WOYWW and a bit of help please

 Its time for the weekly persuing of the craft desk courtesy of What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, led by the amazing Julia. Here's my desk Tuesday night ...nothing has changed!, apart from me having had some sleep ... not enough but some!!

I thought I would give you the view as I see it sitting in my desk ... 3 books to do something with, a sample that went wrong, a part coloured in image, all my inks, mists and bits and bobs as Ellie calls them!!!

And just to the left of my cutter is ...

this ...!!!!

 All his stuff!! it was only supposed to take up a quarter of the desk and 1 shelf in the cupboard ... it grows daily and if not held in check often seeps over onto my space.  I often find boxes and books left on my messy mat in the morning ... should try not cleaning it, may be that would teach him!!  My pens sit on his chair when he's not around, I find them easily to reach from my chair!!

Now a bit of help please ... I bought these stacking papier mache books in a fit of madness .. .and have NO idea what to do with them ... paint/stain, well  what really!

 Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Have a fab Wednesday ... I am off to do the school run, Mum's and Tots, preschool run and then lunch, before a bit of quiet time!!

One for a girl .. one for a boy!

I am having trouble sleeping ... so when I am wide awake at 5am ... yep ... I am crafting!!!

 I stamped Jelly Pip from Sugar Nellie onto kraft cardstock and coloured her in using prisma pencils. I paper peiced her waistcoat top using some of the dp which is SU and I LOVE it ... shame it is runnig out :(  I kept the card reasonably embellishment free ... just some cream satin ribbon and a doilly heart that I distressed with antique linen distress ink to make it look cream.

Challenges:
Craft Your days away - paper piecing
Craft your passion - paper peicing
Stamp with fun - sketch
CES challenge - blues and cream
One Stop Craft challenge - colour on kraft

And one for the boys ...

 I coloured this Kenny K image up a couple of weeks ago ... and lost it!!!  So having found it I got a card together this morning.  The dp is Stell Rose and I added a TH weather clock die cut from grungepaper and painted with black soot distress stain, a gear left unstained and a journalling ticket that I tore and layered using an ideology paper clip.

Challenges -
Cupcake Craft - boys and their toys
Tuesday throwdown - paper tearing
Creative Craft - boys will be boys
Stamp+fun=creativity - non cute
Simon Says Stamp and Show - An idea-ology bonanza

Crafting Time DT - distress ink

 

 I coloured the Sugar Nellie image, OhLaLa, using dusty concorde, broken china, tattered rose, worn lipstick, vintage photo and walnut stain distress ink pads.  The tag was stamped using a Tim Holtz stamp in versamark and then embossed using clear embossing powder.  I distressed it using dusty concorde and broken china distress inks.  I also distressed the adage tickets in dusty concorde distress ink, and added seam binding, lace and some flat backed pearls.

Challenges
Make it Monday
Charisma Cardz - Love is in the air
Colour Create - lilac, blue, white, kraft

Less is more - Scraps

This is a really quick post as we have friends up for the weekend and are off out in a moment to go to Styal Mill (avoidance tactics as the rugby is on and we are a house divided!!!!!!!)

 So here is my go at the Less is More scraps challenge ... and do I have LOTS of scraps, can't recycle any of it!!!  I used some gingham scraps and some blue cardstock, and layered them up, before adding a button and some bakers twine.  I am pondering if it needs a sentiment ... not really a big sentiment fan.

Have fun everyone.

Challenges:

2 Sisters - anything goes

Allsorts - your choice

Sweet Stampin' challenge

Our challenge this week is "masculine", that can be anything from a little boy to a man!!

Our sponsor this week is the fabby Quixotic Paperie...

...who are offering a £10 voucher for their store....

and

we also have our monthly sponsor Joanna Sheen....

who is also offering a £10 voucher for their store.

I covered the card blank in tissue tape and distressed it using distress inks.  The stamped elements are from variuos Tim Holtz stamp sets, all stamped, distressed and cut out.  The effiel tower was cut out using the label and tag die set.  Finally I stamped the postcard and text over the tissue tape.

Challenges:

2 Sisters - anything goes

Allsorts - your choice

Do You Stack up - distress

Simon Says Stamp n Show - London, Paris New york

Amelia

 I confess to having "some" stamps ... as I pointed out to hubby "some" defines my stamp collection, it means more than 1!!!  He would prefer to use the word "Lots", along with the phrase "a bit of an obsession"!!!  But having some stamps means some are always neglected ... and this is one that I absolutely love and confess to having neglected badly ...

Its Amelia from Sugar Nellie's Simply Sassy collection, and i have coloured her in using my cool grey and black promarkers.  I embossed the background and distressed the edges of the cardstock.  I added some punched flowers, card candi and stained seam binding.

Challenges
Passion for Promarkers - black and white
I love Promarkers - time
Everybody-Art-Challenge - sketch
Stamp and Fun=creativity - favourite stamp
Do you stack up - distress

Totally Papercrafts Challenge

 Its my turn to choose the Totally Papercrafts challegne this week and I have picked  an inspiration picture

(courtesy of Design Seeds)

You can use the colours, the image, both ...

Our sponsor this week is the lovely Melissa from Meljen Designs and she will be giving one lucky entrant a choice of 4 Digi images !! Woo Hoo ! :-)

 I used this fab Mo Manning image and coloured it using my promarkers.  The dp is a mix of BG Marrakesh and MME Stella Rose.  I added some punched flowers, pearls, ribbon and button.  The sentiment is from Inkadinkado and I just LOVE it!!

Challenges:
Creative Inspirations - sketch
Papertake Weekly - get krafty
Simon Says Stamp - use 3 different papers
My Mum's Craft Shop - buttons, ribbons
Paper Pretties - punches/diecuts
Divas by design - bling it up
Paper Shelter - add a sentiment
Moving along with the time - lots of layers
Fuss n fancy - More than words

The Sugar Bowl #78

It'sMaria Therese's  turn to do the Sugar bowl sketch, and we have the additional option of getting krafty ... so get that kraft cardstock out

One lucky winner of this challenge will have their choice of 4 stamps (or 6 stamps, if we reach 100+ entries) either from the new release or any stamps from the Sugar Nellie range at

I used Contemplation (currently out of stock by the looks of it) and coloured her with my prisma pencils.  The dp is MME Stella Rose, and I added some ribbon, punched kraft flowers and card candi coloured in with my promakers.

WOYWW

This year seems to be romping along ... can't believe I was whisking up and flipping pancakes last night ... Christmas doesn't seeem 2 minutes ago!!  So Lent starts in our house ... DH is giving up chocolate mini rolls and biscuits, much to the girls' delight as they hate the fact that he 'pinches' them  The girls are giving up whining and sulking ... that's not going to last long!!  I have given up cheese and crisps ... I soooo love cheese and crisps!!
Anyway at least I haven't given up crafting, although life has been so busy over the last couple of weeks that my desk looks, well bare!!

OK not bare ... but the tag and stamp folder have been out since Sunday and nothing has been done with them.  However I got happy mail this morning - I won a TH stamp set from commenting on his blog ... one of the new ones ...

this one to be precise!!!!  So I am hoping that it is going to get the creative juices flowing today.  I have these stamps already in other sets, but I am loving the size of these ... brill for smaller cards and tags.  Just need to get work finished today and then PLAY!!!

Have a fab day everyone, and if you have time take a snoop across the crafty desks of blogland, courtesy of the amazing Julia.  I will be joining in this afternoon, when the little 1 I mind is having a well earned sleep!!

Simplicity and a bit of grunge

The weeks seem to be romping by ... can't believe it is Pancake Day today!!   Here are a couple of creations from an inky, and not so inky session last night ...

 I love blue and red as a combination, and it always looks so striking on a white background.  The flowers were die cut from my TH tattered florals die, before being stamped over with a Hero Arts script stamp.  I simply layered them up, with a pearl in the middle, and added some punched leaves and the sentiment.

CHallenges:
Craft Your Passion - red, white and blue
Less is More - diescuts/punches
Stamp with Fun - shapes
The pink Elephant - print it
Secret Craft Saturday challenge - Bingo (gems, flowers, leaves)

 And having been all clean and simple ...

... time to get the inks out!!  The card base was covered in wild honey distress ink and then I used a mask and more distress ink to get the harlequin pattern.  I stamped the Eiffel Tower TH stamp directly onto the base and added some Paris stamps.  The weathered clock is diecut from grunge paper and distressed using barn door distress stain.  The tickets was distressed and cut out, and I added the charm to it.  I made the flower using lace and added a grungey centre.  Had very pretty coloured fingers at the end!!!

Challenges:
1 StopCraft - create your own background
Totally Gorguss - lace
Simon Says Stamp and Show - london, Paris, New York
Creative Stamp Friends - inspired by a song (I love Paris)

Crafting Time DT - diecuts

 For this week's theme Crafting Time provided me with a few diecuts which I used to create this tag (you can find them in the shop) ...

 

I used distress inks in vintage sepia, walnut stain, broken china and faded jeans for all the elements within the tag.  Having distressed the background I stamped a Hero Arts collage stamp over it and painted parts of the butterfly with distress inks.  I die cut the weathered clock, butterflies and on the edge fence out of cardstock and distressed them using the same distress inks.  I stamped over the top of the butterflies using a Tim Holtz stamp, inked up in walnut stain distress ink, and added some flat backed pearls.  Finally I added and adage ticket and some seam binding to finish the tag off.

 Make it monday
Simon Says Stamp - tag it
 
 

Basic Grey Challenge

 The challenge theme for the Basic Grey challenge is Wish Upon A Star ...

 I used Rock idol from Sugar Nellie and coloured him using my promarkers.  The dp is Basic Grey Little Black dress, and I distressed the image and papers.  I made the stars using my nesties and layered them with some buttons that I coloured with my promarkers.  The seam binding is stained using fired brick distress stain. I added some glossy accents to the glasses lenses.

And we are sponsored by ...

Who are offering a $25.00 voucher.

(PP charges apply)

Challenges:
Creative card Crew - masculine
Stamps&Fun=Creativeity - birthday
Papertake Weekly - black, white and red
Passion for Promarkers - distressing

DutchDare - distressing
Do You Stack up - layers
Crafts and Me - distressing

Totally Papercrafts challenge

 Its Friday - wooohhoooooo!!!!  Its been a long week LOL!!  Friday means another Totally Papercrafts challegne, and Linda has chosen the theme this week.  Its a nice easy one - ribbons and bows.

 I used Hazel and nutty from Sugar Nellie, and coloured it using my promrkers.  I glamour dusted her wings and added rock candy stockles to her skirt, before distressing the image. The dp is Basic Grey Payrus, and that has also been distressed.  I added an embossed flower with a blingy brad, some seam binding and double loop bow, and some pearls.

We have a fab new sponsor this week, the lovely Lacey from Stamp and Create with a very generous prize for one lucky winner..........

Stamp and Create is an online stamping store. We carry a wide range of stamps including Magnolia, Wags 'n Whiskers, Stampavie, High Hopes Rubber Stamps, Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, The Greeting Farm, Whiff of Joy and more. We have a Weekly Candy as well as a monthly challenge on our blog. We ship worldwide with low shipping rates and free shipping on US orders over $55. We currently have lots of stamps on sale. Come check it out!

Challenges:
Creative Inspiration - browns, blue, cream
 Divas by Designs - wings and things
Passion for Promarkers - distressing
My mum's Craft Shop - pearly Swirly
ABC - jazz it up
I love promarkers - nature
Trully Scrumptious - all creatures great and small
Cute Card Thursday - Flower Power
Dutch Dare - distressing
Paper Play - critters
Stampin' for the weekend - photo inspiration

February tag

 Having done 4 amazing years of the 12 tags of Christmas T!m is branching out and has started the 12 tags of 2012 ... (click the pic to be taken to his blog)

 Here is his tag ...

And here is my interpretation with the stash I have ...

I tried painting the embossing folder to see if I got a similar effect to stamping ... not really!!  The tag is embossed using the CB hearts folder and then inked using fired brick and aged mahogany distress inks.  The cherub and hearts got the same treatment and then the hearts were stuck together to create the 3D effect. The churb was covered with rock candy stickles.  I added 7 gypsies tissue paper to the base of the heart, and used salvage stickers to create the sentiment.   The border is cut using spell binders edgibilities and I stained seam binding and attached a couple of hearts.

Not quite the same tag but as near as I could get it with my stash!!

 Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp - tag it
Simon Says Stamp and show - anything goes
The Stampman - texture
Creative Stamp friends - Valentine
Grungy Monday - Valentine Tim Holtz style (prize from Simon Says Stamp)

WOYWW

We're half way through the school holiday and I am still sane :))))  But not much crafting is getting done ... children want to be entertained and fed ... very demanding really!! Oh and DH wanted a romantic evening due to it being Valentine's Day ... steak tea and everything ... not conducive to crafting LOL!!

I have plans for something to craft ...

See it is there on my desk ... was thinking of re-doing on of the TH 12 Tags 2011 as i wasn't too pleased with the original one ... my desk is begging me to get on with it .. .the children are demanding food, entertainment ...!!  Hopefully I will get some time later on today when they are all tired!
You may have noticed my ipad is missong ... pinched by the older daughter and she now knows the passcode .. .thanks Daddy!!!!  I'll be re-setting that one!

If you want to go for a nosy pop over to Julia's blog for all the details.  I was rubbish at getting round desks last week ... it was a bad, bad week with 1 daughter in A&E, the other sick, and me with  bad cold .. I will do better this week!!

Sepia

I have fallen in love with these Darcies Dairies images ... they are gorgeous.  I have coloured the image in using my promarkers. The dp is Bo Bunny Etcera, the sentiment is from Inkadinkado and the flowers, buttons and twine are from my stash.


Challenges:
Craft your passion - recipe
Crafty Cardmakers - monochromatic magic
Cupcake Craft - entwined
Incy Wincy - recipe
Simon Says Stamp n show - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown - entwined

Purple and Grey

What a week we have just had ... a trip to hosptal with the older daughter after an accident at school, then she was sick, and now i have a cold ... not much crafting has gone on here!

I have found a new digi stamp that I like - Darcie's dairies .. .they are really cute!!  This one is coloured in using my promarkers, and then I embossed the white cardstock and distressed it using distress inks.  The heart embossing has been sprayed with glimmer mist.  I added some gingham ribbon and layered a flower up, securing it with a brad.  Very simple really.

Its the school holidays so my crafting is going to be really restricted ... got a houseful from 8am every day!!!

Challenges:
Make it Monday
Passion for Promarkers - grey and purple
Crafty Creations - swirly whirly
Paper Pretties - add texture
Charisma Cardz - things with wings
The Stampman - texture
CES - lots of layers
2 Sisters - I heart you
Simon Says Stamp - Love is in the air
 one Stop Craft - hearts and flowers with ribbon

Sweet Stampin' Challenge

This week's Sweet Stampin Challenge is Clean and Simple ... I love CAS cards and am gettting better at them, very slowly!!

I used this gorgeous Inkylicious Poppy stamp and stamped ot straight on to the card base, before colouring it using my promarkers.  The sentiment is a SU one, again stamped straight on to the card blank.



We have our monthly sponsor - Joanna Sheen who is giving a £10 voucher for her store to one lucky winner.




We also have Stamp Addicts who are sponsoring us this week and they too are giving a £10 voucher.




 

Challenges:
Allsorts - Free and Easy