Sunny Derbyshire

So we have just spent a couple of days at my SILs home whilst Hubby did the run down to Uxbridge to pick up no 2 son. This is their gorgeous garden this morning.

Each corner has a place to soak up the sun as it moves around the garden - it really is beautiful.

These poppies were glorious!

And here is No 2 son James with Auntie Linda. Yes he looks every inch the student doesnt he?? You should see the washing pile now LOL. As I type I am being treated to his scales practice from above me. He tells me he is going to do some summer busking in Skipton so needs to perfect a routine. I hope the visitors to Skipton like Jazz with the odd bit of blues!

Hope you have had a great weekend too!

Tag Tou're it! Heaven sent

Over on TYI today we are feeling the love sent from above and would love to see how you interpret "Heaven Sent".

I have used yet another bargain buy from art from the heart a gorgeous crafty individuals image. Ive coloured her with promarkers and added a sentiment from a Katys corner stamp set which is quite old (Katys corner sadly is no more!). The background paper is by 7 gypsies and stones by papermania. Simple matting and layering and adding ribbon from stash

completes this tag.

Dont forget we are having tag swap on TYI throughout June - I do hope you will join us as I love getting other peoples art to inspire my own. Spread the word by displaying this button and the blog address on your blog. If you do leave a comment here and I will choose someone to receive some blog candy another fabulous crafty individuals stamp set. You have until 6th June then I will choose a winner at random.

Have fun and dont forget to leave a comment!

More Backgrounds from last weekend

I just love this page! Those spider web masks from TH are ace I need some definately! Isnt that stencil brilliant too!

More inkiness with a touch of doodling

Another gorgeous inky page love those colours!

And here is a painty page waiting to be adorned with something!

Happy Saturday!

Rockin my world Friday!

And so here it is Friday again and plenty to rock my world! Thanks for the inspiration Virginia!

1) This is day one of my holiday - I am not back at work until 7th june

Hurrah!

2) Its pay day double hurrah!

3)We are going away for the weekend :0)

4) No 2 son is coming home!

5) Michelle is coming to play all day!

Now if you have never seen Rockin my world Friday then do hop on over to The Celtic House where Virginia writes always from the heart and reminds us there is much to be thankful for even those tiny details x

Onto some of the pages from The art journalling weekend at Dys. Ive uploaded them in the wrong order duh so this was no 3 working on borders and different ways to use them.

This was a choose a colour page then get bits of the colour from a magazine - I used a pre-prepped background but the green and orange work well especially when I found the butterfly to complete the page! This page is about sending our troops away to fight.

This was again using the border to frame the page and doodling to bring it together - this time using Dys downlads. I must have been feeling thirsty as there is another "Tea" quote in there LOL. This still needs further work but I'm not sure what just yet

This was actually the first page using doodles to frame the page and our new alphabet skills - yes we learned to write!

As you can see I really did manage to produce pages in an actual book - even though it is only an A6 one! Ive also got some stunning backgrounds prepared using paints and gorgeous inks and stencils/ masks but I wont bore you with them today!

So Folks whats rockin your world today??

Something Completely different

Over at SCD the theme is still twinchies with the current topic being "Paris" Now I must confess I do have some Paris stamps although they are quite large so when I saw this crafty individuals stamp set in the sale at AFTH for £2-50 how could I not??
Ive used wild honey and rusty hinge distress inks - stamped a TH background stamp in RH the stamped the 2 paris stamps in archival coffee. These are fun little master pieces but what do I do with them now? Anyone want to swap???
Janet

So did I do it?

atcs done - check

baby card done - check

Christmas cards done- check

TYI dt for the weekend done - check

Wall hanging - check

Twinchie - check

Hurrah yes all done!

So I cant share them all so here is the wall hanging - I had real fun with this those papers from Graphic 45 are fabulous to deal with. I did struggle getting the right shade of red but Im hoping it doesnt stand out too much!

The papers are from a range called Domestic Goddes LOL!
Ive used mountbard for both pieces and used ribbon to tie them.

It goes really well in the red sitting room (we still have not decorated it been here since April 2007!). I had a pajama day yesterday so when OH came home and said have you no clothes clean? I pointed to the wall hanging - "say no more" he said chuckling. I had however done a full chicken roast dinner so he couldnt complain too much lol.

Today is my last shift until 7th June Hurrah! I love my job but time off is brilliant too. In fact yesterday seemed doubly special as it was a work day - the course I was on was cancelled at the last minute so I got paid for being at home LOL. The downside is of course when it is rescheduled i will have to work it and not be paid but yesterday that was far from my mind as I inked, smeared, cut and pasted with all my stuff. Great!

Just realised I was going to show you some pages from the weekend - I will I promise. I have a bumper post tomorrow - DS2 needs picking up from UNI in Uxbridge by 10am on Saturday so we are dring half way tomorrow night and staying at Tims sisters overnight then having an early start to get there for 9am to empty his room - phew its going to be busy. So tomorrow I will be scheduling weekend posts as we wont be back till late afternoon on Sunday. DS1 finishes the weekend after. 5th June sees his official presentation of his dissertation then thats it Uni finished for him. He loves being a student and has always enjoyed reading since he got his first board book at 6 months so I suspect there will be much more studying in his life. He has worked so hard and not always found making his own way in the world easy but he makes me very proud - they both do. So both my boys will be home for the summer and the house will once again be buzzing and musical as James continues with his 5 hours of music practice a day - I cant fault his enthusiasm for his chosen study at all - he works so hard. The only downside for this non domestic goddess is the laundry............

Happy Thursday folks x Janet

Catching up!

First I just want to let you know how excited I am to be co-ordinating a tag swap over at Tag You're it next month. I am an avid atc swapper and love the excitement of receiving other peoples work - I am also a tag person so to get the opportunity to swap tags is fantastic. All you have to do is follow the themes throughout June over on TYI then at the end mail them all to me I swap them and post them back out to you. Fabulous! You then receive 4 pieces of art through your door to inspire your own creativity! Your tags must be able to fit in an A5 envelope though so if you work big then keep this in mind LOL.

The weekend saw me at the Art Journalling weekend at Art from the Heart where Dyan shared tips on paint, ink and sprays, doodling, framing the page and use of stamps - hop on over to her blog to see the mess we made! It was a breakthrough for me as I was able for the first time to actually create in a book! Ive been making my art journal pages using a loose leaf and also on tags for some reason not able to work in a book LOL. I will try and upload some pages later.

I also had my special pal Emma to stay - we live so far apart it is lovely when we can get together and gossip, share tips and tricks and generally chat. I have to admit we were both quite shattered by the end of the weekend though! Emma bought me some Graphic 45 papers as a thank you and treated my whole family to a slap up chinese on Sunday night Yum Yum - Thanks Emma that was a real treat x The papers I am going to play with today. I will admit to anyone I am no domestic goddess. Since I found crafting there are so many other exciting things to do other than H*******K. the dust will be there tomorrow. Also I work more hours than I used to so my crafting time is reduced as well as my clean up time so I am going to make a wall hanging that reflects my status as a Non Domestic Goddess!

I also have a new baby card to make one of my followers has had a beautiful baby girl and emailed me some pictures of Daughter Vesna - she is absolutely gorgeous and so needs a welcome to the world card x

I am not stopping there either I have my Paris inchie for SCD to make, 9 atcs on the theme or wording for the running with scissors forum and a Christmas card or two for my other blog.

Gosh that list sounds really long I had better get on with it or it may be midnight before I get to bed LOL!

Hope your weekend was good and that the weather cheered you up x

Janet

Tag You're it! Whiter shade of pale

Now this was a challenge I am a colour girl so sticking to mainly white was not something I found easy however I really think I should do it more often as I quite like the results! Both of the stamps I have used I dont know the make of but the tag is pre cut by Kanban and the pearl brad a papermania one.
Wow my teamies have been creative this week so do stop by and see their creations I hope to visit your Whiter shade of pale tags too!

Whats Rockin my world Friday

Virginia at The Celtic House has been sharing her thoughts every Friday about what is rockin her world. Having met Virginia at the fabulous Art from the Heart beginners art journalling in Feb I have followed her blog ever since but never joined in. Me thinks I have a lot to be grateful for so I think I should so here is whats rocking my world today
1) The sun is shining and I am happy!
2) I am going to afth heart tonight for AJ weekend 2 (another reason I am happy!)
3) I have the fabulous Emma coming to stay - always makes me happy seeing friends xx
4)Everyone in my little world is healthy and happy.
5) Today my life is damn near perfect!

Thanks Virginia I think this is a brilliant thing to do every week to remind me my blessings are many and varied x
So Whats rocking your world??
Janet

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is where I began crafting - I still get a thrill from my own layouts - its hard not to especially when you are scrapbooking the past. These first two are of my middle son James around the same time '96ish.

He has always been photogenic even though these are just snaps I love them.

And this - wow this is me BM - before marriage - oh she of the huge glasses LOL!

These are the LOs I did at the crop last Saturday - I really should do more as it was fun!

Thanks for stopping by x

Janet

another twinchie

For Something completely different. The theme this week is flowers and as I had the funky flowers out I though Id make the most of them. Twinchie is made of mountboard and coloured with victorian velvet distress ink. Over stamped with crackle then stamped with worn lipstick with a swirl. The words are from a Making memories magnetic set and gems from stash. I am finding these twinchies much easier to work with than inchies thats for sure - does anyone swap them??

Thanks for visiting today.

Janet

WOYWDW

Technically this is not my work desk but the area I have been working in today at The Stampman. This morning we did art journalling based around the home - then this afternoon we had a free time session. So I decided to take pics of what I was really doing this Wednesday!

My free time bit was making a mini book for a class I am preparing for November - yes I know its a while away but I like to have everything prepared so I need to play with it before I know exactly which way I'm going to go - any excuse to get my Christmas stash out!

This was the class room - believe it or not this is just 3 peoples stuff - the 2 other ladies had left and we just spread!

Fun day though - Thanks Jill and Ian for letting us play in your space x

Gorgeous Funky Flowers

I was asked by the lovely Sally at work to make a card for "Mums 60th birthday - a modern mum who likes flowers." I knew immediately what to use - these gorgeous funky flowers from The Stampman

Coloured with promarkers then nestabilities dies to cut them out - papers by (?) ticket stamp from pink gems and Happy Birthday is an Anitas one.

The card itself is an 8 x 8 Easel card - Sally was thrilled with it. Hope her mum likes it too as she is a fellow card maker - no pressure then arrgghhhh!

Have a great day

Janet

Happy Birthday Tuesday Taggers!

Over on Tuesday Taggers we are having a celebration as we are one year old tomorrow! As a thank you to all you taggers we have a free digi image for our faithful taggers designed by our fabulous resident designer Teri of Delicious Doodles!.

We are also hosting a gift swap so you can receive a tag gift from another tagger. Do hop on over to Tuesday Taggers so you can check out what to do.

We have had lots of fun and challenging themes over the last year - Thanks so much for making Tuesday Taggers a fun place to be. A huge thank you to my fellow DT past (Katy and Jo) and present Michelle , Averil, Teri, Blackdragon, Ildiko, Sally, Bee, Pat, Emma and Zoe for producing amazing stuff week after week - You gals are Fantastic!

Raise a glass (or a cup of decaf coffee in my case) to another year of fun and creativity x

Janet

TYI Vintage Romance

Over on Tag You're it this week we have come over all romantic but with a vintage twist. Ive gone for pink card, a scrap of pink patterned basic grey paper then vintaged them with antique linen distress inks. I've done the same with the lace just inked it until it look old. The picture is from Crafty Individuals - Ive had the book ages but seem to have played a lot with the pictures lately.
Hope you enjoy our theme this week - watch out for next weeks post too as we have something a little bit different lined up for June! Check out my teamies work - the Romance has definately hit them!

Happy Sunday

Janet

Just a quickie!

Mum got this fab stamp in her sugar nellie lucky dip bag- How cute is she??? along with the sentiment from stampin up and a bit of ribbon - a birthday card!

Stampman session went really well yesterday - The shop was busy so the demos were popular. Next session is 11th June and already almost full! Some great bargains to be had in the sale room too so definately worth a look!
Off to Embsay crafts today to scrapbook - ages since I did that so its been fun trying to plan my layouts. Hope they have no fab bargains there cos Im spent up for this month already LOL!
Have a great day x
Janet

The Stampers Club

This is a new venture for Michelle and I- an all day session at The Stampman in Skipton aimed at giving stampers new ideas of how to use their stamps. We both love our stamps and inks with a passion and would like to share some of that with other stampers too.
Jill and Mr Stampman (Ian) have just converted the warehouse into a craft sudio/ sale area so have agreed to let us give The stampers club a whirl.
So what happens at The Stampers club?
Every month there will be a few demos to get you going but please bring along your own supplies of stamps, inks, card etc. Together we will make some creative cards/ wall hangings/ whatever you want - but most of all sharing our love of stamps and of course inks.
We will meet at 10-30am till 3-30pm (you can stay as long as you like up to then). Please bring you own lunch but tea and coffee will be available throughout the day.
A brilliant opportunity to also visit the Stampmans shop and see all the brilliant samples in real life from the talented design team there.
Space will always be limited so it is important you let us know you are coming - The first session is tomorrow and in June its Friday the 11th.

Also at The Stampman we have an art journalling session - always working to a theme we will be exploring paints and inks to create journal pages that will inspire you - use the time to create the artwork then go home and add your journalling. The first session is from 10-30 till 12-30pm on Wednesday 19th May and has the theme of "Home" - feel free to join us for a free time session in the afternoon - carry on art journalling or bring other projects to do.
The second session will be on Wednesday 23rd June.

Dont fancy a planned session? then come along for crafting fun with like minded crafters after the art journalling sessions 1-3-30pm.

For all the sessions it is essential you book a place - space is limited to a maximum of 8 people so drop me an email at clarke624@btinternet.com if you would like to book.
It will be fabulous to meet new crafters and share our love for all things inky xx

Thanks folks

For your lovely wishes x You are a kind and thoughtful bunch of followers x
Was brain dead last night after another team meeting day at work but finally managed to sleep last night - woke up with a thick head though! Have had my hair done so I feel a little more presentable - just need a body transplant and I'll be right LOL!
So in my brain dead state this is what I did last night - very away from what I have been doing but it was fun to play with. This is another thank you for the jigsaw piece brigade - Clare and Sherry I have posted yours with address labels and stamps for the return trip ooohhhh cant wait. Still need addresses from another 5 of you though so email me here
This girl stamp is kooky - I cant remember the make though or the papers come to that I think Tiffany was the range but cant remember who made them.
I used Citrus and raspberry adirondack inks for the background and a TH stamp. The heart is a Blonde moments stamp, clip just a bulldog clip, ribbon and lace from stash. So come on Jigsaw people who wants it???
Janet x

Negatives and positives

After hardly any sleep Monday night - yesterday was a baaaaddd day. Without moaning I will leave it at that! Couldnt sleep well last night either so have eventually got up and started what was going to be a wall hanging but has turned out to be journalling.

As always I have journalled on the back which for once I will share.
"Orange for looking on the bright side. Purple for reflection and thought.
It is essential not to get bogged down with negativity from others or within - it can disable the mind, body and soul. Learn to say No, take a step back, pause, reflect then carry on - Lesson's I would like to try and live by from now on."
For the first time I have added some doodling around the edges and the stamp text. At first I thought I had spoiled it but as it has dried more I don't think it looks too bad. All these are TH stamps - his text seemed to fit my mood exactly!
Leaving the negative on the page and moving on-
I have made this as a gift for one of you lovely folks who said they would decorate a jigsaw piece for me. So who wants it? If you are still up for altering it for me please email me here .
Sherry I would love to do one for you too x If anyone would like me to make them something different then let me know that too - I think you know my stamp collection quite well by now LOL.
Hope today is a brighter day for everyone including me xx
Janet

Tuesday Taggers - out of your comfort zone

This was a hard one for me as I am usually game for anything. I toyed with doing parchment as that is def not my thing - but I'm too impatient . So I challenged myself to 2 things. Firstly a card that isn't square (my usual preference) and then to only use 3 things (I usually go on and on adding stuff!). As you can see I've managed one out of the 2 LOL! I'm afraid I could not leave the card without the word so 4 things crept in! I do so find the less is more look very hard.
Our Teamie Sally challenged us all to this "out of your comfort zone" week and for some of us it really has been a challenge as most of us do everything anyway but it has been a great theme because of this! Do stop by the Tuesday Taggers blog and see the teams very different efforts this week!

Something Completely Different

This is the best picture out of 12 today! I don't know if the crackle glaze is the problem but this is it!
After a visit to Gez's blog I saw that twinchies was the thing over at SCD and this week with butterflies. i have never done a twinchy before so thought Id give it a go.
Ive used adirondack inks for the colour peach bellini, sunset orange and terracotta. I then stamped the crackle background in the peach and the leaves in terracotta. The butterfly has been stamped onto scrap paper and added then white gel pen dots and highlights before rock candy crackle added to the whole piece. I enjoyed the twinchie experience so will def do it again!

Craft club went well on Sat but i forgot to take pics - sorry but I will share my summer journal with you on Thursday x
Janet

TYI Key to my heart

Over on TYI this week we are all about hearts and keys. This stamp sprang to mind - one I bought from the Harrogate show many moons ago by Katys Corner. The heart is punched out of handmade paper which adds a lovely texture to the tag. Border stamps from Sandylion and the text paper is from an old children's encyclopedia - I ripped out a page and inked it then saw the workings of the heart on the reverse side - ooo err spooky or what!
Anyway I think it truely is a gift from the heart to have a friend who REALLY listens to what you are saying so thats what the tag is about. I did have a particular friend in mind too - someone who tells me it like it is and I am always Me when I'm with them, which sounds like I'm someone else with other people but I just mean the only expectation Jae has of me is Honesty about how I really feel - which to be fair most people really don't want to know how rotten you feel at times! So I dedicate this Tag to Jae and may even send it to her too if she wants it! (She is not a paper crafter - YET!)
Hop on over to the TYI blog to see some more "key to my heart" treasures from my brilliant team mates.
happy Sunday x
Janet

Family and Rak attack!

Over on the docrafts forum I belong to a few monthly swaps. The first is called the Rak attack. There are about 100 members and one person is chosen at random to receive Raks from all the others - Honestly the postie wonders what on earth is going on! So the above is my Rak attack for May. Stamps are stampin up and the inks adirondack.

The next is called the PIF swap There is a list given out every month and you send an atc to the person who is below you on the list - you Pass it forward - hence the Pif swap. The twist is the atc must include that months word which for May is family.

I thought this stamp by Crafty Individuals was perfect for the swap as the birds do look like family - some being quiet and listening and others shouting at the top of their voice!. Ive done the layering stamping thing again and as the stamp was a postcard I have added a wax seal in the corner where the stamp would be which just happens to say family! Simple matting and layering brings it up to atc size. Im hoping that has already reached Heather and that she likes it x

Am on a late shift today so scooting off shortly but then have 2 days off again - this is a brilliant week! Tomorrow we celebrate National scrapbook day with my Craft group so I hope I remember my camera!

Happy Friday folks and thanks for stopping by - those comments sure lift my day xx

This took a long time!

Although in reality it was all the drying time that made it a long project. I saw something similar on Tim Holtz blog a few days ago and knowing I had a few small frames I thought I would give it a whirl. The roses are made from grungepaper. Much harder to work with than the usual card I have used before and they took ages to dry with glossy accents. I stamped the grungeboard with a graphicus flower then inked with the TH distress inks - the honey one, Victorian velvet and spiced marmalade. Once assembled and dry I then smeared them liberally with distress rock candy stickles

Sorry this pic is a bit blurred I am no good at close ups! You get the impression of the rock candy though it looks gorgeous like they are glistening.

The frame was gessoed - 2 coats, painted - 2 coats then a coat of rock candy crackle - you getting the picture of the long drying times??? I have added the frame to some really thick card to make it into a birthday card for Jacci (necklace post below too). They have all been stuck in the frame using silicone glue - whoops forgot the leaves - they are stamped with the build a rose DC leaf, inked and cut out and shaped and glued in like the flowers and ticket.

It was a pain to do, very messy but I love it! Hope it was worth the wait Sandy! xx

Im entering this into the creative card crew challenge which is April showers brings May flowers!

I love my days off!

I worked so much in April I have been soooo looking forward to this week for some quality time off. The house has been quiet so Ive made the most of playing in the craft room. I started this yesterday and finished it off this morning - It was a noughts and crosses game board or tic tac toe. It cost me 2 quid in a sale yonks ago and has been sat since then waiting to be played with.

First I gessoed the frame and the game pieces. Then I inked the game pieces and stamped on them with various crafty Individuals stamps. Except the middle 3 which are stamped with Tim Holtz background stamps. I have embossed the letters to spell art with BM ultra thick.

Then painted the frame with Claudine Helmuths traditional tan paint and over stamped with the Tim holtz crackle background stamp in sepia archival ink. All the game pieces have been embossed with clear embossing powder and stuck down with glossy accents.

The whole thing has then had a couple of coats of spray varnish and is now hanging in my dining room where I display the art I have been sent too! It was lots of fun and didnt take nearly as long as the project I will hopefully share tomorrow which has been drying and waiting to be assembled.

Thanks for stopping by x

Janet

A birthday Gift

For Jacci at work - she is a very generous present giver and Im afraid I cannot afford to keep up with her money wise. As she was responsible for starting me crafting in the first place I have been making her gifts which she has been loving.

This little box is a K&Co kit box I have just made it up and added the ribbon. the real gift is inside! whilst at Graphicus the other week we watched a fab demo using the melt pot and some of Tims ornate frames. of course I had to have them along with the pearl UTEE to have a go.

Here is the finished necklace - the bead at the bottom was also made with the pearl UTEE and then heirloom gold perfect pearls swished into the pattern. I had a little help from Michelle with this as I run for the hills with regard to beading it just does not come natural to me at all. I very much like the look and will have another go to make one for myself too - In fact I think a lot of people will be getting one of these as a present from me this year LOL!