WOYWW - Week 557

Hello Everyone,

Wednesday again! Another What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday over at Julia's Stamping Ground! And I'm still not into full crafting mode but there's been some progress, I've been pottering about in the craft room and - surprise, surprise - the desk is no longer as clear as it was last week.

Nothing too exciting.  There's a clutter of bits and bobs, found in the wrong place, that need to be put away in the right place. There's stamps, both in the box and on the desk - the latter a Debbie Moore freebie that came with a magazine. I used the bee stamp in the set on the masterboard and the new blog header shared in my last post here. Since then, the masterboard has become the toppers on these cards.

There's been a bit of action at the sewing machine - not much, but still some.

The embroidered panel in the middle was a sort of sampler that I've been working on for far too long. Really, it was just an excuse to try out new stitches and remind myself of those I was taught at school. Once finished, I decided to make a small cushion. It will be a constant remind of the hours spent stitching.

And now the book bit:

Dr Richard Shepherd is the UK's top forensic pathologist, having performed over 20,000 postmortems. In his autobiography, Unnatural Causes, he remembers the most high profile cases he worked on during the course of his career - cases like the Hungerford Massacre, the death of Princess Diana, the Clapham Rail Disaster, the London bombings of 2005 - to name a few. It's a fascinating memoir, a record of a remarkable career and, despite the gory bits, I really enjoyed listening to Dr Shepherd tell his story - he has a good narrator's voice. 

That's it from me this week. I'm off now to see what Julia and our fellow deskers have been showing us today.

Take care everyone and have a great week ahead.

Scrappy Sunday - Two Floral Cards

Hello Everyone

Happy Sunday to you all - I hope you've had a lovely weekend. Bloglovin' tells me I have a few new followers - welcome! I appreciate your interest and hope that you enjoy what you see here. Today I've been playing with inks and paints on scraps of cardstock and, because I hate to waste anything, I've created a couple of cards with my efforts.

Card No. 1 - the base for this card is the result of testing out a mist - Mister Huey's Heirloom Blue - on a scrap of white cardstock to see if it was the right colour for a scrapbook layout I'm in the middle of making. It wasn't but I liked the effect so thought it would make a good background for some stamping.

How I made the card:

1. The misted card was trimmed down to a 5" square to create a topper to fit a black card base from my stash.

2. More experimenting, this time with stamping using the Poppy Field flower from Rubbernecker.  I wanted to try out whether it is possible to stamp using Vicki Boutin's Mixed Media paint, Sugared Strawberry, so, using a paintbrush, I covered the surface of the stamp, misted it with water, and then stamped - it worked a treat.

3. After the paint had dried the outline was stamped using a Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad. 

4. The topper was then layered on to a patterned paper, from Wild Studio Rose's Spring Fling 6x6 paper pack - an old one leftover from way back when I was on the DT for Handy Hippo -  which was then adhered to the card base.

5. Confession time here - I did stamp a sentiment directly on to the background but then realised that it was a bit skew-whiff. Not to worry. I just stamped it again on a snippet of the white misted cardstock, layered it on to a scrap of the patterned paper and stuck over the mistake - only you will ever know because I've told you!

6. For the final touch I added a few pink sequins.

I'd like to submit this card to Pixie's Snippet Playground where, as always, the requirement is that we use up as many snippets in our projects as possible.

Card No. 2 was made in much the same way using another scrap of which cardstock previously spattered with Spectrum Noir' black Aquatint ink. This time I managed to stamp the sentiment perfectly straight. The white card base used measures 5" x 7" and instead of sequins I used tiny black 'pearls' made by Craft For Occasions.

Blimey! It's only just still Sunday ... I started writing the post hours ago but got distracted by a programme on TV about two of my favourite tennis players, Federer and Nadal, and then Poldark.

And now it's time I went to bed. Take care and have a great week.

Cardmaking - Poppies and Mariposa Petals

Morning Everyone,

Two posts in one morning ... pass me the aspirin!

Hope you are well and having a very good Friday. the EM has his paint brush out, freshening up the living-room walls, so I'm sheltering in the craft room to escaping the paint fumes. It's hard not being able to join in but it does mean I've had time to make a card.

This card fits in with Mrs A's current Butterfly Challenge #55 which calls for an aperture and/or apricot. I couldn't manage the apricot but have created an aperture using an oval die - possibly for the first time ever! It was easier than anticipated so can't think why I haven't done it before.

Supplies used and notes on how the card was made:

- a 4" x 6" white card base

- a scrap of smooth black cardstock (from Papermill Direct) trimmed to a fraction smaller all round than the card front for the first layer

- a piece of red textured card (Papermania) trimmed a fraction smaller than the black layer. I then die-cut the oval shape (from a CArt-Us die set) before embossing with the Crafts-Too Lattice folder

- the poppy stamped piece for the aperture. This is just one of the pieces from a stamping session I had some time last year. I can't remember exactly what I did then but I used the Rubbernecker Poppy Field stamp. These stamps come in two parts. There are several good demos on YouTube showing how to use them. For the coloured part of the poppies I used the watercolour technique with, I think, Tim Holtz Festive Berries distress ink and water. Archival Jet Black, again I think, was used for the outline. I trimmed the piece down a little to fit behind the red embossed topper which I then adhered it down on to the black layer.

- snippets of thin black card, not the same as that from PaperMill Direct but from goodness knows where,  and the red textured card die cut with a Tonic flourish die, Mariposa Petals. I adhered the black flourish on the front letting a part of it lie over the aperture. Then I trimmed the butterfly from the red one and adhered just the body part on top of the black one. I teased the wings up to take the photo but they will fold down flat for posting.

- tiny jet black gems - source forgotten - painstakingly glued on the lattice intersections and the butterfly's body. Note to self: never again!!!

Because I've not been making so many cards lately, the snippet mountain, though not quite as high as Ben Nevis yet, is growing. That being so, I deliberately used as many snippets on the card as I possibly could which means I can also submit it to Di's challenge: Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 229. Something to celebrate :)

Wishing you all a very happy Friday and an enjoyable weekend.

Snow Scene Cards + Altered Countdown To Christmas

Afternoon Everyone

Thought I'd post these cards while I'm waiting for the storm to really hit town. It's already gye (Scots for very but more so) windy but that, apparently, is just a taster of what is to follow later today. Anyway, just in case I have to shut down here's a very quick share of some cards I made recently for the January UKPC swap - the theme for which was 'snow'.

If you think this design is familiar, and those of you who have been following me for eons may well do, it is because I made one almost identical to one I made back in November 2011 ... and for details of supplies and how it was made here's the link.

I had to familiarise myself with my brayer again ... I don't think I have had it out in months, or longer. My hands are not what they used to be and I struggle with my grip so I didn't make as good a job this time but I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet. I did make a few practice pieces though and here's another two cards made with the rescued pieces.

This last one is matted on to a snippet of blue cardstock so I shall be submitting it to Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 214.

I'm also submitting the first card to CHNC Challenge - 266: where the theme this week is 'anything goes as long as it's Christmas' and CHNC Challenge Extra for February 2016

I should add that there is just two little differences in the supplies used this time around. Instead of using Archival ink to stamp the row of houses, and therefore having to colour them in with AquaMarkers, I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink and a selection of ProMarkers to colour the houses.

If you caught my Rudolph Day Countdown To Christmas card you would have noticed that I reflected that it would have looked better if I had rounded the corners on the card blank to match the PL Topper, as I did with the patterned papers. Well, Kath, of Plain  & Simple, suggested I quite simply pull a couple of star gems off and round the corners, so I did. And I was right, it looks much better with all the corners rounded.

And just in case you are wondering, that is a bit of winter sunshine you see in the photo. When I took the photo this morning it was raining, howling a gale and the sun was sunshine ... only in Scotland!!!

Apologies to those of you who look forward to the In A Vase On Monday ... it's much too wild out in the garden to go flower picking, always supposing there's any blooms to pick!

Well, that's me done rambling for now ... I'm off to fit in a bit of bloghopping now before having to take The Boss for her monthly visit to the vet. She's overdue her injections and so a bit poorly today but tomorrow she will be as sprightly as a kitten again ... well almost :)

Take care and stay safe,

One Stamp Set, Four Christmas Cards

Evening Everyone,

It's almost the end of August and I have nowhere near enough Christmas cards made. In an attempt to remedy this sad, sad, situation I've made four - yes four - today, so in no particular order here they are.

I was inspired to try this technique after reading Heather Telford's post in Bits and Pieces, and create my own patterned paper by stamping a sheet of watercolour paper which I then cut up to create the four toppers. Of course, I didn't have the same materials as Heather but I found a poinsettia stamp in my stash that was similar to the one she used. All the stamping was done with a combination of distress markers and ink pads and then I used a paint brush and water to fill in the petals and leaves by drawing the ink from the outlines and then adding extra detail with the markers wherever it was needed. Once it was completely dry I added gold Liquid Pearl drops to the centres of the flowers. 

To make the cards, I created two card bases from dark green cardstock, one square and one A5 size, and found two ready-made ones in my stash, one square black and the other an A5 window style in white. Next I cut the stamped sheet into strips and squares to fit the various cards. Three toppers are matted on to gold card - from the snippet mountain - and all the greetings were die-cut from yet more snippets of gold card.

Materials used:

• Cardstock - A4 sheet of white watercolour card, 2 A4 sheets of dark green card (Papermill Direct), snippets of gold card; black square card base; white window card base
• Stamps - Papermania's First Noel set
• Markers and Ink, Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany and Peeled Paint distress markers, Memento Cantaloupe and Pear Tart for the poinsettia, and Stormy Sky and Weathered Wood ink pads
• Dies - all word dies from Tattered Lace mini die set
• Gold Liquid Pearls

I'm submitting these cards to the following challenges:

The August Rudolph Days Challenge over at Mo's - anything goes as long as it's Christmas themed

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge 243 - use gold

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra for August 2015 - also anything Christmas themed goes

Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 191 - more snippets used up

That's four more added to the my little stock of Christmas cards, just a few more and I'll be able to relax :)

Happy Rudolph Day,

Stamping on Fabric

Evening Everyone,

Hope you have all had a lovely day. It's been such a sunny day here that, after zipping through the dreaded housework, it was out into the garden to weed another stretch of border. Mind you, I'm paying for it now ... there's not a bone in my body that's not complaining :) Enough of that, let's get on to my latest project.

Just a bit of experimenting ... stamping on to fabric rather than paper. I used a scrap of white cotton fabric and my favourite snowdrop stamp from The Wild and Free Collection from get Stamping ... chosen mainly because it is a simple image ... nothing too taxing :)

 The outline is stamped with Versafine Olympia Green, an oil based pigment ink ... I don't even know if I've used the right stamp pad here, it was just what I had in my stash, but as I doubt whether it will ever be washed I thought it would be okay. The tiny amount of colouring was done with green and yellow ProMarkers. When done, I ironed it to, hopefully, set the inks - just in case!

And here's what I made with it and how.

• I cut it down to a square measuring 2¾".
• Ironed some adhesive applique paper on to the back.
• Traced and cut out a heart shape on to copy paper, using a template found in a book of hearts, Hanging Hearts by Rachael Row from Search Press. 
• Cut two heart shapes from the green/white polka dot cotton.
• Removed the backing from the applique and pressed it on to the heart shaped piece of cotton that would be the front then machine stitched around the sides of the snowdrop square using white silk thread and a satin stitch.
• The two sides of the  heart were sewn together, adding a loop of white satin ribbon at the top before stitching. 
• Finally, the heart was stuffed through a gap, deliberately left for just this purpose, which was then stitched up.

Though I realise I still have a lot to learn about stamping on fabric, I'm well pleased with this wee heart which is now gracing the hall here at Casa Worthington :)

Thanks for dropping in, as always, it's much appreciated. Have a great evening, what's left of it, and take care.

Happy Crafting,

Sunday Snippets - those Field Poppies again

Evening Everyone,

Just a quick post for Di's Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 160 as I'm still supposed to be taking it easy ... but it's so difficult not to come out to play :) However, I will keep it brief and hope you won't mind.The two cards I have to share were made long before Christmas but I was so busy I never did find time to post them then.

This card used up some Gelli plate print I had leftover, scraps of silver mirror card and a snippet of pink card for matting and layering.

The poppies on card this were stamped on to scraps of white card, using various shades of blue and green watercolour paint - just experimenting with colour really - and then matted on to snippets of aqua cardstock.

And that's it for this evening. I'll do my best to take a peek at all your snippet makes over the week but apologise in advance if I don't get round you all ... it's 'baby steps' for me at the moment.

Hope you have all had an enjoyable weekend and that the coming week is a good one.

Happy Crafting,

Sunday Snippets on Monday - Yellow Poppies

Evening Everyone

Welcome! I trust this finds you all well and that Monday has been a good day for you.

I have another watercolour and snippet make for Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 155 and it's those Rubber Necker Field Poppies again ... can you tell I just love these stamps?

I just love how every impression looks so different depending on the unpredictability of the watercolour paints/inks and whatever combination of colours used. I've added a few gold sequins for a touch of sparkle. The stamped image and the piece of yellow Gelli print have been matted and layered on to snippets of grey card.

The yellow base card came from an inexpensive mixed colour pack found in The Works a very long time ago - the inside is white. The finishing touches were the orange card candy and the pre-printed gold embossed greeting.

I did intend posting this yesterday but somehow never got around to it ... not feeling 100% at the moment so not ticking much off my seemingly neverending to-do list ... sigh!

On a much brighter note, my aunt Jean and cousin Lorraine are flying over from Australia for the Christmas holiday and I'm so looking forward to seeing them. It's been 40 years since they were last here in Scotland so there's a lot of catching up to do :)

Thanks for popping in. I wish you an enjoyable evening and a good day tomorrow.

Happy Crafting,

Blue Field Poppies - A Snippet Make

Hello Everyone

I'm lagging behind with my posts this week but hoping to catch up today and tomorrow. First up is the snippet make I should have posted on Sunday for Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 153.

The card has been made almost entirely from snippets or recycled materials. Even the topper, one of my watercolour experiments with  my current favourite stamp, Poppy Fields from Rubber Necker, and several distress inks from Ranger in shades of blue and turquoise, was made using some glossy card which is the recycled back of a card received last year ... I save way too much stuff!!!

You might be able to see ta gleam or two in this shot ... there's just the teeniest sprinkle of glitter around the flowers. No list of materials today ... most of the snippets used are so old I couldn't even venture a guess as to where they came from. What I can tell you is that I recycled the greeting from a birthday card received sometime in the last couple of years and trimmed it to a pennant shape for this card.

And that's me done posting for today. I hope to be back with another share tomorrow. In the meantime, I wish you all a lovely evening.

Happy Crafting,

Flowers Are Poetry - Another Gelli Plate Print Card

Afternoon Everyone,

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

I have yet another card I made earlier, this time for the UKPC August Swap, and once again I've used a Gelli plate print as the basis for the design.

I went a bit wild with my choice of paint colours for the print - blues, pinks, yellows, green and white. The flower design on it was created using a selection of stamps from Kanban's Spring Meadow set to remove some of the paint from the plate before lifting the print.

The allium stamp used for the topper came from the same Kanban set. The stamp was inked up using a mix of  Memento markers - Danube Blue, Rosebud, Cantaloupe, and Bamboo Leaves before stamping on a square of white card. Papermania Textured cardstock was used for matting and Anita's gems decorate the alliums.

The hinged greeting is stamped with Hero Art's Flowers Are Poetry and a couple of tiny stamps from the Kanban set - again, I've used Memento Markers to ink up the stamps.

As usual for me, the inside and the back are decorated with the trimmings from the print. 

That's it ... another quick post from me today.

I'm absolutely shattered after my day out to the flower show yesterday. I must have covered quite a few miles walking round the stalls and in and out the various marquees - all good fun but, in the end, quite exhausting!

To make up for all that exercise yesterday, I've spent a bit of quiet time, pottering in the garden - until the breeze blew me indoors and into the craft room. I've been making flowers which I'm so pleased with I think I'll write up a wee 'how to' tomorrow. For now, I'm off to have a cuppa and a bit of a break before tackling supper.

Happy crafting,

One Layer Card - Just For You

Hello Everyone

I hope you are enjoying the same beautiful sunshine as we are here in Ayrshire. Just the thing to tempt me out into the garden  ... after a visit to the garden centre, of course :)

Now, with the sun proving to be such a distraction, not a lot has been happening in the craft room so the card I'm sharing with you today is one I made earlier.

The UKPC swap for last month challenged us to make a one layer card and after a bit of thought this is what I came up with.

I began by creating a panel with post-it notes on a plain white card base. I then inked it up with blue and pink inks from a neglected Big and Juicy pad, Hydrangea ... it's such a shame but I forget I have several of these fabulous ink pads tucked away. A spritz with water and dabbed with paper towel created the lovely speckled effect.

Once the panel was dry it was simply a case of removing the post-it notes and then stamping Agapanthus, from Kanban Crafts Spring Meadow, in black (Memento Tuxedo Black), and the bird, from Papermania Summer Bloom Collection, and the butterfly, from Inkadinkado Woodland Trails, in grey (Memento London Fog).

With the flourish stamp ... Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy Best Friend Swirls, stamped in grey ... the effect I wanted to create was of it winding from the front to the inside and then finally on the back of the card ...

... like so.

The absolutely final touch was to stamp the greeting, Just For You, from Ladybug Crafts It's Only Words, in black on to the flourish. The stamp is transparent enabling it to be placed on an acrylic block and bent to follow the line of the flourish.

I haven't forgotten my promise to post some of the pics taken at the craft show last week ... not to mention the pile of goodies I blew my pocket money on ... I will, just as soon as I've finished cropping them and selecting the best.

In the meantime, I wish you all a very good evening.

Happy Crafting,

Winter Botanical Cards

Afternoon Everyone,

Goodness! March already!

And it's Saturday too, the day Hazel posts another challenge over at CHNC. This week,  #166, is calling for ribbon, twine or fibres and, as luck would have it, the cards from Wednesday's WOYWW post are finished and there's twine on them ... what a coincidence :)

Still struggling to find the best site in the house to photograph cards - especially when there's more than one to line up ... which is why this photo was shot in the kitchen!

As I explained on Wednesday, I've been experimenting with creating stamps using an embossing folder and moldable foam. Here's the step-by-step guide to how I made each card.

Step 1: Choose an embossing folder with a suitable design. I chose the largest folder from the Sizzix Winter Botanicals set thinking the floral pattern would be clear and look good. Open the folder out as flat as possible ready for the next step.

Step 2: Next take a block of moldable foam (Magic Stamp) and a heat gun. Heat the foam for about 30 seconds and then press the warmed foam onto to the embossing folder.

Step 3:  Ink up the foam, I used Rangers Evergreen Bough distress ink, and stamp on to a piece of white card - I used one of the many scraps of white card I have pre-cut to measure 3¾" x 2½". As you can see, the stamped image is not perfect, but I quite like the blurred distressed look.

Step 4: Mat the stamped image on to gold mirri card - another scrap pre-cut to measure 1/8" wider all round.

Step 5: Wrap twine, Docrafts Papermania Brown String, round the base of the topper and tie in a knot, incorporating a tiny bell in the knot.

Step 6: Stamp the greeting, this one is from a Molly Blooms Christmas stamp set that came free with a magazine, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, in the bottom right corner of a white base card.

Step 7: Adhere the topper to the card - because of the twine I used Pinflair glue gel for this, it creates dimension and allows for the extra width of the twine.

Step 8: The final touch - the embellishments. Gold sequin stars added in the corners and some Suze Weinberg Jazz BeaDazzles glued to the centre of the large flower on the stamped image.

With the topper on the card above I tried to get a bit arty with water! First I inked up the stamp, sprayed water on it and then stamped, then repeated the stamping without the water. Again not perfect, but I think the watercolour effect looks very nice.

Note: I wasn't sure which side of the folder would give the best results, emboss or deboss, so did one side of the foam with the emboss and the other with the deboss. It's easy to heat and press one side of the foam block and then turn it over and heat and press the other side. And, after deciding which side gives the best image, heat the other and erase the image ready for using again.

As well as submitting the cards for the CHNC challenge I will be submitting it to Hazel's CHNC Challenge Extra for March - where anything goes as long as its Christmas themed.

I'm a day early but I think Di won't object to me saying I will be joining in the fun and submitting these cards to Pixies Crafty Workshop, Week 114, tomorrow - six snippets have been used up altogether :)

It's another beautiful day here, cold but sunny and after tapping the glass on the barometer I can report that it is up so the weather is definitely improving :) Whatever the weather is like for you I hope you are having a great weekend.

Happy crafting,