Thursday 31 May 2018

Crafty Short Cuts to a Humerous Tag

This is my third and final contribution to the May prompt over on Country View Challenges: Be Humorous.  It is also a tag, as I love to have plenty to use as bookmarks. I was in a bit of a hurry to create this one, so used some crafty shortcuts to get great results in a short amount of time.

Wednesday 30 May 2018

WOYWW 469: A Wealth of Friendship

My desk this week is a celebration of the number of friendships that I have developed from taking part in WOYWW for the last 2+ years.  Even though I have never met many of the people whom I have come to know through this fabulous blog hop, I still feel that we are friends.  Of the nine swap partners who sent me the ATCs on the desk, I have met six of them in person and hope one day to have the chance to meet the rest. Eva and I will be at the crop again in September...
From top left, thank you very much to Zsuzsa,  Margaret, Annie and Jo (who sent a joint offering even though I'd only arranged a swap with Annie).  Middle row: Many thanks to Jan, Cindy and our hostess with the mostest Julia.  Bottom row: Thank you muchly to Nikki, Neet and Shaz.  Thank you all for your generosity and the thought which I know goes into creating these symbols of crafty friendship.  I hope all my ATCs made it safely to their destinations, including to my PIF Diana.  I look forward to receiving my ATC from Bleubeard and Elizabeth which is winging its way from the USA.

Thank you also to my PIF Diana, who sent me an ATC in a beautifully stamped matching envelope in return.

I did remember to take a picture of my ATCs before I posted them; all except the one which I sent to my PIF which followed the same format but in another colour scheme.  See HERE if you would like to know how they were made.  If you would like to join in with us on a Wednesday then visit Julia's blog The Stamping Ground.
Eva is off gallivanting for half term, so I'm afraid that I have nothing to show on the other side of the desk.

Monday 28 May 2018

Layered Stencil Background

I must thank my friend Eva for this card, the concept is entirely hers and I have simply copied her idea.  I love the way that she layered up colour using three different stencils, to create a background for a large stamped focal image.  This is my copy of the card that I gave my son to open for his birthday yesterday (his was made using Eva's topper!).

Sunday 27 May 2018

4 x ATCs = 1 Journal Page

The current prompt over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More is 'Trade It'.  For the third week of May ATCs were the order of the day.  I have made a few, but this time turned four of them into an art journal page as I intend to create one each week for this group.

Saturday 26 May 2018

Artist trading Coins: Using my Initial

There was a recent timed challenge over on Junk Journals and Mindful Mixed Media Art (JJAMMMA).  It was to make some Artist Trading Coins using our own initials as inspiration.  I was too tired at the time to take part in the challenge, but couldn't resist having a go later on.

Friday 25 May 2018

ATCs for WOYWW Anniversary

The weekly link up of desks (WOYWW) hosted by Julia on The Stamping Ground, celebrated its ninth anniversary this week.  Little did Julia know when she first started up this blog hop, that it would still be going strong 9 years later.   I have been taking part for nearly three years and it is such a friendly, supportive group to be part of.  This is the first year that I properly participated in the anniversary, ATC swap.  I created nine ATCs for swapping, commemorating the anniversary, then made a tenth to send to my Pay It Forward partner on the day itself.

Thursday 24 May 2018

Perfect Paint and Medium Storage

I have a lovely new addition to my craft shed.  It sits right next to my craft space and holds my paints and mediums.  I no longer have to cross over to the other side of the shed to find everything when I want to get painty.

Wednesday 23 May 2018

WOYWW 468: Happy 9th Anniversary!

Hello and welcome to my contribution to the the celebrations for the 9th anniversary of WOYWW; the weekly sharing of all things desk, hosted by the amazing Julia over on The Stamping Ground.  This is a real community of bloggers, lurkers, and the curious from all around the world.  I am a relative newcomer as I have been blogging for less than three years, but I have been made to feel so welcome.  If you are thinking of taking the plunge, jump on in, the water's lovely!
Part of the tradition of WOYWW is to make ATCs to swap on the anniversary.  My desk this week shows the happy post that I received a couple of weeks ago from Nikki (Graphix and Designs) in Canada,  who is far more organised than I am.  I have saved their gorgeousness for this week.  My ATCs are all made, the envelopes are written and all ready to go to my swap partners.  Once I know who my PIF is I will be on the case there too.  If it is one of the people with whom I have already arranged a swap, I will add an extra ATC into the envelope.  These will go into the post this afternoon after I have been to my hospital appointment.  I apologise in advance for the lack of accompanying card/goodies, as it has been a rush just to get the ATCs finished in time, having had a horrible cold last week.
On the other side of the desk, Eva was playing with Pixie Powders and over stamping with Archival inks.  Nothing quite like messy hands lol.  Happy anniversary everyone: here's to the next 9 years!

Tuesday 22 May 2018

Locks and Keys: A Tag

The current challenge over on Tag Tuesday is Locks and Keys.  I found a quote that I liked, "Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart." by Anthony J. D'Angelo and based my tag round that.

Monday 21 May 2018

Sunday 20 May 2018

Colourful All Round!

This card was made following inspiration seen on Angela Radford's blog 'Felix the Crafty Cat' (see HERE).  She had decorated both the front and back of a card to create a continuous background.  I decided to colour my card with Distress Oxides as well as stamping on it to add a pattern.

Saturday 19 May 2018

Clean and Simple Celebration

I couldn't resist creating a tag to celebrate the big event being celebrated today: the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.  I kept it clean and simple with a patriotic colour scheme.

Friday 18 May 2018

Artist Trading Coins: A Gel Print Background


I can't seem to get enough of these Artist Trading Coins, thanks to Joanne at Craftyhodges having introduced this latest mini method of creating art.  Once again the backgrounds have been created using alcohol ink through a stencil on a gelli plate (see HERE for original inspiration).  I made a pair this time as you can see.

Thursday 17 May 2018

Alcohol Ink Gelli Background Tag: Nature

The background for this tag was created using a technique seen on YouTube demonstrated by Sally Lynn MacDonald (see HERE).  I loved having a go at it and have ended up with some fabulous clean up sheets for further use as well.

Wednesday 16 May 2018

WOYWW 467: A Crafty Weekend

One week to go to the ninth anniversary and I have most addresses for the swaps next week of ATCs to celebrate 9 years of WOYWW.  Visit Julia at The Stamping Ground for the full rundown!
Only one picture of a desk this week as the other side of my desk was vacant.  These are all my goodies from my annual visit to Port Sunlight on Saturday.  I saw lots of crafty friends, including Neet and met Heather for the first time too.  On Sunday, Eva and I were at a workshop with Maria Moorhouse together.  It was a fabulous project (which I can't share yet), but unfortunately a heavy summer cold prevented my full enjoyment.  I spent yesterday in bed having struggled into work on Monday and have dragged myself into the shed so as not to miss posting this morning.  I'm not sure how much visiting I'll get done before the weekend as school has a visit from Ofsted, so I won't be getting to the journal meet up this afternoon either.  So sorry Neet,  I'll have to get your ATC in the post after all.

Tuesday 15 May 2018

Artist Trading Coins: Blue and Yellow!

The latest challenge over on Junk Journals and Mindful Mixed Media Art (JJAMMMA) involves making Artist Trading Coins, a new phenomenon introduced by Joanne from Craftyhodges.  I shall also be sharing these on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More as they fit the May prompt 'Trade It'.  The colour scheme to be used in the challenge was blue and yellow which I love in combination.

Saturday 12 May 2018

ATCs: B is for...

The prompt for the monthly ATC swap over on Junk Journals and Mindful Mixed Media Art is the letter B.  As I have worked on that prompt before, I had to be mindful not to repeat myself.  All stamps used are by Claritystamp as always for my ATCs.

Friday 11 May 2018

Artist Trading Coins on a Journal Page

The prompt for this month over on Nina Ribena's Art Journal Prompts and More is Trade It.  For the first week Nina introduced Joanne's (Crafty Hodges) idea of Artist Trading Coins, similar to the traditional ATC but on a 2.5" circle base.  She was inspired by .  As I am still trying to produce a weekly art journal page, I decided to make some and use them as focal points for my page.  I actually created eight, but only used five on the page.

Thursday 10 May 2018

Journal Tag: Animal Baby Love!

This tag was created for the latest fortnightly prompt over on Tag Tuesday: Baby Love.  I decided to use a stamp of a giraffe family from the Safari Animals set by Claritystamp as my focal image for this.

Wednesday 9 May 2018

WOYWW 466: What a Difference a Bank Holiday makes!

I am feeling very relaxed today, even though it's a work day tomorrow and Friday.  Having had an extra long break (the only other day I work is a Monday and it was a Bank Holiday), I feel rejuvenated and I've caught up with my sleep.  Welcome to my contribution to WOYWW hosted by Julia at The Stamping Ground if you'd like to know more. 
My side of the desk shows the bargain that I picked up on Monday at a second hand book shop.  It's a bound set of scores of Beethoven Sonatas for which I only paid £2.  I have already made a tag using less than half a page (see HERE for step by step).  It also shows the start of another tag which I will be sharing on my blog tomorrow if you feel like popping back.  You can just see the corner of my laptop peeping out too.
Eva was in a die cutting mood and had brought her boxes of dies with her, along with colourful scraps and backgrounds ready for adding to her ready cut stash.  Her parcel of Creative Expressions goodies had also been delivered and unpacked. 
Below you can see the finished feather tags that she was working on last week.  I snapped a picture before she left!  Have a great week everyone; my ATCs are now all allocated for the anniversary swap.  Christine (Bishopsmate), Vickie and Kelly are on my reserve list if I do manage to make more, but at the moment I don't think I'll be able to.

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Friday 4 May 2018

Tags with a Feather Theme

These tags were made for the April Tag Swap over on Junk Journals and Mindful Mixed Media Art (JJAMMMA); the theme was 'Feathers'.  I thoroughly enjoyed making these and was so pleased at the way they turned out.  I hope my swap partner feels the same way!

Thursday 3 May 2018

Funny Tag with Crazy Dog!

This tag was created for the May challenge over on Country View Challenges: Be Humorous.  One of the design team, Miriam, had used one of the Crazy Cats on her sample card, together with a Dyan Reaveley stamped sentiment; as I liked the idea but didn't want to use the same stamps, I chose to use a different sentiment from my stash of Dyan Reaveley stamps and one of the Crazy Dogs on a tag instead.

Wednesday 2 May 2018

WOYWW 465: Unexpected Company

As you will see from my desk today,  I have made a start on my 9 ATCs ready for the swap in two weeks.  All my ATCs are now allocated and I even have a reserve list.  Many thanks to Nikki whose ATC, card and extra bits arrived at the weekend.  I will share all on the actual day of celebration.  To find out more about WOYWW, visit Julia over on The Stamping Ground and she will gladly let you join the club!
The other item on my desk - other than my craft 'to do' list - is my latest Chalet School acquisition from Girls Gone By Publishing.  I admit to being a life long fan of the series and have all the books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer.  I am now working on getting hold of the 'fill ins', written to fill in the gaps in the series and as prequels also. 
I had an unexpected visitor on the other side of the desk.  Eva only had two candidates to examine and not too far away, so she made it back to do some crafting in the afternoon - YAY.
She was working on some tags with the theme of feathers for a swap.  I will be working on mine as you read my post!   If you want to see how I made the backgrounds then you can check out my post HERE; I won't be sharing any more about them until after the swap.
It's my Dad's birthday today, so I'm hoping to Skype him later as he and mum are visiting my brother in BC, Canada.  Happy birthday Dad!

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Oxide Experiment With Colour Combinations

The ninth anniversary of What's On Your Workdesk, Wednesday? (WOYWW) is coming up on May 23rd.  It is a tradition that ATCs are swapped to celebrate the event and I will be making nine of them.  I decided to try out some different colour combinations to make backgrounds using my Distress Oxides, as I want them all to be a little different.  So far, I have only finished the backgrounds, but I like the variety of combinations that I have found so far.