Two more of this week’s hoops and hurdles successfully negotiated. I managed to get my fruit tea breads made in time, although it was touch and go especially after I missed my bus home! I did say I would take a picture to show you but it completely went out of my mind, I’m sorry. It was very well received by our course delegates who all took the recipe (and extra slices) away with them.

Today I am sharing a tag that I have made for this week’s Sunday Stamper’s challenge that has a vintage theme:

This started life as a plain manilla tag which I coloured with Old Paper and Brush Corduroy distress stains. I splodged some stain on to a mat and then just swept the tag through it a few times. I built up the layers gradually, drying in between coats. I wish I had taken a picture as I loved the effect and I hadn’t realised how fabulous Old Paper can be, I ‘ve only ever used it for edging.

Can you spot anything odd about the ‘photo above? There was bright sunshine when I took it! I’m just not used to this, so to me it really stands out. I used a script stamp and Vintage Photo ink on top of the background, then used a fab vine stamp, by Lavinia Stamps, and black archival ink.

I used more Old Paper and Brushed Corduroy distress stains to colour up some white seam binding, again I just love the colour and effect that this has produced.

I also did the same with a little Graphics Fairy butterfly image and popped it on top of a scrap of lace together with a teeny brass key.

The final touch was to add some rosebuds and the dream sentiment, which is a cut down raffle ticket.

I shall definitely be using this colour combination again, it’s my new favourite!

I am now on my knees having been up at daft o’clock in order to set up our training event and then unloading and reloading the van before wending my weary way home on the train.  I had just about enough energy to eat a bag of Millie’s Cookies (more cost effective than a single cookie, obviously) as I did so.

Bleugh, Monday! Although, for me, it is only a four day week, with the prospect of a visit to my dear little nephews at the end of it and a long weekend to boot. First though, a series of hoops to jump through and hurdles to negotiate during my working week. First up, an unscheduled meeting in the office at a time when I had planned to be baking for an event we are running on Tuesday.  Now I’m sure a lot of people would classify baking as a pleasure, and so do I. However, it seems whenever I have to cook at home, as part of my job, I’m also trying to juggle ten other things at the same time so it just becomes stressful. If all turns out well I will try and show you the results.

So on to today’s project, some altered clothes pegs that I will be sharing over at The Graphics Fairy for this week’s Brag Monday.

Do you still use clothes pegs? I’ll admit it’s a very rare occurence these days as it’s a right fandago having to put up the washing line. So I happened to spy my bag of very old, unused and unloved clothes pegs sulking in the garage and decided to give a few of them a make over.

 I started by giving them a coat of gesso and then adding colout with distress stains – Worn Lipstick and Broken China. Once dry, I coated the top side with glue and sprinkled on a trio of glitters – fine crystal clear, chunky ice diamond and silver mica flakes.

Once the glitter had had plenty of time to dry I then went to town adding embellishments. I tried to use bits and pieces that were lying around. I happened to already have the vintage butterfly (well, moth really!) images, from The Graphics Fairy,  printed out. The only things that were not left overs were the chit-chat stickers.

I think I may add a magnetic strip to the back of these to make them fully functional. I’m already thinking of making some Christmas themed ones and possibly some with bee images. You could also make some specifically to keep pairs of boots and shoes together. Like to have another look?

By the time you are reading this I should have already cleared my first hurdle of the week. I hope you have a good one and thanks for taking time to buzz by.

The current challenge over at Anything But A Card has a colour theme:

Be sure to hop on over and see what the Design Team have been up to. The super talented Julie has made the most fabulous scarf. Here’s my design team piece:

I cannot take any credit for the idea for the design of this house, there is a fabulous tutorial over on the Calico Crafts blog which I followed, just using the Anything But A Card challenge colour pallette instead. I fell in love with the original, designed by Trish, which had a cute little bunny with a huge carrot!

Instead of attaching the house to a plain base I decided to use a cheese box  and painted this in excatly the same way as the house. Once all the layers were painted, I added a coat of clear crackle paint.

I added some natural Icelandic moss around the base of the house, glued a piece of leaf ribbon trim up the side and then topped it off with a little paper daisy that I had coloured pink with Worn Lipstick distress ink.

The little pink flowers you can see dotted amongst the moss I picked up from Ebay ages ago, I think they are made from fimo. To make the “believe” sign I stamped out the word on to some wood effect card, cut it out, attached it to a a small piece of driftwood and then sanded the edges and corners so they fused together.

I didn’t add any glitter, but that doesn’t mean to say I won’t at some point! That moss looks really pretty with glitter sprinkled in it.

I hope you’ll join us over at Anything But A Card, there’s still a whole week left to go so plenty of time to get your entry in. Thanks again to Trish and the Calico Crafts Blog Design Team for the inspiration.

Earlier this week I received a bumper package from my favourite ribbon shop – Really Reasonable Ribbon. I’ve mentioned before that my ribbon stash is in a pitiful state, a giant ribbon spaghetti so to speak, so all my new supplies are being kept in a separate box. I really will get around to sorting them all out, but not today if that’s OK? However, I’m not shy about using my ribbon and today I have used my supplies to make a patriotic badge:

I shall be sharing this over at Really Reasonable Ribbon for their red, white, blue and ribbon challenge.

The base of the badge is chipboard. I cut two pieces the same and the covered the front with some blue spotty fabric. I used some white lace across both diagonals and then topped it with some red and white stripy ribbon. Then I used some white edged, red ribbon to form the St George’s cross. I added lace all around the edge, sticking it on the reverse of the flag. All my lace came from Really Reasonable Ribbon as part of  monthly ribbon club sets.

Once the flag was complete, I glued the two panels together, so that the lace around the outside waas sandwiched in the middle, then I glued a brooch pin on the reverse.

The final touch was to add the red rose.  The badge is super sturdy and I didn’t want it to be let down by the paper flower so I gave it two coats of spray an shine to protect it from the elements. And viola, job done.

I love it when I make something completely unexpected and I’m very pleased with how this turned out. What a shame I didn’t think of it last year as it would have been perfect for the Jubolympics!

For the first card I created a background using distress inks. I built up layers of Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey (of course!) and a smidge of Ruty Hinge. Once all the ink was applied a gave it a spritz of water, I love the mottled effect this technique produces. I used Vintage Photo to stamp the honeycomb pattern and then stamped the main image using Black Archival ink. The colour of the sunflower was deepened by applying a little Mustard Seed and Scattered Straw with a waterbrush.

I stamped additional bees and decoupaged these on top of the originals.

I used black card in between the layers. I was going to add black ribbon but although it looked quite dramatic, it  looked a bit funereal so I used the spotted ribbon instead which I think looks a bit more jolly. Two black buttons and a little bee charm were the finishing touches.

I wanted to make the second card as different as possible, but I’m not sure it ended up that way! I did play about with sepia tones, black and white and also a Wedgwood effect but in the end settled for something more summery.

I painted the main image with Dylusions inks and a water brush and then layered it up on green and yellow designer paper. I’ve used jute ribbon with a piece of green and white ribbon across the centre. I used some leaf trim in the corner and finished it off with an ivory button and an extra little bee.

Love this stamp and can’t wait to use the others.  Hope you have a lovely weekend and bee  (!) sure to buzz back soon

]]> http://mrsbeez.com/bees/double-take/feed 10 http://mrsbeez.com/card-making/my-resistance-is-low http://mrsbeez.com/card-making/my-resistance-is-low#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 19:11:29 +0000 MrsBeez http://mrsbeez.com/?p=4389 Continue reading →]]> Craft packages ordered =0, craft packages received=0

If I tell you that I was watching Colombo at 3am this morning you will get a sense of how I’m feeling today. It was particularly annoying given that it was a day when youngest son was neither coming in late, or leaving the house early.

I’m sharing a card that I have made for this week’s Sunday Stampers challenge for which you have to use a resist technique. Which is quite funny really because today my resistance is non-existent, never mind low:

 I started with a piece of glossy card and Ryn’s Seabubbles stamp. I stamped the image using a clear(ish) embossing pad and clear embossing powder. Once it had been heat set I spritzed on various Dylusions ink sprays. The embossing acts as a resist.

I used the same technique for the little starfish, cutting them out afterwards.

I found a piece of muslin and attached the background to it using spray glue before layering on to some faux sand paper. The embossed starfish were easy to manipulate into starfish type poses (have you noticed how they pose when they are in rock pools or stranded on the beach?).

I’ve added some mica flakes, little shells and, my current favourite obsession when creating a sea themed piece, small pearls. I love the pearls against that muslin. The twine bow just finishes it all off.

Just one more thing… Colombo had his case all wrapped up, except actually he didn’t. It was rare episode when someone else took the rap to save the dying murderess. I love a bit of Colombo, but preferably not in the small hours of the morning.

Well I promised I would be back with another sweet treat and today it is all about one of my most favourite little bites of luxury – macaroons. First attracted by all the pretty colours, I treated myself to some from Betty’s in Harrogate. Naturally, I bought one of each  – raspberry, vanilla, pistachio, chocolate and lemon. I couldn’t wait until I got home to sample them and anyone observing me on the train might have thought they’d stepped into THAT scene from When Harry Met Sally! I have, of course, made it my mission to research and sample macaroons from any establishment that sells them. I have to say that Betty’s still remain my favourites, even over and above some well established Parisienne patisseries.

When I came across a stamp set produced by Avery Elle, that includes macaroons ,there was no question – I had to have it as part of my collection:

I’m sharing this over at Papercraft Star where this week’s challenge is pastels. You can get a matching die set which means making the macaroons is super simple. I stamped them onto pastel shades of pearl card using gold ink and embossing powder, heat embossed them and then ran them through my Grand Calibur.

The Ooh La La and the square pattern are also stamps in the set.

The little flowers just finish it off.

I am going to have a lot of fun creating cards with this stamp set, the only trouble is that my macroon craving will grow worse!

I failed miserably at my attempt at making macroons! Fortunate then, that my youngest son, trainee chef and DJ Beez, has totally mastered the art himself! As luck would have it, last night he had a 5 hour test at college which included making macaroons. Take a look:

Arent’ they great – they taste as good as they look and, I’m proud to report, earned him a distinction  He also used one to decorate his iced parfait dessert:

That amazing  curl is made from chocolate. Another distinction too He apparently had to beg his tutor to allow him to bring the macraoons home for his mum. And, just in case you are wondering, they have all been eaten!

Today I am sharing one of my Gecko Galz Design Projects that was made to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day. Make sure you hop on over and check out what the Galz have been up to as– there is a different project being posted everyday.

I am NOT a scrapbooker, as you can probably tell. I wish I was, but now it seems like an uphill battle when you look at the huge numbers of photographs we have in our house. Perhaps when I become a lady of leisure I will give it a go.

The picture is of my paternal Grandmother and her family – the Wallers. She is the one staning up on the left. They are all pictured outside the house, in the village of Ditchling, Sussex, where my Dad was born. Only one of the girls, Alice, my Great Aunt, remained unmarried and she continued to live in the house until she died. We had many happy holidays with her – she made the best shortbread in the world and also an amazing chocolate cake. She also had an accordion that I used to play whenever we went to stay.

The most remarkable thing about this picture is the striking resemblance between my Nana and my Dad at the same age. In later pictures the similarity  between them both remains.

I used the  Green Meadow paper from the Gecko Galz  Butterfly Meadow paper collection and Petals and Splendor papers from the Wild Roses paper collection as the main background papers. The photograph itself is mounted on to Keeping Tabs paper, which is also from the Wild Roses set.

I’ve used images from the Time Flies and Postcard memories collage sets plus some Anna Griffin swirly embellishments. I used Indido Blu stamps to stamp the letters for “family” onto card and then punched them out using a 1” circle punch. To finish, I decorated the page with flowers and leaves.

If I wasn’t currently tie up in a two day training event I would have made some shortbread to share with you. However, I have a second scrapbook project, which is very, very different so I’ll try and do it then!

I currently seem to have some issues with my blog’s server so apologies if you have had problems accessing my page in the evening (5pm BST onwards). Apologies if this has been frustrating for you. I think it’s sorted now, so please do buzz by again tomorrow – I have another sweet treat to share!

Is it really Monday morning again? Being Monday it is of course Brag Monday over at The Graphics Fairy. Here’s what I’ll be sharing:

 I shall also be linking this up with Crafty Boots where the theme is “Celebrations.”

I’ve made this as a little bag for confetti. My friend’s daughter is going to her first wedding where she ISN’T going to be a bridesmaid. I can identify with this as I never got to be a bridesmaid until I was married when, technically, I would have been a Matron of Honour. However, as it was my cousin’s wedding she allowed me to be a bridesmaid J During those years of never being a bridesmaid (the pain of it is all coming back to me!) I would have loved to have had something like this bag so I could “pretend” – something I excelled at!!

 I have to thank Ros Crawford, AKA Mikey’s Mom, for drawing my attention to Creations by AR who has made a template available for this little bag. It was so simple, I shall be making more. I actually took a snapshot of the template (you can do this easily – the template is a PDF and this facility is part and parcel) and pasting it into Word. This enabled me to put the lovely Graphics Fairy image straight onto the template  (you will need to resize it)before printing out.

 The bag is super simple to assemble and once done it was just a question of embellishing. I’ve used my favourite pale pink ruffle lace to frame the image. I used a double piece of ribbon to make the little handle, then attached bows on either side.

I’ve added a little leaf trim, some paper blossoms and a punched butterfly. As yet, I haven’t added any glitter but might just pop on a smidge.

Here’s hoping for a great week ahead and it would be lovely to see you here again!

Well I had a lovely day in London yesterday – although I have to say that for the second time this year I found London to be colder than Sheffield. I took a huge gamble and went without an umbrella AND wore high heels. Thankfully, we didn’g get caught in the rain and my feet held up to the challenge I set, including walking on cobbled streets and negotiating a spiral staircase without a handrail!

There was champagne and dainty sandwiches and champagne and delicate savory morsels and champagne and tiny pastries and champagne and cupcakes and… well I think you probably get the picture. My friend had managed to buy lots of vintage cake stands, plates, teacups and saucers it was beautiful. As was her house, which I hadn’t seen before. I returned home in the evening tired but happy still clutching my bunny ears! Just 4 weeks to the wedding – I haven’t even thought about an outfit!

Today I am sharing a couple of little dragonflies that I thought might make nice present toppers:

I shall be sharing these over at Really Reasonable Ribbon for the ribbon sparkle & bling challenge. The base of these pretty babies is a pipecleaner. I double it over, pulled it into an oval at the looped end and twisted at the other to make the tail.

Next, I wrapped silky ribbon around the “skeleton” going from top to bottom and then back up again, using a blob of glue to secure. I made a pair of anntennae from some silver wire. The pink dragonfly has beads on the end and the blue one has sparkly aqua gems.

The wings were made from some champagne netting. I cut two strips. wrapped wire around the centre of each piece and then combined them to make a double pair of wings. You can’t see it in the photo’s but there is a sprinkle of crystal glitter on the wings which looks very pretty.

To finish them I added a large gem and a little blossom, plus a chit-chat sticker.

There was a bumper package of ribbons, from Really Reasonable Ribbon, but I have banned myself from undoing them until I sort out the mess that is my ribbon bag. You really wouldn’t believe what a dreadful state they are in. Bonnie would probably never send me any ever again if she saw it. A kindly ribbon fairy has offered to take them away and sort them out for me but as much as this appeals to me, I would feel very bad if I let her do it. I will go and hang my shame curtains immediately!