to make them while the ideas were fresh in my mind. They are a bit more scrapbooky in style than most journal pages, because I have treated them more like a canvas. I have kept them as flat as possible though, as they are going in a book.

For the first one, I drew an hourglass, and stamped lots of clocks, which I wanted to fall down the hourglass, like sand, and pile up at the bottom. I covered them all with Glossy Accents. I found a poem called 'Time for Now' on the Internet, which I wrote around the edges. I used Elusive Images ATC stamps, sequin waste, and bottle caps to make my background.

For the second page, I wanted to use the phrase 'Tempus Fugit' time flees, or more commonly translated as time flies. I took an Elusive Images clock, stamped it, and covered it with Glossy Accents again, added TH wings and a crown. I covered the wings with tissue tape. I cut a Birdcage from Grungepaper and painted it with green metallic paint, cutting away some of the bars, as if my clock bird had escaped. I did a bit of my own journalling on this page, keeping the background a bit simpler.

It's been fun making these pages! I'd certainly like to make some more. I hope you are having a good day whatever you are up to today, thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

WOYWW 88

Hi folks, I didn't make it to What's on your workdesk Wednesday last week. The week just flew by, but I'm trying to be more organised this week. I cut my finger on a cat food tin this morning, so I'm typing this with one finger. I'm sorry if I don't comment on many of your Blogs this week, but it's really sore!
I went To the Stamperama Show at Stevenage on Sunday, so I've got lots of goodies sitting on my desk this week. There are lots of bird themed pieces, as I have a bit of a thing for birds at the moment. I went and watched Hels Sheridan demo with beeswax, and bought a couple of lovely silicone moulds and some beeswax too, so I'm itching to have a play with that as soon as I get a chance. I found some gorgeous keys and locks, and some fab little bird embellishments. Several stamp sets that I wanted to buy, and other bits and pieces that I've already put away. It was a good day, and I took some of the girls from my card class with me. They really enjoyed themselves, as some of them hadn't been before. It's only an hour's drive from where we live, so it makes it a good day out.

I hope that you are all having a good week, happy Wednesday, and thanks for popping by, Judith xx

Lots going on

I've been very busy this week, working on lots of different projects. I've been working on Design Team projects again, which is a lovely feeling. I can't tell you about those, but hopefully, there will be lots of news regarding the Company and the new stamps soon.

I've joined in with an altered charm swap in the United States. Last year, I signed up for a napkin swap with the same lady, it was a great idea, you collected some napkins, sent them off, and you got sent some in return. I got some beauties, and want to make something with a few, time permitting, ha ha! Anyway, this time, you make a minimum of five altered charms, send them off, and you get five charms back, with a pin to hang them on. I have made two so far.

I followed Roni's suggestion to use plastic tubing to look like fused glass. I'm hoarding bottle caps to make a couple more charms today, and eyeing up an old dice to stick a hook in to make another one! She has some fabulous ideas, I don't know where she gets them all from.

I've also made a card for this week's Bah Humbug challenge, which was 'Buttons and Bows'. My card is not in traditional colours at all. I have used a set of stamps from My Sentiments Exactly, with Gingerbread men, which seemed to call for reds and browns. I was trying not to use Kraft card this week, but it sneaked in there again! Hopefully next week, I can go a little bit more traditional.

I've got lots more projects on the go this week, so hopefully, I'll be posting some more very soon. Thanks for popping by, Judith xx

Forgotten Friday- trying again

Last year, I started a post on Fridays called 'Forgotten Friday' I posted an item that I had made, using old or forgotten stash. Unfortunately, I had to stop these posts, as firstly, my Dad became ill, and then my Husband. my Dad lives about five hours away from me, and I was going to visit him regularly. Between the two men, they were keeping me on my toes somewhat! Thankfully, my Dad is doing really well now, and has pretty much recovered. My other half just needs to learn to slow down, and hasn't quite learnt that lesson yet. He's not out of the woods, but I'm working on him
Anyway, I decided to try and have another go at my forgotten Friday posts, and see how they go. If you'd like to join in with me, then that would be great. Some of you did last time, and I was really chuffed that you chose to show me your creations too. Just dig out some of your neglected stash, and see what you can make, and post a link with your comment, and I'll pop along, and have a look.
I've made two pieces this week, one item, I've had sitting on my craft desk for weeks ready to make for this post. I've had these two lovely little chipboard trees that I wanted to put on a canvas for ages. I wanted to make a version of the rolled up flowers in green to go on the top, after visiting this blog I had originally intended to make the canvas for a Play Date Cafe challenge in the colours orange green and grey, which is why I have gone for this colour scheme. I have layered up Distress Inks, and various sprays, used sequin waste, Glimmer Masks, and stamped onto tissue paper to complete the finished canvas.

I hardly ever use my sprays and Masks these days, so they qualify for forgotten stash too.

My second item is a card, using a new technique to me, and an old neglected stamp. I took a piece of card, and coloured it with Antique Linen Distress Ink, then stamped it with a Wendy Vecchi script stamp in smoky gray versafine Ink. I then took a Hero Arts cling stamp, and stamped over the top with Versamark, and added clear embossing powder. I then coloured the image with Inktense pencils, and went over the image with a waterbrush. I added more pencil for some depth of colour. If memory serves me correctly, the technique is called double resist. It looks really cool with the script behind the flowers.

I have mounted the image onto red card, and chosen a pretty green dotty paper  to go with this. I found a scrap of green velvet ricrac ribbon, and made a red handmade flower with a big black brad.







Anyone who knows me will know that poppies are my favourite flower, I don't know why I haven't used this stamp before! Oh well, there's no excuse now. Thanks for popping by today, Judith xx

Bah Humbug Oldie but Goldie

It's time for my Bah Humbug post again this week, and I'm actually slightly quicker this week! I've managed to make my creation on Tuesday, wonders will never cease! The challenge this week was Oldie but Goldie, to use your old stash, an old stamp, or paper, etc. I fished out a lovely stamp by Stamps Happen Inc, which I've never actually managed to use on a Christmas card so far, as it always looked like too much work. I decided to stamp it onto Kraft card, so that I could try colouring with a white pencil for a change. I've seen a lot of this about lately, and it looks great. I used my Coloursoft pencils, and a few Derwent Artists pencils too, to get all of the colours that I needed. I blended everything with Zest it afterwards, and my paper stumps.
I decided to stamp around the edges of the Kraft card with another old stamp by Stempelglede, which I've had for ages. It's from the Grunge Flourish Hearts set. I bought this set before they were available in the UK, and they are just such a pretty set of stamps. I stamped the flourish using my white Adirondack paint dabber.
I then dug out an unused Christmas paper pack from Papermania, that I bought a couple of years ago, and found a page that seemed to tone in with the colours that I had used just perfectly. It even had a sentiment already on the page! I actually made this card with a bad headache, so at this point, a sentiment on the page was a blessing for me.

I have placed the snowmen picture onto acetate, which forms the front of my card, and there is a matching piece behind it, on the other side of the acetate to hide the double-sided tape. You can also write your message there.

Pop over to the Bah Humbug Blog and see what everyone else has been up to. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx