WOYWW #137

Well, here we are again, wandering around the desktops of the world, courtesy of our much-loved hostess, Julia Dunnit.


 Not a huge amount of stuff on my desk this week, as I have a bit of a project deadline to meet, which I will tell you about in a minute. So the stamping I have been doing, I can't show you yet.
But there are some new (to me) Tim stamps this week, via e-bay, and a cool selection of acrylic gemstones, also e-bay.
  Also, some craft wire, lots of different colours, from Wires.co.uk   I came across this pack when I was looking for something else, and it just sort of fell into my shopping basket, :) .


Talking of new Tim stamps, I have been getting the blog updates of his new releases for CHA- there are some fabulous stamp images, and great dies & folders.

I also am really pleased & chuffed to bits to tell you that I was one of those chosen for the Craft a Scene Design Team-Thanks so much ShazinOz for pointing me to it!
Actually, I have to say a huge Thank You here to each & every one of my blog visitors, and all my WOYWW friends, for all the encouragement that your visits & comments gave given me over the last (almost) two years. And I also have to give very big thanks to my Beloved Husband, for encouraging me to start a blog- this whole thing was his idea.
    So the stamping I have been doing is for my first submissions to the site, but I will share it once it has been posted!
   I shall try posting this via scheduled post again, I have tried it a few times, but its never actually worked for me yet. I am probably doing something wrong and missing something obvious, like the time I set the oven timer,set how long it was to cook for, set the temperature, put our dinner in the oven so we could have a meal about half an hour after we came in,double checked everything, then went to work. Came home, expecting to smell dinner almost ready- nothing.  Guess who forgot to turn the oven on!  Happy Wednesday everyone, see you all over the next few days!
PS. The scheduled post didn't work!

WOYWW #135

Well, a Happy New Year to all my fellow WOYWWers-  if you are new to this, pop over to our delightful hostess, Julia Dunnit at The Stamping Ground and join in with the most addictive bit of legal snooping around.
You may remember a few weeks ago I was talking about finding a wooden chest for my  Beloved Husband, who is a fan of fruit teas ( I call it his Hot Squash fetish). I managed to find some, and they have them in all sorts of sizes, from two to a dozen compartments. The supplier was via Amazon, Coins Accessorise, and they have lots of little boxes in their store, perfect for altering. I didn't want one too large, as it was to take to work & keep in his toolbox, so this one seemed perfect.

I inked loads of white tissue with mists, then overstamped with dragons, swirls and so on.  The tissue was torn up, then pasted over the box. A few coats of spray varnish sealed it from the oil where we work.  I stamped a large dragon onto acetate, backed with adhesive film and then covered in gilding flakes, from a selection at Crafty Notions.
This was a lot of fun to do, and I learned quite a bit in the process.
Firstly, colour & stamp a lot  more tissue than you think you will need. When you run out, its very hard to get the same sort of colour blend.

 Second, don't put the main image on first, then do the tissue bit.Definitely the wrong way around.
 But I think the most important lesson I learned, was Never have your mug of coffee and pot of PVA on the same side of the table. Very easy to dunk your brush in the wrong one.
So, I have plans to do some more of these, maybe as Christmas presents this year (See my New Years Resolution post, if nothing else it will give you a good laugh when the epic fail undoubtedly happens), because they had some lovely little drawer units that would make fab jewellery boxes, and for people who don't like teas, the box above could hold candles maybe, or little pots of jam, or bath bombs- what's that phrase about best laid plans of mice and (wo)men? Well, my intentions are good, and yes, I do know there's a saying about that too. Probably the more appropriate one , :)
 So have a great Wednesday, I did really well last week and visited everybody- I even surprised myself,but I was at home all day- back at work this week though, so it will probably take me a few days.

Grandchildren Silhouette - and New Years Resolutions

I thought I would share with you  today, not something I have done, but the Christmas gift from my eldest son and daughter-in law. The images are our Grandson & Granddaughter, and trust me they are instantly recognisable. The work was done by our DIL, Silvercrafters daughter. She is, rightfully, very pleased with this, as she was by the picture she did for her parents, here. Check it out, you will see how lifelike the silhouettes are.  Bit of a light reflection on the glass, but better than my first picture, which had a lovely reflection of me taking the photo :).
 So, New Years Resolution time, I think.
 I fully intend to keep these realistic-if it involves giving ANYTHING up, I'm not going there.:)

Firstly, I think, is organising my time better -'doing' Christmas was a disaster this year. By nature I am a bit of a last minute person, and when life start throwing wobblies at you at that last minute- you're screwed!
   So, at least two Christmas Cards a month this year. I usually do mainly all the same for work colleagues & other people, then a batch for close friends & family which are also pretty much alike. Why? I don't actually enjoy just running a  'production line'. The only creative bit is coming up with the idea- after that its just repetitive-so no batch making this year. I would also like the time to make some gifts this year- I saw so many lovely ideas on the blogs on the run-up to Christmas.
    Secondly, is to sort/organise my craft stuff & room over the next few months. See, I'm being realistic already- normally I would say weeks, lol. I'm going to put what I know I haven't used in the last year or so into a box for later 'redistribution'. I've already done my ribbons, and my grandchildren went home the other day with a bag full of decorative scissors, and some decorative paper ribblers. The only scissors I have used in a couple of years are a deckle pair & a postage stamp cut pair- all the scissors have been replaced by the blades in my trimmer, and the ribblers have been superseded by the 'Bug.
 Thirdly, I think, is to take part in more challenges, but this one is very heavily reliant on Resolution Number One- if that one holds, this one should be ok. This is where the whole House of Cards could come tumbling down:).

So really, my resolutions boil down to:
Organise my time
Organise my room and
Organise myself.  Oh dear, I have a bad feeling about this already, lol.
 Well, if you are not busy, share your resolutions with us all, at least then I won't feel so alone when I have an epic fail :):):)

Happy New Year!!!!!

Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a lovely New Years Eve, and that you have a Happy, Peaceful & Healthy New Year, with a little Prosperity thrown in for good measure. So here is my New Year card to everyone- I just wanted to play a little this morning. After all the Christmas cards and Wedding Stationery I am doing, it's nice to just create something, rather than duplicating.
 The background was sponged with Scattered Straw,Mustard Seed,Wild Honey,Dried Marigold,Worn Lipstick,Victorian Velvet,Barn Door, Fired Brick & Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks. I stencilled through some sequin waste  with Spiced Marmalade, Antique Burgundy and Cracked Sapphire Distress Inks.The numbers are stencils I cut with the Silhouette, again sponged through with the Oranges & Reds. Overstamped with a variety of Tim stamps, putting the clock on each one. The phrase that is spread across the panels is all one stamp, I just masked off each section with low tack tape before inking the portion I wanted, removed the tape then stamped. The base card was covered with a sheet from Tims pad 'Crowded Attic', and the panels are mounted onto acetate so they float on the front.
 I really like the sentiment which fully reads:

'Time is a companion that goes with us on the journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.'

  I'm looking forward to continuing my journey through creativity with you all for the next year.