Flora & Fauna SCD

The last week for the skinnie format and the theme is "Flora and Fauna" over at SCD.

I've used a set of my own design stamp images......I won a competition way back in a paper crafting magazine and for the life of me I can't remember which one!! I can't check my records at the moment either as my computer has finally had it's day and it is with the computer man as I type this at work having all the files transferred to a brand new desk top.

The drawing of the kingfisher pool got me the prize of an Imagepac polymer stamp making kit.

....I do love the fact that I can make up a stamp from my own drawings....but I have to confess it is a bit if a faff setting the thing up and making them.....it would possibly help if I could have a dedicated spot to keep it out all the time but needs must and it must be put away after use!

I have been having a lot of trouble with my computer for some time and it had really become a pain waiting for pages to load on the Internet and leave comments etc......I just don't have the spare time to wait!!!! So hopefully my new computer will be with me soon and I can get back to normal computing!!! :) Sorry if I have missed returning all your sweet words of wisdom and encouragement.....but I just want to say they mean the world to me.....THANKS :)
xoxo Sioux

Lazy Day

Yesterday I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and have a lazy day!
This weekend is the first one I will be entirely on my own…..had to happen sometime….everyone has been making sure I’m occupied…although to be fair I am sort of glad for the break from doing stuff and spent yesterday in the garden pottering and chilling

….a glass or two of cava with some home made mix of mozzarella, sun dried tomato and cherry tomato...olive oil with basil and oregano....mashed onto toasted wholemeal bread mmmmm...delish!

I painstakingly unwound all the bindweed from my yellow flowers in a small border stuffed the long lengths into plastic carrier bags and fired weedkiller on it.

Planted up a few herbs into pots.

Then oh joy! My Craft Stamper magazine arrived and I sat and read under the parasol.

Apart from the fact Pip was not there is was a perfect day :)

He did like it hot and it was definitely hot..hot..HOT!!

I'm doing more of the same today too...I've still got some mozzarella mix left can't let it go to waste now can I ;)

Hope your weekend has been as chilled as mine.

xoxo Sioux

My Gingersnap Wings

I have wanted to do this for ages but most of you know the reason why I haven't!!

So when I saw the chestnut theme challenge over at Gingersnap Creations was Wings this month I got my *!$ in gear and made this!!

The badge is loosely based on my "Dance to the Music of Time" canvas that won me the CS Stamper of the Year title.....need to keep saying that :)
There is only one stamp on this and that is the T!m script on the wings (made from grungeboard...gesso applied and distress embossed).
.....The circular base is the metal bit you get on the top of a cava bottle cork (I've got loads waiting to be used.......already drunk the contents mind! Hick! LOL).
I fixed the badge pin to the top by punching holes with my Big Bite and securing with long fasteners.....added some chipboard cut to size and crackle painted adding black glitter to disguise the edges where the cutting out did not quite match the metal top!....computer printed word fragments and DI inked with sepia accents on top....printed off a small version of my dancer by extracting it from a photo of the original canvas I made and added rock candy crackle....it did react with the ink jet inks though and sort of blurred the image.....as it happens though I'm pleased with the look even if it was not the one I had intended!!
Serendipity strikes again!!! LOL

I thought that perhaps I would wear it if I go to a craft show and then you might recognise me and say hello (big waves) :)....but then again I like it so much I'll probably end up wearing it a lot LOL

You still have time to join in this challenge as it does not close till July 4th
....hey! Independence Day over in the USA.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux
P.S. Just to get an idea of size it is about 9cm or 3 and a half inches across wing tip to wing tip.
.......you won't miss me wearing that will you?! :)

SCD blue & white with an acrobatic twist!

Question......What is blue and white?

Answer.........My Skinnie (5x3)!

Now for some odd reason I don't seem to have much in the way of blue colours in ink....can't think why as I do like blue!....I used Adirondack dimensional acrylic straight from the bottle to write with and stamped the Crafty Individuals door onto some pearlescent turquoise card.

Now if you look closely you will notice that the background is one of the

T!m embossing folders swiped with some DI Faded Jeans.......however it does not show up well because....urm.....

...I think I've taken leave of my senses as I don't own an embossing machine or die cutter!!!

I did read somewhere once that you could use a rolling pin to achieve the embossing effect so gave it a go..........You'll laugh at this honest you will

.......picture me as I tried and tried to get enough weight behind the rolling pin but not succeeding much

.....so I put the folder on the floor and actually put my whole weight on the rolling pin by standing on it!!!!!! LOL It sort of worked :)

I've now taken the decision to treat myself and get the new die machine coming soon from

T!m....'cos I can't afford to be breaking my leg any day soon!

An acrobat I was not destined to be!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux
P.S. Whoops! Forgot to say to head over to SCD and see the rest of the fab creations being made this week!

WOYWW?

Bit late.....well a lot late posting this! WOYWW time again so why not pop over to see Julia and the rest of the gang :)

The other side of my little cupboard of craft!

It has my Fiskars cutter permanently there on the desk top...along with offcuts of paper/card still to be stored away/used! LOL...I'm still trying to decide what to do with the pringles cartons!

The little shelves have nearly all my wood mounted stamps on them...I say nearly as my T!m skeleton one is stored in a really useful box with the more frequent used unmounted/acrylic ones....hey as a bonus you get a shot of my tootsies!! LOL

I have 101 little/medium sized jobs that need to be done! I have to do them or my brain starts thinking and when it starts thinking I start to well up.....I am fed up of welling up so I need to not think and just do!

This is something I have just done.....

My friend was going to take this to the tip as she has just bought a beautiful new wooden patio set to die for.........I've grabbed this and tarted it up with some black Hammerite.....it was silverish and on the rusty side! LOL

xoxo Sioux

Houses for SCD

Hi folks! Have managed to play along this week with SCD...yeh!

The monthly format is the size 3 x 5.....otherwise known as skinnies

....and this weeks theme is House or Houses.

Bit of masking going on.......the houses in the background coloured with Distress Inks and the little house that was a CS freebie was coloured with more vibrant Copic pens to try to add to the perspective.

Julia as in WOYWW popped by yesterday and said something spookily true

"Yu'll end up blitzing because you want to do something and can't"

How did she know!!!

Whilst I have been waking at ungodly hours I have been moving furniture to be prepared to Vax the carpets bit by bit.....can't move most stuff completely out of the rooms so have pushed things to one side of the room.......bit like the craft desk!! LOL.....have to be careful as I have a dodgy back but have started to use Pilate's exercises to try to strengthen the muscles!!

Whatever is it!?........I've never exercised at 6.30 in the morning in my life!!!! LOL....Come to that not exercised much ever although I used to like to play tennis.....always found gym type things boring

....used to do a bit of line dancing in the privacy of my own home.....no really not a great sight!!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping :)

xoxo Sioux

Piled High!

WOYWW comes around again! I was sad not to have been able to join in with the anniversary but anyway..........The answer this week is........

........

........

........

A lot of stuff piled high!!!!!

When I was doing a tidy away before the funeral I did not have the time nor the inclination to put things away properly and so a lot of it got dumped in archive boxes and pushed into the wardrobe or this little lot that just got dumped on top of the desk in my cupboard!!!

I don't know where the hours a going in my days now.....never any spare time it seems....makes a big difference not sharing the household chores for starters I can tell you!! LOL

What is more I have more waking hours in the day to use!!! I have gone from someone who could sleep for England to someone who is wide awake at........wait for it..............

5.10 a.m. yesterday for instance!!!!!! Strangely I don't feel any the worse for it!

Still....my world is full of strange spooky stuff at the minute...........most of it piled high on my desk!!! LOL

Thanks for looking

Sioux

Crowns - SCD

Hey! I'm back :)

The theme at SCD this week is Crowns...still in the twinchie format too.

I love that saying that goes something like

"Cats were once worshipped as Gods, cats have never forgotten this!"

I stippled the background with Spiced Marmalade and a bit of Shabby Shutters stamped the Inkadinkadoo cat and wording in Versafine and the heart type motif around the edges with Walnut Stain.......dragged Adirondack dimensional acrylic straight from the bottle to form the crown and stuck seed beads and a gem into it while still wet.....highlighted the cat with some hand drawn lines using copic markers.

I've had a great bank holiday with my friend and her DH.....shared some fun on Eurovision night....so O.K. Iceland did not win but I still love the song....in fact my friends choice scored more points than mine....mmmm maybe I ought to ask her opinion next year instead of the other way round LOL! Went to a fab wine bar in Modbury on Sunday....lovely food...great company....had a smooch round Totnes on Monday......shame I had to go to work Tues but needs must!!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

P.S. In my weird world of late you have all been such a comfort and have lifted my spirits more than you will ever know.....just to say THANK YOU! And yes I make no apologies for shouting that!! :)

Eurovision

Nothing crafty to share yet....but things are beginning to calm down and the good news is I am looking forward to creating again.

I have a confession though

.........I love Eurovision!!!

It could have been tricky this year as Phil and I both shared the love of it and would always have a little wager......so I have had a little wager and my money is on Iceland although I have a sneaking suspicion Azerbaijan or Germany could win....but the odds on them do not appeal and Iceland for me is the one who could pull off a win over them....Hera Björk (that is her above) has a fabulous live voice and can really belt out a song with no effort.....always a plus in my opinion.

What's more my friend and hubby are coming from Lancashire to share the evening!!! You can't really ask for more......especially when neither of them are fans of it :)

We will be having some fizz....smoked salmon....and some fun I know....and if there is an afterlife that can be manipulated Phil will make darn sure Iceland wins!!! LOL

xoxo Sioux

Paris for SCD - GD? That is me!

Well what can I say.........I joined in the very first Something Completely Different Challenge with this twinchie here and now guess what? I'm the Guest Designer this week for the month of twinchies to celebrate the challenges birthday.....could not be more thrilled to be asked :)

Thanks everyone for a year of fabulous inspiration!

The twinchie theme this week is PARIS........aah Paris sigh.....never been but dream about it often! This twinchie tries to embody the dreams I have...wanted to fit so much on...do you think it's too much? LOL...I couldn't believe I managed to fit so much on myself (although I suppose it does depend on the size of the stamps you use). I have a hankering to re-create this in a larger format to hang on my wall......watch this space!

As an added bonus for one week and one week only.....I'm including a little step by step photo tutorial on how I managed it....hope you don't get too fed up!

Started by stamping the circular frame stamp twice on scrap paper to use as masks cutting one to leave the inner circle and the outer frame and the other around the outline only.

Then masked off the circle bit where the face was to go.

Stippled the background with DI wild honey.

Over stamped with frayed burlap using some foam packaging as my stamp! A crackle type stamp would be equaly as good.

Remove the mask.

Stamped the round mirror frame where the mask had been in versamark.

Applied the cut out mask and stamped the phrenology head (again in versamark) within the cut out circle.

Removed the mask.

Applied the solid mask.

Stamped the Eiffel tower in Cats Eye celedon to give a subtle image.

Then added the word Paris in rusty hinge.

Remove the mask.

Applied rock candy crackle to the face and when dry rubbed on some frayed burlap to accent the cracks and give a bit of shadow to the frame.

You will have to dream the last little step for the heart as I forgot completely to take pictures!!!

Cut a heart shape to fit and stamped and embossed with gold the fancy scroll design.....rubbed fired brick over to colour which dulled the gold a bit but I gave it a quick shot of heat again and it brought it back to life! I should have rubbed the ink on first then embossed but I didn't think LOL.

Some words computer generated (My and is) Love hand stamped and the little tag used rub on letraset 'cos my rubber letters were all too big! The phrase is taken from an all time favourite song of mine as sung by Frank Sinatra "I love Paris"......sooooooooo romantic sigh!

Thanks for looking and hope you have fun and join in with the Paris theme..........happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

Stamps : Mirror frame/phrenology head my own made from a computer font

Eiffel tower/Paris word Royal & Langnickel

Fancy scroll Anna Griffin (won in JoZart blog candy...fab....thanks again)

I'm Scared!

I've been very brave about many difficult decisions and situations just lately but this is really scary!

Mmmmm! A blank table!! Well......at least devoid of craft stuff.

WOYWW is here again and you may remember the absolute tip that my table had become!

I left clearing up all my usual mess to the last minute before guests arrived for the funeral as I feared that once put away I would never be able to start creating again.

I know this is stupid and I know that Pip would be unhappy about it.....heck I don't know who was more pleased when I won the Stamper of the Year title....him or me!

I have something to share with you on Friday if you would like to come back then.

Thanks for looking at my blank space....I hope to rectify this situation very soon.

xoxo Sioux

Thank you for all the lovely words of comfort....support and cyber hugs....it has been a great help and I'm lucky to be able to count on some very special friends around me at this time.

Night Night

To post or not to post.....that is the question.

I believe it is better out than in and so............

Philip

1953 - 2010

Passed away peacefully yesterday.

Doodle X

SCD's theme this week is the letter X

Bit of a tricky one for me.......I ended up doing a doodle on a twinchie whilst sitting in hospital looking at an unresponsive DH!

The blue cross is the signal flag used to represent X and the dash dot dot dash border on all four squares is the Morse code for X

.....the doodles within the squares are pretty much self explanatory I hope!

My DH is still in hospital (that will be 3 weeks this Saturday!) but the good news is he has been awake and responsive the past 3 days in a row :) Thanks for all your kind wishes and sorry I can't get round to everyone to leave an individual thank you......I have barely time to get through my day what with the visiting and work and housework and trying to cut the grass and have a meal ...erm that would be a slice of toast some days........and......and......and!!!

Thanks for looking at my feeble effort this week!

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Hope you put your X against a name today.....people died to give us the right!

Free as a Bird

The Sunday Stamper theme for the 100th anniversary (congratulations!) is "Free as a Bird"

Even though things round here are nowhere near normal I had this thought pop in my brain and my brain would not let go till I'd made it!! LOL

In the past 9 days my DH has been in hospital he has flown away for 3 days and returned for 1 and a half days.........flown away again for 2 and a half days and returned for 2 days........does this mean he will fly away again for 2 days? It is very hard to tell......just got to keep on hoping for the best.

The background is frayed burlap and dried marigold swooshed around........the T!m scroll is wild honey and the tattoo type pattern is frayed jeans as a second stamping....Impress chocolate for the word fly.....hand wrote the word away and wished I had not bothered! My hand is a bit shaky (sleep deprivation I think!)....tattered round the edge and inked with tea dye.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

Vintage

This month the theme over at The Artist Trading Club is "Vintage"

Some of you may think it odd that I have managed to play at all with what has been going on lately but to me this crafting/stamping lark is something I have to do.......I read Dyan Reaveley's blog and can heartily agree with the idea that art is both a creative outlet and a form of therapy.......although I have really still not started a written art journal I have slowly realised that almost every image led piece I make has a meaning and gives an outlet to emotions that could get the better of me!

To the casual onlooker it may just seen like a image perhaps matched with a sentiment that gives a pleasing end result.........whilst I do try to explain the idea behind it all if I can......sometimes it is not till much later that I realise what has happened almost unconsciously whilst creating!

Anyways..........I'm sure you have come here to see stuff not to hear my babble LOL....so here is the ATC........and for once...at least for now.....I don't think there is any hidden meaning at all!!

The image is of an ancestor......my great uncle Bill (never knew him as he was long gone before I was born to parents getting on in years!)........he lived through the Edwardian era and I wanted to try to convey that sort of feeling...you know all aspidistras/velvet drapes/gentleman's clubs.

............Just look at the waist height on those trousers....he could definately give Simon Cowell a run for his money there!!! HOL

The background is a digital image that I think was from Art-E-Zine many moons ago but I find the site so difficult to navigate that I can't find a link to it.......so sorry! I then added a touch of DI wild honey to the upper portion....followed by just a little stamping of the cog wheels (frayed burlap), stars (Impress chocolate) and watch hand (embossed with copper). The green stuff at the top is a sticky back baize that is used for putting on the bottom of stuff to prevent scratches but I've had it years and I think it was actually from my Dad's supply of stuff so heaven knows where it came from!

Thanks for looking and happy stamping!

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Thank you.....thank you for all your positive thoughts for Pip (my DH) and perhaps they may just be working......although the lows are very low at the moment and the highs are not that high at least it is a small step in the right direction.

Life Line

Just a quick post to say that I've been busy with hospital visits to DH again.....and no the blood tests were not the reason.......I had to call 999 on Saturday morning.......the A&E doctor told me to prepare myself for the worst......then after he got onto the ward where he had only left a fortnight ago everyone seemed more positive but DH became very somnolent and hardly responding (they thought he might have had a bleed on the brain but a CT scan later ruled that out) and on Monday I was called to the hospital to get the speech about calling relatives if they had long journeys to make and that if things deteriorated even more (coma) they had made the decision...because of his underlying medical problems......that no further invasive things would be done and no life support/resuscitation and how did I feel about it? Strangely that was an easy call as DH had always said.........even long before he became ill that he would not want it.

Today....this afternoon.....I arrived to find that he had come round...glass of milk in hand! He had a fairly normal conversation with me too!

The doctors came whilst I was there and I think they seemed as shocked as I was! The doc told my husband "You've been given a final life line my friend"......he also said that he was not out of the woods yet....but it is good news to finish with.

Perhaps I can get some sleep myself tonight :)

xoxo Sioux

"B" for SCD

This week has not been great for crafting...worrying about DH going to see consultant again....only just getting him to said appointment....he's gone a bit weak at the knees!.....now worrying about results of more blood tests taken 'cos if they contact us within a few days that's not good news either! Life can be a big worry if you let it get to you....I do try my best not to let it!

Only just in time then for the B theme at SCD!

If I was being ultra critical.....and I usually am of myself LOL....I'd do this again as the cranberry Adirondack letters sort of migrated from the outline....but on closer look I'm not that concerned as I notice the outline now looks sort of spiky and as bees have been known to sting perhaps it was serendipity intervening!......that's my theory....and I'm making it fit!!! HOL

Thanks for looking

Happy stamping

Hope not to be...ha ha groan...so late next week.

xoxo Sioux

Silver Lady

Hels Sunday Stamper this week has the theme Silver and whilst Hels was thinking of a Beatles song it made me think of Silver Lady by David Soul :)

I was lucky (or unlucky if you don't like him LOL) to see David Soul performing

.......OMG! I've just counted in my head and it's about 30 yrs ago!!!

.......at the most intimate performing space in Preston, Lancashire.......heck he wasn't really even on a stage unless you count a raised dais only about 6 inches tall a stage! It's something I will never forget and even though I have never bought a single (or indeed an LP/CD LOL!) record of his I was mad keen to see him through watching Starsky & Hutch....my friend and I had seats on the second row (I kid you not we were only about 9 feet away from him) and it was fabulous....there was only a pianist for accompaniment and it complimented the atmosphere and David's voice rang out............loved it!

Anyway....sorry but I was lost in a dream for a bit there! HOL

My tag has silver embossing on the T!m frame and the lady is from Home Impressions...the embossed sentiment reads "Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss......."

I decided to use some ColorBox pigments on the background for a change and just dragged the pad across the surface using Heliotrope...Apricot and Colonial Blue....as the base tag was a Kraft colour I tried to leave the ladies face as is.

The punch line of the sentiment is "......ends with a tear drop" hence the rain/teardrops at the top of the tag......pretty much how I ended up feeling about David Soul 'cos though I loved seeing David perform the later allegations of beating his wife left me cold.

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux
P.S. There is something not quite right with that woman's face...she looks like she has two black eyes to me!!! HOL

The Timekeeper - End Result!

Well I've finished it at long last!!!

I used whiteboard from PDA Card & Craft (ssbfl) for the base (you usually make boxes with it).

The back also has some stamped decoration/info on and each page will be similar but a bit different as it reflects what is on the front :).......so I'm leaving that as a surprise for whoever ends up owning one of the pages when the swap is done later in the year.

The grungy chunky book swap organised by Heather is to use T!m's inspirational style and products where possible.........well I don't have a great deal of his stamps so they will have to work hard for me on the rest of the pages and I'm going to have to mix in some other makes that give the same sort of feel using similar sorts of images i.e.

T!m Stamps = script stamp & tickets on the wording......skeleton and scroll edging

Cherry Pie = diamond background

Paperartsy = crown and numbers (numbers were free with Craft Stamper)

Craft Stamper freebie = watch face (I'm not too sure if this was Craft Stamper but it was definitely free so I'm presuming it was!) and the dots (these were cut up from the stamp that had a star in the middle and a border of dots if you remember that one when they were in red rubber)......couldn't see me using it as it was and have found it more usable since doing it!! I think it was a Banana Frog design but I could be wrong!

Home Impressions = tattoo style border

Crafty Individuals = ledger page

The hounds tooth on wording and the exclamation mark are my own.....the little watch dangling from his wrist was a white button that I covered in gold dabber and then swiped black Staz On to catch the high spots.......the crown was fashioned out of some tomato puree tube metal....I added some Anita's 3D dimensional stuff to the watch face and cut the wording by hand from chipboard.....yep I know ......bit of a long winded job but I'm pleased with the result even if I do say so myself!

.....and if I did have some dies and a die cutter I'm sure I would never have just the right size or style of alphabet anyway!!! LOL

.....the page size is 5"x5" and I have to be mindful to leave a little border down the edge where the pages will be bound together later by Heather.

Thanks for looking......only 8 more pages to go!

xoxo Sioux

WOYWW Timekeeper

I didn't intend to have the outer edges of my table out of focus but perhaps it's a good thing 'cos it's a right mess as they say! I know many of you who visit WOYWW want to see my mess but there is a limit as to how much mess I am willing to share! HOL

The page on the mat is a chunky book page that is not finished yet....nothing is stuck down and still needs something.....I've been trying to get this done since I was e-mailed the prompts for the swap by Heather on 6th March only a month to do one page then!!!....unfortunately I've got 8 more to do yet....I can't wait to start them but as you know other things have been more important! The prompt was The Timekeeper and I knew this was what I wanted to make as soon as I saw it....so Joanne if you are looking this peek is for you :)....anyone else in Heathers grungey chunky book page swap willing to share?

Thanks for looking

xoxo Sioux