Do you ever get the feeling you've been here before!

Good morning - well actually it's nearly afternoon,
That's the story of my week so far.  Here we are again, Wednesday already and I've hardly done a thing.  I'm still playing catch up with last weeks 'To Do' list, but I'm getting there - slowly!

It looks like summer is back here on the island- for now at least!  The last couple of days have been really nice with sunshine all day (not that I've seen much of it).  Today isn't quite as sunny but it is nice and warm. At least I'll get the washing dry.  I do hope it's nice where you are and that you're getting the chance to make the most of it.

First job of the week was to finish a birthday card.  It's a little late I know (birthday was Saturday) but I did send a gift and it arrived in time.  Sally won't hold it against me I'm sure, she knows her card is to follow.  I did send a little hand-made something as part of her gift - a door hanger for her Craft Room.

I got the idea for this from an article in this months Craft Stamper Magazine.  The colours I've used are similar but I used different stamps, mainly because at the time I didn't have the fabulous Patchwork Butterfly stamps from Chocolate Baroque.  Notice how I said 'at the time'.  Yes, you've guessed it, they've somehow found their way into my stash (naughty me!).  Well, you can never have enough butterflies, and the large one on this set is just gorgeous.  Can I just say how quick they were in arriving too.  I ordered them about 3.30pm on the 11th and they arrived in the morning post on the 12th - can't ask for more than that can you.

Back to the door hanger.  The stamps I used were all from Mr Holtz, except the butterfly wings which were from a large Hero Arts collage stamp.
I made the background by spritzing plain white card with Distress Ink (from the re-inkers) mixed with a little water (Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint).  Then I spritzed Perfect Pearls over the top and covered the card with cling film, wrinkled it up a little, and left it to dry.  Peel off the cling film once it's dried and you'll find that the perfect pearls has gathered in the creases giving a marbling or mother of pearl look to the card.  I like to cover a few full sheets of card when  I'm doing this technique and then I have a stash to use when I like.
I then stamped the images using black Versafine, the large flourish and the numbers are from TH Stampers Anonymous Fairytale Frenzy (CMS058), and the dress form is from Haberdashery (CMS105).  The dress form has been stamped again onto textured cardstock, cut out and decoupaged over the top. The butterfly wings have been added along with some ribbon trim around the bottom.  The wording was just done on the computer, cut out, inked and doodled around the edge

You can also see a close up of how the perfect pearls turned out - pretty or what!

I decorated the back too.......

...... using the same flourish stamp and added one of Tim's sayings (Stuff to Say CMS110).  Final thing, I added some ink splats using the Picket Fence Distress Stain, and literally splat the bottle straight onto the card - great fun!
I can't share the card with you yet as I haven't sent it, but I will say that it matches the door hanger.

Well, at least I've made a start on this week's blogging.  I'll be back later on with some Blog challenge entries.  You'll be sick of me before today is through.
I'm going to try and enjoy a little of this nice weather and have lunch outside I think - after I've put more washing out!  What a glamorous life I lead.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Less is More

Good evening everyone,
This is weird, I don't normally blog at this time.  I hope you've all had a good day. It's been very wet and windy on the Isle of Man today, not nice at all.

I'm going to enter a Blog challenge! So what, I here you all say, but I've never done one before so it's all a bit new to me. I'm quite excited (it doesn't take much!)
Since I've been blogging, I've noticed that there's quite a lot of 'Blog Challenges' out there. So, after a little bit of research/investigation and a couple of enquiries, I found out a bit more about them, and I think they could be fun.
What started me off was, I got a link to view SU demonstrator Sally-Jo's blog.http://stampin-sally.blogspot.com/  Take a look, there's some fantastic stuff on there.  She's been busy updating it with what she's been upto lately and posting all the beautiful projects she's been working on. I love looking at her designs, she's one clever lady.  From there, I usually follow a link and check out Sally's SU mum's (Julie's) blog  http://juliesjapes.blogspot.com/   Again, this is a lovely place to go for inspiration and ideas.  On there Julie also has a list of blogs from other members of her SU team and this morning I noticed that a couple of them were entering a Blog Challenge for  'Less is More' http://simplylessismoore.blogspot.com/
This is a Challenge blog, created by two crafters called Mandi and Chrissie, to showcase 'clean and simple' cards, hence the name 'Less is More'. (Chrissie was very helpful and answered my questions this afternoon)  They set a different challenge every week.  This week is a Theme of 'Punches or Die Cuts'. So I thought I'd give it a go.  I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I come up with.  In the meantime, here's a couple of what I would call 'less is more' cards that I did a while ago.

all done in one colour of ink

This set was done for a friend of mine who sells cards to raise money for her local church.  I got the idea from an article in an issue of my favourite craft magazine, Craft Stamper.  It was all about Stamping with Butterflies (Sept 2011).  The picture isn't that clear, but I used the SU stamp set 'Strength & Hope' which is one of my favourites. The butterfly is just beautiful. 

Well, I'd better go and get my thinking cap on.  Pop by tomorrow and hopefully I'll have my Challenge entry to show you.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Here it is - finally!!

I've been meaning to do this for a long time now, start a Blog that is.  Well, here it is.  Not quite sure what I'm going to put on it yet but I'm sure I'll think of something.

It's going to be a place for me to share my passion for card making and papercrafting.  I love inks, rubber stamps, scrapbooking papers, ribbon, buttons, gemstones, glitter, anything Tim Holtz/Ranger, the list is endless.

Up until May last year I had my dream job, working in a large Craft store in the North of England, running workshops and doing a lot of samples for craft catalogues and the TV.  However my husband's job brought us over to the Isle of Man and unfortunately I had to leave my job behind. It's not all bad though, I now have the time on my hands to do crafting for myself, creating  projects for me and family and friends.       I was lucky enough to be chosen to join the Design Team for Stamp Addicts, and also last year I was thrilled when I won the 'Craft Stamper of the Year' competition in Craft Stamper magazine.  I suppose that's a good place to start showing some of the things I create.   To enter the competition you had to submit 2 pieces of work that each had some rubber stamping included. I decided on a wall hanging with a matching card.                                                                                   I was so proud when I found out I'd won.  All the hard work had paid off.  The project had taken me ages to do but boy was it worth it.  The idea/inspiration came from a workshop that I'd been on with one of my favourite Craft Demonstrators, the lovely Sarah McCrossan. Sarah taught me a lot of the stamping techniques that I used on the project,  so I'd like to say a big Thank You to her, because without her knowledge I may not have won.

Well, I've made a start.  Hopefully over the next few months I'll get the chance to share my thoughts and ideas and give you an insight into my life on the Isle of Man in 'The Craft Lane' 

Bye for now

Linda

      xx