Going Patriotic!

Hi folks, I hope you are all having a great weekend, in spite of the wet weather. It's getting a bit much now, don't you think? An odd dry day here and there wouldn't go amiss.

I've taken a bit of a break from the grand sort out to do a bit of crafting today, and I've been playing with some new downloads available from Chocolate Baroque They are spools, designed by the very clever Lesley Wharton, and they come in six different designs.  During the week, I was blog hopping, and came across a very clever idea for a hidden box that looked like a ribbon spool. 3D PCP Challenge: a ribbon spool with a secret compartment! (tutorial & printables) 

This is the link for you and there are some great downloads, some of which I have combined with Lesley's to make my project today. I printed Lesley's download for the spools out twice, as I needed to make the spool much wider than her original, and backed them onto a cereal box. The tutorial suggests using packing tape reels, but I didn't have any of those. They would have been much better, as they are thicker. I used another one of the Chocolate Baroque downloads to line the spool. I added a couple of flowers and some Crealie leaves to the top of the lid, and painted some Stickles onto these.

Inside my box there is a surprise! I continued with the patriotic theme, and made a handbag charm, using an idea from an item in the June 'Make Jewellery' magazine.

There is a chart for a beaded Union Jack that you can turn into jewellery or a key ring. I have added a few charms and some Swarovski crystals to mine.

My silver beads were a little bit larger than my seed beads, so I had to play around with the number of beads that I used compared to the number of beads on the chart. No worries, I got there in the end! I really enjoyed this project, and would definitely make something like this again.

I'm off to print another one of Lesley's spools out now. There's a yellow and purple combination that has my name on it! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 55- Clear stamps

Hi Folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your stash to see what items you have lurking that are unused and neglected.

I have been tidying up a bit more this week and making great progress, I'll show you the rest of my room, so that you can see how I've been getting on.

This is the area to the right of my desks, where I store my inkpads, and I have a bank of filing cabinets. I have a small red one, which houses some wood mounted rubber stamps, then the other cabinets also house wood mounted rubber stamps, plus card, ribbon, speciality paper, and all manner of bits and pieces. They still need a good sort out really. Then you can see a huge bookcase to the right which houses my craft books. I have books on drawing, painting, card making, jewellery, cookery, felt making, crochet, knitting, jornalling, mixed media........!!!!!!

This is the side of the room where the shelves are that I showed you last week. It used to be very cluttered, and although I can't keep it completely clear, I have really tidied it up. I have a box with odd card bits in, that I use every day, so I have decided to keep it. It is very useful, and I don't chuck my larger card oddments away, choosing to use them to mount sentiments, or add to tags, etc. The greens are useful for leaves, and the colours are handy for handmade flowers.

Not the most interesting of pictures I know, but proof that I haven't scooped everything up and piled it onto the floor! I can't remember the last time I could walk from my desk to the door!

This is from the door to try to give you a view of the whole room. I painted the room a sunny yellow when I came in here to try and make it a cheery room. I can hear the birds singing outside, and there are lovely trees outside the window, so it is a pleasant place to be......when it is tidy, lol!

Anyway, I have managed a card this week, inspite of all of my tidying up. I decided to rummage through my box of clear stamps for a change. I settled on two sets, one from Inkadinkadoo, 'Meadow', that I bought almost a year ago at the Happy Stampers Show at Port Sunlight, and the other, that thinking about it, I bought from the same show! It's a KaiserCraft set called 'Life Sentiments'.

I covered half of my card with white Pan Pastel, a tip that I got from my CB Design Team buddy Claire before I created some clouds using several blues and turquoises from the Pan Pastel range. I cut a shape from paper using a scalloped circle to create my clouds, a tip that I got from my dear friend Elaine

I then used some torn paper to create some hills using several shades of green, this time without using the white as a base. I stamped the foliage stamps using a mixture of Versafine and Versamagic inks. I love using the chalky Versamagic inks as you can add the lighter colours over the top of darker colours that you have previously stamped, like the lovely Perfect Plumeria that I have used. It makes the flowers appear to be in the foreground. I just couldn't resist that touch of plummy pink! I added a butterfly stamped in black, and the KaiserCraft sentiment before I matted the whole thing onto a piece of co-ordinating card.

The Pan Pastels make such a soft background, and I thoroughly enjoyed creating this card. I don't know why I left this pretty stamp set untouched for so long, but I think that I'll have to make a few more cards before I pack it away.

Why don't you see what you can find to make something with that has been forgotten in your crafty stash? Leave a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Decoupaged Lace Flower

Hi folks, here's another sample using the new 'Lace Fragments' stamp set from Chocolate Baroque These stamps are so pretty, and I loved this large flower stamp from the moment I saw it.

I stamped the flower using Versamark and a vanilla white embossing powder, which acts as a resist for the ink that I then applied to the rest of the card. I chose to use a Memento ink called Desert Sand, which is a soft brown.

The butterflies were created using a Crealie die, also available from Chocolate Baroque. I have stamped these with another of the lace stamps and coloured them with the same Memento ink. The full details of how I completed my card are over on the Design Team Blog

Glenda has a giveaway over there at the moment, and if you care to leave a comment, you are in with a chance of winning a set of free stamps. I'll be back with another sample in a few days' time. Thanks for stopping by, xx

A card from Sue

Hi Folks, Sue has sent me a submission for this week's Forgotten Friday post. She has used a lovely La Blanche stamp, and her Distress Markers to colour the stamp.

It's a great image, and those flowers are lovely, aren't they?

Hope you are all having a great week, thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 54- Having a good sort out

Hi folks, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I've been having a hectic week this week. Our heating packed up yesterday and we were left without hot water as well. However, the kettle still worked, so I could still have a cuppa!

For the past three days, I've been sorting out my Craft Room, it desperately needed it. I have started to sell some unwanted items on Ebay, and will continue to sort and sell as I go along. It all helps to fund my new stash, so that's good!

As I've been so busy, I don't have a project for you this week, but I will take you on a photographic tour of my rapidly improving Craft Room.

My now very tidy desk, this is normally piled high with avalanches of magazines and stacks of card and paper. This is the first time that my Big Shot Pro has seen the light of day, and I bought it last year., I just haven't had a space to put it on my desk. That qualifies for a Forgotten Friday post!

My new storage racks that my OH has very kindly given me to put all of my Really Useful boxes on, I have 41 of them! All joking aside, I make jewellery as well as use them for my unmounted rubber stamps, so they provide great storage for both types of crafting.

One of my shelves has been relocated to sit above two that I already had, and I will put artwork on there as it is so high. I need steps to reach it, so it is impractical for holding craft supplies.

I have lots of boxes still to sort through, and am sure to come across loads of items that I can use in the coming weeks for my Forgotten Friday slots. I have found some great bits and pieces already.

Hopefully by next Friday, I can show you the rest of the room, and I will feel as though I have beaten the job of tidying up. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the end!

If you do get a chance to have a rummage through your crafty stash this week, and actually make something, please leave a comment on this post, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

New stamps at Chocolate Baroque

Hi Folks, Glenda has just released some gorgeous new stamps over at Chocolate Baroque Firstly there is Haberdashery, a sewing themed plate, full of mannequins, scissors, bobbins, buttons and all things sewing related. The scissors are really decorative and unusual, and the mannequins are all really different.

Secondly, there is Lace Fragments, a mixture of lace strips and swatches of lace. There is also a beautiful flower made of lace. I love this stamp plate, and the samples that the Design Team have come up with are just amazing.

I have a sample on the Design Team Blog today, so pop over there to take a look at the full instructions. I really enjoyed making this piece. Glenda is also offering a set of each of these stamps in a prize draw, so if you leave a comment on the DT blog, you stand a chance of winning them!

Hopefully, I'll be back a bit later with my Forgotten Friday post. It's been a hectic week this week! Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 53- A bit of resisting

Hi Folks, well it's Friday, and that means time to search through your unused stash again to see what you have lying there neglected and and forgotten. I have found several things this week, and have been experimenting!

Firstly, I decided to use a Stamp Camp stamp that I bought last year on a scrap piece of card, and I stamped it with Multi medium, to act as a resist. I let it dry for a while as I went off and did some other things, then just gave it a quick blast with my heat gun to be sure that it was completely dry. I then got out my unused Portfolio Pastels, and scribbled some of these over the top, blending them with my finger. I tried heating them with my heat gun to see what happened, but they didn't do a lot. I hadn't laid them on very thickly, and that might be why. So, I got a baby wipe, and moved them around a bit. I liked the effect that this gave. I added a bit more of the pastels to give a bit of depth and definition to the resist stamping, and that was the background sorted. I think it reminds me of wisteria colours. My wisteria plants are starting to get leaves on now, they are glorious when they are in full bloom.

I stamped a Lost Coast cat stamp onto some more blended pastel colours, using Archival ink, and cut that out. I also used the original leafy stamp, and stamped a couple of tiny Crealie butterflies, using the same Archival ink, (Plum, my favourite!). I used another unused stamp from Stamp Camp, this came from a sheet of butterfly sayings, a handy thing for a butterfly stamp lover like me. I stamped this on an unused Nestie shape. I have done well this week for using my unused stash.

I snipped the corners off the piece of card, and turned it into a tag. It's rather large, but I don't mind, I like large tags.

I added some pretty seam binding ribbon to finish. I hope that some of you will have a rummage this week, and leave me a comment. If you do, I'll pop along to your blog and take a look.

I'm off to Ally Pally tomorrow for the weekend. I hope to see some of you there. Please do say hello if you see me! Thanks for stopping by, xx

My first Show of the year!

Hi Folks, well I'm off to the Sincerely Yours Show at Thetford in Norfolk today, hoping to see a few crafty friends who are going as well. It's the first craft show that I've been to this year, so it will be great to see what has started to creep through from CHA. I'm going to Ally Pally next month, and that's where things will kick off properly, I'm sure. However, there's nothing like having a wander around stands of craft goodies and chatting to like-minded shoppers, is there?

Kay and Alfie will be there with the IndigoBlu stand, so it will be good to catch up with them too. I'm after some more Pan Pastels following on from making some samples for them recently. They are such a lovely medium to work with. This is another sample that I made for them, which may well be on display today:

This owl stamp is such a treat to work with. I've painted it with Distress Stains for this sample, using a variety of browns and oranges. I've used Pan Pastels for the background, and gilding flakes for the lollipop tree.

Well, I hope you are having a great weekend whatever you are doing, thanks for popping by, xx