There's just not enough hours in a day!

Morning everyone,

I was hoping to do this post yesterday but somehow I never managed to get around to it.  Don't ask me what I was doing all day, goodness only knows.  But, before I knew it, hubby was walking through the door, after a long day at work, and there was I, still messing about in the craft room and no dinner on - oops! (My Domestic Goddess hat must have slipped slightly!)  To be fair I was tidying up for the day, and packing up my craft bag ready to go on a workshop.

I'd spent the afternoon transforming my Flower Twinchie.  It's now on a birthday card for a very special friend (Susan, if you're reading this, look away NOW!  You'll have to wait until next week to see it)

What do you think?  Can you spot the twinchie?  Who would have thought that a little 2inch x 2inch piece of art would make an 8inch x 8inch card.

I've used the same BoBunny paper that's on the twinchie, and some co-ordinating cardstock to make a very simple background layout.  Added a white strip across the bottom with my sentiment on - which by the way, is from the same Penny Black stamp set as the flowers (Petal Party)

I've stamped another of the flowers from the set, 3 times onto white cardstock using Versafine Inks - Imperial Purple and Deep Lagoon, cut them out and arranged them on the front of my card, with some stamped leaves.  My twinchie has been layered onto some of the blue cardstock then attached as part of the floral arrangement, using foam pads.

To finish off I've added some large gemstones to the centres of the flowers and a beautiful silk ribbon bow.
Even the inside has been decorated to match.

I probably shouldn't say this but I think spring is finally here.  Just look at the blue sky we had yesterday,

and it's pretty much the same today, with not a cloud in sight - gorgeous!  You can see there's still a bit of snow up on the hills though.

We actually drove over the mountian road yesterday evening.  There's still plenty of snow up there I can tell you, but the local authorites have certainly been busy.  They've done a brilliant job, the actual road is clear, but the snow is still very deep off to the sides.  It was like being on a cresta run in places.  A wall of snow, higher than the car, on either side of us. It was weird!

It's back to the craft room again today, busy, busy, busy!  I've a couple of things on the go - DT stuff. 
I did post on the IndigoBlu DT Blog yesterday if you fancy a look.  And I'll be back on the Creative Studios DT Blog tomorrow.  It's a hard life!!

Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy your Thursday.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

I think it's time for a Twinchie

Hello there,

Happy April!  Month number 4 already.  This year is flying by. 
Only 7 weeks on Friday until we go away on holiday - whoo hoo!!!  (Not that I'm counting)
Yes, we've actually booked some time away.  We're getting off the island during the TT fortnight, and we're flying to Italy.  Lake Como to be exact.  I can not wait!

We've booked a lovely villetta on the banks of Lake Como ........

Look at that view from what will be our balcony ........ (sigh!)
 
We love Italy ........ stunning scenery,  the food is to die for, they produce all our favourite wines, and the Italians - well need I say more. 
We've got 14 nights, just the two of us, to do exactly what we want.  We've hired a car so we'll be doing a bit of sight seeing.  I'll be taking my new birthday present along with me too, so I'll still be able to blog - hopefully!   Hubby's finally making up for briefly forgetting my special day, he's ordered me a Mac Book (who's a lucky girl!).  Well the old laptop keeps having funny moments, so I thought it was time I had a new one.  I'll have to get used to using a Mac though,  tried one at the weekend  and it was very strange - so it could take a while.  Hopefully there's an instruction manual that's easy to follow ...... a Dummies Guide would be good!

Anyway, enough waffling.  Time for my Twinchie ......... (I haven't said that for a while)

It's Challenge #3  over at Show Us Your Twinchie and the theme for the month is

'Flower or Flowers'

For those who don't know, a Twinchie is a little piece of artwork that measures 2inch x 2inch

Here's mine ........

I've used the Penny Black 'T for Transparent' stamp set 'Petal Party'.  I've stamped one of the flowers and a leaf a couple of times onto white cardstock, and coloured them in using Copic markers.

I covered my Twinchie with some BoBunny paper from the new C'est La Vie range - left over bits from my Tim Tag.  And the edges have been sanded a little to give an aged look.

I've layered the flowers and the leaves, and added a large pearl to the centre.  The tiny tag on the side is made using a Nestabilities die (Labels One) to cut around the computer generated word.

I love how this little project has turned out - perfect for Springtime I think (as you can see in the picture, we've got sunshine again on the IOM - has Spring finally arrived? - Lets hope so eh!)  

I don't normally give my Twinchies away but,  I do think this one will make a nice card.  I'm off now to see how it turns out.  Watch this space.

Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy your evening.  I hope it's as nice where you are as it is here on the island.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

12 Tags of 2013 - March Tag

Hello blog friends,

I hope you've all had a lovely Easter Day, you can see what I've been doing with mine, and there was no chocolate involved!
I'd like to say 'Hello' to my latest follower too.  Thank you so much for joining me.   I'm up to 92 now - whoo hoo!  When I reach the grand number of 100, I think a little Blog Giveaway may be in order, to say Thanks for putting up with me -  what do you think?
 
After a bit of a late start this morning (I'm blaming that on the clocks going forward and losing an hour) I thought it was time I made a start on my March Tag for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013.  Nothing like leaving it to the last minute eh!  Especially when I haven't got half the stuff on the shopping list. 

Here's Tim's ........

and this is mine .....

It's not quite the same, but it's not bad, seeing as I had none of the dies he'd used, the paper pads or the right colours of Distress Paints.  But that's part of the fun of doing these tags I think.  It makes you think about what's actually in your stash.

My little bunny is from a Cricut cartridge - Kate's ABCs, and, as I didn't have any white Kraft Core  cardstock I used a sheet of  Core-dinations Whitewash card, with a Kraft-ish core.  I cut the bunny first, then used one of the Nestabilities dies - Labels 18 to cut my fancy label around it.

I used the blue tinsel twine behind (I don't have the silver one!) so that cut out the need to add colour.  I was a little nervous about heating it though, but, if the master says it's ok then I'll give it a go.  It's quite cute how it curls with the heat.
I added a bit more ribbon to my tag - the little bow around the bunny's neck.  And, as I've run out of Tim's Crinkle ribbon, I found out this afternoon, I used coloured seam binding - looks just as pretty.

My tag's been covered with one of the new BoBunny papers from the C'est la Vie range.  I think the stripes go well with the spring colours, and it does have a bit of a vintage look.

As I didn't have the Tapered Fringe die (must get hold of that one), I cut my own grass strips and used the edge of a bone folder to curl the edges over.  (I found this easier to do before I attached them to my tag).
  

The metal flowers I did have, but, not the right colours of Distress paint (still building my collection of those).  However, like most of you out there, I have many bottles of various brands of acrylic paint so with a bit of searching I found the right shades (PaperArtsy Fresco Finish to the rescue!)  I love this technique of painting metal charms.  Like Tim says, they do look like vintage enamel.

I've just realised I lied (sorry!) I did have one of the dies for this tag (yeah!!) - the Tattered Banner.  I cut mine from a scrap of cardstock and used Tim's new stamps for the message.
 
And there you have it, my version of this months 12 Tags of 2013.  Finished, finally, with a few hours to go before the deadline (breathes a sigh of relief!).  I'd better get it uploaded to the site now.

Thanks for popping by today, it's always nice to see you.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend, and I'll see you all again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

One card, two challenges ....... with a bit of help from the fairies

Evening everyone,

Hope you're all enjoying the Easter break.  Anyone overdone the chocolate yet?

It's been a lovely day here on the Isle of Man.  A bit chilly, but at least the sun was shining.  Could the weather finally be changing? Well British Summertime starts tomorrow so you would think we stand a chance. Fingers crossed eh!

It's also the last day of March tomorrow (yikes!!!) and I haven't done any blog challenges yet this month!  (Timmie tag is due tomorrow!!!)
There were quite a few new ones started at the beginning of this month which I really fancied giving a go.  One of them being the new Lavinia Stamps Challenge

I love Lavinia stamps, especially the fairies, and as soon as I heard about the challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  The gorgeous Tree Goddess 'Luna' has been in my stash for a while but this is her first outing.

She was simply stamped using Onyx Black Versafine ink onto the side of a piece of white cardstock.  I used the Weeping Willow leaves to add the foliage.
I drew a circle onto the card with part of the Fairy inside, then using a craft knife I carefully cut out the circle and around the fairy.

On an 8x8 cardblank I marked where the cut out circle was to sit, then using my Distress Inks, some torn copier paper and a punched circle for the moon, I made a bit of a scene for Luna to look out on. 
This is where Challenge number 2 comes in ..........

Back in February, Craft Stamper magazine launched their own Take It, Make It Blog Challenge.  This is my favourite craft magazine ever (and that's not just because I won Craft Stamper of the Year a couple of years ago either!)  Every month it's full of fabulous projects, great tips and techniques, and loads of inspiration from the Design Team.  So, when they launched their challenge I had to give it a go.  It's taken me a while to get around to doing it I know, but better late than never.

The idea is you TAKE a specified technique, then you MAKE something using that technique - simples!
For their first challenge they chose a technique showcased in the March issue of the magazine ...... Faux Airbrushing

I gave this a go on the little background scene I created

and also did a touch on the sentiment strip across the bottom. 

To get the light, soft, speckled look you apply your Distress Inks with a soft sponge, using a pouncing or dabbing motion.  I used make-up sponges to do mine, you don't need to spend a fortune on special ones.
To finish off I added one of the small Lavinia fairies in the background along with some fairy dust.

I stamped the fairy's wings onto acetate, then attached them to the card to add a bit of dimension.   I used a gemstone to hide the dab of glue, then added lots of Glamour Dust - well a fairy needs a bit of sparkle.

A bit of matting and layering and some paper roses finish the whole thing off.

Oh well, that's two challenges done.  There's still a few on my list though.

Don't forget to put your clocks forward tonight.  At least it'll stay light a bit longer tomorrow so who knows, I may just manage a couple more.

Thanks for popping by this evening.  Enjoy the rest of the long weekend.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

Happy Easter!

Hi everyone,
I don't do Easter cards but I just thought I'd share my Easter ATC that I made for the new monthly swap over on Julie's Blog
This little Penny Black bunny is soooo cute - I couldn't resist putting the pom pom on his tail (sweet!)

ATC's were something else I didn't do up until recently, but now I've started, they're so much fun.  Easter was the theme for March, next month it's Sunshine and Showers.  Hmmmm ......... wonder if that can be snow showers.  Most of the hills and countryside over here still looks like something off a Christmas card. 
In fact, when we took Lauren and Alex to the airport on Wednesday morning it was snowing.  There was just a bit coming down in Douglas but by the time we got  to Ronaldsway airport we were in a blizzard. 

Driving home from the airport

It didn't last long though - IOM weather = changeable to say the least.

Wednesday afternoon I should have been in my craft room but, I got a phone call from hubby at work saying an email had been sent round, asking for volunteers to go up on the mountains and help the farmers look for their sheep lost in the snow.  Stephen said he was going and did I want to go with him.  So I dug out my thermals and my hiking boots, layered up and off I went.
I didn't know quite what to expect, but I was shocked by the amount of snow that was actually up there. The mountain road has been closed for a couple of weeks and now I know why.  Some of the drifts were over 6 foot deep where we were, and it was soooo cold.  It actually snowed again while we were up there.

270 sheep had been found the day before.  The farmers have certainly got their work cut out, it was a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Everywhere was just white .....

 

Hubby wrapped up warm

........ and the snow was so deep.
Some of the road had been cleared part way, so that tractors could get down there but most of the time you couldn't see any of it. 

As you can see, eventually the skies did clear and the sun came out.  It was beautiful up there, but still flippin' cold!

There must have been about 70-80 people up there looking but unfortunately we didn't find any sheep or lambs alive. It's so sad to think that they're still out there. 
It was a case of just covering ground, poking the snow with a long stick, and if you felt any holes or ridges, then dig to see if anything was down there.   Some people did have a bit more luck than us.  About 20 sheep were spotted over the other side of the mountian which was good news.
There's still a lot out there though, it's going to take days to find them all.  And it's going to be a while before the moutain road is open again.  It's only about 8 weeks before the TT, when bikes are going down there at speeds of over 120 mph.  Lets hope the weather changes soon.

Thanks for popping by today.  Sorry there hasn't been much craft on here lately - I'm rubbish I know!  Hopefully this weekend will see a change to that - my Tim Tag really needs doing! 

I'll be posting on the Creative Studios DT Blog later today, and tomorrow (if I get a wriggle on) I'll be posting on the Craftwork Cards DT Blog with some of the new Dolly Mixtures range.  Busy day ahead.

Have a lovely Easter - not too many chocolate eggs though!

Cheerio for now.

Linda

x