Trick or Treat ............

Hi everyone,

Before I do anything else, a big 'hello and welcome' to my latest follower.  It's nice to have you along, and thanks for taking the time to read my crafty ramblings.

Phew!  This post has taken a while to do ........ Good old Blogger  is joining in the Halloween fun I think and playing a few tricks.  Just when I thought I'd try and catch up with everything too!!
Anyway ....... Happy Halloween to you all ....... or should I say 'Happy Hop Tu Naa' as it's called on the island. 
The pumpkin's been carved and is in place, and the sweets have survived and are ready for the Trick or Treaters (only because I hid them!). 

Not only that, my Tim tag is done too, for October's 12 Tags of 2013 ....... perfect timing as this month is a Halloween theme.  Anyone would think I'd planned it, but for those who know me better will know that I'm always on the last minute!! 
Here's Tim's fabulous inspiration .....

And here's my version .........

Same, but slightly different.  As usual I haven't had time to think too much about it, and luckily I had most of things I needed on the supplies list.  I did only have one of the shades I needed from the new Distress Glitters, but I used one of Tim's techniques from last year and coloured some of the Clear Rock Candy glitter using Alcohol inks .....

 

 

Clear Rock Candy Glitter coloured with Sunshine Yellow Alcohol ink

I followed the instructions on Tim's Blog and coloured the tag using the Distress Paints.  It did take a couple of attempts before I got one I was happy with, but I'm sure the others will come in useful for something.

I then stamped a few cobwebs onto the tag, using Black Archival ink and one of the Halloween stamps from Chocolate Baroque

The new Distress Glitters are fabulous, and Seedless Preserves is one of my favourites (I am a bit of a purple girl)  Seeing as I didn't have any of the other shades that Tim had used, I improvised  and made my own ......... black for the owl

and the yellow for the moon

I didn't have the Mirrored Stars, so I added a few clear gemstones for a touch of sparkle.  All finished, just in the nick of time - again!!

I hope you've all managed to stay safe and warm during the bad weather that's been hitting the UK.  It's not been that wild over here, we've had a few wet and windy days but nothing major. 
Last Sunday afternoon the other half decided to go 'storm chasing'.  The sea is pretty exciting to watch when the weather's bad, so off we went.  We drove down to Castletown and Scarlett Point, as the winds were coming in from the south.  You can see the sea was a little bit on the bumpy side .......... wouldn't want to be on the ferry!

The waves weren't half crashing against the sea wall - the little one loved it surprisingly.

Scarlett Point

Because of the bad weather we've also had a rig sheltering in Douglas Bay for the best part of a week.

I thought they'd struck oil out there but that's not the case.  It's apparently a support rig for the workers constructing the Walney Wind Farm in the Irish Sea ..... no oil then!

Ah well, thanks for popping by today.   I must dash and actually upload my tag to Tim's blog, now that it's finished.

Have a Spooktacular Halloween (mwahhahaha!!)  ....... I think I can hear the first lot of Trick or Treater's about to knock on the door.   It's about to get scary ......... whooooo hoo!

Cheerio for now.

Linda

xx

3 in a row!

Happy Wednesday to you!

Crikey!! Blogging three days on the trot ....... anyone would think I've nothing to do ....... like that's ever going to happen! 

I'm still trying to get my head around Kroma Crackle.  It's the first time I've actually used it straight onto card, I've only really put it onto MDF, so it's a bit of a learning curve for me.  Fun though, however I'm not the most patient of crafters, I don't like waiting for things to set, or dry so, I've been trying out Kay's technique of using Flitter Glu underneath the Crackle, then blasting it with a heat gun until it cracks.
It's a lot quicker doing it this way, and the effect you get is totally different from leaving it to dry natrually.

I've been painting bits of cardstock using the Indigo Blu English Cottage Acrylic Paints, then added the Kroma Crackle over the top.

I've added some of the paint to the crackle ..... and then used Kay's heat technique ......

I've also tried adding mica powders .......  on some I've added it straight to the crackle and on others, I've sealed the crackle with Slap It On then dusted the mica over the top ......

I've now got a desk (and the airing cupboard) full of pieces of crackled cardstock, in various stages of drying.  I'm going to try using them with my dies and punches so watch this space for the results.

Today's also my day over on the IndigoBlu DT Blog.  Have you seen our new look Blog page yet?  If you fancy a bit of festive inspiration pop over and take a look at today's post.

I know, I know ...... we're back to the 'C' word again and we haven't even had Halloween!  But ...... 9 weeks today and we'll all be tucking into Christmas dinner, eating far too much, downing the Christmas spirit and finding out what Santa has left for us. Can't wait!

I must confess I am trying to get into the spirit of things ...... there's a Christmas event on this evening down at the local garden centre ....... a preview of all their festive goodies, and I'm sorry to say I shall be there (what an exciting life I lead!)   I'll be buying more decorations for the tree no doubt, it just wouldn't be the same if I didn't have at least one new decoration to hang now would it! 

Oh well, better get the old craft room tidy I suppose.  I'm hoping to tackle my Timmie Tag tomorrow with a bit of luck, and maybe the odd Blog Challenge too.

Thanks for popping by.  Have a lovely evening and I'll see you again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda 

xx

It's a funny old day .....

Hello there,

What's this two days in a row ..... things must be looking up! 

It's a funny old day in the craft room today, a bit sad really.  I've made the difficult decision to stand down from the Craftwork Cards Design Team (sigh!). 

I've had a ball over the last 18 months working alongside a very talented DT.  I'd like to say a BIG Thank You to ...... here goes, lets hope I remember everybody (I'll apologise now to anyone that I forget!) ......... the lovely Julie Hickey and Sue from CWC for giving me the chance to join such a fabulous talented bunch.  Tina, Marie, Kim, Emma W, Lisa, Kath S, Kath W, Jo, Debbie, Hazel, Georgina, Enfys, and Emma S my teamies, it's been a pleasure working with you girls.   And of course the rest of the gang at Craftwork Cards HQ, you all do a fabulous job.

Here's a few of my favourite Craftwork Cards projects I've done over the last 18 months .......

and finally there's todays post ...... my last one (sob!)

Pop over to the blog if you'd like to see what's in the boxes.

Thanks to everyone for following my posts on the CWC Blog, I really do appreciate you taking the time to pop over there, and all the lovely comments you leave.  I hope you've enjoyed reading the posts as much as I've enjoyed blogging them.

Thanks for popping by today.  I'm off now to play with some Kroma Crackle.  Things could get a little messy in the old craft room this afternoon - it'll be fun though.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

It's not Terry's ....... it's mine!

Good morning!

Happy Monday everyone ..... let's get the week off to a good start shall we.

It's the 21st of the month again, so ............ that means a brand new challenge over at IndigoBlu - whoo hoo!  And .... not only is there a new challenge, it has it's own new Blog page too - IndigoBlu Challenge Blog. 
You'll find lots of new stuff on there.  There's a copy of the rules of course, badges for the winners and runners up, and there's also one for all you IndigoBlu fans to display on your blogs.
There's going to be a list of all the winners too, and a page full of all the inspiration ideas from the challenges done by the DT.  There's even a page about us if you fancy knowing a little more about the Design Team!

The challenge, and the rules, all remain the same, and you have from the 21st of the month, until 8.00pm on the 20th of the following month to get your entry in.  There's also a fabulous prize up for grabs, so why not give it a go.

The prize for our last challenge - Things with Wings,  went to ......  Number 10  which was  Lyn Marlow
Congratulations! Lyn, a worthy winner.  Enjoy your prize and thanks for taking part.

This month's theme was chosen by Design Team member Nikki ....... and it's a colour challenge.  We'd like you to use .........

Chocolate Orange

My first thought was Mmmmmm ...... Terry's Chocolate Orange - nom! nom! (do you remember the Dawn French advert from a few years ago!)  Then I had a bit of a panic! .......  You see I don't use a lot of brown really.  I like to use Sepia shades of ink sometimes, but that's about it, and I hardly ever use orange, except for Halloween.  

Anyhow here's what I came up with ....... a bit more orange than chocolate I'll admit but there's is definitely some brown on there I promise.

What do you think? ....... a touch on the Halloween style maybe ....... well there is only 10 days to go before all the scary stuff starts.

My design is all done using the IndigoBlu Hocus Pocus A5 stamp set.

I started by colouring some white cardstock with Distress Inks.  I used Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon, just a touch of Rusty Hinge around the edges, and finished with Gathered Twigs to add a little shading.

I then used a couple of my favourite techniques, first I flicked water over the card, let it sit for a few seconds, then removed the excess with paper towel  giving the splattered effect.  Next I spritzed the card with some Biscotti Perfect Pearls, covered it with a piece of cling film, scrunched it a little and left it to dry. 

This is the effect you get once the perfect Pearls has dried ......

......... lovely and shimmery.

I then stamped the spiders web from the set onto a couple of the corners using the brand new Archival Ink from Wendy Vecchi - Potting Soil.  I must say I do like this shade.

I then highlighted the web using a Stardust Gel Pen .....

The owl was then stamped onto IndigoBlu Perfect Stamping card using Vintage Sepia Versafine ink, and I added a touch of colour to the scene with my Distress Markers.  I then made a mask for the bird and the castle, covered them up and inked up the sky.  A simple punched circle was used to create the moon in the background.

Everything was then mat and layered using chocolate brown and black cardstock and attached to the front of a 6x6 cardblank.

A touch of glossy accents on the owl's eyes, a few chocolate coloured pearls and a bit of bakers twine finish off the design.  And as always, the inside was decorated to match

Hope you like it, and that it's inspired you to join in with this month's challenge.  You never know, orange might just become your new favourite colour.

I'm off now for a quick coffee, and chocolate, then it's back to the old craft room for a busy week working my way through the 'To Do' list.




Good luck with the challenge.  The DT are looking forward to seeing all your Chocolate Orange designs.

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Where did that week go ..... ???!

Hi everyone,

Well it's Friday again, where has that week gone?  I had such good intentions at the beginning of the week, I was going to get so much done.  Everything was all laid out in the old craft room ready to go and where is it all now ......... still laid out in the old craft room!  Well, actually it's all piled up at the side of my desk.  Didn't manage to make a start on half of the stuff, no blog challenges done, no ATC's made for the monthly swap .... I'm rubbish!!!

I haven't spent all week doing nothing though, I have been working on some magazine stuff, I'll share that with you some other time, and of course I've been doing my DT projects.
Check out Baby Aloysius over on the new IndigoBlu DT Blog

And of course today is Friday, so that means it's my day over on the Creative Studios DT Blog.  I've gone all Halloween for this weeks project ........ Pop over to the blog and see this in more detail

I must say, I love Halloween (mwahhaha ........!!)  I've already got my pumpkin, I haven't carved it yet though.  I just need to get the sweet treats sorted for all the Trick or Treaters.  Can't do that too early though, my lot would eat them!

I thought I would enter this into October's challenge over at Country View Crafts (my favourite online craft store)  The theme is ....

Something Spooky

I think this qualifies, don't you.

One of the reasons things are running slow in the old craft room at the moment is this little guy .......

Here he is, having fun at the Wildlife Park at the weekend

And here he is on Monday evening, after his first 'big boy' haircut ......

Where have all those curls gone?!  But how grown up does he look?  I don't think he was too sure about it though.  He wasn't too keen on the idea of his hair being in the vacuum cleaner, he wanted it back on his head ....... bless him!

Oh well, I suppose coffee breaks over.  No rest for the wicked eh!

Thanks for popping by today.  Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

A little Less is More ......

Happy Friday everyone!

It's been a while ........ I think I've forgotten how to Blog! 
There's been a lot going on around here lately, what with all the trips to the UK, craft shows, DT projects to do, and the arrival on the island of that little bundle of gorgeousness, aka Alex, his mum, and her partner, things have been a little busy shall we say.  Here's me thinking Stephen and I would get the house to ourselves for a while - not a chance!  Not that I'm complaining mind ......... anything but.  Lauren's new man is a chef ........ who's enjoying finding his way around my kitchen.  I'm not arguing with him, his knives are bigger than mine!!

Well, my travels are now over, for the time being (sigh!)  It's time to settle down and get things back to normal, especially on the craft front.  The old craft room, and my blog, have seriously been neglected for the last few weeks.  And just to make things a bit more 'interesting' Mr Mojo's decided to stay in the UK I think - great!!!  If anyone spots him please send him home ....... October is shaping up to be a busy month. 

Here's something I haven't done in a while ........ a Blog Challenge!!
When I saw this weeks theme over at Less is More I was determined to enter.  It's a colour challenge with an extra bit added on ........
The colour part is .....

White on White

 with the extra bit being ....... White Christmas.

Here's my entry ......

Not sure about the picture, it's always hard photgraphing white cards.  Anyway ....... I've used one of the new Sweet Poppy Stencils, Mistletoe Wreath, along with the Glossy White Embossing Paste.
Whilst the paste was still wet I sprinkled over some fine crystal glitter to add a touch of sparkle.

The word in the centre is a Memory Box die cut from glitter card. 

See what I mean about me having trouble photographing white cards - it looks blue on this one!  It is white on white - honest!

I've also posted on the Creative Studios DT Blog today (first time in two weeks!)  Here's a little sneak peek of what's on there .......

Let's hope that over the weekend I can get the old craft room sorted, hope that Mr Mojo returns and maybe, just maybe I can make a start on Tim's Creative Chemistry -  yep! I'm playing catch up as usual.

Well, it's nice to be back in the land of Blog.  I'll try and visit you all at some point over the next few days, I'm dying to see what you've all been up to.

Thanks for popping by.  Have a lovely weekend, fingers crossed the weather's nice.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx