WOYWW!!

** feels forehead to check for a fever ** !! ..... lol

Yep!! I've had a 'mild' tidy up!! I needed to really because it was getting beyond a joke! That 'stuff' you see on my desk is just a 'worksheet' !! It's actually the instructions on how to fit all those kitchen units together! But because it's shiny I tend to use it for my 'blending'!! The next tidy up task will be that box in the background! It's stuffed full of...well... stuff!! lol.............


Now....I've had a fair few comments on the black thing in the corner holding my scissors......I call it my 'lazy Susan' but that's only because I just can't remember the name of the dang thing! I've had it for absolute yonks! I can't even remember where I bought it from .... It is a handy beastie though, it rotates which gives you access to all those little plastic tubs, which holds anything you would like to put in them....I use it for gems, buttons...etc...blah blah blah!! So for those of you who were asking I do apologise on not being of more help!

Why don't you all pop over to  Julia's Stamping Ground and have a wee nosey around other people's craft spaces and join in the fun!


I have a busy day ahead so posting this at silly o'clock in the morning. I have a few appointments to attend today one of them being the hairdressers! :) Nothing like a nice hairdo to make you feel a bit better.

So take care everyone and Happy WOYWW

Jackie x

Christmas tree decoration!

I bought these adorable little Papier Mache frames from The Artistic Stamper and couldn't wait to get playing!! This is the 'deep' one , it's 10cm square and just the perfect size!

I started off by painting the whole thing in gold acrylic metallic paint! When that was dry I mixed up some green and black acrylic paint and then painted over the whole thing again! When that was dry I used the Dots Background and then stamped and embossed in clear! I then mixed a paler shade of green and painted over the whole thing again! When it completely dry I then gave it rub with a rough cloth to remove some of the paint from the embossing, because the cloth was very rough I managed to bring through some of the original gold that I first started with! I love this rough and distressed look, gives it a bit of an olde worlde feel!

I had an off cut of sheet music in my stash so coloured that with glimmer mists and then stuck it into the bottom of the frame. I gave the whole thing a spritz with some gold spray ink. I added some sequin stars to the background and then used a hot glue gun to stick down that fancy embellishment which believe it or not came from the front of a Christmas cracker!!! lol.

I really am pleased with this piece! LOVE the way it's turned out and I think it will look great on my tree! And yes... it IS a biiiiiig tree...I got it in a sale last year at a DIY store! It's a 7 foot pre-lit tree and was selling for £199.95....it was reduced to...................wait for it................. a TENNER !!!! Bargain or what?!! :D
So that's why I think these will be great for my 'wee tree'! lol

Take care and thanks for dropping by

Jackie x

Sunday Stampers 182 " Stars "

Good afternoon everyone! Well it's certainly the weather for crafting! The weather we had in Central Scotland was atrocious! Very VERY windy and terrifyingly so!

Anyway I digress......over on The Sunday Stampers this week's challenge is " Stars " ! Hmmm not something I really do a lot of or have a lot of for that matter...sooo here's what I came up with this time!

Nothing absolutely spectacular really! It's the Sizzix Bigz Nesting Star ! I've had that die for yonks and just got round to using it today! It's actually alternating green and gold mirri card but sadly the photo doesn't show it very well! I was a tad fiddly stringing it together with nylon thread but I got there in the end! I may just do dome more of these for my tree this year! I really fancy the 'handcrafted' look! I always try and have a different theme each year! I'll see how my time goes and then decide !

Take care everyone and hope your weather has improved a little!

Jackie x

CD Mini memory album!

Finished off this piece late last night - this morning for my mum for her birthday next week!

It's a mini memory album made from old Cd's! I covered them in lovely patterned papers from my craft stash and just made up some fun 'pages'!

The COVER is done using some Laura Ashley papers and some sizzlet die cuts that I had in my craft stash!

Here's a few close ups of some of the pages...

The 'photo frame' is actually done using the Eazi-Score Mandala Reflections board ( a great wee cheat if you don't have any nesties!)..just finished it off using a gold marker. The other page is done using the Alterations Winged Heart die, a phrase that I printed off on the computer and a playing card that I Alcohol inked and distressed!

Left page - is a Movers and Shapers Baroque label with a keyhole punched into it, I printed off the phrase on the computer first then ran the whole thing through the big shot! Sprayed and distressed it a little and then added a key!

Right page - is some stampboard! Coloured the background, stamped the rose script, coloured using inktense pencils then triple embossed over the top! I added a chipboard alphabet which I coloured and finished off with a fancy flower.

These two were fairly simple - left page is done using the Reflections score board again, framing a phrase that I printed off, I just added a flower to embellish.

Right page is again the Reflections board. Only this time I sprayed the blue card with some fireworks interference blue ink and finished off  with a silver marker.

It's a nice wee project and came out a wee bit better than I thought it would!

My mum will love it! :)

Thanks for dropping by

Take care and Happy Crafting

Jackie x



Jackie x

WOYWW 129

Well, cant believe it's wednesday again! Where has my week gone! Been extremely busy finishing off my art portfolio covers, trying to fight off this stinking cold that my teenager kindly shared with me, which means I can't visit my mother in law at the hospital just now.... :(

I have LOADS of crafting 'stuff' to catch up on as well...so looks like any house work I had planned can wait!!!

Anyway over at Julia's you can have a nosy around everyone else's work desks and see if there's are any tidier than mine! I'll bet they are too !! lol

On my desk today is a commission I've just started on! Yup! It's a box shaped like the Tardis from Dr Who ...! God my big buddy REALLY knows how to set a challenge! Also some new backgrounds stamps and to the left of that is all the stuff I moved out of the way to give me more space to work !!!! lol....

Anyway, I'm off for now, got a fair bit of stuff to be getting on with.

Take care all and Happy WOYWW!

Jackie x

Art portfolio cover finally finished!

YAY! I have FINALLY finished the covers for my art portfolio!! Soooo pleased to get it all done ! Not really sure if I'm pleased with it or not now because as this is my first attempt there are several things I should have and could have done differently! Still , it's turned out not too bad and I DID enjoy playing around with some new techniques and thought it was a great way to practice!

So without further ado....here's the FRONT cover... (click on the photos to enlarge)

INSIDE FRONT cover....

INSIDE BACK cover...

and the BACK cover..

.

Now it's not brilliant but it WAS my first attempt at something so big (A3) size and I did enjoy just letting my mind 'wander'!

Nothing majorly difficult in the way it was put together really, just painted some grey board with cheap white acrylic paint and then decorated the backgrounds with a mixture of Glimmer Mist spray inks, Alcohol Inks, Distress Inks, some stamping and Die cuts! Lots and lots of different 'layers' colours, techniques and textures as well.

I will keep the pages loose until I get called up for an interview, because I would like to keep adding as much as I can to it, I don't want to put it all together just now only to take it apart again to add something else....

Thanks for looking in,

Take care

Jackie x

Sunday Stampers week 181 Snowmen!!

This weeks Sunday Stampers Challenge over here is a real fun one this week! Snowmen!! :) Oh and there's a *giveaway* as well so please pop over for a look see!

Anyway , I did yet another tag lol...going to have a nice wee book with all these tags I've done and it's certainly going to be interesting, which was what I was hoping for!

Anyway...I Stamped and embossed the Dots Background stamp From The Artistic Stamper, in clear embossing powder then inked the tag using Faded Jeans Distress Stains!

~The snowman is the Original Red Sizzix die and was cut from some embossed 'Christmas' design card. I coloured the hat, scarf and 'arms' using pro-markers, then distressed the snowman with Faded Jeans Distress ink! This brought up the embossing on the card which sadly doesn't show up too well in the photo but you can just see it! I added some little Christmas embellishments, and some gems for his eyes and buttons and finished off with some coloured ribbons.

I think he's rather cute actually :) !!

Thanks for looking in and take care everyone,

Jackie xx

no crafting...

...to show at the moment :(  NOT having a very good week this week I'm afraid.

I did manage those sweet wee wooden birdies and have also managed to do the inside back cover of my Art portfolio, I only have the inside front to do and that's it finished! At last! yay!

My Mother-in-law is in the hospital at the moment so things are a wee bit 'all over the place' just now!  Just trying to 'juggle' too many things at once and failing abysmally!

Never mind, she's doing fine but because she's nearly 90 they just want to keep an eye on her and make sure she's OK.

So with a wee bit of luck I can get some crafting done today and clear my head a little!

Take care everyone and once again sorry for the lack of blogging and challenges this week.

Jackie x

Steampunk Christmas Tree Decorations!

Love love LOVE these   wee wooden birdies !! I painted them with Acrylic paint in Eggplant! Then when dry I sprayed them with some Glimmer Mists to give them a wee bit of a sheen. I then over stamped with the Chicken wire background and Dots background stamps then heat embossed in gold embossing powder. The 'feathers' are actually the leaves from the Tick Tock Flowers theme plate ! With those I just sprayed some lilac coloured paper with Glimmer mists, stamped out and embossed the leaves and then cut them out!

The cogs are the small cogs from the Alterations Gadget Gears die! Those were sprayed with Glimmer mists and over stamped using the small flower from the Tick Tock Flowers theme plate! I just attatched them to the loop on the bottom or the ornament with a jump ring!

Here's a close up of one of the birds so you can have a better look....click on the photo to enlarge...

I'm thrilled to bits with the way these have turned out and you can bet your life I'll be doing more!

Thanks for looking in

Take care and Happy Crafting

Jackie x

WOYWW 128

Hmmmph! Wednesday again...and as you can see there's not a lot going on! I've been partaking in lots of shenanigans since last Thursday, had a house full of visitors the last of which left on Monday, spent the rest of that day just vegetating and sleeping lol, Yesterday was spent catching up on some household stuff, and hopefully today I'll be able to do SOME crafting! Although not really very sure about that at the moment! You see my teenager thought he's be a nice teenager for a change and decided to share his stinking cold with me! Bleh ...is all I can say to the way I'm feeling just now! Still, it could be worse I suppose, nothing a hot Beechams won't help with!

Anyway....That pile of  'stuff' is for my art portfolio, so hopefully I can get some more work done on it today and get the thing finished! It is taking a wee bit longer than I'd liked but I want to get it as good as I can! Sooo if you pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground you can have a nosey at what's on everyone else's desks!



Right...that's enough waffling on from me...have a happy WOYWW !!

Take care

Jackie xx

WOYWW 127

Oh My!! Wednesday already! Where has the week gone! Anyway here's what's on my workdesk this week!

It IS a little tidier than the last time you saw it! I had to! lol....that piece you see there is an A3 sized Portfolio cover so I needed the space!! lol

That was the SECOND attempt because the first one didn't turn out quite the way I wanted so I will use that for the back cover! 

Anyway here's a picture of the nearly finished piece, (click the photo to enlarge if you want a better look)...

  I just have to decorate the insides then add the pages, but that will have to wait until sunday/monday I'm afraid, because I have a rahter busy 'weekend' starting tonight lol! Got visitors coming! I have one from Royston Herts arriving tonight, one from Birmingham tomorrow, then one from Up North in Scotland on friday and saturday! And all for the sake of a couple of rock concerts! Going to be a tad mental and I'm quite looking forward to all the pandemonium and chaos!


Anyway I digress....lots.... please pop over to Juila's for a nosey around everyon else's crafty spaces!

Have fun and have a great weekend!

Jackie x

Sunday Stamper week 179 !

Well it's Sunday and that means it's for the  Sunday Stampers Challenge !! And the Theme this week is Christmas!

YET ANOTHER tag.... lol....This time I thought I'd do something completely different and went for a 'Steampunk' Christmas!

A plain whit tag roughly coloured with Wild Honey Distress Stain, I then double stamped the leaves from Tick Tock Flowers Themeplate and heat embossed with gold powder! I Distressed the edges using Fired Brick and Forest Moss then added the red ribbon at the top with some tiny gold brads.

I roughly coloured some white card with Wild Honey Distress Stain and then stamped out The Inspirational Lightbulbs . I clear embossed over the 'cogs' one and put it aside. The 'plain' one was overstamped in Fired Brick Distress ink and a crackle background stamp, then clear em,bossed and then stamped into again with the crackle stamp! The numbers are actually stamped in Green but sadly the green doesn't really show up in this photo and thew whole thing looks very 'yellow/orange'!

Anyway, it was supposed to look like Christmas tree lights hanging from the tree....??.....Never mind...we learn each day by having fun practicing!


Thanks for looking in

Jackie xx

Art Portfolio

Good Afternoon blogland! Sorry I've been a bit AWOL for the past few days, but I've been working on my Art portfolio! It's a bit bigger than I would have liked and so it took me a tad longer!

Anyway, here is what I have done so far! Now I'm not too sure whether I'll use this for the front or the back because I'm not very happy with the placement of the letters!

I do love the way this has turned out and I think I pleasantly surprised myself with this piece despite the letters being squint! lol

Anyway It started out as a HUGE sheet of greyboard, which I just cut in half and got an A3 size! (or slightly bigger)! I painted the whole thing with cheap plain white acrylic paint then set aside to dry.

When dry, I just smooshed some different colours randomly over the background, added matching Glimmer Mists, some Alcohol ink drips, spritzed with water then heat dried,  Did some faux resist stamping, then over stamped with various background stamps in my stash! The big circles are done using a coffee jar lid! lol...Scribbled round the letters with a black marker and a white writer, then just added a few words here and there along with the big scroll. The letters were done using the Eazi-Score alphabet templates, run through the Big Shot with some texture embossing folders and then coloured and distressed!

Here's a couple of close ups of various pieces from the whole thing...

As I said earlier, I'm, not sure if I will use this as the front or back cover yet, I'll work on the other piece and see how that goes! Artist portfolios are quite expensive so I thought I'd have a go at trying to make my own! Don't know how well it will go down but all we can do is wait and see!

Thanks for looking

Take care and enjoy the rest of your day

Jackie x

Last page from my little 'Inspiration' book!

This one is a "Time" themed page and I'll think I'll enter this for a challenge, over on The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog because I'm really pleased with the way this has turned out!

I ran Tim Holtz backing paper through the big shot with an On The Edge Tab die, then ran it through again with the Gearwheels Embossing folder. I roughly coloured the background with Wild Honey Distress Stain ( I do love this colour)! I Distressed the edges and the gearwheels with Brushed Corduroy and Fired Brick Distress Ink. I then stamped the pocket watch stamp in clear Versamark and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder!

I I die cut the Alterations Weathered Clock, distressed it with Wild Honey and Fired Brick then stuck part of it down onto the page. The wings are from the Alterations Winged Heart die which were distressed using Faded Jeans then over stamped with a crackle back ground stamp in Black Archival Ink! I stamped out a Different pocket watch from the same themeplate, distressed it in matching colours and then heat embossed the 'face' with clear embossing powder.  The phrase is also from the same themeplate and was stamped using Fired Brick Distress ink!!

I have just really started 'doing' backgrounds so it's not as good as I would have liked but once I get more 'stuff' to help me the better they will become! :D  (I hope) lol

Thanks for looking in

Take care

Jackie x

WOYWW 126 !

Oh Dear.....lol....5 feet of work desk and I'm down to about 6 inches of space!! lol.....*sighs*...

Anyway... A pile of my craft 'haul' from last week! Some stamps from The Artistic Stamper, Some Alterations dies and embossing folder and some Distress Stains (the dies and stuff were bought when I was at the SECC last weekend)! The 'last' page of my little inspirations book which I'm hoping to finish off today! A 6 x 6 Canvas collage and underneath that is a huge print out of a brief for a commission I NEED to start on today if I can!

So blogland, why not join in the fun over on Julia's and show off your "creative spaces"!


TTFN and have a nice day


Jackie x