WOYWW 147

I just popped in to look at Julia's desk and it was spooky. A big pile of buttons and just look at my desk today!

I told you......I wonder what it says about Julia and I that I found myself sitting quite happily shuffling the buttons into their groups!  Probably that Julia has better things to do right?!  I started out trying to work out what I wanted to do for a tag swap I have joined  over at Following the Paper Trail.  This one is in the French Country Chic category and I have to make 9 in total.  I quickly went from gathering the elements for my tag design together to button sorting.  Very soothing I found!

As you can see I am very soothed indeed.  I wonder how long they will have to wait for their own storage or will they just be scooped up and put in the jar for the next time I need button therapy?

Also on my desk is a project I want to write a tutorial for.  A cute way to store cling stamps and to use up those old video cases I still have lying around.  So I am off to do the rounds and I already feel like I am popping in on pals.  If you want to join in then follow the link to Julia's and find out what WOYWW is all about.

P.S.   If you want to see what my Graphic 45 challenge was when I finished follow this link!

G45 March Challenge

I have loved doing this challenge.  It combined quite a few of my crafting favourite things to do.  I love to build stuff with card and paper that you can use in your home.  This challenge is set by D's Paper Studio and sponsored by G45.  So the challenge is to make something inspired by a project that has been on the Graphic 45 Blog.

Since I love Laura Dennison's work and Graphic45 papers this was a challenge I knew I wanted to do and I had loads of fun so thanks to Debby!  I picked Laura's wonderful Steampunk Debutante Clock as my inspiration for my challenge project.

I wanted to make a Mantlepiece Clock that I could use and the Graphic 45 colours remind me of those antique french clocks with ornate black and gold decorations.  So that is where I began and this is where I ended up.......

All the papers I used are from the G45 Domestic Goddess, Le Cirque and ABC Primer Collections and the tin was from an old tin of flowers I put to one side after admiring Laura's project so it has been sitting there some time waiting for me to get motivated!

The drawers open and I plan to put tags for each member of the family in them.  The drawer knobs and the button on the top of the clock are G45 Metal Buttons.  I added some gems for a bit more opulence to their centres using Glossy Accents to keep them in place.

The flowers are all made with punches and dies and the metal flowers are from G45 and We R Memory Keepers.

 The stamps I used on the clock face are from the Tim Holtz Visual Artistry collection and  the sentiment is Paper Artsy Clocks 4.  I added Glossy Accents to the butterflies.  I had to shorten the hands of my clock as they were too long!

My clock face lifts out and I have a nice little cubby hole in the tin to make a mini for.  The feet of my clock are Tim Holtz Drawer knobs.  

I hope you like my project.  Thanks again to Debby at D's Paper Studio and Graphic 45 for the fab challenge.

I am on the look out for another tin of flowers (....or two) to try making another style of clock.  Any excuse to shop.  I wonder if I could make a clock that chimes?!!

Too Nice to Stay Indoors

Today I just could't stay in and craft - though I was torn.  It was so nice outside I had to get out there.  So I took Comet for a walk along the canal.  It was warm and surprisingly quiet as it is a favourite walk for a lot of people when the weather is nice......And we have to make the most of any decent weather we get incase we don't see it again for a while!!

I think he is smiling!

Yesterday I had another meeting about my website and it looks like we are on the final straight.  It is exciting to see it all coming together but I need to keep my logic head on now as it doesn't matter how pretty it is if it is hard to use! 

I know that the websites I like to use best combine style, clarity and ease of use.  So that is my goal.  By far the hardest thing for me has been the text.  Every time I think I have finished a bit I go back to it and change it again!  

I have been learning about how to make my website more likely to be found when someone is searching for a particular topic.  Sometimes I get a bit bogged down with jargon I don't understand.  But I am learning the language slowly.  So I now know what a meta tag is and that my website will be crawled by Google and other search engines and that I want to have great SEO and if I get really hungry I can follow the breadcrumb trail back to my home page!!  Hey ho if my body was as exercised as my brain has been lately my jeans wouldn't be so tight!

I am off to finish my Graphic 45 challenge project now.  I might be able to post it tomorrow if I get on with it.  See you soon!

WOYWW 146

Hi to anyone that is popping in!  As I make this entry I have noticed that WOYWW is becoming my gauge of how many crafting goals I am meeting in a week!  I have been trying to finish what was on my desk last week but I keep interrupting myself!!

I did get those bulbs planted yesterday though!  So I am even achieving other stuff as a result of telling you all what I am up to or about to be up to.  Although I did try hard to finish this layout I didn't manage it as you can see.....

Still needs a title and journalling and it will be done!

I am getting closer though.  I took the layout to my Mother-in-law's at the weekend and I have been finding out about the photo.  It was taken when she was 14 and was is taken when she spent the day on the beach at Famagusta, Cyprus with her family.  I love the style of photographs like this that look like they have been coloured in.  I spent ages making flowers to embellish this page but I am pleased with how they turned out.

My Mother-in-law has been given her homework and is going to journal on this page when we visit next.  She is nervous about writing on the layout!!

Flowers, flowers and more flowers!  What a cute puppy with little white socks.

As you can see I have been making all the bits and pieces for my second layout as I have been designing the first one and already have the background page drying ready to do the image transfer.  The second layout should be done much quicker now I know what I am doing.

The second thing that was on my desk last week is also almost finished but I can't show it to you just yet as it is for a challenge I want to enter.  I can show you a bit and keep you guessing a bit longer......How naughty!

I just noticed the coloured paint drips on my water pot at the back - my very own rainbow! 

I am on the final embellishing stage of the project now so I shouldn't be too long now.  It has to be submitted before the end of the month so I'd better get a move on.

.......So what else can I show you to make this a more interesting visit? Mmmmm, I know,
 I have seen that stash shopping is a hot topic for the WOYWW submissions so here are a couple of my latest buys.....

Fabulous metal flowers from We R Memory Keepers, lavish trinkets and metal bird cages from Prima and the little plaque although not stash is a little gift my hubby gave me last week that he bought while working in Scotland.  What a sweetie pie!  It was on my desk waiting to be given a spot in my craft room so it definitely had to be included.

Thank you to everyone that popped by last week.  I love reading all the lovely comments.  To anyone wondering what this post is all about then follow this link to Stamping-Ground to find out all about WOYWW. Beware though you will be hooked!  I love it and so am off to do my weekly desk hop......BOING!

Spring is Here Today......

Hope that you are having the same lovely sunshine as we have here today.  I have been out in the garden and have finally put in the poor daffodil bulbs that have been valiantly trying to sprout in their yellow string bag in the green house!!

Poor old bulbs!  I feel guilty as they should be looking like this about now.  Will I get my new daffodils in the summer I wonder!!

There are lots of signs of life in the garden now and it was lovely being out in the sun with the birds singing.  I hope it stays nice for the weekend as we want to dismantle a leaking water feature and it is a bit of large job.  There are quite a few shrubs that could do with moving to roomier positions and I think they are going to be difficult to get out.  But thats another job for another day.

Being in the garden inspired me to make a card with flowers on - back in a bit..........

Hope you like the card.  I layered up some Kanban papers for the background (Deco Milano and Tartan) and a little black card to add some impact...oh and the always useful Craftwork Cards sentiment.  A bit of ribbon to keep the bunch of snowdrops together and pin flair glue gel to keep the flower heads in place a couple of gems and I finished these flowers much cleaner than when I was planting daffodils!

Here is the card we made in a class I taught.  I love making these snowdrops.  In fact I love making paper flowers full stop.  I designed the snowdrops when I was trying to make different types of flowers from paper for the class.  I love using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die for this.  It has such a good variety of petal shapes and sizes that I managed to make paper Irises and Chrysanthemums too.  I need to have a go at a daffodil next time I think.  I can do the base of the flower it is the cup shaped centre that poses the problem for me.... and the postman if I manage it!!

If you would like to know how to make the paper snowdrops then please follow this link to a tutorial.  Don't forget to let me know how you get on if you try making them.

Grungy Monday 39

I really love the technique featured in this Grungy Monday challenge it is straight forward and you can get so many different looks with a sweep or two of your alcohol ink blending tool.   So here is my card.  It is one I designed for a class where we played with different ways to use alcohol inks to make our own patterned or coloured papers.  This tartan background was made using Pesto, Cloudy Blue and Sunshine Yellow alcohol inks.  I also used the inks to colour glossy card stock before stamping the other elements using a Sam Poole Flutter Floral stamp set from Creative Expressions.  I think the yummy colours of the alcohol ink and the bold outline stamps worked well together and I really enjoyed designing this set of cards.  The inks dry fast so you can get stamping immediately.

I hope you like my submission for this weeks Grungy Monday Challenge over at Studio L3 and thanks for setting a challenge that revisited a lovely technique featured in Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas 2009, Day 3.  Thank you also to Simon Says Stamp for sponsoring this week (my fingers are crossed!).

Just thought you might like to see another card I made at the time again using Ranger alcohol inks.  This time in cloudy blue and pesto.  The colour was just pounced onto the card until you had a mottled effect you liked.  I liked it best when some of the white glossy card was still showing.

The tweed pattern on the bottom was made by embossing the mottled card with a tweed embossing folder  and then carefully highlighting the raised area with a Ranger Black Archival ink pad.

Today I have promised myself that I will get on with the next thing on the to do list for my business and clear the room next door that I need to make ready for when I start preparing the content of my website.  So that means I am going to be clearing the long stored junk and making enough room to redecorated the room.  Everything has to look nice for what I want to do in there.......Sorry to be a tease........I am thinking of decorating it to match the colours of my website.  I might even paint my logo on the wall to remind me of my goal and to keep me motivated when I get side tracked by crafting.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I am off to post my link and to have a look at the other entries in the Grungy Monday challenge.  I love to see the huge variety of gorgeous projects have been inspired by one challenge.

WOYWW 145

I can't believe it is Wednesday again already.  Here I am coffee and a chocolate biscuit at the ready.  I think WOYWW is definitely my...... and many others ......guilty pleasure!!  So first things first here are my photos of my workspace this week.

This photo is the beginning of an idea I have for a G45 challenge I spotted on the internet.  The challenge is to take inspiration from the wealth of ideas that are on the G45 blog and to create a project of your own.    So I have picked a project by Laura from Following the Paper Trail.  I think she is a paper engineer extraordinaire!  Its early days as you can see from this photo - and in the words of Rolf Harris - 'Can you see what it is yet?' 

Another work in progress a bit further along is a layout I started at my local crop on Saturday.  This crop is always the day after I have spent all day and night teaching so I always look forward to a good old chin wag and to see what everyone is working on (a bit like this really).  

As you can see much chat went on not much working - well I had to wait for the paint to dry.  This layout is in the drawing board stage.  As I put it together I am making two of everything as I have decided that as I have two sons that all the family heritage layouts they should both have in the future.

As you can see I have plenty to be getting on with not to mention that the garden calling out 'tidy me' and there are bulbs that really should be planted by now that are sprouting in the green house and of course there is the normal house hold stuff that needs doing.............But I have my coffee and biscuit and I am off to spend a minute or two dropping by to see what you are all up to........  

Thank you for your lovely comments and welcomes last week.  And to anyone new dropping in and wondering what on earth is this girl (woman!) on about then follow this link for some WOYWW fun.  It is a crafting treat not to be missed.  I wonder if I will have finished either of my craft projects by next week?

Happy WOYWW everyone X