Saturday Sortings.

Today I have been doing three things.The first thing I have been doing is not doing the housework. I have not been doing it all day.

The second thing I have been doing is wandering about my garden, considering how to sort the ravages of winter and turn it into a haven again. I thought you might like to see some of the projects I have done and will have to consider doing this year. I am very good at considering.

Here is my garden guardian angel in her beautiful mosaic shrine inspired by a trip to beloved Italy. Clever hubbysand make the shrine. It has had several incarnations.

Unfortunately the winter has taken off some of the china plate mosaics that we lovingly collected from car boots and smashed up. Last year we attempted to stick them with the stuff that is supposed to be as strong as nails, but the snow and rain got in and we will have to attach them again. Other years we have tried grout and cement and read a multitude of garden mosaic how to do books. Never mind, I haven't lost them and I don't do perfection.

Here is chamomile swirl stage two. I have tried to grow a chamomile lawn in this circle (My garden is made up of circles) four times. It is a very hard thing to do I have discovered, as the slugs feast out on chamomile. Dearest hubbysand got clever with string and pegs and has put in a spiral. The job this year is to plant chamomile inbetween. Next time I blog this I hope it will be well underway and the smell will knock you out!

This is my special retreat looking worse for wear. When I have spring-cleaned it and plumped the cushions and put them in the seats, lit the scented candles and put my tea pot and cup and saucer on the table you won't recognise it! My favourite spot to meditate and re-charge. I have crystals and garden chimes that tinkle in the breeze. Luverly.

This is a piece of wood from Westonbirt Arboretum. Purchased one year during their tree carving show. I found a special crystal and when the sun catches it rainbows dance every where.

These are some of my heads that adorn the wall in front of a little seated area.

May I introduce you to George and Mildred who live on top of an ornate column near the rose arch. They don't need feeding and my cats can't reach them. Perfect.

The third thing I have been doing is playing in the craft room. I have recently purchased Ruth Rae's book 'Layered. tattered, stitched. Full of gorgeous scrumptiousness that I want to make. This is my first absolute copy from her book of a cuff. I'm hoping beautiful daughter number 1, 2 or 3 will like and want it as I have made it a tadge too tight for my old wrist. No. 2 will hopefully like it as it more her style. Now I understand the basics I will experiment with my ideas and fabrics. Well, even the likes of Michelangelo copied from the Masters when he set out!

Well, off to not do the housework now! Enjoy your day.

Sunday Stamper!

Well, had a most glorious day today and did Hel's challenge on the Sunday Stamper on Sunday. The theme is die cuts and I was longing to use Tim's new die and stamp set bought from one of my most fav. shops in all the world, The Stamp Attic.
I have made a sewing set:

The button tin was an old sweetie tin I thought I should save, covered in pink papers and stamped in aged mahogany distress with one of Tim's stamps and one from paperartsy.

The rim was edged in some matching trim I had in the craft room and I protected the surface of the tin with glossy multi medium. Here is a side view.

The needle case was some of Tim's lovely paper overstamped in aged mahogany and a grunge board die cut of a spool coloured with mahogany acrylic dabber.

The inside has needles already in situ on pink felt pages.

The scissor holder was the most work. I die cut the dress form from grunge board and then balsa wood, glued them together and then coloured with mahogany acrylic and set it into a piece of wood similarly coloured. Then I die cut it again from Tim's paper and cut out the bodice. The arms are stamped from a doll set I have had so many years and I do not remember the maker, jointed with tiny brads. Then I die cut the bird cage and glued it on as a skirt. Added ideology bits and some words and little roses.

The sash is tied and holds the scissors at the back. If I make this again I have thoughts of the scissor handle becoming a ruff for an Elizabethan lady. Here is the back view showing how the scissors fit in the sash, it is quite stable because I layered up the die cut with balsa and grunge.

I really enjoyed making this, only one thing would have made it better - a vagabond machine. Must be good, it is a want, not a need, and my dear old cuttlebug worked. Still, I do covet!

Sunday Stamper, 'Brown'.

Here I am with Hel's Sunday Stamper and thanks to Gini on 'A little bit shiny' blog I have managed to put the sunday Stamper logo on my blog. However I have not managed to give you a direct link to Gini's blog, paste won't come up! Drat drat drat! What a plonker I am, still practice makes perfect, I shall have to consult beautiful daughter number 2, who left me with a book of instructions when she gave me this blog as a gift.

Enough waffling, here is my tag for the said Sunday Stamper challenge - Brown. Quite a challenge this one Hel's, but got out all my brown toned distress inks, paperbag studio stamps, brown flowers, ribbon trim and then had a first. I heat distressed the brown chiffon ribbon on the tag, what fun, must try other things with this.

A little bit of lace and a button, an adage ticket and bob's your uncle as they say! Why do they say that? I've often wondered. Now off to do a tadge of housework, enjoy the spring sun and then play again. Best wishes to all who read this!

Winter is over in the craft room!

I have had enough of snow! I struggled with it in my winter scene, which is part of a challenge I am sharing with my little sister. I am not 100% happy with the result but need to move into spring!


I have tried to let it flow on from the Autumn scene, but couldn't get Hugh Grant in! (See the Autumn post - shades of Nottting Hill!)
I used paperbag studio stamps, Tim Holtz tree die, a post box I have forgotten where from (I shall have to be more vigilant remembering now I blog, sorry), distress inks and loads of white acrylic. I made it snow with an old toothbrush, even the cats are covered now! The school railing were coffee stirrers and the entrance to the school was a paperartsy stamp.
I grew up in London and moved to Wiltshire when I was 12. My first school was at the end of a road of terraced houses and was a big Victorian building behind railings, and the trees seemed to me to grow out of the pavement! Magic.

Here it is next to the Autumn one. I hope to get them all mounted together when I have finished.

I hope I have managed to convey the glow through the windows as the afternoon starts to close.

Sunday Stampers

I love my job but the problem is I only seem to have time to play at weekends! Just in time again here is my entry for Hel's Sunday Stampers, theme Nature.


I used an old stamp, haven't used it for ages, by Inkadinkado, stamped in archival black and coloured with Copic and promarkers. The tag was inked in crushed olive distress ink and then parts of paperartsy hot picks grasses over stamped in the crushed olive again. The sentiment and the butterfly are Tim Holtz tiny clear stamps and the word Nature hung on Tim's tiny safety pins. The tag is finished with a piece of 'bird fatball' netting and garden string! I tried to get a bit arty by taking the photograph over a lovely old book called 'The Calender of Garden Lore.'
Well, the housework beckons, but I am going up to the craft room to play! You never know I may be able to put something else on my blog later! I gotta work out now how to get Hel's Sunday Stamper logo on my blog, bet it's easy but I can't seem to make it appear! Yes, you've guessed, computers are not my thing!

The tale of Eric, the configuration box and my Stampotique surprise!

Here at long last is a photograph of the box I did at the paperartsy day with Tim Holtz!Fabulous day, I really enjoyed myself and met some lovely people. The man himself is lovely, really friendly and nothing too much trouble. Lin and Leandra were lovely, their workshop was awesome too!


However, when I got back to the craft room and put the box up I noticed Eric was looking very depressed.

He had dressed himself in my grey promarker set and had a gloomy cloud over him.

He wanted to know why I hadn't taken him to the workshop and why couldn't he be in the box? I tried explaining that although I was an eclectic stamper, some styles didn't really go together. He got very cross with me and said that I hadn't even tried. To try and cheer him up I popped him in the box next to the bird cage.

Well, the language! He complained that the bird cage kept banging him on the head and the d****** bird was giving him a headache! If he went on like this it would be more than 'After therapy mints' he would needing! Oh dear, so I offered to shrink him so he would fit in another space.

This didn't please him either, he said he was a 5" stamp and that was how I should use him! So I got out my grungepaper and used that, telling him that I would be able to bend him a little then.

He started to complain of backache and headache and everything ache, although he said the colour of the grunge suited his mood completely. Was there anything I could do to cheer him up?

Oh yes, I told him that the wonderful people at Stampotique had awarded me a $30 certificate for my entry into the Stampotique designers challenge for valentine love. I noticed then that he had blushed a rosy red colour, even his knees were blushing!

I knew what was up! He had formed an undying passion for Olivia, so I told him I would order him for her and they could stand together on my shelf in the craft room. Worked a treat, next time I saw him he was clutching a red rose and a box of choccies! Thand you so much lovely people at Stampotique, you have saved the day!!

All peaceful in the craft room for a while!

Hels sunday Stamper challenge

I'm having a lot of trouble with Eric in the craft room. Before I tell you all about that I wanted to post my first attempt at the Sunday Stamper challenge, this week anything Parisian!
here is my tag.


I used spiced marmalade, dried marigold and mustard seed distress inks for the background, spritzed on my craft mat and swiped. Then Tim Holtz Moulin Rouge and Paris stamp in brushed corduroy, then a prima stamp of the can can girls. Coloured these with promarkers and fiddled with bits of feather (it's all over my work desk now!) and gems. The paper lace round their skirts was a challenge and it doesn't show so well on the photograph. Then oh la la letters covered with glossy accents and red white and blue ribbon accented with an old earring that I coloured to match in alcohol ink in red and blue.
I'm still finding it difficult to assemble my posts! Practice makes perfect! This weekend I shall post my box I assembled with Tim Holtz and tell you all about the trouble it gave me with Eric!! By for now.