Doh! The Post I Forgot to Name ...

It's that time of the week people ... A whole new theme over at Simon Says Stamp and Show! This week we want to see you Bottle it! I spent a lovely few hours on Sunday making my Pixie house ... complete with Pixie Dust. All coloured using Distress Inks and Distress Stains ... with a vast array of delicious The Wendy Vecchi Stamps ... Art Parts ... A Dylusions Spider and of course Idea-Ology and that gorgeous little hand from Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that runs up Mount Everest daily while providing life saving medical aid to the entire population of Pixies with just a spot of Coffee Archival and a speck of Peeled Paint Distress Stickles. To join in the challenge all you need to do is post your bottle art to the challenge blog here and you could win an amazing $50 Shopping Spree to spend at Simon Says Stamp... all from the comfort of your own home!
I am on a mission today ... to tidy up the room with no floor or desk space formerly known as my Craftroom! No search parties necessary ... I may be some time!
Laters!

10 Years of Art from the Heart!

Welcome to a very exciting blog hop in Celebration of 10 years of Art from the Heart!

  Lots of exciting things happening at Art from the Heart next weekend where the big birthday bash is happening. Want to know more then do click here to be magically transported to the wonderful Dy's Blog.
You cannot believe how excited I was when I was asked to be part of the hop ... they said ... "You can only use Lord Tim of Holtz products!" I said ... "You had me at ...erm ... You :0)"

So to make the chunky ATC ... I used a block of wood ... Ranger Manilla Cardstock ... Lord Tim of Holtz Distress Inks ... Rusty Hinge; Wild Honey; Forest Moss; Vintage Photo ... You know Tim ... the man that can swim the length of the Thames in under an hour while writing a critique of all the eateries along the way with just a Paper Piercing tool and an Edge Distresser. I digress ... I also used Claudine's Sticky Backed canvas ... Lord Tim of Holtz's butterfly die. an Ornate Frame ... some Game pieces ... a Snow Cap Dabber ... Ranger Jet Black Archival and Lord Tim's Shabby French stamps and a key hole!

So in Celebration Art From The Heart are having 5 birthday blog hops.

You should have reached my blog from Janet's fabulous blog ... here  and are on the Lord Tim of Holtz Team hop!

Before you move on - you will need to collect a letter from me which is T This is part of an anagram of a Lord Tim of Holtz product. Once you get back to Dys blog please email your answer to Ben by 6pm on Sunday 11th September 2011.

So after leaving me a comment you need to move on to

the uber talented Michelle's blog!
 Have fun hopping!
I am now on Day 13 of not smoking by the way!!!
Laters!

So Sorry!

I kind of think it would be really bad form not to start this post without an apology ... I am sorry ... I know lots of you pop in daily and I have been nowhere to be seen! I could tell you that I was whisked away by my very own Mr Darcy to a far off tropical Island ... but that would be completely untrue ... the real truth is ... the week was gone before I even noticed!
I spent two lovely days in Olney teaching workshops to lots of lovely ladies ... whatever happened to the other five ... I have no clue!
Anyways ... I am here now ... hopefully you did n't miss me toooooo much ... although a little bit would be nice :0) This week's offering to the new theme at Simon Says Stamp and Show ... is ... Simon Says Stamp and Show a Tag! My tag was coloured using Rusty Hinge; Forest Moss and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I also stamped with Adirondack Snow Cap Dabber and Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink.

All of the stamps are Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can get Olympic tickets for every event while snow boarding in the dessert with just an Ornate Frame and a 1" square of Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Backed Canvas.
The butterflies are indeed said Stick Backed canvas die cut with a Movers and Shapers die.
Ooooo Blimey ... I nearly forgot ... if you fancy joining in with the challenge then all you need do is make a tag and then link up to the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog ... here! There is a $50 Shopping voucher up for grabs again ... donated by the wonderful site sponsor Simon Says Stamp! You have gotta be in it to win it!
I am off to get some beauty sleep ... hopefully there won't be the repeat shambles of last week ... when Mr Blogger posted my post as scheduled ... but not the challenge site post! That caused a bit of confusion I can tell you!
Have a good week everyone ...
Laters!

A Stitch In Time!

Did you miss me? I missed you guys ... what with Mr Blogger throwing his toys out of the pram last week ... then losing all my comments from the last post ... I thought I would leave it a few days ... so everything settles down before I posted again!
Monday morning it is and as always there is a new theme over at Simon Says Stamp and Show ... this week we are asking everybody to share old wive's tales! Hopefully you can tell what mine is without me even telling you ... but just in case ... it is "a stitch in time saves nine!" But you knew that right?
Our ever generous sponsor ... Simon Says Stamp has once again popped a $50 shopping voucher into the mix ... so if you get chance  ... make sure you join in!

My sample was made using THE Wendy Vecchi's Art Parts and Lord Tim of Holtz's Weathered Clock die. You know Tim ... the man that can travel through time while herding hundred's of elephants through the thinnest of ravines to a place of safety with just a Charm Clip and an Idea-Ology numeral! Have you seen his new line of bags and journals??? ... Oh my ... I cannot wait to get my grubby little hands on some of those beauties!
Back to the sample ... The clock is painted with Claudine Hellmuth's yummy black paint ... and the middle part of the clock is stamped ... then padded with wadding and stitched! Which is hilarious considering I have never sewn anything before in my life ... if I lose a button ... it stays lost quite frankly! The idea for this came from the wonderful Lin Brown and Leandra Franich's ArtsyCrafts arch project ... I shall remain forever gutted that I never got chance to attend that one!
Talking of sewing things ... I never told you about the whole Holland class ripped trousers story ... luckily my Ranger U apron was on hand to cover my modesty or I may have been scarred for life!
Righty-Ho ... it is way past my bedtime ... don't forget to let me know if you knew what the Old Wive's Tale was ... before I told you ...
Have a great week people!
Laters!

I Bottled it!

Some time ago ... in an arty shop just up the road from LB Crafts ... The lovely Karen showed me a canvas that was uber expensive! It was gorgeous ... but very very very expensive! Basically it was totally white with hundreds of butterflies kind of ... well ...cut into it ... like bits of the canvas were flying away! Well ... to cut a long story short ... I was inspired ... I did actually plan for this canvas to be totally white ... with the teeniest bit of Vintage photo on the words ... the clock etc., ... but I ... erm ... was n't brave enough .... so the colour wash came out and away I went! I LOVE the Adirondack Colour washes ... Have I told you that before?

Everything about this canvas art board piece is Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can play Beethoven's fifth on a blade of grass while talking to the monkeys in the jungles of Borneo with just the lid from a Faded Denim Distress Ink and an inch long piece of Film Strip Ribbon.
I used the Vintage Market alphabet for the words ... and Oh my giddy Aunt ... How many T's??? I was to the point where I never wanted to see another T ... unless of course there was an I and an M on the end of it!
Righty ho! I just need to tell you that this is my sample for The Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week ... the new theme is hands ... plenty of room for play :0) You should join in ... you may even win a $50 Shopping Voucher donated by the Challenge Site's fabulous sponsor ... Simon Says Stamp!
Before you ask ... nope I did n't get up at 5am to post this ... but I was still up at 1am posting it ... if that makes sense ... I am now off for some beauty sleep ... these Julia Roberts looks take work don't ya know! Have a great Bank Holiday or just a great Monday ... if it's not a holiday in your neck of the woods!
Laters!

One's Hice!

Thought I had better put on me posh voice today ... roughly translated ... blog heading means "My House". I am getting right into the spirit of the whole Royal Wedding thing now ... we could all do with a bit of pomp and ceremony to brighten up the news ... don't you think!
I have had bad news though ... in fact I can safely say ... I am devastated ... just had the call that the Royal party were concerned by the amount of attention Wills was giving me in my bridesmaid frock at the rehearsals ... and my bridesmaid services are no longer required! What's a girl to do? Too late in the day to organise one's street party now! S'pose I will just have to watch it on the telly after all!
I can tell you that The Queen was in Cambridge yesterday ... just up the road from me in fact ... so I am pretty sure Wills and Kate will become the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ... How exciting ... oh and ... don't forget ... you heard it here first!

Wish I had planned a street party now! Talking of which ... this is the second Maya Road House that I have decorated! So I nearly have a street! This time I went for a different Lord Tim of Holtz On the Edge die to create the roof! You know Tim ... the man that can rescue the smallest Eland from the jaws of the biggest Crocodile while hand stitching all the pearls and beads and sequins on the frocks of the entire Royal guest list including the Queen with just a Memo Pin and a spot of Glossy Accents!
All of the stamps are THE Wendy Vecchi ... including the grass ... you don't get a base with the house so I made my own! In fact you don't get a house any more because Maya Road have stopped making them! Great shame in my opinion ... but no amount of begging on my behalf could change their minds!
There is a little tag book included with the house ... I may show you that tomorrow ... but then again ... tomorrow is tomorrow and I may have forgotten all about it!
I have about 5865 things to do today ... and I appear to have lost my oomph ... if anyone spots it ... please return it immediately! That's me then folks ...
Have a great time at the wedding where ever you are and whatever you are doing! I hope the happy couple will live happily ever after!
Laters!

Ticket to Holland!

My tickets are here! I am getting very excited now ... in a few short weeks I will be jetting off to Holland to teach at Lia's shop in Ede ... De Craftorij. I am doing two classes ... apparently there are still a few places available so just click here to book ... it is going to be sooooo much fun ... and it's my first time in Holland too ... added to the fact that Anneliese will be there ... and Joan ... and of course Lia ... oh and apparently the BEST pancakes ... It's gonna be just like a mini Ranger U reunion!
My card for today is made entirely with Lord Tim of Holtz product and a THE Wendy Vecchi stamp. You know Tim ... the man that hand paints all the tulips in Amsterdam while personally adding the glitter to every pot of stickles with just a Charm Clip and a tiny attacher.
Before using the embossing folders I coloured the card with Broken China Distress Stain ... then swiped over the raised parts with a Vintage Photo Distress Ink Pad. A bit of distressing around the edges and a quick blend with some Walnut Stain Distress Ink and the panels were complete.

All the dress form parts are Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Backed canvas ... coloured with Antique Linen Distress Stain and then darkened around the edges with Walnut Stain.
Thank you all so much for keeping me entertained yesterday with your comments ... I knew you would n't let me down!
I do have to add that there was absolutely no bloomin' way I was up at 5:00am ... the post was indeed scheduled to coincide with midnight in Ohio which is where Simon Says Stamp is based and the time that the weekly Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge themes are published!
Right ... now I need to know what you are all wearing to THE wedding ... as preeviously stated ... I shall be sporting a Bridesmaid dress ... and if I don't know what you are planning to wear ... well I may just miss you in the crowds :0)
I must away ... I am up to my eyes in Birthday cards today ... trust me when I say ... nearly everyone I know must have been born in April!
Laters!

Spilling the Beads!

Who knew that filling all the little compartments in a Lord Tim of Holtz Configuration could be so much fun!
You know Tim ... the man that can hand craft a nest for every bird in all the world while making the Royal wedding dress with just a Game Spinner and a brad!
This week's theme over at Simon Says Stamp and Show is buttons ... the perfect excuse to grab the smallest of the Configurations and start playing! I had a ball!

I covered the Configuration with the Button paper from the Crowded Attic pad and then set to work applying the tissue tape and then distressing it with Vintage Photo. Most of the bits you can see are Idea-ology ... with a few things from my own stash added for good measure! Bet you thought the title of this post was a typo ... by putting tiny puddles of Matte Medium down the front I was able to place the little beads to make them look like they were spilling ... I'm rather pleased with the way they turned out! And the reflection of the Fractured Doll in the tiny frame mirror ... made my day! I know ... I know ... little things and small minds! And ... and ... the tin that the Film Strip Ribbon comes in has made the perfect little hat box!
To complete the piece I added a few THE Wendy Vecchi butterflies ... so much fun! I still have the largest Configuration that Lord Tim and the charming and most amazing Mario gave me at ArtsyCrafts in February ... I just need to find some time to make it! I cannot wait now!
So ... talking about spilling the beads ... How was your Easter break ... What did you do? Where did you go? John worked last night so I am spending the day all on my lonesome ... so I am relying on you guys to keep me entertained!

I spent Friday shopping with the Wonderful Lin and the lovely Karen at the Bull Ring in Birmingham ... I got a fab new Fossil watch ... yup you have guessed right ... it was only a tenner :0) Saturday with a lovely group of ladies doing my Tiny Tin class in Olney ... Sunday ... making stuff and grumbling about my Hay Fever and today ... I have work to do ready for my new release of classes for LB Crafts.
Well ... that's me ...  don't forget to pop over to the challenge blog to see the other projects on show ... you could even enter for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher donated by the site's wonderfully generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp.
Don't forget to leave me a comment ... I have got nobody else to talk too :0)
Laters!

Love at First Sight!

It was fabulous to have so many comments left yesterday ... Thank you guys for sharing the love! You all know what a loose woman I am ... it's true ... I blog for comments ... simply can't get enough of them :0) Oh and a big welcome to all my new followers too!

Anyways ... remember this Studio 490 book ... I thought it was high time I showed you what was in it!

You guys know how much I LOVE Ranger tags ... it's the surface ... just perfect for inking ... so when the guys at Ranger came up with the manilla tag card stock in A4 and 12X12 sheets ... well quite frankly ... I wanted to marry them and have their babies!

And that is precisely what I plan to ... erm ... make all my pages for my book with! I have used only THE Wendy Vecchi stamps ... it only seems fair as she is the brains behind the whole book thing ... oh and Lord Tim of Holtz designed the ring binder bit ... you know Tim ... the man that can perform a heart and lung replacement operation while flying to South Africa without a plane with just a teensy weensy washer and a butterfly die cut!

Talking of butterflies ... does n't Claudine Hellmuth's sticky backed canvas make the bestest butterflies!

I really must away ... I have deadlines coming out of my ears ... and classes to kit for ... and ... oh my goodness ... PANIC!

Laters!

Studio 490 = Play!

Morning all! This week Simon Says Stamp and Show ... a word! My word is play! And Play I did!

To make my little book ... I played with THE Wendy Vecchi's studio 490 Art Parts ... both the small creative covers and the bottles and borders packs! I played with lot's of Wendy's delicious new stamps too! I think you may call my design half a book lift ... because the bottom half is the design on the packaging ... Wendy always has the bestest ideas on her packaging ... and if you are stuck ... like I was ... it is a great place to begin!

Then I played with Lord Tim's new large ring binders ... you know Tim ... the man that can walk barefooted across hot coals while balancing 26 small children on his head with just a Wild Honey Distress Stain and two long legged brads!

Not having played enough at this point ... I also played with Claudine Hellmuth's sticky backed canvas and lots of Ranger inks, Distress stains and card!

It's not all play for me today though ... Oh No! ... I am off to teach two workshops in Olney ... I know that sounds like playing and not working ... but ... erm ... actually ... it is a lot like playing too :0)

Righty-ho then ... pick a word ... any word and get creating ... you could win a $50 shopping spree at the Simon Says Stamp online store!

Laters!

Back to Business as Usual!

I dunno ... that Christmas malarkey does n't last nearly long enough for the amount of effort we all put in ... here we are on the 3rd of January and before you know it ... well ... we will be into double figures.

Not that I am complaining you understand ... only 20 some odd sleeps and I will be at CHA with THE Wendy Vecchi and Lord Tim of Holtz ... you know Tim ... the man that can move the planets with just a tap of a pokey tool and a single dot from a bottle of Ranger Black Enamel Accents. Of course the wonderful Lin will be there too :0)

I shall do me best to make sure you guys get to see what we see while we are there ... I say that ... I am not sure if there is some secret handshake thingy wotsit that prevents you from spilling the beans ... but have no fear ... if there is ... I shall just make it up :0)

Course ... after CHA ... it will be Stitches ... then ArtsyCrafts ... you know the one ... be still my beating heart!

Blimey ... don't I go on!

The frame in the piccies started life as one of those Ikea cheapo jobbies and I have altered it using THE Wendy Vecchi Stamps and Grungepaper ... oh and some Graphic 45 Botanicabella paper ... the theme over at Simon Says Stamp and Show is Stamp and show your newest stamp ... please join us ... and don't say you don't have any new stamps ... even if Santa did n't bring any ... and you have n't been shopping for an age ... I am guessing that most of you will have a new and unused stamp somewhere ... or is that just me :0) The lovely site sponsor ... Simon Says Stamp ... is giving away another delicious $25 to spend on stash!

Okay ... that's me ... take care all ....

Laters!

It's Bean a While!

Can you see what I did there??? Huh??? Can you??? Clever use of the word Bean ... seeings as this is an altered Bean can!!! Yup ... I thought so!

This little guy is going to sit on my desk next to my WOYWW anniversary calendar! Just in case you were wondering ... I do know it is n't the 25th of July today ... that was the day I made it :0)

The whole can is covered with Lord Tim of Holtz's Grungepaper ... you know Tim ... the man that can turn Nylon into silk on a whim while creating diamonds out of gravel with just the teensiest amount of Black Enamel Accents and the lid from a pot of Aged Mahogany Distressed Stickles.

The Grungepaper is painted with Claudine Hellmuth's deliciously black 'Charcoal Black' acrylic paint and bound using the Bind-it-all and some waxed cotton and beads! The flowers and butterflies are stamps by THE Wendy Vecchi and coloured with Faded Jeans and Peeled Paint Distress inks. The flowers were attached using the Zutter popper wotsits which means that instead of twiddling my thumbs ... I can twiddle me flowers instead.

The back label jobby wotsit is Tim's Sizzix label die ... with the ends chopped off ... very carefully of course ... I did n't harm them in the making of this piece!!! And finally the centre bit of one of Tim's key holes... also humanely doctored!

I still have n't managed to get around all the WOYWW desks this week ... but I am going to have another go today ... there is just sooooooo many ... I am also going to dabble in a spot of card making ...

Laters!

Blimey Blimey!

This has got to win a record for the longest to publish blog post ever ever ever!

I was soooo organised last night I made my tutorial for the Bubbly Scrumptious blog ... just about to upload and the flippin camera battery died. So instead of doing the sensible thing and typing the post without piccies ... I abandoned my post ... emailed the lovely Caroline ... told her I was teaching today ... explained the whole camera predicament and agreed to post by 7 pm'ish tonight! Simples!

I gets home tonight ... camera all charged ... piccies all uploaded and then two hours later ... I finally publish! Why the delay ... well for 60 minutes the tinternet decided to go AWOL ... I had a visitor ... the dog decided to bark like mad at a hot air balloon ... and trust me ... she has a big mouth so I had to calm her down before the entire street complained ... Stressed??? Who Me??? Never!!!

This is another Ranger U technique ... the very lovely Claudine Hellmuth showed us this one and if you want to see my version of it ... please click here!

I am off in search of a very cold and thirst quenching beverage ... Anyone care to join me????