Style whats yours ?and please tell me whats mine!!!

Recently a commentor said they really liked my individual style which I am sure was a compliment but it has got me thinking.

I didn't think I had a "style" - I collect ideas and use them along the way - have no particular must use product (apart from ink) and play around with cute, vintage, collage etc dabbling and not mastering any. I go with what's in my head and easiest on my thinking on each project and have never thought I had a "Style" So i open myself out to comments - do I have a style? if so what do you think it is? on sharing that please tell me what your style is too if you think you have one - if you do why does that "style" please you so much.

I hope you can stay a moment and indulge my interest. Ii promise to visit every person who comments and check out your Style!

Safe to post - they have arrived!

Next weekend my docraft forum atc buddies are having a meet at luffy - hosted by the wonderous Barjan. I have sent on a few atcs as well as a brak or two - any excuse to play with the bunting stamps! I just love sequin waste for atc backgrounds it gives such a rich and deep texture to it. the papers are scraps from the hen book I made back in May - see I do try and use up bits occasionally and this is 2 days in a row I have shared that - I am feeling frugal :0) (usually this is a bad sign and I go off on a spend - whoops did that yesterday!)

Today I am at York visiting my TioT teamie Angela and her gorgeous daughter Belle. sadly just as we have found this wonderful friendship Angela and Belle and dad are moving back to the states - i am going to be so thankful for the WWW and blogland me thinks.

hopefully I will have lots of art work to share as we dive into the treasure trove that is Angela and Belles work room - thinking about it maybe not there is nothing more fun than nosying in someones else's stash is there?

Hope you are having fun I KNOW I will be!

Janet x

Late posting for The stamp Man challenge

A chasing my tail sort of week this week so I am very late doing my DT piece for The Stamp Man. A fumble around in my bits came up with this card which is a birthday card for a friend. Those prima papers are so lush you hardly have to do anything to them!
Here is my stitching detail is it real or is it faux??? Both are allowed on the challenge as long as we can see it in the project. It is of course the Tim Holtz bird cage die too which has been die cut from kraft card stock and then over stamped. The card is 8x8" because I could not bear to trim the papers! the pearl dots are from my stash.
Inside I have added some details too mainly to balance the card - the sentiment is lovely and is from Hero Arts. Now this is going to a crafter so I know it will be scrutinised I hope it passes the test! I am quite pleased with the use of my free hour :0)

As always my stamp Man DT pals have done some amazing stuff - do stop by and check them out here

Have a great weekend x Janet

I love organising! and what better thing than a big party hop!

Yep I do I just cannot help it! I think thats what I love about Christmas - so much to organise and so much fun to be had whilst doing it. Well it feels like Christmas has come early to me this year as I am organising THE most exciting blog hop in celebration of one of my favourite places on the whole planet - Art from the Heart! Seriously this place is a great place to visit, mooch, learn and wonder. Dyan Reaveley - is THE most talented Tutor - if you have never done a Dy class then you are seriously missing out trust me! make Art from the Heart a place to visit as soon as you can.

I want you to hop over to Dys blog and read all about it - some serious fun to be had with workshops and celebrations on the birthday weekend which is 10th and 11th September. We will be getting the party well and truly started the week before on the 3rd and 4th as we have 5 hops in celebration of 5 amazing companies that supply us with wonderful crafting products - hold onto your hats folks its going to one helluva party! prizes at the end including the chance to win one of Dys new stamp sets just by displaying this pic on your blog with a link to Dys - come on now what could be easier and so pretty on the eye :0)

Still here??? click this link to get in on the action!

Try it on Tuesday - Alter it week

Over on Try it on Tuesday we are in the mood for giving as our alter it week is alter something as a present. My friend Pat was 65 last Saturday and is a keen gardener so I altered this little wooden basket to house some gardening supplies for her. Warning this is picture heavy!
I began this at Claxby earlier this month firstly adding a few light coats of gesso before using some blue emulsion to paint it applied with babywipes for a washed out look.
I then used Hero Arts flowers to stamp around the corners and coloured then with distress ink. I also went over the edges of the basket with dusty concord to soften the newly painted look. Buttons added for a little extra interest when I got home.
I also made a card using the stamps and same colours so it matched. The sentiment is also hero Arts.

and now to fill the basket - 2 pairs of gardening gloves

a cute little garden ornament

Some garden twine

and some plant markers tied with some gingham ribbon.

It took a bit of tweaking for it all to fit!

Mum to the rescue at this point as I used some net gauze left over from a bouquet Mum had been given to make the wrapping - this was the fiddliest job of all!

A matching tag tied with gingham ribbon

and the gift was ready to be given. I can say Pat loved it which meant every minute was worth it. I really enjoyed playing with it too so it felt like a gift to me!

Over on Try it on Tuesday there are some gorgeous gift ideas to inspire you. When Michelle and I began the challenge blog this one one of the ideas we hoped would be achievable as we both love gift making - Hope you are inspired to play along too!

Have a Fabulous and crafty Tuesday!

A couple of birthdays

coming up amongst my crafty chums - can't give away too much as they will most likely sneak a peek here anyway but here is one little gift. This tin is tiny- about 2" square but houses something I hope will be used on every craft project made for this pal. I love this stampin up circle sentiment which is perfect for this gift - once it has been received I will share the contents!

Its been a busy weekend - firstly my little people visited on Friday - Matthew went on the Wii then computer whilst Rebecca and I baked a butterfly cake and some buns then after lunch we played with the few toys and books we have here however because they don't play often with them there are always lots of - I remember this - do you remember reading me that? we even had to read the Dick Bruna Christmas story that Rebecca loves so much - I once tried to get her a copy not realising it was now a collectors item - its now one very expensive book! Ours is battered and held together by sellotape however it is well loved and I have many happy memories of reading it to mine and now my bros children.

Friday night we celebrated Pats 65th wedding Anniversary by having a meal at the Ship Inn at Aldborough, one of those quaint little yorkshire villages just off the A1. It was wonderful seeing Pat and Bill again - since they moved to near Boroughbridge we don't see them often enough. I will share what I made for Pat on Tuesday as my TioT project. We almost ran out of petrol on the way home! Phew thank goodness the Esso garage in Harrogate was still open!

Saturday and Sunday have seen me at a sleep over duty at work - 2-30pm Sat until 3pm Sunday - folks are always shocked at the long hours we do at the respite unit however someone has to put in the hours to look after the youngsters and we all take our turn. The school Holidays are now upon us so hopefully we will have some outings too.

Tonight I scurried off to the craft room to make some Raks and Braks atcs for the upcoming Luffy atc meet. I am not able to go this year due to work however lots of my atc docraft forum friends are so I wanted to make a few to send on. It was lovely to have a bit of inky indulgence after the busy weekend.

Hope you have managed to catch some sunshine this weekend - the blue skies make everything seem that much brighter dont they?

take care folks and thanks for stopping by x

Janet

Rocking your world Friday

Now I am hoping to sneak this post in before my little people arrive for the day - i am minding my niece and nephew as school broke up earlier in the week but Mum is still working. so a quick list of gratefuls

As always my family - for being there and loving me no matter what xx love you too guys xx

The vet - our cat came home with an injured tail earlier in the week - a visit to the vet and being relieved of £54 and thankfully he is much much better and has also forgiven me for holding him down whilst them examined and treated him - trust me our cat knows how to hold a grudge but he seems to have taken it well and we are rewarded with a happyish cat again:0) (he is usually a grumpy one anyway!)

New beginnings - as Jo heads off to pastures new work this does herald new changes at work - I am trying to remain positive and hold out that change can be a good thing and should be embraced - well that's today's theory anyway!

Friends - Tim and I are meeting with friends to celebrate a birthday tonight - we are lucky to have these lovely folks in our lives.

The summer holidays - i have always looked forward to the summer holidays from school even when the kids were little - its fab to have 6 weeks of taking things at a slower pace, rising when you like and choosing what to do. It begins today and our Megs will have the summer off - let the fun begin!

So there is my list ;0) stop by The Celtic house and share in the positives from the lives of a few - its uplifting and encouraging xx

Now onto a commission which I began at Claxby hoping to be inspired by the talented crafters around me!

Not sure if this was what was intended but my brief is an Italian coffee loving dad.

Papers by stampin up - distress inks and stamps by Kanban and crafty individuals. I used some sequin waste on the cream paper to get the mottled background. I do love corrugated card too - fabulous texture!
I decorated the inside to make sure the card balanced when stood up. I do hope it fits the bill!

Have a great Friday folks x

Janet

Anything goes with a steampunk theme

Over at Try it on Tuesday we have another steampunk week for the anything goes project - this means you can make any type of project as long as it has a steampunk theme.

I must admit to finding this style more difficult to achieve but i have gone with mixing mechanical and pretty which will end up being a wall hanging. papers are left over from a project more than 2 years ago! Yes I do keep my bits an pieces too long but this goes to show it all comes in, in the end.

my team mates have gone out for the weird stuff too so do stop by and take a peep.

Another Commission

One of our team leaders is leaving this week so I have made the card and box for us all to sign.
She has 2 dogs who she just adores so this magnolia dog seemed very appropriate.
I began this at our stampin club last Friday where we played with cute images and layering them up - a few of the ladies were not looking forward to a cute session but embraced the ideas and loved the whole thing in the end. Its lovely seeing folks having so much fun even when out of their comfort zone! The next session could not be more different - Clean and Simple!

Happy Sunday folks x

More Claxby makes

My birthday treat this year is to go to a class at the lovely Paperlane shop in Northallerton. They stock Molly Blooms stamps and Clare, their creator, is taking the class - I am really excited!
At Claxby my Pal Georgina let me play with her Molly Blooms to make this altered note book
I love all the finishing touches Clare has added to her range and just know I will be spending my birthday money in Paperlane to start my own collection! All the images are coloured with promarkers - Book from Craft Barn and papers from Running with Scissors. Ribbon Stampin up whisper white.

Hope the weekend is looking good for you x huge hugs Janet

The Stamp Man anything by Tim

These photos are so poor - i apologise but I just could not take them without glare. I really enjoyed this project and have gone wild with the Tim Holtz stash as required by The Stamp Mans challenge today.
The sewing room die, stamps, inks, metal flower, bookplate, ticket are all from the Mr Holtz collection at The Stamp man - the colour is fired brick
I am thrilled with how this project has turned out and really enjoyed it. Fabulous to use this deep frame - ive only had it a year! This is also the first time i used a book plate since this Ive used them 3 times. do stop by The stamp Mans blog and check out the DT work - easy links to the shop for the products too if you have time to indulge in some stash shopping x

have a great Friday x Janet

Rockin my world Friday

Hello there Rockers and Rockettes another Friday here again - we are fast hurtling towards Christmas!

So what to be grateful for this week

Well first as always my family - who this week let me trundle off on another retreat without a squeak of complaint - they know only too well how much these weekends of pure craftiness mean to me and they support me 100% thanks guys and gal x

Next has to be my Mum for looking after said family in the food department - I was not as organised as I should have been before went but she has looked after them well and kept them fed and watered.

There has to be a mention of the wonderful Claxby crowd who always make us so welcome. Kate and Barbara cook us wonderful food, keep us plied with wine in the evenings and generally are the hostesses with the mostesses thats for sure.

A special mention for Bee and Michelle who captured the snake - yes we had a visitor who was desperate to join in the stampin fun - a 2 foot long grass snake. I could not have removed it so i am glad they did!

And lastly for the gorgeous Pimms! We usually have mulled wine at Christmas Claxby so I thought I would take something summery to drink - we all felt very decadent with our glasses of Pimms, lemonade and fruit salad. Ahh the simple life.....

Just thought of another - Coffee with special people - had a quick (3 hour) coffee session with my fab pal Jae today - a chance to clear my head, shake off the niggles and celebrate in good news - Its good to talk :0)

Back later with more Claxby crafting until then folks have a fabulous day and join Virginia in her quest to get us all rockin at The celtic house!

Claxby Makes

I always try to take a few projects which I can do to fill in time. This was especially important as most of the projects I had in mind involved layers of paints and gesso! This book is just a plain Kraft book which I bought last year from the Craft Barn. The papers i bought from the lush Running With scissors shop in Grimsby and also the spotty pink ribbon. The book plate is by Tim Holtz and the rest from my stash.
This is the back - finished off with my new personalised stamp. I so enjoyed this I did 2 more which I will share later in the week. the papers here are leftovers from the project I will show you tomorrow for the Stamp Man challenge.

A sleep over at work after the busy weekend left me bushed! I could not concentrate yesterday so took myself off to bed at 7-30pm and was snoring by 8pm. Woken by the alarm going off at 7-30am I feel so much better! A day off today so I am going to meet a pal for coffee in Bradford and its scrapbooking at craft club tonight. Hopefully I will have some scrapping to share xx

Happy Thursday x Janet

Tag week at Try it on Tuesday

Thanks for all the good wishes about the craft retreat - I had an amazing time and over this week plan to share some of my activities with you - here is the first, my tag for Try it on Tuesday - the theme chosen by me is The birds and the bees!
I have gone for a total no stamping look as I used up left overs from a card I had been making for a commission. The bird punch, papers and tab punch are all from stampin up. The lace,charm and ribbon from my stash. The edges of all the layers have been inked with brushed corderoy distress ink.
Stop by Try it on Tuesday for more creations
Managed to get my swaps ready and dropped in at Running with Scissors shop in Grimsby - a true paper paradise I just could not resist lush ribbons and gorgeous stroking papers. I have managed to make projects with some too.
As always it was good to catch up with lovely pals - the ever so gorgeous Georgina, my pal Michelle, Barbara, Kate and Emma as well as making new friends with Caroline and Tina - waves furiously! We did not see as much of Andy as usual but it was lovely to have him around too - his sharp wit and dry sense of humour making us all laugh out loud. We have laughed and cried together this weekend and also laughed until we cried, we drank pimms as an aperitif and copious glasses of glorious wine! These retreats are such good therapy and a tonic for the soul - however crafting for such a long period is also quite tiring - I did do the most projects in the weekend ,she boasts, and also had very little sleep from all the excitement. I snore terribly and worry each time I go away about keeping my pals awake - honestly I really do - it means I dont sleep as well as I could and thank fully when I do no one seems to mind the loud growling coming from me!
So another sucessful retreat and I have another weekend away this month to look forward to - I cant wait x
Hope your weekend was as fab as mine x
Janet

Very simple

It was my brother and SILs wedding anniversary this week - 15 years! so I made them this card using the technique we played with at stamping club. Its so easy but I love how it looks.

I am away this weekend so will be MIA until Tuesday. Its the regular summer retreat at Claxby in Lincolnshire hosted by our pals Barbara and Kate. It will be fabulous to see them again and catch up with what's happening and we will also be meeting up with other pals whilst we are there. I hope to pop along to Running with scissors at Grimsby too to drop in my atcs and check out Tracey s fab shop since the refurb.

Its a do your own thing retreat so i have a stack of projects lined up so I may have something to show for next week!

Off to work in a Mo - got a meeting about restructuring - we were all given redundancy papers last week so hoping to find out what's going on. Some folks think that working for the local authority means job security however in these difficult cash flow times anything could happen - fingers crossed x

Happy crafting folks and hope you weekend is fab as mine is sure to be x

Janet

Try it on Tuesday Flower Power

This weeks theme has been chosen by my fabulously talented team mate Pat - such a wide scoped theme I have decided to do a less is more affair. This fabulously easy technique was what we played with at our stamping club last week - the flower image is by Elusive Images , I am not sure about the sentiment though.

Do stop by TIOT where my team mates have gone flower mad :0)

Happy Tuesday x Janet

Summery sharing

This lovely award is from the gorgeously talented Susie of The Twilight Zone.

I love the picture on the award - so summery and yummy :0)

So what to do?

I have to share 7 things about myself so here goes

1) I love my house - those visiting and coming to do classes can vouch for it still needing lots of work - but I love living here - even if I won the lottery this is where I would stay :0)

(I would just buy my sons homes of their own LOL)

2) I don't have a favourite colour - Im fickle and flit about in the colour stakes but it does make life interesting!

3) I began crafting in the run up to my sons 18th birthday 6 years ago - scrapbooking was my thing now its anything!

4) I have Dyan Reavely to thank for encouraging me and supporting me to become confident to set up a craft group - She has always been my inspiration and I have never met a tutor quite like her - talented, witty, full of fun, nutty as fruit cake and ever so gorgeous!

5) this may be a cheat as I think some of you know this already LOl but I love Christmas! Actually its the preparation for Christmas I love - I am quite fed up with it by the 25th December however on the 26th the planning can begin again - Mad, weird but I love it!

6) I am a mad atc collector - I have files and files of them - I do have one special file for my favourites though - one day I may share that :0)

7) I love organising - I am the behind the scenes kind of girl and have organised big conferences, training events, Workshop events and retreats etc - but on the day I am happy being the tea girl. Thats what I am good at and there is no point trying to be something I am not - somebody has to organise and I don't mind being it but on the day let someone else shine :0) Maybe I just don't like being centre of attention!

now I have to pass this on to 8 folks but how to choose between my fab fav blogs?

So if you fancy sharing and passing on please accept this award and follow its rules. do leave me a comment if you do so I can visit and nosey about your 7 facts about yourself :0)

Happy 4th July x

Janet

The Stamp Man challenge and ATC swap

Time for a new challenge at the Stamp Man challenges so do hop on over to the blog and find out more. We are challenged to use a sketch and or alcohol inks. I decided to run free with the alcohol inks which are one of my fav products from Ranger. joining in the challenge is not just fun but a prize is up for grabs each time too - with so many gorgeous things in the shop who would not love spending this prize!

For this atc I have used espresso, caramel and pink sherbet. I don't own may of the lights collection but do love the lighter tomes they bring so I may have to invest in more. (any excuse for another shopping trip huh?) I have used a diecut butterfly my pal gave me in shrink plastic and coloured that in the same colours - look how different they look in concentrated form!

Some trusty Tim Holtz stamps and archival ink and a few alcohol inked buttons from the sale room at the stamp Man and its done. Quite pink for me I think!

Now onto the ATC swap too
This month is vintage so here I have used the vintage car from the aspects of design men's stamp plate. This is quite a recent purchase for me and I love how there is a mini version of each vehicle for you to add to an embelishment - in my case the tiny tag. More archival inks, a touch of distress and a coin from my stash and its nearly done. I decided it needed a bit of distressing so attacked it with the distress tool then mounted on some green card. So there it is my Vintage atc for this months swap. - Will you be joining in this month? I do hope so - co-ordinating the swap is such fun getting to see so many mini works of art - I feel very lucky. here is the blog

have a fabulous Friday x Janet

Rockin my world Friday!

Well what a week ! work, home, freecycle its been manic - I think thanks goodness its friday is a good way of describing how I feel! Still I am ready to rock with my fellow Rockettes and our Queen rocker Virginia at the celtic house.

First of all I am grateful to have my family and friends - I love them all dearly and without them my life would be so empty. I have particular friends on my mind this week who at the moment don't have much to be pleased about but as my focus is on Grateful - I am so pleased to have met them - you know who you are - special friendships are hard to find and sometimes hard to keep but with this pair its no effort at all. I simply love them to bits and am so glad they are in my life. Huge hugs special people.

The weather has been so lovely this week - especially the cooler ones towards Friday - I live in a beautiful place in our wonderful country and should take time to appreciate it much more.

Facebook - yet again I have found myself feeling happy to be there. This week my friends and oh so may acquaintances on there helped do something very very special. A project called Purple Patch Arts, which my sis Amy attends successfully secured funding of nearly £60,000 to set up a project called changing minds which will focus on giving people with dementia meaningful, artistic and creative opportunities. All my facebook friends helped this happen by voting for them on Wednesday. the power of friendship has meant this project will go ahead and I know in my heart that each person who can be part of this will have a wonderful experience. Purple Patch arts are a quality service provider. my sister has grown in confidence and abilities in the last 2 years because of them - I will always be grateful for that.

I have loved drinking sparkling water this week so am very grateful for that - delicious on a hot day and calorie free too!

I am going to round this up by saying this is the first day of lovin' inks new venture. Michelle and I are so pleased that we have managed to bring together our stamping Club and our disabled ladies group on a fortnightly basis. This will bring lots of new challenges for us but tremendous excitement too. The groups both focus on high quality stamping - our challenge is to break it down into simple yet manageable steps. I am so happy this has happened and I just know everyone attending will have lots of fun as well as improving skills at each session. The future is really rockin!

Happy friday folks xx