WOYWW 10th March

It's that time again.  the time when nosey interested bloggers take time to show what's on their desks and have a good look round other people's.  Mine doesn't look tooooo bad but it's just that the mess is piled up rather than spread out and some of it's hidden under that piece of red wrapping paper.  I thought I'd share a card I made using one of the fab sassy gal images from the Sassy gal herself - Susie.   I won these delightful images a couple of weeks ago along with some lovely little gingham bows - just right for linedancing tonight LOL.  No we don't really dress up like that; it's only at classes where they play nothing but C+W music, but most people dance to a little C+W, pop, Latin, Irish and any other music that inspires choreographers.
So that's what's on my desk but if you want to see what was on my floor last night, see the previous post :0 And if you'd like to show us what's on your desk pop over to the Juicylicious Julia's blog to find out more ;)
xx

Aaaarrrrrgh!

Just as I was about to get changed for keep fit I caught my jumper on my sewing box and pulled it off the table spilling practically the whole of the contents onto the floor :(  I didn't want to leave it all till I got back from keep fit; just as well 'cos it took me about an hour to sort it all out!.  It was a lot worse than it looks in the pics 'cos there were loads of buttons, press-studs, safety pins and other small bits.  It took so long 'cos I decided some things needed to be stored in little boxes or tubs and spent time trying to find some, or shifting other craft stuff round to free some up.
xx

Sunday Stampers - Rabbits or Alice In Wonderland

The theme for Sunday Stampers this week over at Hels place is Rabbits or Alice In Wonderland or both.  As I don't have any Alice stamps or a rabbit stamp that I could use on something more arty I've settled for a kid's card this week and used a cute rabbit.  Just a simple card too :)  plus I've used a peel-off for the greeting - so shoot me! LOL - as I think the stamp set with lots of happy birhthays in is buried beneath a mound which I couldn't be bothered going through properly!  Will have to pick up each cars and bit of paper/card separately to find them  The frame round the greeting is from the Anna Griffin flourish set from Craft Day and I may include this card in another challenge for the Crafts by Caroline forum which requires using one item on 10 cards; be it a stamp, image, embelllishment or whatever so I'm going to try using the frame stamp.
xx

Susie + Vikki's Christmas Club

I'm early for this for once as new challenges are set here each Saturday.  The theme this week is Hot Chocolate.  My little reindeer is actually more chocolate coloured than he looks in the pic.  It took me ages to do this card, it was one of those that I couldn't quite get right.  I'd completed it once but just wasn't happy with it though I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like, you know how that goes!
xx

Christmas club

Very quick post in the hope I just make it. Card for this week's Chrismtas Club is girlie theme.
xx

WOYWW 3rd March

Where does the time go! March already eek.
I used to work with a girl called Sheila Tickle, whose grandmother's name was Theresa, but was known as Tess.  Come on keep up - did  you get it?  'Tis true though ;)  Just thought I'd share that with you LOL
Back to the more serious business of 'What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday'.  If you want to know more, pop over to the lovely Julia's blog and then join in if you dare.  On mine this week is an old first aid box that was a nasty shade of dark green which I'm going to tart up.  i've given it a coat of gesso and one coat of white acrylic paint so far; think it's going to need another 2.  There is also the makings of a card for Susie + Vikki's Christmas Club.  If you want to get a head start on you Christmas cards this year pop over to the CC Also on show is my as yet unopened new magnetic cutting mat and accoutrments from We R Memory Makers.  The light blue thing (under the quad bike piccy) is the back cover to go with the front cover on the previous post.
If anyone pops over here who didn't last week then read on - I am having internet problems, keep losing connection but have to reboot each time!  I've run Ccleaner and Malwarebytes and changed my browser to no avail - any help would be most appreciated :)
xx

"ALTERED" chipboard book cover

Yes I've "altered" a chipboard book cover - the 'altered' bit is for Julia's benefit, she'll understand ;) I bought some chipboard covers ages ago from Ideal World.  They were meant to be used just as one half of a flower but I wasn't happy using that as a shape - if I ever get round to putting some piccies in.  So have joined 2 pieces, coloured it with DI and mica powders.  For the raised bits I used 'Golden' gel medium with a stencil.  I've added Grungepaper flowers and leaves and a butterfly - just card.  I think now I should have left a longer tail of string at the top and threaded a few more beads on.  I used some lovely Anna Griffin clear flourish stamps; bought on last Craft Day :)

xx

Sunday Stampers - Clowns

The theme for the Sunday Stampers - check out Hels' blog - this week is 'Clowns'.  As I didn't have a clown stamp I downloaded an image to colour in (couldn't print out a coloured one 'cos colour cartridge has run out)  As you need to include some stamping, I stamped the background on the yellow card and the happy birthday.
xx

PRIMA HAS A BIG SURPRISE COMING

See the pic on right side and click for more info :)

An award - how wonderful ;)

I got this award just over a week ago, but unfortunately I've been having problems with my PC - keep getting kicked off internet and having to reboot each time before I can re-connect so everything's been taking ages.  So firstly thank you so much to the lovely Paula who is a new internet pal and fellow WOYWWer - see Julia's blog for more on that ;)  I have to pass this on to 5 other bloggers, write a top ten list of things that make me happy and 5 pieces of trivia about myself.  Here goes:

10 things that make me happy, in no particular order:
1. Grandkids
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Crafting
5. Dancing
6. Sunny days
7. Holidays
8. Playing games
9. Cadbury's Creme Eggs hehe
10. Blogging

5 pieces of trivia
1. I can whistle fingers in the mouth style - 2 or 4 fingers ;)
2. I've been on a jet-ski
3. I went para-gliding once
4. My school was next door to John Lennon's (though he left the year before I started)
5. I know that kangaroos can retract their testicles LOL

I'm passing this award on to:
1. Wilma,  longtime internet friend and she makes me laugh
2. Tracey another longtime internet friend and companion at many craft shows, also a recent member of the WOYWW cult
3. Julia our wonderful hostess for WOYWW, her posts always bring a smile even when she's having a rant
4. Spyder for being a friendly blogger
5. Linby alanother friendly blogger pal

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 ;)