Two Months..... Too Hectic!

Has it really been two months since I last made time to post an entry on my blog? Yes! it has!!!

Life has been so hectic in one way or another. Most things were geared to going away in September. Oh gosh, life's soooo hard, I HAD to go to Las Vegas, work of course. You understand that I would have much preferred to have stayed at home. (Well, that's what I told my DH).

We (Glenda, Glenda's husband Adrian and I) travelled out to Las Vegas to attend Memory Trends, a trade only show which features Scrapbooking as its main focus but has many wonderful crafty things to drool over. And drool I did - big time.

I also fell in love while I was there....... with Digi Scrapbooking. I have dabbled a little in the past with this form of scrapping, having bought pc programmes like Scrapbook Factory Deluxe. Then more recently I found a free download called Smilebox which I liked so much more than SFD and it was really very simple to use. Of course, I still love the good old hands on paper, adhesive and embellishment method too, there's room for all. But while we were away Glenda and I had the opportunity to meet a wonderful bunch of people who had travelled from some far-flung places to attend a lap top crop and that was it, it was hooked, lined and sunk.

Now, I don't profess to be anything like an expert where pc's are concerned. In fact the word 'expert' 'me' and 'pc' in the same sentence is somewhat of a joke. I am an absolute whizz at CAD (computer aided design) I used to do it for a living and can make 'Planet' sing sweetly for its living but most other applications on a pc are just pure hard work.

Enter a digital scrapbooking programme called Memory Mixer and I'm in seventh heaven. Since I got back I have been spending a lot of my free time getting to grips with what it can do and I am impressed. I really enjoy digi scrapping and think that I will combine digi with hands on in something called 'hybrid' scrapping, using the pc to do the basic LO and adding scrumptious embellishments by hand.

I will publish some of my finished LO soon but Blogger is playing silly beggars tonight and keeps coming up with an error notice instead of publishing my LO. I will also be back with more news on our Las Vegas adventure, it really was a fabulous action packed trip ......... just too much to tell you in one go.

Since arriving home it's been all systems go. In the same week that we flew back we had two open days at work which were great fun. Then Glenda's new CD ROM 'Season's Greetings' featured as the Pick of the Week on Create and Craft TV so it was super busy at the office, we had 'An Elusive Images Christmas' workshop last week and some very exciting plans in the pipeline which we're working on at the moment. In addition, there are two TV shows coming up in the next couple of weeks that have to be prepared for.

On the home front, my Mum goes in to hospital tomorrow for another eye operation. The last one went well so they are doing the other eye this time. Fingers crossed, she will be home the same day all being well. Our little four-legged boy Diesel has a birthday this week, he will be five on Wednesday - that's about 35 in our years I think! So, we will have to come up with something special for him. To top it all, Christmas is coming and all too quickly. I have a list as long as both arms of jobs that need doing in the house in preparation for the festive season and if I'm going to get everything done I will have to start now. No kidding... so I may not get as much play time for doing arty stuff and digi-scrapping as I would like unless I give up sleeping and I've done that before too.

Only in Las Vegas can you be in Paris (at the top) and Venice at the same time!

Two Bright Days in A Row.... Summer Must Be Here!

It could have gone either way this morning. At one point it was looking like rain was on the way again, turnaround and hey presto - the clouds had gone and it was beautiful. In fact, quite warm when the wind dropped, but ideal for yet MORE washing. Just how much washing can one do in two days? 'Mountains' it would appear.

Then there was the supermarket shop! Oh how I hate shopping for food which is strange really because I really do enjoy cooking as long as it's something creative. Of course Morrisons was full of parents and children, surely they have better things to be doing on their school holidays than screaming their heads off in a supermarket (and that was just the parents)!

A fruitless trip to Borders followed and then home. Managed to get a little more time to play, just an hour but it's better than nothing and I may be able to do more this evening.

These are plain luggage labels sprayed with several colours of Sticky Fingers spray inks, sometimes in layers and dried thouroughly before stamping with VersaMark Ink and embossing with gold embossing powder. All of the materials are from http://www.graphicus.co.uk/ and the stamps are by http://www.elusiveimages.com/ fastened together in colour groups using book rings. The collection on the left are the Autumn Inks and the Summer Inks are on the right.

In the first photo I have painted some of the stamped images with twinkling H2O's which complement the inks really well as they have the same iridescent finish.

This collection have all been made using Ranger Distressed Inks, Cut and Dry foam to apply the inks and then over stamped with small stamps (all by Elusive Images) to build the collage. I used a copper Krylon pen to edge the tags and some Glossy Accents to create a glass-like finish on the fob watch.

Now I'm off to do some more with the new Sticky Fingers Lustre Inks and the Damask Stamps from EI. Just before I go I must share a photograph of a fabulous 'late' Birthday pressy I got from the wonderful Carrie Anne.....

All made by her own fair hands! I love them. They have pride of place in my studio. The cylindrical bag houses a tin that holds colouring pencils and the open box is where my tag collections live.

The Secret Society of Invisible Blogging

Yes! I'm the founder member of the Secret Society of Invisible Blogging - I hope you have been enjoying my invisible posts, I thought they were very imaginative. But now I'm back with some visible blogging and have quite a lot to ramble about. Maybe if I didn't spend so much time Blog-Hopping I would get more updates posted.

I have been doing some arty things since I was last here, have had my brother visiting a few weeks ago, had a good TV show in July, I've taught some really enjoyable workshops and since the weather improved, we've actually been able to get out and about a bit. So this posting is a real melting pot of events and photos.

Work has been really interesting, lots of new ideas, plans and products. With Christmas looming before we've even had a summer, thoughts have turned to new Christmas stamps and a brand new seasonal Artylicious CD ROM. Can't say anymore at this stage but wow! they are amazing.

I've been playing and having great fun with the new Bind-it-All and DreamKutz machines from Zutter in the USA. I haven't finished my projects yet but will post a photo when they're ready (I can really recommend the Bind-it-All, don't know how I managed without one) . They sold out in one day but there are more on the way and should be with us within the next two weeks. Then on Thursday the Cricut Expression arrived! Well, it didn't stay wrapped for long. They arrived mid day and remained un-tampered with for all of about two hours then Glenda announced that she would have to open one and that was it - play time! What a machine, very impressive and the two new cartridges that are included in the bundle are really fab. My original Cricut is sitting along side me as I write this and looks soooo small compared to the Expression with its potential cutting area of 12"x 24". Looks like I'm going to have to have a bigger studio at home!!!

There was a live TV show in July featuring the new Paisley Elephant Rubber Stamp themeplate together with Damask stamps and Damask Delights CD ROM. The papers are just perfect for card making and scrapbooking and I had these lovely photos of my brother Clive which were taken on a visit to the Taj Mahal and some of the papers are very typical of batiked fabrics so they made the ideal backdrop for images from India.

I used Glenda's Waterfall Card idea and adapted it for a scrapbook layout and incorporated papers and small photos together then printed off some of the tags and frames from the CD ROM and used them for titles and journalling. It was so simple to do having downloaded Adobe Reader 8 which allows you to change fonts, font size and colour. I also added some handwritten titles using a Sakura pen in the same colour range as the papers.

Another use of the photos was in the Origami Mini Album which I love making and was a big hit following the TV show. I'm now working on another version of the album for the pre-record of the show to be filmed later this month.

While I'm on the subject of my brother Clive, he came up to visit last month and we managed to spend some time together while he was here. Although there never seems to be enough time to fit everything we want to do into one visit.

He did take some fab photos of me and my new car though......

Tee Hee!

My little Punto Sporting (keeping a low profile in the background) is pretty cool too!! 16 Valve and 6 speed gear box makes sure it really moves but it can't quite keep up with this 'Slinky Monster' but it's a lot more economic on the motion lotion doing the almost 60 miles round trip to work each day.

Well, that will have to be all for now if I'm going to find time to 'play' today. The weather is so beautiful, a little breezy but warm and sunny and I feel guilty spending it indoors but we were out and about all day yesterday. I'll try to get back later this evening with more from yesterday and some results from 'play time'.

Wherze I Bin?

Artistically speaking, I think I've been in outer space wandering and going nowhere. I seem to have completely lost my inspiration. Don't get me wrong, the ideas flow as fast as they ever have but by the time I get home and ready to start, my motivation has got up and gone without me.

I have been doing some arty work but nowhere near the amount I normally do. I dable at this and that but can't get really stuck into anything particular at the moment.

Just before taking some holidays from work I went to Paper Paradise in Grimsby to do a retailer demo day. It was fab! Sue and Paul are such lovely people and made me oh so welcome, as did all their customers. I was so surprised and delighted at the number of people who came and supported the event. It was a really enjoyable day!

Sue and Paul have been supporting a local charity event and have dedicated a huge amount of their time and energy to ensuring that it was a huge success. The event culminated in an auction evening. Elusive Images donated some great wood mounted stamps and I made a Stampbord necklace for the auction.
The event was incredibly successful and there is loads of info and pics over on their website http://www.paperparadise.co.uk/ do take a look, it's well worth it.

We didn't go away while on holiday, just days out here and there, mainly because kennels were fully booked. We went to Skipton and Harrogate and a couple of trips to York and Whitby.

Whitby always ends in dinner before coming home and The Magpie and Trenchers are just as good as they always have been. You still have to stand in line for the Magpie but it's worth it!

We went to the Railway Museum at York and had a tremendous day. My husband is a very keen (that's putting it mildly) model railway enthusiast. He also loves the real thing and this museum doesn't disappoint. Even it it's not your bag it's worth a visit. Just to stand along side one of these huge iron horses and wonder at the enormity of them........ I could almost feel the whoosh as they sped by........ it really took me back to my childhood.

The Flying Scotsman was in bits being completely overhauled but there were plenty of other exhibits to see. I was showing the photos to my parents after the visit and was reminded by my Mum that we had travelled on the Scotsman to Kings Cross on several occasions. Long before the days of British Midland to Heathrow! All I can say is 'thank God someone had the foresight to buy up and preserve these magnificent machines'. We had a truly wonderful day.

All too quickly, our leave was over and it was back to work. Now, that's not a bad thing as whilst I was off some fab stock arrived from the USA. 'Dreamcuts' and the 'Bind-It-All' from Zutter came in I couldn't wait to have a go and of course, I've just had to have one. This little machine has so much potential for scrappers and stampers alike. Just imagine, being able to make your own little books, of any size and thickness and containing just about anything you want. It will punch through and bind card, base board, chipboard and plastic including credit cards and CD's. Wow!

I have some stuff cut out for my first book and will post the results when I have something to show.

Distant Memories

In my last posting I got as far as the grand opening at Graphicus but what I didn't get round to recording was the other hi-light of that weekend. We had tickets for the Sunday evening performance of 'Dancing On Ice' at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle. As soon as we saw it advertised I said I wanted to go but didn't get round to buying the tickets until some time later and then they were sold out. My husband's boss Ann, does a lot of advertising for her company on TV and radio and they have taken us to the Arena on previous occasions. So Stuart asked if she could help to locate tickets for us and yep! she did it again. Complementary tickets arrived the week before and late Sunday afternoon we set off up the A1M for Newcastle.

When we arrived at the Arena we had a quick bite to eat and then tried to locate the direction of our seats. Our tickets didn't seem to correspond to any of the directions in the foyer so we asked an attendant where we should be. She told us to go up to the second level where we would find our seats. After trudging up all those stairs we finally arrived at the right level and asked again and were directed to the front row of the balcony. It was a sell-out performance and we had pretty good seats, almost centrally on to the length of the rink. We were seated early and the TV cameras were there as they were filming this performance for the DVD, so the audience was warmed up and rehearsed which was all good fun.

There was a group of girls seated to our right and they kept getting very excited, they were looking up above and behind us and pointing - they had located 'Dec' from Ant & Dec and a famous footballer which had them almost passing out. I hadn't a clue who they were talking about.... I know who George Best is (was) and David Beckham and, well that's about as far as my knowledge of footballers go. Anyway, these guys were obviously in the very expensive hospitality boxes way above our heads and I wasn't going to give myself whiplash trying to celebrity spot. Stuart told me that it was Peter Beardsley who they were getting all hot and bothered about.

With that, four more people arrived in the front row for the two remaining seats. Two of these people had seats 12A and 13A which were our seats. I knew this was too good to be true, they'd over-booked! We exchanged tickets and sure enough, the same seat numbers appeared on both sets of tickets. I was just about to stand my ground and refuse to move when one of their party pointed out the our tickets were for the Suite and not the Balcony. So without further ado we collected our things and went off in search of where we should have been.

Back outside, we found another attendant and she apologised for the error in directions and ushered us into the hospitality suite with, you've guessed it! some famous faces to our left and right. We were greeted as we entered, drinks brought to our seats for us and as soon as our glasses were empty they were replenished without asking. What a night! It was a fantastic show..... Torville and Dean performed several solo spots, a lot more than they do on the TV show, they were outstanding.

The show was very much the same as it was on
TV and even had the same panel of judges.

It was very polished and great fun to see. The
professional skaters were superb. They covered the ice with speed and grace and some of the performances were just incredible. It was a very exhilarating show which we both enjoyed. It was a fab night and being in the VIP Suite just put the finishing touches to it. Ice skating was how Stuart and I first met and we ended up as Ice Dance partners during our competitive days. We remember watching Torville and Dean competing at the British Ice Dance competition in Nottingham when they were just coming onto the British skating scene. Ahh memories!

Well, that's enough reminiscing. Back to the future or at least now!

I promised to post my latest ATC's in my last entry. I have been playing with some brand new stamps from Elusive Images. They haven't been released yet and will feature as part of a 'Pick of the Week' on the Create and Craft channel next month. They are absolutely amazing..... I love them! This is just a sneak preview and on my ATC's, they are used in conjunction with other stamps from both EI and other companies. This is going to be a superb show and when you see the other products that are coming.............. well, you'll have to wait a little longer for that!

More haste - less play!

Oh boy! - I can't believe how long it has been since I blogged! There's a whole stack of stuff been happening since my last entry and I just seem to hurtle from one deadline to the next. I'll cover the early stuff in this session and continue with the next.

I suppose the biggest hurdle was getting the shop ready for the grand re-opening at work last month. It was all hands to the pump and I was totally amazed that we actually made it. There were some late nights and early mornings to get there but the two days we had nominated for the opening were a huge success. We had customers who travelled from far and wide, some from Scotland, others from Manchester, Blackpool, the East Midlands and beyond. We had a champagne reception (ooh I enjoyed that part) on the Friday afternoon and a finger buffet on both days. Everyone worked flat out but it was fab. There was a great turn-out from the local area and lots of our loyal friends and customers who'd followed us from Bishop Auckland.

In between, there have been TV deadlines, demonstrations for retailers and another Bank Holiday which was very welcome.

I've not had a huge amount of time to spend playing but I have been doing some merchandising for the shop and preping for workshops.

This is a layout I did of my best buddy Diesel enjoying himself in the spring sunshine and trying to entice me out to play. I use the 'Funky Doodles' Fresh and Retro rubber stamp themeplates from Elusive Images.

The Front Cover

This is my first completed project using 'Ten Second Studio' materials. I decided not to do things by half and tried all sorts of patterns and techniques in my first piece. The concept was inspired by a very old box of natural (unbleached) coffee filters that have been sitting, unopened in my studio for some years. I'll tell you how old these filters are, the box came from Safeways supermarket which disappeared some time ago and I think I must have bought them at least 12 years ago when I actually owned a coffee filter machine.

The Back Cover

I formed the book covers using the filters as a template and used a sheet of platinum foil and several moulds to collage the designs. My trusty Crop-A-Dile ate its way through both the book board and the metal foil and I used some heavy duty brass eyelets and chrome book rings to put it all together.

To finish the inside of the covers I have used 12"x12" papers from Lazar Studiowerks. There's still a lot of work to do on the inside so more to follow later.

I have some photo's of ATC's that I have been making using some brand new stamps from EI which I will share in the next few days. But for now.............. that's all folks!

Wow! Where did the Weekend Go?

In fact, where did the week go?

Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to attend a course with Linda at LB Crafts in Olney, Bucks. We are going to be stocking the 'Ten Second Studio' products at work (whoopee) and although I have seen Linda demonstrate the line in the past, I really did need to know more about them. It was a fab day and the products are so easy to use - they make you look really good! I couldn't wait to get home and play some more. I must say, LB Crafts is a wonderful place - full of inspiration for the serious crafter, both in the products they sell and the fabulous array of art work on display. If you are ever on the M1 and in the vicinity of Junction 14 - I think it is? (that's what comes of relying on your Tom Tom, you stop paying attention), make the detour. It's only about 10 minutes to Olney and well worth the effort, you won't be sorry! Well, your Bank Manager may well be but you won't!!!

It was a long drive back and although the M1 was extremely busy everything was moving - very quickly. The drive was uneventful and I was home in just 3 hours.

The rest of the week just evaporated and before I knew it Good Friday had arrived. I was very good, no big Easter Eggs this year except for some Chocolate Llindt Bunnies and Mini Egg selection that Glenda and Adrian very kindly bought us all, Yummy.

Friday brought pain........ I don't know what I've done but my back was playing me up and got worse throughout the day, so it was a pottering day for me. I popped out briefly to Staples to buy a Guillotine. It's an A4 Swordfish and I'm very impressed with it. I was cutting metal foil on the one that Linda has and I have to say it's the best I've ever used.

Saturday morning we were up with the larks but, ouch! ooooo! aghhh! trying to stand up was agony. We were planning a day out in York and I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. My back problem had got so much worse but I wasn't giving in. It may have taken me 10 minutes to get down the stairs and even longer to find a position that I could bear to sit in but I took some pain killers and Stuart said he would do the driving so I wasn't going to ruin our plans by giving in to it.

The weather was just fab. We got to York about 0845 and headed straight to Betty's for breakfast (via Borders of course, had to have something to read whilst we waited for our breaky). We then had a walk around the City and as usual it was full of visitors from afar - lots of American and Canadian accents to be heard around town. 'Gee man, have you ever seen such a skinny road' we heard one man declare in a southern drawl, 'do ya really think you could drive an automobile up there'? he said taking a photograph of the Shambles whilst the rest of his family stood shaking their heads with looks of disbelief on their faces. Well yes, the USA is the land of the 5 lane (and more) highways so it must have looked pretty scary I suppose.

There was a tremendous Easter Craft Market and the Yorkshire Farmers Market too. We came across the most wonderful stall selling silk/wool shawls and wraps. The colours drew my attention. Hot, vivid, sublime colours. I just had to touch and of course, once I had one in my hands I just had to have. My WH said, 'which colour do you like, I'll buy it for you'? So after a good 15 minutes of trying to determine what one would wear with each colour-way I finally settled on a two-way wrap that is hot red on one side and hot tangerine on the other and I made sure that I found out where to find the stall will be in the future. I can see that I am going to have to have more and have ear-marked at least another three.

We made our way back to the car parked in MaryGate. On the way back through the park I took some photos, it was so warm and the sky was cloud free, a perfect photo opportunity. Here's my WH

looking cool in his shades and a really cheeky squirrel who was playing hide and seek in the flower bed. I wish this photo was a 'smellygraph' because the aroma that the flowers were emitting was heavenly.

We then headed off the York Race Course where the Model Railway Exhibition was taking place over Easter. By now it was nearly noon and the show had been open since 1000 and there was still a Que to get in. Inside it was heaving but well worth it for Stuart. He has been waiting for Hornby to introduce the new DCC Elite system to the UK. He is a model railway enthusiast and is in the process of going digital (and this from a man who thinks 'computer' is a swear word)!

The first trade stand we visited said yes, they had the DCC Elite but hadn't brought it to the show and WH's face dropped. I could see that he didn't think he was going to get it here at the show. I however, am an optimistic shopper and we were on the ground floor with another 3 floors of trade stands and exhibits above our heads, so onwards and upwards. We found it! and WH's face lit up with glee. Bag after bag was added to the stash until we could carry no more and just had to collapse into the bar and hospitality area on the 3rd floor. Time for some liquid refreshments me thinks!

Even I managed to find a few things that I was looking for for the studio. I got some Hypo Glue which I've only ever found in the USA up to now, an Olfa Circle Cutter, a device with clamps for holding things (useful as an extra hand whilst soldering) and a few other bits and bobs. All in all it was a really great day which we both enjoyed!

The rest of the weekend has disappeared in a blur. Sunday I spent tidying the Studio that got blitzed whilst preparing for the last TV show. WH spent almost all day in his Signal Box playing trains (whoops, I mean serious set-up of the DCC system and track cleaning) leaves on the lines and all that sort of thing. We spent the evening having dinner with my parents. Managed to get started on some Ten Second Studio stuff when I got home though. I'll do some crafty photo's next time with the results.

Today has been a mammoth exercise in getting my Dad's PC on-line. We had to run a new phone line through first of all which took some time lifting carpets and floor boards and then putting it all back. Then we started to install the Internet software and make the Broadband connection. Of course, it is never as smooth as you expect it to be. Internet security and firewall made sure of that. After the fourth attempt and with everything disabled I finally managed to establish the connection and set up the email. So eight and a half hours later we got home and that was Easter gone for another year.

When's the next Bank Holiday.......................?