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Hello Friends Well we had a super Bank Holiday weekend with daughter and son-in-law doing things we wouldn't have dreamed of doing on our own. Frantic and fun best describes the times when we meet-up together but also did some crafting as well and she has gone home with a big box full of handmade items for the Cat Protection Sale. Sorry that some of you couldn't get mousetraps for last week's challenge as it was a fun challenge for sure. Loved the ones that were entered and the novel ideas. This week's Challenge at Out of a Hat  is to use your favourite technique or product to make anything you like. I found it a bit difficult as I like so many things and ways of using them but what I thought about was what I do if I am just making something for no particular reason. Well I just love messing about with metal papers or tape and trying to make it look old. Most of these are silver paper from packaging or alumium tape from a roll that I bought to play around with. Some is

I usually run and hide when I see this sort of challenge but there are always some wonderful samples at Addicted to Stamps . So inspired by the ones for the Clean and Simple Challenge I thought I would have a go. It seems a long time since I was even in my craftroom as my daughter and son-in-law have been here for 5 days and it has been fun and frollicks instead of crafting and computing. I longed to add something down the right hand side and stick something onto the ribbon but resisted and have put it straight into an envelope so I won't be tempted. The poppy stamp is a Hobby Art stamp-Poppies Set, and the sentiment is a Personal Impressions Stamp-Fluttering By I coloured the image with Promarkers and added some green card to back both the additions. A bit of green organza ribbon and that's it. 'Thinks!' Maybe a bit of gold down the side and few sprinkles here and there lol.-no better not.

Here I am again 'having a go'. Can't say as I am sure that what I am doing is right yet but it is nice to fill another page of my scrapbook by entering the lovely challenges at Addicted to Stamps  where the theme this month for their scrapbook page is flowers. Amazing work from the DTs- I am learning from them hopefully. My husband takes pictures of the flowers in our garden almost every month so as the seasons change we can look back at what grew when and what year and garden as we have moved a few times. We do have lots of flowers and many wild flowers as well so lots of creatures sharing the garden with us which means our veggies grow well, except for the bit where next door's cat leaves a present for us almost on a daily basis--yuk. It does purr and let us tickle its tum so we get a happiness reward :) I made most of the things on the page in Paint Shop Pro--the bow, the ribbon and the background paper. Can't believe how real the ribbon and bow look and they ar

Not very often I use charms or pins but always pleased to join in the challenges at Craft-room Challenge -a very happy, friendly place to visit with beautiful DT samples for inspiration. This is a little gift bag made from a 5x5 envelope. Lots of different tutorials online for gifts bags from envelopes and many different designs. This one is quite simple as I wanted to try to use the charms as the main feature. They keep the bag closed by pulling down the ribbon I brayed the whole envelope back and front with the Big Juicy pad-spice Then I stamped the back and the front the same--I won the stamps in the Craft-room Birthday Blog Hop and they are beautiful with small images and large images all in the same pack. Hobby Art CS025D Anna's Collection-Oriental I think it will be nice to send a little gift inside.

Hi Everyone Hope you have had an enjoyable and crafty week. For this challenge we decided to ditch the hat and go with something that Janet suggested. We couldn't wait to have a go when we heard about it and Sandra said that it would be nice to have it as a swap with the four of us as well--which we have done. Do visit Janet, Sandra and Florences' blogs to see what they came up with for this challenge and go to Out of a Hat Creations  to join in with the challenge. So what is the challenge? Well it is to alter a mousetrap. It wasn't too easy to find an old fashioned wooden mousetrap but we have had a mention about getting one on the Hatters blog for a few weeks so I hope everyone who would like to join in has got one or can get one. I was so excited about making it and sending it to Sandra that I forgot to take pictures along the way of how I did the various bits. First of all I took off some of the bits that stuck out or seemed a bit dangerous. Then I sprayed the whole thi

I enjoyed making this challenge for Addicted to Stamps this week-the bit I didn't enjoy was trying to get a photograph that made any of it show up as gold. I ended up with a tutorial on 'Projected light and reflections when taking Photographs'-all very interesting and informative for sure. Still bits that don't look gold but I did my best Made a tag from gold card then ran it through a Cuttlebug folder. Used clear embossing powder over all of it to give it more texture. The gold die cut someone sent to me, two bits of a paper tray cloth embossed with gold, two bits of old ear rings, gold rush wording and a bit gold ribbon. All sounds simple really but it took hours to make :)

Always something to think about at Artful Times  and great samples from the team to give you inspiration. This time the challenge there is 'Use Acetate' and I must say I haven't used much of that in the past at all--the odd window card here and there and I once attempted stained glass for a challenge by the same team so didn't want to do that again. I made this from a piece of card that was the back of a package I got-stamped it with a Crafty Individuals stamp and distressed the edges with Rangers DI. Next I tore a piece of paper and smudged and distressed that with a few colours. Added some cutouts in 3 colours printed the photo of my gran onto acetate. I think you can see everything else. Read on if you want to know why I made this. It might get boring so be warned. This is a sort of history lesson for some as I am sure I am a lot older than most of you--maybe you could ask your mums and dads or grandparents if it is true lol. The photograph is of my grandmother when

Twinchiers and anyone who pops in Here I am again trying another twinchie for the Show us your Twinchies Challenge I made the background from ground up eggshells which is something I love to do. There are lots of different ways to use eggshells for background so do look on the Internet and give it a go. I made the flower from some striped organza and satin ribbon which is quite stiff and just right to gather up. The leaf I made from a bit of green ribbon and that's it really. I would have liked to have made some more but I am really busy at the moment and we have visitors arriving next Friday for the week.

Last Saturday I got a phone call from my daughter asking if I could help her to help the Cat Protection League to get things together for a stall to raise funds. Well I said yes and then had a think what I might be able to make. I have noticed at craft fairs recently there have been a lot of felt brooches so I have gone down that route. Daughter Linda ordered everything I had on my list, online and then had them sent straight to me as we live a long way from each other. Stuff was arriving by every post which was nice but a bit awe inspiring because of the quantities. I made a few sketches and patterns and got inspiration from looking at things on the Internet though I am sure none of mine measure up to some of the very beautiful felt brooches I saw made by very talented ladies. My hubby decided it might be nice to take a pic of what I have made so far-well when he saw what I had made all in a week he decided it would be a lot of pics. I can't believe I have made 39 already and I st

Hello Everyone who pops in Lovely to see what the people who joined in with us last week made, you are all very talented. Apologies to anyone who didn't get a comment from all four of us but we have been experiencing some problems with commenting on some blogs. Florence particularly is having a trying time with commenting. Hope you will go to my fellow Hatters blogs  Florence, J anet and Sandra's  to see what they have made this week for the challenge-always worth a visit for sure.  At Out of a Hat Creations this week are are making anything at all that has black, white and one other colour on it. Not too difficult really but maybe too many things to chose from. I went for something I needed as I have so many things that would be handier and look better if I organised them in nice containers. I had this big cottage cheese pot that I didn't want to throw away so I thought I would use that as a base. I bought a piece of beautiful leather look, black material a while ago so c

Hello fellow crafters At Addicted to Stamps  the challenge is for Boys I usually run and hide when I see this sort of challenge but as I need to make a card for a male neighbour I bit the bullet and had a go. Nothing too exciting as he isn't that sorta guy at all. I used plain black card stock and the backing paper already had the motorbike image on it. I layered this on some other card and made the sentiments with an alpha stamp set. Added peel-offs--yipee I am trying to add peel-offs to everything to see if I can use up all the hundreds I have. I'll be 90 before I manage it for sure. That's it really, a simple card for a very nice neighbour.

Just loved the cut-outs there the minute and saw them and when they arrived I just loved them. The first challenge at Crafty Emblies is Flora and Fauna and goes on until August 28th. You don't have to use their products to enter so do have a go. The tag was plain green and I ran it through the Cuttlebug in an embossing folder then sprayed it with Cosmic Glimmer Mist which spread out here and there to give an interesting effect-painted the string with the Glimmer Mist as well so it matches. I used the jigsaw piece that I got from Craft Emblies in a mixed bag. The jigsaw piece is stamped and coloured to match the image, this is an idea I saw on a friend's blog and just loved. The stamp is from Chocolate Baroque and the cut outs are ones that friends have sent to me over the years.Thanks Becky and Max. I embossed the bird in black as I wanted it to stand out to show that it had escaped from the cage.

Hello Everyone Nice to see people joining in last week for the LINES challenge as what with holidays and Olympics everyone is very busy for sure. Thank you. This week at Out of a Hat Creations we have as the challenge 'All Parceled Up'. We would like to see a gift bag or gift box to hold a present. So many styles to chose from and I'm afraid I made something quite easy as time just seems to have flown by just recently. Do pop to see what the other Hatters have made Janet, Florence and Sandra --all beautiful work as always I made the bag from an envelope-approximate size 9x6 Lots of tutorials online as to how to make this type of bag from an envelope I used Crafty Individuals stamps for the background and the image. The flower I made from some die cuts my friend Max had sent me--she had cut them from an old book page and I really love them. I painted it with H20 paint to give it a bit of sparkle and then stamped on it with the flower stamp I used on the bag background. The

At Craft-room Challenge the theme is Fashion and I chose the Flapper Girls fashion as I have photos of my mum in this sort of dress when she was a teenager. I always thought how lovely they must have been to wear and the materials of that time were beautiful. I also love to enter the challenges at Addicted to Stamps  and it is Bingo week for them again. I couldn't believe that this card fitted in there as well for the DIE-CUTS, FREE AND PEARLS line. For my FREE I am counting the peel-offs as I am on a peel-offs venture. I have lots and lots and didn't know whether to give them away or try to use them so I am having a go with them just to see. The image was free from a vintage site, the card is distressed with Rangers ink as is the text paper which is from a pad called Life's Journey which I have had a very long time. The big die cut flower was given to me by my friend Janet, the smaller flowers were from a sheet of die cuts and everything else is peel offs. Oh except for t

Thought I would start making some twinchies as they always look nice when I have seen others that people have made. I follow Show us your twinchies and the challenge is 'bright colours'. This seemed a good challenge to start me off with my twinchie 'career'. Well they are more difficult than I imagine and this one is my fifth attempt to make something colourful. First of all I dropped a bit of alcohol ink onto the little piece of card, in three colours. This gave me to shapes to follow when it had spread out. Then I used acrylic paint straight from the tube to add a bit of coloured texture following the shapes left by the inks. Next came the stamped butterfly image which I coloured with Promarkers and made it's wings look as though they were flying. Can't believe how much will fit into 2x2 inches.

Hello Crafters What a great idea for a challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow . We are asked to use something old and something new on the challenge. I was so disappointed when I found my card  for the last challenge cause I had forgotten to do a post for it :( So here is mine for this time before I forget about it. Nice and bright outside but a breezy so not too easy to take a piccie of the card-it kept blowing away. The old thing is the card as I have a pack of these cards since I first started crafting and had only ever used one of them. The new thing is the dress form emblie which I only got on Saturday from Crafty Emblies . I bought a bag of mixed steampunk type wooden shapes and I am delighted with them. If you like the smell of woodsmoke then just opening the packet is a brill experience as the edges of the shapes are burnt. Also got some key shapes as well so can't wait to use those. Sounds like an advert but it isn't, I am just thrilled with the shapes :) The image is from Gr

Von has decided to reintroduce us to Mona Lisa at Artful Times  and it will be the challenge for the next 2 weeks. Wonderful samples from the 'team' there so do go and have a look. I made this;-just to say I took the picture outside and it is on an old brick--what a great background--I am off to photograph the brick to make some paper;) I was going to apologise because it is only an ATC and then I realised it had taken me over 3 hours to make it.. Not as long as it took to paint the Mona Lisa but a lot of my background work is covered up just as Da Vinci's would have been. Wrote down what I had done just to see where the time went. Found the framed picture of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and made a Da Vinci background for it, ran a piece of nice card through the Cuttlebug in a patterned folder, stamped it on the smoother side with a Chocolate Baroque stamp, used some shiny eye shadow and my finger to give it  a nice finish, tore some brown paper and distressed around the ed

I have never been a fan of scrapbooking or journaling but since looking at some of the challenges I am beginning to see it can be a nice way to pass the time. At Unruly Paperarts  you are asked to create a scrapbook page and as an extra challenge include some journaling. Fortunately they had an article explaining what that was so I have had a go. My own writing is so bad these days that I have printed my text onto acetate--hope that counts. Fastened it on with some sandy looking brads. The peel-off letters I stuck on acetate as well. If someone had asked me if I had any letters peel-offs I would have said no and when I searched I found hundreds :( At Addicted to Stamps they have a scrapbook challenge each month which got me started on scrapbooking again after not doing any for ages.This month the challenge is holidays so I couldn't wait to get started. I digitally painted a sand/sea background for my page. Added photos and the great tickets that my friend Janet sent for me--thank

This week at Addicted to Stamps  we are invited to use our markers to make something. I needed a few birthday cards so I used my Promarkers and  a Poppy Set of stamps from Hobby Art. I hadn't used them before so was pleased that the poppies and the quotes were easy to use. The papers are Kanban I think--they are on a pad with lovely colours and designs-if you know whose they are for sure can you let me know please. Coloured some wooden embellishments and added a bow to match--one card down several to go still. Thanks for the challenge-always a nice friendly place to visit Addicted to Stamps. Off to have a go at a scrapbook page for their monthly scrapbook challenge.

Hello Friends Here we are into August already and up to number 19 with the challenges at Out of a Hat Creations . I have had a ball crafting with the other Hatters and seeing what comes out of Vic's hat for us to get our crafty brains working.  Thank you Janet for hosting a prize draw in July the winner is Tracy from Paper Craft Nut. Congratulations Tracy and I hope you enjoy the Tando set. The challenge for this week at 'Hatters' is LINES . A very wide subject for sure so lots to think about. I went over the top with this one mainly because I bought this amazing body form for 20p at the carboot sale. It is almost 3 feet high and was easier to work with than a small one. Hope you will pop to the other Hatters,  Florence , Sandra and Janet's blogs to see what they have made for this challenge Here is the finished dress that I made, with a gentle breeze blowing the pure silk waist feature. A touch of humour--hope you are laughing lol-  Bee Line Designs have a new Line