Try it on Tuesday - Its wild card week!

Yay I love wild card weeks - a chance to play with a theme with wild abandon! Our theme this week is "In the Mail". I love love love how inventive my teamies are with these weeks! So here is mine a slide mailer. I once took part in a swap on docrafts for a slidemailer and was told they should be a little like a story - the front cover enticing you in for the main image.

With valentines day coming up I thought love was an easy theme to play with. I have only used up bits on this mailer - so added the corners for extra wow.

I have even added the glass back in and glued it down with glossy accents. papers are by K&Co - image by crafty individuals.

Now there is a big shake up planned at Try it on Tuesday and we need some more fun loving, crafty mad and wonderfully experimental folks to help us with it all - Yep you guessed it we are having a DT call. The challenge is always about having fun and playing about with themes in crafting and our most important criteria is that you love what you do and enjoy creating. Sound like you? Stop by Try it on Tuesday - check out my team mates projects and see what the Dt call is all about - I would love to work with you!!

Have a great Tuesday

Janet

Proud Mummy moment

Noticed tonight the band my son plays in has new promotional pictures - How cool do they look!

James is second from the left. Their name is Downtown Social Club.

The new website is almost ready to go live but for now I will share their facebook page here

(Just a tad proud - I guess you can tell!)

Thanks for stopping by xx

Rockin my world this Friday

Yay a few moments to blog this Friday morning so I wont hang about just get straight on with it.

Family

So grateful they are not laughing at my attempts to dance on the wii dance games - quite honestly it must be a dreadful sight but they just keep encouraging me on.

had a wonderful sewing day with mum on Tuesday making the bag from the below post. I can sew quite ok really but lack the confidence to do things alone so i was really glad to have her there for back up advice.

Our Amy has been a star doing the dance thing with me - she's quite a mover you know!

Our Megs has had mock exams this week and was a nervous bunny on Wednesday night and Thursday morning - thankfully they are over for this week so today is a much more normal one for her.

Hubby is still off work with depression and related sleep disorder. This week he has been totally without meds being weaned off one before starting another. On Monday I went to his specialist appointment with him where he was told he had to have 4 weeks without meds totally before starting on the new and more radical treatment. Yikes! He has however so far just knuckled down and tried to get on with it. He is much better when I am around and not on a overnight stint at work but sadly those cannot be avoided. On a positive note for him he has 4 weeks longer to enjoy cheese, yoghurt, marmite and all the other foods that will be banned when the new drug is in place.

Work

Had a challenging morning at work yesterday when a young fella whom I can usually jolly along with no problems just refused to do a thing for me - the school bus came at 8-30 and he had not even got in the bath let alone be ready for it so thankfully they agreed to return after they had dropped everyone off. Someone else took over and with lots of cajoling managed to get him sorted. I sat with him whilst he ate breakfast then as he was going out of the door he grabbed hold of my shoulders and gave me a lovely hug and made one of his happy noises into my ear. (he is about 10 inches taller than me!) What a tear jerker. After feeling totally useless he made my heart go all squishy. Who knows what goes through the mind of an autistic young person but I like to think he was saying - I'm still your friend!

Crafting

After the bag day I managed to finish sorting the craft room - well everything is back in there anyhow - still some rejigging to do as I have not the space I wanted on the desk but all in all I am happy to be back in my crafty space once more. I celebrated by making some Nautical atcs for a monthly swap I play along with.

Tomorrow Michelle and I are at the Craft range, Hapton, Burnley for the first time so I am really excited about that. Looking forward to meeting their customers and encouraging them to play.

Other

I am loving my new phone! fab to be able to just check my emails whilst out and about - not yet tried to reply to any of them but I am getting used to it.

Loving the double glazing - our house is sooo quiet and snugly warm.

I am thrilled to have tried on some previously too small trousers today and they fit! the new regime is obviously having some positive effect. I am no longer thinking about chocolate which is good and am automatically reaching for dates or apricots for a sugar rush. So at least I am moving in the right direction.

I think that's about it! The list is much longer than I thought it would be - do stop by The Celtic House for more positivity from my fellow Friday rockettes.

have a great weekend folks

Janet xx

Something completely different

I saw a gorgeous bag on a blog last week and have been dying to have a go - the pattern for this particular bag is here and is free if you are using it for your sole use but is available to buy if you would like to make more to sell (I wanted to give as pressies so bought the pattern anyway). The bought pattern also includes a larger version of this sweet little bag which I am sure I will make too. On Tuesday Mum and I had a sewing day together and made one each then I made another 2 on my own it was so easy!

Its such a sweet little bag that hooks over your shoulder and tucks under your arm. This material seems perfect for a little crafter I know and is full of inspirational crafty sayings such as Imagine the possibilities or Heart to hand.

It was a welcome change from the craft room sort out and I feel ahead in the pressie department too.

Do stop by Rae's blog - she has some amazing ideas and wonderful patterns to share if you like a little sewing project now and again xx

Have a wonderful day x

Janet

Giveaways through January

My especially gorgeous pal Georgina is having a mass clearout and is sharing with blog land folks. how neat is that?

So here is the first giveaway and to be in with a chance you need to visit here

Did you think I had disappeared???

Almost a week since I blogged and longer since I shared with you any crafting. Clearing and putting back the craft room after the double glazing was put in took much longer than I thought!

Still a few things to find homes but at least i managed a little crafting for Try it on Tuesday - which this week is Do you believe in Fairies?

Who could resist this gorgeous tiny fairy by Mo Manning?

I have coloured her with promarkers, added crackle glaze to her wings and then surrounded her with flowers and leaves.

When sorting out the ribbons etc I noticed I have lots of red and green - which I expected because that's what I like on my Christmas cards however it did surprise me how much pink and blue ribbon and flowers I have!

The gorgeous flowers are courtesy of one of my crafty buddies Alison who is lucky enough to visit Thailand regularly so buys some gorgeous flowers to bring back. We are like vultures pouncing on her to see what goodies she has found.

Whilst tidying my stash I came across the wicker wreath, bought in winter 2010, so that seemed like a perfect base for the flowers and fairy - a touch of Timmie with the ticket and I quite like the outcome. Shame as ever I took pictures late last night so they are not the best light wise but I hope you get the picture!

As its an anything goes week - as long as your project includes a fairy its eligible for this weeks challenge - do stop by and see what my team mates have been up to too here

Broken phone and a bump............

Yep thats right my phone will no longer let me make or receive phone calls - time for a new phone dontcha think??? So I rang my network provider (who have always provided just a sim card on my deal) to find out I can actually have this little baby for £1.50 less than I was paying before! how does that all work then???

So as the chap told me it would arrive today by courier I was a little excited. Can you sense a catch??? Well by 5pm it was a no show so I rang again only to be told they were out of stock so delivery would be Monday!

How rude - first to build up my hopes and then not to even tell me they were dashing them again!!! I was not amused.

Then tonight Hubby set off to his Wednesday band practice. He is not a well bunny so really needed the break away from home as he has been going mad. He set off then half an hour later he rings to say he is coming home as someone has bumped into the back of the car at a junction! Poor love was fairly shaken up - even more so as he has had to endure Megsy and I on our new fitness routine - on wii dance. Not a pretty sight I can tell you but at least we are trying to get moving instead of being craft potatoes!

Anyhow he is ok and car will be sorted tomorrow - only damage seems to be to the back bumper and we get a courtesy car whilst its being sorted.

Sorry no interesting pics for you - the craft room is still in disarray - Mum is going through all her stuff before mine goes back in so I am limited for crafting at the moment - however stampin club starts again on Friday and we are in for a cutesy session so no doubt I will get to play a while there xx have missed the fab ladies who come they are a great bunch of gals - Lots to catch up on I am sure.

Hope your week is going well xx

Janet x

Do you like Timmies books???

I have one for sale at a well know auction site - the crafty clearout begins and I am being very very ruthless! Want to look - its here

In the few minutes I have had to craft for myself I have.....

These cushions arrived as one of my Christmas pressies from an old friend. She had asked me what I would like for Christmas and I had seen these fab cushions in Past Times so I asked for one. Imagine my delight at receiving 5 of the most gorgeous cushions! These look stunning in my sitting room and will look even more amazing if it ever gets decorated!

So my new year atcs to send to crafting pals have carried on this patriotic theme using some amazing stamps by Kanban, distress inks and promarkers.

Poor lighting again - so sorry

and here it is. I have made quite a few so far and plan to do a good few more too especially for those who missed out on Christmas cards from me.

I love the stamps and am thrilled to see a number of the stamp company bringing out the patriotic themed ranges - perfect to lift our spirits in the recession.

Now does any of the stamp companies out there want to chat to me about making a button back stamp???

I would love one with British buttons on it in the style of an old fashion button card - if you have seen one do let me know.

Happy Sunday folks xx

Hello folks - here is my news!

Michelle and I formed Lovin' Ink almost 2 years ago. Our overall aim was to get out "there" encouraging folks to experiment and play with their crafting tools and products and get the most out of them.

Our plan for the first year was to get our retreats working well. We love coming together with folks who love to craft and spending a whole weekend at play is what we love to do so we wanted to share and make new friends. The retreats have been really successful - the do it yourself ones as well as the workshop based ones. Our workshop based retreats are full of experimentation with a theme which we have loved putting together.

The March retreat is now full and provisional bookings are being made for the September retreat.

So phase one - box ticked.

Next was to run a few workshops and a regular stamping club to encourage folks to experiment and play with their stamps. Both Michelle and I have a passion for stamps of all kinds and both have our favourite and very different tastes in brands and what we like to do with them.

We even have different tastes in inks we like to stamp with mostly because our early crafting experiences have been so vastly different but it still does not stop us sharing what we love most and that's crafting in all its forms.

In 2010 we were approached by the local day services to provide a card making class for adults with learning disabilities. Despite many hurdles we managed to do this and have so enjoyed seeing those adults gain pleasure and confidence from their achievements. Our dream for this group was for it to be in the community alongside other crafters and in July 2011 this also became a reality. Now our adults travel to our stamping club and join in the projects alongside our regular stampers. Their delight and pride in their achievements is wonderful to see and our ladies who come along to this group so enjoy seeing and being part of their crafting journey.

So fortnightly stamping and the day services group have joined together and are now a regular group of 14 people crafting once a fortnight.

Another box ticked.

Michelle and I have been so proud to pull these things together and have a planned next stage for 2012 which is :-

Once a month workshops at Samuel Taylors at Embsay Mills

and also at The Craft range at Hapton, Burnley .

Both these shops have very much played a part in our love of craft and to be asked to join their team of tutors is a great honour.

All the classes will be based around a love of stamping, moving from one stage to the next for both the new and experienced crafter. The classes at each venue will be different although similar as they are based around each shops stock which is very very different in style.

Each session will build on skills, encouraging experimentation and even mistakes so participants can learn to work around those happy accidents and enjoy the whole experience as well as make gorgeous cards and a small gift. The classes will be progressive aimed at building confidence in your knowledge of products but can also be a stand alone experience.

To aid learning and provide recap when you are at home you will be given a technique book to bring along to each session - you will build your own reference tool, with this book, for use in the class and out of it - a great way to record what you like and have enjoyed and make step by step instructions for it.

Our first session at each shop will be a craft clinic

Bring along things you are unsure how to use, bought but cant remember why or just come along and ask us questions. You will see us playing all day!

The session at Samuel Taylors in Embsay is Saturday 7th January 10-4

The session at Craft Range, Hapton, Burnley is January 21st 10-4

Samples for the first workshops will be at each of these venues on the day to view.

All bookings will be taken through each individual shop and a list of workshops will be available there too as well as our Lovin Ink blog.

So you can see why I have been very excited and also why I have not been around very much - lots of plans to arrange and samples being made.

Hope you can join us for inky fun!

Janet x

Try it on Tuesday

Sorry awful pics again! Was late last night finishing the card so the light is abysmal!

Try it on Tuesday is back to making cards week with the stipulation that we do all the work ourselves so no designer papers, no bought embelishments just your own handiwork!

My craft room is in total disarray. on Thursday and Friday we are having double glazing put in and the following Monday is Mums house which is where the craft room is. being such a tiny room crammed with so much stash it really needs to be mostly emptied so i have been slowly packing up my stuff ready for the move into James' room once he is back at Uni.

I am therefore limited as to whats at hand and have reverted back to the Tim Holtz collection of stamps to help me out!

Adirondack inks - a little versafine too and to lift the card a wax seal of Heart, Home and Hearth.

I want this to be my brothers card but cannot locate my birthday stamps at the moment - hopefully i can add to it by the 19th!!

Do stop by and check out TIOT where we have a fab sponsor as well as wonderful DT samples to inspire you xx

happy Tuesday x

Birthdays and bargains

Today its James, my middle sons birthday. As a small child he found it difficult to wait all year for his 2 best days to happen within 8 days of each other - even though I am past wanting to do anything special I always try to make the effort for him.

This cake stand was a bargain at Tesco in the sale - I've always loved cake stands - I think they make them look so classy and proud!

So lots of brownie mixture, cut into squares and piled up together with his fav fruit of blueberries and grapes - just not sure where to put the candles!!!

Hope you have had a wonderful bank holiday. I had a facebook conversation with a very old friend last night which has already made my year so I am very easily pleased.

We are having an Indian takeaway tonight which James loves - not a great start to the calorie reducing programme but he will only be 22 once!

Happy Birthday Son x

New year New atc challenge!

 This months challenge at The stamp mans atcs is recycled - perfect for after Christmas packaging I thought! First off i have some off cuts of mountboard from a picture framers - you can tell they are from cutting out the pictures mounts as they are all exactly the same size! My next bit of recycling is the gold card - this was from the inside of a cracker box - you know the bit where the crackers all lay together? so that was squirrelled away quickly!  the third bit is the ribbon.  I got a lovely new cardigan for Christmas with annoyingly long ribbon bits inside which were quickly snipped off to use here!

 So the first 2 atcs I have gone for an Eygptian look using gold embossing powder in 5 layers to make a perfect surface to stamp into. I used some mica powder to highlight the impression and on the 2nd atc a few black nailheads.

 For the third atc I have used Tim Holtz stamps in exactly the same way - I think this one is my favourite although the same materials have been used on all 3!

Here they are all together.

Fancy making some atcs to swap? find out all the details here