I love Cornwall.....

....even if it has rubbish internet connection!!!!!  Callum, Ivan and I have just returned from spending half term in Cornwall.  It is the first time we have been there and we loved it.

We stayed in a mobile home which Callum thinks would make a fab party pad!  Our second night was the night of the storm and I have to say after being a little uneasy about our home from home blowing away in a gale we spent the day walking by a fabulously stormy sea and the night sleeping soundly as the wind blew straight past and on up the country.  We have had a lovely time exploring the Cornish Coast and its many tiny coves and finding great spots to eat well earned cream teas!!!

We found a fabulous cafe at Lizards Point perched on a cliff and we sat outside with our Cornish Cream tea (in my case coffee).  A lovely spot to enjoy the rugged Cornish coast and a few yummy calories!!!

We were not put off by the changeable weather one bit as we love to be by the sea whatever mood it is in.  I will share a few more photos of some lovely spots we found last week as I get back to more regular blogging.   I did intend to blog from Cornwall but I just couldn't get online.  I even prepared a couple of posts so I could share them whilst we were away so I just shared one of them a moment ago!

I hope to catch up with a few craft things now I am back.  I almost finished a halloween video before I left for Cornwall so even though it is late I think I will finish that off tomorrow and get that up.  It will be inspiration for next year ;-)  I saved some unusual bottles throughout 2013 and had fun turning them into spooky potions to add to my Halloween home decor.

I also need to catch up with my Tim Holtz 12 tags as I missed the October deadline and Tim will post November tomorrow.......and I have class prep this week so I really know I am back from my restful holiday!!!!  Might need another cream tea or three to sustain me through the busy crafty week ahead.

One more photo of Cornwall before I go to peel potatoes for Sunday Lunch!!!  We visited Lands End and the day was blustery and the weather changeable as you can see!  I managed to capture the beautiful blue skies and a raincloud passing over and the end of the rainbow!!!!

I think there will be a pot of clotted cream at the end of this Cornish Rainbow ;-)

Hope you have a wonderful week.  Thank you for popping by X

Mini Machine Stitches a Large Layout!

Quite some time ago I shared a couple of photos of cards I made using a teeny tiny sewing machine I found when tidying up my shelves and cupboards.  I had forgotten I had bought it and it had never been used and this layout is actually the first project I tried my mini sewing machine on and its colour scheme inspired the two cards I went on to make.  The ones I actually finished and shared!!! Here is a link to the first card and here is a link to the second!  I took a while to do the journalling so it has ended up being posted last and very much later indeed.  I am definitely a slow journaller!

This is my first ever attempt at paint splattering on my layouts as well as trying out my long forgotten sewing machine from Lilliput.  It was a bit scary and I probably should have done it before I put it all together!  I think I like it though.  The white dots and spots are completely random splatter - I got it everywhere. Then I wanted to add another colour and wanted a bit more control so I just dotted that on with the end of the paint brush - a much more calming experience!

Here is something strange that will make you chuckle.  When I was sewing this layout I found myself wiggling my foot around under my desk to find the foot control of my sewing machine!!  How bazaar is that :-)

Here is my eldest son Damian with his prize catch - a very tasty sea bass.  Damian still likes fishing he was 17 then and 30 now.  He has gone back to live in Gibraltar so those Sea Bass had better be on their guard!!!

Wishing you inspiration and the time to create!  Thank you for popping by X

PS If you like my stuff please subscribe - Thank You X

Review of Spooky Tags

Halloween is fast approaching and I am working on a couple of home decor projects to share.  It occurred to me as I was unwrapping something I made last year it might be fun to share a couple of spooky tags I made and that a quick video was in order to see all the 3D details.

Some of you may remember these two tags.......yes they both definitely started out lives as tags!

Here is the link to a video where I give you the grand 3D spook-tagular tour (see what I did there!!!?)

I wonder if my inky fingers give anything away!!!  They should remind me to wear gloves when using spray paint!!!

If you just want to see the actual posts that I shared last year with photo tutorials then click on the links for more spooky inspiration.....

To learn how I made this 3D tombstone tag follow this link.

For all the tips on the latest in des res coffins for the best dressed skeleton in town please click on this link!

I have a halloween category in the labels section (left hand side bar) if you want to see a few more hauntingly fabulous creations ;-)

If you like me love all the fun of Halloween I hope you are having ghoulish fun making things ready for the witching hour.  If you are not a fan then I hope you are enjoying a fabulous Autumn (or Spring....) with leaves as lovely as the ones I have dried and laid out before you for my photo shoot.  Ignore the skulls and focus on the leaves!!!!!

Thank you for popping by X

I'm Falling for You!

It is a lovely morning here in Derbyshire.  A complete contrast to the drab, damp and grey day we had yesterday.  A great day to go out for a walk and to collect Autumn leaves!!!!

.......and that leads neatly into my post today.  A little while ago, as I mentioned yesterday, I watched a YouTube video by Lindsay the Frugal Crafter about using your microwave to dry flowers and leaves.  It worked a treat and is so fast.  I have a pile of lovely leaves and I wanted to do something with them.

I had an idea for a card but the problem was my leaves are crispy and would not stand up to the envelope or the post.  I had an idea to coat the leaves to make them less fragile and I tried glossy accents and clear embossing powder and as you will see in my tutorial the glossy accents won!  It was easy to apply and had enough flexibility once dry to help make the leaves more durable.  They still need to be handled gently but they would definitely go into an envelope for hand delivery but I would suggest a box if you decided to post them.  I am going to try to find some more leaves today as I want to make a home decor project with them - I am not sure what yet but the first step is having enough leaves!!!

So here is my romantic card with an Autumnal twist.

This is a better shot of the leaves and the real colours as I seem to be a bit in shadow when I took the photo above.

In my YouTube tutorial I only give a quick explanation of how to dry the leaves so I have shared Lindsay's link so you can watch the full tutorial so you too can dry flowers and leaves for fun projects like my card.  Hope you like it and give it a go.  The colours of the Autumn leaves are fab at this time of year and it is great to be able to preserve them in this way.

I am not sure who I have made this card for as I have already 'fallen' for my hubby but maybe Callum will want to use it one day!!!  I am sure though that this design would look fab with lots of other greetings or quotes stamped in place of my Autumnal romantic one.  I might try changing the colours and add frosty elements to the leaves whilst the glossy accents is wet to achieve a Christmassy look - perhaps with dried ivy leaves!!!!  Don't you just love it when one inspiration leads to another!?

Thank you to everyone for their kind comments both here and on my YouTube channel.  Don't forget to subscribe if you like my work.  I really appreciate your support.

Hope you have an inspirational day and thank you for popping by X

Spooky Art Journal Page

After quite a long time spent uploading to YouTube here is my third Art Journal page video.  I love making these and this one was particularly fab to do as it started life as a lovely autumnal scene and ended as..........

......something altogether more sinister and spooky!  I had great fun trying to make the music build to a spooky climax and I hope I managed it.  I also learnt a new trick of linking a video to the end of the tutorial.  So I have linked a Halloween Mummy Wreath tutorial I uploaded last year for even more Halloween crafting viewing.

Hope you like the video.  I am off to edit another one which is a card with an autumnal feel and a romantic message.  I learnt how to dry leaves and flowers after watching a fab tutorial by Lindsay the Frugal Crafter and I just knew I wanted to try it out.  It really is quick and easy and preserved the gorgeous autumnal colours of the leaves.  I want to create a home decor piece with my leaves so that is something mulling away in my brain at the moment!

See you soon with the next video tutorial.  Hope you are having a fab day.

Thank you for popping by X

Spooky Tags

Is it Monday afternoon already?!!!!  I thought I would post this before I get videoing - it has been a while since I posted on You Tube so I thought I might warm up with a spooky art journal page........or maybe a card......or maybe a spooktacular home decor item........I guess you will have to tune in to find out what I eventually get up too!!!!

I have had a lovely weekend with my crafting friends and I actually did some work.  But don't worry I did fit in plenty of chat and coffee and cake too!!!!  So today I am sharing three Halloween tags that I made with some of my Lost and Found Halloween papers (My Minds Eye).

All the tags have been made with elements from the papers and die cut sheets so they were quick to make and fun to put together.  Today I have added a little glossy accents to the bottles which is still drying as you can see from this photo.  I have added ribbon and some cute halloween pumpkin buttons from my stash.  

This one also has glossy accents drying!  I love all the yummy orange glitter elements in this paper collection.

....and last but not least.....

I think this is my favourite from my trio of tags.  I fussy cut the pumpkins from one of the papers and layered them up for this 3D look.  I painted the images with my Distress Inks.  I am thinking of incorporating my tags in Halloween layouts as I have lots of lovely papers still left to work with.

Hope your Monday is a little brighter than the one we are having here today - it is wet and grey out there......crafting weather ;-)  'Every cloud has a crafty lining!!!!!'

Thank you for popping by X

WOYWW 227 and It's Been a While!!!

I have been having a bit of a busy couple of weeks and I haven't posted for a while so what better way to catch up with you all than a spot of WOYWW desk hopping.  If you don't know what that means then you really should follow this link (when you have read my post of course ;-)  There you will find Julia who has all the magic links to craft desks all over the world ready for you to explore.  I recommend a cup of coffee and a cookie or three!!!

So what is on my desk this week????

Here is a new photo album I treated myself too and it is already full!!! Next to it are some remnants left over from a big sort out I am having and they are waiting for my next task to be undertaken which is to take down and wash all my Ikea jars which are looking like they are ready for Halloween they are that dusty!!!  So all these little brads will find new homes in sparkly clean jars......soon ish!!!

The album is waiting to find a home too as it is already full!  I had a pile of layouts waiting to be put away and most of them were quite bulky with embellishments so I am loving these new ring binder albums as I they self level and you don't need to undo posts and add spacers!  Here is a layout I made with some pretty MME papers - I am going to put Black and White Photos on the pages and then embellish some more.  I wanted to try out combining a 12 x 12 layout with Project Life style pages and I like the result.  You can have a pretty and arty layout featuring one great photo and then do all your journalling and add lots of other photos on the accompanying page.

My hubby has been busy putting up a few extra bits of storage for me so I have been happily sorting through and rearranging my possessions!!!  Here is a before shot.......

One extra CD rack and a rearrangement of my little drawers.......plus a fair bit of tidying and sorting......

I even have some empty space!!!!!  I am going to sort out the CD rack that runs up the side and that is that area sorted.  You can see I even have room to display some of my projects.

Next up Ivan added a rail to the back of my door and a few curtain clips later and..........

I always forget to look through my many packets of stickers and embellishments when I am working on a project and now I have the perfect place to make them easy to sort through when looking for a matching pretty or two!  I like the way this works a lot so I am thinking of adding another bar below to make even more room for storage.

Another before shot........

I felt that this area where I store my most used items could do with another shelf and so one handyman later........

The extra shelf means I now have room for that growing collection of Distress Paints and Distress Stains..........

....Oh and my Distress Glitters......I am not sure Ivan realised he was making room for more shopping...........:-) !!

That's it from me except to say I have lots of plans for Halloween project videos and Christmas Project Workshops coming soon - another reason why I have been so busy.  I will post about them over the coming days so please pop back to see what has kept me away from my blog.

Looking forward to a little desk hopping and catching up with you all today.  Happy WOYWW to you and thank you for popping by X