Clickety Clack ..... and Studio 490 ...

I was prowling round a well known book/mnagazine/all sorts shop on Reading Station a couple of weeks ago on my way to see Mum in hospital in Taunton and my eye fell on some knitting magazines. Great I thought, I could look at them with Mum, who is a keen knitter, and cheer her up. The mags proved to be a huge hit and we talked about heel turning on socks, the thumb method vs the two needle method of casting on and other such knitting stuff for at least a couple of hours .....

Now I haven't picked up the needles for years but was so inspired by Mum and the mags that I have been knitting for the last couple of weeks .....
This is what I made first of all - just to see if I could still do it .....I used a very old pattern (one of those Patons Great Bazaar Knits booklets - price 1/6d - lol) for the basic shape and then made up the pattern of garter and stocking stitch blocks. I spent yesterday afternoon trying to line it but couldn't get the lining quite right . The problem being that the bag is really stretchy and 'pleated' but c'est la vie - it is an unlined knitting bag ......

Then I made this ......This is for a 2 to 3 year and I think it's really pretty. As I am a bit of a loose knitter, I nipped over to see The Gorgeous One aka Finley William and used him as a model. He didn't mind trying on a girl's cardi and he really looked cute - I wish I had taken the camera - lol.
I have another cardigan on the go, and a caterpillar, knit and crochet flowers and a crochet ball. To say nothing of a beautiful pattern and wool I bought for another bag - but more of that another time ....

My problem now is that I have so many ideas - knitting, the new release of Studio 490, which the lovely Wendy over at The Stamp Attic is taking pre-orders for (to say nothing of the new Tim Holtz stamps), Christmas cards ...... how do I fit it all in - lol

Bring On The Girls ......

My friend Sue (the one who should have a Blog but hasn't) told me some good news about one of her family that should be shared. Her daughter, Georgia who is 14, goes fishing with her Dad and is a member of Dad's fishing club.
This weekend was the start of the Club's annual fishing competition and Georgia was drawn against the current Club Champion and beat him. She caught 20lbs of fish and he only caught 10lbs. She is now through to the semi-finals and it may be that she will be drawn against her Dad. The days before the match should be interesting - secret bait recipes and all that.
Anyways - well done Georgia and go for it ..........................

Memories of Michael ....

I was woken up this morning about 4.50am with a terrific clap of thunder and couldn't get back to sleep. So off I toddled downstairs to nake coffee and watch the news ....
I couldn't believe what I was seeing about Michael Jackson. It's not often that I fell compelled to be 'public' about what is going on in the world, but this is one of those times.
I went to see him years ago at the old Wembley Stadium with my kids. I remember my son, who would have been about 14, saying 'why do we want to go and see him'. Yet within five minutes of MJ being on stage, both kids were on their feet and saying 'why couldn't we have gone down there (the pitch)". I was too old - even then - lol.
Three and a half hours later that Saturday afternoon the whole of Wembley was still rocking. The man was absolute MAGIC - and my children absolutely loved him. So did I ......
Many, many people will be talking in the next few days about Michael's strange way of life, the criminal case in 2005 and whether he would have managed the 50 dates at the 02 (my daughter had tickets for the 6th of the original schedule of shows next month) and his life will be gone over again and again with a fine tooth comb. Yes, OK, maybe he was strange, but at the end of the day I think he was a Music Legend - and as someone has said this morning - the events of yesterday will make him the Elvis of our generation - and he will live on with his iconic music .......
Rest in Peace now Michael ........

And Yet More Studio 490 .....

So the question is - have I become obsessed. I think the correct answer has to be - yes .... Here is something I have made. It started as THIS ......THIS being a 2' 6" long by 3" wide by 1" deep canvas. There were three in the pack, which I bought ages ago, not really sure what I was going to do with it (them) and now I know - lol.

I used THESE ......And made THIS ...A Paper Artsy house and Studio 490 flowers and leaves; and moving up .....
Another Paper Artsy house and a Paper Artsy partridge and more Studio 490 flowers and leaves; and moving up ......
And at the top, another Paper Artsy house and patridge and Studio 490 flowers and leaves and a heart.
THIS is the whole canvas (I really must take photography lessons - lol) .....
I like this and I might even hang it up on the wall. Hope you like it too.
The next canvas is already prepared for something not Studio 490 ....

How About This Then ....

Some Artful Blogging Blog Candy.
Pop over to see Wendy at The Stamp Attic here to have a look see at what you could win ....

Houses and Clever, Inspiring People ....

Last weekend, on Saturday, I got it right and went to The Craft Barn Extravaganza on the correct day - lol - and had a great time. There were more clever people there than you can shake a stick at and it was just great to watch them all weave their magic. I don't want to single any one person out but Jenny from Hobby Art was as inspiring as ever, the lady from Kazelcraft Stamps had some great stuff, there was a very clever lady from the Craft Barn doing some beautiful stuff with metal (sorry can't remember her name) and I also managed to get quite near the front to see Leandra Franich (very popular lady).

Depite all that, I have to say that I spent by far the most time watching Sue Roddis. What a clever, clever lady and so friendly and sharing. I watched her for so long that when I left I popped into The Craft Barn and bought a pad of Basic Grey Porcelain papers and went home to make houses ...

(I did go in the shop before I went over the road to the Hall but I'm not saying if I spent, because my pal Sue (the one who hasn't got a blog but should have) will say "I told you so" - lol ....)
So here are two houses - inspired by Sue Roddis ....

Both have Paper Artsy doors. The one on the left has more Studio 490 flowers and leaves. The one on the right is a real mish mash of stamps, including the B-Line Designs Checkerboard. and the Stampers Anonymous Ledger Border.
On Sue R's originals, the tree trunk is a wooden dolly peg, I didn't have one of those, so mine is chipboard. The foliage is a fern stamp, stamped and cut out five times and arranged in a tree-like fashion. One great tip is to stamp on patterned paper, which is why I bought the Porcelain pad). This gives a hint of a background to the image rather than just an expanse of white card (you can just about see this if you click on the photo). Copious amounts of Distress Inks to smudge, edge and highlight were used, as well as loads of buttons ....
Had a great time making these and soon there will be a whole street .......
One final thing I met a blogging pal there - the lovely Alison. It was a bit of a shame but we didn't have much time together because I had to get off home. I hope we can meet up again ....

Never Forget The Power of You ....

Here is what I made with my Studio 490 flowers ....A Tag Book which was in a parcel of pressies that my friend Ed sent me. There are five chipboard tags and five acetate ones, but I've kept the acetate ones for something else. As I said in the last post the only things I used were Grungepaper and Distress Inks; apart from the quotes which are stamped in black StazOn, the Life letters, which are ordinary chipboard and some buttons.
All the stamps are the yummy Studio 490 ones, which have been released in two sets of seven, the last set coming out from CHA earlier this year.

I read recently that someone found the Distress Inks a bit 'dreary'. Well I have to say certainly not. To get the bright colour on some of the flowers, I swiped the pad on the Grungepaper, sprayed it with water, dried it off, swiped again and dried with a heat gun. For some of the leaves I used the textured side of the Grungepaper, which I suppose is the reverse but which gave a really nice effect. I just love the Grungepaper - you can bend and shape it and it stays that way, but even laid flat, it is stunning. It cuts really easily because it bends and best of all - it doesn't tear.
The tags are on a book ring at the moment but I'll be adding fibres and ribbons later ....
Hope you like it ....
And a couple of close ups ....And - as if all this wasn't enough there is to be a third release of another seven sets in July!!!! You can get the stamps from the lovely Wendy at The Stamp Attic - let's hope she's getting the new release ......

It's Now Sunday .... And No Paper In Sight ....

After yesterday morning's adventure, the rest of the day passed without serious mishap .... the runner beans got planted out, the salad growbag planted with seeds, a bit of snipping here and there in the garden, a surprise invitation to a BBQ over at my daughter's in the evening. The only thing that did happen was that while I was out at said BBQ, a cat had had a bit of a scratch in my growbag. I was not impressed .... so there I was in the rapidly failing light rigging up temporary netting - so we will have to see on that one.

I thought I would share what I have been playing with for the last couple of evenings. Back in March, my son forgot my birthday and Mother's Day and by way of apology gave me his credit card (again lol), a fixed sum and said 'Get some stamps'. So (again) quicker than you can say rubber, I was on the phone to the Stamp Attic and got myself these absoloutely beautiful and gorgeous Studio 490 stamps, designed by Wendy Vecchi. Matt bought me my first three sets (some apology eh - everyone wants him - lol) and after getting them I simply had to add to the collection ......Here are some of the flowers I have made so far and, no, there isn't a piece of paper there. All the flowers are made from Grungepaper. All of these in the photo, plus a few more leaves, have been made out of 1.5 sheets of the Grungepaper, so when you consider that there are three sheets in a pack - it goes a long way. The only inks I have used are Distress Inks, so this is a high scoring project on the mess front - lol. I'm not getting everything I own out - just the three elements.
Be back later to share what I have done with them .....

It's Been One Of Those Days ....

... well so far at least ......
Was up really early, thinking over my plans and that this was going to be a great day. First hiccup (minor) was that I got bored listening the news on TV so casually flicked over to the films and lo and behold 'The Birds' by Hitchcock - an all time classic - so I just had to have another cup of coffee.
Anyways left the house and pointed the car in the direction of The Craft Barn at Lingfield. Didn't take that long and there were plenty of spaces, which did strike me as a little strange - but moving on. Paid the car park fee for six hours, toddled over the road to The Craft Barn and wham - straight in front of me was all the info for their Craft Extravaganza Weekend - which was on 6th and 7th June ..................... next weekend - lol.
So 82.7 miles later driving through more tar and chipped sections of road than you can shake a digger at; a drive on the M23 (first time I've been on a motorway for ages), a major diversion which took me almost to the uncharted territory of East Grainstead (last time I went there I got totally lost); £3.60 car park charge; £18 in The Craft Barn because it would have been rude not to - lol; another drive on the M23 (which was another disaster because I came off for the A264 and while singing along to the car radio just didn't think and took the first exit of the roundabout at the top of the slip road and ended up back on the M23/A23 - lol; and a semi-serious food shop; I feel just a tad silly - lol.
Still at least I now have strawberries, cream, smoked salmon, prawns, salad, chocolate biscuits and the new Michael McDonald CD ......
Off to plant my runner beans out and sow my salad grow bag ....... what could go wrong with that?

All About The Gorgeous One ....

I cannot believe it - but a whole year has gone by - it was The Gorgeous One's aka Finley William's first birthday on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to have the day off but as a Birthday Treat he was allowed to stay up past bedtime and sit with the grown ups for a celebration tea.

And here's the Birthday Boy, still on a roll at 7.30pm .....Here's his Birthday Cake that Grandad made (the photo doesn't do it justice - it was brilliant) ......Here's his card that Nanny made .....
Off later to a Family and Friends Birthday Party for him. Looks as if the weather is going to be lovely and a good time will be had by all .....