Go with the custard..

My sweet Sissy has offered advice about the look of this blog...said that the white text on the black ground made her eyes hurt and I don't want my sister to be put off reading! So, for now dear interweb, go with this custard background....it's all a bit twee I know, but I do like the plain look. I visit a lot of blogs and you'll be totally unsurprised to know that I have an opinion about the look of them. This one has to be uncluttered and undecorated; first to reassure my family that I'm not turning into a geek and second, I really LIKE that I can go straight to the words without distraction. And as this is my molecule of cyber space, it's all good. I expect you'll experience a change too often while I try to settle on colours and stuff..I may go back to black - gosh isn't that a trendy song? I may go back to black and increase the font size. As changes occur, tell me what suits your eyes!

This card is a response to the Daring Cardmaker's challenge...patchwork. hmmm, the Royal purple looks black and the very contrasting flower centres look pink and they're purple. What the hell. There's a patchwork style stamp in the background and even a pin! I know, I impressed myself with the connection - it may be obvious to you reader, but finding the pins is up there as today's little miracle. Oh - that and the fact that I cut the flowers on the Cricut!! User guilt - yes. And convenience - I had it set up to cut some titles for a project that Miss Dunnit is working on!

Back to the previous discussion

I can't get enough of the analysis part of crafting, apparently, so here I go again with some more! Here's the thing - why, when you've got everything, don't you use it? Or is that something spectacularly within me? Here's the case in point. From it's launch and for a couple years, I was a demonstrator for the Cricut (an electronic die cutter).

It's a faaab machine and I do use it. A lot. Well, I thought I did..I know of others who use it more, but I was thinking that my not inconsiderable collection of software was pretty well employed, if not exactly the latest releases. So there's Lady Nurse, an ex customer and continuing friend. She's had a Cricut for 2 years and for 2 years it's been unused, in the box. Indeed, not even unpacked. I am putting my hands up here, I scoffed and goaded her into getting round to having a go with it, and she hired Cricut Queen to show her the buttons and tricks. Great success and she's in love with it and bemused by her own initial fear of the 'technology'.

So there we are, at the crop, going through each other's albums. Lady Nurse is asking a few questions about technique, products and blah as she turns the pages of the album I had with me. Each LO has a title (LOVE that part of scrapping, the wordy bits). Each turn of the page prompts Lady Nurse to ask 'oh, did you cut that on the Cricut?' and each time I had to admit 'No'. Remember, I practically bullied her into getting to grips with her Cricut, citing the alphabet cartridges as the most useful invention for scrapping with since the invention of scrapping itself. I think.

So WHY are most of my titles in sticker or rub-on form? And how lazy am I about it? I can answer both really easily.

- I'm not well prepared for any crop; therefore pre-cutting titles just doesn't happen.

- Stickers and rub-ons are easier to transport to any location than my Cricut.

- Last time I took my Cricut to a crop, I spent most of the day demonstrating it rather than cropping, so am a bit reluctant to do that now.

These sound like idle excuses huh. well as always, come back sometime...when I finally make a LO with Cricut titling, you'll be the first to see it. And Lady Nurse, if you're reading this, sorry. I was right that you needed to unpack and use it, but I'm sorry that I can't prove that I use mine!

Slightly off topic, but still pertinent to a previous post:

My post of 27 Feb,' Tact, they True Meaning is Lost' has resulted in a comment being left today by Anonymous...for the life of me I can't find it..it was waiting to be 'moderated' and since I did that, it's disappeared. Anyway, Anonymous, please re-read the post. I was and still am very critical of the people in the shop who were being tactless about how much they had spent elsewhere in the past 48 hours and using that as an excuse for not buying much in store that day. It wasn't the lack of sales that I was bemoaning, shopkeeper gal welcomes browsers. As regualrs, you and I both know that. But she has a right to be upset when people are tactless enough to tell her that they aren't buying from her because of the amount they spent elsewhere. We all shop elsewhere, we all - including shopkeeper gal - know that; no-one needs to apologise for doing so - but tact and good manners cost nothing - that was my long winded point.

I won't be re-hashing posts generally, but because I've managed to lose this particular comment, I didn't want Anonymous to think that I wasn't going to 'publish' it. But if there's a debate to be had - I'm up for it.

What, no picture?

Nope. No picture. By the time I decided to come over here and chat a bit, the light was gone. Actually, that sounds romantic..it's a little after 10pm and therefore the light is not natural and my photography is just not up to it and blah blah blah!) Another concise way to start!
I've been at a crop today. It's a real treat, an essential part of my social life. I love the connection through craft that I would otherwise never have made.....I contend that it is an especial skill of women - one tiny thing in common can be the foundation of a good solid friendship. Crop Saturday is a guaranteed laugh, chips for lunch and maybe even a couple of finished LOs, all in a day! (Although for the record, 5 out of 8 of the croppers were, for some reason, filled with strength and didn't have chips, and yes, Willowy Blonde and New Baby Mummy were amongst them. Sigh.)
We had a challenge (set by me, so very easy, lighthearted and almost forgotten of course). In the course of this, we discovered that we are all particularly sold on the die cut 12 x 12 sheets. Now of course, Cricut Queen was probably aghast at our excitement, but she was too polite to do what I would have done - laugh! Turns out that these sheets, although not a brand new, over promoted product are new to some people, and better still, seeing them in use has encouraged others to have a crack at them. Especially that awful bit where you have to cut them if you want them to go further than a single LO! Isn't that great - learning through play. Or is that an echo of my parenting job creeping in?!! The challenge was to make up a LO using 3 different patterned papers. Of course, wife of Mr Pineapple always scraps this way - she has an eye for patterns that makes you wanna sit next to her and absorb the skill. We did toy with the idea of reversing the challenge so that she could create a LO using only plain papers..but that didn't happen. Mr Pineapple's wife - she stayed serenely uninvolved and went about creating her 28th LO of the day. (Or so it seemed!). We all managed the challenge, but New Baby Mummy won the day - completed the challenge and really made the most of her day 'off'...had pre-kitted her LOs and was in full creative flow. A great feeling. The hot water urn leaked horribly, the hall is never as warm as we want it to be and the chip shop is probably a 4 minute walk from the hall, but what the hell, it was still a good day. Join a crop - good for your crafting health.

This used to be my workroom...

There, you see..once published, shame over!! So Debsg , publish and be proud!! Actually, this is no longer my workroom, and when we've summoned up the will to take out the worktops etc, we will convert it back to the tiny bedroom it once was. (Memories of the cot, baby scribbles on the wall...ah, me, time flies.) I now work in a similar sized room but it's downstairs and accessible to the whole family; indeed it's where our only computer lives, and gives access to the garden and garage. Rather than just boring the pants off you, I'm telling you these things because you will then immediately understand why it's a much tidier and less cluttered area than it used to be. Being able to shut the door on it and knowng that neither of my lovelies was remotely interested in going in there led me into wicked and slothful ways. Please also bear in mind that this room was created not long after I closed my shop, and so everything had to be shoe-horned in! Mind you, having made the decision not to renew the lease on the shop, I spent 6 months ordering 'one for me, one for the shop'! So my new work area is leaner and tidier and I like it much more; I can spend the whole evening in here and still be within earshot and vision of the lovelies. And I don't have to watch all the pigging SciFi that appears to grip them. I don't get that either, but the list of things I don't get about TV is now so long that you, dear interweb, don't have space for it.
I've been rummaging in my new-ish workspace this morning. My local store is having a Flea Market this Saturday and it's a great opportunity to sell on craft products that you no longer want, and pick up other stuff that you do. In theory. To sell this year, I have a few clear stamps, a handful of rubber stamps and a very mixed bag of ribbons less than a metre long. Not a lot compared to previous years for sure. But actually, this isn't because of any hideous recession that means I'm hanging onto everything, it's more because in the last year or so I have become a much more sophisticated consumer (!) and I am at last able to only buy what I know I'll actually use. It's taken ages. I still buy rubber stamps on the basis of 'see it, like it, buy it', rather than contemplate its use and application of techniques and blah..I have always fiirmly believed that if you like it, you'll use it and therefore you'll get value from it. I think actually I can apply that theory to most of my crafting purchases now. NOW. Not so much a year or so ago when I was pre-ordering paper collections, chasing the new machinery and blah blah. I'm more comfortable in my crafting skin I guess, and can finally resist the marketing. But sometimes I can't. After all, if I'm capable of the sort of untidiness revealed in that photo, I'm only human, right?

The Flea Market is at Craft Krazy, Tidworth: 01980 844010 for detail.

Ludgershall Crop is also on Saturday, from 11am, ask me for detail. This month's challenge is very straightforward: create a LO using 3 patterend papers, one of which you will have swapped at the crop. (They can be scraps, not full size sheets, of course!)

Messy achievement!

Actually, now I look at this, it doesn't seem so bad! This has been my work space for the last 2 days..I can't show you what was going on behind me on the worktops, stool tops, floor..because I've cleared it up!! Hooray! The album is finished:I like it. Unlike the one that I didn't photograph before taking to the shop, this one is plain papers, neater edges, no ribbons or extra 'stuff' to make it look untidy. You have to agree, there are those that recoil in horror at the sight of tags, ribbons, fibres and heavily ripped edges inked and stamped randomly, so it's nice to be able to reassure potential workshopeers that the album is, without doubt, to be done in the style that pleases them, not me (no, really!).

I've used the Bind It All this time, and now think I should have taken the time to extend the rings the length of the book....but I'm a coward about working it out and good gracious, if I got it wrong after all that work, I would experience a huge bad mood. Because there would be no-one else to blame. I hate that. And I'm generally scared of my Bind It All. It definitely falls into the category of 'thing-I-most-wanted-because-it-was-new-and-everyone-else-was-getting-one'. This is possibly the 4th time I've used it. In 18 months. Not exactly a bargain huh! Sally Ann commented on a previous post that this is a keeping-up-with-the-Jones' thing and I couldn't agree more. Perfectly driven by the marketing arm of the industry too. Difficult to resist, apparently! The worst part of it for me is the guilt! My, what a tangled personality I must be. And there I am thinking I'm as transparent as glass and shallow as a puddle. Oh, and very untidy!

How sweet is this!! An award from Caryn who frankly says such nice things that I don't believe she reads this! Anyway, with gratitude and in the spirit of the award, I'm to pass it onto 10 others and tell you why. I'll be succinct and I must add, some of these worthies won't even know that I read their blogs..I'm very guilty of the 'hit and run' technique, but I check them often. Indeed, I spend a lot of 'free' time checking them!
Pam

Jay670120

Catherine

Emilie

Anneliese

Vicki

Ginny

Beatriz

Monica

Fiona

I can't sum them up in a few words - I can't sum anything up in FEW words..but all of these blogs inspire me - for loads of reasons; stories of everyday business that includes crafting, use of techniques, altered work that I couldn't begin to do, use of COLOUR that knocks me out every time, precision, using fabric and notions on cards, actually using stash and a hang up on inchies...for all these things and more!

These cute mice are part of the Patchwork Kingdom range from the lovely peeps at the Crafthouse Press. Now I know that the ribbon is waaaay out of proportion to the mice and it dominates the card, but this is to give to micro neice for her birthday, and pink and sparkly are very much a requirement, and hey, she probably won't be critiquing with quite as much energy as us!

Thanks for your comments over the last post (rant, my daughter calls it, when I express an opinion). I want to stress a point that came out of what turned into quite a 'behind the scenes' debate. I'm not condemnatory of anyone who buys craft stash from any source that suits them. TV, interweb, shops, blah. We each have a variety of reasons for having or wanting to buy from the various sources. My point (made in about 1 million too many words, I know) was - in that shop on that day, I saw the community of customers that shopkeeper gal has established and nurtured behave rather badly, and I wanted to rant. And you, dear interweb, copped it! So...let's move on and talk about me again.

How's your memory? Are you fond of recalling - is that why you scrap? Are you great at using all of your kit, even if it might be a bit old fashioned? Just like fashion, all of our craft stuff gets re-imagined and sent out again....what about the re-shaping and brilliant marketing of the humble emery board into a distressing tool?

I was lucky enough to go the the first Creative Escape in 2006 with my dear friend, Willowy Blonde. There, in 3 classes out of 6, the biggest and most used product was the corner-round punch. Yep. Doesn't matter which make or brand you use, just make sure you round the corners of everything. So I took the one I bought from a CM girl about 300 years ago. Took a while to find; it really was buried under all the other punches that the advertisers told me I had to have. (Slot this into the file marked 'NEED', to be discussed).
So this week, I've been working on one of those BoBunny word albums as a workshop sample (HOME) in time for Mother's Day - nice huh. Now generally as a cardmaker and more generally as a scrapbooker, I stamp and stick stuff on. Occasionally, I decoupage which is after all, cutting out and sticking stuff on. So..I had to dredge the old memory for this album! Dry brushing the acrylic paint to add some definition to the image edges - it's been ages, yonks.....almost probably the last time I did this was the day before I brought the first of my Fluid Chalk inkpads. It was a bit like putting on a pair of flares. I used eyelets too....thanks god for the cropadile, remember though, all the clenching and pelvic floor exercising caused by the original 'punch and set' eyelet kits? Noisy times. And remember when the Bind it All was still in the Wish List stage of product development? For this album, I used book rings, and they are just great...so damn instant! And what did we do before chipboard? I used mount board, but not in any sophisticated die cut shapes I can tell you! I really enjoyed the mixture of techniques and tools and the idea that it all came together without taxing the memory is even better. Quite often I flick through a mag or consult you, dear interweb for hints and reminders on 'how to do', so this was a good memory flexing exercise! Of course, you may like to see a piccy of it. But I can't post one...I took it to the shop for display already, having completely forgotten to photograph it!