A warm welcome to all my visitors,

Thank you for taking the time to come and look at my blog, I really do appreciate it. I would love you to leave me a comment, even if it’s just to say Hi. It means I can come visit you!

All my designs are original, so copyrighted to me. If I have been inspired by someone elses work, I have named them in the post, and where able, I have provided a link.

Please feel free to use my designs for inspiration, I just ask you to credit me, and provide a link back to my blog.

Thanks, Shaz XX

Wednesday 21 March 2018

WOYWW #459

 Seem to be all behind at the moment- I lost a few days last week, so I was late getting my Christmas Card Club Challenge cards up, they are in the post below. Not as many as I'd planned, but time got away from me. I did get to use some really old, but totally timeless stamps though- I must have had these for at least 10 years, and they are still goodies. Chocolate Baroque, Poinsettia & Christmas Rose Script.
 But anyway, back to this weeks WOYWW, over at The Stamping Ground.
 Just a few odds and ends on my desk, a few purchases- nothing very exciting, just some texture stamps from Aliexpress:£1.58p!









 I also got a couple of sets of banner dies,they were £1.87 and £1.88 each. For the stamps & dies you can judge the sizes by the background mat- the squares are 1cm.


I've also been using the fact the dies needed putting away to catalogue them properly. I had them organised into sections in the box, but into different folders on my PC/One Note app, and some are not catalogued at all, as I have no idea of the brands, they were gifted to me. So I've been scanning them in, and trying to organise my storage to both be the same.  That's ongoing, lol.




 While I was planning on more Christmas cards, I painted some cardstock with Imagination  Starlights paints, and then used some baby wipes and paper towel to clean my brushes between colours.  You can't really see it in the pics, but there is a lot of shimmery sparkle to these, so I put them aside to dry.



Another purchase, and I don't know if I'm just late to the party with this info, or of it helps anyone else. I was watching some craft videos a couple of weeks ago- Gina K Designs at Stamp TV. She uses mainly her own stuff, but does make some gorgeous cards, and I love her ideas. Anyway, one night she had one of these erasers on her desk- A Tombow Mono Sand Eraser. She said- and demonstrated- that they are fantastic for removing stray specks of heat embossed powder- you know, the ones you always miss when dusting off stray specks? They came off really easily, and left no mark, so I ordered one off Amazon. Actually, two, as one had to come from China, but two were available from the UK- how's that for weird? They remind me very much of the old typewriter eraser pencils you could buy- and may well be the same sort of thing, if anyone has any they could try out.

For anyone planning on going to Ally Pally in April, Hubby and I are going for the first time. I know Helen (Stamping by H) is going, if anyone else will be there on Saturday, drop me a message via Facebook PM( link in sidebar), and we'll meet up and say hi!

 I notice in my last couple of posts, in the comments, I have a new commenter called Welsh Dors. Hi there, I'm afraid I cannot connect to you, as when I click on your name, it doesn't link me to you in any way, so I can't come and say hello! If you do have a Blog, would you please leave me a link in the comments, and I'll pop over. As regards the Versafine Clair pads- they are fabulous. I'd actually say even better than the original Versafine Onyx Black, and I never thought I'd be saying that at all!

For my And Finally....... this week- not a Pinterest funny, but the Mothers Day card  I received from my Beloved Eldest Son:


On a side note, feeling much better this week. Managed to see a Pharmacist, and ask if I could take decongestants with all the other things I'd been given, and she said yes, so I'm taking those which definitely is helping to clear my head cold!

29 comments:

Helen said...

Hi Shaz, glad you are feeling a lot better, hopefully as the weather improves (finally!!) that may help too. Looking forward to Ally Pally now, not long .... Helen #??

Neet said...

Good to hear your are on the up and up. Not a cure but I use one of those Vick sticks to clear my head when I am a bit stuffed up. Olbas Oil do one as well.
Like the idea of the erasers, must look into that one and I agree about the Clair ink pads. Did a bit of an honest review on them when I used them at a show recently.
Mmmm might have to look at those banner dies too - quite useful by the looks of them.
Hugs, Neet 2 xx

Sarah Brennan said...

Morning Shaz, glad to hear that you are on the road to recovery as far as that head cold in concerned. The card made me laugh out loud (I have 3 sons). I will have to look out for those erasers; thanks for the tip. Not going to Ally Pally, but will be a Port Sunny in May. Have a good week. Sarah #12

Annie said...

You’re sounding more perky this week. Really glad your meds are helping and you feel able to plan a visit to Ally Pally. Hope you have a great time.
Hugs,
Annie x #15

Lunch Lady Jan said...

LOVE the card!! I think we have boys out of the same mould - Owen sent me flowers with a card that read "To the best Mum in the world from the Oddest Son in the Asylum'!!!! :-D
I love the colours of the backgrounds you've created - is that how you made the papers out of which you cut those butterflies for me? Very clever indeed.
I'm so glad you're feeling better!
Hugs LLJ 11 xxx

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Hi Shaz , I'm glad you're feeling tad better colds are miserable! if I could send you some warmer weather I would!
I bought one of the Mono's ages ago, saw on Jennifer McGuire's video. Ive an eraser by Pentel called Hyper eraser I used for calligraphy and it is very like .. must confess have the Mono's out a lot though and use the otehr as well as ink eraser .. they are all similar and remember the ones for typing too...
Thanks so much for sharing your desky inspiration!
Shaz in Oz.x #21

{Shaz in Oz – Calligraphy Cards}

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

PS have those flag dies too on eBay... used them on both my cards on todays post.. the end flags..

Christine said...

great buys there .... those banner dies will be very useful.
Pleased the Chemist could help you, our local Lloyds has been sold on and I am unable to get some of my medications at the moment. PJ is going in again today and if it still hasn't come in then he is getting the prescription back and going somewhere else .....I should have started the new regime on Monday .....
Enjoy playing with your new stamps and dies
Take care
Christine #23

lisa said...

Hi Shaz. Glad you are feeling better this week. I bet yoru wipes look fantastic. I adore the starlight paints. A little goes a very long way doesn't it?
Happy WOYWW
Hugs Lisax #22

glitterandglue said...

Morning Shaz. Glad you are feeling a little better. Popped in to look at those Christmas cards while here - they are lovely - well done. The dies and stamps you found are amazingly good value for money - well found!!!
Take care. God bless.
Margaret #4

Lindart said...

Neat texture stamps! I love the card from your son! Can't wait to see what you do with your baby wipes! Have a great week, Lindart #34

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

Love the colours on the baby wipes. Thanks for the tip on the Tombow eraser, I'll be getting one of those for sure. Hope you're feeling better soon. I cut out dairy at the beginning of the year and it has helped so much with that congested feeling. It's good to be back visiting everyone after such a long absence x

Fiona #36

buterfliecrafter said...

ok I'm off to aliexpress now, thx for your visit, Vicky

StampinCarol said...

Hope you get over the cold quickly! We're having allergies here so back on meds for that. Fun looking stamps and I love the colored baby wipes & towels. Bet you've got some ideas for them! Never heard of the Sand Erasers. Looking forward to your "review" of them!
Hope you have a great week!
Carol N #27

Stacy Sheldon said...

hi Shaz, YAY for feeling better. I have those erasers and they will also sometimes remove stray ink if its not too bad of a blooper. ( it has a sand paper texture that eraser) :) ~Stacy #31

okienurse said...

great looking stamps and dies...I just got a set from Wish.com of layout stamps and I was impressed! Not usually into buying without some idea of quality but these came from China and were nicer then the ones I bought at the store...I have never heard of the sand erasers either! Huh! Learn something new each day. I wonder if it is better on the card then the fine grit sandpaper I have used in the past. Have fun at Ally Pally! Have a great week. Thanks for stopping by my desk earlier! Vickie #6

Sue said...

Hi Shaz, Sorry you haven't been well. I take Echinacea and also VitC through winter and so far that's kept the colds away. Sending heaps of positive healing thoughts and hugs (((Shaz))).

Have fun with your new stash.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Happy WOYWW
Sue #14

Welsh Dors said...

Hi Shaz, Thanks for your comments on the versafine Claire inkpads. I'm sorry I don't have a blog. Enjoy Ally Pally, I've wanted to go for years, but it's not easily accessible. Your blog is so informative, will look for the erasers to remove those annoying specks.

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Hi Shaz, might just have to try the Clair ink pads. I so love the look of those stamps, nothing very exciting! looks exciting to me! Never heard of this make before. The dies look useful too and can't wait to see what you do with the wipes. Thanks for the visit to mine and happy creative woyww, Angela x17x

Elizabeth said...

Hi Shaz, so glad to hear you are feeling better this week with the help of the decongestants. I took to using good old Vicks Vaporub last week for my blocked nose - it helped enormously. Those texture stamps and the dies are a bargain. I found Aliexpress very good value and their customer care is pretty impressive too. It would be such a shame to toss those baby wipes - bet they'll make lovely background, or they could be cut to make pretty flowers. I'm a fan of Gina K Designs too - like you say, she makes gorgeous cards. Chuckled at the Mother's Day card - your son clearly shares your sense of humour. Have a wonderful week. Hugs, Elizabeth x #28

Julia Dunnit said...

Relief Shaz, that you’re feeling better, glad that you can take decongestants too, it’s miserable being short of breath and bunged up, crikey.
The erasers are v cool, didn’t know they were a ‘thing’. The lady in the states that taught me to heat emboss told me baptism the typewriter pencil type thing, but I never had one, so just became addicted to the anti static or resigned!! Mean to abpvoided the use of black powder though! Will go visit amazon v soon. More enabling missus. Love that the cataloguing is ‘ongoing’...you bet your life it is!!!

Kelly said...

Good morning, Shaz! Thank you for the visit. I left a reply for you. Cute card. Your son has a sense of humor. Glad you're feeling better. I have to go to an older office supply store tomorrow. I'll see if they have typewriter erasers on hand. You know those stores that have been around forever have the coolest things buried behind the 'new' they're trying to keep up with. Creative Blessings! Kelly #25

Shoshi said...

So pleased to hear you are feeling better, Shaz. I was quite worried about you! Love the mother's day card lol lol!!! You got some very good bargains there - you always manage to get really cheap dies. Looking forward to seeing what you do with them and with the texture stamps too. Have a great time at AliPaly - never get to anything as far afield as that but we do have a couple of really good craft shows in Exeter each year. Thank you for your lovely comment and good wishes for my operation next week - it's the day after Kermit's 3rd birthday - I was in hospital for Easter that year, too! We had soooo much snow - very unusual indeed for Torquay which is usually so mild. The daffs and primroses were all squashed by it but we can't believe how quickly they picked their little heads up again as if nothing had happened.

Happy belated WOYWW,
Shoshi #24 xx

Dorlene Durham said...

Glad you are feeling better. Looks like you have lots of good stuff to play with and I like that eraser. I may have to look into one of those. Dorlene #33

Ginny Maxam said...

hi Shaz! your card made me laugh! 2 out of three of my kids went through that phase! My oldest Son still sends me funny cards too! your new banner dies look like fun and I think I should go investigate Aleixpress! Thanks for stopping by my blog and yes the banner stamps are all magenta. I have unmounted most of my wood stamps ( so much easier to use in a stamping too - Misiti) the ones in the picture will be unmounted at some point too. it is so much easier to store unmounted! HAve a great week and I am glad you are feeling better!
Hugs, Ginny #29

Twiglet said...

Where did Wednesday and Thursday go? Guess I was busy with Ben, Max and maybe even a bit of housework - ha ha but not much!! So glad you are a bit better - that card is priceless - made me chuckle anyway! Got to dash - Tilly has a stack of pics for me to mount. Thanks for your lovely comments. xx Jo

Monica said...

Interesting post Shaz. It is strange ordering from far away places and then finding they arrive faster than in-country orders. Hope you continue to improve. Love the "son" quote!
Monica.... commenting from Bloglovin. Busy week and not much time on -line.

BJ said...

Oh liking those dies, but then you ought to know I'm a diaholic by now! Ended up cutting out 500+ more eggs for the Easter Event, so sorry for the late reply! Thanks for the visit BJ#10

Aimeslee Winans said...

That card is too funny, so glad you are feeling better xoxo

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