Further to the internet problem

Further to the internet problems I mentioned on Wednesday I just clicked the home page icon which usually brings up the Google search engine but instead Yahoo appeared.  I changed my home page back to Google in Intenet Options and got the 'Internet cannot display the page' message I've been getting so often and not being able to retain my internet connection, so changed back to Yahoo and that worked fine - very strange!  I'm not happy about that 'cos I didn't set it to Yahoo but I'll leave it and see if that solves the problem  :-/
xx

Susi + Vikki's Christmas Club

The theme for Christmas cards this week over at Susie + Vikki's is 'holly'.  I was trying to figure just where to place the holly; which is stamped using the holly from the Inkadinkado Christmas Silhouettes set; when I realised that one of the chipboard circles I'd spotted while rifling through a Christmas kit would fit over a circle printed on the background paper and decided to put the holly around it.  The chipboard letters aren't fixed down onto the paper so can jiggle about on the wire.  I used my MS doily punch for the border strip.
:)

More cards

Just blogging a couple more cards I've made recently using diecuts from the Robo :)

xx

WOYWW

It's time for the WOYWWers lead by the lovely Julia to show what's on their desks.  Some are tidy some less so, mine is less so this week - in fact it's a shambles ;) But first I need some help.  I've been having probs with PC keep getting kicked off internet and can't get back on without rebooting :-/  Been going on more than a week, ran a restore on PC  to no avail.  So am now using Mozilla Firefox and it also kick me out a few days ago but yesterday was ok.  However I'm not sure whether I get kicked out when I leave blogger running for a while without doing anything 'cos yesterday I'd logged out and didn't get kicked off.  But it's difficult to say how long I'm usually connected to the internet before getting kicked off so being logged into blogger or not may not make a difference -just trying to give as much info as poss in the hope someone may be able to help.  Also I thought I'd be able to logon to internet directly from the Firefox link but have to still use my old connection - do I still have to go through that as it's my ISP?  though once connected Firefox is the browser.  Can anyone help? Please :)
Back to the desk, you can see my dots stamp from  The Artistic Stamper, the Robo carrier sheet, some die-cuts from the Robo (the flowers are for a friend who has joined a cardmaking group run by the U3A), on the left in front are the tags I did for the Sunday Stampers; posted below; and general mess including a little glass jar which contained licqourice comfits which I finished off yesterday :) - a Christmas stocking filler from DD.  I must get dressed before going to visit other WOYWWers, what would they think LOL - not naked, I do have jimjams on!!  But if Tesco are talking about banning people from shopping in their night attire you never know hehe.
xx

Sunday Stampers - Men

Every Sunday Hels has a new challenge for the Sunday Stampers.  She always chooses song titles for the theme and being a huge fan of the Fab Four many of them are Beatles songs.  This week the song is 'Nowhere Man' inpiring the 'Men' theme.  I've used a smaller version of the stamp Hels used.  I decided to do 3 tags and go for monochrome themes this week using 3 techniques picked up from Tim.  I used manilla tags.  the first on I blended Aged Mahogany (think it's running a bit dry) and flicked water on it before stamping - the water effect isn't showing up too well.  for the second I swiped Mustard Seed on my non-stick mat and spritzed with gold Glimmer Mist then swooshed the tag through.  Think I used Adirondack Butterscotch to stamp and added some metal sheet in the corner which I'd embossed with a Cuttlebug corner and cut out, coloured with alcohol ink and used a bit of the metal sheet at the top of the tag - this is a bit wonky but as it was my 3rd one I decided to leave it!  The last one I blended Broken China DI then brushed on mica powder (Blonde Moments Minasie Moo) while it was still wet (if you saw Tim on QVC yesterday you probably saw him do this ;))  Using metal sheet again I cut a couple of flowers using small Sizzix dies, coloured with alcohol ink.  I used one of Tim's idea-ology Hitch Fasteners for the centre of the flower and wire for the stem.  I used a variety of Tim's stamps for the backgrounds.
xx 

3 cards

Sorry I couldn't think of an interesting or amusing title hehe.  I've made 2 cards for my great-niece one for the new addition to their family and the other 'cos she had a tough time and both were in intensive care for a few days.  She was in intensive care a bit longer than the baby, but both are home now :)  The baby image is from Pollycraft  I'm trying to get a few men's cards in stock 'cos I always tend to make cards for ladies or kids.  I did make another one but DD's OH wanted one for his cousin.  I've used a stencil and stencil paste for this one - coloured the paste myself as I decided to just buy white and colour it as and when.
xx

UPDATED - JUST A BIT OF FUN - PLEASE JOIN IN ;)

I am the first on the right, middle row hand on knee :) There were 4 correct guesses - Anonymous (who I know is Anne 'cos she emailed me), Spyder, Kelly and Helen (who emailed me).  So it was name in the hat time - well ice-cream tub;) And the winner is Kelly! Let me have your addy hun and I'll send you a tote bag.  It'll just be a bog-standard affair using commercially printed fabric :) 
As you can see at the top of my blog is a picture of all the girls in my class in junior school - I'm quite unashamedly admitting it was taken in 1957! (well it could have been 1956 but I''m assuming it was towards the end of our last year hence the reason for the photo) I'd love you to guess which one is me. No prizes for guessing it's just for fun ;) Clue - don't let the glasses fool you and my now blonde hair is out of a bottle - bet you never guessed hehe. I hope you join in :) xxxx

Edited - Just got an idea from Linda I will give a tote bag as a prize if anyone guesses correctly.  In the event of there being more than one correct guess I'll choose a name out of a hat or something ;)

WOYWW

These Wednesdays come round soooo fast :o  If you're wondering what WOYWW is check out the lovely Julia's blog then join in; it's all good fun.  Each Wednesday we share what's on our desks.  Recently some have also shared what's in their drawers - ooer missus!  This week my desk is pretty much the same as last week so I'm showing my erstwhile craft desk aka the kitchen table currently masquerading as my sewing table.  I thought I'd also share my fabric storage, it's housed in the walk-in wardrobe in my room while my clothes lie in the wardrobe in the spare room.  And before anyone asks about the spare room  - I prefer to work downstairs and where would my guests sleep? - if I ever have any that is!  The 2 large tubs in the centre are from Dunelm Mill and I'm going to replace the others with more of those 'cos the others have to lay on their side which is ok but they are cheap enough to replace.  For Wipso and Twiglet, the tub shown on it's own is full of felt, wool tops and felted wool ;) On my table are some items that need altering/mending and 2 tote bags that just need the handles sewing on, the crrier bag has fabric in and the white carrier bag hanging on the chair contains my tap shoes - yes tap shoes :)  The tap dancing class I go to is run by U3A and the teacher is an ex Tiller Girl, how cool is that!  For those of you too young to know they were the high-kicking troupe who appeared on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.  Back to the shoes - the intention is to make a bag for them as I still take them in their shoe-box.

xx

PS My and my grandkids Christmas presents arrived today from my big sis.  The original got lost in the post and my sister has been trying to sort it out ever since - still not sorted.  Last week she got a letter saying that the address she gave them - ie mine - is an invalid one!!!  Well ok the house is new, but I've been here almost 5 years!

Susie + Vikki's Christmas Club - Digital Christmas

Hop on over to the Christmas Club if you want to get stuck into making some Christmas cards early.  I'm more than happy to join in as I'd already decided to make my cards early this year.  Great too if you need a little inspiration ;)  This week includes using a digital image to make your card.  I downloaded my image from Pollycraft The background paper is one I downloaded last year from a lovely lady called Summer who provides free kits for download (you can make a donation if you wish) - definitely worth a visit.  I coloured the image in quite badly :-/ with my Promarkers - still a novice :-)  The lacy strip is paper lace which I've again coloured with a Promarker.

xx

Sunday Stampers 91 - Love

Yippee I've managed to do my entry ealry for the Sunday Stampers challenge - pop over to Hels place to find out more.  I've said it before but I'll say it again, I love this challenge 'cos it's so open.  You can do anything you like so long as you include some stamping, even just a tiny bit :)  The theme this week is 'Love'.  I've used another canvas - that's 3 in 3 weeks :o) I ended up doing a lot of faffing - you know how it goes when what you first do doesn't quite work and what you do next and again a 3rd time, doesn't quite work!!!  So the finished canvas has been painted with Lumiere metallic paints by Jacquard and a little mica powder brushed over.  I've used a text stamp (and if you're wondering where the 'Love' is it does say in there 'L'amour' hehe, and a stamp by Lavinia.  I don't know who the text stamp is by as it was in a grab bag containing 5 large text stamps and 1 medium text stamp and was very good value.  I made the hearts using Opaque metallic red embossing powder (not UTE), which developed white bits the longer it was heated, but I like that effect.  I don't have a 'Melt Pot' I use a very cheap non-stick frying pan for melting embossing powder generally, but this time I used the foil cake case from a custard tart, so I didn't need to use too much powder, I put the foil case in the pan - I bought a pack of 2 custard tarts specially to get the foil cake cases - really! LOL 

Thank you for looking ;)

DB card challenge

I go to a craft group once a month and last month we were issued with different challenges.  Someone had mentioned Dawn Bibby card kits and I said I had 2 that I couldn't even sell on ebay.  So my challenge was to make 3 cards using DB stuff  :-/  On the one with the die-cut flowers I did cover up part of the printed image by adding some contrasting paper at the bottom.   I've used some paper lace which I coloured to tie in with the colour scheme and layered some of the die-cut flowers (I think they look quite nice actually).  For the one with the heart edge I cut out some hearts from some felting I did some time ago and added the bugle beads, they hearts were too big so I kept snip snipping away and now the bottom one is a bit too small I think but hey ho.  I've used some more paper lace down the side but left it white.   After posting I decided I wasn't happy at all with the 3rd one, so am going to do another one before the group meets this Thursday
xx

Susie + Vilkki's Christmas Club

Yahoo, I made it into the top 3 of Susie + Vilkki's Chrimstas Club for last week's 'Oh Christmas Tree' challenge.  If you want to get a head start on your Christmas cards this year head over there and join in - great if you're needing a bit of inspiration too ;)

xx

Susie + Vikki's Christmas Club - Oh Christmas Tree

The theme for this week's Christmas Club here is Oh Christmas Tree.  Only just managed to blog in time 'cos it'll be a new theme tomorrow ;)

 The bacground paper is by Craft Creations.  I've used Tim's trees stamp and flourish from the Reindeer Flight set  and cut the snowflakes with the Robo ;) Thanks for looking :)

Ooh an Award - yippee

Thank you so much to the lovely Pam a fellow WOYWWer for this award.  I always had problems passing awards on (you'd think I got them all the time LOL) but now thanks to being a member of the WOYWW cult I have more peeps to choose from ;) I have to tell you 10 things that make me happy and pass on the award to 5 blogging friends.  So in no particular order 10 things that make me happy:
1. Grandkids
2. Dancing
3. Crafting and generally messing about with my stash
4. Sunny days
5. Family
6. Cake
7. Friends
8. Holidays
9. Being part of the WOYWW cult following
10. Life

I'm passing this on to Susie for being so friendly, Linda 'cos I love her art and she makes me laugh, Hels 'cos I love her art, Chris for being so friendly and my pal Barbara just because :)

WOYWW

Wednesday already!  So time for WOYWW.  To find out more pop over to Julia's blog it's all good fun.  My desk is tidy today as I'm getting ready to do some sewing this week; I'll be using the kitchen table for that.   Most of the stuff on there today, lives there.  If you popped over last week you may remember a wire fram for a chair I was going to make for my birdie, but it wasn't suitable.  However I decided I'd continue with the chair as I'm sure I'll make a doll at some point to sit on it.  The thing with the pink fabric is said chair.  Come one, join in with WOYWW, don't be shy ;)

Sunday Stampers 90 - Roses

I've managed to get my challenge piece done early this week for the Sunday Stampers challenge over at Hels place.  Basically you can do anything you like so long as you include some stamping; so plenty of scope :)  You really should visit Hels blog though as she does make wonderful art work - it's yummy scrummy ;) I've done another box frame (made one last week also).  Again it's a cheap canvas from The Works which I've turned round.  I cut a frame ,larger than the original, out of Grungepaper and painted it with Lumiere Metallic Gold, it was too pale and uninteresting so crackelled it but there was too much white in then so used metallic rub-ons and then some Pearl Violet paint by Lumiere.  I've added some gold netting which I've painted, 3 Grungepaper roses and a Grungeboard butterfly - I've used a Grungeboard hinge for the body.  The canvas has been coloured with mica powders and stamped with a couple of Tim's stamps.

Thank you for looking :) xx

Sunday Stampers 89 - Hearts

The theme for this weeks Sunday Stampers over at Hels place is 'Hearts'.  I've used a small canvas (4 for 'very cheap' at The Works) but turned it over to make a shadow box?  I've used mica powders on the canvas then stamped using the 'Treasured Heart' set from 'The Stamp Bug'.  For the frame I used UTE then stamped into it and used a bit of Metallic Rub-Ons. The little dolly is the Small Pierrot Paper Doll by Invoke Arts stamped onto shrink plastic.

Thank you for looking :)
Have had to edit this thanks to Hels comment.  I had put UHT but meant UTE - senior moment methinks hehehe BTW dolly is hanging by invisible sewing thread.

Susie + Vikki's Christmas Club

The theme for the Christmas Club this week is 'Non Traditional Christmas'. I've chosen a pink and brown colour scheme for my card. The 'Snow' is a Robo file by Sharon Long.
Thanks for looking :)

WOYWW IIWA? IIFA?

Well yes, it IS Wednesday already and it IS February already ;) So being Wed it's time for WOYWW, check out Julia's blog to find out what it's about! Mine's a mess this week. I haven't done much cardmaking lately (have a look at previous post to see just what I have been doing) There are 3 sets of Promarkers, waiting for a bigger home, which I bought at the Stitch & Creative Craft show in Manchester on Saturday. I was going to make a chair for my birdie (see prev post) but couldn't get the bird to stay stable on it, that's why there are 2 pairs of pliers and a pair of wire cutters on the desk. You can just make out the metal frame for the chair far left towards the back. Also on the desk is felt which I used to cover the base for the bird and some shimmery fabric which I used on his wings. Plus 2 unfinished art dolls. The holiday brochure is just to keep the cutting mat clean :) The shelves are directly above my desk and I decided to show them in all their glory - not! - that includes the top which houses cuttings of 2 types of aloe plants, the Pegasus/Unicorn I made for my granddaughter ( he's waiting to have some operation on his legs to enable him to keep upright hehe) one of those mannequin thingys waiting to be made over, and 2 paper cutters, only one of which actually gets used now (I also have one upstairs that is redundant and a small one too). there's a set of drawers under the desk and a small filing cabinet next to the desk whereon sits my TV. I also have bookshelves behind me and 2 sets of plastic drawers; which live in the understairs cupboard; for storage.

Thanks for looking :)

My latest creation

This little birdie is my latest creation. After making one a few months ago I decided to do another 'cos the basic bird is very easy to construct and is something I can do from scratch - no using other peeps patterns ;) I do want to try to create my own cloth doll, but as I'm no artist even doing the basic pattern is going to be a challenge! I've used a little glass pot which I've weighted and covered with felt and embellished. This is to enable him to stand. I've attached a piece of wire across his foot and through the lid, plus a bit of glue under his foot. The eyes are paper flowers with a sequin and bead. I've used rolled up felt for his beak and metal charms and wire for his headdress.

Thanks for looking :)