A new quilt

Can't believe that I have already finished this as I only bought the main fabric less than two weeks ago! Usually things sit in my to do pile for months before I even start them!

This is B's new quilt:

I actually wanted to make him one that had a far more complicated pattern but the materials were just too busy so I went for 6" x 8" block instead.

Here is the back:

Just plain but with a fabulous new monster print that I got in Hobbycraft.

The main front material cost me just £16.00 with the matching border strip a further £5.  The monster material was an additional £13 and the wadding was left over from my A Quilter Lives Here quilt that I finished a few weeks ago - all in all a bargain and also a big hit with my little boy who loves it!

Thanks for looking - All Sewn Up from Solihull

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge week 7

Missed out on last weeks challenge as I didn't have time but this weeks CC2C is Brushless Watercolor which is on page 49 in T!ms A Compendium of Curiosities, Vol II.  This challenge is sponsored by http://eclecticpaperie.com/ who are offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant.

 
I am off to a 40th Birthday Party tonight so I have made this card for my friend Shelley using the above technique:

Stamps are from T!ms Artful Flight set and the sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps.  I used Bundled Sage stain on the background flower stamp and Vintage Photo distress ink on the birdcage.  Branch die is one of T!ms too and I coloured it with Vintage Photo, Bundled Sage, Walnut Stain and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks.  Flowers are from T!ms flower sizzix die and coloured with various stains and finished with brads.  There wasn't really anywhere to put 40 so thats inside.

If you want to join in with the CC2C challenge the details are all here:  Studio L3

Thanks for looking - Party Girl from Solihull

A venetian scene

Here is the latest acrylic picture I have painted:

am really quite pleased with it.  It's all done using only red, yellow, blue, white and black paints with pieces of cardboard and hardboard, apart from the plant pot where we used a paintbrush!

Now need yet another frame and am rapidly running out of wall space now!

I decided awhile ago that I spend far too much time messing around on my pc so I am trying to get into the habit of only turning on the pc first thing in the morning for half an hour.  It has worked so far and I haven't had withdrawal symptoms yet!  I have though found a lot more time (unsurprisingly as I spend hours on my pc each day!) to craft and clean.  That said I started a new quilt for DS2 on Monday from a lovely pattern I bought by Hatched and Patched at the Quilt show last week.  Here is a snippet of that quilt:

however I have decided that the materials are far too busy for these houses - there are 28 houses all situated around the edge of the quilt with the middle part being all done in greens to make a Village Green.  Therefore I spent yesterday just block quilting the materials together in 6"x8" pieces and managed to get the whole front done in an afternoon! 

He still loves it and it was much more rewarding than perservering with all those little houses as I knew in my heart of hearts I wouldn't like them when they were completed (see I am learning!!!).  So today I am going to have a mooch through all the material I have lying around - I know I have enough fat quarters for the village green so I am going to try and use up all my scraps on the houses instead and have another go at the Hatched and Patched pattern - I am sure I can find a good use for another quilt!

Anyway that's my half an hour this morning used up so I am off to get dressed, do the school run, run to Toys R Us as it's free lego in the Sun week (how stressful is this!) and then I am going to get busy and do a bit more crafting and maybe pop to the gym.  Life in the fast lane eh!  Oh and that art journal book I started is still sitting on my table looking at me....

Thanks for looking - Worn out from the morning lego dash from Solihull

Such a busy week

Have been doing loads of crafty things but can't show them yet as they are mainly all table top quilts for a blog hop I am taking part in on 1st July.  Am very excited to be taking part - I have been given the opportunity to take part in blog hops in the past but never have due to other commitments but this one I really fancied and thought would do me good.  That said I joined  up two weeks ago and have made three items (you only need to do one) and now have to wait ages until 1st July to show them - nothing like been prepared though is there! besides I might be able to get a couple more done in that time if I fancy it - no pressure though!

This week I have also been transformed in the hairdressers (only went in for a trim and three hours later came out a bleached blonde!), bought a new car which I think was preowned by a friend of mine according to some paperwork I found in the glove compartment (what are the odds of that??), been to the Malvern Quilt Show - yes spent a fortune: here are some of my yummy goodies:

I also bought some nice material to make DS2 a quilt using a Hatched and Patched Village Green pattern and a couple of other patterns along with a nice wooden/wire hangy thingy on which to display my blog hop quilts - all in all a lovely day out with the girls!

Then Friday I finished a painting at my art class - will show that tomorrow, visited my parents, did a last ever football run for DS1 on the evening and then took him to tennis yesterday (where I got to sit and play with my new set of distress markers that finally turned up on Friday - whoo hoo) and then had a dinner party last night.  Off to my crop today - house isn't too much of a tip due to my galivanting but there have been a lot of items with no homes to go to shoved in my utility that now need sorting!

As my friend visited yesterday for a meal I made her a quick card for her birthday next week:

she isn't a sewer but I know will she will love it - I used a Couture Creations Vintage Dressmaker embossing folder, T!ms mannequin and reel die cut with grungepaper.  Vintage Photo, Spun Sugar, and Worn Lipstick distress inks.  The lace for the skirt was coloured with Worn Lipstick distress ink.  Then I used T!ms sizzix flower die and coloured the items with Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Broken China, Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick distress stains.  Finished off with various brads, beads and twine.
All in all a very busy, productive and expensive week! (good job it's my birthday in a couple of weeks!).

Can I just say a big hello to Deb - thank you so much for following me.

Thanks for looking - Off to panic pack for my crop even though I never get anything done there from Solihull

I don't think I am cut out

for art journalling!

Honestly, this disaster:

is a Prima box that held some notecards.  It had to have six coats of gesso on to hide the printing which took 7 days to dry (and was turned a lovely light blue during this period in my haste to add mists and sprays before it was too thick to see through!), then I inked it with some glimmer mists and a house mask which then took another day to dry.  When it did it looked ok but too light so I decided to do a sky and a grass area instead - well as you can see the green has come out far darker than I thought (I thought gesso lightened paints slightly?) but also I did the box upside down so the sky is where the grass should be! and as for that splodge that appeared when I moved my wet paper mask too soon - no comment!

Was thinking about putting the whole thing in the bin after posting this, but actually looking at it the blue could be a planet couldn't it and the darker area space - so now I am off to have a rethink as I have a really cute sizzix spaceman die that has never been used.....

To cheer myself up after this disaster yesterday though I did make this:

which uses the new bird on a branch die I bought for the crop.  Tag is inked with Picket Fence, Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo stains.  The branch is inked with Vintage Photo and Evergreen Bough, with the birdie done in Black Soot, Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade finished with a bling eye. Again I have used a brown piece of ribbon for a trunk as I have so many nice comments on how good it looked on a previous tag - thank you all :) - and the T!m on the the fence die was inked with Vintage Photo too (I think -  have lost the scribbled piece of paper that I wrote the stash used on instead of putting it all my little "This is how I created...." book - one day I will learn, honest I will).  Finished with a row of blue flowers.

Can I just say a big hello to Marjie - thank you for following me.  That's it from me today, I have just picked up my new car this morning so am off for a little tootle round on the quiet roads to get used to it (it keeps kangarooing on me at the moment and I sure that can't be my fault???) am very excited though as this one has a key fob that works so I can now get back in the same gang as nearly every other car driver in the world and pop the boot open using the fob!  It's the little things that please isn't it....

Thanks for looking - the kangarooing car driver from Solihull

Tims May Tag

Spent a happy few hours on Saturday making this:

For this I used a whitish tissue paper, the Union Flag stamp is by Inkylicious and is stamped with Crimson Archival ink and Broken China distress, the Tower Bridge stamp is by Artemio from their London set and stamped with Jet Black Archival.  I distressed the edges of the tag and inked them with Broken China.

The red and blue flowers are made usingT!ms pinecone die and the white flower I found in my stash as I usually make a bunch of these flowers/shrink plastic shapes when I get my melt pot out.  It is made from T!ms Tattered Flower die stamped with a script stamp.  The fabulous Crown is by Manor House and I actually bought this in Feb 2011 when I went to the Paperartsy event and it has been sitting in my box of metal pieces ever since, so I thought it was time to actually use it and look at it! I have put three pearls over the little holes at the bottom as I thought anything dangly would distract from the picture below but let's be honest they would make the crown very uncomfortable to wear wouldn't they!  Finished with two ribbons and the fabulous red, white and blue twine. 

As I mentioned on a previous post I actually made two tags Saturday (one for this challenge and one for CC2C) before I realised that I had got them the wrong way round and had done the London themed tag for CC2C - therefore I made a third tag (which is the one above), my original tag for this challenge was:

Not quite sure if I have pulled off what I was thinking here but the brown ribbon is supposed to be a tree trunk, the birdhouse and birdy (inked lightly with Tea Dye) are Prima resins, the branch is a Crafters Workshop mask inked with Broken China and Tea Dye, the tag background was inked with Squeezed Lemonade and Peacock Feathers.  The little bird stamp is by Papermania inked with Jet Black Archival.  The flowers are from a little bunch I picked up in Hobbycraft eons ago.

The winner of my blog candy is announced on the post below and also can I just say a big hello to Catherine and Pam thank you both so much for following me.

Have no school run today as little one is away on a residential school trip (bless him he is only 7!) and OH takes the big one and a friend brings him home after football tonight so apart from Zumba I am going to have a play day! whoo hoo.

Thanks for looking - In a tagging mood from Solihull

Candy Winner

Thank you all so much for leaving comments for the candy - there were 31 comments, four of which came from two people, so I did a random draw from 1-29 which resulted in:

which is CAROLYN- whoo hoo.

Carolyn please contact me via the contact button at the top of this blog and I will get it sent off to you as soon as I can.

Thank you everyone for joining in - am already on 311 posts now so there might be another set of candy up for grabs again soon too!

It's my 300th post!

Whooo hoo!

To celebrate I am giving away some blog candy:

will pop a few diecuts in with this too.

To be eligible you need to be one of my lovely followers and leave a comment on this post.  The blog candy winner will be chosen at random on Sunday 13th May.  If you could leave a link to this and/or a photo on your blog I would be grateful but its not essential.

Thanks everyone for joining me on my creative journey!  The Tricentennial Poster from Solihull

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge week 5

The technique this week over at Studio L3 is Shattered Stains which is on page 48 of Tim Holtz's A Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2.  It is also sponsored this week by http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/ with a $25 gift certificate for a randomly picked winner.

Here is my take with a shattered stain lampost:

Bit of a motch potch of colours this week but I like it!

Lampost is T!ms sizzix die and coloured with Mustard Seed, Broken China, Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint distress stains.  The tag is coloured with Squeezed Lemonade, Tea Dye, Peacock Feathers, Shaded Lilac and Broken China inks. 

The Ticket stamp is by 7 Gypsies from their Ephemera collection stamped in Indigo Color Palette ink. The Bus, small line of lamposts and Carnaby Street sign are by Creative Journey from their London collection and the Bowler Hat and Look Left sign are by Artemio from their London collection.  All stamped with either Crimson or Jet Black archival ink.  The Union Flag ribbon is from Dandelion Designs and the red, white and blue twine is from Creative Craft World.

I made this tag and got half way through T!ms May tag (my melt pot dipped flowers are looking fantastic!)when I realised that it's T!ms monthly tags that I am supposed to be doing with an English theme and not necessarily CC2C!!  Might just have to go and make another May tag now as I have done one a green one with birds on!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow if you have left a comment on my candy post as the winner will be drawn then.  Also can I just say a big hello to Franzesjoi, Beth and Buttons - thank  you all for following me.

Thanks for looking - All melted out from Solihull

Some USOs (Unfinished Sewing Objects!)

Well what a weekend I have had - I have been busy preparing for some new workshops I am planning on holding soon and also finishing off lots of sewing:

Here are two of my sewing pieces:

The finished dresden plate table mat - needs an iron but I am sure that won't happen!

A table mat to keep my sewing machine on - this was actually on my table runner but I decided it was too long so I took off the last 7 pieces and made this - the back has the same light blue background but no houses on this one!

I have also completed my Red, White and Blue table mat for a blog hop I am in on 1st July so I can't showcase that one yet.

My plans have all changed for today so I now have the day in so after a bit on ironing I will be getting out my inks and having a play - whoo hoo. Oh and my other bit of news is that I bought a new car on Monday - double whoo hoo!!  will be going and picking it up next Wednesday (rather pleased as I have a full tank of petrol in my current car so I have decided it would be rude not to visit a few crafty shops this next week just to use it up!  tee hee).

A big hi to Silvia and Heidi - thank you both so much for following me.

Thanks for looking - Tired after a sleepless night from Solihull

New distress inks

Treated myself yesterday to the new seasonal distress inks - well it's rude not too really isn't it!

Have spent a happy Sunday morning making a tag - using the same techniques for CC2C yesterday:

Colours used are Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers, Shaded Lilac (all yummy!) with a bit of Vintage Photo (of course!).  Stamps are Indigo Blue from their Wild Meadow range, Picket Fence is T!ms on the edge Fence die which I have discovered you can turn around and get longer fence poles so I am well pleased with myself.  Bird cage and birdie are also one of T!ms dies.  The mask used (which you can't really see) is a Creative Expressions one with no name but it's basically a foliage one.  Finished with a rather small set of alphabet stamps, bling, rose ribbon (another of my fabulous finds in Wolverhampton market) and a strip of canvas inked with Vintage Photo.

All in all an enjoyable and relaxing Sunday morning although I have to admit I have slightly, just ever so slightly, fallen out with the chaps with Ranger because remember this?

Yes my lovely, handmade from mountboard, portable box to transport and store my distress inks in:

well as you can it was a very snug fit with the two other sets of seasonal distress inks in, so I spent hours the other weekend making a completely new one:

and guess what, yes you have guessed it, my three new inks are now a very snug fit!

Darn it - however haven't got the time to remake another one at the moment so they will just all have to squeeze in there for the time being!  Oh well am sure I will forgive Ranger soon.

A big hello to Leanne and Michael - thank  you both so much for following me.
Thanks for looking - Inky Fingers from Solihull

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge week 4

Have managed to get cracking on this this afternoon so I am ahead of myself!  Two posts in one day too - get me!

This tag is made from the technique Faded Layers which is on Page 43 on T!ms Compendium of Curiosities 2:

Background is inked with Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet and Crushed Olive.  Then I used a Creative Expressions cog mask with Vintage Photo ink.  The background stamp was Watch Gears by Hero Arts and then I used three of T!ms Mini Muse stamps all inked with Black Archival.  The cogs are from T!ms sizzix die and are inked with Vintage Photo and edged with Black Soot, the tag is also edged with Black Soot.  I used metal washers coloured with Slate and Snow Cap alcohol inks and the screw brads are some old Karen Foster ones that I have squirreled away in my stash.  Finished the tag with a steampunk badge from Hobbycraft, a T!m metal cog, some pink and kraft twine and a bit of doodling with a white pen. 



To join in the fun pop over to Studio L3.

Thanks for looking - Cogging along from Solihull

May the fourth

be with you!

 Gotta be done hasn't it!

A big hello to Fat Dormouse, Lacramioara, April, Needlewings and Fairy Thoughts - thank you all for following me.
Thanks for looking - Off to find danish pastries to put in my hair from Solihull

Compendium of curiosities 2 - challenge 3

Here is my take on this weeks CC2C - which this week is taken from page 46 of T!ms book - marbled stains.

I had to enter as this is my favourite technique and I use it all the time however I do tend to favour using Picket Fence, Broken China and Vintage Photo distress stains, so for this tag I decided to push the boundaries and after applying Picket Fence to my craft sheet I then shut my eyes and went for three pot luck colours - very adventurous for a Tuesday (when I made it!) if you ask me:

I wanted to use my new Graphic 45 bottle stamps (bought in March and still not really used) and all I could think of was Alice in Wonderland and the "Drink me" bottle so out came my old Non Sequitor Alice stamps (bought years ago and still a firm favourite) and away I went.  Background is done in Picket Fence, Mustard Seed, Fired Brick and Faded Jeans stains then inked around the edges with Vintage Photo.  I have inked Alice and the bottle with Tea Dye.  The skull is a T!m diecut and I used his shattered stains technique (from the Creative Chemistry course last month) to give it a bit of colour and sparkle, then mounted it on black card to make it pop.  Have finished the tag with various ribbons and trims.

If you would like to join in with the challenge the details are here.  This week's challenge is sponsored by http://www.eclecticpaperie.com/, who are offering a $25 gift certificate to one lucky participant in the CC2C #3! So go on give it a go and join in with the fun.

Can I just say a big thank you to Elizabeth, fishcake_random, AJ and 505WhimsyGirl - thank you all so much for following me.

Thanks for looking - Looking through the looking glass from Solihull

WOYWW 152

I wasnt going to join in today but I have been up for an hour and then got twitchy so thought it best to jump in and show you this (be prepared you might be shocked!):

Ta Da!!!!  Got a bit scared watching Silent Witness yesterday so I thought I would have a tidy up instead!  I have the second part to watch today when a. OH works from home and b. Have small pile of ironing to do so I can stand there safely armed with a hot implement if anything untoward does happen whilst watching it (its a bit spooky!).

So the possibilities are endless today for me with an empty desk - I could get my sewing out, make some tags, prepare a class - one thing I do need to do is sort out a project for an interview I have next week - yes watch this space I might soon be joining the work force again and get to have adult conversations and everything!

One other quick thing to show you as I have a bare desk (oh that is the back of the table runner I made last week by the way - yes I don't know why I put more effort into the back of it and not the front but then I have always been a bit odd like that!) - is this little find from B&M Bargains:

Obviously it didnt come with tags but I thought it useful to show my recent creations and be a place to photograph them easily (it's not it's rubbish for that!) but at least now new tags are on display for a while and not just shoved in my tag box!

Thanks for looking and if you would like to join in with the world wide phenomena that is WOYWW click here to visit Julia and link up.

Thanks for looking - Up early and feeling quite chirpy from Solihull

If anyone is interested there is some blog candy for any of my followers on this post here

Finding Fun

I thought I would join in with this fun challenge over at Mess, Muddle and Fun, the theme this week is walking.  I already do lots of walking and the first four parts of the challenge were probably written with me in mind as I take full advantage of having two little boys and already go skipping down the street with them, play i-spy, go looking for lions and tigers in the local woods, hunt for mushrooms and go jumping in puddles too - funny the looks you get from the grumpy car drivers that stare at us whilst they are stuck in the long queue waiting to turn right from the lane into the main senior school road!

Anyway the sixth part of the challenge was to draw a pirate map - I have been meaning to make a pirate map to go in my pirate themed bathroom for ages now (the bathroom was painted bright yellow over a year ago and just has my pirate ship cross stitch on the wall and a half painted pirate ship bird box on the windowsill so far! although DS2 has now decided that he no longer wants the pirate bunting up in his room anymore (remember that??) so I am going to take his name off it and put BATHROOM on it instead too (that has been sitting on my to do pile for about six months so shouldn't be long now......)), anyway I am digressing, I started my treasure map on Sunday at my crop and have managed to finish it off this morning (quite quick for me!!):

For this I have used:  Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive, Black Soot, Broken China distress inks.  Magnolia Message in a Bottle stamp, Pirate stamp – cant remember the make, Pirate ship and flag are a Mickey Mouse cuttlebug die, Quickutz Skull, Sizzix Palm Trees.  The Compass Stamp I think is Unity inked in Chocolate Archival Ink.  Promarkers used: Black, Chestnut, Berry Red, Lipstick Red, Saffron, Blush, Sunkissed Pink, Ice Grey 1, 2,3, 4, & 5, Moss, Gold, Cyan, Aegean, Sky Blue, Marsh Green and Cinnamon.

Had great fun with this and its helped cheer me up as yesterday was another sad day in my house as I went to my third funeral in as many months.  Yesterday was for my Great Uncle Wilf who was my Nan's brother-in-law so the funeral was held at the same crematorium, the wake at the same Working Mens club and the family members were much the same who attended my Nan's funeral so it bought it all back home to me, so where I finally felt last week that I was getting to the edge of the forest and could see the light through the leaves, yesterday I felt that I had taken a wrong path right back into the middle of the forest again and now have to find my way back out.  Oh well it's just life isn't it and thankfully I feel a bit better again today (especially since I have just been to Starbucks and had cake!!).

A big hello to Carolyn, Ruby, Tgerber and Madame Samm - thank you so much for following me.

Thanks for looking - Can't see the woods for the trees from Solihull