White Christmas Challenge

Just to let you know that Glenda is hosting a White Christmas Challenge over on her blog at the moment. The more people that enter, the bigger the prize fund becomes, with the maximum amount being £50 in Chocolate Baroque vouchers. That could buy a lot of stamps!. The deadline for the challenge is 15th December. Why not go and take a look? The winner is drawn at random, so everyone gets a chance to win.

Forgotten Friday 41- Pockets and Tags

Hi Folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your forgotten stash again. See if you can find something that you have neglected, and make something with it.

Since last week, I've been on my trip to Paris with my Husband, where we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We had a lovely time, visiting the sights, and taking a much needed break from our normally hectic lives. When we arrived at the hotel, there was a bunch of dark red roses waiting for me, that Terry had organised. I carried the same kind of flowers when we got married. I was very touched that he had been so romantic.

We were staying just off the Champs Elysees, and there was a Christmas Market set up there, which put us in the Christmas spirit straight away. We visited all of the main sights, including the Eiffel Tower. It's beautiful at night, and sparkles on the hour every hour for five minutes.

We spent a few hours one day in the Montmartre district. This was my favourite area. We climbed up the steps to see the Sacre Coeur, and it really does glow pink in the sunset.

We wandered around the cathedral, and I had been hoping, although not expecting, to find a view that matched a particular Darkroom Door stamp that I have. I love this stamp, and have used it on the front of my Paris journal that I am working on to commemorate this trip.

Terry thought I was mad to get so excited when I actually found the street! I guess only a crafter would understand, LOL!

We visited the Moulin Rouge area while we were in Montmartre, bypassing the seedier elements, enough said!
We managed to get a trip to the Louvre, seeing the Mona Lisa. We climbed the Arc de Triomphe, 265 steps, which reminded me that I'm not getting any younger! We also went up the Eiffel Tower, and enjoyed some stunning views. On our last day, we visited Notre Dame, which I was particularly pleased about, as the building is beautiful.

We really enjoyed the trip, and would visit Paris again, as there is a lovely vibe to the place. The weather was very mild too for the time of year, and we quite often didn't even need to wear our coats.

So onto my project for this week. I am working on my journal, and have covered my inner pages now, printed out my photographs, and planned out what is going where with all of my memorabilia. Most of the leg work has been completed, so it is just a matter of sticking, inking, stamping, etc. However, my last journal took a long time to complete! I have concentrated on my front section this week, and created a tag pocket which contains a railway ticket for the Eurostar. I have embossed part of a Tim Holtz embossing folder onto the pocket, and used Distress Inks to pick out the embossing. I have scrunched and inked the train ticket.

On the next page, I have used a photograph to create a pocket for a tag, to which I have added an ideology tag. I am using a mixture of Darkroom Door, Chocolate Baroque, and Cavallini stamps. These are all very much neglected stamps. The Cavallini stamps are another set of stamps in a tin, they are wood mounted, and very lovely to look at. I bought them from an American lady who was selling all of her real stash, as she wanted to go digital in her crafting. They have sat unused in my craft room for ages, and this was the perfect opportunity to use them.

On the small flap, I have stamped a couple of stamps, and added a piece of Stampbord with another DD stamp. I have etched some of the details to highlight them.

I may add something else to this flap, but I'll see what bits and pieces I have left over, or if I want to do any more journalling.

Don't forget to leave a comment attached to this post if you decide to make something yourself with a forgotten item, and I'll pop along to your blog, and take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday- almost didn't make it!

Phew, it's Friday again, although only just. I'm preparing to go away for my Silver Wedding Anniversary trip tomorrow morning, and life is just very hectic. We are off to Paris, and are leaving early in the morning to catch a train up to London, where we are picking up the Eurostar.

It's hard to believe that it is almost twenty five years ago that we got married, the time has just vanished. I don't feel old enough for starters! My children have grown up and sometimes, (if I don't look in the mirror), I don't feel much older than them, LOL! Here's a photo of myself and Terry on our wedding day, and I am the same age as my Daughter is now.

It's not a great photo, as I just snapped the one that is hanging on the wall upstairs. My dress is from the eighties, so it looks a bit stylised these days. I won't even begin to describe my going away outfit!

Anyway, I've cheated with my Forgotten Friday project this week, as time was so tight, and have made a very simple card for my OH as my project. I chose a fabulous paper from My Mind's Eye, that I have been hoarding for ages, with the Eiffel Tower in one corner. As we are going to Paris on our trip, it seemed appropriate. I have used a mask over the top, and sponged Tattered Rose and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks over the paper. I then brushed Walnut Stain DI around the edges.

I've used another neglected item over the top- printable acetate, to add the words 'Happy Anniversary'.

It is a very quick card, but my energy levels are still quite low as I'm still getting over this bone infection in my jaw. No news of when my tooth is coming out yet unfortunately.

Anyway, why don't you have a rummage through your forgotten stash, see what you have been neglecting, and try to make something too. If you leave a comment, I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 39- Just tagging along

Hi folks, it's Friday again, that means it's time to rummage through your stash again to find some neglected items and make something with them.

This week, I've been making tags using a tutorial based on a post I found here using Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I had an unopened pot of this that had been knocking around for ages, so I thought that it was a perfect Forgotten Friday project. I dug out some neglected Christmas embossing folders, and had a go.

I found that the Tim Holtz folders are much better for this project, as they are deeper etched than Cuttlebug embossing folders, for example. However, I could try using my 'Texture Boutique' embossing machine another time, which is meant to emboss much deeper than a regular die cutting machine. It just gathers dust as I don't normally get it out for embossing these days. Here are a couple of sample tags one TH, and one Cuttlebug:

This is a fun technique to do, and makes a very pretty background. I finished the blue tag off, and will finish the red and green tag another day.

Don't forget to have a look through your own craft stash to see what you have been neglecting. If you make something, leave a comment this week, and I'll pop over to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A little bit of WOW!

Recently I have been playing around with some embossing powders from WOW, and I have to say that I am quite impressed with the range and quality of these powders. Several of my samples, if they have had embossing on them have used these particular powders recently. The extra chunky clear powder I have to say is one of the best I have come across for triple embossing, it gives a super smooth finish. I made a few samples up for WOW themselves this week, and if you've been to the NEC, you may have seen them on the stand. I am not showing you them on here, as the stamps weren't on the website last time I checked, so I'm not sure how top secret they are!

Anyway, here is a sample of a card I made for them using some fabulous stamps from IndigoBlu. I've used the copper pearl embossing powder for the large corner stamp, over a background made using Distress reinkers and water. I spritzed my background, drying each layer, until I was happy with the depth of colour. I then sponged the same colours of Distress Inks onto some white card, and stamped a couple of Butterflies with Coffee Archival Ink, before cutting them out. I've used flower stamens for their antennae.

Glenda has just started stocking some of these embossing powders over at Chocolate Baroque and she has some great samples over on her blog, which you can reach by following the link in my side bar. I hope you are all having a great weekend whatever you are up to, thanks for popping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 38- masks are not just for Halloween!

Hi folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your forgotten stash to see what unused items you have laying around. This week, I've been looking through my masks, and have chosen two particularly nice ones, although one is strictly a stencil.

The first one is a holly ring from Creative Expressions, which I've had for ages, and never seem to get around to using. I have lots of their masks, and just forget about them. I did get them out for my card class recently, and they made some fabulous cards with them once I'd given them a quick tutorial. Anyway, I coloured my piece of card using Distress re-inkers and water, I used Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, and Barn Door, drying in between the layers, until I was happy with the colour. I then ran the mask through the Big Shot with the card, to get an embossed impression. I coloured the embossed area with Forest Moss Distress Ink.

I then stamped and embossed a lovely vintage Christmas sentiment, available from Chocolate Baroque in the middle of the holly ring. I have matted the card onto gold and green card, but will probably add some further embellishment before I send this card out at Christmas.

My second card uses a Sweet Poppy stencil from The Craft Station, and I love this beautiful tree. I have another similar tree that I have used before which regular blog followers may remember. I sponged various blue and green inks through the stencil, and also used a stipple brush for the smaller areas. I then spritzed Pearl Glimmer Mist over the top, before removing the stencil, and trimmed away the white frame.

I used a sentiment and digi paper from Chociolate Baroque as before. The digi paper is temporarily unavailable, but keep checking back, as this one is fabulous, and available in lots of different colourways. It's called 'Medieval Script'. Again, I'll probably add some embellishment to this card before I send it out, but I've got a few weeks yet.

I've not been that well this week, unfortunately, I've got an infection in the bone above one of my teeth. It feels like I have flu, and it has completely floored me. I'm now taking lots of antibiotics, so I will hopefully be on the mend soon. My tooth has got to come out, but that's complicated, and has to be done under general anaesthetic, so I have to wait for an appointment. Hopefully by next Friday, I'll be feeling more like myself again.

Don't forget to have a look through your crafty stash to see what items you have been neglecting. If you want to add a link to your blog during the week, I'll pop along and take a look. Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx