One of a Kind ......

Happy Saturday,

What a busy old day it's been ........ it's the last day of November and finally the last job on the list for this month has been crossed off - my tag's done for Tim's 12 Tags of 2013  (phew!)

In between tidying the house ready for the tree going up tomorrow (hopefully!), and painting my nails, doing my hair etc.  ready for this evening I've made time to settle down with the lap top and follow Tim's tutorial for this month's tag.
It's all about creating that Chalkboard look this month ........ here's Tim's tag

and here's my version ......

 

Not sure if my chalk effect is how it should be ....... the chalk I used was not the best quality but it was all I could find in the time I had available.  Next time I'm out and about I'm going to have a look for a better quality one and give this technique another go - it's fun!

I used the Toy Soldier from the Christmas Blueprints stamp set (CMS 135) and layered him up a little to add dimension

and I also decided to add a touch of colour into the mix too

Tag #11 all done and dusted ........ bring on December's.

We're seeing November out with a celebration ....... Stephen and I are off to a wedding do this evening which means lots of eating, drinking and dancing 'til late! ........ maybe the new pretty high heels weren't such a good idea after all. 
Here's a quick look at the card I've made for the happy couple ...

Oh well, better get my tag uploaded before I forget.  Thanks for popping by, have a lovely evening and I'll see you again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

That Friday feeling .......

Hi there,

What a day ....... the weather's dreadful here.  It's cold, very wet, and extremely windy.  I do hope it's better where you are.  Mind you it's perfect crafting weather, so ..... I've shut myself in the old craft room and I'm not coming out until everything's crossed off November's list!

My weekly post for Creative Studios is done ...... here's a little sneaky peek

It's live on the DT Blog if you'd like to see it in full.

The advent calendar is all finished - whoo hoo!!  I'll show you that when it's all in place on the mantle piece on Sunday - it does look pretty (even if I do say so myself!).  I'm really pleased with it - thank you Craft Stamper.

I've prepped a few Christmas card designs (get me eh!)  Well, I thought I'd better make a start, they need to go in the post soon.

And what's this .......

All ready to start my Tim Tag - I'm leaving it a little late again I know.   But ........ before I can get on with that I need to make a card for a wedding we're going to tomorrow. 
It's all go in here today I can tell you, and to top all that .... I'm on babysitting duty this evening. Oh well, better get back to it. 

Have a lovely weekend.  It's going to get all festive around here ...... the tree's going up on Sunday, that's if I'm not too delicate after the wedding do.

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

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

It's nearly finished ......

Happy Thursday,

And a Happy Thanksgiving to all our crafty American friends.  Enjoy the holiday ..... but don't over do the turkey!!!

It's nearly the end of another week, and as far as things crafty go it hasn't been too bad.  Not everything's been crossed off the list yet, but I'm getting there ....... no need to panic, there's still 2 days left.  Plenty of time to get my Tim tag done (hopefully!!)

I've taken some time off from all the DT stuff and spent the last couple of days doing something for ME!  Remember I mentioned that I'd started the advent calendar project from this month's Craft Stamper well ..... it's nearly finished.  I've spent the last two days decorating all the houses ...... 

In the magazine, they'd only done 24, but I decided to add an extra one .....

It's been fun trimming all the little buildings,  ........ there's ribbon and lace, tinsel, beads, charms, and just a touch here and there of the Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Dry glitter .....

All the numbers have been done using either my Cricut machine (Storybook cartridge), Tim's Sizzix Wordplay die, or the Cuttlebug Hippy Chick dies. And the papers are a mix of BoBunny, Magnolia, and Teresa Collins.  It's been a really good way of using up lots of little bits of card and paper.

I finally started joining everything together this afternoon ....... told you it would be ready for the 1st.  This is as far as I've got today though .......

 

Can't wait until it's finished, but I'm afraid it's back to DT stuff in the morning.  Play time over for a little while - sigh!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your evening, and I'll see you again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Well ...... I've made a start!

Hi there,
Hope your Tuesday's going well. 
I've spent a lovely morning in town - I'm all spent up but at least I have a dress for the wedding we've been invited to at the weekend, and pretty new shoes - phew!!!   With the little man at nursery, Lauren and I got to do some nice girlie shopping, with a coffee break in Costa of course.  Well I had to pop in and try one of their yummy Gingerbread and Cream Lattes, it would have been rude not to!

I mentioned I'd made a start on my Christmas cards - one done, only about 100 more to go ......... ok, maybe not that many but I've a few to do.  Here's the first one ........

A nice CAS design ...... done with this week's Less is More Challenge in mind.

The theme this week is 'Christmas Cards' with the add on of .....  

Use a Bird! 

My little bird comes from the Penny Black 'T' for Transparent set - Winter Wonderland, and he's sat on a sentiment from the Hero Arts 'Miracle of the Holidays' stamp set.

How cute is he!.  He's been stamped using Black Memento ink and coloured with a mix of Copic markers and Distress ink.  You can see there's an added touch of sparkle too ...... well it is for Christmas after all.

Speaking of cute ....... I've bought myself an early Christmas gift.  Meet Bobsleigh .........

The latest addition to the family.  I know it's not even December yet, and I shouldn't really be opening presents until Christmas Day, but I couldn't leave him in a box for the next four weeks now could I!!?

Thanks for popping by today.  I'm off to get some more of the advent calendar done this afternoon - 8 of the houses are finished only 17 more to do before Sunday!  I'd better get a move on.

Enjoy the rest of Tuesday

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

In print again .....

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I've got big plans for this week on the craft front - there's still lots to do on the list before the end of the month. 
One big job is all finished though - IndigoBlu samples for Kay's next show.  The last lot have been parcelled up this morning and are all set to go into the hands of the Royal Mail tomorrow - phew!
Here's a sneaky peek at some of the things in the box .......

 

Speaking of IndigoBlu ....... I've been published again this month.  The article is in Papercraft Essentials Issue 101 and is available now.

My brief was to create 5 co-ordinating cards, suitable for Men's Birthdays (!!!?!), showing how you can use the IndigoBlu Mega Flakes and stamps.

Hmmmm ..... masculine birthdays ....... my favourite!  But I think I got them covered.

Oh well, better get back to work.
I must say I'm finally beginning to feel a little festive, I think it must be all the mulled wine and gingerbread from the Continental market at the weekend (yum!)   We started the Christmas shopping too.  The tree'll be going up next!
I even made my first Christmas card over the weekend (just the one!)  I'll be back later in the week to share - it's to enter into a Blog Challenege, can you guess which one?
 
Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy the last week of November, the festive season is approaching fast!

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

That Friday feeling .....

Morning everyone,

It's the weekend - whoo hoo!!  Happy Friday to you all ....... what's everyone up to today?  Me, I'm hoping to spend the day in the old craft room.  I've got DT stuff to finish off and get in the post, my Tim Tag to do, my weekly post on the Creative Studios DT Blog (check it out later) and I must try and get around to finishing the advent calendar. So a bit of a full day for me. 
I also need to get into town at some point, and pick up a dress that I ordered last week - I'm trying to find something to wear for all the Christmas parties that are coming up, and it's not going well.  The other half's no help either.  All he said was  "What's wrong with what you wore last year?"   Oh yeah ....... As if that's going to happen!
I don't like clothes shopping at the best of times!  And looking for evening wear .....well!  Dress shop or Craft shop ....... hmmmm ...... I know where I'd rather be! 

Here's a little sneak peek of what's on the Creative Studios DT blog today ........

........ a little bit festive perhaps. 
It's a nice quick and easy card using some non-Christmas, and Christmas stamps.  I tell you, the closer it gets to the festive season, the 'quicker' my cards are going to have to be - I still haven't started making any.   Maybe next week.

We've a busy weekend ahead, Stephen and Lauren are off to the UK tomorrow - just a flying visit, but they've a lot to fit in.  I'm staying on the island with the little man, so it's going to be fun, fun, fun with trains, jigsaws, and sticker books for me.  And I'm sure we'll have to watch The Polar Express (again!!) at some point.  It's Alex's favourite movie at the moment.

The Christmas lights switched on in Douglas last night - very festive

and we also have the Continental Market in town this weekend so Sunday it'll be mulled wine and stollen - yum!!  I may even make a start on the Christmas shopping, who knows!

Thanks for popping by today, have a lovely weekend.  If today goes well in the old craft room you may see a bit more of me next week.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

IndigoBlu Challenge #10

Good morning,

Told you I'd be back!

It's the 21st of the month so that means there's a new challenge theme over at IndigoBlu.  Before I tell you what this months theme is, a big Thank You to everyone that entered last month.  We had some fabulous entries for the Chocolate Orange challenge.

Well Done to ......... Number 3, our challenge winner.   Congratulations! Stephanie Cunningham  Enjoy our prize.
Let's see if we can tempt a few more of you to join in this month.
What's the theme?  Well, very fitting for the month of November I think,  it's ..........

Lest We Forget

We'd like to see all your beautiful poppy designs. I've kept my inspiration piece quite simple.  It'a a nice large 8x8 card, not too fussy.

I stamped the IndigoBlu Wild Flowers across the centre of a piece of white cardstock using Onyx Black Versafine ink, then stamped the image again onto a seperate piece of card.  I then die cut this using a Nestabilities circle die, and layered it onto a larger one cut in red.

I then stamped one of the flower heads twice more, and cut them out.  The poppy layers were then coloured using Barn Door Distress ink, and layered using silicone glue to add a bit of dimension

The sentiment is from the IndigoBlu Poppy Meadow stamp set, one of my favourites, stamped in the centre at the bottom of the card.  I've then dotted the card randomly around the words, using Barn Door Distress Re-inker on the end of a cocktail stick

To finish off I've added some red vintage seam binding across the centre, a pretty bow and mat using more red cardstock.

Of course the inside's been finished off to match

Hope you like it, and that I've inspired you to give the challenge a go.  The rules are simple .....
- one entry per person
- it can be anything you like - a card, altered art, a home decor piece, a scrapbook page, whatever takes     your fancy 
- use IndigoBlu stamps only,
- and follow the theme.
Please link your actual post containing your challenge entry, not just your Blog, and you must also link back to the Challenge Blog in your post.  Simple!
There's another fab prize up for grabs so why not give it a go.  You have until 8pm on December 20th to get your entries in.  Good luck everyone. 

Thanks for looking

LindyLou

xx

Just catching up .....

Hello there,

Surprise!! Sorry I haven't been around much lately, not had much to blog really.  The chores of day to day life have been getting in the way a little too much.
I thought it was time I checked in though and let you all know that I am still here.  Busy as usual, although I must admit today hasn't been very productive. The only thing I've made today is a cake!  I'm sorry to say that my heart's not in it at all lately - craft that is.  I feel as though I'm just going through the motions, doing what I have to, and getting things done.  I'm not having FUN though. Not like me at all.  And Christmas is just around the corner - eeek!  Oh well, I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things soon.

So what have I been up to well ........ not a lot!  It's have been pretty quiet around here since things got back to normal (whatever that is!) after the Poker event.

We had our first lot of snow on the island on Tuesday.  Not much fell on the lower parts, we had a dusting down in Douglas,  but the mountains were covered .....

Here's a picture taken from one of the many webcams across the island, this one's at the Bungalow on the TT course .......

The mountain road was actually closed for a while because a few cars did get stuck up there - oops!  I think it's all cleared today, but Winter is definitely on its way ..... brrrr!!

We did have a lovely weekend last week though, Sunday was a beautiful day, so in the afternoon we had a ride out to Laxey beach with the little man

Grandad was showing him how to skim stones on the sea - not sure who was enjoying it the most!

I have been busy in the old craft room too ...... DT stuff mainly, but I did find time the other day to start on a little festive project .....

A friend and I took over the kitchen table and made a start on a fabulous project by Gail Milburn, to make an Advent Calendar, from the latest edition of Craft Stamper Magazine.

This is what it should look like when its finished ....

How cute is that!!!  I hadn't even opened my copy of the magazine when I got an email from Catherine to say did I fancy getting together to make page 6.  Well, seeing as how I already had the die, and lots of Christmas papers that needed using it would have been rude not to wouldn't it.
It's no-where near finished yet, but it will be ready for the 1st, don't you worry.

It's been a busy time on the DT front ...... what with magazine stuff, and then Kay was due back on our screens on Saturday.  Unfortunately the show's been changed, which is good in a way, no need to rush those last few samples.  It's been moved to Saturday 7th December, not sure of the times yet, I'll keep you posted.
Don't tell anyone ....... but here's a few sneaky peeks to tease you with what's coming up .......

 

Well I think that brings you up to date ....... told you there wasn't much to tell. 
Hopefully the end of the month will be a little better than the beginning. 

I will be back tomorrow, it's the 21st of the month so that means there'll be a new challenge theme over at IndigoBlu.  I just need to put the finishing touches to my inspiration piece then we're away.

Thanks for popping by today.  
It's just me and the little guy tonight ...... Lauren is working, her partner Alex is on his way back from the UK and the other half is out on a work's do, alright for some eh!   So it's bath, Pj's and then bed for the little one.  Then I think it's time for a nice glass of red and catch up with Strictly for me.  Enjoy the rest of your evening, and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Never Forget .....

It's all in the cards ....... or not!

Happy Thursday,

I've been trying to write this post for over 24 hrs (lol!) ...... don't quite know where the time is going this week but, I'm getting nowhere FAST!!!

In case you were wondering how I went on in the Poker Stars Charity Tourney on Saturday night well ...... it wasn't as bad as I thought ...... I held my own pretty well and made it to the final table - yeah!!!  And that was with one of the pros on my starting table, no it wasn't Daniel (than goodness!)  but it was another of the big earners ...... David Williams!!!!! (what a nice guy)

I lost quite a few chips to him in the early stages (good fold by me) but then managed to get a few lucky hands and finally finished 7th overall - whoo hoo!!  Out of 100 starters, including 8 or 9 professional players, a dozen or so ex-pros (hubby included) and a load of Poker Stars staff, I didn't think that was bad.  Stephen finished 4th so, quite a good night overall.
Not so good last night however .........

Hubby decided to host a home game for some of his team from work. Would you believe THE CHEF (daughter's partner), who only joined in part way through the game,  took all my chips on the last hand of the night.  For those of you that understand poker ..... I flopped a full house, 7,4,7, I had a pocket pair (4,4).   After a check and a bet ..... I went 'All In'.  One folded his hand and the Chef calls ..... he's hit a set of 7s with J,7.  What comes on the turn ...... another Jack, giving him a bigger Full House!!!!!  You can imagine my reaction - not happy to say the least.  I told you I'm no good at Poker!  But I suppose I shouldn't be too upset ..... at least the money stayed in the family!!  It was a fun night though, everyone enjoyed themselves.  I can see it becoming a regular thing.

On the craft front so far this week there's not been that much going on.  The beginning of the week saw a box go off to Kay at IndigoBlu, full of samples for the Hobbycraft Show at the NEC this weekend.  I won't actually be there myself  (sad face) but at least my samples will be.

Our DT brief was to use Kroma Crackle on card and then die cut it to make embellishments.  Here's a couple of festive designs I sent,  one using the Crackle in the usual way .........

I die cut the word from chipboard, using the Vintage Noel Alterations die, painted it using the IndigoBlu Black Gee-Sso-Good, then covered it with the Kroma Crackle and left it to dry.  This was the finished effect ....

In the places where the Kroma hadn't crackled very well I added a touch of glue and then sprinkled over some fine crystal glitter to give the look of snow.

The background design was made using the IndigoBlu Vintage Flourish stamp, stamped in Versamark ink and then dusted over with Perfect Pearls mica powder - very festive!

The poinsettia on this tag was cut from card made using Kay's Flitter Glu and Kroma technique.  If you're not very good at waiting for things to dry (like me!)  then this is a fab technique to try.

I covered a sheet of white card with a thin layer of the Flitter Glu, then add some Kroma Crackle mixed with a touch of red acrylic paint over the top.  I then dried this off using a heat tool.  You can see it's a totally different effect doing it this way, the cracks are much larger.

Has anyone spotted the deliberate mistake? ......... if you look closely at the background you'll see that I actually stamped the script upside down ......... ooops!!

If you pop on over to the IndigoBlu DT Blog there's a couple more of my Kroma designs on there this week, and if you're sick of the sight of Christmas then you'll be pleased to know they're of the non-festive variety.

Phew!!!! Finished at last!  Thanks for popping by today.   I've got an appointment now with a rather cute little guy and a very large jigsaw.  Then it's back into the craft room to finish off my project for tomorrows post on the Creative Studios DT Blog.  See you all then.
If any of you are off to the NEC this weekend have a great time, pop by and say Hi to Kay and the crew for me (IndigoBlu are on Stand G48), and go home with lots of lovely new stash!

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Pinch and a punch ..... for the first of the month

Hi everyone,

Happy November!  Only 53 days until Christmas .......... so the countdown thingy on my blog tells me! 

Speaking of the festive season ....... if you pop over to the Creative Studios DT Blog today you'll find another of my clean and simple Christmas designs ...... here's a little sneaky peek

It's been all about cards, of one description or another, in our house this week.  There's a bit of a buzz around the island because, for the first time ever the UKIPT (UK & Ireland Poker Tour) has left the UK mainland and is visiting the Isle of Man - whoo hoo!!  And why not  ........ it is the home of Poker Stars after all.  The big event is taking place down at the Villa Marina on Douglas promenade and runs until November 4th.  The main event games have already started, with the final table being on Monday. It's all quite exciting.

the Poker Stars logo

Because my other half works for the company he's been involved in quite a few of the events going on, so I haven't really seen much of him this week.  Last night he was out meeting up with all the Pros who are on the island for the event (ok for some eh!!)  He did get my book signed for me though (finally!!) ......

Daniel Negreanu is one of my favourite players, and the scary thing is I could be playing in the same tournament as him on Saturday - eeek!!  Nervous or what?! 

Apparently I'm playing in the Poker Stars Charity Tournament, along with hubby (gulp!) and I believe there's a chance that Daniel, along with some of the other Poker Stars Pros are going to be joining in the game.
I haven't played a big tournament live for ages and if I end up on a table with one of the pros, or worse still Daniel himself, well ... that'll be me out straight away. Thanks for signing me up for this one Stephen!
No guesses at what I'll be doing this evening ...... yep! you've got it ....... practicing!

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

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx