Scrapping The Day Prolongs the Fun !

So today I have done a fair bit of scrapping - around our weekly Sunday Swim & an hour getting some very breezy fresh air having a walk round the Botanic Gardens - I wanted to save the ticket Tim signed & his biography card as well as the souvenir page he gave us for the project .. so now they are all safely scrapped with my photos .. I've decided to do a double page spread and then maybe a mini-book with all the other bits & bobs left over .. but that's for later !

Tim Holtz Artsy Crafty Day

I met up with Jo - who I'd got to know on the weekend back in October for supper at the Magic Wok & then an early-ish night before the day of our class duly dawned ! It was an early start as we registered at 7.30am & then found ourselves a seat in the classroom. No colour choices to worry about as we all had the same fab personal kits & Configurations boxes already laid out.

the first part of the class was an introduction to the concept of the boxes & then the lining of the compartments with (thankfully pre-cut & pre-scored !!) papers and then an introduction to tissue tape as we used this to cover the frame edges & give them a neat yet aged look.

After a well earned coffee break we were allowed to dive into a little calico bag full of notions & embellishments & enjoy ooo-ing & arhh-ing over the Ideology goodies before we spent a contented couple of hours being creative & decorating our boxes.

It all flew past & suddenly it was lunch - the obligatory browse around the shop for our own stash of goodies (got some of the metal embellishments & a couple of stamp sets plus a couple more configurations boxes!!) - then into Lin & Leandra's class to get gloriously painty & inky making a frame with metal work etc.

Tim was a good & approachable teacher & I really did enjoy it - but I think that Lin & Leandra's classes are equally as good & they have always given such us such great weekends which are so brilliantly organised with their great kits !

I had a convivial Friday evening chatting with like-minded crafters & was very glad that I'd decided to stay the extra night & not drag home in the Friday traffic .. by leaving when I woke on Saturday morning & getting on the road by 6.15am I was home by 10.30am. A much better idea !

Shameful Blog Neglect !!

Just how can it be the end of February already - and nearly 2 months since I last blogged ! Somehow with a combination of being manic at work, busy weekends and a week's holiday in Spain the weeks have just slipped by !

At least if I haven't been attentive to poor old blog, I have actually done a bit of scrapping !

So on my workdesk this Wednesday I have the pages I have done to scrap our trip to Spain - gorgeous groves of almond blossom - and a family of Jabali -wild boar - in the Sierra Espuna !

And my first attempt at an "Inchie" - this is to be my contribution to the Inchie Collection that those of us who are attending the Tim Holtz classes organised by Artsycrafty this week are giving Tim as a momento - never having made one before I was startled at just HOW small they are once you cut that inch square !! I have done an owl - representing the sharing of wisdom !!

We are all really looking forward to our classes - and I'm hoping I shall be re-inspired to get back to some creativity & crafting once I get back home !!

Happy New Year -WOYDTW !

It's more of What's On Your Dining Table this Wednesday - today my friend Lynda from Scrap Club came to play ! It was a really foggy & gloomy day but we had a fun few hours getting really messy with paints & Glimmer Mists - painting & stamping boxes & tissue boxes in the conservatory where the light was actually quite good.

So what with lunch & naughty cream cakes & lots of chatter - we had a really enjoyable day !

So its been a good crafty year ... I've kept to my resolution to be more adventurous with my projects & just to get stuck in & not to dither about worrying it won't go "right" .. and it doesn't always go "right" but hey its not the end of the world .. learn & move on to something else ! Have fun & get let the creative urge have its way !

So hope everyone has a very Happy & Crafty New Year - get messy & have fun !

Feeling Christmas-y !

I don't really know what this feeling is - this "feeling Christmas-y" - we were debating it as we walked around London yesterday looking at foodie inspiration places before we went to the IGD Glitter Ball last night. I think it must be the creeping sensation of appreciating how lovely the buildings & shop windows are as dusk draws in & the Christmas lights twinkle & shine .. the getting dressed up for a night out - the frosty clear mornings, Christmas trees in the hotel & even at Paddington Station - and the firms prompting us to buy buy buy with their Christmas point of sale materials & all the goodies on the shelves of course.

So here's a montage of past couple of days & yes - whatever it is - I DO feel Christmas-y now !

Christmas Journal Underway !

So on my work desk this week I don't have much in the craft line but I do have the pages I am working on for my Christmas Journal.

Each day Shimelle sends us a prompt to give us inspiration for that day's page & this year we are also getting a photography prompt with new ideas & techniques for

our Christmas photos. I'm really enjoying it & how it makes me take time out to consider the little things about this month that might just slip past unmarked.

I find it takes me a few days to get a "feel" for how the journal will develop & gradually it takes on it's own character - I quite like the little note cards Shimelle has given us this year & so far have been using them to give the pages a rhythm & continuity. Not sure if this will work throughout the month or look a bit boring - but so far I like it !

Today I had a little 13 hour trek setting out at 5.30am to present to a customer & en route we stopped for coffee just as it got light. In the car-park were the trees in these pictures - I have never seen anything like these ice crystal which almost look like an exploding starburst ! Amazing what this winter is throwing our way already !

Have a happy Wednesday & a fun crafty week - hope if you are in the freezing UK or somewhere equally icy you stay safe & warm !

Snow & Ice - Christmas Anticipation !

So here we are with December about to start & we have already been frozen in our snowy little cul de sac since Friday ! No where near as bad as up North & in Scotland but snow & ice are not compatible with disabled living & make my DH's life a misery.

Still we have decided to crank up the heating & try not to let it get us down !

Christmas feels like it is a hovering breath away !

With a new year of Journal Your Christmas about to start, I am feeling all tingly with anticipation of what the next month may hold & looking forward to creating my journal !

My lovely Mum has sent my advent calender & I am really looking forward to opening the envelope to celebrate the 1st being here - yes I am in my late 40's & yes my Mum is still buying me & my sister Advent calenders & I for one am unrepentantly happy that we keep this as a family tradition !!

I have already made inroads into the Christmas shopping, the cards are all written (sorry they are just shop-bought ones - which puts me to shame when I see everyone else's lovely home made cards but it just isn't my thing !) - and ready to post this week.

On Saturday I really enjoyed my annual Christmas shopping trip with my friend Joanna to Narberth - a lovely village in Pembrokeshire with loads of individual shops full of crafts, jewelry & art - and a Spanish Deli where we have a Tapas lunch & a glass of Cava to kick off our Christmas spirit !

On my desk today you can see I have finished my Christmas shadow box - still not sure it isn't a bit dull but I have tried to use a bit of gold to liven it up ! Think maybe fundamentally the brown was a bad choice with the red frame - but you live & learn !! Comments on what you think I could have done to improve it gratefully received !! I can always recycle it into something else after Christmas !!

I have the metalwork I am working on from the new Ten Seconds Studios Christmas Kabuka mold & when I have finished it I hope to add the 4 tree panel to the front of my Journal.

I have a few new stamps that I tacked onto an order for some cute chicken stamps that'll be part of what my parents are buying me for Christmas - and a leaflet we picked up on Saturday of Scandinavian style decorations - I succumbed to some ribbon in the red & white with Christmas Reindeer & Tree motifs on it - so the leaflet is for inspiration as to what to make with that !

Well that's my desk & snippets of life for this week ! Looking forward to seeing your desks this week - have a great crafty week & stay warm if you are somewhere snowy like us !!