It's all about words .......

Hello again ......

Whoo Hoo!!!! Guess where I am!?  Yep .... I'm at the Bredbury Hall Hotel & Country Club  over in Stockport near Manchester, on this year's Happy Little Stampers Craft Retreat.
As you've probably guessed this is a scheduled post as I should be in the middle of dinner, with the HLS boss herself .... Kylie, and the rest of the girls on the retreat ..... no doubt having a ball!

However, I might be off on a jolly but, the blog challenges still go on ..... this time it's the Happy Little Stampers ATC challenge

This month the theme is WORDS ......  just because ATC's are on the small side doesn't mean you have to skimp on the words ..... make them your focal point

I started out by colouring a large piece of cardstock using various colours of Distress Oxide inks and a little water to blend the colours, and then I cut it down into ATC size pieces (2.5 x 3.5 inches) ..... I got quite a few so I'll be using them as ATC bases in the future ........ watch this space

Each one of the ATC's was then spritzed with a mica spray to add some shimmer to the background, and I used various stencils and Distress Oxide inks to add more detail ......

Pearlescent paint through a stencil gives extra shimmer on one of the designs, and a touch of sparkle with a few die cuts stars and the odd dot of glitter glue .......

Each of the sentiments was stamped and heat embossed with a clear powder  ......

with a few white highlights here and there .....

Use your favourite phrases or sayings .......  or simply one word .... the choice is yours.

As with all of the HLS challenges there's a $20 Gift Certificate for the challenge winner to spend in the HLS store ..... this month it could be you!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your weekend. I'm enjoying mine!

Cheerio until next time ......

First post of the day .......

Happy Friday .......

I may be away from my craft room but ......... it's still a busy day on the Blog!

First up today is a little reminder about the Craft Stamper Blog challenge. We've already had lots of fabulous entries but there's still loads of time left to play along.

The theme is Anything Goes .... as long as there's stamping on there somewhere.
Check out the Craft Stamper Blog for full challenge details and all the rules.  When I say 'all' there's not many!

On to some inspiration for you now ...... fancy a Christmas card?

I must confess I did look at Christmas cards in the shops this week ..... didn't buy any though, well not yet anyway!

This design was quite simple to do .... a mix of snowflakes, and a couple of different ink pads and you're away.

I stamped the snowflakes randomly onto a piece of white card using a silver and a gold metallic ink

Once these were dry, I stamped the large snowflake with Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold
You can see that my snowflakes do overlap in places, this creates the look of depth and layers

I splattered some gold and silver ink onto the background

And finished off with a festive sentiment

and a sprinkling of chunky white embossing powder

Don't forget we have a challenge sponsor ..... the fabulous  RubberDance stamps

And the challenge winner (randomly chosen) will receive a stamp set of their choice .... nice!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a fab weekend.
I'm off on my craft retreat later today so mine's going to be a good one!
First though ....... it's a spot of Christmas shopping and lunch out with hubby .... Ho! Ho! Ho!

Cheerio until next time

Drumroll please ......... post number 1000!!!!!

Hello again ......

Well we made it across OK ..... not too bumpy at all.

I said earlier that it was a special day on the blog today ....... why I hear you all ask
Well ...... Whoop Whoop!! .....  Yeah!! ....... Whoo hoo!!  
This is blog post number 1000!!!!  Now that's a lot of words.

It seems such a long time since that first Blog post back on Saturday January 14th 2012.  I was so nervous.  Who would want to read my blog?  Would I get any followers?  Would anyone leave me a comment?  WOW! was I surprised!

You did read it, you did become followers, some of you have been with me since the beginning, and I think I can say I've made some very dear friends along the way too ...... Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

I thought my 1000th post should be a special one ..... a look back at some of my favourite, and most memorable posts .... so grab a cuppa, this could take a while

I've shared quite a bit with you over the last 5 years or so ..... holidays and family celebrations ......

House moves, and birthdays ...... my day to day life really.
And you've seen this little guy grow up .......... from this cute little munchkin  .....

 
to this handsome chappie ......

But the main reason for the blog was to share my love for all things crafty.

One of my most memorable posts was from April 2012 ...... my entry for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012.  The reason why it sticks in my mind is, it was the first time that my tag was chosen as one of the monthly winners ..... I was so excited!!!!  That one post had over 1600 views!

There's been Design Teams, and Guest Designer spots.  Magazine articles and workshop projects and Blog challenges galore and you've been with me all the way.
Here's one of my favourite pieces from my time with IndigoBlu ...... from December 2013
I still love these stamps, and this is still hanging on my craft room wall.

The first time I was in print was very exciting ...... this was also whilst I was with IndigoBlu showcasing their stamps for Wedding stationary in the Create and Craft Club magazine

We've covered everything from CAS ........

January 2017

to Mixed Media and home decor ......

May 2016

June 2017

Wedding gifts ......

and lots of Christmas ideas ......

December 2016

It's been so much fun sharing my crafty journey with you all, it's nice to know you're there. I do appreciate your comments and support.

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to stop by ....... Love you loads!

We're off out for dinner this evening with my brother and his wife so I shall be raising a glass to you all ....... and, to the next 1000 blog posts!

Cheerio until next time ......

And we're off ......

Happy Thursday ......

Just thought I'd pop by and say hello as I have a little time to spare.  We're on the boat, settled in our little cabin heading across to the UK.  Goodbye island ..... see you Monday!
At least we have sunshine, and calm ish seas ...... for now anyway.

It was a bit of a busy day yesterday but ...... I took a break from the packing and found time to make my second tag for the 12 Tags of Christmas with Loll and Friends
Inspired by the deer on Loll's tag from Day 1, and Nancy's tag from Day 2 this is what I came up with.

A tag cut from Kraft card, with the fir trees stamped using brown ink (those Clarity trees are back again), and the snowy hills created with white pigment ink brushed along the edge of a piece of copier paper
 

A touch of glitter to the trees and a sprinkling of chunky white embossing powder adds the look of  falling snow ....

The die cut deer was one from my stash ..... already coloured, I just added the glitter to his antlers
and a tiny bit of the embossing powder before attaching him to my tag

A piece of white card across the bottom with the sentiment on also grounded the deer a little.

Well that's tag number 2 done.  I'll have to catch up with the rest next week.

It's a special day on the blog today ..... quite the milestone, I think so anyway!  I'll be back later to tell you more.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm going to have a little snooze as we had a bit of an early start.

Cheerio until next time ......

Twelve Tags of Christmas is back .......

Good morning and Happy Wednesday ......

Guess what! ..... this years Twelve Tags of Christmas with Loll and Friends is underway..... whoo hoo!!! 
This fun challenge, hosted by the lovely Loll Thompson (Stamping with Loll) launched on Monday and over the next few days Loll will be joined by some of her crafty friends creating gorgeous mixed media Christmas tags.  This is the 4th year for this fabulous event and I'm excited, and honoured, to say that I'm one of those friends.  I'll be joining Loll later in the challenge.

You all know I do like a good Blog challenge and ..... I love making tags so I can't resist playing along.  I like to try and make the full 12 although this year I may be playing catch up a little more than usual as I'm away for a few days (sigh!!) but I will do my best.

Here's my first tag ........ the big man himself

Isn't he such a gorgeous Santa ...... he's simply been stamped on white cardstock with Black Versafine ink and then a touch of colour added using my ZIG markers and a touch of water

I used a punch to cut around his face and a die cut for the mount before attaching him to my tag.
I added a touch of sparkle here and there with some fine glitter, and coloured his spectacles with a Stardust gel pen .... what a jolly looking chap!

Luckily I had a nice piece of festive card in my leftovers box which I cut down for my tag ....... sparkly Christmas holly stenciled using texture paste and sprinkled with glitter 

I finished off with a simple  sentiment ..... heat embossed in gold

Do you Believe?

Well, that's tag number one done ....... I couldn't leave without making a start.  Not sure when tag number two will get done though.
This time tomorrow hubby and I will be on the boat on our way to the UK.  The sea looks gorgeous this morning ...... let's hope it's the same tomorrow.  I've not finished packing yet. My craft stuff is all done .... just need some clothes now!

We have started thinking about Christmas finally ..... you could say we made a start on the festive shopping at the weekend ...... no shortage of Christmas spirit here!

It's mostly the result of a recent wine tasting ..... a few new wines in there along with restocks of a couple of regular buys ..... my favourite white wine, and one of our best loved reds

And look what else I found ..... ooops! a pretty pink gin. 

I'm always on the lookout for a new gin, and apparently this one is infused with raspberries, along with other botanicals.  And guess what ....... once the gin is done, the raspberries are used again, albeit they're slightly alcoholic at this stage ....... to make the Gin Jam! (they do a jar of Boozy Berries too but our wine cellar didn't have those in stock ...... maybe next time!)
Perfect for delicious scones and a largedollop of clotted cream .... I'll let you know what it's like!

Anyway .... enough about food and drink ..... I need to pack a suitcase, finish the ironing, tidy the house.  Paint my nails,  nip into town, go to the bank, schedule blog posts and pick up the little man from school ..... phew!!  Busy day coming up .... think I'll start with a coffee!

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

Cheerio until next time