Winter Wonderland

Well the snow has caught up with me and landed here in Manchester.  Here's the view at lunch time from my office window.

So whilst we're looking at the snow, here's another Christmas card for you from my recent magazine work for Cardmaking and Papercraft. I'm entering this one into challenges at:

Ooh la la challenges - Christmas Song - Let there be Peace

One stitch at a time - bling it up

Papertake weekly - sketch 51 - I flipped it 90 degrees

Supplies used:

Bo Bunny - Winter Joy, papers, stickers and rub-ons

I hope the snow and ice aren't causing too much chaos for you.

xxx

Who do you think you are?

No I'm not getting stroppy, it's much more exciting than that, well I think it is.  I'm always excited to get my cards published in a crafting magazine but this month I've got a piece on "Scrapbook a family gift" in the Who Do You Think You Are Magazine.  Yes a real magazine!  Starting on page 54 I have 3 pages, including a full step by step.  I'm entering it into the following challenges:
Crazy 4 challenges - script paper
CRAFT - Christmas present
Creative Inspirations - Christmas Gifts
Dutch Dare - sketch
Fab 'n' funky - anything goes

Supplies used:

Box frame from IKEA

K&Co classic K Margo Mat Pad

 K&Co classic K Margo Tag pad

K&Co classic K Margo Fabric stitched brads

Bazzill basics - half the edge (borders)

Brown ink

Thanks for letting me share my excitement.

xxx

It's homework time

You'd think that because I'm home I'd be putting my feet up but instead I have some last minute homework to do for Sara.  Do I mind?  Not a jot.  I'm getting to work with a fabulous kit, so have a look on Create and Craft on Friday, to see what I've been playing with.  Now I can't shar4e that with you just yet but I can share some other homework.  Here's some cards that were made for Cardmaking and Papercraft.

This one I'm entering into the challenges at:

Totally Gorjuss -  tree

CPS - sketch #195

  

Supplies used:

Echo park - walk in the park

This second card I'm entering into the challenge at:

The crafty pad - snowflakes

Right I'm off to watch the results of Strictly and X-factor and finish my homework.  If I was having a bath and washing my hair it would feel like I was going to school tomorrow!

I hope you've had a great weekend.

xxx

Craftaganza Day 3

I can't believe it's already day 3 and our last day of Craftaganza today.  First things first, breakfast and I had been told that if I asked I could have a dippy egg and woo hoo, that's just what I had for breakfast.  I love the egg cup but I was good and left it behind!

Today I got to go to class and did some jewellery making.  Oops I think I may have a new addiction!

Then it was time to eat again!  Today I went for the roulade, maybe I'm lemon meringued out!

In the afternoon I got to be Leonie's little helper and here's the cinnamon tag they got to make and I've made one too.  Not only did it look great but it smelt delicious too.

I'm entering mine into the challenge at:

Stampin' for the weekend - winter

My time to craft - tag along

Tuesday taggers - decoration

 Here's the second project that the class got to make - cute.

  

At one point during the class Miss LEonie decided to cover me with glitter, very funny!  But don't you just love karma - 5 minutes later she picked up a pot of glitter and didn't realise that the lid was open - giggle!! 

  

But how can you keep a girl down when she has such fabulous shoes on.   I tried to steal them but she was having none of it!

As fast a Craftaganza had come round, it had finished and we had to say goodbye to everyone.  A big thank you has to go out to the staff at The Aston Hotel, they are all fabulous and help make the event run so efficiently.  They're also the friendliest hotel staff I've ever met.

So just time for a quick latter - hold the brandy, before setting off home.

 

It took a while to clear my car but then I was on my way home.  There was no snow south of Wetherby!  Although I brought some home on my car - yes there was still that much snow on my car after 120 miles!

I guess we'd better start planning Craftaganza 2011.

xxx

Craftaganza - Day 1

This has to be one of my favourite times of the year.  Yes it really is up there with Christmas and going on holiday.  It's our annual craft event - Craftaganza.  This year we've had 80+ of our customers join us for 3 days craft classes and lots and lots of fun.  They really are the nicest people who come to the event and it's great to see so many of them come back each year.

My class was crafting boot-camp and we had 4 cards to make in an hour and three quarters and all of workshop attendees today flew through the class.  The first card we tackled was a circle slider card which looks really tricky but with a little bit of know how it's a doddle.  I'm entering this card into the following challenge:
Cute card Thursday - blast from the past - challenge #114 no designer papers

Supplies used:
Circle slider - Popcorn Platinum Cd - kids and florals
Die cut - grande scallop square nestabilities

This next one is a little dome card.  These are super easy and I'm going to pop a how to over on the Crafter's Companion News & Inspiration Blog very soon. 
I'm entering it into the challenge at:
ABC challenge - ice and snow

 Supplies used:

Design printed onto pearlised card - Popcorn CD - frosty & bright
Die cuts - circle and scalloped circle nestabilities
Decoupage - Popcorn die cut decoupage


It's a wonder we even got the event started with the snow that had fallen overnight.  It took me a while to get there but I did arrive as did all the workshop leaders (Sara, Leanne, Jayne, Sheena, Carolyn, Margaret & Sarah) and our lovely delegates.

Giving me a hand with getting ready for class the lovely Carolyn and Margaret, who were there to teach jewellery making.

We got Sarah helping too

Here's my first class with their dome cards.  The first class is always the toughest but they were a fabulous group, so no problems.

We even get a break for lunch.  The food at the Aston hotel is fabulous, it might be even better this year as they have a new chef!  Lemon meringue wasn't on the dessert menu for lunch but with a quiet word in the right ear I managed to acquire a rather large slice!

So back to it after lunch and it was the class with some of the design team in and also a few of our forum members.  I thought they might give me a bit of banter but they were surprisingly well behaved. especially Carol, who was  exceptionally good. 

The last class of the day were mostly made up of the class that I had in the first session last year, so I know quite a bit about this bunch and they finished off my teaching day with a smile.  It was also great to meet some new crafters.

 That evening after dinner I held a drop in session for those people who wanted to know more about the different die cutting machines we stock.  So yet more handle turning - hopefully it's toning up my bingo wings!
With the snow still lingering a decision was made for us to stay over.  Luckily we're a team that don't mind sharing hair brushes.  The good part of that is that I could have a glass or two of wine, but we were quite restrained as we know we were up for another busy day tomorrow.

Die Cutting Madness

Well I made it to the office today, in fact I was there before 9, which means a very early start!  I felt like I was packing forever, as I'm not home until Sunday.  As well as my clothes I had to pack lots of craft bits and pieces, ready for Craftaganza :)

Talking of Craftaganza, Kamala and I sat last night and became die cutting queens.  Prepping for 80 delegates takes some arm power but we're getting there.  Why did I think it was a good idea to use so many die cuts!!

I also have to tell you about my fabulous dinner tonight, pancakes made from rice and lentils filled with potato curry - I love you Kamala.

Here's a couple of little cards I've made.  How great is this for a teenager.  It was inspired by challenges at:

A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything Goes

Fab 'n' Funky - go with the flow

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Inks - versamark, distress inks black soot and barn door.

Spray and sparkle - iridescent

This card was inspired by the challenge at:

Papertake Weekly - cut it out

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Paper-  SWALK CD2

Punch - Martha Stewart doily lace

Colouring medium - Copic Ciaos

Right I'm off to bed to rest my winding arm as there's more die cutting to be done tomorrow.

Good night.

xxx

A very Manic Monday

The plan for today was finish off my class for Craftaganza , then pack and go up to the office for around lunchtime.  The realisation is that packing for a week, planning a class, normal day job and an emergency trip to Hobbycraft, takes most of the day, so I'm going up to the office in the morning!

Seeing as I'm up in the office for the rest of the week, this may be the last you here from me for a couple of days - I'm sure I heard one of you shout "hurrah"!!

The good news is that the 135 sheets of card that needing printing are done, now it's just all the die cutting that needs prepping but that's a job for tomorrow night and the night after that!

So before I disappear into the ether here's a quick card.  This one was inspired by the challenges at:

2 sketches 4 you - Laura's sketch #66

Quirky crafts - recipe, black, white and one more colour plus punches

Supplies used:

Stamps - clearly hand stamped

Card - watercolour card

Ink - distress ink, soot black and barn door

Right I'd better get to bed as I have an early start.

xxx