'What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday 30 October 2007


Don't know whose bright idea this was (?!?) but I've just finished my tags for the above swap 'with a twist'. The twist was that we had to stamp someone on the tags, give them a name beginning with the letter we were assigned, then write a paragraph or two on the back, describing a moment in time for that person, fitting as much as we could into the paragraph.......... suffice it to say it took me ages to do my own!! It was like being back in school - fun, though and the other participants' tags are wonderful - some funny, some a little bit naughty and some plain incredible!
I've uploaded both my completed tag and the 'nude' tag before stamping the main images. And here's my paragraph - or two.............

Odette
Almost breathless with excitement, she carefully put on his favourite dress, after bathing in water heady with his favourite perfume.
The talk of the village, she was a mysterious young widow, virtually a recluse since the death of her husband. Suddenly, she was being seen again in the company of a tall, dark, handsome stranger. She tried not to dwell on the hurtful words which had reduced her to tears when she read them in the local newspaper. Instead, she allowed herself the luxury of contemplating the evening ahead, when she would once more feel complete, even if only for a short while.
Small minded people would never be able to grasp the innocent truth; this was the love of her life - her son .........


Just finished these, so thought I'd upload. The book pages were coloured with the home made Glimmer Mists. In timely fashion, the challenge for this week's Theme Thursday is script, so this is my entry.

Thursday 25 October 2007

Thought I'd upload a card I made a while ago. This was one that I really enjoyed. I've been reorganising the craft room since the show - but there isn't enough space and I can't find things as easily yet. I haven't stamped in it yet, since it was done, but today's the day I need to do that........ watch this space!

Friday 12 October 2007





We now have blank coasters in stock and here's a Coaster book I made, using the Bind it all. I covered each coaster with white or black card or paper, then stamped and embellished, keeping to a black and white theme. This one was fun to make.......... we'll have it with us at Port Sunlight tomorrow. I've sanded the edges again (with a nail file) since I added paint, so I'm going to touch those up now.
The theme is 'Into the Heart of a Child' - it's my favourite U2 song of the moment and was playing in my head all the time I was making it.

Monday 8 October 2007

Just made this for a friend. The text is 'Happy Birthday'.

I've had complaints that this wouldn't enlarge, so I'm uploading it again.

Sunday 7 October 2007

This one's the demo sample from the workshop. I think the technique shows up a little more on this one.

Friday 5 October 2007

I've given up on trying to fix this so I'm uploading it again, on its own - I bet it works now!

One of the dabbers was a little blocked and as it was one of the lights, I added a touch of water (you can do that with the Lights as for some reason, they seem to be a tad thicker than the other shades!) and gave it a good shake.............. of course it splashed over to where my completed WHITE card was sitting. Sod's law, eh? I had to redo it, quickly so I revamped it a little by adding more colour and shading to the trees and to complete it (or at least I think it does) added two of the JustRite mini Christmas stamps above the image. I was going to replace the original with it, but I thought I'd upload it again and let you decide which one looks better.................

Thursday 4 October 2007

That was the title for this weekend's workshop, so I've had a go today........

Had a great time with the Dabbers and made another background (ever get the feeling I LOVE backgrounds, LOL?) which I really like. It doesn't show up as well in the scans, which is a shame, as it's not often I'm really pleased with how something turns out but I really do like this.
I just dragged the dabbers (three or four colours) across the card, creating a dry wipe look, then overstamped in Adirondack ink in one of the colours I'd used, using Paperartsy Noel 1 Background. After it dried, I applied touches of Snowcap dabber to the same background, randomly (well, not so randomly as I highlighted certain words, like Noel, Plum Pudding, Christmas) and overstamped. I then used the backgrounds as I would have used Scrapbook papers and I like the effect. The first one I made was using pastels, so I thought I'd do one with some of the Brights, to show the effect. Not sure about it cos they're colours I wouldn't normally use, but you can decide. You need to enlarge it to see the real effect...... and there is no white on the background - that's the very pale lilac colour whose name escapes me just now - another senior moment! It won't enlarge for now, so I'll need to upload it again tomorrow - the joys of Blogger, eh?I did another card using the same background - pretty plain and boring - so won't upload that - and I also did a Christmas waterfall card. It's very plain and very simple, but that was the aim. I wanted to do cards which could be mass produced quite quickly. It looks crooked in the scan, but it isn't - honest injun!

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Can you see anything Christmassy about this? H'mm...... need to get my thinking cap on quickly. I really love classical type images and this one is just so romantic. I love historical fantasy literature, too, so it's right up my street. I've used one of the mica backgrounds - one I made later with a lot more Shabby Shutters ink and a mixture of blue and interference blue mica. The background and word images are Non Sequitur, but the main image is Pam Bell. All crooked images courtesy of moi.


Sorry I've not been around for a while - work does interfere with play now and again and, to be honest, my stamping room was so messy I couldn't face stamping in it and less still, tidying it!!
I tackled it Sunday afternoon and while it's still an absolute mess, at least I know where some things are and my stamps are back in the right places - for now.
Still haven't stamped though, despite having a workshop on Saturday for which I've prepared absolutely nothing. Can you hear the panic in my voice?????
Leandra rang this morning and it was so strange that she started talking about Glimmer Mists and other similar products and how she's been imitating them. She gave me the recipe so I've just had a quick play with them. You can see the results here http://www.katyscorner.org.uk/Experimentation.htm - I had to sharpen them to show the mica powder effects, but I hope you can see. The ones I've uploaded here are my favourite two.
Basically, you just add a small amount (I used the end of a spoon but I'd say around an eighth of a spoonful) of Gum Arabic and the same of Mica powder (interference powders work well) - use more Gum Arabic if you use more Mica Powder. Then add a pipette (they're already in the Distress reinkers) full of reinker or any inks, topping up with WARM water. Don't overfill, though or you'll end up with inks all over the place, as I did. Shake really hard, then spray..................