WOYWW & other stories ...

Good morning all you WOYWW'ers ..if your not a woyww'er, you've obviously not been to Stamping Ground hosted by the lovely Julia.
I admit I'm cheating today & am actually writing this last night lol ..if that makes sense :D I find there's often enough happening here, trying to get 3 kids off to school so this is one job I can do when it's a little less frantic lol !
So on my workdesk today is a pile of Mini books, ready for the mini book workshop on Friday ... some still need some tarting up but I'm getting there !
There's also a small art journal, pages painted up ready for the next layer .. other than that it's probably the same as last weeks lol, I've not really tidied up since then !
I'll visit as many of you as I can when I get back from the school run & dog walk, over a nice cup of coffee and some toast, let me know if you want some too ...
thanks for visiting me today x

50th Birthday card

I mentioned last week that I'd made as requested by the teachers a card for one of the TA's at school for her 50th birthday, but I couldn't show it to you incase she saw it lol .. so today I thought I'd share it with you ...

I had a piece of Bronze coloured card from the school to use as my base as they wanted it to be a large card from them all, So I used my Tim Holtz Sizzix dies, the flower & the birdcage, I distress inked some card for the flower and mixed it with the bronze card and some of Tims lovely papers, I used buttons for the centres of the flowers and added some beaded trim to the bottom of the birdcaqe. I used a bundle of real twigs for the flower stems, bound together with some wire, and a strip of 7 Gypsies gaffer tape along the bottom.
The background was created with distress inks (that makes for a change then lol)and some paper artsy stamps.
Basically I just had real creative fun playing with it :D
Thanks for stopping by x

Mini Paper your Nuts class :o)

Well it says it all in the title lol .. a paper your nuts mini class :D
This is something that myself & Linda Elbourne saw in America when we went to Ranger U together, they were in the craft store Micheals & were quite expensive so me & Linda decided they were something that we could definately reproduce at very little expense back home!

So start off by either going to your local hardware store (or your other halfs garden shed or garage .. wherever he keeps his stash lol) and grab yourself a handful of these babies :o)


Then you need to tear up some bits of an old book, or some newspaper. (really small pieces are good here)



Using glossy accents randomly stick on the pieces of paper to the nuts


Then using some distress ink (I used walnut stain) rub a little onto the paper using some cut'n'dry foam & voila you should have some papered nuts :D .. excellent embellishments for book rings or as charms on the ends of fibre ... on a blokey card on a wire .. anything, anywhere .. hope you have fun :D (you can also do this to metal washers too)

WOYWW

Having had a bit of a break from blogs etc over the summer I am now back with vengeance lol, I have 'pimped my blog' with new buttons for online mini classes, Workshops and a gallery ... I've updated my links tab and dusted down my keyboard in the process :D .. I've finally swapped my Apple Mac computer which I couldn't get on with for a PC with a huge memory etc that works really quickly and has made my life soooo much easier :D
On my WOYWW today you will be able to spy an Art Journal amongst other things, that's because I succumbed to some more of Dyan's collage sheets and they're so lovely I can't resist playing with them :D
I'll post a picture of the page when it's completed ...
There's also a pile of metal embellishments, some 7 gypsies Industrial Gears which just fell into my hands last time I went shopping at Jamies Artist Trading Post lol :D some paperartsy stamps that I love and well a whole array of everything else in between too !
If you wonder why I'm sharing this information with you, you obviously don't know what WOYWW is .. well pop over to Julia's to find out :D x

It's all starting to take shape !

Finally ! I have worked out how to make buttons that link to my workshops, my gallery and my online mini classes, next is to set up my Etsy shop, and add more images to the gallery , but this is at least more than a start .. Hurrah !
Here is a sneaky peek at something that is soon to come :

This is one of the projects I've done for Etsy, though I have also done a couple of Mini Classes for the blog from it too, so look out for those !
I've done a card for the school, but I daren't show it to you just yet as it's not the persons birthday until Thursday, so I'd better wait & show you later in the week :o)

Vintage printers tray with curiosities ...

Did my husband want a vintage printers tray filled with curiosities for his birthday ? I have no idea, But yesterday he got one that I had made him. Here it is :

I got the tray from Artist Trading Post, (I don't believe that they are on the website because of the carriage .. but if your willing to pay a carriage charge then I'm sure Jamie would post one out to you .. give him a ring :o) )
I filled it with all sorts of paraphenalia, war medal, 2nd WW bullet casings (rich is into war history) there are some metal detector finds old coins etc, there are old bottles some with their original contents still in them, there are some very old glasses in a little leather case, all kinds of things that we managed to find :) .. and there are still plenty of spaces to add more things too.
I papered the backgrounds, each individual piece was cut out then inked with walnut distress ink, all the items (if more valuable & might want to get them out again are stuck in with glue dots, and the no value stuff is adhered with Glossy accents.

Then just before Rich's birthday we had been away in Spain for 12 days ... I took an art journal with me to play in, I tried to do the backgrounds before we went & took just one small folder of images, 1 gluestick & my art journalling pens to finish off the pages.
Here are some of them so far ...

Altered Book workshop

Finally I've made it back to my computer to update my blog, this is what happens when the kids all break up from school & I feel that perhaps I really ought to do 'those' jobs that I avoid most of the time, we spent 4 hours yesterday, washing, drying & Ironing the backlog of clothes, & at the same time getting the boys to try on everything in their wardrobe, Sas did hers at the same time & we now have a good 4 bags of clothes for charity ... another good job done !
So back to the business in hand, I ran an altered book workshop on Tuesday, with 10 lovely ladies attending we had a full house & a very messy table ( for those of you who read my blog you'll know I find the messy table bit hard lol)

We did hand print opening pages, we made windows, opening doors, pockets & Niches & several different ways of folding the pages to add interest. We tried gesso'ing the pages out & leaving the type showing.

We got VERY messy but had fun playing with Colour washes from Ranger, Spray Inks from Dyan at Art from the heart, Distress Inks, Claudine Hellmuth studio line paints, Dabbers and piles of collaging materials.
The ladies were alot of fun, we had some of a younger generation along to play too, (thanks for coming Jo, Amy & Alex) :o)
BEtween them all they created some beautiful pages, I was suitably impressed with all of them & their first attempts at altering a book, (apart from Sue who has already altered a book :o) ... Even Bernice who wasn't at all sure about ripping pages out of the book before we started got into the swing of things & even started a second book when she got home, Blimey !

So from left to right we have Bernice, Jayne, Amy, Trish & Jo.

and from right to left we have June, Jenny, Alex, Halina and Sue

And here is my lovely daughter Saskia making tea & coffee for everyone ! She came along to help out for the day :D

Here's Jo with one of her pocket pages

This is the very talented Trish with her window pages ,,
Here is Amy (Trish's daughter) with her handprint pages
Here is Jayne with one of her lovely backgrounds ..

Here's our resident workshopee Bernice ...

And June with her gorgeous Opening doors page

Halina on the left & Alix on the right with their fabby pages,

Jenny with her lovely page ,,,

And last but certainly not least is Sue (sue is my most brilliant Mum xx)

A trip to IKEA = a re-organisation of my space !

Well, I did say I was going to IKEA yesterday, & a good time was had by all. I got a few more bits and bobs for storage, so today I tidied, organised & even whizzed round the studio with the hoover ... yes really the hoover :o)
So in honour of my smart new space & bits of storage & the fact that I really want to play now, and infact have been doing here is the evidence :




The CJ page is not finished yet, I will post a finished picture tomorrow, it's busy drying at the moment :o)
Have a great weekend x

WOYWW ...

It's that time of week again already, Last weeks scrapbooks for teachers were a success, in fact the letter one of them wrote me to thank me made me cry (again, but that's another story lol) ... needless to say it was an emotional week & I was glad to see it end !
Since last week I really haven't had time to do a thing, Monday & Tuesday were spent cleaning & tidying and sorting out the Boys bedroom, a job Loooong over due, 10 bin liners of just 'stuff' , and 8 storage boxes of unwanted toys later we can now see their floor, walk in one continuous line from the door to the far window (bedroom is 22 feet long to give you some size of scale) ... without any hops, skips or jumps to avoid things strewn haphazardly everywhere, no cursing because you've trodden on something, no near leg breaking as you slide along the floor on a discarded magazine, enough was enough & the dirty deed has been done, hence no playing for poor old me :o( ... Still today I am going to be decorating their room & then tomorrow we are heading off to IKEA I'm sure there will be some little treats hidden in that trip for me :o)
So here is my desk, not a lot happening except the Hearts CJ that I really NEED to get done for next Tuesday when I shall be giving it to the Host Bernice at my next workshop :o) If you have no idea why I'm sharing my desk with you then you need to visit the lovely Julia's page HERE
So I need to off & get on ! ... thanks for stopping by, will be visiting you all over the week ! take care x

Art Journalling ...

Well it's the day all 3 kids break up from school & after an emotional 'leavers' week I was ready for a break so today I took one, I went down to a local bistro 'the bridge' and spent 2 hours art journalling over coffee :o) ... it was SO restoring, and I loved working in there, perfect place to watch the world go by & journal .. WILL be doing that again !!
Here's what I got up to .. Hope you like what I did with your ink sprays Dyan (obviously this was pre-done at home lol :D) will add a link later for these but my hair colour really needs washing out now !

WOYWW ...

Good morning :o)
Ok this is about as messy as I can bear to let my desk get, but as you see I have completed the 3 teachers leavers presents, the smaller two items are going to school today & the bigger scrapbook is going tomorrow ... so Jobs a good 'un !
So next job is to clear my desk to start prepping for the altered book workshop that we have in a couple of weeks time, unless I succumb to the pile of housework that has been calling my name ever since I got back from Ranger U, seems almost pointless with the kids breaking up on friday, but if I don't do it now it will be harder with them at home making more mess I suppose ... Hmmm maybe I'll do some house work & some playing .. there that sounds like a plan ! Have a good wednesday x (oh & if you wonder why I'm sharing my mess with you well here's where to find out more : HERE

A few projects Old & New

WOYWW ...

Gosh it's a week sgo already since my first Woyww, this week I've been busy trying to get an album done for a teacher who is leaving school after 17 years, she teaches my son a the moment & I came up with the idea & well it snowballed ..so here we are 40 + photo's and 40 page sides later .. project nearly done, it's only taken a couple of days, just need to trim it up now & embellish & tab etc ... then there's one more smaller album to do for another leaver and a tryptich for another leaver ... oh the joys :D
Can't wait until there's time just to play ! Still then I suppose the kids will be broken up & all 3 will be up here with me ..yippee lol
Right I shall go & post this, If you've no idea what WOYWW is then visit Julia HERE and join in the fun, my blog hopping may have to wait until later as I've a busy day lined up, school run, dog walk, workshop prep for tomorrows creative card workshop, get Welly's for my DD, tidy ds'sx2 bedroom as it looks like something out of a ww2 bomb raid .. so I will be back as soon as I have some time and a cup of coffee in hand ..see you there x

Sunday, Sunday ...

How naive can I get .. thought I'd have some quiet time in my studio whilst Rich & Cory were at Cricket Nets, No such luck lol .. Saskia & Brody have kept me company all morning ! But I have given them both an art journal to play in & this is what has been produced so far :
Brodys background on his first page : (he's 7 years old)

Then here are Saskia's 1st two pages .. more are rapidly following lol (And Sas is 13 years old)


And whilst they were doing that I was busy making cards ready for the workshop later this week ...(still a few places left I believe)
Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday x

WOYWW

So here I am .. my first WOYWW ,,,, thought it was about time I joined in ! ..as you can see on my workdesk there is a pile of Altered Original Ink sprays, The Gorgeous DYAN from Art from the Heart sent me this lovely lovely pressie yesterday ... what a treat ! ..I'll post again later as soon as I've had a chance to play and show you what I got done !
If you don't know what woyww is then visit Julia HERE

I'm also in the middle of making a couple of pages in a CJ I'm involved in, this one's theme is Hearts.