WOYWW

Today is Wednesday, that day when all crafters show the world, their desks, workspaces, and in my case my drawers!! Short sweet, simple! Julia says keep it that way as all we really are interested in is your stash! This is some of mine, as my desk is still relatively tidy, none of that push me pull me type of stuff, I just haven't had time to make a mess! You will notice, those of you that the drawers are tidy too! You may be amazed, but be assured, so am I !!! Thank you Julia for my lovely untouched by any inks, glitters or altering, easel, lovingly made by Mr D. I am very proud to have it on my desk.

I hope to peruse yours but not sure if I will be here today, so please forgive me if I don't come browsing.
If you need candy to add to your stash have a go at my candy here.
Hugs to and a Happy WOYWW

Bring your bucket and spade!

Lots of sun, travels, work, and the fact that there has been no time to create, meant this little journal/artbook page has been sadly neglected since I first painted the page with yellow spray paints about a week ago! I wanted it to be summery, and reflect the lovely weather we are having, but time eluded me, and finally after all the glue had set, I could finish it! Here is my recipe for it.
Method: paint the bare pages in mica sprays or paints. Add lots of PVA glue to lashings of silver sand. Ice the page with it! Add starfish and shells. Let it dry. Use dabbers to paint the sea, and sky. While wet add white Accent enamels. Allow to dry. Add more for brighter whites! sounds like an advert for washing clothes!!! Draw your words with Dimensional Pearls.
Brush the loose sand off your desk, and remember your bucket and spade for making sandcastles!!

P.S. Don't forget the candy on offer this week:)
Hugs

A trip down memory lane...

It isn't often that I show much other than artwork on my blog, but I had to go down to Bournemouth this weekend ( more of that later in the week). We took the opportunity to spend the time by the sea in one of my favourite places. I spent many a happy hour playing on the beach every summer at Sandbanks when I was in my childhood, and because we were there, and just because, we took the ferry over to Corfe Castle, and Swanage and the wonderful Isle of Purbeck. The weather was extremely kind to us, hot, hot, hot, and we lay on the beach , and had ice creams, and enjoyed the views, and the warm sea breeze! It was a wonderful trip down memory lane. This is Sandbanks ( the most expensive real estate in the world, apparently!) from Studland

This is Corfe Castle, where my friends and I would cycle too every summer... I was quite amazed as I knew the hills to it were high, but not quite that high!! Not something I would do nowadays!!!

 and this was the luggage I picked up to alter!!! lol Actually it was a Corfe Castle railway, which sadly had a broken down steam train, or we would have taken a train ride :(

The sun, the sea, and the sand made for a perfect day!

Don't forget I have blog candy this week, and if you are reading this today check out the same post for a gift for you in the shop.
Hoping you are enjoying the sun
Hugs

Midsummer Madness Candy!-updated

Firstly, thank you and apologies. Thank you to everyone who popped on the blog yesterday and commented on my extremely tidy desk *lol*, I will be over to yours soon, just was very busy yesterday, and oh my! ended up on the sofa watching the longest tennis match ever! Did you see it? Hoping I will catch the end today, but we are off on our travels for the next few days, so not sure if I will get to a TV *sob*. I do confess to being a Wimbledon fan, and these 2 weeks see me sat in front of the TV more often than not! I confess I promised you something new, but it isn't quite finished so pop back at the weekend , when it definitely will be!
Instead I have BLOG CANDY for you, I know all you are really interested in, is the blog candy, and this is what I chose for you- vintage paper ephemera,a selection of word and swirl stamps from The Artistic Stamper, a distress ink pad, and a distress ink tool!

All you have to do is comment, pass it on to your friends via your blog in the form of a sidebar link for an extra go, doing absolutely nothing else but wait till I choose YOU!
I shall pick the winner Sunday July 4th, and if I reach over 100 comments I will add more candy! I shall post anywhere in the world too, just in case you worried...lol!!!
Have a very sunny creative day!
Hugs

It's the middle of the week again!?

Wednesdays are the middle of the week, or they could be the beginning of the week,( if you start the week at Wednesday! lol) but Wednesday it is, and here I am again! I am so sorry I didn't get round to hardly anyone's desk last week, but I do love comments, and hopefully this week I will get round to a few more.. This week's desk is marginally more messy than last week's. I am not sure how I have kept it so tidy, maybe I just haven't been playing enough! For the eagle eyed of you there is one started journal page, some wood!!!! mounted stamps and a new idea I picked up on my travels also on the desk.. hopefully more of this tomorrow...If you haven't already taken part in What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday , you just must.. it is such fun! Julia says make it sweet and simple, and today's is that!

See you tomorrow, for midsummer fun and madness... you don't want to miss it!
Hugs

A grungy time was had by all..

in yesterday's class! We played with grungepaper all day, making the ubiquitous rose, and tattered florals, got inky and painty, and very grungy! I had a wonderful time teaching, and a big thank you to everyone.. it was fun as always :) Here are some of the gorgeous creations everyone made, and as most people know my capacity for names is atrocious, (one of the traits of having hormones at silly ages!), so ladies thank you, I just adored what you did! The inspiration in teaching always makes me smile, and go home with a grin on my face :)
This was lunch..mmm cupcakes!

Flowers and colours galore, oh and purple of course! lol

This is my sample for the class, and you saw a sneak peek of it yesterday, so here it is in its entirety.

Have a very creative Sunday,

Hugs

It is always a pleasure...

to go to work...Let me explain..once a month at I do a workshop at Pickleberry Crafts. Today's is using Grungepaper, as the wonderful girls I teach requested it! I have no problem teaching this as I just love the medium, and because it works so wonderfully with the rose technique, this is what I will be teaching, along with other things too, of course! Over on Gingersnap Creations, I have done a tutorial showing you how to make the roses. I know a lot of you do make them, but it is always good to get a refresher! lol
Here is a sneak peek of the project I shall be making with everyone today. If you would like to do this workshop, I am repeating it at Sharon's Card Crafts on September 18th.

Back tomorrow with some fun from the workshop, if I remember to take my camera! Have a creative day!
Hugs

Learn to Pause...

Thank you everyone who commented yesterday on my very tidy desk...lol you should see it now! The push back method is starting again, but only because I am working on a couple of projects, and the inks are out with the bottles of paints and more!
I am having a problem concentrating at the moment, and the hormones this week have kicked in badly, making me very tired, but I cannot sleep, so this morning thought I would play with the new embossing folders and some of the new Lost and Found  papers from Mr Holtz. These are fab, and emboss beautifully as they quite thick. This is a little "journal" page I made using a mica sprayed tag already on my desk, and I stamped over it "David", and added the words to the side "learn to pause or nothing worthwhile will catch up with you". I forgot I had embossed the paper, so they don't show up very well :(. The paper was edged in crushed olive distress ink.

Hope you are having a creative day.
Hugs

You won't believe this!-woyww

Blimey, Wednesday has come round quick this week! What happened to Monday and Tuesday? Today can only mean one thing What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday! hosted by the inimitable Julia! All you have to do is show your desk, and whatever is on it, post a link, link yourself at the bottom of her post, and then hop around all the wonderful desks on offer this week! Regular viewers of my pile it high, push it back method, will be sorely disappointed this week, as there is nothing on my desk, in fact I have tidied it up!!! Truth, I couldn't stand it anymore, and I have spent several hours tidying my drawers, and boxes, so I can work!!! I even invested in some more boxes of the really useful kind, and now all the messiness is in them, neatly of course!
So without much further ado.. here is my desk for the week! I took the picture yesterday evening when the sun was shining in gently through the window.  Any bets on how long before the pile it high method is back?!!

Hopefully I will get time to hop around all your blogs later today.
Hugs

New! Alcohol Ink video

I should have edited this video months ago, but life has been cruel to me, and not given me enough time! lol but here it is anyway. I guess it is self explanatory!
Ingredients: Alcohol inks, glossy card, alcohol ink tool, 2 stamps (one with lots of open space, I used  a naughty nude from The Artistic Stamper, a script stamp, black archival inkpad and a non stick craft sheet. Take one video and the ingredients and have a go! Simple and effective!

Happy Creating!

Fossilized wings

How do you dream up your ideas? I think while driving on my own...no one to talk to you or ask you silly questions, so my mind focuses on ideas either for workshops or a piece of artwork or in this case the use of a product. I love using the meltpot, and have wanted to incorporate the Ranger memory capsules into something for a while, but hadn't quite worked out what. I hit up the idea of using them to hold an object while pouring clear utee into them. I wasn't sure if it would work, and might melt the plastic. Somewhere in my vast collection of *things* I have some tiny tiny black ants, but can I find them.. not a hope!, so I have used some tiny winged charms instead, just perfect for this week's Lots to Do challenge, birds and wings.
I soldered another ring onto 2 of the frames to get them to join together, and covered three of the frames in "goop" or Inka Gold cream in Rose colour, and using one each of the Memory glass covered this in Tissue Tape Traveller from Tim, and distressed inked it in Victorian Velvet.  Then I put the charm into the capsule, and covered very gently and slowly with clear utee. The utee does go a bit yellow if overheated, but I wasn't too worried about this as it adds to the fossil effect.  Don't overfill as it is very difficult to get out, should you wish to. Leave to harden completely, and you will be able to pull it out if you wish to, making a complete piece to use on a card etc. I left mine in the capsule, and layered it with the glass, and put it into the frame. You can use some of the packaging too from the idea-ology, but be careful, as I have had some melt when you put the utee into it!
Join them all together, and add a little bit of ribbon, and a Vintaj butterfly charm to the bottom loop.

Thank you girls for the challenge.
Happy Creating!

Mad Hatter Blog Hop

Welcome to the Gingersnap Creations’ Mad Hatter’s Day Hop and Hop Stop #10!
The Gingers are celebrating Mad Hatter Day and hope that you will hop along with us!
If you’ve already been hopping then hopefully you have just come from Sharon. If you are starting here, welcome! It's a loop so you can start anywhere along the way!
At stops #2 through #9, you will need to collect a word! There are 10 stops in all starting and ending with the Gingersnap Creations blog where you can get all the specific information and get a peak at the the goodies in the Mad Hatter Giveaway.
When you get all your words, 8 in all, unscramble them to form a quotation from the beloved classic, Alice in Wonderland. Once you have your guess at the quote, email it and your name to gingersnapstamp@gmail.com by June 25, 2010. We will be picking one lucky winner at random from the correct entries to win the Mad Hatter package! We’ll let you know who won on June 29, 2010.
If you visit all the stops, you should end up right back at Gingersnap Creations with 8 words! Unscramble the words to come up with the correct quote and email it on to gingersnapstamp@gmail.com. That's all there is to it!
I don't have a word for you to collect, but I do have a hint! The quote you are looking for can be found in Chapter 7 of Alice in Wonderland, "A Mad Tea Party".

Your next stop on the hop is Gingersnap Creations where you can find out all the details and get an outline of the entire route. Have fun and good luck!

WOYWW..the middle of the week!

What happened to the week?..it's Wednesday again, and I don't seem to have done anything this week.. and today is one of those days.. busy, but will I actually achieve anything? I look forward to Wednesdays when I can nose  around what everyone else has on their workdesks. It is WOYWW day! Julia has hosted another day and unlike last week, where I had made something, this week my desk hasn't altered one iota ( is that spelt right? looks odd!) . In fact it is a mess, and in desperate need of clearing up! there are few new acquirements for the eagle eyed of you...Tim's tape, some purple bird clips, (a find in a junk shop waiting to be altered), oh and the wooden spoons which will get altered eventually! lol  I am working on a piece for tomorrow's wonderful Mad Hatter blog hop hosted by Gingersnap Creations, and you MUST come back and visit! It is going to be FUN FUN FUN!!!
Anyway here is my desk... just spotted an awful lot of bottles of Glossy Accents!! lol

Hoping to get round to everyone's place later today :) Thank you Julia for even thinking of this momentous blog hop!

Happy Creating!

Letters in my book!

The theme this week on Sunday Stampers is letters, and although I strictly haven't stamped at all, I liked the idea, and I needed a bookmark, and I needed to use Tim's new Lost and Found paper, and I needed to use the bingo embossing die, so I needed to enter it. LOL! I do hope Hel's you will forgive the lack of stamping, but this was made inbetween other stuff, while trying to get my very pins and needled hand to work!
The embossing die was used with Grungepaper, now back in stock, The old scrabble tiles were distress inked (love the way the grain of the wood picks up the ink), and the paper just fitted perfectly. A bit of fun for a Monday!

Happy Creating, and join in with Hel's challenge, it lasts a week...
Hugs

Do you wax?

Over on Lots to Do the challenge this week is beeswax, and as I have been playing with mine ..ooer missus that sounds dodgy!, I thought I would wax some bird moulds that I got this week, and also play with the  Idea-ology Tissue tape, which arrived on Friday, at the same time. This actually started out as last weeks Lots to Do challenge, but never got finished. I distress inked the background in lovely summery yellows, and added the tape, and distress inked over the top of it too. I see lots of possibilities for this tape. It is translucent and tears easily, and there is lots of it on a roll, and you get 2 different types in each pack too! I added some Tim stamps, using the black enamel accents to highlight a couple fo them, and added a phrase. The little wax birds were moulded in beeswax, and brushed with perfect pearls, and glued onto the postcard.

I think this was more of an experiment in various techniques rather than a complete piece of art!
Thank you girls for the challenge. Do pop over and see the other entries :)
Hugs

Summer cometh?

It is such a gorgeous day today, and we are off to the seaside for an outing! Actually we are playing hookey, and in fact going to Bournemouth to sort out some stuff for a friend. Will tell all when we return. In the meantime yesterday I played with some grungepaper (now in stock!) and the Tattered Florals die and some of the new Black Enamels. It didn't turn out quite how I wanted it, mainly because I think I have a trapped nerve in my left hand, and have pins and needles in it, and couldn't manipulate the flower to the degree I wanted. I seem to do so much with my left hand, but I am pleased with the effect I got. Hopefully my hand will be ok with some rest and get its strength back. The tag was made inking with distress inks in lots of reds, and then I used Ink Potion 9 which had the effect of lightening it up, bleaching it, and generally distressing the inks.. There is lots of stamping and masking too! the scan also had the effect of flattening the flower.

I should have used the camera, which is packed away with my bucket and spade!

See you Sunday....
Have a creative day!
Hugs
 

WOYWWAC.. Happy Anniversary!

Today is Wednesday, that is What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday and today is week 52.. an ANNIVERSARY day!  Julia, our esteemed and wise leader has suggested that those who take part should create a piece to celebrate today. I always do as I am told, and have created!!!rofl! I have also made this blogpost short and sweet, as I always seem to waffle while writing this post. Is it so I can draw your attention away from my push it, pull it, pile it high method of leaving my desk always in a mess, or because it is always so boring ( never seems to change much!)? See there I am waffling again!! Anyway here is my piece, which I created in honour of today and WOYWW. A kind of Hollywood sign style with lots of messy drawers, stuffed full of knick knacks I collect. Distress inked, mica sprayed, stamped, idea-ologied, and grungeboarded, in my favourite colour, in amongst my, not even, tidied for the occasion desk!

 Julia, many thanks for letting us peek into other people's homes, and desks... I have a ball every Wednesday! Congratulations on a whole year... long may it last!
Hugs