Let it snow let it snow let it snow

We haven't had snow for a few days here, though we did have a bit of sleet earlier. It started snowing on 17th Dec and we had some snow every day/night for a week, with some rain, sleet and sun thrown in. I took a photo of my car at night while it was snowing and one the next morning. I also took one of DDs 'real' Christmas tree :)

WOYWW

If you pop over to Julia's blog you'll see what this is all about :) I missed last week's 'cos I'd lost track of the days even when it came to Saturday I was extremely surprised to find out it WAS Saturday :-/ I'm a little late posting this week even though I photographed my desk this morning. On my desk are some NotChristmas cards :) You can see one of my new MS punches - I got 2 for Christmas :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the coming year xx

WOYWW - only 1 more before Santa comes ;)

Check out Julia's blog for more about WOYWW and see what others have on their desks! On mine today is a carrier bag, amongst other things, which contains a Secret Santa gift for the craft group I go to once a month. I thought I'd show the desk from one end to show the rainy view today through the back door. It's quite a nice view actually once you see beyond the houses as we're quite high up, not that the view shows up well here. At the near end you may just make out a little pile of cards also for said craft group. At the other end is some yarn; which I used for the mane for a Pegasus/Unicorn I made for my granddaughter, it usually lives on the top shelf; and all the ingredients for a birthday card waiting to be assembled. The Pegasus/Unicorn can be seen here I'm off to Julia's now :)

x

Sunday Stampers weeks 82 + 83

Over at Hel's place she runs the Sunday Stampers challenge weekly. I enjoy this challenge as you can do anything so long as there's a bit of stamping in. For week 82 the theme was 'Angels' and I have some background paper which I was going to use, but I've yet to find it! I downloaded an image and sheet music for 'Hark the Herals Angels Sing'. I used the flourish and snowflake stamps from Tim's 'Reindeer Flight' set. On the 'Christmas' one; week 83; I've used the trees from the same set of stamps and again the snowflake and flourish stamps. the large snowflake I cut with my Robo and embossed it with 'Pearl Violet' chunky embossing crystals :)

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas - 4-12

I've finished all 12 of Tim's tags this year, though have to admit at times it was a bit of a marathon. I was quite chuffed with the one with photos on as I managed to find a little strip of film without any pics on - it was in the first pack of photos I looked in too ;) Unless you're a photo buff you wouldn't have any of that these days with digital cameras. For the one with the lampost I used one of my own photos :) I did chop 2 of the lamps off though. For number 11 Tim used an 'itop' gadget to cover some brads; I just sewed scraps of fabric onto some buttons which works just as well ;)

x

WOYWW

What is WOYWW? Check Julia's blog to find out and then join in - simples! Mine's reasonably tidy, unless you look at that jumble in the centre of the desk at the back, I just keep piling bits on there and very little of it has been moved for a couple of weeks, just the top few bits to look for something :-> I had a tidy up on Sunday and since then have just been working on my '12 Tags of Christmas' a la Tim You'd think it would be easy following his instructions but there are so many items he uses that I don't have and which I'm not going to buy; sometimes I have a reasonable substitute; and that then involves a lot of faffing while I try something that doesn't quite work and have to try something else - you KNOW how it goes I know you do! The tag on the cutting mat is a prime example; it was finished but last night (or rather the early hours of the morning) I decided I dind't like the baubles so pulled them off. Talking about the early hours of the morning, I couldn't sleep last night and got up twice (on the computer the first time then a little crafting the second time) and was awake till after 6.30!!! I got up at 10 :-/ I had a night out last night but was home by 10.30 pm. obviously tooooo much excitement at my age LOL

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas - Nos2+3

Managed to do tags number 2 and 3 today. Hmph, lots of faffing though, had 3 goes at number 2 :-/ And though I'm not copying exactly, mainly following the techniques, I am trying to get close. I even had 2 metal corner thingys which I rescued from something some weeks ago for tag number 2. I wasn't sure about the (argh, it's one of those again - the stuff used for making hats can't remember what it's called!!!) 'stuff' on tag number 3, but once it was finished and I caught sight of the tag without meaning to look at it IYKWIM, I thought it looked fine. The 'snow' word was made using a piece of an old table mat (from Ikea) which is the sort of stuff you can heat with a heat tool and then stamp into it. So I did that and then rubbed on Pewter Metallic Rub-On and goldleaf pen round the edge. The picture's not very good, taken at this time of night.

WOYWW

To find out more check out Julia's blog; it's just for fun and we don't mind how messy your desk is :) Mine's a right mess today. I had intended to put a lot of stuff away at the weekend but it never happened. I've taken the pic from one end so you can see the whole mess :-/ Are you having a go at Tim's 12 tags of Christmas? I am and you can see the first one on the desk with the ubiquitous reindeer ;)

For a better look click on the pic ;)

Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas - No.1

If you want to know what this is about check out Tim's blog. I did a few last year but didn't have enough larger stamps and didn't want to keep using the same 1 or 2 all the time. I'm going to try to do them all this year, even if I don't do 1 a day :) For this first one I couldn't get my flourish right, didn't like the colour and in the end decided it was too big, so used a smaller one. I painted it with white acrylic paint and covered it with Crystal embossing powder which has given it a slightly distressed look after heating - I know we don't need to copy exactly but I did want to use a flourish for embellishment. I don't have Rock Candy crackle paint so used another crackle medium, but painted it over my snowflakes :-/ I had to scrape it off as it covered them too much. I printed the 'snowflakes' word off the computer and stitched it onto the tag. :)

Sometimes simple's good.

I've scanned this card as it's quicker but it has caused a shadow at the top of the card. The butterfly is a velvet iron-on (they came on a A4 sheet of which I had about 3 diferent designs, but can't remember who they're by) which I bought to use on fabric or card, and have had for years! What's new ;) I cut the scalloped square and the greeting on my Robo which I love but wish someone would design a longer-lasting more robust carrier sheet for! I'm using a fairly new carrier sheet and am back to the old masking tape to hold stuff in place! I must get a repositionable spray adhesive to try.

Sunday Stampers - The Holly + the Ivy

I've finally done my entry for the Sunday Stampers over on Hels' blog I couldn't decide what to do as I only have one reasonable holly stamp but as I'd cut out some holly on the Robo I decided to use that and use Tim's reindeer for the stamped bit. I did have some green holly - there's a novel idea LOL - but didn't like it with this card so used the shiny holly - can't think what you call that paper :-/ Ooh now I've uploaded it the colour looks a bit funny, the background paper is bluey-grey not pinky, but I'm going to leave it!

WOYWW!!!

If you want to know what it's all about check out Julia's blog You get the chance to see what mess others make when crafting but also what fab things they may be up to. I had to make a quick card last night before I went to keep-fit, that's why there's so much mess LOL. Last week a couple of people asked me to show some of the Christmas cards I'd been making as they were just out of focus last week. So here are a few - lots of variation ;)

WOYWW

Wednesday already :-O If you want to find out what it's about see Julia's blog. Please join in, we don't mind how messy your desk is ;-) If you checked mine out last week you may notice now that the broken clock has moved, but it's still in bits :) I've made a few more Christmas cards and yesterday made a couple of male cards - not quite finished! Off to check out Julia's desk now and other followers of WOYWW ;)

BTW Julia, that harlequin paper isn't Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey, it's Plum Pudding by Crafts House. DOH! You can see it here:

http://www.handyhippo.co.uk/p5292-Crafts-House-Paper-Pack-Plum-Pudding.html

Ooh an award - yippee!

I got an award from my pal Hels; dead chuffed I am ;)
I have to answer a list of questions and pass the award on to 5 lovely people ;)

1. Where is your
cell phone? … handbag
2. Your hair? …Blonde (bottle)
3. Your mother? gone
4. Your father?… long long gone
5. Your favourite food? … roast
6. Your dream last night?… forgotten
7. Your favourite drink? … tea
8. Your dream/goal?… longlife (trying to make one word answers lol)
9. What room are you in?… lounge
10. Your hobby?… Crafting
11. Your fear?… Drowning
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?… seaside
13. Where were you last night? … home
14. Something that you’re aren’t?… tall
15. Muffins?… yum
16. Wish list item? … canal-boat
17. Where did you grow up -Liverpool
18. Last thing you did?… emails
19. What are you wearing?… casual
20. Your TV?… 20"
21. Your Pets?… none
22. Friends? … good
23. Your life?… good
24. Your mood?… Happy
25. Missing Someone?… yes
26. Vehicle?… Toyota
27. Something you're not wearing?… shoes
28. Your favourite store? … ?
29. Your favourite colour?… electric blue
30. When was the last time you laughed?… yesterday
31. Last time you cried?… months ago
32. Your best friend?… Cal
33. One place that I go to over and over? … DD's
34. Facebook?… Yes
35. Favourite place to eat? … home

I'm passing this on to
TRACEY
WILMA
ALISON
LINDA (I know you've had it already, but I love your blog)!
MADDY

Sunday Stampers - Oh Christmas Tree

The theme for this week's SS at Hel's place is 'Oh Christmas Tree'. I've made a Christmas card and used Tim's beautiful trees stamp from his 'Reindeer Flight' set, which I embossed and cut out. The flourish and circles strip at the bottom of the card I cut on the robo and printed the greeting off the computer :)

Sunday Stampers 78 - House of Fun

Over at Hel's place this week, the SS theme is 'House of Fun' so entries can include either a house or fun or both :) I've just done simple stamping this week using Tim's stamps and Jennie's Houndstooth background stamp. I used watercolour paper coloured with Talens Ecoline for the house.

WOYWW

Ooh that time of week again. If you want to join in see Julia's blog. I know some people will look at mine today and say 'that's more like it'. Beleive me I am usually as messy as the next person, unless the next person happens to be tidy LOL It's just like, for instance last week I'd only done a little bit of crafting after putting my sewing machine away so it hadn't had time to get messy. I've taken a pic from a different angle this week to get more of the desk in. I'm in the middle of making Christmas cards but you can't see them properly from here. What you can see is another bird I'm making- this one's made from wool that's been felted in the washing machine and was started before the other birdie but I was unsure about the legs and feet for this one, though I've decided what I'm going to do now. Also what a mess the ribbons are in! I was making a little holder for some ribbons but have abandoned that; I do have a plan for them though! Another thing on show is a little clock (the white thing), I got free with a watch, which was very unstable on top of the microwave waiting for me to do something with it, anyway though it's been knocked off the microwave many times, this time it fell to bits and may be beyond repair :(

Off for a nosey now :)

WOYWW - Watch the birdie!

Before I show my desk I'm showing piccies of my birdie that several people wanted to see when completed - have to say I do rather like him myself ;) His poor little legs wouldn't hold him so I made a weighted stand out of a tub that once held vitamin tablets covered with Ten Seconds Studio metal tape sheet and coloured with alcohol inks (the pic of this is a bit blurred!) I stuck some thin cutouts underneath the tape; you can make out the butterfly on the front here. He measures 8 and half inches from his feet to the top of his head and his stand is 2 and half inches high (the pics don't give an indication of that really). I've also uploaded a pic of the journal I was working on last week.

And finally the desk -Tadaa! My sewing box is still on there even though I haven't done any sewing since finishing Halloween costumes on Saturday. Don't know if you've noticed but most of the stuff at the back of the desk hasn't moved for weeks even though it isn't home for some of it :-o)) As I'd used the snowman for the Sunday Stampers challenge this week I thought I'd make a few more as I do like this image - it's one of the 'around-2-it' stamp sets by Butterfly Kisses which have a front and back view for the main stamp so makes them ideal for aperture cards. There's also a sheet of snowflakes on the desk that I cut out yesterday using my Robo. It's only tidy at the front, most of the mess is at the back and most of it isn't showing here LOL

Check out Julia's blog for more desks to have a nosey at :) and if you're brave enough, let's have a look at yours!

Sunday Stampers 77

The theme for Sunday Stampers this week is snowmen. I've made a simple card. The snowman is one of the 'around-2-it' stamp sets by Butterfly Kisses - you get a front and back view of the main stamp which makes them great for aperure cards. I love the sentiment :) and it's from the same set of stamps. I used Promarkers to colour the snowman's attire. The background paper is 'Figgy Pudding'.

Sunday Stampers 75 + 76

I'm posting 2 weeks entires for SS as I only finished the one for week 75 last Saturday but didn't manage to upload the piccie. The theme for 75 was 'Messages and Bottles'. I had a sheet of transparent bottles but couldn't find them at first and then when I did it took a while to decide what to do. The bird is from the Tim H Urban Tapestry set and the floral stamp is from Tim's 'Fairytale Frenzy' set. The theme for this week's is Halloween - what else? :) I used some background paper with the spider's web and added colour with distress ink, I used the grungy kind of background stamp from the Urban Tapestry set and Anna Griffin stamps for the 'Boo'. The cat is watching those birds with interest LOL

WOYWW

Check out Julia's blog for more on this! On mine are several things I'm working on - a fabric bird (the brown thing) the feathers are for his head; a front cover for a journal; and my entry for this week's Sunday Stampers which this week has a Halloween theme :)

WOYWW?

Well What is On Your Workdesk this Wednesday? This is mine - I was making some more Christmas cards yesterday and had put most of the stuff away but fancied doing a bit of stramping. I'd intended doing some sewing today but haven't had time. Check out Julia's blog for more. The red thing with the black skull and crossbones is my grandson's Grungeboard bracelet which he painted, I attached the skull. It's now just waiting for a fastener ;)

x

Sunday Stampers 74

'Circles' is the theme this week for Hels regular Sunday Stampers challenge. I love this challenge 'cos you can do anything you want so long as it contains some stamping ;) This effort is my 3rd attempt and I'm still not too sure about it. Perhaps I should have given up and done something else but I did like the silver embossing on the blue background paper. Looking at it here I feel the flower needs 'something' just don't know what - perhaps glossy accents, or maybe I should have embossed the whole thing, I think it needs to be shiny or glittery :) I love the stamp I've used with silver embossing powder, it's 'Flourishing Ivy' by Innovative Stamp Creations; which I bought from Scrapz at a very reasonable price :) x

WOYWW

It's that time of week again over at WOYWW My new workdesk is now in it's new home :) There are still things to sort out but I've sorted the bulk of my stuff out. I've been sorting some ribbons out putting them onto some ribbon tags - template kindly provided by Dan though the green thing you can see on my desk is also going to hold ribbons once I've finished it and punched some holes in. The pile of cardborad is to make music flashcards for my grandkids. They do know what the notes are but it's to help them recognise them more quickly instead of remembering whether 'all cows eat grass' relates to the left hand or right hand notes LOL It's such a good job I mentioned that actually 'cos I've only just realised that when I do the flashcards it will be a good idea to put on either a treble clef or bass clef with each note :-/ (for those who don't know the treble clef denotes right hand notes and bass clef the left hand) I could just say to them whether I want the note for the left or right hand; but it hadn't occurred to me before! hehehe The circular thing is a CD and is what I'm working on for Hels challenge this week x

Wordbook templates - GSD and JPEG

I've made 2 wordbook templates for use with my Robo :

These are just to show you the files - I won't actually be using these, I'd cut a few out before 'perfecting' (not that I'm really claiming they are PERFECT lol) the files and didn't want to waste more card. I've outlined them with black marker so it shows up better.
If you'd like a copy of either file please email me at anneevo46@googlemail.com as I don't know how to put them on my blog for downloading :-/

Anne :)

I Wish

Linda set the challenge for October's aussiedares. The theme was 'I Wish'. I bought 4 canvasses for £4.99 from 'The Works' a few weeks ago and was inspired to use one for this. This is the first time I've joined in but hopefully it won't be the last. The canvasses are just slightly bigger than A4. I painted the background with Sunset Gold and Halo Blue gold Lumiere metallic acrylic paint by Jacquard. I used a crackle medium in places. I stamped the bird; from Tim's Urban Tapestry set; I also used the flowers from this set on 2 of the corners of the canvas. I added a few micro beads and some gold net. The words I printed off and transferred using a gel medium. Unfortunately as the surface wasn't very absorbent they haven't really melded onto the canvas, I didn't want to rub too hard after wetting the letters as I thought they may come off altogether, but I liked the look I was left with and just added some glitter and 3D gloss.

WOYWW

This is what's on my workdesk this Wednesday

- see WOYWW, well what is on it is one coat of varnish, though as I'm writing it has had a 2nd coat :) As I said before because of the supporting legs on my wall-mounted shelving I couldn't push the my old computer desk back up to the radiator. The intention was to get some wood/MDF/Contiboard or such but I couldn't get a piece deep enough plus it would have entailed getting DD's partner to cut slots in to fit round those supporting legs and the I needed some new shelves for underneath. So to make life easier (for me and DD's OH, as they are in the throes of sorting out their living room) I bought a new worksurface which looks suspiciously like a table! But at least it will fit between those legs and while it's not as wide as the computer desk it is deeper. I've also bought; and put together; a metal file cabinet from Ikea (which was very easy to assemble) to go next to the table and on which I can sit my TV and another set of drawers to go under the table. I've sorted out more of my craft stuff and brought down 2 sets of plastic drawers which now live in the understairs cupboard in the kitchen - I just need to find somewhere for the coats, scarves and 3 pairs of boots that have been ousted. As the walk-in wardrobe in my bedroom now houses my fabric stash and the wardrobe in the spare room, which I use, is full, I need to put up a small hanging rail in the walk-in wardrobe!

WOYWW

I found out about WOYWW or What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday at Linda's where there's a link to here. I've decided to put two piccies on today as strictly speaking thold computer desk is my workdesk but I'm waiting to get some contiboard to make a larger worksurface only 'cos the desk can't be pushed back to the wall (well radiatior) due to supporting legs on the shelves - I didn't want to trust the weight of craft stuff just to the wall screws :-/ So I'm using my kitchen table for crafting, sewing, eating, sorting through paperwork etc. Much of the stuff on the workdesk was on the table but I moved it to make way to sort through some paperwork. Theoretically I'm still sorting my craft stuff out, but I've been doing that for about 18 months. I do promise myself though that when I get my new worksurface and some shelves for the desk I will sort it out and use it to work at!! So I've got 2 messy worksurfaces LOL

Ooh - GSD file to download - bodice

Hi, I've made a bodice template for use with the craft Robo ;) Unfortunately I don't know how to put the GSD file on my blog for download but if you'd like a free copy please email me anneevo46@googlemail.com and I'll send it with an email. If anybody would like a copy of the jpeg let me know too. This is it :)

Sunday Stampers - Books or Pages

We have a choice this week, as the title says 'Books' or 'Pages', inspired by the Beatles 'Paperback Writer'. I think Hels may be a bit of a fan of the 'Fab Four' LOL..... I KNOW she is! I've also made a tag coloured with Distress Inks. The picture and the torn page are from a little book I got for using in artwork - did I really say ARTWORK?! Not that I'm an artist but still :) I stamped part of the background with my Dogstooth stamp from http://www.theartisticstamper.com/ The pen is an image I downloaded and covered with 3D gloss and then stamped one of my new Tim stamps from the Urban Tapestry set. Thanks for looking :)

Sunday Stamper 70 - Tickets

The theme this week for SS is Tickets. I didn't have any stamps that were apt so used my ticket from the GNPE show at Harrogate at the weekend. I've used the back of the ticket and coloured it with Red Pepper and Lettuce Adirondak inks. I've used Anita's 3D Gloss on the car and steering wheel. I typed out some song lyrics containing the words 'car' or 'drive' and included the words 'She's got a ticket to ride' from the Beatles 'Ticket To ride', but it's mostly obscured now. I was part way through my project when I realised I hadn't included any stamping so used one of my newly acquired Tim H stamps from the 'Urban Tapestry' set. And used one of his masks for the steering wheel in the lefthand corner :)

A Few Recent Cards

These are a few of the cards I've made recently. They are all quite simple; I love the bubble stickers used on the boys cards - you get 2 sheets for £1 from either Poundland or The Works. I've left the greetings off 'cos if DD wants a card she usually likes the name on and the age.
The text on the floral card I typed on the computer but took the idea for the card from Tracey

Sunday Stampers 68 - Life

I've made 2 entries for this one. I started with a card but wasn't too sure about it so thought I'd make a tag. I'm posting both anyway ;-) For both I've used a dots stencil I made on the Craft Robo. I made this after seeing Heidi Swapp demoing hers here (towards the end of the video) but it was sold out wherever I looked. I then had the bright idea of making my own using the Robo. Since then I have downloaded Dan's file 'cos I knew his circles would be evenly spaced, unlike mine which I lined up 'by eye' LOL. Anyway less of the rambling! For the tag I lightly inked the background using Bokoen China distress ink then coloured the spots using Dust Concord. I used Tim's Ransom alpha mask for the word 'Life' and coloured over again using Broken China (it doesn't show up too well; a little better in 'real life'; 'cos I didn't want to do the blue too dark) The Raven and Flowers are courtesy of Dan - thank you Dan - I cut out the Raven and the tree on the Robo using black card which I then sprayed with a shimmer spray. I coloured the flower with a mixture of Broken China and Dusty Concord and stamped with my dots stamp from The Artistic Stamper. What's that thing dangling from the flower? Yes it is what it looks like LOL I thought the tag needed something else on that side but didn't want to cover the 'life' and found this when hunting through my embellies!

Some more pics of the wedding

I've uploaded some of my pics into Flickr to create a slideshow. I've only included a few 'cos most are of the grandkids. There are also a few from the following day showing DS' kids donkey riding ;-)

Few piccies from DS' wedding

My son and his fiancee got married in Llandudno a couple of weeks ago and we had a lovely day. They were already living together and had 2 little girls who were bridesmaids and looked gorgeous. The weather stayed fine. I dont have any pics myself of the actual ceremony 'cos we were a little late getting to Llandudno so were in a rush to get changed etc. I've copied these from Facebook so don't know what the quality will be like. Well so far they look ok ;-) There's on of the happy couple with their 2 little 'angels' (well they were on the day LOL, one of the bride with my 4 grandkids and a group one of not quite the whole family!

Oh well now I've published it and checked I see the photos are a bit small and you can't view a larger pic. I will upload more when I get copies myself. Though I can upload some from the reception.

x

Venice piccies now added

I've added pictures of Venice to my slideshow now. Unfortunately there was restoration taking place at the Bridge of Sighs so not a good piccy of that. There were some lovely dinky little bars and shops round St Marks Square - such as the 'Florian' which is included. I've had to do 2 separate slideshows, as when I view them in Flickr they're not all on 1 page and even though I tried to include both pages in Blogger setup by separating the pages with a comma IYKWIM, it didn't work. Any ideas anyone? Also is there a way to view the pics in the slideshow at a larger size does anyone know?
Hope you enjoy them ;)

Lake Garda Trip

In an earlier post I mentioned my trip to Lake Garda and said I would post piccies when I'd sorted them. I will post more another time but for now these were taken in Verona. the 'Graffiti' wall is in the passageway leading to Juliet's balcony. Personally I feel it's a shame to deface the walls like this. If people feel the need to leave their mark I wish they'd find a way to do it in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Have managed to set them up in a slideshow ;) but am wondering how I go about sorting out one slideshow for another in the future :-/ oh well I'll worry about that when the time comes lOl

2 ribbons 1 Button

I made a Christmas card for my effort for a little challenge set by the craft group I go to once a month. In case it's not clear there is a black ribbon over the red spotty one :) I love the glitter paper (I say paper but it is quite thick) I've used for the stocking, it really is very glittery - I got mine from QVC but they are from http://www.craftime.com/search-results.html?searchtext=glitter+sheets