WOYWW 251

This is my desk on a wet, dull Tuesday afternoon, and  from the other side with the light, what there is of it, behind me showing off my new green wipe-clean table cover from The Range (a bargain at £4 as it was the end of the roll and I got enough to cover the table and the small one in the conservatory).

Not an awful lot to show today but quite a bit of work went into making the bee tag.  It was intended as a swap piece for Vicky Stampers, our monthly craft group but I like it so much that I don't want to part with it and am busy making another one on a different theme (same letter though as it is an alphabet swap).  See lower down for a better photo and more details.

The butterfly stamps are for my second tag and rooting through my stash I found two sheets of Duralay film, a heatable, mouldable plastic that I bought a few years ago and have never used.  So guess what I'm doing this afternoon?  A few more bits there including some Ranger pens, Urban Stamps butterflies, too many butterfly stamps?  Impossible!  The cards at the top left are ones I made with the Urban Stamps cute bird stamp on my desk last week - see previous post for a closer look at these.

Huge thanks to Julia of The Stamping Ground for hosting this massive swap every week, you are a star.

So, a closer look at the Bee tag.

 Tag cut to size and inked with Honey and similar shade Distress Inks.  The main bee (Stampotique Jo Capper-Sandon) was stamped on the tag, coloured with DI markers, stamped again on acetate and affixed with Glossy Accents plus a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust...well Gold ultra fine glitter.  The circle stamp is a beautiful caligraphy stamp by Quietfire Design, part of a set that also includes the mini bees I used on the background and 'The hum of the bees' to the right.  I only used the top half of that stamp, masking the bottom bit off before inking.  Bits of old music paper, Glossy Accents dots with more gold glitter and a border of gold pearl dots complete the tag.

Now it's off to my craft stash with a notepad as it's the twice yearly Happy Stampers show at Port Sunlight and obviously I need to make lots of lists of stuff I 'need' so that I can totally ignore it and come back with  more unplanned purchases to show you next week.

Paper piecing and cute birdie

In my addiction to ink and stamps I sometimes forget how pretty and effective paper piecing can be. I was reminded this week when searching for idea for two Mothers' Day cards, one for my Mother in Law and the second for her sister-in-law, a lady of 83 who we are taking out for lunch next Sunday.

The cute birdie stamp was an impulse buy (are there any other types?) the other week and has been sitting on my desk since I bought it, it is a Papermania, Urban Stamp. Can't remember where I got the papers as they came from my scrap box and I had just enough to make the two cards.

This card is 5inch square and I added another beak to the bird and hung the 'Happy Mothers Day card from it before scribbling round the edge of the card.

The second card uses the same stamp and the same hanging card but on a larger A5 base.   The Mum stamp and the mini heart are from another Urban Stamps sheet 'Vintage notes - sentiments'.  The heart stamp stuck to my fingertip when I took it off the backing sheet so 'instant' stamp block, must try that again. 

Paper now back in the scrap box and the inks are out again, going for a play this afternoon 

WOYWW 250

Wednesday, again!  Wish someone would get their finger off the fast-forward button I'm struggling to keep up.  Think I've just about made joining in with Julia's desk hop this week (pop over here to see what it's all about) because if you had come over to my craft space an hour ago you wouldn't have seen anything at all, apart from a paint spattered table protector.

Postman just delivered a batch of QuietFire Design stamps from Oyster Stamps so I've ripped open the envelope and am raring to go.  Need to get a couple of Mother's Day cards made, one for my M in L and another for Mr Bs 84 year old aunt who we adopt as a second Mum for the day as her son lives in Japan and her daughter in Egypt.
That cute bird from last week is still in it's packet but I have been looking at my paper packs to see if anything inspires me.  Also out are two boxes of stamps, the blue one has a combination of Indigo Blu, Paperartsy and Stampers Anonymous plates with my favourite dragonfly one out on the desk.  The pink box has my nature collection and the poppies on my desk jumped out of that one.  Now 'all' I have to do is pick a stamp and away I go.  Have been a busy bee today, boring stuff like housework, including cleanoing the windows in my conservatory but tomorrow is reserved for craft.
Have a great Wednesday, what's left of it.

Double slider card

Just finished the double slider card I was working on at the beginning of the week so I'm sharing the photos.

This shows the card closed and flat on my desk with the top of the two tags that work the 'pop-up' visible at the top edge. (Just noticed that the charms hanging from the turquoise thread are turned the wrong way....oops!)

Just pull on the pink ribbons to slide out the tags and Voila!

The front panels pop up to show the inner, stamped pieces underneath and the stamped panels on the two tags (just visible) and the charms turned the right way this time.

Really enjoyed making this one as I haven't done any paper engineering for a while.  Thanks to Helen of The Craft Project for her YouTube tutorial and clear instructions.  Helen made her original card using Graphic 45 papers and has some wonderful examples on her blog - here.

WOYWW249

Missing last week, and the week before but as I actually have something on. My desk this week I'm joining in Julia's massive desktop this week.

Lots of pink and soft greens today as I work on a double slider card for a birthday on Saturday.  Better get a move on then.  I am following the excellent instructions on Helen's blog,http://acraftproject.blogspot.co.uk  and am almost done.  Bought a new Sizzix flower die yesterday to make some pretty blooms and once these are finished I only have to make the sliding tags and we are done.  

Was away at the weekend in the campervan.  Only a short trip to get her ready for the season and make sure all is working OK. We were only about 15 miles down the road at Burrs Country Park between Bury and Ramsbottom (yes, that's its real name) so I just had to call in a local craft shop for some white card and that cute bird stamp on my desk just flew into my basket.

Here's a few photos of my weekend if you want a nosey around.