Friday 31 May 2013

Friday Funny


Teacher arrested


A public school teacher was arrested today at Brisbane International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Nicola Roxon said she believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. She did not identify the man, who has been charged by the Australian Federal Police with carrying weapons of math instruction.

'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like "X" and "Y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns" but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."

When asked to comment on the arrest, Prime Minister Gillard said, "If Darwin had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes." Government aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the Prime Minister.

Wednesday 29 May 2013

WOYWW 208 4th Anniversary Special - And a Reveal!

Hello Hello Hello

Welcome to my Lickle Blog
Come in Sit Down Converse
It doesn't always look like this
Sometimes it's even worse!

Yeay today is the day of the Fourth Anniversary of WOYWW!  You know WOYWW where a bunch of 150 or so peeps from around the world take a picture of their desk and pop it on their blog so that other WOYWW members can have a legal snoop peek into their craft spaces.

So without further ado, here is my desk as it stood last night.....

This is the aftermath of my Anniversary ATCs for the swap (nowt for you to see as I cleared them all out of the way!) and the start of another project which I will reveal soon hopefully.  Not finished yet so you have to be patient.

The Wedding photo is there as I am planning a layout for it.  The card to the right is one from my friend Mo - isn't it gorgeous!  The cream things to the left of the calender are cup cake holders from the Wedding.  Want to try to use them as masks! At the front of the desk to the right are the covers for my latest project.  White pot to the left is a pot of gold embossing powder waiting to go home after embossing the dividers for the project.

Now then.  Some of you will remember that on previous WOYWW posts recently I have been working on a Wedding Garter for my Nephew's Bride to wear at their forthcoming Wedding. As the Wedding took place a few weeks ago I am now allowed to share it with you.....


Right.  You know what to do now.  Click HERE to be whisked away to the Hostess Julia's blog where you will be able to catch up with all the other Blog Hoppers.  

Happy Anniversary Julia and thank you so much for creating this Wednesday phenomomonon!  If it wasn't for you I would not have dipped my toe into this blogging malarky!!  

Hugs and thanks for visiting.

Hettie

xx

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Scrapbooking Tuesday - Tutorial - Storing Thin Dies - 500th Post!

Hello Friends

Blinkin' 'eck Peeps!  When I went to write yesterday's post up I realised that my next post (i.e. today's) was going to be my 500th post on this here Blog!  Wow!  I cannot believe that so many of you have tuned in to my Blog (that is an old saying isn't it!) and read my waffles.  So Thank You to everyone who visits me.  Also, a huge Thank You to my Followers, including my very newest one, Karen.  If you didn't follow me, then I would not post here!  Hmmn!  Not sure that quite sounds right!

Well, it is Tuesday today and as most of you know, I usually do a scrapbooking post today.  However, I thought I would kinda twist this slightly and show you how I am have now turned an old safety deposit box into a storage box for my thin dies.


I don't know how you store all your thin dies, but mine were growing quite rapidly and because of the different boxes they all come in, I had them dotted around my room in various boxes, drawers and baskets, which was not good.  If I wanted to take them anywhere I had to remember where they all were and then try and pack them carefully.  I needed a good solution.  




So I emptied this tin of the lace it was holding, bought some magnetic sheets (A4) and cut them in half and popped them into the said tin.  Eureka I thought!!  However, when trying to lift the sheets they would bend and then some dies would come loose.  I needed them to be stiffened! (Don't be rude now! No viagra involved here!)







So then my album making skills came into use.  I cut some chipboard to the required size (taking into account the lock at the front of the tin!!  







Covered them with scrapbooking papers that have lain in drawers for a loooooong time and/or were in my Snippets box.  Then rounded the corners off with my corner rounderer.

I made some tags with my Memory Keepers tag punch, scoring and folding the card and cutting them out with the punch just below the top blade so they would be folded.




This way they would fold over the top of the "page" instead of having to adhere two separate tags together.  Then using the clear stickers that came with the punch I adhered the tags to the top of the "pages".  Red is Sizzix, Black if Paperartsy, Purple is Spellbinders, Turquoise is Memory Box and Blue is Quickutz.  Other dies also available!

I rounded off the magnetic sheets, again using the corner rounderer.

Then using hi tac redline adhesive I adhered the magnetic sheet to the "page.SHINY SIDE UP!

Tee Hee.  This sheet is so shiny I can see my reflection!













Then the task of placing my dies to the pages.  



And here are the pages in the box.  The tape you can see in the top is also magnetic and came out of the DVD type boxes I bought as a potential solution.  By adhering these to the top of the tin, I can just place the dies on there as I am using them ready to be put back once I have finished which means I don't play that "where did that die go" game in amongst the papers as you are using them!

You will notice that I have placed tags on the top left with the die numbers on for easy reference (and avoiding duplicate buying).  Next time I get my dies out and use them, I will cut extras and place on the pages for easy reference too.

All I need to do now is to decorate the box.  That is another project for the future!

I do hope this has given you an idea for your die storage.  I will share with you the fact that before I went to the trouble of covering the pages, I did cut the chipboard and place between the sheets a few weeks ago to check I was going to be happy with this idea first!  Having bought DVD cases and magnetic tape which did not work for me (they kept coming unstuck and flipping to the opposite page) I wanted to make sure I was happy with my idea first!

Thank you for calling by.  I shall pop this over to the Playground as there are lots of Snippets used here (and I am desperate for the SD stamps on offer this week in the draw), as well as recycling the tin which was destined for the bin in work, so is a kinda Snippet!  I keep hoping I can find more of these tins, but a load were binned not long before I started!  Typical!

Hugs

Hettie






Monday 27 May 2013

It's that time of the month again!

Hello Friends

No!  Not that time of the month, but Rudolph Day time with my Buddy Sandra!!  

Normally I make a card or two, but earlier this month, whilst looking for something completely different,  I came across a box from a famous smelly cosmetics shop which did contain some bath bombs and the packaging was popcorn.  Typical crafter not wanting to waste anything, I sat down with some beads, beading thread, long needle and glass of wine in front of a good program (Gibbs of course!) and threaded the popcorn and beads to make a Christmas decoration for our tree, or maybe the Playhouse Tree as it is using snippets of sorts. 

Hope you like....


If you want to join in the fun of Rudolph Day, click HERE for the details.

I also want to apologise for not being around much this week.  I have been a little distracted since my visit to the hospital on Wednesday and receiving some unpleasant news.  Not one for being down for long I shall be around stalking visiting you very soon.  Just bear with me for the moment please.

Hugs

Hettie

Friday 24 May 2013

Friday Funny


Adult Fairy Tale
- Little Friday Humour -

Once upon a time there lived a King. 


The King had a beautiful daughter, The PRINCESS.. 


But there was a problem. Everything the princess touched would melt.


No matter what; 

Metal, 
Wood, 
Stone, 
Anything she touched would melt. 

Because of this, men were afraid of her. Nobody would dare marry her.

The King despaired. What could he do to help his daughter?

He consulted his wizards and magicians. One wizard told the King, 'If your daughter touches one thing that does not melt in her hands, she will be cured.' 

The King was overjoyed and came up with a plan. 

The next day, he held a competition. Any man that could bring his daughter an object that would not melt would marry her and inherit the King's wealth... 

THREE YOUNG PRINCES TOOK UP THE CHALLENGE. 

The first brought a sword of the finest steel. 

But alas, when the Princess touched it, it melted. 
The prince went away sadly . 

The second prince brought diamonds.
He thought diamonds are the hardest substance in the world and would not melt. But alas, once the Princess touched them, they melted. 


He too was sent away disappointed. 

The third prince approached. He told the Princess, 
'Put your hand in my pocket and feel what is in there.' 

The Princess did as she was told, though she turned red . 

She felt something hard. She held it in her hand. 
And it did not melt!!!
The King was overjoyed. Everybody in the kingdom was overjoyed. 




And the third Prince married the Princess and they both lived happily ever after. 

Question: What was in the Prince's pants? 









M&M's of course. 



They melt in your mouth, not in your hand.


What were you thinking?? 


I WORRY ABOUT YOU SOMETIMES!!

(Disclaimer:  Other chocolates are available!)

Thursday 23 May 2013

Birthday Card for Claire

Hello There Friends

If you saw my WOYWW post last week, you will know that I had a card on the go on my desk.  Well today I thought it was high time that I shared it with you so here it is..... 

The stamped image is a favourite of mine which I have shown you several times and the inked background is a mix of Victorian Velvet and I cannot remember the other Distress Ink now!  (Oops!)  In my defence, I made the image some time ago when I was making a card for a Playground friend and I made two at the same time!  I then matted it on to a Snippet of gold card before I matted it again on to a turquoise piece of card.  I bought this turquoise card ages ago and had not got round to using it.  It is fabulous let me tell you!  The edge was cut using my new Spellbinders die and then the pattern was cut using a Spellbinders die I bought in the run up to Christmas without realising I needed the edge die!!!!  Note to self - READ THE FLIPPIN' INSTRUCTIONS!!   

Using some of the Snippets bits I punched some flutterbies with my Martha Stewart punch and a tag using my TH die, stamped with SU stamp.  Some lickle pearls and a piece of ribbon and hey presto!  Just like that! Claire's card was born.

Hope you like it.  Claire did!  She is a very pinkey and girlie kind of gal!  Off to play in the Playground now. Anyone coming up the Helter Skelter with me?

Hugs

Hettie

Monday 20 May 2013

Scrapbook Tuesday - More Mini Wedding Album

Hello Friends

Gosh!  I don't know about you, but Monday evening sure went quick for me.  One minute I was pickling eggs then the next I realised it was time for me to write up my Scrapbook Tuesday post, so I have taken the laptop to bed with my hot chocolate and am writing this in the comfort of my cosy bed!  

As Weddings are high up in my mind at the moment, due to it being my Nephew's Wedding last Saturday, I thought I would share some more photos of my mini Wedding Album with you.  It is quite appropriate really, as my Nephew Rhys features in the first layout I am sharing with you.  Aww Bless!  

My proud big Sister, the tall one, is here also as well as Rhys' twin sister Angharad (the darker haired Bridesmaid at the back).  

I love this photo as it was a bit of a candid one in that we weren't posing.  I think snapshots are sometimes much better than the "official" ones!

This photo is one of my favourite photos of the day.  We were having a chat here and the photographer caught us before asking us to turn to face him!  I was trying to get Simon to give me a kiss!!

It is one of the only photos where you can see the flowers in my headdress.  I love my headdress and at the time I chose this tiaras had started being the in thing so everyone kept trying to push tiaras on me.  I refused to have the one in the shop as it was missing a few beads, and so it had to be ordered!!  It was touch and go as to whether it would arrive in time.  I was a bit techy about having the one from the shop that others had tried on!  The amount it cost I felt I had every right to be!!  It is available if anyone would like to "borrow" it!!

Well, I hope you have had a giggle at my expense!  I shall take it along to the Playground as it includes lots of Snippets, and I know a few of my Playmates do like a giggle!

Off to beddiebies now! Nos da!

Hugs

Hettie

Sunday 19 May 2013

Birthday Greetings...Men's cards

Hello Friends

Well, I don't know about you but I have had a busy weekend, so much so it seems to have gone in a flash!  Thank you all for praying for good weather for me, it has been glorious in South Wales! 

On Friday my friend Stephanie and I went to Malvern and had a lovely day wandering around some fabulous quilts and then having a little spend at some of the stalls...well, it would have been rude not to! 

Saturday it was my nephew Rhys' Wedding to Michelle which was wonderful.  I can now share the lace garter which I made for the Bride, which I shall do very soon.

And Today, it was the sponsored walk for In the Pink, which some of my friends from work undertook as well as Dobby.  He even got a medal for his 10 mile walk and now he is curled up next to me on the settee absolutely shattered!!  Thank goodness the weather was kind to us!

Today I am going to share a couple of men's cards I made for two peeps in work recently.  I always have a problem with men's cards, but my Artistic Outpost stamps came to the rescue....And of course my Distress Inks in Gathered Twigs and Pumice Stone...

This was Matthew's.
And this was Hugh's.  As you can see I made them with folds to the right and to the left.  I am not sure which is the "right" way, but to be honest, I really don't think it matters.  They work either way.

The background papers I used were some Bo Bunny and Papermania, both out of my Snippets box so I am going to take a (slow) walk over to the Playground to see what mischief peeps have been up to this week!

Thanks for calling by.

Hugs

Hettie

Friday 17 May 2013

Friday Funny


Onions and Christmas Trees

A family is at the dinner table. The son asks his father, "Dad, how many kinds of boobs are there?"

The father, surprised, answers, "Well, son, there are three kinds of boobs.  In her 20s, a woman's are like melons, round and firm.  In her 30s to 40s, they are like pears, still nice but hanging a bit.  After 50, they are like onions."

"Onions?"

"Yes, you see them and they make you cry."

This infuriated his wife and daughter so the daughter said,  "Mum, how many kinds of "willies" are there?"

The mother, surprised, smiles and answers, "Well, dear, a man  goes through three phases.  In his 20's, his willy is like an oak tree, mighty and hard.  In his 30s and 40s, it is like a birch, flexible but reliable.  After his 50s, it is like a Christmas tree."

"A Christmas tree?"

"Yes.  The tree is dead, and the balls are just for decoration."


 

Wednesday 15 May 2013

WOYWW 206 - How much mess can one card incur?

Hello Friends

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It is WOYWW Day with the lovely Hostess Julia.  

Without further ado here is my desk as it was last night as I was putting a card together for my friend Claire who's birthday is today.....

How much mess can one make whilst making a card?  Lots......

For those of you who called by last week, you will recall that I mentioned Doris the Duck when relating how old the fabric was that I used for my ironing board cover.  You see I bought three lots of fabric, all the same but in different colours.  Well here is Doris in her finery......

And now her "ankles"....
Yep!  It is a DC01 and it is still working though I am waiting for a new belt as it snapped last Thursday.  

Right.  No dancing tonight as we have finished until September so I will have more chance to visit desks tonight!  Yeay!!

Can I ask you all to think warm thoughts for me this coming weekend please?  I have my nephew's wedding on Saturday and my dress is not exactly suitable for this chilly weather and some of my work colleagues and I are completing a sponsored walk for In the Pink (breast cancer research) on Sunday and I do NOT fancy doing it in wellies and sowester!

TTFN and see you later!  Don't forget to join in with Julia HERE.  

Hugs

Hettie

PS If any of you who were at the Crop and saw my Christmas Album in the making, it is HERE if you would like to see it finished.



Monday 13 May 2013

Scrapbook Tuesday.......And it is finished!

Hello Friends

Welcome to this week's edition of Scrapbook Tuesday.  I hope you are well and have a cuppa as this post is a little photo heavy (but not as photo heavy as it could be!).  I thought that as it is now heading towards the middle of the year it was high time I shared my Christmas Album with you.  It has been finished a while but I just have not got round to photographing or sharing it with you.  So sit back and take a peek at the finished album and I will try not to butt in too often while you browse..

The album was taken from a pattern which I bought and downloaded from Laura Denison of Following the Paper Trail. I covered the outside covers with hessian and then adhered Papermania papers, which I have used throughout, and decorated with embellishments including the Poinsettia die cuts which my friend Helen let me cut at The Crop I.  Thanks Helen.  (In fact I am not sure she had even used it when she let me borrow it!)

Inside cover with a piccie of Mr Hettie putting our second tree up in the Dining Room for me.  He actually ended up decorating it too!!  
Inside pages showing all the pockets, journal cards on which I stamped, buttoned, ribboned, punched, strung, die cut and doodled on.  
Stamps used included Darkroom Door, Crafty Individuals, Tim Holtz, Wendy Vecchi, Penny Black and Craft Stamper freebies to name a few.  
Papers used were from Papermania and cardstock was Bazzill.  
Buttons from Hobbycraft and Brads from MME.  The domed stickers were from err!  Forgotten.  I will try and remember.
Punches used were Stampin Up, EK Success and Martha Stewart.  Dies used from Tim Holtz.
The small pockets were cut using the Silhouette.
Ribbons came from a number of sources including Snippets.  In fact there are lots of Snippets in this project!




Inside back cover.  One of our latest decorations bought in our trip to Bath for the Christmas Market.
The decoration on the spine was made using alcohol inks resist technique and a Memory Frame from Ranger.  Stamps were Tim Holtz.

And here you see a taster of what the pockets contain.  Three photographs which were dated and which signified aspects of a particular day.  They were not in strict order, it sort of depended on the photograph.  The tags were photographs of tags that I made for the Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of 2012 which I shall definitely be joining in on this year.at the start as opposed to Tag 9!!
The end cards contain journalling as do the insides of the flaps to comment on the photographs.  I bought the white Sharpie pen from HERE and it is the best pen I have ever used for writing in white!  

As the Papermania paper pack I used for this was 6x6 I can enter this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week - yippee!    Serendipity strikes again!

Crazy Hazelnut is looking for stars this week.  I know there are plenty hidden in this album so I am going to pop this project into that challenge too.

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed making this album.  The paper engineering was alot of fun, even if it did create alot of mess and "Punch Poo" at the Crop.  Incidentally, if any of you who are going to The Crop II on 1 June would like to see this at close quarters, I am willing to bring it.  Just leave me a comment to that effect.  

Right.  Off to beddie byes now as I am feeling very tired and very sniffley and this Rum Toddy is starting to take effect on me!  

Hugs and TTFN

Hettie