The Owl...

...and the Pussy cat.

I found this stamp a few weeks ago when I was looking for something else (isn't always the way) and got a bit side-tracked.

After inking up the stamp and printing it, I sat down with my Copics and this was the result...

.

...not sure what I'm going to do with it but it is another coloured image to add to the pile.

By the way, I did treat myself to another few Groovi plates so I'm having some fun playing around with those at the moment - might even watch a couple more Barbara Grey YouTube videos (much better quality than trying to watch on Hochanda).

Have a crafty day........................................................

A retirement card...

...for a friend.

When my friend & colleague Carol announced that she would be retiring in September I was completely stumped as to what sort of card to make her.

Carol has been the colleague that many folk go to for advice when they have a difficult work issue to deal with and I thought this sentiment panel from a past Kaisercraft collection would fit the bill...

 ...the papers & chipboard shapes were from the same collection...

...and I coloured the image to tone with the PPs using Copic markers.

Luckily I completed this card before the issue with Windows 10 arose, otherwise I would not have had any pictures.

Carol loved her card and she had a wonderful send-off from colleagues (I have a photo of her cake and the decorations on her desk but at this moment I am still unable to download them to the PC - grrrrrr).

I know Carol will miss her colleagues but she said she was looking forward to swapping the work for some more leisurely pursuits - such as holidays............................................

Getting my...

..."Groovi" on.

My friend Hilary does Parchment work and so does Joanne (Pinnacle Crafts) and I have always been in awe of their creations - but this has been a craft that I have not ventured into as I would want finished results too quickly and parch-craft takes time/skill/patience.

However, I have recently seen the "Groovi" plates from Clarity, hanging on the wall with all the parchment tools & plates and this one caught my eye...

...I have picked this Christmas tree up several times over recent weeks only to put back on the peg each time.

This weekend was "Member's weekend" at Pinnacles - 30% off crafting goodies for club members and yet again I was drawn to this lace tree...I even sat and watched some Barbara Grey videos on YouTube. What struck me was the similarity to the dry embossing that I used to do when I first started scrapbooking (in the days before all the wonderful die-cutting machines and dies). I would sit with my light-box and metal stencils and make my own embossed panels to use as embellishments.

So you will not be surprised to hear that a pack of parchment paper and this plate jumped into my basket.

That was on Friday.

When I got home from my shopping trip, I set to locating my fine embossing tools only to finally remember that I gave them away with some of my metal stencils. All the ball-tools I have now are larger in design for use with score boards and the like.

Back to Pinnacles on Saturday morning to add some fine metal ball-tools to my crafting stash.

I decided to go with the Pergamano ones as they have a comfortable grip that I thought would be more suitable for me.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this and found the concentration very soothing (a bit like grown-up colouring in).

I do not have the "Plate-mate" and my first attempt was not perfect as I didn't tape my parchment down very well but my second go was much better and I was very pleased with the result.

I don't think Joanne will see me joining her parchment classes any time soon as I'm not sure I could do all the pricking & cutting but this embossing part of the process is great and I think I could be adding a few more plates to my collection.

Oh no! More stash........................................................................

How did you spend...

...the first day of Autumn?

According to GOOGLE - 23 September 2015 was officially the first day of Autumn.

 

I kicked my day off with a very large Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks in one of their pretty Autumn paper cups...

...this was a treat as I had earned a "freebie" on my rewards card so I made the most of it.

The weather was actually pretty good after an awfully wet Tuesday (typical as I had a day off on Tuesday) but I have to say that there isn't much in the way of Autumn colour showing where I live. I think Mother Nature is completely confused as a lot of the trees are starting to lose their leaves but most are still showing green.

I'm looking forward to the changes in colour which are normally quite noticeable where I live because we have quite a bit of woodland nearby.

How did you herald the start of the Autumn season?.............................................................

Still colouring...

...this time with Distress markers.

I have to admit that my colouring with Distress markers does tend to be a bit hit & miss - I sometimes forget that they do not need to be too heavily coloured as the water-brush does a lot of the work.

On this occasion, I actually remembered my acrylic block and used it to lay down some of the colour to be picked up by the water-brush.

The image I had a play with this time was another Saturated Canary by Krista Smith...

 ...and you can see from the pens what size I printed out this digi.
Using a bit more restraint than usual, I managed to get a better result with the skin tones...

...and I'm very pleased with the way the hair and balloon turned out.

Message to self: "Less is more"..............................................................................

Pumpkin Spiced Latte...

...is back.

So Autumn has officially arrived at Starbucks...

...and this is the perfect way to start the working day.

Have you seen the lovely decorated paper cups that Starbucks are using at the moment?

The chillier days may now be with us but so are the lovely specialist coffees so I'm happy and enjoying my PSL.

Yummy......................................................

This is where...

...some of you will be knashing your teeth.

Hold on to your hats...

There are now less than 100 days until Christmas!
(quickly moves out of the way of any heavy, flying objects heading in this direction LOL)

Yes, it is time for Santa to pack away his beachwear...

...and return to his 'day job' of organising the toy makers and getting that Naughty or Nice list checked.

How are you doing with your Christmas preparations?

I'm quite pleased with the number of coloured images that I now have ready to either make into cards or use as decoration on other things but the gift making seems to be on a bit of a 'go slow'.

I made a start on my Christmas knitting but the change of weather has brought on the old arfa-ritis so that is also a bit slow going at the moment as the body is objecting to holding knitting needles for too long.

I have some slate and some MDF shapes that I need to get decorated and a whole host of other things are buzzing around in the old brainbox...so I really need to get my rear in gear otherwise those remaining days until Christmas will have flown by and I'll be chasing my tail trying to get everything finished in the usual last minute blind panic.

So folks...

Less than 100 days to go...............................................................................

*@!!##*@?...

...computers!!!

I still can't load anything to my PC because, since upgrading to Windows 10 my PC has decided it doesn't recognise any of the drives (CD/DVD or Memory card).

At the suggestion of a friend, I visited the site for my PC to see if they have any downloadable drivers to work with the new W10 - my PC is a Compaq and apparently HP have taken them over. The site on first appearance seems mainly aimed at laptop & tablets - I have a mini desktop tower - so straight away this was off putting. I will need to set aside some time to have a good browse of the site to see if I can find anything useful.

In the meantime...

Yesterday was the Eastwood crop at the Toby carvery (this photo is from a previous visit)...

...and despite the weather starting off really wet & windy (typical when you are trying to load the car with all your crafting goodies) it brightened up and was a lovely day.

I was actually quite productive.

I have been collecting toilet roll inners and kitchen towel inners with a view to making a centre piece for our "Christmas nibbles table" at work. I covered all the necessary rolls with glittery Christmas PP and they are now awaiting my decision on how I will assemble them.

A fair bit of colouring-in got done too and I also covered a couple of sturdy little boxes ready for holding Christmas gifts.

None of which I bothered to photograph because I'm getting a bit frustrated with not being able to download the pics to my PC.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday. I'm trying to keep calm and not think too much about PC issues - have a good'un...........................................................................

Making the most...

...of the sunny days.

We haven't quite had the "Indian Summer" that was promised but we have had a few sunny spells this week which I have tried to take advantage of - the biggest problem this time of the year is that the days are getting shorter so by the time you get home from work it is already starting to get dark and therefore not great for sitting outside.

This weekend is the Essex show so Barleylands will be a "No go" area. Because of this I decided to have Friday off and pop over to pick up a couple of bits ready for today's crop at the Toby carvery. It was already a nightmare as the owners of the site had closed off a large area of the car park so exhibitors could start the setting up process early. However, it was a lovely day and I was able to sit for a while in the sunshine...

...the courtyard area in front of Pinnacles is a bit of a sun-trap and a lovely place to sit.
On the way back I popped into the country park in Lower Dunton Road and just went for a wander...

...someone else was out and about too.

I'm glad I was able to make the most of the sunshine as at this moment in time, it is pouring down (not great for the task about to be undertaken - packing the car to set off for the crop).

Hope the weather is a bit better where you are..................................................................

Not enough...

...hours in the day.

It is mid-year performance review time at work and I should have done my self assessment ready for my 1-2-1 with my boss next week but things have been hectic due to the workloads and shortage of staff.

I fully intended to sit down and cobble something together last night but I was so tired I just went to bed - so it is going to be a busy day today.

I also have an appointment with a colleague who is due to retire next week, so lots to fit in today.

Better get my skates on...............................................................

An Autumn...

...nip to the air.

Don't know where the forecast "Indian Summer" has got to but it certainly isn't anywhere near here.

So with Autumn colours in mind, I thought I would share this card with you...

 ...a few Autumn leaves (silk). A KennyK digi image coloured with Copic pens...

...and a piece of inked card using mica sprays.

I love Autumn days when they are bright & sunny because Autumn colours are fabulous. However, like any other time of the year - things don't look so great when it is dull , overcast & chilly.

I can't believe we are halfway through the second week in September already - just where is the time going?

The garden has had a big tidy-up but I bet we will have more rain and the weeds and grass will be back up to your knees in no time...ho-hum.

Time to start digging out those Winter woolies; me thinks.........................................................

A Haunting...

...we will go!

Actually, we won't - I don't really "do" Halloween but I love the colours and images that appear from now until the 31st October.

Although Halloween has never been as big here in the UK as it is in USA, in recent years there seems to have been a lot more 'stuff' available in the shops.

This card was made using a digi image that I have had for several years...

 ...I haven't got a clue what the PPs are as they are from my stash - I seem to have rather a lot of Halloween 'stuff' considering I don't "do" Halloween LOL
The image was coloured with my Copic pens and the spider's web behind on the black CS was drawn using a ZIG chalk marker...

...it is clear that this little bear has had a very successful "Trick or Treat" session.

Over on UKS there is a lady called Glen (Artangle) who has often had family parties at Halloween and she really goes to town.

Do you celebrate Halloween?..............................................................

It was Demo Day...

...at Pinnacle Crafts on Saturday.

As usual, Hilary & I met for breakfast first of all and after a yummy sausage sandwich with lashings of brown sauce and a latte for me...

...and toast & marmalade with cappuccino for Hilary - we toddled off to join the already growing queue at Pinnacles.
Andy had prepared lots of fabulous samples and there were lots of ideas and inspiration...

...for getting stuck into those Christmas projects. It is September after all and as all crafters will know, whether we want to acknowledge the fact or not, Christmas isn't that far away if you are wanting to get projects prepared & completed in time. Andy had a lovely time playing demonstrating with alcohol inks - which seemed to be the most popular technique of the day.

Andy had also prepared a few side-stepper cards as samples and he showed folk a quick and easy way of preparing your own base card. He has said that the measurements and a step by step will be available on his blog. However, I'm sure he won't mind me sharing some of the basic instructions.

A standard sheet of A4 card stock is usually 11.5ins x 8.25ins - for ease of measuring Andy trims this down to 11 x 8.25 (28cm x 21cm).

With the CS in front of you in 'portrait', score lightly down the middle (top to bottom) at 10.5cm (Andy used the cm side of a Hougie board). Flip the card round to 'landscape' (the score line will be running left to right now) and using the score line as a finishing point, score down from the top of the card to the line at 3cm, 6cm, 10cm and 21cm - these will form your steps. Before taking the card off your scoreboard, go back to the 14cm point and score all the way from top to bottom.

Now place your card in front of you in 'portrait' once again and using a craft knife and ruler, cut carefully along the light score mark that you made to begin with but only between the 3cm & 21cm score lines. Then gently fold along the various score lines to create mountain & valley folds - one side stepper card. Andy has photos on his blog and also has measurements in metric or imperial.

Time jus flew by and before we knew it we were well into the afternoon so Hillary & I went off for some lunch...

...I tend to be a bit of a creature of habit and had my usual Jacket potato with chilli & salad - Hilary went for tuna in her 'jacket'.

A bit of retail therapy and then back to watch the remainder of Andy's demo.

It was a great way to spend a day, especially as the weather wasn't that wonderful - thank you Andy for another super session of tips, ideas and inspiration.................................................

Yipee!!!...

...I got my wish.

The new Distress colour for September is "Wilted Violet" - isn't it a fabulous mauve/purple shade.

I have been keeping my fingers crossed for a colour like this to be added to the collection and here it is...I'm a happy bunny.

With just 3 shades to go, I wonder if Andy will get the 'solid white' that he is hoping for.....................

Certainly the time of year...

...for more 'comfort foods'.

As the weather starts to turn and the nights are drawing in, do you find yourself turning to more 'comfort' type foods?

I certainly do...and whilst some are quite healthy - veggie stews, soups etc. (as long as you don't include the chunks of fresh, buttered bread LOL)...there are others that are not so healthy.

More cakes start to creep in...

...and with the lovely Muffin stall at the Farmer's market twice a month, it is easy to have a supply on hand - not good for the waist-line but boy do they taste yummy.

Packets of crumpets also seem to leap into my shopping basket more often as the weather gets chillier - who can resist a lovely hot crumpet with lashings of butter Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Do you notice a change in your eating habits as the seasons change?...............................................

I can't believe...

...how good I've been.

Rather than buy a lot of ready prepared veggies, the last couple of weeks I've been going to the Farm Shop at Barleylands.

(photo is from the Windows 10 selection of desktop images)

As we head into Autumn (yes I know we haven't had a proper Summer - yet!) I always look forward to the appearance of things like Butternut Squash and the seasonal veggies that start to arrive in more of the shops - but they can be quite expensive. My local Morrison's had Butternuts at a £1 each and they were quite small - the Farm shop were doing them at 4 for a £1 and they were a lot larger.

In all the years that I've lived in this area, I have driven past the Farm shop but never ventured in until two weeks ago.

I have now visited twice and each time come out loaded with a fabulous selection of goodies.

Squashes and cauliflower, cabbages and carrots.

I have also been very industrious - my freezer is packed with freshly prepared squash & cauliflower and I now have a batch of veggie stew boxed up and ready to add to the stock. I have to say I'm quite proud of myself for actually getting it all done.

Unfortunately, my freezer isn't large otherwise I would be back at the Farm shop for more veggies to add but never mind. It is now on my list of places to visit regularly and I intend to keep my freezer well stocked with fresh goodies this Winter.

Gosh...straighten the halo Toni LOL

At least now I know I have a stock of some of my favourite veggies and I'm looking forward to tucking in....................................................................................

The Snowman...

...made me buy it.

Oh how this made me smile when I saw it at the weekend...

...what a fun sentiment to use this coming Christmas.

Poor Joanne at Pinnacle Crafts was trying to get everything priced and on display - a huge task as there were so many products from the latest DoCraft ranges that needed to have space made for them.

This clear stamp is from the new Papermania "Folk Christmas" range. A collection that I have to admit, didn't really appeal to me but when I saw this stamp it was a 'must have'.

There are some folk that I traditionally buy a 'daft' present for and I think this stamp will be perfect for making the gift tags for those presents. I also have visions of some stamped wrapping paper - don't you think that will be fun.

Christmas goodies are arriving in the stores quite rapidly now and with the wet chilly weather that has put in an appearance, I have no problem getting stuck into my Christmas crafting even if it is only the start of September..........................................................................................

Getting ready for...

...Christmas.

I have been enjoying colouring some of my Magnolia stamps that haven't seen the light of day (or an ink-pad) for some time. Some of this is down to the fact that I have been doing a lot of colouring ready for Christmas and I would say that I have quite a few Christmas Magnolias so it has been an ideal opportunity to dig them out.

This little cutie is done in traditional colours...

...and I also had a play with a friend's fancy nesting dies. In addition to cutting the image, I cut some kraft CS so that I have a ready made topper for when I get around to putting a few more Christmas cards together.

My stack of coloured images is growing nicely and if I can get the drives on my PC sorted (yep, still not done - grrrr) I might even get some time to have a go at a few challenges - we shall see.

Having a good stock of images that I have coloured is a bit of a comfort-blanket for me. I really don't like the feeling of having nothing to hand that can be used when the occasion arises.

Do you just colour images as you need them or do you like to have a stock too...................................