Super Storage...

...and such a bargain!

I have recently seen several folk in Blogland with fab cases that they have used for their Promarkers - cases that were originally designed to take 200 CD/DVDs. I have hunted high and low for these cases. Tesco had them in their on-line shop at £7.99 but guess what...printed across the image was 'discontinued'. PC World, Staples and loads of others greeted me with..."I know just what you mean - but..."; none of them stock this item any more. I looked on-line and yes the item is available but at a price - anywhere between £30 & £40 - that is a lot of Flexmarkers that could be added to my collection. Then a friend suggested I try Maplins (the electrical folk).

Rather than walk to the other side of Stratford in my lunch break only to be disappointed - again! - I checked on-line. No 200 CD case but they did have a 300 CD case with a big price tag...then I found it...

In their current promotion they have a 500 CD case reduced from £50 to £20 and Stratford had 7 in stock. So I toddled off to have a look and came back with this...
It is surprisingly light and actually doesn't take up any more room than my existing storage for my Letraset markers; ALL OF THEM!
As you can see, I have made a start on re-housing my pens.
The Flexmarkers will fit beautifully in one section...
...and once I get some sticky dot labels, my Promarkers will be moving in too. There will even be room for my Aquamarkers. My Metallic markers have 'moved-in' but that was all the labels I had to hand.

So my Letraset storage is now sorted **happy bunny** and i will actually be able to use my pens without rummaging through plastic boxes. Result!!!............................................

So much for...

...being good.

I was so NOT going to buy stuff at the weekend as I want to 'pre-order' my Tim Holtz Distress Markers next weekend (after payday). All I was going to do was sit and watch the Letraset demo at Pinnacle Crafts and hopefully learn a few new techniques...what I hadn't realised was the new DoCraft promotion goodies had arrived and some were demonstrated; what's a girl supposed to do? **BIG sigh**
The latest Creativity mag has a Boofle stamp on the front which I hope to have a play with tonight and there were some money off vouchers for some of the stamps that were used during the demo so I just HAD to make use of those **rollseyes**, I mean - you can't let things like that go to waste...

The Michael Powell stamps are rather lovely too but I was fairly good about these and just got one (there was another in the Goodie bag that I bought - hehehe).

Talking about the Letraset Demo day - I had a lovely day watching Andy - yes, I did say Andy - showing how to use Flexmarkers for things other than just colouring in. He did a wonderful job of stepping in as the person from Letraset didn't turn up.

Andy used a variety of images to demonstrate colouring techniques, some stamped some digi...unfortunately we did tease him a bit about some of the buxom ladies from Sassy Designs when he was trying to describe how to shade to create the curves LOL Sorry Andy; but you did take it all in good part...

Something that I wouldn't have thought of doing was to use the Flexmarkers in a similar way to alcohol inks to create background papers, CS and embellies that all co-ordinate - an idea certainly to be tried when I get a few moments to 'play'.

Thank you Andy for making it a very enjoyable & informative day - you did a fabulous job...................................

Progressive Challenge...

...CDAC12 has a bit of a 'green' theme.

Amongst the digi images provided for this challenge were a couple of Froggy pics and a couple of St Patrick's Day images...I went for the Irish theme, after all - what could be more green than something linked with the Emerald Isle.

Here is my card...
...made from an A6 dark green card blank and kept very simple with a hand-coloured topper made from one of the provided digi images. The image was provided for the challenge by 'Crafting with Jack'.
The image was coloured using Flexmarkers & Copics. I used the Flexmarkers as the base colours as there are paler shades available than those in the Ciao range. As I don't yet have a complete set of Flexmarkers I used my Copics to add the shading. The topper was then hand-cut and attached using 3D foam.

This is the last progressive challenge of session two - I wonder if it will continue with a session 3..........................................

You could be forgiven for thinking...

...I have a 'thing' about pens.

I don't know why you might have that idea about me **rollseyes** - I mean; it's not as if I mention pens very often **giggle** or clearly droooooooool over new releases LOL...

Perhaps it could be the fact that I have this little lot...
A complete set of Copic Ciao markers - my favourite - always close to hand and boxed so that I can easily see the colours I wish to use.
A complete set of Promarkers...
...not so fond of these - mainly because of storage. The wallets take up too much space and rummaging through boxes is too much of a chore when I want to do some colouring.

There is also a complete set of Aquamarkers that I haven't used very much.
Then there are my latest collectables - my Flexmarkers. I love these. The brush tip is fab and the 'fatter' body of the pen is great for when the old 'arfa-ritis' is playing up. I have been patiently waiting for Letraset to release the rest of the colours as singles so that I can complete my set and what do they go and do - add to the colours - there are now 92 in this range...still, never mind, only 35 more to get LOL
I sat and did some colouring last night but didn't get as much done as I'd hoped as the old wrists were complaining.
This tea/coffee pot was one of the first digi images that I received when I registered for the CDAC Progressive Challenges - I just love the design. Not sure how I'll use it yet but it doesn't hurt to build up a stock of coloured images - I've sadly allowed my stockpile to dwindle over Christmas & New Year.
This little miss is a Kenny K digi image that I have used a few times and I know what I'm going to do with her as I have some Kanban papers that I am eager to make use of. There is something about this image that always leads me to a Red/White/Blue colour scheme - it just seems to fit.

This Saturday there is a free demo day at Pinnacle Crafts - one of the Letraset DT is coming along to show some techniques & tips for using their pen ranges...guess where I'm going to be from 10am to 4pm...................................

Happy Birthday Mum...

...hopefully today will be better than yesterday (Sunday).
As Mum's birthday falls on a weekday this year we had decided to celebrate the day before with lunch out somewhere nice. You are probably wondering what the picture has to do with a birthday lunch...

Sunday dawned bright but cold and I headed over to Mum's only to be greeted at the door by her saying "I don't think we will be going anywhere - I'm waiting for the Gas man".

At the beginning of Feb her heating & hotwater broke down and she had to have the British Gas home service out to fix it. Mum noticed a small amount of water but was assured that it was just 'spillage' from the work that had been done - nothing to worry about and it was wiped up. This weekend she had water all over the floor coming from the boiler and when she pulled everything out of the cupboard the wooden shelving unit that she had in there had obviously been getting wet for a while because there was a good 6inches up the legs of wet black marks. So British Gas had been summond again.

Don't you just hate the fact that nowadays you are never given a precise time for the workman to be with you - the time frames are soooooooooo big that it prevents you doing or going anywhere until they have been. Mum was told between 8am & Noon but as noon approached the helpdesk phoned to say the guy was running late and wouldn't be there until 'sometime' after 1pm. Needless to say, Mum was not amused and told the caller as much. At about 2pm the guy arrived (happy soul - not!) muttered a bit, fiddled a bit and went saying it was all sorted.

8pm - water on the floor again.

Another call to British Gas, another guy comes out about 10pm and has to replace a whole section of pipe from the boiler as it had been completely blocked by sealant from previous repairs.

Not exactly the way Mum had hoped to spend her birthday celebration.

**touching wood** things seem to be okay today - let's hope so. Tomorrow, friends are taking Mum out for a birthday lunch and it really wouldn't be nice for that to be spoilt as well.

Happy Birthday Mum.................................

The Liebster Award...

...is given to smaller bloggers who have 200 or less followers in the hope it will bring them new followers and friends.

The tradition is that it is then passed on to five other blogs to help them too.

I have been very lucky to be awarded this by 3 of my followers; Sheleen, Helen & Claire (I have to hang my head and admit that I received notification from Sheleen a while ago and really should have sorted my nominees out - sorry).

If you want to accept the award the steps are:

1. Link back to the persons blog who gave you the award and thank them.
2. Post the award on your blog.
3. Give the award to five fellow bloggers who inspire you.
a) Paula
b) Claire
c) Susanna
d) Virginia
e) Karen
4. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know.

It is always difficult narrowing things down on these occasions as there are so many fabulous blogs out there that are an amazing source of inspiration. Please do not be offended if on this occasion I haven't picked you - I wish I could pick everyone that I follow but many would fall outside the 'less than 200 followers' and the rest would take me for ever to nominate (I think I follow rather a lot of blogs LOL).

I know there are some folk who don't like to participate in this kind of thing and I never have a problem if one of my nominees falls into this category - I hope that anyone I have nominated takes the award in the spirit it is given but doesn't feel obliged to take it any further if they do not wish to.

The folk I have chosen (in no particular order) are all very different so inspire me in different ways. I hope you enjoy visiting them.............................

An Award from...

...3 of my lovely followers.

I'll tell you all about it shortly........................

Love is...

...in the air.

That was the challenge over at "CDAC" for their Progressive Challenge number 11. The image I have used was a bonus digi provided by the lovely folk over at SEW MANY CARDS.
A simple easel card made from Kraft CS. A bit of embossed gold card. A Cricut die-cut heart and the SMC image.
The image has been coloured fairly simply with Copic pens and then blinged-up with some crystal stickles.

I can't believe we are at the middle of Feb already - where does the time go?....................

Super Blog Candy...

...from Letraset.

If you love 'pens' especially those available from Letraset, you really need to pop over to Enfys at "Going Buggy" and see what she has up for grabs - the complete set of Flexmarkers.

If you are interested you really do need to pay her a visit as she will explain what you need to do to be in with a chance or 2 or 3 or...

Don't they always say "you gotta be in it to win it", so go on, hop on over there...........................

Bling it on...

...and a bit of good (???) news.

Having been backwards and forwards to Mum's over the weekend it didn't leave a lot of time for paper crafting but certainly provided plenty of time to get the old knitting needles out. After all, they are easily portable and knitting is a great way to pass the time sitting in clinic waiting rooms.

Here are pics of the 3 scarves I finished (I could easily have done another two but hadn't put the yarn in my bag - doh!!!).
As I've explained before, one of the easiest places to take pics is in my kitchen as that is where the light is at its best but I hadn't stopped to think about how to take pics of my scarves before.

I have knitted loads of the things and only just realised how handy the mug tree is for showing off the finished items - what am I like????????
Up until now all the glitzy scarves I've made contained silver lurex but at the weekend I picked up a brown mix with gold...it really looks lovely. Mum said I should have a go at making a hat to match but I think the only way would be to use double-ended needles or a circular needle so that the item can be knitted "in the round"...I'll have to have a think about that...

I mentioned "a bit of good (???) news" - I'm still undecided about it.

I have a small craft store near to where I live and until now the owner has concentrated on mainly card-making materials with a bit of scrapbooking thrown in. As the store is quite small and away from the main road she has been considering some other items that she could stock to help bring the customers in. She has decided on offering some 'ready made' items and she asked me if I would like to sell my cards through her shop.

This is where the problem arises as I never know what to charge for cards so I'm not sure what to do. I know she gets asked a lot for completed cards and I would be one of 3 local crafters who have been asked to supply cards for the shop.

I suppose I could agree on a trial basis and see how things go - any ideas folks?.......................................

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

...pretty to look at but too cold.

Despite a few bright sunny spells, a week after the snowfall it was still very much in evidence.
These pics are from the car park at Barleylands and as you can see - the fields were still under a pretty thick blanket of the stuff on Saturday.
I think one of the problems has been the very low temps (Friday night to Saturday saw temps around the -10C in most areas around here...a few places fell even lower) and I don't think anyone needs to read in the papers that this has been the coldest February since 1986...we can feel it!!!

Barleylands might be out in the middle of open fields but they are very good about clearing the car park and ensuring there are safe pathways for folk to walk on.

I just wonder how much of this all cleared with the icy drizzle that we had on Sunday........................

I know it's not just me...

...that has a 'thing' about notebooks and stationery.

I just can't resist pretty, quirky or unusual stationery and I know that there are a lot of crafters out there who are just the same.

I had seen all the hype about "Smash books" but wasn't totally convinced that they were something I would want to buy - that was until I actually saw them and a selection of accessories. Next thing I know, some of the money I had for Christmas was being parted with and I became the owner of this...
...but Christmas was a couple of months ago now and as you will see from the following photos - there isn't a mark or sign of ink anywhere to be seen.
Nothing here...
...or here.
Even the accessories are still in their packaging...
...everything is still as it was when I brought it home.

Why??????????

I just can't bring myself to mark it in anyway in case I 'spoil' it - daft isn't it!

I wanted it, I think it's great...and I can't use it (doh). I'm sure the novelty will wear off but isn't it silly.

Unfortunately, it's not the only 'notebook' that is resisting any in-put from me. This little cutie by Tim Holtz is fabulous. The cover has a lovely fabric texture...
...and I love the colours - but I've taken it out of its wrapping, I've handled it - and that's as far as it has gone.

Please tell me I'm not the only strange person who does things like this LOL...............................

Yucky...slushy...

...freezing cold.

As usual, Monday was cold & mucky...what we normally expect here after a downfall of snow as it starts to melt.

Then to add to this the drop in temps over night and this morning greeted us with the remains of the mucky snow and plenty of black ice. I really don't do 'slippy/slidy' things very well and hate walking in these conditions.

To me, snow is something to be admired from a distance, photographed...but not actually contended with. I have always loved snowy pictures and love taking photos of the stuff but driving or walking in it is not something I relish.

On the BBC Weather site they have a section for folk to submit their weather photos and over recent weeks there have been some fantastic pictures. This was one of the latest collection - can you tell what it is...
...it's chicken wire. Isn't it a fabulous effect.

I'm normally driving somewhere when I see things that I would love to snap but never have the opportunity to stop and do so........................

We have...

...SNOW!!!

Not just a dusting - a good covering as you can see...
This was the view our from the bedroom window (sky looks like it is holding even more of the white stuff).
The patio is covered and you can't tell where it ends and the lawn begins.
The garage.
The shed.
The view from the front door...and NO!! I wasn't going to wander out in my PJs to take more pics LOL
My poinsetta looks lovely against the white background but I still wish we didn't have it.

I hope the weather forecasters are right about it clearing from the South-east pretty quickly.....................................

Too cold...

...to craft!!!

I can hear it...the sharp intake of breath of Blogland...SHOCK - HORROR - surely not!...how could it be too cold.

Let me tell you...

When the outside temperature indicator on the car dashboard is reading -2C and the snowflake indicator is glowing a very bright red, you know it is cold. Add to this the fact that the Thursday night crop is held in an 'un-heated' shop with concrete floors; I think you start to get the idea.

It didn't seem too bad when we arrived but as we sat there the cold started to really bite and poor Sue, who was covering for Helen whilst she is off at Spring Fayre, couldn't find the heater.

Here is the LO I made a start on...
...the background PP is from the 'Jovial' Christmas range that is forming our kit for the current 4 sessions. It is quite a busy PP so I matted the photo on a piece of Bazzill kraft card and used Old Paper distress ink to shade the edges. The lower panel is from a piece of decorated ledger 12x12 (not sure of make).
The photo was one that I took Christmas before last on a visit to Harrods. I have used this pic in my Christmas planner but I wanted to do a LO with it in a larger size (6x8 inches).
I started to add embellies but by this time I couldn't feel my fingers - which made it quite difficult to use scissors and very dangerous brandishing 'pokey' tools...so I called it a day.

I need to sort out more embellies and actually come up with a title, so I'll let you see it when it is finally done.

I don't envy Annette (Voodoo Vixen) or anyone else who is combating temps of -20C or worse...minus 2 or 4 has me heading for the hot water bottles, fleeces and the duvet. Oh how I hope we don't have too much more of this to come....................