Friday, January 31, 2014

Hungry Caterpillar


My card was sort of inspired by the Less is More sketch but I've been wanting to use my Caterpillar die from Memory Box. He reminds me of the Pelham puppet I used to have unfortunately I don't have him now cos he would be worth something.
I cut out a couple of Fresh Foliage one of which was cut up by myself to make the ledge for my caterpilllar to stand on. A few Tender Leaves in a different green which in RL doesn't look so odd in fact you can barely tell I used a different green at all.
Finally found my googly eyes in the trolley beside me, my caterpillar wouldn't have worked without them.

Thank you all for the wishes for my new Wet room and Craftroom although some of you think I've packed my stuff away. I moved out just before the cold spell when we came home from our Holiday in Spain in October and spread out around the house but officially I'm in the dining room.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Refit

 Just a reminder what my Craftroom and outhouse used to look like, my desk worktop and draw unit which was upcycled from a school
 To the right of my desk my cricut.
 Right hand side
Left hand side if there was space I'll find something to fill it.
Two doors to hide the mess.
Next to my craftroom the outside loo that was blocked up before we moved in. The disgusting fridge is classed as the Beer Fridge no food is allowed in it!
The passageway to the right the door to the front of the house which will be blocked in.
Otherside of the passage to the door into the garden.
This is a picture from the front.
My craftroom after it was stripped out.
Drying out soggy bricks
 Digging out to sort levels out 
A way to get in once the door is blocked in.
So thats the story so far.

The Owls have it.


I do have a bit of thing about Owls and when I saw Mo Mannings Owl Moon, I knew they had to be brought. It was surprising how many bits I had to cut out to layer but it was well worth it because I love how they turned out.
Since I printed them out quite large there wasn't much I could do with the layout of the card.
The white mat I used the Stamping Up bark embossing folder and the chervon paper is from them too.
The sentiment is the Perfect Love set from Simon Says Stamps, I also used the Snow Falling stencil to help me with random for the liquid pearls.
The ice/snow on the branch I used glossy accents and sprinkled glamour dust on while it was wet.


Its been quite a eventful week so far, outside my the back door is a great big hole and surrounding area it a large mud pie, hoping today is drier for the builders. The outside work needs to be done before they can start inside. Spoke to the Plumber yesterday and had to decided where to put a radiator all I could think of was how much valuable cupboard space it was taking up.




Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Mama Tree



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Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the  Emboss It Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too :-)
We will be back soon with the name of the lucky winner of the  $50 Voucher !! :-)
This week the challenge is

ANYTHING GOES 

WITH TWINE OR STRING as an optional extra :-)

We are showcasing  Mama Elephant Products this week. You don't have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used :-)
As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store!
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I've used the Mama Elephant Tree Friends the gorgeous tree attracted me, the papers are Doodlebug Flower Box.
The fence and grass are both from MFT dies, I almost forgot the twine but adding it to the fish tail sentiment banner worked a treat may have to do that again.
I stamped the tree and then blended the blue and green inks but I stamped another couple of tree to colour in the flowers and one for the trunk of the tree.
So now it's YOUR turn ! Happy Crafting !!
There are fabulous Give Aways and inspiration from fabulous designers on a daily basis over on the Simon Says Stamp Blog ,,,if you haven't subscribed by email you may want to so you don't miss out :-)

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Simon Says Stamp
You have until Wed  8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in :-)
No backlinking allowed, Only 5 new creations will be eligible in the prize draw :-)
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Sew Much


I really do love this heart die from Simon Says Stamps but I just can't stop using twine in the gaps that look like stitches, you don't have to but I can't resist. Add the sentiment from the January Kit and a Memory Box Needle die, you have match made in heaven.
This time though I cut the die at a jaunty angle in the actual folded card and backed the card in red and stuck the heart back where I cut it out. I then made holes where the stitches were for my twine and threaded through the red background so the heart would be flat.
I added a little scallop border down the side so I could add my card to the Splitcoast Stamps challenge CAS256, I know a bit of cheat but it works. Unfortunately this card looks like the last time I used the scallops die because its disappeared out of it packet.


See you at 2pm with a new challenge.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Cowgirl


I'm actually kicking myself, I've already scrapbooked these photos it doesn't really matter but I have enough photos to scrap for the next fifty years.
Apologies for the dodgy photo trying to use the camera over the top of the photo and keeping shaky hands still and  get a square is proving difficult.
The words came from a sheet of  patterned paper and I used a square punch for my fishtail banners.
This is number 4 layout, one more show later this week and I shall be up to date.



Hearts


Its hearts time at Everybody Art Challenge and since this little chap had arrived in the house it was only right to use him. Of course he is James from LOTV and he is so easy to colour especially in mouse colours and that heart had to be paper pieced.
The sketch I've used is from Sketch and Stash and the papers are LOTV too possibly not my favourite but it seems to work well this time round. The fence and the flowers are MFT and the leaves are CC Designs and the little hearts in the corner are from Simon Says Stamp they come with the small heart from their latest release.
I've added some liquid pearls dots but I used the Snow falling stencil from SSS to help my random placement.


I do hope you can join us this week and don't forget to check out the team.



Monday, January 27, 2014

Grandad's Hat


People moan about FB but without it I wouldn't get to see what a gorgeous chap my GT Nephew is growing up to be and I'm also thankful for the Iphone cos the camera isn't that bad either.
In my diary this is week 5 of 2014 but this is only number 3 scrapbooking of this year so I may add a few more layout posts this week to bring them up to date.
This turned out so well using Bo Bunny papers that I've had for ages and some were only scraps, also I have to thank this layout from Pinterest which inspired this layout.
The stars are Spellbinders though I did use the dies to draw round the make the star mats, the buttons were in my stash and they had to be sew on cos its not right otherwise. I place them where I want them, then use a poking tool to make the holes so that when I move them away to thread on the needle I know where they're going.

@#S!


I mad a card although it was bit rushed because yesterday didn't go quite according plan but more about that later.
I decided to use this High Hopes chap who had been sitting in my coloured images for a while and the Less is More sketch was perfect for him.
First off I place some clouds on my card and placed a piece a paper in a straight across some of the them and the card. Blended some blue ink so you get an impression of clouds.
The I used the MFT fence for him to sit on and the grass border to ground the fence so that it wasn't floating in the air.
The sentiment I found in the Simon Says Stamps Oh Ship stamp set.


First of all my empty out house is now full of bricks keeping warm with at heater! Apparently builders are having to dry out their bricks which are so wet at the moment that they can't be used so we are nursemaiding them.
But this was overshadowed by my Dad being not so good and we went to spend some of the afternoon with him. It seems that there is a kidney problem and the doctor is coming out today to see him. After a chat with my SIL she is going to ask for a social service assessment since we feel he is not coping well.


Sunday, January 26, 2014

Good Luck


Poor little chap he's been sitting on my desk most of the week waiting to be embellished but for the life of me I couldn't work out what I wanted to do the. The layout of the card came quite quickly using the the The Sketchy Challenge sketch but the whether its the papers but I just couldn't work out what to add.
In the end I use Magnolia swirl a couple of time and cut it up to fit the corner.
Such a shame has Paddy from Mo Manning is adorable, even though I haven't coloured him in proper Irish green he still cute.


I had a good time yesterday, managed to do 3 layout although I did come home, put a title on one and finished another. This makes my totally for the year up to 9 pretty good since we still in January.


Saturday, January 25, 2014

Asking For Flowers


I think this little chap could be retired since I got him in a sale, he's called Asking for Flowers. The papers are First Edition not sure which since I given the papers I don't like away and kept the pretty ones.
Of course my oval is Floral Ovals from Spellbinders as yet I haven't found anything else thats as nice. My flowers are MFT Upsy Daisy flower dies with their swirl but it been chopped up to elongate it.
I've also used the Snow Falling stencil from Simon says Stamps to help me with my random liquid pearl dots.
Didn't bother with a sentiment sometimes you just need a card.


I'm a little bit excited and trying hard not in case I get disappointed but my nephew by marriage has been over to check last minute details for the outhouse, fingers crossed that all being well he could be here next week.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Box Baby


The sketch on Sketch Saturday was an interesting one it struck me more as CAS but because I layered paper over the card I was pretty sure I wouldn't get away with LIM challenge which is why I made yesterdays card.
I still made this card because the sketch allowed me to use the gorgeous sentiment stamp that I have had for years in fact I think I brought it second hand.
The little baby is in fact from LOTV (Lily of  the Valley Stamps) and so are the papers but they're the Christmas ones but avoiding the snowflake ones.


Off to swimming later and tomorrow another crop they only do one a school term but we share the cost of the hall so if there are quite a few of us it gets cheaper. We all bring something off the food list so we all get lunch, that reminds me must take a plate and cutlery.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Chalkboard Love


For a change I'm actually going to post these cards in time for the challenge on The Paper Players which was for one layer valentine card. Last week I made that heart card for LIM after tearing my hair out, one of the ideas I did have was to use these fabulous Chalkboard Love stamps from Simon Says Stamps. When I saw this challenge on my travels I knew I had to give it a go.
Very simply stamped the words on black card with Versamark and using white embossing powder. I do use a talc pad to wipe over the black card, white embossing powder is a nightmare to use otherwise.
I drew the white lines with a white pen I think is a signo uniball which seems to behave better than most others I have.


Pushchair Baby


The challenge on Less is More is for New Baby and its a not a one layer week thank goodness for that. I was inspired by the old sketch at Freshly Made Sketches although I think my angle of the patterned is not quite the same .
Of course the adorable image from LOTV and she was a bit fiddly to layer but she was well worth it. The patterned paper is from LOTV too.  Girl was using Memory Box Alphabet die and the rest of the sentiment was using the Baby die and sentiment set from Simon says Stamps.


It was a good and bad day yesterday, first my DD got herself a new job and while she popped home to write her resignation letter got a call to say my Dad had a fall. So she dropped me off there, he was bit shaken and bruised but OK. He has become very frail and I'm not sure he is coping so well and once we have Mum settled in a new home (her nursing home is closing) we may have to sort something out for him.