The Witch is In! - Wednesday 24th September 2014

Good Evening Friends,

ATB Witches' House

Hoping you are all well and still enjoying some sunshine! The kitchen fit is going well at the moment, we've been out during the days and come home to find lots of work completed by the two installers and they have left everything so tidy! So far so good...today we visited Highgrove Gardens again (the home of Prince Charles)...we've done a tour earlier in the year and this is the autumn one and it was again lovely. I'm just sorry that no photos are allowed as there is so much to photograph there! It's a lovely place to visit and only about 20 minutes away from where we live.

Today, I would like to share a witches' house I made from Artist Trading Blocks, using the Eileen Hull scoreboard die from Sissix, this is fun make, that I made to enter in this months Art with Heart challenge with the theme of 'Fall' and I chose Halloween.

First of all I die cut two large blocks and one medium size (there are three sizes on the die) in black heavy card and then I embossed the card using an M-Bossability folder. 

 I adhered one large block to the other and added the smaller block to the side. I then cut the roof from black glitter card. I have another Sissix die that makes a little cottage (it was a Christmas present last year and you will see it in some future Christmas makes), but it was ideal for the little windows and door, which I cut in glitter and then backed with orange card.

I drew and cut out the turret, chimney and the witches shoes and legs myself and used stamps for the bats and cat, which I have listed at the end of the post. The pumpkin buttons were in my stash as was the mdf tree, which I coloured with Promarkers. For the door handle I used a little Halloween brad, also from my stash and I made the broomstick from litre bits of twig and card.

Stamps used: Bats - Hampton Art Halloween stamps (bought in Michaels last year)
                      Owl on turret - Chocolate Baroque
                       Cat - Chocolate Baroque 
                      Spooky Toadstools - Chocolate Baroque
                       mdf tree - Calico Crafts
                      Sentiment - Graphic 45


I would like to enter this project in the September challenge 'Fall back' over at Art with Heart

http://www.eileenhull.com/2014/09/art-with-heart-challenge-september-fall-back.html

It's a bit odd being home on holiday and coming back to the house every afternoon/evening then popping out to a local pub restaurant for something to eat because we can't cook and really aren't keen on take outs...we are both  really looking forward to getting into our new kitchen and cooking! So I haven'y had much time for craft or visiting your blogs...please bear with me, I will catch up with you all! I just grabbed a few minutes to get this blog finished tonight.

I'm having a crafty treat tomorrow because we missed Ally Pally, we are popping down to Exeter and the craft show there - never been before and it's not that far!

Bye for now,

Love and Hugs

Carole X

CAS card - Monday 22nd September 2014

Morning Friends!

I think I misled some of you yesterday! We are on holiday from work, but we're not 'away'...we're just doing 'day things', like walks at the arboretum, Highgrove gardens again, Bath..places we enjoy and then come home in the evening to check all is progressing well with the kitchen...no we haven't gone off and left them to it!

From yesterday's post, which was a true labour love, to a CAS card I  made for my friend's daughters birthday recently...

This is simply a kraft card, layered with white card and decorated with bunting and buttons and a stamped sentiment!

I've also been promising some garden photos I took recently...the rose is my pride and joy, a Gertrude Jeykell, the perfume is amazing!

 Our grape vine had produced so much fruit again this year, I have some more photos by am still to upload them.

 We had lots of gorgeous sunflowers, this is about the last one standing!

Have a good day all and thanks for dropping by!

Love and Hugs
Carole X

Prim Folkart Crow - Sunday 21st September 2014

Good Morning Friends,

Well tomorrow is the day that the kitchen installation begins, we'll make sure the installers arrive ok and then be off, just for the day to enjoy our holiday!

My post this week goes back to the Prim Folkart creations that I mentioned I was working on in my Creative Blog hop post last week. There are two pieces, but they go together, so I wanted to show them  as one.

I know that Primitive Folkart is a bit of a' like it or loathe it type of craft'...and this piece is something very different to what I usually post here!

I first fell for it as a teenager,I really love its honesty and naivety,  but it's not so popular here in the UK, so I don't do too much of it,( or at least I don't post it on here) but for me, Autumn and Christmas are seasons where this type of art form really comes into its own and I wanted to show you what I have created this time.

The Tryptych

First of all the Tryptych, which I painted freehand. I sketched and painted the elongated pumpkin, star and crow. Crows are synonymous with folk art, they are viewed as a spirit animal/guide, with links to luck,  magic, change and also being a trickster...so pretty powerful!

I started with a plain wooden triptych, which I painted in a brown colour chalk paint and then white. I used Annie Sloan paint, because I love it! I then sanded the edges to give it a distressed finish. I drew the star, crow and pumpkin, which I painted with acrylics. When It had dried, I sanded over the pumpkin again. Then I gave the whole piece a coat of Mod Podge gloss to seal.

The sunflowers

I made the sunflowers like this: I used some calico and cut three circles, one of them smaller for the centre. I snipped around the edge of the two larger circles to make the petals, which I painted with yellow acrylic. 

I sewed around the edge of the smaller circle and pulled the thread to draw it in, then stuffed it with some toy stuffing before securing it and adhering it to the rest of the sunflower. Then I painted the centre with Burnt Ember acrylic, leaving some patches for a more rustic look.

Coffee Stain

Before starting the sunflowers I had made a little cup of very strong instant coffee - I used this to paint over the entire sunflower to give it an aged stain. I also painted the leaves on the sunflower with coffee stain.

To finish the sunflowers I added some rusty wire for the stems and made little labels, on which I wrote the words 'Fall' and 'blessings'. I painted these with the coffee too and inked the edges with vintage photo distress ink.

  Now for the crow....

I made the crow from a pattern I've had for quite a while and used in projects before. It's by a Prim designer called Sagebrush and Sassafras  and  is made from calico and once I had sewn it up, I painted it with black acrylic. The wings are pockets, which the flowers are tucked inside.

When the paint was dry, I gave the crow a coat of coffee stain and then brushed the wings and around the eye with  cinnamon. This gives the piece a 'dusty finish...and it smells good!

The flowers are also made from calico and painted with orange acrylic. I also sewed rusty bells to them and the fixed them to the stick to tuck in the pocket. I tied checked ribbon around the crows neck to finish.

I made the sunflower in the same way as the little flowers in the triptych   but a  much larger version and I wrapped a stick with calico, which I painted with ember  paint to make the stem.

The pot is actually mdf - I painted it with acrylic paint, sanded it  and sealed it with Mod Podge, I used outdoor, just in case I ever wanted to use it for an outdoor decoration. I filled the pot with an oasis and twiggy bits before adding the crow and the sunflower. I had a  little sunflower left over from the triptych, so I also added that.

Finally, I made a label and sewed around the edges,. I gave it a coat of coffee stain before inking over the tag and roughing up the edges  to complete the ageing process I  then tied it to the stem with ribbon and added a strip of burlap for decoration.

 Flowers above are attached to a stick and inserted into the wing pocket

  Well I hope you find my delve into Prim Folkart, even if it's not to your taste...it took quite a while to finish but I was happy with the end result,  By the way these pictures were taken in amongst our grapevines, which are looking great at the moment....I'll post some photos later in the week.


I would like to enter this mixed media piece into two challenges:

The brand new challenge at The Mirror Crack'd - theme 'Anything Goes'

and  the September  e-play challenge at Eclectic Paperie - Fall 


Thank you so much for stopping by, I will be back in a day or so with a fun Halloween piece I have made using Artist Trading Blocks


Love and Hugs
Carole X

Jar of Hearts- Friday 19th September 2014

Good morning Friends!

Today is important for three reasons...it's our wedding anniversary..the first day of our two week holiday...and the kitchen is being delivered today, ready to start with the installation on Monday...goodness all this excitement!

Did any of you get lightening where you live last night? It started here at about 7.30pm and was still going way into the night...and did it ever rain!!!

I thought I'd share my anniversary gift to Tom this year...we don't give gifts as such, but this was long overdue! I didn't make a card either, I made this little 'Jar of Hearts' instead. It's made from a cute little jar die by Eileen Hull for Sissix and it comes with the sweet spoon.

I made the jar using kraft card and covered the back with heart paper from stash..then I covered the front with acetate (nice stiff spellbinder packaging) and also made a 'cover' from acetate so that all the hearts I spent ages punching,  wouldn't spill out!

The spoon is part of the die and I embossed the handles with an embossability folder to give them some definition.

The little 'gift' I made was to buy a plain wooden frame and  alter it with gilding flakes. I wanted to frame this photo...this time last year we were in California. We had left my aunt and cousins in San Francisco and were travelling down the coast to my next cousin in Ventura, before  finishing our family visits in San Diego.

This time we took our time in Central California, we have done the Napa Valley a few times and wanted to linger in the central California wine country inside..just like the cult movie 'Sideways' if you've ever seen it. Whilst we had travelled through here many times, we'd never really stopped and taken it in and I have to say that I'm sorry we left it so long, because we fell in love with it, especially a little town called Los Alamos..but I digress...

One hotel in a town called San Luis Obispo, where we had stayed before is called The Madonna Inn. It is a flamboyant hotel, lots of 'pink' and every room is themed. Although we have stopped over night there a few times (one night is all we can usually afford!),  about twenty years ago we stayed there the first time and it was our wedding anniversary. At the time we had a waitress take the photo shown at the bottom of this post and this time we wanted to replicate this moment in time, so at our anniversary meal we got the waiter to take another. 

I notice the first time they put a candle in the cake (lol) and we should have thought to take the first photo with us and asked for the same table (yes I took photos and even the picture is still there).

If you are ever in the area between Big sur and Santa Barbara and want a bit of luxury, combined with fun, I do urge you to check it out...even if you just stop to look around as we always do if we are in the area when we are there...here you can swim, ride horses, go on hikes, play golf, have a spa and relax in the gardens...if you have the money for some of it...we relaxed by the pool and went for walks and that was plenty.

So, for the past year I have been meaning to frame this photo, but the frame needed to be something gilded to match the first one...

Now off to await the arrival of the kitchen!

Have a good day everyone,

Love and Hugs
Carole X

Foxy Fun - Tuesday 16th September 2014

Hello Friends,


A very quick post for me today, just squeezed in between getting home from work and starting to prepare the evening meal!

This card was made using Mr Fox, from Sam Poole's Woodland Creatures stamps and I was inspired for the design, by one of Sam's own cards.

I embossed the background with a leaf mask and inked it all over with Bundled Sage distress ink. I then inked through a trees mask on a separate piece of card, coloured it using  Antique Photo distress ink and cut the trees out. I then stuck them to the embossed card and added some Spellbinders leaves. 

Mr Fox is coloured with Promarkers and the little owl stamp is from a set of stamps I have had a very long time! To finish I added the sentiment from the Mr Fox set, some ribbon and candi.

I must be off now, catch you all tomorrow and thank you so much for stopping by!

Love and hugs,

Carole X

Out of the Blue Craft Group - Saturday 13th September

Good Morning Friends,

I don't think that I have been so 'sporadic' in blogging since I started three years ago...this time last year we were waking up in San Francisco, looking forward to almost three weeks of R&R, catching up with all my relatives and enjoying the the Californian sunshine as we drove down the coast to San Diego..and I still managed a blog post nearly every day! I'm glad I did too, because those posts are a photo diary of where we were for when I have the time to scrapbook the trip! (two pages so far!)

In truth, work has been exceptionally busy of late...a few events within a few weeks, more time going back and forth to catch up with my volunteers and more craft time out in the summerhouse painting lots of wooden and mdf shapes for autumn and Christmas projects. 

Tom poked his head in there the other day and I could tell by the pitch of his voice he was beginning to think I'd finally lost my marbles...lanterns, trees, bird houses, sleighs.."exactly what are you going to do with all this?" he asked tentatively. Well, some are for personal home decor decorations, some for presents and if the craft fair planned for the library does get underway, then I will try and sell some. When I cut down my hours at work earlier this year, it was with the intention of setting up a Facebook page and selling cards and craft from there...if that worked I would invoke a Folksy shop that has been dormant for a long time! However I still can't make enough items  to do any of this yet...I have to face up to the fact that I'm a slow crafter! I'm not even a perfectionist - I rarely measure, preferring the  'by eye' method. I really take my hat off to those of you who are able to blog every day!

Hopefully I will get back on track now, I really have to make headway with the Christmas cards..then of course the kitchen arrives at the end of the week promising 2 weeks of upheaval :)

Anyway, less of my excuses and on to photos from this week's craft group..the photos have successfully made it to the blog this week with no wedding photographer to hijack my SD card!

Once again they all made fab cards and here they are...a special welcome this week to two newcomers who really loved it and have booked again, Gill and her young niece Kirsty..it's great to have you along!

 The last card is Kirsty's card, she hadn't really done much crafting, but her aunt had, so between us we were there to help, not that she needed too much, what a lovely card she made!

Sorry they are a bit 'yellow'  - it's the lighting in the room and I only have a few minutes at the end to take them...this is the best I can photoshop them!

As always in preparation for classes I make quite a few cards using  the stamps or related stamps to show at class, so I have quite a few of Sam's Woodland Animal stamps on cards waiting to be blogged. The main reason I was so chuffed to be selected for Sam's DT this year was because I love using her stamps/designs, so even though the DT is on hold for her maternity leave, cards will keep coming! 

As a "one off' class and as part of the South Gloucestershire Council 'Discover' month, which encourages people to try something new, Amy and I are doing a one off class in Yate Library in October and for that session we'll be using one of my Dasher Deer designs...he really is my favourite deer stamp right now!

I will be catching up with you later today, have a great weekend and let's hope the sun keeps shining!

One of the added attractions of working outside: the chooks come and keep me company, often even sitting inside the door, but usually on the verandah ...bless :)

Love and Hugs

Carole X

The Creative Blog Hop - Monday September 8th 2014

Good Morning Friends,

A few weeks ago, my blog friend Claire, tagged me to write a post for the Creative Blog Hop...now I hadn't really heard of it, except that I am sure some of you have been tagged in the past. It would have been easy to say "sorry, but I really am too busy"... but this was Claire asking and we have become such good friends since connecting via WOYWW at the start of the year. We immediately loved each others work, we have swapped cards, tips and stash via snail mail and have found out via email that we are quite alike...in fact, had Claire not moved from the UK to the USA last year, I am sure we would have met up by now. I do urge you to hop over and have a look at Claire's blog -http://hamnmuledesigns.blogspot.co.uk

Now the idea of the Creative Blog Hop is that Claire introduces me on her blog, which she did last Monday and then today I introduce one or two others and this is where it has all gone wrong!

You know how busy I've been? I've hardly had time to craft, let alone blog! I follow all of you because I admire your work - you are all different, which reflects my eclectic craft tastes and to actually pick any of you that I have been blog friends with for a long while was impossible, so I chose three people that I have only connected with this year and who have different styles, blog regularly and aren't already followed by many of my long time friends.

Almost as soon as I said yes to Claire, I was asked my three others (they say good things come in threes don't they?), so I had to say no and hope they understood. One of them was one of the people I was going to tag myself! Of the other two, although one really wanted to, a family emergency forced her to pull out and the other was unable to do it. I had no time for a Plan B, so I'm afraid I'm breaking the chain (although I am sure many other bloggers are doing the same thing today!), but at the end of this post I am going to recommend three bloggers, that aren't already followed by many of you and urge you to have a look..that's the least I can do!

The other part of this blog hop is that I am interviewed and here is my interview:

What am I working on now?

Well, I am rarely working on one thing! I have quite a few interests in crafting and whilst I usually have cards on the go, I also love altered and mixed media art. 

At the moment I have two projects for Autumn on the go...one for Halloween, which is a lantern and crow and also a Primitive Folk Art Tryptch. I love this type of art and have done ever since I was a teenager and discovered it whilst spending some time with my aunt in San Francisco.There was an exhibition at a museum that I must have visited every time I took the bus into the City for the month it was there!

 I love the crows and their message of change and rebirth, the all knowing crow! I'm not giving too much away at the moment...these flowers are for my crow, which I am quite nervous about eventually blogging  as a lot of my blog friends will really not like it, this art can be a bit of an acquired taste!

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

That's a very difficult question and I have to be honest, not something I've thought much about! I don't think I have a specific style really. I like so many different styles and try to incorporate lots of different elements in my own work. I take inspiration from all of the blogs I visit and love to learn new tips from them..I love stamping, using dies, painting, sewing...I just like to have a variety of crafts on the go! Too many I suspect!

my crow at an early stage in its creation

Why do I create what I do?

Just because I love doing it! I always have...Dad was a sign writer by profession, but he went to art school when he was a young man living in Canada and drew cartoons for local papers, whilst trying to sell his art. I never really inherited the ability to draw from imagination, though I can copy photos and illustrations and I did win a Magpie Badge (if you remember that TV Show!) for a painting of a horse :)  so using rubber stamps was the next best thing for me and discovering them (when they were still all on wooden blocks) was just brilliant and I never looked back!

How does my creative process work?

Another difficult question - when I am having to make a card for a commission or design something for my group to make at our craft class, there is usually a starting point, which can be simply a theme or a particular stamp that has to be used. I find the creative process easier if there is a starting point, otherwise I take inspiration from looking at blogs and my guilty pleasure, which is Pinterest!

A glimpse of the Tryptych

That's my little interview, but before I go, I would like to introduce you to a few other bloggers that you may like to visit:

Patti and I also discovered each other via WOYWW and we have also swapped cards via snail mail: I love her CAS cards,  do visit and have a look back over her posts!

http://stationerystyles.blogspot.co.uk

I met Jackie when we both joined Sam Poole's design team at the same time and immediately connected on Facebook (something else I have so little time for at the moment!)...please pop over and look at Jackie's posts - I know you will love her style!

http://tinyrosecr.blogspot.co.uk

Finally, I connected recently with Angela, again via WOYWW..if you love altered and mixed media art, you really should check out Angela's blog...I have certainly been inspired by her.

http://angelacuttingandcarving.blogspot.co.uk

Last, but by no means least, I would like to welcome my newest follower Mouseyjo...thank you so much for choosing to follow me Jo and please let me know your blog address if you have one!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Love and Hugs

Carole X

The Adventurers of Larry Lumix...Saturday 6th September 2014

Afternoon  Friends!

Please bear with me on this 'wordy' post and read on....

So you are wondering about Larry Lumix aren't you??? Please bear with me again, I'm a very tired girl today from the culmination of a particularly busy week and a day out at a wedding, where the sun shone and it felt hotter than ever!

Larry is my Lumix Panasonic camera and yes,  I just made up the name, I didn't christen him 7 years ago when I got him (him sounds better than it)...but the poor thing has had such an eventful week that I thought he deserved a name and for me to spill his story in blogland!

Flashback to Monday...my big event at work and he came with me, but you know what it's like if you've ever had to organise anything..you are being asked questions from all sides and giving direction -  that all else gets forgotten. One of my volunteers took a photo with it for me and then (so I'd thought) I put it back in my rucksack in the library kitchenette. Then one of our other volunteers, Julia, a keen photographer,  arrived with her Canon EOS DSLR and thankfully became photographer for the day.

I didn't look in my bag until Wednesday when I wanted to photograph some cards..camera not in bag..big panic...my lovely blog pal Claire (you'll read more about Claire here on Monday) will verify this, as she consoled me via email all the way from New York, when I was so upset to think Larry might be gone forever.

You see Larry isn't just any camera...he was the last birthday present my Mum bought me before she passed away 7 years ago. I have always loved taking photos..when I worked for BT many years ago, I  took a year's course at evening class for City & Guilds (expect that no longer exists!); I took baby and child photos for my colleagues in my own little studio and actually did 4 friends weddings. That was in the days before digital, everything was on film and it was the scariest thing to do ever! The couples were thrilled with all the photos, but after four weddings the stress levels were way too high, so I said "no more!" in a very loud voice  and went back to concentrating on other craft. My Nikon SLR had been playing up for a while and they told me that the cost of repair would be more than a new camera, so it's in it's bag (probably an antique soon) and as the digital age was looming, I got one of the first digital compacts and forgot everything I learned.

Move on a few years and a few compacts later and Mum wanted to buy me a DSLR, but they were so very expensive and I didn't think that the time I spent taking photos 7 years ago (even now) warranted the expense, so I went for what was at the time, a top of the range compact. It was very expensive at the time and  one that looks and feels like an SLR but isn't. I spent over an hour in the camera shop choosing it, I remember that time to this day. In the end it was the Leica lens that sold it to me, they have always been and still are the best.

Back to Thursday - I got into work SO early: racking my brains, I knew I couldn't  have lost it or it (yes I know I've reverted to 'it') had been stolen -  leaving to options, someone found it and handed it in or it got put on the shelf in the kitchenette and locked away. Neil, the librarian checked lost property - nothing, so we unlocked the kitchenette and there was Larry, looking very forlorn in the corner...but I have never breathed such a big sigh of relief or hugged a camera before. I emailed Claire with the good news.

Thursday evening as always Larry came to craft class...I took photos of all the cards and some of the finished ones from last time...they were all fabulous(the cards)...please take my word for that and read on a little longer...

Friday...day of wedding....I usually would have uploaded the card photos to my iMac in the morning, but didn't have time as we had things to do before heading off for the afternoon wedding, about an hour from home.

We arrived at the hotel where the wedding was being held, Marco, the groom and some other family members were already there and outside talking. We went over to them and a few minutes later the photographer, who was a friend of theirs and does exactly what I used to do when I worked at BT: take photographs in his spare time(but more serious about it) came over and asked to speak to Marco. Next came a plea from the groom "Has anyone got a digital camera?"

No responses from anyone, so I said that I did. Apparently the lens on the guy's Canon EOS was producing error messages. He had a spare lens but only a long lens, too long. When I showed him Larry, his eyes lit up and the fact that it had a Leica lens made him very happy...please can I borrow it? Of course, I wasn't going to see Jo and Marco with no photos was I? The SD cards weren't interchangeable, so he had to use my card and forgetting I had photos from the previous night on it, that I hadn't uploaded, I wiped them to give him a clean SD...oh Sugar!!!!

A quick lesson on it's most basic programme and he was away...I hope he got some good shots - I have never been thanked by so many people in one day..aah bless!

So I was left with my iPhone - now I've always been an Apple Mac gal through and through, but the iPhone does have a rubbish camera, which I go out of my way not to bother with, but at least I had it and could get a few photos yesterday.

Friends and Family

Tom smiling for the camera

Bride and Groom

In the end, the battery (for once fully charged) lasted out and the day was saved...and this is why, for any of our craft group who look on here to see their cards..that they won't be here this time..a thousand apologies, but in a good cause.

Finally, one crafty item...look at some of the gems I collected from tables, with the help of Tom and our friend Sharon...:)

As for Larry, well he's having a well earned rest in the relative safety of the craft room....this camera has been to the USA three times and Italy at least four, without incident..even when I decide to retire him (or I'm forced to), I will always keep him...but I think after this week, I will be giving even more tlc to Larry.

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

PS I started writing this at 9am, but Tom dragged me away from what he could see would be 'War and Peace" to go to the local equestrian country store that had a 50% sale..as if I needed much persuading - don't panic I didn't buy a horse, the jackets I was after were sold out unless you were  a size 8 and all I came back with were some gloves for when I clean the hens and a fun thing for them...am just going to try it out!

Owl Hidden Message Slider - Friday 5th September

Hello Friends!

Well what a couple of weeks this has been....this week especially! I have been catching up with your blogs again and it's really hard when you miss a few days isn't it? Our volunteer event on Monday was pretty good, people came along and had a go at micro volunteering (volunteering in the smallest amounts of time, mainly online); a few colleagues from the local Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Support came along and got people liking them on Facebook and twitter, it was all good fun. We have also been holding a card making drive and supporting Age UK's Big Knit, but I want to have some photos before I tell you all about that. One of our volunteers took  some, but I haven't seen them as yet.

Then yesterday we did a coffee morning with Action for Children, which is trying to recruit more Fostercarers. I was there to offer volunteering advice if anyone wanted it. That was less successful, but I did meet two young women that through conversation over our coffees, discovered that the three of us had something in common...we love up cycling - they had just tackled their first pieces of old furniture (as have I with that desk) and we are all massive fans of Annie Sloan chalk paint...I thought that for three of us to discover this in the space a few hours was quite incredible! The other really nice thing that came out of the morning was that a lady, who is a Foster Carer also turned up and we used to work together, for the Volunteer Centre and hadn't seen each other in ages! So we could have a good catch up.

The downside from being out of the office so much this week is that I have all my paper work to catch up on...I will be in a bit more often over the next few weeks before my 2 weeks off, as I need to catch up with my volunteers.

Last night we had the first of our September Out of the Blue workshops and this is the card that my group made...sorry about the photos, I temporarily mislaid my camera this week (a whole other story) and took them with my phone, which never seems quite the same to me...

 The theme was a guy card, but I thought it would have to be something quite neutral and who doesn't like an owl? I used Mr Owl from Sam Poole's Woodland Creatures stamp sets and coloured him with Promarkers. The tree trunk is also one of Sam's Stamps, as is the leaf 'button', which  I heat embossed with metallic bronze embossing powder.

The backing paper is from Pink Petticoat and I also embossed the cream backing card with a leaf mask by Stamps Away. The leaves are all Spellbinders dies.

The card is a hidden reveal slider card: I made the aperture using a circle die cut twice and then snipped across the centre to form the window. Your could also use circle punches, but the die was easier. The slider is fixed between 2 strips of foam pad, enabling it to move in and out.

I stamped 'Have a Hoot of a Day' on the inside and Happy Birthday outside. When we made this last night, one of my group asked if I am left -handed - I'm not - but I had automatically made this card left-handed! I think I know why... when I am trying to think up cards to make for class, I search Pinterest for ideas if I am stuck. I only had a few days to come up with this week's card, so Pinterest was very helpful and gave me the idea for a slider, but the tutorials I looked at all had the cards going this way, hence I thought nothing of it! 

I did take photos of all the finished cards last night, but haven't had a chance to look at them yet, so they will be here over the weekend...today we are off to a wedding. It's the couple I made the Pop Up Box card for the other day - they have already had it and really really loved it, so I was pleased about that! Thanks for stopping by...

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

Altered Pencil Pot - Monday 1st September 2014

Hello Friends,

Hoping you all had a lovely weekend and the sun shone wherever you are! Tom and I had a busy one, especially Saturday as we had to finalise and pay for the new kitchen and order the floor tiles...only a few more weeks and mayhem will commence!

However, yesterday most of what we had to do was in the house or garden, so we could enjoy the weather and more importantly, so could the hens :)

Before I start on my project, I would like to welcome my two latest followers Jackie and Angela...thank you so much for following both of you!

This is another scheduled post, as I have to be off early to work this (Monday) morning: it's the day of our big volunteering event and it will be a long day...I just hope people come along and decide to volunteer!

Today I'm not sharing a card, but an altered tin can...yes this little pen pot started out as a tin of tomatoes....

 First of all I gave the can a coat of white acrylic paint all over, including the base. Then I covered it with some material left over from another project I'm working on(to be shared at a much later date)- it is actually Tim Holz Eclectic elements fabric; I only had a little left and could have used it on a card, but I thought that at least this way I can still see it all the time! it covered about half the pot so I used burlap over the top, which I frayed at the edges. Although I didn't photograph it, I also covered the inside with burlap, just to hide all traces of it's former identity!

I had the wooden heart in my stash, I have no idea where it's from, but I thought it ideal to use here. I just added a but, tied with waxed jute.

The most time consuming aspect of this project was making the roses: I cut strips of calico and rolled them, nine altogether.

I think I am up to date with all your blogs...I have no idea where the last two weeks went! We have had the craft workshops almost back to back over the past few weeks and the same with September, this week and next. It's just the way it worked out with holidays. This week the group is going to by making a 'guy' card and I wanted to have them make something quite general, as not all men like cars, beer and sport. I've used one of the woodland creature stamps by Sam Poole and will share the card later this week. It will be a lot easier this time, both Amy and I found that the Pop Up Box card, 'defeated' everyone  in both classes, because of the time available.

Actually, not everyone - I tried to make my card a bit easier this week by doing a lot of the stamping and whilst it still didn't make much difference, one young lady finished - and- it was her first time coming and she was fairly new to craft. I cannot express how 'chuffed' she was to have finished and on top of that, her card is beautiful...here it is... together with a few glimpses of the group at work.

That's all for today, have a good one and thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment, I really appreciate them.

Love and Hugs,
Carole X