That Was The Year That Was!

Yes....all good things must come to an end!

You may have noticed a subtle change in my side bar ;)

I had delivery of the new Craft Stamper magazine on Saturday (only just got round to opening it!)  and the newly crowned Craft Stamper of the Year is there!

Such a wonderful piece of work :)

My lips are sealed as the winner may not know yet....as I did not last year!!

Wishing all good things for the lucky winners and if they are half as pleased as I was they will be in orbit already! LOL

So..........I was thrilled....thrilled...thrilled.......to have been Craft Stamper of the Year :)

...I wanted to do so much more though during the past 12 months but life put a spanner in the works!

I hope I've lived up to the title with the pieces I've shown here.

...as my profile says "Constantly striving to improve"

Thanks for reading my babble again today ;)...and thank you for being there for me
....each and everyone of you who take the time to leave me a comment
.....and those who just come to take a look see too ;)
...you don't know how much it has meant and how much it still means to me.

See you soon with some inky stuff LOL.

..I'll leave you with one of my favourite T!m quotes "Enjoy the Journey"

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Get this.......I needed new black casual indoor jog type pants from M&S and yesterday I came away with a size 14!!!!!!!!!!
There is no accounting for sizing these days ;)

1st Advent Candle

You will notice my candles are not red!

Could I find red pillar candles that did not have a scent?

No I could not! So cream it is then!

Seasons Greetings!

Overlays held in computer stash for ages....have not got them labelled! They are possibly Designer Digitals (ssbfl) but not sure.....sorry!

Thanks for looking :)

xoxo Sioux

Fab Day!

It's turned out to be a fab day!

Don't know why  ....strike that!!! Actually I do know why it's turned into a fab day!

I had a bad week last week...seems like I'm always moaning but really I know it's a natural process and in a minute the good days will out weigh the bad.

Anyway...today I went to Totnes for a little light shopping...yes Joanne I went to the craft shop!

Did an errand for a friend and exchanged some damaged ear rings....had a smooch around...wanted to get 4 red pillar candles for Advent but strangely could not see any!

...no worries ;) might try M&S tomorrow 'cos I have some vouchers.

Found that there is a new (ish) Fat Face shop and went in to browse....not expecting to buy anything.......not my size you see but do like the stuff!

Well......there was theeeee most gorgeous red and white tartan pajama bottoms and they had them in size 18! Well.........I thought I'd try them on anyway as sizing these days leaves a lot to be desired don't you think ;) and what do you know? They were toooooo big! OMG I had to try on a size 16 instead........Yes..yes...yes they fit :) made me very happy I can tell you.

So.......nursey who took my blood etc. on Thursday and does not know me from Adam who said in a very condescending way....

" Your BMI is high do you know what that means?"

Yes I said.........I'm fat!

Geeeeeesssse I'm not thick...fat yes...thick NO! LOL

I carried on.....unlike me but she had got my back up!.....I should not worry about it....'cos I'm not! This is how much weight I've lost since my husband died in May I said...pointing out the large safety pin holding about 5 inches of extra waist band being held together so as I can get more wear out of my work trousers!
She went a tad quiet after that!!!

Ooooh! You don't know how happy it made me feel today :)

So I say SOD the BMI (sorry for the bad word) but it's all relative and for me this is heading in the right direction.....not that I'm dieting but it is what it is.

It made me mad because it could have made someone else be so upset that they turned to eating.....I mean some people!

Thanks for listening to my babble today ;)

Those who read this blog often, know my late Husband was the chef in this house and a darned good one too...hence the added reason for the loss of inches!

P.S. I'm wearing the jammies now...and gorgeous they are too! ;)

Snow for SCD

It's the last Friday of the month over at SCD this week and sweetie Dawn has chosen "Snow" as the prompt.
...I wonder if that gal is psychic! LOL Hope you are warm and comfortable where ever you are :)

Don't forget that the November themes are there for you to make just about anything you like!
This week I'm sharing a scrapbook page....that's defo different for me!!! LOL

This is me when Pip and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary in Mayrhofen in Austria
oooh that's nearly 9 years ago now!
We had gone for a walk in the woods...the sleigh bells were jingling...and Pip thought is was a good idea to make some of the snow drift down from the trees...make it more atmospheric I seem to remember him saying ;)
.......up he threw a stone and
......wallop!!.....down came an avalanche of snow right on top of me!!!
He captured the moment on camera really well :) Cheers mate!
Happy Times :)

Stamped black Bazzill card with snowflakes (Royal and Langnickel) using Versamark. Made sure they were dry before stamping further images with white Versa Color.
...then randomly stamped more snowflakes and winter wonderland text using Versamark again
.....this time embossing with winter wonderland ep.
...printed Snow Joking using a font called “Basic”...cut out and embossed using winter wonderland again.....offset stamped snowflakes on each letter in black Staz One and edged all letters with black Sharpie pen.
...made my own postage type decal "Winter Wonderland Magic" using Serif Draw Plus X4 printing it onto Letraset Safmat film. Rubbed onto photo....keep forgetting to use this stuff!!
...for the ribbon pull on the journaling block I used a white permanent pen to draw the lettering for “Tirol” and printed off the journaling blocks saying all the things I love about Austria using photo's from that trip and others.
....yep...I'm lucky enough to have been more than once! I have to keep reminding myself of stuff like this when I've been feeling sorry for myself just lately! LOL :)
...if you click on the photo to enlarge I think it is readable.
...printed the words READY, STEADY and AVALANCHE onto vellum

It's been a fabulous month seeing all your creations on the themes.
I know it's going to be fun seeing your Snow creations over at SCD this week too. ;)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)
xoxo Sioux
P.S. Just clicked on it myself and can only just make it out and I wrote it!!! HOL
The second bit down says
"I love everything about the Tirol in Austria
and spending my
December birthday there
was a dream come true,
even the unexpected
avalanche of heavy snow
when having my picture
taken was fun."

P.P.S. Sorry for the long post!!

Cava Queen Winner!!

OMG! Just had to pop by to post about my fab-u-lus win!!

Not only was I picked out as one of the fav's this week at The Stampotique Challenge for my Girlie Girl ATC.....praise enough hey?!

....but also I was lucky enough to win the $30 prize from the Stampotique web shop!!

Wow!! Believe me it's made me very happy :)

Such a lot of special designs this week and the inspiration from a lot of very talented people too

...Wow! Again!

Thanks for making my day.....no make that week!

xoxo Sioux

Bee Botanical for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card 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.

Don't forget the monthly challenge which is "Something Hidden"
The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art... just remember that it needs to 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 November 30th and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

You don't want to see me when when I'm angry!

As the title says "You don't want to see me when when I'm angry!"

Don't forget I'm a red head and I know how to do angry! LOL

Here I was tonight....watching Strictly....and amazingly hardly had a weepy moment....all was smiles and I even broke into applause mode as me and Pip would do!

...that was for Matt by the way...gorgeous bum...reminded me of Pip's! ;)

And then?....and then Ann came on and I have to say that Craig's face at the end and mine have never looked more the same! LOL

I know she is game and all that...and knowing how my back is now...by the time I'm her age I don't think I'll even be able to do what little she does.
And I really like Anton too.........but......

...but really this is the time to call it a day folks!

I really....no....REALLY...must have more bums to watch from now on and there are only 3 left!

Let's keep 'em in shall we? ;)

xoxo Sioux

Girly Girl Cava Queen

 It's my first time joining in the Stampotique challenge.

Only have this one stamp but it is a wowser!

I just love the sort of startled look don't you? ;)

I look at this ATC and think that perhaps I'd better ease off the Cava or I just might end up looking like her myself!!! HOL

The background is my own design digi paper with a bit of Distress walnut stain dragged around

....some Cava bottle top wrapper for the hat

...Studio G letters

....Paperartsy letters filled in with Adirondack dimensional acrylic.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.....with or without the glass of Cava! ;)

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Bit of a mile stone today on the old blog.......I've just got my 100th follower.....wowser again!

Never expected that when I first started ;)

Thanks a million to everyone who has chosen to do that....see you all again with another post very soon :).....actually that would be tomorrow as I've got another Artistic Stamper piece coming up ;)

Number 24601 for SCD

It's time for that Friday feeling again and at SCD this week Carol  ;) has chosen "Numbers" as the prompt.

Now I have to say that this took me some time to come up with an idea...but at the last minute the cogs seemed to start turning and this is my 5 and a half x 5 and a half piece this week!

Yes odd size.....but I just started stamping on a mat I had previously cutt and had not used! LOL

"24601" as the Les Miserables fans out there will know is the prison number of Valjean, one of the main characters.......hang on.....I feel the need to explain the tree growing out of the T!m eye!! Apparently Valjeans' father in the book itself was a tree pruner and he died falling out of a tree...not quite so abstract then!!! LOL (Thanks heaven for Google and Wikipedia!)

...I thought the T!m fingers round the edge could signify the fact Valjean could never quite escape the grasp of Javert the police inspector!!

Yeh! Those cogs were really spinning by now!! HOL

It's pretty self explanitory I think this week even I could not forget how I did it!

Which is the reason I write it down most of the time.

....Inks used

Adironack.........lemonade...latte...willow

Versamark.....onyx black...bottle green...

Archival.....sepia

Distress.....tattered rose...peeled paint...fired brick

....Stamps used

T!m/Stampers Anonymous......eye...Paris collage...palmist hand

Crafty Individuals....dotty corner

Stamp Attack.....tree

Papermania....numbers

It has to be one of the most memorable evenings seeing Les Miserables in Plymouth......it had just come from the West End (approx 15 OMG 18! yrs ago) and had some of the original and most well known performers still in the cast......for instance the fabulous inn keeper played to the hilt by Alun Armstong....unforgettable :)
...how come that I can remember that night like it was yesterday? And yet, at the moment, it's tricky remembering quite what I did 3 days ago!!! HOL
Here for your delectation is a video clip...have fun....it always makes me smile ;)

Don't forget that the November themes are there for you to make just about anything you like! So what are you waiting for? The number 25 could be quite useful for next month for instance ;)

So looking forward to seeing what your Number creations will be over at SCD this week.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)
xoxo Sioux

Lace for The Artistic Stamper

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

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

Don't forget the monthly challenge which is "Something Hidden"
The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art... just remember that it needs to 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 November 30th and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)


Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

Trees blurb

Yes it's Friday folks! Yes it's a new month! Yes it's going to be tags all month!
Yes it's my choice at SCD this week and I've chosen
"TREES"
as the prompt to make those tags with :)
That's me Sioux by the way ;)

Ooh! One of my most favourite things to make.....Tags! Yeh!

Seeing as it's December, and Dawn's snow theme last week might have got you in the mood ;)
I thought you could use Christmas trees if you feel the need LOL.
....but of course any sort of trees at any time of the year are just fine :)

All the team have come up trumps with fabulous inspiration and we hope making tags will be a popular theme to follow on from last months fabulous creations from you all.
wink...wink ;)
I do believe there is someone else who just might be spurring you on to make tags at the moment too!!! LOL
So here are the teams creations

Sioux




Have fun with the tree theme and hope a few precious minutes can be found to start making those tags 'cos we can't wait to see them! :)
Lots of love and Seasons Greetings
The Team
x
xx
xxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
x

Ann it's time to go!

Ann it's time to go!!

It was time to go at least 2 weeks ago!

But still you are here!

WHY?

Last week I did not even find it amusing.....when the laughter is gone so should you I'm afraid.

It's only a show I know but Jimmy was obviously having a ball doing the dancing and it showed :)

You don't even look as if you are trying!

This is a worse travesty than John Sergeant last year who....by the way......I thought was at least entertaining most of the time and looked as if he was at least trying to dance and certainly did not need to banish himself!!  If people are voting for you then they are voting for you but oh dear!

My life has been bad enough this year I certainly don't want my Saturdays spoilt anymore ;)

...so in the interest of my sanity

Please can you lot out there who voted more for Ann than Jimmy.....

Can you please vote for someone other than Ann?

Pretty please?

P.S. This is of course all about Strictly Come Dancing just in case you don't know the show.

Wings for SCD

It's time for that Friday feeling again and at SCD this week my bloggy bud up north Gez ;) has chosen "Wings" as the prompt.

Don't forget that the November themes are there for you to make just about anything you like! Fab eh?

For the background on my ATC I swooshed DI's worn lipstick, tattered rose and a bit of frayed burlap.

..stamped the Lost Coast dress form onto different designer papers (all K and Co) and layered them up.

....I stamped a T!m script stamp in crimson Archival onto grungepaper and overstamped the butterflies/moths! (Home Impressions) in black Archival then cut them out and tattered around the edges a bit

...decided they needed a bit of something else and added some distress stickles rock candy

...stamped the letter "I" and embossed with disco black

...stamped part of the T!m pen nib border at the edge and added Studio G word fragments edged with gold marker.

Couldn't you dance all night in a dress like that? Love it....love it!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)

So looking forward to seeing your Wing creations over at SCD this week.

xoxo Sioux

p.s. If you think you have seen this before it's because it's the follow up to this ATC I made previously ;)

Regal Air Mail 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

WOYWW - Crafting or Dining?

The other week Rosie left this comment on WOYWW

"Now come on admit it - you are on a secret mission to take over the dining room aren't you? And who could blame you - let's face it, most of us need a craft room MUCH more than a dining room!!"

Little did she know that running through my brain is the idea that I just might turn my dining room (which in my little bungalow is really the second bedroom) into a craft room..........Pip was the one who had a passion for cooking not me.....so how many times will I have people round for dinner?
Not many I guess!

The only thing weighing on my mind is that having a craft room and not a dining room cum bedroom will not be as appealing to someone who might want to buy my house in the future.......it's a consideration I have to take into account!

I've been pondering all possibilities and perhaps I could arrange it so that it is easy to convert it back...you know the sort of thing...a few Ikea shelf systems etc...

...but then again!.......if I make better use of the space in cupboards I already have

.....and organise my bits and bobs better I could still have a dining room that I can craft in most of the time but could easily tidy up and then eat at the table at the drop of a hat!!! LOL

(I think it's giving me indigestion eating off a tray on my lap in the living room as well btw!)

So......Crafting?
(taken last night 09/11/10)

Or.......Dining?
(taken 31/12/07)

Well that question is something I have been...and still am...working on!
At least I have come to the conclusion that I'm not happy with untidiness and being disorganised!

But then again........I'm finding it tricky to make my mind up about lots of things these days!
Oh Poo!
Head on over to Julia and the rest of the WOYWW crowd to see what's happening on their desks today.

xoxo Sioux

All crafted out!

Hiya! I'm back from having visited the NEC Hobby show!

Drove up on Friday late afternoon with a friend, stayed the night in a Travelodge, drove my friend to Droitwich Spa train station and what a palaver that was......the sign posting was not fab and one had been turned round so we were sent in the wrong direction (no Sat Nav in my car I'm afraid!) anyway just managed the train in time as she was meeting her sister in Birmingham.

I set off for the NEC and had to wait a bit to park up - think I got in about 10.15 'ish.

Started on the far side and looked at the Art section first......I'm no painter but do like to look....some of the tips can be transferred across to the rubber stamp and altered art world;)

Worked my way across and up and down the isles trying not to miss anything.....have to say there was quite a lot I could easily miss out on though!!! LOL

One place that I did not want to miss out on was the Paperartsy stand where I watched Leandra doing some fab things with Inca stuff and stamps......absolute heaven..thanks and roll on February ;)....there was a show offer on buy 5 sets of stamps and get a 6th free....I know I've got a fair few already but could not pass that one up!!! LOL....Do you see the die? Yes I've bought another set of dies and still no die cutting machine........I'm getting desperate for that Vagabond now! HOL

I saw a lovely demo at the Inkylicious stand and the Distress and Adirondack inks were such a good price it would have been mad not to buy a couple!! They also had a good deal on some brushes so that's another item off my list! Some T!m acrylic stamps as well...WOW!

I found something on the Stampsaway stand that was just what I've been looking for but did not know it existed until then!! Embossing powder that becomes a sticky glue when heated so you can add gilding flakes over it etc...it's that little pot....Thanks for the demo.

Finally an assortment from other places of some pearls and charms and some chunky glitter that looks like ice.

I drove back to the Travelodge a happy bunny around 5.....would have stayed till 5.30 but my back was telling me to call it a day and after all.....I was going back the following day!

Had a lovely meal and a few wines again in the "Robin Hood" pub across the road from where we stayed (great time) and yesterday we set off for the NEC again.

....I purposely did not look too hard at the Crafts for Christmas section the day before so I could share looking at stuff with my friend....she is not into the arty stuff you see

....bought a couple of lovely wraps.....bargain!

...I was finally all crafted out by about 2 after buying a few more Inca pots from Paperartsy and some storage boxes for that marathon sort out I'm still doing!!!

Set off home and stopped off at John Lewis at Cribbs Causeway on the way.

I'm pooped now and although it was a great experience I don't think I'd do two days again.....one really full day would probably suffice! My back does not hold up well to standing all day either.

Been saving up specially to treat myself and should have enough stuff to last me a while now ;) Whoops that could be famous last words LOL.....you have to remember there is no where round here that I can get it and finding the gluey stuff just would never have happened!!

TTFN Sioux

Houses for SCD

So a new month is here....November!....I'm beginning to panic 'cos I have not made one single Crimbo card!! Have you?

Oh well never mind eh?
I'm sure my friends will understand if I send them a "whisper it" bought one for once!

Let's get on with the fun and this weeks theme over at SCD this week :)

"Houses" as chosen by Laura (counting down the days till Feb!)...Thanks for a great prompt!

I am in luurve with this scene from Cherry Pie....I can see myself now floating down the Rhine...or the Moselle...or indeed any other European river and passing gorgeous buildings like these...sipping a glass of wine and lazing on the deck of a barge.

(well.....really I'd like to be on a luxury cruiser...but my budget would not run to it!! HOL)

I very carefully looked at the stamp and decided that I wanted blues for the sky area....yellows for the buildings and greeny blues for the water

...put a light touch of DI's broken china/scattered straw and shabby shutters in sort of the right areas on a craft mat and then swooshed onto watercolour paper...but only gently!

...stamped the image and wording in Versafine black onyx and tattered and teared the edges inking with DI's shabby shutters and walnut stain.

Stamped the T!m corner scroll in wild honey and added the T!m sentiment...I do love that and aspire to it's aspiration...only one problem...

...I don't have a clue at the moment just what it is I'm seeking...LOL!

What sort of houses spring to mind for you?

Perhaps a Christmas house for your crimbo cards?

Don't forget that you can make anything you like using the themes this month!

Can't wait to see what you are going to share with us at SCD this week

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)

xoxo Sioux

Daisy Label Card for The Artistic Stamper

I'm thrilled to be sharing a card over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog today

Curious? I tell all over on  The Creative Team Blog why not hop along for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

What's the Recipe Today Jim?!

WOYWW is here and I'm not showing you my various places around the house that are in total chaos due to me trying to organise myself!

Yep I know it's the sort of thing that you would really, really like to see

...but I'm not here to share it today...so there! ;)

How about a recipe instead?

I made pumpkin soup last night for my evening meal

....yes I do sometimes make real stuff to eat!

My Pumpkin Soup

1 small orange pumpkin peeled, seeds removed and roughly chopped (that's the flesh and not the seeds you understand! LOL)

1 red onion roughly chopped

1 carrot ditto

1 potato ditto

1 garlic clove ditto

Orange juice from a tetra pack - quantity to come to just below the surface of the veggies

1 chicken stock thingy - the sort Marco advertises - if you want this to be totally veggie then of course add a veggie stock cube instead ;)

Celery salt to taste.....you could use the real stuff but thought driving into town to get some did not sit well with my desire to at least give a sideways glance to saving the planet (and my purse!) ho ho ho....whoops! Santa seems to have slipped in there!

2 star anise....about 8 whole black peppercorns....about 1 teaspoon of chili flakes except I think I slightly overdid those so you might want to reduce that quantity if you don't want to be drinking cold cava for the rest of the night.....or perhaps like me you do!....If so carry on and add some more!!! HOL

Method

1. Put about half and half sesame oil and olive oil in a pan to sort of cover the bottom with a nice amount.

2. When the oil is hot bung all the veggies in and turn them around in the oil to coat and keep doing this till the bottom of the pan starts to catch and bits of burn start to form ;)

3. Add the orange juice and the flavourings, (make sure you scrape all those burnt bits off the bottom of the pan) turn down the heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until you remember you have left the pan on and need to stir it a bit to loosen more burnt bits that have formed on the bottom!!!

4. When all the veggies are soft....take out the star anise....not that nice to eat even if you do blitz them!

5. Blitz everything until smooth.....it will be very thick....I like my soups a bit thinner than this so just add some boiling water. Oh and do be careful the splatters from the pan are darned hot and now I have a lovely blister on my forearm!!!

6. Stir in some chopped parsley and add salt and more black pepper if you like :)

That was yummy....thanks for looking

Get yourself over to Julia and the rest of the WOYWW fans

to see more fascinating things going on ;)

xoxo Sioux

Torso swaps

I have had this photo for ages now and have not posted it!
Slapped wrists!

Here are the super lovely torso's I received in the Something Completely Different swap month.

They were from ?...sorry no name on the back of the first one and no amount of searching the history has come up with the answer if it's you let me know ;) Karen Carol and Lauren
Are they not fabulicious?
Thanks everyone.
I'm still in my marathon sort out....trying to organise what storage I have to be able to craft more efficiently....i.e. spend more time making stuff and less time trying to find stuff!!!
It....and life...has been getting on top of me lately....there are days when I just cannot be bothered and end up doing very little but moving something from one pile to another it seems!!!
I can see some light at the end of the tunnel though and perhaps in another 10 days I just might be finished.
xoxo Sioux