Easter basket tutorial and Cup Winners

Good Morning, hope everyone had a good weekend and saw a bit of the lovely sunshine we had here in the Fens, it was really beautiful and Sunday quite warm as there was little or no wind.

Before I can talk craft I have to share a picture of the boys after our win at Wembley yesterday, it was something of a nail biter going to extra time and then penalties, but we got there in the end and are assured of  European footie next season, not to mention another trophy in the cabinet at Anfield. For those of you totally lost and not as mad and fanatical about footie as I am, I mean Liverpool FC !!

Silliness over, on to some craft and I thought I would share one of the little Easter baskets I have been making, the inspiration actually came from a demo I saw on TV for a rather expensive score board and it got me thinking I could probably come up with something similar using my cheapie MDF board which I've had for yonks and hey presto it worked a treat, so here is my take on the basket.

It's a really basic design and I am sure most of you can suss it out for yourself, but just in case I've done a few photos with sizes to help. Above is what I used for mine, one sheet of A4 linen cardstock, I 12x12 sheet DP, some ribbons, Copics, Aquamarkers, scoring tool four eyelets, Nesie and stamp for the image which is Penny Black 2665K Blush and I also used Adirondack raspberry for the main part of the flower.

Start by cutting the A4 sheet of card down to a 21cm square  and score in both directions at 7cm intervals so your piece is divided into nine equal squares, the score the four corner squares diagonally as above. Crease all scored lines and you will see the shape of the basket coming together. The four diagonal corners scores need to be carefully folded inwards.

Next cut 17 - 6.5x6.5cm squares from the sheet of DP, leave 9 whole and cut the other eight in half diagonally, then stick all into place as below. Both sides will look the same with just one centre square blank, that will be your base.

Note: the basket in the picture at the top was my prototype and I didn't cover the folded in flaps, so if you prefer to do it that way to get some contrast you will only need nine of the 6.5cm squares and they won't need cutting in half as you will only be covering the whole squares, five inside and four on the outside.

Stamp your image four times and cut out with a Nestie, I then ran a Copic round the edge rather than matting and layering so as not to add too much weight. Stick on the four outer squares.......make sure you get them the right way up and not upside down as I did on my first attempt !!

Finally pop an eyelet into each of the four corners, draw the basket up into shape and thread ribbon through the eyelets. And walla, you have a pretty little basket to fill with goodies. I will share this pink and green version another day.

And of course you can change the size to larger or smaller, all you need to remember is that your chosen size will divide evenly by three so you get nine equal squares.

That nasty issue again

Hello folks, I'm not here with any craft, just a rather sad follow up to my post last month here about the activities of another blogger copying work.

This blogger has apparently only just decided to put her side forward and last evening added a post to her blog accusing me of cowardice and plagiarism and whilst she has not named me in her post, has clearly circulated my name to friends and followers who appear to be accepting her explanation resulting in some of those people taking great delight in leaving offensive comments on my blog.

All offensive comments have and will be deleted as they appear, but will be saved and reported to blogger along with those who have already or may in the future post disparaging comments about me on their own blogs as they have threatened to do.

I did not name the person in my blog posts and did not pass her name to others so as not to cause her further distress whilst allowing her the opportunity to make her apologies, but it seems she was not prepared to do so.

It is no surprise that she claims complete innocence and to have never received my mail last month (of which she was sent another copy), yet a clean up of her blog happened shortly after it was originally sent. Her blog post refers to there being no evidence of her wrong doing, but she of course is fully aware of the material she deleted. I have since found out that it is possible to copy a persons web pages, but by then it was too late as she had removed the offending posts and evidence. But I understand there may be a way of retrieving deleted archived material and will be investigating that route.

Fortunately there are reliable and genuine friends who saw and witnessed the since deleted posts from this persons blog and I have no reservations or guilt at having raised the issue in the first place and stand by all I said last month.

Spring Dance

This month seems to have flown by and already it's the fourth and last week of our Free and Easy February at Allsorts and my teamie Emma's turn to host the challenge.

Things remain slow going here and am having still to rely on my wheelchair so not been far at all, if you've ever tried packing one into the boot of an MX5 you will understand why. Hubby' really good and happy to take me out in his car weekends when he's not at work, but somehow the will to shop has evaded me lately. And no way am I going anywhere Sunday, my boys in red are playing Cardiff at Wembley in the Carling Cup final so it would take wild horses to shift me from the TV that day. 

Now for my DT card this week, one I did a few weeks ago when I was playing with new release Hero stamps and one of the samples I did for Sir Stampalot using Hero Arts K5540 Spring Dance. I love working with silhouette stamps and this ones lends it's self to the simplicity of a brayered background using Adirondack raspberry and lettuce, then matting and layering using Scribble Scrabble DP and Nesties labels 23. The roses are a Marianne die, the swirl Memory Box and the little birdie inked and covered in Glossy Accents, was in a bag of chipboard ones given to me by a crafty friend at Christmas.

Whatever you have planned, have a good weekend and my thanks for your visit.

New stamps, new TV show

Good Morning peeps, hope everyone is OK.

I have a quick share of a couple of the cards I made using the new Stamp Addicts Floral stamp sheets which will be previewed on Create and Craft on 9th March at 1pm, so don't forget to pop the date in your dairy.

The top one is fairly simple, I masked a panel across the card and repeat stamped the agapanthus flower using Hero chalk ink soft apricot, then the main flower twice using Adirondack eggplant and the same Hero ink, cut out and decoupaged, some cord and leaves cut from a Sellbinder die and finito.

For the second card I inked a piece of Fabriano watercolour card with TH distress inks worn lipstick, shabby shutters and broken china and spritzed with Glimmer Mist iridescent gold. I then stamped several of floral stamps with Archival black and gold embossed one or two along with a moon using  from Dottiness stamp sheet, cut the piece into six and mounted onto gold linen cardstock.

Thanks for popping in and whatever you have planned, have a good day.

A fairy called Henrietta

Would you believe it's taken me all day to get this post up, or to be more precise to get the picture loaded, Blogger was having non of it and seems to have fallen into his old ways of having Monday hissy fits.

I had another play with my ink dusters and created the background for this one with Adirondack butterscotch, purple and hazelnut. The fairy which I have totally fallen in love with is a new one called Henrietta from Lavinia stamps..........she also comes in a smaller silhouette stamp and before you ask, yes I got that one as well. The poppies and branches round the edge are also Lavinia and I also stamped the poppies with the same purple ink onto the lilac base paper. I stamped Henrietta with versafine black and embossed with detail clear before colouring with Copics and adding the obligatory glitter.

The easel card was made using the new Go Create arch dies and the borders are cut from Spellbinder Fleur de Lis dies. To finish I made a rose made with a five petal punch, white paper and inked with the same purple round the edges.

Thanks for dropping by and have a good Monday evening.

Crocuses in bloom

Hello all, it's Free and Easy week three at Allsorts and my lovely teamie Fleur is in charge this week.

Our sponsor is Ruth from A Passion for Stamps so it gives me the perfect opportunity to use her lovely new crocus image.

Crocuses along with snowdrops always herald the promise of Spring, although there's not a sight of them coming through here in the Fens yet, the snow probably sent them back underground, but hopefully soon they will soon be showing their pretty faces.

For the top card I printed on to Fabriano watercolour card and coloured in with my new Derwent watercolours. I masked a sun and lightly dusted Adirondack butterscotch using a Inkylicious ink duster...........I'm a newbie to these but think I am going to get a real liking for them and have more makes to share shortly............then sponged some rays of sun coming down onto the crocuses. The shapes were all created using the new Go Create die set that seemed to fall into my basket at Stamperama last week, I just love the shape and have been on the lookout for an arch for ages, so was one really happy bunny when I spied them on the rack.

For my second card using the same image I printed onto Copic cardstock and coloured with Copics. The background DP is Magnolia, some lace, a seam binding bow a button and bakers twine.................does anyone know why it's called that ?

Before I go I need to let you know who Mr Randon Org., picked our of the hat to win my little giveaway earlier this week and I am pleased to say it's Caroline.........................I'm not sure if we know each other Caroline and no idea where you are in the world, but it's always lovely to meet someone new, so please mail me brenda@ibas.co.uk with your full postal addy.

Thanks for popping by and enjoy your weekend.

Little giveaway and fun in the snow

Thought I would share a couple of the photos from the weekends snow fun.

It it started out like a good idea, but when you are carrying a St Bernard's bulk around it soon gets too much and you just have to take a break and watch the others charging about like idiots, George will go on forever just like Daisy with her Duracell batteries.......................but look who got the ball..................

Here's a little candy giveaway of some 12x12 DP's and ribbons, just add your name to this post and I will draw a name later in the week.

Have a good day everyone and thanks for popping by.

Lee's lovely roses

Morning all, a really quick post as I'm still waiting for my new mouse and keyboard, at present it misses as many letters as it types, won't let me copy and paste and keeps moving things about, so doing anything is taking forever. 

I got to Stamperama yesterday, but was really hard going being vertically challenged in a wheelchair, seems you are invisible and getting close to the goodies was hard work, although the lovely peeps on a few stands were so helpful thanks and a big thank you to Lavinia Stamps, Crafts and Me and Stampscapes who made sure I got what I was after.........here's a little peek at my new stash.............yep Sally, trees were a necessity and you will all realise some of this is merely essential crafting materials........yeah right !!

My card share is a really simple make, where I inked an embossing folder with TH Victorian Velvet before running through the Pro, which transferred the ink to the debossed sections to achieve a soft feel. Memory Box swirl, Seam Binding from my friend Sarah at Pretty Little Ribbons and a pin from the same source with a few more beads added. Now for the rose, you all know how I love making them and even did a tutorial ages ago, but then I found  how my blog buddy Lee makes them and wow, how much easier is her version, here is her great tutorial, do go check it out.

I am entering this card for the Anything Goes challenge at Pretty Little Ribbons.

Have a good day everyone and hopefully my computer issues will be sorted very soon and I can get back to blogland and my DT duties which have fallen by the wayside.

Paradise Isle

Hello Peeps, first off I must send a little message to those blog peeps I am hoping to meet at Stamperama tomorrow, hopefully our plans will fall into place, but we are very white here again and the roads decidedly dodgy, plus my legs are still MIA and I've had to pocket my pride and resort to to my wheelchair this past week so taking it all into account, will have to play it totally by ear come tomorrow.

Things have a habit of taking twice as long when my mobility goes out of the window and my mind is always half an hour ahead of my body, so I have been a bad, bad blogger this week and not helped by the fact my keyboard and mouse seem to have all but died on me and typing just a few words is taking forever...........would you believe I started typing this at 6am and now it's nearly eight, I've tried new batteries and all sorts and last night resorted to ordering a new one from Amazon.

So, better move on to tell you about Allsorts  where it's my turn to host the challenge where we are continuing with our Free and Easy February. And for my DT piece I thought an inky session was in order and have created a tropical scene using a collection of  Stampscapes images, Adirondack dye inks watermelon, cloudy blue and hazelnut, a little colouring with Copics and of course a masked moon with sponged sky and sea brayered with the Speedball.

I know lots of peeps think brayering is a bit of a scary pastime, but believe me it really is not and is the perfect way to make a fairly swift card. So if you've got a brayer collecting dust, get it out and have some fun..............and as I say at the top of my blog, just mail me if you need some help.

Have a good weekend and thank you so much for dropping by.    

Momories of hunting with my Dad

Good Morning peeps. hope you are all well this bright Tuesday morning, well at least it's bright here in the Fens, we still have several inches of snow and although it rained last night, the temperature plummeted to well below freezing again so the snow is hanging about.

You all now how much I love making scenes so could not miss the pull to create one for this months Create a Scene challenge where they would like to see 'Winter Scenes'. And this ones is my take on the scene I saw from my bedroom window so many times as a child, with my Dad, his gun and dog wandering off across the fields, when he would return at lunchtime with a brace or more of pheasants across his shoulder. Often I would go with Dad and we would sit for hours in a hide or in the spinney at the bottom of the back meadow waiting for the game birds to put up, with a flask of soup to keep us warm and not a care in the world, or at least it always seemed that way to me.

Stamps are a mixture of Art Impression, Stampscapes, Hobby Art and Inkylicious. I brayered the background with Adirondack dye inks cloud blue, denim and black and used Archival black for all the stamping. The fence is hand drawn.........every Country scene needs a fence in my world. The poem is computer generated and printed onto gloss cardstock........as the ink does not dry very quickly on the coated stock, I brayer the background before printing.

A little note about the blogger who has been compromising artwork which I posted about two weeks ago here. Please be assured that I am not ignoring the individuals and companies who have mailed me asking that I disclose the name of this person, but at the moment I am waiting for input from the company we both design for and this has been delayed due to CHA. 

Have a good day everyone and thank you so much for dropping by.

In the garden

A very Good Morning to you all, did you get any of the white stuff ? We certainly did, it started last evening and by this morning it was a foot deep against the front door where it had drifted, that's one of the benefits of living in the Fens, when it blows it really does blow. But it looks absolutely beautiful, the dogs have already had a good play in it and later the horses will get a little play or rather roll...........yes Keryn...........like me she loves animals and loves to hear about the horses activities................... it's another of their little treats. Believe it or not horses love snowy and frosty ground to roll in, but only ten or fifteen minutes mind you before it's back into their stables for the daily carrot hunt.

It's the first Sunday of the month so that means new challenges at Penny Black and More and Stampalot. The theme at Penny Black and More is 'Lets Play Bingo', but no ordinary Bingo, I decided to try out something different and have created a colour bingo grid. And at Stampalot the theme is 'In the Garden', no prizes for guessing who came up with that theme !! And of course I could have gone in making them forever for the garden theme, but I think two are enough this time round.

For my first Stampalot piece I stamped Hero Arts CG153 on acetate using Archival black ink.........I wanted a larger aperture for my frame than the actual stamp so inked and stamped the left side first, cleaned the stamp and inked just the centre elements and stamped them and finally inked and stamped the right hand side. It actually lined up quite nicely, but the frame covers the edges anyway. Next I then mounted it inside a frame created with Nesties and edged the aperture with another little frame punched from Nitwits DP. I then  stamped the inside element onto a piece of rainbow cardstock using Adirondack dye inks watermelon and meadow, stamps used are Penny Black 3381 Aspire, PB 3948K Fireworks and all time favourite Stampendous P107 Agapanthus Cluster.

I mounted the acetate framework over the flower piece arching it to create a window effect, then mounted the whole piece onto a base card. The two large butterflies and the tiny one on the inner piece are from Hero Arts CL383 and coloured with the same dye inks.

I have been really good with my second piece and dug out some pretty old Stamps Happen stamps as I thought they were ideal for the theme. When I was making this one I came to the conclusion that a non crafting male designed the stamps because who else would come up with four stamps for the four season and make three vertical and one horizontal ?

So I had to come up with a design where I could incorporate all four together and made the base shape using a score board and two pieces of A3 cardstock - it is a bit of a heavyweight card. I coloured all four imaged with Aqumarkers, matted onto bazzil and used two coordinating sheets of Kaiser DP for the background. The sentiment on the central panel is Penny Black 2905H The Best, the swirls a making memories die and the flowers and leaves a Marianne die.

This seems to have become a bit of a lengthy post so I hope you can bear with me until I have finished my Penny Black and More share. I opted for the yellow, white and black row as it's a colour combo I love............and this card is very similar to one a few weeks ago, just different stamps................always so fresh and crisp. My main image is Penny Black 4039K Candid................I don't think they are mean to be daffodils, but I always think with a bit of imagination and the right colours you can get away with it..........and Penny Black 3096F Host of Daffodils. I inked the floral stamps with TH mustard seed and Aquamarkers and spritzed with water before stamping onto as piece of Fabriano watercolour card. The frame is made with Nesties and the flowers Spellbinders and Marianne dies and some feather to finish.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone and I really hope you can join in our challenges this month.

Down on the farm

A very Good Morning to you all, I hope everyone is OK and ready for the weekend.

At Allsorts today we are kicking off our Free and Easy February, a whole month of creating whatever takes your fancy and this week the lovely Debs is our host and our sponsor is In2Stamps.

My share today is something I made some months back for a Stamp Addicts Create and Craft TV show, but I never got round to blogging it so here it it today at long last. I think this is a sort of shadow box which I created using a scoring board and cut the window with a Go Create die. To make the scenes within the frame I used stamps from a number of the Countryside stamp sheets as well as the Gypsy Caravan sheet and you will find them all on their web site. All colouring with done with Aquamarkers.

Whatever you have planned for the weekend, have fun.