WOYWW 138

Cogs and a kaleidoscope of butterflies ... at least that's what is on my workdesk this morning having been left to dry overnight (well, the silicone behind the fluttering butterfly wings was!)

Of course all those cogs and butterflies mean only one thing ... I fired up (bad choice of expression there!!!) the replacement Vagabond ... got to say I have lost a lot of confidence in it and wonder now if I should have taken the supplier up on the offer of swapping it for a Big Shot or similar machine.  I guess there is little point in putting the Vagabond in the cupboard for occasional use because if it is going to start smoking again it needs to be within the guarantee period so use it I must.  Crafting with Courage I call it!!!!

Now I need to clear them away and start on some anniversary cards and after much deliberating, changing of mind, stressing over what to do, changing my mind back again, stressing some more and deliberating even further I am going to try a dreadfully cliched black and white monochromatic theme using Tim Holtz's stamp but colour the heart in red and then "glossy accent" just the heart.  


Will make a start and see how it goes and shall just keep tweaking until I get it right.  Happy WOYWW'ing everyone!  

Worms and Vagabonds

11 worms done but such sore finger-tips so time for a little break ... the worms are for my sister to use at the nursery where she works and for the kids to play outside with!  Give them real worms I say ... or is that cruelty to worms?  Probably!

I take back what I said about the delivery of my replacement Vagabond ... it's here!  Just need the courage now to plug it in as all that smoke with my old one was really quite scary.

Watch this space or listen out for the fire brigade!

WOYWW 137

What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men?  Well this mouses plans have gone pear-shaped for today.  Had my WOYWW all planned - finally managed to get a result with the Vagabond and a new one should be with me today or tomorrow (of course, you can bet your last penny that it won't be today!!!) but decided I'd get another couple of February's cards made in the meantime ... but then I get a late night text from my sister ... "Deb, can you make me 20 wriggly-wiggly worms please?  Out of material, for use outside.  Oh, and a bag to keep them in!!!"
Just not in the mood for sewing ... at least not wriggly-wiggly worm sewing but Lil' Sis' wants so Lil' Sis' gets.
Am still determined, however, to participate in this weeks WOYWW so photo just shows a quick little card I made ... I'm into "postcard" style cards at the moment so this is one of them!

Wish me luck with the worms ... four down as I type and 16 to go!

Where is it hiding?

Ok, where is it hiding then?  What, I hear you ask?  The time between my last post and this one!!!!  Missed last weeks WOYWW altogether and it is almost time for another one ...just need to actually remember now on Wednesday and make time to post ... note to self!
No news on the Vagabond other than it was collected by courier last Monday and I have yet to hear when I will be getting my new one.  Am delaying next card making session until it comes as I want to use my new heart and butterfly dies and no Vagabond means no way of using them.
So Vagabond or not, come Wednesday I WILL have to go to Plan B and make a start on February's cards as I am away in a log cabin in Scotland for the first week of February and need those cards ready to post.
Do actually have a Plan B for a change so all is not at panic mode just yet!

Progress ... of sorts!

Well, the company from whom I purchased my Vagabond have been brilliant and it is being replaced without hesitation and I spoke to their representative from Sissix today and they are arranging for it to be collected on Monday and when I asked if anything had been done to modify the obvious fault I didn't really get the answer I wanted but was assured the same problem wouldn't occur.  So here's hoping!  
At least I have found out that the dies I have bought for the Vagabond are compatible with the Big Shot and the company I dealt with have said they could arrange for me to have a Big Shot as a replacement instead of another Vagabond but I have decided to give the Vagabond another go and if I have further trouble then I will most likely swop.
Annoyingly the new dies I ordered yesterday arrived bright and early this morning so all I could do was open the packet and stroke them lovingly ... typical though, isn't it!
Progress of sorts has been made with Plan B for the cards for January and whilst not completely happy with the results they will have to do.  Trouble is, I am not a "to-doer" and half of me want to bin the lot but the other half of me says nobody knew what I had planned in my head (I don't know myself half the time anyway!!!!) so might find these acceptable.
As soon as I find the cable thingy to link my mobile to the laptop I will post photo's (I put it somewhere safe after WOYWW'ing yesterday!!)

Smoke!

What a morning!  Finally got going with the cards and nipped out to use my beloved Vagabond machine only to have thick black smoke pour from it the moment I plugged it in!  Didn't even use it ... can still taste the smoke now and I feel very sick.
Have contacted the company I bought it from and heard back almost immediately ... evidentally they will send a courier out to collect it and bring me a new one but it won't be for one or two weeks!
So now I have had to go to Plan B and re-think my cards entirely and I'm not quite sure yet what Plan B actually is.
Time for a cup of coffee and a chocolate biscuit I think ... far too much excitement for one morning.

WOYWW 135

Well, first WOYWW of the new year and I've made it!!!!  Alas, not much yet to show on my workdesk as I am a bit slow getting going today but it is going to be a Tim Holtz / Cosmo Cricket day with stamping and embossing and inky fingers and string and ... well, Wednesdays don't get much better than this really!
You can just about see my "list of cards for 2012" under my scissors and can report that for the first time in a VERY long time the first cards of January were posted in good time to arrive on time and not with an "oops forgot to post" message scribbled on the back so now I just need to get going and get cards done for the rest of January.  Easier said than done because the idea I had in my head for this year's cards has yet to work out quite as I'd hoped and I had to send the first four cards of this year without me being entirely happy with them.  A day of tweaking then and hopefully improving the design so it turns out more like I imagined.  IF I am more happy with the results I will post finished cards later ... if not then you will get a photo' of a blank table or a pile of torn up failures!

 I knew I wanted to use "calendar blanks" on the cards for this year but did not fancy using shop-bought ones and knew if I printed them myself I would have trouble inking them as inkjet ink always smudges so I printed them onto acetate and the date of each person's birthday is in red and there is a little Happy Birthday message  personalised for each person along the bottom ... at least this way I can utilise the colour of the paper showing through the acetate and not have to worry about inking my calendars!  I love using string although it horrifies most people I know so have used that to "tie" the acetate to the backing.

Well, blogging away here is not getting those cards made so am off to see if I can tweak my ideas into something I am happy with.  Not holding out too much hope as my mojo has not yet fully returned and it feels a bit of an uphill battle at the moment.

Now, hang on - can't you actually buy birthday and anniversary cards from shops?  You know, all ready made and just needing signing ... might just be the better option!  ;)