New Stuff

Was a little reluctant to post again so soon but then realised this is MY blog so I can post just as often as I bloomin' well want ... so here I am!  It's a great way of talking to yourself without actually getting locked up and, hey, more often than not someone answers you too!!!!!

My new "stuff" arrived yesterday ... my best friend asked if there was anything I would like for my birthday as she was stuck for ideas ... silly woman, of course there is something I would like!  She got me two gorgeous Texture Fades embossing folders by you-know-who, and whilst ordering my fingers must have slipped on the keyboard because somehow hubby managed to get me the clocks/gears Texture Fades as they also found their way into my order.  Er, as did two On The Edge dies ... the StEaMpUnK one and one of the Brackets.  I figured I needed some compensation for turning 52!
Won't be able to WOYWW next week as I shall be enjoying a little Apres Ski in Scotland ... that is hot chocolate with those little dinky marshmallows and a flake and absolutely no skiing or flying to get there involved!  Sounds perfect to me although there isn't actually any *S*N*O*W* at ground level at the moment but plenty up on the hills and mountains ... that, and a heavy frost, will do it for me!

Visiting fellow bloggers

Thanks to hubby being at a committee meeting last night I managed to get around quite a few fellow WOYWW'ers last night.
I find it fascinating seeing how we all work with pretty much the same products but in such very different environments and locations and all produce such different work.
I always search your workdesks for anything Tim Holtzy and LoVe seeing the results from using his stuff and the words "distress inks" and "grunge" seem to leap from the page to me.
I enjoy seeing work that is not to my style or taste but which can trigger an idea and get the creative juices flowing - especially during times of Artistic Block or lack of mojo!
Probably no time to craft today - really annoying as I have lots and lots I want to be doing - but need to get ready for our little trip away!

The Vagabond Story Continues!

And what arrived yesterday?  ANOTHER Vagabond as a replacement for the faulty one!  Obviously sent in error and now the hassle of having to get it collected but I guess two Vagabond's are better than one ... even though one will never leave it's original packaging as it awaits the little courier man today.
The lady from Sissix has now assured me that I will have no further problems with my machine so am also awaiting delivery today of a whole pile of new dies and embossing folders ... a happy Wednesday indeed! New toys, er, equipment, to play with, er use!

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!  

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!  ;)  

WOYWW 133

Nothing on my workdesk YET ... fully plan on starting on my list of cards for 2012 and as the first birthday is on 3rd Jan I need to get going!
So all I can post for today's WOYWW is hubby's Christmas card.  The pine-cone die for my Vagabond finally arrived (shame on you Royal Mail!!!) but, of course, simply "running it through the Vagabond" does not necessarily mean I could then make the bloomin' things!  Severely burnt fingers from the glue-gun and a few missing "petals" from the cones but I managed to make three that were kinda, sorta ok and not too bad once covered in brown sparkles!  Is it called  Sparkles?  I don't think it is ... oh, silly Debbie - it's Stickles!

WOYWW131 ... but they were made on Thursday!

At last I can post a photo' of this weeks WOYWW!!!!  Not quite finished but getting there!!!!

Better late ...

What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men ... or, in my case, a crafter-sewer-quizzer??? Just ran out of time yesterday to craft but did manage to get the last little bit of sewing done ...well, apart from now having - NO! - wanting - to sew one final little item for my sister.  She saw the stuff I'd done and announced "I want one of those" pointing to something ear-marked for someone else!!!! So, now I want to sew her one of course.  I will but not until I've done this crafting.
Am still battling with Royal Mail & the craft company I ordered the Tim Holtz pine-cone die from ... spent 20 mins yesterday listening to a robot on a recording telling me to "press 1", "press 2" etc., and wasn't able to actually get hold of a human but I just Emailed the craft company to say it pretty much looks like the recorded delivery item is lost and I NEED another one sending out URGENTLY.  
Well, here is my WOWYY photo ... a day late but perhaps better than never at all.  It shows a complete and utter mess as I just dragged my stuff into the dining room as it is far too cold to craft out in the conservatory which is where I prefer to work.  Now bear in mind I am a "neat-crafter" so this is currently "doing-my-head-in" ... need to get it sorted and organised before I can start!
So got my Michael Buble CD playing, have had my porridge, the heating just came on so I am set to spend the day with the FaNtAsTiC Mr. Holtz and will have stained and inky fingers by tonight ... bliss!!!!!!!

And if my pine-cone die never turns up then it will all have been a waste of time because I can't think what to do instead!

WOYWW 131

Er, so where did last week go then?  It was Thursday before I realised I'd missed Wednesday so whilst I have no photo' to post YET at least I know what day of the week it is and am getting ready to WOYWW!!!!!
At least that's the plan.  I PROMISE I will post a photo' later as I fully plan on Tim Holtz'ing today just as soon as the postman brings my parcel!!!!!  It was sent recorded delivery on Thursday from a company and I am still waiting!  I was ordering stuff from the regular company that I use but they were out of stock of the gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous pine cone die for the Vagabond so after much searching I found one company that had some in stock.  Needless to say the parcel from my regular company (Country View Crafts) arrived the next day but the one sent recorded delivery remains in residence with our delightful Royal Mail service (who are, quite, quite hopeless at times!)
Sooooo, I shall make a start on hubby's card in anticipation of the die arriving ... might have to go to Plan B should it prove to be lost but am not moving from here until I have finished some sewing and, if all else fails, then I shall post a photo' of that!