I promised...

...so here they are.

Elaine (Chidkid) sent me some lovely goodies when I was lucky enough to win her giveaway...

 ...the box contained a pretty gift bag with the cute penguin card. Look what was inside...

...some adorable stamps, elastic string (now that was a lifesaver as I broke a bracelet and this came to my rescue), a tape dispenser elephant, pine cones, pearl brads, a lovely tag (perfect for a bottle) and a little zip bag.

Thank you so much Elaine. Hope you enjoy many more blog posts.................................

More...

...Happy Mail.

I really wanted to have this post done last night with photos & all but due to the building site across the road, connectivity has been very 'hit & miss' for a few days.

Elaine King had a 'giveaway' to celebrate the number of posts on her blog and I was the lucky winner ***happy dance***

The postman very kindly hid it behind the plant pots by my front door late on Tuesday. I took some photos yesterday of all the lovely goodies with every intention of creating a post yesterday evening to share with you what the lovely Elaine had sent - my service provider had other ideas on the matter.

Having spent ages doing & re-doing the post because every so often the whole thing would freeze or just disappear...I finally gave up.

So this is just a quick post to say a BIG thank you to Elaine and when connectivity starts to play a bit nicer, I might even be able to load some photos.

Thank you Elaine........................................................

Coming along...

...nicely; Thank you.

With the help of a banana skin, brown paper and a box the tomatoes are finally turning red.

Here they are on Friday...

 ...still a couple of stubborn ones but by Monday...

...a rosy hue can be seen on them all.

Thank you to everyone who provided suggestions as to how I could get these toms to change colour - it worked..............................................................

What is going on...

...with Blogger?

For some reason it isn't allowing access to any photos.

Anyone else having problems?..............................................................

A class from...

...ATDML by Jane Hewitt.

I have to admit that I had totally forgotten about a recent ATDML cybercrop until I saw a lovely creation over on Virginia's blog.

Jane's class was to create a folio - along the lines of the ones designed by Tim Holtz that can be bought. So I thought I'd have a play.

Here is the basic folio...

 ...doesn't look much until you open it up...

...and then you find a mass of pockets, flaps & pages that you can decorate however you wish. This one will eventually be decorated in greens & lemons - I have the papers but I sort of got distracted.

I had a pack of 8x8 kraft card blanks and they were perfect to use for this project.

Having already made one folio, it was quite a quick affair to put this together...

...using the G45 "A Christmas Carol". At the moment only the outside is covered with PP but there is no decoration and I haven't even made a start on decorating the inside - so it is a 'work in progress'.

Jane's basic idea is fabulous and her instructions are easy to follow so why not hop over to ATDML and have a look...and perhaps a little play. The folio is a great size and can be adapted for lots of occasions.

I promise I will show you both of the folios when they are finished..............................................

Blogger is...

...winding me up at the moment.

It doesn't seem to matter whether I post direct or schedule but the postings are appearing at strange times or not appearing in reading lists until almost a day later.

This is frustrating the life out of me because I don't know if I've done something to upset the settings of whether it is just Blogger playing silly wotsits again.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..................................................................

Don't you just love...

...giveaways.

The lovely Kerryanne English is having a giveaway for her followers over on her blog and it is the chance to win a lovely GreenGate beaker.



Doesn't it look lovely.

Why don't you pop over to Kerryanne's blog and take a look at all her fabulous Shabby Chic creations and don't forget - she is currently posting makes & events linked with her Simply Christmas event.

For those of you who have not visited her blog before, the Simply Christmas event is a way of getting organised but also putting the Homemade & Handmade back into Christmas.

Do go and take a look.........................................................

Now we can really...

...countdown to Christmas.

As a child, it was tradition in our household for the Christmas decorations to go up the weekend nearest to my birthday - so as you can see, my blog is now in its Winter dress awaiting the arrival of Santa.

I would like to say a big warm welcome to the folk who have joined my followers this year - when I started this blog I never dreamed that I would actually manage to keep it going so to have you all as visitors is very much appreciated. Thank you for dropping by and I hope you enjoy what you see so that you come back.

So the blog is all dressed for Christmas but the decs have not gone up at home or work yet.

I will probably make a start at work on 30th November but home might have to wait a little bit longer as I need to have a mahoosive clearing up session before I even think about decking the halls.

How are you all getting on with your Christmas preparations?..................................................

I have been...

...very frustrated.

For a while now, there have been a number of blogs that I follow where I have suddenly found that I can not leave comments. I have clicked on the comments link - been taken through to the appropriate page - only to find nowhere to enter a comment.

If other folk have already commented, I can see their comments but where there should be a box for me to leave a comment there has just been a big blank space.

On a few occasions I have arrived at the comments and thought all was well only to have the box disappear when I tried to click into it.

Most frustrating...

I really have been at a loss because my techy skills are not good enough to sort this problem out.

However, today I tried a blog that I had been having problems with - still no joy - then I clicked on the Back button at the top of the screen...the comments box appeared and actually let me leave a comment.

Now I know I haven't been the only person having this problem because one blogger posted that folk had been emailing her to say they couldn't leave comments - if you have found yourself in this boat, you might want to try a single click on the Back button and see if it works for you.............................

Why do PCs...

...decide to play-up when I'm in a hurry?

As I'm off work this week I've decided to turn my alarm off. I think my alarm is actually a 'comfort blanket' just to ensure that I wake up on time as even with it switched off, I still wake at the same time. However, this morning I woke up as usual and decided to turn over...and promptly went back to sleep.

When I finally woke it was about 1.5 hours later and put me all behind because I wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine (yes, the day started off lovely).

As is my normal practice each morning I checked my emails - bit slow - and then went to catch up with my blog ready list. That was even slower and I kept losing internet connection or the blog pages would freeze.

I probably don't make things any better because I get frustrated and try to abort actions which doesn't help.

In the end, I gave up and shut the thing down and went on my way.

Let's hope it decides to play nice this evening as I have quite a bit of catching up to do.....................

Typical...

...the moment I post about it, it sorts itself.

For more than 24 hours the problem existed. So when I post to see if others are having the same problem it decides to rectify itself.

I think the Gremlins have taken over my PC.................................................................

Okay, is it just me...

...or are there problems with links to Bloglovin and a number of countdowns?

I noticed yesterday that my Bloglovin 'buttons' were not showing in my sidebar and when I looked further some of my countdowns had gone missing too. If you click where the link should be you just get told "are you sure you have used the correct address"...or something similar.

So hopping over to a few blogs where I know these 'buttons' are also used, I found the same thing.

Now is this a problem for everyone using these facilities or is the problem with my PC?

If you have Bloglovin buttons/links, Crafty blogs countdown or any other countdown type thingies that have disappeared - would you please let me know.

If yours are all okay and it is only me who can't see/link via them then something is amiss with my PC and if that is the case...with my level of 'techy' knowhow I will give myself permission to duly engage PANIC MODE...LOL

Oh the wonders of modern technology...................................................................

January 2015...

...been and all but gone.

I can not believe how fast this month has gone but here we are on the 31st and February is peeking round the corner.

So what has been going on this month...


17 - was the last day I posted on here so obviously not a lot of blogging going on.

2 - craft days have been attended. The Eastwood scrappers crop on the 17th & an Andy Pearson workshop on the 24th. Both were really enjoyable days.

10 - scarves have been completed so my stock for Christmas gifts is underway.

1 - trip to Cambridge for work and this time there were no problems with the trains going (British rail saved those for the journey home grrrrrrrrr).


12 - the number of staff I am currently supporting through a very difficult time of being told they are 'surplus to requirement'. 4 are searching for new posts within the business, 6 have decided to take the redundancy money and go and 2 are still struggling to come to terms with the announcement - difficult times.

5 - the number of staff who have realised that they are going to have a lot more work to deal with.

30 - date of the first day of "Member's Weekend". Stuck pretty much to my shopping list which was good. Spent loads of money - not so good but was planned for (so I can still eat for the next month LOL).

So today is the last day of January 2015 and I will be meeting my friend Suzie for breakfast & a chat as we haven't seen each other since before Christmas. Oh, and as we will be meeting at Barleylands there could be a few more items obtained as it is day two of Member's weekend.

Any chance that February might go at a more reasonable pace?..................................................

Boxing Day...

...and a day of calm.

I've decided to have a PJ day and catch up with all my blog reading. I've also been taking it easy as we have a family gathering at my Sister's tomorrow which will mean I have a lot of driving to do.

But what exactly is "Boxing Day"...after all, we have already exchanged gifts on Christmas Day. So what does it mean?

According to Wikipedia...

In Britain, it was a custom for tradespeople to collect "Christmas boxes" of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.

...so there you go - a bit of trivia for the holidays.

I have to say, this year I was boxing everything that I possibly could. I give a lot of knitted gifts so I wanted them to be a little less obvious this year - I've been merrily hoarding saving boxes & tubs all with the aim of making things look a little more uniform.

It was a great idea (in theory) but I hadn't banked on the fact that boxes don't cram into bags as easily as squishy parcels...

 ...what I should have been able to take into work in one go...

...ended up as three days of deliveries. Oh, and that wasn't the only problem...folk then queried why some folk had bigger boxes than others or different shapes (tubs) - I hasten to add, this was said in jest. It's amazing how different a pile of scarves looks when packaged in Latte/Coffee/Tea boxes or Twiglet/Cheeselet tubs.

I think I'm just about caught up with my blog reading and have also managed to select my prize from the recent Bugaboo Holiday Chaos event - I was lucky enough to win 4 digi images for one of the cards I made and because of the 50% Sale on their site, I was able to pick 8 images...how super is that.

Have any of you ventured out for the start of the sales or have you been searching for bargains on-line? After seeing the madness that took place during Black Friday and the following weekend, the last think I feel like doing is battling my way around the stores - I'll see what things are like next week when things have calmed down a little.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who follows my blog - your support and lovely comments are very much appreciated. When I started out on this blogging lark I had no idea that I would actually stick to it (especially as I'm not the best when it comes to techy stuff) - but here I am, still blogging away (some weeks more frequently than others) and I am lucky enough to have travelled the world via the posts of my blogging friends. Today Saw the page views pass the 100,000 mark - something that I would never have dreamed could happen. So once again, thank you to those who follow or just drop by from time to time.

Enjoy the rest of the festive season as we count down to the end of 2014............................................

So...

...what else did I get up to this weekend.

Apart from climbing all over my desk setting up a new printer...

I took myself off to one of Andy's workshops over at Pinnacle Crafts. The workshop was "Finishing Touches" - getting ready for Christmas.

We started by making crackers/table gifts using the Tonic Studio large cracker die...

...we each cut 6 from 225gsm white CS. It is at times like this that I wish I had a bigger format die cutting machine - just so I would be able to use some of the super A4 dies that are about. However, my trusty Big Shot is a fabulous sturdy machine that meets most of my needs and I really couldn't justify getting another machine. These crackers are so easy to put together...

...a bit of folding and some Red-line DST on the tabs that cut as part of the die-cut and there were soon piles of completed crackers sitting on the tables...

 ...which then had some ribbon tied around the ends.. I went with a lovely golden cream colour as I wanted them to match in with my brown/gold/copper/cream colour scheme.
Then the die cutting started in earnest...

 ...6 crackers meant 18 decorative panels (the bottom of the crackers wasn't decorated), 12 poinsettias and some 'greenery'. The decorative panels were cut using a Tonic insert die, the poinsettias were cut using the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia and the greenery was cut using the new Sizzix "Holiday greens". I used white CS, Espresso Glimmer CS (from The Paper Company) and Kraft CS. There were also 18 backing panels to cut...

 ...just look at how the light catches the Glimmer CS and the different colours that can be seen.
The Glimmer panels were attached to the crackers with DST and then the decorative panels were attached using 3D foam...

...some 'greenery', a couple of poinsettias and some gold baubles...

 ...and the crackers were coming together...

 ...I am really loving this colour combination.
Then we made 6 cutlery holders...

 ...the white CS was embossed with an 8x8 embossing folder before being scored & punched to create the envelope shapes. A Kraft CS band and some decoration and all was done.
These will look lovely at each place setting...

 ...on the Christmas table...

 ...I love how the crackers have turned out...

...and I do love this envelope idea for holding the cutlery.

Another busy workshop with lots of cutting and assembly but well worth the effort - thank you Andy for a wonderful day of crafting.

Andy's workshops are always fun and he comes up with some fabulous ideas but then lets you run with your own colour schemes and/or ways of decorating so that everyone goes away with some thing that will suit them. If you would like to see some more of Andy's work, hop on over to his blog here. You can also find him over on the Creative Expressions blog as he has recently joined their DT - look out for Andy Pearson over there on a Wednesday as that seems to be the day when the boys on the DT show what they've been making.

I've another of Andy's workshops to look forward to in two weeks time but that will be it until after Christmas. I wonder what he will have lined up for the new year.......................................................

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........................................

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..................................................................

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................................................................ 

Ignacio has worked his magic...

...just look at what he did.

With a bit of techy whizziness...

...the photo of the journal looks much better (one day I will learn how to do stuff like this).

 

However, take a look at these...





 ...one bright image on white CS...

 ...and one muted image on kraft CS. Ignatio has cleverly used my coloured images on the vintage library card digi set. He has also very kindly offered this one as a Freebie for a limited period...

...so if you haven't already had a hop over there to take a look at all the super work done by the DT, you really should go and take a look and you can pick up a Freebie whilst you are there. You can hop over to the Nicecrane blog here..............................................................................

Slight glitch...

...in proceedings.

Broadband is not playing nice at the moment and everything is running sooooooooooo slow (took me 25 mins to open the internet this morning - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr).

I'll catch up with everyone (and hopefully get some posts sorted) when things start playing nice again........................................................