WELCOME TO MY BLOG.

I hope you enjoy your visit and like what you see.
When you've finished browsing here, why not pop over to MAKE SOMETHING NICE and take a peek at some of my tutorials.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

YAY!!!!! I GOT ONE.

I'm dead chuffed. I got my first blogging award today, so thanks a million to Bobs.

I've not done a lot of crafting this week what with a funeral and a minor bout of the sniffles, but I'm hoping to get back on track this weekend and also, very soon, get round to posting the tutorials over on 'Make Something Nice'.

I did however, manage to get hold of a DS Lite so I'm now trying to find my way around Dr Layton's Curious Village and not doing very well, I may add, lol.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Friday, November 07, 2008

CAN I HAVE IT?

I've not got much done this week. We've had a family bereavement which has left us all a bit stunned, but I did manage to plod on and do this LO of my granddaughter, Mia and myself. She took a shine to my lemon organza ribbon. I wanted a multi-pic LO but didn't want all the pictures showing as I normally do, so I put a waterfall on. I think it works well.


I may as well show you the pics in the waterfall too, eh?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

STILL DISTRESSED!!!!

It's no good. I've tried, but I just can't put my Distressing Inks down. I am just loving them at the mo. I really like blending the brighter colours, but yesterday and today, I thought I'd let my dark side come to the fore. This first one was inspired by my Graphicus newsletter and it's backed with some paper from them too. The stampbord was inked, stamped and scratched back and then I brushed my Versamark pad along the edges, dipped them in embossing powder and heated. The green back was 'bugged', inked with Peeled Paint and then lightly touched with Versamark and gold embossed. It's not a 'clean' piece as I have some stray embossing powder but I like the effect it gives.


Now this one, I thought would make a great card for a bloke. A little dark, yes, but it's what I wanted. This time I inked my card with 3 colours before 'bugging' it. When it was dry, I lightly rubbed my sanding block over it to bring out some highlights. The beauty of the Distress Inks is that you can layer them, so when you sand back, the underlying colour comes through where you have more than one colour of ink. I can't even remember where I got my watch stamps from, but I love them too.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

FAILING MISERABLY...

I really am. I've had my new monogram stamper and alphabets for nearly a week now and I haven't yet been able to get one stamped right. They looked so easy when I saw them being used, so I'm a bit gutted. I get uneven ink impressions and very, very inky fingers, which of course doesn't make sense at all, lol. The ink is practically hidden from the rubber. Added to that, I've already lost a 'Y' from my baby alphabet. Still, I shall plod on and I WILL get one right.

The good news though, is that my article on my Polymer Clay Pendant (a similar one to the pic I posted here on August 24th) is now with the typesetters and should be in the next issue of the Polymer Cafe magazine.

So, what have I managed to get right? Well, I'm still very much into my distressed inks, so I made an ATC using them and some tags for a tag swap.

For the ATC, I used a Graphicus stamp again and in the centre I added Diamond Glaze and some tiny clear holeless beads for texture. The background was stamped with a stamp from Crafty Individuals.

The purple tag I made by using Versamark clear ink and then just dabbed chalks over it. The butterfly was done in the same way, and 3D mounted. The tag on the left was stamped and heat embossed using clear ink and powder and after I'd put my distress inks on, I ironed the tag to melt the embossing powder leaving a smooth, white image. An old trick, but neat, eh? A bit more DG was used on these too. The one on the right was sprayed with Glimmer Mist after inking and the embellie was stamped onto Grungeboard.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

BOXES AND BUGS...

I haven't used my Cuttlebug for a while so today I'd thought I'd run up a card with it. The greeting is stamped with a Inkadinkadoo Personal Impressions stamp using an Encore metallic ink pad in Honeydew and then clear embossed. Fiskars border punches were responsible for the edging. The card is actually very smooth, but the scan seems to have picked up the paper weave.


Some time ago, I was into making cards with matching boxes and this is two of my particular favourites. The 'cherish friends' was for my best friend and I also made the pearl bracelet for her. It was one of the rare occasions that I used a kit, but I just loved the papers and the colours.


For the wedding card, my customer wanted something a little different so I came up with this idea. I was very pleased with this. It was made with pearlescent burgundy and cream cards and all the elements were cut on my CraftRobo.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

HINGES, STAMPING & STUFF

Oooooeerrrr!!! I've been a bit slack again, haven't I? Still, I have been busy doing lots of crafting.

I finally got my stamped images put onto cards and they've already gone to a new home. I've also been playing with all the yummy Inkadinkadoo stamps that I got from the US. There are so many combinations, no two cards need ever look the same. I've always been a bit dubious about clear/polymer stamps but these really do perform well. They stamp a lovely detailed image. I've done some scrapbooking too, but as I'm not overly pleased with the way the LO's turned out, I'll not show you those.

I won another ebay auction too. This time for 10 sets of MSE alphabet stamps, also from the US, so I'm waiting for those to arrive. Unfortunately, I didn't look at the picture properly and most are of the same set. Doh!!! Still, I'm sure I'll find homes for them.

I started a tag swap on my craft forum, so have made a start on those and I've also completed another month's CJ pages. This month's theme was 'Around the World in 80 Days' and as my passion is India...well, lots of lovely pics of there.

My fave bit of work though, was a Piano Hinge Book. As I made it I took photo's and wrote a tutorial, so if you like it and would like to make one for yourself, you can find the instructions on The Canny Crafters HERE. I did say that I wanted to use my layered stamped image from my gorgeous Graphicus stamps on a book, and so I did.




I've also been playing with my Prisma pencils. I found with these that most cards worked well for the blending with the Sansodor and surprisingly, one of the best was a pearlescent card from Craft Creations. Unfortunately, I found that the card from Graphicus didn't work well and that was surprising too, as it's such a smooth card. It's a little too porous for the Sansodor. Mind you, for stamping, it's superb. It takes an image as sharp as a tack and it's also brilliant for making the cards themselves as it's such good quality. It's also excellent for blending distress inks, as I did with my layered book image. The ink saturates the card without seeping right through and blends really smoothly.

Finally, I have a bit of a penchant for monograms developing, so I've treated myself to a monogram stamper from Justrite Stampers. I'm really looking forward to that arriving. I think monograms look lovely with a scalloped circle behind them, so I looked at the Nestabilities and then I thought that rather than spend more money, I could (and should) use my Craft Robo to cut them, so I will. In between all this, I managed to cook the odd meal too, lol.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

HAPPY BUNNY

I did a bit of stamping and inking again the other day with my stamps that arrived from Graphicus. I haven't actually done anything with the pieces yet, but I'm sure I'll get round to it. The coloured one was distress inked and layered and I'm thinking of using this on a cover of a book. Last time I used grungeboard, but this time I used the Ultra Smooth white card from Graphicus. Oh, boy. It's fabulous card and I think it would be perfect for use with Prisma pencils and sansodor. I'm waiting for some pencils, so I'll let you know when I know. The one with the green centre, I dropped a bit of Diamond Glaze on and then those tiny Art Accentz beads.
Now, the 'Friends are a Gift' one is one of the new Inkadinkadoo Personal Impressions stamps. The centre words and the frame are separate so you can mix and match them and cut and layer them too. They appear to be like gold dust in the UK, everybody is out of stock of them and I've only been able to get this one, hence my disappointment of last week.



But, today, I'm a happy bunny. I won an auction on ebay last night. Well, this morning technically as I sat up until it finished at 2.14a.m. The auction was for 15 sets of these stamps. That's a UK retail price of about £75 and I got them for £25. I'm well chuffed. Just wondering how long they'll take to get here from the US now.

As a little aside and changing the subject, I took my granddaughter to Horncastle yesterday to see the ducks. I'm not really an outing kinda person but I so enjoyed myself with her. Mia absolutley loved them and kept shouting quack quack at them. Nothing different from other kiddies, I know, but it was my first visit to the ducks with her and it was lovely.

I also made another necklace yesterday. This time using Black Banded Agate. I had a bit of trouble with this one as for some reason I just couldn't get my wire loops right, but still, it came together in the end. It's a lovely stone and has some really beautiful markings on it.

Monday, September 22, 2008

A BIT MIFFED...

I've been waiting a week for some new rubber stamps and my parcel arrived today. I was all excited about having something new to play with but when I opened my parcel, they were out of stock of some of them. It was more disappointing because they were out of stock of the ones I particularly wanted and this is after having been told on the phone last Monday, after I placed my order, that they were in stock.

I sometimes think that us 'grown ups' have a serious problem. Fancy getting so disappointed over something like not getting a rubber stamp, lol.

Anyway, I made a necklace instead. The stone is fluorite, it's a very pretty stone but sometimes it's difficult to know what to put with it. So...I decided not to put anything with it and just use purely fluorite in 4 different shapes.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

MORE PLAYTIME!

It's been a few days since I blogged again, but I've been busy, busy. I decided some time ago that I didn't like my jewellery website so I've spent most of the week updating it. I've changed the design and layout slightly and am much happier with it now. A nice fresh face. I've also got a few more bits of jewellery made and have some more in progress.

I took my granddaughter shopping the other day, as I thought I'd buy her a new pair of shoes. OMG!!!!! her little feet are only about 3 inches long and what a price those shoes are. £26 'eek!', but, they are soooooooo cute. I couldn't resist buying her one of the all singing all dancing Baby Annabell dolls too, so a fairly expensive afternoon, but hey ho! I loved it.

So, not a lot of money left for stash, but I am waiting for some new stamps from Graphicus. One set so I'm better able to do the technique I showed you last week and another set of gorgeous greeting stamps with interchangeable outer frames. I'm still playing with the glimmer inks, but not getting on very well. I really don't think they're my cup of tea at all, and I should have known this, 'cause I'm not into sparkly at all really. The colours look so vibrant in the bottles but are actually very pale (insipid some of them) so I doubt I'll get much use from them.

Right now, I have some jigsaw pieces to scan in for a jiggy topper swap done over at Canny Crafters and as swap host, I've to get them all in the post tomorrow so I better go and get cracking.

Monday, September 15, 2008

INKY FINGERS

I saw this wonderful project by Lynn Robinson-Hunter using Tim Holtz grungeboard and distress inks. I thought it was so bright and yet 'earthy' so I had a go. I was a little impatient and didn't wait for my card to dry (all spritzed with water) so my stamping is a little off, but never mind, you get the idea. I got (and so did my table) very messy and had very inky fingers, but it's a great technique.



I have also got some of the new Glimmer Mists. Mica particles in coloured liquid that you spray over your card/paper. Now, I really don't know why I wasted my money on them. They're £30 for a set of 6 bottles and you can get just the same effect using your Twinkling H2O's. Still, they're pretty colours, easy to use and they blend well. I made this very simple card with them, just to test out the blending.



I popped to the park for a little while this morning with my DD and GD. GD loved the slide and also fell in love with a lunch box belonging to a little boy. When he left to go back to school, she followed them all the way to the gate crying for the lunch box, lol. Hissy fit or what!!!!! Spoiled madam, no doubt she'll have her own lunch box before very long.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

NEAT FREAK

I've done a LO of my granddaughter and this one is a bit different for me. It's ALL paper. No ribbons, brads, eyelets or anything. I even used letter stickers for the title, which I NEVER do. The papers are Basic Grey 'Blush' and I cut the embellies from 'Infuse'.

Mia is 13 months old now, and just loves cleaning. She has her own dishcloth (well washed) and cleans everything in sight, including the dog sometimes, lol.


Monday, September 08, 2008

WRIST SLAPPING..

Ooooeerrrr!!!! I've had my wrist slapped for not updating my blog, so I thought I'd just write a little bit. I've been so busy I haven't had time for this. I've not got to visit my fave jewellery forum, UK Beaders properly either, and I'm sure there's loads of lovely creations on there I've missed.

So what have I been up to? Well, I've done some scrapbooking, done some photography and I've even made a couple of cards. I have got some jewellery made for commissions too. I'm in the process of writing an article for the Polymer Cafe magazine on making a Mica Shift pendant and as it's going into print, I have to get it right, so that's taking a little time.

I've also set up a brand new craft forum. Our old one had so much down time, we were all thoroughly peed off with it, so I thought we could do with something better and that's taken quite a chunk of time too recently.

In between my crafting stuff, I've also done the normal boring everyday stuff that none of us want to do, but have no choice.

Anyway, I'll show you a couple of my pics. Nothing exciting as I think this time of year any of us with a camera shoot butterflies on buddleia bushes, but hey ho! they're pretty enough aren't they?



Tuesday, August 26, 2008

BAPTISM BOX

Well, I've finally finished my box. If it's suitable, it will hold a handmade silver rattle for a special little boy's christening.



Sunday, August 24, 2008

GETTING MORE DONE...

I've got quite a bit of crafting done over the last few days. I've made some more polymer clay necklaces, none of which have reached my website before being sold. *grin* As I've not photographed them yet, here's one I made earlier. This one never reached the website either. I managed to get some beaded ones done too, one of which will actually get on to L.R. Designs.



I've made some cards too and played around with a Versamark resist technique for some backgrounds.





I was also asked by a fellow beader if I would make a box for a handmade silver rattle she's made for a christening. After a few false starts and some problems with my Krylon Silver Leafing pen, I finally made good progress today. It's all covered and just waiting to have the embellishments put on it. I'm hoping to get that finished tomorrow.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

DONE AND DUSTED....

Well, here they are. Into a third day in the making and I definitely need more practice, but for a first attempt, I'm quite chuffed. However, Jeffrey if you read this, don't panic, lol. You're under NO threat from me. Ha, ha, ha.


Now, I have to go and finish a commission I have for a polymer pendant. Much easier to do though, thank goodness.

I went for lunch at my friends today. I go every Wednesday and thoroughly enjoy myself. I always have a couple of glasses of wine too (or port) and as I'm not a big drinker, especially at lunch times, I'm always a bit wobbley on a Wednesday afternoon, so I better be careful with my craft knife, lol.

STILL AT IT....

Whew!!!! another full day working on these pod bead things. I never realised when I started just how long they would take to make. I've only made 3 too....but one is rubbish so I'll only be using 2 in a piece of jewellery. They need multiple bakings, each of 30 mins, plus all the work in between. A couple of times I've had to bake them just for a teeny weeny bit of clay in a hole.

I thought I'd finished all the baking last night, but no...wrong!!!! Loads more had to be done today when I started putting the holes in. Jeez, they're difficult. I will finish them tomorrow, I swear I will. At the moment though, enough is enough, I need my bed.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A CLAY DAY.

As usual, I did have all my running around to do today, but got it all done quite quickly and managed to spend the rest of the day in my craft room. Yesterday was beading day but today....it was clay day. I absolutely love working with Polymer Clay. I've been using it for a couple of years now and sometimes I think I'm still not very good but other times, I'm really chuffed with what I turn out. It's a fantastic medium to work with and so versatile.
My oven has just beeped at me and I've taken some beads out. My electric bill has probably shot up today as the oven has been on for most of it, lol.
I am trying a technique for the first time pioneered by the fabulous clay artist Jeffrey Lloyd Dever. I've been doing his pod beads for hours and hours and they are... well, to say they're looking far removed from his is an understatement, lol. Still, practice makes perfect as they say. The final baking has just come out of the oven but they'll have to wait until tomorrow (well, today now) to be finished off. You never know my luck, they may just be OK.

Monday, August 18, 2008

BUSY BEADING....

Apart from a quick visit to the village, I've been beading most of the day. I made 4 necklaces including one using the fabulous lampworked bead made by Claire Doherty that I mentioned yesterday.

All I have to do now, is get round to putting them up on my website.

Well, it's Monday now. NOT my fave day of the week as I always seem to do loads of running around on a Monday, but hopefully I'll find some time to do some more crafting.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

GOT IT DONE...

Well, I got my CJ pages finished, so that's another job done. Can't post piccies though 'cause it will spoil it for Bobs if she visits me here, as it's her journal.

I told you yesterday that I've been looking at snail shells the last few days and decided they're actually quite nice, so here's a couple of the pics I took.



I also found this bug that I thought was dead so took a pic and then his leg moved, lol.I popped him on a leaf and he legged it.



I got plenty of other pictures too, including one I called Suicide Pact, as it was a whole bunch of snails dead in a bucket of water. What possesses them, eh? Beer I can understand, but water!!!!!

I'm in the mood to do some jewellery now. I got a fabulous new lampworked bead today made by Claire Doherty of clasibeads, with real silver drizzles on it and it's just gorgeous so I may do that tomorrow. Or, I may get my polymer clay out and play with that instead.

Friday, August 15, 2008

OUCH!

Well, I finally got my layout finished. My grandaughter has her first 'poorly', bless her. Kids always manage to find the bit of broken glass you've missed, don't they?

I've been out taking photographs today too. I'm in a Circle Journal and the book I'm doing at the mo is about where people live, so I had to go and get some pics of my village for it. I have to say, I quite enjoyed myself.
Snails grabbed my attention today too. Dead ones, lol. So, pics of those too and I used my macro lens for some close-ups of the shells. Have you ever studied a snail shell? They're quite beautiful, you know.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

GETTING NOTHING DONE....

I've been trying to do a scrapbook layout this evening and I'm getting nowhere fast with it. I have my pics and I have my design but just can't choose the papers. Grrrrrrrr!!!! It's so annoying.

I've also paid a visit to my photography site. Sometimes I like to look at my own photos and it's ages since I've put any new ones up. Something else I need to do.

My jewellery site is sadly lacking in new pieces too, lol.

It's not as if I'm short of time. Not really. Certainly not compared to many other people I know, and yet, I still get nothing done.

Mind you, one thing I DID get done was to go away last weekend. I met up with all my lovely friends from The Canny Crafters (or Lou's Loonies as we're also called) and we had a great time. We chatted, laughed, drank, ate and...oh, yeah - got a bit of crafting done too.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

A VERY GOOD CAUSE


This post is for my friend Kerrie Slade who on August 11th has an Awareness Pins project available on Beading Daily and as you can see from the picture they are fantastic, there's 2 sides to this project- a charity fundraiser and a contest.
Please check out her blog for further details as she's put a lot of time and effort into this and is a lovely and very special person who deserves everyone's support in this. Please click on Kerrie's name and help if you can.

BUSY, BUSY....

Had a very busy week this week. Mind you, it's not over yet. I've done shed loads of housework and still more to do. I've let it get into a dreadful mess. Too busy crafting, see. I've neglected everything else.

I'm going on a craftweekend this weekend and I'm teaching 3 classes so there's quite a bit of prep for that. Most of it is finished but still a bit more to do.

I've not been feeling too well lately either, but I'll not bore you with all that. It doesn't help when you've loads to do though. Anyway, still no piccies to show you. I could put the weekend projects up, but don't want to spoil it for anybody coming to the weekend if they happen to pop over here.

Monday, August 04, 2008

IT'S BEEN A WHILE....

Well, I figured it was time I updated my blog. I've changed to this new easy edit template finally, so I'm now playing around and seeing what's what.

I'm a lousy blogger, lol, but I will make an effort to update more regularly. I may even put some piccies up of some of my crafting as well as my photography and photoshop stuff.

Sunday, March 02, 2008

WE'RE HONOURED...

I feel very honoured today. Photoshop guru, David Rowley (davrodigital) asked me if he could use my pic of Mia (the one below) for a video tutorial on doing High Key in Photoshop. It's on his web site and this months Digital Photography magazine (issue 67) have picked it up and it's on the disc that comes with the mag.

How cool is that???

To make things better, my son is coming home tomorrow. I've not seen him for ages as he works in Dubai now and doesn't get back very often.

I'm going to have lunch with my friends tomorrow, which is brill, as I don't have to cook, lol.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all you mums out there (well, any of you that read this, that is).

Saturday, February 23, 2008

STAINED GLASS MASKS.


I was a little bored tonight so started playing around in CS3. First proper bit of digital work I've done for ages.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

MIA


My granddaughter is 7 months old tomorrow. Honestly, where does time go, eh? There are other things going on in my life, but I'm not sure they're worth writing about. Anyway, here's another pic of Mia. I will get round to scrapping it sometime, I'm sure.
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