WOYWW 191 - Wednesday 30th January

Hello friends and fellow WOYWWers!

It's time to share my desk space again and join in with the fun over at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk  but I have to be quick today as there is so much more crafting to fit in to the few hours of my day off! I spent the morning preparing packs for my group at our workshop tomorrow and it took ages! I've been trying to make so quick cards for birthdays and anniversaries coming up in February and March..you wouldn't believe how many celebrations amongst family and friends over the those months! So the ones I've made so far are spread out on my desk....

The card with the corset on the right is a gift card holder, but I dropped a wet wipe on it and ruined the inking so I have to re-do that part today ( I need to post it tomorrow!). 

So having said that, I must get back to work...happy WOYWW day all!

Carole X

Pastel Heart - Tuesday 29th January

Hello Friends,

First of all, welcome to my new follower, Dee..thank you so much for choosing to join in my little piece of craft space! Thank you also for your comments on yesterday's post...when I set out to make the card I had no idea that it was going to take hours and hours to make, so glad you all seemed to like it!

Today is a simple little card, which was made in minutes and was inspired by a card in Indigo Blu's gallery.

 I covered a  6x6 card blank with dark red textured card and then stamped the Indigo Blu 'Love is" heart on a piece of sticky note paper to make a mask, which I placed in the centre of a square of white card.

I then stamped a script design randomly around the mask with Wild Honey distress ink (the stamp is from Vintage Labels by Sam Poole). I ran the heat tool over the stamping to make sure it was dry and then I inked it all over with a mix of Victorian Velvet and Spun Sugar distress inks.

To finish off I inked the stamp with purple, pink and green Colourbox inks and stamped the insert with the same inks, but very faintly so that I could stamp the sentiment across it...and that's all folks!

Thanks for stopping by,

Carole X

Ooh La La! - Monday 28th January

Good morning Friends!

I hope you all had good weekends, even if you were in a part of the Country still affected by snow. Ours melted on Friday and Saturday was a beautiful day; Sunday a little less so, but it feels so much warmer! Honest!!

Thank you for all your comments and good wishes last week - my back is much better now thank you and I'm returning to work today..the trouble with my job is that if I'm not there, there is no one else to take my place. My office volunteers are wonderful, but only one of them will come in when I'm away, so the longer I'm off, the more the work mounts up...plus I have a new volunteer today, a young lad who is going to help with our social media and this is such a crazy month there too..totally the wrong time to be poorly!

Today's card is another one of my 'takes' on a project in the Creative Expressions book:.For those who have the book, it's the "Ooh La La" card by Sue Wilson. Of course I had to use the dies and stamps I own, so it's basically the layout and general idea which remains the same!

 I used an A5 card, which I covered with a chocolate coloured textured card as the base layer. I used cream card for the next layer and using my faithful Tim Holz paper-piercing ruler made little pin pricks around the edge.

I then took some more of the textured card, cut to size and then cut two triangle shapes either side of the length. Using the same card, I used Butterfly Magic, an expandable die, for the background (the project in the book actually uses Botanical Swirls).

The sentiment, from Creative Expressions 'Antique Dressforms' stamp set was stamped in black on the textured card, using Perfect Medium  and heat embossed with clear powder. I then die cut it with Spellbinders Fancy Tags.

The dress forms are from the same stamp set: I stamped them with a trio of archival inks: a cream, brown and black and once again heat embossed with clear powder and then inked through with Vintage Photo.

To finish I tied a bow with vintage satin ribbon, added a flower stamped on Glassine and one of the buttons I'd made using my melt pot, tied with some bakers twine. I couldn't get a decent photo of the button, but I made it with clear UTEE, mixed with tea-stained Frantage  mica fragments and formed with a mini circular cookie cutter.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, I love to read them all and really appreciate them!

Happy Crafting,
Carole X

Artful Times Challenge: Time - Friday 25th January

Good Morning friends,

I've just been catching up on all your lovely blogs from yesterday..I didn't get online for long as I wasn't feeling too brilliant..nothing contagious! From when I was a child up to about 30, the sports I indulged in were pretty physical - horse-riding and ice hockey. My dad's fault, growing up in Canada riding horses and playing hockey were part of his life and it rubbed off on me! But these sports bring with them the risk of injury and I had a pretty bad fall from a horse, resulting in a  back injury when I was a teenager..undeterred I carried on, but every now and then my back tells me it's had enough and I have to rest...unfortunately sitting at a desk or computer makes it worse..but hey-ho it's been bugging me all week and is much better today, so 'back' to a bit of crafting!

I have made this little ATC for the challenge over at Neet and Von's Challenge Blog  Artful Times...do click on the link for all the details!

This fortnight's challenge is to create an ATC with the theme of 'TIME', it's been so long since I made an ATC and it was fun..this is my project....

I started with black card and stamped the Roman Numerals randomly using Versamark, then I embossed in gold. 

Then I stamped the clock faces, chain  and My Time on separate card and cut out. I secured the clock faces with 3D pads to make them stand out from the card and also added a brad through the centre.I wanted the chain to link the clocks to the quote so a fixed this around the edge with Cosmic Shimmer dries clear...so I started the week with a clock and now I've finished 'on time' as well - how about that?

Materials used:

Roman Numerals Stamp: Indigo Blu
Small Clock Face stamp: DoCrafts Chronology (free with magazine)
Large Clock Face stamp: Teresa Collins
My Time stamp: Paperartsy
Black card, gold embossing powder, versamark ink

Thanks for stopping by!
Carole X

WOYWW 190- Wednesday 23rd January

Good afternoon friends and fellow WOYWWers!

How did I forget it was Wednesday, or I would have saved this morning's post for tomorrow! Anyway, here I am back for another WOYWW week....this is where we show our desks and what's happening on them once a week. You can find out all about this by visiting Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk

So this my desk this afternoon...a mess as usual! One completed project: the Valentine Card. I have  been tweaking this project for next week's workshop, which has the romance theme and it's also going to be a DT card (ssssh); there are also some pieces for another project, which has a time theme and  I am still working on..and that's about it for today apart from lots of ink and stamped images ready and waiting to be used!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll look forward to checking out some more desks this week :)

Carole X

Quackers for you! - Wednesday 23rd January

Good Morning Friends,

One of my lovely blog friends, Anne (Redanne) and I often comment that we have very similar likes in crafting..both fans of Tim Holz, Wendy Vecchi, inspired by the brilliant Hels Sheridan... in fact, it was via Sunday Stampers that we started to follow each other.

I have a long way to go to catch up with Anne's supply of Tim's stamps, but thanks to Anne I decided to participate in 'Tim's Tags' this year and I loved making my first one this month! 

When commenting on my clock on Monday, Anne said that the bunny stamp by Crafty Individuals was on her wish list and so were the ducks...well Anne, I take it you meant these ducks? 

Today's card  is a simple, whimsical little Valentines or Anniversary card - or even a 'Just Because' card made using a 6x6 card blank, covered with paper from stash, which I inked at the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. I then chose another paper from stash, deep yellow with little hearts..it's a NitWit design that was free with a magazine last year some time. I roughed up the edges slightly and again inked with Vintage Photo.

The polka dot paper I used for the next layer, is actually the reverse of the heart paper and the little paper flowers were part of the same giveaway.

The cute ducks and sentiment are from a stamp called 'Favourite Ducks' by Crafty Individuals.

I love the way some of you whom I follow also decorate the inside of your cards, which is lovely. If I do decorate inside, it's usually my smaller cards as I have done with this one.. I used some more of the flowers and a heart, plus the same paper that I had stamped on. The sentiment is a Sam Poole stamp.



Thanks for visiting and happy crafting all of you!

Carole X 

Sunday Stampers Week 241 - Tuesday 22nd January

Good Morning Friends,

Another project rather than a card or tag today...glad you liked my clock yesterday, it's on the wall in my craft room now so I've no excuse for losing track of time! Thank you for your comments, they were very much appreciated...I really do want to get cracking on a 'Wonderland' one now!

Today is a 'double heart' hanging decoration which I made for this week's Sunday Stampers challenge, whilst we were 'snowed in' on Sunday. Sunday Stampers is a weekly challenge from Hels Sheridan and this week the theme is birds, which I have to say, is one of my very favourite subjects for any type of art.

I bought these chip board hearts at the Ally Pally stamp show last September (along with quite a few other shapes) and hadn't touched them, but last week when I primed the clock with Claudine Helmuth Gesso, I decided to prep a couple of other pieces at the same time, these hearts included.

They are individual hearts, which at the end of my stamping, I stuck together with Pinflair glue.

First of all I sanded the edges to give them more of a shabby look and then I stamped the bird (an Indigo Blu stamp) and the quote (a Sam Poole stamp) with stazon ink. I then coated both hearts with a few layers of Ranger Distress Crackle paint, leaving each to dry in between.

Meanwhile I made the leaves and flowers using stamps from the same Indigo Blu stamp set as the bird. I stamped the leaves on some quite heavy kraft card from stash and the flowers on ideology Glassine (another Ally Pally buy). The leaves were then dipped in UTEE, heated in my melt pot and the flowers were coated in glossy accents...I was trying to create different textures as you would find in nature.

I was actually quite pleased with finished project...hope you like it too!

Carole X

What's the time Mr Rabbit? - Monday 21st January

Good Morning Friends!

As promised yesterday, here is my first clock!

It is a very simple design...to be honest I wanted to see how I got on with it, if I enjoyed it..and the answer is that although I'd primed it during the week the entire clock, using the simplest of designs took me a morning and I loved it!

The  MDF clock and mechanism comes ready for you to decorate as you wish - when I first got it I gesso'd it with Claudine Helmuth gesso and once that had dried I gave it a thin layer of white acrylic paint. My final touch after that was to take some blue acrylic, put some on a  dry brush, but then get most of it off straightaway, then swipe it in small strokes randomly over the clock. This barely shows but gives in more of a vintage, worn look.

The numeral stamp set, also with cogs and a rose stamp is made to accompany the clock, but whilst I used the numerals, I chose different stamps for my design.

I stamped the numerals and the little decorative strokes with flitterglu (from Indigo Blu) and then covered with gilding flakes.When I opened my gilding supplies box, I had a very tiny amount of Yorkshire Dales left and some Autumn Blaze, so I mixed the two together. It was a good job I watched Kay from Indigo Blu demoing this from CHA last week, because I had never noticed that on clocks with Roman numerals, the VI is always upside down - I even checked it with a clock we have! So I didn't stamp upside down by mistake, in case you were wondering!

For my design I wanted a quote and I  also just had to use this Crafty Individuals Bunny Stamp that was on my desk for another project. The quote I chose is from a stamp Indigo Blu and I thought it was pretty fitting for a clock, as it refers to not wasting a moment of our time. I used Stazon ink for my stamping.

I am definitely going to make some more of these - this one is going to my craft room wall, but I have ideas for a Steampunk one, an Alice in Wonderland design.....can't wait! What do you think?

Thanks for visiting!
Carole X

Technique revisited - Sunday 20th January

Good morning Friends,

I hope the snow is starting to clear where you are..the only 'plus point' has been that usually on a Saturday we are out somewhere, whether it's local or meeting friends, but this week there really wasn't anywhere to go, so I got to craft whilst Tom quite happily kept the hens company clearing snow in the garden! Bliss - my perfect Saturday!

You may remember me telling you that I could not resist buying one of the new clock kits from Indigo Blu...well it arrived during the week! I  excitedly primed it with Gesso and paint straightaway, then yesterday I set about finishing it ...check out my post tomorrow for the full update and photos...all I can say is, wow was it fun!

Today's card is very similar to one I made for one of our classes last year...

It's made using a Wheatsheaf stamp from Woodware: I stamped the image three times on one piece A5 of linen card and once on a smaller piece of card, using versamark ink. I then inked it all over using Broken China distress ink to create a resist image. 

I covered an A5 card blank with blue card and matted and layered the stamped sheet on top, then I did the same with the smaller rectangle and the sentiment rectangle.The sentiment stamp is a Sam Poole stamp. I finished off with some bakers twine and ribbon.

The reason I am revisiting this card is because Amy and I are going to do a one of workshop for a local craft group this Tuesday and we chose this card from our regular workshops to take along for them to make.

Before I go, a few last snow hen photos...

It was actually Lacey, our Speckledy, who ventured out first, followed by Penny

...then Bella and Cara

They were very pleased when Tom cleared the snow from the lawn for them!

Thanks for stopping and looking, I really do appreciate it! Also thank you to those of you who hopped over to say 'Hi' to my friend Amy, who is now blogging...she's started posting her gorgeous creations now, check out her blog at http://craftylittleideas.blogspot.co.uk

 See you tomorrow with my clock!

Carole X

Snow photos....Saturday 19th January

Good morning blog friends,

So were you all snowed in yesterday? Tom took three hours to get to work using walking, train and bus and then they closed the office in the afternoon, so he made the journey back (which was much quicker) and worked from home anyway!

I did my bit, by clearing a path and feeding the birds lots of extra food, but the hens looked at me as if I was mad when I suggested they leave the relative comfort of their enclosure, especially as I spread straw all over the floor for extra warmth...

Looking over our garden first thing yesterday morning

"Are you mad?" they say when I suggest they might like to free range!

So it's toys inside today..they devoured a lettuce in minutes, ate copious amounts of mealworms and played with their corn filled balls

We have had a garden robin for years, those who have followed me for a while will know we had a pair, a nest and lots of lovely little robins last summer and the parents were very tame. This little one has been with us since August and is always around when I'm in the garden...he is on the verge of eating from my hand..bless! This could well be the basis of this years Christmas cards!

I did manage to get some crafting done between shovelling snow...mostly working on an extra workshop we are doing for a group of local ladies next week and a football themed commission. But I also managed to gesso and paint a few art parts ready to transform, so hopefully I will get one of the finished over the weekend,

Hope you all have super weekends,

Carole X

Vintage Guy card - Friday 18th January

Aaahah.....bet the title of this post had you guessing! However today's card is a guy card, yes, but he doesn't necessarily have to be of a certain age, that just refers to the wine!

Good morning friends and welcome again to my new followers, it's so good to have you along and I really do appreciate you visiting and leaving comments.  I do try and visit all my followers' blogs, but sometimes fitting in work and craft time isn't easy, so please forgive me if I don't get to you occasionally.

Today I am writing this blog at around 5.30am, rather than scheduling it for this time..the dreaded snow has finally arrived in our part of the Country and it's arrived with a vengeance for letting us off fairly lightly the last few years! I really do not like snow, as far as I'm concerned, it belongs on Christmas cards..I won't even put the sentiment "let it Snow' on cards. how mad is that!!!?

Poor Tom has just left for the half hour walk to our local little train station - that's the time it takes on a good day, today he has given himself an hour. He decided to leave the car at home - normally he would have an hours drive to work and it's just not worth the risk this weather; by the time he gets home our street could well be impossible to drive on, that usually happens! The train will take him to Bristol and then hopefully he will connect with a free bus his Employer lays on..fingers crossed! What angers me is that he could so easily work from home by just connecting his laptop to the network, which he does frequently, but they were all told yesterday that they were expected to get to the office. He wasn't complaining, that's just me!!!I'm the lucky one...no work today. 

I've realised that none of our hens have seen snow before, our 'past' girls have treated it in different ways, from wanting to leap about in it, to skirting the lawn altogether, so it will be interesting when I go and let them out this morning. I'll probably let them have a look whilst I clean their coop, but then put them back in the run where it will be nice and dry at least.

Anyway, back to crafting...

 Today I have a card and matching tag. I actually made the wine bottle 'topper' quite some time ago when I was just having a 'play' but hadn't made it into a card, although it has been in my 'to do' box. I used a Sam Poole design stamp (Vintage Label), by Creative Expressions. After stamping the wine bottle with a clear embossing ink (Versamark or Perfect Medium) I covered the card with a metallic bronze mica powder and wiped it all over  with a dry cloth (like one of those dry floor wipes or tumble drier sheets) creating a resist with the bottles and a mottled vintage background. I'd stamped several bottles so I cut one of them out to layer the centre bottle.

To make the card, I covered a 6x6 card blank with some shimmery bronze card I had in my paper stash and matted and layered the stamped image on dark green card, using both green and brown ribbon to trim. The sentiment is from a Creative Expressions stamp set, die cut on a Spellbinders Ribbons Tag Trio die.

I then decided to make a matching tag - I used a manilla label and inked it through with Vintage Photo distress ink, then covered with a piece of hessian.  The script is part of the Vintage Wine stamp set, so I tore it from the page, inked the edges with the distress ink and curled the corners. Then I cut out another wine bottle and placed it over the top.

Well friends,I am off to get some crafting done today, I hope you are all keeping warm and well, especially if you too have snow where you are!

Carole X

Good Morning Friends and welcome to my new follower, thank you so much for joining me in my little piece of crafty land. I hope you like what you see! I like to try different styles and techniques to keep me on my toes!

Today I'm sharing a card style I haven't used in ages, but after finding some old instructions whilst 'attempting' to begin a clear out of the craft room a few weeks ago, I re-discovered my liking for kinetic cards and instead of carrying on with the clearing, proceeded to make one.... and this is the result.

 I think it's called a swinging top pocket..it's a small card with the fold at the base and is sealed each side to form the pocket. The front of the card is cut about 4cms shorter than the back and  second piece of card is attached to the top of the card with a brad, overhanging the 'join' slightly. 

Before doing all this, I covered the entire card (back, front and inside) with papers from my stash...it's a good way of using up small pieces, so in some way I was continuing my clear up!!! The top piece, which is the 'cover' must be covered in the same paper.

Sometimes when I'm in colouring mode, I will stamp and colour some images ready for use and this was the case with the two House Mouse stamps used on this card.They were all ready coloured with Promarkers, waiting to be added to a card!

The front hinged part of the card opens to reveal the pocket and whatever is hiding inside - I have used a tag, but it could be a gift card or ticket.

I hope you are all well and not snowed in...we are supposed to be getting quite a lot tonight and I'm not looking forward to that at all! Friday is a non work day for me, but Tom has a long drive to work, which isn't so good.

Take care all,
Carole Z X

WOYWW 189 - Wednesday 16th January

Hi Friends and fellow WOYWWers!

I'm back for the second time today, to share what's on my desk this Wednesday..well this is what it looked like a matter of minutes ago! This is my second week of joining in with WOYWW, to find out what it's all about, check  Stamping Ground by following this link

Last night (sighs) I had one of those sleepless nights where there we lots of ideas whirring around in my head..my problem is that there is so much I want to do and so little time in a week to do it! You see,  I go to work, but Wednesdays and Fridays are my days at home and goodness do those hours fly by!

I've really had a huge urge to get back into scrapbooking lately, mostly due to us doing some clearing out from our box room over Christmas and looking through rather sadly bulging boxes of old photos waiting to be scanned and scrapbooked. The first thing I did this morning was pick a few photos from years back with the aim of making a few 'all about me' pages, memories from my teenage years. I saw some ideas for this in a recent issue of 'Scrap 365' and it made me think that I need to out some favourite 'me' memories in one place, because I never have! I scanned them, decided on some 12x12 paper to use, printed and mounted them - and that's as far as I got because there were cards I had to make!

So the photos are there on my desk as I am going to have a play when I finish writing this, there is also a guy card and tag I made using an inking and mica technique and a blue card using embossing and distress ink - this is for an extra workshop we are doing for a local craft group next week...so I am now really inky today, just how I like to be!

Thanks for stopping and looking at my desk, I look forward to visiting other WOYWW's this week,
Carole X

Sunday Stamper week 240 - Wednesday 16th January

Good Morning my crafting friends!

Thank you for your visits and comments, all of which are very very much appreciated! My friend Amy (we run the workshops together) has taken the plunge and entered the land of blog! She will be showing all her lovely creations at http://craftylittleideas.blogspot.co.uk , so please if you can, give her a warm welcome!

For me, it's time for this week's creation for Hels Sheridan's weekly Sunday Stamper challenge: I really look forward to this little piece of my crafty week! 

Another Tag this week and this time I have been trying one of the techniques in this month's Sunday Stamper magazine stencils Masterclass. This one is using a mask with texture paste...

I used a floral mask with white card and taped the mask to the card with low tack tape. Then using the texture paste I spread it over the mask making sure all the areas were covered and using it more thickly in some areas to give different  textures. Then I removed the mask (washing it immediately) and sprinkled with Heritage Rose Sparkle embossing powder. This was a late night project that was very much improvised as I went along (which is why I didn't photograph it for a tutorial, but am happy to do so for a future project).

When I started off I had no idea what I was going to make and what colours I was going to use, so I dipped my hand into my embossing powder drawer and picked out one I haven't used in years!

Back to the tag....I then heat embossed the tag.Just like with the Dreamweaver stencils I've been using, the embossing powder will bubble and create a very tactile effect. After I had heat embossed, I coloured the white areas with silver metallic promarker. I could have embossed it on mat silver card, but hadn't decided what I wanted the background colour to be at the start!

I cut rectangles from the embossed card and roughed up the edges a little, then I matted and layered using the same card as the tag and a silky silver card. The  sentiment (which ahem...includes the word DREAM), is from a Creative Expressions stamp set. I stamped it with black archival and embossed with the same powder as the mask, then inked with Dusty Concord, which complemented it quite well. The card I used to back the tag and cut out the heart die is from a Tim Holz paper pad and the dream ticket attached to the heart is an Ideology Adage ticket, all of which have been inked with Fired Brick.

To finish off I  added some ribbon double-sided in dark purple and red, which matches both colours I've used.

Thanks for dropping by and as it's Wednesday, I'll be back later with my WOYWW post, let's see what's lurking on my desk at the end of the day!
Carole X

Vintage Lingerie - Monday 14th January

Good Morning my Friends,

After my little card yesterday and saying that  whilst I prefer little ones, I make mostly large cards because that's what I get commissioned to make, here is a large one!

I know we all missed Sue and Julia doing the Spellbinders shows at the weekend and personally I would include Hels Sheridan, Christine Emerson and Jo Channon in that list, because they really are my big inspiration, but I really really loved the small demo cards from the US Spellbinders team. As some of you know, I have spent a fair bit of time in California, having family all over the State and it was there, many years ago, that I was introduced to the brilliant idea of not just sticking photos in albums! They have never been as much into card making as us, though it is a growing craft, just as scrapbooking is here. I really do adore small cards ..but hey, big cards are still gorgeous and it's what the majority of us British like, so who am I to argue with that?

This card is the first one I have made that is inspired by a project in the Creative Expressions Project book. This for any of you have the book, is my 'take' on the "Love is Blind' card by Julia Watts.

I decided to change the colour scheme completely and go for golds and yellows. I started with an 8x8 blank and matted and layered satin gold card, white card, gold again and some shades of grey patterned card from a Kanban Vintage Tapestry paper pad. I pin pricked around the edge of the white layer.

All the dies used are from Spellbinders: I used the Lacey Ovals die in exactly the way that Julia instructs in the book, a technique which I can't believe I had never used before! It's simply die-cut and then at the embossing stage I added an M-Bossabilities folder, using the sandwich:base plate, 2 sheets of card, tan mat and raspberry embossing plate. The cutting edge must face up and the folder remain open - and it worked a treat! I then left the card in the die and inked with Wild Honey distress ink. 

The corset stamp and sentiment are from Creative Expressions Vintage Lingerie; I stamped them both with clear Perfect Medium and heat embossed the corset in gold and the quote in black. I die cut the quote using Labels Four Small and inked with Wild Honey.

The leaves are cut in gold and white from  Assorted Leaves and Decorative Chateau and the white leaves were inked with Wild Honey.

The roses were made with the Spiral Blossom One die. I used cream card and inked the edges with Fired Brick before making them up. Once I'd made them, I dipped them in my new favourite toy...my Melt Pot! It makes them shine and feel like they are made from some sort of resin, it's hard to believe there is just card underneath and this is so much easier than the old way of heating up UTEE over a flame and coating your makes!

I made these on Friday, whilst having a day of 'playing' for a change..just doing what I wanted in my craft room! I made quite a few flowers (but didn't dip all of them) and then one of my other 'crafting heroines' was on C&C, Ali Reeve...who after her show had me in the kitchen making salt dough! All will be revealed later in the week!

Just to return to CHA, did anyone catch the Indigo Blu show last night? I was hooked on their products since the first time Kay appeared on C&C...that was about 18 months ago and the Company has come so far since then. If you saw it, then you would have seen her make the Cog Clock...not that I haven't already got boxes full of altered art parts to transform - and after promising no more craft stuff for at least a few months - I just had to order it, so watch this space..it will become a priority make when it arrives!

Have a good Monday everyone!

Carole X

Cock-a-doodle-do! - Sunday 13th January

Good Morning Friends!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and haven't been affected by snow (unless you want to be of course! Not me!). 

Did anyone watch C&C from CHA in Anaheim last night? I was sat there beginning to feel excited about our holiday later this year, as Anaheim is one of the places we will be visiting. It's the home of the original Disneyland, but we usually try and catch an ice hockey game as I support their team, The Anaheim Ducks..anyway, I digress! I just watched the Spellbinders shows (couldn't afford anything though!). I really like the way that in the US they make small cards. I love small cards, but especially with my commissions, I feel the pressure to make large cards...well it's not even pressure, they all want large cards and yet smaller cards are so much more personal and can be equally as beautiful, as proved by the members of the Spellbinders DT who demo'd last night, their cards were exquisite.

Today's card is made using another of my Christmas presents..my lovely friend Amy gave me the Heartfelt Creations stamp set I used on Thursday's blog, as well as this gorgeous Cockerel Dreamweaver stencil.

Whilst I had my Dreamweaver box of pastes and powders out last week to work on the Valentine's cards, I took the opportunity to play with my new stencil. I have seen this image used in quite different ways in Dreamweaver galleries, including one very beautiful black and white zentangle design, but I was feeling in a very colourful mood when I did this. On the farm where our ladies (for my new blog friends we have 4 pet hens) come from, there is a little bantam cockerel. He may be small in size but he is huge in colour as he struts about the farm with his little troop of 'wives' following!

I was thinking of him whilst adding various shades of glitter to this image..what fun!

As some of you are new to my little snippet of blogland and others of you like to have occasional updates about our 'girls', I thought I would take this opportunity to let you know what's been going on in their little world...

For my new followers...we have kept hens for 5 years and lost our oldest girl aged 5 last year, so all of these are relatively young....

Cara is 2 years old and the head of the group now and believe me, she has a hard task keep this little group in order! She is a Black Rock who hates being photographed!

Bella is our 10 month old Bluebelle, she's our adventurer..climbs everything and loves to explore

Lacy is so sweet! She is 8 months old and a Speckly..who also loves to climb!

Bella and Lacey are best friends, they are inseparable! Here they are sunning themselves on Boxing Day

And here is our 7 month old Buff Orpington, Penny...she is huge and loves to be cuddled...which is great because I love to cuddle her!

She even got dressed up for Christmas..

...and though it has taken her a while, she finally laid her first egg on Boxing Day!

So that's an update on our little ladies! Thanks for stopping by,

Carole X

Anniversary Card - Saturday 12th January

Good Morning Blog Friends,

Today's card is one that I made when trying to think of Valentine's ideas for our next workshop. We are  probably going to to give our group the choice of sentiment, so for this one I've used anniversary. This is a vintage style card using a Kanban rose stamp and Happy Anniversary Dreamweaver Stencil. I also used paper from a pad by Tilda and some some dusky pink  textured card.

I stamped the image in red and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I then distressed all around the edge with worn lipstick and turned up the corner after matting and layering  on the textured base card. 

For the stencil I scraped with Dreamweaver perlescent embossing paste and after removing the stencil, I sprinkled with red glitter and then left to dry before matting and layer on matching card to create the stopper.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate it!

Carole X

Sunday Stampers week 239 - Friday 11th January

Good Morning Friends and a big welcome to  my new followers! Thank you  some much for joining me!I really do appreciate you being here.

I only work three days a week, but after 2 weeks off for the Christmas Holidays, it seemed a very long week, especially as always seems to happen after Christmas, the boiler in the library packed in and my office has been freezing!!! I think this has happened every year since I worked there, but it was rebuilt in 2009 - you'd think they'd have sorted the boiler wouldn't you?!

Anyway, less moaning, I'm home and warm today and hopefully by Monday it will have been fixed :)

Today's post is a tag, my contribution to this week's Sunday Stampers, which can be found on the brilliant Hels Sheridan's blog, which is - here

This week's theme is anything that flies: I decided on a tag, using some stamps I hadn't used in a while.

I started with a plain manilla tag and inked through a floral mask (that special touch) with Wild Honey Distress ink, then I painted over it with Distress Crackle Paint (just LOVE the texture of this stuff!) and put it aside. I stamped the image and quote (it's all one stamp, a PaperArtsy Mini) with black Archival and then heat embossed with clear powder. I then coloured the wings and flowers lightly with Flex-markers. Then I stamped just the top of the dragonfly again and repeated the process, plus I inked the whole layer with Wild Honey and then painted with crackle paint.

The butterfly, a free stamp from Indigoblu, given with one of last year's Craft Stamper magazines was also given the same treatment and also stamped twice. When the crackle had dried (given a last push with my heat tool) I  cut out both the butterflies and the wings from the second dragonfly.

I wanted to give the whole tag movement, so I layered them and placed some hessian under the image stamp but off the tag to the side. I fixed the image layer quite 'loosely', allowing it to curl at the sides.

Finally I added the double-layered butterfly and the second wings to the dragonfly, plus some lace, which I had distressed with the ink through the top of the tag.

Thanks for looking, I really appreciate it!

Carole X