Wonderful stamp...

...by Thomas Kinkade.

Mum treated me to this stamp and it is beautiful. I've had a bit of a play but on a very basic level so far - will have to see what ideas I can come up with...


Bit of a fuzzy pic trying to show the sparkle of the Stickles.


It was rather an expensive stamp but I am totally loving it LOL...............

What's in a...

...name?

What Toni Means

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Some of this is spot-on, other bits - not so sure............

Autumn visit to...

...Ally Pally.

Yesterday was the first trip out since getting the new car and the hoist for Mum's scooter was brill. Decided to take the seat off and this gave a better view through the rear window but not great...something I'm gonna have to get used to.

Driving to Ally Pally was not fun as it was thick fog most of the way, but we did it in good time and we were there for the half-hour early entry for disabled visitors.

Mum headed straight for the stand where she got some lovely beads last time and she got some goodies this time too.

That half-hour goes sooooooooo quickly and soon it was getting very crowded and not very easy to get to look at things on the stands. I appreciate the reason behind the way many of the stands are now arranged so staff can keep a better eye on their stock but it is not very disabled friendly even before the crowds started to build many of the stands were not accessable to a wheelchair or scooter user. Mum is very good and says "give me your bags and go and see if there are any goodies there..." but that isn't really fair to her.




We still managed to enjoy ourselves and came away just after midday having spent a small fortune between us LOL.



The beautiful Thomas Kinkade stamp was a prezzie from Mum and she has already placed an order for half a dozen Christmas cards using this design (already had a play with this and it is fab).

After the foggy journey there it was blazing sun for the journey home. Had a slight detour to Artbase LOL, as you do, and picked up some more clear stamps and cardstock.

All in all, a great day...............

September...

...at Artbase.

Two wonderful DLOs made up the BoBunny class kit this month and they are designed so you can use a number of photos or leave areas for that "less is more" look



I originally thought the kit was a choice of colour not realising we got the lot LOL.



Lots of knife work trimming round the PP design to wrap around the photos.



Lots of interesting elements...acetate overlays, rub-ons, ribbons and journaling blocks.



I had a great time, even though my photos weren't too good (ink was running low on printer :o(...) and I've now sorted the piccies.



Next month is another collection of layouts. Can't wait to play with those.......

Oh...

...pooh!!! (or words to that effect LOL)

It is the Artbase monthly crop tomorrow and the the LO project is a super DLO using black & white piccies so I got home this evening and sorted out some pics to convert and print in the sizes stated (quite big photos needed for this project) and pooh, the ink is running out on my printer. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

So, rather than waste photo paper too, I've printed some pretty yucky pics as the project involves a lot of cutting around certain parts of the photos. At least I'll be able to use these as a guide.

Guess what I'll be buying next week.........................

New car...

...yeh!!!



Here is my new car...Vision Blue, with Charcol interior



This time I needed to have a hoist installed in the back for loading Mum's disabled scooter as she can no longer help to load it and there is no way I can do it on my own. The stupid thing is, when the hoist isn't being used it must be locked in place and guess where the locking position is...right across the back window (grrrrrr) a little common sense would have made it clear that the best place was to swing it to one side to give a clear view - two luggage bungies later and it's sorted lol

Nothing quite like the smell of a new car..................

Pretty boxes made of...

...ticky-tacky (well matchboxes, actually LOL).



As you can see, the collection is growing. I have another part done and enough matchboxes to make a further two (additional supplies will have to be obtained soon - hehe).

I might have a go at making some slightly bigger ones as I have now found some boxes part way between 'standard' and 'cooks'.

The pink/silver/black one is not an Advent box it is just a little trinket box that I have made as a gift for a friend's teenage daughter. I have plenty of other Christmas papers that I want to try so this could result in mass production LOL.

I wonder how many I'll be able to make before I get well and truely fed-up with them....................

Artbase...

...what a fun morning.

Last week I asked John if he could come up with one of his Die-cut designs that would be suitable for a wedding i.e. a mini book sort of horse-shoe shaped. Between us we managed to put something roughly down on paper and John said he would see what he could come up with...

This morning there it was - a super horseshoe shaped book that can either be put together using book rings or the BIA - JOHN, YOU ARE A TREASURE.

So what has John been asked to come up with next...MATCHBOXES...I had taken my advent boxes (yep there are now two of them LOL) to show and Margaret and I had a play. She twiddled with the Cricut to see if suitable matchbox shapes could be cut out and I was scoring and folding c",) It was all a bit fiddly so Margaret asked John about cutting some on the pazzle. He took lots of measurements for dimensions and said he would see what he could do.

So, watch this space - I'm sure he will manage it. Lots of matchboxes - and no matches to have to dispose of...............Yeh!!!

Thanks...

...to all those wonderful folk on UKS - I now have an even cheaper source for matchboxes LOL

I thought 31p for 6 in Morrison's was pretty good but latest supplies have been obtained from Wilkinson's at 39p...FOR TEN!!! Yehhhhhhhh, let's hear it for Wilko's.

I had every intention of coming home and making another box tonight but I've decided that I can't manage another "silly o'clock" finish and I know that once started I wouldn't want to leave the project until complete (ho-hum). So tonight is a browse and catch-up night.

All being well there will be more advent goodies to see over the weekend - watch this space.........................

Christmas is...

...coming.

And I've made a start on some Christmassy bits c",)



I had a play with my cuttlebug embossing folders and some decoupage bits.



I love the Lace tree.



Here is the result of the matchbox purchase LOL Sorry the pics are a bit fuzzy but the light isn't too good.



Well, I've made a start so I'd really better get cracking cos this isn't going to meet all my Christmas needs LOL Think I'll try some of the other Dovecraft Christmas PPs on my next Advent box, or perhaps Making Memories, or K&Co or......



Me thinks I'd better get some more matchboxes..................................LOL

Can I just say...

...for the record.

I AM NOT AN ARSENIST IN TRAINING...........HONEST!!!!!!!

Just because I have been buying a few boxes of matches - well 48 to be exact LOL - doesn't mean I have a thing about setting light to things.

Let me explain...

Last year, some folk over on UKS made some super little advent boxes - OUT OF MATCH BOXES - which I had forgotten about until someone asked for instructions a couple of weeks ago. As I am trying to get organised for Christmas - I did say trying LOL - I thought I'd go and get some matchboxes.

Empty ones for craft purposes are about £5 for the 24 needed for completing one of these little delights so it is far cheaper to buy the real thing at about 31p for six.

One teeny tiny problem with this though...what do you do with all the matches? I am not into matchstick modeling, I don't have an open fire that needs lighting and there are only so many candles one can light without risking setting light to the whole house...sooooooooooooooooo, back to the problem, what does one do with all these matches.

I should imagine there are already a lot of concerned supermarket bosses across the nation wondering at the sudden leap in sales of safety matches................

I do love...

...having visiters.

I have been very lucky since I started this blog. I have met lots of fab folk and had some lovely visiters - thank you for your lovely comments c",)

New Crop at...

...Craftily Creative.

We have a small craft shop locally and the owner Helen has been very receptive to stocking scrapbooking bits even though she is mainly a 'card' person. She has done daytime classes for card making for some time now but we have been trying to convince her to venture into the world of evening crops - last night was the first :o)

We didn't know what to expect as far as class projects and at first glance the LO shown seemed a bit basic but the PPs were very pretty...chocolate & cream...so we all got stuck in.

Here is my finished LO. I think the PPs are HOTP Chocolate collection.



With hidden bits...........



My LO doesn't look very much like the original but then that's the fun of scrapping, isn't it LOL we each adapt what we see to meet our needs and tastes.

There were 16 in the class (very cosy cos it is quite a small shop) and a mix of complete Newbies and some very experienced scrappers. Helen was concerned about catering for such a wide range of skills but I think it worked out well and everyone enjoyed the evening.

Two weeks to wait 'til the next...I wonder if we can pursuade her to 'go weekly'?...................................LOL