3 more sleeps until we move .....

Happy weekend to you,

I hope you've had a good week.  Mine's been filled with boxes, boxes, and more boxes, with a bit of bubble wrap and packing tape thrown in for good measure! Who's clever idea was it to move!!!

There's not been a lot going on in the old craft room this week, apart from all the packing!!  I haven't even had time to play along with my favourite Blog Challenges (sigh!).  I did spend some time in there yesterday, playing with this month's Tim Tag .... it's not quite finished, but there's a few days left before the deadline.  All I need to do is remember which box I packed all my metal trinkets and embellishments in ..... definitely didn't think that one through! Hopefully I'll find them in time.

Speaking of challenges ....... I'm over the moon to have been picked as one of the Top 3 for January, in the Country View Crafts Blog Challenge ...... whoo hoo!!

I love these guys .... their website is one of the best online for craft stash shopping ..... I think so anyway!  They always have the new releases from all the top ranges ..... great prices .... and FREE P&P  .... you can't beat that now can you!  (ooh! Must remember to change my address on there)

Well ..... gotta go I'm afraid.  I need to do a quick trip into town ...... Post Office, to re-direct the mail. Stop off at the new house to unload some more boxes ..... then I'm off out for the day!  Hubby's packing up his office today ...... so I'm just going to leave him to it!  I've been given some time off  to spend the day with my crafty buddies and I can't wait!

Thanks for popping by ..... before I go here's Wednesday afternoon's view from the new house ..... (not a lot different from last Saturday's really)

We spotted a warship in Douglas Bay while we were sat having lunch at The Queens ..... and it was on it's way to the harbour

Don't worry, the novelty of a sea view will wear off ... eventually!!

Have a great weekend .... and don't forget ..... the clocks go forward tonight!  As if I can afford to lose an hour ..... there isn't enough in the day as it is for me.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

The move starts now!!!

Happy Monday!

I see someone else has joined us over the weekend .... Hello and Welcome to my latest Follower, it's always nice to see a new face.  Thank you for taking the time to visit.

The Giveaway prize has also been claimed ..... and the goodies will be on their way to the winner later this week.

Well, we have the keys to the new place ........ the move begins now!  We picked them up on Saturday morning and everything's fine ....... the house is just as we remembered it ..... BIG!!!
We spent most of the weekend shopping for more furniture to fill the place, in between packing and moving boxes that is.  Boy do we have some stuff ..... it took all day yesterday just to empty the loft!!

We finally have a sea view too ...... you have to go up to the roof terrace to see it mind, but ..... what a view!  It'll be a great spot for watching the Red Arrows when they come over, which is usually during the TT.  And of course we'll be able to watch the firework displays from up there too.
This was Saturday afternoon's view ........
 

It was a beautiful day, lovely and warm too! It's south facing so it gets the sun all day.
There's power up there as well so ..... I can see quite a few relaxing evenings spent up there, and I can grab a glass of something chilled, plug in the old laptop and blog away in the sunshine!  You'll probably get sick of seeing this view ...... sorry!!!

Anyway, before I get on with more packing this morning I have a little something to share with you for the current Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge. 

This is my second entry in the challenge, and my first attempt at creating the Bokeh effect, which seems to be very on trend at the moment .... see what you think

I randomly coloured a piece of white cardstock using Distress inks ..... I think the colours were Cracked Pistachio (my new favourite colour!), Shaded Lilac, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry. Once the inks were dry, I cut myself some acetate stencils using various sizes of circle punches, and applied white pigment ink through them over the top of the Distress

I let each layer dry before going over the top with the different sizes of circles and I love the result.

I finished off with my sentiment (Kaiserkraft) and added a few dots of crystal glitter for the touch of sparkle!

Well that's it from me I'm afraid ...... possibly for the rest of the week!   
I don't think I'll have much time to spend in the old craft room this week, plus it's looking a bit like a disaster area at the moment, there's stuff everywhere ....... more than usual ..... finding a place to work isn't easy!  So unfortunately no playing along with this week's blog challenges for me (sigh!).  I do still have my tag to do for Tim's 12 Tags so you never know, if I can manage to squeeze in some time to play, you may just hear from me.

Thanks for popping by ..... have a great week whatever you're up to.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Off the Edge ......

Good Morning ...... and a Happy Weekend to you,

Well today's the day (whoo hoo!!) ......... we get the keys to our new house!!!  Yes we're moving (again!)
We pick up the keys today but, the removal men don't arrive until the 31st.  So, we've got 10 days to get used to the place and move some of the smaller stuff ourselves.  The old craft room is one of the first jobs on the list, along with all the kitchen stuff.  So ..... I've got a busy few days ahead of me.

Before all that though, there's something else going on today .....  it's the launch of the latest Challenge over on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog.
Thanks to everyone that took part last month .... you all seemed to like the Spring Greens theme as much as the DT did.
If you entered, check out the Blog to see if you're our winner, or one of the Top 3 .... and you could be joining the DT on a future challenge.

So, what's this month's theme?  ...... Well the title is ......

Off The Edge ......

I can't wait to see what you all do with this one.

'Off the Edge' for me, means exactly that ..... off the edge of the card, or canvas, or whatever your project is.  You've probably seem me use this technique quite often .... especially on the inside of my cards.

You don't always need to use the whole of the image from a stamp, try staying clear of the centre of your card, go more to one side, or try the bottom, or the top.  Stamp the image off the edge slightly and see what a different look you achieve.

I've used the new Lost in Thought stamp, stamped slightly off one edge, and the bottom of my card

I added a touch of colour to her using Distress Inks and a little water.  I just kept to two colours (Spun Sugar and Faded Jeans) for the whole design as I didn't want it to look too fussy.
Once she was dry I made myself a mask of the image, covered it up and then built up the background around her.

I used the Script Background stamp, and Spun Sugar Distress Ink, all over, again going off the edges

then followed with the Faded Jeans, mixed with water, splattered over the top using a paintbrush.

I stamped a couple of Limor Webber's Industrial Lamps at the top ..... keeping them off the edge, and embossed them using a clear powder

The design is finished off with a little more Distress ink sponged around the edges and one of the words from my favourite Sarah's Choice stamps

I've taken some of the design onto the inside of the card too ....

Take a look at your rubber stamp collection and see which images lend themselves to being stamped off the edge .... you'll probably find you can use this technique with most of them.

Here's another idea for you ..... this time using one of the beautiful new floral stamps .... Peony Posy

This is so quick and easy but makes a really nice card, for any occasion

I've stamped the image off the edge, and embossed with clear powder, then added colour to the blooms using Distress ink

A little ink around the edges, a few splatters here and there,

And some nice words finish it off beautifully ..... these ones come with the gorgeous new Caitlin rubber stamp .......

Again, more of the same inside

If you need more inspiration pop over to the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the DT have come up with.
Then it's over to you.  You've got until 8pm on April 20th to get your entries in ..... loads of time to have fun, and go 'Off the Edge'!

Thanks for popping by ...... have a great weekend.

Cheerio until next time

LindyLou

xx

Let's try again ......

Hi there,

How's your day been?  Are you looking forward to the weekend .... I know I am, even though it's going to be a busy one.
We're starting it off right though .... I'm being spoiled again with dinner out tonight, just hubby and I, at my favourite restaurant ..... MacFarlanes.  No cooking for me this evening ... yeah!!

In today's earlier post,  I mentioned my little 200 Followers Giveaway

and the fact that the prize hadn't been claimed.  Well ...... it's been over 7 days since the original draw and I did say that if the prize wasn't claimed I would do a re-draw .... so here it is.
The numbers were put into the Mr Random.org thingy and a new winner was chosen ..... (drumroll ..... )

Ta dah!!!! .......

And the winner is .........

the lovely Loll Thompson (from Stamping with Loll)

Congratulations Loll!  If you could email me your address that would be great (you'll find there's a Contact Me button at the top of my blog) and I'll get your little gift in the post ASAP.

Thanks for popping by ..... have a great evening and enjoy the weekend.

Cheerio until next time

Linda 

xx

Happy Little Stampers

Happy Friday folks!

Did you see the solar eclipse this morning?  ...... it was a bit of a damp squib over here, literally ..... it rained!!!  There was nothing but clouds in the sky over Douglas .... it did go dark though so we knew that something was going on.  The clouds are clearing now, and we've got blue skies and sunshine ... typical!

Anyway on to today's little bit of craftiness.  My entry for the Happy Little Stampers March Sketch Challenge

Here's what I came up with .....  CAS and suitable for so many occasions ....

I must say ...... I'm liking DL cards at the moment!

I've used a stamp that I've had in my stash forever .... forgotten it was there to be honest (oops!)  and I love it!  I'll probably find a few more of these over the next few days (things I've forgotten about) when I start boxing up more of my stash ready for the move!

I've just stamped the image onto the bottom half of my card using Versafine ink then added colour to the blooms using Distress inks and a blending tool (hmmm ..... this could also qualify for the March HLS CAS Challenge ..... they want to see Sponging.   This fits the bill doesn't it!? .... I do like a two for one!)

You can see I also added a few drops of Glossy Accents to the flowers ..... dew drops maybe (or rain drops if you're on the Isle of Man like me!! .......... No  I shouldn't really say that ........ apart from the minor blip this morning the weather's been lovely this week ....... Spring is here .... yipee!!)

I added more of the flowers to the inside and coloured them the same way.

OK .... this is also being entered into the Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge ...... Sponging
although I will be back over the weekend with another entry

Thanks for popping by ..... I'm on nurse duty again today.  The little man is still full of spots .... and full of energy too.  Obviously he can't go to nursery so I'm having to keep him occupied!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

PS ...... Remember the Giveaway I did for reaching 200 Followers ..... well it's been over 7 seven days since the winner was announced and it still hasn't been claimed ...... so I put the numbers back into Mr Random thingy and did the draw again.  I'll be back later to announce the results.  See you then! x

Boxes, boxes and ....... more boxes!!!!

Happy Thursday!

Well .... this week just keeps getting better and better!!
First off the little man woke up with a face covered in spots!  The doctor thinks it might be chickenpox ..... the next 24 hours will tell!  We've all had them before, apart from hubby that is .... so fingers crossed he doesn't go down with it!
To be on the safe side he's decided to work from home today, until we know for sure ..... no point spreading it around the office.  He went to pick his laptop up from work and found that the car wouldn't start .... again!!!!  This happened on Monday morning ..... not the best start to the week.  We thought we'd got it sorted ..... obviously not! Now he's waiting for someone to bring his laptop over ..... wonder who'll draw the short straw!

Anyway .... before I get on with today's jobs on the 'To Do' list, it's time to share this week's festive make for the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge.

This week it's all about GIFTS! .......

This is what I came up with ..... a nice CAS design, very quick and easy (time is something I don't have a lot of at the moment ...... or available craft stash come to think of it! Everything is disappearing into boxes as we speak)

This is so simple to do .... easy to adapt for any size of card (finished size of mine is 6x6) and you can make use of all those pieces of scrapbooking paper or card that you just can't bring yourself to throw away ..... you know the ones I'm talking about!

I went with a sparkly piece of glitter card for my gift, wrapped around some festive red satin ribbon and attached a matching, cute little bow ......

I added the tag ..... (stamped and embossed onto a piece of card and added a little colour with Distress inks) and of course finished off with a Christmas sentiment ....... job done!

Oh well ..... I wish I could stay and chat but it's already lunchtime and I've done nothing!!

Thanks for popping by ...... ooops!  I nearly forgot!  Hello and welcome to my latest follower ..... thank you so much Shawna for taking the time to visit .... it's nice to have you along.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

A break from the packing .....

Happy Wednesday folks!

How's your week going ..... better than mine I hope!  I'm getting nowhere .... and FAST!!!
I really should be packing up the old craft room but ...... there's blog challenges to enter! (and DT stuff to do but ..... that's another story!)

In between packing boxes and having a good old sort out, I found time to play along with this week's Less is More challenge.  It's One Layer Week ..... my favourite, and the challenge is .....

INCLUDE AN ANIMAL!

And here he is ......

One layer, CAS, and lots of white space!  And for once, it was done on the first attempt - whoo hoo!!!  

One layer is not always that easy to do ..... no room for error (can't cover up those mistakes with a nice embellishment!)

This little guy is from a clear set of stamps from Penny Black (sorry .... no idea which one, no packaging!)

He's simply been stamped using Black Versafine and coloured with Distress Inks and water .... simple!

The sentiment is from a new set of stamps from IndigoBlu called Funny Bird.  It's a fab collection of words and sentiments suitable for all occasions.

Don't get me wrong, I love Facebook but ...... some occasions need a card!

Well that's me done for today ..... time for a spot of lunch then it's back to the packing.
I did the 'Man Drawer' this morning ..... we've all got one ...... a drawer full of 'stuff'' .....  most of it no use what so ever!  Well ours has been well and truly sorted ..... there's only the keys that I know what they belong to in there, packs of NEW batteries ....... the rest have been put in the bin, instruction leaflets for things that we actually still have, and all the mobile phones and chargers are going to be re-cycled!!  I love having a clear out!!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx 

PS ....... Thanks for the tip off Sarah (aka Sazzle Dazzle)!  I shall also be linking this little guy up to the latest challenge over at AAA Cards

This is a new blog challenge for me ...... it runs every two weeks and is based around CAS cards. 

Challenge #35  is all about ...... bare naked CAS designs  (how cute is that little tush!!)

My little guy isn't exactly 'naked' but there's not a lot going on there, so hopefully he'll qualify!

Thanks again Sarah ..... I always like a new challenge!  

xx

50 Shades of ....... Blue (Ok .... not quite 50!)

Happy Sunday!

And to all you lovely Mum's out there ......

Have a lovely day ..... put your feet up and let the kids look after you for a change, you deserve it! (That's my plan anyway!)

Before all that though ....... it's time to get all festive with my Christmas card for this week's Merry Monday Challenge.

It's all about using shades of Blue to create a Monochromatic Christmas card

Nothing very original from me I'm afraid ...... I've gone with the snowflake theme and my favourite Distress inks ...... simple

I stamped my snowflakes onto a piece of white cardstock, using Versamark ink, and them embossed them with a white, fine detail powder.

I then masked off a section at the bottom of the card and, using various shades of Blue Distress inks (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire) I built up the colour over the top of the snowflakes.

Once I was happy with the background, I polished over the embossed snowflakes with a clean piece of kitchen towel, removing any ink from embossed images.
You can see I've also spritzed water onto the inked background to create the splattered look.

To finish off I added a festive sentiment stamped with Paris Dusk Memento ink (another shade of blue) and added a touch of sparkle with some fine crystal glitter

And of course inside was done too .......

Well that's another Christmas card done ........ I'm getting quite the collection now.

I have to confess though ..... I didn't get around to making any Mother's Day cards this year (ooops! That's me on the naughty step!!) I did sort out the presents though!
Hubby had to go out and buy a card to send to his Mum, and I actually went in a card shop yesterday (the first time in a while!) ..... I took the little man to choose a card for his mummy.

Must dash ..... we're off out for Sunday lunch today, and I'm still in my PJ's!!
I'm being spoiled (again!) ..... we're off to my favourite Italian restaurant on the island, seeing as it's Mother's Day ...... they're not a bad bunch!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Just a little reminder ....... the Take it Make it challenge is up and running

Happy Friday!

I can't believe it's the weekend again already!  Mind you, I do feel as though I've been going at 100 mph all week ... time to slow down and enjoy the weekend I think!

It's also time for a little reminder about the latest Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge ...... it's the turn of .... Take a Stamp this month and there's no specific theme, just anything goes, the choice is up to you.

As always there's a fab prize from our sponsor up for grabs.  This month it's from PaperArtsy .....

and the prize is a gorgeous set of Fresco Finish Paints .......

AND

a fabulous set of brand new stamp designs

Not forgetting there's also a prize for the Design Winner, chosen by the DT.  You can find all the details over on the Craft Stamper Blog

So ... have you entered yet?  No ........ then maybe this will inspire you to give it a go

Another of the results of me playing with my new Brushos for the background ....

Then I've simply stamped over the top using Black Versafine ink, and Penny Black's brand new cling stamp ......  effulgence.  I've then embossed the image with a clear fine detail powder

I added a touch of sparkle to the flowers using a Quickie Glue Pen and some fine crystal glitter, and then finished off with a sentiment (from Tim Holtz's new stamp set .... Perspective)

There's a touch of the design on the inside too

Feel like giving it a go ...... why not!  Need some more inspiration?  Then pop over to the Craft Stamper blog today and see what the rest of the Design team have been creating.
You've got until midnight on the 25th to get your entries in, so come on ........ have fun, and get stamping!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.  And if you're a Mum .... Happy Mothers' Day for Sunday

Cheerio until next time

Linda 

xx

A real colour challenge ..... for me

Happy Thursday evening .....

Any chance of an extra day this week ..... as usual, I've loads to do and not enough time to do it in!! That's one of the reasons I'm posting late ...... deadline's looming and I'm out all day tomorrow!!

At least I had an early start this morning.  After the family outing to the dentist ....... yes,  I couldn't put if off any longer, the appointment had already been cancelled 3 times!! ....... I managed to spend some time in the old craft room, and I actually got jobs done!  One of which was this weeks entry for the Less is More challenge.

It's a Colour Challenge, and seeing as how Spring is on it's way (so I'm told!) they've gone for ......

YELLOW and GREEN

Not colours I would normally go for so I'm totally out of my comfort zone here .....

Saying that ..... I do love the new Cracked Pistachio Distress ink though ..... it's so pretty!!!

I've teamed it up here with a little Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed mixed with just a touch of Gathered Twigs for the centre of the flower (hope that's allowed!)

I stamped the flower ..... from another of my new favourites from Tim Holtz ...  the Flower Garden stamp set.  I embossed the image using a clear powder and then coloured it using the Distress inks, mixed with a little water

I added my sentiment (Winnie & Walter's The Big, the Bold & the Happy)

And finished off  with a little bit of ink splattering around the bloom

There's a little bit inside the card too .....

Oh well ...... Friday tomorrow and another busy weekend coming up ...... crafty get together tomorrow, dinner out and a birthday party on Saturday, then of course it's Mother's Day on Sunday .... I guess the diet will have to wait another week (that's a shame!)  

I've got to get on with some serious packing too, we got our moving date today ...... March 31st (eeeek!!) That's only 19 days away ......and so far I've emptied and boxed up 5 drawers .... in my craft room! I've not even started in the kitchen, or anywhere else for that matter.  It's a good job we have both houses for 2 weeks ..... that should make things a little easier!

Anyway, thanks for popping by .... enjoy what's left of your evening.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx