Deep impressions

A happy Wednesday!   My fran-tage powders arrived and I couldn' t wait to start using them.  I melted some UTEE in a metal container, as Mel had done,  then poured it onto the craft sheet, and then in went the powders,  with such a dull day it was hard to see the result - note to self, get a good lamp!   Then I reheated the lot and stamped in the butterfly.   Chuffed is the word.  I did take note of what Mel said about the stamps and only used my Indigo Blu,  which are solid rubber. 

So tickled with the first success I tried again. This time I added the UTEE a bit at a time,  which made it easier to melt,   for this attempt I used a heart stamp which has a lot of detail on it. Well of course I now want loads of the fran-tage powders! 

No time or rather no light to make anything,  so that will have to wait till tomorrow.   I know a daylight lamp would be the best thing, but they are out of my price range.   I am going to rearrange the room,  put computer desk next to craft desk before I become immobile again.  

I made this yesterday, using the a grungeboard flourish,  which had been inked, stamped and embossed.   For the background I inked and dylusioned the card,  then embossed it,  the red flower is actually a piece of ribbon just wound round and stuck together.    For the mount I stuck on a page from a book,  then dragged a black archival ink pad around it. It is a possibility for the ABAC challenge,  not sure yet.

Aside from the crafting it was a rubbish day,  the usual boring housework had to be done,  mum was in moan mode the entire day!   I made a midweek roast,  waste of time as she only ate some of it.   Got fedupitis I think.   This caring lark ain't what it is cracked up to be.  The gloomy days aren't helping either, I prefer the cold, crisp but sunny days,  not the grey clouds and mizzly rain.   No sign of gold chain, have searched the flat and it isn't here...    I was starting to feel paranoid about posessions, I have a nice rotary watch, which needed a new battery,  so just in case I 'lost' it, I strapped it to my wrist when I went to get the new battery,   just used the nice cheap shop in the Strand,   and got a bargain on the new and longer ASDL cable I needed. 

More crafty play tomorrow,  after I've rearranged this room! 

It's the weekend

The weather is just how I like it, cold but sunny.  Had some frost on the car this morning which was a bit of a shock.  Yesterday I had all my pre op stuff,  very boring,  and they've changed the system,  so whereas it took about 45 minutes before this time it took over 2 hours!  Most of that was spent waiting around

Today was stock up day,   have my op in a couple of weeks so need to make sure I've got the basics in.    So off to craft shop,   I was tempted by some stamps, but stuck to the list, sort of,  only veered away in getting the washables,  seen them on CnC, and was curious.    On the way out I looked round the Christmas display in the garden centre,  and spotted some owls...  well I couldn't resist,  I'm a sucker for owls,  so bought the little one.

Once back home I made this pic.  I got some grunge paper, which I hoped my thinner dies would cut, and yep it worked!  Didn't work with the slice, in fact I think it would probably dull the blade.   It took a few passes through the Bug,  but they were nicely cut.   The detail isn't showing up on the pic, but the flowers were stamped and then embossed.  The heart was dunked in flower soft,  the lettering came from the Slice, then coloured and embossed with the UTEE. 

I then inked a piece of card using Tim Holtz distress inks,  and embossed it with a sizzix folder.

I stamped it before the embossing,  wanted it to look as if it  had been graffitied.   I inked the brick work again to give it definition.   This is one of the Tim Holtz range of folders,  since it was a reasonable price I was happy to buy it.  After all that it was a case of finishing it off, so I used a piece of the washable card,  was interested to see how it would ink, in fact same as card really. 

Worrying time with mum,  she got her new bank card today,  good thing I was here as she was confused thinking they'd sent her a credit card and was all set to cut it up.  Found her sitting in her bedroom when I came back from shopping,   she was giving herself a pep talk,  she's still managing to dress herself, just,  she needs help with her shoes and socks.   Walking is now very difficult for her,  a wheelchair isn't an option as I can't push her as she is just too heavy.   We've considered the electric scooter,  I'm not sure she'd cope with it very well,  or if she bother using it.   She's at the stage where anything unfamiliar frightens her,   nor is she able to taken in instructions,  I've shown her umpteen times how to use the new phone but she still gets confused, the confusion then causes anger and so it becomes a vicious circle.   She was insisting that she could look after herself whilst I was in hospital,  it took some convincing for her to agree that she needed someone here with her. 

Bum side to the week, I lost my gold chain,  I've worn it round my neck for the last 20 odd years, only once has it ever come undone!   I've searched the flat but no sign of it,  can only assume that it came loose when I was out.  Really upset about it,   and its the only thing of value I have.   I know in the grand scheme of things it is a minor thing,  but I still feel upset. 

All for now folks.

A crafty Sunday

My perfect day,  a good nights sleep,  no aches and pains,  no flu like symptoms!    Then horror of horrors - no bacon!  How'd that happen?   It isn't Sunday if I don't have my bacon butty...  quick sortie to corner shop and all was well with the world.   Phew.

I came up with this idea yesterday,  to put an Owl in a Barn.  I thought I could make the beams from the tree bark embossing folder,  and somehow make a suitable background.   It did mean getting very inky,   I had autumnal fingers!    Inked the card for the folders first,  and then used the brayer to blend it all.   Worked out where I wanted the beams to go, inked the card again to pick up the wood grain using the brayer, which then gave me an idea for the background.  In inking the wood grain embossed card, the brayer picked up the pattern, so I used it for the background.

I used one of the chipboard tags,  gave it several coats of gesso,  then some inking,  lots of dabbing.   Then added the sentiment,  used the seam binding for a ribbon. 

I felt that there ought to be foliage,  luckily BJ sent me a whole bag of the stuff ages ago,  so I recoloured some of it and arranged over the 'log' that the owl is sitting on.   I'd curved the piece of card and glued it down,  took quite a bit of 3D glue on the Owl to ensure he was sitting on the log.

As requested just went to check on mum, to make sure she is awake as Strictly is on, she was fast asleep so woke her up as she'd asked,   got my head bitten off...  so she can snooze from now on.

Back to blogging...   where was I?

This is a close up of the wood grain,  and the new TH alphabet (Marketplace).    It is something I'll do again,  as well as using the embossing folders on the brayer for patterns.    Forgot to mention the web, which I stamped onto the grunge board,  then cut round it. 

Already started working on a new piece,  had the background made, so it was a case of finding some bits and bobs to go on to it. 


But need to get going on the calendars again, got a fair coming up and we need stuff to sell.   I will stamp the pieces and then assemble them,  won't take long as I know what it needs to look like.  Also took apart one creation on the canvas board,  it was too messy. 

The board still needs a few more coats of gesso before its useable again.    I may recreate the owl picture on it,  though I have got the flower soft lamp post,  still needing a tad more practice with that, well the little stamps and getting them in the right order.  See through stamps would be better,  especially for such tiddly stamps. 

Here's my promarker owl,  still think the effect is amazing,  it wasn't what I intended to do,  such a lovely flopportunity! 

A good day,  lovely crafting session, very satisfying.  I can only hope that the rest of the week follows suit. 

Hope you've all had a good weekend,  and have a good week.

Feeling rosy - NOT

I had my flu jab yesterday,   since when my arm has been aching and I've felt decidedly grotty! 

Julia complimented me on my embossing,  well trust me it has taken years to get ir right.  I always used to end up with bits of powder,  so I used an anti static bag,  which kind of worked,  then I saw Barbara Gray just using talcum powder and a brush, so I've switched to that method with much better results.   I always keep a fine paint brush handy as well to brush away any stray powder.   The trickiest part has been the actual stamping,  once I had a tendency to over stamp,  but now with a LOT of practice I get it right most of the time!    I would like one of the  newer heat guns that have a dual control,  but that can wait,  the heat gun I use works fine,  and it came with my very first card craft kit which must be over ten years ago. 

For this piece I made a rosette,  but then cut the edges in random fashion!    I cut some flowers and then embossed them with powder,  coppre and holographic black,  I used the web again, but again drew long spidery lines.  The rosette is mounted on a tag,  which I stamped and embossed,  made the tiny bow from a scrap of ribbon,  very fiddly and without the bowmaker!  The middle of the rosette is made from watch parts,   and the lamp post is from the Flower soft range of stamps.   I also started another background, and made some flowers for more projects.  Also got my Tim Holtz alphabet die,  it almost ended up being chucked away as it took a few goes to get it going.   I am using a cuttlebug, but don't think that would have mattered,  I noticed the more I ran it through the Bug, the deeper the die got and the easier it cut.  I would like the extension plates,  just looked around to see how much they are and they'll have to go on the Christmas wish list.   No complaints about the service,  I ordered the die from Amazon, £9.95 plus £1 p&p,  and it arrived the next day.    

I just watched a few videos on Youtube,  some of these videos are fantastic, but two I tried to watch were awful,   what was being filmed wasn't in camera shot,  why don't they watch it back and check to see if it is okay? 

Hoping this yucky flu like feeling disappears soon.   Thanks for stopping by

Two Owls and a pussycat!

Not sure if today has been productive...  I got some grungeboard,  and yes I like it,  but didn't manage cut it with my thin dies :-(   It took the embossing folder very nicely, once I'd sorted out the cutting plates.   After some research and asking friends seems like grunge board won't cut with thin dies, but it will take the sizzix dies.  Hey ho.

The last few days have been very creative.  First was my floppertunity with the owl,  rather than colouring with the promarkers I dabbed on the ink and got this fab effect.  For the background I cut a tag,  then used the spiders web stamp, used some copper embossing powder on it,   and the thick white enamel powder on the edges. 

I also finished my swap card,  think you can spot the spiders web!   I used two more stamps from the Hocus Pocus set,  for the main pic I went with the white enamel,   and I embossed the orange card behind it.  The theme/technique was 'embossing',  so I think I just about covered all bases.  I used some coredinations card for the main background - must remember that you can also scrunch it up,  I always seem to forget that.

But happy with this effort.

Finally the pussycat,  this was a birthday card for a group member.  The cat stamp is a favourite,  can't remember how long I've had it.  I got some copper and black embossing powder,  also had a go at recolouring the holographic powder with some alcoholic ink.  I used a spellbinders embossing folder for the copper card. 

Not sure what is on the agenda tomorrow,  there is something I have to plan... 

Thanks for stopping by.

A very crafty day

I had one of those days when the craft just went smoothly...  

Julia asked about the use of PVA glue and embossing powder.  So,  it came about as a happy accident,   I was using the glue to apply glitter, then changed my mind and wanted to use embossing powder, I wondered what would happen if I combined the two... the answer is this - see pic.   In this example I've used a thick enamel powder,  but using the glue lets you 'draw' where you want the powder,  great for when

you may want an uneven edge,  or random edging.    I apply the glue and then the powder,  then leave it to dry,  if the glue is too wet you can get a gooey mess.

This one has  been done with the gold embossing powder,  and you can see how you can get a lovely effect with the glue which worked well on this bookatrix creation.   In this pic the glue is still drying, so the powder hasn't been heat set.

Julia also asked what Bookatrix is...

Not sure if this pic helps.   I guess the best way to describe it is as a faux book,  you can add up to 4 pages,  or is it 5?   Each page goes down in size,  and an embossing board is used,   not sure if it was the Glitter Girls who had the original idea, they do sell the boards.   The pic shows the last page for this particular 'book' on the board,  still to be cut out.   I used to have problems with the embossing, then I switched to bigger ball tool, and use a tumble dryer sheet to make the ball tool run smoother.

So after all that... here's the finished article.  Pretty much removed from the original idea, which had been to use the Hocus Pocus stamps.  Instead I've used Clarity stamps.   I aged the final page,  inking and the like, plus the old plastic bag trick,  then I added the embossing powder, there is also some round the mini picture,  the edge of the mini pic has been cut with a ragged edge,  the edges then were dabbed with a versamark pad.

I was having a look through the challenges and spotted that one was birds, bees or butterflies.  So I got my large owl stamp,   stamped him onto Clarity paper.  The idea then was to colour him with the pro markers,  so I did, but I began dabbing with the chunky end,  then realised I was getting this lovely effect.   By dabbing I was of course releasing more of the alcohol, so was getting that alcohol ink effect - which I love.  It was a complete accident.  The clarity paper is glossy, or coated,  so it has a lovely sheen to it.   I do like happy accidents,  although someone yesterday called them 'floppertunties',  which is just as delightful.

So one project finished,  one near clompletion and believe it or not I did some prep work for the Sunday stampers challenge, which is 'metal',  very handy as my bag of  steampunk watch parts is on its way.     I can only hope that the creative juices keep flowing as they did today.  Note to self,  don't exceed your reach!

Thanks for stopping by...  hope you have a good week

A different view

A few years ago I bought a bookatrix board, used a few times then stored it.  This morning I was watching CnC and saw the board being used for some grunge art!   Now that had never occured to me,  not sure why as there is no reason that bookatrix can'be used for altered art work.  So after a declicious lie in I set to work.

I decided to use the Hocus Pocus stamps,  so wanted an autumnal look to the backgrounds.  I used some alcohol inks on some gold mirri,  then stamped round the edges.

Part two was the middle layer.  This time I used plain orange cardstock.  A combo of Pva and thick embossing enamel helped make the fancy edge,  this time I left it to dry before using the heat gun.  I got the look I wanted!    Then to the final piece, made a good start,  bit of stamping, inking etc,  then decided I wasn't happy with it, but knew what I wanted to do.  So this piece will be finished off tomorrow.   My own fault as I was dithering over which stamps to use, one side worked, the other side didn't.   At least I have two bits done. 

Also had a lucky find on ebay,  I was after some steampunk stuff, but frankly the prices wanted for just a few pieces is a bit steep.  So I typed in watch parts,  and bingo,  seems like watchmakers have cottoned on to us steampunk fans,  lots of watch parts by the bag load!    Yeah you can be the cog dies, but you can't get the itsy bitsy ones. 

A very productive two days, swap card now made and ready to go into post,  a birthday card to make...   And must look round at the challenges, see if I can make any next week.  

All for now...    Oh almost forgot, a tip when using alcohol inks,  the dilution mix comes in a bottle, I've transferred it to a small spray bottle,  works much better that way,  and lets you clean up your craft mat as well.

It's a bit nippy out there

It is definitely time for the winter wardrobe, and after decluttering mum's wardrobe felt I ought to do the same to mine - there is actually some space in there now.

I even had a walk, which was a mistake really as my knee was very sore and gave way on me a couple of times.  But it was nice to have some fresh air, but there was a definite chill in the air.

I've not yet signed up to the Whats on your desk - yet.  But thought I'd have a practice run.  So this was what was on my desk today,  prep work for the owl calendar,  two owls stamped and waiting to be cut out, coloured,  pro markers at the ready,  my black versamark ink pad,  the bark background for the calendar, plus what I did yesterday, the revamp of the Vintage Paris picture.

Much happier with this one.  I cut a piece of cardboard,  backed it with some nice dotty paper. I made the second background the same way I did on Monday, with the radiant rains and stamps.   This time I printed out the pic of the Eiffel tower on to card and made it bigger,  I ripped the edges,   printed out the other two pics on canvas paper,   and this time used the bike die cut.  To finish it all off I used a TH sentiment stamp,  cut out of second but smaller pic of the Eiffel Tower and stuck on,  and the 3 roses,  I used the coredinations card for them.   Think this is a success.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making the calendars,  with a break to take mum to dentist,  she broke a tooth.  We got there just on time,  she seems to have lost all concept of time,  and doesn't realise that she can't move very fast.  What annoyed me was that even though the dentist is literally round the corner, she had to light a cigarette in the car! 
She had only barely lit it when we were entering the car park.

Then we had a surreal conversation about a loaf I'd taken out of the freeze,   I found mum about to put it back in!   She was convinced that the loaf needed to go in the freezer.   My weekend break seems like eons ago.    I did get some nice news,  that another arty weekend, with the same gang is planned for March next year, and at the same place.   Plus a mini weekend in Cardiff,  hopefully just before Christmas,  if the knee is up to it.

Last pic is the Owl,  just love him,  think I've got the colouring right this time,  I went round the edge of the background with a pro-marker,  the hand stayed steady - just!

No idea what I'll be doing tomorrow,  may just wait and see what happens.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Monday... ugh

Think it was the thought of what lay ahead of me that made me wish to roll over and stay under the duvet!   The days activities were: strip beds, laundry and declutter mum's wardrbobe.   There are now two large bin bags of her clothes, most of which she has not worn for years,  waiting to be disposed of.   I was ruthless,  mum put up a few arguments but I ignored them,  she still has plenty of clothes. 

So it was a relief to turn my attention to crafting,  and then to get distracted from my original aim,  your fault Julia, to go look at the Make My Monday challenge...  before I knew it I was on Google looking for old images of Paris, and found these lovely images.   Think it still 'needs' something, but can't figure out what!  

I had a lovely time making the background. I used the radiant rains,  then splattered (a lovely word 'splattered') some on to bubble wrap,  then some dylusions....  felt the urge to use the flourish stamps.  Since bikes are associated with Paris the lady on bike got used, plus the post mark stamp.   I knew the gaps would be filled with the images so didn't want to go too mad.

I then cut some spiral roses,  inked them up, stamped them,  and glued,  they had to dry,  on TV,  held together with some useless clothespegs, well they are useless as actual clothespegs, but great for crafting.    Background was drying... and I was twiddling thumbs, so made dinner,  Cottage pie,  all ready to go in the oven later.   Yes, multi tasking! 

These are the images I got from Google, printed onto canvas paper,  and I cut two silhouettes.   Then it was a case of sticking it all down.  Maybe it needs the man?   I discarded him, but now I'm thinking that he ought to be there.  


The cottage pie was delicious by the way.  Just not liking this picture very much...  needs some twiddling with.

Think I prefer the ad hoc layout pic I took with the bits and bobs than the finished article.   Note to self,  chuck things down in future and see where they land. 

Oh well there is always tomorrow...  

Barking...

So nice today to just relax, feel as if I've been on the go all week.   I didn't manage my 'lie in',  and was in two minds whether to go to a country fair.  In the end I compromised, and tidied up the garden, pruned all the rose bushes, and after doing all that I was too sore to go anywhere.  But need to get jobs done as I have a date for my operation,  so guess I ought to slap some paint on the hall! 

My intention for the afternoon was to use my other new owl stamp and make a calendar.   I remembered I had this embossing folder,  so once the card was embossed I inked it up, then applied the Radiant Rains (Julia they are on the CnC site, and you will like them!)  I used the copper and gold, which when well with mahogany and rusted hinges inks.  So left that to dry, on top of TV,  a great drying place!   And turned my attention to the background.

I used a metal leaf charm as a template and used various inks,  autumnal colours, round the edge of the card, cut to the shape of the finished piece. Then dragged more ink over it in a random fashion,  you can just pick it out at the edge of the pick, which also shows my lovely owl,  a friend has just seen it and reckons it is an Irish owl! 

I cut the flourish with the Marianne dies,  and inked it,  it is pearlescent card, so wasn't taking the ink as I'd liked, but it was working as a branch..

And here he is, in all his glory!   I stamped the owl on to super smooth card,  used pro markers to colour him,  then used UTEE on him to give a glazed effect.  The rose buds are from the Marianne range of dies, they come as a spiral die,  I inked, coloured and embossed them.  The sentiment is from the Hocus Pocus set (Indigo Blu), and it was finished with a mini calendar.

With all the inking it took all afternoon,  I needed to make the 'bark' pop, so just matted and layered it.  I like the owl because of  his quirkiness.   He's part of a much bigger stamp, Woodware range.  I like the rusty hinge ink,  TH range,   but you do need to be careful as it can be a very strong colour, so there was lots of dabbing.  The whole thing is stuck onto a piece of chipboard,  which is for a book, but I've used to make the calendars.

Yes I was at my desk!  I am so happy with it,  and it will be even better once I get the stash all sorted, it is a bit of a jumble at the moment, so I need to do some sorting out this week.   The desk seems to have made all the difference, which sounds silly,  but just having everthing to hand makes life easier,  plus the stash isn't being spread round the room anymore.  And at the end I just close it all up!   Brilliant.

Hope you've had a good weekend,  not managed to make any challenges this weekend... again!   Tho think the Owl may qualify for a few.    Thanks for stopping by,  it is much appreciated.

Introducing - my craft desk!

It is small but perfectly formed,   and is a bit like the Tardis for space,  my craft desk.   It finally arrived yesterday at 4.45pm,  by 7pm I had half of it built, then I sensibly stopped as I needed to add the hinges and sliders, so felt that was best left to the daylight hours. So today I was up with the larks,  and in the supermarket early,  then back home, quick cup of coffee and then finished putting it together.   I thought I'd need to measure were to put the two sliders,  then I spotted the pilot holes, phew.    Had it all done by lunchtime, which meant I could Christen it with a craft session! 

Of course had to fill it with the craft stuff, though there is still loads of room for more crafty stash.  I need also to really sort out what I've got,  I'll start doing that next week.   It was just so good to have a permanent craft space,  I've kept my mobile table,  that's good for keeping other stuff on while I'm crafting.  The inks are on the shelf,  divided them into their colour groups! 

The flip down top takes the craft mat nicely,  may try to fix it to the table, not permanently as I like to remove it for brayering.   Not everything is properly sorted,  just put all that has been hanging around in the room into it.  I may even be able to find things, which will be a minor miracle. 

I'm still in wonderment that I managed to put it together so easily, usually there is one mistake!  I decided to use 'no nails' tape to fix the back boards on,  better than guessing where to bash in the nails. 

So it was time to craft!  I used my new Indigo Blu stamps, Hocus Pocus,  I fell in love with this set because of the owl, and the two sentiments.  I'd already had a play with them, but just stamping them on some paper, fooling around with how to decorate the backgrounds.   I also like to stamp the stamps,  they always seem to work better once they've had their first coat of ink on them.   The desk provided a nice firm stamping area,  another plus.   You can actually see the finished piece, but it took an hour or so to get there.

Here is the finished piece.  I used two pieces of card,  sorry 3 pieces!  I stamped the small picture, one with the owl, first,  on to a piece of card just big enough to take the stamp.  I brayered the sky using denim from the adiorondac ink range,  I used a mask for the owl, moon and castle.  I wanted to bring the little owl to life,  so using some quickie glue I drew round the outlines of his feathers, then used gold embossing powder,  leaving the glue to dry with the powder before using the heat gun.  To give a bit more depth I added the copper radiant rain,  a very watery mix,  just flicking it onto the image,  and used a pro marker to add depth round the neck area.  For the castle I mixed two dylusions, purple and blue,  again used a watery mix,  and brushed over the brayered sky.   For the second background,  I brayered some yellow ink, then stamped over it using the arched window,  for the sky I used the purple/blue dylusions combo, tried to get a streaky effect and managed it.  The branch was a happy accident as it covers up a slight mistake,  then I added the birds and the sentiment,  just matted the owl onto some gold card to make it pop.   Very happy with this,  the gold embossing isn't standing out well in the photo,  but it does IRL. 

The best bit was at the end, when for the first time there was no need to pack everything away in boxes,  rather I could just have a quick tidy, and then close the desk.  

Up and at em...

Before turning my attention to crafting I first defrosted the fridge/freezer, and of course as usual mum wondered why she hadn't bought a frost free version... !   Next on list of things to do was finish off decluttring airing cupboard.  We have the good fortune to have a walk in airing cupboard, but that also means that it can become a dumping ground. I dug out the unwanted stuff,  a friend is having a fair soon, and she wants stuff to sell fortunately!  Also removed a large bag of unwanted stuff... now earmarked for the tip.   Felt very good about my mornings work,  to complete the set I contacted a local music shop and asked if they bought djembe drums,  chap said to bring it along and he'd take a look.   Djembe has to go so crafty desk can fit in room.  Felt very virtuous! 

And so to crafting... while being distracted by some rather nice goodies on the DB show,  liking those pastel things and the pastes!   Meanwhile back at the craft table,  I made the background above, similar to yesterday,  and then used this lovely paper which got stuck on to a very stiff piece of card. 

I knew what I wanted to do,  which sometimes happens, but doesn't always work.   Then I chose my bits and bobs,  a frame, silhouette of a ladee,  small tag and then set about making my first rosette.  Looked a bit daunting, and it was fiddly, made mistake of making first one too wide and not long enough, but chopped it in half.  Next problem, no hot glue...   so superglue to the rescue!

I used a rich chocolately kanban paper for the rosette,  I even managed NOT to stick myself to it using the superglue.  I randomly put some versamark on the frame and used some gold embossing powder,   did the same for the ladee... next up, more versamark on the embossed strip of music notes,  and some perfect pearls were added.   Rub and buff would have been nice, but you have to go with what you've got.

So that was all my bits and bobs done.  I was getting seriously tempted to order the pastes DB was demoing,  the looked lovely,  had the bigger kit been on easy pay I'd have gone for it.  Splodemat man was there,  guess I'll have to get me one of those mats,  my current craft mat has seen better days and my blending can, er, leave something to be desired at times.   Was also liking the stencils... so much stash and so little cash :-(

So to the finished piece. which  I rather like. 

I then checked my emails,  paypal had deleted my card!  Yikes,  but only because I'd failed to put the new one on... doh.  So did that and realised that the money I'd earned from my craft sales was still in my pp account... oooh...   yes of course I spent some of it!   Chose some dies,  and still got pennies to spend!  

I have decided to invest in a hot glue gun. I was using one on my art weekend and it proved very handy.   I love my pinflair, but some stuff needs to be stuck down rightaway and superglue is just too risky. 

Well tomorrow I'm off to the recycling centre to get rid of the stuff from airing cupboard,   off load other stuff on to friend for her fair,  supermarket shop,   via argos for hot glue gun - they want 18 quid for one on CnC, are they nuts?   Do I care if it is pink, nope,  just as long as it sticks things down I don't care if it is dayglo yellow.    I had the same feeling about the storage thing for the pens that they were flogging,  my reaction was: why?   A friend has converted an unwanted CD rack to take her pens,  mine are in a clear plastic bag.  Some crafter emailed to say she had 17,000 stamps... even DB was gobsmacked,  my thoughts were - she has actually counted them, and where the hell does she keep them all? 

On that note...   must see how many challenges I can enter this piece?

It's October!

Think the mojo is back on track,  I hope though I think I was going a bit OTT with the dylusions and flowers, though I bought a spiral rose from ebay!  Decided to have a week without them.   So today I limited myself to a stamped background using the distress inks.   It was nice to get back to some stamping.   I used Tim Holtz, Indigo Blu and Kaiser,  which seem to be my favourite stamps at the moment.  Though tomorrow I want to get out the Barbara Gray stuff.

So with the background done I then had to decide what would go on it.   I messed around with a few ideas, some worked, and some most definitely didn't.   I was going to use some beads,  but the thought of hauling the storage box down from the wardrobe kind of put me off! 

So it was back to the stamps.

Well some stamps, one embossing folder and a tag.  I stamped embossed then layered the clock with some UTEE, left it rough looking,  my Umbrella man made an appearance, and using some metallic tape I embossed the music score.  Then stamped a mini tag, and inked the edges with some tattered paper.

Tried them all in different arrangements but it wasn't working.  So I cut up the music score,   there was an idea lurking in my brain,  just had to prise it out.

Finally after a lot of messing the pieces fell into place.. phew.

I tucked the music score under the tag,  and added some ribbon, along with some bakers twine.  It was a bit fiddly trying to tie the two together.   It was by sheer coincidence that umbrella man ended up in front of the lady on bike!   I do like happy accidents,  though I think my work generally consists of happy accidents.

Felt satisfied with this piece, which is for my journal, along with some writing. 

I've even been writing poetry which is something I've not done for years.  I also tend to stay away from the rhyming stuff but for some reason that is what I wrote.  Very suprising, I posted on a FB group I belong to and it went down very well.  So using Craft Artist I have just printed it out with a nice layout.

I've put this in my AJ,  next to my reflections picture.  All the work going into the journal is just rough stuff,  as I do wish to revisit a few projects and improve on them. 

I've been having a look round the challenges,  I will try to enter a few this week.  And it is swap card time, so have to think up an idea for that,  tho this time it isn't a card or tag, just whatever we want providing it has some embossing on it. 

I'm itching for my desk to arrive, then this bedroom can be sorted out properly, I really don't like how it is at the moment. Plus the bed is alongside the radiator,  mum is insisting on the heating going on,  so I'm boiling.