Time to catch up .....

Forgive me Bloggers for I have sinned .........

It's been 7 days since my last blog post.  Where has the time gone?  I'll tell you where it's gone .........
we had another visitor at the weekend.  My good friend Sue was over from the UK, and boy was she determined to have a good time!
She arrived first thing Friday morning, and we didn't stop until she flew back to the UK on Monday morning! We had a fabulous weekend.  Any of you who are friends on Facebook will have already seen what we've been up to, but to cut a rather long story short, I think she had a ball!  She's already planning a return trip - soon!

I won't go into too much detail (we'd be here for the rest of the week).  Let's just say we couldn't have crammned more into the weekend if we tried. There was lots of laughing, chatting and catching up (obviously!).  We hit the shops and did the old purses some damage (well Sue did anyway!).
Lots of eating, and drinking went on.  And a shed load of sightseeing - we went all round the island on Saturday.  We started from Douglas and went up to Laxey, to see the Great Laxey Wheel.  Had coffee and a rather large piece of cake, in the lovely tea rooms there.

picture from google.com

Then off up to Ramsey and called in my favourite shop.  Lovely hubby bought us both a small gift in there - bless him!  Then it was off up to the Point of Ayre, the northern tip of the island.

From there it was down to Peel, and a walk around the castle.

picture from Wiki

The seal even popped his head up and said 'hello', which was nice.  Then it was on to Niarbyl, one of hubby's favourite spots.  It is rather beautiful down there, very peaceful.

Then it was down to the Sound, and the Calf of Man, the southern tip of the island.

picture from Wiki

Eveytime we've been in the past it's been blowing a gale but this weekend it was lovely.  We walked out to the cliff edge, and just watched the sea, beautiful!
We ended up back in Douglas and finished the day off with fish and chips from the best chip shop on the island (in my opinion anyway, and now Sue's too)  Port Jack - perfect!

Sunday we spent walking in Groudle Glen, (thought we'd better after the fish and chips)

and finished off with a mahoosive chinese banquet (more food!).  We spent a lovely evening meeting up with some more friends of Sue's who also live on the island (small world!).

But, back to normal now.  Busy, busy, busy!  I'm playing catchup for the rest of this week, I've got the usual 'to do' list, (as long as my arm), and I'm going away for a few days next week so most of it has to be done before I go - eeeek!
I did manage to squeeze in a Mother's day card for Stephen's mum.  Well I couldn't not really after the beautiful bouquet she had delivered for my birthday on Tuesday

Which by the way, hubby FORGOT!!!!  But that's another story.  He did eventually remember, before lunchtime.  Don't worry, he's going to pay for this one!  He took me for a lovely meal on Tuesday evening but that's no where near made up for his brief memory loss.  I feel a small(ish!) shopping trip at the weekend maybe (haha).

Anyway, enough of all that, on to the craft.  Here's the Mother's Day card ....... It's a variation of one I did for the Indigo Blu show on Create and Craft 

Isn't the stamp just beautiful, Elizabeth Bennet- it's one of my favourites from the latest Indigo Blu releases.
She's been stamped onto vellum using brown Stazon and I've added a touch of colour on the back.  I've also done a touch of parchment craft (don't laugh!) on the flowers.

Not quite sure whether it's right or not but I think it's turned out ok.
I've finished off with lots of flowers and vintage seam binding ......

And I also decorated the inside ......

The origianl card I did is on the Indigo Blu DT blog with full details.  If you've not already seen it, you can find it here
She's so pretty, I almost don't want to give her away.  She's going to a good home though!

Well I'd better get back to the old craft room, things to do.  I'm working on some samples for Kay to take to the NEC later in the month.  If you're lucky enough to be going to the craft show you may just see them on the stand.  If you fancy a look before then though, pop over to the Indigo Blu DT Blog, I posted a couple on there yesterday.

Thanks for popping by today.  Hopefully I'll be back again before the end of the weekend.
Have a great day.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

Fur or Feathers .........

Good afternoon folks,
And what a lovely afternoon it is too.  We have blue skies and the sun is shining again in the Isle of Man.   It hasn't been like this all day though, it did get off to a wet start and it still wasn't very nice at lunchtime when I had to go to the Post Office.
I've popped another parcel in the post today for Kay at Indigo Blu.  I can't show you what's in there yet, I want Kay to see them first. All I can say is ...... they're not cards???!!  Hopefully she'll have them tomorrow and then I can share them on here.

I can see that I have a couple of new followers today.  Hello and welcome to my little space in Blogland. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do blogging it!  

This afternoon has been quite productive, I've made a start on a few of the things that have been on the list for a couple of weeks, and I've also managed to squeeze in my Less is More Challenge entry.
It's One Layer Week (oh no!)  Usual rules to follow along with the subject for this challenge ....

FUR or FEATHERS

Hmmm ..... what to go for.  I decided on FUR and I think this is the quickest card I've ever made.

Aloysius by Indigo Blu

I wasn't going to use this stamp as both Chrissie and Mandi have used it on one of their samples, but I just couldn't resist, he's sooo cute. And, as I still had my Indigo Blu box open, he was handy.  Plus I don't have a lot of time to spare and it was taking me too long to choose something else.
All I've done is stamp him in Sepia Versafine ink, added a Penny Black sentiment and then lightly dabbed some Distress Inks around the image - Spun Sugar and Tumbled Glass.  Job done!
He reminds me so much of my teddy that I had when I was little, except mine didn't have ears!  Mum used to hang him on the washing line with them until eventually they came off.  I still loved him though.
That was all a LONNNNG time ago.  This is who sits on the bed during the day now .....

look at that face .......

His name is Wilson and he's been with me for about 17 years or so.  He came to live with us when we were in the South of England and he's moved with us ever since.  I don't hang him on the washing line so he still had his ears!

Well, I've a busy week ahead, lots to do and not enough time to do it in.  Nothing changes there then, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  It keeps me out of mischief!!

Thank you so much for popping by. I hope the sun is shining where you are.

See you again soon

Linda

x

Seals in Peel and Indigo Blu

Happy Sunday evening everyone,
I hope you've all had a good weekend.  Did you remember to watch the Indigo Blu show on Create and Craft this morning?
Kay did a fine job again with some fabulous demonstrations, and weren't the new stamps just gorgeous!  Which was your favourite?

I showed you a couple of sneaky peeks last week before the show,  now here they are in full, plus a couple more of the samples I sent to Kay ......

daisy

This was stamped onto kraft card in Vintage Sepia Versafine ink, and then coloured with watercolour pencils.  The flake that I used was the new Manchester Tart onto the lovely flourish stamp that comes in the new sentiment set.  As Kay said on the show, this little stamp makes a lovely background.

Next is one of my favourites, the rose ....
 

rose

This is such a pretty stamp and it's one of those that looks different depending on what colour you go for.
Here I've used the stamp with a grey Versafine ink, to completely cover the background, starting in the middle and then masking each of the flowers.
The rose was then stamped again, 4 times, using Worn Lipstick Distress Marker, applied directly onto the stamp.  They were then cut into layers and decoupaged over the centre rose - so pretty!
These stamps also work well with shrink plastic because they're such a nice size. You can see I've used a little rose on the sentiment.

Last one of my sneak peeks is the Iris ....

iris

Another way of using the stamps ..... stamp the image and them cut around it before adding to your card.  The background is the IB Harlequinn stamp done with black ink, and then again with the Flitter Glu and Flakes, this time I've used the new Gin & Tonic (my favourite!). Add a lovely sentiment, a piece of pretty ribbon and some gems - done!
Here's some more of what I sent to Kay, all done using the Distress Markers to colour the stamps, then the matching Distress Inks to add colour to the backgrounds etc. ......

poppy

tulip

The sentiment on this one has been done with the Flitter Glu and flakes first, and then I overstamped it again, slightly to one side, with black ink to give like a shadow effect.
And finally ..... I had to do a tag

These are just a few of what I made,  I will post the rest over the next few days, along with the little tag book that Kay showed on the show.

If you didn't get chance to order from Create and Craft all the stamps, and the flakes etc., are available here on the Indigo Blu website.  I think they're all in stock.

Well, I've another busy week coming up, more DT stuff, so I may not have chance to pop on here as much as I would like.
Lauren and Alex also go home on Tuesday so I'm spending as much time as I can with them.
We went to the beach again today, this time over in Peel.  It was a nice sunny afternoon over there and the beach is lovely.  Alex had a ball ......

Peel Castle in the background

We walked along the quay side looking for dolphins or seals playing in the waters ....

..... and eventually we spotted 3 seals swimming in the bay .....

 

....... sooo cute!  It's nice to see them swimming in the open sea.

Well, that's me done for this evening.  Time to put my feet up and relax before bedtime.

Thanks for stopping by

Have a lovey week, and I'll be back soon.

Linda

x

Happy Birthday!!

Good morning everyone,
Happy Tuesday!  Hope you are well.  I haven't spent much time in the old craft room over the weekend - none in fact.  After the mad dash on Friday to get my PB challenge finished, I needed a break.  I just left the mess, closed the door and forgot about it for the Bank Holiday.  4 days of relaxation, and a marathon 'Fringe'-fest.

US TV series

We parked ourselves infront of the TV and watched a full series and a half to bring us virtually up to date.  Well, Stephen wasn't feeling too good anyway and plus the weather wasn't brilliant so it was the best place to be.
We did have one really nice day - Friday was good, glorious in fact.  We went down to the prom in Douglas to the Continental market that was there over the weekend.  It was so busy because it was such a nice day.  Look how blue the sea looks ......

There were lots of stalls selling food, crafts and stuff.  We spent a fortune, ate too much but had a great time.  Went home with lots of yummy things - cakes, German salami, Greek olives, cheese, nuts ........ you get the idea.
As it was just after lunchtime the Liverpool ferry - the Manannan, was coming into the harbour ....

It looked so nice coming in with the sunshine reflecting off it - makes me want to go across to the UK again though.

Oh no ......  another of my little IOM info posts.
The little castle in the middle of the bay, that you can see in the first picture is called the 'Tower of Refuge'. It's one of the best known landmarks of the Isle of Man, and is built on a small reef known as Conister Rocks (also know as St Mary's Isle).
It was built by Sir William Hillary (founder of the RNLI) after several shipwrecks on the rocks, including the wreck of the St George in 1830, in which he himself was involved in the rescue.  He wanted to create a refuge for survivors, until help could get to them.
The tower was completed in 1832 for a cost of approximately £250, and apparently since building the tower and up to the present day, no more ships have hit Conister Rocks.
There's a special underwater cable that lights up the castle at night during the summer months, and it also flies the RNLI flag. The perfect tribute to the man that made it all happen.
If you want to know more, there's a Wiki page here or the Douglas Lifeboat site has more information here

At certain times of the year the tide is so low that you can actually walk across the beach all the way to the tower.  We missed it last time, but if we get the chance again it's something I'd like to do.

Enough IOM info.  Back to crafty stuff.
I had to venture back into the craft room yesterday, another last minute, but very important card to make.  Yes, it's that time of year again - hubby's birthday!!
He always tells me not to bother with a card, but I couldn't let his special day go by without one could I, everyone else gets a card!!
After tidying up last weeks mess this is what I made for him ...... 

Now you all know how much I love making cards for men ......  well, I really enjoyed doing this one.
I used some of my favourite stamps from Indigo Blu (Grand Tour III and Take the Time) ......
 
got all messy with my Distress Inks, and used metal embellies from my Tim Holtz stash.

 

I decorated the inside too.....

I was really pleased with the finished result, and Stephen liked it too when he opened it this morning.  The good thing about this card is I'm not really giving it away as such am I.  I can sort of keep this one.

Anyway, better be off.  Not much crafting is going to get done today I'm afraid.  I have had a couple of nice packages from my lovely postie which are new crafty goodies, BUT the parcel guy came before him this morning.   He brought me  'Mr Grey' (and his fifty shades).  Well, I was feeling a little bit left out as everyone seems to be reading this book, so I'm going to see what all the fuss is about.

Bye for now.

Have a lovely day

Linda

x

Positively Festive!

Good morning everyone,
It's weekend, thank goodness. Time to slow down and relax a little I think.  This last week has been non- stop for me, and I still didn't get everything done in time - the list goes on!  Sorry Sally, your birthday card is on it's way - honest!

Just a quick word about last nights football, England WON - well done lads!  We beat Sweden 3-2 It didn't look like a win was possible at one point but they pulled it off.  Let's hope we can keep it up on Tuesday next week, we need at least a draw against the Ukraine.

The dreaded 'C' word was spoken this week - yes that's right CHRISTMAS!!  Now I know it's only the middle of June and we haven't had summer yet, but some of us have had to put our Santa hats on and find some festive spirit.
I've been working on Christmas cards since Wednesday, and I'm feeling positively festive.  I even came close to getting the Christmas CD's out on Friday afternoon when a friend joined me, who was also planning Christmas cards, but in the end we thought maybe it was a little too early.
I must admit I do like making Christmas cards.  At the beginning of this year I said I was going to make at least 1 every week so that come December there wouldn't be that mad rush to get everything finished before the big day.  Well, I have the grand total of ........... NIL so that idea worked well!  I tell a lie, I do have some cards left over from last year, but I haven't actually made any new ones.  Oh well, it's only June - plenty of time (haha).

I can't actually share with you what I've spent my time on this week, but I can tell you they were Indigo Blu stamps that I was working with (gorgeous, by the way), and that Kay is back on Create and Craft next Wednesday (20th) with 2 shows that are all Christmas.  If you are around tune in on Sky channel 671, Freeview 36 or Freesat 813, the stamps are all fab and Kay will have some great ideas to get you started on your own Christmas designs. And my cards should be on the telly too, if they arrive on time.
I'm going to be very naughty now and give you some sneaky peeks ........ shhh! don't tell anyone will you.

..... and the ivy

oohh..... who could this be?

mwah!!

 

looks a bit frosty ....

same as above but different .... ?

I don't think I've given too much away have I.  Once everything has been on air, I'll be back with all the details.  In the meantime all of the stamps are available on the Indigo Blu website.  Check them out here  Along with the stamps there's a whole range of other fabulous stuff to tempt you.

Well, must be off, things to do.  Have a lovely weekend whatever you're doing.  I hope the weather is kind to you. It hasn't got off to a great start here.  Ah well, great excuse to spend the afternoon crafting.

Bye for now,

Linda

x  

I've done it!!

Happy Friday everyone,
Well the final day of the TT was postponed due to bad weather conditions. This means the weekend is going to be all messed up because they'll now run the race tomorrow - great!
I have things to do tomorrow, I need to go shopping!!  And we have Mike's 40th birthday party to get to in the afternoon.  We have to go - I've made him a card. 
Yes, you heard correct.  I've made the 'man' card.  I've been putting it off all week but finally it's done.  What do you think?

I'm quite proud of it actually.  I don't like doing cards for men they're really hard work (the cards are not easy either - lol!) I'm really pleased how this has turned out though.
I must admit the idea has been there all week.  I knew which stamps I wanted to use and the 'time flies' theme was there, I just wasn't sure what to put with it, what colours to use, do I use papers or not, this is for a guy so I can't put ribbons on there, etc., etc., etc.
Once I sat down and got everything together it didn't take that long.  The longest bit has been waiting for the glossy accents to dry on the clock face.
I made the pocket watch first.  The pieces are Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 Art Parts.  I love these paper board shapes, there's load of different ones you can get and they're perfect for altering whether it be with inks and paint or just covering them with lovely papers.  The only thing is I don't like giving them away - this guy better know how lucky he is!!
I coloured the pieces with Vintage Photo Distress Re-inker then spritzed the frame quite a bit with Biscotti Perfect Pearls.  The stamps I used were from Indigo Blu - one of my favourite stamp ranges. http://www.indigoblu.com/   Check out their website for all the latest stamp designs and much, much more. 
I used the cogs from the 'Take the Time' set and stamped them on the solid pocket watch and embossed with gold.  Once the pieces were completely dry I joined them both together then added one of the Prima wooden clock faces to the centre, you can still see the cogs in the background.  I then covered the face with a layer of glossy accents and left it to dry.

The wings were cut from chipboard with the Tim Holtz Winged Heart Sizzix die.  I used Distress ink to colour the back of the wings and I covered the front with a layer of Flitter Glu, then dipped them into gilding flakes. There's also a little bit on the edges of the number 40 too.

I love using these but they can get everywhere.  You need to be quite firm when brushing off the excess to get a lovely smooth finish.  I have my flakes in a large container, I find it easier, and you don't waste as much because everything just goes back in.  Ooh,  don't forget to wipe any Flitter Glu off your fingers before sticking them into your tub of flakes.   It's strong stuff  and your fingers will end up covered  too.
The background paper is from the new Journal Pad by Prima, and the stripe is a little piece I found in my bit box.  I think it's from My Mind's Eye, Lost and Found range.  I used the stamps again directly onto the paper, same set as before, and Distress Ink around the eges. 
The little tag on the side actually fits into a pocket and is loose so you can pull it out - there's a birthday message on the back.  I stamped the front with the hot air balloon from the Indigo Blu Grand Tour III set, slightly off the edge, and inked around the edges with Vintage Photo DI.  I dropped a little bit of water onto the ink and blotted with a paper towel to give a 'weathered' look.  I thought this was a good spot for the 40 - well it had to go on somewhere, didn't it.
The lettering and the numbers, were all cut with the new Tim Holtz Die - WordPlay,  and you can see that I've also used his Weathered Clock too.
I even decorated the inside ......

Well it looked a bit plain, plus I needed to put extra card on the back so that it will stand up.  There's quite a lot on the front and I don't want it falling over.
Did you spot that I sneaked a bit of vintage seam binding on the front too - well like I mentioned yesterday most of my cards have to have ribbon on somewhere.  At least it's black - very masculine.
I really hope that Mike likes it.  If he doesn't, I'll have it back!!

In case you hadn't guessed I'm a bit of a Timmie fan.  I'd just like to say that one of my previous Blog posts showing my take on one of his 12 Tags has just had 1000 views!!! April post
This is unbelieveable. I've been watching the numbers all week wondering if it would make it, and it has. (anyone would think I've nothing else to do!)  I'm so pleased.  I would never have thought that so many people, from all over, would want to read what I put on these posts. 
I was lucky enough to be one of the 12 winners for the April Tag, and it's since then that all these views have mounted up.  Thanks to everyone for showing an interest, and to all those that left wonderful comments.  I really do appreciate it. 

Phew!  It's been a busy week this week.  Most of what's on my list has got done.  The rest can carry over to next week.  How much time I'll have though, who knows.  I've had the 'C' word (Christmas) mentioned to me - Oh No!  I'll have to go in search of some Christmas spirit - Ho! Ho! Ho! and all that.

Have a lovely weekend.  Hope the weather's kind to you wherever you are.
See you all next week.

Linda

x

We've Moved!

Hi everyone,
I'm back, finally. It seems like forever since my last blog post. I've really missed sitting down and 'chatting' with you guys.  I hadn't forgotten about you completely though, I have been checking my blog whenever I got the chance.  Thank you all for your lovely comments, and good wishes for the house move. We're finally in, boxes are disappearing slowly and it's beginning to feel like home.  Now, what's happened since my last post, well .........

Friday, after a busy day packing boxes, Stephen and I flew across to the UK.  He took himself off out to the Casino to meet up with his friends (took Lauren, our daughter with him), and I got together with my craft buddies.

On Saturday I had a lovely day out at the Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight, over on the Wirral.  It was the first time I'd been to the show, but it most certainly won't be the last. HSNW   What a fab little show it is, it's all to do with rubber stamping and my favourite companies were there, in one place - heaven!  As you can imagine, the old purse didn't have an awful lot left in it by the end of the afternoon.  I was like a kid in a sweet shop I can tell you. You do need to buy tickets in advance, no paying on the door, and they do sell out quickly. 
My fav demonstrator was there Sarah, it's always nice to see her but she was so busy, she was on the Indigo Blu stand and I think they were the busiest of the whole show.  We did manage a chat though - always interesting stuff (I'll fill you in another time about that!)  I actually got to meet Kay from Indigo Blu for the first time too, we've only spoken on the phone before. She really is lovely, she gave me the biggest hug and welcomed me on the Design Team, I was so proud.  She also pointed out that some of my samples were up around the Indigo Blu stand - it's always weird seeing my stuff up on display for everyone to see.  You know what it's like, I always think it's never good enough.  It is nice though, to know that people like what  I do.

Here's a couple of the samples that were on the stand

Twit Twoo

 Sunflower

These are a couple of the samples I sent off to Kay a while ago. There's a little bit of everything here, distress inks, masking, spritzing with water,  water colouring, decoupage and even some shrink plastic.   I will get around to posting the details and the rest of the projects I sent off.   Hopefully, I'll be doing regular blog posts on the Indigo Blu site once everything calms down a little.  Check it out and see what the rest of the DT have been up to. Blog

Most of my new stash came from Indigo Blu, stamps, wooden stuff to alter and I also bought some of the fabulous PanPastels.  Never used these before but I can't wait to try them.  Kay was demonstrating them on the stand and she made it look so easy.  I'll let you know how I get on.

I must admit I was a little concerned how I was going to get my new stash home.  We were flying this time, and the baggage allowance is not great.  I managed it though.  If necessary my clothes would have had to stay behind!
Here's what I got ....

oooh ..... lovely new stash!

I'd left my laptop at home, but I did manage to check email and  blog messages/comments occasionally on my brother's ipad.  There were a couple of messages saying 'congratulations' and that I should check out Tim's Blog (Holtz that is).  Well, the penny didn't drop straight away did it.  I knew his new tag for May had gone on, I'd seen that, but I hadn't read the post completely.  Then is suddenly dawned on me - could I possibly be one of the winners in the April Tag?! Well I couldn't get on the web fast enough.  Sure enough, there was my name in the list of April winners - OMG!  I was amazed, there's always so many fabulous entries for these, from all over the world.  When I do my tag entry, I never think that I could be one of the 12 lucky ones at the end of the month.  But, this time I was. If you haven't seen the tag, you can find it here April's tag. Pleased doesn't begin to describe how I felt.  My brother found it really amusing that I was nearly jumping around the lounge and getting excited over a bit of card and ink.  He really doesn't understand, does he!  I'd actually been highlighted on Tim's blog - whoo hoo!!  You guys will understand, I know.

Sunday we spent the day with Lauren and Alex.  It was a nice day so we went to Blackpool Zoo.  We hadn't been there since the kids were tiny so it had changed a bit.  Alex loved it. There were no dinosaurs  last time I was there .......

Alex must have walked miles, he never stopped all afternoon.  He loves looking at the animals.  He even talked to the penguins - and they answered back!  He was a little tired at the end of the day and decided that he could walk no further.  He'd had a nice day though.

I'm staying here unless you carry me!

We came back to the island on Monday and the hard work began.  Removal men arrived Tuesday morning and we were in the new place Tuesday evening.
It's now the weekend and it's beginning to look reasonably tidy.  My craft room is nearly done - finally unpacked my new stuff yesterday.  I have to get it so I can work because I've just received some new stamps from the girls at Stamp Addicts.  They have a show on C&C at the beginning of June so I need to get samples done in the next week.  I'll post some sneak peeks when they're finished.  The stamps are lovely and I can't wait to get started. 

Well, catch up's done - thank goodness.  I'll be back to normal this next week (whatever that is!)  Blog posts should be a little more frequent, and I'm dying to get back on track with my crafting.  I missed 2 weeks on the Blog challenges, time to get back in the routine.

Christopher is home on Wednesday, looking forward to seeing him.  Stephen's going across to pick him up.  There's no room for me because all his uni stuff is coming back with him.  My next trip to the UK is the end of June.

Thanks for popping by, sorry it's been such a long post. 

See you next week

Linda

x

PS   Well done to my boys in blue!  Chelsea won the Champions League final last night and what a game.  It went to the last kick of the ball. The score was 1-1 after extra time and Didier Drogba scored the last penalty for them them to win 4-3 AMAZING!!  Yes, I'm a football fan too (a very happy one this weekend)