It's Wednesday!

And that can only mean one thing! Millions of bloggers from across the universe will be wading through snow and deserts and high seas and Martian rock in a desperate attempt to join our inspired leader Julia and display their workspace in the blogosphere.

Look above and you will see my desk as it currently looks ... yes I know it is still a tad untidy ... but hey ... I kinda know where it all is!

Take a 90 degree turn to the left and you will see my yummy collection of Distress inks ... my favourite window and ... erm ... a big crack in the plaster ... I know ... I should get John to sort it ... but that would mean he would have to come up here and I really cannot face that whole ... Blimey! ... Have you got enough stuff up here? and Do you really need it all? scenario again ... I will just wait a while longer ... possibly when the outside elements start to come in ... or the wall falls off ... you know the kind of thing.

Then take a 180 degree turn ... from your original position ... not from the ink pads ... it is only 90 degrees from there and you will see my yummy collection of blending tools ... that I now discover ... I don't actually need them all ... Hey Ho! I am sure I will find a use for them :0)

I awoke this morning to four emails asking me to explain how to insert a blog link to a challenge ... so I am going to show everyone on here and invite those that want to practice ... to practice here ... I will then find you ... let you know if it was successful and let you know what you are doing wrong if it does n't work ... have as many goes as you need ... I just know I will be here most of the day visiting desks :0) I do hope someone from Mars does join in the WOYWW challenge this week!

Here goes ...

1. Click on the header of the blog post ... the one you want to link and go to the browser addy e.g http://acraftingjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/everything-and-more.html and copy it. [CTRL and C buttons at the same time]

2. Visit the blog you want to link on and in your comment type this ...

<a href="link">title</a>

3. Now highlight the word link ... just the word NOTHING ELSE and paste the addy. [CTRL and V buttons at the same time] You should now have this ...

<a href="http://acraftingjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/everything-and-more.html">title</a>

4. Where it says title ... highlight it and type in what you want the link to say ... e.g my challenge entry is here. You should now have this ...

<a href="http://acraftingjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/everything-and-more.html">Find me here</a>

and your link is complete :0) It really is as simple as that.

I have a label on my computer with

<a href="link">title</a>

so I can remember the code.

Good Luck :0) And remember ... if you want to test it out here ... go for it!

Steam Flunk ... Again!

Blimey ... what is it with me and Steam punk? ... I saw the gothic arch challenge this week was Steam Punk ... and I thought ... it's been a while since my failed attempt ... I shall give it another go.

All was well with the arch and the TSS mould ... my lovely new gold metal and the Terra ... I was thinking time machine ... in a Steam punk kind of a way ... a bit of black acrylic paint and then the clock parts and Tim's Idea-ology cogs ... you know Tim ... the man that can time travel with just a glittery foam sticker thing and some Brushed Corduroy distress ink.

Still on track I thought ... then the I got a bit side tracked looking through my Crafty Individuals piccies and before you know it ... I had attached a Wendy Vecchi Grunge paper butterfly ... some pearl beads and ... well the track had well and truly been lost at that point!

Hey ho ... now do I link it to the challenge? ... or do I not? Decisions! Decisions!

I'm still smiling by the way :0) Did you see him? What did you buy? What are you going to buy? Who rang in? Who got a text on the telly? C'mon spill ... that is all of Lord Tim Holtz in the UK for this year ... I need to get my Timmy fix somehow ... I know ... let's talk about him non stop ... Whadyamean? I do already :0)

Still Smiling!

Actually I am not just smiling ... I am still grinning like a Cheshire cat ... I think I may be permanently affixed to Cloud 9 and I have no plans to come down for a while yet. Less than an hour people and we all get to see him on the telly ... I just can't wait. Lord Tim of Holtz ... twice in two days ... Woo Hoo!

Fraid I have n't got a new Tim tag to show you today ... but have a good blog hop ... there are several that were handed out and are appearing in the blogosphere and they are all stunners. 

So here we are ... back to one of mine ... I have been playing with the new Distress inks ... Are n't they just the best colours ever ever! I have mixed Stormy Sky with Forest Moss and Rusty Hinge ... of course I whacked a load of Rock Candy Stickles on too ... just like Tim ... the man that can climb Everest without a rope in between appearing on a well known shopping channel throughout the day with just an Idea-ology ornate frame and two extra long brads ... said!

Right that's me for today ... gonna grab meself a cuppa and stay glued to the TV screen for the next 24 hours :0)

Everything and More!

Sorry to be so late guys ... I have just spent the last hour and a half coaxing my internet to work!

But you don't wanna know about that ... now do you? You wanna hear all about Lord Tim of Holtz ... the man that can craft on water without so much as a pair of armbands ... remain completely dry and erect a sky scraper at the same time with a Sizzix die and a 2" square of Grunge paper.

If you thought my hero worshipping was sad before ... well best you look away now ... because I am about to become a whole lot worse.

He is charming and clever and funny and his art is soulful and seamless and amazing. Grab a cuppa ... make yourself comfortable ... you wanted the details ... so here goes!

My day started at 5am ... trust me ... I don't get up in the middle of the night for just anyone! I got as far as the turning for Milton Keynes and it snowed ... and it snowed ... and it snowed. It looked really bad and like it was settling in for the day ... but the wonderful Lin Brown did n't let a small thing like a blizzard spoil our trip ... oh no! She battled on in appalling conditions to get the lovely Karen and I to our destination. 

We had a fab day and I waited patiently until 1pm to meet Lord Tim and watch his demo ... I say patiently ... I did a little dance when I spotted Mario in one of the aisles ... actually it was quite a big dance ... I knew Tim must be close by and then I did another little jig when I saw Tim's left arm from a distance ... a very lovely arm it is too ... but other than that I was patient.

At 1pm we made our way to the demo stand and then discovered I had another two hours to wait because the main attraction was not due to appear until 3pm. Was he worth the wait???? Oh Boy ... was he ever!!!!

He was nothing but charming when I stood and gawped at him ... I did n't tell him that Wendy V said to say "Hi" ... sorry Wendy ... I did n't tell him that Andrea said to say "Hi" ... sorry Andrea ... I did n't ask him to wave to me while he was on QVC as I had planned ... I had my picture taken and then I watched in awe as the master worked his magic ... in his laid back ... funny and uber talented style ... I really have it bad now!

So Thank you for all your lovely wishes ... here are some piccies as promised and a couple of pearls of Tim's infinite wisdom for you ... This is n't exactly what he said ... but you'll get the gist...

1. Don't fanny about with Rock Candy stickles ... whack 'em on and work them with your finger ... the mica does all the hard work for you ... and holy moly is that a great looking sparkle!

2. Don't listen to me when I say that some of the lighter colours of distress inks are a bit wishy washy ... what do I know??? ... I have blending tools for all 36 colours!!! ... With the lighter shades you don't need 'em ... go direct to paper people and use white or a pale card stock ... S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G!

That's me then guys ... I will see you all tomorrow ... see the pictures of the tag that Tim ... the man that can swim the channel without taking a breath ... while making a grunge paper rose wreath ... with his feet made ... the one with the rose ... and the gorgeous die cut bird ... and one of my favourite Idea-ology frames ... well he made that for little ole me *Swoon*

And if you ever pop by this way Lord Tim ... Thank you ... you really were brilliant :0)

Two More Sleeps!

Sorry Anne ... but I can't not count down or talk about meeting Tim ... the man that can speak every language ever written while winning a pasta eating competition and playing Trivial pursuit ... while making an orphanage with just fired brick distress stickles ... now can I?

Mind you ... I am getting less and less sleep as the day draws nearer ... so who knows it may be only one sleep or indeed a quick nap!

The beer mat book is one of my submissions for the Zutter DT last month and was such fun to make. I had a load of Graphic 45 scraps left from my screen class kits which were the perfect size to cover beer mats ... added some Grunge paper and lots of stamping with Darkroom door and Wendy Vecchi stamps ... it was great fun.

Righty-ho ... I need to pack my bag ... I am teaching in the morning and the new distress inks have arrived so we shall be playing with those and I shall be picking mine up too ... ain't life great!

OOOO OOOO ... I nearly forgot ... I blogged a card earlier for the Kreative Kaboodles blog ... made from this little lot in around 10 minutes ... all the details are here.

Night all!

Three More Sleeps!

Not long now people ... only three more sleeps and then Tim ... WOO HOO!

You know Tim ... the man that can jump over really tall buildings ... like that new one in Dubai ... with just a pair of tonic studio non stick scissors and a paper stump.

Am I excited???? ... Oh yes!

Today was very exciting too ... I got to meet the very talented Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door at L.B Crafts and watch her teach a wax crayon resist class. Boy is she uber talented and such a great lady ... I liked her a lot ... so Thank you Rachel and Thank you Lin for inviting me.

Just as soon as I got home ... I was so excited by the resist effect ... well I had to play ... which is why David is looking out at you! Be gentle with him ... it was my first time!

My lesson for today is to take more care when purchasing wax crayons ... I chose these ones on the basis that they were scented and smelled like baby powder ... not one of my greatest decisions ... I really should have thought about the art quality ... but as you all know ... my inner child is reeeeeally close to the surface ... and it does tend to get easily distracted by childish gimmicks hence the talking Dymo gun :0)

I am off to bed so tomorrow comes quicker and then two more sleeps :0)

Inexcusably Late!

Muchos apologies WOYWWers ... gone 9pm is no time to be showing you Wednesdays' desk ... but I have been really busy learning techno stuff and last night I decided to upload all the stuff off my desk top to my lap top ... I had no idea it would take all night and most of today ... I am fair worn out :0)

Plus the fact that I did n't get much sleep because yesterday I had a personal visit from Lord Tim ... you know Tim ... the man that can make someone's entire year just by leaving one comment on their blog ... what? You did n't see it .... go back a day ... look at Tuesday's post and swoon ... I did :0) Well after I shrieked for about an hour ... and a half ... I really did n't think I could possibly love him anymore ... but I could ... because I do :0)

So you have seen the mess on my desk ... what on earth happened? I hear you ask ... well ... I created this tag ... and it took me a while to get the colour remotely decent ... it was black ... then blue ... then purple ... then blue ... it was also copper metal once ... sometime through the purple period I think :0)

If you have no clue what I am on about ... don't worry ... neither do I :0)

Only four more sleeps :0)

Crafting Dan Stylee and other things!

As many of you know my mate Dan came to play last week for a few days and during a marathon crafting session we decided it would be fun to create some art in each other's style.
So this tag was made by me ... Dan stylee ... apart from a little extra that Dan would never have used ... Can you tell what it is yet? I did my best to create a tag in Dan's wonderful style. You can find Dan here ... marks out of 10 please ... Did I succeed? Even if you don't fancy marking it ... you gotta go look at what Dan made in my style ... I told him I had progressed from wax crayons too :0) Just kidding ... there is n't a wax crayon in sight :0)
We really did have a marathon session and I also got the opportunity to get my new Tim stamp out ... you know Tim ... the man that can toboggan down a toboggan run without a toboggan ... faster than the speed of light with just a pair of round nosed pliers and a small section of ball chain ... He is called David and I LOVE him... nearly as much as I love Lord Tim of Holtz ... but not quite :0) I have had the idea of making a man with a map for a face and calling it a man of the world since I was a nipper ... sadly my drawing skills were never quite up to the challenge so you can imagine my euphoria when Tim ... the man I am going to meet in five more sleeps **Squeal** designed this little beauty :0)
And finally ... finally these are my lovely ladies from my Monday class ... Did n't they do a grand job of my metal magic class? ... so a big bloggy wave to Kerry, Lucille, Carol, Allyson and June ... I had a fab time girlies ... hope you all did too!
That's all folks!

The Magic Carpet Ride Ends ...

and what a fab ride it was ... Thank you so much to Lisa Swifka for all her hard work and organisation.

The winner of my giveaway ... chosen by random.org was ...

MissKoolAid who said...

Looks great! I would love a chance to win.
Cheers,
Sophie in Montreal

Congratulations Sophie ... I have emailed you!

Finally a really really big Thank you to everyone else that took part ... it was a fabulous ride and I will definitely be back next year :0)

All You Need is Love!

This week the Sunday Stampers challenge is all about lurve!

This is my entry because it is fit to bursting with stash I lurve :0)

Firstly Maya Road Chip tag and we all know how much I lurve Maya Road. Then there is TSS metal ... and my new cog mould/mold [that discussion is still ongoing] which I also  lurve ... then we have the Wendy Vecchi dimensional rose stamp which I lurve too and the leaf stamp ... which I also lurve ... bit of Terra ... which I lurve and finally ... not forgetting Grunge paper and Idea-ology from Tim ... the man that can make 5000 valentines  cards with a single piece of grunge paper, a brushed corduroy distress re-inker and a spare 5 minutes.

I think I may just about have qualified for the challenge with that little lot.

This tag was totally inspired by Lin Brown's TSS video this week ... she really did an amazing job and had me itching to play.

I am sending big hugs to anyone out there that did n't get a Valentines today ... treat yourself to something expensive and decadent stashwise ... that usually works for me :0)

Righty-ho ... I must be away ... I have a serious amount of blog hopping to catch up on and guess what ... it is only SEVEN more sleeps ... on the exciteometer I am now on a scale of 20 timillion and the needle only goes as far as 5 :0)

A New Challenge!

There is a new and very exciting challenge in blog land! Can you tell that I am a tad excited. Mind you it has taken me 24 hours to actually make the card. I started it several times and in the end just decided to enjoy myself ... which I did and this is the result.
The blog is called the Stampotique Designers Challenge and the maiden theme is Lurve. You don't have to use Stampotique stamps ... but they are sooooo darn cool ... why would n't you?
If you are wondering why it looks like two separate cards ... well basically ... I can't take a decent photo of the whole card so I have had to scan it and the red has gone all orangey on me ... you need to squint at it really and then pretend it is the same red as the part card in the small picture ... and if you just read all that and understood it ... I would be totally impressed :0) And actually you can ignore all that now because I did n't like the scanned image so I had another go with the camera!
My excuse is that it is way past me bedtime and then it will only be 9 more sleeps :0)

Ten More Sleeps!

I am getting really really excited now ... only 10 more sleeps ... before I meet Tim ... the man that can make an ice sculpture in a desert with only half a bottle of glossy accents!

To mark the occasion of only ten more sleeps ... I have used one the Lord Tim's stamps as background to the square face stamp from Hampton art and some of the yummy Wendy Vecchi mini art butterflies.

We are awaiting snow here ... which is a bit of a pain because we are on our way to up to Kent tomorrow for a birthday party :0) I say we ... I, of course, do not mean Tim and I .... which will indeed surprise you ... I mean Dan and I ... who has come to play for a few days ... it will be a quiet journey because he is really getting on my nerves :0)

So ... What are you up to today? ... and What is the correct English spelling for mould ... is it Mold or Mould?

New Tim stamp is coming soon ...

WOYWW!

Most of you know by now that WOYWW is an acronym for What's on your work desk Wednesday? A movement which is led by the very eloquent Julia. In fact mine is more WLOYWFTN ... which is roughly translated to What's left on your work desk from Tuesday night? I did take the picture this morning ... I have to say that otherwise Susie Sugar will take steps to have me disbarred ... tis true she has tried and failed with others in the past :0)

Basically I watched the Taco Tuesday video last night with a celebrity guest appearance from none other than the very talented Lin Brown and I was itching to get my metal and moulds out. Sadly Mr Sandman hit me squarely between the eyes before I got any further than the mould work ... but if I get time I will finish this today and blog it later :0) Don't you just love those cogs?

Why so tired I hear you ask ... well I spent a productive and very enjoyable day teaching my Bean playing class at LB Crafts. It was a fabulous group of ladies ... as always ... and you can see them and their wonderful projects in the picture on the right. Sadly I chopped the lovely Vicky off the picture ... for which I am really really sorry ... but here you can see ... Sally, Jenny, Di, Sandra, Carol, Allyson and Ann. Thanks girls ... I hope you had as much fun as I did :0) And did n't they all do a fabulous job!

I have lots to do ... so I am Russian around today ... Moscow :0)

Bits and Pieces!

Well ... I did n't get chance to play with my new Timmy stamps as hoped ... but I did have a wonderful time at the second of my screen workshops on Saturday at LB Crafts. So a big Thank you to Alex, Helena, the two Sues, Mel, Geraldine and Pauline ... I hope you girls enjoyed it as much as I did. Bearing in mind I was an hour from home ... it was a complete surprise to find out that I actually went to school with Mel!

The piece of chip in the top picture is my artwork For the Bubbly Scrumptious blog today ... details of all products and destructions can be found here. And if you like this ... have a good dig through the rest of the posts on the blog ... there is some truly amazing inspiration from the other very talented design team members.

This last picture is of a mini book cover that I made for the front page of UK Scrappers as part of the Happy Daze design team. There is a downloadable PDF with instructions available here.

I did warn you in the title that this was all bits and pieces ... righty ho ... I need to get to the post office and get my kits ready for tomorrow's class and then ... fingers crossed ... I will get my new Timmy stamps out and have a play ... mind you I have ironing to do too ... maybe ... erm ... that will just have to wait :0)

Oh yeah ... and finally ... I just neeeeeeeeed to tell you my most exciting news ... in 13 more sleeps I am going to see Tim ... the man that can turn water into A Tequila sunrise with just one flat backed gem and a piece of ball chain ... in the flesh ... oh yes ... I am soooooooo excited :0)

That Friday Feeling!

Blimey ... Where did this week go ... actually it all felt quite sedate until Wednesday night ... then Thursday flew and I cannot believe it is Friday evening already!

I thought you may like to see the tag I created for Creativity boutique over on the Kreative Kaboodles blog ... there is a little competition going on too ... so do join in the fun ... you may win a small prize :0)

I had an exciting delivery today ... I may even play with it in a minute ... it is the new Timmy stamp ... you know Timmy ...the man that can paint synchronised rainbows world wide with just a distress re-inker and a one inch square of grunge board. I am not telling you which one it is ... suffice to say ... it is a controversial choice ... you either love it or you hate it and I definitely love it!

So ... enough about me ... what sort of week have you had? ... What new Timmy stamps do you like - dislike??? Are you going to buy any and which ones? Have you bought any crafty stash this week? Are you glad it's Friday? I could go on ... but I shall leave you in peace ... and Thanks to Brenda ... I will get my Dixon of Dock green impression right tonight ...

Evenin' all :0)

WOYWW?

I am soooo late with this post today ... my camera did n't want to load the piccies and ... erm ... 3 hours later ... Ta Da!

I have lots to show the WOYWW coven ... I think they may wish they had n't asked this week ... but they did ... so here goes. My work desk today was at my Chip 'n Bling class at L.B Crafts in Olney and on my work desk were 9 sets of inky fingers :0)

My ladies kindly provided the photos for your perusal and entertainment. This was a very busy class ... great fun and very messy ... but with lots of elements so we could have really done with an eensy bit more time :0)

Look at all the fab colours in use though and the lovely Karen, Kerry, Carol, Di, Susan, Hilary, Chris, Liz and Allyson produced beautiful art work and all with my favourite Wendy Vecchi stamps ... favourite distress inks and favourite Maya Road chip ... what could be better!

If you are wondering what they were making ... well it is a chip 'n bling hangy piece ... so called because there is lots of chip and lots of bling ... cleverly named huh??? :0)

Not only did we talk and laugh and get inky and messy but they made constant reference to my art work in Craft Stamper ... which was very funny and very kind :0) They even let me show them the article more than once ... and ... I of course ... lapped it up :0)

Some of my ladies wanted pictures of the project so they could finish off at home ... So I have included all the bits  ... sorry I am later than anticipated girls ... click on each picture for a closer look and Thank you all soooooo much for another great day :0)

As for the WOYWW ... if you don't know what on earth that is all about ... visit our industrious leader where you will find all that is necessary so you can take part too.

Good Night all! I said that like Dixon of Dock Green ... well I did n't quite ... because he was a chappie and I can't actually remember what he sounded like ... but if you can ... that was my intention :0)

Sweet dreams!

Give Me Moonlight and Roses ...

... and love and romance ...

No ... I am not going mad ... Romance is the theme of this week's Gingersnaps challenge launching today ... it has been sponsored this month by the Artistic Stamper and this is my entry!

I am very lucky to be one of the first to get my grubby little mitts on the new stamps launched this month ... my favourite being the sequin waste stamp and the heart background ... oh yeah ... and the heart border and the heart outline ... sorry I am fickle don't ya know!

Vintage photo distress ink was used for my background ... I stamped the heart background with water and then added the sequin waste with more vintage photo. The heart border was placed behind some film strip ribbon and the heart outline stamped onto a page from ... get this ... a romantic novel and cut out :0)

The rose is made of grunge paper stamped with the middle size flower power stamp ... coloured with fired brick distress ink and spritzed with some perfect pearls and vintage photo re-inker.

Finally the very red heart is made from Poppy red UTEE in the melt pot and cut with a cookie cutter.

Phew ... that has fair wore me out ... well it is 5am ... I am now off to look at the Ginger Snaps DT work ... it's always stunning ... course you can follow me :0)

Oh and those of you in search of my desk ... it is going to be a late reveal from me today ... a different desk ... a different county ... I will return :0)

It's Not Always All About Me!

For those of you that tuned in for work desk Wednesday last week ... you will recognise the papers and be amazed and astounded ... I am sure :0) ... that I actually finished the second mini book I was working on! Mind you ... the Bind it all does make it quick and easy ... so I can accept that you may not be amazed as well as astounded ... possibly just one or tother :0)

I am right hooked on making these 6 X 6 albums ... I just need to get hooked on decorating the pages now! Having said that I have a supply of the Zutter moveable page protectors and they are fab ... you just stick them in the book where ever you want and you can put piccies in etc., and move them around when you feel like it ... well I am using mine to store stash for pages ... so I am well into the planning stage :0) I shall just adjust my halo before continuing :0)

This book is a very late gift for a lady I used to work with ... she had two Granddaughters in quick succession last year and I promised her I would make her a book ... well life took over ... I was made redundant ... almost a year ago now ... and she probably thinks I have done a runner with her piccies ... so I am going to get stuck in over the next few weeks and hopefully get it delivered shortly :0) The grunge roses are definitely Wendy Vecchi this time and I have coloured them using Worn lipstick distress ink ... you know the ink that Tim ... the man that can snow board down a sheer drop with no board and no snow ... named especially for me :0)

Right ... I am off to wake the chef from his night shift slumber ... not because he has had enough sleep ... but because my tummy is starting to rumble :0)

Another Day and Some More Chip!

Morning everyone ... just popped in to say Hi and Thank you all for the lovely messages of yesterday ... I am still doing a happy dance and am even more chuffed that some of you kind folk did some dancing with me :0) And that you liked the tin :0) The people up my road were not nearly as excited and the dog food delivery man just looked at me like I was bonkers when I thrust the magazine under his nose while I was signing for the food this morning ... I mean ... me ... Bonkers ... really!

I have just posted this project on the Bubbly Scrumptious blog ... so if you want to know about the products ... all the details are here!

I have a full afternoon and evening of crafting ahead of me ... well if I tidy up a teensy bit first ... because I don't actually have any work space available at the moment!

Righty ho then ... I shall leave you in peace to enjoy my note ... Can you guess which Tim I mean? Can you Huh? Can you? Oh yes ... that will be the Mr Tim that can jump on clouds with his bare feet and a selection of Idea-ology charms!

Have a good Monday ... I will see you tomorrow!