Cardmaking - Tim Holtz style

This is what else I have been making over the last couple of weeks.
I was preparing for a demo weekend at the Glitterpot and after reading  Tim Holtz' blog and following his instructions, I began to find my way of using all the distress products, and had an awful lot of fun.
Some of these cards are copies of Tim's cards, but he teaches you so many tricks, things really start coming together . I have been using some of the alterations die cuts, lots of ultra thick embossing powder, perfect pearl spray and alcohol inks, my working area became very messy. Anyway I hope you like them.                                                            

Blankets galore

It has been too long...

Today, I met with some of my crafting friends for a very creative day. My husband usually leaves the house, taking the children with him, when we meet up as he is unable to cope with the topics of conversation or the noise of our laughter. It is definitely the best form of therapy I know of.
I have been very bad at writing on my blog and today was given heaps by my friends, so I thought I had better do something about it ( Bejewelled blitz will just have to make do without me this evening...)
Ah well never mind.
Anyway, when I went to the stitches show in Brighton, I was introduced to extreme knitting & I bought some big needles & wool ( I posted my first creation several months ago), To say I was hooked is an understatement.
Natasha, Sharon, Helly & myself then met up at the Farnborough make It show & I made a beeline for Karens stall, Creative You. After a long chat I came away with some more wool, lots of inspiration & several creations later I can safely say not a ball of wool in my house remains safe. Here are some of the pieces I have finished.                                                                              

This was meant to be a blanket for a single bed but I think it would fit a double.  

    

Trial & Error

Well it has taken me most of the morning, but I have made a little progress.
I wanted to change the background of my Blog, & after seeing my friend Natasha's I decided to check out Shabby Blogs as they have some really cool templates to download.
I have got as far as I am able without making it look a mess.
I wanted to add a header bur it kept covering up bits that were meant to be seen, so I have called it a day, but there is still room for improvement.

Tomorrows World......

My youngest daughter, Elizabeth, entered the David Shepherd 2011 Global Canvas Art competition earlier this year. We were thrilled to find out a couple of weeks ago, that she had won 1st prize in the 14 year old category. We were invited up to London, to the Natural History Museum, for the exhibition of the paintings and drawings, to meet David Shepherd, & to attend the prize giving.
We had an amazing talk from Louis Barnet [ chocolatier ] who despite dyslexia & dyspraxia became the youngest entrepreneur in 2007 aged just 15.
We had a brilliant day & I am very proud of her.

Global Canvas Art Competition.......2011

Lizzie with her winning picture

Meeting David Sheppard

Prize Giving

Close up of her picture

Extreme knitting.....

I went to the stitches show in Brighton last week & picked up some wool & knitting needles, It did not take me very long to finish this lap blanket/ shawl & it is very warm.

Looks like any normal knitting.........

Until you take on board how big the needles are............

They measure 19mm & it is like knitting with cricket stumps !

Halloween Mini Book

It is finally finished, I had great fun doing this & used lots of punches, sissix shapes, stamps & the stash of halloween paper I seem to have been collecting forever........
The house shape is cut out from mountboard & is based on the mini album by Belinda Akers.

There are several tags hidden away that can be pulled out by the ribbons.....











I have used some acetate to put shapes on for a bit of dimension......

I also found my shrink plastic which I have not used for years, so with the help of my trusty big shot cut out my ghosts & other spooky shapes.......

Tried a bit of stitching here for the spiders web, & used my copics to colour the witch......

My gorgeous girls were all that were needed here.....

On this page, I stuck the gravestone cutouts onto acetate so that they  would not get damaged when you put the tags in, I stitched them onto the paper so the tags would not get caught......

This is my favourite page, I used the Tim Holtz dies to cut the cat & raven out of shrink plastic, then I covered them with glossy accents.
I also made a tin tag, which is hidden in the coin envelope, I embossed it & then inked it with alcohol inks, I will have to take a picture of it later....

Inspiration........

Well, after our get together  on saturday, I have been trying to do all sorts of things.
As my friend Natasha said, we have been introduced to a new website, it is called the Purl Bee ( thank you so much Lottie) & to join in the small challenge that Natasha has started, there is a project quilt being taught, it looks as though it will show a block per month, so I decided to join in ( you will have to carry on doing this now Natasha )
If I can remember how to add pictures I hope to show you my first attempt.......

This panel is called Courthouse steps.
The first part was tricky, trying to find my fabrics, & then when I did, choosing the colours I wanted to use.

Once I had cut them, I laid them out to see which way the colours looked best....

When that had been sorted, I started sewing........

The finished panel.....
I am quite pleased with the result even though some of the stitch lines are a bit wonky, I look forward to the next panel.











My other project is my halloween mini album, it is progressing well, but I will take some pictures when it is finished.

Thank you......

Just a note to say thank you to all who joined me yesterday, you all bring something to make what can only be described as a fantastic day. I am once again inspired, I have learnt new things, had lots of laughs,  my mini album is progressing, slowly, my knitting is everywhere & if I did not have to go to work today there would be pictures, however time is against me.
Thank you all once again & I look forward to seeing you on the19th.

Gilly

My gorgeous girls.

My inspiration for my next crafting project,
a halloween mini book.
I have been totally inspired by Belinda Akers,
her mini albums are out of this world, check out
her blog.
Anyway, now my good friends have shown me
how to take the next step & add pictures,
I hope to continue uploading as I create,
watch this space.

Photos

I have spent the day trying to sort out my digital photos on my computer, I will not let a piece of technology get the better of me........
I have now backed up my pictures on 2 external hard drives, mainly because my last hard drive had a serious meltdown & I am unable to retrieve anything from it. Please learn from my mistakes, you need your digital pictures on at least 2 drives, just in case.
I now have the fun of going through about 14,000 images to see which ones I really need, which ones I would like to keep, & which ones I really should get rid of, which is quite a task.