It's Spooky Night....Beware!

Hello Ghosts, Ghouls, Witches and Goblins everywhere and Welcome!!

As it is Hallowe'en today I thought I would share with you my latest creation!  It is a long picture heavy post so the cauldron is on, get yourself a cup of Poison, maybe grab a few Dragon's Breath cookies or some Frog Spawn pudding and take a peek. It is not like we are going to see too many Witches out and about tonight!  It is pouring down here so there will be many a fire damped down.  Hope you like....

A Maya Road Post Box which I ordered from USA about 4 years ago "just because" and have been gathering little bits and pieces and ideas waiting for the right time to make this box into something magical.  

Be careful of the bottle of poison on the left.  The Owl at the back is keeping his beady eye on you too!

Some Roses made from the Tattered Pinecone die by Tim Holtz.

And no Hallowe'en project would be complete without a Haunted House complete with rusty railings. 

And inside a little book of Potions ....

Notice the glow in the dark skeleton hiding on the ring?

The box was first painted black with acrylic paint dabber and then papered with flock papers from MME. 

Home made Fimo Bats! 

Here are the feet....two bottles of Witches Brew and two bottles of Hobgoblin Brew were drunk to create this project!  All in the name of Art don't you know?

I am going to enter this project into the following Challenges:-

CC101 - Holiday anything goes!

Snippets with Pixie- anything using snippets

Inspiration Emporium - Spooktacular Decorations

In my haste to post this project last night (technical issues - grrr) I forgot to post it into the Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp. whose challenge is Pearls.  Although the photos don't show them up very well, there are Perfect pearls on the book as well as all being sprayed with both Heirloom Gold and Forever Red liberally.  In fact my Craft room floor is glimmering right now!

Terry has very kindly let me know of another Challenge blog which I have not come across before, and I can pop this piece on there.  Please go and see them there is some fabulous Spooky work over there.  Link is HERE and it is Fashionable Stamping Challenges!

Off you go Trick or Treating and I hope you get lots of healthy treats!!  Honest!

Wahahahahahahaha!

Hettie

Ingredients:-  Distress Inks, Grungeboard, Grungepaper, Tattered Pinecone die, On the edge dies, memo pins, Archival inks, Perfect pearls sprays, acrylic paint dabber, Rock candy Distress stickles, Alcohol inks, Button, Perfect pearls, Perfect pearls mist, tassel - All Ranger, My Mind's Eye papers, Pink Paisley papers, Bazzill cardstock, brads, chain, fimo, silicone mould, Silhouette images, Stamps MME, DoCrafts, Tim Holtz, Craft Stamper, Rusty embellishments, ribbons, Hampton Art glitter, Glossy accents, Claudine Hellmuth medium. 

Rudolph Day - Use it Up

Hello Friends

Just quickly popping in to let you see another Rudolph Day card I have made recently.  Robin is sure doing a grand job of holding down the cards for me.  I think he likes being in front of the camera!  He is a bit cheeky like the one who comes round the chikkin run in the mornings in the hope I will throw him some corn, which I do.  Better that than he take my girls' corn!

Some stamping, using up some eyelets (don't know why I don't use these very often?), some Snippets to punch the EK Success border and the Stampin Up label.  Some Liquid Pearls on the border and a Hero Arts stamp for the HO HO Ho!  

Linking this up with the Rudolph Day Challenge and in the Snippets Playground.

Right, off to get my Broomstick cleaned and polished for tomorrow.  I have something to share with you tomorrow so please pop back.  Just sayin'!

TTFN

Hettie

  

Rudolph Day - Use it Up

Hello Friends

Just thought I would pop in and show you another Christmas card I have made using a stamping which I was given some time ago and has been in my basket waiting to be used. It has been coloured with Copic pens. The background piece was a piece of card which I stamped with Tim Holtz snowflakes and white embossing powder.  

The sentiment is Papermania, the tag is a Stampin Up stamp and punch, and I have used up a Snippet of ribbon and brads.  

I shall be popping it in to the Rudolph Challenge and also the Snippets Playground.  There is still time to join both so why not join us?  

TTFN

Hettie

Friday Funny - Australian Love Poem

An Australian Love Poem

(Who said Australians weren't romantic?)

Of course I love ya darlin

You're a bloody top-notch bird

And when I say you're gorgeous

I mean every single word

So ya bum is on the big side

I don't mind a bit of flab

It means that when I'm ready

There's somethin there to grab

So your belly isn't flat no more

I tell ya, I don't care

So long as when I cuddle ya

I can get my arms round there

No sheila who is your age

Has nice round perky breasts

They just gave in to gravity

But I know ya did ya best

I'm tellin' ya the truth now

I never tell ya lies

I think it’s very sexy

That you've got dimples on ya thighs

I swear on me nanna's grave now

The moment that we met

I thought you was as good as

I was ever gonna get

No matter what u look like

I'll always love ya dear

Now shut up while the footy's on

And fetch another beer

Well, it does say "Friday Funny"!  Have a great weekend!

Happy Rudolph Day...

Hello Friends

 

 

Gosh! Where is the time going these days?  I can hardly believe that it is Rudolph Day yet again!  Though I do get reminders from Mrs Rudolph Day!  So without further ado here is my Rudolph Day card for October.....

Can you believe we only have ONE yes ONE more Rudolph Day before Christmas Day?!!  Yikes!

 

The die cut was given to me and I embossed it with sparkly embossing powder.  The stamp on the top left is an old one and was embossed with silver embossing powder.  The Houses were cut using a Tim Holtz on the edge die and were embossed with clear embossing powder.  The card base is another of those QVC ones I am trying to use up.  As the houses and sentiment stamp were made using Snippets I will be taking this to the Playground.  It may even win extra points as it includes PINK for the PINK Princess!

 

Why not join in with some Rudolph Day cards, or tags, or pressies?  You have until 1 November.  Details can be found HERE.  There is a lovely PB stamp on offer too for a lucky winner! Though I want it!

 

TTFN

 

Hettie

 

P.S.  If you want to know more about the etched wine glass see the post below HERE!

 

 

CC2C - Try a little etching....

Hello Friends

I am doing something tonight that I don't do very often....no! Not housework...but a second posting.  The lovely Linda has suggested we try something a little different and out of the box but fun nonetheless this week.  Glass etching.  On reading the information on Friday night I set about trying to locate some etching cream. You would not believe the number of sniggers I got and then having to repeat myself emphasising the ETCHing!!  Every place I tried within a 20 mile radius told me that you cannot get it any more....(where have I heard that before) although I found I could buy it online.   However, as we passed the Model Shop I asked Hubby to stop...politely....and the chappie in there told me for the umpteenth time that they could not sell it due to EU rules...something about toxic, fire risk, irritant ......(my eyes glazed over at this point....if you are going to eat it, rub it in your eyes whilst smoking that is your lookout), but he did have a spray version.  Out came my purse and I snatched the can up before he asked if I would be having adult supervision!!

So here is the result of my playing with the spray can last night.......

I LOVE it!  So much so I have ordered some cream now to finish the other four glasses I bought.  I would say that on a die cut this large it might be easier to use straight sided glasses but what is a little tuck and crease here and there?  I am going to get some glittery pebbles to go in the bottom of the glasses  and a tea light in each for Christmas.  I will also make the other four up for gifts, also with glittery pebbles and tealights.  

If you want to see the tutorial which Linda has done for this technique click on HERE to be whisked off to Simon Says Stamp blog.

Thanks Linda for this.  Thank goodness for the Model Shop in Abergavenny or else I would have missed out!  Woo Hoo!  I promise I won't rub the cream/paste in my eyes too!

I will be back tomorrow, as it is a VERY important day!!

TTFN

Hettie

WOYWW 177- Back Again!!

Hello Friends

Yep! It is Wednesday, aka Hump Day, středa, mercredi  mercoledì, miércoles, miercuri, dimecres, Marcuri, dies Mercurii, Mittwoch, Wodanstag, сряда sryada, srijeda, среда sreda, środa, среда sredá, среда/sreda or cриједа/srijeda, streda, sreda, середа sereda), Keskiviikko, Miðvikudagur, Mikudagur,  Ónsdagur, and Onsdag. (Thanks Wikipedia!)  If I have missed your language, please feel free to comment!

So as is customary in Blogland I am here to take part in the mid-week/fourth day/third day, depending how you look at it, blog hop aka WOYWW.  So without further ado...da da da da da daaaaaaa........(turn away if you have an aversion to busy desks...yes you Sandra!).... my desk is not messy...it is busy!!

I took this photo straight after completing my homework which the Mistress of the Desks set at THE Crop......and it is still like that now!

and.......

Miss Julia gave us a card, a Snippet of lace and ribbon, some sparklies. a heart, a flower and a house.  So I created a door complete with knob (apparently a little known factoid but there are more black front doors in Wales than any other part of the UK, apart from Downing Street possibly!  Ours is wood colour as it is wooden!! Logical really!)  I added some Snippets of the papers I was using at THE Crop, some more ribbon, some lace which the friendly Pixie gave to me and a map with arrow and some Martha Stewart punching.  Oh! and a title cut with my Cricut!   Abracadabra, a layout of the day was born.

Now here is what you do now.  You kindly leave me a comment (please) then you link on the WOYWW and you hop over to Miss Julia's blog and you enjoy a hop around the world via crafting desks!  I will then call by to see your desk later as I have work and then dancing.  If I don't get to you today I will call by later in the week.

TTFN and thanks for calling by.

Hettie

Happy Birthday Vicky..

Hello Friends

A brief post today as I am running late!  Oops!  A card for my friend Vicky for tomorrow...

Some Snippets, punched flutterbies from Martha Stewart and stamps by Penny Black and Tim Holtz, Distress Inks, Tattered Rose and Brushed Corduroy and some Coffee Archival ink.

Have a good day all!

TTFN

Hettie

First Visit to the Playground this week

Hello Friends

Here we are on Monday morning, the start to another working week.  It is too dark to know what the weather has in store for us, but the forecast was good!

Here I am showing you a card I made recently for my friend Debbie's Birthday, which was made using Snippets, Liquid pearls, Stampin Up, EK Success and Martha Stewart punches, a sentiment which I have had for eons and a stamping from House Mouse coloured in with Copics.

 And  here you can see some stickles which I painted on the ribbon.

Off to play in the Playground with this now.  

I wonder if Teacher has chosen what colour the inside of the Treehouse will be painted yet? No doubt it will be some shade of pink!

Have a good week.

TTFN

Hettie

Getting a nice pile now....hic!

Morning Friends

I finally discovered last night that I am not the only messy Crafter in my room!  My lovely friend Lesley came up for the evening.  First we ate some fabulous chicken and chorizo "stuff" I had thrown together in the slow cooker then we adjourned to my Craft Room.  

Those lovely peeps who commented on the amount of bags I had on Saturday should see what Lesley had brought and all in boxes!  Of course we had a very nice bottle of Pino Grigio to go with our dinner and once the bottle is opened the wine has to be drunk, so with some Christmas music playing we set to work on making some Christmas cards!

So here is what I had finished by the end of the evening.....

I managed to use Snippets on every card, as well as those cards I am not keen on from QVC kit bought years ago, so I get to join in with the Snippets Girls and Miss!  Did I tell you I met Miss last week at THE Crop?  She is as lovely as I imagined she would be and I did not see that cane once!  Fergus liked her too!  Though do you notice she has no flower in her hair?!!

Right, time to set to with the horrid task of ironing.  You should see how much there is.  I spent my usual ironing night last week packing and then last night I was busy card making so there is quite a pile! I would rather be crafting!

TTFN

Hettie

Friday Funny

A WOMAN'S WEEK AT THE GYM

If you read this without laughing out loud, there is something wrong with you. This is dedicated to everyone who ever attempted to get into a regular workout routine

Dear Diary,

For my birthday this year, I  purchased a week of personal training at the local health club.  Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear.

Friends seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

________________________________

MONDAY:

Started my day at 6:00 am. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god-- with blond hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile..  Woo Hoo!!

Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines... I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring!

Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around.

This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!!

________________________________

TUESDAY:

I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it!  My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile.  His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!  It's a whole new life for me.

_______________________________

WEDNESDAY:

The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it.  I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals.  Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot.

Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying.

My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster.  Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators?  Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life.  He said some other shit too, but I didn't have enough oxygen flowing through my blood to provide my brain with the oxygen required to hear him say anything!

_______________________________

THURSDAY:

Asshole was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl.  I couldn't help being a half an hour late-- it took me that long to tie my shoes.

He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom.  He sent some skinny bitch to find me.

Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine-- which I sank.

_________________________________

FRIDAY:

I hate that bastard Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic, little aerobic instructor.  If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it.

Christo wanted me to work on my triceps.  I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the damn barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich.

The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher.  Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

________________________________

SATURDAY:

Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today.  Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel..

________________________________

SUNDAY:

I'm having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over.  I will also pray that next year my husband will choose a gift for me that is fun-- like a root canal or a hysterectomy.  I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!!

Fankoooooooooo

Hello Friends!

Oh My!

                Wow!

                        Fan-flippin-tastic!!!

                                          Good grief!

"What is she on about?" I hear you ask?!!!!  I will give you a clue......

It all started HERE.....

With my first ever blog post on 17 January 2011.  Started partly because I wanted to join in the fun and malarky of WOYWW and partly because I wanted to be able to join in challenges. 

And now in the very week the Lovely Julia and LLJ hold the first ever International (yes truly International) WOYWW Crop, and on a WOYWW night, I get to the grand total of 100 Followers!  I am shocked!  

I have had a wonderful journey with my blog and have enjoyed the fun, friendship and commoradory of blogging and I want to thank YOU, my Followers, Visitors and Friends who have called by and left me your friendly comments.  

Thank you.

Now I just have to rack my little Pooh brain to figure out how I am going to celebrate this momentous occasion!!   No doubt there will be a little Baileys involved or suchlike!

TTFN

Hettie

P.S.  This particular piece still hangs on the door of my 'puter desk in my Craft Room and I still love it! 

WOYWW 176 - Carry on from Saturday..

Hello Friends 

Don't feint but yes I am joining in the WOYWW fun for the third week on the trott!  THE weekly blog hopping, desk hopping, officially being a nosey parker event organised by the Lovely Julia.    

Following on from Saturday's Crop of the Year I thought I would try and master the beading project that Janet of Fairy Thoughts started me on.  I was not too happy with my piece as it did not seem to be the right tension so I cut the thread and started again before I could have a chance to forget what we did.  Here is my desk.....

As you can see I have been rummaging through the beads I have to make the dangley bits to hang from the central column (which has now had a tube inserted).  

And here you can see some of the danglies I have put on.

All my work being supervised by the Green Kitty aka the Glitter Puss (certain readers may be giggling at this comment...Morti!).  You may notice I am on the "other" desk.  This is because I am currently working on the project that I had on the go on Saturday and I am waiting until I have more done before sharing it with you!  It is my blog so I can do what I want to!!  Hee Hee.

And here is the Lady Julia and myself at The Crop on Saturday.  We were in the middle of putting the tables away, hence the table leaning up behind us!! Thank you Julia sooo much for organising The Event with the Lovely LLJ.  It was great to meet you all and looking forward to the next one!!

Oh!  And as for Fergus.  He had a great day.  Cuddling with lots of lovely ladies!!

Right, off to work and I shall join you later.  If you leave a comment I will pop over to see you but it may be later on in the week!  

TTFN

Hettie

Mini Album...Arrival of Chooks

Hello Friends

What with all the packing up of my many bags on Friday night for Saturday's WOYWW Crop, I did not get round to posting up my mini album which I started at the Retreat I went on earlier this year.  

On arrival at the Retreat we were given a box containing some papers, a piece of acetate, some string!, two paper bags which had been stitched to form a book and some embellishments.  We were all to make a mini album with what we had been given.  Unfortunately I had packed light (hence why I now take too much rather than not enough) so was rather limited as to what embellishments/stamps I could use.  However, I just had to improvise and other than the addition of a few stamps and some extra doodling when I returned home, this album was mainly completed at the Retreat.

It is a picture heavy post so get yourself a cuppa (or something a little stronger!) and take a peep.  

The background to this mini album is the setting up of the chicken run and the arrival of our first chicks in early May 2011.  The album is dedicated to my lovely Hubby who had to do most of the work without my help as I had recently had knee surgery.....

 

Here is the cover on which I used the Alphabet dies that were there and the buttons were from my mini guillotine which has a sliding drawer for keeping bits 'n' bobs in.  The chicken stamp was from my Artemio set.  The heart on the front is an East of India heart that came off a gift tag some time ago (i.e. a Snippet amongst many that were used!  Snippets are not just for cards!!)

Here is the inside of the cover... Take one Chookhouse..

If you look carefully you will see a pair of feet poking out of the bottom.  Unfortunately this was the only way Hubby could lift the chookhouse on his own and I found it hilariously funny and had the camera handy.....a true scrapbooker!

Then I kept asking him to move it left and right just because I found it sooo funny!

I don't know how many times I asked him to turn the chookhouse nor how many photos I took.  It kept me entertained for quite some time!

Here on the right you can see what I did with the acetate.  I folded it and added a tab onto the edge with "Pull me" written on it...

I have to say I had great fun with all the punches that were available at this Retreat!  It certainly encouraged me to add to my small collection, and the first addition was the bunting punch from SU.  One of the best I have bought!  Through my buddy Sandra of course!

And here is the acetate at full length and the first photo of the chooks in their run!

And here is the other side. 

The paper bags formed two "pockets" and I was able to make a small book to fit in each pocket of the album.

Just putting some bows onto the door of the coop and run to welcome the chooks in before we went up to my friend's house to collect them.

And here is another book with some photos of the chooks.

This is Betty on the left and Wilma (one of the two ladies we lost to Mr F) on the right.

Here you can see Betty, Abbey (the other victim of Mr F) and Myfanwy with Ziva's beak peeking on the left!

Thanks for staying with me this far.  Please let me know what you think!  It is a lovely way to mark the occasion of our first chooks.  Those peeps that were at THE Crop on Saturday will know that I like to make mini albums.  They are great for those times when you need several photos to tell the story but the photos you have would not be suitable for 12 x 12 layouts. 

I would also like to say a Hello to Li'l Pidge who I met on Saturday.  Thanks for becoming my latest Follower.  I cannot believe I am up to 99 now!!  Wow!  Thanks to all my followers for giving me the encouragement to keep this blogging malarky going!!  Will have to think of something special to mark the occasion of the 100th Follower if and when it happens!

TTFN

Hettie