There and Back Again To see How Far It Was !!!

A bit of a short post as life has been rather hectic in our household. I have driven over 1000 miles in the past couple of weeks doing workshops and demonstrations. All of which has been great fun and I have met some genuinely interesting people. I have also had a request to go to Barcelona - but we will have to think about that one!!
I'm looking forward to spending some time in my own craft space doing something for myself. Till then I'll leave you with some 'beginner's cards' from a recent christmas demo

TFL
Annette

SORRRY NO PHOTOS YET BLOGGER IS NOT PLAYING BALL gggrrrrrr

Things That Go Bump In The Night!!

Yesterday it was our daughter's birthday and we had a party at home. For those that know, my husband is a magician and he spent the afternoon turning the home into a wonderland of fairy lights and balloons for his daughter.
We spent a lovely evening celebrating but spent the night looking for something going BUMP in the night as our mad cairn terrorist dog just kept barking, AND BARKING. Normally she is so good and got up several times through the night to see what or who the problem was. It was only when my daughter removed the balloons from the corner of the room at 7.45 this morning, we realised that the helium balloons must have been moving about and falling to the floor throughout the night. That's what the dog had been barking at.






I'm looking forward to a quiet night tonight!

Annette

BOO!!

The Elusive Images Design Team are having a bit of a Blog Hop this week and have been using the newly released Halloween Stamps. I made a little simple canvas that I shall use to hang on the door to our cave when we have our Brownie Halloween Bash in October. I also know that some of the DT ladies have blog candy to giveaway so go hunt it down and say Boo to some of the crew....

With One Sheet of Paper

Can you believe that anyone could supply a sheet of paper with sssooooooo many colour ways that it allowed you to create a card without the need to hunt through the rest of your stash for that perfect matching piece of paper. To be fair any of the gorgeous Artylicious CD's will give you that finish and they are available here.
The letters were cut using a cuttlebug alphabet and the finishing ribbons were again from Graphicus.

Looking forward to meeting all those going to the Crafters Paradise Retreat on Friday - Excitement Building yet???!!!

Happy Stamping
Annette

Cackles, Coverns and Craft....

I don't know what the weather has been like where you are but for the past two days we have been sporting fleeces and feeling that autumnal evening chill. Still no time for discussing the weather - this weekend is going to be a busy one as Graphicus are having the Open Days on Friday and Saturday. I've been up to the shop this week and there are some new 'GORGEOUS GOODIES' to temp you. I did spy some rather lovely prima flowers and thought immediately of a use for them. There will be demonstrations all weekend - Glenda, Lynne, Judith, Lesley and myself and Jean Hardy from Crafty Individuals will be there on Saturday. I did hear 'Halloween' mentioned - cackles, coverns and craft - will we ever live that down! Anyway it would be lovely to see you there.

Take Care

Annette

Secrets of The Deep

We saw this life sculpture on a recent trip to The Baltic with my Brownies. I have to say I was impressed at her ability to crowd control using only her eyes. The Mermaid also started a new trend in an old game of 'statues' - amazing how those traditional games keep making a comeback. Anyway the costume and make up were amazing and the quote of the night had to be from one of my Brownies who asked a silent mermaid 'can you get eyeshadow like that at Boots?' The silence of the Mermaid said it all.



In homage to the Mermaid I made this card from an A5 themeplate from Elusive Images called 'Mermaid Queen'



She was stamped with Memento Paris Dusk and coloured in with a selection of copic colours. Glamour Dust and distress stickles added the sparkle and some rock candy crackle added a little dimension to the sea floor. She does have two other themeplate friends and I'm hoping to post something from them soon.

Happy Stamping

Annette

Meet Robin Hood - minus the tights !!!!

As a special thank you to those ladies who shared in a very raucous Altered Book Workshop at Graphicus last Friday I found this photo of the Infamous Robin Hood. Apparently the tights caused some degree of friction (on the knee) and had to be replaced with trousers. Also (according to Robin Hood) it is difficult to keep magic tricks in tights. There was and is absolutely no
comment(s) that can be made. No doubt Hinge and Brackett M.B.E. may have something to add.

On a different note - it's been announced - the new Elusive Images Design Team have responded to the call and new members have been found. If you click on the logo at the side you can visit their blogs and say hello.

Happy Crafting

Time shall not be my master

In our house there have been so many comings and goings over recent weeks that I think I have caught myself coming back several times. I have been enjoying activity weeks in schools, visited The Baltic with 2,800 Brownies, Guides and Rainbows to celebrate the Centenary, and prepped for workshops and classes.

Mike and I have been like ships that pass in the fog - not seeing each other for any length of time makes you realise how much you enjoy those brief 'coffee break' moments.

On the crafting front I have decided to think of our house as living, evolving sculpture / work of art. Seeking to find beauty in chaos - Charlotte has become addicted to copic markers and has 'large' projects on the go which cannot be moved under any circumstance. Nathan seems to have become the voice of Piccasso and I found some interesting art work - everything drawn within circles which has given him some artistic confidence in his abilities.

I do have lots of bits and pieces to show for my efforts but will leave you with a card from my favourite plate of stamps at the moment.



The stamp is from Patchwork Butterfly - A4 theme plate available here. The background is crushed olive distress inked white card which was then cuttlebugged and those Martha Stewart Punch around the Page sets are fantastic.

Enjoy the wet weather - believe that the sun will come out tomorrow!
Annette

It Looks Like the Eiffel Tower....

That was yesterday's response when my son got to see the amazing work of the surgeon who has spent the past three weeks reconstructing his arm after he had a bicycle accident. He is now sporting plates, screws and wire and the arm is healing but it does remind you of the Eiffel Tower.

For me crafting has had to take a bit of a back seat - although my ideas book is filled with things to get my teeth into once we are back to some normality. I have become a scribe as DS cannot write - We have been working on a Shakespeare project, putting together a 16th Centuary Tour Guide for The Globe Theatre. I have been slightly distracted having spent an evening cutting and gluing a model globe theatre together. Then I find I have become slightly obsessed researching theatre costumes and have found some inspiring patterns and colourways from fabric designs - again they have gone into my ideas book... more importantly after helping with some maths homework I ( thirty years later ) understand the concept of using brackets with numbers!!



On a different note the Dog At War is still on guard duty and has successfully seen off the jackdaws. The unrepentant birds have taken to low level fly pasts and dive bombing. Up on the roof a second family of sparrows have moved in and are to be found sitting in judgement on the guttering - totally unaware of the 'no fly' zone the dog has put around the garden...to be continued

Annette

Design Team Call

Have a good look here it comes highly recommended !!!

They will be happy to answer any questions.

Annette

Birds on the Roof

In true 'spring watch' fashion we have been making sure that the bird feeder in the garden is well supplied with sunflower seeds, fat balls etc. Yesterday, the jackdaws paid a visit and amazingly worked out how to lift the bag of peanuts off the hanger and fly off with them. The dog, it would seem, has taken this as a declaration of war and has now taken up guard duty under the bird feeder - much to the disgust of the blue tits. These birds are now annoying the dog by sitting in the tree happiliy chirping..... and the jackdaws have taken up residence on the roof to the greater annoyance of the dog...... it could be a long summer here !!!

Meanwhile indoors I managed to play with a few bits and pieces. I used Clarity stamps, Wild Honey / Rusty Hinge distress inks - all available from Graphicus

Where does the time go...

It's only been about six weeks since I last blogged but I cannot believe all the things I have accomplished..............
travelled to Harrogate
travelled to Kent
travelled to Birmingham NEC
workshops in Barnard Castle, Consett, Carlisle
travelled to Manchester
flew to the Dominican Republic
sailed to Tortola - my most favourite place in the world to date
sailed to Antigua
sailed to Dominica
sailed to St Lucia and boarded a pirate vessel
sailed to Jamaica
sailed to Barbados
sailed 2,631 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean
flew home to be greeted by my husband and son bearing gifts at the airport - they had made a cricut sign with my name on just in case I had forgotten my name.
I have met some amazing people with stories to tell, made new friends and spent too much time laughing. It is easier to laugh when the sun shines!! Hope the sun is shining for you.

Back into the techno era - at last

How exciting - this is my first opportunity to play with my lovely new lap top that arrived last week but with working at Stitches, Birmingham and the opportunity to demo Crafty Individuals products at Pins & Needles, Newcastle I haven't had time to give it an outing. So here goes....
It was lovely chatting to you all at Newcastle - Jo wanted to know if we actually got any crafting done at our workshops after she spoke with you all !!! You know who you are Jackie! (lol)
Here are a small selection of crafty individual samples





Get those crafty fingers working this week!

TFL

Annette

The Rumours Are True

GRAPHICUS ARE HAVING AN IN SHOP SALE

No pictures....But...

Once again there is nothing to 'show' and it may have been a bit quiet but honestly I have been busy - those ladies who came to the cricut workshop at Graphicus will have seen some of the more recent projects - I appear to have an addiction to all things in a frame. I found some gorgeous pine 16 x 16 frames and have been challenged into using them to create some wall art.
Another new addiction is vinyl - I now have some lovely owls watching over us from the kitchen window in assorted sizes.
I have to say that I actually do very little crafting for myself so this year I have commissioned myself to making some 'arty stuff' for me.
My newest addition is a melt pot - a birthday present from my DH at the weekend - so far only one burnt finger!! the dog barked as I was concentrating and made me jump!!
Take Care
Annette

Welcome To The Ice Age

Can you believe it one day you are in temperatures averaging 94 and the next it's -7 at Gatwick. I have to confess that since I came home I haven't seen any 'green' just white, white and more white. Amazingly though I do like the way everyone's garden looks as good as mine!! Also I have seen some stunning icicles hanging from churches, homes and sheds. They do look lovely twinkling in the sunshine. The caribbean was as good as last time and this time we painted the masks with the Viva pearlescent paint and they looked fantastic under the lights with feathers flowing and gems sparking.
I now have to get back into work mode and have been busy prepping for the cuttlebug and cricut classes next week at Graphicus - looking forward to seeing you all there.
TFL
Annette