Rubber Stamping - North Wales

Finally - today I got around to playing with my new toy. First thing this morning though I popped onto Google & sought out a few tutorials & comments, read the little manual - then got it out of the box. I wanted to try the different folders & dies that I have to see if the instructions they give work & if they don't work to see what changes I needed to make.  For example I have some rather thin dies & it turns out the "sandwich" of boards they say to use don't quite work.  But let's have a look at my play ............. This is scalloped circle die which I cut & then embossed.  This side facing us is what I would call the right side of the due cut.  But then ........... .......  I turned it over & looked at the "wrong side" & the embossing is deeper that side.  So could be very useful. This is a mixture of small dies which I used on a thin black card (it wasn't far off paper).  The scalloped cu...

Good morning, good morning, good morning! I trust you all had a marvellous Christmas Day & Boxing Day & that you still have some holiday time this week. We had a lovely family day on Christmas Day, with Gareth, Russ & Nadine at our house.  Lots of lovely presents - I was absolutely spoilt.  I am surrounded by lovely toiletries of all kinds which will keep me feeling good for a long time to come.  The Internet proved most useful as Gareth bought me a selection of Pan Pastels & sponges from Joanna Sheen - which meant that he didn't really have to know what they were & so ordering them was easier.  My man bought me an E-Bosser - how great is that - no more turning of handles just pop the folder or die into the machine & it does it all the work.  I am hoping to have a play today.  I also have an Amazon voucher to spend as well - so more books for my Kindle. I hope you had surprises - amongst them some craft goodies. We are having...

    A Very Merry Christmas   To You All       Have a Wonderful Day 

Birthday Greetings It is 24 December & a Mold II member has a birthday Happy Birthday Dot Have a great day

Hi! I am back with some news  -  have just been having a quick look through a magazine that came yesterday & ......  yes ....... she has done it again. Well done Annette (Mold II) for having another of your cards featured in Papercraft Essentials. That is really cute - Teddy Bear Angels.

I have found the sketch & have placed it on the programme page.  But I will also pop it here;

Just popping in to let you know that I have updated the club pages with details of the programme through to March. As soon as I have worked any project samples I will place them on the Projects page. I also have to find where I have saved the image of the sketch I drew for Mold club for the January meeting.  It would appear I didn't save it in an obvious place - I remember creating it on my lap top after the meeting.  So that will also go on the page later.  I am off to search my laptop now.

Well somehow I missed writing a post last night - but surpassed myself this evening.  I have just finished writing what I wanted to say tonight & clicked publish when I spotted I had written it all on my personal blog.  So quickly had to go & delete that. So - where was I & what was I going to tell you about.  Ah yes. Yesterday In the morning I met Caroline for a chat & exchange Christmas pressies - well Christmas stockings really.  Some years back we discovered that we each prepared a stocking for each of the family but never had one made for us - so we decided to correct that & make a stocking for each other.  It's great fun through the year trying to find things to put in it. Whilst I was with Caroline, Bob was busy picking up his new car.  When I returned home we went for a drive (well I had to give it my seal of approval).  We took a nice long long run around the countryside we gradually made our way to Manchester A...

This morning I had a lovely couple of hours with Sue down at Purple Butterfly Crafts - well we did go in there for a while - but mainly we spent our time chatting over a cup of coffee & a sandwich in the coffee shop. It was also our opportunity to exchange Christmas Cards & Gifts. Whilst at the craft shop I gave them some dates for workshops in February.  The last couple of months I had not had a workshop so this is a sort of long shot as to whether I continue or not.  So! If you want to learn to crochet or get started on scrap booking  I'm your girl in February - just go along & book.  So! Fingers crossed. Then in the afternoon  Bob & I popped out to the big M&S at Cheshire Oaks to pick up some nice bits & pieces we had decided we were going to get.  I was surprised that it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be. Having finally got my Christmas Tree up & decorated yesterday, this afternoon I re-sorted our...

Birthday Greetings Today is 20 December & a Mold II member has a birthday Happy Birthday Chris Have a great day

I have done some stamping but it is for birthday cards that are about to go out to club ladies who have New Year birthdays - so I don't want to show them here now.  But I did do another project & here it is ............   The ruler to show that it is only 2" x 2"   & here it is - an Easel Twinchie.   Why make such a small easel card?  Well, as you have probably guessed it is for a challenge.  The challenge is over at Show us Your Twinchies Challenge blog with a theme of "Let it Snow".   I stamped the snowflake in Versamark & embossed it with clear EP.  Then I coloured the card with Adirondack blue dry based ink & afterwards wiped the design with a soft tisse to remove the ink from the embossed image.  I found a snowflake button in my bits box, removed the shank & stuck it on a sticky pad for the stop.   That is it for today - have just decorated the tree - so time for a cup of tea.

Just got in from some shopping & hand delivering of Christmas cards - that's them all gone now, so I thought whilst I am having a much needed cup of tea I would sit & write a few words here. As well as the cards all delivered, whilst I was in Asda I bumped into the girl that I needed to contact about flowers for April.  So that was handy - I am booked in for that - just need to contact her early March for final details.  Another job to tick off on the list. I have one other area of Christmas greetings to send - I always send an e-card to my contacts in family history research - it would be impossible to send cards to them all so as I have email addresses it's a nice way to remember them. I had a comment placed by Clare of Mold club a couple of posts back to let me know who the mystery card was from - I guess she must have received one similar.  So that is good, thank you Clare. After my cup of tea I need to make some birthday card toppers ready for putting...

.............. but no stamping - sorry! I hope you all had a great weekend & have managed to get most of your Christmas preparations finished.  Only 1 week to go! In one or two non-busy moments I managed to join in a couple of challenges & thought you might like to see what I made.   This page was made for a challenge where the theme was anything goes.  So, as I have been going through piles of photos to sort them for scrapping, when I spotted this one I thought I would use it.  It is only one photo the frame has 3 sections but divides the photo between its sections.  Clever & effective.   The anything goes challenge could be anything as long as there was a photo included - so I made a second entry - this little gift box & the photo is of a basket of Christmas flowers I was given 2 Christmas's ago.  The whole thing has been produced digitally.   Another challenge was for a card with Teddies on  - ...

Here I am with the question of the anonymous Christmas card Did you give this card to me? There is a lot of work in this card it was in a white envelope with just my name on it.  Sadly because I put all the cards the various club members gave on the table when I got home - I cannot be sure which club I brought it home from.  So please if it is your card send me a message so that I can write inside who it is from.  If no-one responds through the blog I will ask at the clubs meetings in January. Bob & I returned hone this evening after a really lovely few hours with our friends chatting, over a really good meal at the Cheshire Cat, for me to arrive home to some very sad news of the passing of a colleague. You just never know when life is going to throw these things at you - I am absolutely devastated it was so unexpected.  My thoughts are with his family & those of many others who may lose friends & loved ones at this or any time....

This afternoon I had a lovely session, along with Bob, opening all the lovely Christmas cards that had been given to me at the final meetings of the clubs, plus those that have arrived in the post. Thank you very much for them they are absolutely lovely.  After Christmas when they are taken down I will photograph them - like I usually do - & show them to you.  But tomorrow I am going to take a photo of  one because it hasn't been signed.  Then perhaps if the person who gave it to me reads the blog & sees it she might leave a comment to say who she is. Remember if you have never left a comment before there is a tutorial tab at the top of the home page to show you how. Tomorrow Bob & I are meeting some friends for a meal & then on Sunday we are taking Nadine & Russ to pick up their new cat - which is a present for them from Gareth. I hope that whatever you are doing over the weekend goes well & is enjoyable.  I suspect many of ...

Just popping in to say that I am starting to update certain pages.  I have removed all the old items from the club pages, events page & project photos page.  Over next few days I will start to load up your programme for the first few months of 2013.  Where photos of projects are needed I will work on those between now & January 1st - so they will appear gradually. I will try & take down the Christmas count down counter on Boxing Day but can't promise - depends what I will be doing.  But if I don't I think it goes into over drive counting the days down to next Christmas & we don't want to watch that do we.

I have managed to load the photos of recent cards I have been making - I don't think I have shown you these before - but if I have I am sorry - they cover the different ways I make my cards. First the rubber stamping I really enjoyed making these little cards.  After cutting the top corner off the front of each of them I trimmed the cut off piece to use as decoration on the front of the opposite colour - as you can see.  The lower & short side edges were glued to create a pocket.  The Santa face was stamped on white card & embossed with gold EP then trimmed & layered onto gold card & placed in the pocket. This card was made originally for a challenge but I didn't like it as much as another one I had made.  I did however quite like the simple design & went on to make some more.  The position of the sentiment came about when I found I had left a larger gap between those 2 star burst stampings. As I have so many cards to ...

I said I would show you photos of the Christmas cards I made yesterday - but I have been out much of the day shopping, so it will have to be tomorrow. Yesterday evening I also finished the first of the sketches I am doing as guest designer on a challenge blog. If you sometimes pop over to my personal blog then you will see I have decided to split my digital work from my rubber stamping work.  So in January there will be another blog for my digital work.  The sketch I mention above will be one of the first things on it.  I am currently sorting out the design & pages for it & will let you know how to find it when it goes live on 1st January. My! it was frosty this morning & my car needed a really good scrape.  I have just discovered that I am not quite tall enough to clear the ice from the centre top of the front windscreen.  So I had to open the door & stand in the doorway to reach. Have a good evening - more tomorrow.

It would appear I may have completed my Christmas cards - apart, that is, for the special ones for the family.  I will take some photos tomorrow of them & put them here in tomorrow posts I had some little calendars to make for one of my non-crafting groups, which are now printed & tomorrow I will be laminating them.  So, that will be another job done.  I have done all my main Christmas present shopping although I still have a couple of things to get for the stocking that Caroline & I exchange each year. We have one more Christmas meal to have that is this Thursday lunch time, & meeting up with some friends on Saturday for a meal.  Think I might have to starve myself until Christmas day or I will be putting weight back on. Probably at the weekend - time to put the tree up.  I find that task quite tiring - it's a big tree. Birthdays are now the thing to get under control. Amongst family & friends I have 4 with birthdays early in Januar...

Hi everyone Just taking a little break from making what I hope will be my last batch of Christmas Cards. Hmm! that statement doesn't sound very good does it - I haven't found it a chore - it just never seems to end.  I didn't realise I was making so many again. I took a little time out this morning to enter a couple of card making challenges. The first one was for the CD Sunday Challenge Blog & this is the card I made............... ............... the theme was Frosty Days.  It has a Christmas sentiment inside - so it is one to add to the collection. The other challenge was for Less Is More Challenge Blog & here is that card ............... The theme for this challenge was a one layer card with images in a row.  I do love that freebie snowflake stamp off of Craft Stamper magazine. If you want to read about how I made them - to save me typing it all out again perhaps you wouldn't mind popping over to my personal blog.  Just click HERE...

........... I know this is about digital work, but I am so excited as this week I found that one of my digital pages that I had entered for a challenge had been selected as one of top 3 for the month of November.  But also - the blog owner has asked me to be a guest designer for a month - along with the other 2 in the top 3. Today I received an email from her with my challenge sketches & they are for January. There are 3 in all - so some work ahead for me.  Will keep you up to date with how it goes.

Today I have the photos for you from the CSNW meeting this week & their project.  The project as a little simple diorama card, something nice & easy to finish the year. Before I show the photos I must apologise to Elvena whose card was so blurry I couldn't use it.  It had a beautiful feather design - or was it a leaf - I know we discussed a feather stamp I used to have so I may have got confused - & given my brain this week it is not surprising.. Here are the cards ............. Pretty floral, lilac shade design.  I like the all over pattern on the central panel. A really elegant design - beautiful jewel style central image. A lovely pile of birthday presents - really colourful design. Pretty butterfly card in lilac shades.  The highlighting of the score line  is a good idea. Another elegant design & the score lines enhanced by peel-off borders. A lovely Christmas stocking design A lovely unus...

I have decided that I am finally losing my marbles.  Twice this week I have had a serious failing of the brain.  Wednesday morning I took my car in to have a new alternator belt put in.  The service people kindly drove me home & then rang me when the job was finished & said they would come & pick me up.  I spent a frantic 5 - 10 minutes hunting for my car keys getting het up because I knew they would soon be here.  Then I remembered what they were picking me up for & realised they had my car keys. Then this evening - just a short while ago - I picked up my computer to blog, started writing about the photos & realised I was doing the November sketch photos which had already been done last week.  Ladies I am seriously cracked. Still I have now restarted brain & am once again in control. Tonight the first set of CSNW photos is from last nights meeting.  They are of the Show & Tell which was a card inspired by crackers. ...

I have just a short while ago got home from the final CSNW meeting of this year, & a very pleasant evening it was too.  So there will be photos from the meeting - but before that - tomorrow I will start showing you the photos from each club where we used the sketch. One of the ladies who attends the club could not make it tonight as she is one of those unfortunate St Asaph residents whose house was flooded this last week or so.  I just cannot begin to imagine what it must be like & we were told that the water was up to about waist level. It would appear it will be at least 6 months before she gets back home - my thoughts are with her & all the other people caught up in these floods. That's all I have for you tonight - make sure you keep safe & warm in this cold spell.  If you are out & about please go with care. I am out shopping with Nadine tomorrow - just looking for ideas for April. Night night - more tomorrow.

Hi Ladies - not a lot to relate tonight I am afraid.  It's been a day of tidying up loose ends of things, making notes of things I have to do & ideas I have for next years programme. I did a little bit of surfing the Internet for ideas - found somewhere with lots of images & got totally lost in the Internet - getting taken to all sorts of wonderful websites.  Not all were rubber stamping, but some of the card ones could be useful.  So I need to make a note of those of interest & get working on them.  I will probably return to this at the weekend. Tomorrow is the final meeting of 2012 for the ladies of CSNW over at Rhuddlan, so on Thursday I should have some photos for you.  Although on Thursday I am out for quite a bit of the day with Nadine - we are going window shopping again.  I mean I will have my purse with me just in case. Right! I am not going to waffle on unnecessarily - so I will get myself off to bed.  Finished my book last ...

I meant to say in my earlier post. I spoke to Maureen of the community centre today to ask her to put us back in our original room.  She is happy to do that & on Wednesday night she is hoping to be at the centre in time to tell the Welsh group that they will be in the room at the back.  If when she gets there they are already sorted - I said rather than cause problems we would go into the back room once more - but from February we would like to keep the same room we have always been in. I know that some of you liked the rear room - but it wasn't very practical with those chairs.  They did offer to move the hard chairs into that room for us - but it seems a bit silly to go to those lengths. So be prepared - Wednesday we could be back in "our" room - or may one night more have to be in the room at the rear.  See you all there.

Today I had to sort the cards that were going out to the States.  I am OK time wise for Christmas cards but it is Bob's daughters wedding anniversary on the 12th & I am hoping the package which has that card in as well will arrive on time. For her Christmas card I  decided to send her the easel card that I made this weekend for a challenge - I wrote about it yesterday. Other than that I have had a bit of a domestic day really - you have to now & again don't you. Tomorrow I have to finish wrapping the Christmas goodies for CSNW who have their final 2012 meeting on Wednesday.  I tried to get them all done at one go - but the wrapping really stressed my hand so I have been doing it in small batches.  Nearly done. When I looked at my Christmas card list earlier today I found rather surprisingly that I am further advanced than I thought - but mustn't sit back on the task.  Most of my Christmas shopping is done - so that is also a good point....

Good morning everyone Well I find it hard to believe but despite a late night last night after a great evening at Bob's Christmas Do - I have actually made a card for a challenge blog. The one today is over at The CD Sunday Challenge blog where their chosen theme is - Oh Christmas Tree.  I did think of combining my lovely Christmas Tree stamp with some CD papers, but changed my mind & did it all through the CD.  Naughty I know I should have used  a stamp.  Maybe next time. Here is the card I made ..................... After a few moments thinking about what style of card to do I plumped for an easel card & took one of my 8x8 fancy edge cards to use. The papers, images& sentiment are from a Christmas CD from the My Craft Studio range.  The sentiment is the poem - "Oh, Christmas Tree!"   All the elements were layered onto silver mirror card after I had, whilst in MCS , "layered" them digitally with a blue border.  The stoppe...