The Look atc swap

The Look atc swap ends tomorrow so I thought I would show you the 2 other atcs I have made for swapping. This one is made using a sale sheet from the Stampman called Across the miles...... all the images I have stamped are from the sheet and I used distress inks for the background.

This one is using adirondack inks and a mixture of the freebie craft stamper stamp and a paperartsy one. I used adirondack inks for this deep purple colour.

This has been an exciting week as not only have we hosted another craft retreat (Michelle and I) but we began something we have wanted to do for some time - setting up a craft group for people with learning disabilities. Last Friday was our first session and we had high standards wanting to start with stamping immediately. It went brilliantly with all the ladies taking to stamping like ducks to water. They each produced a card to sell at the medievil market in December and one to take home. They are keen to start on Christmas so thats what we will be doing this week.

They now have their own blog to showcase their work so if you have a minute do stop by and check it out - they will be thrilled to see some comments on their work. You can check out The Creative Crew here

Many thanks for stopping by today x

Janet

Tuesday Taggers

Teris turn to choose this week and as Autumn is upon us thats the theme - All things Autumn! Now this is a perfect opportunity for all creative peole to join in with knitted scarves and gloves, wooly jumpers and shawls as well as papercrafters- cardmakers, scrapbookers, atcs, tags etc.

I have used a new stamp ny the unmounted stamp company and combined it with pocket silhuettes from stampin up. I will add a greeting at some point but am not sure what I want to use it for so its here slightly unfinished.
We are sponsored this week by our good friends over at The Craft Barn
who have a £15 prize for the lucky winner to spend in store. Just remember to add a link to them in your post.

The craft retreat went really well and we have booked 2 more for next year. The first one you will find above at the top of the page click on Lovin' Ink craft retreats. A difference this time will be 3 workshops throughout the weekend. Using technique based projects to expand your knowledge of using your inks and stamps to their full potential.
You may have seen the Lovin' Ink stamps in your craft stamper mag if you subscribe to it - check out Michelles bug box and see the stamps there. We have lots of exciting plans for Lovin' Ink which we hope to share over the coming months.
Im hoping to get some more time on the computer today - alas my son Toms computer has broken so 4 of us are sharing at the moment- easy if we had a rota however Tom is also applying for jobs and there has been lots to apply for this week so he has priority for it - think I'm at the back of the queue again!
Have a great day and dont forget to check out Tuesday Taggers where all things Autumn is going on!

Tag in a pocket for Tag you're it!

So what are tags but left overs from other projects! Check out my other blog here to see what this is left over from LOL. So this week Taggers we want you to make a tag in a pocket. I have used an old favourite stamp from Blonde moments - the dotty flower and the smile stamp is also a blonde moments one.

The sentiment is an old polymer one I bought from ebay ages ago so I dont know the make. I quite like the simplicity of this and the brown and cream go so well together it seemed a sin to over crowd it.

Im hoping this schedules as I am away on another craft retreat - this time as host so I have been busy busy busy the last few days. Maybe one day you would like to join us at one too!

Hop on over to TYI

and see what my chums have been up to - sure to get your creative juices flowing to join in the challenge x

Happy Crafting! Janet

Whats rockin your world Friday!

I have been absent from the Rockette world for a few weeks - just been so busy and today is only a quickie too! So without further ado my list of being grateful for this week :0)

1) My family for letting me go off on another craft weekend away with my lovely pals and some new folks too x
2) My son Tom for putting away the shopping last night when i was chatting to Emma and Andy - That was a real surprise son thanks xx
3)Blogging buddies - thanks for all the comments you have left over the last weeks I'm sorry I have been such a bad blogging buddy I will do my best to visit you after this weekend.
4) The cat - Sid - I'm trying very hard to be grateful for his thoughtful presents of mice and voles after all he is bringing me a present????
5)The Beamsley Project - which is where our retreat is this week - run by volunteers the project offers excellent accommodation for such a reasonable cost and so disabled friendly too so thanks to all the volunteers who behind the scenes are making our retreat a fun weekend for those attending.
So there is my quick list - do stop by The Celtic House where Im sure Virginia has a much more exciting list going on!

Stamps for sale

I now have a blog for my clearout stuff. Have added stamps today which you can find here

Tuesday Taggers - It takes all sorts

Our fab team mate Emma has chosen this week with a theme of it takes all sorts it should be a less taxing week for all you taggers out there. Thats not all though we have a fabulous new sponsor who is offering this wonderful prize - who couldn't make use of this gorgeous ribbon. Click on the link to whizz to the Ribbon Oasis website.

So with such an open theme I have used a card I made at our Stamping Club last Friday. We were working on the article from craft stamper called masterboards from July's issue and using this gorgeous stamp set from Hero Arts available here
and blonde moments word stamps available here

The ribbon is also from Ribbon Oasis but being a boring black does not reflect the variety of the shop with gorgeous colours and patterns galore.
I've coloured in using promarkers and am quite pleased I have been able to produce another CAS card!
The stamping club went very well with the ladies attending able to go home with more ideas of how to use their stamps at home which is the whole point of the session. Not long to the next one if you around Skipton on 1st October it would be fab to see you - we are making an alcohol inked Christmas card.
Do hop on over to Tuesday Taggers
where the theme of It takes all sorts has fired up the team so well worth checking out x
Have a great Tuesday x Janet

Tag you're it - running late

Its been a busy week for all my team mates on Tag You're it so sorry we are a day late posting but I'm hoping its worth the wait!
MY OH is on birthday duty this month at work and needed a card. I find it hard making cards for people I don't know and he had no idea about her interests etc so I took inspiration from the colour scheme over on Tag you're it and used the stamp set I used for the stamping club session last Friday (more about that tomorrow). The stamp set is by Hero arts and is available here . Added a button from stash to finish the look.
I think playing around with the KIS challenge has me making more and more clean and simple cards!

and of course with the left overs I was able to make the DT card for TYI too! Sentiment stamp by stampin up and diamond stickles added for a glittery feel - this will be perfect for the gift too!
Hope you like the colour combination and it inspires you to play along with us at Tag You're it!

Could not resist

Although I said I would take a week off I still had to make a card for my SIL so thought I would squeeze this one in. Over at Keep it Simple the theme is Bling so my card has some bling added.
I'm loving this colour from stampin up - I think its called not quite navy and I bought the cardstock and an ink pad to co-ordinate. This gorgeous stamp set is from Butterfly Kisses which I picked up last week at the show - to add to it further I stamped a small rose stamp from the stamp set around the edges of the card too which took away the starkness of the white card.
The stamped image is onto glossy stamping card which gives the look of photographic paper - it was a mistake buy too which has worked out a fabulous surprise!
As luck would have it my lovely teamie from Tuesday Taggers - Pat chose the theme over there which is diamonds so I hope my diamonte bling fits in with that too. Its also a Monchrome challenge over at Lots to do this week so my card also fits there too - how cool!

Desperate for a week off

The last few weeks have been a little manic to say the least so I am really looking forward to the 10 days off I have beginning 9am on the 20th Sept! This weekend will be a stressful one as work is sooooo busy I am doing 3 sleep over duties in one week - 2 of them at the weekend Friday and Sunday. I have taken a week off from my DT creations so huge thanks
to the teams I work with who have been so understanding. Just my Winter Wonderland card which I squeezed in last week for Friday here
So what on earth is this? Well at my craft group I like to get the ladies experimenting along with me and sometimes we take on projects I have liked from craft stamper and this is one from December 2009 issue.

I used the household size matchboxes although some did the smaller ones and I have made the drawers all facing the same way. The silver is mirri board run through the big shot with a snowflakes embossing folder. To dull it down we used black adirondack acrylic paint rubbed on left to dry a little then rubbed off - it sure does give a great faux metal look. One of the ladies made hers a 3 stack and used the swiss dots embossing folder which once put together looked like a small filing cabinet it was Fab! Another used the music folder which again looked great.

We lined the drawers with old music manuscript and I forgot to take a pic of it before I gave this creation to my gorgeous docraft huggy buddy Liz at the papercraft extravaganza last Sunday. The little feet are actually small wooden bricks painted then covered with the mirri card just as on the box. It really was fun to make.

Well I didn't go mad at the show though thats not to say I was not tempted. Only a week of beans! As ever the Christmas stamps reeled me into the stalls and I could not resist them all - I'm sure they will make an appearance on my Christmas blog before much longer!

The weekend of the 24th - 26th is our Beamsley craft retreat and I honestly cant wait! Looking forward to seeing old buddies but also meeting up with much newer ones too such as Linda and Bea - both who I have met just the once but in that short time I just know I am going to love being around them.

Menu is sorted - room plans made and workshop ready to rock and roll - and did I forget to tell folks we have a little pressie for them too? a little warm up challenge maybe? I have also been ruthless with my stamp collection and plan to have a little sale at the retreat - I think a cull is in order to make way for the new ones I am sure to need over the coming months!
So this is me signing off until my Tuesday Taggers post next Tuesday - Have a great week folks x

Janet

A couple of challenges x

Over on Keep it simple this week we are challenged to make a card using a swirl -this gorgeous Stampin up swirl immediately came to mind although I do have a number of swirl stamps. I decided to stick with Christmas again so embossed the swirl on green in gold then added the glass patties pretties. Ive used a small happy holidays greeting stamp with is a cling stamp but is not with its set so dont know who makes it.

and on Tag You're it the challenge is in the fairy garden - well who can resist Lavinia fairy stamps. These were a subscription offer with Craft Stamper and although I know my playing is nothing like Tracey Duttons I am improving each time I play. I have teamed the stamps with distress inks for the background applied with a shaving brush. I have had many questions about using brushes so will give a quick run down on my method.

I bought my brushes from Boyes (technically my pals Georgina and Bee picked them up for me) They are ordinary shaving brushes and cost 99p each. I have seen colour dusters made by Judikins on sale at Joanna Sheen and these are made for the job but are smaller.

I trimmed the ends of the brushes and have a brush for each colour - orange, red, green etc. After use I clean them on a babywipe and this stops the different shades from contaminating each other. I use them with all my dye ink pads adirondack, distress and stampin up using the same brushes for all the inks.

I swish the brush on the ink pad in a motion as if I was lathering soap for about 10sec then transfer it to the paper using the same motion. At first the colour can be quite pale so build up the layers of ink until you are happy with the colour.This can give a similar soft look like it has been brayered but it much easier and faster to achieve. You can use paper or other masking techniques just as with brayering and get very similar and quite instant results without much practice. * update - Graphicus have some fab brushes for the same price in packs of 6 and 10*

Hope that description helps a little :0)

So do hop on over to Keep it Simple to see some gorgeous swirls and Tag You're it for some lovely fairy tags

I am off to Harrogate show for a whistle stop visit to meet up with my lovely docraft friends Bobs, Cazro, Horners corner and Ribbon lady so have my little gifts ready and a few atcs to swap. I hope I am not tempted too much as there is definately too much month at the end of the money with going back to Uni and school stuff to buy! We may be on beans for the rest of September!

Hope you have a fun packed day ahead too!

The Stamp man Challenge - Distress!

You may remember back in August I made a wedding card for a couple getting married at Gretna Green - well apparantly the card was picked out at the reception to show people!The originalcard can be seen here just scroll down a little! As a result I was then asked to make a card to hold a cd with the wedding photos on it. So this is what I did.
The card is a 6inch square card - I have used the Scottish wishes set from woodware for all the stamping - I love that pine cone stamp! As woodware is based in Skipton The stamp man can get most of whats in stock quite quickly so do bear that in mind about woodware products.
For the distress bit I have smudged the edges using peeled paint distress ink which I think works really well.

Inside I left a black space for them to add a computer generated greeting - the paper behind the black is actually what was left from the original card!
My team mates have made some stunning distress cards for this weeks challenge so do stop by and see them here

Have a great Friday!

Tuesday Taggers - based on a book

Hot on the heels of her last challenge Michelle has chosen again this week this time a theme of books. The hardest part of this challenge is which book to choose - so many have influenced my life and continue to do so. In the end I have chosen a book I have read many times and my daughter is named after the heroine in the book.

The book is called the Thornbirds and is written by Colleen McCollough an Australian novelist. A short summary of the book can be found here

though I bet many of you remember the short series made from the book starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. The main female character is called Meghann and this is exactly where the spelling came from for my daughters name - I just left off an N. Because of reading this book I believed that this was how to spell Meghan however I now know that the way it is spelt in the book is an Irish spelling and the way I have spelt it is a Welsh spelling - complicated for a Yorkshire lass!

Anyway the tag was easy to do having this gorgeous bird on a thorny branch by Tim Holtz in my collection! The distress inks have been applied using a brush - Ive used a crackle stamp in the background also by Mr Holtz. The follow your heart stamp has no brand on it but is a wood mounted one and I thought it described what Meghann did in the book - she followed her heart no matter what the pain was to do it.

So whats on your book shelf to inspire you? Hop on over to Tuesday Taggers where my team mates have some fabulous literary projects to share with you!

A challenge or two

Time for a new Tag swap over on Tag You're it! This time our lovely Teamie Sam, has chosen the theme of Autumn Gold. I have been dying to use this gorgeous pear stamp from The Stampman which I have embossed in gold. The leaf stamp is a freebie from ages ago off a magazine and the cute squirrel is by Sugar Nellie. The card stock is stampin up with some gold paper from Kanban to matt it.
The Tag You're it swap is a fab way to get inspiration from fellow crafters and we are also looking for Guest designers to support our challenge every week so do hop on over and take a look here.

The next one is of course the wonderful Keep it Simple challenge which this week is "take a leaf". I tried every which way to just use these ivy leaves but they just didnt look right so I added the flower too. Sentiment by Anitas, December calendar by Tim Holtz.

We have a new addition to our wonderful team this week which is Cazro - So glad she has decided to play along with us as I admire her crafting so much. Check out the KIS blog here.

A very special wedding

Today I am at a very special wedding of two very dear people - Liam and Felicity. Both have Downs Syndrome and have pledged their love and commitment to each other in a most beautiful ceremony. Liam is the son of my special friend Midnight Crafter and she and Felicitys Mum have been busy supporting their Son and Daughter to have what most of us take for granted. I know Liam quite well, his devotion to Felicity is evident every time he looks at her and speaks about her - she is one lucky lady having the love of such a committed young man. The wedding is in the centre of Harrogate and their reception at the world famous Betty's of Harrogate. They are to live in a garden mews built in the grounds of Felicitys parents home where they can be supported if needed but live as man and wife and make decisions for their lives together.

This is the card I made - I didn't want it frilly or fussy so practised the Keep it Simple look! It did take under 30 minutes to complete and yep there is a peel off!

I think Liam and Felicitys parents have done a wonderful job raising such independant adults - if only the rest of the world was as willing to give people with learning disabilities the right to make their own choices in life. - I raise my glass to them - Have a wonderful life together Liam and Felicity - Give yourselves a huge pat on the back Michelle, David and Sarah - today is a very special one and you made it happen xx

The Look - Stampman ATC swap September

Inspired by the freebie stamp designed by Tracey Coates the September Stampman swap is called "The Look". You can interpret the theme anyway you wish so even if you dont have the stamp you can still play along.
I've used distress inks for the initial background and then inked further through some sequin waste. The eyes stamp was stamped in black archival then I have waterbrushed the whites of the eyes before colouring them with a marker and adding some twinkly highlights.
The flower stamp was another CS freebie a few months ago. Ive added a ribbon tie and a brad before mounting the whole thing on black atc sized card.
Its a really fun stamp to play with and is still available at The Stampman if you are quick you could still get a copy!
Do stop by The Stampmans atc blog the design team have made some stunners for this months theme.
Have a great day!