Notice Anything Different?

Seriously how cute is my ultimate fantasy of being a mermaid.  I think I do it well..  I have Amanda over at Faery Ink to thank for my little Bambi girl..  I know she does custom blog design and her prices are ridiculously cheap, so hop over and see what she can do for you. So check out her graphics site here.

So Christmas came, went and now we are doing the new year countdown.  YIPPPEEEE!! For me it’s going to be an exciting year. I don’t know why it’s going to be exciting but I do feel in my bones that something happy is going to happen.  I’m hoping that my card making skills are going to be improved or my colouring skills ooooooo I don't know, I don't know….  Anyhoo while I wait for what God has in store for me this year I thought I would show you how wicked and evil my mum is..  This is how I spent Christmas..

Yes snotty, sneezy, coughy, puffy and basically death warmed up..  Did I get sympathy?  OHHHHH NO Not I! You know I never wonder any more why I am single ha ha ha ha!

Anyhooo onto some nicer stuff..  I managed to get some colouring done and make a scrap page..  I did try and copy Krista’s ombre hair tut..  HMMMMM!! Yeah didn’t really work did it LOL!!  But I got the gist of what I was supposed to be doing. 

So I did some doodling..  I kinda like the page I did because I put lots of colours in there..  I loved colouring in Amanda’s image.  Her art work is sooooooooo different, in a quirky cute kinda way..  You can check out her Etsy Store or her blog Faery Ink I am sure she would love a visit…

Anyhooo I suppose I best get dinner on the go.  It was nice to see Mr Sunshine today but sadly he is on his way now BOOOOOO…

Have a great day and thank you for visiting..  OOOOO and before I go.  I would like to thank the followers for following, it really means something that I’m not droning on and on to the empty space.  So thank you guys for listening x

Christmas Thoughts

Well it’s that time of the year when I think about what message I would like to say to you guys.  This year I wanted to reflect on the different ways we celebrate the season.  It seems that more and more of us are crossing over into different meanings of what the holiday is..  For me it’s all about celebrating the birth of Christ.  I do believe in Christmas, but not in what Christmas has become.  For me it means to share, with family, friend's and loved ones.  It’s the only time of year when peace can be practised and us as humans seem to care just a little bit more.  Which makes me think maybe we should have Christmas everyday.  Maybe peace should be given more freely, maybe we should be turning the other cheek.  But on saying that how does one turn the other cheek if our loved ones are taken from us unnecessary..  I want to cast my thoughts to those who were taken from their families this year.  I wish I could comfort their hearts and bring peace to them, but I cannot.

Over these next few days there are going to be some very hard times for families of the taken.  I pray that they have some peace, even just a fond memory of a happier times, to remind them that there is always hope, there is always love.

May god bless the families and loved ones of..

Dawn Hochsprung (principal), 47

Mary Sherlach (school psychologist), 56

Victoria Soto (first grade teacher), 27

Rachel Davino, 29

Anne Marie Murphy, 52

Lauren Russeau, 30

Charlotte Bacon, 6

Daniel Barden, 7

Olivia Engel, 6

Josephine Gay, 7

Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 6

Dylan Hockley, 6

Madeline F. Hsu, 6

Catherine V Hubbard, 6

Chase Kowalski, 7

Jesse Lewis, 6

James Mattioli, 6

Grace McDonnell, 7

Emile Parker, 6

Jack Pinto, 6

Noah Pozner, 6

Caroline Previdi, 6

Jessica Rekos, 6

Avielle Richman, 6

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Allison N. Wyatt, 6

But lets not forget Adam’s family and loved ones who are also victims here. We tend to forget those who are left behind.  I pray they also have comfort this holiday, they have also lost a loved one..

Then there is Jay Whiston.  Closer to home.  A neighbour, a student at the school where I work, taken.  I wish his loved ones the peace and comfort they deserve.

So whatever holiday you celebrate, just spare a little thought..  I wish you all a truly happy Christmas xxx

A bit of pluggin

Well as you do when you can’t do much other than sneeze and cough you start to surf..  So I found a few things that may be of interest..

Check out these guys, I get most of my art supplies from here and they have just put AQUA Markers down to £1.17 and Promarkers are now £1.25.  I think I now have every colour in the Promarkers, I want to start collecting the FLEX markers now..

Inky Chicks have a brand new challenge blog going on in January, I might skip over and join in..

Amanda has drawn up some new goodies for you to enjoy and freebies….  Check it out at Faery Ink ..

Ok back to sneezing and coughing.. 

One more day to go..

Then I am officially on holiday, let me tell you this term at school feels like it has been going on and on and on for a life time.  So I am going to do my Christmas food shopping and kick back, maybe stay in my pyjama’s until it’s time to go back to work lol..

Anyhooo a few things I have been squeezing in.

A chocolate log I made in school with the kids..  Mr Pankie was a wonderful host for allowing me to join in his class, we had so much fun.  The kids loved having me disrupting the lesson with my shenanigans..

Charlie made a cake for me at college and he was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him seen as he doesn’t do mess of any kind x

A Holiday Card for my Doctor, well a thank you not really for being so wonderful and understand, although we are still trying to figure out what's wrong with me, he is thinking my auto immune is on the blink *sigh*..  I decided to do holiday because I didn’t know if he celebrates it or not..  There is an child at our school, well more than one, anyhooo… I wish the children who don’t celebrate Christmas a happy holiday.. 

Faery Ink has some freebies for you guys and dolls. Amanda is also calling for a Design Team so if you or you know someone who maybe interested have a pop over to FAERY INK.  Check it out now the funk’s your brother….  (and yes I did misspell funk)

Anyhooooooooooooooooooo have a happy evening.  Thank you for stopping by, off to check out some of you crazy crafters x

Dream Team Designers

Hello Loves I hope your day has been better than mine, just don’t ask! lol!
Anyhooo Mandy has finally released a Design Team Call.  I hope you will join in with her new adventure.  Here is a little plug for her post. I wish I could design for her but I am so naff lol.  A little snippet from her blog

I am looking for a few talented and adventurous spirits to be on my Dream Design Team ^_^  You don't have to be super dope awesome with the colors and cutting and such but I really value reliability and effort! I'd need you to do one project a week using one of the digital stamps released that week and in exchange you get your choice of 5 from the stamps already available in the shop and then all of the stamps I make during your time on the design team. I am flexible on the term lengths but I would like at least 3 months of your time so please make sure you have it to spare ^_^ You must have and be active on your own blog,  Facebook and Twitter and if you post on crafting forums that is a great bonus. If you are interested just send me an email to akisner@gmail.com with the following:

• a little information about yourself
• photos from a few of your favorite projects
• your blog address
• your FB and twitter addresses

I hope to get a few bites here. I know I am new to this and very unknown in the crafting community but I am excited about being here and I hope there are a few crafters out there happy to have me and excited to design something special with my drawings ^_^

Christmas Candy

Happy Sunday everyone.  I hope your Sunday is going a little better than mine.  I was awoken by a neighbour ding donging on my bell to let me know that water was flooding through her ceiling.  Anyhooo how nice it was to find that my kitchen tap we flowing at the rate of a miniature waterfall BAHHHHH! Merry humbug! lol!
So I am sitting blog hopping today to chillax.. You know I know you know I am supposed to be quilting I found that The Great Leveller has some yummy Christmas Candy

Also while I am here site plugging.  Amanda over at Anti-Gloom is on the look out for a Design Team.  If you are interested please pop over there and hook her up, she will be so happy to hear from you.  She has been running her graphic site for many years and is moving on in to Digi Stamps.  I hope you can make it.

Anti-Gloom is Now Faery Ink

Faery Ink is having their grand opening today and I do believe there are some freebies over there for you to play with.  Amanda has been around the internet forever offering graphics for emails and website etc and also tutorials and line art so you can do your own stuff.. I was and I think still am a member over at Hearts Enchanted.  Anyhooo for ages I had been saying to her I wish you offered Digi stamps and I did nag her.  Amanda is so creative and her use of colour is amazing.  Anyhooo skip over even to have a look and if you like what you see then grab a button and spread the word..
Remember these?

Remember my naff photography skills lol
Well I coloured in Rhapsody Faery to my ability and skill, I know you guys could really bring her to life and do her the justice she deserves.

I smashed* her in to my orange smash* book..

And a naff pic to finish lol..

I really do hope you go over and pay Amanda a visit over at Anti-Gloom, she is such at talented artist and I am sure there will be something that takes your fancy..

Quilt and Bind I must quilt and Bind!

Happy Thursday everyone.  And despite the fact I still do indeed have a quilt to quilt and bind I thought I would pop in and show you a few things..  Not that I can upload or anything as my internet has died at this very moment bwahahaha!! Lucky for me though I do use windows live writer which is soooooooo much better for me that farting about with blogger..  Anyhooo I digress onward I shall go..
So I finished my crocheted hat which I found the pattern in Inside Crochet Magazine, which mum subscribed for me for my birthday.  And I know what you are thinking!! I had all the jokes thank you very much.

“Wow you look like a sperm!”  Thanks for that Sonny!! Not that I have ever known a sperm to know..  Don’t you just love kids!!

I finished up covering my Christmas club book for next year.  It felt ever so flat, but because it has lots of use to it it’s more practical.


I used the image from The Chart Shop – Bentley Bearing Gifts
And finally Amanda from Faery Ink who I have probably known for about 10 years has started to make Digi Stamps.  I originally found Faery Ink when I started to learn to draw graphics and Amanda offered Tutorials and such so you could also make your own goodies.  Well over the years. life has been lived and although Amanda still stuck with graphic designs I kinda moved into the world of craft.  Anyhooo to cut a long story short I nagged Amanda to offer Digi’s and finally she is going to offer them YIPPEEE!! …  All I know that her grand opening of the new site is coming soon so I will keep you in the loop and let you know.  She has some amazing images so I thought I would share a few that I am going to be playing with over the next few days..

Anyhoo thank you so much for reading. Have a fun Thursday!

FREEDOM!!

Yes I am finally…….OH NO WAIT..  *Thinks* Hmmm ok I am nearly free from the Christmas tasks.  I just have a quilt top to quilt and bind and then I can finally be free to do as I please yippee!! I may run down the road in nothing but Clingfilm to celebrate, well maybe bwahahahaha…  Anyhooo is it me who gets a little bit fed up with all the thinking about Christmas and doing the Christmas thing.  Don’t get me wrong I love to make things and give them to people who I know will appreciate them, but it can be a bit full on..  So again as I do every year I am promising to start planning for next year lol..

Anyhoo my latest card to Mrs Lewis my boss who I am eternally grateful to for; giving me a chance to prove that I can actually do the job I do and being so understanding last year when I broke my leg and had to have 26 weeks off work to recover and then wean myself back to work gradually..  So yes I love my boss ..

I did a kinda 3d card.  I was inspired by a very talented blogger whose blooming RSS feed I cant seem to find anywhere not even in my save for later files GRRRR me.  It was pretty easy to make, though I really have to work on using my cutter its not as actuate as I like.  I use a guillotine for card and heavy paper and I use my fiskars cutting board for papers.  I found the the card was just making my blades blunt very, very quickly.  What kind of cutter do you use?  Do you find it easy to measure?  My fiskars is perfect for measuring but the cutting is something to be desired when it comes to cardstock. 

Have a happy Tuesday and lots of fun x

Happy Friday

Well what a blooming week, I’m pleased to see this one go.  I’m almost at the end of my christmas card list, YIP-FRIGGEN-EE..  Christmas prezzies are all sent off to there destinations and to go under the tree, which mum put up today..  It actually looks quite pretty.. I kinda like it..

So here I am with my latest card.

I’m entering this one at Anything Goes at Sweet Stamping Christmas.  This is there very first challenge for their new Christmas challenge blog.  They are also offering Candy for new followers.

I am also entering this for the Monochrome Christmas at Without Words. Monochrome is exactly that.  I used promarkers in all kinds of blue shades oh and a blending pen which is clear.

 

Thanks for looking xxx

Digi Stamp Saturated Canary

Tiddly Birthday

Happy Monday friends.  For me it has been a funny old day.  I was awake when it was still dark and I had everything done really early..  I did some crocheting until I had to go to work. Then off to workypoo I went, from the school to the hospital to have my eyes screened.  I never had it done before.  It wasn’t painful at all, it was more uncomfortable and it realllllllllly doesn’t help when you have a really miserable person to deal with.  Anyhooo I popped on my biggest smile, you know the one that shows all your teeth, (and probably what you had for lunch) and went in.  She was very abrupt and the more abrupt she was the happier I became lol..  Weird!!

Anyhooo so yesterday I made this lovely by Tiddly Inks and I must say in the little file pocket was a coloured picture as a guideline.  I think this is probably the best card I have ever made.  I love the image and I love the clean way it has turned out.  I am gonna do the other Faythe image and see how she turns out.

So have a look and tell me what you think..  Creative Critics are always welcome, it helps me to improve myself.

I think I still have to really work on skin tones, she looks all washed out.

Ok stay safe and be whacky xx

Tiddly Inks Faythe digi stamp

A Sprinkle of Glitter

Howdy y’all (ooo how American of me lol!) I hope you are doing fabby in this fresh weather?  I think today was the coldest for me.  Mum and I popped over too Dedham, well really too the farm shop that is up the road. 

(Picture Courtesy of Hall Farm)>

We ordered a capon chicken, which I have never had, it was recommended to me that they are much nicer than your regular clucker..  So that's all ordered and ready to be picked up for Christmas.  I used to buy turkey but seen as its really just Mum, Sonny and me who eat it, lots goes to waste.  So I get an extra large chicken which is my preference anyway.  Can I just say the stuff in the farm shop is so scrummy but also ridiculously priced.  We literally go there for a treat a few times a year. 

Anyhoooo guess what I did… No! OK then let me tell you.  While I was farting about I happened to stumble across this site..  I AM IN LOVE, the wonderful talent who draws these little scrummies is Linnette and her little site Paper Glitter.  There is so much colour on this site my eyes were just popping.  Check her out and let me know what you think..  I downloaded some Christmas check lists which are sooooo handy, Thank you Linnette x 
 

Anyhooo Happy Saturday and have a wonderful Sunday x

It’s Been a LAWGGGG Time..

Since I entered a challenge, But I thought well what the heck.  Things are finally slowing down here.  I sent off three Christmas parcels today which is wonderful.  I also finished my commissioned cards which is also a big thing.  I have a little bit of quilting to do on a gift then bind it and that’s done.  So I decided to actually have some fun.

Coops posted on her blog The Ribbon and Trim challenge over at Crafts and Me and that is where I am going to enter this card.

This was so different, and nothing like I usually do. But I wanted something traditional yet modern and soft.

I used my Derwent watercolour pencils, to colour and paint the image.  I used some stickles for the added sparkle which you can’t actually see due to my naff picture taking and some polar white flower soft to add some soft 3D snow.

I hope you like it, thank you for looking x

Pictureless

Hi all, I hope yo are doing well.  I know I have been so busy over the last few weeks, making cards and gifts and everything christmassy.  Hopefully things will slow down a little.  I have a few five minutes.  So I have blown the dust off the blog and doing just a quick post to let you all know I am still alive.. 

I worked out I must spend aound £30 or more on craft magazines in one way or another.  To be fair I do love reading them when time permits.  I don't know about you , but for me especially this time of the year they begin to build up and when you are resting your feet on them it's time to decide whether or not these magazines are really worth buying?  I mean they are good for leading you down the road of crafting temptation and making you buy things you really shouldn't because you have already spent your monthly budget on promarkers.... Oh that's only me?  REALLY!???  Huh!  Anyhoo back to my point.  When I was doing my banking I looked at my direct debits for these magazines, my eyes actually popped out of my head..  I thought why do I need these guys, when I actually read RSS Feeds from my favourite crafters everyday with my mail.  How many crafts can one do realistically? Do you guys spend money on things you really dont use or is that me?   So I cancelled all my subscriptions and I now only read my RSS feeds, and the good thing is that you never ever stop finding great sites.  I have to really becareful that I dont spend hours clicking in awe at all the talented people in blog land.

A few of my faves are on the left and right sides somewhere, have a check out of some of these blogs they are so wonderfully giving..

So back to the christmas crocheting..  How are you guys getting along with your christmas organising, are you an early bird like me or are you a last minute person?

I really…….

Must get my arse into gear and start posting more regular.  I am like the kid who always lags behind with undone laces and a snotty nose..  Anyhooo when I am not blogging I am actually up to loads of stuff.

I have finished the rag quilts I made and I don’t know if I like it.  What do you think?

I must remind you that my photography does indeed suck..

I made mum some candles for her work colleagues.  They are the easiest thing to do.  I saw a tutorial on you tube when I was having a flick through.  Sadly I have a brain like a sieve and the link has gone but basically the instructions are:

1: Find a candle you like, this really can be any size or shape as long as you can do the following instructions.  Meaning if the candle is too small it will look odd or if the candle is to big then you are going to lose the image.  I personally used church candles which are about 3” wide by 7” tall.

2: Print or stamp your image on to tissue paper

3: Colour your image.  I used promarkers from letraset, but I have also used prisma color pencils.  I haven’t tried anything else.  If you do try let me know how that came out. Just so you know to be very, very, very, careful to use a really, really, light hand when colouring on tissue, the slightest touch will cause the colour to go wildly crazy and bleed and smudge all over the place.  Tip I coloured my tissue on some letraset bleed proof paper for some weight and it seemed not to go that crazy lol!

4: Once the image was super dry, I left mine until I came home from work (about 2 – 3 hours) carefully cut out the image, remembering that tissue is like a fairy wing and will tear very easy. I found it easier to cut with the backing paper I used to colour the image intact.

5: Place your image on your candle where you like it, then dab a few places around the image with water, I just found it easier to keep the image in place.

6: Wrap the image and candle in wax paper, I got mine from a local cake making shop for £2.65 for about 5 meters.

7: Gently go back and forth with your heat tool until the paper looks wet.  Carefully peel the paper from the image.  If you spot some areas that are not stuck or look really edgy, just repeat this step.  Tip do not do what I did when I was practising and go to close and end up with deep ridges or leave it too long and end up with melted candle..  The idea is to melt the wax paper so the image sticks to the candle and soak into the tissue paper making it transparent.

After all that I wanted to make boxes for them to sit in and voila candles galore..

Lastly, the nights have been really dark so card making is a bit blah.  I like lots and lots of light. So i have been using up spare wool to crochet premature baby clothes…  We found that Colchester Special Care baby unit are really in need of clothes, blankets and such.  So that's what mum and I are doing.  I love it.  I am looking for a really nice crochet pattern for hat, mittens and booties.  If you know of any nice ones let me know.  Thank you..

Crikey I am shocking at taking photo’s bwahahahahahaa!!.

Anyhooo hopefully I will get back into the habit of posting to give you guys something to read lol x

I Am…

Officially a first aider.  I passed my course and if you need CPR then I am your girl, but please don’t vomit on me it could be dangerous to your health..

I am so way behind with things it’s unreal so what I decided to do is put all my ‘way behind’ pictures in with a little caption.  Or I am never gonna catch up..  Here goes and be warned it is picture heavy.

Stupid Dog..  Do you have one too, or is it just me?

Sonny made a Gateaux at school, I wondered if it tasted fabby cos I never even got to sniff it  lol!!

Gift note for a work colleague
S
Sick note for a work colleague (actually my boss, does that make me a bum crawler? bwahahahahaha!)

Teddy from Kay and Taharnie for my birthday. His name is Bernard.

A pomander from Viv

Flowers from Gina x

Roses from Travis and Mackenzie

Bigger not always better bwahahahaha!

Finally a scarf mum knitted for Mackenzie just because

I dunno though if her modelling skills are ready for the cat walk just yet! 

Anyhooo that’s me all picture up to date ready to share new ones when I take them.

Hope you are all well xx