Happy Weekend Everyone!

I hope you are all getting into weekend mode!  I am hoping to finally get the hedge trimmed in the garden as it is looking a little wild out there and other than that I am hoping to get on to a couple of home decor projects that are gathering dust!!!!!

So apart from my least favourite job of picking up hedge clippings I am set for a fun time!  The boys are gymnastic-ing and rugby-ing and training-ing and it all seems much to tiring for me!!!!!

So today I am sharing a couple of things - first is one of my home decor projects finally completed and I so wish I had gotten to them sooner as I am so pleased with how they turned out.

Here is the before……………

Sorry the photo is a little blurry!  Unfortunately I can't go back and re take this one as now it looks like this!!!!!

What do you think?  I am thrilled with the result and it was soooooooo easy!  I used a mixture of some paint I had left over from my walls with a little acrylic paint as I wanted to start with a slightly darker shade as I knew I would add the Tim Holtz tissue wrap over the top.

I coated the areas I wanted to add the tissue to with two coats of paint - oh and the handles.  Once everything was dry I used matte mod podge to attach the tissue using a gift card to smooth out any wrinkles and ……..voila!

Easy peasy - the hardest bit was adding the green fine striping but it was worth the extra effort.  I am now looking for my next make over piece!!!  That tissue worked a treat and I still have loads left over and I did two of these little cupboards!

Next on my list for sharing is some of the fun I had when I went to a Finnabair workshop last week!  Oh boy did I get mucky!  It was very pretty muck though let me tell you!!!

It was lovely to meet the Prima ladies and see all the new goodies coming our way - this was my little pack of goodies ready to get creative!

Getting ready to start - please note the pristine table - It did not stay that way for long let me tell you!  Once we opened up a jar or three of the Prima Art Basics and started mixing and sprinkling  gone was the pristine table top!

Here is the lovely Finnabair (Anna!)  talking us through the processes and telling us all about the qualities of all the different bases in the range……oh and then there are the sparkles too!

 Here is my cover underway!  Mixing and matching the lovely metal elements from Prima with gaudy buttons………check out the lovely dotty background too.

A couple of coats of white gesso and things start to take shape!  I wish I had taken more photos - a selfie might have been an idea but I was just busy busy busy!  I will share more of the finished journal with you at a later date.  I had a whole heap of fun and am loving all the new products I got to play with - my shopping list lengthened yet again and it is all thanks to the fab tuition of the lovely Anna.

I can finish this post by sharing my cover so far!

I really want to add a few gems into the mix once I get around to finishing this off - I love this technique and I am busy collecting bits of this and bits of that ready to have a go with my own design next time……mmmmmm and I think I need an apron and cover up sleeves before I get messy next time!

I met some lovely ladies on the day and we all shared a fun picnic lunch looking over the water outside the hotel watching the planes take off in the distance!  As well as all the lovely crafting techniques I am going to try again I am definitely going to try the gourmet delight that is crispbread liberally spread with Nuttella and piled high with strawberries…..You know who you are ;-)

More sharing coming your way over the weekend so watch this space!  Have a fab time this everyone.

Thank you for popping by X

12 Tags of 2014 - November - Part 2!

Hi Everyone

Here is the link to the video for the November tag I posted on the last day of November!

Lots of frosty products used to make my shaker tag this month.  I have been fitting in my crafting in between starting to prepare for Christmas.

We have two Christmas trees in our house and the first is up.  Check out the lovely sunshine I had whilst I was decorating it:

Actually the photo doesn't look sunny at all!!!  It was though…..can you spot the ghost in my photo!  Here are the lights and beads going on the tree.

Opening the box of decorations - This box of Disney ornaments on the top is about 20 years or more old now.  I remember buying them each month for a year when my eldest son Damian was little.  It is always Callum's job now to put them all around the bottom of the tree.

As he is the tallest in the house at the moment so he also likes to put the stars on top of the trees too!

Here it is all decked out in jewel coloured baubles.  Most of them were collected when we lived in Germany.  I can spot a few fabric baubles that I made.  Did you ever make them?…….They were a bit of a craze all those years ago and there were classes being run for them all over the place.  If you look in the photo above this one you can see one that I made (bottom left with sequins) and one that one of my boys made! (looks like a pine cone in green and purple)  I remember sitting down with Damian and Ivan and getting them to make one each for prosperity!  My Mum made one too.  Callum was still a twinkle in his Father's eye then so now I come to think of it I will have to get him to make one.

I love all the traditions that families adopt or make at this time of year.  I know it is those traditions that we celebrate that my children (now not so small) remember fondly of Christmases past.  I will share some of them with you over the coming days as I like you prepare the house for the holidays.

What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

Oh…..and while I remember those of you guessing Advent Calendar on my 'Guess what it is' post the other day……correct!  I have yet to finish it so I have decided I am not late for this year but early for next ;-)   ho, ho, ho!

Have a fun week and enjoy the frosty tag video.  Thank you for popping by X

Better Late than Never!!

Hi Everyone

I am finally getting round to sharing my recent trip to Cornwall with you.  I have been so hectic since we got back I am not sure where the time is going!

We had a wonderful time and the icing on the cake for me was being able to teach a workshop for the lovely Margaret at Scrapbook Magic.  I loved meeting everyone and we all had a wonderful time creating with yummy Graphic 45 papers and pretty soon we had a whole host of Pyramids appearing!

This was a great test fun for my brand new chipboard kits for this workshop and they worked a treat!  I and my class were happy not to have to cut chipboard before all the fun stuff of construction and decorating could start!!!

Here is the lovely Tilly spraying her ribbon to match the papers we were using.  I have to say that Tilly is a crafting star of the future for sure!  She is 10 and she definitely gets a 10 from me for her Pyramid!  Amazing talent.

Look at what we put inside our Pyramids!

That's what I like to see lots of happy crafters!  We had a workshop full of laughter as you can see.  Scrapbook Magic is in a lovely setting and is full to the brim with crafting goodies too!  Unfortunately the view was shrouded in mist that day but to be honest we didn't notice ;-)

For this workshop and of course to use more of our lovely Couture papers I change the design of the pages of the mini album so each page had a fold out section (not flap!!! this word put everyone in stitches) to make room for more photos or journaling.

Time for a chat before the class began and as you can see I bought lots of samples along!  So if you are a crafter living in Cornwall then please go and visit Margaret and book a workshop.  I know you will have a fun time and make some great friends as well as some lovely projects.  When I left Margaret was getting ready for a class using Christmas Clarity stamps!  Follow this link to find out more!

…and the rest of the holiday…..well there were a couple of these!

Views like this…….

….and did I mention we had one or two of these????

……..more lovely views

Where Callum did a spot of this!   Brrrrrrr……

I did paddle a bit……..until my feet went a bit numb ;-)  Paddling and surfing on the 1st November!!!!

I love this photo of a little spot we discovered…

Oh and no trip to Cornwall is complete without one or two of these!!!!

mmmmmmmmm tasty!  So a huge thank you to Margaret and everyone at Scrapbook Magic for a wonderful day and to Cornwall for great views no matter the weather and of course for hot chocolate and cream teas!!!!!!

Have a fun weekend.

Thank you for popping by x

PS I will be posting a Christmas tutorial tomorrow x

The What I am Working on Blog Hop! - I forgot to post this so it is a little late!!!!!

Thank you to my lovely friend Annie for nominating me for this fun blog hop.  The questions are designed to find out a little more about our creative personalities and traits!  You can see Annie's post here and at the end of my post I will nominate 3 blog friends to join in too!  I believe I am posting this on a Monday and ask my nominees if they have time to take part to do the same!

Q1 What am I working on now?

Oh so many things and so little time….and who keeps switching the sunshine on and tempting me into the garden? ;-)  I am busy prepping for my card class on Friday  I have almost finished.  I just need check I have packed everything and cut out a couple more greetings from lovely lilac glitter card!  I have 4 parcels waiting to be opened and booked into my shop….I like this job as it almost feels like it is  mine all mine…tee hee!  I have to put the final links on my second Rubber Dance Design Team video and check when I am posting next and as a result of seeing a wonderful post from Angela about her children watching one of my videos and then getting busy with the paints and papers I am making a plan for a new course I want to teach to secondary school students!  So busy busy and covered in glitter….happy days!  Here is a sneak peek of the Design Team Project.

Q2 - How does my work differ from others of its kind?

This is a tricky one as I am not sure I have a style as such.  I have loved making things since I was a little girl making clothes for my Sindy doll and raiding my Gran's bits and bobs bags to do so.  My Gran made lots of things to sell for charity and was always knitting or sewing something.  I think I am different in what drives me to do what I do. I have a passion for designing and love nothing better than when someone wants to make one of my designs be it a card or a scrapbook page or a tag or a……..the list goes on!  That is why I design online workshops that I sell on my ETSY shop and share tutorials on my You Tube Channel.  I think my style of teaching is a little different because of course I want my student to get a great result because I break a project down into easy to achieve steps but I also want to show them how they can make that project their own.  To chat about what I think when I create my designs so that I can make them versatile enough that any crafter making them can stamp their own personality on their creations.  I hope that is what makes me different.  You may not know that over the years I have painted many murals here is one I painted in the smallest room in the house!  I do have a blank wall on which I will one day paint the Grinch withholding the loo roll!!!

Q3 - Why do I create what I do?

Because I love to create and gain enormous enjoyment from it and want others to feel that too.  I believe that everyone can be creative and it really upsets me when I hear someone say they were put off trying creative hobbies by someone else's opinion of what is good.  Without a doubt it is fab when others like what you create but not everyone will and that does not make what you have done bad.  I want to pass on my passion and of course a few things I have learnt over the years and many many hobbies later!  My next online workshops are a mini book and a clock.  I love to take pieces of card and  gorgeous papers and make something that will be treasured by its recipient.  I get wonderful feedback from crafters who have make my projects and their pleasure in their results spurs me on to get more of the designs whirring in my head videoed and online…….Here is the clock that was once chipboard and scrapbook paper!

Q4 - How does my creative process work?

These really are tricky little questions!  I think my 12 Tags videos show some of my creative process as I am starting from the point of inspiration which could be anything but in this instance is from Tim Holtz monthly tag tutorial and then it is the many little choices I make along the way that makes my tag unique to me.  My 3D projects begin life as an idea.  I recently posted a Celebration Cake Mini workshop.  I was asked by a friend to make something for a birthday which would be given at a party to celebrate 40 years and the cake is the result of that request!  I think I have the kind of brain that wants to see what that one idea can lead to and that is why this workshop took me so long to make and get online.  I made so many different varieties of the same project I just had to make the final project which was to upscale the single tier cake into a 3 tier wedding cake.  I think that is my process…..One thing leads to another and another and the journey is a fun and exciting one that I love sharing.  Here is a yummy cake with absolutely no calories!!!!

Well that is it from me!  I hope you found this Q&A interesting and not boring!!! ;-)  YOU CAN WAKE UP NOW!

My nominees to join in this Q&A blog hop are blog friends I have made and I know if we were to meet for real we would be kindred spirits.  It was hard to choose as I am lucky to have made many blogging friends over the years who have supported me with kind words of encouragement…..I know I can't nominate Annie again!……So I nominate……..

Mo aka TwinkleToes2Day who I have loved getting to know and who is enjoying her creative journey and is passing that love of creating to her little boy.

The lovely Anne who is a fellow Tim Holtz tag maker and who loves a challenge just like me!

Bibi of Rubber Dance stamps who gave me the chance to do what I love in a Design Team setting!  Thank you for your faith in me Bibi.

Just to let you know if you want to join it just answer the 4 questions on a post next Monday and then nominate 3 more people to join in this fun getting to know you blog hop!

Until next time I wish you all a fabulous week and thank you for popping by X

…….And another Challenge Layout!

…..I told you I loved this mood board by Di Garling from the Scrap Around the World June challenge.

Yesterday I was cropping with my friends and I thought I would have another play with these fun colour and the black and white stripes!

I had a ton of fun creating this.  It is not how I usually scrapbook but I loved it.  I will definitely be trying this style again.  For my first attempt I kept it simple.  But simple takes planning!!!!  Where are you going to put the photos?  Where is the title and what about the journalling?  You can see that the journalling didn't find a home yet!

I used the tiniest scraps of paper and washi tape and mixed and matched letters from an old sticker sheet.  I had to borrow the 'e' in me from my friend Jacqui …..it was brown but I coloured it in!

As I write this I have come up with a plan for that journalling ….I am going to tell you all about my families trips to many photo booths around the UK, usually at days out to the seaside….these days the booths are mostly used to take awful Passport Photos…..I am convinced there is a gremlin in there picking out the worst bits of folk to feature in their Passport Photo that they have to live with for 10 years!!!!!  I can hear him cackling to himself as he takes my money and shows me my faults in quadruplicate!!!!

……I digress oh yes….My Dad in particular loved these booths.  We have lots of little strips of our family posing….one nice one……one silly one!  I have to asks my Mum why on earth she left my hood up!!!!! and where was my little brother???  I think he may have been in a pram looking at the age of me…….talking of the silly ones ……maybe this is why the passport photo gremlin does his thing….he has taken personally all the weird faces that have been pulled in his booth over the years and now it is PAYBACK time…….;-)

And all that journalling I am going to write really small around the outside of the layout to create a written frame.

I am definitely going to make a scrapbook tutorial showing you how I tackled this style and I think it will make a great introduction for anyone thinking of doing something a little more arty on their scrapbook layouts.

A big thank you from me to the team at Scrap Around the World for a great challenge site.  I highly recommend you follow the links to see some fabulous layouts inspired by this months wonderful mood board.

Thank you for popping by X

OMGoodness I have just realised their are only 30 days in June and I haven't completed this months 12 tags of 2014!  Better get  wriggle on!!!!  Watch this space……I'll be back ;-)

My very first Video Tutorial

Hi Everyone

I am going to start this post with a little catch up photo on the status of the pond:

Loving how the rocks have turned out at the back I just need to plant up behind them…..back in the water for me it is then!!!  The pipe you see poking out of the rocks is going to be attached to piece of copper pipe or maybe an old tap…….that could be quite interesting.  I need to re-do the edge of the pond that runs along the wall - that is why the pebbles are there.  I was going to try and do that today but it has just started raining so maybe tomorrow.

Once those two jobs are done we are going to empty out the pool…which I think is going a bit green and I need to look that up to see how to prevent that.  Fish out any debris I have dropped into the pool during construction! and then refill ready to add plants and eventually fish….again need to read up about this as we have never looked after a pond.  We want to create an area for the birds to get to the water and the frogs to get out too….almost there.

I was having a bit of a clear out or my video files.  They are quite big and even though I have a huge hard drive they soon fill up my memory so I have an external drive to store the video files and then I can make more!!!!  So where was I?…..Oh yes I found the first video I ever made and remembered it was never posted.  At the time it was too long and I was only allowed to upload 15 minute videos and didn't know how to change that as I was new to You Tube as well.  Way back in September 2012 everything was new to me!

At the time I was an avid participant in the Tag Tuesday Challenge and these were two of my creations resulting from different themes that are posted each week.  I really enjoyed making the blackberry and sugar stick embellishments and thought it would make a fun tutorial.

So today I am posting that video - I was tempted to re do it but then decided it was a fun record of my You Tube journey and is still a useful little tutorial.  Have a look….I really hope it makes you smile …..it made me chuckle as way back then I didn't know how to do voice overs and I remember my brain whirring like crazy and trying desperately not to say Ummmm too many times ;-)

Before I go I also wanted to share a link to my friend Annie's blog…….I recently shared a mixed media canvas tutorial and I was pleased as punch to see what it inspired.  Here is my original piece:

The video I made was aimed at trying to break down the process of creating the canvas into easy steps to encourage newbies to have a go at mixed media….Follow this link and you will be amazed at what Annie has created.  I love how fabulous Annie's page looks with all the zingy colours.  Please follow this link and check it out!  There is also a surprise creation that will make you smile that goes with the journal page.  I am looking forward to seeing more …….oh can't say too much or I will give away the surprise!

I just want to finish up by saying if you are new to my blog don't forget to subscribe if you like what you see…..there is tons and tons of creativity to check out so please have a really good look around!

'Till next time thank you for popping by X

Craft and Pond update!

Hello and welcome to the craft and pond news bulletin!!!!  On the craft front I am finally getting on with the Pyramid Mini online workshop.  It was over a year ago that I first came up with this design as a gift for Callum on his birthday.  I have absolutely no idea why it has taken me so long but I have written down a list of what I need to do to get it finished and uploaded ready to sell at last!  I am steadily ticking off items on this to do list.

Here is the one I made for Callum and I will be sharing more ideas for how to decorate this easy to personalise project in the near future……An advert on You Tube!

Here is the link to the original post if you want to see the surprises inside this fun project.

Now for the garden and pond updates!!!

Last time the sun shone in our garden I pressure washed what used to be the place the previous owners of our house had their whirly gig washing line.  We didn't like that kind of washing line so we got rid of it as it was the perfect place to put Callum's pool and then trampoline.  Every year it needs weeding and the pressure washer makes it a little more fun.  Here is the before…..

Plenty of grass to banish from between the block paving.  Some considerable time later……..

The patio is lovely and clean but what about my feet!?…….

Yuk!  I even had splashes on my face!  My next job after a shower was to line the pond with sand.

Five bags of sand later….it was a bit of a job lining the walls but I got there and then Ivan and I lifted in the pond liner.  Scary moment as for a minute or two we thought it was a bit small!

…..and guess who got the job of jumping in and out of the pond whilst it was filling to re arrange the liner so it was nice and neat?…….good job I had that shower.

I thought I might tease Ivan at this point by reporting that he was sitting under the umbrella sipping Pimms whilst I was hard at it……would be a good test to see if he keeps up with my blog ;-) tee hee

…..but really he was the one who fetched all the sand and mowed the lawn and made the Sunday dinner!

So that is it for this report as I am off to Edit Video 6 of my workshop.  I'll let you see the finished pond once ……..mmmmm…..oh yes I get to stand in the water and finish off the edges with stones!

I have just been searching for the link I mention earlier and I found loads of fun stuff from way back in my blog archives and I think I am going to re post some of them….a kind of 'Blog Blast from the Past'. I think it would be fun……what do you think?  Might try that on Thursday as tomorrow is WOYWW.

Have a great week and thank you for popping by X

I did it!

Hi Just a quick post to let you see that I did get to the bottom of all that paint!  So I started with this messy cupboard with all manor of ancient and new paints…..

…….and after much shaking of bottles and tins ……….and two bags full of dried up paint later.

This is the shelf with all my old tester pots from the days when I painted murals - most are still going strong.  You will have seen me use them on my videos from time to time.  I threw away all the paint brushes with the sadly neglected now solid bristles ;-)

Here is the shelf with all the acrylic paint neatly sorted into colour groups and all with a dot of the colour on the lid - doesn't it look fab??!!

I did that yesterday and it seemed rude not to tidy the rest of the shelves in this cupboard too.  Before the tidy…..

The top shelf has class supplies and is quite neat already as I use this one a lot.  The one below is not so tidy!  And the bottom shelves are looking a bit messy too.

A little while later and……..

From the bottom to the top all tidy in this cupboard!

Whilst I was tidying I found something…….

Something I completed a long time ago and really should do something with…...

It is a children's book I wrote and illustrated and it was hidden away.  I think I should try to do something with it.  If it is not good enough to be published then I think I will turn it into a book so that one day I can read it to my Grandchildren.

I though I might do a spot more tidying but I am a bit bored with that so I think I am going to edit the video of my 12 tags of 2014 April tag.  Here is a little peek!

The roast is in the oven, the sun is shining here in Derby and I am feeling very virtuous after my little tidy!  I hope you are enjoying the end of your weekend wherever you are.  Thank you for popping by x