WOYWW!

Morning all! Yup ... This is a very early post ... I shall be up bright and early this morning as I will be setting off for a Christmas Screen Workshop at L.B Crafts in Olney. Don't worry ... I have Crackers and Christmas music ... if my ladies don't feel Christmassy by the time they arrive ... they sure will by the time they leave :0)

It is Wednesday ... so here is my Workdesk for all you WOYWWers ... if you have n't a clue what I am talking about ... well you need to pop over and see Julia ... she explains everything so well! Talking of our Julia ... I see she got a mention in Craft Stamper for the fabulousness that is WOYWW ... way to go Julia!

And if you are a WOYWWer ... and you happen across this post ... pretty please will you link me up???

Nothing ongoing on my desk as I am working on secret squirrel stuff ... but you can still see the last card I made ... I popped it in the easel that Julia and Mr Julia made for me ... I am going to keep a card in it at all times ... that way ... I will always have a card when I realise at the last minute it's someone's birthday :0)

I have swung today too ... just to show you that I have replaced my tatty old shelf unit with a cutting station. Sounds posh huh? It is basically a pasting table ... a luxury one mind! ... which I have loaded up with lots of cutting equipment ... plus ... I could fit lots more drawer units under it ... so it made total sense ... to me anyways! :0)

Finally ... I have made a holder to store my new and very yummy Claudine Hellmuth brushes! A very simple construction ... similar to the one I made for the Masterclass in June's Craft Stamper using my Bind-it-all ... but this time ... more red and more butterflies!

I will catch up with you all this evening!

Bye for now!

Blimey Blimey!

This has got to win a record for the longest to publish blog post ever ever ever!

I was soooo organised last night I made my tutorial for the Bubbly Scrumptious blog ... just about to upload and the flippin camera battery died. So instead of doing the sensible thing and typing the post without piccies ... I abandoned my post ... emailed the lovely Caroline ... told her I was teaching today ... explained the whole camera predicament and agreed to post by 7 pm'ish tonight! Simples!

I gets home tonight ... camera all charged ... piccies all uploaded and then two hours later ... I finally publish! Why the delay ... well for 60 minutes the tinternet decided to go AWOL ... I had a visitor ... the dog decided to bark like mad at a hot air balloon ... and trust me ... she has a big mouth so I had to calm her down before the entire street complained ... Stressed??? Who Me??? Never!!!

This is another Ranger U technique ... the very lovely Claudine Hellmuth showed us this one and if you want to see my version of it ... please click here!

I am off in search of a very cold and thirst quenching beverage ... Anyone care to join me????

Starting From Scratch!

I could never be described as a Scrapper! The size of your run of the mill Lay out terrifies me ... all that white space ... I mean ... Where do you start?

Well today I did! Start I mean! I took a Black Zutter Cover all ... an 8 X 8 bamboo jobby and I embossed ... dabbered and embellished! I then finished it off by adding Zutter page protectors and bound the innards with my Bind-It-All!

For those of you that are not sick of me going on about Ranger U yet ... well this was another one of the 73 techniques. Basically you stamp your image onto black cardstock ... I used the black coverall as the base and then you emboss with clear embossing powder. Next you paint over the entire surface with assorted dabbers and blend with Cut n' Dry foam. Next you mist a cloth with water and wipe over the embossed bits to reveal a  shabby chic look! Cool huh? Lord Tim of Holtz taught me that ... you know Tim ... the man that can remain cool all day even in sweltering temperatures while putting out fires with his bare hands with just an Idea-ology Ornate frame and an Adage Ticket.

Note I did n't mention the football ... that is just too raw ... even for me!

So there you have it ... my very own scrapbook ... all ready loaded with my Ranger U countdown tags ... oh yeah and my security pass ... you know the one ... it says VIP and access all areas :0) So now you have seen two of the 73 Ranger U techniques ... you will tell me when you have had enough ... Right????

I have the crafting bug really bad at the moment ... so I am off to make a little something else ... who knows ... it may even be a Lay out!

Laters!

Perfect Pearls!

You guys can be sooo persuasive! All these calls of 'Show us' and 'Share' ... and who am I to argue?

After giving the matter some considerable thought I felt it would be totally wrong just to blog every tag I made at Ranger U and tell you the technique ... after all that is someone else's hard work and you guys may want to go to Ranger U yourselves and would n't it be awful if I trashed the surprise! So ... anyways ... I got to thinking about what I did learn and actually one of the things is to re-visit older techniques from time to time ... you know the ones ... the ones that you tried ... once ... way back when and have n't tried again since!

So this is one of those techniques that I had completely forgotten about! But I did it at Ranger U too ... so everyone is happy :0) At least I hope they are :0)

Basically I have embossed with Ranger Clear embossing powder on black card. Plonked my wet brush into the metallic perfect pearls ... one at a time of course ... and mixed them up on my craft sheet to make a fluid paint ... then I randomly painted over the embossed images. A simple resist technique that is great fun! Please don't let my poor piccies put you off ... the finish really is lush in real life!

I have used the Paper Artsy flourish ... THE Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 stamps and some of Lord Tim of Holtz's Idea-ology! You know Tim ... the man that could play seventy odd sets of tennis on an hourly basis while compiling money saving budgets for the entire UK's civil service with just a blob of Black Enamel Accents and an edge distresser!

I have had a fab day ... playing and teaching a class in Olney ... we made a Christmas screen so we had crackers and Christmas music ... it was tops!

Laters!

The Same But Different!

As you can imagine ... I have had no time to do anything much to my desk since last Wednesday!

But ... I am not one to miss WOYWW because I enjoy it sooooo much and you all know what a show off I am ... so I just added a little something :0)

Can you tell what it is yet????? Oh yeah ... it does say V.I.P and it does say All Access ... oh and don't forget the Ranger U part :0)

I have so much tidying to do ... my floor ... well you can't actually see my floor and I need to get playing ... so I am off to tidy.

Quick piccie here of the project we made with the wonderful Suze Weinberg on Friday afternoon ...

Laters!

Ranger U Round-Up!

Well people ... I am home ... after 7 hours on the Plane and a further 4 in the Car ... oh yes ... the road was closed five miles from home ... and I had to sit there for over two hours ... frustrating or what!

Anyways ... I thought I would share my lasting memories of Ranger U with you! Oh My Good Grief ... what a trip. I LOVED every second.

So here are the highlights in brief ...

*75 techniques in three days ... with the best products ever!

* Seeing behind the scenes at Ranger ... where all the magic happens!

*Eating breakfast ... twice in two days with THE Wendy Vecchi ... sitting next to her for three days and discovering that she is even more lovely than I imagined!

* Drinking Kiwi and Melon Sangria at least once a day in Applebees ... sometimes twice!

* Learning from the best teachers ever ... Lord Tim of Holtz and Suze ... Duchess of the Meltpot and Claudine ... the artist Hellmuth!

* Making lots of new friends ... you know the type of friendships that will last forever! Especially the Amazing Anneliese ... I could n't have asked for a better travel companion! And of course Wendy ... Heidi ... Melissa ... Celine ... Lia ... Joan ... Darcie ... Suze ... and so many more ... a truly great group of people

* Bringing home lots of goodies

* The Ranger U apron :0)

And Thank you to all you guys for joining in with the journey ... you have all helped to make this entire trip a truly special one!

I am off to bed and then tomorrow I am gonna start to play with everything I have learned!

Laters!

Graduation day!

Well here I am people … better late than never! Sorry to keep you all waiting but there was some partying to be done tonight … I will save that for another post though!

Today I graduated alongside a totally wonderful group of people to become a Certified Ranger Educator … and I am chuffed … totally chuffed!

So here we all are with Lord Tim of Holtz … you know Tim … the man that can turn Raisons into a chocolate fountain while tight rope walking across a 35000 ft ravine to save a small Ground Hog with just an alcohol ink pen and a distress re-inker.

I will fill you all in on day 3 just as soon as I land in the UK … for now let me introduce some amazing people behind the scenes at Ranger U. These guys are totally committed to ensuring all the students have the best experience … so without further ado …

The super Patti who worked sooooo hard for the last three days making sure we all had what we needed … trust me … that is a lot harder than it sounds! Thank you Patti. I am sure she worked really hard for a lot longer than the three days too … the event was so well organised … but you know what I mean … right???

Mario who just made sure we had the best donuts and lunch and candy and donuts and candy ever ever … always charming and smiling and helpful … Thank you Mario … you were tops!

Well that is me for now … I need sleep and I have a flight to catch … I promise to be back with all of the details as soon as I can …

Laters!

Still Living the Dream!

Ok people … Don’t expect much in the way of witty repartee tonight … it has been a very very long day! But in a really good way :0)

My day started with Scrambled eggs for breakfast with Anneliese … oh yeah and THE Wendy Vecchi … again … that’s like two days running and we are getting on sooooo well I am thinking of moving to the U.S so I can be her neighbour and we can have coffee mornings and crafty play dates … I have n’t actually mentioned this to Wendy yet … so if you could keep it to yourself for now … well that would be cool :0)

At 9am it is straight out the hotel door and straight into the inky paradise that is Ranger U. I did n’t get chance to introduce you to Heidi yesterday … Heidi one of the nicest and funniest people ever! She was so kind about my 10 sleeps tags and even feigned real drool when looking at them … I sure got lucky with my table buddies! See I have even started to talk American … I am soooo gonna fit in here :0)

This morning was all Claudine and her Ranger product line … boy is that lady fun and such a great teacher … her knowledge is amazing and I discovered Sticky Backed Canvas comes in 12 X 12 … that is like … just the best news ever … even though everybody in the entire class knew this apart from me!!!!

This afternoon was all about Distress … with Lord Tim of Holtz … you know Tim … the  man that can make dreams come true while rescuing fluffy kittens from certain death with just a manilla tag  and a pokey tool! Talking of which … did you know that the  different notches on the side of Tim’s pokey tool gives different sized hole … depending on what you want the hole for??? … I did n’t … and yes … I have spent most of the day up the corner with a big ‘D’ on my hat!

This evening the wonderful Celine transported us all to the mall for shopping and Strawberry Margaritas in Chillis … and I have to show you this other picture of Heidi … that girl sure can make art with Gesso!!!

Ok … well it is nearly midnight here and I really need to turn in … I hope you all have a fab Sunday … I will be back with another update tomorrow … rumour has it we are making 30 tags!!! Cool!!!

Laters

Ranger U! OMG … Pinch Me!

Well … My first day at Ranger U and I have broken a major rule already! They say … No photos on the tour … where the magic happens …  like none … nada … zilch … I just could n’t resist … this is one of the production lines … but please don’t tell anyone that you have seen it … and if that part does slip out … please don’t tell them where you saw it :0)

The place is full of magic … so much to oooh and arrh over … just imagine it and I promise you … you won’t even come close to how totally cool it really is … amazing … mesmerising … someone lock me in …. purlease!!!!

I tell you what though guys … if you were thinking I was having like a little holiday or just non stop play-time … you would be sooooo wrong! I have been flat out working all day :0) I have learned so many new things already … I just can’t wait to share!

You wanted a blow by blow account so my day today … Breakfast with THE Wendy Vecchi … the lovely Darcy … and Anneliese. Oh yeah … read that part again … I had breakfast with THE Wendy Vecchi!!!! Then I gets into Ranger U and I sit next to THE Wendy Vecchi. You wanna know what she is like … think about the loveliest person you know … and she is probably lovelier … I am trying really hard not to drool over her work … but trust me people it aint easy!

So … sat next to THE Wendy Vecchi and then a whole morning of tuition from Lord Tim of Holtz … you know Tim … the man that can cure all infectious diseases while playing ice hockey on unfrozen water with just a mini mister and a popsicle stick full of Perfect Pearls. You wanna know if I still think he is worthy of hero worship … gawd Blimey yeah … he is just the best teacher … such a pleasure to watch and listen to … such an awesome morning!

OK … so this afternoon we spent with Suze Weinberg … Duchess of the Meltpot … I am kicking myself because I did n’t take any pictures of her stunning beeswax collages … but they were gorgeous! I really learned a lot from Suze and she is just so totally lovely and funny too … another great lady!

I blinked and the day was done … it went that quick!

Finished the day with a BBQ with the Ranger family … what a truly great group of people … then Anneliese and I managed to tempt … erm … one or two people over to Applebees for a drink and I had the most humungus dessert!

Blimey … well done if you read this far … but you wanted a detailed account … right???? and I shall be back tomorrow … with more … enjoy your Saturday’s people … Laters!

A Long Day!

Boy … it certainly has been a long day!

Up at 3am [UK time]…a 1.5 hour drive to the airport … meeting up with Anneliese … then check in … coffee … a whole shall we shan’t we breakfast discussion … more nattering … locating an internet connection … which is actually hilarious … because Anneliese looks like she knows what she is doing here … and we sooooo did n’t … apparently you had to pay … DOH! Who’d have thought :0)

Then … get this … too busy posing for piccies and gossiping … we only nearly went and missed the flight … so we had a mad run to the departure gate … just in time for final call.

A seven hour and fifty minute flight … too excited to sleep so I watched Alice in Wonderland … and a couple of other movies … then we arrived at Newark around lunch time [NJ Time].

Once we got our bearings we managed to check in … lounge by the pool … locate some fab Kiwi and Melon Sangrias … pose for photos … all purely in the name of research for you guys. Don’t let anyone tell you … I am not good to you!

And guess what … I have just bumped into THE Wendy Vecchi in the lobby … How totally cool is that?

Sorry it is just a quickie post … I shall be back tomorrow with more … but for now … I really need to get some sleep …  Laters!

One!

You guys are just the best! Thank you so much for joining in the countdown to Ranger U with me! If you are in any doubt what sort of world we live in ... well just go back and read the beautiful comments on my post from yesterday ... it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy ... trust me! And then check out the amazing tags that peeps have been making to count down with us!

OK ... so this is the final tag ... coloured with my current favourite distress ink combination ... Spiced Marmalade; Mustard Seed and Aged Mahogany!

The stamps are of course Lord Tim of Holtz's and the rose is from THE Wendy Vecchi!!! At about the time this post is published ... myself and Anneliese will be boarding our flight and heading to Ranger U!

Ranger U starts in one more sleep but later today I will be meeting THE Wendy Vecchi ... a special treat that I just cannot describe in words ... but I will definitely try ... just for you guys ... when I have met her :0)

Of course I will be blogging while I am away ... I can't have all my blogger buddies missing out on any fun ... not sure when I will get chance ... but I have everything set up on the laptop and camera in hand ... so watch this space :0)

Thank you again for sharing the last 10 sleeps excitement with me ... Laters ...  when I shall be posting from New Jersey ... Ranger U Country ... Woo Hoo!!!!!

Two!

First things first ... it is Wednesday so that can only mean it is time to fess up ... are you a tidy crafter or a messy one???

Yes that is right it is that time that we all traipse over to Julia's and leave a link to show our desks; trays; beds; washing machine's etc., in all their clowning crowning glory! This homage that we pay is known worldwide as WOYWW ... check it out ... join in the fun ... you meet some great people along the way!

I have no excuses this week ... tags are messy ... that is the way it is!!!

Talking of tags ... hopefully you are not all sick of tags yet because Ta da ... here is tag number two. Anneliese's tag will be here. Yup ... tis only two more sleeps until Ranger U ... and in fact tomorrow morning at 4am I will be setting off for the airport :0) I have n't slept much and I am off to Olney in a moment for a class ... it's all go!!! I am really looking forward to this one ... let's hope my ladies can cope with my high spirits!!

Tag number two has Pumice Stone on it ... Lord Tim of Holtz's favourite DI colour ... apparently ... and please don't tell him ... but I don't get Pumice Stone ... it is too ... well ... erm ... pumice stone for my taste!!! Maybe he will change my mind in the next few days ... you know when I see him ... in ... erm ... New Jersey ... in two more sleeps!

Have a good one everybody and it will probably be late Tuesdayish before I get back to you all ... so please bear with me.

And if you have got this far ... perhaps some kind soul could link me up at Julia's ... I am a tad early even for Julia this week :0)

Laters!

Three!

Oh yes!!! Three more sleeps ... Yippeeeeeee!

Today's tag was made using Milled Lavender and Spun Sugar with Dusty Concord and lots of glimmer! That means I only have Lord Tim of Holtz's favourite, Pumice Stone left to use ... you know Tim ... the man that can wing walk without wings or indeed an airplane while passing out food parcels to the needy with just a Idea-ology mask and a long legged brad!

I know the three is a bit camouflaged ... but if you squint you can see it!

I had to share this picture with you too ... sent to me by the very clever and thoughtful Glen. She reckons the good old US of A all know I am coming :0) Glen also sent me some other really good pictures too ... but they move and I am such a dimwit when it comes to computer stuff ... well ... basically when I work out how to get them to move when they are blogged ... well ... then I will share.

OK ... my list is still mahousive ... so I will have to love you and leave you ... shall be back bright and early tomorrow to share my desk and tag number two ... in the meantime ... Anneliese's countdown tag is here and if you fancy joining in the fun and frolics of the 10 sleeps to Ranger U tag countdown ... with all 10 tags or just the odd one or two ... well link back here and we can come and have a nosey!

Laters!

Four!

Here we are ... the final week and in just four more sleeps Anneliese and I will be in a Ranger Distress Ink heaven class room learning all we can from Lord Tim of Holtz. You will have to excuse any gaps in this post ... I have to keep standing up to do a little dance!!!

If you want to know the colours I used on this tag ... well you are out of luck frankly ... In my rush to get it made and blogged ... I put all the inks away before recording them ... I do know that of the five remaining inks I needed to use out of the 36 ... well I have now used Pine Needles and Tea Dye which leaves me with just 3 colours for the next three tags!

The grunge flowers are from the Paper Artsy Flora and Fauna set ... they are the smaller of the two flower stamps and they are very cute! Everything else is from the man himself ... Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can telepathically speak to beings from other planets while renewing the rain forest with just his texture hammer and a non stick craft sheet!

When I say Four more sleeps ... I will actually be setting off at silly o'clock on Thursday morning and heading for the airport so ... at this time ... in three more sleeps I will be in spritzing distance of the Utopia that is Ranger Industries! I am finding it virtually impossible to contain myself and I frequently catch myself just blurting out my travel plans to all and sundry!

Whatever you are doing ... Have a fab evening ... Anneliese's tag is either here already or will be shortly and if you feel like making a tag too ... or even 10 ... please link them here and we will drop in to see yours too!

Laters!

Five!

I had to opt for a Roman numeral today to depict the five ... I say I had to ... I did n't actually have to ... it is just that I was struggling to find a number five that would fit the typewriter key and this seemed like a very quick and simple solution!

Today's tag is all Lord Tim of Holtz product ... from the large and very lovely die cut right down to the very small jump rings and tiny attacher ... erm ... attachments ... would you call them staples??? No not really ... coz then the tiny attacher would be a stapler! ... which it clearly is n't ... so I shall stick to tiny attachments!

The Distress Inks used today are Aged Mahogany; Brushed Corduroy; Tattered Rose; Barn Door and Victorian Velvet ... Thirty-one down and five to go!

So here we are ... the start of the final week and only five more sleeps to Ranger U ... five more sleeps to watching and learning from the Master himself ... Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can create the most beautiful sunsets while performing life saving surgery on endangered animals with just a pokey tool and one swipe of an ATG gun!

Five more sleeps to learning from Suze 'The Meltpot' Weinberg and Claudine 'The Collage' Hellmuth and it is in fact only four more sleeps to meeting THE Wendy Vecchi ... I am grinning from ear to ear as I type ... I cannot begin to describe how excited I am!!!

Righty-Ho ... I am now off to make another tag ... but before I do ... Anneliese's ten sleep countdown to Ranger U tag ... catchy title huh??? is here. And if you feel like joining in with one tag or all ten then please post a link so I can come see!

Have a good week everyone ... Laters!

Six!

Okay ... I have to admit ... I have worn myself out with excitement and I really need to reign my high spirits in a bit if I want to stay awake for Ranger U! So ... tonight anyways I am taking everything at a nice, slow and sedate pace ... hopefully managing to stay calm and get a decent nights sleep!

I think John is hoping for that too ... he was less than impressed ... putting it mildly ... when I awoke him at 12.30am this morning to ask if the U.S was in front or behind us time wise and then I squealed with excitement when I realised in only a week's time I would be getting ready for the Ranger U Barbie :0)

I have had a wonderful day teaching a class at Olney with a wonderful group of ladies ... and I reckon they will be impressed too when they see that I actually managed to get everyone in my photos for a change! They all made a wonderful job of the project and they put up with my constant ramblings about meeting Lord Tim of Holtz and The Wendy Vecchi!

I hope you are sitting comfortably for the Distress Inks on tag number six ... in no particular order ... I used ... Rusty Hinge; Scattered Straw; Shabby Shutters; Dried Marigold; Wild Honey; Crushed Olive and Antique linen ... by my calculations that only leaves 8 colours on 5 more tags ... do-able I reckon! The grunge rose is the middle sized flower from the Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 collection ... all the other stamps and embellishments are Lord Tim of Holtz's ... you know Tim ... the man that can create a rainbow over every continent on our planet and several others at the same time while holding his breath underwater for a full hour with just a nozzle from a Mini Mister and a Game Spinner!

Okay ... if you have only just joined us and you are wondering what on earth I am on about ... myself and Anneliese Bates will be off to Ranger U in 6 more sleeps ... we are making a new tag each day to mark the final ten sleeps countdown ... Anneliese's tag can be found here and if you fancy joining in with one tag or all ten then please leave a link to your blog in the comments so we can check yours out too!

I am off to soak in the bath with a nice cold glass of white wine ... laters!

Seven!

Seven more sleeps! I can't believe it! Mind you it is not all glamorous tag countdowns though! You will not believe the awful thing I did today ... I am going bright red just thinking about it! My long suffering and very lovely John is my soul mate and best friend but as yet he has n't managed to cough up enough money to buy me a five carat pink diamond so we are not married! Yes I know I am a shallow gold digger :0)

As you know Dan comes to stay and he very quickly learned that I hate being called Mrs Newman ... clearly that aint my name ... so when I get the telephone sales calls ... I am quite abrupt ... not offensive ... just abrupt!!! Anyways ... Dan has taken to ringing me in a silly voice and asking for Mrs Newman ... as yet I have always worked out it is him! Well today I get a call from someone with what sounded like a dodgy Irish accent asking to speak to Nicholas Elbourne ... the caller says ... "Hello This is Save the Children please can I speak to Nicholas Elbourne?" So I says ... "He's not here ... and how many children are you planning on saving with that dodgy Irish accent Dan???" Oh My Giddy Aunt ... it was n't Dan! On a scale of 1 - 10 I was 192 parts mortified and very very apologetic! The guy was quite sweet ... but I definitely owe them one mahousive donation now!

Righty Ho ... the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that I am on a mission to use every Distress Ink Colour on these 10 tags ... so today's offering is coloured with Faded Jeans; Stormy Sky; Chipped Sapphire; Broken China; Tumbled Glass; Weathered Wood and Dusty Concord. All embellishments are Lord Tim of Holtz's Idea-ology ... you know Tim ... the man that can talk every language known to man in his sleep while writing a War and Peace style novel with just an adornment and a Mini Mister. The rose is of course from the Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 range ... you know THE Wendy Vecchi ... that I am going to meet in 6 more sleeps!!! Oh yeah and I added a little UTEE heart ... just in case you forgot that I am meeting Suze "the meltpot" Weinberg too!

Look at the time ... I have class preparations still to do for tomorrow ... nothing like cutting it fine! And Anneliese's tag will most definitely have been here a lot earlier than mine :0) And if you feel like joining in with just one tag or all ten ... pop your link in the comments and we will come visit you too!

Good Night Y'all!