Time ... if only ...

Been working on a canvas all afternoon ... kinda, sorta knew where I wanted it to go and kinda, sorta got there but it is not quite as I had hoped.  

After seeing a canvas my friend did she very kindly lent me her clock stencil ... wasn't too sure at that point quite what I'd do with it but then inspiration struck and so out came the inkpads and now my fingers very much match the canvas but hey, all good fun!

Nothing dreadfully challenging about any of the techniques so won't bore you with a rundown of how I did this or that and I used so many Distress Inks I can't now recall which they were ... certainly my current favourite Evergreen Bough along with Iced Spruce and Gathered Twigs ... but there are also a couple more thrown in there too.  

My new favourite stuff to use is Grunge Paste so that is what got squidged through that wonderful clock stencil and I used one of my own Tim Holtz layering stencils for the background.  Raided hubby's washers box for the only rusty washers he had ... a most disappointing collection I have to say considering he has hundreds of the things and they have remained unused for the last 40 years or so ... oh yes, and how come the moment I start rooting through them to find any I might want to use he hovers behind me making sure I don't take the VERY ONE that he might use one day!  

Oh, I've not yet said, have I?  The canvas is for my mommy and the numbers are the date and time I lost her ... didn't want them as a date and time though - that would be far too painful a reminder ... so applied them quite randomly. I always intended to apply numbers and was just going to use any old numbers but then at the last moment I knew what I wanted to do.

Also intended to use a different quote ... one that was a bit of a turning point for me but will save that for another time (no pun intended!) - this quote seemed more appropriate for this canvas.

Bit drained and emotional now but "ok" ... I can do something like this nowadays, had a bit of a weep as I showed it to hubby and explained about the numbers but am now able to put it aside and move on.

And I am about to move on to Fairies!  Can't go wrong with fairies and back to my favourite wooden hearts!

Love and miss you so very much mommy.

WOYWW ... HAPPY 300 !!!!!!

SO 300 Wednesdays ago the incredible Julia over at The Stamping Ground launched the WOYWW concept ...WOYWW = What's on your workdesk Wednesday ... giving us bloggers the chance to hop all around the world sharing our creative workspaces.  That is the essence of it - the reality is true and strong friendships have been formed, support given, laughter and tears shared ... and then there is the crafting on top of all that.  We get a tiny glimpse into each others lives and we are able to share the good times, struggle together through the bad and enjoy our love of anything and everything crafty.

You were inspired Julia and I, along with everyone else I am sure, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I wasn't going to blog or WOYWW today but then remembered this special anniversary and so wanted to be a part of it ... I will be crafting today just as soon as I can get round to it so my desk is non-existent at the moment but I did leave out a few things ready

The cardboard box arrived yesterday and contains some new canvasses, three pots of Grunge Paste and a gorgeous stamp - all from Clarity ... not quite sure what I will do with the stamp but once I figure it out you will be the first to know.

You can just see the corner of two cowboy hats - a red one and a brown one ... call came from nephew and his girlfriend (grown up, I hasten to add!) ... "auntieeeeee - we need a Jessie & Woody (from Toy Story) costumes.

Done and dusted so they will be heading over to them as they need them for Saturday.

Back left corner is some cross-stitching that I must get done ... really I must.

Hopefully my workdesk will soon be a hive of creative activity but for now HAPPY 300th WOYWW!!!!!

Clarity Challenge ... January

Came as one heck of a surprise to find myself the winner of the "Things with Wings" challenge at Clarity Stamps for January ... especially as I had no intention of EVER entering a challenge ... that will teach me, huh?!?!?!  

As well as a lovely voucher to spend at Clarity I got to be "Guest Designer" for a forthcoming challenge and after having a mini-breakdown when I misunderstood what the theme would be I was told what the theme actually was and, well, "Anything But A Card" just set my juices flowing!  

Here is my offering ... I never make a note of what colours I use or how I actually do anything but this time I Kept Notes as I went along ... and then couldn't understand any of them when I came to write them up.

Hopefully there is enough info here for anyone interested but do, of course, leave a comment if you want anything explaining any further.

SO to begin with I did my favourite technique … ok, one of my favourite techniques as I have a few! … splodge some Distress Inks on one of those brown flexible crafty mat thingies and squirt with water and then just swish and swoosh my card through the colours!  Never quite know what I am going to end up with but am rarely disappointed and love, love, love the fact you never get the same effect twice. In this instance I used Walnut Stain, Brushed Corduroy, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, Weathered Wood, Evergreen Bough & Iced Spruce … yeah, I know, probably way too many but I just love it when you swish and swoosh and get just a hint of a random colour appearing.

I use cheap PVA glue from the DIY store to stick the background to the heart and then trim to size when dry … same for the back! Edges were inked with Chipped Sapphire and Walnut Stain.

Next came another favourite product … Grunge Paste … spread through the Clarity heart stencil that I randomly placed here and there on the heart  - let it dry and then put the stencil back in place and randomly coloured it with the same colours as the background applied with both Clarity stencil brushes and blending tools then I just rubbed gilding wax in Autumn Bronze and Ultramarine to highlight the paste even more.  I am not a glittery, sparkly, shiny crafter and my PASSION is grunge but this time the gilding wax worked!

Another thing I love to do is emboss acetate … save all the packaging that arrives and then tear it into shape and emboss it … this time I wanted it less shiny so painted the back of it with Raw Umber acrylic paint and then wiped most of it off again … you use almost a whole roll of kitchen paper but, hey, needs must! 

Finally the sentiment was stamped with Versafine Black onto white card that had been stuck to a piece of Grungeboard and then heat embossed – tore the edge and then inked up using Antique Linen, Walnut Stain and Gathered Twigs and the two little hearts are Grungeboard which were coloured with Walnut Stain & Gathered Twigs and then partially embossed … everyone says they look just like tooled leather which is kinda, sorta the effect I was hoping for.  Garden string was wrapped around the top right hand side of the heart and there you have it!

WOYWW #299

What is there to show you on this WOYWWednesday?!?!?  Usual chaotic mess but me having a ball doing the splodgy-on-the-craft-sheet thing and then swishing and swooshing with your card and making backgrounds ... did a fair bit of swishing and swooshing  because I got carried away but have plans for all those that worked ... not that they can't work, you understand - no skill involved in swishing and swooshing and you just either go with what you've got or bin it!  Not often I bin a background made like this because even if the whole sheet is a disaster you can easily crop a part of it to use.

Not a lot to see really .. just got from my craft cupboard out in Antarctica the conservatory what I needed to try and give myself as much working space as possible.  Didn't work ... never have enough space!

Colours never show up well on the screen but they are my favourite default colours ... do occasionally experiment with others but these are what rock my boat. It is not very often AT ALL you will hear me say this but I was kinda, sorta pleased with these!

Did mention I got carried away and splodged and splooshed some random colours for some tag cards ... not my preferred colours but am trying to appeal to those who do not like getting down and dirty and grungy like me ... kinda, sorta know where I am headed with them and they should look very different sometime soon!

So that is the weekly glimpse into my world ... all thanks to the special lady whom is Julia over at The Stamping Ground

Clarity Challenge - February

Ok so have struggled with the theme for the Clarity Challenge this month.  Got to admit that "Floral" doesn't really rock my boat but in an effort to push myself I have, at least, Had-a-Go and entered into the spirit of things.

The stamps are  "Madeleine" , "Leafy Swirl" and "Flower Stem" and then I just grabbed my Distress Ink pads in all the shades of red and pink that I have and stamped loads of heads in both first and second generation.

Just couldn't translate the image in my head into paper and card but after five attempts I decided to call it a day and go with this one ... sorta, kinda, maybe a little bit Flower Power 60's inspired and the song "San Francisco" kept coming into my head!

So ... 

If you are going to San Franciso

Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

I do! I do! I do believe in fairies!

Me and my dear friend share a love of fairies so I decided to Put The Grunge Down and Walk Away and make something more fitting to your typical image of our delicate little fairy friends as a gift when I go to lunch with her today.  (but I do feel quite, quite sure that I will grunge those fairies at some point too!)

Yes ...

I DO!

I DO!

I DO!

A little Sunday blogging!

Should be preparing Sunday lunch for when daddy comes but am struggling today for some reason.  Not felt like this in over two and a half years but just really slumped today ... most odd.  Tomorrow all will be just fine I am sure.

But not today.

Can't stop crying and feeling angry and frustrated and hurt and upset ... anything else?  Oh yes, stressed. No reason for any of it other than that's how it is today.

So ... quick slap across the face with a wet trout (metaphorical of course, I don't exactly have a wet trout hanging around) and as these two canvasses were handed out as gifts yesterday I can now blog them.

Both pretty much the same and given in thanks to my dear friend Margaret Craner (Silvercrafter) and  Fi Scott ... both of whom were just so supportive and encouraging when I shared my first ever two canvasses.  I was ready to bin both pieces but they both said they would happily take them but I figured I'd hang on to them (buried in a cupboard!) so I can see if I ever get any better at them!

The colours look very wishy-washy (isn't that a character from Aladdin?) here whereas they were very much darker and deeper than this and at least three or four different gilding waxes had been applied and they don't show up at all ... I really am a rubbish photographer!

Can share some more stuff very soon as various pieces are handed over and some fairies should be heading this way at some point tomorrow ... just need to entice them over first, of course.

Busy Busy Busy like a little buzzy bee!

Yeah like the title says but not complaining ... not for one minute!  

Mojo has gone walkabout so many times in the past that now it is here and in full flow I aim to make the most of it!  

Can't blog the whole finished projects just yet but thought I'd get a few little peeks down in blogland ... oh, there is one card I can share as it is hubby's Valentine's Card as he won't see it here!

Just plan on getting some black gilding wax onto the black hearts  but am "having a think" ... sometimes grunge is happy being just that - grunge and doesn't need whistles and bells like gilding wax.

 Can't even say what these next three are as they are under wraps for now ... will tell all once they are out there in the big wide world ... it is with some trepidation and HUGE doubt I will be letting two of them go as the one piece is such a reflection of "me" that I feel I am kinda, sorta baring my soul by letting it go.  All three of these are versions of the wooden hearts I find I like to work on and I have recently been nudged in this direction by the lovely Sally-Ann Hanes ... she most certainly has boosted my confidence recently and I just hope I don't let her down with the one project.

Can't say more for now but all will be revealed!

Oh yes!!! I have discovered Grunge Paste!!!!!

Ok, when I say "discovered" I mean finally plucked up the courage to open the pot I have had for a while now.

First tentative steps were made a couple of weeks ago on the canvasses I blogged already but since then there has been no stopping me and I am loving the stuff ... at the moment if I can get grunge paste onto anything then I will!

All three projects above have it smeared and splodged and stencilled on and with a bit of luck I will have two more canvasses done by tonight ... hopefully!

Better crack on then ... this little bee needs to get buzzing!

WOYWW #297

My efforts to blog more regularly are failing miserably ... firstly these WOYWWednesdays roll around far too quickly ... how can it be a week already?!?!?!  Oh, hang on, it has been a fortnight for me because I missed last week ... birthday celebrations and all that!

So here I am another year older (EEK!!!!!) and certainly none the wiser but here sharing the UTTER CHAOS that is my workdesk this morning.  All left from last night as I had to stop mid-flow and knew I would be needing it all again this morning so just shut the door and left it.  What can I say?  It's a mess ... but you know when all the ideas are just flowing and you can't work fast enough to get them all out of your head and down onto card or canvas or wooden hearts ... got to say I do like my wooden hearts.

So, in order to keep this brief and keep our esteemed WOYWW leader, the gorgeous, lovely lady that is Julia over at The Stamping Ground happy I am sharing only my workdesk here this morning but am posting sneaky peeps of what I have been up to in a separate post ... can't share the whole photo's as it is stuff still under wraps until handed to the recipients.

First photo' is here in front of me ... I know, I know ... what a mess!

Second photo' is stuff piled on the chair beside me ... and daddy will need to sit on it later when he calls for his coffee and ginger nut!

And final photo' is the chair the other side of me ... words fail me really!

So apologies for the absolute jumble of my workdesk/chairs today ... I just remember all the long, bleak periods when my mojo has gone walkabout and then look at all this surrounding me and I know which way I'd rather have it!  Now then, where was I when I finished last night ... oh yes, inside of hubby's birthday card!

Happy WOYWW'ing fellow crafters!

WOYWW #295

Not my workdesk as such this week as I am waiting on a parcel to arrive with more crafty goodies  before I get going again ... waiting on some new canvasses  as I have a couple of ideas rolling around in the vast emptiness of my head but am really quite excited at seeing how IF they come together.

I was putting off working on canvas despite really wanting to Have-a-Go so cajoled and pushed and encouraged by my very dear friend MaggieC (Silvercrafter) I took that deep breath and did just that ... Had-a-Go!

Can't say I am dreadfully pleased with the results, but they have grown on me A LITTLE these past few days and they may not now be heading for the bin.  They didn't turn out anything like I planned or hoped ... they are loosely based on a design by Barbara Gray at Clarity Stamps and having gone back to see her piece over and over again I now realise where I went wrong.

This was the first one I did : 

Then using the same three colours I decided to Have-Another-Go and what a difference!

The colours are not showing up so well on here but the first canvas was very green and the second one purple! Yet the same three colours of paint were used for both ... love the randomness of it I have to say!

I think had I not got a specific goal in mind I  might feel happier about these but because they are so far removed from what I set out to do then I have struggled to find them acceptable.  Shall hang on to them for a bit longer before deciding what to do with them ... I have had two very kind offers of new homes for them to save them from the bin but am waiting to see if they grown on me some more or if I should keep them as an example of my first failures work.

Apologies to the gorgeous lady whom is Julia over at The Stamping Ground and whom gives us the chance to blog hop on our wonderful Wednesdays - gone on a bit this week Julia and I know you like it short and sweet - will Do Better next week!

Happy WOYWW'ing everyone!

Clarity Challenge

Ok, ok ... have succumbed to pressure to enter my canvas into the Clarity "Things with Wings" Challenge.

Always said I'd never enter a challenge of any kind but need to branch out a little and with Margaret Craner in my corner giving me the kick up the bottom that I need I thought I'd take my courage into my hands and just go for it.

This is only my third canvas and a style so totally removed from what I normally do I hardly recognise it as something I have crafted.  

But it seemed to fit the theme of the challenge so here goes!

I stamped straight onto the canvas so the tree is not as black as I wanted but it is very glossy as I did heat emboss it with fine detail clear powder. 

As I struggle with acrylic paint I used Distress Inks - loads of them!  Didn't keep track of the colours used as I just had them all out in front of me and grabbed them willy-nilly and just kept going until I felt "enough was enough" and finally decided to stop.  I still think the blue should be more blue and this or that should be slightly different but hey-ho, this is it finished!

Oh yes, and I did use the Clarity stencil brushes rather than my normal blending tools ... another learning curve as swishing and swooshing with anything resembling a paint brush is so out of my comfort zone I considered the cooking sherry mid swish but managed to wing it with a couple of deep breaths and the odd placing of head between the knees.

So here it is ... my entry into the Clarity Challenge and now I am going to lie down in a darkened room to recover.

WOYWW #294

Oh for goodness sake just where do the days go to????  Missed WOYWW'ing last week and have no time to hop around the blogs courtesy of the delightful Julia at The Stamping Ground this week either!!!!!

Was up to my elbows in grunge paste and canvas boards and acrylic paint and having disaster after disaster but enjoying trying to get to grips with it but have had to clear it all away as I have my auntie coming for lunch and can hardly expect her to eat her sandwich surrounded by my detritus ... not that she would mind one little bit and would love to see what I am doing.

So apologies for not WOYWW'ing again this week ... I will try and visit a few blogs later.

Will share a sneaky peek of my first ever grunge paste canvas board inspired by a piece by Barbara Gray but am saving sharing the whole of the disaster for later in the week as I am taking part in the #Artchain on Facebook and might pick it as one of the five pieces of my work that I share across the next five days.

So happy WOYWW'ing everyone!

WOYWW 292

Welcome to our weekly Wednesday blog-hop ... might actually have time to hop myself this week and catch up on visiting all the wonderful crafty desks around the world.  All thanks to our gracious host, Julia over at The Stamping Ground

Have had a very productive workdesk this past week and this morning will be putting the finishing touches to a batch of cards for the men on my list and then I need to get some anniversary cards made.

Got a new embossing folder with some little hearts on that I might use for the anniversary cards ... got it propped up against the laptop hoping inspiration might come calling.

Also a new pot of Mod Podge ... absolutely no idea what to do with it but saw Barbara Gray use it in a demo and fully plan on giving it a go myself ... sometime ... maybe!

Bakers Twine is ready to wrap and staple around the cards ... again my much preferred tag shape that I know a lot of the recipients of my cards don't like but it is what I enjoy doing and is my favoured style so I am sticking with it! So sorry to my BFF whom last year said I had forgotten to send her a card on her birthday which confused me as her name was ticked off the list ... when I said I was confused and was sure i had sent a card she replied "not a proper card, only one of those tag things" ... well, one of those tag things she will be getting again this year!

Thank goodness the mojo seems to have returned and I have more ideas and things I want to try than time to do it but with the first half of the years cards pretty much sorted I might just have time to play and practise and experiment!!!!!

Happy WOYWW'ing everyone!

WOYWW 291 : HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ok it's my least favourite night of the year ... well, ok, one of my least favourite because now I think of it there are quite a few in contention!  It has been an amazing year though so am counting my blessings rather than thinking of bad, sad stuff and I wish each and everyone of you a happy and healthy 2015.

Now then, this New Year's Eve sees us crafters able to blog-hop around the world all thanks to the lovely Julia over at The Stamping Ground ... I try never to blog if I don't have time to hop but am determined to make this a weekly visit throughout the new year as I missed so many last year ... not a new year's resolution you understand but, well, ok, guess it kinda is!

Just a few photo's to share as I have yet to pluck up the courage to head out to Antarctica the conservatory to get stuff in to start the cards for next year (so no workdesk for at least another half an hour ... first birthday is on 3rd Jan so that will head off with apologies for being late! Great start, eh!?!?!?!?

I seemed to have forgotten to take photo's of much of the Christmas crafting but managed a couple:

I like to make stuff for Christmas that can be put away once the festive period is over and then brought out again the following year ... all stems from childhood memories of two large embossed flat cardboard Father Christmas decorations that mommy had herself as a child and which came out year after year until they just fell apart.  On stuff I make under my "tatteredrocks" disguise I put "tomorrows memories and keepsakes being made today" and it all kinda stems from those Father Christmas shapes.

I made six of these wooden hearts this year ... each with a different message to personalise them a little bit ... they are about 8" across (maybe!) and I do enjoy making them.

Then I made a few of these decorations ... fell in love with them after seeing them in a Stampin' Up! catalogue and just had to get the dies and stamps to make them ... quite time consuming as each one has 40 "petals" ... not everyone seemed to like them but hey, I did!  

This was my friends Christmas present - she loves owls so as soon as I saw this cross-stitch chart I knew I had to sew it for her.

And these were also Christmas presents ... all started when I made myself a bobble blanket and youngest nephew saw it and said "I think I might like a bobble blanket" ... so now I am on a mission to make one for all the family (already got ALL the wool to do so!!!!) ... his is the grey and black one and the pink one was for his fiancee and the green one was for another friend.

They are full sized blankets ... 3,780 bobbles on each blanket (well, apart from the green one as I was struggling to get it finished in time so it is one ball smaller than the others!) and I just love making them. Good job really because there are around 35,000 bobbles to go before each of my family have their blankets!

Totally forgot to take photo's of this years Christmas cards but still chance I can get one before the holiday is over ... just need to remember to do so!

Well can avoid the cold of Antarctica the conservatory no longer so am off to grab my distress inks and butterfly die and Rock Candy Crackle Paint and see if I can come up with some birthday cards!

Happy New Year to everyone in craftland and look forward to WOYWW'ing with you throughout 2015!!!!!

WOYWW 290

Well, here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun!  Or something like that!!!!

Having fun?  What isn't crafted now will be finished just as soon as I can and apologies have already been sent to the late recipients of the little cross-stitched tree decorations I traditionally send out.  They will still be sent out ... just late!  And yeah, am beating myself up about it but only need to watch the news or think about family and friends who are sick right now to fully realise a few late Christmas gifts isn't the end of the world.

Will pop back later and edit this adding photo's but for now the cable thingy I need to hook up my mobile is buried somewhere under all the wrapped parcels so it should reveal itself as we sort them out for delivery sending to Father Christmas.

Just had to blog, albeit briefly, this Christmas Eve morning to wish all my wonderful crafty friends and all you WOYWW'ers out there a truly peaceful and magical and special Christmas.

WOYWW is where we can visit fellow crafters all over the world and all thanks to the beautiful lady whom is Julia over at The Stamping Ground and she can explain it all so much better than me!