Wednesday 30 November 2016

WOYWW

This weeks desk is slowly clearing down my die cutting from the weekend.

All I have on my desk is a Christmas card from Shaz (so sparkly) and three ATC's I got at the crop.
 

They are from Erika (her first visit and first ATC and hopefully not her last), Dolores (I think, there was no name on the back so sorry if I got it wrong) and Margaret (Glitter and Glue).

My previous post has details of the crop at the weekend (cake, chatting and good friends).

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week-'1st Lady Defends Crooked Tycoon' - no comment!


Happy Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday

Kyla



Monday 28 November 2016

WOYWW Crop

This weekend saw us meet up for the WOYWW crop, this time in a new venue with some new faces (and several not so new that have now become good friends).
 
The day started the usual way, coffee and something sweet and lots of chatting (many ladies crafted......I did not....I talked....A LOT!!!).
 
This picture came from the lovely Jan (a full report on the day can be found on her blog here



It was fabulous to meet the new croppers (is that the term?  Not sure, but it sounds good!) and to catch up with everyone.  Jan and Julia did a grand job organising it, Doug supplied us with hot drinks all day and Fiona kindly made the two of us a veggie curry and supplied one of her now famous lemon drizzle cake (seriously, it is delicious and does go like hot cakes!!).

As I said I didn't craft (I talked) but I did do a lot of die cutting and admiring of Shaz's dies and organisational skills and stamping of Helen's grumpy penguins!
 

The usual 'donations' table and raffle went well and I managed to donate some stash and also get some great storage bottles and tubes, stamps and a couple of inks and just over £100 was made for the Salvation Army Christmas collection.

It was a long but lovely day.  Catching up with everyone and admiring everything from Dolores fabric stash, Helens amazing journal, Fiona's perfect stamping and folding, Mary-Anne's IT skills turned into crafts, Livvy, Morti and David cross stitch skills to name just a few!

Just wish we could meet up more often (hint hint!!!)

Happy crafting
Kyla
 
 

Saturday 19 November 2016

Scrap card


Just a quick update for a card I have made with some more scraps from my offcuts box.
I love Tim Holtz 12x12 papers.  
They are so thick and have some great detail and I really don't like to throw even the smallest scrap away (and I don't believe I am the only one who strokes the papers?  No?).
 
I have had a few thrown in my box for a while and couldn't think what to do with them.  Then suddenly inspiration strikes (odd how that happens, the offcuts sit there for AGES, like over a year and then suddenly, a spark of an idea!).

I mounted them on dark card and then doodled a border around the card and voila!

Now I just need to find something else to make with my ever increasing scrap box!

Kyla
 
 

Wednesday 16 November 2016

WOYWW


Wednesday again so that can only mean one thing....Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday where we all link up to Julias blog (link over in the side bar) and bare our workdesks.

Mine is pretty bare at the moment.  I have coloured my pyrography coaster and given it a couple of coats of yacht varnish so it will withstand all those hot cups of tea!
 
I have also been painting some more of my "tolerance" postcards that I abandon on my travels.  With what has been going on recently around the world it seems even more important to remember respect, tolerance, dignity etc.

My "Man Bites Dog" cards...well what can I say-honestly they have been really odd the past month or so and once again 'Angel weeps for Laywer'!

Happy crafting
Kyla
 

Tuesday 15 November 2016

Dinky Screens

So the past couple of weeks I have been struggling with RA flares and now I have a chest infection and generally feel rubbish.  This means that I am not doing much, which is a pain as it means I have been missing some gigs etc.  

However at the weekend I thought I would get out my Dinky Screens (a local company) and had a go at screen printing. I have not been paid or anything else by this company.  I came across them at a craft show and because they were from Bristol (my home town) decided to stop and chat and was SO impressed with the product I decided to buy a kit and I was so please I did.

I haven't tried screen printing for a couple of years and their dinky kit is SO easy to use.  It contains everything you need from a sturdy mini frame, squeegy, a selection of paints, instructions and 4 stencils-all contained in a lovely tin.  Nice, compact and easy to use.

I had a lovely couple of hours-and really like the results.  Sadly I cannot show you as they are for Christmas presents, but take it from me I will be using this company again.

If you are interested their etsy shop  (they have lots of different stencils) can be found here

Happy crafting
Kyla
 

Friday 11 November 2016

Inktober

 Last month I showed some of the tags I had made for Inktober.
Every October artists all over the globe undertake to complete an ink drawing every day for a month.  Full details can be found here .

Having not taken part before I thought I would keep it simple and decided to concentrate on a quick 2 minute ink pen sketch on a tag featuring the same robot.  

On the website there are a series of 'prompts' such as 'lost' or 'noisy' that you can choose to follow should you wish (I did as it gave me less to think about).


I really enjoyed the challenge to draw every day and they all sit nicely on a ring hanging up above my craft room desk.


Since Boxing day I have also been doing a daily walk (on most days, but not every day as it difficult with the RA when it is in flare) and record it on my Instagram account here.

Is there anything you do every day? 

Happy crafting

Kyla

Wednesday 9 November 2016

WOYWW

 Hello peeps, it has been a busy few days.  Work, a friends wedding and two days at the NEC in Birmingham for the Art, Cake and Craft show.

Having been off work for a few days I am having to schedule this as I am super busy trying to catch up. Here are my spoils from the show.  I was really surprised how little I bought.

I bought a couple of magazines (that came with dies, stamps and a sewing pattern I liked the look of).  Two magazines and all their freebies were £6.  I bought some robot fabric for a Christmas present I am thinking of making, some stencils (£1) and a couple of small dies at £2 each (a sugar skull and a birthday cake).  An archival ink in violet (I don't have archival in pinks or purples so this will be perfect) and I bought 10 posca paint pens for £10 which is a bargain as I usually pay over £2 each for them.

I also bought some easy to use secateurs as we broke ours this summer so they needed replacing and it seemed like a good deal.


On the left is also a small canvass where we did a powertex session on the Thursday (£5) and we also did a pyrography session (£3) which is something I have been wanting to have a go at for a long time (I did it once many years ago with my dad but not for the best part of 15 odd years).

For £3 (which I thought was really good value) you chose a stamped item (I chose a coaster) and then you had some instruction and a practice on a plain piece before embarking on your final coaster.


It took a little while and the shading wasn't as easy but I was really pleased with the end result.


My 'Man Bites Dog' cards this week....well you will probably know the result by now...but my cards said...."Angry Thousands Lost Prez".....the world is watching.

So, do you have a desk (or floor) to share?  
Why not pop over to Julia's blog here and join us.

Happy crafting
Kyla

Sunday 6 November 2016

Wedding card

Just a quick update. I previously had a wedding card being made on my desk but couldn't share it until the happy day!

Well the couple have now received it so I can share it for all.

The wedding party was a lovely event and it was great to see friends so happy.



The card was a nice simple and reasonably plain to allow the beautiful, delicate vellum to be the star of the show.

Happy crafting
Kyla

Friday 4 November 2016

Purple scrap box make


Just a quick update on a recent card I made.
Whilst sorting through my scraps box I came across some scraps of fabric card I made and die cut AGES ago (music papers and scraps that I inked and free machine embroidered over) and some small pieces of gloss card with alcohol inks.


Sorting through my scrap box I came across some purple off cuts and using my TH tiny attacher I added some mini staples and a mounted sentiment.

Odd how scraps can sit there for ages then suddenly your mojo sits up and shakes you until you realise you have all the components for a card!!

After all, it's not like my scrap box is running short-but every card is a little more used!

Kyla


Wednesday 2 November 2016

WOYWW

Welcome to hump day and "What's on your Workdesk Wednesday" when we all join the lovely Julia to show our desks.


On my desk this week is my scrap box.  
Now this is NOT as bad as it looks (honest).  The back quarter of the box is filled with papers I have removed from some books to use in my crafts.  Now, I know this can be a sensitive subject, some do not like old books being repurposed.  However, these books would have been pulped as they were in the 'bin ends' at the charity shop and I would rather that some of the pages are used again rather than just pulped.  

I am also trying to sort out the papers into similar colours and I use my trusty plastic wallets for this, but I have gotten slack over the past month or so and just chucked them in so it's time to sort them out!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week....seriously, I randomly draw about 6-8 and use between 3-5 to make a sentence and they really are randomly drawn...
'Angry Thousands Drops Thug Tycoon' - PLEASE drop him like a hot penny!!!!
kyla