My Crafting Buddies - Week 3

This is one of my fur babies who is no longer with us.  He was our first cat, a cream Burmese (one of the first, which is why he has such strong tabby stripes - we did not care, we just loved him), and answered to the name of "Cat". 

As you can see, he was a very creative cat, making new carpets from tissues, and, in this case, a new lawn.  In those days, my main crafting ws knitting, and he was very good, learning that if he attacked my needles he landed on the floor - fast!

Crafting Buddies - Week 2

Apologies to everyone - this should have been posted on Monday, but I never actually got the camera, the photos and the computer together until today.  Flash and Gemma are not actually with me crafting on this one.  They have been released from my craft room to lie on the hearthrug.  As usual, Gemma is acting the tart, pretending she is an angel (which she was not today, having belted out of the front door when the delivery man came, and refusing to come back).  The fireplace has now gone, having been replaced with a lovely new black Welsh slate hearth and multifuel burning stove.  Looking forward to getting the room straight eventually.  However the folks who did the work have to come back next week to redo some of it, having laid the slate on top of the carpet, instead of trimming the carpet to fit.  How they thought we could have removed the carpet in the future to replace it, who knows - they probably just did not think we would notice - wrong!  They also have to redo the plastering which is like the waves of the ocean and cracked.  Why can't things go smoothly?  Why does every job lead to at least ten others? 

I think our next job with the dogs is to get them trimmed.  We have a lovely lady who comes to the door, plugs her van into a power point and does everything in the van, bathing them and trimming them beautifully.  Once they are done, we get much less mud in the house, and they do not take half as much grooming each day.

We also have to get them used to the people at the boarding kennels as neither of them have ever been in kennels before.  Fortunately, they do training classes and agility there, so that would be a good way of getting them used to the environment.  We were very impressed with the attitude of the owners to the dogs in their care so we have no fear that they will not be taken good care of.  We shall probably be more upset than the dogs at leaving them there.

WOYWW - 89

It's that time of the week again when we all nip over to Julia's place at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/    to have a good nose around everyone else's workdesks.  Sadly, as I write this, I have no photo to add.  My excuse is that I am still in the same state as last week, working on the shawl.  I do, however, have the satisfaction that the knitting is finished, and it just needs to be put together.  According to the instructions (you can tell I am desperate as I actually read the instructions - obviously, all else failed) I am supposed to pin it all out first to press it into shape, then attach the borders and the final lacy edging.  The only problem with that theory, actually two problems, is that the dining table is the only place big enough to do it (no I am not crawling round the floor this time), and that is full of stuff from the living room which has been dispossessed by the ongoing work there, and furthermore, when I looked at the pieces, they are definitely not as pristine and white as they should be, having hung around a plaster dust filled house for two years.  So the decision is to crochet the pieces together (supposed to be sewn, but never mind that), and then gently wash the whole thing.  Hopefully, by then, we may have cleared enough of the table to allow me to block the whole thing out into shape and press it properly.  Then I will post a picture of the finished item.


If anyone is desperate to see my desk, just look back to the last two weeks, where you will find the same picture, which really has not changed.  I cannot wait to get it done, and get back to other crafting.  My mind is going so fast thinking of all the projects I want and need to do.  Our friend's son is getting married in August to his Spanish fiancée and I may be helping to sort the invitations and other stationery, so I want to get on to that.  I have so many techniques I want to try out.  If our government want to do something useful with their time, they need to invent at least one new day each week, with each day containing 48 hours to give us all time to craft properly.

Anyway, I am off now to wield my crochet hook.  Look out next week for a change in my desk, I hope.  Meanwhile why don't you head back to Julia's for a look at more interesting desks.  Thank you to all those who visited me last week, and left such encouraging comments.

WOYWW - 88

Not so much a workdesk this week, more a refuge from dust and brick rubble and noise.  The two dogs and I are holed up in my craft room away from the chaos downstairs.  This is our existing fireplace which has been here almost since the house was built in 1947.  After the big freeze just before Christmas, when the new boiler froze, we decided to have a multifuel burner put in.  Needless to say, it was not just as easy as that.  None of the stoves would fit the opening in the fireplace, so the fireplace has to go.  

Then we find that the chimney would almost certainly fail the pressure test so we must have a liner, so that means men on the roof, right above where we store the caravan.  So the caravan must be moved for 2 days.  OK, we will put it down the drive.  Fine, till we get it halfway there, the motor mover fails and we are stuck, with about 3 inches either side between the houses.  The dustbins are stuck behind the van with no way of getting them out and it is bin day.  Ooops - didn't think of that! Not only that but we have trapped the neighbour's bin too.  Lack of planning there, I think.

My actual desk has not changed since last week, just knitting, with 320 still to do.  I am off now to get busy with that, to see if I can get it done before the baby arrives.  I will leave you to head over to see Julia now at   http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ where you will find lots more desks to study.  Have fun!

PS.  The fireplace is no more, it is an ex-fireplace.  They have finished for today, having cut back to the original opening,  put in the slate base, and cleared up beautifully.  They will be back tomorrow to render the bricks, fit the stove and the chimney liner.  After that it is down to us to redecorate and decide what else we want to do in here.

My crafting buddies

These are my two crafting buddies, doing what they like best, getting wet and just having fun.  You can imagine the time it took to get rid of the snowballs they collected every time they went out. 

They are both working cocker spaniels, both from strong working lines, so they need lots and lots of training to keep their brains at full stretch.  Flash, on the left, is the oldest, and just wants to be with us and to please us, while Gemma, on the left, is much more independent minded and is not so good at coming back. 

She is also a serious escapologist, managing to get out of tiny holes.  She cannot be tethered outside the caravan, as she can undo the clips on the leads.  While caribiners will hold her, she can get out of her collars.  She can get out of her car safety harness, no matter how tightly it is secured.  She has escaped from our caravan on every single site we have ever been to with her, even jumping out through the window on one occasion.  She took Flash with her through the window, but once he was out, he knew he should not be there and rushed back to the door to get back to us.

When they join me in my crafting room, I have to ensure there are no bits of paper within their reach, otherwise I have a new carpet in seconds.  Apart from that, they usually settle down under my feet until I move, occasionally coming up to see if I have remembered they are there.

I am off now to give them some exercise before getting back to knitting.  If you have crafting buddies pop over to http://craftingpets.blogspot.com/     set up and run by Joanne, where you will find some of the other pets who keep us company and give us unconditional love.

Thank you, Elizabeth

I am so delighted and chuffed that someone thinks I am worthy of this award.  It is from Elizabeth of   http://silverscrappers.blogspot.com/   She actually made this award over a week ago, but it has taken me some time to think of what I needed to write and who I would like to pass it on to.

It is always encouraging to be given such awards by fellow crafters who are so talented, so thank you so much, Elizabeth.

In accepting, I am required to tell you 8 things about myself and then pass it on to 8 others. As I have already said, that is what my delay has been about.  Most of the relevant facts about me are already on my blog and I do not want to bore you all, but here goes:

1. My first crafting was at my junior school, where we made raffia coasters (they were just called mats then), and I cannot remember how we did them.
2.  At the same school, we made a needle case for our mothers from felt, decorated with felt shapes (they came in a packet), and I still have mine (since Mum died), decorated with bluebells and green leaves.  I will post a picture of that later - felt shapes are back in fashion by the look of things.  The needles came in bulk from a local factory - if you lived in Redditch in those days, you never bought a needle of any kind, you always knew someone who got them for you from the factory (these days, they are all made abroad - such a sad state of affairs)
3.  In the top class at junior school, my crafting went a stage further with my first attempts at embroidery, with dressing table sets, traycloths, and then progressing to a large tablecloth, which I still have.  My aunt also took a hand in my embroidery lessons, making sure I was particularly careful and neat.
4. The same aunt taught me to knit, driving me mad with her insistence that I held the needles properly and never took my fingers off them.  However, I bless her now every time I do any knitting.  It is thanks to her that my tension is correct and I can knit fairly quickly.
5. I was, and still am really horse mad, and would have spent all my time at the local stables.  My very best holidays were spent at the house of Pat Smythe, at Miserden in the Cotswolds (she was the leading lady show jumper in the world for so many years), helping to care for the horses, and do other stable work.  We were also allowed to travel to the shows in the back of the horse box, with the horses, and very occasionally were allowed to ride the top show jumpers.
6. I went to college at Bingley in Yorkshire for three years to train as a teacher.  I still love the area, although I know so many things have changed up there, but the scenery is still beautiful.
7. I have been married to Geoff since 1969, and would not change anything about him.  I have known him since I was 2 years old.
8. I am very proud of our two children, who have made their own lives in the world, and both have lovely children of their own.
 Sorry if I have gone on a bit, but I do get carried away once I get to the keyboard.

Now to the next really hard bit.  Who do I choose to pass this award to from all those who have inspired me with their blogs?
1. Shaz (Silverwolf)  -  http://silverwolfcards-shaz.blogspot.com/
    who has been the person who really got me started with paper crafting, and is always so generous with her time and advice.
2.  Shaz in Oz – Cards Calligraphy - her calligraphy work leaves me speechless with admiration.
3.  Viv -  http://vivsvisuals.blogspot.com/  whose ideas always make me think
4. Eileen -   http://eileenscraftyzone.blogspot.com/  she keeps coming up with different ideas to play with
5. Diane - http://stamping-fantasies.blogspot.com/  who has shown us so many really pretty cards, and whose blog is so fresh and attractive
6. Chrissie - http://simply-one-of-a-kind.blogspot.com/  her cards are very varied in style, and always give pleasure.
7. Shirley - http://sdcrafts.blogspot.com/  who does such lovely cards to order, beautifully put together.
8. Julia - http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/   last but not least on this list, because she does so much to bring crafters together, and her humour gives me so much pleasure
I have really struggled to pick just 8 crafters to send the award to, 98 might have been easier.

Now I have posted this, I must get back to my shawl knitting - just 320 rows to do before I sew it together.

WOYWW - 88

It is not a coincidence that my desk has not changed at all since last week.  In fact, this is one of the photos I posted last week, the reason being that all I have done is more and more knitting on this shawl, with a fair bit of backing to put right mistakes.  Having done this pattern once before, I really should have learned from my experiences then, but learning from experience is not my strong point.  It looks fantastic when done, but it is evil to do.  Not only was there a critical mistake in the pattern,, but another part could be read in several different ways, most of which make a mess of the design.  I am now working on the final part which is the outside lacy border, which goes all round in one very long piece, with 600 rows to complete - yes that is SIX HUNDRED.  It is a 20 row pattern with the number of stitches varying between 19 and 25, depending on the row.  I cannot do any of it if I am disturbed in any way.  I can't talk, and have to be very careful what music I put on to avoid getting sidetracked.  The first time I did this shawl for my daughter nearly caused a divorce, and the loss of good friends.  We all survived, but total concentration is the only thing that works.

The only other thing remotely crafty that I have done this week is to buy a couple of things.  I have finally decided that I definitely NEED a new light box for embossing and parchment work - it is an A4 LED box which puts out far less heat than my original A5 kit, which actually melted my embossing mat.  Can't wait for that to arrive - I had the embossing and pricking mats for it for Christmas.

My other purchase is a new 2 terrabyte (big) external hard drive to take all my media stuff.  My existing one has done well, but is now struggling with the amount I am asking it to do.  I copy all my CD ROM's to the external drive and then put the originals away (I do not get rid of them as that could cause copyright problems).  That enables me to flip from one to another and move images however I want to create what I want.  I can open several discs at the same time.  I also store all my photos on the external drive and all my music.  Again, I can pull any of my photos into any card creation I fancy, edit them and put them together with anything else.  I am considering installing My Craft Studio on the external drive which would allow me to carry it around and use it on any computer I want to work on.

Sorry I did not get back to all of you last week, but knitting did take over my life.  Thank you to all those who visited me and left such lovely comments.  Don't forget to pop over to see Julia, who hosts all our desks at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

WOYWW - 87

Sorry folks, I am rather late posting this week, but it is good to see you here all the same.  Before I show you what I have this week, I would like to thank all those who made it to my blog last week, and also those who joined as followers.

A slightly different workdesk this week.  I have finished the desperate cards, those that are needed this week, and have now till the end of the month to do the last three for February.  So, I decided the priority was to finish the shawl for the new baby, and try to get it done before he/she is actually born.  I started it over two years ago for our youngest grandaughter, but family troubles got in the way and it was never finished.  This time, I am doing it, so instead of playing with paper, paint, glue and things, I am busy fighting the worst written pattern I have ever met.  I do consider myself as a reasonably competent and experienced knitter, but I found one very critical mistake on the first line of the pattern.  It took eight attempts of knitting and unpicking to realise it was not me, but the design, and only by working it out mathematically did I get it sorted.  Now on the final border, there is one part which is very ambiguous, but very critical.  However, I think I have got it sorted now.  Watch this space!

My so tidy room last week is rapidly disintegrating.  We have to clear the lounge ready for tearing the wall boards off and demolishing the fireplace for a multi fuel stove.  That meant removing the cupboards where I kept all my embroidery threads for my cross stitch.  They were there because that is where I always sat to sew.  It has all landed now up in my craft room, together with my enamelling kiln and the bits to go with it (must get that out and have another go), the crepe and tissue paper I used to use at Christmas, and a couple more boxes of "stuff".  I did get very ruthless yesterday and threw away some things, manky zips, grotty elastic, press studs and hooks and eyes, and that sort of thing.

You can also see the cross stitch I started and nearly finished for my other grandaughter.  The excuse for not finishing that was that I broke my wrist and could do noting like that.  We also had a shunt in the car, being rear-ended by a car doing about 35mph when she hit us, pusing us forward into the car in front (we were stationary with the hand brake on).  That meant that I could not sit to do things like cross stitch for more that about 5 minutes at a time.  The unicorn is now the next project to finish once the shawl is done.

This is the parchment birth card for our great nephew which is now ready to post off.  It did take a lot of time, and I would not do parchment for anything but special occasions or for people who I know will appreciate the amount of work that goes into them.  The writing was done by doing a print out of the design, slotting the words into the right place (I used My Craft Studio Pro for this), then tracing the works from the front using a Quickie glue pen.  That is allowed to dry for a while (take the dog a walk or something else while you wiat), then with your finger, you carefully but fairly firmly rub fine glitter into the glue until it is covered completely.  Then use a paint brush or make soft make up brush to remove the excess, before turning the work over to the back.  You then need a small or medium ball embossing tool to emboss over the glittered words from the back.  The words will then really pop our and the glitter shines brilliantly.  I used one of the Martha Stewart glitters, which are brilliant.

Right, I am off now to wander through some of the many other desks on show this week courtesy of the wonderful Julia on http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ (do take the time to read some of her wonderful blogs - you will have a little chuckle) , before heading back to the knitting.  I did actually manage to visit everyone last week, though it took a fair bit of time, and saw some wonderful ideas and desks.  Hope you have enjoyed what you see on mine this week.

Birthday card

This is Magnolia, a design by Julie Rocas, downloaded free.  The card itself I created from a backing paper design, also downloaded but I have long forgotten where it was.  I used My Craft Studio to change the colours.

The actual embossing etc I did while away in the caravan last summer, and really enjoyed working at it.  It does not take up too much space and is easily put away and continued later - the ideal craft for holidays.  I had only a very limited range of tools, a small embossing tool, a mini shader, a large embossing tool and a small pair of scissors.   My tools are mainly PCA with one or two odd Pergamano. 

This was my first attempt at cutwork, so I was not too displeased with the result, especially as I had done no parchment work this time last year.  Now I am hooked.  The only trouble is that it takes a long time, especially in comparison with other techniques, so it is not something to be done in a rush for a birthday tomorrow.

I felt the card needed something on the front to finish it off, but I am not certain if the butterfly was the right choice.  The jury is out on that one.  The insert is also parchment, using the border and the little flowers.  Then I printed the design again but this time with the sentiment printed in the centre.  From the front, I traced the words with a quickie glue pen, allowed that to dry off a bit, then dabbed it with Martha Stewart glitter, rubbing it with my finger well into the glue.  Then I turned it over and embossed the words from the back.  The difference is incredible when the glitter has been embossed, the shine really stands out.  That is a technique I saw Pauline Loweth demonstrating on Create and Craft on a Christmas card.
 
Anyone who saw my Wednesday blog last week would not recognise my room this week.   The spare room had to be cleared out ready for the new carpet and redecoration, and we found lots of things I had forgotten.  They ended up in my room for resorting.  Then we had a date for removing the fireplace and putting in the new one.  That means lots of stuff has to be removed out of the dust etc.  That stuff includes all my embroidery threads (8 boxes) and other assorted sewing bits and pieces.  Now my floor has vanished again.  Another week or so of trying to move stuff around to find it all a home again.

WOYWW - 86

This is what I am currently working on - a birth card for our great nephew born yesterday.  It is a parchment design so it takes a long time to finish.  I found the design online by Gilly Howe at parchmentpatterns.com and downloaded it for the princely sum of £1 - cheap at the price.  I have a number of baby cards to do this year and this one is easily adapted for either sex.  When it is completed I will post a picture.

However, it is lovely to have so much space in which to work.  The room is now finished apart from one tiny corner and we cannot decide the best way to achieve what I need there.  What I need is somewhere to hang up my heat guns, my two steel edged rulers (one of which is extra long), my scissors and my tweezers.  That way, I can find them easily but they are then out of the way when I am not using them.

On the subject of finding things, the eagle eyed among you may notice that I have rather a lot of cans of Crafters Companion sprays.   It is not that I am making a collection, but more a case that I lost one complete purchase due to my stuff being spread around while my room was being done.  I probably will not need to buy any for a while ....... maybe......

Even the floor is fairly clear, apart from two Really Useful boxes without a proper home and my spray booth (a large cardboard box).  Most of the stuff is now put away sensibly, well reasonably so, anyway.  It is good for me.  You might spot my bug under its bubble wrap - to keep the dust off.  I do still need to find a proper home for my two boxes of Derwent watercolour pencils, the ordinary ones and the gorgeous Inktense set.  My obsession with pencil crayons goes back to my school days when I would go into the Indicator shop in town, which is where they sold all sorts of artists equipment, and I would spend my pocket money on the beautiful colours, especially the luscious sky blue.  I revelled in the chance to choose from so many lovely things, and buying watercolour artists pads.  It was the sort of shop we need now, a lovely double bow fronted shop which looked exciting - sadly long gone.  By the way, I had both dogs up in my room yesterday, thinking it was safe and there was nothing they could get......  WRONG!!!  Within ten seconds, Gemma had found the foam which protects the watercolour pencils in their box, and it was in about twenty pieces.  Ggrrrr!

 This was the last bit of my room to be finished on Monday - three more boxes without a home, as you can see.  I am a little puzzled about the one odd lid I have left - where is its box? 

As you can see above, there are shelves for my files and craft books, but you cannot see the things already stored on top.  All my lovely Sakura pens are lying flat in the small storage unit on the left, next to my set of Fiskars decorative edge scissors.

Now this lot is done, I can get down to some crafting, and perhaps demolish some of the extra things I do not need to keep hard copies of, all the decoupage sheets that I already have stored on the computer anyway.  I have THREE files full of downloaded decoupage sheets - I could use that space for something else.

I did manage to get to all but one blog last week, and that one I could not get into no matter what I did.  Thank you to all those who visited me and left such lovely messages.  Hope you enjoy your mooch this week - you will be very welcome.  Do not forget to drop in to Julia who kindly hosts What's on Your Workdesk on Wednesday (WOYWW) at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

where you will find lots more lovely blogs to study.

Love Blog

My Award

My kind blog friend Nicky has given me an award.

I am honoured to accept it,and now would like to pass it on

to five others whose blogs have inspired me

Shazsilverwolf

Shaz in Oz

Viv's Visuals 

Eileen's Crafty Zone

Scenes by Sandy

Dear bloggers:The aim of this action is that we bring unknown, good blogs to light, so I would ask you not to blog fellow bloggers that already have 3,000 followers.As always, the hardest part is to pick who to pass this on to, there are so many bloggers I could give it to, so....... I have chosen you.  Sorry I couldn't choose more of you lovely blogging friends. The rules say a maximum of 5 .

There are a couple of conditions for the award:
If you want to take part, then create a post where you post the 'LOVE BLOG' image.
You should also blog the persons link that gave you the award and inform her/him that you accept the award.
You can then choose 3 - 5 favourite blogs which you also link in your post, then each blogger will inform you that they have been tagged.

WOYWW - 85

I seem to be having a problem with the picture on my blog this week.  They are either missing, so huge they cannot be viewed or showing as a black line in the middle of the screen.  Having had a play around, I have hopes that the photos are back in the correct place.  Please let me know if there is still a problem.

For anyone who has arrived here by accident, do make an effort to go over to Julia's blog on 

http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/
There you will find lots of like minded people who love crafting.

The views this week were to have been of a very messy room, hopefully only temporarily, while my very kind husband is finishing off the shelves on the other side of the room.  Even the floor is covered with stuff, and there is no chance of crafting for a couple of days.  Still a little pain now will be worth it in the long run.

Sorry I did not get round everyone this week, but I would like to say a big thank you to all those who took the trouble to visit my blog and to leave such lovely comments.  Hope to visit you all this week.

Storing Clarity Stamps

After my last post, I decided to send an email to Clarity Stamps to ask if they had any suggestions on how to store their stamps.  The ones without the handles are easy, just put them on laminated card and store in a ring file.  Those that come on mounts are harder to store sensibly.  

Anyway, I had an answer from Clarity today saying that this is an area they are looking at now, and hope to come up with a good idea very soon.  It is good to know that they are on the case and are so good at customer relations, getting back to me so fast.

I shall be glad to find a good storage system, especially as I have just put in an order for another batch of mounted stamps.  I am dying to get hold of them and get playing.  I am just sorting out a new birthday and Christmas list of all the things I really, really need.  One of those is membership of Barbara Gray's two clubs - more stamps and more ideas.  I also would like to collect her DVD's ...... and most of her stamps, of course.

By the way, on the subject of printers and card, which has bee a real problem for me in the past, this new printer will print beautifully on Barbara Gray's silk card, which I believe is 350gsm.  I cannot see me needing to print on anything thicker than that, so that is a real achievement.  I now need to experiment with print settings to see if it is possible to print a sentiment and then emboss it with powder instantly it comes out of the printer.  I will let you know how or if it works.

I love Barbara Gray

Finally, the creative juices are starting to flow, and new things are being tried - not just finishing off old ones.  Having watched Barbara Gray on Sunday (I do wish Create and Craft wouldn't alter the times - it made a mess of my pre-set recording), I was dying to have another go at brayering.  I know all the theory, but actually putting it into practice is very different.  

I stamped the silver birches onto the silk card, and then followed what she had done with the Versamark pen and clear embossing powder, covering the trees themselves.  The first attempt was rubbish.  Not sure if it was the pen (lack of use), not enough powder or the just a rubbish crafter.  So once it had cooled, I added more Versamark and more powder and reheated.  Much better this time.  I really wanted to use a dark colour, a pale grey or something like that, but I haven't got that yet.  The darkest I had was the Mountain Meadow Big and Juicy, so that is what I used.  Having inked up the brayer, I duly took off what I thought was most of the ink and started flicking the brayer across.  Wrong!  I needed to take off much more ink.  The background is now far too bright for what I wanted, so that attempt will go on the shelf until I decide how I can recover it for use.  Never mind, it was only a play, and you don't get things right every time.  Hopefully, you learn.  I did have another go with the brayer, this time taking off so much ink I could not see any left on the brayer.  The result was much better, so that piece of card will also go onto the shelf until I decide what to stamp onto it.

I also had a go at stamping onto acetate, then spraying with adhesive and applying silver leaf to the back.  after burnishing that, I mounted it onto plain black card, then onto silver mirri card, and onto black again, before mounting the whole thing onto a piece of pearlescent white card.  I was quite pleased with the result, which will make quite a good card for a man, being very plain and simple.  I can print a sentiment off on acetate, back that with silver leaf and mount that up below the image.

I am so pleased with my new printer.  It will print everything I have tried so far, including quite thick card, up to 350gsm, which is what I had hoped for.  So I can use it to print a background direct to the card before matting an layering on top of it.  I even tried with a piece of textured card.  Perfect!

By the way, how does anyone else store Clarity stamps to keep them safe, but accessible?  Mine are still stuffed in the box and the paper they came in.  Not good as I cannot remember what I have, so if I want anything, they all come out.  Any ideas gratefully received.

WOYWW - 84

I managed it on the right day today.  I will try to get round more of your entries this week.  The ones I saw last week were stunning, so I am looking forward to a treat again tonight.

My desk this week is a constantly changing place.  I have been very busy scanning old family photos onto the hard disc before the originals get given to other members of the family to take their pick.  So far I have just scanned them all without really sorting or screening what I have, but the real rubbish can be dumped later when I have time.  However, right at the end of the ones that had to be done fast, I came up with a small envelope of treasure trove - old birthday and birth cards - not many but definitely a possibility for reuse and adapting.

I scanned them all in and then had a little play with one of them, the one I thought was the prettiest.  I took it into Roxio 2010 and change the tint to get rid of a little of the yellowing, not too much as that is part of its charm, in my humble opinion.  I also used the clone tool to remove any handwriting  on each cards, and also any really bad marks, due to age and ill treatment.  Then I simply printed it out through My Craft Studio Professional on the professional quality print, and highlighted the flourishes with a gold pen, just to lift it a little.

Here you can see the two cards, the original on the right and my "improvement" on the left.  Yes, the printing of the outline does not match the colouring in, but these cards are over 60 years old, from a time when colour printing was not as sharp as we expect these days.  I have another box, somewhere, with some of my old cards in, some from me and some going back to my mother yeas before.  I intend to dig them out, scan then and see what I can get from them, so you might see a few more gems appearing - watch this space.  I would value any input from all of you out there, ideas from those who have done something similar, or other ideas on what we can rescue from our family documents and treasures for reuse.

I created something at last!

Well, sort of.......  The cards were basically done apart from the finishing touches, inserts etc, but I was desperate to get them in the post today.

The sweet peas on the left used the stamp from Joanna Sheen's Garden Flower range, onto white pearlescent card, which had a tint of cosmic shimmer dusted on to it.  The flowers were coloured in with Sakura pens to maintain the shimmer look, and shaded using a water brush. 

The Rainbow Teddy in the centre was a design downloaded from Monica on http://www.3dsheets.com/index.html   I edged the card with shimmery border peeloff  to tone in.

The little girl was also another Joanna Sheen product fom one of her CD's.  I cannot remember which one, although I used it today.  Total lack of brain power at the moment.  It was mounted on black card, which I edged with a copper Krylon pen which toned in with the border.

You may like to notice how tidy my desk is with these cards on.  Remember this - it didn't last long.  Five minutes later, it was like this

Back to the photo scanning and printing out labels for all the drawers.  The poor computer must be getting a headache with everything I am asking it to do all at the same time.  These big photos take a long time to scan in and save, but they are worth keeping.

Then I started sorting out some of the drawers.  I seem to have little bits of paper, card, Mirri card, glitter and other stuff in each one all doing a very good job of jamming the drawers.  So I found one big box, and copied an idea from someone else (sorry, I cannot remember who it was but thank you).  All the little bits of everything went into the one box to be kept by my desk and used.  My theory is to use the box to make at least one card each week - I will let you know how that theory works in practice. 

Then I looked at the floor.  The space under the desk and a lot more floor is now covered, and the boxes are breeding.  That is going to get worse before it gets better.  I have to move everything off the surface on one side of the room, to allow Geoff to put the supports on the walls for the work top and to put up the shelving for all the other things.  That may be tomorrow, if things go well.

I also have a theory that I am going to make at least one Christmas card each week .........maybe, if I have time.  I have two boxes of Christmas stuff, which I manage to lose every year as it comes up to card making time, one being full of stuff gathered from old cards to be recycled.  With luck, I might get the Christmas stuff down to just one box, which will give me a spare box for something else.

Thank you to all those who have been asking how we are.  Fingers crossed, I think the worst is over, and we have got that particular bug on the run.

Really Useful Storage

I have had several people asking where I got the storage units for the Really Useful Boxes, so for you and anyone else who is interested, here is the link  http://www.storage4crafts.com/shopx/home.php?cat=131  They come flat packed, but are fairly easy to sort out.  Most of my boxes came from Staples who were doing a very special offer at the time.  The boxes sit on easily removable shelves, lodged on metal pegs, which can be put in different configurations to suit differing mixtures of boxes and can be changed if your needs change.  The double unit takes the A3 size of box, or anything else that does not fit the smaller A4 size.

What's on your workdesk

Okay, I know it is not Wednesday today, but I slept all day yesterday, having got the dreaded lurgy.  I did not really wake up till tea time by when the light was too bad to take a good photo with Geoff's new camera, the one with the clever panorama.  This is the business corner of my workspace, taken up at the moment with stuff that has not yet got a home and piles of old family photos which I am in the process of scanning to disc before handing them over to other family members to take what they want.

By the way, the small pile of photos by the Silhouette and the screen is just the tip of the iceberg.  You cannot see the huge box on the floor behind me.  At the same time as scanning these photos, I have also been relabelling all my boxes to reflect what is actually in them, not what was there 12 months ago.  I am about two thirds of the way through that job.

On this wall, above the printers I am having shelving to store all my CD ROM's and various other bits and pieces.  The big cardboard box is actually my "spray booth" but at the moment it is full of more stuff without a home.

In the opposite corner is the section which is not finished yet due to lack of wood.  The work surfaces are just resting on the cupboards, and there is shelving to go above for my A4 files.

Anyway, I am off now to catch up with my sleep, having felt too rotten to sleep all last night.  I shall put the TV on with something I really want to watch - guaranteed to send me to sleep instantly.

Hope to see you all next Wednesday, on the right day this time.  Happy New Year to all of you out there.

Not crafting, but Christmas.

This is not my desk, but just a picture taken downstairs with Geoff's new camera.  I think I will take that upstairs later and do a panorama shot in my craft room.  Quite a useful thing to have on the camera.  Once Christmas has gone back in its box till next year, the whole of this lot has to be packed away as well, ready for more building work.  The wooden panelling is coming off the wall (should not take too much effort, but it will pull the plaster off as well), then the fireplace is coming out to make way for a multi fuel burner to go in its place.  Then it will be a fair amount of plastering again, before a complete redecoration.  After that, it is just the hall, stairs and landing and the whole house will be getting straight. We can't wait!!!

My craft room is, just at the moment, the only place I have room to scan a huge box of old family photos.  They are to be split up around the family, so I am scanning them all on to disc for our benefit.  Then we can hand the box over to the others and they can find a home for it and sort it out.

Crafting will start again after Geoff has finished his woodworking in there, waiting for Wednesday to use our card (OAP).  One set of worktops to be fixed, and two sets of shelves to be put up on the walls, and we will be finished.  Yipeeeeeeeee........

Grandaughter's mishap

This is just a very quick post to let everyone who enquired about our grandaughter after her accident, that she is full of energy and things seem to be healing well.  It could have been so much worse.  Thank you all for your good wishes, and a very Happy New Year to all of you.  See you in 2011.

Christmas - the good and the bad

We had a good day, the weather allowing us to join up as a family after all the "shall we " or "shan't we" worrying about the depth of the snow.  The three (so far) grandchildren enjoyed each other's company, with the youngest teaching the older two a new game - roll round the floor like me.  Everyone seemed happy with their presents, although I am now in trouble with our daughter for giving her daughter lots of glitter as part of her present.  Their whole house is now well and truly glittered, but it is Christmas, after all.  Youngest grandaughter loved the paper and her cousin's wiggly worm, and did not even notice that her real present got stuck in the snow somewhere.  I cannot wait to play with my set of Aquamarkers and my mega sun tool etc.

The slightly bad was as a result of a dying cooker, which has been playing up for some time and chose this week to really be a pain.  Everyone was very kind and said the dinner was great, but I know it wasn't quite right.  The real test was the failure to produce a decent Victoria Sandwich.  So today (after a lot of research on the wonderful net) we went out to a well known electrical store and ordered a new dual fuel range cooker (beating the rise in VAT).

We also managed to get through the snow to visit our friends as we usually do.  Fortunately, most of the roads were passable with care, and they managed to get to us yesterday to return the visit.  It is a good thing the roads had improved as we had to use the small car since the battery on the Disco was flat yet again.  another job to sort that out properly after the Bank Holidays are over.

The really bad could have been far, far worse.  Our son and his family left us just after lunch and got back home safe and sound.  Then, while drying our grandaughter after her bath, a piece of wood from the ceiling (protecting and hiding the electrics for the lights) fell and hit her right by her eye.  Needless to say, that was a swift trip to A&E for treatment.  She was brilliant, not crying once and allowing the staff to clean out the wound and glue it without any fuss.  She is full of energy and life now, and seems fully recovered, and has so far left the dressing alone.  It could have been so much worse, so we shall just think of the positive.

The snow is now going which is a good.  Lets just hope it goes slowly and allows the land to absorb all the water without flooding.

A very Merry Christmas to everyone

The last card is done, still to write.  One pressie to wrap.  The Royal Icing on the Christmas cake is done (a bit late but I only did the marzipan this morning - it will be fine), the sherry trifle is just waiting for the cream on top tomorrow - half a bottle of brandy has fed the cake so that should be good, and a lot of sherry in the trifle.....never mind we are not driving afterwards.  The potatoes, parsnips and carrots are ready to throw in the roasting tin tomorrow - they are out in the conservatory, a very good extra fridge in this weather. The gravy cake is made and cooling - those that know me will know that this is a lemon meringue pie without the pastry but on a biscuit base instead.  After it has sat for a day, the meringue leaks into the base as a brown gravy like liquid.  Sounds strange but tastes great and there is never any left.

Now it is time for my hard working husband to finish off his Christmas quiz for our friends, then we can settle down with a nice drink and gather ourselves ready for the onslaught.

Hope you all have a great time tomorrow - and remember that this life is not a rehearsal, live it to the full.  Remember those who have gone, but cherish the thought that their lives were good.

XXXXXX

Plea to all drivers in bad weather especially.

Please can all of you find out exactly where the correct tow points are on your vehicles, especially in this nasty snowy weather.  Most owners of 4 wheel drive vehicles will be only too glad to give you a tow, but they will be less keen to get down and lie in the snow just to find out where to attach their rope.  We and all the members of the Midland Rover Owners Club carry tow ropes as standard equipment and will help all those we can.

After the experiences of friends who had to travel from Cardiff up to their home in Worcestershire in dire conditions on Monday, if any of you have to travel even just down to the supermarket, follow the advice on the local radio station websites.  Carry spades, plenty of extra warm clothing, food for at least a day, plenty of hot liquids, and make sure your phones are fully charged.  Look after yourselves and stay safe.

WOYWW

This is my new craft room, as far as we can get before the weather improves.  I am back in my own room, with loads of extra space due to the hot water tank and airing cupboard having been removed.  As you can see, my actual desk is fairly clear at the moment, with only the card for our eldest grandaughter in progress.  I am sure the tidiness will change, and there is one more cupboard to come back in once we have finished sorting out the power supplies for my light, heat guns, Silhouette etc.  The computer, printers and other peripherals have their own surge protected supply, and are running now.  My lovely new printer, bought to print thicker card, does just what I wanted.

As you can see, I am heavily into Really Useful boxes - I just need to reprint all the labels and make sure they reflect just what is really in each box.  My stamps , pens and a lot of other bits are still in my temporary room, as are the files with all my peeloffs, but they are waiting for Geoff to be able to get out and get more timber to put up the shelves for those.  The narrow shelf fitment in front of my workspace still need to be fixed to t he wall again.  They are so useful for all sorts of bits and pieces,craft knives, baby Xyron, ink pads, glitters etc.

As things progress, I will post further photos, weather permitting.  I am so grateful to my lovely husband for his help and support and his clever ideas to give me the maximum useful space.

 This is one reason why my craft room had to be at least partly done. The cupboard with all the Christmas decs in was behind a bookcase behind my temprary workspace.  This little illuminated village goes up every year and we always try to find something little to add each year.  The grandchildren love it and a lot of the grown up children too.  Flash photos do not show it to its full advantage.

Fingers crossed....

37 kettles of boiling water and an hour of the hair dryer and we have heat.  Just hoping it lasts.  The Christmas tree is up, only 3 cards left to make, the little Christmas village is set up and illuminated, and we are relaxing for a while with a drink, watching Mamma Mia.  The neighbours are out so the volume is nicely turned up.

Still need to make the marzipan and ice the cake and make some more mince pies, but no-one can get here so there is no rush.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and an even better New Year, with lots of new crafting toys to play with.  Love to all of you.

I hate snow!!!!!!

Our brand new heating boiler has frozen up and will not work.  Geoff needs to get at the pipe outside, but the Discovery is parked in front of it with its brand new battery totally flat.  At the moment he is busy with the hair dryer trying to defrost things.  Why do things always pack up just when you really need them?  It goes so cold so fast in this weather too.  Geoff may be going down to the fuel store to get the fire going to get some heat back into the house,

On a brighter note,I can now use at least half my new craft room.  The rest must wait until after the snow goes as we need more timber to finish things off and put up shelves.  However, the computer is in there and hooked up to all its peripherals.  My new printer is out of its box, installed and working well.  It will print on the thicker card which is why I bought it.  Hopefully, if we have any heat by thenm I can get myself sorted out and get some work done tomorrow.  I still need to make two more cards, and sort out a good crafting present for my eldest grandaughter.  I may be taking the halogen heater up there.

Roll on summer!!!

Lights with hats on

This one just made me laugh, with all the so-called solar lights with their little hats on - I guess they are not going to get much solar charging for a while.  They look a little like fairy castles with towers like a French chateau.

It does seem to have stopped snowing at the moment, so maybe we can get out tomorrow to replenish supplies, and even more wood perhaps to finish off the worktops and shelving in my craft room.

Whatever happens to my craftroom before Christmas, I need it to be tidy for Christmas Day as it is the only room we can blackout for our little grandaughter to have her nap, that is if the weather allows us to have Christmas at the proper time rhis year.  Last year, we had our family gathering in March this year.

More white stuff - bother it!

I really wish this new lot of snow had not come today.  It is beautiful but it is messing up my new craft room.  Geoff needs to go to B&Q for more wood but there is no way we can get the car out, and even less chance of getting back as we live at the top of a hill.  He will have to concentrate on just one side of the room until normal conditions return.  He has done so well with it so far, and I cannot wait to just get in there, sit down at my new desk and gloat about all the extra space (that came from removeing the hot water tank and the airing cupboard.  The plasterer came last week, the the painting was done in time for the carpet this week.  The first worktop is now in place and the supports ready for the next one.  Hopefully, by Tuesday (in spite of the weather), I shall be able to get things sorted out in there and start using it.

Every time I look out, the snow is just getting heavier.  So long as it lets us out to get to the butcher's next week for the Christmas meat, that is all I am bothered about.

Anniversary card

This should have been such a simple card to do, but everything went wrong.   Even the photo is not very good.  First, the Silhouette refused to cut properly, chewing rather than cutting.  With Shaz and Doug's help, that was sorted.  I cut the basic shapes, which was the card and the individual hearts (taken from LCM Griffiths' Crystal Dreams disc).  I actually simplified the outlines using the Silhouette Studio software.  I cut the card from the deeper mauve card, and the hearts from the same card and from a very pale mauve/silvery card.  Then I could not decide what to do next, so I took it downstairs and put it up on the cupboard by the TV so every time I looked at the TV, I could see the card.  Eventually, the ideas came.  I put the individual hearts through the Xyron, then sprinkled them with Martha Stewart glitter (I love that stuff), again in two colours, glued each one into place with Pinflair glue.  Then I decided I did not like it as a straightforward DL card, so I added a piece of the silvery card to the back to extend it, went round the outside and the inside edges with two different colours of glittery peeloffs.  The insert was created by manipulating several images in My Craft Studio, as well as the word art feature.  That was matted and layered, another darker mauve heart glued into the centre, and then a line of glitter added to the edges, using the Quickie glue pen.  In the end, the whole card turned out quite well and was well received.

If there are any tips to be seen in this card, it is not to panic when you get stuck.  Just put it where you keep seeing it all the time, and eventually inspiration will strike.  It may take a couple of attempts to get it right, but don't throw anything away.  Give it time.

Get the camera out

This picture may find itself on a card at sometime in the future.  We have been so lucky so far in this area with all the heavy snow going around us, but the rime on the trees, just as the sun was coming up, was so beautiful.  In addition to using the whole picture, I am aiming to use part of it, the interlacing twigs, to create a background paper for other cards.  All I want now is to get some good bird pictures from the birds on our feeders and trees, but they are clever and very camera shy and only seem to arrive when the camera is at the other end of the house.  I think I need to set up the video on a tripod and perhaps collect the odd still from that.  Having seen a woodpecker, very briefly, the other day, I am desperate to get a better view and identify the species.  I am so jealous of everyone else's beautiful robin pictures and others.

Maybe, when I get back into my craft room and I can sit next to the window again, I might get to see the shots I really want.  That moment is coming closer, with the plasterer up there right now, doing the ceiling.  The carpet fitter is booked for next Thursday, then my cupboards can move back.  Geoff is busy designing the layout of worktops and shelving for me, separating the IT stuff from the sticky, glittery stuff.  I cannot wait.

The main urgency to get this done now is that all our Christmas decorations are in the cupboard behind all my craft cupboards, and we want them all up ready for the grandchildren when they come.