Computers suck.

I hate computers at the moment with a passion. And yet, here I am, sat at a laptop, blogging about it!

I've not blogged for a couple (ok, maybe three) weeks because the main pc is down. It is so down, it's with Dr Geek for repairs. In fact, he's actually trying to resurrect by donating a few internal organs to bring it back to life. First we had the small matter of the nastiest virus on the planet (I'm stil not convinced we totally managed to get rid of it) then the PC threw a total wobbly and now I have to use the laptop. No email. Well, aside from my yahoo account, which makes me feel like I've had a leg cut off.

On the crafting front, I've finally made it back into the craft room. Well, I did once I'd squeezed myself past a load of junk out of the lounge, and had a cursory tidy of the desk. The next UK Stampers CJ has started, and mine is now winging its way to Sarah (Flo), and I've received one from Fi (Magickdiva, of the Inchy by Inch blog). I might even take the plunge and get back into doing some of the online challenges.

Unusally enough for me, I've kind of lost my Christmas mojo - not least because all my "prepare for Christmas" gubbins is on the main PC (sorry, WAS) - and I'm therefore totally unprepared, and missing a load of address which were ALSO on the main PC. Ergo, if you don't get a card from me this year and you normally do, that's the reason why. Sigh....

We're decorating at the moment. A chance remark by myself about the state of the carpet in the dining room (trust me, cheap carpets and peppadew peppers stuffed with cream cheese don't mix!) led to DH researching laminate floor, and one thing kind of led to another. Result - dining room now decorated and we FINALLY have our maing dining table and six of the chairs in there. However, we now have all the bookcases in there as well, out of the lounge, as there is an archway between the two and the laminate floor has to run all the way through the two rooms. So we are now furiously painting and sanding and soon laying laminate, so that it's ready in time for Xmas and the impending Vist from Mother.

Other Family notes - my beloved mother in law, Betty, had to be evacuated from her retirement flat in central Cockermouth. Luckily, she lives on the second floor, and they were evacuated due to the power cuts (high rise living for the Octogenarians without a lift being a no-no), so the only losses she suffered were the contents of her fridge and freezer. She's back in again now, complaining just a very little about the fact that she had fun in her temporary residence because it meant they all had to socialise a little more (I believe she was in a retirement home for the duration).

That'll do for now - will be back again soon with some photos of the CJ. Once I work out how to get them onto the laptop instead of my usual PC, that is! Boo hoo....

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Whaddya mean, it's October????

Ok, so who turned over the pages in the calendar when I wasn't looking?

How the heck did two and a half months pass in the blink of an eye?

I mean, we went and did Robin Hood at Hawkstone (weather good, we even had our own pub for the week), then went and did Robin Hood again, at Caldicot (weather good after the first downpour while folks were trying to set up) and THEN did Medieval at Michelham. And THAT was a month ago!

Ahhhhh - I know. I got some B@$&*#!d virus which seriously killed my computer for like, ages....

Well I'm back

and I'm blogging

so watch out.......

Robin Hood time again

Hey folks

Where has the last week gone?

At least the sun is out for a change!

Anyway, just popped on to say that it's THAT time of year again, and we're heading on out to the wilds of Shropshire tomorrow, to Hawkstone Park & Follies near Weston-Under-Redcastle, to do a 7 day stint of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

If you recall, last year the weather looked like this....



and this....



Once it was like this...



Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me that the weather may be marginally better this time. Anything better than last year will be an improvement. That means, little or no rain.

We're taking the laptop and the camera, so I'll try (can't promise) to log on at some point and blog an update midweek. And Tweet, of course.

Ciao for now!

The Lionman - and a Tiger Card

Ok, so I've not been around for a bit - I've been busy! It's re-enactment season, and I've a lot on.

Anyway, onto something important! I have a cause I support - The Lionman aka Craig Busch. Those of you that have Sky TV will have either heard about or seen a TV show by the same name. I absolutely love this TV series, and I love the rapport that Craig has with his animals. What many people don't know is that he no longer works at his own park, Zion Wildlife Gardens. There is a long story behind all of this, but it is best that I point you in the direction of his Facebook page, where it is all explained. The recent tragedy at ZWG where one of the keepers (Dalu) was killed by a white tiger (Abu) brought Craig's troubles to my attention, and his fans on Facebook have more than doubled since the end of May when Dalu and Abu died.

There are people who are pro-Craig, and others who are anti-Craig. Should you, the reader, choose to go to the Facebook page, I will leave you to make your own mind up as we are all individuals, and I would not want to force my opinion on you. Suffice it to say that I support him, and want to do all I can to help.

To that end, a few weeks ago I promised that I would make some cards to sell, on an animal theme. I've been rather busy, so have only just got around to making any (I've also had to wait for stamps to show up!). So here is my first card. I thought I would do a white tiger card as my first one, in memory of Abu. I have put this up for sale on Ebay . All monies raised from the sale of this card will go to Craig to help get him back into ZQG.

Sketch Saturday - Goddess

I don't often get the time to do the Sketch Saturday sketches - but I do love them!

The lastest one was another lovely sketch, and here is my effort!



I think the stamps are by third coast rubber, but I'm probably wrong, and someo
ne will come along and correct me soonest! Background stamp is the crackle background by Craft Individuals, and the swirls stamp is Hero Arts (old faithful!)

Inks used, Azurite cats eye chalk ink, and Impress silver.

And the Cuttlebug divine swirls too...

Celtic Inchy

Having finally got my mojo back, I thought I would start my blogging off with a Celtic Inchy I did for the last challenge on the Inchy by Inch blog.

Background was done with pearlescent inks, stamping with Azurite Chalk ink, a white Sakura pen for the outline, and a small word added courtesy of Stonehenge font at 6pt.



I did 7 of them in the end, to comply with a swap we're doing over on Auntys....




I have more art to blog later.....

Loads a stuff!!!

First up, it's that time of month again, and here are my vintage Christmas Cards for SSCC...







Then, over on the UK STampers Cyber Blog the challenge this week is a tag with I for Icon; mine is as below...



Also on UK STampers we did an inchy swap this month and the theme was "Blue"...



The inchies were cut from pearlescent blue card onto which I had stamped the Crafty Individuals cracked wood/paint stamp, in Impress blue dye ink. The word blue was printed using adler type face onto blue paper, cut out and glued on. The butterflies were a stamp of unknown origin, stamped onto blue vellum and heat embossed with Moonglow powder, I think it was Lapis blue gold.... I then coloured them in using a mixture of Sakura Stardust/Glaze pens, and Twinkling H2O in interference blue, and cut them out and glued them on with Diamond Glaze. Finally, edged with a silver Krylon pen. And I think they're gorgeous, although the photo doesn't really do them justice!



I'll blog a couple of other bits tomorrow....

Flashback/Catch Up

I have so much to blog that I haven't already.... LOL Let's start with the meet up from the UK Stampers forum which happened on 22nd April! Gosh, that's ages ago now, but feels like it was only last week!

A few photos...

Hazel...



Patty & Lucy, glimmer misting!



L-R: Rukshana, Patty, Hazel & Lucy



Patty - but if you look closely, that's kind of obvious!



I just love this photo. Lucy was studying the ribbon box intently, and I called her name, she looked up and this astonishing smile just burst out like a ray of pure sunshine.... Lucy, you are beautiful when you smile....



Pat (Pinky) and Hazel - guess who got snapped with a mouthful of Strawberry Cheesecake?



Alison



Rukshana and Hazel, punching pieces for their metal art box project...



Class tutor (someone help me out with her name please???) and Alison...

Loopy Lou

Now that Julie has received him, here is Lou in all his lunatic glory....


He's just a variation on a theme!






Just a thought - I'm entering this into the Lots To Do Challenges challenge this week, which is all about wood....

They breed, you know...

When good pegs go bad....

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present....


"Pin-head Peg"


That's "Mr" Pinhead Peg to you...!!








nuff said, really.....

Curiouser and curiouser.....

... as Alice said.





The astute ones amongst you will have noticed my tweet over on the right there from last night, which says "There is a naked peg on my desk and it's looking at me funny".

Indeed there is, and indeed IT is.

Why?

Well, over on UKSTampers we've got a new swap/challenge - to make an Altered Peg.


And thus there is a naked peg on my desk. It's looking at me funny - challenging me, perhaps even taunting me in a kind of "come an' 'ave a go if yer fink yer 'ard enough" way. It oozes malevolence.

You see to me, rightly or wrongly, altering something should really change the very nature of it. I've surfed, and seen many an altered peg that is merely coated in paint, sanded back, and then maybe some pretty decorative paper is glued on and then sanded to distress it. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I hasten to add - done correctly it's very tasteful and attractive.

But this peg is daring me to seriously do something with it.


I only hope I can rise to the challenge....

After all, it's just a peg!

Sketch Saturday again

Despite having said I must blog more often, here we are a whole week later.... LOL

It's my second week as guest designer over on Sketch Saturday and we had another fabulous sketch again. Keeping up with the medieval theme - here's a card that uses minimal stamping - the only stamps used were the alphabet to create the word "sempre".



Papers used were by SEI - fabulous, yummy sheets of 12x12 from their Windsor collection which I picked up at the Craft Barn on Wednesday - and the fleur de lys is a Tattered Angel glimmer chip. Metallic cards in Mirri gold, mirri copper and matt gold. In the two top corners I've used the new Card Candy, by Craftwork Cards. I have to say, it's fabulous. I suddenly came to the conclusion at the end of making the card that it just needed a little extra, but by then it was too late to add big shiny brads. As I hadn't bought gold Card Candy, I used dark blue ones from the Army & Navy set, which I then added some gold metallic rub on to, and attached using foam pads. Perfect! Inks used were Distress Inks in Aged Mahogany and Frayed Burlap (as well as some encore gold just to lift the colours a bit) mainly used to colour the glimmer chip and to which I added more metallic rub on.

Oh, I lie. There's one other stamp used and that's a crackle background from LB Crafts.

I think that's it - if you have any questions please feel free to ask!

And one last point of geek-interest. I've used the Italian word "Sempre", which means always, rather than the Latin word "Semper". Why? One reason, and one only - I thought sempre looked better!

SSCC

SSCC - Rudolph day again....


Only three cards from me this month - I've been busy with other projects unfortunately, namely wedding stationery (groan) and thus these three were made in the last couple of days of March...

Sketch Saturday Guest Designer....

This week I have the greatest honour, and pleasure of being a Guest Designer on Sketch Saturday....


Woohoo!!!


Sorry, excuse my little outburst of delight there! My friend Jo was in need, and I've stepped in to help her out a little.

Here is the card I've made based on the sketch. The stamps I've used are all from The Stampsmith (I think - I could be wrong! They're all unmounted and I've had them a while!), and the papers are a mixture of Joanna Sheen and Craft Creations. Again, I've had them a while - last time I looked Joanna wasn't making the myth and magic ones any more, though she may have started that line up again.

I've used metallic rubons in gold and bronze on the Glimmer Chips, and the inks used to distress are, well, distress inks from Tim Holtz. I think I used Scattered Straw, Frayed Burlap and Peeled Paint...

Hope you like it!

Inchies and ATCs

I need to blog more often I think.

My excuse on this occasion is relatives visiting at Easter - I love my Mum to bits but her visit had a serious knock-on effect on my crafting, and my blogging.

Anyway, I have created some more inchies and ATCs lately - here they are:

The ATCs are for a swap on UK STampers which has the theme of "Black & White". All the images are Lisa Volrath, from the free Monthly Muse issue. I need to subscribe now!



Also on UK Stampers we have another Inchy swap - the theme for this one is "Bling". The photo definitely does NOT do them justice - they're beautifully pearlescent and sparkly in real life!



And last but not least, for the moment, we have an Inchy swap on Aunty's too - three guesses what the theme is for this one...




The one trouble with my photos of the inchies is that I've used pearlescent ink on parts, so you can't actually read the text that's on each one. Each inchy is unique - in the "Bling" swap, the text reads things like "Bling is King" and "Bling it on", "Bling me sunshine" etc. Sorry, my wit is weak from time to time! On the "Yellow" Inchies, I've just used the word yellow, only in 9 different languages including Korean, Greek, Hebrew....

Till tomorrow!

Stampbord Brooch swap

Over on UK STampers we've recently had a stampbord brooch swap.

Um, not sure what I can say about it other than - here is my effort!

Well, ok, I used alcohol inks for the background - stonewash, denim and silver mixative. I might even have used a little slate for good measure. Then I rubber stamped and heat embossed in black part of a fairy. I'm afraid I don't know the manufacturer. I also stamped the word "Believe" and added, in silver heat embossing, a corner element. Did a little scratching, edged in silver krylon, and coated with a thinnish layer of diamond glaze. I'd punched holes in three corners, so added beading. A brooch back was the last bit - but silly me has forgotten to sign it.

I hope the final recipient likes it!

March Rudolph Day

Ok, not such a good month this one for SSCC. I don't really "do" Glitter, which was what the theme was. However, I've rustled up 5 cards.

They all actually have a lot of glitter on - trouble is it's mostly a translucent glitter glue, and doesn't easily get picked up by the camera... Ho hum.

On the Matilda card, there's glitter on her pompom, and her wings, but also all over the background paper - on the trees and baubles etc.



On the snowman card, it's all over the snowman - I used a topper I got in a swap, to which I added loads of glitter to bling it up!



On the medallion card, it's all over the medallion. Needless to say, for you medallion afficianados out there.



The cross-stitched card has glitter all over the four images in the corners - plus I added blending filament to the actual stitching to make it pop.



And finally, I have used a pre-made topper, and finally tried out my Big Shot which arrived yesterday (woohoo!) with a cuttlebug embossing folder. I think the glitter is kinda obvious on this one!

Oh my.....

Well first of all, I have to say whoops... too much time has passed since I last blogged. Now, I'm all for blogging without obligation (must get that blinkie!), but I still think that nearly three weeks is a bit much. Shame on me. My apologies.



And now for an "Oops".


Guess what I did at the weekend?


I broke my trusty, faithful Sizzix machine.


Yup, you read it here first folks. (Oh alright, second. I told the guys on Aunty's first...hmpf).


The unbreakable is..... breakable.


EEEEKKKKK.


Ok - so I hear you asking, how in the heck did I manage that? If I'd dropped it, it would probably have gone through the floor and into the room below. If I'd dropped it on my foot, it would have taken a couple of toes with it on its way through to the room below.

Nope. Nothing so exotic. I was using it .

I guess this means I'm pretty strong. Or at the very least, stupid and strong.

Here is where I point out that the demise of the Sizzix was a gradual process. It started a few weeks ago, with a klutz attack. I put a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the cutting mat, ensured I had all the relevant adaptors attached, slid the mat under the pressing bar, applied pressure... et voila! CRAAAACCCCKKKKK. Further inspection pointed out that I didn't push the mat far enough under the bar, resulting in uneven pressure, which made the bar go a bit wonky (like the technical description???) and ultimately, the red bit split on the back corners.



It then started to ooze an oily substance....


So, finally, at the weekend I used it a couple of times - and it gave up the ghost. No pressure. It did the Sizzix equivalent of NOT fighting its way out of a paper bag. It was a bit like the original Mr Muscle guy... In fact, you could even say that it bled to death....

Which of course means...

Drum roll please....


NEW TOY ALERT!!!!

Watch this space. I feel a Big Shot coming on.


MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

February Rudolph Day.....

It's that day again. Time for a spot of show and tell so I can get my points on SSCC.

Today, for your delight and delectation, we have CHRISTMAS TREES. Well, actually the brief was specifically just Trees, in whatever shape or form they take. So here are my first efforts. I may try and to a couple more tonight too.

First up is one that I did as part of Sketch Saturday a couple of weeks ago - but never got around to blogging. It also covers this month's challenge on Aunty’s Forum which was to use three of a variety of things. I seem to have lost my list of things you can use for that, but I do remember that it included Pasta shapes, ribbon, cotton/thread, beads, sequins, lolly sticks, tin foil. There were a couple of other things too, but I can't remember what they are for the mo. Most of mine have the old ribbon/bead/sequin or thread combo. I might try making something with pasta shapes before the weekend, but I digress....



Another one I really like is this. I've used two different cuttlebug folders on it - and had a little accident with the Swiss Dot one. It wasn't meant to deboss - I got the folder round the wrong way. Oops. However, I like the happy accident, and it's a bit different.



The others I'll just upload in a row now, or we'll be here all day!










9.30pm - one last addition!