Tag You're it! Sam's August Tag swap

Who needs an excuse to use new stamps?? Well Sam's Tag swap was excuse enough for me. The challenge is to use Burnt orange, olive green and antique white on our projects and of course being for a swap we had to make 3. Whilst away on the retreat I had the chance to visit the shop Running with scissors in Grimsby - a lovely shop which is a hive of crafting activity - where customers were stopping by for a chat as much as to come shopping. Tracey the owner has a lovely blog here and also runs a craft forum here and I have joined in the monthly atc swaps for a few months now. Anyway back to the tags thats where I bought my first 2 tag stamps. Both by Crafty Individuals and the perfect choice I felt for the tags.

Ive used stampin up card stock and papers, Martha Stewart doily punch, promarkers and ribbons from stash.

This image I stamped from my Pal Bee's stash at Claxby again a crafty Individuals one- the tag behind the first one also has a quote on it but I will leave that a secret for the person receiving my swaps! Added a book ring, some ribbon and a heart charm and there we have the trio.

Hop on over to Tag You're it and see the inspiration from my tagging buddies - I do hope you will join in our Monthly Tag swap too!

A couple of inky projects

The first was a birthday card, for the lovely Jean at my craft club, made using adirondack inks and the pocket silhuettes stamp set from stampin up. This stamp set must be one of my most used so if you were thinkin of getting something from stampin up I heartily recommend this set! (along with lovely as a tree!)

And this inky wall hanging is a swap for the Geordieland atc meet. I'm not going to make it this year but the fabulous Cazro has included the absentees in the swap too! Colours are raspberry and sunshine orange adirondack dye inks - more pocket silhuette stamping around the edges and the dragon fly. The bird is from a seven gypsies set and the words I bought from ebay ages ago so I dont know the company name. This has been posted off to Cazro this morning - the actual swap the 11th September so I have some time to wait for the return envelope to pop onto my doormat!

Now dont be jealous my lovely bloggy friends but I am off to tackle a mountain (and I mean nearly everest) of ironing! Hope your day proves to be far more interesting!!!

The Stampman challenge- Take two colours

I have stayed with the oriental theme from last weekend and used black and gold for my Stampman Challenge card. The papers, coin, gems and stamps (not the sentiment) are all available from The Stampman. These Habico stamps are excellent value for money and I find they stamp perfectly every time. I have also gone for an A6 card which is not my usual choice but was fun to work with for a change.

I have used a gold gel pen to highlight some of the blossoms as well as the gems. If you love Oriental crafting the Stampman has some fabulous Oriental mixed packs in the shop with over £13 worth of products for just £7-50 including these papers and coins. The stamp sets also retail at £5-85 per A5 sheet - a real bargain.

Do hop on over to The Challenge blog where the design team have produced some gorgeous inspirational projects as well as links to the products. I look forward to seeing your "take two colours" challenge creations!

Rocking my world Friday

Such a slack Rockette I didn't post last week but that was because I was working and had forgotten it was Friday! So if you don't know what this post is all about let me fill you in. Virginia from The Celtic House inspires us all to make a list of what we are thankful for every Friday - Keeping positive helps lift your mood and this in turn help me be a happier Clarky J :0)

So my list for this week

1) Thanks goodness its payday! with too much month at the end of the money I can at least go shopping to feed my hungry boys! Although this is not my favourite pastime we are going to a different supermarket so at least i wont be bored as I will have to look for stuff instead of flying around as quick as I can!

2) Friends - Had a lovely evening with my pals Emma and Michelle and their spouses on Wednesday. I really chilled - thanks for supper Andy xx

3)Holidays from work - I have been on leave this week - for no particular reason but have enjoyed the time to chill.

4) My sis Amy - who did a performance yesterday with the Arts Company she has been working with called Purple Patch - the production centered around dreams - each of the participants shared their dreams with us - all with a learning disability - it brought a tear to my eye - not one of them was un achieveable - I do so hope the family and friends who witnessed the performance now go away and help them realise their dreams. Wider dreams were also for equality within soceity I hope one day to see that too.

5)My last one is for all my family and friends - for supporting me, encouraging me and generally being there for a shoulder, ear or comforting hug - thats priceless xx

So hop on over to The Celtic House and visit Virginias fab blog - maybe I will be vising your "Rocking your world Friday"post too???

Another craft weekend project

One of the fabulous things about going on a craft retreat is you can complete projects without breaking off to do something else like you have to at home. This is for my SILs birthday which isnt until September but hey I am ahead for once!

Its wooden hanging plaque which i actually bought off someone else but is by Kaiser craft. I painted all the edges of the wood with Juniper paint dabber then Ive used Blonde Moments papers - Friends Junction- to add to the blocks.

My SIL gives us cards and news sheets with pictures of them as a family and so I have used these to create "a year in the life of the Lee's" hanger

The stamped words are by Hero Arts and from the sale room at The Stampman
The ribbon is all from my stash.

Im quite pleased with the result but even more pleased to be ahead for a change! Hope you are all having a great day x

Tuesday Taggers - Christmas in July

Christmas is everywhere this month, here in blogland, craft forums and even the TV! I was still shocked that my teamie Emma chose this theme for this week though as she is not a Christmas card lover at all still I don't need much of an excuse to be at my Christmas stash although I must confess I raided my pal Bee's stash for these stamps!
This was one of my craft retreat makes from Claxby. The stamps are by Paperartsy and crafty individuals and have been stamped in faded jeans distress ink, papers, from Mary, are by papermania, cardstock by Stampin up and ribbon and bling from my stash. Once I got home I added the wax seal to the bow which is also by papermania. I really like easel cards and how they look so it was definately a fun projects to make - Thanks Emma. I have a separate blog for my Christmas stuff usually which you can find here

My Team mates have also been enjoying the Christmas theme too so do stop by Tuesday Taggers and see. I have donated some Christmas goodies a s a prize this week to help one lucky winner replenish their Christmas stash!

Tag You're It - Inchies on your tag

I Love this stamp by Stampendous and its perfect for this "spotlighting" technique. I have always found inchies to be difficult being so small - twinchies are my smallest comfortable size really so I decided to use this technique for the challenge and making the inchie do the spotlighting! I think I may have first found this technique on splitcoast stampers but its a great one for covering up those crafty mistakes too! The "a perfect day" stamp is papermania one free off the front of a magazine some time ago. Adhesive crystals stones added to the centres and then simple matting and layering and the tag is finished.

Do stop by Tag You're it for tons of inspiration from my talented team mates!

More Alice this time for Mary

Did I mention I had been away on a craft retreat? I did? Well here is another creation I can share. This was a birthday card for one of the ladies, Mary, at the retreat who came for the first time. I think Mary and Margaret were a little apprehensive at first but soon slotted in like they had been with us to every retreat. Thats the lovely thing about the people I know from retreating- they are fun, caring, sharing and really quite barking LOL. I attend 4 retreats a year now - 2 I organise with Michelle, details at the top of the page, and 2 run by my crafting pals Kate and Bee. Always good fun, relaxing and we get loads done with mini tutorials and technique sharing, stash sharing if you have forgotten something and generally appreciating each others talents.
The next retreat is 24th - 26th September at Beamsley , North Yorkshire and will include a brilliant class with my talented friend Michelle.
We have a resident Chef called Andy who is the Hubby of Emma one of our retreat ladies and my stampin up supplier. Andy was an army chef and turns out the most beautiful food - including a fabulous fruit salad!!!
Anyway enough retreat appreciating back to the card. As I had been playing with Halloween in Wonderland papers it seemed a good idea to make Marys card in the same theme (she probably thinks I really am mad now!). It really is just simple cutting, matting and layering with the addition of the gorgeous stampin up blue card and some adhesive stones. I quite liked it though. The addition of a sentiment from the lovely Margaret and the card was complete. Mary received some stunning cards from my talented pals and hopefully the start of her birthday was made special by having breakfast with us before going to join her family to celebrate more.
Hope you are having a great week x Janet

Something for the weekend

Open Days

Saturday 24th July and Sunday 25th July

10am-5pm

The Stampman

Unit 10, Craven Nursery Park

Snaygill Industrial Estate

Keighley road, Skipton

North Yorkshire

BD23 2QR

For directions from Skipton Town Centre, bus times etc click here

Here are a couple of projects I have made for The Stampmans open weekend this coming Saturday and Sunday. The first is a gift card wallet and the second a small gift bag. It was lovely playing with my Oriental stamps which have laid unloved for quite a while!

These are from the habico Oriental range which you can find here.

The papers, charms and fibres are also available from The Stampman.

Michelle and I have also been making samples for the make and take tables so have ATCs and Tags for you to play with if you are able to come on the day. The projects will be half hour slots so plenty of opportunities if you are coming to visit Ian, Jill and the Stampman's team.

Hang it all - its a Canvas - Tuesday Taggers

Our Team Mate Zoe has challenged us to use canvas in our projects this week - she has also encouraged us to think out of the box and not just use a canvas frame - That however fell on deaf ears for me as I had this in mind!

Using these delicious inkyiness to colour it with! Have you ever shopped at Art From the Heart? If the answer to that is no then you must be kind to yourself and hop on in! If like me and one or two other of my team mates, you have been lucky to get to the bricks and mortar shop then I need say no more - Its one fabulous experience EVERY crafter should have. Imagine my delight when they contacted me to sponsor one of our challenges to win this gorgeous set of ink sprays designed by Dyan!

A perfect excuse for me to indulge in some inkiness for myself!

Here you can see a close up of the inks in action using the Tim Holtz mini masks. I have also used the new Graphic 45 papers Halloween in Wonderland. Being away on the craft retreat I have had such fun playing with these papers - I bought 3 sheets double sided papers and 2 sets of the diecut tags and borders. Look out for more fun with these later in the week!

This is a close up of the left side

and now the right. Great fun so thanks for the challenge Zoe!

So what do you have to do? Well first of all hop on over to Tuesday Taggers and read the challenge instructions - (This week you must link our sponsor to be in the draw to win the scrummy inks), and check out my talented team mates! If you have time for a gander and love class, quality with a hint of madness then hop on over to Art From the Hearts site, browse the wonderful gallery, drool at the workshops, peruse the fine wares on offer (make a purchase or two? which comes wrapped so beautifully it feels like a gift!) and visit Dys Blog to find more inky fun and laughter
Hope you have fun exploring! Janet

TYI black and white with a touch of gold

Monochrome one of my favourite looks. Ive been playing a lot with oriental stamps lately so decided to go with that as my theme for this tag. Stamps are by Habico and available here. Ribbon and beads from stash and the black glass beads on the tag are Patties Pretties by Kirsty Wiseman. I love my team mates work too so do stop by for a look at Tag You're it.

Am hoping this has scheduled properly as I am in sunny Lincolnshire for the weekend with my special crafty chums having a weekend retreat. I can highly recommend this as a perfect get away and having me time. Michelle and I have organised one in September close to home but do watch out for the next one in March which will be packed with workshops and fun activities for a very reasonable cost.

Happy Sunday!

Janet

The Stampman Challenge No 1

So here is card No 1 for challenge No 1 - made from the masterboard from a week or two ago. Stamp is by hero arts and is available at The Stampman.
I have used colouring pens to add the colour, a pen top to stamp circles and doodles to fill in the gaps. Mounted onto black card then added to the base card Ive also done doodled lines around the outside. Ribbon and sentiment from stash and its complete.
Hop on over to The Stampmans challenge which will be every 2 weeks. Some fabulous cards from the design team and a brill prize for the winner.

I'm hoping this has scheduled as I am away today at My sons Graduation in Bangor Wales - then somehow we have to wind our way to Lincolnshire for the Claxby Craft Retreat - what a fabulous weekend off I will be having definately worth working 4 in a row like I have just done!
Have a great weekend folks x
Janet

Rocking my world Friday

I missed last weeks post as my back was playing up I couldnt bear to be sat at the computer - so my first "grateful" has to be - My backs better!

The next - my family as I am about to abandon them yet again for a craft retreat! I love my jaunts with my crafty chums and my family never complain about me doing my own thing. I think secretly they are glad I have found my own "passion" as they all have their own - Tim (OH) music, Tom (eldest son) Reading - and boy I mean that we could furnish a library easily LOL, James (middle son) Jazz and Guitar, Meghan - horse riding so we are quite a passionate troup but not about the same stuff!
Work for giving me the next 6 days off - Hurrah!
Hop on over to The Celtic House to see the ever growing list of Rockettes sharing their world rockin moments with us x
Only a short list today as before I go the the retreat I have a proud Parent day. Our eldest Son Tom Graduates from Bangor University with a 2:1 degree in psychology. Tom has loved the whole learning experience of Uni and is planning further study when he can build up the funds (sadly he is a statistic at the job shop at the mo). So we set off as soon as I have my hair done to Bangor then tonight cross country to Claxby, Market Rasen to meet up with the pals who will be there already - make sure you save me some table space gals!!!
I'm going to be busy working on my Tuesday taggers project for next week as we have an exciting new sponsor offering a yummy prize! I have also some samples to make for next weeks open day at The Stampman so have my stamps ready to play!
On a totally different note My friend is having a really bad week as her Dad is seriously ill. If you can spare a moment to send some sparkly vibes for strength and love they are greatly needed.
Huge ((((hugs)))) my friend you are in our thoughts x Janet

Some Journal pages

Thought I'd share a couple of journal pages I have done recently. You have seen this blue one before which I prepared at The Art Journalling Weekend at Dys. the wording is a Tim Holtz stamp which says simply "Life isnt about finding yourself its about creating yourself" Its taken a while to decide on the imagery for this page but I decided what better than a caterpillar (bottom left) who turns into a beautiful butterfly. The butterflies have been stamped onto some K&Co scrap paper and I'm now pleased the page is finished.

This page is from our last art journalling session at The Stampman. We used the theme of Hope to guide the page. the Butterfly is stamped onto the page then again onto patterned paper and only joined at the body so can look 3d. Ive used one of Dys border techniques down the side of lady bumps with doodled lady bumps and have added my journalling in the border.

I'm quite pleased with both these and the mixture of papers and stamps to create them alongside inks, paints and masks x

Tuesday Taggers Anniversary

Its our lovely Teris turn to choose a theme this week and as she celebrates her Anniversary on the 15th this is the theme she chose. It was my Brother and his Wife's 14th Wedding Anniversary last week so here is the card I made them.

A cute House Mouse image x thanks Debbie x Coloured with promarkers then punched out with a stampin up punch. Ive mounted it on a scalloped heart this time with a woodware punch. The papers are by Papermania and actually from a Christmas range but it seemed to work well.

Embellished with a large ribbon to which I have added a button to with a wax seal of champagne flutes again from papermania. To finish off I have added some crystal stones down each side.
Thanks for you concerns re my back x It has been much better today so fingers crossed! Hop on over to Tuesday Taggers and check out my team mates - I love it that we make such different projects!

TYI by the beach

Over at Tag You're It we have been feeling all summery with this fabuous weather so our challenge is to make a tag with the theme of by the beach. I borrowed my pals stampin up shell stamps for this one using the masking and layering technique to make a pile of shells. All coloured with distress inks then mounted onto black card. The swirly stamp around the edges is a docrafts corner stamp and the letters are from a fab alphabet set by woodware. some wool and fibre added for a seaweed look and thats it complete.
If you joined in our tag swap the tags were posted yesterday so should be with you soon - They were stunning!
Hope this has scheduled ok as I'm at work today :0)

All Boy- commission

Hi Bloggers I've been missing in action due to having a very sore back! It started through the night on Tuesday and I have no idea what I have done but I don't like it one bit!
Here is a very quick card I made as commission for someone at work. For a 6 year old boy with a love o all things boyish including spiders! these stamps are from a Halloween set bought from Baker Ross years ago. They dont stick to the acryllic block but have lovely images which i have used time and time again. This is all coloured using distress inks, letters by doodlebug - the lady who commissioned it loved it too so thats a bonus!
Hope you are all ok - cant sit at the computer much as it makes the backache worse! See you soon J x

Stampmans ATC swap

So one week in and we are starting to see some gorgeous atcs around blogland for the first swap - wings. Here is the second in my set of 3 which features a cute download from Lisas altered art shop. Mounted her on card which has been stamped with white ink then onto red. The Gorgeous metal corner is available at The Stampman and finishes off projects beautifully. She has also been smeared with rock candy although you cant see the glitz on the net.

Have you noticed The Stampman also has a challenge blog starting Friday 16th. There will be prizes, blinkies etc for the winners so do hop on over for a look. Dont forget the blog candy too on both the ATC blog and the challenge blog - Well worth looking at!

Tuesday Taggers - Make a scene

Hi Folks - Now this weeks challenge was so far out of my comfort zone I was almost running to the fabulous hills that surround where I live! Chosen by my pal Michelle, who does this sort of thing perfectly,
I didnt notice her chosen theme till the weekend. So as I was working again all weekend (just one more to do before my weekend away!) and didnt start this till last night (dont listen fellow DT who are ace at deadlines). I hadn't much time for errors!
I've used the stampin up lovely as a tree, distress inks peeled paint and tumbled glass applied with a brush - inked the sun afterwards good job mustard seed is such a strong colour! Added some birds and then the text stamp - not sure who makes that! So there is my scene.
Hope you are all well - I have 2 days off so hoping to do some blog hopping visiting you all x
Janet

Tag You're It - Uncle Sam

Happy 4th July to my American Visitors! Over on Tag You're It we have been feeling the love of Uncle Sam and to celebrate have made Tags with Red, White and Blue on them. This was a real challenge for me as I don't own anything suitable so I asked my pals Bee and Dee if they had anything and Bee produced this fab stamp image with The Brooklyn Bridge on it, Stamped 3 times to go with the colours I added some crackle glaze to highlight them. The bead flag I have had for ages so teamed with coloured card stock and chipboard letters here it is.
We have been swapping our tags for the last month so I am awaiting the swaps to arrive but still feeling in a giveaway mood. So if you love all things American or are celebrating 4th July today and would like the tag leave a message here and I will choose a winner next Saturday who will receive the tag x
Do stop by Tag You're It my fellow team mates are sooooo clever!
Happy Sunday Folks!
Janet

Rockin my world Friday

Now Virginia is away on her Holli Jollis but thats no excuse to stop feeling grateful for the great things that have happened this week so here goes:-

1) My lovely hearing aids - taking some getting used to but I love them I didnt know walking was so loud or even getting dressed LOL
2) The lovely Visitors to Skipton on Wednesday who made my Sons busking session so welcome. He came home high as a kite that folk were enjoying his playing so much!
3) The Home Company - This is a shop where my Son James does some casual hours, he used to be their Saturday lad. Anyway the owner was getting rid of his own leather 3 piece suite and James bagged it for us! We ran out on money to buy fancy furniture when we had the house done up so have been making do but this suite is so comfy and its matches - thanks Muchly Robert.
4) Jill and The Stampman - I am loving the whole atc swap thing and am so pleased to be part of another wonderful team.
5) As always my Family and Friends who give me Joy everyday in one form or another. Right this moment my son Tom is making me a cuppa, something small but means a lot Thanks Son xx

So there is my "Gratefuls" for this week - Hope you might feel like sharing your gratefuls too. As The Celtic house is on holiday leave me a comment here so I can come and check you out if you do :0)
Have a Great Friday x

The Stampman ATC swap Launch

The theme is WINGS!
So for this atc I have taken a piece of red card 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 and stamped it with a 7 gypsies script background stamp. I have then added a pair of wings that I have been saving for about 4 years from a crafty individuals freebie magazine. You know - saving it for a special project - well here it is! The red heart is a wooden embelishment - this was a by the way purchase in a sale bin - I wanted the box they came in and as the whole thing cost 20p I think I got a bargain especially as there are about 20 more hearts to use up! Ive glitzed up the heart with some adhesive gems then mounted it all on an atc sized piece of glossy black card which I have only ever been able to buy from The Stampman. I have then added wording which you cannot read around the edges - it says "love gives me wings and lets me fly" repeatedly.

Now do hop on over and check out the DTs work - some of them have never done an atc before but I know you will be blown away by them. Not all the atcs shown will be in the swap but some of them will. We even have a linkz gadget so you can showcase your atcs before posting them to the Stampman. Dont worry if you dont have a blog just let us know and we will showcase them for you!
What are you waiting for - get creating and join in the swap!