Friday 9 November 2012

I have discovered...

...that it is just not possible to, work, be a carer, diet, go to the gym, read my favourite books AND craft or blog!

So far I have lost one stone, 10" in total and an jogging three times a week on treadmill doing bouts of 10 minstrel jog 1 min walk, last session I did 32 minstrel walking only 2x 1min, I then did a bit more and finished with a sprint. Loving being back at the gym and feeling healthy and fitter again, but as I said some things have got to give.


So in the mean time I leave you with a sketch I drew when I was a member of Pencil Lines Sketch blog, and the layout is did for it.

Apologies for not posting, crafting or visiting your amazing Blogs. I shall resume at some point when I have more time back.

Saturday 20 October 2012

What the bears can do...

...so can I - to help me through my crafting bloc, complete exhaustion I have now treated myself to an early Christmas present, which arrived today. I managed to get it nearly £70 cheaper than the exact same model in fancier colours, but I'd have picked the white anyway. It is a gorgeous pearly white and makes THE  most delicious coffees I've had. I also bought a very large (1ltr to be exact) sugarfree caramel syrup so that I don't ruin the diet competely (only 1.5lb off a stone at the moment!yay!)

 
The photo is shocking as I just took it with my webcam (you can see the screen reflection lol), but it gives you a good idea what its like...isn't it gorgeous? 


I blame my friends over at the The House of Bears showing off with their new coffee machine (I had actually been looking at new coffee machines for a while but never with the intention of getting one), and I decided it was time to replace my Tassimo machine for something that I could get coffee more easily for and to decide myself which exact coffee to use instead of the pre podded ones.

Now...what shall I make next? I suppose my next purchase will need  to be decaff coffee for it as i can't sleep at night if I have coffee after 6pm!

Friday 19 October 2012

A lovely suprise!

I received a lovely text message from a close friend last night telling me that I was top 3 for the Dragons Dream blog challenge with my tag 'Misty autumn glaze' - how chuffed was I? Thank you so much I really did not expect that and was a very welcome suprise.

This photo started off as a tag on its own for my lovely friends over at The House of Bears (this is the funniest blog I know off, the bears and what antics they get up too!) and the challenge set to include at least two of the following: Bats, Decay and dripping blood, I managed to get the gorey looking drippng blood and the bats, but didn't quite do decay lol.

As you may have seen from the last post, I did this and made a mess of it, so ripped bits off and remade it into a card for my daughter birthday.

 
Must now go and make my next tag for the lovely Dragons, I did make one for the last challenge, just didn't get the time to upload it.
 
A massive thank you to all of you who visit my blog, I am most sporadic I have to admit, and your visits are much appreciated. x

Sunday 14 October 2012

Absent again...

This will not do! That is of course if anyone's even reading this lol. I'm afraid life is rather getting in the way of any crafting, blogging or even free time. I'd like to say normal service will resume soon but unfortunately I cannot make such rash promises.

This tag started off great...Then I ruined it by drawing an awful spider on it, I then cut out bats and used puff paint for bodies...hideous! Ripped them off, made better smaller bats, made a matching card and stuck this on the front for my daughters birthday card, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the better tag...doh!

Tuesday 2 October 2012

WOYWW 174

Two Blogs in two days wow, almost as good as my reading. I adore curling up with a good book, but being a busy working mum and full time carer I don't usually get much time, but recently I went mad with two books in14 days and one before that in just under 2 weeks. When I fling myself into something I tend to leave everything else to one side, so for last week while I've done no crafting at all. I am so trying to loose weight (8lb so far) so cooking taking up lots of my time these days, just not enough of me to go about!



I did however rush to make the tag for Dragons Dream blog challenge, at the last minute and the desk is me finishing up (look its tidy!!!) I'm now off for a little blog hope around the world nosing at other people's desks, workrooms and projects over at Julia's blog, click the button WOYWW at the side to join me if you've not just come from there.

Thanks for visiting.
X

Autumnal glimmer challenge.

Here is my entry for the fabulous Dragons Dream challenge, nothing as stunning and startling as the stunning entries or the gorgeous DT work, but i got it done by skin of my teeth :)

Friday 28 September 2012

Gosh! Where have I been?

I haven't been about much lately, been kept busy between work, caring for DH and last week attending a local book festival. I've done no crafting what so ever, maybe my mono got tidied up or binned with the massive clear out I had?!

What I have been doing is loosing weight and reading :) I read Room in less than a week, which for me is a miracle, as I'm usually months at a time at a book, and I'm already half way through The Snow Child, one of Richard and Judy book club reads, I only started that a few days ago, so it seems I can't do everything at once, craft, or read? It'll only become worse when I try and add getting back to the gym into the mix!

Hope to have something more interesting to share soon.x

Friday 21 September 2012

It's tidy!!!

Quick post of my tidy room. I can't get used to being able to walk around! I've sorted ribbons onto a hanging pocket thingy, moved a small bookcase into the wardrobe, so have only my stamps in the new shallow drawers in the room and the shelving on wall. Happy with it so far. Next step redecorate with paper and paint I like!




Wednesday 19 September 2012

Another week passes, WOYWW 172?

Well another week has passes and I've done no crafting, BUT I have to say that I haven't stopped all week. I've been busy gutting out my bed/craft room. My room has always been a messy pit, but last week I decided enough was enough. If you've not come over from Stamping ground, Julia's worldwide blog hop where we all get to nosey around craft desks around the world, then click http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk

I had a MASSIVE clear out, and binned almost a wheelie bin full of junk. It took me four days but at last it is looking better. Now I just have to re-decorated, but if I do that, I'm back to the mess I've been up to my neck in for days. Anyway here's how bad it was!

This is the unit I kept most of my stuff on, but it took over the whole room, I've now re-organised and scaled down hugely.



Aggggg! The worstest before the bestest lol

I shall post a finished photo once I've decorated, don't hold your breath though.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

WOYWW 171 and Dragons Dream TIO

Time for another nosey around the world at craft desks care of  Julia's blog, some amazing craft areas and stunning artists. I thought I wasn't going to have time for crafting, but i managed to squeeze in a tag for the Dragons Dream blog challenge TIO. My desk. In fact my whole room is SO messy I'm surprised I can work in it. Anyway here is my desk this evening.


The recipe for TIO was, A beating heart, a weathered timepiece and a bit of grunge. The beating heart is an old bag charm which I dipped in TH distress embossing powders and is the "beating heart" swinging pendulum  of the old timepiece, the clock face is done with TH distress powders (as is the rough edge) and distress inks to age and weather it (green to show verdigri) , the grunge is the inked/splodgey/distressed background.


I have to say that I really don't like this effort at all, (update, I've changed it and happier now)in fact I think it may be one of my worst tags yet, although you never know it may grow  on me. Ok, I have since worked a bit more on this and am happy with it now. Thanks everyone x
Thanks for looking.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Sad day :(

Packing for daughter to go back to Uni tomorrow after her lovely long summer holidays at home. I am the world's worst worrier and am already stressing about the drive down there. We live in the country and I don't 'do' motorways and busy roads, as for lanes and roundabouts... I feel sick thinking about it. I'm sure it will be fine and I'm taking a friend for support as it will be a four hr journey each way - eeek.

So, as of yet, no crafting done, I've got challenges I'm looking forward to doing, The House of Bears challenge, the Dragons Dream TIO challenge and a couple of others I spied (see the buttons at the side)

I was delighted to find out that I was one of the winners of the Dragons Dream tag challenge this fortnight, very very chuffed with that as the entries are all stunning.

Ok, I shall leave this boring, pictureless post now.

Cath x

Wednesday 5 September 2012

WOYWW #170

Gosh I'm really late today, well probably because I don't have much on my desk at this present moment. I'm interested middle of painting...my hallway after having a cupboard put in, so crafting taken a bit of a back seat.

I do however plan to start, very soon, my next tag challenge over at Dragons Dream challenge blog, see my blinking at side if you fancy taking part, that and also my lovely furry friends over at the house of bears run a fab challenge too, based on books,haves wee looky.

Anyway, here is my desk, a tag that I started from excess ink overspray from the Journal page, open in top corner. My daylightcraft lamp and small RUB boxes still waiting to be rehomed on a shelf somewhere. also I got some crazy shape bubble wrap which I sprayed and did a trial stamp, love the shape, will be using that soon.

Thanks for looking, I'll transfer get around as many of you that end in the same number as myself and those who comment on here, I may take a few days though with my painting etc.

Happy WOYWW.

Sunday 2 September 2012

Dance like no one is watching. Anything but a card challenge.

Today a new challenge blog started called Anything but a card. The challenge this fortnight is Anything Goes, so I got started on this article journal entry.
I love dancing, always have, so decided this page just had to be done. Dylusions inks, cut grass, turquoise and London blue, spritzed. I then used a dancing stencil from an old Club Scrap kit 2004!! a hole stencil, bubble wrap and worked away at it until I was happy. I used a gelly  roll pen  to outline the steps shown on stencils and stamped the 'Dance like no one is watching' stamp (that is part of a Declassified stamp set 'Aliases'). 

I then printed of some silhouettes from the website and arranged on the Page. I still feel it's missing something, but don't know what. I may add to it in the future if I find out what I think it needs lol.

Thanks for looking.

Saturday 1 September 2012

A tissue, a tissue, we all fall down!


My lovely daughter goes back to Uni next Sunday :( and I'm collecting together bits and bobs. I bought a box of 45p Morrisons Savers tissues, but as she wanted her room to be filled with pretty things, I decided to make a cover for the box.  First of all I used some old cardstock and made a box just slightly bigger than the tissue box itself. Leaving the bottom section out so that it can slip on and off the box.
Then I took the tissues out of box, carefully opened out the original box and traced around the tissue dispensing oval. I glued the box back together, and cut out the oval shape (I think if I were to do this again, I'd wait until I covered with my paper before cutting out, but i wasn't sure if my template would work). I mitred the edges of the template card and glued.

I then covered whole thing in patterned paper and again cut out oval. Once mitred and glued I cut end panels in patterned paper to cover joins.
Then I added decoration, not sure how much she'd like, we settled on a flower with button centre at one side and a little bit of ribbon on the other. I tried to neaten the top, then went around the inside of the oval with a silver paint pen just to bring it all together and in case any stray bits of cardboard template showed through. 
So now DD can buy cheap savers tissues, but have them covered with a pretty 'coat'.
Thank you for taking the time to look. It is very much appreciated. 


Wednesday 29 August 2012

WOYWW-another week past!

How did Wednesday come around so fast lol. As I sit at my glorious window in my bedroom/work area the sun is shining, yesterday was monsoon weather, although nothing compared to these poor people awaiting Issac!

This picture wasn't taken today, but looks similar at the moment....well until the next torrential shower comes along!

I've been sorting out my craft stuff over last few weeks and got these brilliant shallow drawers, a four drawer and two threes, I managed to sort out most of my stamps in these now instead of being crammed into large plastic boxes on a large storage unit. I think I need more :)

At the moment I'm doodling a lot in my art journal, this is only work in progress and there are areas I'm not happy with, also I've discovered that the journal I'm using is not great for any work with alcohol pens as they bleed right through to page before and after, so I have to watch that.

I have actually loaded this upside down but it doesn't matter. :)

Thanks for looking, I'll try and get around as many blots as I can. Happy WOYWW all. X

Tuesday 28 August 2012

TIO - its art for art sake!!!

Another great recipe over at Dragons Dream blog we had to design a tag this week with the following: a handmade background, interesting character(s) and a quirky twist, this was SO. Up my street, although I have to say most of the stamped tag challenges are, I love this blog and the lovely ladies alway have fab, quirky ideas.

Anyway...this is my entry this week and I have to say I really like it.

Usual staring point of Dylusions, stamped around the edge with Indiogblu cogs stamp, I used various Paperartsy stamps and a clock stamp and mixed it up.


Thanks for looking, and don't forget to pop over to my lovely friends at the house of bears for mother great challenge, literacy based, great fun. Press the furry button on the sidebar to join the fun.

Friday 24 August 2012

Doodleoodleoodling!

I LOVED to doodle years ago, but never really thought anything off it, I just sat while chatting on the phone or watching tv and doodled, all of it ended up in the fire, as it was just doodling!

Now I tried to get back into it on several occasions, and it just didn't happen as freely as it used to, so I went onto Amazon and downloaded to my kindle and kindle app on Playbook Doodles Unleashed by Traci Bautista, she gave me hints and tips, jump words etc to get going again and this is what I produced, actually it's the third doodle I did the other two were on scrap paper I shall save for another project.

Anyway, black fine. Gel pen, black calligraphy pen and a red watercolour pencil were used to create hhis, I actually remembered to stop and take photos along the way.!



Thank you for looking and all your lovely comments, it means a lot. Xx
Cath

Wednesday 22 August 2012

The bears 2nd challenge

This is my entry for the Bears 2nd challenge, the recipe was: Freedom (the lavender fields), Music (the flying images) and celebrate, the quote 'Enjoy the Moments that make you smile '

Loving these challenges, thank you bears.




Well this started off well, I decided to make a background of green grass, blue sky and yellow shimmering sun, then I created the lavender fields with the edge of an old plastic card, and dipping the end of a paintbrush in the grape ink.

I then added the musical stamps and masked them and stamped with wings (still going well), then I cut out a die cut of music and added stamped wings, edged with purple marker. THEN I stamped a phrase on bottom and DISASTER!  It went squint! Aggggg.

Never mind, not much I can do now.

Thank you for looking.

WOYWW. 22nd August

Well, I am cheating slightly, as it is only Tuesday as I write this, but i think I may not be around much tomorrow. My work desk this week has a tag I'm working on for my friends at The House of Bears challenge, pop over and have a look, they have one challenge a month, and is literary based, very good fun.

http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-168.html  Hmmm not sure what happened to my link, but anyway, pop over to Julias blog for a spot of workdesk snooping, see what other people are working on at the moment and what scrummy stash they have. Very addictive though, be warned!


In the top corner is the latest page entries in my journal and a tin of hairspray (which also doubles as a sealer for my chalks!)...we'll my desk doubles as a dressing table on work days :). Top right has lots of cut outs from magazines, words and pictures for future use, the box in the middle is a stunning bracelet my lovely hubby bought me as a suprise pressie today, gorgeous free stamps from a magazine than a special friend bought me, a glove that I always forget to wear until after my fingers covered ink ink and paint and wire snippets :)

I'm very nearly done the tag, with the lavender fields, but shall post that in a separate post. 

Very varied desk today, thanks for looking :) please pop by again x

Sunday 19 August 2012

Flower power

I adore purple and pink, so obviously this page is going to be one of my favourites. I tried very hard NOT to write anything on this Page, or having any words at all. Was a very tricky thing to do, I feel the need to write something or include some sort of word/words in most work I do.

This is it at just the background stage, using Dylusions ink, MM stamps for ghosting and inking. Jelly roll pens for doodling bits.

I stamped flowers onto an old book and cut out. I drew leaves on book too and cut out. Coloured flowers using Pro markers.


The finished pages...look!  No words! :)

Thanks for looking.

Saturday 18 August 2012

How to make a stunning make up model angry!

You cut her up and stick her back together all wonky! I did another double pages today and I hate it! The background I did a week or so back and I really liked it, one side is fine the other is hideous so I will start again! I look at other blots, flicker etc and think wow that's stunning, then I produce something I'm not happy with. I think I need to sit back and do my challenge tag over at The House Bears where the challenge is based on books,so I think the thinking cap will be well and truly on!
Here is the offending Page...

I have since altered this slightly, not much, but happier with it now. Will need to wait until tomorrow to photograph it again though. 


Ok, so it doesn't look that different in the photo but it does actually look better in real life.

I am back at work now after having the summer off (I can't complain at that ) , so blogging and crafting will, yet again, become sporadic.

Here's hoping tomorrow is a more creatively successful day.

Monday 13 August 2012

Olympic blues!

Well, that's it over then. Suffering serious Olympic blues now, feels weird to have watched it for so long (as in from when we got up until we went to bed every day) we didn't want to miss a thing, and now....nothing. Had looked at getting Paralympic tickets, which were reasonable, but I'm afraid staying so far up north that the travel would bankrupt us before we left, so alas we will make do with it on the tv. I do hope they get good coverage for that too.

Anyway, yet another tag :) I made last night while waiting on the closing ceremony to begin. Nothing startling, but just my wee bit of Olympic patriotism.

Thanks for looking.



Sunday 12 August 2012

A Nightmare...

Well, I can't say this is my favorite tag ever lol but I gave it a go. This is for this week's challenge over at Dragons Dream, the theme this week was A Nightmare and the recipe was: a murder of crows, a blue moon and a chill wind.

Panic to start with as I have nothing crow related at all, and how the heck do you create a chill wind, in this department I failed miserably! Anyway, I got ink for my printer  and printed off a few images and ended up with this. I went very literally with 'the murder of crows' (I've just go to hope I'm not offending anyone) as you can see, blue moon, well that speaks for itself doesn't it, although I had planned doing something with the song but had no idea what, so dropped that idea, I only wish it was as easy to drop the song from my head! The chill wind? A bit of a cop out with small orange clouds drifting across the sky.
 NOW! I didn't think his through too well! I start back to work in the school tomorrow after a glorious five weeks off...but my fingers now look like this! Ooops!
Thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog, it is very much appreciated. X

Wednesday 8 August 2012

WOYWW 8th August

Well I've had quite a week, got a new delivery of Dylusions inks and after seeing how organised  everyone is over at Stamping-ground blog, showing 'whats on your workdesk wednesday ' I decided to try and organise myself more. I retrieved this unit that I was puting to charity shop but decided to hang onto it for a bit just in case. I am glad I did as it has now lifted all the inks and small amount of ink pads off my workspaces onto the wall.

So now I have a slightly easier to access workstation. I've been busy on my art journal, producing pages that I love and pages that I'm not so keen on, but then that's art for ya!

Spent the afternoon blog browsing and WOW craft work area envy on so many of the blots on WOYWW. Loving looking, but don't think I have time to get round them all. Just plucking a name outta the air and look, drool over the stash, envy the work area and swoon over the work. Such fun seeing what everyone else is working on each week.


Monday 6 August 2012

Art Journal - I couldn't aspire...

A journal entry about people who don't imitate anything, produce nothing, the lhs is a representation of someone not so glamorous trying to imitate Marylin Monroe, and giving it a dammed good shot, the rhs is the quote from Salvador Dali.

Turquoise and white paint, Dylusions bubblegum pink ink, old book Page, music notes and base clef dies stencilled through. Cut outs from magazines.

Thanks for looking.

I hate my own writing, but think, most probably most people do.

Saturday 4 August 2012

Art Journal, 'Dont worry?

I created the background to this yesterday having no idea whatsoever what I was going to do with it... Then I decided on the safe option and produced this. Love the background, but the actual pages I feel, are a let down. I seen a Page somewhere about the person worrying...I think that should be one of my next pages as I worry for Britain! LOL at THIS quote telling me not to worry!!
At the same time I did this tag for The Stampman Challenge Celebrations.
Dylusions dies, handmade stencil, nestabilities, Marianne Design leaves and English roses dies, swirl stamp, lady stamp.