Got asked to make two "Sorry you are leaving" cards and I do struggle with "commissions" as I never quite know what the person asking has in mind and have to tone-down my love of grunge to produce something more widely accepted.  My friend has yet to see these so still the dreaded hand over moment but I have done lots of stuff for her in the past so hope she will like these too.

 I might see if I can remove the flower and cut a new one but this time stick the papers to cardstock first as this flower just looks too flimsy to me ... just don't want to wreck the whole thing by trying to get it off! Or another thought is I might stick two patterned papers back to back ... mmmm, will ponder!

I managed to get a little toned-down grunge on here with the background of the larger tag - felt any more grunge than that would send my friend running to the hills!

I got to play with my new Tim Holtz dies with the next card and I am currently loving the mirror effect of the little tiles - it really is clear, shiny and reflective!

 The card I embossed with the clocks was a different white to the base card I used which gave me an "oh piffle" moment but I ended up pleased it was different as it meant I got a tiny, little bit of grunge onto this card too by mucky'ing it up with Black Soot Distress Ink - sorted!

(goodness knows why the bottom photo' has appeared here upside down ... I didn't take it standing on my head - honest!)

Then I made two "new home" cards ... repeat of a design I've done before so they didn't take too long.  Hardest part is remembering not to lean on your glossy accents whilst it is drying!

 The word HOME is glossy accented ... so it is very raised and, er, glossy!

The flourises around the edge have Perfect Pearls brushed over them so they have that lovely subtle sheen ... looks much more effective In Real Life than on here.

And finally daddy's Father's Day card all ready for Sunday!.

xXx

WOYWW 191

So why am I showing you my Oh So BORING workdesk today I hear you ask?  Because it is all the WONDERFUL Julia's fault over at the Stamping Ground who came up with the idea that a What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday would be a great way of seeing what fellow crafter's are up to!
After a simply rotten night's sleep I am not up to much BUT have got to get started on my cards for February - the first three of which MUST be posted on Friday ... no pressure then, and, more alarmingly, NO MOJO!!!!!

So what can you see on my desk ... firstly a little "Spot the WOYWW Badge" game ... gold star to you if you find it.  You can just about see the list of cards I have to make for this year ... being mojo-less I am finding it a bit daunting so have it partially hidden under three (three cards to post on Friday remember!) embossed designs I did last night knowing I wouldn't be able to face my lightbox this early in the morning.  My much loved Glossy Accents are lurking close at hand and my Tim ***sigh*** Holtz distress inks ... odd name that, but very appropriate for my current state of mind ... DiStReSsEd! Or is that just stressed ... either way works for me.
Martha Stewart punch in the front of the picture and laptop very close at hand for when the no-mojo fizzles into absolutely-definitely-no-mojo.
The bright orange folder waaaayyyyy out of reach is my quizzing folder ... which I must not - MUST NOT - touch until I have these cards made!
So Happy WOYWW'ing everyone and enjoy browsing the world of craftland today as you share your desk and visit those of others ... those others to be found HERE

Titanic Tags

What a rotten week!  Couldn't even blog but did manage to get some crafting done and as I am a massive TITANIC fan I just couldn't let the Centenary pass without doing something so made two tags ... one for me and one to send to another Titanorak ... an internet friend that I met briefly at the Titanic Exhibition at the Science Museum in London in 2003.
They are just my "standard" tag size ... distressed with various shades of blue (couldn't be any other colour really ... it's supposed to represent the ocean!) And I added some swirls and flourishes, some of which I dusted with gold perfect pearls to represent the waves.  Absolute artistic licence, of course, as there were no waves that night.
The clock shows the time the Titanic sank (I am having to explain that to just about everyone who sees them!) and the bow of the ship was a challenge but all the effort was proven worthwhile today when daddy saw them and asked where I bought them from!  I scored down the back of them and bent them a little bit and then covered them in glossy accents and just hoped it wouldn't all slide off as they dried.  I Walked Away so not as to fiddle with them and then when they were nearly dry teased them into the pointy shape I wanted.  Only problem here was I couldn't then attach the bottom edge of the ship to the tag and didn't want to rely on the great blob of silicone glue behind to hold them into place.  Super-sticky "red" double sided tape to the rescue and I "encouraged" the bottom edge of the ship flat and then quickly stuck the message label on with more silicone.  Seems to be holding so far so think I have got away with it.
Wasn't sure about the red flag and label and experimented with grey and white but eventually came back to the red ... it seemed all too wishy-washy otherwise.
They didn't turn out quite as I imagined in my head at 2am when I was thinking about making them but they will do as a little memento of the Centenary and I just hope my friend likes hers which will be in the post in the morning!

Pixie's Snippets

Ok ... here goes!  Have been persuaded into the playground that is Pixie's Snippets and what a jolly nice place it seems to be.  I have been taken firmly by the hand and encouraged to join in the fun so here are my first two snippets EVER!!!!!


They all follow the "tag" style I prefer rather than being "proper" cards so I do hope that is ok?!?!?!?


The first one uses a snippet of painted, embossed acetate ... a tiny piece I had left over and below that is a really teeny-tiny snippet of a piece of card that I used when my hubby's brother and his wife came round for a curry and she made the mistake of asking a question about crafting.  To cut a long story short out came various crafting bits'n'bobs and I ended up demonstrating my Vagabond ... that little embossed and die-cut snippet had been put into the recycling but whilst tossing and turning trying to persuade myself to enter Pixie's Playground it occurred to me that it too was a snippet!


The butterflies are cut from snippets of card left over from birthday cards I have been making for this year and which otherwise would have gone into the biscuit tin of offcuts that I give to my friend for the kids at the school where she works to use for "sticking".  The string was also a bit I had lurking in my box ... must have been cut from the reel at some point and not used.

The next offering is almost a total snippet as I had thrown out the base tag which already had on the label with the wording "The Journey Awakens the Soul" stamped on it and the bird which I had glossy-accented.  I had no intention of ever using it and was only keeping it to remind myself what not to do next time.  It was more a reject than a snippet!
Whilst thinking about Pixie's challenge I realised the message on the card was representative of my little journey into the playground and I thought I'd see if I could tweak the tag back into life.  I have had a little battered pocket dictionary for years and years ... it was originally my sister's when she was at school ... it has sat on my shelf for 30 years or so but only this week I threw it in my "Tim" box.  So the tattered flowers are grungepaper onto which I have stuck pages from that dictionary ... hope they are classed as snippets!  The ribbon at the top was dyed with distress ink to match the tag and I added a little round disc that says "wander" as I thought this also described what I was doing by wandering into the playground.

SO here I am ... whizzing around on the roundabout and putting the straws into the little bottles of milk (someone promised I could be Milk Monitor as it was my first time!!!) and getting ready to sit in the naughty corner with a Dunce's cap firmly on my head as I find out I have totally lost the plot and missed the point completely when it comes to snippets.
I promise to try harder next time!

WOYWW 139

Although not entirely as I pictured them in my head I got the anniversary cards for this year finished ... 18 all the same so was able to get a little production line going and they didn't take too long at all.  
The longest time was spent "experimenting" to get the look I wanted and after playing around with distress inks trying to get the grungy look I love I decided to go for the crisp & clean look instead.  
I also decided against a red mat for any of the layers as I wanted the full impact of the red heart and glossy-accents has really made that heart stand out!  Was going to mount them onto a white opening card but I am favouring "post-card" style cards this year so what you see is what you get ... you just turn it over for the greeting.
Not sure what, if anything, I will be working on today yet ... once I figure it out you will be the first to know!!!!!  Happy WOYWW'ing everyone!

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!