SPOOKY CRAFTER

Made it after all to Dawns today for the demo weekend.

Look who I saw. This spooky crafter did remind me of someone, but I wonder who?

She was very good at demonstrating Ranger products and had some fantastic cards etc on display. Her finger nails left a lot to be desired though as did the spiders dangling in her hair.

I wonder if Tim Holtz knows of her!!!

Wow! thank you so much Lindsay. I am really humbled that you even considered including me in your thoughts. Of course, Terry would say he deserves all the accolade he gets - which isn't usually much!! only joking. He too loves coming to your demonstrations and having a natter, if only to tell everyone how much I spend on craft. Such a darling!! Anyway, it's down to you, and your colleagues up and down the country, that I have this crafting passion and am finally making decent cards and ATCs occasionally. So another big thanks to you.
How difficult to pick 5 blogs that mean something special. I follow several and am amazed by the creations I see. However, after much deliberation I decided on these:
1. http://leoniepujol.blogspot.com/ Without Leonie, I would never have started my passion for ATCs, nor would I have made special friends, especially Sylvia, who mean so much to me.
2. http://thecraftgarden.co.uk/ A new shop on the web which used to be an ebay shop. Selling the gorgeous Prima flowers, this lovely lady offers free p&P on orders over £10. Why nominate this blog? Well I think everyone deserves a break and besides, I get most of my flowers there and her service is first class all round.
3. http://didosdesigns.blogspot.com/ A blog by a lady, Hazel, who at the moment needs a hug. Ever so talented, she finds the time to include her work on her blog whilst doing all those other things in her life.

4. http://alwaysaboutcolour.blogspot.com/ A blog by Chris who inspires me with her beautiful cards. I pop on regularly for a 'fix' !

5. http://lapeyreweb.blogspot.com/ This blog is my little comforter. Have a look and if you know me you will understand.
Even more difficult is choosing 5 things about me. Crickey! I'm not interesting but here goes:

1. When I was 11yrs old, I won the Blackpool Evening Gazette Young Seasiders Award. I made a felt toy which was a red indian chief on a rearing horse. Wish I still had it today.

2. In my early teens I represented Lancashire in a womans amateur athletic associations event. So I can say that I've run for my county.

3. I've driven a car at 110mph.

4. I've seen the Beetles perform live at the ABC theatre in Blackpool and owned their autographs, but they were stolen.

5. I am really good at learning foreign languages. I took French for 5yrs and can now say bonjour! I also studied latin for 2yrs and my last exam result was 11 out of 110!! That's good, isn't it??

INKY NOEL

I had a play with alcohol inks yesterday in order to make bases for a batch of ATCs.

I used stream, denim, stonewashed and silver which I dabbed all over the cards. I then stamped the tree and word using archival ink. The beads were white so I coloured those with the alcohol inks and stuck them to the bottom of the card with glossy accents. I managed to find enough oil on water effect snowflakes which again I stuck down with glossy accents covering the little hole in the middle with a seed bead. I then fastened the snowflake brad using my crop a dile.

As usual, I made a mess and had fun.

JUST RECEIVED

Our post has just arrived and so have my 'witchy' ATCs from Heathers swap.

They're fab.

MORE TV CRAFT PROGRAMMES

I've never really been a fan of Create and Craft. Nothing to do with anything in particular, it just never 'hit the spot' for me.

BUT now - watch out, 'cos our very own Leonie is joining their team from next month and will be presenting, getting her hands dirty and generally making some fantastic, exciting programmes. I can't wait.

Come on QVC, take this opportunity to up the game and get the 'umph' back into your craft shows which have become rather flat and monotonous. Us crafters need all we can get.

AUTUMN CRAFTROOM CLEAROUT CONTINUES

Thank you for the interest in my clearout goodies. After craft day on QVC last week, I can see this clearout lasting forever!! oops did the post man just bring a parcel again?

The room achieved from the items already sold has made way for a bit more space which is so much appreciated. Just to tempt you a bit more, here are another couple of photos of items to go.

ON THE WEB

Had a go at some ATCs today. As I now have 5 swapping buddies, I made 5 cards almost the same so that I know each pal gets the same design.

This 'spooky' time still has a few days to go so I thought I would stick to that theme. Boy did I have fun with distress inks, grungepaper, distress stickles, crackle paint and my wonderful Tim Holtz stamps.

I may just play again tomorrow.

FRAMED FLOWER

A simple ATC made using Tim Holtz distress ink pads for the background overstamped with a swirl design in one of the background colours. I added a piece of ribbon over the swirls before edging the whole card with alcohol-inked peel offs, again using Tim Holtz inks. The centre is also an inked peel off with a Prima flower added to its centre plus 4 clear gems.

Now my friend Sylvia would have made a better job of the peel offs. She is an absolute expert when it comes to neat borders.

AUTUMN CRAFTROOM CLEAROUT

I have far too many crafty 'bits'. I can hear moans from all over the globe and folk saying, "you can NEVER have too much craft".

The trouble is, I have so much that I don't know what to use next and it's spoiling my hobby. I've been papercrafting for a few years now so have learnt many, many techniques. Some of the things I used to do, like quilling and x-stitch, etc. have gone by and I want to now do 'messy' inky things or learn how to use copics properly and definitely have a go at creating backgrounds using spray paints and shaving foam.

It's time for a good old clearout.

Rather than sell on ebay, due to their high selling costs, I would like to try and move some items through this post. Should anyone be interested, please email me and I will forward pictures, prices and info on the items. Here are a couple of photos to tempt you. Please tell your mates too.

Thanks for reading this.

THE WINNER IS........

Mona 'Boo' Lisa ATC.
My hubby just shuffled the names from the comments, and pulled out...............
HAZEL.
Well done. The ATC will be with you as soon as Royal Mail allows.

BITS FROM LAST YEAR

I've been determined to use all the bits and, lovingly created!, toppers I have aquired, to make the rest of my Xmas cards. Hasn't really happened but I've made 2, one of which I photographed. Also, I've made an ATC this afternoon. However, my camera, (my lovely but annoying camera 'cos sometimes it takes a smashing photo, and sometimes not) has not taken a good photo so that will have to wait and I'll take a photo with my hubby's Sony instead.

BUT!!!! that bloomin' parrot. I just can't get this squarkingly gorgeous coloured bird ATC out of my mind. What are you talking (squarking) about girl (or, to put it correctly, OAP). It's that absolutely amazing, unbelievable, totally imaginative masterpiece that Heather displayed (only to taunt me!!!!) on her blog the other day. You know when something just 'hits the spot', this was it for me. I've blown it up (wish I could!! only kidding), laminated it and stuck it to the inside of one of my cupboard doors in my workroom. Can you guess how in awe of this thing I am?

On a more expensive note, I've just received the TSV from Tuesday's craft day on QVC. They all had a laugh about making backgrounds from shaving foam and spray paints/inks. Just viewed that bit and watch this space 'cos I have to try that. The results are gorgeous.

And - what are those two books then? Who wrote those? Are they any good?

They are brilliant. Click on the picture and all will be revealed. You may have trouble trying to source them though, they are like moon dust! (PS. hands off, they're mine) - at last.

AN EARLY VISIT TO SANTA

Thought it time to let Santa know what I would like for Xmas. He seemed a bit pre-occupied however, so I let him continue reading his OK magazine. Note the black cat on his bed. It was real unlike the white one!

I've had another 'play' with my blog layout today and managed to lose the green around Toby. I've also added more photos to my Flickr if you are interested.

I watched all but 45mins of craft day on QVC on Tuesday. My eyes are so square now but hey! I had a ball. It was the best full day they have produced so far. Those Martha Stewart products were amazing and took me back to my childhood. I bought the loop punches. Can't wait for those to arrive. Several other items will be winging their way to my house also. Such a bad girl!!!!

BEE B&B

Earlier this summer we saw 2 bees going back and forth into holes in our shed wall. How they made those holes still eludes us because the shed is concrete! Anyway, we thought we would help them a bit this winter so my hubby made them a house.

Quite cosy I think.

MONA 'BOO' LISA

Had some fun with this ATC. The inside is a pop-up, the skills for which were taught to me last Saturday by Lindsay Mason. Thanks Lindsay.

If anyone would like this ATC, please leave a comment below by Saturday 24th and I will get my husband to pick one at random.

AUTUMN CLEAN

Time for a clean up in my workroom as the dust has gone grey and fluffy!!

I thought I would hang my Martha Stewart punches from beneath my shelves. They are out of the way but still accessible plus, being next to the wall allows the light to shine through the slats on the shelves so I can see what I am doing during the long dark days of winter. Look good eh?

Once I had made space and done all the polishing (yak, I hate housework), I made another 'witchy' ATC for Heathers swap. That's it though now. I've posted all 4 this afternoon. Roll on the next swap. I used to participate in Leonie's Fab Friday challenges, but since she started uni. she has been so busy that she can't manage them now. I love this sort of thing because it makes you think and allows you to learn so much when the professionals run these swaps.

My next task is to use up all the prepared Xmas toppers I've made and then to have a really good clear out of craft booty and get it on Ebay. Oh! does that mean more cleaning? Think I'll just let it accumulate a bit more.

FEEDBACK PLEASE

I would really apprecite your feedback on the new look of my blog. It's no good using colours I think are ok if no-one else likes them. As it is, I know I have had several 'hits' to my blog but still only have 5 followers. Please would you consider leaving a comment under this post rather than replying by email and also have a think about joining my follower list. I feel lonely - awhhhh!!!!
Seriously, I would like to promote the fact that a mere ordinary craft- loving person can have a go at making decent cards and scrapbook pages aswell as producing a reasonably interesting blog. To that end, anyone can have a go and open up a whole new interest and also make a big bunch of lovely new friends.
Whatever you decide, thanks for having a look.

THE CRAFT GARDEN MONTHLY CHALLENGE

I love Prima flowers. They are so realistic but versatile too. You can change the colours if necessary simply by using an ink pad. Brilliant.

However, my main source, from an ebay shop, now has their own web site aptly named The Craft Garden, http://www.thecraftgarden/ .co.uk. The lady who owns this site has thrown up a challenge to create a card, scrapbook page or whatever takes your fancy, using flowers. There is a lovely prize for the randomly picked winner. There will be other challenges, each running from the 1st of the month to the last day of that month. Simply visit the blog http://thecraftgarden.blogspot.com/ for details, and have a go.

This was an ideal opportunity for me to make another page for Toby's album, so a big thank you to the Craft Garden for giving me this little incentive.

WITCHY NO. 3

I really think that 'spooky' things have been happening to my computer over the past few weeks.

The mobile web link has a mind of its own and waits for the most crucial time before performing it's little tricks, such as, going off line just as blogger is updating the rather lengthy article you have just written thus losing the lot! My PCs latest trick is not allowing downloads of photos but then placing the photo number on the relevant folder, without the picture. The best part though, is several days later, some of them appear!!!! How spooky is that? This has recently happened to me with the photos of the vintage ladies that Heather put on her blog for the 'witchy' ATC swap. Heather so generously sent me copies of them so that I could participate and as soon as they arrived, the ones I tried to download started to appear. There are still some hiding. I'm getting frightened!!

Anyway, I've made 3 cards. Here is a photo of the 3rd, if it uploads!

TRYING TO CHANGE MY BLOG LAYOUT

Please bear with me for a while as I try and do something about the look of my blog.
One of the things I have been desperately trying to achieve for ages, is to upload photos inbetween verse. I just can't do it. I also want to have my own fancy sides instead of brown, or as now, green. It seems that green comes with the new template layout I have chosen but as yet, I have not found out how to change it. Everything else is there and changeable but not the green! Perhaps my 'Dave' will take pitty on me once again and perform his magic - pretty please.
Today has been taken up with, what now appears to be a ritual, of driving round every store in the North West trying to find ink cartridges. This time my photoprinter has run out of ink. I have been trying to print a photo of Toby to use on a new scrapbook page . This one is for the Craft Garden challenge 'flowers'. However, no-one, and I mean, no-one, has the relevant cartridge. I've managed to order one online which will be here tomorrow, but in the meantime I have printed a photo off using my printer copier and the top quality photo settings. Just waiting for his 'dadi' to cut it out using my Fiskars circle cutter. Another bit of machinery that gets the better of me!
As soon as I finish the page, plus if it's any good, I will put a picture on my blog. I also have to link it to the Craft Garden blog using Mr Linky. Now there's another challenge!

LOOK WHO'S BACK

I opened my bedroom curtains this morning to be greated by a wonderful sight. The gorgeous grey wagtail that honoured us with his presence most of last winter, is back.

Nicknamed 'Waggy Waggy' he was hopping from one lily pad to another catching little insects. I'm so pleased to see him because it makes you feel special when wild life visits your garden, especially time and time again. Perhaps Autumn and Winter aren't so bad after all!!

BOO!

I've decided to join Heather's ATC swap. After searching stores for ink cartridges for my printer I then had trouble downloading the vintage lady images from Heather's blog. However, I did manage to obtain a couple and re-size them so set to making cards.

Can't say I'm really pleased with the results because I'm struggling putting ideas down but hey! I've had a go. I'm a bit scared as to what Lindsay will say about my de-capitating her owl!!

CRAFTING ON THE GO

What a job I had trying to pack craft goodies for the last trip we had. I knew the show was not going to be my thing so expected to have 4 days making cards. What I didn't expect was to be in a gorgeous setting with equally as gorgeous weather. Croft Farm Water Park, Tewksbury, is certainly one to visit whether you camp or not. Look them up on the web for more details.

Anyway, we both had a thoroughly enjoyable time and I did manage a couple of cards, see both here and my Flickr.