WOYWW 175

Good morning/afternoon to fellow WOYWWers and welcome to my world:) Short and sweet today as the 'to do' list is frighteningly long.

See these wonderful goodies - pressies that arrived (in the box on the left) the other day as a complete surprise from my great crafty friend and fellow WOYWWers Anne R x. How unbelieveably generous and kind - I was blown away I can tell you. You'll see they've already been used:) The Impressabilities stencil, the kraft glassine and the seam binding all feature in my next post and were invaluable. No, let's be honest, I wouldn't have been able to achieve the card made without them. Also on show, a fab tag, some wonderful wings and four stamped images (Artistic Outpost winter postcard on Specialty Paper). Anne read how much I lusted after this image and so kindly stamped them out for me! Well, after my inky session with Hels Sheridan this Saturday at Kettering I will attempt to do them justice. Watch this space.

Time to go do - including noseying around workdesks of the World. No idea what I'm going on about? Fancy a nosey yourself? Head over to Julia Dunnit's HERE to find out about how to do just that.

Ta ta for now, hugs Buttons x

Snow Problem

So for those of you kind and wonderful peeps who have been following me recently and seen the Christmas tab collection grow here's another in the 'series'. It was totally inspired by Hels Sheridan's amazing creation for her latest challenge - Sunday Stampers 226 Snowflakes and will be entered into this challenge.

I used Hels' instructions for the background (DI Picket Fence/Stormy Sky smooshed onto white card, snowflakes then stamped over with Picket Fence and restamped with Silver Versacolor/clear embossing powder/silver gel pen to make them stand out). So far so good.

Sentiment, check, twiddly bits at the top, check. Now for the main snowflake.

Aahh. No Tim Holtz snowflake die or anything closely resembling it, but at this point a tutorial by Sue Wilson (on Create and Craft tv) sprung to mind. Out came the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis squares dies - two each of the two middle sizes - and after some folding and fiddling hey presto! Having cut them with thin silver mirror card Hels' comment about using white alcohol ink rang bells so I dropped some Ranger White Mixative alcohol ink onto the larger one to create random patches. The smaller one got a mix of Ranger White and Copper Mixative and Stonewashed alcohol inks blotted/dropped to create a mottled effect. A thin Memory Box branch, a handcut glitter card snowflake and another of Dot's glass beads and that was it, job done:) If I get time (?!)  futher snowflake experimentation may need to take place as I had a few more thoughts about how to make it more lacy afterwards. For now I have four urgent projects which must get done, amongst other things.

Thank you for stopping by and for your much appreciated comments. Hugs, Buttons x

Bargello - At Last!!

Happy Sunday everyone. Another Christmas tag to share with you today using the Bargello technique which was shared with me by the wonderful Fliss ages ago. I promised to give it a whirl and then a million other projects got in the way. Now a tinge of guilt has hit and kickstarted the ole mojo...

I began (as you would) by creating the Bargello base - by chance it is the theme of a monthly challenge at Techique Tuesday where the wonderful Mynnette gives a full tutorial HERE. I will of course enter this tag for the Technique Tuesday challenge. Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery (I remember starting some eons ago which had a wavy arch pattern) so this decided the pattern of the blocks for me.

The papers? you guessed it - Basic Grey Jovial (this year's Christmas tag theme for me). I took the time to edge each strip with ink to eliminate white stripes. Strangely enough the background was the easy bit. Deciding what to put on top was a mare! My fav Christmas (Lentern) roses sprang to mind but it took three versions to get the colours right. I also discovered you can use embossing powder on nylon lace without it frazzling up as long as you use PVA glue (in this case Cosmic Shimmer gold).

Some beautiful lace from The Funkie Junkie Boutique (died to within an inch of its life!!) and a sentiment from a really old HOTP stamp set helped to finish it - finally.

Now I need to go visit you guys as the posts have been appearing thick and fast, and there are several other projects on the go that need completing (no change there then!)

BTW - is anyone going to the Big Stamp and Scrapbook Show at Kettering next weekend? I'm going on Saturday (including a workshop with Hels Sheridan!! - huge squeals and happy dance!!) and it would be great to put faces to names if you are. Hugs, Buttons x

Frosty and Sparkly

The Christmas tag production line continues to roll and the next one is ready for its QA:)

I was inspired by the third of Linda Coughlin's 'The Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Christmas' which is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Just in case you haven't heard about it, Linda has set a challenge to create 12 tags which take inspiration from hers and post/link them before December 17th. The full deets are HERE - Linda explains it so much better than me! So, here is Linda's tag...

And here is mine...

Hopefully the fairly obvious parts I took on board were the background, the snowman, the snowflakes and the swirl. The rest was lil' ole' me:)

The background used Tim Holtz' marbled stains technique (Compendium of Curiosities 2) - in this case Picket Fence, Antique Linen and Stormy Sky. Not sure if it's just me, but I really struggle with this technique and it took a lot of doing before I was happy. I then stamped silver Versacolor snowflakes on top and covered them with clear embossing powder. The snowflakes are stamped, handcut, and covered in layers of Versamagic Aspen Mist, glitter and Distress Rock Candy. The beautiful glass bead centres came from my friend Dot in her ATC parcel (as did the silver sparkly twine and mini peg) so a huge thank you Dot.

The snowman took some time as the Blue Ice Cosmic Shimmer Mist I sprayed over the Distress Rock Candy was too strong and needed a further rub with pale blue and turquoise mica powders to bring it down. The papers are from that Basic Grey Jovial set (love that snowman paper!)

As it is shiny and glittery I am also entering this into the following challenges;

Anythning But A Card - Shiny, Sparkly, Blingy

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Glimmer and Sparkle

Before I go a huge welcome to all my new followers. I always try to return this compliment by following you too, so if you could let me know your blog addresses this would be so helpful. If you have a couple of minutes I would urge you to visit the blog of my latest follower Evik (HERE) as her pieces blew me away.

That's all for now folks, hugs Buttons x

WOYWW 174

No, I'm not attached to my laptop/craft workdesk at the mo' but it must look like it out there! Welcome to What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, a weekly trot around crafty areas across the globe. Like a good old nosey? Head on over to Headmistress Julia's office to find out more HERE.

Oh yes, Christmas is definitely still the main theme at chez moi. I even got organised with this one for Linda Coughlin's 12 tags challenge and wrote a suggested 'recipe'. Need to do this more to stay focused. The usual crafty things are struin about and they are joined by a pile of cookie cutter - I realised my Xmas stash is somewhat limited - no dies, 4 sets of stamps and a 6x6 pad of papers, but improvisation helps to push the boundaries so this could be a good thing.

You may have spied on my noticeboard shelf some new ATC's waiting to be displayed. These little beauties have just arrived as a swap from my good crafty friend Dot (HERE is her blog - well worth a visit) and she also included a parcel of embellies!! Squealing and dancing going on here I can tell you. It SO makes a difference to see things IRL as you get to appreciate the techniques and detail so much more. Thank you Dot, you've made my day:))

Mistress likes us to keep it short (oops) but I promised you a tour a while ago, so here is one of the cupboards of stuff under my work area - finished work, tools and cardstock aplenty!

Right, off to visit my fellow WOYWWers. If you haven't joined in before whey not give it a go?

Hugs, Buttons x

Mmmm, Gingerbread x

Howdy yawl! That feels appropriate for this post as I was inspired to make the next Christmas tag by the Our Creative Corner challenge - It's A Howdy Challenge. The requirements are;

-Create a card or project with a country or western look. Use the photo below to inspire you.

-Your project must have something plaid or gingham (checkered/tartan is acceptable too!), such as in a ribbon, or designer paper.

I was inspired by the Design Team's projects, and in particular the ones from Birgit and Linda.

This was another tag already partly planned in my head and I did a little jump for joy when spotting Birgit's choice of paper - Basic Grey Jovial! Hurrah! That's the running theme for my Christmas tags:) The second jig happened when I saw Linda had gone for a Christmas theme too.

Once I'd stopped dancing it was time to get to work. Lots of Versamagic and Versacolor inks here as I love the chalky feel. In particular I smothered 'the main man' in Versamagic Gingerbread over the top of the chocolate cardstock and edged him with DI Walnut Stain. Mouthwatering eh? Like the eyes? They are bead caps from a charity shop necklace find sat on top of Cosmic Shimmer gold PVA glue.

Other country elements include burlap (from The Funkie Junkie Boutique) and the diecut detailing at the bottom of the tag which reminds me of the patterns on cowboy clothing/boots.

Time to sign off for tonight. Thank you to everyone for popping by and leaving comments. Your continued support means the world to me. Happy crafting, hugs Buttons x

Yes! Needles ARE leaves!!

So it seems a day in Blogland is a lifetime in real time! Just when you think you are up to date checking out what others have been up to, you go to sleep for a few hours (and I do mean a few - I'm no golf fan but the end of the Ryder cup was way too exciting to leave:) and wake to tons of new stuff! Although a little daunting it can also be exciting, especially at the beginning of the month when lots of new challneges are set.

Truth be told I had lots of fun with my latest tag so it fit three challenges (in no particular order) as a result;

First up, The Artistic Stamper Creative Team October Challenge - The Natural World sponsored by The Artistic Stamper (brought up the rear last month and got to the front of the queue this time! Yay!)

Next, Simon Says Stamp and Show - Leaf'spiration sponsored by Simon Says Stamp

And last, but definitely by no means least, Sunday Stampers challenge - Happy Heart.

Linda Coughlin's Christmas tag challenge has seriously got me in the Xmas mood (yep, out of denial finally!) I plan to use all my tags on the front of cards this year - so a lot need to be completed. I find tags a useful way for trying things out, especially for backgrounds, and in this case was inspired by Anita Houston to have another go at Tim Holtz's alcohol resist technique (which has always failed dismally in the past for me). To get it to work properly finally really made me a happy bunny:)

The background used Oregano Ranger Alcohol Ink, Black Archival Ink (behind and on top of the acetate) and Ranger Glue n Seal to protect the acetate and make it matte.

The twine and ribbon are all from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, and the papers are Basic Grey Jovial (a bit of a theme throughout these tags).

The stamps are part of a Christmas set from Creative Expressions, and the holly leaves were sprayed with Cosmic Shimmer Mist - Golden Mint. Oh, and the final touch - yep, those are real pine needles to match the background stamping collected by my own fair hand on a recent dog walk:)

Now just in case anyone was wondering, pine needles are also classed as leaves, honest! Needles, the adult leaves, which are green (photosynthetic), bundled in clusters (fascicles) of 1–6, commonly 2–5, needles together, each fascicle produced from a small bud on a dwarf shoot in the axil of a scale leaf. A pretty tag and a spot of education, what more could you want? Hopefully to get crafty yourselves and take a trip around Blogland using the numerous links above to collect even more inspiration.

Happy crafting, hugs Buttons x