WOYWW #215 - This & That

Morning WOYWWers, here's what I've been up to this week.





I made the last twinchie for the Summer of Colour Challenge so now have a set of 6 critters.








I made a card for a swap using a piece half made at craft club last week.

I made a drum twinchie as my son passed his grade 4 Drum Exam.













I did letter "Y" for the Alpha Challenge and received a "Wall of Fame" badge for my "B" letter on Bonfire Night.


I received a swap of a decorated envelope containing as sketch, ribbon, diecuts and a photo. The photo just happened to be of a swan and I went Swan Upping on Monday too.












Last night my son was presented with an award for his Science work from the broadcaster and journalist Nicholas Owen. It was held at Epsom Racecourse.

Swan Upping

Day one of the week long Annual event of Swan Upping started today on the River Thames. We popped along to see the skiffs go through Shepperton Lock.












There were quite a few people lining the banks to watch and cameras filming the event too.

The swans all belong to either the Dyers, the Vintners or our Queen.

I did my Alpha challenge for the letter "U" for this special event. Upping is where all the cygnets are marked according to their heritage.                                   I just realised that as the swans are all protected, the River Thames is a kind of Nature Reserve for them so I am entering this picture for the Scavenger Hunt #11 An animal in a zoo, aquarium, or nature reserve.

Summer of Colour - Week 6

Last week of the Summer of Colour - Artist's Choice Challenge. Horrah I actually got the colour choice I voted for this week, so finishing on a good note already. I have really liked making twinchies this year too.

Anyway the colours are Sage & Sepia this week. I felt I just needed to use the dictionary definitions and with sage being of the wise, my critter for this week just HAD to be an owl.

Drum Twinchie

The theme on the Twinchie Challenge Blog this month is Music & Lyrics.

I have been pondering this for a while and been as though my son took his grade 4 drum kit exam last week and he passed it too, I thought what better way to commemorate this than on this months twinchie.

I used some old music paper I sourced from a charity shop last year, duly inked and water marked. I embossed the edges with blue embossing powder I got in a swap and hadn't used before.

I stamped the drum kit on shrink plastic (3 times just in case) with Ultramarine Staz-On. I put a hole in a couple and gave one of those to my son as a key ring.

I popped a brad top right and added some navy ric-rac and some real watch gears, well music is all about timing isn't it? He really loves my twinchie.

Catch-Up Post

Been a bit behind in my challenges so here is a little catch-up.

First my Craft Barn Alpha Challenge letter "Y" and the colour yellow. Yorkshire Day is celebrated on 1st August and the emblem is the white rose.

Second my Summer of Colour Week 5 with the colours Candy Apple Red and Yellow. Who'd have thought a ball flower would make a good spider's web?

 Third an update on my Dandelion Page in my 12 Months journal. I found a piece of acetate with alcohol inks on it which was in my scrap box so I hinged this to the page with washi tape. I was looking for a clock die but had to cut a fresh one.



And lastly my July zine.

Craft Club - Distress Resist

At craft club this week we did some distress resist using heat embossing. Just found their link to a tutorial here. Have to say I wasn't completely taken with the technique during class, but there again I'm not a stamper at heart.

I left it a couple of days and had another go at home and it was much better - think my ink pads are a bit more juicy and having all colours to hand made it easier.

Only real problem at home is the lack of appropriate stamps for the technique. Found I didn't have any solid stamps for the top image then remembered the balloon stamp I bought after a stamp class many years ago! And a couple I made during journal challenges.

Here's my quick tutorial.











1) Stamp a background script or other with Versamark or Perfect Medium and emboss on white card with WHITE embossing powder.
2) Over colour in a range of distress inks (using pale colours)
3) Dry the inks (my first mistake as I missed this bit out on my music sample)











4) Over stamp with a more solid stamp again in Versamark or Perfect Medium and emboss with CLEAR powder (as you want to see the colours through image)
5) Ink over the whole design with a darker ink.

As for the Perfect Medium - my pad seems to have disintegrated. It is a mushy mess so not quite so perfect! I got a little pad with a set of Perfect Pearls and the pad was just the same. Whereas my Versamark just goes on and on. Not sure I'd buy a Perfect Medium pad again!












Here's a close up of the number stamp I used. I made it from my Tim Holtz WORDPLAY die and funky foam stuck on some corrugated cardboard. The leaf stamp was from the TH Autumnal strip die stuck on a wooden block. This last sample is all I could do with my own stamps as the other script ones were from class.

WOYWW #214 - Too Hot!

Indeed - think I have been a bit stifled by the heat here in the UK so haven't done much crafting this week. What with that and the tennis!

So how did my desk get so messy?





Firstly let's say I managed to get a place on the one UK day Tim Holtz is here at the end of August. And here's my ticket to prove it.. BJ does happy dance....after 5 hours trying to get through on the phone too!


 

I managed to get into town this week and made it to The Works as I really liked the set of drawers I saw on a desk last week (thanks). Got a set and a star box too.


I did finish my cross stitch whilst watching the tennis. I went to craft club but wasn't really taken by the technique this month. I have torn out a couple of pictures from last week's Radio Times, and have my Alpha page pending plus decorated envelope swap ready to post. Oh and started on my dandelion pages for July in my journal.

Happy WOYWW to one and all and thanks to Julia our host.

12 Months - Dandelion

The flower of the month on 12 Months in View is the Dandelion! Not really a flower but usually considered a weed so it wasn't inspiring me much until today's giveaway pages.

First I added a title to my calendar page. I have added some flowers and some words too.

I'm making up the pockets each month and making a tag to go in them from old cotton traders clothes tags. So I have done this month's pocket and covered the back of the tag and will do the front later in the month.

I had done a background using last months block inking technique and the backing paper went nicely on the facing page. The seed head was too high so I cut if off and repositioned it lower down.

The pages are all ready for journaling or doodling if I have a mind.

I have also taken a photo of this month's garden. Gone has the deep red of the Rhododendron and the soft lilac of the Wisteria to be replaced by lush greenness.

WOYWW #213 - Photo Week

A veritable treat for you all today, my desk mid-crafting! Shock Horror, BJ makes a mess! Yes this is the weekly WOYWW jaunt around crafting desks of the world to see what everyone is up to.

Been taking more photos this week than crafting. Firstly for the 2013 Summer Scavenger Hunt and we had our first photo share this week too. Then there was the 12 Months in View jaunt around our house looking for stuff with Roses on.







But back to the desk, you'll see my July calendar page in my 12 Months Journal, I made the butterfly stamp for it.

The mess is all for the twinchie for week 4 of the Summer of Colour Challenge - the colours being Charcoal Grey and Pale Pink. I wasn't really inspired but had a go anyways. The crackle glaze on the dove didn't work too well.

Last week's craft club was a Distress Masterclass and here is one of my cards. I did a mini tutorial here and the craft club's blog is here.

This week's craft club was cross stitch. My eyesight certainly was a challenge, but I managed this in club so was quite pleased.

Happy WOYWW everyone.

On The Scavenge - More Photos

Yes a few more new items found and a few repeats which I couldn't resist.

For my husband's birthday we took a trip to a local National Trust property called Polesden Lacey. I just knew there was a sundial there so I was armed and ready with my camera for more scavenging.

There was a #Bonus Sundial in the shop and also in the grounds.

They have Shakespeare plays in the grounds in the Summer months and seeing the sign I thought this would count for #02 Theatre for the Performing Arts.

On leaving I saw the café sign which I thought was quite amusing and a good use of space too - LOL So #07 A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny was in the bag, although I'll keep an eye out for something funnier I'm sure.

So the extras of previously found items are:

Another Tower

Another Bench outside, rather grand don't you think?


And the rain managed to hold off for a pleasant walk round the grounds and we even got a geocache and played outdoor Jenga.