The day I met Tim

 

Ready for the second installment of this year's crafty adventures?

At the end of the summer, my sister, Helen, and I were lucky enough to spend a morning with the very lovely Tim Holtz, (and a few dozen others!) making this tag book.   It really was a dream come true!  I mean, Tim Holtz! Showing us how to ink, and distress and assemble.  And he really is as nice and friendly and smiley as you've ever heard.  

As well as leaving with this gorgeous little book and a head full of ideas and inspiration, each delegate left with a stencil (from his new range), a distress stain and paint, a distress marker, a book of his fragment word stickers and a mini stamp set.  All of which we had used and shared around our table during the class.  Tim also gave us some extra "things that money can't buy" - as he described them.  Which were a Tim Holtz messenger bag, a signed copy of his second book and an apron - which we also got signed!

As I mentioned in my last post, we met up with Kaz Hall again, as she was also there, helping Tim with his class. And in another installment of Helen and I living in "a small world", we ended up sharing a table with a couple of ladies who we had previously met at our local crop.  One of whom will make an appearance when I tell you about another of our adventures! Till next time.......

Tag, you're it

 

Back  in the summer, I went with my sister on a day of workshops organised by a local stationery and craft shop.  Helen sold it to me as soon as she said that Kaz Hall of The Little Shabby Shed was going to be there, teaching with Dylusions.  

This is the tag that Kaz taught us, using Dylusions and Perfect Pearls for the background, and some of Dyan Reaveley's stamps.  

I'm not sure I entirely agree with the words.  I'm usually ready for an adventure.  Which is what Helen and I had when we met Kaz for the second time this summer.  But, that's another story, for another time!

Finally Finished Something

 

It's time to get stuff finished.  I've so very nearly finished the daisy field blanket for Luu to take to university.  I shall gloss over the fact that she has been at uni for the last year, and focus on the fact that her degree starts this year.  Yes.  A big tick for me, the daisy field blanket shall be finished for when Luu starts her degree.  And I shall show you, when it's done.

Now, back to the finished something.

I needed a small project to take with me when I went on holiday last month, and decided to make the Teddy Bear hat that Phoebe had asked for.  I made a Rabbit version of this hat for Luu earlier this year, but the only photos I have of that are too bad to see the light of day in this post. 

The pattern is a freebie I found on the internet sometime before Pinterest - so I'm afraid I have no idea where it came from to link to.  But, what I can now remember, is that it is an American pattern.  So, when I started this second version, it took a little while to realise this.  And the top of the hat looked like a mangled mess, before I remembered that the doubles in the pattern are actually my trebles - doh!  Start again, and it all went swimmingly.  Note to self - write on the top of the pattern - work in trebles.

The pattern that I used had no ear  directions on it.  I know, how inconvenient!  So, for both the Rabbit and the Teddy Bear version, I had to freestyle it.  For the Teddy Bear version, I repeated the first bit of the hat pattern for about three rows, folded the circle in half, and joined it together with a row of single crochet.  Ears stitched on, and there we have it - a Finally Finished Something! 

I've just had a quick look back through my archives, and I haven't introduced Luu's Daisy Field Blanket to you on my blog.  It's made plenty of appearances on my Instagram, and with bloggers in real life, but not here.  Ooh, you're in for a treat! And in that previous sentence, I see at least two further blog posts.  Meeting bloggers in real life, and Instagram.

See you soon!

Time to play

 

Yummy new paints. Definitely time to play!

Nifty at fifty

 

When one of your best friends turns fifty - a bit of a special card needs to be made. Think I pulled it off. (Totally stole borrowed the idea from my sister.)

Create. Just because.

 

Yesterday, I sat down to get inky and painty.  

But got stuck with what I was trying to do.  

So, just got a blank piece of card, picked a couple of distress inks I haven't been using lately, and went for it.  

Distress stains started the background, then some stamping and stencilling in similar colours.  More background added with stamping in black and white. Then topped off with Glinda from The Octopode Factory, coloured in with Neocolors.  

Now, what to do with this piece of whatever? Stick it onto a piece of corrugated card to "frame" it.  Just needed some words to finish it off.  I looked at a set of sticker words I have, and they jumped out.  

And now I have a piece to remind me to Create.  Just because.

What have you been creating lately? I'm coming to look...

Mad as a hatter

 

Ages ago, at the start of the year, I saw a challenge on the Octopode challenge blog with the theme the Mad Hatter.  I decided to join in, as it was a snowy Sunday, and there wasn't anything else that needed doing.  I don't have any Mad Hatter stamps, but I do have this Octopode stamp of Glenda.  So I decided to go with my own twist of Mad-ame Hatter. 

I gathered together some bits, a box that a mirror compact came in - and kept because  it might come in handy one day - and lo and behold it did! A teeny jar of beads, that came from the same set that featured in my first ever blog post. A tea pot charm, that came from my box of "useful" metal bits - some bought, some found. Added into the mix, clouds cut from scrapbook papers - Sassafras Lass, I believe. Some bits of German scrap, Distress Inks, white acrylic paint and a bit of time on the internet looking for a quote.

Using Johnny Depp's outfit from Alice in Wonderland as my inspiration, I coloured Mad-ame Hatter in teal and orange (also some of my favourite colours at the moment) using my Neocolor IIs.  The background was dry-blended with Distress Inks onto some white cardstock.

 

Then, our van got stuck in the snow, and we ended up asking my sister and her family to come and help us push it back onto the drive, with the promise of a cooked breakfast in return.  With the help of my sister, I then spent the rest of the day moving furniture and re-arranging my crafty space.  Which has turned into an on-going, evolving project.  And that's why I didn't get around to entering this piece into the challenge.

Eventually I got around to finishing, and rather than let Mad-ame Hatter languish in loneliness in my crafty space, I thought she should have her moment of glory on the blog. And the full quote that I chose:

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense" Mad Hatter