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

Happy Thursday folks,

Yes I'm back from my travels ..... my last trip away this year (sigh!) ...... or is it!!?!  Maybe I can squeeze in just one more trip across .... or maybe two ..... I'm already checking on flights!

It's been nearly a week since I last blogged and what a week it's been!
I've been craft shopping, clothes shopping, bought a few bits and bobs for the home. In fact .... I got back home on Monday ,,,,, my shopping is arriving here, on the boat ..... on ......  Friday! (ooops!)
Now. before you start thinking 'what on earth did she buy' ...... I knew my in-laws were coming over at the weekend and they kindly offered to bring my goodies over for me.  Well .... I only had hand luggage ..... 10kg doesn't go very far when you're buying cardstock and paint etc!!!  

It wasn't all shopping though ...... I've done craft workshops, had lunch and dinner out .... more than once! And ....... of course, one of the main reasons for the trip ....... went to the fabulous Claritystamp Open Day over in Yorkshire.
We all had a lovely day meeting up with friends ..... old and new.  I met some of my fellow Clarity Design teamies for the first time too ...... which was great.  And .... we also got a little time in the classroom with Barbara herself ...... doing a Groovi make and take.  I would show you the results but it's still across in the UK!!!
All in all it was a fantastic few days (not long enough as usual!!) ....... lots of fun, loads of laughs, too much good food ....... and the best company ever!!!  Can't wait to do it all again!

But .... it's back to normal now.  The old craft room door is open again and it's busy, busy, busy!  The old mojo is protesting a little but, let's just say we're getting there!!!

First up this week is something on the festive side ........ well it is only 14 weeks tomorrow (Friday) off the big day!!
 
Merry Monday have gone back to the regular weekly challenge so time is running out for me to play along.
This week the challenge is to put the sentiment in the spotlight ...... make the words the focal point

What do you think? ......

I've used the fabulous Happy Little Stampers ...... Mixed Christmas Sentiments

I've stamped each one using Memento inks, alternating festive red and green to create the shape of a Christmas Tree .... nice and simple

I added a star to the top ....... from the Bold Birthday Sentiments set (again from HLS) and gave it a little Wink of Stella sparkle

And to finish off I used a small piece of white cardstock, cut it into the shape of a plant pot, and coloured it using Spectrum Noir pencils. I gave it a little shape and dimension and attached it using a foam pad ..... job done!

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?  Why not join in the fun at Merry Monday

and get into the festive spirit early.

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

I'm off to start on the mountain of ironing that's building up daily!  

How is it that when I'm at home the washing machine is always on ..... somebody want's this to go out in ...... and .... can you wash this for me mum I've nothing else to wear!!! When I'm not here .... the machine never gets switched on and everyone wears their entire wardrobe!!!!  It's like a flippin' laundry in my kitchen ..... again!!! 

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Imagine what you could do .......

Happy Friday folks,

It's nearly weekend (yeah!) ...... hope you've had a good week.
Regular visitors to my blog will know that I'm off on another little trip across to the UK later on today, possibly my last one of the year (sigh!) so ..... as I'm probably rushing around doing last minute checks on everything, I scheduled this post last night ..... so fingers crossed it is Friday morning when this goes live!

Just a little reminder for you about the latest Craft Stamper challenge ...... Take a Stamp and create something fabulous!

Have you all seen the new look magazine?

How cool is that .... love the new logo! Trish and the team have done an amazing job and as always, it's filled with loads of fabulous inspiration from the DT ....... definitely one to read!!

Where was I .... oh yes! the challenge.  Have you got your entry in yet?  Need a little bit more inspiration?  Well you're in luck .... check out the Craft Stamper Blog today and you'll find great ideas on there from the rest of the DT .......  here's a little something from me too ......

It's a fridge magnet ........ made from a cute little 4x4 inch canvas board, a bit of paint and of course the all important rubber stamps!

I painted my canvas using Fresco Finish acrylic paints ....... there's a bit of  Blue Oyster in there, Dolly Mix and Snowflake.  Once it was all dry I stamped the flowers over the top in Black Archival ink  .....  using stamps from JOFY 09 and JOFY12

I coloured in the images using more of the Fresco Finish Paints, mixed with a little water ......

and added just a touch of sparkle, with some fine crystal glitter

and a few dots of paint here and there to add a bit more interest to the background.

The sentiment is from Inkylicious and has been stamped in black and then heat embossed with a clear powder to make the words pop just that little bit more .....

I've added a piece of magnetic sheet to the back of the canvas to make it into a fridge magnet, but I suppose this could also be a coaster, you would need to add a protective coat over the top of the art work though to seal everything .... a clear varnish would do the job, heat resistant if you were going to use it under hot drinks!!

Now it's your turn.  Why not play along get your entries in and YOU could either be ....... our next Design Winner.  You would have your work in the magazine, a GD spot on a future challenge, and a winners profile on the blog or .... you may be the winner of our sponsors prize ......
This month its the fabulous STAMPlorations

And this little lot is up for grabs .....

Go on ..... why not give it a go.  You have to be in it to win it!!  Good luck!

That's it from me this week ..... I'm off across to the UK for a crafty weekend.  Good food, great company, crafty get togethers and of course the Clarity Open Days

Maybe I'll see you there.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend! (I'm going to!)

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Time is running out ....... so it's 3 for 1 today!

Happy Thursday!

And ........ breathe ........... !!

Time for a cuppa I think ..... while I catch my breath and join in the fun with all my favourite blog challenges.

It's been one of those days today ..... busy from the start.
Got hubby off to work ...... did all the usual boring stuff around the house ..... stocked up the fridge for the weekend because I'm not here!  Put the last few bits in my bag for tomorrow ..... everything's in there with a little bit of room to spare ...... result!!!  Some new craft stash may just find it's way in there before the trip home!!  And ...... on top of all that ...... I dropped the little man off at school.
It was his first day yesterday ....... bless him!  Here he is all smart and grown up, in his new uniform ......

Anyway .... after my busy morning I did get treated to a lovely lunch out ........ Hubby took a long lunch break and we went down by the quay and had a delicious meal, and a cheeky glass of bubbly .... just the one mind!  Then it was a quick trip into town to pick up a special birthday present for a certain little someone who is five next weekend (Hmmm .....I wonder who that can be!) Now I've just got to hide the rather large box that it comes in ...... I don't remember Tracy Island being THAT big!!! 

OK .... on to the crafty stuff!  Get this ...... one card ..... entering into not one .... not two ..... but .... THREE challenges!!!  Now that doesn't happen very often ...... not in my craft room anyway!

I haven't had a lot of time to play this week and I don't like to miss out on a challenge so I've combined them ..... luckily two had the same theme anyway so it wasn't that difficult .....

First up it's Merry Monday .....  and their theme is .....  to use HOLLY 
(love the inspiration picture!)

Here's my card .....

The holly is cut from glitter card using a punch and then the leaves have been coloured using a Copic Marker (I didn't have green glitter card!) 

The sentiment is made up from two of the HLS stamp sets ....... the HAPPY is from Bold Birthday Sentiments and the CHRISTMAS is from Mixed Christmas Sentiments.  I love how you can mix and match these ..... great sets of stamps to have in your stash!

I've heat embossed the HAPPY with Gold embossing powder

and then just stamped the Christmas underneath using a green Memento ink

I added a few gold gemstones for the berries and framed the whole thing using a Gold Leafing Pen around the edges ....

There's a little something on the inside too ....

The latest Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge is all about HOLLY too .... so I'm joining in the fun over there ..... that's challenge number 2!

And ......last but not least, challenge number 3 is over at Less is More.

It's a Colour challenge this week .... hence the Green and Gold and the CAS design.

Three for one eh! .... not bad!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Inspired by the retreat ......

Happy Tuesday folks,

I've got a bit of a busy week this week ..... I'm off on one of my trips to the UK again on Friday (whoo hoo!) so lots to do before I leave.  
I need to get my head in gear and get the old craft room sorted, as well as getting everything else organised, and seeing the little man off tomorrow on his first day at school (oh .... bless him!) His uniform is all ready ..... Alex is definitely ready (a bit nervous, but very excited!) not sure that his mummy is though ...... better get the tissues ready too!
By the look of things I'll be burning the midnight oil a little, to get everything done in time ..... the list is rather a long one this week!

It's going to be a fun weekend though ... I'm not travelling alone this time either ...... two of my crafty pals are going across with me.  It's going to be a craft filled few days ..... a bit of retail therapy perhaps, a nice meal out here and there and then we're all off to the Clarity Open Days ......

I went along last year with my buddy Susan, and we had a ball!

Speaking of Clarity, do you remember back in July (oooh .... was it that long ago!) ....... I was lucky to go to the two day Clarity Craft Retreat down in Crowborough.  What a fab time we had ...... if you ever get chance to go on one of these .... DO IT!!!  It's two days crammed with learning techniques and picking up tips on how to create fabulous pieces of artwork .... all taught by Barbara Gray herself with a little help from the fabulous Paul Church from the DT.  You don't actually come away with finished projects as such, but you do have a mind full of ideas and a folder full of details and instructions that you can refer back to over and over again and ...... pieces of art that you can then re-create or complete and transform into something fabulous at a later date.

Here's one of mine that I didn't actually finish on the day but, taking a leaf out of Maria Simm's book (another member of the Clarity DT) I'm going to make an effort to get around to finishing off all those half done projects ...... we've all got boxes of them ...... well, I have anyway!!
Maria's called them Finish It Friday projects ....... this wasn't done on Friday by the way but it is finished now .....

So simple to do, but very effective.  I love the vintage, distressed look with that splash of colour.

I've simply stamped the columbine flower (I think I've got the right one! ....... from the Gentian & Columbine set) onto an old book page and then added colour using Spectrum Noir pencils ..... so pretty!

A little bit of tearing and distressing around the edges and some words added from the Million Thank Yous set  .......

And I finished off by adding some natural twine and a pretty painted wooden heart button

Well that's one finished ....... it's a start!

OK ..... I'd better go and check on the old suitcase situation. I have started packing but I'm trying to keep things to a minimum ...... well I need to save plenty of room for all that new craft stash that is no doubt going to find it's way into my bag .... ooops!  I've only booked hand luggage too ...... so ..... it's only 3 pairs of shoes this time!!!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
And, if you're in the area at the weekend why not pop along to the Clarity Open Days ..... I believe there's still some tickets available .... it would be lovely to see you!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

A quick birthday card ......

Happy weekend folks!

Just a quick post today .... we've got to be out of the house soon, the little man has a birthday bash to get to and I'm off to have fun on a craft workshop .... whoo hoo!
Before we dash off though, Alex thought it might be a nice idea to share the CAS, very quick and easy, birthday card that we came up with for today's birthday boy ........

How useful is this set of stamps going to be ...... it's one of the brand new designs from Happy Little Stampers ....... called Big Bold Numbers (it's exactly what it says on the tin!)

All I've done is stamp the number using Versamark ink and then heat embossed with a red powder

Added a few colourful die cut balloons ...... cut from left over scraps of card

And added a fun sentiment to the bottom ....... using another of the fabulous new HLS stamp sets .....
Bold Birthday Sentiments ..... don't they go well together!!

There's a little something on the inside too .....

The bright bold colours are great for those little guys ....... but, change the colours to nice pastel shades and its just right for the girls too.  And just think ..... it could be for any age!

It's not only a great set for birthdays ..... how about anniversaries, or even Christmas cards ........

Heat emboss the numbers in gold ..... I've cut around mine and used foam pads to attach them onto my card to add a bit of dimension

You can see I've also splattered a little bit of ink in the background, and added just a touch of Fran-tage Shabby White Embossing Powder ........

A nice festive greeting (from the  HLS Mixed Christmas Sentiments) finishes off another CAS design ..... great for doing batch cards.

Oh well ...... better be off .... don't want to be late for the party now do we!

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx