Stray Cats, Edsels and a bit of crafting

What a busy week-Wednesday saw us getting the coach to London to see the Stray Cats play at Brixton Academy-what a show, great tunes and a fantastic stage presence-complete with Dave Edmunds getting up on stage for some songs and even Mick Jones (from The Clash)!

The weekend saw me go to my sister-in-law (to be-in a couple of weeks!) house for a Pampered Chef party, a bit like tupperware but cooking stuff-a good night out with the girls. Then, Saturday saw me at the Edsel Fury gig (out 2 nights in a row-I'm getting too old for this!) at The Junction in Bristol with Spooky (Japanese all girl punk band)-fantastic! They are a fab 50's garage band, if you get a chance to see them-I would recommend it (I must admit the bass player is my hubby though!)

This week saw me finally finishing off drying my shallots and pickling even more nasturtium seeds, not a very good crop as the weather has been appalling, the courgette plants only produced a couple usable fruits and the garlic STILL hasn't grown big enough to use! Boo-summer sucks!

On a brighter note (unlike the overcast skies) the postie brought me this months ATC's from the CB Forum, the theme was Garden/Seasons. The one on the left is from CindyBee and the one on the right from Cupcakedaft-aren't they lush.

Until I started on the CB Forum I had never made ATC's before-but now I am getting quite a collection, and they are a bit addictive! Whilst we were in London, my lovely hubby also bought me a little voodoo doll (well, it makes a change from Owls!) to hang from my bag-its a little devil with iridescent green wings and a poker!

I also had a chance to make another card that could be suitable for a bloke using my campervan stamp, some ric-rac and a couple of my ever faithful fabric flowers. Not been able to do much else as I havent had a good nights sleep (toothache is such a pain in the ****!)

I should be making a wedding card for my brother and sister in law (to be) but as I want it to be special I am spending a lot longer thinking and planning it-though I cant leave it too long-otherwise it'll be too late!

Anyway, off to eat some bread fresh out of the oven (well, breadmaker) and a glass of nature's painkiller (red wine of course!).

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge

So, I got my bubbles out, made some cards and still got the ironing done!

Boy have I been busy. I took Friday off work and after doing my chores (deep cleaning bathroom, washing, ironing the usual!) I managed to get a couple hours crafting in-hurrah! This is my first attempt at making my own backing paper. Remember when you were a rug rat? Well, I decided to get out my food colouring (I have NO idea why i have blue food colouring in my pantry!) add some washing-up liquid, grabbed a straw and started blowing bubbles! I'm pretty pleased with the result. I then cut out a photocopy of a fairy and created a tranfer image by painting the back of the image with a cotton bud soaked in cellulose thinner (make sure you do this outside, cos boy, does this stuff stink!) and hey presto-a transfered image! How cool is that? This is a new technique to me, so I am going to enjoy experimenting-though we need a dry day to let me have a really good run at it-I hope you like the effect also. I also managed to make a few more of the stick up notes that I am hoping to make for charity. I thought they would make good R.A.K's-so look out ladies on the CB forum-one could be winging its way to you! I am really enjoying making these as they are a little bigger than an ATC so I have a bit more space to try out new techniques (as you can see I made a couple of blue bubble notes as well!)I also managed to get a few cards made, mainly male ones (why, oh why are men so difficult to make for) using the tartan and pocket papers with Making Cards magazine that I get on subscription-a great mag, you get 1o free quality papers (not magazine paper, but proper papercrafting quality paper) and it includes 2 vellums (and no, I don't work for them-mind you, if they have a job going....)!

I also had a go at making some Autumn inspired cards-and messed up my measuring, so ended up with 2 small thin cards (I had to make the envelopes myself-not easy as I cannot draw a straight line and my measurements aren't up to much-but I quite like them, and think they would even make cute bookmarks-so I may have another crack at making some more!

I also finished my ATC for this months swap on the CB forum-I have only included a sneaky peak just in case the ladies stop by (hello ladies!). I am looking forward to seeing this months swap-so may great ideas and it is lovely to see other people's work.

Anyway, it sounds like to rain has finally stopped (we have had bad flooding this weekend in the West) and King Kong is on the TV (love the film, we saw it in New Zealand actually at the cinema they had the premier at the week before-how cool is that!) so am going to settle down with a nice glass of red (nah, lets face it, probably 3) and watch Jack Black tear up and Skull Island camera in hand whilst a bloody great ape follows him!

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge

At last a sunny Saturday

Hurrah, last Saturday was sunny-I couldn't believe my eyes-so just to make sure we headed down to the beach. It was true, the sun was out! So, picnic, papers and sun lotion were dragged down to the seafront and we enjoyed a lovely afternoon, dipping our toes in the water (brrr still cold though) and watching holiday makers run into the sea to cool off and then scream and run out again (usually accompanied by the unmistakable sound of "aargg, cold, so cold......").

Thought I would take a shot of my crocs (I love my jibbitz in them), I also took lots of photo's with my new lovely lomo-but still go about 10 shots left before I can freak out the local film developer (if case you didnt know my lomo action sampler takes 4 smaller shots within one photo-so you get 4 pictures on one sheet all with slightly differing timings!!). It's a bit hit and miss but that's the fun of Lomo. I can hardly wait until I can get them developed.

I thought I would have a go at altering a blank slide holder (this is it in its naked state!). I tried using Gesso (not something I have ever used before-all this altering of stuff is new to me) then Tim Holtz distressed pads (so loving these) and then alcohol inks. I built the layers up and sanded them back a bit, adding paperartsy stamps with stayz on ink and then an alcohol ink stained key hole surround that I got in a clear out of bits and bobs from my dad a few months back. I then used glossy accents on a long thin stamped image and built up the layers until it had the look and feel of glass, edging it with a gold pen-and voila! No idea what I am going to do with it, I need to start thinking about making things for friends as I am starting to fill up the house! Not sure what they will think of them, but I must admit I like it when someone makes somthing especially for you, so I am hoping they do too!

I hope you like them, they are my first attemps. But as Kate Bush said "please be kind to my mistakes".

Happy crafting

Lil Pidge

It's 06:50 in the morning and I'm crafting!

Yep, you read that right! I was inspired whilst getting ready for work-so decided to do a very quick make. I managed to get hold of some adhesive envelopes that you put tickets into when you take a book out of a library (the first picture). I decorated it with Tim Holtz distressed ink in Lettuce and used my new paperartsy stamps (SO loving this company). I then included some blank scrap paper and a clip-a perfect gift for my mum-as its sticky she can peel off the back and stick it to her computer or filing cabinet and always will have a notepad to hand!

I managed to acquire a box of blank ones (big thanks-you know who you are!) and was thinking of maybe making a load at the crop and seeing if we can sell them for "donations" to a local charity. If I can persuad a local shop to supply some clips, great, of not, I'll have to use a staple, as the one in the photo are £2 for a small pack-so not too cheap. They are quick to make, and you can use any technique you like. I'll let you know how I get on.





Happy Crafting
Li'l Pidge

Wow, I got a feature!

Wow, Jane from the CB forum (big thanks) spotted my altered cutlery and posted them on the Inspirational Crafts Blog (link on right, but I am unable to get the logo to work at the mo!), I didn't think for a minute that any of my work was good enough, but there are some truly inspirational pieces on the blog-I have a feeling that if it isn't nailed down (even then, I don't think it's safe) I may "alter" it! (husband best move off sofa soon as he may be next!). Especially since I have just received my first stamps off PaperArtsy, and they are perfect for altered art.

Even with all this crafting I managed to go to see Mama Mia with my mum-the digital sing-along version (the film, not my mum). Well, there was only about 20 of us in the entire cinema (a lovely Picture House cinema, a mini chain/semi indie cinema-so much more civilised than these big chains, there is a cafe and bar with papers and board games and you can take your drink into the cinema, as usual, I was not very ladylike and took a bottle of organic cider in!), with the cider lubricating the old vocal chords I belted out all the songs, all out of tune but with passion! Me and mum enjoyed it and that's the main thing-it's a great film and I thoroughly recommend it (I may even be tempted to go again, but not before I have seen the Dark Knight or Hell Boy 2).

Happy Crafting

Lil pidge

Cards, bag for life, scrap pages and a bit of a pickle

Finally I have had a chance to do a bit of crafting, with all this wet weather I'm spending a lot of free time at home, mind you I would rather a little sunshine now and again!

The dark brown flower on this card is actually a white fabric flower from a Hawaiian fancy dress garland dyed to which ever colour I need at the time with felt tip pens-so much cheaper than "proper" crafting embellishments.

The cupcake card was for my niece's 10th Birthday and I have used the stamp with last months Stamper magazine and I have included a homemade phone charm as she got her first mobile phone from her parents, so she needs a bit of phone bling now!

In an effort to be a bit eco friendly I thought I would start crafting on my rapidly expanding "bag for life" collection. I used a couple of cloth dye ink pads (only 20p more than the usual pads I buy, so made sure I bought 2 in colours I dont have as inks) and used a mexian style skull with 2 "sailor Jerry" style swallows and glued on some black sequins (I really cannot sew, hence the fabric glue!). It's already turning heads at the local shops, though I dont think for the right reasons! Never mind, I just tell people I'm a trend setter (and just pray they never find out the truth!).

So, not only time to do a bit of crafting but also something in the mail that isnt just bills! The next 2 ATC's from the lovely ladies on the CB forum arrived. The rose is from Snaggles and the Bluebird 2 is from beckp87, thankyou ladies they're lovely.

What with all this crafting I am so pleased that I have joined Jill's Crop, it means that at long last I am getting round to scrapbooking my last holiday, I was so lucky to go back to Singapore and New Zealand but what with life generally getting in the way of crafting its been over a year since we went! So at Jill's crop I have managed to do about 5 pages so far! ~Hurrah! So I thought since I haven't blogged any scap pages I would show you them-hope you like them. I'll post a few more piccies of them over the next few days.

Well, one final piccie before I retire for the night, and that is my make for today-pickled nasturtium seeds! They have self seeded all over my garden and last year I pickled some and about 1o months later, they taste just like capers-fantastic in pasta and all it cost was the price of some white vinegar, so I decided that I would make some again this year, hopefully I will be able to make enough to add some to the homemade food hampers I am hoping to make for Christmas, try them, they are really nice, but they do take 10-12 months to pickled properly. All you need is for each pint of vinegar, 6 peppercorns and 1oz salt poured over them in sterlized jars-enjoy!

Any-hoo, Futurama has jus finished and my bed is calling (you can only ignore its call for so long).

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge

Toothache motivates me to craft!

I know it's hard to believe-but 4 days of
toothache and I got my mojo back!
My dentist says its my widsom teeth playing up and to see how things go over the next week or so-wisdom eh? I knew it was in there somewhere! Anyway, between feeling
sorry for myself and the ironing I managed to make a monochrome flower shaker card for my friend Sam's birthday and the double heart card is mounted onto vellum and then acetate with a couple of beads and thread to keep all the layers together. Then to top it all I managed to make a R.A.K. A.T.C. (Random act of kindness artist trading card) for the organiser of this months Crafts Beautiful forum ATC swap (I wont post a photo yet just in case the person concerned reads the blog beforethe post comes!), then walked in the rain to the local post office to post them (I can only spend so long at home feeling sorry before I go stir crazy and need to get some fresh air!).

Then to top it all (the mojo was still active) I managed to finish my first proper altered art project. Inspired by the magazine Cloth Paper Scissors. They are EPNS cutlery coloured with alcohol inks and then wire, beads, threads and sequins wound around them and then I cut words from an old book (well, I copied them first as I really couldnt bring myself to cut a book up, even if it was only 40p in a charity shop-its a book after all!) which I mounted in a box frame that I also decorated.

For a first attempt I am really pleased, it has pride of place on the mantle piece, but now I have to think what to do with it (and all the other pieces of cutlery I bought at the thrift shops, let me know if you have any ideas!).

Anyhoo, pain killers and my bed are calling (with of course my copy of this month's CardMaking and Papercraft that I bought today) so happy crafting.

Li'l Pidge

A Harbourside Festival, a trip to the big smoke and a Lomo

Last weekend saw the Bristol Harbourside Festival, an amazing festival in the heart of the city with 5 different stages of music and dance and all for free. Over 250,000 people turned out for the 2 days (which is more than Glastonbury!).

One of the highlights was local girl made good, Beth Rowley (No6 in the charts) who belted out several of her jazz tunes to the delight of the masses.

This was later followed by Sheela-nagig another fantastic local band who mix folk, ska, jazz and arabic. They had the crowd eating out of their hands as they challenged the crowd to dance to their songs and they rose to the challenge.

Mid week saw us go to London to see Reverend Horton Heat play one of his few UK gigs, a mix of rock and roll and rockabilly, the gig was fantastic with many of the audience dressing in the classic 50's style dresses with flowers in their hair and the men in blowling shirts and dark turned up levi's - nice. Shame that the venue (Astoria 2) let it down with poor sound and the electricity cutting out on stage during some of the acts-not good when you pay all that money and dont get the service they should provide. I will certainly think twice before going there again if there is another option. A bonus was being able to stay with my brother and his partner and catch up on all the gossip, its always nice to see them both, but it is never for long enough as we dont see each other very often. My brother recommended the river taxi to Waterloo which goes past all the great sights, the O2, Greenwich, London Bridge, London Eye and the Tate Modern to name a few, and all for £4-bargain! We went into the Urban Art exhibition at the Tate Modern and I even managed to pick up a replacement Lomo whilst I was there! Hurrah! So over the next week or so I will have a play and see what I can come up with (of course I will post the results here).

I thought I would finish today off with a photo I took of my favourite Pie makers takeway - Pie Minister-great pies with mash and gravy, all packaged in a funky recylable cardboard box and eaten with wooden forks which can also be composted - result, tasty and good for the environment!

Today has been a wet old day, so I took advantage to catch up on printing out some photos for my next scrap book that I am completing at Jill's Crop night and to do a bit more on the altered art project I am working on-watch this space.

Well thats it for now, a large glass of a cheeky red is calling me, and its call is getting louder!
Happy Crafting

Lil Pidge

What a busy Month

Sorry I have been a bit slack on the old web front, both blogging and on the forums. Its been such a busy month. First up I managed to get some photo's published in a magazine called The Wrench. They were of a friend, Gavin's, classic car-what I would give for a hot-rod! But the sensible side of me always kicks in and the running costs put me off! But what a car...

I also managed to break my Lomo this month - Boo! So I will soon be trawling the net looking for a replacement, but considering the last one only cost me £2 at a car boot sale, I think I will be hard pushed to do a price match!

I did manage to go camping a couple of times this month, both to the South Devon Coast and a wonderful victorian resort called Budleigh Salterton. First I went with my school friend Julie (and Dexter her dog) and her OH Steph (this is them with their new camper van-v. posh), then another school friend, Carolyn joined us on the Saturday-I had a great time catching up, walking, talking and drinking (a tad too much of the last one on one night!), then last weekend I went back to the same site but this time with my OH, and we had beautiful hot and sunny weather. Shame it didn't last as this week we have had thunder storms and heavy rain, fingers crossed that the summer returns soon, after last years wash-out I think the UK could really do with a nice summer (there are only so many times I can wear the same summer jumper in a season you know!).

A few craft makes, though I have been busy at work so not been getting home until a little later in the evening. This is a card that I made for a friends wedding, it was from a Hot off the Press kit I bought from QVC last year, there are some lovely papers and vellums in there. The tiki card was made using a rollergrapg stamp I bought at the Taunton craft show and the Tiki stamp I made myself by carving an eraser with a lino cutter. I am really getting into carving my own stamps and enjoy designing them. I find it so much easier than trying to source the more unusual stamps I like (but I must admot to

hankering over several of the Paper ARtsy stamps-but I need to save a bit

more money before I can satisfy my hunger!).

I have also been going to Jill's crop with my friend Becks, and so far have managed to get a couple more scrap pages completed-result! I'll post some photo's of them over the next week or so.

That's about me all caught up, hopefully I'll be able to get some drafting time over the next week (I have made a couple of little goodies for my friend Julie's birthday later this week, but wont post the photo's just in case she checks the blog before the big day!

Happy Crafting,

Li'l Pidge

A wet and windy weekend and some flocking!

What an awful weekend - raining cats and dogs and blowing a gale, so that'll be perfect crafting weather then! Managed to make a couple more cards as I managed to sell a dozen last week - hurrah (thanks Mum!). I am loving turquoise and olive colour combo's at the moment.

I have also just started going to my first crop, held by Jill in Bath (thanks Jill, its a great get together) and was introduced by my friend Becks (who is a scrapping newbie, but has already produced her first great page). So watch this space for more postings (of scrap pages, or maybe the lovely homemade cakes that Becks brings!). It makes a nice change to catch up with these ladies in somewhere other than the pub (Jill ownes a pub!).

Anyway, a wet week is forecast and my OH has 3 gigs he is playing this week, so I reckon I can get some decent scrapping done. I tried flocking a butterfly for the first time, not too successful, I think I will need to practise a bit before posting the results!

Anyway, happy crafting,

Lil Pidge