Another quick quilt!

I managed to whip this is up in less than two weeks!  Bought the kit from a super store on East Katella in Orange http://www.orangequiltbee.com/ - the lady had pointed OH and the boys in the direction of a local park so I could wander around the shop by myself - whoo hoo - and I fell in love with this at first sight:

(the quilt not the boy - have loved him for years!).

The quilt was $92 and when I said to the lady that I would treat myself to it as it was my birthday she said "If your birthday is 7 days before or after todays date you get a 25% discount" - swoon - what a fabulous birthday present is that!  So of course I bought it (and a few other items) - would have been rude not to wouldn't it!

I kept it the same as the sample apart from the borders where I added in the extra red and yellow bits on the sides - because doing so meant I could keep a big piece of the border material to make a super backing:

I have only quilted around the edges of the black pieces on the front and backs.  To do so I put the front piece and wadding together and quilted around the first set of black strips, then I tucked and folded the front piece in on itself to fit within that quilted square and pinned it all, I then positioned the back piece onto the wadding and quilted around the black strips through just that piece of material and the wadding - managing to avoid the front piece as it was all pinned out of the way.  Then I refolded the back piece on itself in the same way and unpinned and flattened out the front and quilted around the outer black strips on the front piece.  That way I haven't had to have any sewing lines on the back that I didn't want.  I am not really a fully fledged quilter yet so I am not sure whether this is the correct way to do it but the Quilt Police havent knocked on my door yet and the quilt hasnt fallen to pieces either so I am assuming I am ok!  The lady who created the quilt had done some lovely free hand quilting all over the front but I have left mine plain.  Now we are all fighting over it as to whose bed it goes on!

Thanks for looking and don't forget to join in the blog hop tomorrow if you love quilts, the link is here Red, White and Blue blog hop and my blog hop day is 11th July.

Off to the school Summer Fayre from Solihull

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge week 10

Not been able to join the last couple of weeks of these due to being Stateside - however last weeks challenge which is Tissue Wrap Flowers on page 37 of T!ms A Compendium of Curiosities vol 2, which is also sponsored by The Funkie Junkie has been extended a further week so I have found some time this afternoon to put this together:

Background is done with Picket Fence, Bundled Sage and Faded Jeans distress stains.  The stamps are from T!ms Nature Collection and Indigo Blu's Wild Meadow sets and are inked with Peeled Paint distress ink.  The tree and bird are from T!ms Bird on a branch die inked with Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade.  The tissue flowers are white tissue stamped with a script stamp in either Wild Honey or Spiced Marmalade - they are all done with 1" tissue squares.  Inked the edges of the whole piece with Vintage Photo and popped a bling eye on the bird to finish. 

All in all a fun afternoon!  Also managed to finish my huge Dr Seuss quilt today but need to wait for OH to get home to hold it up to photograph it as its far too big for the children even if I got them to precariously balance over the banister!

Thanks for looking - Feeling Like I have Achieved Something from Solihull

T!ms June Tag

Here is my take on T!ms June tag:

I used Barn Door, Vintage Photo, Broken China, Worn Lipstick and Picket Fence stains on the background tag along with some new Artistic Outpost London stamps (ironically bought in the States last week).  The piece behind the image is a Union Flag which is done with Broken China and Barn Door with a Creative Expressions template.  I didn't have a black and white photo to colour in so I stamped out a London image (Penny Black - again bought in the States last week!) which I coloured in with various distress inks.  Finished off with a metal bicycle, key and pen nib - I am sure I have a Big Ben charm squirreled away in my stash somewhere so when I find it I will add that on as well, Union Flag ribbon and red, white and blue twine.  The ticket is from a huge roll I bought from Target and the photo slide is T!ms attached with a tiny attacher - I might add 2012 on to this just need to find the right font or pen!

I think my mojo has returned now as I managed to do this at my crop yesterday (amazing as I never get anything done at a crop no matter how much I prepare beforehand! too busy chatting I guess) and today I finished off the front of a Dr Seuss quilt I bought last week too (it's fab - check back later this week as I am hoping to have finished it by then - I am also taking part in a quilting blog hop from next Sunday too - whoo hooo - my day is 11th July so ages to go yet but I have had my quilts ready for weeks now! very exciting).
Thanks for looking - Itching to get stitching from Solihull

A last goodbye

Finally got to lay my Nan and my Great Uncle Wilf to rest today:

This is Uncle Tony, Great Auntie Diane, Great Auntie Marge, Uncle Dave, Auntie Jackie, Mom, Christopher (my cousin) and me.

and this one has my Dad on:

guess who were taking the photos!

This poem is for both of them:

God’s Garden

God looked around his garden
And found an empty place,
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face.

He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.

He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.

He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, ‘Peace be thine’.

It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.

Anon

Slowly catching up

Hi everyone and thanks for all your recent comments, sorry I haven't had a chance to reply to you all but I would just like to say that I did have a fabulous birthday - thank you all - I was whisked away to the Happiest Place on Earth - Disneyland California - unfortunately blogger doesn't seem to want to post any pictures today so I can't share any with you (even though I took 1,414!).

Oooh finally got the problem sorted - here we are were:

We landed back in England late Friday afternoon and then finally got home at 8pm on the evening. The eight hour time difference has taken it's toll this time and we are all shattered! I will hopefully catch up with some crafting later this week although I have such a busy schedule planned that my head is currently spinning!

Thanks for looking - Feeling Sleepy from Solihull

A Birthday card

Here is a card I have made for my father in laws birthday which is today:

I used a creative expressions mask for the background flag with barn door and broken china distress inks.  The bunting stamps are by Inkylicious and the rest are all by Creative Journey.  Finished with the Naturally Serif sizzix alphabet letters and twine.

Thanks for looking - Still partying from Solihull

Another layout

I did this layout a while ago and had left it one side to "finish off".  I got it out earlier today and looked at it but then decided "you know what - it's done!" so apart from adding white pen to give the spiders eyes I have left it as is (no stamping or anything!).

I used a MME Haunted House flock cardstock as the background with a sheet of kraft resist coloured with Barn Door distress stain on the right hand side.  Other items used were: On the edge Pennants die, Once Upon a Time alphabet (the letters "my devils"), Limelight alphabet (the number "3"), black cardstock, the Wrought Iron Gate and Fence are Memory box dies.  The skull and bats are a T!m die kindly lent to me by Jackie and the whole thing is edged with Black Soot distress ink.

It was my other halfs idea for them all wear their no. 6 tops and be called the three devils!  Not a bad title for a non scrapper is it!  although 6/6/6? is also my birthday so I could have gone down that route too.....

Thanks for looking - Off to spend my Birthday money from Solihull

Happy Birthday to me!

Yay don't you just love birthdays!

Last weekend I had the urge to do a layout! I know! must have been the lovely weather we had last week.....  Anyway I sat myself down after a lovely sunday lunch and made this:

Not bad for someone who is totally off scrapbooking at the moment is it!  It is based on a April 2012 Page Map sketch - think I am finally getting to grips with sketches (its taken me about 7 years!) and  uses up some old Basic Grey birthday papers: Make A Wish, Frosting, Assembly Required, Pinata and I don't have the name for the yellow piece as it was obviously used on something else a long time ago! The stamps used are Enjoy the Journey (Vintage Aviation) by Creative Expressions; Compass by Tabbykat; Finger, number strip and fancy strip are Daily Junque by Pink Paislee; Bike, "Travel", "Destination" are by Royal Langnickel; "King of the Road" is from Road Trip by Inkadinkado and the butterflies are from Wild Meadow by Indigo Blu - they are coloured in with distress markers and finished off with Zvacreative crystals.  I also used a black soot distress marker, Vintage photo distress ink and Jet Black archival ink.

All in all a happy way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for looking - all scrapped out from Solihull

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