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

Forgotten Friday 52- More Birds!

Hi Folks, it's Friday again, and time to rummage through your forgotten or neglected stash, to see what is lurking there. This week, I have chosen to use a little sentiment that has been sitting on my craft desk for ages. I bought it at one of the Happy Stampers shows last year. My friend Jo pointed it out to me, I would have missed it, but I loved the words. I keep chickens, as regular followers of my Blog will know, but I love bird related stamps too, so this is a great stamp for me.

I have also chosen to used an unused Prima mask with a little bird on it, and a bird stamp from Tim Holtz, the bigger version of the one I used last week in fact. It has a music score across it, so it fits the sentiment very well.

I coloured the background with Pan Pastels, laid the mask over the top, and spritzed with Perfect Pearls. I dried the card with my heat gun, and went around the mask details with Polychromos pencils, adding some shading. I stamped the bird onto grungepaper, and embossed it, before adding some Pear Tart Memento ink. I then punched a Martha Stewart vine punch to place the bird onto, so that it was grounded on the card. The leaves echo the shape of those on the mask. Pretty much everything, with the exception of the Pan Pastels was neglected stash, so I have been very good this week.

Apologies for the wonky picture, I couldn't get a straight image for love nor money today! I love how one of the Perfect Pearl droplets formed just where the little masked bird's beak ended up.

Why don't you have a look through your crafty stash and make something with a neglected item. Leave a comment, and I'll pop along to your blog to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Pan Pastels use bright colours

I've had some Pan Pastels sitting in my craft stash for several months. I bought them at a craft show last year, used them once, and then didn't use them anymore. I've recently had them out again, as I've been making some samples for IndigoBlu combining the Pan Pastels with Flitterglu and gilding flakes.

The Pan Pastels blend beautifully, the colours are vibrant, and make gorgeous backgrounds. I like to stamp with Perfect Pearls, and swipe some more colour over the top to create some great layers too. This is a tip that I picked up from Linda Brown at Ally Pally last year.

On Sunday, Kay and Alfie from IndigoBlu will be at the Sincerely Yours Show at Thetford in Norfolk. Hopefully, they'll have some of my samples with them. Are any of you going? If so, look out for me, as I'm popping along too for a bit of retail therapy.

Here's a card I've made using Pan Pastels, incorporating some of my favourite stamps. There's a Stamp Camp butterfly, a script stamp from Indigoblu, and a flourish from Tim Holtz. The colours are quite bright, so I'm entering it for this week's Pan Pastels challenge which is to use bright colours.

Having looked at some of the entries so far, I might not have made my card bright enough, lol!

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Forgotten Friday 51- It's all about the Chemistry

Hi Folks, I know it's Saturday, but here I am with a Forgotten Friday post. My shoulder and arm have been very painful this week, which have affected my ability to do any crafting. I signed up to take part in Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 Class, and decided to base my post project on that for this week. The items I needed to use were all neglected, so it qualified well and truly for my weekly ramblings!

The technique that I have covered is Distress Stain marbling, and you can learn all about it in Tim's class at http://www.onlinecardclasses.com/timholtz/class-info/ The classes are great, with daily videos and downloadable PDF files. It is great to sit down with a cuppa and watch Tim in action, picking up some tips and tricks along the way.

Anyway, onto my project! I have chosen to make tags, as that is what Tim has done. I made the first one, and then went on to make another one using the left over Stains, creating a much paler version, which I quite like. I never use Picket Fence Distress Stain, it sits there blinking at me in the drawer, so it has had an airing today. I've also got two stamp sets out, and inked them up for the first time, 'Artful Flight' and 'Shabby French'. These were sets that I treated myself to at a Craft Show at some point, put them with my other stamps, and never used them. There are some great stamps on these sets, and I think that they will get used a lot from now on. I also cut the tags out myself, using Tim's tag die, which is something that I rarely do, as I've been using all of my existing tags up first. So, all in all, I've had a good day using up my unused stash.

Here is tag number one, using lots of greens and blues, plus Picket Fence Distress Stain:

Here is tag number two, using the leftover Stains, and I really like this pale version:

Both backgrounds remind me of eggshells, with the blotches, and the colours, maybe it's the manilla tags, I don't know. It is a look that I really like though. I will definitely be creating more of these. I hope that you have a chance for some creativity over the weekend. Don't forget to leave a link to your 'Forgotten' creations, and I'll pop along to take a look. Thanks for stopping by, xx

T'wit T'woo

Hi Folks, some of you may have seen the latest show from IndigoBlu yesterday on Create and Craft. There are some great new stamps available. I thought I'd show you a couple of cards that I made featuring the lovely large owl stamp hand drawn by Kay. Both of these cards got an airing on the show, so those of you that watched it, will recognise them.

The first card is an easel card, made using Distress inks. I stamped the owl onto the card, and then masked it to stamp the branch afterwards. I then decoupaged two layers over the top, which I coloured with Polychromos pencils. I used a sentiment from the 'Hocus Pocus' stamp plate which I felt went well with this image.

The second card uses Flitterglu and copper gilding flakes for the main image. I have placed this into an oval aperture which has been created partly by stamping some ivy leaves around the bottom. These leaves come with the owl stamp. This is such a useful little stamp.

I'll be back with some more samples soon, thanks for stopping by, xx

Catching up

Hi folks, it's been a while since I've written a blog post, but things have been rather uncomfortable for me of late. I've really struggled since I had my teeth sorted out, and had to make a couple of trips back to the Dentist. Thankfully, everything is now on the mend, and although I'm not eating crunchy foods yet, I am getting back to normal.

I have had a frozen shoulder for the past few months, which has been really painful. It has kept me awake at night, and caused me a lot of trouble. Yesterday, I had a procedure carried out which hopefully will free up the shoulder socket, and give me more movement. It wasn't pleasant, and I have had two lots of physiotherapy since. I need to do four lots of exercises a day, and keep everything moving now, or the whole process will have been for nothing. Fingers crossed I won't need to have surgery and will be back to normal soon. It makes me very aware that I'm not getting any younger, as my body keeps giving me these signs that it is not working as efficiently as it was when I was in my twenties. Heaven help me when I get to my Mum's age!

In spite of the tooth trouble, and the shoulder problems, I am still managing to get some crafting done! I have posted details of a card using some great new Easter themed stamps from Chocolate Baroque over on the Design Team Blog today. It uses some great Spring colours, yellow and purple. I made the card while I was staying at my Mum's recently, and even cadged a piece of ribbon from her crafty stash!

While using this stamp plate, 'Baroque Eggs', I made another simple Easter card using one of the large eggs, which I stamped onto acetate, and foiled the back. Glenda sells some sheets of imitation gold leaf on the website, which are great for this. I used my favourite Memento ink colour at the moment, Cantaloupe, to colour the background, and stamped the large swirl in the same colour. I used some of Glenda's fab ribbon for the bow, and some lace from my stash to finish the card. The sentiment is from the same stamp plate as the eggs. It's an A4 set, and has some great images.

I can't eat chocolate, as it gives me migraines, but I love this time of year, buying Easter eggs for the rest of my family. Wouldn't you love to get an egg that looked like this?

I will try to be back on Friday with a Forgotten Friday post, poorly shoulder permitting. It may be something simple if I'm not up to much, so please bear with me if that is the case. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Hi folks, I'm back from my travels now as some of you know. I had a lovely time in Tenerife, the weather was gorgeous, and the hotel was amazing. However I was troubled by terrible tooth pain for my entire trip. I've been to see the dentist, and am hoping that he has sorted me out. Tooth pain is a terrible thing isn't it?

This was the view as we ate breakfast in the mornings at the hotel, it was so peaceful and a much needed break for my OH in particular.

The temperature was constantly around 23-26 degrees while we were there, so it was very hard to come home to a very cool 3 degrees!

I have posted my first ever post on the Indigoblu Blog today. It's a card that you guys have seen before, as I've started with one of my favourites. However, it would be lovely if you'd hop over there to take a look. The other Design Team members will be starting to post their projects in the next few days, so keep an eye out for those too.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

On my Holidays!

Hi Folks, I'm going on holiday in the early hours of Friday morning, so I just haven't had time to do a Forgotten Friday post this week unfortunately. I have been feeling a bit rough since I went to the Dentist, and so trying to get much of anything done has been difficult. Hopefully, the change of scenery, and a bit of warm air will do me some good.

I thought that I'd show you a few bits and pieces that I've been making recently instead of my Forgotten Friday post. I hope that's okay.

My 'C' and 'D' tags for the Chocolate Baroque Guild swap:

'C' is for Colourful, Create, Crackle, Clear Embossing, and Charm, I went into 'C' overload! 'D' is for Diamonds, Daisies and Dragonflies. I used vellum for the daisies, and coloured them with Copics from behind.

Here's another Indigoblu sample for you:

The character with the binoculars is a lady, she is often mistaken for a man. I decided to go for feminine steampunk, rather than the more masculine option, adding tickets instead of leaves behind the flower. I like this green and puple combination.


I'll be back after the weekend, hopefully feeling much brighter. I hope you all have a great weekend yourselves, and make the most of any good weather that you get here in the UK.

Thanks for stopping by, xx