Saturday Meeeeeee Time and other ramblings...

I am sitting in a now very empty, yet wonderfully peaceful and sunny house...Dutch guests moved on...hubby gone to a party and I am Home Alone! Just had a busy yet very enjoyable time with the friends...and we eventually had some sun!
Now just realising I can do absolutely nothing. Hmmmm - pretty wonderful. But I am all fingers - just itching to get messy and busy in my room. I want to start on week 3 of my Claudine Helmuth workshop - there are now 500 folk around the planet also doing the course - and there's me thinking I might be one of the only two Brits. How naive can I be? Duhhhh...
I am definitely a fan of the on-line course style. The weekly structure is motivating, yet spacious and seeing as I must travel pretty far to get to a good workshop, it is a great option to help me develop, learn and actually get on with something constructive. So to anybody out there thinking of taking the dive into the on-line classroom - I say "Go Forth!" There are some great classes and courses around - I am already eyeing up the next paper pudding...
I have lent my camera to my friends so I will leave you with some piccys of some more cards from the exhibition I did...

 

Just started out with an ATC and green alcohol inks and took it from there. Decided to stretch my colour range and pulled in the bright yellowy orange paper.








Here - kind of a grungey look but still like the vintage feel. I still really love these stamps by Paper Artsy - you can do so much with them.

The yellowy paper was a from a set of handmade paper stationary which worked well for the card backgrounds and matching envelopes. Really like using embossing and stamping together to give texture and depth. Watch out when embossing with a polka dot folder if you're thinking of using a stamp with a person or faces - otherwise they might just look like they got the lurgy. A polka dot just loves to find that crucial spot that can knock out an eye or give a nose a bit too much dimension!
Just simply added a repetition of the main stamp image to the envelope front to draw it all together. So farewell my lovelies - just going to lounge that little bit longer...

WOYWW and other blatherings...

It actually feels like a lifetime since last weeks WOYWW because I have been on the go, non-stop every day. I am totally cream-crackered, knackered and tres fatigue. Just lots to do, cakes to make and too many people to see. I have the first load of Dutch friends arriving Thursday and the old little housey really needs a good shampoo...one more day to get this place into shape. I was hoping to blog sooner but the time is flying by so quickly I only got round to some crafty time today. Ended up completely smothered in paint and gunk and as usual a 5cm clean square on the table. Continuing the Claudine Helmuth workshop which is still really great - just needed more Me time this week. And you need to have at least 10 rolls of kitchen paper ready to go...and remember not to use the best bathroom towels...

 Anyway, I will let the piccys do the talking as I need a cup of tea, a servant and a bath...one out of three will do for now.

So here are some of the different painting techniques. Gesso transfer and etching from last week. This week being resist techniques, old paint, and stamping on CH sticky canvas.

 After the techniques you can work on a mini-project. The idea was to make a card but I went for a canvas idea as that took my fancy. Wish I had more time to play and do some more work on it, but it came out okay, especially as I am not always so keen on big hearts. I am quite fond of my own but that's about it. I did get frustrated with the first heart and threw it in the "I dunno about you mate" box, but tried again. You can't go far wrong with blue and brown...

 So that's all folks...looking forward to Sunday - got some me time again...Mmmmmmm.

Friday frolics, frustrations and faffing around...

At last - Friday. I should be feeling a huge wave of relief washing over me but it seems the weekend and coming week are going to be even busier. Got lots going on and lots to do and two very imminent consecutive visits from Dutch friends mean I can no longer put off giving the castle a bit of a buff... I cannot decorate and paint before they arrive - but I can have a scrub a-dub and get the loo working again.
Spent a whole week scouring the county and eventually the UK for one tiny rubber washer. Amazing really - while we can fly into space, replace hearts and talk to Auntie Flo down under on a little plastic black box - a 1 inch rubber washer is still the invention of the century in this house. We are back on full flush and the shower rail is slowly ascending up the bathroom wall.
Amongst tomorrow's bustling agenda is a 50th party for a friend. She is not your average middle-aged lady and therefore golden flowers and frilly bows where not an option for a cake. My mum - who is a fab hobby cake cook - made the cake..a yumptious rich, fruit cake. It is then covered with marzipan and regal icing.
I am no cake decorator bit I figured with a bit of imagination and my background in paper stuff - I could just wing it. So, I got busy with bits of wire, ribbon, a few borderline words on the way, and some cookie cutters! Even considered putting some icing through my embossing machine...So here is my exceedingly pink effort in the cake dept, for a very nifty at fifty years young lady. It is a lot pinker in real life but the camera is giving me major hassle - time to allow my hubby to add a new gadget to the stash methinks...

So not much papery stuff tonight. New nails on - don't want to tint them with Tim Holtz just yet...I will post more about my Claudine Helmuth course soon. I am in the middle of a painty, resist, canvas thing  - and I will show a few goodies once the camera has stopped sulking. Off to work on the mountains of salads for the birthday bash.

A shot (by hubby) of the evening sky last night seeing as are we in a pink mood...

What's on your workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW)

If you're a weekendaholic you wait for Friday. But if you're slightly bonkers and are thrilled by a new splodge of paint or the angle of a inky flourish, then Wednesday is your day. This is just my second WOYWW and third week at blogging, but I have already experienced cold turkey yesterday by not having a blab about something.

Anyway...my desk. It looks like a right old flea market in there... I am only showing the one half of the room. It is the spare room/dumping ground/garden shed which had yet to be decorated,  and is supposed to be my craft room one day. Cinderella, you shall go to the ball... I am sharing it with a triple wardrobe, a dresser (temporary embossing station and beauty/girly corner) stack of crates, a big wooden chair (paper stash babysitter) junk shop finds and a whole load of other paraphernalia. Sigh.

I had tortured myself by looking at too many articles from "Where Women Create" and was holding out for the finished palace. In the end - I had to just buckle down and put my paper passion before my perfectionism. So it is a fold out vintage kitchen table, an old bookcase (bought for a tenner), loads of plastic boxes and a lot of improvisation. It is getting kind of crowed as the supplies increase. Yet, I am convinced that even if I had a football pitch to work on, I would end up with mess everywhere, still stuck in the corner with 5 inches of space.

There is an array of things going on. Mainly my Claudine Hellmuth on-line course stuff. You can see some prepared pages of a book for our sampler. Done two techniques and a mini-project so far. Never done an on-line workshop before but I really can vouch for it - especially all the interaction, global experience and nosing at the work of others.

 My nail file and tweezers are also there because I just pulled off all my acrylic nails - naughty me - but I just couldn't take it anymore. And seeing as I have to clean the kitchen and decorate a birthday cake by tomorrow...I thought, who cares? The nails were well past their sell by date and driving me barmy!!! Friday I'm booked in for a bit of SOS and TLC down the at the nail shop.

Here is the finished mini-project - canvas with gesso and ink transfer. I have to say that the CH paints and brushes are a worthwhile investment. First time I could paint without thinking a shaggy dog had done a few twirls over my stuff.

Breathe and just be...

So that is my chapter for today. I wish everyone an inspired week - even if you only have ten minutes..make them all yours.

Hey - a few moments of Fame!

I was just having a nose around the Craft Stamper magazine website and I suddenly I see my ATC looking back at me! So me is feeling a wee bit chuffed. The theme was flourishes and it was a pretty simple one this time but hey...it's mine. If you want to see it there with some lovely others go to :

CS magazine ATC link

My ATC...

I also made it into Craft magazine magazine beginning of last year with an ATC. The theme was glamour and I sent off these three. The red spotted lady made the cut!

Furthermore, I am covered in paint as I got started on my Claudine Hellmuth workshop today. Really great paints and brushes I have to say. Wish the pots were twice as big though...Farewell for tonight. Sarah.

Friday - and out of gas...

Glad to have hit Friday and the weekend at last...The last of my supplies for my Claudine Hellmuth workshop have arrived and so I hope to get splodging soon. Planned to do some prepping of the binder book tonight but I am zonked.I spent all day at work thinking about paint, paper and images and yet tonight it was just eat, clean and tidy up...and now a cup of tea and a little wander through some blogs methinks. Going to one or maybe two jumble sales tomorrow too, so fear not all ye homeless buttons...come to me! I have a hubby who is as keen on mooching around flea markets as I am - and he's getting up at 5.30am to drive my folks 40 miles to the bus station for their holiday. What a star.

That's it for tonight - just leaving you with a few of my older cards to look at...

This one is rather pink and quite cute for me - made for a friend's first baby. Sometimes simple just works...

This one was made as a farewell to a very good friend when I left Holland.

Just Time for a Bloggie...

I don't have much time today - had to work all day. Whilst taking a break from the dance world and trying to get this terrace sorted, I have a part-time office job  - just for the mo. Keeps me going and also to pay for this not so cheap passion for paper. Been doing loads of extra hours to help out and now I am gaga from too much admin. Never been an office type so...

I am signed up for Claudine Hellmuth's on line summer course. Kept sneaking on-line at the office to watch snippets of the classes! I am itching to start but the one thing that didn't arrive in my order  - a binder book - it the very thing I need. Still I have a week to get the first workshop done so I will savour it all in the weekend. Take a look at the BPS site:

http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/

Thanks to the folks who looked at my WOYWW post - it was quite exciting for me. Just realised if you pre-schedule a blog, that Blogger does not run on GMT. I kept thinking, "Where the flip is my blog...? Have I been banned or censored?"
 

Anyway,must love you and leave you. Thought I'd just add a piccy of something I made recently. A card that was part of an exhibition here in the area called House of Cards. Just to prove I don't always do vintage, altered things.