Peony Design

Hi:

I've just come across a fabulous Swedish company specialising in really pretty vintage papers called Peony Design http://blog.piondesign.se/ They've got a really good giveaway happening so check it out. But hurry as the winner is drawn on Valentines Day.

Steampunk Box

Dear Reader

Here's another box I've made to Laura Denison's design (check out side bar for link) . Yes, loved this box so much I made it twice. I had some of the Graphic 45 Steampunk papers left from my clock and I thought my youngest Alice would like a memory box for her birthday. Birthday party was the weekend just gone so now I'm safe to post the project! I attached another of my tiny clocks. Photo's not so hot but this one is really cool and Steampunky. It's a glass ball with the clock face one side and the inside workings showing at the rear. And it has a tassle dangling from it. Alice loved it and declared it her favourite present. I used a TH plaque to frame the "Alice - Memories" label and decorated the edges with some awesome trim from Running with Scissors. The sides of the box have strips punched with MS Iron Gate. I've been loving this punch. Again, the end result is plain but I wanted to do a practical box that might last a while. Inside the box is a little mini photo album.

LOVE IN A BOX

Dear Reader

Here's my blog celebrating this year's Valentines Day. Went to town on my table (shared with family in case you're wondering!)...... and it all got a bit pink with hearts everywhere. I love a theme!

And here's my Valentine's project. Yes, it's a Laura Denison project design - promise I will post something else soon! I made the box for Maurice so kept it fairly plain and there's not a flower in sight, if you ignore the tiny red rose on the charm. And it's too tiny to count!

The papers are Parisiene Anthology by Pink Paisley. I absolutely adore them and had to give myself a good talking to along the lines of "for goodness sake it's just paper Anne" in order to bring myself to use them. I may have to get them again! All the metalware is Tim Holtz apart from the little tag which is Making Memories. The edging is Boyes. I love this kind of crafting - creating something 3D from a bit of card and paper is so satisfying !

Inside the box is a little matching mini album. The cover paper is another "saver" - this time a My Minds Eye glittered bird paper. Other papers are Pink Paislee again.

I put a few love tokens inside the box including a little altered wood heart. I bought it as a Christmas decoration from B & Q for pence in the sale after Christmas. Paper is from Running with Scissors sale and I think it's Bo Bunny - sides inked with Brilliance Ink Pad - Starlight Black. Charm is another from Making Memories.

I also made some postcards to go in the box to my own design and taste. As a starting point I found some love quotes. I always think it's easier to start projects with the words and design to them. I tried to finish all the postcards in half an hour - from thoughts to finished item (not including the fronts of the postcards which are all stamped like postcards and which I'll post another time - forgot to take pictures - ooops). Some took a little less time some a little more but I'm trying to keep focussed on projects or I can spend ages looking for some charm that I know I've got somewhere but have lost.

First one is very simple - three cuttlebugged hearts on some Valentines Bo Bunny paper - edged with a Martha Stewart punch and decorated with some Jenni Bowlin buttons.

The second uses some paper from the Running with Scissors sale, a die cut star from my stash 'vintaged' with some inks and a bit of wax supported by a fancy paper clip from Habico (RWS), a 7 Gypsies card and a little bouquet of roses made from tiny paper tea roses from Wild Orchid Crafts.

The third postcard I used a scrap of vintage writing paper from my stash, another scrap made into a doilly using a MS edging Round the Page punch, a Making Memories charm and a lock and key cut out from a Spellbinders die and then distressed with inks and wax. I also embossed a heart into the doilly using my Christmas present the Cropadile Three (thanks Moz).

No 4 was the quickest card to make. Some more of the Bo Bunny paper, a pair of wings stamped with a Tattered Angels stamp in Archival Coffee then cut out and a little cherub charm from my stash. I just loved this quote.

No 5 uses a lovely die - the Tim Holtz birdcage which is very cute and versatile. Backing paper is a scrap of Martha Stewart nature paper (love all the bird names) . I gave the bird a crown. After all Love is 'King' !! The eagle eyed will spot another of my deliberate mistakes a missing pearl. Wish I could say it was deliberate and I was echoing the 'broken' theme, but it would be a lie! It fell off!

And for those of you still awake the final card and my favourite No 6. Moz and I both love piano music and I thought this was a perfect quote to use some paper I bought from Running with Scissors and a little charm which I think came from The Works. The flower is from a scrapbooking class and never got attached to the page lol I've added a lovely big 'diamond' jewel to its middle. This is just one from the box of jewels Maurice bought me for Christmas!!! I added a velvet ribbon and bobs your uncle there were my postcards finished.

Have a good week! Anne x

TIME TO BLOG!

Here's the clock itself (yes for the eagle eyed, there is a gear missing - it had fallen on the floor and I didn't

notice when I took the picture - but it's back in place now!)

Here is the mini album cover comlete with tiny working pocket watch

Here are a couple of pages from the mini album. I loved the edginess of these papers. Quite feminine but with a hint of something a bit dark. Quirky!

Dear Reader

Well here I am again. Back in the world of blog. I have so much to record I don't know where to start but I thought I better start somewhere! Good news is I have a new camera - still learning how to use it but got the basics now and am clicking away again. I've missed my blogging but Christmas, illness, busyness and etc etc blah blah excuses excuses !!!

Anyway, here is a project I did over the Christmas period. Yes, still a great fan of Laura Denison's work. I thought this project of hers was particularly lovely and I really enjoyed putting it together. There's not a lot of 'me' in it - just embellished slightly differently from Laura's original and I know some people get sniffy at that, but I loved the challenge of making it and am still marvelling I finished it! I did make my clock a working one by adding a little tiny pocket watch that I bought on eBay for a couple of quid. It came from out East so took a while to arrive but I was so pleased with it when it did! The pocket watch is attached to the mini album that is contained inside the clock but shows through the hole. You can (if you run up to the clock and peer hard enough) read the time which is quite handy for always late me. Handy in the sense that I can't usually see the time and panic!

In the end I didn't use most of the embellishments I sent for for the clock. Typical! Instead I went to Primark's sale after Christmas and bought a few metal jewellery pieces like the butterflies and birds. I looked for quirky! I wanted to bring out the Debutante angle rather than industrial steampunk. My other steampunk bits have come in for other projects and now - sigh - my Graphic 45 steampunk debutante paper is all but gone. But it's been a blast using it!

Thanks for looking.

PUT ON YOUR CHRISTMAS HAT!

Dear Reader

Well, it's nearly here! I've finished work for the year, the decs are up, the food's in the fridge and we're ready to party. We've been practising already(!) so I thought I'd post a few pix of Christmas hats I've seen over the last couple of weeks. First up are the hats from our pre-Christmas Christmas family lunch and the later ones are from a get-together. I love christmas hats!

Here's Maurice's which was a slightly tight fit























Chloe, Richard and Ebony sporting theirs

















Me in one I bought from The Range with mum and decorated up
with snowflakes and a snowman from one of last year's cards

















Nina and her hat which moved and danced. Totally awesome!

















Jacqui wearing two hats. One just wasn't enough. The first is a Rudolph Reindeer - you can just see
his red nose and antlers. The second was from our crackers which contained bells which if we all rang them
when directed would have played a Christmas carol. Unfortunately, we just didn't make it happen but had fun trying!

and finally Helen with lovely antlers. Helen's leaving town as she's got a job as the video editor for the News of the World. Yes, we did all the jokes! I shall miss her.

Dear Reader
I thought I'd post a couple of pix from the recent snowy weather conditions just to remember how cold and snowy it actually was... I was reading last year's Christmas journal and it said that we'd reached -4 on Christmas Day. This year we've been at -6 most mornings now for a couple of weeks and we haven't even reached Christmas Day yet!

The first pic is the view from my front window. I love wintry scenes but I was particularly taken with the angry sky. And yes, it did mean that more snow was on the way!

The second pic is of my brother Chris who when we were snowed in rode round to see us on his bike. Here he is just arriving for a coffee, a packet of biscuits! and a chat. How he managed to ride in these conditions was a mystery but he did.

Here's one of a set of 'Candy Cane' cards I made using K & Co's retro style papers in their
Secret Santa collection. I love candy canes so I thought I'd add an actual one to each card. A card with something good to eat in it - sounds good to me! I made a hinged pocket to hold the cane and then tied a little 'Secret Santa' charm to each cane with a ribbon bow. I cut out the sentiment from a page in the same paper collection and embellished with a pink organza ribbon. Voila!

Reverb110: Day 19

Prompt: Healing. What healed you this year? Was it sudden, or a drip-by-drip evolution? How would you like to be healed in 2011?

Goodness some of these prompts are making me scratch my head and I'm not sure that so much soul searching is good for the soul! But here's my thoughts on this one:

I think what healed me this year was patience, time and a little bit of practical help to a problem.

I always remember my mother arriving one day unannounced when I was ill and on my own with two tiny children and she just set to and cooked a meal and sorted us all out. When I thanked her she said "Well, a bit of practical help is worth an awful lot of sympathy". That's stayed with me. And as for 2011 I'm really hoping I won't need any healing...

Make a Note - Just Larkin about

Dear Reader

Here's a notebook I made from, yes you've guessed it, a Laura Dennison design. I've kept it really plain as I wanted it to be practical. The first photo is the chipboard cover, back and spine, all covered in one sheet of 12 x 12 paper (MME - Wild Asparagus Flower). The inside is another sheet of 12 x 12 and has a tad more decoration. The concertina wallet on the left (designed to keep receipts/tickets in) is fastened with an oversized button and the decorated border uses anMS punch.

The notepad is from Chamber members Prontoprint. I've got to know their Sales guy Simon well over the last eight years. He always has a tale to tell when I meet him at our events - he's a keen biker, loves DIY and is always on with some project, decking or the like, for his family. He so energetic and so up-beat he always cheers me up! This time when we met he' told me he's helping a mate prepare some land for motorcross!

I really like his company's work too. The print is always good quality with a bit of quirkiness. This range of complimentary pads they produced all featured musical instruments, hence the 'Make a Note!' which I really loved. So I made the little pocket at the bottom just big enough to hold the paper pad in place. Unfortunately you can't see the musical instruments as they're hidden within the pocket. Ah well! It's really earned it's keep this little pad in the run up to Christmas and it's lovely to use something you've made yourself. And I mean, if you don't like the pattern you've only yourself to blame!

Reverb 10: Day 17Prompt: Lesson learned.

What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

I've learned that I can live every day for itself. No more dwelling on what was, or obsessing at what might be or might not be. I've tried to enjoy or at least smile at something every day, no matter whether it's a good or a bad day. I'm going to continue on with that in 2011. Carpe Diem. Live for the moment.

Revert 10: Day 18

Prompt: Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn't go for it?

In 2011 - Two man tobogganing..... Yes, definitely two man (or one man and one woman) tobogganing. In Switzerland. Wearing one of those lycra suits and a crash hat. I'm thinking in yellow. Ann Widdicombe eat your heart out. Of course I'm joking. The suit would be black. !!

Seriously, what would I like to do in 2011. To be honest I'm quite happy to see what the year brings, the traditional health and happiness would be nice, and as long as I have Maurice to share it with I shall be pleased. I'm going a bit off track here but I watched the programme on Philip Larkin recently, where the relationship between him and his secretary Betty, started when they were both in their 50's, was brought to light. I thought the poem Larkin wrote about them meeting in the 'autum of their years' was very poignant and although Maurice and I met a little earlier than they (hopefully in our 'high summer years'!) it still touched a chord. It goes

We met at the end of the party

When all the drinks were dead

And all the glasses dirty:

'Have this that's left', you said.

We walked through the last of summer,

When shadows reached long and blue

Across days that were growing shorter:

You said: 'There's autumn too'.

Always for you what's finished

Is nothing, and what survives

Cancels the failed, the famished,

As if we had fresh lives

From that night on, and just living

Could make me unaware

Of June, and the guests arriving,

And I not there.

Very poignant. As for 2010... can't think of much. I did want to go to The Dogs. No sniggering thank you. I might have mentioned this before as something I've always wanted to do. Probably one of those things you want to do just once! The year just slipped past and I didn't make it... but who knows in 2011...