INKY FINGERS

I actually LIKE this one - a real rarity!!! Hope my friend likes it, too.

Stamps from ISC - http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/

Oops! Just realised the words are from Artistic Outpost - http://www.artisticoutpost.com/ - I've always loved that phrase, but I particularly love the font in this one.

The background's brayered glossy card, brayered over with Versafine Onyx Black, using a Fiskar's Mesh brayer, then clear embossed. I have absolutely no idea why Fiskars discontinued these. IMHO they're the best brayers ever to be made - perfectly weighted, making them easy to use, six inches wide, solid and I love the interchangeable rollers!!

This one's in the January issue of Craft Stamper, which should be out now, I believe.

I've been stamping a lot, recently but unfortunately, I can't show you most of it because it's for magazines. Thought I'd upload a simple (Birthday) card I made a couple of days ago, though AND a sneak preview of a couple of my projects. I love this image from ISC.

Katy' s Corner is finally closed. If you've been one of my loyal customers (and there are many) I thank you for your support - it's been wonderful to meet so many lovely people and there are some I will really miss.
I'm now trying to piece back the bits of my life I lost while eating, sleeping and breathing Katy's Corner over the last eight years - including finding a job or I won't be eating, let alone buying more Craft Supplies, lol!
Had a great day on Saturday, visiting Port Sunlight Stamp show and yes, I bought new stamps. What a joy to be able to buy stamps I personally like for the first time in years and not to have to work solely with the ones I sell - it was a delight, if somewhat expensive.
I had a Stamping Contrasts feature coming up and was chuffed to see one of my projects in print. Since I was still in business when I submitted, I can publish it here, which isn't the case with the ones I'm working on now - I'll have to wait three months before I can publish those online. So here it is...........

It's only simple - one of our tag book kits decorated with Adirondack dye and pigment inks, but it was one of those projects which is fun to do - I really enjoyed it! Image and words from Time to Stamp.

I hope to be more active on here as soon as I get a LOT of things sorted out, but will try to pop in from time to time until I have more time. I hope to be playing a little more in the next few weeks - just for fun and not cos I HAVE to :)

I'm sure he looked tattier when he was feeding young, but he's a real mess at the moment, with only two or three tail feathers and what appears to be a VERY painful leg! I noticed today that he slips in the wet and he's really struggling to stay on this branch - really sad.
Today's the 13 March and sadly, I think we've lost our little friend. It's over 3 weeks since I've seen him, now and the last time I saw him, his claw was withered. He hadn't been using his 'bad leg' for a couple of weeks, but was as feisty as ever, so I didn't suspect anything. The last time I saw him, he was at my feet, eating sultanas and fighting off anything that came within a foot or so. Unfortunately, we had a couple of nights of bad frost and I can only guess at what happened to him. I really miss him.

Been doing the Fat (Chunky) book swap I should have done at the end of May - shame on me - but doesn't life get in the way of things, at times? Anyway, I finally stamped and enjoyed it.
Now to think of something for the covers..... only 27 to do, then punching and binding!! Whose idea was this???

Lynne and I took a rare day out on Monday. We took the train to Liverpool and went to see the Klimt exhibition - wow! It's fab and I'd recommend it to anyone :) Such attention to detail and so much variation. I'm sure that most of you will recognise Nuda Veritas - much, MUCH more striking in real life, when you see the gold work, etc.

It's taken me a long time to get round to it but last month I was really taken by surprise by a lovely group of stampers. I'd been chatting to one of them and had shared how I was feeling when Mum and Dad left for New Zealand. To my surprise, a few weeks later an envelope popped through my door containing a load of fat book pages, complete with O rings and covers (left blank for me to decorate) to cheer me up!! I've just had a good look at it for the first time, really, with Stamp Camp and lots of other things which have been going on and I've put it together. Duh! Should have scanned or photographed it first :( It's really lovely and has a variety of artwork in it, but the best thing of all is that it was sent with so much kindness and thoughfulness. I'll do my best to get some piccies in the next week or so and upload it. Thank you, ladies. It really did (and does) mean a lot to me! You can see the girls' work here, at Lots to do Challenge Blog.

Just stamped some ATCs - phew! Thought I was never going to be able to do that again, even if they are very simple :)

Used Adirondack pigment inks (Lemonade and Watermelon) and Versafine, with stamped Krylon Gold pen over the top (on right). The darker one is embossed.

This is my favourite baby blackbird and she (I think it's a 'she' cos her tail's not darker than her body as some of them are) has NO fear! I worry for her for that reason, but I do enjoy it when she comes to visit. We were feeding the birds meal worms, saving them for our old friend, Scruff, but one day she found them and ever since then has come back to the back door, coming into the house or into the garage when the door's open. She's so entertaining. I'll post my favourite piccies of Scruff in a moment.

I'm still alive - honestly! Here are some of the clocks made by some of the Stamp Camp attendees - excellent work. These were all created with Adirondack Pigment inks and Gesso, using Grunge Board elements as stencils. We coated them with fixative, then put them through the Xyron, with repositionable adhesive, so they'd just wipe off, ready for the next person to use. This was my first (and only) play with Adirondack pigment inks and I have to say I love them. I've used mainly dye inks for the last few years, apart from the odd play with chalk inks and Brilliance, so it was a real pleasure to have something which blended so well and so easily. The inks flow on canvas and on paper and only need to be quickly blasted with the heat tool to make them permanent. Isn't it great to see how much variety there is? I love it when people all do the same project but the results are totally unique.
If you'd like to see more of the photos from Stamp Camp 2008, you can see them here. Artwork can be seen here, though I have more to upload.