Loving CAS! - Friday 30th January 2015

Good Afternoon Friends,

I really appreciate every one of you - my dear blog friends;  some of you I have more personal contact with than others, but I love visiting your blogs, sharing with your personal and crafty lives and soaking up the inspiration I gain from each of you.

Today I am welcoming my 90th follower Karen Hasheck - thank you so much for deciding to join my list of blog friends! Karen has her own delightful blog: http://karenskreativekards.blogspot.co.uk

A couple of weeks ago, you know when the volunteering database that shall not be named, was really getting to me, I had such a lovely surprise when I got home from work one day! I received this gorgeous card from my lovely blog friend, Claire.... http://hamnmuledesigns.blogspot.co.uk

along with this fab gift of stamps....

So on my day off I had a play with them and here are some CAS cards I created:

Claire and I have been blog friends for about a year now and we hit it off straightaway..Claire is across the Pond, but we've swapped crafty stuff and tips and had a lot of fun...so thank you so much Claire, I love these stamps!

That's all for today friends, I haven't forgotten to show you the crafty calendar gift I received from another of you last year...just got a bit of a delay on that one, keep watching!

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

In Sympathy - Wednesday 28th January 2015

Good Morning Friends,

I hope you are all keeping warm! We have some English friends who emigrated to the Boston area about 15 years ago and they have been posting photos of the snow on Facebook...oh my goodness! We have visited them and they live in a beautiful area right out in the country with woodland at the back of their house, so no doubt it looks pretty! They weren't even allowed to leave their homes yesterday..not that they'd have wanted to! I think it was too deep even for the kids to have some fun!

Today I have one of those cards that, well I guess we wish we didn't have to make, but we sometimes have to...a Sympathy card. However, when we do have to make one, we want to do the best we can.

I don't go into the craft room much on a weekend as a rule, but after our friends had left last weekend I had to go and make a card for the husband of one of one of my cousins who sadly passed away last Friday. They live quite a distance from us in Cheshire, so we only really saw them most recently at family gatherings and he had been very poorly for many years, so although so sad for everyone it was a peaceful release for him. 

This is the card I made:

 The card is 7x7: I embossed the background with a leaf M-Bossability folder and mat and layered on to a soft mauve base card, after tying the dark purple ribbon around it.

I stamped the fir trees on to white card; the stamp is by Lavinia. I then created the background by smooching a mixture of distress, memento and adirondack inks to create the sky around a die cut circle for the moon. I used a mask cut from plain copy paper for the horizon. They live in the countryside, so I think the image suited.

The sentiment is my own, typed and die cut using Spellbinders Labels Four Small

Today I am going to have a play with some new stamps....

Love and Hugs 
Carole X

Valentine re-visit..Monday 26th January 2015

Good afternoon Friends,

TBT - January: Valentines

Good afternoon Friends,

I hope you all had a good weekend! We had some friends with us, which was lovely and why I have just done a bit of a hop catching up with you all since Friday!

Today I am sharing a creation I posted almost a year ago and I would like this to be my Throwback Thursday (TBT) Challenge entry for this month.

TBT is a monthly challenge hosted by the lovely and oh so talented Bibiana. Entries must be a project that we have already posted, but revisited in a new post and this month the theme is Valentines.

This plaque was originally part of a set I created as a design team post for Nicecrane Designs in February 2014 and I am also sharing the card on this post....

 For the wall hanging, I painted a wooden base  and a wooden heart with Indigo Blu English Cottage Pink Iced Gem Acrylic, and tore off part of the image, plus papers from a Fairy Belle Collection paper pad, which was free with a magazine. I adhered the papers to the wood with Indigo Blu's "Slap it on'. I treated the wooden heart in the same way, making a collage of torn pieces from the same paper pad and the sentiment from the main Nicecrane image.

To finish I added some crackle glitter glaze by Mod Podge to the heart and some vintage pink ribbon The roses were made from Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms.

To make the card I printed the image on to linen textured paper, which  gave a slight water colour effect. Next I die cut it using Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles and used this as the actual card. 

The edges were inked with Tattered Rose, as were the petals of the roses, which are from the Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms set and were die cut using the same paper.

That's all for today, work tomorrow so will be back in a few days time!

Love and Hugs,
Carole

I would like to enter this project in TBT Challenge #5  Valentines

http://stampingwithbibiana.blogspot.co.uk

ATB Pincushion - Friday 23rd January 2015

Good morning friends,

Hope you are all well and keeping warm! I would like to welcome my latest follower, Scrapping for Fun Challenges...thank you for joining me!

My project today was made for this month's Art with Heart Challenge from Eileen Hull. I have to say I am totally blown away by Eileen's new release dies and they are definitely on my wish list. I am always truly inspired by all the DT projects to make something.

This month's challenge is Fresh Ideas, so I thought long and hard...I think the scope is quite wide, so I thought about an idea that is new to me and decided to create something  for my sewing desk.

I decided to create an ATB Pincushion...

 I used my Sizzix Scoreboard XL die to cut the largest block/box once and the medium sized one once, using heavy black cardstock.

Next I chose my paper - this is from the Tilda 'Corner Shop' pad and cut a square for each side, using a corner punch to soften the corners and before adhering them to the sides I inked the edges with Dusty Concord distress ink.

I also decorated the top edge of the inner box with lace.

Next I made a quarter size box for the side, just big enough to hold a tiny handbag size tape measure. I tied a ribbon around it before attaching it to the main box.

To decorate I used a wooden dress form, which I coloured with just a hint of Dusty Concord and sealed with Mod Podge. I then die cut three roses using plum wool felt.

I also used: Sizzix Sewing Machine and Bobbins die: I just used the bobbins and wound cotton around them before adhering them to the box lid.

Tim Holz Sizzix Letters die: SEW

To make the pin cushion, I simply took a small piece of Tilda fabric, cut a circle, sewed around the edge and gathered it after putting some toy stuffing inside.

To finish off, I glued four large glass beads to the base of the box.

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, I love to read them!

I would like to enter this into the following challenge:

Art With Heart January Challenge: Fresh ideas
http://www.eileenhull.com/2015/01/art-with-heart-challenge-january-fresh-ideas.html#comment-33655

Love and Hugs,
Carole X 

Polar Explorer - Tuesday 20th January 2015

Good Evening Friends,

Hoping you are all well and not feeling too cold! Thank you SO much for all your lovely comments about my clock! I have to say I really enjoyed making it and in small snippets of time when I had the chance and yes, I was very pleased with it and smile to myself whenever I walk past it on the window sill because it makes me remember a very happy childhood.

I don't generally get much time to craft on a weekend, but I did grab a couple of hours on Sunday - and I kept a promise I'd made to myself to carry on making Christmas cards! Gosh, isn't it just so much more pleasant when you aren't on a timescale to get them made? I hardly used any of my stamps or dies last Christmas and now I can use them all at my leisure. I got so into it, I made three!

So today, I am sharing this one:

For this one I cut 'hills' from pieces of copy paper to use as masks for the snow and I sponged ink across the layers to give the effect of the snow lying in folds into the distance. I used Dusty Concord distress ink and Manganese Blue Archival. I used a shimmery card, which has a nice smooth surface for the ink.

The Polar Bear is a stamp by Athena Crafts: I stamped him on to the card to place him, but then stamped him again on a spare piece of the shimmer card, heat embossed with clear powder and cut him out, adhering him with a 3D foam pad.

The 'North Pole' sign is part of a set by Marianne. I stamped and heat embossed then cut it out, slightly trimming off the bottom to look like it's in the snow.

I wanted it to look like the bear is on a journey, off to find the North Pole!

This is a tent fold card, with a snowy acetate front and concertina base. You can't see it very well in the photo, but I embossed the top and bottom panels with a snowy folder by Sheena. I then used the "Merry Christmas' die by Memory Box and the 'Frostyville' border die, also from Memory Box, on the sides.

To finish I just added a few gems and ribbon

I would like to enter this card is the following challenges:

Christmas Cards all Year Round -http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk
January Challenge: Anything Goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Many thanks for stopping by, as always, I much appreciate it!

Love and Hugs
Carole X

My First Altered Assemblage Clock - Friday 16th January 2015

Hello Friends,

This is a first for me..my FIRST Assemblage Clock! In case you have no idea what I mean, these are a plain shell of an alarm clock, brought to us my Tim Holz to do with as we please! So I took this metal shell out of its box, all new and shiny, just asking to be loved and a few current challenges prompted me to go for it and create!! It took about 2 weeks, in the little snippets of relaxation time I've had lately....

One of the Challenges I wish to enter is Vintage Journey, my first time..feeling energised to enter after having Tim's 'Compendium III' for Christmas.The current theme is to use a portrait and I chose this old photo of me with Mum and Dad.

First of all, I took the clock apart and painted it with gesso, which is recommended as it is made of metal and this gives it 'grab'. I then decided to use an acrylic chalk  Fresco paint by PaperArtsy, in Mermaid, a lovely aqua colour. I mixed a little of the white gesso with it and  sponge painted it again.

When it was dry I sanded the paint very minimally in a few places to reveal a little of the metal.  I also sponged over some Vintage Photo distress ink.

I took some random words from a new packet of Tim's Ideology Remnant Rubs - choosing words that relate to family and life, such as 'memories' 'blessed' 'love from the heart' etc etc and used them on the bells and around the rim of the clock.

To finish off the shell, I coated it with Ranger Glue n' Seal and left to dry.

Whilst it was drying, I set to doing all my stamping and die cutting.

The bird is stamped from Clear Impressions 'Bird Song' set, which was free with a magazine and part of a set, brand new and not opened yet. I stamped it on to paper by Graphic 45, from the Typography pad.

I die cut the roses, butterflies and leaves -a mixture of Spellbinders and Sizzix dies -  and before rolling the roses into shape, I  sponged some of the paint mix on to them, as well as the leaves and butterflies and left to dry. I then stamped them with random words such as  'family' 'memories' 'love', using Versafine Sepia ink.

Once I had made the roses I inked the edges using Vintage Photo and applied the same to the rest of the die cuts.

Next was a case of putting it all together! I found a silver button-hole holder in a box and decided to use it inside the clock, adding some leaves and and one rose head...you can just about see it  tucked away in the close up photo. I had decided to use a photo of real relatives (opposed to 'Found' relatives, if you are a Tim fan and know what I mean) and as I thought I might actually like to display it, I looked for a photo of my parents and found this one in an old album..so I scanned and printed it.

Now I have to apologise here as I should have photographed the inside before putting it back together, but I got so excited about wanting to see it, that I forgot. I had glued some roses to the inside base and had adhered the photo to the back, which I had covered wit some Tim Holz fabric!!! I wanted to keep the glass so that it had more of a photo frame appearance and it took quite a time to get the back on with everything looking as I wanted it too, so there was no way I was removing it again....therefore there is some reflection in the close ups.

I decorated the outside with more roses and the stamped die-cut the  leaves and butterfly and the stamped bird. I also added a bead string tied to a little heart key, which I had also sponge-painted with the paint mix, quite randomly, to allow some of the metal to appear through and give a patina effect.

One thing is for sure, I can see how these could be addictive! I already have ideas for Easter and Christmas decorations!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate your visits and comments...you know I do!!!

Love and Hugs

Carole X

Challenges

 A Vintage Journey - Challenge 23 Use a Portrait: 

http://www.vintagejourney.com/2015/01/challenge-23-use-portrait.html

Country View Crafts - Use Something New to You - the clock and bird stamp

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk

Rhedd's Creative Spirit - January Challenge

http://rheddscreativespirit.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/januarys-challenge.html

And finally a return to Sunday Stampers after a bit of an absence, my creation for this week Hels, 
Sunday Stampers week 340 - Anything Goes

http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/sunday-stamper-week-340-anything-goes.html

Rose Calendar - Wednesday 14th January 2015

Hello Friends,

This is the last of my calendar creations this week...except the one I promised to show you that was a gift from a very dear blog friend...you'll have to wait until the end of the week for that!

Thank you for your good wishes about the website at work this week...my final few volunteers will be trained on Friday and then we just have to 'go with it' and hope that the organisation which owns it, listens to the united voices of 300 Volunteer Centres! One good thing that has come out of this is that we have been conversing with each other via the online forum all across the Country...I would never normally be likely to talk to one of my 'colleagues' in Berkshire or the North for instance, but it's funny how a common cause gets you all talking isn't it? Enough of that now, I won't mention it again!

The Calendar

The calendar takes the form of an easel card, which is matted and layered using foundations Milk card and brown card on both the easel and base. I used a leaf embossing folder on both the top layers and very lightly inked over the embossing using Wild Honey distress ink.

The roses were made using Spellbinders Spiral Blossom One and Bitty Blossoms (the largest bloom). The leaves are from Spiral Blossom One and Spellbinders Foliage 2. The butterfly is Spellbinders 'Flutters'.

I also used a tiny flower die from Spellbinders 'Homespun' and the numbers are from Tonic Advent Drawer Deco die set. I coloured the letters, flowers and butterfly using a mixture of distress inks: Wild Honey, Vintage Photo and  Walnut Stain right on the edges. Once I had completed the card I dabbed glossy accents on the petals and leaves to give the impression of dew.

I also stamped "Don't forget" using a mini stamp from Heidi Swapp.

To finish the card I added ribbon, lace, twine and a button. 

I also used up some of my scrap stash to make a handbag or fridge magnet calendar, I'm going to make a few more and take them in the office for my volunteers.  I simply cut a small piece of scrap card (the one below is by Tilda) just large enough to cover the mini calendar. I folded it  using my Hougie board, making two 1cm folds across the centre to give it a bit of  a spine. 

Then I adhered the calendar to the inside before wrapping bakers twine around the top and adding a little button for decoration. I used the same die as above for the numbers.

On the back I added a little self adhesive magnet so the calendar can be carried in a handbag or used on a fridge.

That's it for today friends, I will be around to look at your blogs..just a little tired this week (head full of useless information type tired) so bear with me :)

Love and Hugs
Carole X

Altered tin with calendar - Tuesday 13th January 2015

Hello Friends,

Thanks for your visit, another scheduled post! Work went ok on Monday, my volunteers are as disillusioned with the new volunteering website as I am (and every one of my colleagues at other Volunteer Centres I've been in touch with!), but I showed them how to use it..two steps backwards, as it's way too 'basic' and didn't take much initial training. I'm going to try and get some actual real work done today and then the rest of the week I will be training the rest of the volunteers as well as work with all the other Volunteer Centres to try and get things changed.

Today's calendar project is an altered coffee tin...it was part of an Italian themed Christmas foodie gift and with the coffee dispensed, I had a super tin to play with!

I first of all covered it with alphabet paper from Graphic 45's 'Typography' range - love the colour! I also covered the top of the lid, feeling very lucky that one of my Spellbinders circle dies fitted it perfectly :)

I used the Tim Holz Sizzix  Alterations Paper Rosette die (I think that's the name, I've had it a while and the packaging is torn) to make the rosette for the lid and decorated it with a wooden button and some twine.

Raiding one of my stash boxes, I found some paper 'ribbons', which I used to border the tin and the lid, I also wrapped twine and green raffia around the top of the tin. The calendar is a free printout from the internet - there are lots of them - which I found via Pinterest. I clipped it on with a peg and found a key and old piece of jewellery in my stash box, which I added for decoration. I think this will be a little addition to  my desk, maybe for pegs or paper clips or yet more buttons!

That's all for today folks! Thank you so much for stopping and leaving a comment, I really do appreciate it!

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

CASE Calendar - Monday 12th January 2015

Hello Friends,

A scheduled post today as I'm in the office, hoping things don't go too badly with the new volunteering website!

This is the first of the calendars I made last week as examples to take along to our class this week and it's actually a CASE project. I'm sure you all know what I mean by this, but in case you don't, CASE stands for Copy and Share Everything. We all look for inspiration everywhere - every day life, books, art and of course, the internet - my big guilty pleasure is Pinterest.

When we case a card, giving our own take on something we like, we give a mention to the person who created the card that inspired us....

I found this calendar on http://klosetkreations.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/christmas-made-easy-thanks-to-lisa.html?m=1 and I loved that it was pretty, simple and stylish:

So to kick-start my calendars I made the calendar below, my take on the calendar above:

It's a tent fold style so would be easy to give as a little gift at Christmas...definitely on my 'to do' list for next Christmas. I used a Crafty Individuals stamp, which I coloured very simply using Chameleons.  I used a Sizzix Tim Holz Alterations border die (on the edge) for the top fold. It's a die I've had for a long time and for some reason not used very much, but it was perfect here. It's a double layer die, so I used the larger part as the base, then added the calendar, which I tucked under the smaller border. To finish I added baker's twine and a matching button.

We got the felt back on the roof of the craft barn just before it started to get blustery again; it was hard work, just the two of us and I wish Tom had listened to me and asked his brother to come and help, but men can be so stubborn!

After that it was into the garage to finish the boot and coat rack, a photo when I've given it the Annie Sloan treatment, which will  be when it gets a bit warmer..or at least a nice bright, sunny and not too cold day!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate your comments,

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

Retirement card - Saturday 10th January 2015

Hello Friends!

I would first of all like to say "Wow" ...thank you for all your lovely comments about my Stampscapes card! I was really thrilled, so much so,  that one evening with my iPad on my lap I went through and gave all of you a thank you! The card took ages to make, but I was pleased with it and I have some more of their stamps, so as soon as I have the time I will be having another go!

I would also  like to welcome a new blog friend...Becca Cruger...I discovered Becca and her fab blog through Darnell, you really should check her out...http://damselofdistressedcards.blogspot.co.uk

I am up to 88 followers, hopefully some time this year I may reach 100 (I can hope!) and if so, there will be candy!!!

I hadn't meant to leave it so long between posts, but...well those of you who go out to work know what it's like the first week back, especially after a long break like Christmas when the office has been completely closed! We are still 'battling' with the new national volunteering website and the people who own it and have not designed(in many peoples' opinions) it with Volunteer Centres in mind at all! It's not just us, it's all of us (about 300 offices) and I won't even try to explain because unless you work in a Volunteer Centre it will mean nothing to you!

Te site all goes totally live on Monday, so I am in the office more next week as I have to make sure our office volunteers are okay using it..hey-ho!

Thus...not much crafting got done last week and I spent all of Friday making cards and crafts using  little calendars. We are going to be using them in our  first workshop of the year next week and I've been trying to decide which design to give my ladies to make...I  started out with using some stamps, the original intention and disliked them so much, they went in the bin...the one I like best uses just dies and embossing, with the merest hint of stamping and I'm thinking maybe they'd like a little change from stamping anyway?? I 

will be showing you the ones I've made over the course of next week, so by the end of the week you will be fed up with calendars! I'll also be sharing with you a very special one that was made for me by one of my dear blog friends..I received it last September and should have shown you before, it really is very special.

So, for today's card...I made this one a few months ago and it was for our lovely mobile library driver Sylvia, who retired. I did actually make her 'colleague' card as well, but forgot to photograph it. This was my own for her. Sylvia has a lovely sense of humour and I was going to try a cartoony one with the library bus on it, but for about 2 weeks before she left, when we had a little chat in the staff room, me filling my kettle and she her flask, we would do a count down to 'no more alarm clocks' for her, so I made this instead and I'm pleased to report she loved it (and the other one!)

Sylvia is a bit like me, not particularly 'girly' so I didn't want to make the card too fussy.  I used polka dot backing paper, slightly distressed at the edges, the Tim Holz Sizzix alarm clock die and flower & butterfly dies by Spellbinders. I didn't photograph the inside (no idea why!), but I followed through with the papers and the greeting read "No more alarm clock!"

I just liked the idea, as with the assemblage clocks (one of which I still have on my shelf to alter), of just reusing the redundant clock as a piece of art!

That's all for now, I am typing this with very cold hands...Tom seems to have the 'create something' bug (I should not have let him near Pinterest). Ever since we had the new kitchen we have wanted somewhere else to store our wellies and garden shoes (don't want to mess up the new floor, lol); I wear my wellies every day to see to the hens, so they can get muddy. He has wanted a boot shelf combined with a coat rack for the downstairs cloakroom, saw an idea on Pinterest and today we began making it (this is the problem, I have to help). As he made such a good design with the stamp rack, I could hardly not look enthusiastic and to be fair, it's looking good...my goodness I am going to have a mega Annie Sloan day when the weather gets warmer!

We only came in from the garage a short while ago and my hands haven't yet thawed out!  I am really tired too...fortunately it's the weekend so Tom does the cooking!

After we finish that tomorrow, we have to re-felt the roof on my craft barn. I've been saying all summer it needs doing and guess what?  Yes it came off with the gales last night...now that's one job I'm not looking forward too!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really appreciate your visits and comments and please enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

Winter Dawn - Tuesday 6th January 2015

Hello Friends,

Yesterday I had a little 'play' with my new Stampscapes stamps (a Christmas present). I haven't really made any stamped scenes since all the cards I made in preparation for the workshops we did last summer using Lavinia stamps.

The stamps I was given were a wooden tree trunk stamp, a reindeer and a fence and I wanted to stick to these in my scene. I wanted it to be wintry, but at the same time with quite intense colour, so I  chose the rich browns and orange/yellow that you some times find when there is snow on the ground, but the day has been bright with sunshine. I always remember being very taken with a painting in one of dad's art books when I was a kid. It was a snowy woodland with the sky filtering a rich orange glow through the bare branches.

I used a brayer to create the background with Butterscotch Adirondack, Vintage Photo and Wild Honey distress inks and I used glossy stamping card. 

I made a mask with some copy paper to give a little hilly horizon for the snow.

once I had finished inking the background, I placed and stamped the Stag and then around him I stamped the trees twice. I took note from a Stampscapes tutorial and when I had inked the stag and the trees, I wiped across the bottom of the image to take off the hard edge and make it look more like the image is footed in the snow. Finally I stamped the fence, which has a grass base.

The good thing with these stamps is that they are quite heavily etched and there is little or no need for extra colour. I added some Aged Mahogany to the trunks.

Another tip on the tutorials was to take a cottonbud and dip in in some white ink - I used Brilliance Pigment, then I 'dusted' along the horizon where the snow meets the sky. This gives a softer effect and can be used when you want to create a mist. 

I then added the merest hint of Pine Needles distress ink along the bottom, just for a hint of grass showing through.

To finish I took a white pen and just dabbed dots in areas such as the tree trunks.

I die cut the image using a square Spellbinder die.

For the card (which is 6x6), I die cut an aperture in the front of the card using the same die, doubled with a second piece of card the same size as the front. I then embossed the front piece of card using a snow embossing folder by Sheena Douglass, which I got at the Exeter craft show last autumn.

Before adhering this to the front of the card I wound twine around the bottom three times and then tied a bow, adding a wooden button. Finally I stamped and added a sentiment.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

NBUS #3 - Anything Goes
http://www.djkardkreations.com/2015/01/happy-new-year-2015-nbus-challenge-3.html

Crafty Calendar Challenge - What's New?

http://craftycalendarchallenge.blogspot.co.uk


My Time to Craft Challenge #273 - All Things New

http://mytimetocraftchallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Proper Charlie! - Monday 5th January 2015

Good afternoon Friends!

I promise to keep this post short as I've had a few wordy ones since Christmas, but thank you for all your comments about my new stamp shelves! Got to say I am pretty chuffed with our little joint project!

Today is the first card I made since the Holidays: it was a commission from a lady who has been a 'customer' of mine for a long time and I have made cards for her for this particular recipient for the past three or four years...which makes hard to think of something different, especially as he likes flamboyant and/or something wit a sense of fun.

This year I decided to use this Mo Manning Chaplin digi...but instead of putting him in Hollywood, I had him dancing across London, using a mask by Clarity Stamps, that I got at Ally Pally last year.

This is another tent fold type, 3D card. My instinct would have been grey and black, but I know the guy likes colour, so I used this diamond paper from stash ,which actually isn't quite as bright in 'real life' as in the photo.

I used the mask to create the scent on the back of the card, using Chipped Sapphire ink for the sky and Thames (!), I also added a little glitter along the skyline.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and Chamelons and cut it out...now here I have an apology. Yesterday got a bit busy and I totally forgot to photograph this card until Tom was almost about to leave for work this morning and he had to take it in...so I didn't get a photo of the 'workings'

This is what I did: I used 3D foam squares and some coiled wire to create a spring, which I attached to the back of Charlie and the card. This gives the effect of I'm leaping in the air, free of the card and when released from being pressed flat, he bounces forward.

To complete the front, I typed the name to a Pink Petticoat sentiment and cut it  to a banner shape backed with silver mire card. I then die-cut some silver stars using a Sizzix die. I also decorated the back and ....forgot to photograph...hey ho!

That's all for today...I've been having a play with the new Stampscape stamps today, will be posting the  photo tomorrow...back to work tomorrow too. It's odd because it seems a long time (just over 2 weeks) since I was last there, Christmas seems ages ago and yet it has all gone so quickly! I'm not even sure if that makes sense.

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

New Year Craft Room Project - Sunday 4th January 2015

Hello again Friends!

Thank you for all your comments yesterday...I got into the craft room tin the afternoon and made a card (Yay! My first of 2015!!) that I'd been requested to make, it's another card with a bit of an interactive touch and I'll be posting it tomorrow. It was a case of having to get on with it as it was a commission from someone who works with Tom and is needed for tomorrow :)

In the morning however, Tom and I completed the little project for my craft room that we started yesterday....amongst my crafty Christmas presents, a non crafty friend gave me some stamps from a Company called 'Stampscapes*'...and one of the stamps was a wooden one. This got me thinking that I do have a few new-ish wooden stamps, which are on a shelf, but most of them are just sitting in a drawer...forgotten :(

Just a few days ago, whilst drooling over the fabulous craft rooms on Pinterest, I looked at ways crafters store their wooden stamps and some of them were using shelving with a very narrow width that can fit behind a door. I have a very narrow space opposite the door in my craft room, no room for anything much and wasted space.....I showed Tom the pictures and he said "we can do that"....and this is the result:

We just got some wood  to make the shelves and backed it with hardboard.  I will paint it (probably) but I have some other items to paint and plan it all for the spring when the weather gets a bit better and I can take them outside.

I've got to say I am really pleased with our effort, plus I have visible storage for my wooden stamps and no more wasted space. I should have got the larger stamps out before, I didn't realise some of them were so tall. Tom said we can remove a shelf, but I'm happy with them on their sides for now...and look there's room for more:)!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Love and Hugs,
Carole x

* Stampscapes:  I had not heard of them but by coincidence (and luck) they are featured in a tutorial in a recent 'Craft Stamper' magazine. I had a look at their website and YouTube channel, which features some incredible tutorials for the stunning scenes they have created with their stamps...also on Pinterest. I think the stamps will also mix well with some Lavinia stamps that I own...so can't wait to try!