About Me

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WELCOME to my little arty world! Trying to make art is a huge part of my life ... love nothing more than messing around with inks and sprays and generally making a mess!

Friday 28 October 2011

Melting Pot cards

Whilst looking for some other photo's I came across these.  I LOVE playing around with my melting pot and these were some very early attempts ... the backgrounds of my cards have changed now as I no longer use peel-offs but the melted bits are much of a muchness.






Meagre offerings

Todays offerings must be short as I have 301 things to do today ... ok, maybe not quite that many but from here it feels like it!

Made a little start on family cards but am not happy with them ... rushed them and they are not really my style so will have to talk myself around that they will do the job and to non-crafters they are "only" a Christmas card and promise myself to do better next time.


In an effort to use up some last scraps of papers I made some very simple birthday cards - nothing too exciting or clever but kinda cute!


I always decorate the inside of my cards and these teddies just told me where they should go! 
Well, must get on ... you know how it is when you have SOoooo much to do and don't quite know where to start you end up wasting time deciding.  Am wasting time deciding so think I will have a cuppa and a bikkie instead!!!

Thursday 27 October 2011

One step forward - then a complete standstill!

THANK you so much for all your messages of encouragement and for stopping by to look at my blog ... I honestly never thought anyone would especially after hubby-dearests comment "who on earth would want to look at that" when I showed him my efforts back in February.  It is with GREAT delight I report my "page-view" count to him on a several-time-a-day basis (thank goodness I have unlimited texts!!) ... he did go so far as to suggest that 247 of the 250 page-views were mine though.

Progress today in that I managed to add myself to the WOYWW list on Julie's site BUT was not able to work out how or where I should post a comment or a photo ... that's my aim for next week now and hope to have it figured out by then. 

I "lost" today to doing a little bit of a lot of things and really achieving nothing!  Plan on getting those family Christmas cards sorted tomorrow or I will start to panic they are not done.  Just need two pairs of hand really and a few more hours in the day ... if only.

HOORAY !!!!

The HOORAY is official!!!! I have heard that I have indeed been able to comment on other blogs ... of course, the trick is to now do it again.

Not up to trying again just at this moment as I need to go and lie down in a dark room with a stiff drink (coffee probably ... or Baileys!) and gather myself together.

I can't thank those of you who have got in touch with me enough for all your help and suggestions ... really did appreciate it and it meant such a lot.  There is still plenty of tweaking to do as bits still seem to be missing and I still don't know how to become a follower of your blogs but MAGGIEC is getting inundated with emails and will soon wish she had never heard of me.  Luckily she is a "real-life" friend so hopefully doesn't think I am just some random mad-woman who appeared out of cyberspace!  Just a numpty who knows nothing about blogging!

Is it working????

Well, the signs are promising but I am not letting out a loud "hooray" until I have heard for sure that I  have managed to post comments!!!!

Have I, huh?  Have I?????

Bit overwhelmed really

Have just logged-on quite determined to tweak all the little niggly problems into place and am sitting here looking at the screen feeling a bit overwhelmed really ... am not going to get into one of my stressy-tizzy moods and am brown-paper-bagging it to remain calm.  It's nothing that can't be put right eventually of course.

I have been able to add POLLYPOCKET's blog to my list but had no luck adding SHAZINOZ so please don't take it personally SHAZ!!!!  I can't seem to find your URL to add to my list but just as soon as I do I will add you to my bloglist and I can't wait to pop along and read your blog.

So the dilemma for this morning ... do I work on a quiz that needs finishing and that is right here by my elbow, do I catch up on some cross-stitching that I need to do for Christmas, do I immerse myself in gorgeous papers, embellishments and double-sided tape and make the special cards for my family or do I persist here and try and get it sorted?

No contest really!  (will post photo's of families cards later!!!!)

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness

First things first ... note to self : When making 180+ Christmas cards remember to check they will fit standard sized envelopes or you will spend the best part of two days adapting C5 size envelopes to fit ... and it is boring, boring, boring!!!!!

Having now got that jolly little task out of the way I am looking forward to getting out my new papers for this year's "special" cards for family and having a good sniff and then setting to work ... it is probably quite, quite illegal but I am very much a paper sniffer!

Now to my blog ... what problems!  Was merrily tweaking away the other night trying to make it look "just so" only to un-do just about everything I had previously done!  My beautiful brown mottled background was a hideous shade of blue and my lovely brown writing was plain black (still is, but I hope to solve that little problem before too long!) and, well, it wasn't "my" blog anymore.  Hubby-dearest managed to put it pretty much back to how it was despite knowing even less than me about blogging but it is still not quite how I want it to look ... what a learning curve!!!

Am still unable to post comments on any of your blogs and can't fathom out why.  MaggieC is being absolutely brilliant and SOooooo patient but something is obviously amiss so I have to apologise yet again for not yet leaving any messages for any of you.  PLEASE don't think I am just not bothering or am ignoring anything you say to me ... I'll get there but not being the brightest cookie in the packet it is taking me a while.

Now off to see if I can get any further with leaving comments.  You will be the first to know. 

Sunday 23 October 2011

Leaving comments

Message for MaggieC & Shaz ... SO sorry not to have yet left any comments on your blogs ... I am now a regular visitor and have tried and tried to leave you a comment but just can't yet figure out how to do it.
I LOVED your cards, Shaz, with the Santa face stamped on the front and can really appreciate the work that went into them.
I will persevere until I do know how to leave you comments ... you will both be the first to know when I finally manage it.

Saturday 22 October 2011

Adaptations

Adapted the bright "leaving to have your baby" card for a little bundle that had already arrived ...


Expectations & new arrivals

I was asked by a friend to make a card for a colleague who was leaving to have a baby ... I had very specific instructions ... bright colours, baby clothes, owls and a poem ... took a deep breath and came up with this ...


The final tag was blank for everyone to sign.
It didn't say new baby to me but, hey, sometimes you have to do what people want and put your own tastes aside.

From here to there and back again

Was chatting on FB with my friend in Australia and she was telling me all about her plans to renew her wedding vows in Canada in January.  She married her Canadian husband in Aussie and his family were unable to attend so they thought about the vow renewal for his family. To cut what could be a long story short my friend had not been able to find invitations she liked and ... well, you can see where this is going!  After sending many samples via Email and good old-fashioned "real" samples via snail-mail we were eventually able to come up with a design she liked ... as she will be renewing her vows in the *S*N*O*W* her theme was very definitely *S*N*O*W*F*L*A*K*E*S* ... one of my favourite themes too so not hard to play around with ideas based on what she wanted. 




She was very precise with just how she wanted them to look and I heaved a HUGE sigh of relief when I sent the finished inviations over to Australia and she was really pleased with them.  So that's invitations made in England and then sent to Australia for a function taking place in Canada! 

Friday 21 October 2011

No time today ...

Am being kidnapped by my Lil' Sis' so no time to craft or blog today.  Dinner at nephews new house for the first time tonight ... well, he is laying the table and we are bringing takeaway in with us!  Got crafting / blogging withdrawal symptoms already.

Thursday 20 October 2011

Haven't worked out yet ...

... how to reply to any comments made so please don't think I am ignoring you!
I do LOVE Tim Holtz!  And I LOVE making tags in his style ... not everyone "gets" it though and I need to improve my technique but the finished versions of these went down quite well.  They tend to get either a "WOW" or an "OH" (with the "oh" being said in a disappointed tone) ... but I enjoy doing them so will continue.


Don't hold your breath but ...

I think I might be getting somewhere with this blogging business!  Wouldn't have even found my blog if it were not for you MAGGIEC so THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your time and patience with me! 
None of my family actually understand my desire to have a blog ... they don't actually understand my passion for crafting either so you can see what I am up against.  At least now I have somewhere to indulge myself with anything and everything crafty and have a way of keeping a "crafting diary" .... well, I'm interested to see how it develops even if nobody else is!
As you can see from the few photo's I've managed to post I am a huge Tim Holtz fan and love nothing better than working in his style ... which I am hoping to develop as my own style but it is taking a while.  Often have to make more mainstream cards though as not everyone "gets" the grunge/aged/vintage look.  Hubby thought I was quite, quite mad putting old rusty gear-wheel-thingies on his birthday card but he thinks I am quite mad at the best of times.  I sorted through one of his bits'n'bobs box in the garage and found the gear-wheel-thingies and then when he saw them on his card he maintained he would have used them "one day" ... I argued they had been in the box, untouched for at least 30 years so doubted he would be needing them anytime soon.
Will hope to get more photo's on here so you have something to look at rather than just reading my ramblings ... I am known for my "spontaneous ramblings" but will try to keep them short.  I'll try. Really I will. 

Wednesday 19 October 2011

This was hubby's birthday card. Just posted it now to see if I could figure out how to post photo's!  I guess I did.

No to that font

Didn't like that font so reverting to my original one but maybe a bit larger.

I was lost again there for a while and couldn't remember how to post this message ... I really am struggling here.

Am calling it a day for now but WILL try again later.  With a bit of help I just might get there ... eventually. Maybe.  Perhaps.

I posted!

Soooo I managed to post my last message!  But that's it ... baffled by the rest.

MaggieC said something about me having to put my followers somewhere ... can anyone tell me how to do that please? (not that there will be any!) (as my hubby said when I first showed him my blogging attempts "who on earth will want to look at that?" ... does kinda put you off!)
Hopefully I have now changed my font to something more readable - time will tell.

Trying again

Well I've been inspired by a friend to have another go at getting this blog up and running.  Thanks MaggieC!!!!
Have absolutely no idea what I am doing or even if this message will post itself ... well, I know I have to click on something to help it along but have yet to figure out what!
Am not giving up this time so bear with me please and shout out any help or tips you can ... all will be gratefully received.