WOYWW, A card and a new art journal!

Good morning my dear bloggy friends!

I am not blogging much these days - I guess life is happening and I just don't have much time these days - honestly there isn't even much to show as I am not doing much crafting ! I will get back into the swing of it but it is happeneing in a very slow pace! 
I have started off with a card - I made it for my daughters boyfriend! He is into sailing so I thought I would make something with a boat....here is what I came up with....

The background was some DP I had in my stash from Kaiserkraft ( I think) but I didn't like the color of it so I changed it with dipping into distress stain broken china and peacock feathers! The stamp is from Inkadinkado and I colored it with distress markers - the rope and fish are from my stash!
This week I got a special package - it was from the newly wed Donna - from Doings of Doone! She sent me a lovely art journal from Dyan Reaveley - and Donna and Jo from Jozart each made a page for me inside....here are some photos of  my new journal....
Donna also did a bit of decorating on the outside....

here is proof that it is a genuine Dylusion thinge...

Here are the pages Donna made for me.....

and Jo.....

How can my humble knowledge of art journaling compete with this??? They are both true artist so these pages are just gorgeous!  I just started off with coloring the inside cover page using silks...gives the page a bit of a sheen.... I have an idea what my next move will be and I will reveal it later in the week....

And I shouldn't forget to mention that I  also got lots of other bits and bobs in that package amoung them was this lovely art journaling guide from Dina Wakley! I have already read through half of it - really amazing book - I recomend it! THANK YOU DONNA I AM REALLY HAPPY!!!!!!!

So there that is my desk this week....I have a few photos from my holiday but I downloaded them to my other computer so I can't get to them at the moment - I might put them on my next post!
We have some rainy days after all that sun and heat - we might be wishing those days back as the temperatures have certainly dropped! Hopefully there will be an Indian Summer! 
Have a nice week and a lovely WOYWW !
Lots of hugs to all of you
CARDARIAN







 

WOYWW , Just a card!

Hello my dear friends!

I keep on apologizing for not blogging but I will be honest with you - there is nothing to blog about - it was very hot - we broke the record last week - the temperature went over 40 deg C !!! It has eased off since but my mojo has gone on holiday (obviosly likes it a bit cooler) and I am stuck with lots of lovely stamps, new dies, paints and sprays but absolutly no idea what to do with them! I can't remember when I have been sooo completly out of  ideas - it is like my brain has been washed and there is nothing creative left there! 
I am off on a 4 day holiday from tomorrow at the seaside with my DBF who came back to Slovenia yesterday  so I hope that I will get some ideas there and start creating again!  Huh! 
I have made ONE card - I think it must have reached its destination so I am safe to show it! It is a bit of a mixture of techniques - I made the background with Fresco acrylic paints, bits of pages from an old dictionary and I went as far as using light molding paste on a stencil! I used some of my new dies from Sizzix (frame), Memory box (leaves) and Marianne( flowers)!  I also used some glass little flowers and a few blue pearls! The leaves were shaded with distress ink - as they are so small I dabbed them with a cotton bud!
It isn't much but it was all I was able to put together! 
Here is my card....

 
and some close ups....

So that is my bit for this week! Not much but at least I made an effort! 
I am not sure how many of you I will be able to visit but I will try my best! I hope you have a lovely rest of the week and hopefully my mojo will be back soon and I will be able to show you a more creative post - there will be a photo report from my holidays!
Lots of hugs to all of you,
CARDARIAN

WOYWW, A few bits!

Hello my dear bloggy friends!

Another 2 weeks have passed and you haven't heard from me - I guess my life is just so busy I just can't get up to proper blogging! I am very sorry to dissapoint my lovely followers but I am sure things will get back to normal! I have been making cards and stuff but I am not really in the proper "arty" mood! It is very hot these days - we had 36 - 38 deg C all last week! There was a stormy night yesterday so a bit of a relief but not for long - we are back in the 30s today! Anyway here is my desk and a few things I have made in the last 2 weeks!....
First up my desk......quite tidy - the reason is I have tidyed up to start a new project and that didn't happen - I was suppose to Skype with my dear friend Donna ( and start the project) but she never appeared online so I didn't do anything, what you can see is a  journal page which I have made recently.....

It is just paint, washi tape and lots of stamps - no stenciling! It is all the rage now - it seems every designer is making stencils! I am surprised people didn't think of them before! I can't get myself to do a lot of stenciling - maybe it is too messy for me or I just think that once you go really big with these stencils the stamping gets 2nd place and what did I buy all those lovely stamps for????? Well I guess I shouldn't be too critical - they are excellent for layering! Maybe I will start liking them who knows???
Next I have a few cards that I have made for sad occasions - recently we had a few deaths - not my relatives - just people I have been friends with for years and also others - so I have made a few Sympathy cards....

Now to happier cards....it was my daughters name day Friday ( Saint Anna) so she got a bit of a more happy and modern card - she wants me to do more "less is more" cards so I made an effort....

I used a few of the new Hero arts stamps but also I just "stamped" some distress stains! I quite like the card - funky! Oh and by the way - all you Annes, Annies, Annas - happy belated name day!!!
And as last on Monday it was my moms name day - her name is Martha - which is a name that has practically disappeared ....I made a card for her that is more a classical card and I sent it off and she was very happy - here is what I made....

I used one of the new Crafty Individuals stamps - ha - I used a Prima stencil....TH DI for the background, lace and some old paper from a magazine that was thrown out of our library! I colored the stamp with Derwent Inktense Pencils - I LOVE THEM!!!! Amazing colors, they blend and are probably one of the best of my recent investments! Oh yes after coloring the whole lot I used various Stickles to give it a bit of a sparkle!
So that is all I have made - I hope you enjoy the snoop and I will get around to visit too! Have a lovely week and I hope to see you soon!
Lots of hugs to all of you,
CARDARIAN

WOYWW, summer is not helping with my art!

Hello my dear bloggy friends!

How are you today?? Surprised it is Wednesday again! Huh! I am! I haven't done anything and the week has already come around! I don't know it seems to be the summer! The longer the days the less I do! 
Well ok there is this tiny little bit I have done - last Friday I talked to Jo from Jozart and she was explaining to me what they have done at Vicky's Stampers - if you live near Liverpool join those people - I would but I am about 1700 km away so really it isn't an option! Anyway one of our WOYWWers Neet from Hickydorums did this "metal" class for them and of course I asked Jo about all the techniques - dutifully wrote them down and then made 1 piece! 1 piece!!!!! All week 1 piece! You know how they say you should do a bit of art every day - well it really looks like I will never be a proper artist! But as a crafter I am showing you my desk.....with the instructions and my first ever metal work...

a close up.....

so that was my big weekly effort! And now a few other interesting things you might want to look at....first last week I forgot to show you another gift I got from Donna - this really amazing very artistic junk key...
look at all those bits and pieces encased in resin....love it!

and then there is this new thing about our library.....our library is sort of half in the ground so instead of a lovely view into the faculty garden we were looking at a horrible retaining wall.....but that will soon all change...because I suggested we get one of those street spraying artist and he makes something on that wall for us....it isn't finished yet but the first bit is done so please have a look....
This is the boring retaining wall that hasn't been done yet....

and here is what the artist has made up till now... the wind and storm....

birch trees.....

and animals....

this is what it looks like when you come into the library....

So tell me what do you think?? I like what he has done - I have asked for lighter colors as I don't want it to be darker then it is already!


Thats all folks from me for today! My DBF is here and he wants us to watch a film together so I have to go now!
Show off your desks at Stamping ground - the place to be if you are as nosey and crafty as the rest of us are :-))) - that third thing is not my big smile it is my double chin!!! UHHHHH!!!
Be safe - don't get a sunburn - use sun cream! Have a lovely week - enjoy summer while it lasts ! 
Lots of hugs to all of you,
Cardarian

WOYWW, In the summer time when the weather is fine...

Hello my dear friends!

I think I am finally back for good - I have had a lot of visitors as you all know and also I have no mojo so there isn't much to show - I have ideas in my head but they don't seem to want to materialise but I hope that this week will be the one when I finally get back to doing stuff!
As it is Wednesday I will show you my desk, but what you will see there is work of other people - not me!
I have been blessed with lovely gifts all summer! When Jo (from Jozart) came she gave me a bunch of lovely gifts - crafty and non crafty! Then I went to the crop where I was given all those lovely ATCs! My DBF gave me a lovely perfume from Paul Smith - Roses and some cash to by stuff at the Artistic stamper ( and yes I have spent it all there!) Next I came home and was sent a lovely package from Janet - Fairy Thoughts  - here is what was hidden in that package! A lovely card and a selection of amazing sequins ( i just desplayed some of them)  which I have been looking for for ages and have now been given! Thank you sooo much Janet - you will soon see them put to good use!

 
Next up is a picture - actually two pictures from Donna - absolutly love them....here is one side...

and here is the other....

she also painted me a lovely rabbit and other things which I will make into a little book and will show some other time....
And here is another lovely ATC I was sent from Neet from Hickydorums oh I just love this stamp - looks like a Dali painting! Thank you so much Neet!!!

And here is a photo of my boring desk....as you can see I have put together a few things as I have some ideas in my head but for now it is just material and nothing else! I hope Mr. Mojo returns and we will have a happy reunion with lots of lovely makes!

I have a bunch of photos to share and keep on promising I will and I will do it tomorrow! My DBF is visiting and I said to him -" I need to be at home for 2 days to do some blogging" so he said  " go on then"!
Have a lovely week as I hear lots of you are blessed with nice weather - so are we! Not too hot at the moment - just nice summer days! Do you know the 1970s Mungo Jerry song In the summer time??? I found it on YOUTUBE and thought you might all have a little dance..it really catches the essence of summer...

Share your tidy and messy desks at the Stamping ground where our lovely leader Julia is in charge!
Lots and lots of hugs to all of you,
CARDARIAN

WOYWW : Donna.

Hello my dear bloggy friends!

I haven't posted for a while. I know I am a bad blogger but there are reasons for that! I had visitors and more visitors, but today I am going to post no matter what!
So what is on my work desk? Donna!

Yes my lovely friend has been here with her lovely boy Niall (isn't that a romantic photo)

and we have been travelling, eating good food 

 
having good laughs aaaaaand CRAFTING!!!!!!!

So what have we done craftwise....

here is the desk of last night......

what we did was we made a template (texture board) out of modeling paste, stencils and we used it on the gelli plate and here are the fantastic results..... texture plate..

and here are our mono prints which look very layered because of the way they were printed - there is a new video about this technique which was made by the Gelli plate company - do have a look!

Donna did loads of lovely bits for my journals and I was taught how to do randomness ( I can' t explain it on here but in future when I do stuff you will understand what the lessons were about!

Now here is something Donna has been working on for her collabor - art (using my stamps - she did clean them) sitting here in excrutiating pain because she managed to throw herself down a flight of stairs the very day she arrived and sprain her ankle ! Have you heard the one about nurses and doctors being the worst patients??? I will say no more.... he, he....

I have also recieved 2 lovely ATCs from Sam from Hettiecraft 

and Sarn from Stamping for pleasure!

Thats all folks - there will be more photos in the next few days but for now I think this is more then enough!

Lots of hugs and love from
Cardarian and Donna

WOYWW, Life takes over and then you have no time!

My dear bloggy friends!

A very good evening to all of you! It seems that life gets in the way of my blogging and crafting lately! I had very good plans to write about my travels and post a few posts about what I am doing and also send a few people long overdue ATCs, emails and my address for them to send me things ( Sandra from Stamping for pleasure and Janet from Fairy Thoughts) but all my plans came to a halt when my mom called saying she has some health problems and I had to rush over there (200 km away) to see her and sort her out! She is feeling better now so I am back home and working long hours - I will try to sort out everything and get back to normal but obviosly when you are at my age it isn't that easy to carry on when you have a bit of a shock!
Anyway I will get back to everybody and I will send off the ATCs tomorrow - they are all ready to be posted - just need to take them to the post office!
Next up - my desk - I had a rush job to make two cards for my daughter, she will be going to a christening of her friends little boy so she wanted a card to say thank you for the invitation and also a card for the christening so here is my desk after making them - a right mess.....

and here is what I made.... The card has a vintage baby photo - not the actual baby that will be christened!

I made the little envelope with my new envelope maker which is quite a practical little tool....very easy to make any size of envelope - big or small!

I hope to have some time on Sunday (Saturday I will be at my cousins 50th birthday party - another day when life takes over)  and write about my latest adventures I will get to Sandra and Janet as I finish this post and hook up to the WOYWW central! Whaaaat????? You haven't heard of it! You must have! It has been going on for 4 YEARS!!!!! Well go over to Stamping Ground and Queen Julia will tell you all about it!!!
Ok then I am off deskhoping and emailing people - see you sooooon!
Lots of hugs to all of you
CARDARIAN
PS : I have recently recieved yet another lovely ATC from Twiglet and as it came after I showed the rest of my lovely ATCs you can have a look at it now... thank you Twiglet - it is lovely!!

 

WOYWW - all about the crop and my desk....

Good evening my dear bloggy friends!

I am very late posting - the reason is I came back from England last night,  went to work early this morning and came home late and honestly I am soo tired but I thought I just must jump in to say a few things before I trott off to bed!
Number 1 : THANK YOU JULIA AND LLJ for a wonderful day at the crop! I know you had a lot of work organising this and it was absolutly amazing! It was just a great day of friends and crafters meeting and enjoying doing what they like to do,  having some really good food (LLJ thank you it was all yum, yum) and enjoying our occasional teas ( mhmmmm Julia you did very well with that) and we even had an amazing cake (Fairy thoughts - Janet uhhh I must get that recipe!) and lots and lots of chat!
Here is a picture I snagged from LLJ blog - I didn't take a single photo at the crop!!! Imagine that!! I was chatting and eating and drinking tea and finishing off some of my atcs and suddenly they said we were going home and they all packed up ( I had to also!) so in the end I didn't take a single photo! Please go to LLJs blog you will find loads of photos there - others have also put on lots of photos so have a look!

 
Number 2: THANK YOU to all the lovely girls that attended the crop! I had a wonderful time chatting with you and find that everytime I go I meet some lovely people! This year I was especially happy to meet Shaz Silverwolf and her husband - both amazing kind people! Shaz laid out a table full of lovely things for us to take home! All sorts of die cuts and other nice things! Her husbund helped my DBF with some computer problems! Thank you so much!It was also lovely to meet Debs who was sitting next to me and gave me some nice crafty tips! I can't mention all of you but you were all wondeful!!!
Number 3: ATCs - I gave everyone at the crop an ATC and got ATCs from most of the attendees! I have sent one off to my original swap partner who was Minxy! Now I didn't have anymore to send from England but at home I have another few so I will send them tomorrow to a few people in England and other parts of the world  - I won't say who - let them be surprised!
Here is my lovely collection of ATCs....

From left to right Kyla, Jo, Wipso, Donna, Janet, Helen, LLJ, Cash, Julia, Mary Anne, Shaz and Zoe!
Those are the ones I have recieved up till now....love them all - thank you to all of you!!!
If anybody would like to swap with me let me know and I will send you one!!!
So there that is done!
Number 4: Finally my desk - I haven't done anything but what you can see are bits of lino cutting I did when Jo was here and a crackled butterfly me and Jo made with this new kid on the block called Kroma Crackle - very good cracks!!!

 
I promise I will share some photos from my travels in the next few days just give me a day or two to organize myself!
Ok then time for bed!
Have a good nights sleep and I will see you all soon!

Lots of hugs and love to all
CARDARIAN

WOYWW 208, 4th Anniversary!!! WOW!!!!

Good morning my lovely WOYWW friends!

I have been away for a while - very busy galavanting around Italy, Slovenia and now England! Read about all our adventures in Italy and Slovenia on Jozarts blog she has visited me with her husband Dave and has done an excellant job reporting about all our adventures! We all came back from Slovenia to England last Thursday and the next day I whizzed of with my DBF on our annual MG club trip to the Isle of Wight ! I will talk about all that later but now there is more important stuff to talk about!
And what is that you ask????? it is the 4th ANNIVERSARY OF WOYWW!!!!! YIPEEE!!! Open a bottle of champagne and celebrate this wonderful idea of our Queen Julia from Stamping Ground who 4 years ago started this lovely gathering, got us all hooked and is the heart of all this lovely friendship that has evolved over the years! THANK YOU JULIA AND THANK YOU TO ALL WOYWWers for taking part in this event every week and making all this friendship splash around the globe! We are sooo lucky to be a part of this!!
Now even though this is the celebratory week we still must carry on with our regular weekly business so I will now show you my desk....well it is not my usual desk it is the dining table in my DBFs launge!

 

 

The flowers are to celebrate the 4th anniversary! I am making ATCs  - I have made a lot already so they will be sent out to the people I will not see at the crop but I will bring the ATCs to the crop to give them away as it makes no sense me sending them from Slovenia!



So there that is our usual WOYWW done - as said I will show and tell about my adventure on the Isle of Wight but here is just a line up of all of the MGs that went on this trip! - took a picture when we were waiting for the ferry!

 





My dear friends, have a lovely 4th Anniversary WOYWW - I will be around to see you all and ask you for your adresses so I can send some of these ATCs out! Thank you again for all your comments and friendship!
Lots of hugs and love to all of you,
CARDARIAN