What Happens in Paris ...

Stays in Paris! That is the law people! So I can't tell you who said something so completely outrageous that I cried with laughter until my stomach muscles hurt ... or indeed what they said!

I can't tell you who laughed so hard they nearly shot Soda out through their nostrils ...

I can tell you ... I had the BEST time ... that I met some fabulous people and that I enjoyed teaching my classes more than I could ever have imagined. I can also tell you that I think if I had stayed a little while longer ... well my French would probably be amazing ... but I did n't ...

I totally missed a decent internet connection ... which is why I am posting my challenge for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge so late in the day! Without Twitter, Facebook or Blogger ... I felt like my right arm had been severed at the elbow!

My flight home was also delayed and my car was a lonely sight ... in  a dark corner of Luton Airport's Mid Term car park in the wee hours of this morning with so much ice and snow on it that it took me hours to de-ice it! I say hours ... I exaggerate ... but you guys already knew that ... Right???

Boy ... was I glad when my head finally touched my lovely soft and puffy ... erm ... rectangular pillows ... but that is a whole nuther story!

Anyways ... back to the job in hand ... the challenge theme this week is Simon Says Stamp and Show "a tag" and this is my tag. It is made with some wonderful Lord Tim of Holtz product and some THE Wendy Vecchi stamps that are all available online at Simon Says Stamp ... the wonderful people that sponsor the challenge site.

The next tag you see on my blog will probably be inspired by Lord Tim of Holtz whose 12 days of Christmas tags will start in the next few days ... I for one CANNOT wait ... you know Tim ... the man that creates an individual pattern on each and every snowflake as it falls from the sky with just a Ranger Craft Sheet and a Pokey Tool!

Oh ... and if you did n't know this already ... you heard it here first ... there is in fact no French translation for the word Pokey!!!

I must away ... I have another class to prepare for tomorrow ... in the not so distant and equally exotic Olney!

Be well people ... Laters!

Who'd a Thunk it!

Seriously ... who would have thought ... that I would find solace in a Ranger Inkssentials White Gel Pen ... I certainly would n't ... but I have!

Today is the third Wednesday that I shall be nicotine free ... I would like to say it is getting easier ... but sadly it really is n't!!! The ... Nicotine Replacement Therapy did n't work ... so I have stopped taking it ... the Quit pack that the NHS send you ... you know the free one that will help all us poor addicts kick the habit ... the one that you can order 24 hours a day ... well ... that still has n't turned up ... and eating my way through the cravings ... just is n't an option ... I can't be turning up at Luton Airport on Thursday requiring two seats for my mahousive butt instead of just the one that is booked!!!

So ... I have turned to the White Gel option ... and so far it has worked a treat. The background of this page was made with water colour pencils and water ... I was a bit rough with the pencils and the page looked a bit yuck and very scratchy ... so I tried smothering it with a Crafty Notions spray ... with a stencil ... sadly the dark green border that I really hated just kept on showing through. So ... in true crafty style ... I turned the page and started again!

But then ... I wanted to experiment with stamping The Wendy Vecchi's leaf ... colouring over it in Black Pitt pen and then doodling in a white gel pen ... so I turned back to the offending page and ... it worked ... so I did it again ... and again ... then I realised that the whole process was soooooo cathartic ... well I just kept on doing it ... and that ... as they say ... is that!

I am totally in love with the shade of yellow on the journalling squares ... they are Vanilla Custard ... a Dylusion's Spray ... such a great colour ... then I have used the stencil again and popped a bit of Broken China over the top ...

I did have some really cool lines around the edges of the squares too ... but I got carried away with laughing at Dom Jolly and his "Look at me ... I'm a Mango Smoothie" comment ... well ... basically I slipped ... so I ended up doing the whole scribble thing all over again.

Hey Ho ... Take care people

Laters!

It's Good to be Back!

No ... scratch that ... it is GREAT to be back. Thank you to everyone for the warm "we missed you" messages from yesterday ... you guys certainly know how to make a girl feel special!

Anyways ... after telling you all about the fab Lin Brown journalling class I attended on Saturday ... I suddenly felt brave enough to share one of my pages with you! I am not sure if I have finished with it yet ... clearly I still need to do some ... erm ... actual journalling on it ... I mean apart from that ... I kind of think some gold apples would look good on that there tree ... but where to find some ... appropriately sized ... gold apples late on a Monday night is currently an enigma :0)

The best thing about journalling is that regardless of whether I like the page or not ... it is just layer upon layer of pure unadulterated fun ... it is also a great distraction from smoking to boot ... yes yes I am still off the evil weed ... some days are better than others and some days are still an absolute blimmin nightmare ... I wake up craving and go to bed craving and don't stop eating in between ... so I am piling on the pounds ... I reckon that pretty soon I shall need to start frequenting the local weight watchers ... which should be interesting coz to stave off my desire to eat I usually light up ... what will I turn to instead I wonder .... could this be the slippery slope that ends in copious amounts of alcohol and rehab I wonder !!!

Anyways ... I stray from the page in question ... it would probably be quicker if I told you what I have n't done to it ... it started off with my first ever play with pastels ... then a rather generous spritz with some Gold Glimmer and a stencil ... some sequin waste ... Wendy Vecchi background stamps ... Lord Tim of Holtz paper and a black pen. The rather lovely tree is indeed a wonderful Lin Brown creation covered using all manner of collage paper pieces ... and the scribbling ... well that is all my own work :0)

OK ... I have kept you for long enough ... I am off to catch up on Dr Gillian P.I ... the drama queen ... throwing herself at the bug invested jungle floor for attention! I heard she is the same age as Nigella Kitchen ... so ... if you are what you eat ... I am off to Maccy D's!

Laters!

Remember Me????

Huh??? Do You???

Many moons ago ... in a land ... not far from here ... I used to be a regular blogger :0) Then lawdy only knows what happened ... but I stopped blogging altogether ... mainly because I could think of nothing to say ... and worse still ... I could n't think of anything to make either!

Hopefully ... all that is behind me now! I spent a fabulous day on Saturday ... seated next to the Lovely Karen ... and the successful recipe for rebooting my Mojo was indeed one of the Wonderful Lin's journalling classes. I have been unable to leave my journal for little more than a few minutes at a time since ... I am enjoying it that much! I have discovered that 'my thing' when it comes to journalling is working on lots of different pages at the same time ... I am loving it!

So what is the little house all about then??? I hear you ask! Well ... this is my DT submission for Simon Says Stamp and Show this week ... the theme this week ...is indeed Distress Inks ... once again sponsored by the Simon Says Stamp team ... do join in if you can!

My house is coloured solely with Lord Tim of Holtz Distress Inks ... you know Tim ... the man that can create the prettiest of frosts while playing the harp with his feet with just a finger tip full of Rock Candy Stickles and the cap from a Ranger Inkssentials White Gel pen! If you are in any doubt who the stamps are by ... I can confirm they all are THE Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 designs ... don't you just LOVE those distressed lines?

I must away ... big week for me ... am off to Paris ... oh yes people ... Pareeeeee ... in ...erm ... France ... I am TRES excited ...

Laters!

A.W.O.L

I know ... I know ... I gave it all the ... look how good I am blogging every day in November malarkey and then ... vanished without so much as a bye or leave ... no warning ... just gone! Now I guess I should tell you all where I have been ... you know like offer some sort of explanation ... and the truth is ... I have n't been any where!

In my defence ... I have been like a bear with a sore head ... all snappy and miserable ... so you guys are really quite lucky you did n't have to put up with me. John ... bless him ... bore the brunt of it! Now if you have put two and two together and made four ... you will now have guessed that D Day finally arrived and at midnight on the 09.11.10 I quit the evil weed ... I am now a smoke free zone. I aint gonna pretend it has been easy ... or that I am through the worst ... the whole drug replacement wotsit has n't really helped and I have eaten every waking minute since 12.01am on 10.11.10 ... and probably my entire body weight in Wine Gums ... so pretty soon I shall be the size of a house ... But my skin will look younger ... so that's Ok then :0)

Now to the beer mat in the piccie ... Simon Says Stamp and Show this week is ... Show anything that makes you happy ... so I used all my favourites on this altered Beer Mat. I hope you get chance to join us this week.

Hopefully I won't leave it quite so long between posts next time :0)

Laters!

The Bells … The Bells!

I will get on to the whole bells saga in a minute … first up … here are my lovely ladies from today’s Mixed Media Christmas workshop … There was Margaret, Carole, Lin, Shelley, Christine, Helle and Anne… they all did a fab job of their canvases … including the image transfer onto ickle mini canvasses that most of them were trying for the first time… I found that bit reeeeeeeally exciting and beamed with pride at the wonderful results!

But the whole bells thing … well where shall I start … I could start with the whole smug thing I had going on when I had prepared my kits well in advance of the workshop … or maybe I will skip that part and go onto the whole … “Oh Crap” moment when I realised that I had forgotten the kits needed jingle bells far too late in the day to realistically do anything about it.  But I did … with a great deal of help from a lovely man from Carftycapers … he rushed my order through … had the bells delivered straight to the shop and in plenty of time to use in the class. I even told him … that I may not have met him … but I loved him!

I am glad the lovely man was n’t in the shop when the bells arrived … coz I opened the box only to find that the bells would be suitable for a canvas … a 12X12 canvas and I mean … a 12 feet by 12 feet canvas!!! Appalled … I told the lovely Karen and the whole workshop that I did n’t love the lovely man anymore and I was going to give him a piece of my mind … I ordered 25mm and they have sent 2.5cm … they are far too big!!! Oh yes people read that part again … what a numpty … the lovely Karen kindly pointed out the error of my ways before I ranted at the lovely man … something for which I shall be eternally grateful … I just hope these hormone drugs kick in soon!

That’s me guys … bit late for post number 9 on day number 9 … but better late than never! See you on Day 10 with another tidy desk shot … we have a second viewing … I really do think that full asking price offer is getting close :0)

Rainy Days and Mondays!

Well ... Did n't I say last week that I was going to blog everyday in November? Did n't I say that? And have I just managed 8 days on the trot for the first time in ... erm ... like ages ... Oh yes people ... we are on a roll!

The new challenge that has just been set over at The Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge Blog this week (at least I hope it has ... or I have pushed the wrong buttons) is "Your Favourite Lord Tim of Holtz Stamp". You know Tim ... the man that can transform a bit of old wood into a solid gold nugget while entertaining small and needy children with just a Bedazzle bead and a 3d foam pad.

My favourite Lord Tim stamp is indeed the rain man ... not his proper title you understand ... but the one with which I like to address him :0) I have gone a bit Steampunk again ... mainly because John ... who never gets excited by the stuff I make ... actually got all excited by my last Steampunk attempt ... even uttered words like Jules, Gabriel and Verne ... so I reckon this may just get put to one side for the next time he celebrates something or indeed I just feel like sending him a card!!!

Righty ho then ... do join in with the challenge this week if you get chance ... there is another fabulous prize donated by Simon Says Stamp ... and who knows ... it may be your lucky week!

A Sunday Snippet!

Oh yes people ... just the one snippet ... to be honest I have n't done one of these in a while ... because I have n't had any questions.

But this week ... well I had lots of the same sort of queries when I first showed this card on Friday. Several of you said you were struggling with your Lord Tim of Holtz Rosette die and you wanted to know what I used to stick mine down.

Well ... to be honest ... I usually use Glossy Accents ... I cut two of the little disc things (usually by just layering two pieces of paper ... and shoving it through my trusty Big Shot ... but I know that is probably a big no no ... so I whispered that and if you tell anyone I said it ... well I shall simply deny all knowledge :0)

I Glossy Accent the Garland and I clip it while I faff about with summink else for a few minutes. Then I put Glossy Accents on the bottom disk and I arrange the Rosette on that ... and I put an acrylic block on top to hold it in place while I Glossy Accent the other disk. I then lay that disk on top and hey presto ... a perfect rosette. I have noticed if your paper is a bit flimsy the perforated edges can split ... but I just get around that by adding a strip of tape on the reverse ...

Hope this helps ...

I made it!

Are you impressed? Well ... I am ... Here we are ... on the sixth day of November ... and I have managed to blog every day so far this month! I know I am cutting it a bit fine today ... but it has been a busy one.

I spent the day with Chris, Trish, Mel, Ruth, Danielle, Francesca and Maria ... doing my B Line Designs workshop ... sadly Anna was poorly sick and did n't make it ... so if you are reading this Anna ... I hope you feel a whole lot better soon ... we missed you! All the ladies did a fabulous job on their cards ... and we had lots of fun too! In fact ... I could summarise some of it ... Ruth gave me manikin envy ... Chris makes Trish stop complete strangers in the street ... anyone in glasses really ... to ask them if they are Linda Elbourne ... I think she may kill me for that one ... no one is on the witness protection scheme ... Danielle used to work for Thorntons and knows exactly what a croquant is ... and Francesca, Mel and Maria are officially the cleanest crafters I know ... 

For those of you on Bottle top mountain watch ... I tried the bracelet idea suggested by the clever Sally and the mountain now only has 26 million, 436 thousand 722 bottle tops left in it ... because I used 5 to make this bracelet. It did strike me when I was making it ... that it would be fab filled with sepia family photos ... you know of the Children or Grandkids or summink ... what a great gift ...

Anyways ... I must away ...

Laters!

49 days, 12 hours and 53 Minutes!

Oh yes ... and 39 seconds ... if you want me to be really precise! That is the exact amount of time that we have until Xmas ... Don't look at me like that ... Don't do that eye rolling thing ... somebody had to say it ... out loud! It is indeed the time to stop planning all your beautiful designs for Christmas and start making them! I know some of you wonderfully organised people will have made yours already ... and some of you even more wonderfully organised people will be wrapping presents by now ... but some of you ... we know who we are ... don't do ... we plan ... and then every year we get caught out and  have to buy cards that pretend to be handmade and probably cost the earth!

So ... looky here ... I have started the making ... quick and simple ... I am loving the Lord Tim of Holtz's rosette die ... it reminds me of those crinoline paper decorations that used to be everywhere when I was a nipper! You know Tim ... the man that makes and delivers all the Christmas joy the world over while mass  producing plum puddings with just a sprinkle of glitter and a spot of Glossy Accents.

While we are on the subject of Christmas ... I have a space on my Mixed Media Christmas Class on Tuesday in Olney ... tomorrow's class is indeed full ... but if you fancy learning how to do a spot of Christmas home decor ... then call the lovely Karen on 01234 714848.

I must away ... so much to do and so little time ...

Laters!

A Ten Minute Quickie!

Get me ... I finally got around to joining in with the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge this week!

It was such fun ... I may even do it again! Truth be told ... I only spent about 10 minutes on the card ... but it's the thought that counts ... right? I don't often buy papers on  a whim ... but when I saw these Steam Punk papers from Graphic 45 ... I had to have them.

This week's challenge is Page 54 in Lord Tim of Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities ... out of respect for Tim ... we don't tell you the details ... because that would be quite wrong and a whole breach of copyright etc., ... probably leading to my arrest and a prison sentence without any sharp objects ... that means no scissors ... oh my ... just the thought fills me with horror! You know Tim ... the man that can fill the world's sky with Fireworks ...  making sure the world's animal population were safely tucked up in bed first with just a sprocket gear and the leg off a brad.

I really should go now ... the card only took 10 minutes to make ... but with taking photo's and talking to you guys ... well I have just used an hour and this was n't even on my 26 Kilometre long to do list.

... I nearly forgot ... the viewing went really well ... so fingers crossed for that full asking price offer ...

Laters!

A Bit Tidier!

Tis true ... I have had a bit of a tidy up! It was through necessity really ... after being away the weekend before last ... well ... when I came back ... the place looked like a real tip and I could n't find a thing!

On top of that we have a viewing later today ... Oh yes ... the house is on the market and hopefully a lovely couple will turn up at precisely 1pm this afternoon and offer us full asking price :0) We are on the move ... to a new craft studio ... I say that knowing that you will take into consideration I have n't actually found aforementioned studio yet ... and of course ... John is digging his heals in ... as per usual ... and insisting that we get a kitchen too ... and a bathroom ... and at least 3 bedrooms ... and a garage ... his list just goes on and on and on!

So lovely WOYWWers ... I have done a spin and everything ... just so you get the full benefit of my ... erm ... tidying ... looky at my dies ... well my nice dies anyway ... I have a few old and very dodgy ones that are tucked away in a draw ... you will just have to make do with looking at the nice ones ... all lined up and easily accessible! The cutting station is even being used for cutting ... how is that for a turn up for the books!

Oh and I have one of Lord Tim of Holtz's configurations out and ready to play with ... boy am I impressed with the price and quality of these ... LOVE LOVE LOVE them already! You know Tim ... the man that can light up all of London's streets just by looking at them while he fills the needs of all the needy the world over with just a spritz of a perfect pearl mist and a wave of a manilla tag!

I must away ... I saw Mrs No Smoking Nurse earlier this week ... I am off to see Dr Whatsisname today ... I can't remember why ... but I am guessing all women of a certain age will understand :0)

Have a good one ... and if you are wondering why I am flashing me desk ... check out Julia's place ... she does a great job of explaining ...

Laters!

Making up for Lost Time!

Well ... here I am again ... posting for the second day running ... I am truly on a mission now ... a blog post for every day in November ... I know I have said it before and failed ... but seriously how hard can it be!

The pictures I am showing today are bits and bobs from the three projects designed by the wonderful Lin Brown and Leandra Franich for the ArtsyCrafts events! Not only are the retreats fabulous to work on ... but all the assistants get to make the projects prior to the events too. That gives you some idea of the thoroughness in which these weekends are planned ... both Lin and Leandra feel that in order to really help all the attendees ... you have to know the project well! It is all in the planning and these ladies know their stuff ... which always makes for a great time!

Anyways ... the bits you can see are from my samples ... sadly I was on the hop while I was taking these piccies ... too busy photographing Ruby before I left the house to take proper sample piccies  ...  and like a complete numpty ... I don't have any pictures of the completed projects ... but I am sure you will get the general idea.

Thank you for the support on the whole No smoking nurse thing ... the long and the short of it is ... I am now on Nicotine Replacement drugs ... let's hope I don't get addicted to those ... only kidding :0) I should continue to smoke for 8   days and then somewhere between day 8 and day 15 I should pack up!

There is no sneaky ciggies either ... Mrs Nurse lady checks the Carbon Monoxide levels in your blood ... just to make sure! She was n't the kind of nurse you would want to cross either ... if you get my drift :0)

Righty Ho ... I must away ... I have ...erm ... things to do ... I just need to remember what things ...

Laters!

Bad Blogger!

I know ... I know ... I have been really bad at blogging over the last few weeks!

It is not like I have been doing a great deal of anything else either ... Hey Ho! I am sorry ... I have no excuse whatsoever!

But I am here today ... oh yes ... the first day of November ... and blimey ... How did that happen? What happened to the rest of the year? I can't believe it will soon be Christmas and in only a few short weeks I shall be packing my stuff to go to Paris :0)

Perhaps that is why my Shabby project for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show went all kind of Shabby and ... erm ... French :0) Ooh la la!

Do pop over and join us this week ... there is a scrumptious prize ... donated by our fabulous sponsor ... to be won and everything!

Not sure what I can tell you about this project that is n't already kind of glaringly obvious ... it is all Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can move mountains while talking to planets from other dimensions with just a pearl bauble and a jump ring!

I can tell you that that there Mona Stamp is indeed the very first Lord Tim of Holtz stamp that I ever bought! I can also tell you that I have managed to use one of my bottle tops from my bottle top mountain that is currently standing at 692.75 feet high!

That's me for today ... I have an early start with a visit to the No smoking nurse ... today is the day ... wish me luck!

Laters!