Good Old Fashioned, Modern Baubles

The cupcake inspirations challenge features the most amazing cupcake, decorated with the old fashioned coloured balls that anyone my age used to see on most iced Christmas edibles before silver became the only easily available choice. (Sob). Anyway, the challenge is to be inspired by the cupcake in some way and make a card. I was and I did. I used Amber Ink's acorn bauble from the 'Tis the Season to be Pretty' set of Digi stamps. Amazing how one small image canbe used to fill a 6" square card on a large repeat! Love that manipulation-able-ness. Yeah - you understood, no matter how bad the word! Anyway, I traced over the outlines with Glossy Accents and blitzed them with Glamour Dust. I painted them baubles with Twinkling H20s to try and replicate that shiny 'ball' colour, the rest you can see...emboss background, blah blah.

You like? A bit in your face? Yeah. That's why I like it! Cut along to Amber Ink and get this set, you need it. And then enter the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge and show me up. You know you can. Amber, Ink are sponsoring this challenge, so you could well win something really worth having!

Welcome Sunday!

Yesterday I got up at the working time and did stuff. Not, you understand because I wanted to, but I was trying to clear the 'stuff' so that I could have today to myself. I know, triumph of hope over experience, but here I am. Ok, I'm here; the kitchen is a wreck from last night's supper and this morning's breakfast, I am still in PJs, my bed is unmade and there isn't even a load of washing on yet. But hey, I've made a couple cards and that makes the day a good one!

I've had an unsolicited gift recently and wanted to show you these stamps from Kay. She's a WOYWWer and her blog is called Toodles and Binks - visit her, the inspiration and realism are a tonic!

There's a full set of them called Playtime 1 (which bodes well for a 2, huh!) and you can go see them at Stamp Galaxy, Kay's shop. I can't do them huge justice like Kay can, but I can use them with love huh! On the first card I used an old dinner money envelope and some dictionary pages and the lace - all of which came from Cath in Cyprus as a haul of lovely vintagey stuff that she felt I needed. I did, of course! Thank you Kay and Cath, you've made my Sunday morning one of fun. Now, I have to get a wiggle on, another chore to complete before the day is out - attend to the sweet in-laws for a roast and birthday cake type lunch. Oh how I love my extended family!

In the eye of the beholder

Today's workshop was unseasonally seasonal'. It comprised four christmas cards made using non-Christmas stash, except for the message/greeting. So one of the cards has a panel, embossed and highlighted with the Antique Linen DI, and the panel edges are distressed - with a proper big girl crafter distressing tool, no less.

So the gals beaver away and we're having a chat and things are being passed around and well, you know. Among our number this evening is Miss Glitter - likes making cards, enjoys the social, has a quick humour and occasionally is brave enough to make her card with complete disregard for my sample design. It's ok. They do it so often now that my ego is over it! Now and then, an item for a particular card goes astray and we identify the item to the card when asking everyone to look for it. And this evening, Miss Glitter, without blinking, referred to the ribbon she needed 'for the tatty looking card'. Well, you should speak as you find, huh!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - which accounts for the photo quality, sorry!

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 77

Well fellow WOYWWers, what can I say - this week has totally run away from me. Although, ironically, I visited all of last week's desks....there were about 10 that I simply could not get a comment to take on - I wonder if some of my visits were from work. I thought I had that computer tamed!I must warn you - you aren't going to like this. And I must warn you, if you aren't already resigned to my standard, you should probably take it on board, get it over with, and swallow! I can't change, this leopard has too many spots, this dog knows no new tricks, I have no new leaves..can't do it. BUT - I'm OK with it.If you aren't, look and rejoice that it's not yours. Same desk...something missing...hmmm....I know - that awful basket of stamps waiting to be cleaned! Well, the slutty bit got boring so I cleaned them. So where's the empty basket then Dunnit? Oh. Well. *cough* IT'S HERE! Yep. now all I have to do is put them away!!

So come on then, show your workspace without shame or regret. We don't mind, we revel in your craft related state. OK, I do. Upload to your blog, link it here, and we can pop over to see what you're up to, what you're using and in some cases, where we can buy it! When you visit other desks, add your link number to the comment you leave - then a re-visit is easy - and this is all about easy and fun!

Wrap It Your Way

Wrap It Your Way - Amber Ink's Inkcredible 21 Day Challenge - check it out do - you take a food or gift item, and deck it out. And there are some stunners - visit the link and Look! There is an amazing opportunity for you here - if you win , you and Amber, (the genius with the pencil and graphic programme) get to collude on producing your ideas as digi images and stuff - I know a heap of people that could be doing this!

So I've used my utter favourite (so far) ipaper - Snowflake Lace - to make this little cone shaped hanger/ holder. It's from a 4" square, so you can get plenty from a sheet! You'll recognise the Martha Stewart border punch along the top of the 'insert' cone and I used a die to cut the snowflake shapes, attached them with silicone glue for a bit of dimension. Obviously the devil in the detail : the pink candy canes...in a pack of 20ish from Sainsbury's. I expect if I looked everywhere, everywhere would have them, and probably in traditional colours, but I do quite like the pink for a change.

I must say that despite my initial ignorance and crappy printer fears, I've really had my head turned by this ipaper - so jolly convenient. And I read that one Torchbearer sends her files to a copy shop for printing - now that's a great idea - no probs at all with colour cartridges there! I could build up a bit of a stash instead of print and use - which makes me feel like I have last minute-itis, and doesn't help my decision process because all the possibilities crowd my head!

Look, nearly all glitter!

Aha - that Dunnit woman, she flits from extreme to pole and no doubt. One minute she's moaning about being sick of Christmas and glitter and the next - well just look at this! I couldn't resist it. The weather was dead flat cold and dull, the Christmas shopping was erm, shelved because I had a rather severe attack of humbug and so I played a little. In my amazing capacity as part of Amber Ink's th(ink) Tank I had preview access to some lovely stuff and this card is a result. Sure is a result - all images are digital, including the background paper.! I seem to have managed some of the basics of digi and I'm not a bit smug about it. More 'terrified of the shape of things to come' is a better description! Anyway, I bring you sparkly kissing fish for your sparkly delight -I used Spin Pin-Black Tie for the paper and digi stamps Best Fishes. Check out what others are doing by following the link from my fab pink badge!

The use of all this glitter has naturally affected my family, by virtue of central heating, static and breathing. They look even more gorgeous when seen through glitter tinted eyelashes. Miss Dunnit is amused by my surprise at quite how many colours of glitter that I have. She amused is good - because I was shocked! I don't keep them all together (for reasons of I don't know tinged with madness), and so when I amassed them to give me colour choices, there were loads - pots, tubs, phials and bags, some decanted into wider mouth pots, some mixed from careless spills (to form a kaleidoscope colour, on purpose, of course). They cheered me up, they floated around the room and sparkled everywhere - and still do. And then I tidied them away, back into several places. Unlike me I know - perhaps it was the need not t be totally covered in the stuff before I made something else. Perhaps it was because the glittery colours cheered me up. Perhaps it was because I was ashamed of the number in the collection. I dunno. Share your shame, what's your glitter collection like? And are you like me, one of the people that thinks you 'don't do' glitter? It must be genetic, because I really thought I didn't!

Look, no glitter!

I was getting bogged down in season-ality and the sort of colours that go with. This fresh little bunny lad is Dandelion (code K001 to be precise) and was a breath of fresh air to colour and make. He's from the Crafthouse Press - more excitingly for me - he's part of a range of foam mounted rubber stamps! Now that is seasonally excellent news! Cut along to your LSS and have a look - I've got a couple others to show...and will when I need to rest from the December stuff!

Did you notice that this week had a record number of WOYWWers? I expect if you have guilt about getting round every desk then you will have noticed. But let me re-iterate; it's meant to be fun - work and having a bad cold and worry about all sorts of things makes the real life a tad more difficult than hopping round friendly blogs on the interweb. So cut yourselves some slack - everyone is really happy to get visitors,but if you can't visit everyone, it doesn't matter, honest. Dip in and out, take part, comment, don't comment - it doesn't matter. Don't pressure yourselves. But hey - if you aren't posting to your blog or WOYWWing for whatever reasons, be unapologetic and stay in touch anyway huh - you don't need to post a pic every Wednesday to drop by and say hi, for sure. So as we gear up for the big season, do take my advice huh. You might as well. I'm not using it (- as one of my stamps sagely puts it!)

Oh and Julia, how come you have an open box of Cyprus made turkish delight on your desk? Well, interweb, nosey as you are, you'll be pleased by the answer. It's genuine stuff and I must say, we ended up fighting over the nutty, almondy pieces, oh yum. All thanks to Cath in Cyprus, who for happy family reasons, was recently transformed into Cath in Tidworth! Oh it was very nice to meet her - you know what I mean, when you sort of have to hug to prove it's really happening! Brave Cath came over to the shop on Thursday evening and joined the workshop - which was manic but fun. The weather was foul whilst she and her lovely man were here, I hope they travelled well and have got the chill off their bones by now.

Have a nice crafty christmas shoppy weekend y'all. No, really if I have to, I think it only fair that you do too!