Wednesday 25 February 2009

You'd Love Eze

Here I am in France staying with my sister for a week - so I won't be creating anything but have already taken about 200 photos!Of course most will be deleted post haste! Yesterday we visited Eze, a lovely village on a hill and then went to watch the night-time carnival parade here in Nice. All of you would have loved Eze - so pretty and picturesque. So we are quite tired today and will just mooch around Nice. Here are a couple of photos - just to keep my blogging up to date.

Thursday 19 February 2009

Crocus Vernus

The garden always looks so untidy before I get round to giving it its first spring clean of the year. Dead plants, leaves and lots of fallen twigs litter the ground. Happily there are the early spring flowers, snowdrops, crocus, primulas and daffodil leaves and buds to prick my conscience and push me into starting the gardening year - although for real gardeners October/November is the real start of planning for the year ahead, and if I was a real gardener too I should have a greenhouse full of plants waiting for the spring rush. Needless to say - I haven't!

Monday 16 February 2009

Cuttlebug'ed

I've taken the plunge and bought my first die cutting /embossing machine! After much deliberation went for the Cuttlebug - (1) because I found a good deal on the internet, and (2) it folds up and so takes up less of my tiny workspace. I am really pleased with it so far and have been busy making some use of it over the last 24 hours. I made these post-it note holders for my nieces and the little 'matchbook' notepads for my ex-colleagues, all of whom I will be seeing this week. Needless to say both ideas are copied from creative crafters I've found on the internet. I've adapted them a little - I used the chipboard that comes as a stiffener on lots of items instead of coasters for the post-its and just covered it with papers that came free with a craft magazine. I embossed the paint sample cards and of course used my beloved scallop circle punch copiously on both projects. I may have to take another trip to B&Q to collect some more colour samples soon!


NOW - I'm must thank Jeanette "here" (thank you very much for your kind help Jeanette) for giving me instructions on how to insert a link into my blog..... so I'm trying it out here and here to show where instructions for both projects can be found. Fingers crossed I've done it correctly!

Hooray, hooray - it works!!!!

Friday 13 February 2009

Farmer's boy

This page was sparked by the wonderful BBC2 series Victorian Farm. Although these photos were taken in the 1930s, farming had not changed too much as you can see from these scenes. These tiny photos (they are only about 1" x 2") were taken when the family had a farm near Llanrwst and Dad worked for his Father.

The main picture uses a clipping mask by Vinnie Pearce at Oscraps. You can't see properly here but I've added a watercolour filter in Photoshop to all the photos, except the one of Dad, and a freebie colour caste action by Taylormade to pull them all together. I erased the edges with a large brush to give the collage effect. The background paper and clock face are from the Creations 23 kit again. Got to get my money's worth from it!

Haven't done much papercrafting this week. On Wednesday we had a trip to the passport office in Liverpool to renew my son's passport - what a rip-off that is... almost £100 with the travel costs added. I hadn't been to Liverpool for years and it was hard to recognise it, so much has been rebuilt. I admit the day was cold and overcast but all the new build seems so grey and bleak. There were still touches of the Liverpool I knew 35 years ago though - when I lived and worked there. I like this photo of the fruit and veg stall. Unfortunately I couldn't photograph it "head on" as there was a bin and rubbish bags in the way. The Bluecoat Gallery was still there too - somewhere I often used to visit.

Monday 9 February 2009

Another memory page

Here's another page about my childhood - I seem to be harking back to the past a lot lately - must be my age! Nothing fancy on this one. Just sticking things one on top of the other. I used the Creations 23 kit from Oscraps again and a couple of bits from Sande Krieger's Altered Elements at 2Peas in a Bucket.

Friday 6 February 2009

Up 'til late!

Stayed up till all hours doing this page - I couldn't leave it alone and then deleted half the layers in the end! I found an amazing digikit on Oscraps called Creation 23 by Createwings Designs and Catherine Designs. It's stuffed full of fabulous scraps and papers in just the altered art style that appeals to me - and there was 20% off! It was a bit more expensive than kits I usually go for but there's so much in it - at least 3 average kits worth. Haven't used a lot of it here though - just the numbers and background paper. The embroidered flowers were a freebie from Oscraps and the eyelet paper from 2Peas.

Thursday 5 February 2009

Walk in the fields


I took my favourite walk yesterday as it was a lovely day and the forecast was for more snow today (its snowing just a bit at the moment). I love watching the seasons turn and there are already signs of spring on the way. Saw these lovely hazel catkins in the hedges and the snowdrops in the garden are fully out now. I feel another digital scrap page coming on!

I found another great blog - there are so many out there to inspire when you don't have inspiration yourself! Its Jeanette's and she's quite close to where I live (well only an hour away so it seems close!) and I like that. She's giving away some great Stampin Up stamp sets as 'blog candy' and I'm entering the draw. Hope this is how you do it - the link is:

http://jeannettespages.blogspot.com/

I wish I knew how to do that thing where you type 'here' and the link is on the word! Jeanette has posted some lovely digital scrapbook pages too.

Wednesday 4 February 2009

Zakka Sewing


I'd like to share this fabulous book which has really fired me to start sewing again. The projects are really inspiring and are beautifully presented. I can't make up my mind what to start first! Just look at the elegantly simple design of this squirrel teacosy. There are 25 equally unique projects that would make perfect gifts for friends and family. I love this cosy for a digital camera. In Japan everything needs a cover - especially electronic equipment. And there's a sweet story that goes with it: "on rainy days Japanese children are encouraged to make a little white doll that looks like a ghost. Called teruteru-bozu (sunshine boy), the doll is hung in the window as a charm to make the rain stop so the children can go out and play." You can see him on the right of the cosy. How cute is that!
I bought the book on Amazon as their delivery is so quick, but I've seen it on ebay too. I googled Zakka and there's tons of information out there if you are inspired too.

A Quick and Simple Card



I haven't posted anything for a few days and feel a bit guilty - but that's why I started this blog... to make me make things; so its working. This is a simple card but I really like the design - which I've copied from a video on Dawn Griffiths' brilliant US website 'Dawn's Stamping Thoughts'. It would have been even quicker if I had the square punch she uses in the video. You could also use a circle punch for a different look.
As usual the photos could be better!

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