Vintage Pink to Make the Boys Wink!

I know ... Tattered Rose is not my usual ... but when I do use it ... I always think that I rather like it ... especially if you blend in a bit of Vintage Photo with it!
Most of the stamps on the background are Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can teach Princess Beatrice what NOT to wear while extending the life of the entire world's butterfly population with just a Jump Ring and one or two accoutrements!
The corset/mannekin stamp is indeed The Wendy Vecchi with some trim and those ickle biddy flowers are also Wendy's ... stamped on white shrink plastic with Stazon ink and edged with Gold Krylon! Soooo cute!

The squares and the border of the card ... the stitching bit was done with a pokey tool and a white pen ... not a sewing machine! I will let you into a secret ... it did cross my mind to get the sewing machine out and actually use it! But when I finally located it in my Craftroom and saw the pile of stuff it was under ... well ... I changed my mind pretty sharpish I can tell you! So Faux stitching to the rescue ... again! It is shameful really ... I stamped and wailled that I neeeeeeeeded said sewing machine and I have used it ... erm ... once ... in about five years! Shameful I tell you!
LOVED all your comments yesterday ... it was so lovely hearing all your stories of how you watched the wedding and what you thought of the dresses etc., it felt like a truly global celebration! Thing is ... now I am ready for the wedding of Prince Harry to the delightful Pippa! They made such a handsome looking couple and Chelsea Davy looked like she had n't been near a hair brush in about a week ... not suitable as a Princess at all!
Only five more sleeps and I shall be off to Holland ... never been there before ... so the excitement is building! Have a good one people!
Laters!

Simply Amazing!

WOW! What a wedding! How amazing was that! We may not be good at organising road repairs or other day to day stuff ... but we sure can lay on a fabulous royal wedding!
The bride looked stunning in her McQueen dress and what a fabulous tribute to the late fashion designer!
And the groom ... well don't get me started ... having felt compelled all those years ago to get to London by whatever means necessary to pay a personal tribute to Diana ... well ... she would have been soooooo proud of both her boys today ... and I have to admit ... I pretty much cried from start to finish! As for the new titles ... Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ... C'mon ... Hands up ... Who heard it here first :0) I am incredibly proud that they have that title ... having been born in Cambridge ... well it just makes the whole day even more special!

Onto crafting royalty now ... I am giving you a heads up ... just in case you have n't seen it ... THE Wendy Vecchi has reached her 700th post! If you pop over there and congratulate her ... you could win ... drum roll please ... a Vagabond donated by the ever generous Simon Says Stamp! Wendy has added her own candy as second prize ... but I have my eye on that ... so if you win ... expect a visit :0) In all seriousness it was THE Wendy Vecchi who truly bought Grunge paper to life for me ... she is my inspiration ... one of the nicest ... most genuine people I have had the pleasure of spending time with and UBER talented! Way To Go Wendy!
Are you impressed? I even managed to remember to blog the tag book from inside yesterday's Maya Road house ... or should I say Hice! The chip tags were stained ... inked and spritzed into submission and then stamped with Lord Tim of Holtz's Bitty Grunge ... you know Tim ... the man that stopped the rain from falling during the Royal Wedding while ensuring the sun shone at exactly the right time with just a Charm Clip and a Bauble! The other stamps used are indeed THE Wendy Vecchi!
Right ... I have spent far too long sat gawping at the big screen this morning ... I need to go do some work! Oh! Oh! Before you go ... opinions of THE dress please ... in the comments ... I tried discussing it with John ... but he is more interested in the bloomin snooker!
Laters!

One's Hice!

Thought I had better put on me posh voice today ... roughly translated ... blog heading means "My House". I am getting right into the spirit of the whole Royal Wedding thing now ... we could all do with a bit of pomp and ceremony to brighten up the news ... don't you think!
I have had bad news though ... in fact I can safely say ... I am devastated ... just had the call that the Royal party were concerned by the amount of attention Wills was giving me in my bridesmaid frock at the rehearsals ... and my bridesmaid services are no longer required! What's a girl to do? Too late in the day to organise one's street party now! S'pose I will just have to watch it on the telly after all!
I can tell you that The Queen was in Cambridge yesterday ... just up the road from me in fact ... so I am pretty sure Wills and Kate will become the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ... How exciting ... oh and ... don't forget ... you heard it here first!

Wish I had planned a street party now! Talking of which ... this is the second Maya Road House that I have decorated! So I nearly have a street! This time I went for a different Lord Tim of Holtz On the Edge die to create the roof! You know Tim ... the man that can rescue the smallest Eland from the jaws of the biggest Crocodile while hand stitching all the pearls and beads and sequins on the frocks of the entire Royal guest list including the Queen with just a Memo Pin and a spot of Glossy Accents!
All of the stamps are THE Wendy Vecchi ... including the grass ... you don't get a base with the house so I made my own! In fact you don't get a house any more because Maya Road have stopped making them! Great shame in my opinion ... but no amount of begging on my behalf could change their minds!
There is a little tag book included with the house ... I may show you that tomorrow ... but then again ... tomorrow is tomorrow and I may have forgotten all about it!
I have about 5865 things to do today ... and I appear to have lost my oomph ... if anyone spots it ... please return it immediately! That's me then folks ...
Have a great time at the wedding where ever you are and whatever you are doing! I hope the happy couple will live happily ever after!
Laters!

Totally Tim!

Another card from me today ... this time it is totally Lord Tim of Holtz! You know Tim ... the man that can estimate the number of pebbles on a beach just by looking at them while rebuilding a 747 from scratch with just a Pen Knib and a two inch piece of Ball Chain.
The background colour is made using a mixture of Distress Inks and then stamped with Vintage Photo!
This card was inspired by a card I saw in an old copy of Stampers Sampler ... the original was made by Shannon Sawyer and even though by the time I had finished ... it looked nothing like Shannon's lovely card ... in fact ... she may be shrieking at the screen at this very moment "Not in my name" ... I wanted to share!

What a shame it looks like rain for the royal wedding ... we have had such a long spell of sunshine here ... you would have thought that the Queen could pre-book the sunshine! I don't mean to whinge ... but damp weather plays havoc with my hair ... and my bridesmaid head wear will get all limp! Having said that ... I don't like the heat either ... it does unsightly things to my ankles!!!
So ... c'mon spill ... what you doing on Friday? Street Party? BBQ? Or have you been invited? That would be so cool ... if someone that was actually invited came on my little ole blog!
Righty-ho then ... I must away ... still tweaking classes ready for the release of the new season of classes at LB Crafts on Saturday 14th May 2011. They will, of course be ready for preview a week earlier ... as usual ... blimey ... that does n't leave much time!
Laters!

Ticket to Holland!

My tickets are here! I am getting very excited now ... in a few short weeks I will be jetting off to Holland to teach at Lia's shop in Ede ... De Craftorij. I am doing two classes ... apparently there are still a few places available so just click here to book ... it is going to be sooooo much fun ... and it's my first time in Holland too ... added to the fact that Anneliese will be there ... and Joan ... and of course Lia ... oh and apparently the BEST pancakes ... It's gonna be just like a mini Ranger U reunion!
My card for today is made entirely with Lord Tim of Holtz product and a THE Wendy Vecchi stamp. You know Tim ... the man that hand paints all the tulips in Amsterdam while personally adding the glitter to every pot of stickles with just a Charm Clip and a tiny attacher.
Before using the embossing folders I coloured the card with Broken China Distress Stain ... then swiped over the raised parts with a Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad. A bit of distressing around the edges and a quick blend with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink and the panels were complete.

All the dress form parts are Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Backed canvas ... coloured with Antique Linen Distress Stain and then darkened around the edges with Walnut Stain.
Thank you all so much for keeping me entertained yesterday with your comments ... I knew you would n't let me down!
I do have to add that there was absolutely no bloomin' way I was up at 5:00am ... the post was indeed scheduled to coincide with midnight in Ohio which is where Simon Says Stamp is based and the time that the weekly Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge themes are published!
Right ... now I need to know what you are all wearing to THE wedding ... as preeviously stated ... I shall be sporting a Bridesmaid dress ... and if I don't know what you are planning to wear ... well I may just miss you in the crowds :0)
I must away ... I am up to my eyes in Birthday cards today ... trust me when I say ... nearly everyone I know must have been born in April!
Laters!

Spilling the Beads!

Who knew that filling all the little compartments in a Lord Tim of Holtz Configuration could be so much fun!
You know Tim ... the man that can hand craft a nest for every bird in all the world while making the Royal wedding dress with just a Game Spinner and a brad!
This week's theme over at Simon Says Stamp and Show is buttons ... the perfect excuse to grab the smallest of the Configurations and start playing! I had a ball!

I covered the Configuration with the Button paper from the Crowded Attic pad and then set to work applying the tissue tape and then distressing it with Vintage Photo. Most of the bits you can see are Idea-ology ... with a few things from my own stash added for good measure! Bet you thought the title of this post was a typo ... by putting tiny puddles of Matte Medium down the front I was able to place the little beads to make them look like they were spilling ... I'm rather pleased with the way they turned out! And the reflection of the Fractured Doll in the tiny frame mirror ... made my day! I know ... I know ... little things and small minds! And ... and ... the tin that the Film Strip Ribbon comes in has made the perfect little hat box!
To complete the piece I added a few THE Wendy Vecchi butterflies ... so much fun! I still have the largest Configuration that Lord Tim and the charming and most amazing Mario gave me at ArtsyCrafts in February ... I just need to find some time to make it! I cannot wait now!
So ... talking about spilling the beads ... How was your Easter break ... What did you do? Where did you go? John worked last night so I am spending the day all on my lonesome ... so I am relying on you guys to keep me entertained!

I spent Friday shopping with the Wonderful Lin and the lovely Karen at the Bull Ring in Birmingham ... I got a fab new Fossil watch ... yup you have guessed right ... it was only a tenner :0) Saturday with a lovely group of ladies doing my Tiny Tin class in Olney ... Sunday ... making stuff and grumbling about my Hay Fever and today ... I have work to do ready for my new release of classes for LB Crafts.
Well ... that's me ...  don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog to see the other projects on show ... you could even enter for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher donated by the site's wonderfully generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp.
Don't forget to leave me a comment ... I have got nobody else to talk too :0)
Laters!

A Card in under 15 Minutes!

Well guys ... this is a first ... I have nothing to say! Seriously ... absolutely nothing! I did think about posting just pictures without any words ... but then I thought ... you can't do a blog post without any script ... so ... I then decided I would be sensible for once and tell you how I made this quickie card! I know I run the risk of you not wanting to know ... but here goes!

1. Cut a white card blank 12,5cm (5") by 25cm (10") and score at 12.5cm (5"). I reckon that takes about 1.5 minutes.
2. Cut a black square of card 10.5cm (4-2/8") and stick it on the front. Where are we now? About another minute!
3. Cut a white card 10cm (4") square and spray with Dylusions Post Box Red then blitz with your heat gun. That should take you up to about 5.5 minutes in total!

4. Stamp Lord Tim of Holtz Itty Bitty grunge stamps randomly over the red square ... You know Tim ... the man that can paint the ceiling in the Sistene Chapel ceiling in 10 minutes while listing the world's football teams with just a Philosophy Tag and a mini clip. I used Ranger Maroon archival ... distressed the edges with an edge distresser then blended a bit of Fired Brick around each side before stamping the Birthday Text. Where are we ... about 8.5 minutes.
5. Finally I stamped the little Stampotique man ... cut him out ... coloured him in ... and stuck him on with 3d foam pads! He took 5 minutes tops which takes us to 13.5 minutes in total!
You can of course substitute the little Stampotique man for virtually anything ... not the most exciting of designs ... but I would be happy to send it!
Thought I might have thought of something to say at this point ... but no ... I promise to try harder tomorrow ... In fact I will most probably have too much to say tomorrow ... I am out for a girlie day and a spot of shopping with the Wonderful Lin and the Lovley Karen!
Laters!

Here and There!

Hello all ... Just a quick one from me today ... another screen ... this time in shades of purple ... Ranger purple to be precise!
The stamps used are the same as yesterday ... Stampotique with Lord Tim of Holtz's Bitty Grunge on the background! You know Tim ... the man that makes all of the chocolate eggs for the Easter bunny while walking on hot coals with just a texture hammer and the safety cap from a pair of Tonic Studio scissors. No shrunken flowers today though ... just shrunken skulls ... this time on clear shrink plastic.

So ... That is the "Here" and the where is ... erm ... "here." My good friend Nathalie Kalbach is gallavanting around the other side of the world somewhere exoctic mostly and before she went she asked a whole group of fabulous people and ... erm ... me to answer five questions for her blog! So if you are interested in seeing the mess I work in ... or indeed my creative highlight ... then you now know where to go! Not here but there!
Right ... now I need your help ... I cannot move for unneeded craft stash ... so where do you go to sell your unneeded stash! If I do a car boot ... I will get pennies for some good quality items ... and not neccesarily any customers that are interested in crafting! So ... Do I ebay the stuff? Has anyone tried selling from their blog? Would you buy stuff from a blog? I did think about selling it on a forum ... but there really is a lot to shift and I am not sure that is the best method! Do tell ... if you think I am wrong!
Okey Dokey ... I must away ... stuff to do and people to see!
Laters!

An Altered Car!

When I got my car back on Saturday ... I was a tad horrified that it was so dirty! No wonder it had felt poorly ... It was definitely in need of a good clean and a makeover! So I set about rearranging the garage in a bid to find some decals I purchased yonks ago ... when I eventually found them ... I set about convincing John that he really needed to wash said car for me!
To be honest ... that was a lot harder than it sounds ... I had to do the whole ... by the time you have shown me how to use the jet washy thing ... it would be quicker to do it yourself chestnut! A bit late in the day for me to get the jet wash out and make a complete pigs ear of it ... so he had to step in ... and I was n't sure how successful my mission was until Sunday morning :0)
I obviously had n't told him about the decals ... John would wonder why ... in his view ... I was going to mess around with decals and a perfectly good car ... so I waited patiently for him to finish and while he was out walking the dog the makeover began! I am rather pleased with the results ... What say you? It is definitely the biggest "altered art" project I have undertaken :0)

Right ... onto more ... well usual stuff ... the screen is stained ... misted ... and colour washed within an inch of it's life and the adorned with fabulous Stampotique images! If you look really closely ... you can see how cute The Wendy Vecchi's flowers look on white shrink plastic with ickle bitty gems in the middle. The background is stamped using Lord Tim of Holtz's Itty Bitty grunge stamps ... you know Tim ... the man that can roller skate up Mount Everest while drawing all the white lines down the middle of every road with just a Inkssentials white gel pen and a jump ring!
I must go ... I have a date with some of Claudine's Sticky Backed Canvas and some more Colour washes and a whole handful of tags!
Laters!

Simon Says ...

You would think as challenge director for Simon Says Stamp and Show that I would at least manage to get things right ... now would n't you?
I even set the themes each week so I really have no excuse!
This weeks theme is Simon Says Stamp and Show a Tim Holtz technique! Well I used the term "technique" very loosely indeed on this mirror!

I am so easily distracted at the moment!

It all started so well ... I grabbed my Compendium of Curiosities ... got completely engrossed in all of it's yumminess and my eyes fell on Lord Tim of Holtz's mirror project ... you know Tim ... the man that can feed 5000 with a Big Mac while training 349 horses for the Royal Wedding with just a Pen nib and a Key hole!

Anyways ... I set about rooting through my scraps drawer for lots of Lost and Found scraps to fit all the fragments. I coloured the mirror with a Walnut Distress Stain ... Glossy Accented everything within an inch of it's life ... then thought ... This isn't really a technique ... Is it? Too late to start anything else ... I decided to continue with what I was doing ... got the camera out and thought "Oh bottoms ... There is n't any stamping on it!" Really was n't my day now was it! Nothing for it ... I added a few Idea-ology embellishments ... and some THE Wendy Vecchi butterflies!

All's well that ends well!
Okay then ... all that remains is for me to mention the $50 shopping voucher you could win to spend at Simon Says Stamp if you join in with the challenge this week!
Laters!

The Wanderer Returns!

Well people ... she is home! Only just though! Oh yes ... and boy has she had an expensive makeover! Those of you that popped in yesterday will indeed know that I am talking about my poorly sick car and those that did n't ... erm ... pop in yesterday ... Well! Where were you???? :0)
Apparently the problem was a crank shaft sensor ... I got the call this morning ... only £150 including VAT ... phew I thought! Then Mr Garage Mechanic made that awful sucking through his teeth sound and I had to sit down!

The brake discs needed replacing ... the auxhilary belt was perishing and the exhaust was about to drop off ... when I heard the price for that little lot ... I needed to lay down in a darkened room! Luckily ... the wonderful John stepped in and paid the bill ... when I am moaning about him later in the week ... please do feel free to give me a nudge and remind me what a truly wonderful guy he is!

Those of you that were sick to the back teeth of my demo tags are going to get a little break today ... I say little and today because I still have a whole load of demo tags to show you ... to be honest I am amazed at how many tags I actually made during Ally Pally!

Today ... you can see a card from my Ditress Re-inker Masterclass ... the background was made by applying Distress Re-Inkers to white card using a brayer! The colours used are Broken China, Peeled Paint and Mustard Seed ... the image is my favourite BLine stamp ever ... the background flourish and sequin waste are THE Wendy Vecchi and the little stamped stars are indeed Lord Tim of Holtz's from the Bitty Grunge set! You know Tim ... the man that can carve a replica of the Beijing Olympic Stadium in the top of a matchstick while making enough Green Tea for the entire population of Japan with just a Charm Clip and a Philosophy token!
Righty-Ho ... talking of classes ... I am in full swing designing my next release that will be available for booking at LB Crafts in early May!
Laters!

Waiting Around!

Don't you just hate waiting around for stuff! I know I do ... my car is at the car doctors this morning ... has been since 8am and I kind of know that the longer it takes for them to ring me ... the more sick my car is ... and the more expensive the bill is going to be!
Yikes ... I simply hate paying out vast sums on non craft purchases!
Another tag today ... to be more precise ... another demo tag ... I promise I have been making stuff this week ... none of it is quite finished yet ... so I am not ready to share! So muchos apologies if you are getting bored with the whole tag fest!

I love how the letters from Lord Tim of Holtz's Adage tickets are the perfect size for the Charm clips. You know Tim ... the man that can design a wedding dress for Kate Middleton in five minutes flat while outfitting the entire guest list for the royal wedding including the Queen with just an Edge Distresser and a classic adornment!

The tag is coloured using only Broken China Distress Stains and some Lettuce Colour Wah and all the stamps are indeed The Wendy Vecchi Studio 490.
I am getting a bit concerned now ... apparently rehearsals for the big day are going ahead and I still have n't seen ... or been fitted for my bridesmaid dress ... what with Wills and Kate spending the next week out of the public eye ... well to be frank ... they are nigh on impossible to get hold of! And if I ring Charles ... well ... I will be on the phone for forever and I really can't spare the time! I guess I am just going to have to turn up on the day and hope I have n't added one too many frills to my cerise pink silk number ... and that the off one shoulder look was indeed the right choice!
Right ... I must away ... I have more waiting to do ... I may as well make the most of the time and make something!
Laters!

My Knight in Shining Armour!

Who Knew! I spent my life expecting my knight in shining armour to be on a horse wih ... erm ... shining armour and pretty much being a ringer for a certain Mr Darcy!
Well ... when my car broke down last night ... in the dark ... an hour from home ... lo and behold Green Flag sent me a knight! Can you imagine my surprise when he arrived with a recovery lorry for a horse ... the only thing shining was indeed a piercing ... and he had swapped his shining knight head gear for a knitted bobble hat! He was about a foot shorter than he should have been and aprroximately a decade older! To be fair ... he could n't have looked less like Mr Darcy if he had tried ... but I was still oh so pleased to see him! And he got me and my car home safely ... so I should n't complain!

So ... yes people ... after spending a very lovely day in the wonderful Lin's shop and then a very lovely evening with the lovely Karen, the wonderful Lin and Mrs Paperartsy ... gets in my car to go home ... get a few miles up the road and then the blooming car died! And boy was it cold!
Right ... well that is that ... here are a few more demo samples from the weekend ... first up we have a THE Wendy Vecchi Art Part ... my favourite Art Part to be precise ... I adore these little watches!
Second up we have a tag using my favourite Lord Tim of Holtz stamps ... love those gentlemen! You know Tim ... the man that can walk across the Atlantic Ocean while playing Beethoven's fifth on a harmonica with just a Townscape die cut and a memo pin.
That is me for now ... I had to walk to the nail bar today ... fair wore me out I can tell you ... sooooo disappointed when I left the building and remembered I had to walk home as well! So a quiet night with a stack of invoices for me!
Laters!

A Day Out!

No movies for me this morning ... and it was "into the wild" I watched yesterday ... directed by Sean Penn ... a truly mesmerising watch!
Well ... onto today ... here I am in Olney playing shop in the absence of the lovely Karen! Problem is ... I am my own best customer ... I am just ogling everything ... like a kid in a sweet shop and mentally I can feel myself persuading "me" to buy stuff before I leave tonight ... oops!
Just a quick tag to show you today ... this was indeed a tag from the weekend that I made while demoing on the LB Crafts stand.
The entire tag is coloured using Distress Stains and Colour washes ... with only a teensy bit of Distress Ink to frame the edges.
I used the waste from the Grungeboard alphabet soup pack ... love that stuff ... no need to clean it and it absorbs all the inks you use ... so gradually you get other colours bleeding in ... very serendipidous ... I did n't even spell chack that ... hands up whose impressed :0)

The text stamp I used is from Lord Tim of Holtz's Stuff to Say sheet and the butterfly is one of the new Movers and Shapers! You know Tim ... the man that can run up the side of the Eiffel Tower while performing open heart surgery on an ant with only a locket key and an accoutrement!
The Mannequin is indeed an Art Part from THE Wendy Vecchi ... painted with PaperArtsy Snow flake acrylic and some more colour wash. Then stamped in Coffee Archival with one of Wendy's stamps.
I am thinking about stacking up some chairs outside the workshop window so I can get a good look at what Leandra and Lin are up to ... they are making AC projects ... if I strap a camera to the crash helmet I am going to need ... I may be able to offer you a sneaky peek too ... c'mon ... spill ... What's it worth?
Right ... I must away ... I might even get some blog hopping done this afternoon ... Have a good one ... oh and hands down now :0)
Laters!

An Easter Card/Concertina Book Thing!

Don't tell anyone but I have been skiving off today! I watched a movie this morning ... I know ... Tuesday morning at 8.30am and watching a movie :0) How naughty is that!

Then I played with one of the new Dylusion's stamp sets that I got for my birthday ... this one is set number 8; How does your garden grow! Love it ... it was shouting at me ... Easter Chicks ... Easter Chicks and even though I don't really do Easter ... well I do the chocolate egg thing obviously ... but that is about it ... I thought I would make a book/card thingy with Grey Board scraps and some small pieces of Ranger Manilla Card stock! The book/card thingy closed is slightly smaller than an ATC and is coloured completely with Dylusions Lime, Burnt Orange, Vanilla Custard and Hot Pink Ink Sprays.

Fraid it has n't photographed particularly well ... I tried to video it for you guys too ... but sadly the new camera was n't recording for the first half and for the second half I had set it up at the wrong angle so you can only see my chest ... nice ... but not much use to any of you!

I would say ... that I stamped with archival then kind of coloured the flowers with a Water Brush ... this lightened those areas and made them pop a bit more!

I must go ... if I stay here much longer I will start telling you how I threaded the ribbon ... then you will get reeeeeeeally bored! Plus the fact that I now need to catch up on the jobs I should have been doing :0)

Laters!

Simon Says ...

Wow! What a fab weekend ... but boy did it fly! It was the Ally Pally Stamping and Scrapbooking show and I spent all day Saturday and Sunday demoing alongside the wonderful Lin Brown ... it is always great fun and we get to see so many friendly faces too ... some bloggers ... some non bloggers ... so  Hi to all of you that popped by ... too many to mention individually ... but it was great to see you all! As well as  being great fun ... it is exhausting ... everything aches ... from the top of my head to the tips of my toes! And I don't even help with set-up or breakdown ... I did n't get my camera out once ... really sorry about that ... I did intend to ... note to self ... must try harder!

Anyways ... back to the tag in hand ... well not in hand ... but you knew what I meant ... right???

The tag is stamped using The Wendy Vecchi's stamps ... coloured with Lord Tim of Holtz's Distress Stains and Colour washes. You know Tim ... the man that can swim in the Arctic Ocean while making ice carvings out of icebergs representative of every countries landmarks with just the lid from a Distress Stain and an inch long piece of tissue tape.

It is indeed Monday again so this is my design piece for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge ... the theme this week is to show some ditressing! As always our very generous sponsors, Simon Says Stamp are providing a $50 shopping voucher to one lucky entry ... so ... if you have n't joined in before ... why not make your first entry this week! And if you have n't got time to join in ... well pop over and check out the rest of the Design Team's work ... it really is very lovely!

I have news too ... this week Mathew I shall be playing the lovely Karen ...not for the whole week you understand ... but I am indeed playing shop in Olney ... on Wednesday ... I am not sure 'playing' is the right word ... but I am rather excited! It will be my first time ... and quite possibly my last if the wonderful Lin and the lovely Karen come back to a complete shambles!

Okay ... so now I am rambling ... it is getting very late and I am getting very tired ...

Laters!

Busy ... Busy ... Busy ...

I know ... I know ... I am always going on and on and on about how busy I am! Sorry! But I really am very busy!

I don't have an awful lot to show you guys for all this busy ness either! That is a new word combo by the way ... just made it up ... all on my own! Thought I would share a couple more piccies from my The Wendy Vecchi Play Book ... and I did a different colour scheme ... just to show that I could!

This time I have used Broken China Distress Stain and Lettuce Colour Wash ... LOVE that combo! Vintaged it all up a bit with Lord Tim of Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink ... you know Tim ... the man that can offer safe refuge to any amount of small children while hunting Lions and Tigers in South Africa with just a dot of Black Enamel Accents and a UTEE heart!

All the stamps are indeed The Wendy Vecchi ... and the tulip/crocus ... I have n't got green fingers ... so I am not sure which one!!! Actually I do have green fingers ... Peeled Paint green ... not of the botanical type variety! Actually ... Is Green Fingers as in "good at gardening" just an English phrase ... what do you say in your neck of the woods???

Okay ... back to the grindstone for me ... I have samples to make ... Ally Pally at the weekend ... hope to see lots of you in person :0) and I am off to Holland to teach in May at de-craftorj with my Ranger U buddy Anneliese Bates ... it has been nearly a year since I have seen her ... so VERY excited about that!

What you up to?

Laters!

Simon Says ...

A busy weekend for me ... hence the lack of blog posts ... note to self ... must try harder!
I had a great time teaching my suitcase class on Saturday ... so a big Thank you to all my lovely ladies!
So here we are ... Monday again ... and we all know what that means ... a new challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show! This week the theme is anything but a card and I had a blooming lovely time playing with THE Wendy Vecchi stamps ... Grunge paper ... and the circle frame Art Parts! Geddit? Blooming? Flowers? If you squint and tilt your head to the right ... I do hope at least one of you is actually doing that ... then you will see some Lord Tim Tissue tape. You know Tim ... the man that can conduct an orchestra playing Beethoven's fifth symphony while standing on his head and writing with clouds with just a Rain man die cut and a squish of Distress Stain!
Talking of Rain man dies ... I got him ... and I LOVE him! Just need to find five minutes to use him!
The prize this week is indeed another $50 shopping spree ... they are a generous bunch over at Simon Says Stamp and lovely with it!
Righty-ho ... I am off ... I have things to do and people to see ...
Laters!

The Best Things in Life are Free!

I have had a really busy day ... up at the crack of dawn ... drive to Olney ... do my Take Three Masterclass with ten very lovely ladies ... then drive back to Cambridge ... unpack kit bag ... re-pack kit bag ... and do the same thing again tomorrow! Don't get me wrong ... I am not moaning ... I LOVE it ... but boy am I tired!

So what am I doing here? Well for one I live here ;0) and for two ... I am here to tell you all about the brand new FREE E-zine that was launched today! All you need do is click on the picture or here and you will be taken to a place where you can download a free copy of the new Craft Stamper E-Zine ... Did I mention it was free! And not only is it free but it is accessible the world over ... so if you are in one of those far to reach places ... well here you go ... you can grab yourself a copy now ... for erm ... nothing :0)

This very first issue is packed to the rafters with the top 12 projects of 2010 as voted for by Craft Stamper readers ... I was chuffed and a tad surprised to discover one of my articles had been selected ... I must remember to Thank my Mum for voting 5,698 times :0)

So What are you waiting for? oooooh I nearly forgot ... you only need to pop one of these babies in your side bar, link it to  www.craftstamper.com/ezine and leave a comment here ... and you may even win a prize ... a pretty impressive prize too I might add :0)

Right ... I must away ... I have a bag to pack ...

Laters!