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