Daylight...

...so lets see if these pics are any better LOL

Well, at least you can see a bit more detail LOL
I really was just trying out colour combinations but having had a thought or two (I do occasionally, surprising though that may be) I think it might be an idea to also think about the PPs that I might be using...
The John Byars stamps have a number of different 'boy' images but I chose this one because I thought it was more universal - the football ones are great but not everyone likes footie.
I wanted one image as close to sepia tones as possible and I think I just about managed it - this is for a friend's birthday but I still can't decide on the style of card to make. Good job I've got nearly a month to get it done........................

A little bit of...

...grown-up colouring in.



Not the best photo in the world but then the light isn't overly good for pic taking on my desk.

I am very lucky to own a complete set of Copic Ciao pens and a complete set of Promarkers. Whilst each have their merits I would say that my Copics are my favs.

There is nothing more relaxing than sitting and having a grown-up colouring in session, whether it be sat in front of the TV or sat at my desk. Isn't it strange how something that most folk associate with children can bring so much enjoyment to grown-ups too.

Caz is a blogger who very kindly takes the time to list the Copic pen numbers that she has used to colour her stamped images - I'm afraid that I would probably never be in that position LOL. By nature I tend to be a 'try it and see' type person when colouring in rather than concentrating on the actual colours I am choosing.

The images in my photo are new stamps that I have been playing with - a couple of lovely John Byars stamps from the current DoCrafts promotion and a Marji Rahder stamp from the Winter collection. Some of these will be finding their way into birthday cards when I can make up my mind what style card to make and the rest will be Christmas cards (don't groan - we've had Christmas in July so I'm not that early).

I'll try and remember to take pics of the cards I eventually make............

Proud to be an English Woman...

...bit of a giggle.

THE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU MARRY AN ENGLISH GIRL

The first man married a woman from Cyprus He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man married a woman from Italy. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man married a girl from ENGLAND. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher. He still has some difficulty when he pees.

Ain't equality wonderful LOL........................

Here we go...

...the promised pics from Andy's shimmer mist class.

I'm not sure you can see the full effect of the shimmer mists in these photos but I was very pleased with the way the coloured paper turned out.

This was the finished card that was made in the class and the remaining paper pieces.
As you can see in this close-up, although I used combinations of the same colours on all four sheets, the finish was very different each time.
This is a mini album cover that I have used one of the papers on. It was strange looking at the papers after I had finished ironing them - this particular sheet looked a bit like a cave painting complete with stick men when viewed one way up but when turned around it looked more like the view when peering through the undergrowth.
This close up of the card embellishments shows just how the light catches the mica that creates the sheen.

As I said previously, it was a fab class and I think I will have to have a play with a few more colour combinations just to see what I come up with. After all, I have a fair few of these sprays so I should use them, shouldn't I..................

A Birthday Card...

...for my Sister.

After Andy very kindly printed another tutorial for a side-stepper card using inches, it would have been rude not to have given it a go LOL



Using some white embossed gloss card as the base, I then decorated the card with panels of embossed gold paper and layered with patterned paper from a 6x6 paper stack from the new Summer Bloom range (Do Crafts). I finished it off with some decoupage from the same range and some pale blue stickles & gems.

I have made this card for my sister as her birthday is at the end of this month. There's no problem with showing this now as she doesn't "do" computers. Hope she likes it.....................

By the way...

...just in case you hadn't noticed.

As of today it is 164 days to Christmas.

**runs and hides quickly before folk start throwing things LOL**

I think the heat is getting to...

... Andy over at Pinnacle Crafts.

The last couple of posts on his blog have almost had him bursting into song (Summertime, and the living is easy - just to give you an example) however, if you pop over and have a look at the cards he has been making he has every right to. He has come up with some fab samples to demo the new Summer Bloom range from Do Crafts.

I was over at Barleylands today for one of his classes (another mucky one but I went prepared - gloves and pinny at the ready LOL) - we got to play with Shimmer Mists, a variety of punches and an iron...yes, I did say an iron...and no, the heat hasn't gotten to me.

Lots of spritzing, scrunching and then ironing produced some fab papers that we then chopped-up to make a very pretty card. I will take some pics once my batteries in my camera have recharged.

I still think the heat has got to Andy - probably all those hours up in the classroom in the heat that we had for the last couple of weeks, whilst trying to come up with lots of Christmas card ideas for this coming weekend...Christmas in July. I'm sure we will know for sure if he starts quoting Christmas carols LOL

Anyway, I'll be back with some pics of my latest cards once the batteries have charged..."Deck the Halls with..." - oops think it is catching....................

Christmas in July...

...sorry, but it had to be done LOL

The workshop at Dawn's this week was such fun...four lovely Christmas cards and a number of different techniques played with.

The first card of the day was a dissolving card - the template and cutting of this was fine but unfortunately the Stickles decided not to dry so it has caused some problems with the mechanism. Because the Stickles got onto the back of the card it has made it difficult to slide - a bit like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against eachother - so I will probably have another go at one of these but minus the Stickles.
The gatefold style card was very quick and easy and uses printed acetate on the front to continue the design of the PP that is inside. There are a number of ways of 'lacing' the sides of the card but I chose this so that I could have bows.
Normally one would create a card and then make/find a box/envelope to go with...not Dawn. After one of her shopping sprees in Michael's, whilst on holiday in the USA, she came back with a variety of seasonal envelopes which she has then created cards for. She created some background PP and the insert by scanning the envelope and playing around with the design. Then with the help of the Cricut we were able to replicate the sleigh on the front of the card - parcels and all...
The card that took the longest was the Star card. Christmas shaped windows were cut in the card panels for the interior using the Cricut and stamped images were used behind to tell the story of the Christmas Carol that was printed onto the tags.

A lovely pieceful session of 'grown-up' colouring allowed us to make each of our cards unique to us.
Needless to say, with all the matting & layering involved on this card there was no way it would fit into an envelope (and to be honest, the weight would make it far too expensive to post anyway) so we made a very simple box out of red & green card and the whole thing is held closed with some gold stretch cord.

More cards to add to my collection as I really couldn't part with any of them but I will be using the ideas to create some of my own that will be sent/given to friends and family.

So I'm now up to date with posts from the workshops and unfortunately there won't be one in August as Dawn's hubby Brian has to have an eye op. However, I can let you all know that the September workshop will be more Christmas cards - now there's a surprise - LOL...........................

Playing catch-up...

...craftwise, that is.

This year is flying by - can you believe we are well into July already, I can't. But the evidence is all around us...Christmas in July & Countdown to Christmas have already arrived on the crafting channels so it must be so.

I even attended my first Christmas card making workshop of the year this week which made me realise that I hadn't posted any details of items I made at the last workshop, so here goes...
Another four very pretty cards from ideas created by Dawn; a boxed view into the garden, an exploding card, a pop-up card and a wallet style flap card.

The boxed card is lovely and is so very summery with its sunflowers and honey bees. I'm not sure of the actual name of this style of card but by pulling the card flat using the tabs either side the doors/windows open and you get a better view of the garden inside. I have to say that I am very lucky to still have the complete door/window frame as the knife did slip a few times LOL
The flap and pop-up cards were quick and easy to make and they could be adapted for any occasion. However, my favourite card of the workshop has to be the exploding card. The pastel green and white colour scheme looks so delicate and then you open the card to a surprise...
The folding of the fan inside the card took a bit of fiddling around with but I think it was well worth the effort and once decorated with the spiral and the embellies the final card is just lovely.

My biggest problem with Dawn's workshops is that I never want to give any of the cards away, so, as you can imagine I have a growing collection................

What a load of...

...Hollyhocks.

Our garage & driveway are at the end of our garden and access is from the side street. When we first moved here...many moons ago...we had a large hedge that screened the view from the house, acting as a green wall between us and the drive etc. However, working full-time soon indicated that the hedge had to go - it took just too much time to maintain. This has left the problem of looking out onto not only our garage and cars but also the fence and garage wall of our neighbours who border our drive. Over the years a few hollyhocks have taken root, courtesy of the bird population and all I have done is leave the seedheads to take root.
This year we have a lovely display all along the side of the driveway and in a rainbow of lovely colours.
There are peaches, lemons, pinks, white, mauves...such a lovely aray of shades. So much nicer to look at than fence and wall.
I thought I would try and get a few close-up photos of the hollyhocks because the flowers are so pretty.
I managed a few pretty good shots but a professional photographer I will never be LOL
I don't think I will ever qualify as a good gardener either. I love beautiful gardens, I'm happy to potter, but I don't do heavy manual labour LOL and as you all know, I don't do mucky so it restricts activity somewhat. It also doesn't help that I don't like bugs of any shape, size or variety. I might think about re-vamping a few tubs on the patio but I don't think you will be seeing anything that resembles Chelsea Flower show any time soon.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the hollyhocks..............

Happy...

...Fourth of July.



If the weather in the USA is anything like it is here at the moment there are gonna be a lot of pool-parties, cookouts and BBQs over there whilst they celebrate their holiday.

Closer to home...today is the Stanford festival. This started as our Borough's way of celebrating the Millenium and has continued ever since, albeit in an ever decreasing format. If it isn't too hot later I will probably wander down to take a peek at any stalls/attractions but I can say right now...I am not looking forward to the music festival over on the Recreation ground this evening. I live very close to the 'Rec so it will be a very noisy evening - now where did I put those earplugs.............................