Home alone .......

Hi there,

Happy Wednesday!

OMG! .... the house is quiet this evening ..... there's only me at home!!  Hubby is a way on business for a couple of days ..... although how he got to London without me I've no idea!!!  I had to pack his suitcase for him this morning, then he forgot his passport .... which isn't a major thing for flying to the UK from the Isle of Man, you only need some sort of photo ID at the airport here, so his driving licence would have done (if he had it with him of course!).  The car also had to go into the garage this morning so Stephen dropped it off on his way to work, no problem ..... however he did manage to leave his suitcase in the back of the car and only realised part way through the afternoon ..... slight detour needed by the cab driver on the way to the airport.
Then, once he was at the airport he rang me (again) because he couldn't find the bag with his liquids in and wanted to know where I'd put it!!!!!  He only had hand luggage .... where did he think I'd put it!?
Finally I get a text to tell me that he's landed at London City airport (thank goodness!) but ...... they can't get off the plane as there's a fire alarm going off in the terminal.  Hopefully he'll get to his hotel soon.

My main task today was to make my tag for April's 12 Tags of 2014.  It's seems to get later each month before I sit down and make a start on this little project.  Thankfully I had most things on the supplies list and what I didn't have I worked around.

Here's Tim's fabulous inspiration piece .... how gorgeous is this (my favourite so far I think)

And here's my version .....

Full details and all the techniques can be found over on Tim's blog, and I pretty much followed them to the letter.
The only thing I changed was the painted philospohy tag ...... because there's none left in my stash (another thing to put on the never ending shopping list!).  Instead I added ............................

ooops! ...... sorry about that ....... my boys (Chelsea) are currently playing in the 2nd leg of the Champions League Semi-Final and we've just gone 1-0 up against Athletico Madrid - yeahhhhhhh!!!!!

Where was I .... oh yes, I used an Idea-ology Enamelled Tag and added a couple of the Botanical Remnant Rubs ....

then attached it using a jump ring and a tiny paperclip.

Oh no ..... Athletico have just equalised **!!** ..... right before half time too (sigh!)  That means we need to score again, otherwise, if the score stays the same they win with the away goal rule.

Sorry about that.   Back to the tag ...... I decided to add an extra flower on mine, all made using the Tattered Pinecone die .... I do like doing things in 3's.   I also added in a bit of white net and some pretty decorative crystal pins too.

To finish off I tied some of the crinkle ribbon around my tag, and added the bow, all coloured to match in with the rest of the tag

There .... all done, with a few hours to spare too!

I won't bore you with the football anymore, I'm off to watch the second half ..... fingers crossed we score again (and they don't!)

Thanks for popping by (and staying with me!).  Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

Where did April go ....... ?

Evening folks,

A bit of a late one I know ...... busy day and all that.
Welcome to my latest followers .... thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings.  It's nice to have you along.

It's back to normal in the old craft room this week ...... a 'To Do' list as long as my arm, DT projects to do, weekly blog posts to prepare, and it's the last day of the month tomorrow ..... and guess what? .....  still no Tim Tag done.  What have I been doing all month ..... who knows!!!

I did have a fab day last week, spent with three lovely crafty buddies playing with rubber stamps, inks, gilding flakes, you name it ...... and there was cake ...... and chocolate!!!

Here's what we made ....... first up another version of one of my cards from the March issue of Simply Cards & Papercraft

Using that gorgeous Rose Blush stamp from IndigoBlu ..... my current favourite (have I mentioned that!)
Here's the orignal that was in the magazine

I designed the cards for the day, to show how you can create different looks using the same stamp.

Card number 2 ....... a bit of black and white

This is so simple, just a stamped image, in black, but then part of the design stamped again and highlighted with a touch of colour, and attached using foam pads

Finally .... card number 3 ....... a bit of masking, distress inks and spritzing

If you really don't like colouring in a stamped image, colour your card first and stamp over the top.
One of my favourite ways to do this is to mask off a section of my card, add my colour, remove the mask then stamp the image over the top of the inked panel so that some of the design overhangs the edge .....

We also added a touch of gilding flakes ... the easy way.  Just use strips of double-sided tape (I use the ultra tacky stuff) and apply the flake over the top.  Smooth down and scoochy off in the usual way .... simple but effective

We're hoping to make it a regular gathering I think, taking turns on hosting, which should be fun.

It's back to normal though this week ...... you'll find me back on my weekly blog spot at IndigoBlu tomorrow.  Here's a little sneaky peek for .....

Pop over to the DT Blog tomorrow morning (Wednesday) to see this in full detail.

Oh well,  it's nearly bedtime.  An early start tomorrow .... the car needs to go into the garage first thing, hubby is off to London for a couple of days, with work, and then I'm off out for a spot of lunch and a craft workshop in the afternoon ........ but before all that I have an urgent job to do in the old craft room ..... my Tim Tag!!!  Let's hope I have what I need eh!

Thanks for popping by ........ night night!

See you all tomorrow .....

Linda

xx

A bit of Merry Monday ..... on a very lazy Sunday

Happy Sunday folks,

I hope you’re having a good weekend.  The weather's been glorious over here.  We were out shopping yesterday, for summer/holiday clothes amongst other things ..... always fun!  Although I must say, it was nice wandering around the shops in the sunshine.  Both hubby and I managed to pick up a few bits and pieces.  We even stopped off and had a lovely lunch out at one of our favourite little pasta places in town ..... Alessandro's.  Pasta and a cold beer ...... a nice break from the retail therapy.

I’m trying to make the most of what’s left of my ‘take it easy’ month, before things get crazy in the old craft room again, and everything gets back to 'normal' towards the end of next week.  It's been nice having the break, I think we all need to chill out every now and again, but I have missed my teamies.

It’s that time of the week to get all seasonal again with the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge.

This week’s theme is all about Decorative Christmas Words ……

Hmmm …… I had to think about this one and I’m afraid this is all I came up with .......

Not sure if it fits in 100% or not ……… Each of the letters in the word ‘Merry’ is decorated, just not differently ……  hopefully I’ll get away with it. 

It’s another CAS design …. the current favourite look for me. 

I stamped the words, from the Hero Arts Clear set (Miracle of the Holidays) using a red Archival ink.   

I then added the cute, rather round, little robin (from Inkadinkadoo's Cool Christmas clear stamp set) to look as though he is hanging from one of the letters. 

I then did a spot of paper pricking around the edges, mat the piece onto some red cardstock and attached it to the front of a 6x6 square card blank.

I did the same matting inside the card, stamped the sentiment (Penny Black) in the centre, and stamped a sprig of holly to the bottom of the words. 

The holly's been coloured using Copic markers. and the berries have had a little touch from a clear glaze pen to add a bit of shine

To finish off the card I added a touch of glitter around the robin, and another sprig of holly to the words on the front, and the job’s done.  And …..  that’s another card for the Christmas box …….   Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

We’ve got a day of football  in our house today …… the Liverpool v Chelsea match - bit of a crucial game for us ….. come on my boys in blue!!!!  We really need to win – Chelsea that is (sorry if anyone’s a Liverpool fan).  If we don’t then, it’s all over for my boys I’m afraid,  the title will be out of our reach (sigh!)

Maybe this little chap will bring them some luck …….

Meet the latest addition to the family ….. we went to the furniture store, to look for new dining chairs, and came home with a bear!! (as you do!) Well ….. can you blame me!  He was on the shelf and I just couldn’t resist.  We got some chairs too …  I just have to wait 8 weeks for those!

He hasn’t got a name yet though (shame!) …… any suggestions?

Oh well, I suppose it's time to get out of my PJ's ....... I do love lazy Sunday mornings.

Thanks for popping by today ….. enjoy your Sunday.

Cheerio until next time ……

Linda

xx 

What makes you Smile?

Happy Friday!

The end of the week always puts a smile on my face!

I know this has been a short working week and all that but really ...... is it Friday already?  Not much to show for the last few days except a spot of tidying done in the garden ....... we made the most of the nice weather.  A clean and reasonably tidy craft room ...... one of those bright ideas to get in there and sort it all out (the rest of the house still needs working on though!)  2 days later ...... it's still not finished but, at least I can walk about in there now all the ink pads and bottles of paint have been moved off the floor!  And .... I've made a couple of cards.

It's a Theme week over at Less is More ....... and this time we have

Makes me Smile!

It's as simple as that .... something that makes you smile.  It can be something cute, funny, or something pretty .... anything really as long as we give the reason for our choice.

Here's mine ......

I love this large sunflower stamp from IndigoBlu ..... it always makes me smile.  Sunflowers are such happy blooms,  I can remember growing them in the garden as a child, getting so excited when they grew taller than I was ..... oh happy days!

In true LIM style I've kept the design very CAS, with lots of white space.  I've stamped the sunflower using Vintage Sepia Versafine ink, heat set it with a clear embossing powder, and then coloured in the flower using Copic markers.

The cute little sentiment is from an SU stamp set ...... Petit Pairs ...... and I've layered up the second part and used it as the centre of my flower.

Similar design for the inside too .....

Hope it makes you smile.

You can also find me on the Creative Studios DT Blog today ..... pop over and see what else I've been up to this week..... here's a sneaky look for now

Right ..... I'm off to try and finish the mahoosive task of getting the rest of my worksdesk clear.  There's stuff to do today .... dealines to meet. The month of re-charging my batteries is slowly coming to an end (sigh!)  

Thanks for popping by today ..... enjoy your Friday and have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time .....

Linda

xx

Words Are All You Need ..... IndigoBlu Challenge 15

Good Morning!  Happy Easter Monday,

Are you all enjoying the Easter break?  Have you had enough Hot Cross Buns, and chocolate eggs yet?  Are you all ready to get back into your craft room ..... or is that where you've been all weekend ...... lucky you if you have.

It's the 21st of the month so that means there's a brand new Challenge over at IndigoBlu. Thanks to everyone that entered last month, we had some gorgeous entries for our Spring Blooms challenge ..... you all love your IndigoBlu stamps.
As usual there was a fab prize up for grabs, and our winner was .....

Number 21   Lucy

Congratulations, another worthy winner ... enjoy your prize.

This month the theme is all about using those wonderful sentiment/word stamps ........

WORDS ARE ALL YOU NEED

It's about making the sentiment/words the main focal point on your design .......

I've used one of the sentiments from the IndigoBlu  'Enjoy Life' stamp set.  The set is full of fabulous words and sayings which you can use as they are, or you can stamp them, cut them up and arrange them differently, just use part of the saying, or take just single words .... the choice is up to you.

I started by adding colour to a piece of white cardstock using Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry/Mustard Seed/Evergreen Bough).  Next came my favourite 'flicking water' technique to get that splattered look to the  background

I then used Picked Raspberry and Black Soot Distress inks and the IndigoBlu Clock Face stencil  to add a bit more interest to the background.

The words were then stamped and embossed across the front of the card, and coloured using the matching Distress markers to the inks I'd used for the background

I then edged around the card using Flitter Glu on a piece of Phat Foam and then dipped the edges into Gin & Tonic Mega Flakes
I also cut a piece of black cardstock about 1 inch larger than my inked square, and applied some thin Ultra Tacky double sided tape (the red stuff) around all four sides.  After removing the red protective layer I then covered the tape with the G&T Mega Flakes again ....

A nice quick and easy way to get a lovely gilded border.

A touch of matting and layering with some black and white cardstock, and a pretty die cut daisy finishes everything off nicely .....

Here's a few more ideas showing Words Are all you Need ......

using another IndigoBlu stencil as the background

words really are all you need on this one

words are the centre piece on this pretty heart ornament

Feeling inspired yet?  You have until 8.00pm on May 20th to get your entries in.  Have fun .... and Good Luck!  You never know ..... you could be our next winner.

Thanks for popping by ....... cheerio until next time

LindyLou

xx

Kraft and Slate??

Morning folks!

Time to get all festive again with a little something for the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge

When I saw this week's theme I must admit I wasn't filled with inspiration.  Hmmm .... Kraft card with slate (grey)???  Wouldn't be my first choice for Christmas cards I must say.  But ...... having had a play, and finally finding the perfect stamp for the job (I think) I really like the results ...... in fact, the more I look at it, the more I like it!

I don't use grey cardstock that much but after this challenge it's now on my favourites list.  I think it works so well with the little wintery scene from Hero Arts,  and the touch of Kraft is a really nice contrast ..... thanks ladies at MM ..... great colour combo!

I stamped the image onto white cardstock, using Smokey Grey Versafine Ink,  and just added a touch of Crystal Glamour Dust

The sentiment on the bottom is from Tim Holtz's Deco Christmas (CMS176) and has been stamped using Versamark then embossed with Silver powder

A bit of mat and layering using the colours from the challenge theme, and of course something on the inside to match ....

and the job's done!   Another one for the Christmas card box!

I won't be making Christmas cards today ....... I've got to knuckle down and get on with all the outstanding DT stuff!  I really should have been in the old craft room yesterday but it was such a nice day it was a shame to waste it.

It's nearly 3 years since we moved to the island and would you believe yesterday was the first time that we'd been up to the top of Snaefell, the highest mountain on the Isle of Man. 
There's a well known saying on the island that on a clear day, from the top you can see the seven kingdoms ..... that's England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Isle of Man, Heaven and Mannanan - the Sea
We took the easy way up there and hopped onto one of the trams .......

There's lots to see on the way up there ......

Alex was fascinated by the paragliders, and watched as we got higher and higher

Finally we reached the top ...... it was quite hazy so we couldn't actually see the 7 Kingdoms clearly .....

There's a plaque at the summit pointing out the directions, and distances of them all ...... we're only 31 miles from the closest point ....... the Mull of Galloway in Scotland ....... not far at all.

In a few more weeks this road will be full of motorbikes travelling at top speeds for the TT Races

You can just see the Bungalow down there, which is where we started out from ....

Of course a certain little man had to get as high as he possibly could ......
 

Here he is stood on the obelisk that indicates the true mountain summit ..... 2036ft above sea level.

After coffee and a nice piece of chocolate cake in the summit cafe (well .... it is Easter after all!) we boarded the tram and made our way down again

As the sun was still shining we finished the day at Laxey Beach ...... finding the perfect stones for skimming across the sea ....

And we even saw the Ben sailing in towards Douglas Bay ..... what a nice day!

Oh well, things to do, people to see and all that.  Hopefully I'll get into the old craft room this afternoon and I'm not coming out until something on the list is finished ..... it could be a lonnnng day!!


Thanks for popping by ....

Have a lovely weekend ....... Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx