Just in TIME .......

Evening folks,

I said I'd be back.  It's the last day of January so that means it must be time for my Tim Tag.  Yes, that's right Mr Holtz is doing it all again ....... whoo hoo!! 
12 Tags of 2014 is up and running, and as per usual I'm on the last minute with mine - there goes that New Year's Resolution .... to get my tag's done early.  Oh well, there's always next month.

I couldn't not join in again now could  I, after I was one of the 12 winners chosen at the end of last year.  My December tag did it again for me!

In his usual style, Tim's got 2014 off to a great start .......

........ inspired by the word .... 'time' (and some parts of this tag took a little bit of 'time' I'll tell you!)

Here's my version .......

Not quite the same ....... I like how it turned out though.

I basically followed the step by steps, I won't go into details as it's all there over on Tim's Blog.
The only thing I couldn't find was my Black Soot Distress Paint (no idea where that's gone!), but hey ho I did find my Little Black Dress -  No, not the cocktail kind, the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic version from PaperArtsy which seemed to work ok.  It was applied to the pocket watch to give that nice aged metal look

I used different words on my journalling tag ..... love this stamp.

And then had great fun creating my own custom type charm ...... it took nearly as long to do this as it did to do the rest of the tag ...... talk about detailed!!

I chose to add the date the tag was made ...... let's see if February's is done any earlier shall we ..... Thinking about it, it'll have to be .... there's only 28 days in the month!!!

We had planned on having a trip out this afternoon but unfortunately the weather cut that a bit short.  It didn't half rain!
We did drive down to Port Erin, to visit the toy shop there with a certain young man.  After a fish and chip lunch - yum! off we went to buy more track for his trains.
Now it already looks like Kings Cross station in our lounge, there's that much track,  but apparently we 'needed' a few little extras.  This was one of todays 'little' purchases ........

along with track splitters, mini pieces, long straights and curved points ........ oh, and a new train (of course!) Just look at it all ......

Not sure who gets the most pleasure out of this ...... the little one or Grandad!!

The weekend's not looking good over here unfortunately.  The weather men are saying that it's going to be worse than it was earlier in the month tomorrow.  We've got high tides and strong winds again so there's major flood warnings out for the coastal towns - there goes my trip up to Ramsey then.  I'll have to spend the day in the old craft room - shame!

Thanks for popping by again, enjoy your weekend, I hope it's not too wet.
I'll be back at some point over the next couple of days, I still have one more blog challenge to enter this week ......... I've made another one - Christmas card that is!

Until then ......... Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

It's Sketch week .......

Morning!

Happy Friday folks ....... it's the weekend (finally!)  The other half has had a couple of days off work this week so we're off out for a drive this afternoon.  That means that I've got to get a wriggle on this morning and get some work done!!

The old craft room is still full of Design Team stuff  but I can see light at the end of the tunnel, just a few more samples to do then they can all be packed in a box and put in the hands of Mr Royal Mail .... the dealine will be met!

In between all that though I've made time to enter my favourite Blog Challenges.  First up is Less is More .....

It's Sketch week

and we have a fabulous design to follow from the lovely Jen

The idea is to follow the layout, but we don't have to stick to the star shape, it can be anything we like.

Here's mine for this week ....

Earlier this week, my postie brought me this gorgeous new stamp set from the Valentine's promotion from Stampin Up!, and I couldn't wait to give it it's first inking.

Typically LIM style, CAS with loads of white space.  You can see I'm still using my trusty colour combo, only this time I've gone for red and white, with a touch of black!

How sweet is this little Eiffel Tower ........ although it was the sentiment that I really bought the set for .....

awwwww ...... how romantic!

I've even done the inside ..... in fact I've used all the stamps that come in the set ...... now that doesn't happen very often

Well that's another Valentine's card done .....  just got my weekly Christmas card to do now.

Thanks for popping by today.  I'll be back later (yes 2 posts in one day .... whatever next!) with my Tim Tag for January - whoo hoo!  I've finally got it done.

See you then

Linda

xx

No I haven't left the country ......

Happy Thursday!

I thought it was time I took a quick 5 minutes to blog, just to let you know that I am still here, and I haven't left the country (as tempting as that sounds!). 
It's not been a good week ..... Mr Mojo has deserted me and gone into hibernation I think!

With a deadline looming and only half a box of samples done I decided enough was enough yesterday.  I took a much needed break from my craft room and went AWOL!!!
I spent the afternoon with a group of  lovely ladies in someone else's crafty space.  It was so nice to just relax and play ...... I even tried something new!

This is what came home with me when we'd finished, thanks to the lovely Jill Poole whose craft room we took over for four hours or so ......

A pretty MDF heart, covered with Texture Paste and then stamped into while it was still wet.  It was then painted using Lumiere Metallic Acrylic paints, and touches of embossing  powder sprinkled over the top.  The whole thing was then gently heated to set the powder and dry the paint completely, and then finished with a smidgen of Treasure Gold to finish off the edges.  The end result is just gorgeous!!  It was a shame to cover it up really but I added a couple of metal charms and the pretty organza bow .....

and just a few of the Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers.....

 
When I got home I added a magnet to the back of the heart and it's now sat on my fridge door ..... I love it!
The colours don't come across very well in the pictures, it's actually a really pretty pinky lilac shade with hints of gold and a blue shimmer (I won't make excuses about the lighting not being good etc., etc., it's probably just my bad photography again!)

Not only did I make the heart, but I also had a play, for the first time, with some Friendly Plastic.  Now I've had some of this stuff in my craft stash for ages (thanks to my good friend Sally-Jo), but just never got around to playing with it (like so many other things in there!), until yesterday when Jill  got us making centres to go in flowers on a card we'd made .......

How cool is that! ....... I know ...... you're probably all saying been there, done that ages ago - where have you been LindyLou????  but it was my first time ...... and I was well impressed!!  All we used was a bit of netting to push the Friendly Plastic through, and a piece of copper piping to cut the button shape .... simples.  When I got back yesterday the first thing I did was hunt down my FP stash (Thanks Sally-Jo!), so guess what I'll be doing when all my DT stuff's done!

Here's the finished card ...... a pretty little hidden slider card - something else I hadn't made in a while ....

As you can see, I had a lovely afternoon ...... thanks Jill.

It was back into the old craft room this morning ..... still got loads on the 'To Do' list and it's the last day of the month tomorrow ....... eeeek!!  No Tim Tag done yet either (oh no!!).

Thanks for popping by today.  Hopefully things will settle down a little towards the end of next week and I can try and get back to blogging a little more regularly.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

3 out of 3!

Hi there,

Happy weekend ..... hope you're having a good one.  
It's been a bit chilly over here today ...... definitely the sort of weather for staying toasty warm indoors which is just what we're planning to do this weekend. 

I've been in the old craft room busy with Design Team stuff,  but I've managed to squeeze in ..... wait for it ....... some Christmas cards too!!!  Yes I'm on a roll, thanks to the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge.  Not only have I put together an entry for this weeks challenge, I've even made some more of my Jingle Bells card from the first week in January.  Well, I'd die cut all the bells, and tied all the bows, and they've just been sat on my desk ever since.  If I hadn't done them now they would have disappeared under a pile of stuff or I would have put them somewhere 'safe' and then come November time I wouldn't have been able to find them, so I thought it best to get them done ...... it's four more for the festive box!  That gives me a grand total of (drumroll) ........... including today's ......... that makes SEVEN!!
At this rate all my Christmas cards will be done by July ...... well maybe not July ...... but I am hoping that by December I'll have a nice collection and all I'll need to do is write them and send.

For this week's challenge we had to use Colours, with Ribbon  ........

Use the colors Red, Vanilla, Kraft and

 Chocolate with Ribbon

  

Quite the list ....... After gathering all the ingredients together, here's what I came up with ..... a bit of a vintage feel this week.

The stamps I've used are from the Tim Holtz Deco Christmas set which came out last year.  

I think everything on the list is on there.  There's definitely Red ..... I stamped my own background card using the pretty little poinsettia stamp from the set, and Red Geranium Archival ink - one of the Wendy Vecchi colours.

  

The Vanilla is the the cardstock that I stamped the gentleman onto - and the actual cardblank.

I started out with vanilla cardstock then I added Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress inks, and also blended in a touch of Aged Mahogany around the edges.  I then used my favourite technique of flicking water over the inks to remove some of the colour to give a snowy background effect.

I've used Kraft cardstock to mat and layer, and the Chocolate part is the colour of ink I've used to stamp the lovely gent and his wreath ....... Potting Soil, another from the Wendy Vecchi Archival range.

And that's where the ribbon comes in ..... a sweet little bow tied using some co-ordinating vintage seam binding.

I've finished off with a sentiment, added some Fran-tage Chunky White Embossing powder to give the effect of falling snow, and some pretty die cut, red poinsettias ......

That's three weeks into the year and three Christmas card designs ....... let's hope I can keep it up.

Oh well, it's back to the DT stuff I suppose ...... the deadline is approaching fast.

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Keep warm and craft is my advice.

Cheerio for now

 Linda

xx 

PS   I see that Blogger is playing with me again ....... don't ask me why the text is smaller than normal on this post.  I've tried all ways to change it but it's just not happening!  Hopefully things will be back to normal on my next post (fingers crossed!) 

Yeah! ....... Everything's Back to Normal

Good evening folks,

Whoo Hoo! ....... my little old blog is no longer 'naked'.  Everything is finally back to how it used to be thanks to the lovely Julie over at Leelou Blogs.  I feel at home again now.

It's been another busy day, even though I was feeling a little delicate this morning.  We had another fun filled 'Walmsley Wednesday' last night which included the odd bottle of red, or two, or three maybe.
For those of you who haven't heard of  'Walmsley Wednesdays', it's the one night in the week where we all let our hair down a little.  Good food, nice wine, and maybe the odd sing-a-long (very odd sometimes ...... depending on how much wine is consumed!)  The music ranges are quite varied, we can sometimes be a little bit Country, sometimes Rock and Roll, we have been known to even go a bit classical too.  However, last night, hubby decided that it might be fun to find out what was number 1 in the charts on the days that we were born.  Apparently, the day I came into the world Elvis topped the charts with Rock-A-Hula Baby ........ Blue Hawaii was always one of my favourite Elvis films, it's right up there with GI Blues. 

Anyway, enough of all that ...... after a lovely morning out, coffee and a good old catch up with a friend it was back into the craft room to tackle the 'To Do' list again.

I've loads of DT stuff to do but before I got started on all that I made a little something for this weeks challenge over at Less is More
The theme is .......

NEW BABY

It's the one occasion I don't have that many stamps for really ........

I do like this sentiment stamp from Penny Black though.

A very quick and easy design using the words as my main image.
I cut out an aperture from a square of white cardstock and then just using my scoreboard I embossed the criss cross design  all over.

I made the scalloped frame from some blue cardstock, using Nestabilities dies and attached over the aperture.  The sentiment was then stamped onto a piece of white card and then placed behind the frame using foam pads for dimension.

The panel was then mat onto some more of the blue cardstock, leaving a small border around the edge and then attached  to the front of a 6x6 square cardblank.

To finish off I added a white seam binding bow and a cute little paper flower that I'd inked with a touch of  Broken China Distress ink

I just need someone to have a baby boy now!

Well that's it for me this evening.  It's an early night with my book I think, I've got a busy end to the week ...... there's my Creative Studios Blog post to do in the morning, then it's IndigoBlu for the rest of the day.  I've got new stamps to play with work with, and lots of samples to make.  Hopefully I'll have some sneaky peeks for you next week, it depends how I get on though I suppose.

Thanks for popping by.  Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

From the Heart ........

Good morning everyone,

A nice early(ish) post today ....... which probably means it was scheduled!!!!
I'm currently running around like a headless chicken doing what we ladies do best ...... multi-tasking,  doing 10 jobs at once and still managing to get ready for an afternoon out.  It's a good job I've got the house to myself this morning.

It's January 21st which means we have a brand new theme over on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog.
Before we go into all that though ....... Congratulations go to .....  

 Sheila 

the lucky winner of the mahoosive prize that was on offer for the final challenge of 2013.   Check out the Winners button over on the blog to see Sheila's pretty winning design (she's used one of my favourite stamps .... the lovely Wild Flowers)

It was really nice seeing which of the IndigoBlu stamps have made it onto all of your 'favourite' lists. I don't know about you,  but my favourite changes everytime there's a new set of stamps out!
Enjoy all your goodies Sheila, I'm sure you'll have a few more IndigoBlu favourites very soon.

We've decided this year, as well as the winner,  the DT are going to choose a Top 3 each month to show how much we appreciate all your fab entries.   There's a new 'I Made the Top 3 at IndigoBlu' badge  along with a badge for the winner, which we hope you'll all display proudly on your blogs if you're chosen.
So ..... if you entered the challenge last month, pop over to the Blog and see if you're one of our first Top 3.

The challenge rules are still the same, and as always there's a great prize for the winner so get out your IndigoBlu stash and create something fabulous.

This month's theme is ......

FROM THE HEART

Here's my inspiration piece for you .......

I've gone for the pretty Love is ...... rubber stamp,  a beautiful heart that's full of detail.

The layout of the card is quite a simple design.  I started by cutting some kraft card to the sizes that I wanted (the finished card is approx 8x6), then I used my Distress inks to add a touch of colour around the edges - Tea Dye and one of my current favourites - Aged Mahogany.  I then did my usual trick of flicking water over the inked card, let it sit for a couple of seconds, then mopped up the excess using some kitchen roll.

Next I used the IndigoBlu Script Background stamp to add some detail to both sides of the larger piece of kraft card

I stamped using Versamark ink then added a Fine Detail Embossing Powder.  I also added a few splatters of black ink too for a bit more interest .......

and attached a piece of ivory organza ribbon across the card before any mat and layering.

The heart was also embossed in white then I stamped the two flowers from the centre again onto Kraft card, this time using a red Archival ink.  These were then cut out and attached using hot glue for a bit of dimension.

You can see how detailed the heart is, and because I used a fine detail embossing powder none of it has been missed ...... so pretty.

The sentiment is from the stamp set Grand Tour II and has been stamped using the red Archival again and then cut out using Nestabilities dies

Once everything was put together I finished it all off with an organza bow and a cute little wooden heart button .....

What do you think?  Valentine's card perhaps ....... I think it's definitely 'From the Heart'

If you fancy taking up the challenge, you have until 8pm on February 20th to get your entries in and be in with a chance of winning a fab prize.  I can't wait to see what you all come up with ........ good luck!!

Thanks for popping by.  Enjoy the rest of your day.  I'm off to a craft workshop this afternoon, with the lovely ladies from Ballaugh again.  I'm not teaching this time so I'm looking forward to an afternoon where I can play ...... I hope I've packed everything!

Cheerio for now

LindyLou

xx

Frosty .... the snowman

Good morning! 
Happy Sunday to you.

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Wednesday ...... it's not totally my fault though.  I've been having a spot of computer trouble ....... after Lauren decided to pour red wine over the keyboard on my laptop!!!!!!!
Not on purpose obviously, but still ..... not the best thing to do.  I hate seeing good wine go to waste! 
I think it's slowly sobering up .... poor thing.  There's just 3 or 4  keys that don't work now instead of the whole left hand side.  With any luck by the end of the weekend it'll be fully functional again - I need my trusty old laptop!

I'm keeping up with the one Christmas card per week ...... in fact I have prepped 4 more of the one I made last week (go me!!!).  They just need putting together when I get a spare 5 minutes .......... probably sometime in December (that's if I can remember where I've put them by then!)

I'm taking part in the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge again ..... well I couldn't not now could I, after receiving an Honourable Mention on last weeks challenge (it was my first time entering too!).  I was over the moon ...... it was 'happy dance around the craft room' time again.

Here's the latest festive make .......

This week's theme is .........

Use a Snowman or Snow People

My cute little snow guy is from Inkylicious, coloured in using Copic Markers.  He looks so happy with his pretty little Christmas tree ......

The sentiment is from the same stamp set, you also get some pretty little snowflakes too, and the trees in the background are a Clarity stamp

I've added a touch of colour to the sky using Stormy Sky Distress ink, and added some dots of fine glitter for falling snow...... brrrr!

I've a busy week coming up ..... on Tuesday we have a brand new theme on the Blog Challenge over at IndigoBlu (my lips are sealed until then).  The DT have also started a new feautre on the IB blog, a regular step by step post.  Each week one of the DT will post a project with detailed step by steps and pictures to follow, using the fabulous IndigoBlu products, not necessarily the new stuff either.  It's my turn on Wednesday, please feel free to pop over and see what I've been up to.  

Also, my lovely postie brought me a rather nice parcel on Saturday ...... full of brand new stamp designs from IndigoBlu ....... Kay's been busy again and there's lots of fabulous new rubber stamps for me to play with, I mean work with.  If, like me, you love the IB style, you're going to want, no NEED these ...... I'm saying no more!!!!

I've got another birthday on Friday ...... Chris this time.  He's back in Sheffield though so his cards are all done and sent. Just got his present to sort out ..... thank goodness for the internet!

Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy what's left of the weekend and I'll see you again next week.

Cheerio fo now

Linda

xx

A piece of My Heart ......

Happy Wednesday!

Finally ...... a spare 5 minutes to sit down and blog.   It's coffee and cake time while I catch up with you guys - the last of the Christmas cake is about to disappear!

This week is flying by again.  As well as all the usual stuff,  there was a birthday on Monday - all sorted.  Chris went back to Uni on Tuesday, so that meant an expensive shopping trip on Monday afternoon.  I have another birthday on Friday (Lauren's this time) and I haven't even started the cards yet!  And then hubby has organised another poker night round at ours this evening ....... cards all day and cards in the evening!  Better get some tidying up done though, I've still got stuff everywhere.

I've been so busy the last couple of days that I forgot my little old Blog's birthday (shame on me!).  Yes,  Life in the Craft Lane was 2 yesterday ...... Happy Birthday Blog!
It still amazes me that so many of you enjoy reading my crafty ramblings, and other stuff.  I really do appreciate you all taking the time to visit and leave such lovely comments.

I've squeezed in a little Blog Challenge entry again for this week's  Less is More challenge.
It's everyone's favourite this week ..... ONE LAYER CARDS (eekk!!)  and the theme is .....

Hearts

Here's my take on the challenge ......

I haven't done cute for a while, and this little stamp caught my eye (Lauren's already claimed the card to send as her Valentine's)

Both the image and the sentiment are from a Penny Black 'T' for Transparent set called Piece of My Heart which I've had for ages.  I've just stamped them using Black Versafine ink then coloured the hearts with Barn Door Distress ink and a waterbrush.

I'm definitley in a 'touch of red' phase I think, which all started at the weekend when I made my ATC's for the next swap over on Julie's Blog .........

Oh well, I suppose the coffee break is over.  I really should be back in the old craft room making those birthday cards for Friday ........ I'll be in BIG trouble if they're not there first thing.

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

See you again soon

Linda

xx

I've no excuse now ......

Happy Sunday everyone!

And Hi! to Toni, my latest follower, it's nice to have you along.
I hope you're enjoying the weekend.  Sunday for me started with a nice lie in and then blogging in bed, whilst a lovely full english breakfast was made for me.   The diet is definitely on hold this weekend, it's dinner out later - nom! nom!

My one Christmas card per week may not just be wishful thinking anymore ...... look what I've come across this weekend ........ a Christmas Card Blog Challenge .......

Merry Monday

You know I love my blog challenges .... when I get the time.  So, this year I'm really making an effort to keep up with my favourite ones.  I came across this one through Greta's blog which I follow, and it looks like fun ...... so I've no excuses now, there's going to be a touch of Christmas every week - I hope! 
Here's the first one of 2014 .....

Ribbon or Twine

A CAS design ....... let's not go mad shall we.  I thought I'd make use of the Alterations Movers and Shapers die that's been sat on my workdesk for months.  I just love the mini jingle bell on there ..... sooo cute!

I cut one from glitter card and the other from silver mirri, attached them using foam pads, added my festive satin bow ......

and found the perfect sentiment in my stash, to go with them ...... 

And there you have it ...... my first Christmas card of 2014 - whoo hoo!!
I'd better get it uploaded to the challenge now, it closes later today.   Can't wait to see what tomorrow's challenge will be .....  Christmas card number 2 coming up!!

Thanks for popping by today, enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Winter Blues ......

Happy Friday,

What a busy week ......it doesn't take long to get back in the swing of things does it.   
The last bits of the festive fayre has all but gone ...... there are a few chocolates and part of a Christmas cake, so the diet's off for another week (that's a shame! ...... she says with her hand in a large bag of peanut M&Ms).

Things are pretty much back to normal in the old craft room too.  The place is a tip, the 'To Do' list is growing daily, new stash is piling up because I've no time to play with it, I'm busy with DT stuff, and Blogger is up to his usual tricks! 
Not only has my Blog background disappeared (ok, ok .... that's not blogger's fault!) but now it's taking ages to save anything, and I can't preview things.  When I do leave the page (after making my own copy of what I've just blogged), log back in again, everything is there SAVED!!!! Arghhhhhh!  It takes me long enough to blog as it is without the site playing silly beggers.

Oh yes ....... and the Christmas craft stash is still out too!  Does that mean I have to keep it out all year now?
At least I stand a chance of making my ONE Christmas card every month then .......  I did say the same thing last year and look how well that worked out in 2013!
I'll keep you posted on how I get on ..... don't hold your breath though, it may get December before I make a start ........ and I might just get fed up of stepping falling over the stash box too!

One thing I have managed to do this week is a card for one of my favourite Blog Challenges -  Less is More

To start off the year the girls have given us a Colour Challenge .......

Winter Blues

they want us to use shades of Blue

Here's mine ......

My shades of blue are Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans and Stormy Sky Distress inks, for the background with the text randomly stamped in Faded Jeans

Then the pretty flowers have been stamped over the top using the gorgeous Cornflower Blue Archival ink from the Wendy Vecchi range.
I love this stamp set - Rose Branch Border from Stampendous.  It's been in my stash for ages and never been used (like so many other things!)

The words are also from the same stamp set and have been stamped using another of Wendy's Archival inks - Watering Can

Some satin ribbon finishes off the front, and of course the inside's been done too ....

It's now in the post on it's way to my Mother-in-law for her birthday on Monday (two jobs done in one!) Hope she likes it.

It's also my day to post on the DT Blog over at Creative Studios if you fancy taking a look - more ideas using Sam's new stamp designs.

Thanks for popping by today.  I see I have another new follower too ..... welcome Kelly it's nice to have you along.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend.  Are you doing anything nice?
Cheerio for now

Linda

xx