what I have been working on.........

Well these were popped in a box to keep them safe, just wish I could find the other box, but if you have seen the recent posts about my Craft room progression, you will have some idea of the challenge I face in here. I have over 70 A4 storage boxes, so ideas as to where exactly the other samples are would be appreciated!

This disk officially launched on the 17th Nov but some of you would have been lucky to grab a copy at the NEC, and if you like steam punk then this disk is for you! So Pop to the Krafty Hands website and get yours!

 This one was one of the 6x6 Card kits. I created the shaker card base, then found the sheet of toppers that co-ordinated with the card , and the backing sheet. I made the easel box using some more of the backing card. And Each of the little 4x4 cards is slightly different, both in design as in the Shape the guys at Krafty Hands created, and what I then did to them! Some have ribbon, some are glazed, both with ordinary embossing powder and the Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint, Faux pearls using Cosmic Shimmer, dimensional glues, and 3d clear glaze. So quite a lot of work went into this project!

 Next a plain Shaker card, using one of the 6x6 card kits.

 The Photo frame is full A4 size, with Acetate behind the first layer of the open frame, distress crackle glaze and 3d glaze. The the cogs were cut on my New cameo!

This final one was one of the A5 card kits, and is a slightly offset A5 card, with Insert from the cd.

So if Steam Punk is your style, then pop over here and snag a copy for yourself. I'm not fab at Steam Punk, I freely admit, but some of my Teamies are excellent at it, so be sure to pop over to their blogs, if you are umming and ahhing about why you need this disk!!

okay lets see if I can get this in order?

Hmmn, this could be interesting! And warning this is very heavy on photos!!

Basically, steps are being taken in the slow process of converting this box bedroom, (No Darling Daughter you are not moving back in!) into a craft room!
So in the beginning we had..........................
This: Taken about this time last year.

 Then we added this:

then the white cabinet joined in.

 Then Dads cabinet added:

which meant the table shifted over to the other side.

and shelves between the two.

and this happened in the old built in wardrobe.

and the pc squeezed into place.

 Now we have this:

Loads of storage from Weston Boxes.

an added shelf in Dad's unit.Sorry secret stuff on the desk!

and the start of the transformation. White cupboard is underneath, Cameo on the work surface behind the Ottlite, and the lovely Linda Simpsons gift to me last year, of a paint fusioned paint brush box!

E-craft next to it, and storage underneath. The shelves have now moved to the top of the worksurface.

Even had to bring in a bar stool to sit on!

And finally the walk in wardrobe thingy! You know the bit over the stairs!

And all this is still a work in progress!! As the shelves are being built for under the work surface as I type, and the whole thing needs a coat of paint, room as well as the wood!

And this isnt the end of the house transformation!

Outside there is scaffolding, been there for 3 weeks, but instead of a Dingy Grey pebble dash, we now have a fully insulated home, thats a lovely white!

The loft is being emptied tomorrow, so the craft room will be full of boxes, and the new loft insulation goes down on Thursday! And the new roof? Well Shouldn't be long! as I cant see them paying out again for the scaffolding!

And just incase you are wondering my house is a Pre-fab. its been here for 60 yrs, 10yrs past its sell by date, and was 2 slabs of concrete and pebbles and wire in the sandwich, no cavity walls, so it was Blooming cold and Damp! Not anymore! 6" of polystyrene all the way round! And BOY is it warm!! 

On the card front I am busy but its secret stuff, sorry!

I will post when I get time!!

hugs

Lou

Not Crafty BUT useful to know

I havent posted for ages, as I have been busy making stuff to sell, or samples for companies, so am not free to show them.........YET but I am still here!
Okay some of my friends in the crafty world use pc's well, loads actually, but some dont know much about basic Windows computer care, so here is a self help sheet for those that dont know this stuff!
None of this should damage your pc! These are tools built into the system by Microsoft, and as such are there to help.
Here we go:

Right now, what you really should do is run a disk clean up, and a full defragment of the hard drive.

If I am insulting you by teaching you to suck eggs, I am sorry, but I have learnt it's not wise to assume:

So, I need you to click on the my computer icon, so you can see the main drives, C,D, and possibly your external drive. C is your main hard drive, and D is your cd/dvd rom drive normally, or your restoration points drive, then E-Z are external drives normally.

So when you can see pictures of all your drives, I want you to right click on your C drive, it will open a new menu, and go down to the bottom, and left click on Properties.

Next you get a box, with about 7 tabs, General,Tools, Hardware, Sharing, Quota, Security and Previous versions.

On general there is a box, under an image of the hard drive showing how full it is, so its called Disk Clean-up. If you have never done a Disk Clean-up before, then be warned it will take a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG time for it to give you a result. So LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG that you will think its not working!! BUT it IS!!! Eventually it will give you a box with some ticks in:

Downloaded program files: Safe to get rid off if you have moved the files else where! So put a tick in the box if they are safe to get rid off, leave it unticked if they are not!

Temporary Internet files: things that are stored on your pc everytime you visit a different site. If you have your passwords and login details stored by Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome, this will NOT get rid of them!! It just gets rid of "cookies" stored on your machine by lots of different websites, and are safe to remove, so put a tick in this box!

Game News Files: Dont know if this is on all machines, or not, but it's on mine, and a new addition since I upgraded to Windows 7. Generally safe to put a tick in this box!

Recycle Bin: again, generally safe to remove! As you have already "binned them" but you havent "emptied" the bin yet, and yes you do have to get rid of the rubbish, its just like filling the craftroom bin with paper, you still have to empty it! So put a tick in this box!

Temporary Files: Okay this IS NOT the same as Temporary Internet files, this is different! This is to do with the Installation of new programs generally. Basically the computer when it installs a new program, writes little notes to itself during the installation, "such and such goes here, this is the registration number" and so on, so you can put a tick in this box too, you don't need the notes anymore, the installation has finished.

Thumbnails: Now on Win 7 Windows automatically regenerates the thumbnail cache, every time you open a folder to vies picture, bearing in mind that these are thumbnails, and less than 50kbs, I am horrified to discover that I have 254MB of them! If Windows didnt want you to be able to delete them, and bearing in mind that every time you open a new folder, with pictures or videos in, it goes behind your back and writes the thumbnails as it finds them, its safe to assume that Microsoft dont have an issue with them being removed or it wouldnt give you the ability to remove them! So put a tick in this box!

Per-user archived Windows Error reporting files, well I dont have any on my machine, Yay! and again it wouldnt give you the option if it was going to damage the system, as Microsoft are very protective of their operating systems, so if you have any put a tick in the box!

System Archived error reports: Operative word, Archived, as in old information, that's probably already been reported back to Microsoft, where do you think all the updates come from? So put a tick in this box too!

And one that I know is on OLDER systems, Compress drive. I have been around Techies for years, I have had PC's since Windows '93, and the advice I was given, back when I had Windows '98 was DONT compress the files! Wether this is true for newer machines, I dont know, but until someone I trust tells me its NOT going to slow my system down, then I wont do it!

Now click and clean those old files off your system!

Next up, is the disk defragment: on the Tools tab of the properties box. This is useful! VERY useful!! Basically a computer does NOT write files in an order that makes sense! Imagine taking your local paper, opening it to the middle page, throwing all of them out of the window to the street below, then having to go down, collect all the pages up, and put them back in the right order so you can read the paper! Basically that's what you are doing EVERY TIME something new gets written to your hard drive! It doesnt go, "oh this is a group of files that belong together, so I'll put them all together here." No it goes, "Okay I have this picture, so where can I squeeze this picture in? I know I'll shove it in the middle of this lot! Right next I have this word document that goes with the picture I have just put in with the middle of that music file, so I'll put this document, in with the old rubbish that came from that webpage I visited 7 months ago, that she never went back to." And you wonder why the computer is slow to find stuff after a while?

so make sure your computer isnt going to go to sleep halfway through, click on defragment, and let the system put things in the proper places, thats what defragment does! Its the librarian putting all the books back in the right places on the shelves!

Hope that explains it in terms that make sense?

new challenge site

hi guys.

Well Krafty Hands has changed to blog format! So dont go looking for the new challenge on the website! this is the new address: http://kraftyhandschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

So to this months challenge, and the chance to win a £20 voucher to spend in the online shop for some physical goodies, instead of digi's!

I have to admit, that my current meds are making me feel as if I have had a goodnight out on the town, and I have never liked the feeling, so this post might not make sense!

heres the challenge for this month:

Christmas!
Rules use something bought from the fab tv stars at Kraftyhands, or something that is listed in their webshop .Anyone can enter our monthly challenges, the only criteria we have is that you must be a follower of our challenge blog, we know that taking part is 99.9% of the fun!

To be the monthly winner of the £20 Kraftyhands voucher, you must use at least one Kraftyhands or Crafter's Companion product in the creation of your challenge project.

That's as complicated as it gets!

Each month we choose 3 winners, the No1 winner will receive a £20 voucher to spend on the Kraftyhands webshop and the No1 winner's "blinkie", the other two winners will get a winner's "blinkie" for their blogs!
Heres my design team card:

This is a quick card page from the Team Santa cd.

The topper is decoupaged, which doesnt show in this photo, then sprayed with the Crafters Companion Spray and Shine, for some shine, obviously, see told you the meds are working, lol.

The background is using Imagination Sparkle Medium, Gold, and a Touch of Mica Snowflake mask.
A black base cardstock, the sparkled background, and then the green backing paper from the card kit, and the decoupaged topper, finished with a glazed greeting.

So there you go, my design card for this month, dont forget that this challenge runs until the first weekend in December, so pop over to the shop and have a butchers hook at whats on there, I can guarantee that even if you are USA based that you will find something you can use, so why not have a go?

hugs

lou

finally..............

Here's the last one from me for today, Hopefully you caught the shows, and have bought the yummy cds?

Now if you didn't order it, or dont do C&C then pop over here and grab the cds, they are so easy to work with!

breaking news

hey guys well if you missed all the excitement this morning, well they have added another hour NOW!
Go watch create and craft now!

cor I am spoiling you lot.............

okay here's another from today's show, just for the versatility of the cds:

Very Christmassy isnt it?

Well what did you think?

Come on guys, let us know if you saw the show, and wether you liked what we did or not?
Here's another one for you:

So did you see the greeting on the back? And did you guess what its made from?

erm excuse me......................

Why arent you watching the Krafty Hands show? Its on Create and Craft now, and if you go to the C&C website you can watch live no matter where you are in the world! So go on....Shoo!

here you go something else to tantilise the taste buds

Okay, hopefully you came here to see some new cards, made by Krafty Hands!
so here's something for you:

Now understand....I'm only showing you this because we are between shows!
If you're hunting for something to do while you wait for the next one.................... have a go at the Kraftyhands current Challenge you have until Saturday to make a card which features a charm. Dont forget that they stock a lot of products and I can guarantee that you will find something on the web shop that you currently have in your stash!! All you have to do is use something they stock, and incorporate a charm into the design, and you are in with a chance to win £20 to spend in theirshop on loads of yummy goodies!

its on..........................NOW

Well what are you doing here?
You should be watching Create and Craft!!!!! You can watch anywhere in the world so go away, come back at 10.30 for something new!!
Go look at the yummy goodies we created on screen now, with Krafty Hands!

hugs
Lou

countdown

Hi guys,

Well getting nervous now!
Will they show mine? Guess we will have to wait and see wont we!
So here's one for you

A pop-up and pop-down card!

Hmmn, well lets see if you caught the trick, ideas on how I did it?

To see this and more in more detail, you will have to tune into Create and Craft at 9am, and 11am today!
KraftyHands, Mike, and Ian, are making their tv debut today with this fabulous double cd!
More from me and my Teamies through out the day, hope you like what we created, and hope we inspire you!
in the meantime......................while we wait for the show to start.................................Also have a go at the Kraftyhands current Challenge you have until Saturday to make a card which features a charm. Dont forget that they stock a lot of products and I can guarantee that you will find something on the web shop that you currently have in your stash!! All you have to do is use something they stock, and incorporate a charm into the design, and you are in with a chance to win £20 to spend in theirshop on loads of yummy goodies!

Hugs

Lou

xxx

tv sneak peek 2 Krafty Hands

well, here's sneak peek number 2...............
Hope you like sneak peek number one?

 A set of stacking oval boxes. made from the New Kraftyhands double cd, Deluxe elegance, here's the link to it:

keep an eye out tomorrow, at 9am and 11am, as they have 2 shows! Their first ever on Create and Craft!
In the meantime...........................Also have a go at the Kraftyhands current Challenge you have until Saturday to make a card which features a charm. Dont forget that they stock a lot of products and I can guarantee that you will find something on the web shop that you currently have in your stash!! All you have to do is use something they stock, and incorporate a charm into the design, and you are in with a chance to win £20 to spend in their shop on loads of yummy goodies!

hugs

Lou

xxx

tv sneak peek Kraftyhands

Hi guys,

well I havent posted much lately, either I have been frantically making cards to sell, and they are Crafters Companion stuff which I cant blog, due to the licencing restrictions, or I have been making samples.

So here is sneak peek number one, just to whet the taste buds for the Show on Create and Craft on Wednesday at 11am......................

So dont forget to tune in on Wednesday at 11am, to see what myself and the rest of the Kraftyhands team have been up to!
Also have a go at the Kraftyhands current Challenge you have until Saturday to make a card which features a charm. Dont forget that they stock a lot of products and I can guarantee that you will find something on the web shop that you currently have in your stash!! All you have to do is use something they stock, and incorporate a charm into the design, and you are in with a chance to win £20 to spend in their shop on loads of yummy goodies!

hugs

Lou

Bloggerversary Winner

Well, I'm running behind schedule, as new Babys family are "Mum, Can you..............?" "Nanny, look!"
They're driving me NUTS!!
So today was no exception, here's me thinking, yes I can finally get a move on, and then remember that todays the day to go collect the new car, 2 weeks late, then of course daughter phones up"Mum, Can you.......?" and Grandson is "Nanny car? my seat? Boo-hoo!", son and his friend want running into Manchester and then picking up again, was late picking youngest up from school, then have to show hubby all the new things in the new car........................Think you get the picture!! So just sat down at the pc finally!!
So first off, ask Mr Random, okay sons friend, no relation, to randomly choose a number between 1 and 32 including 1 and 32, and he picks number 7!
Congratulations Pearl!
Can you email me your full name and address please hun, and I'll get it all of in the post to you, xxx
Right I really have to go sort out this craft room, and get some tv stuff done, and posted by friday so need to get a shift on, xxx

Bloggerversary

Well its nearing my first Bloggerversary, the 4 th October, so a very short post to promote my Bloggerverasy candy.
This will stay at the top until 14th October. And will be updated probably daily, as I add more to the pile, so keep checking back!!

I did one for my Birthday/mothers day, and sent off a huge box to the lovely Makka, such a sweetie, so as I am nearing the 1 yr mark, I think I had better start posting my intentions:

I have spent a bit of money these past few days, and stuff hasnt arrived just yet so I cant photo it.....
but currently, and this list will grow as things turn up:


Docrafts Christmas Time DVD rom
Docrafts  Timeless DVD Rom,
Serif Craft Artist Professional 2
Splodge Away A3 mat
Krafty Hands team Santa Elf stamp set
An Inkylicious Brush
FlowerSoft Snow Globes CD
My Craft Studio Crystal Sparkles CD
My Craft Studio Festive Deco Follies CD
My Craft Studio Papercraft Library Vol 8 CD
Crafters Companion Toreads CD,
50 sheets A4 Chocolate pearl card by Anna Marie, 300 gsm
Flowersoft Moments in Time Stamp Sheet
6 assorted unused Pro Markers
A Pinflair, Pink Fine Nozzle Syringe
A set of Toread decoupage
30 sheets of A4 220 Micron Acetate, film covered both sides


So if you fancy a chance at these and more, then add your link to the linky thing at the bottom, or send me an email if you dont have a blog, and I know some people dont to (pricefamily101(@)msn(.)com), just remove the brackets, and remember to check back to see if you have won on the 14th of October. It would be nice if you were a follower but I dont want people to follow unless you think my blog is something you are interested in. I was going to make it the 12th, one week after the bloggerversary, but my Granddaughter is due that day, so I'll be a bit cautious and say an extra 2 days when we have all got our heads back on straight! lol
I would also appreciate it if you would pass the word, on this occasion I will post world wide, but it may have to go by boat! lol
Good Luck,


Lou

A new Grand daughter the Pole Dancer

I must admit, I was hoping to have time to do some creating at this time, but I havent , and I have nothing to show, however, I have a New Grand Daughter, Alexis Deanna, born Friday Morning at 11.37 weighing 6 lb's 1 oz.
She was born by elective section, and Mum went and changed her name at the birth, so my plans went out the window, now I intend to do something completely different lol.
Both Daughter and Grand daughter have done so very well, that I have just bought them both home from Hospital! And even last week I would have said it would be at least 7 days before Mum was well enough to go home, but the Hospital have pulled out all the stops this time, having nearly lost her 3 yrs ago when my grand son was born. Oldham Royal Infirmary you are stars!! And my Daughter hasnt felt so well in over 3 years!
Now its time for me to relax, unwind, de-stress and get creating, the hard part is over, and the consultant has agreed to my daughters sterilization request after 2 children, aged 22, which is a massive relief! For 8 months I have been dreading the birth of my grand daughter, wondering wether her Mum would live through it, as has Mum herself, now we can all relax and enjoy the children without worrying!
So Thank you God for getting them both through this, xxx
Right dont forget my candy which ends tonight, so last chance guys to grab some proper goodies!
oh and here's a peek at the baby, my FG saw it and burst out laughing! She says she's going to be a pole Dancer! FG if she is we are passing her over to you!!

Dang IT!!!!!!

Now some one I know is rather naughty, no heads up, just sneaks things in under my radar, checking that I am keeping an eye on what she does! I wouldn't mind, but I always find these things embarrassing  And she knows it, don't you Linda, of Linda's Crafty Piece of Heaven? Stop sniggering woman!! I can hear you from here!!
Here I sit innocently trolling through the posts of all the blogs I follow, seeing what people have been up to, and come across her being given an award. Curiosity piqued I trot off to her fab Blog, for a nosey at what she's done now, and am enjoying myself, learning some old facts about her, yes Linda I knew those ones! And then right at the end is the Kicker!!!

Dont get me wrong, Linda is a fab mate, and a wonderfully generously hearted lady, and that's not confined to blog land, she really is that sickly sweet wonderful person in real life, who makes you wish you were that generous yourself! But you know that you fail miserably next to her. Wonder how pink she is now? How much redder can I make her? Dont let the accent fool you! She may have a Scouse Accent, but she has the heart of  Mrs Claus, a wonderfully warm and giving person, who deserves every good thing that comes her way, and boy are good things happening to her!! And she deserves every molecule of recognition that people now, and in the future will bestow upon her..............Maroon possibly? Only her hubby will know, lol,
So this is what she did to me!!!

Rules for this one.......

1. I am to publicly thank the people who gave them to me. Think I covered that one rather nicely, or do you want me to write more soppy stuff about you Linda? (Cow Bag!)
2. I am to share some information about myself, see the next section!
3. I am to nominate some of my favorite blogs At the bottom
4. I am to comment on their blogs to let them know I’ve awarded them. Will run off and do that as soon as I've finished here!

Rules for this one:
Answer the following Questions:

• Favorite color:  Is and always has been Purple
• Favorite animal: Sea Horse
• Favorite number: 13, always lucky for me
• Favorite drink: Coffee, give me Coffee!!
• Facebook or Twitter:  Facebook
• Good book or good movie: Read the book first then watch the movie! If there's a book about the film, I read the book first 
• Giving or getting gifts: I'm not going to lie: BOTH!
• My passion:  enjoyment! either creating enjoyment, or being the recipient of it!
• Favorite day:  Sunday
• Favorite flower:  Lavender

So Now who to pass these on to? Now this is hard, mainly because I know some very talented individuals, who are wonderful human beings, who don't have blogs, and I wish they did, so here's a list of their names, Jeanette, Daffodil, Smoffi.

That doesn't mean that there aren't multitudes of people out there who do deserve these awards, so my nominations finally are:

Lexie

Kate

And finally my last nomination is for a couple who run a blog, they always inspire me, and make me laugh, so my final nomination goes to The Gopher and The Boss, over st Sheena's blog!

Right hope she reads this and goes red with embarrassment!

Lol

Hugs

Lou

Finished!

Firstly dont forget my bloggerversary candy, available here, loads of goodies!

A day or so ago, I posted some pics of stuff I had made during the workshops at Harrogate GNPE, so I mounted one of the bits, and here it is,

 

This was made in Barbara Greys Clarity workshop on the sunday Morning, and is a brayered on Splodge Mat background, and using a set of Clarity Stamps created for the event. I must admit working on the splodge mat makes it a lot easier to get the most from your ink, eliminate the wheelie, and give a good blend.
I embossed a piece of Brown Core-dinations cardstock, with the New 6x6 dots embossing folder, and sanded it back, then added a gold organza ribbon, added a length of sticky gems down the ribbon, and added a small bow, of gold edged satin ribbon, coloured brown with a promarker, Caramel, to tie it to the back ground. I then simply Stamped the Stag from the Scotland kit in Memento onto some clear shrink plasctic, cut it out, punched a hole in his antlers, and heated it, attaching it to the centre of the bow with Jump rings.
I really like this card, such a shame my Dad's birthday was a few months ago, lol,

Hugs

Lou

A gift

Well I have been working hard on a sort of step by step project, and I dont see myself doing too many of this sort of thing, as waiting for things to dry isnt my strong point!!

This is actually a gift for one of my Aunts, as she is a huge Beatrix Potter fan, but she managed to hide it from most of the family for years, sorry Auntie Aileen your secrets out now!

here we go , heavy on photos:

So Mr McGregors Greenhouse, complete with Mr McGregor and flowers, and the Range. Both came from the Crafters Companion World of Beatrix Potter 3D builder disk. The flowers were made using Flowersoft for realism,

Hugs

Lou

Paper Crafting Journey Challenge

Hi guys, well this months theme is Mythical! Anything not proven real at this time! so Cyclops, Medusa, fairies Mermaids, Dragons, but Not Kimono Dragons, are all fair game for this challenge.
So here's my creation, now you have to excuse the picture as Acetate really doesnt photo very well at all!

This is the best one I got, kneeling on the front step, door open, no flash, card propped up on a stool, son stood behind it, holding the paper, cor was it hard work, note to self, use acetate less!!

Our sponsor this month is Digi Stamps 4 Joy, and the prize is 5 Digi Images of your choice, so get creating!!

I used the beautiful Mermaid Digi, and I have tried this technique before. I used promarkers and a Silver pen for the image, and my ecraft to cut out the frame, and the dolphin border. Layered onto some navy card stock.
I took an acetate dome, and put some water and blue mica powder in it, and glued a flat sheet of Acetate over the back with silicon Glue, TOP TIP: cut the backing circle before gluing, other wise, if you do it when it has dried you risk breaking the seal, and ruining your work!

I then placed the globe in the frame, and stuck the image to the back of the frame, pale blue gems to decorate, and loads of glitter for the glint of sunlight on the water.

Hope you like it and will Join in over at Paper Crafting Journey, Good Luck

Hugs Lou

PS: late addition, this was scheduled, but didnt post, apologies everyone, xx

I've been quietly busy

Although I havent posted much just recently it doesnt mean that I havent been creating! here's 4 of what I did at the weekend, and later today, when I have finished cutting him out, I will post a pic of a vvery labour intensive project that I have been working on.
But for now, here are pics of what I created at the Harrogate GNPE workshops this weekend...........

 I had been having trouble with my Pan Pastels turning muddy, so the first workshop I booked on for was Aly's Inky Fingers.
And I learnt what I was doing wrong, so watch this space! Just do NOT reload the pads constantly!! you dont need to at all, which is where I was going wrong! Sorted!

This next one was another paid workshop, Clarity, using the blender tool on the splodge mat. I do have both sizes of Splodge mat here, just hadnt taken them out of the wrappers yet, bad crafter! So this was an ideal opportunity to learn, before I got frustrated.

This one was done on Sunday, at Amy Shaw's free Craftwork Cards workshop, not exactly as she did it, but my take on it, Bless Amy I was having real trouble getting my times right on Sunday, I turned up an hour early, then 20 minutes late, but she squeezed me in at 1.30, coz I was getting cross with myself!

This one I am really pleased with, this was Sundays Clarity workshop. Using the brayer on the splodgemat, well worth investment of my time! And yes I did buy the stamps for this, as its a lovely set.

Right I have quite a bit to get on with, please pop here, and enter yourself in my bloggerversary Candy draw, theres some real goodies in there!

Hugs

Lou

Charms

Well its the first Saturday of the month, and that means a new challenge over at Krafty Hands.............Charms!
What you probably dont realise is that you can use anything that is on the Krafty Hands website, and there is a lot, and you would probably be very surprised at what you already have that you can use.............
erm Toreads, Strawberry kisses, one of the guys cds, or stamps,........... why not pop over here and find out what you have already?

Here's my offering, bearing in mind that this months challenge is Charms...........

The image itself is the guys Stampography Christmas Snowglobe stamp, its beautiful  I Stamped in white archival ink onto some dark grey Shimmer Cardstock, added some Cosmic Shimmer white embossing powder, and then mounted it onto some holographic card. I used some of Crafters Companions Centura Pearl cardstock for the base, and made a border from scraps of holographic, and shimmer card, with an EK Sucess border punch. I added some Ivory ribbon, and 6 silver charms. I kept the eye focused on the card and image, by using peel off corners.
This is going to my mother - in - law for Christmas, she adores Charms!!

Right by the time you read this I will be either getting dusty with Aly's Inky Fingers, or getting inky with Barbara Greys Clarity stamps, oh what is a girl to do!! And trying to avoid those who are going to the GNPE at Harrogate this weekend, looking for Macaroons, sorry guys, couldnt get hold of any rice paper!!

Shopping calls, have fun, and do enter, you would be surprised whats on offer!

Hugs

Lou

The MOST disturbing Card I have ever made!

Quite a statement that isnt it? But in all honesty this picture by Heather Kilgore really is the most disturbing, incongruous image!
I didnt see it at first glance ~I must admit, and printed it off when the lovely Heather Valentin asked me to do it for SSS this month, quite gung-ho without even examining the image!

But suddenly I saw it! And a chill went down my spine and the hairs on my arms stood up. I have had this image sitting here for about 3 weeks, knowing I had to use it, but not wanting to do it, if you know what I mean. I struggled with ideas on how to present this, and as for me it would be a nightmare if this happened to me, this card is quite dark, so be warned!

So take a good look!
Go on have a really good look, and see if you can see the bit that scared the living daylights out of me.........



Heather hun, I have arachnophobia! This was really hard for me to do, lol, but you weren't to know! Just please dont send me any more spiders? Pretty Please?
Now I have no idea wether this poor woman knows that there is that huge creepie crawlie dangling from her hat, but believe me I know it's there, and I think this card expresses my hope and fear?
I was aiming for a fantasy background, as I hope this isnt real, so out came the Luminart Radiant Rain inks, which the lovely Sheena Douglas demo's here in the uk, to create the background. Then another of Sheena's tricks is to emboss silhouettes in black onto the background. But Sheena doesnt really do sort of style I needed, so I headed off to my Alys Inky Fingers £1.00 stamps. Just what I needed, so branch, castle, twigs, leaves birds and crow, versamarked and then embossed with Stamp 'n' Stuff Macracite embossing powder, which changes from silver to black, depending on how you catch it in the light, please note the carefully positioned Crow, swooping down to eat that horrible Spider!!!

I coloured the poor dear in with Promarkers, Plum, Hot Pink, Fuschia etc, and added some small silver beads to her hat and a line of silver to her waist. Her hair is April showers, Grey Squirrel, and a white marker pen, as I was aiming for an old fashioned wig effect.
Mounted the background onto some Graphite grey Pearl card, from Anna Marie designs, and the cut carefully around the poor thing, before mounting her, as if she is coming out of the picture. And in order to stop the eye wandering from the picture, I added silver beads to the edges of the card below and to her right.

I dont know what you think of her, I think I have done a good job presenting her in a suitable style, but I have no idea who I would give this card to or for what occasion.................

But to other news, firstly, if you pop over to my Blog, its coming up to my first Bloggerversary, so I have a bit of Candy to give away.
Secondly, and I may be out of line here but I want to tell you something about SSS.
I am incredibly lucky to be part of SSS. Why? Because there are so many established artists who have converted their original artwork to digital format for us to use. Some of these artists, and I hope they dont get too offended here, became established in the 1980's for their artwork, well before stamps, and digital crafting. They have shown in Galleries, done book covers, all sorts, and you have probably seen their work umpteen times without even realising that these are the people who are making their designs available for you to craft with. They also are Multi National, so you have influences on here from all over the world. Us design Team members are also based all over the world, so you are seeing what is influencing us before it comes over to you sometimes, you have American, Mexican, European, British, etc, we all have our own styles and techniques, and make them available to inspire you, and to learn and be inspired by other team members. Also its a wonderfully friendly and caring team to be part of, so Thank you to everyone involved in SSS, long may we continue, xxx
Right lets start the Halloween month off with a bang shall we?

Happy Halloween guys, xxx

Lou