Paper crafting comes...

...flat packed.

Saturday was the Advent Calendar class at Pinnacle crafts and Andy certainly had us working.

There was a huge amount of cutting to be done...

...56 pieces of greyboard 3x3ins, 56 pieces 4 & 5/8ths x 3ins (or in Andy speak - 4 and a half & 1/8th by 3ins) and each piece DST'd on both sides.
Twenty-four balloon weight boxes (Tonic die) cut in ivory Centura Pearl...

 ...to give the boxes a soft sheen. This is when you start to wish you had an e-Bosser or something similar...

...because once the boxes were cut we then went back and cut decorative insert panels (Tonic dies). Andy's boxes were cut on all four sides but I decided to just go with the front & back panels.
Then there was even more cutting...

...PP was needed to cover both sides of the greyboard pieces - 112 of the 3x3 and of course 112 of the rectangle too. By this stage the table was getting messy and I gave up with the photos. We were all having a giggle about our inability to 'count' as we all kept finding odd numbers of this & that (I'm still not sure whether I have 27 & 1/2 boxes or one panel short of 29 **giggle**).

Time got the better of us and my Advent calendar certainly came home as a flat-pack.

I couldn't leave it like that so here you go Andy...

 ...just to prove that I have made at least one complete box...

 ...complete with tea-light (battery type)...

 ...and I'm still trying to decide whether to ink all the edges of the outer boxes...

...so one down...

The aim of this class was to create a "Statement piece" and when you see Andy's...

 ...in its different configurations...

 ...you get the feel of just how huge this piece could be if all the boxes were stacked together...

...or it could be kept more manageable by stacking in small groups.

I think I will go for the WOW factor and have mine stacked together on the side table in the hall. I have DST'd all my gift boxes so they are all ready to go - I just need to get the outer boxes covered and put together. I'd better get a move on - 34 days and counting.......................................................

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

...rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

It's not just me and my lack of 'techiness', it seems that Mr Blogger has been having another hissy-fit. So many folk have been posting about the problems they have been experiencing.

Not had much luck doing anything this week, even had problems opening my reading list from the dashboard.

Fingers crossed that the promise of an extra hour in bed (and possibly an hour of quieter usage) will have Mr Blogger all bright-eyed & bushy-tailed by the end of the weekend........................................

Simply Christmas is...

...almost here.

With little more than a week to go you really should hop over to the Shabby Art Boutique site and get yourselves ready for this year's event...

...that the lovely Kerryanne English hosts with a view to putting 'homemade & home' back into Christmas.

Do hop over there and link up ready for the Christmas fun to begin............................................

There's nothing nicer than...

...fresh bedding.

I remember as a child, trying to slip in between the sheets of my freshly made bed without disturbing them and then breathing in the lovely smell of the outdoors from where they had blown on the washing line until dry. One of the Yankee Candle company's most popular fragrances is "Clean Cotton"...I can understand why.

I still love the feel of snuggling down into a freshly made bed but these days I am normally breathing in the clean smell of my washing liquid as time and the good old British weather don't allow me to peg out washing as often as I would like.

I also like my bedding to match.

It doesn't feel 'right' if the colour of the sheets & pillowcases are not matching or if they are 'wrong' for the duvet cover - is that a bit OCD? - probably but it still doesn't feel right. So when I purchase new bedding, I have to make sure that I have things that 'go with'.

I recently bought some beige bedding that had script on the duvet in white and matched it with the same beige colour sheets (I know white would have done and I already have white but...). This turned out to be a perfect purchase because the other week, Mum 'encouraged' me to buy this...

...super quilted throw that looks like a pretty patchwork quilt. They also had the duvet set so...

 ...matching top pillows...

...and the cushions were ones that I already had. With the bedside lights on...

...everything looks cosy and inviting.

Earlier in the year I decided to invest in some neutral coloured accessories and I'm so glad that I did because it has made it so much easier to pull everything together. Either side of the bed is a shallow alcove that was the perfect size for a couple of ottomans to provide additional storage and act as bedside tables - I went for a soft cream 'leather-look' (easy to wipe over). The side lights have a wooden base painted white and slightly distressed. Because they are switched on you can't see that the shades are beige with white polka-dots and I matched the colour to the central shade which has script over it.

It is starting to look how I want and last night, looking at this and then climbing into the freshly made bed brought back all those lovely memories of childhood.

Mum is a very bad influence. She also encouraged me to buy the most snuggly of throws with a lovely winter design (of course there was bedding to match). I'm being very good - it has been washed and put away as it is the set that I will be putting on the bed for Christmas. If I remember, I'll take some photos to share...................................................................

I came home to...

...two lovely envelopes the other day.

The first was my surprise goodie from the Lili of the Valley inspiration site. I was lucky enough to be chosen in one of the daily draws and the lovely Erica sent me one of the current Christmas stamps - Window Seat. It is so cute. Pop over here to take a look at the stamp I mean and you will also see a lovely creation from their DT. More colouring this weekend, for sure.

The second envelope contained some Stick it - a sheet adhesive that is designed to help you stick down all those fiddly die-cuts...

...Kath Stewart was giving away sheets to four lucky winners over on her blog and I was one of them.
Thank you Kath, I will enjoy 'playing'.

The weather certainly has turned Autumnal in true British fashion - dull, chilly, wet days...although at this moment in time, there is actually some blue sky & sunshine. Wonder how long that will last..................................................................

Are you getting ready...

...for Halloween?

It is Mid-year performance review time at work and everyone is getting a little stressed out by it all...so I thought it was time for a bit of fun.

A quick trip to Poundland and a sort through the decorations cupboard and we now have this...

...one of our black Christmas trees is now decorated with some spooky tinsel and mini treat buckets.
The glitter witches hat from last year was un-earthed and covered with lollies...

 ...some grunge-green webbing and a few suitable decorations and bowls are scattered across the table.
Oh, and look at this chap...

...isn't he super (I might have to grab some of these napkins for crafting purposes).

Just a bit of fun with a few sweets and treats but it has lightened the mood and it brings a smile to people's faces. Amazing what can be achieved for a few £ and a visit to a bargain shop.................

Now this is worrying...

...I don't even remember buying this.

I dropped some change in my tote, accidentally, so had to pull virtually everything out of the tote to retrieve it - that's when I found this...

...such a cheery chap but he has never seen the inside of an ink pad.
I soon put that to rights...

 ...and stamped up a sheet ready for colouring.
I kept to traditional colours for this one...

...but haven't embellished the image in any way (yet) as I'm not sure what shape I want. There is really no point adding gems to the holly berries if I'm going to put the thing through a die cutting machine - have you ever seen the mess a Big Shot's rollers make rolling over acrylic gems?

I have added a touch of "Wink of Stella" to the body of the Snowman to make the snow shimmer but I think I'll be adding some glitter to the snow-flakes to give a bit of Christmassy bling.

Ho-hum, what shape do I cut you Mr Snowman? Decisions, decisions...................................................

By the way...

...I found one of the stamps I was looking for.

I made loads of cards with this image when I first bought it but like most of us, new stash arrives and things get put away and often forgotten - which is a shame.

As I wanted to take advantage of my friend Suzie's dies whilst we were at the crop, I have cut this out before finishing off the colouring...

...and yes, I know the image is not central - I have a sentiment stamp in mind to go down the left-hand side.

Have you recently found a forgotten 'treasure' in your stash - I would really like to know...................

Yesterday was...

...the Eastwood Carvery Crop - and Sunday lunch arrived a day early.

I actually remembered to take a photo of my lunch before tucking in...

...but you knew it had to be too good to be true; didn't you - I forgot to take a photo of the sweet doh!

Carol always sets aside a table where folk can display stash for sale - a great way of getting some pennies back on items that you no longer want...and a great way to grab some bargains.

Having coloured an 'Edwin' Magnolia stamp earlier in the week, it seemed fate that there were some Magnolias on the table - so how could I say 'no!'.

Hardly had the money left my hand than this little miss was out of the packet and inked up...

 ...the hair & skin are usually my starting points so they were the first bits coloured. Then came the choice of what colours to use for the clothing...

 ...and with this first one, I kept to fairly traditional Christmas colours.
One of the great things about attending a 'crop' is that your fellow crafters will often have equipment with them that they are willing to share...

 ...my friend Suzie had this X-Cut die set with her and Carol had brought along her Grand Calibre so I had a bit of a cutting session. Although the dies were small enough to go through a Big Shot/Cuttlebug, it made it so much easier being able to put the sheet of A4 card through the machine rather than cutting it up and running the risk of cutting the pieces too small or on the wonk.
I didn't stop at one image...

 ...this one was coloured with my favourite aqua shades and then I played with my "Wink of Stella" brush pen (clear)...

...I had intended to colour just the antlers and the bell necklace (which I did on the red/green image) but as you can see...I got a bit carried away and brushed all over the kraft matt on this one.

I now have two cute Christmas toppers ready to either be used on a card or some other 'make'. At last, I feel my Christmas makes are starting to materialise.

Hope you have been enjoying a crafty weekend............................................................

Try mixing it up...

...don't be afraid to use different colouring mediums on the same piece.

Ignacio of Nicecrane Designs, recently asked me to have a go at colouring images from one of his new collections - he wanted examples on white & a darker background. So I printed some images onto some smooth white CS and some Neenah CS in 'Desert Storm' (pale kraft colour).

Here are the images printed out...

...and as you can see, the subject matter is some playful pups.
Grabbing my Spectrum Noir pens, I made a start on the white CS and started with some basic shades to start things off...

...I swept over the background with some CG1 (citrus green) and started to colour the pup with TN3 & TN6 from the tan range but I wanted to try the image on the kraft CS...

...some white pencil quickly started to bring the image to life and some biscuit shades started to bring dimension to the image...

 ...but the pencils were not strong enough to create sufficient colour in the background so I decided to mix in some Spectrum Noir pens...

 ...as you can see, the pencils and pens work well together.
I returned to finish off the image on the white CS and kept mainly to the pens...

 ...except for the pup in the water - he was given a touch of white pencil to 'tone-down' the tan colour slightly.
Here are the two completed images...

...the colour of the background CS really does give a different effect to the two pieces but so does mixing your colouring mediums. I'm sure some of you have watched demonstrators colour with alcohol pens and then they will use pencils (Prisma colour/Spectrum Noir) to highlight specific areas. What I wanted to show here was the fact that you can colour different areas of an image with different colouring mediums to produce the finish that you want.

The puppy on the kraft CS coloured with pencils looks very different from the puppy on the white CS coloured with alcohol pens but each works in its own way.

This set of images (by Cecil Aldin) is just one of the many fabulous sets that you can find over at the Nicecrane Design site and if you are looking for some inspiration as to how to use them, the DT over at the Nicecrane blog have lots of super ideas to share with you - please do hop over and take a look................................................................ 

Isn't it amazing...

...what you come across when looking for something else.

I was looking for a Mo Manning stamp that I have obviously put away for 'safe keeping' when I came across this Magnolia stamp...it is the cute Edwin and his Christmas list.

I can't remember the last time that I actually inked him up so while he was to hand I stamped him onto some smooth white CS and coloured him with my Copics...

...he was then die-cut using the Spellbinders scalloped oval.

Out came a couple of my Martha Stewart punches (the daisy trim and the fir sprigs) and some PP from my stash - think it is from a past Papermania Christmas range - and put together the card you see here.

Tomorrow is the October "Eastwood Crop" and it is being held at the Toby Carvery. It will be a super long day away from housework and the other distractions so hopefully I will be able to increase my collection of coloured images ready for a bit of card making.

Hope the weather is going to behave as it is not great carting totes across car parks in the pouring rain.

Hope you all have a super weekend................................................................

Same image...

...different colours.

Last month at the Eastwood Carvery Crop, I did quite a bit of colouring but didn't actually get anything made with the images that I had completed.

I love playing around with different colour combos on the same image as it always amazes me how different a change of colour can make something look.

This adorable little 'Miss' is from Lili of the Valley...

...and I have yet to finish her off. However, I did complete two other versions of this stamp...

...and I have made them into two very different cards.
I love the 'icy' feel that the aqua & silver colour scheme gives...

...need to get hold of some more of that CS and those flowers as I really do love this colour combo.
In this one, the image is coloured in a similar way to the unfinished image at the start of this post...

...and I have gone for a more traditional colour combo with a vintage feel.

The images have been stamped onto smooth white CS and I have used a variety of Copics and Spectrum Noir pens.

Talking of pens...did you see the Chameleon Pens on Create & Craft over the weekend? I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo tempted but I didn't think the Bank Manager would be impressed as I've just had a rather large bill to deal with. I can assure you, it was very difficult resisting new pens to play with.

Never mind, I'm sure I'll get a chance to pick up these goodies when the old bank account has had a chance to take a breath..............................................................

Before it disappears completely...

...a Summertime card.

The temps are dropping and everywhere is donning its Autumn finery but we are still getting some warm spells and a bit of sunshine - so I thought I'd use one of my Kenny K digi images that reminds me of Summer.

Who can resist an ice-cream when the weather is lovely...

...I haven't used any of my Kenny K images for ages and it seems such a long time since I made a card with a cluster of blooms like this.

This card is for a friend's birthday - it is okay to share on here as she doesn't follow any social networking sites of any kind.

I hope the weather isn't too bad where you are - I understand that some poor folk up in Scotland have actually had some snow........................................................................

Two weeks of...

...stress & bother.

For 18 years, Mum has had a car through the Motability scheme and I am her designated driver.

For 18 years, things have gone smoothly. No hic-cups with the 3-yearly car changes or the regular servicing appointments (other than they tended to forget to valet the vehicle unless reminded).

This year...hassle.

The "End of Agreement" notification arrived late so everything had to be sorted in a bit of a rush and it didn't help to be told..."you're a bit late coming in so I'm not sure we will be able to meet the change over date" hurumph!

It didn't help further to receive a phone call to advise the car was in - only to discover that the hoist hadn't been installed and that would be another week. Elements of service that had always been part of the 'package' now don't happen (cost cutting?) but it would have been nice to have been informed.

The car was finally collected a week ago...

...for the first time in 18 years it isn't BLUE. The last couple of cars we have had have been very dark (almost black) blue and they have been a nightmare to keep clean - so this time we went with 'Burnished Glow'.

A visit from the engineer to sort out issues with the hoist and adjustments that had been made to Mum's mobility scooter and things went from one extreme to the other - in the end I sorted it myself on Sunday.

Not overly impressed with the new vehicle - standard of workmanship not brilliant, previous standard features now treated as 'extras' so not included. Over all, nothing to get enthusiastic about.

At the end of the day, it has to meet Mum's needs and as long as it does that we will be okay with it but if the support & service continue to diminish - we could be looking for a new supplier in 3 years time....................................................................................