Tonight Matthew I'm going to be?

Remember the programme? Stars in their Eyes?

Well tonight Matthew I'm goin' to be...(and the dot dot dot is a clue!)

Donna from Mamma Mia!!! HOL (How I love that movie! ABBA runs through my life ;) )

The 30th birthday party was a scream.....did I say it was fancy dress?

Usually it would not be a problem as there is a big hire shop in Torquay that supplies West End shows but as luck would have it they had a fire a couple of weeks back and so this little idea came to fruition (through the tears if you remember) after watching the ABBA marathon on TV!

Bought the bib and brace, blouse, feather boa, shoes, wig.....all in my little town...what a result!

The rest is stuff I had :)

My sore throat had calmed down but I fear too much singing and dancing might have started it up again....hey ho....it was fun! :)

xoxo Sioux

Old Fashioned Grace for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog
The result of the tag giveaway is also announced!

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

WOYWW - Sowing the Seeds

It's WOYWW time again!

This time last week I thought for sure my sore throat and cold would have vanished by now but sadly not!!! Well.....the sniffles are better....but the sore throat is definately still here ;(

I've done my best to fight through it and at last I've sown my seeds in trays.....a bit late (though not as late as last year) but I'm sure they will catch up eventually....especially with the fab weather we are having :)

If you click the photo to enlarge you can see some lettuce, marigolds and pansy seeds have already come through and I only sowed them on Sunday!

To see what other ideas are germinating across the globe go visit Julia and be amazed!

Thanks for looking....love to stay and chat but the sore throat is telling me not to!!! LOL

xoxo Sioux

Eek! If you are 30!

I'm due to attend Phil's God daughter's 30th birthday bash next weekend.

She has goth tendencies so hopefully this card will go down a treat! I can't tell you how nice it is to make this sort of card and know the recipient will "get it"!! LOL

Eyes, spider web and spider all Inka-dinka-doo......numbers Papertrey Ink dies embossed with a T!m folder....letters by T!m (Vintage Market die strip) stamped with my dance background (as is the mat layer inked with DI rusty hinge) available from The Artistic Stamper. The eyes were coloured with rusty hinge also with glossy accents added.

I decorated the insert too with a computer generated sentiment "Not so scary as you think!"

(I remember I did not want to be 30 and I'm thinking she does not relish the thought either!)

...printed out and then die cut with a Papertrey fillable frames 10 die and added some stamped twiddly bits also PI!

Thanks for looking :)

Happy Stamping

xox Sioux

Cracking time!

Thought I'd post this tonight before the Whisky 'O Lins get the better of me!

Got to hit this cold on the head somehow! LOL

(BTW....don't know if that is how you spell it but that is what is otherwise known as a hot toddy made with lemon, honey, hot water and whisky of course!....magic for the old sore throat) :)

I could not wait to get home from work today

(not just for the whisky 'o lin....cheeky!)

....to play with the Fresco paints from Paperartsy.

I took the lead from my blog chum Helen who mentioned that she would have used a darker shade on her crackle....thanks Helen ;)

I decided to buy a very limited palette of the colours just to try them and when I looked I thought whoops perhaps I should have gone for some of the darker colours....as luck would have it I had bought both the black (Little Black Dress) and white (Snowflake)....very useful to darken or lighten other colours....whew!

I was not keen on having a totally black under colour so decided to add a bit of white to the black for a charcoal colour on the first layer. (I used a bit of textured card...no crackle yet)

It dried in no time :)...then added the crackle glaze using a credit card splodger! I used a very very thin layer too so this bottle will last for ages....I like that!

The photo might show the crackle layer looking glossy but it is dry!

Hey! Now for the magic......I painted a layer of yellow (Haystack) using about the same amount of paint as on the first layer.

Oooh! That is a scrummy yellow....very nearly Austrian yellow I would say

....if you have ever been you will know what I mean ;)

Waited for it to dry.

....although the instructions say you can use a heat gun too if you are in a hurry!

And lookeeeeee what you get

Scrummy crackle or what?

BTW, this is destined to appear on my WOYWW piece for the upcoming pay it forward anniversary

Thanks for looking

TTFN Sioux xoxo

P.S. Here is a hug in a mug I had last night......courtesy of another blog chum.....thanks Gez!

It was lovely....but drastic measures are called for tonight!! HOL

WOYWW - A right mess again!

WOYWW is here again and my desk is a right mess..........again!

How long can I go on dumping the dregs left over from finished projects at the side here before it becomes a mountain? LOL Don't answer that :) !!!

Spent the day in bed yesterday.....I'd like to tell you it was because a certain someone with the initials RA knocked on my door and one thing led to another ;) ! HOL

But sadly it was because I've caught a stinker of a cold.......I manage to get through the winter this year without having at least 2 stinkers as norm.

....and now the weather is like the Med I come down with one........life is never fair! LOL

On my desk is the frantic aftermath of playing with the dance stamps I designed for The Artistic Stamper.......the empty drinking chocolate tin (which I keep meaning to cover in some pretty paper) is used to put scraps of paper in that can go straight in the re-cycling box later.......I'm all for re-cycling in principle but sometimes I can't help but think there are not enough hours in the day when you live on your own to do the dustbin man's job for him as well!!! LOL
There are some masks of my dancers cut and ready in the plastic bag for future projects :)

I need to crack on with making my piece for the big celebration at WOYWW in a few weeks...but first I must away to my bed again!!
You don't need to see me in bed so why not pop over to Julia and see non sickly people and their desks which may or may not be tidy!!

TTFN Sioux xoxo

Dance to the Music of Time for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a tag today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
You never know you just might get lucky with this one today!
Thanks

Dance to the Music - Part Deux!

As promised yesterday I'm sharing more of the design possibilities I envisaged for my premier plate of stamp designs :)
....sorry this is in a digital format but the "hot off the press" rubber has not made it to me yet!

You will be the very first to have it if you are going to the Big Scrapbooking and Stamp Show today at Ally Pally!

Not only are there ballerina images on the plate but I've also included extra bodice tops for them one solid to stamp in a different colour and perhaps add your own wording on top and one with different writing so it's possible to mix and match ;)

I do like to get mileage out of my stamps ;) ;)

STOP PRESS ### STOP PRESS ### STOP PRESS

I got rubber!!

Did I mention I also designed a dance themed dictionary background? So useful for lots of projects not just to go with the ballerina. ;)

All cut out and ready to stamp....see all those stamps you get? Lots of words too ;)

Just a few quick tips I thought I'd share.....the ballet dancer is easy to cut out but when you start wanting to cut her out of thicker stuff like grungeboard it might be a plan to cut out to this point

....then cut up the side of her leg marked 1

...then cut the other side marked 2
....complete the cut on the other leg marked 3 ;)

The wings have been designed to use on both the small and large ballerina ;)

Same wings but on the small ballerina they are over sized.
...think the enigmatic Angel in Barbarella! ;)

Can't be bothered to get out the stamp positioner? Stamp and mask the ballerina...lay the wing stamps over where you want them...put your acrylic block over.

..pick up.............ink and stamp!

Well..............I got to fly!! :)
But see you tomorrow :)

I'm soooooo looking forward to seeing your ideas with this stamp set...I just know you can come up with some fabulicious ones!!!  ;)

If you are going to Ally Pally don't forget to pop along and see Jennie from The Artistic Stamper and of course Hels who will both be doing demo magic on the stand.

Now if......like me....you can't make it...just make sure you pop over to Jennie's blog as some of the new stamps are being revealed and given away by the ever generous Jennie.

There are new Mabel Lucy Atwell images...

...gorgeous additions to the Steampunk range and soooooo much more ;)

Just leave a comment and one of the "hot off the press" designs could be yours! ;)

TTFN xoxo Sioux

I'll be back!

Bit delayed with the sneak peek! Had an emotional day yesterday......I had an ABBA fest on ITV yesterday. Should not have had any more wine after what I drank on Friday at the reception but hey I fancied some Cava along with my ABBA!!!

Oh! Nearly forgot the odd couple of cuba libra's too ;) HOL

ABBA was the connection me and Pip had when we met (insert sound track of "Waterloo") so you can imagine why it was emotional! Have tried to avoid emotion recently.....but I did cry...however it was a sort of happy/sad crying if you get my drift?

Yet again one of my favourite ABBA songs did not feature in the countdown.....are me and Pip the only one's who loved "When I kissed the teacher"?

Mamma Mia was great (again) I do love that movie :) Yet more tears! ;)

Just thought I'd share this till I can get back to you later with some stamping.

...Here is a photo from our wedding day (1977!). When I look at this I think my God! You were thin! Although at the time I thought I was fat....now I am fat....I think I'm thinner than I am!
Very weird!!! HOL

Do you like the Guinevere sleeves!!! The big tie, the dapper suit? The flowers in the hair?

Always did like the flower power era (que another ABBA song "Our last Summer") but was a bit young to fully understand it at the time! LOL

Can you see the connection to ABBA? No?

How about me with my curly permed hair like Anni-Frid and Pip looking like Bjorn?! Well I thought so....heck he even had the same bags under the eyes!!! LOL

Very happy days :)

TTFN Sioux

Dance to the Music!

As promised yesterday I'm sharing some of the design possibilities I envisaged for my premier plate of stamp designs :)
....sorry this is in a digital format but the "hot off the press" rubber has not made it to me yet!

If you are going to the Big Scrapbooking and Stamp Show today and tomorrow at Ally Pally you might be the very first to have it!

There are 3 large (10cm) and 2 small (7cm ideal for ATC's) ballerina images on the plate in a mix of silhouette, silhouette with added script and outline.

To go with them are two sets of wings...one in outline and one with a crackle pattern.

One of the fun things is that by using one of the large images with one of the small you can achieve a super bit of perspective stamping.....you could make your own corps de ballet!

Use the outline stamp on any printed papers and cut out for an ever changing look.

How grungely cool would that be using some of T!m's paper stashes? ;)

There is so much more on the design plate that I can't wait to share.....pop back tomorrow and I'll run through a few more ideas! :)
I'm soooooo looking forward to seeing your ideas with this stamp set it's unreal! LOL ;)

If you are going to Ally Pally don't forget to pop along and see Jennie from The Artistic Stamper and of course Hels who will both be doing demo magic on the stand.

Now if......like me....you can't make it...just make sure you pop over to Jennie's blog each day as some of the new stamps are being revealed and given away by the ever generous Jennie.

There are new Mabel Lucy Atwell images...

...gorgeous additions to the Steampunk range and soooooo much more ;)

Just leave a comment and one of the "hot off the press" designs could be yours! ;)

TTFN xoxo Sioux

I'm Dancing! All the way to Ally Pally!

First of all a big thank you to everyone for your kind comments
...it makes me warm and cosy inside ;)
I am one of the luckiest (and happiest) people in the world right now!
Never in a million years did I think that winning the Craft Stamper Magazine "Stamper of the Year" title at the end of 2009 would see me have the opportunity to be a "stamp designer"!!!!!
Unbelievable but true.

 I'm thrilled that The Artistic Stamper have chosen to release my first ever stamp set based on the "Dance to the Music of Time" theme that won me the title.

But who knows?....if you don't like the set...it may well turn out to be my last!!! LOL Just as a reminder...for those who have never seen the winning piece...here is the canvas I created back then.

After the less than perfect past year I've had, I can't tell you what a big kick I get out of announcing my first ever stamp set will be debuting (ooh! Get me!) at the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at Ally Pally this weekend. ;)

...don't forget to pop along and see Jennie from The Artistic Stamper and of course Hels who will both be doing demo magic on the stand......possibly with my stamps if they have managed to cool by then!!

I'm thrilled and a little giddy with excitement that I can share my "Dance to the Music of Time" theme with all you fellow stampoholics.
Even more.....I'm really thrilled at the prospect of seeing projects made by you using the stamps!

I'm hoping that I have given you the means to make some scrummy pieces of art ;)

You will be the first in the whole wide world to get hold of them at the show if you are there.
I have not even got a set yet!!!

Yes....they are really that "hot off the press"!

Now if......like me....you can't make it....just make sure you pop over to Jennie's blog each day and leave a comment as there are lots of new stamps (not just mine! LOL) being revealed and given away by the ever generous Jennie.
You never know one of the hot off the press designs could soon be yours!

xoxo Sioux :)

P.S. I'm off to a local wedding celebration tonight and, although I can't show you the full plate until the official release on the web site on Monday, I'll be back tomorrow with a little info on some of the design possibilities.....I've packed a lot onto this plate!!!!!

If you liked this?

If you liked this...

...there is every chance you just might like what I'm going to share with you tomorrow! Although Jennie is giving you a little teaser today ;)

If you are one of the lucky people making the journey to Ally Pally this weekend for the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show
...you might be able to grab yourself some rubber that is "hot off the press"!

...don't forget to pop along and see Jennie from The Artistic Stamper and of course Hels who will both be doing demo magic on the stand.

Now if......like me....you can't make it...just make sure you pop over to Jennie's blog each day as some of the new stamps are being revealed and given away by the ever generous Jennie.

There are new Mabel Lucy Atwell images...
...gorgeous additions to the Steampunk range and soooooo much more ;)
Just leave a comment and one of the "hot off the press" designs could be yours! ;)

xoxo Sioux
P.S. Today is the day if you would like to win my stamp set! Yeh! :)
P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with a little preview!

Somethings Coming!

If you are one of the lucky people making the journey to Ally Pally this weekend for the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show....don't forget to pop along and see Jennie from The Artistic Stamper and of course Hels who will both be doing demo magic on the stand.

There are also some fab new stamps being launched too ;)

Now if......like me....you can't make it (I have a friends sons wedding celebration to go to)....just make sure you pop over to Jennie's blog each day as some of the new stamps are being revealed and given away by the ever generous Jennie. Just leave a comment and one of the "hot off the press" designs could be yours!

Apparently there are some stamps from a very special guest designer making an appearance at the show too!

I wonder who that could be?

xoxo Sioux

Key to life for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing an ATC today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

What the butler saw for The Artistic Stamper

Another month another challenge over on The Artistic Stamper creative team blog.

"Build it up"

I decided to play with some die cutting ;) to layer the stamps.

I started by die cutting some yellow cardstock and some silver coated card with the Sizzix tag and bookplates...it's fab that you can now have this large tag in any cardstock you choose ;)

...I found that the magnetic three holes die fitted nicely along the bottom :)

I then cut an oval from the centre using nestabilities and made a frame from this oval by cutting the next size down die from the centre of this.

I grunged the edges with some Viva Inca Gold silver paste.

...love the shiney metal glow ;)

I cut some of the separate reinforcers  from the same tag die using brown cardstock and hand wrote "Peep Show" on them before sticking them down and adding some small bingo numbers from the Lost and Found stack underneath.

Stamped the lady from Nudes 063 plate in Staz On black on the silver tag.

Stamped the dapper gentleman and the butler from Mens plate 001 in Archival black onto some previously inked card and cut out.

The bookplate from the same die set was cut from card that I had printed out with some old advertisments I had found in a book of Coronation memorabilia bought for 20p at the charity shop.....think I will get a lot of use from this;) and computer generated wording attached to back.

....loved the fact the tea set was called "Ever Hot" !!! HOL

Layered the oval frame over the lady using dimensional sticky pads added the dapper gentleman on this layer......using more dimensional pads attach the yellow tag over the silver one and add the butler image on the front.

Hope you like my slightly risque take on the challenge.

...I think I am in Ooh La La mode pending my trip to Paris later in the year! ;)

 

To see all the other creative "Dimensional Layering" that the multi talented team have made here are the DT member links for you.

Alison, Hels, Jennie, Minxy and Tina 

So don't forget.............the monthly challenge is "Build it up"

The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art, tag ;)... just remember that it must include some rubber stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto.

I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until April 30th and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux