SHARY'S STAMPING SANCTUM

Robbyn

2007-09-04T14:55:00.000+01:00

Here's my youngest, Robbyn. She started FS2 today, which means she gets to wear uniform for the first time and go to school till 3pm. Well she won't for the first three weeks she will come home at 1pm and then stay till 3pm. Her brother Tyrrell started Y1 today.
So that's all four of my kids at full time school now!! Blimey how time flies!!

Time for a break

2007-09-01T08:05:00.000+01:00

Nothing new to show for a bit as I've decided to take a break. Thank you for all your comments they were all appreciated.

Good News......

2007-08-24T06:40:00.000+01:00

for once....

Sigourney had her exam results and did really well. She got...

1C, 4B's, 3A's and 1 A*.

She is starting 6th form in a couple of weeks time for two years until we get out of the army. She then wants to go to Uni and study.... politics (!) and media.

I haven't a clue where she gets her intelligence from!!

What is it with the weather?

2007-08-24T06:39:00.001+01:00

We had to come home early from our holiday. The weather was terrible , torrential rain. What a bummer!!

Holiday

2007-08-17T15:45:00.000+01:00

Well we are off on our holidays later on tonight to Brittany , so see you all soon. :-)

Altered kiddies domino

2007-08-08T15:34:00.000+01:00

Mandy gave me some kids giant dominoes and I had a go at altering one. So here's the result.

I modge podged tissue paper onto it to give me a base. I then painted over it all with lumiere paint. Using H20s I painted the sides and then when that was dry I glued on the angel and birds and gessoed the edges of them. Then with a crackle stamp and black stazon I stamped along the edges and stamped the text. And to finish off I added the decorative corner and also used a corner as a hanger.

Brats

2007-08-06T10:28:00.000+01:00

I made these three ATCs as extras so I can take them to swap at the Stempel Mekka.

The images are from a collage sheet at

www.Cassiscreations.etsy.com

I love them as the girls faces are so petulant. :-), mm reminds me of a little girl I know.

Am Meer (By The Sea)

2007-08-06T08:55:00.000+01:00

These are for another 3/3 + 1 for hosting swap on the German Yahoo group. The first one is using an encaustic art background, the second one is using an embossing template to create a wavy effect. And I think the other two you can see are just inked and stamped.

Zeit (Time) Swap

2007-08-04T11:12:00.000+01:00

I haven't had a lot of time to do any ATCs lately with the kids being on the Summer holidays, but I managed to squeeze these in. They are for a 3/3 +1 swap for a German yahoo group.

So Proud

2007-08-04T08:22:00.000+01:00

I am soooo very proud of my 16 year old daughter, Sigourney. On Sunday she is flying off to the UK for a week to attend a Summer School in Cambridge University!! She was invited by the Uni and she will be the very first child to attend from a Services School. She has worked so hard this year for her exams and is expected to get A's and B's. No one from either of our families has ever attended Uni before so she will be the first one. Sigourney is hoping to go to Uni in two years time when she has left the Sixth Form. Lol god knows where she gets her intelligence from! It will be an emotional time for me as I will miss her so much and like a mum I will be worrying about her as it will be the first time she has flown and also on her own!! They sent her a timetable and blimey she will be having lessons on astro physics and linguistics among others. There will also be some downtime for her too in the evenings. They have arranged for her to go to an outdoor play at Trinity College , a ghost tour and punting. What an experience for her.

Unfortunately we will be on holiday when her exam results come through so she will have to wait a couple of days to get them , but I know she will have done well.

I am sooo proud of you Sigourneyxx.

Sewing ATCs

2007-07-26T20:20:00.000+01:00

These three are for a 2/2 + 1 for hosting Sewing Swap on Louise's forum.

Vintage Paris

2007-07-24T19:50:00.000+01:00

I know I said no more Paris but Mandy twisted my arm as she is hosting a 3/3 swap on www.atcards.com, also done an extra one for her for hosting.

TMTA

2007-07-23T13:01:00.001+01:00

The theme for Think Monday Think ATC this week is "Holidays".

Two Front Teeth

2007-07-23T10:06:00.001+01:00

Tyrrell went to a party yesterday afternoon with all his teeth intact. This is how he returned!!!! :-)

One of his front teeth were slightly loose but according to a mum he went on the bouncy castle with both of them and came off with none!! She managed to retrieve them so he could put them under his pillow for the tooth fairy though.

Nominated

2007-07-22T10:38:00.001+01:00

Sharon nominated me for the Rockin' Girl Blogger award. Thanks Sharon :-). So I now have to put the badge up on my blog and nominate 5 other girls whos blogs I think are great. So here are my 5:

Mandy

Cassie

Lottie

Kirsi

Dani

Thanks girls your blogs are always so inspirational.

Summer Fun

2007-07-19T19:32:00.001+01:00

Because it's been so hot here lately the kids have spent a lot of the time in the garden with their "crazy daisy". Tyrrell loves it and has no fear of getting soaked but Robbyn is a bit more cautious. Instead of walking straight up to the daisy like her brother she slowly backs into it saying "I am there yet?" :-)

TMTA

2007-07-17T09:11:00.001+01:00

This week's theme is "Asia". I wasn't going to do it this week as I don't have many things Asian. But had a spare hour so decided to have a go.

A Big Thank You

2007-07-12T10:29:00.000+01:00

I would just like to say a big "thank you" to everyone who has taken the time to leave a comment on my blog. It is much appreciated. I love to read them and enjoy looking at all your blogs, I try to go on everyone's at least once a week.
Thank you.

Party Hats Swap

2007-07-12T10:23:00.001+01:00

These are for a 3/3 swap + 1 for the hostess. Mandy is organising this swap on www.atcards.com. The party hats are from artchix and all the backgrounds are done in inks with a stencil over the top.

Bad Hair Day!!

2007-07-11T18:38:00.000+01:00

I made this quickly this evening because I saw the image and thought yep that's me every day!!

Art Journey Kids & Smiles

2007-07-11T06:43:00.000+01:00

These are the three ATCs I made for mine and Mandy's monthly challenge. (not so much a monthly challenge now , the turnaround seems to be quicker :-) ). It was my turn to send the images and I chose these Art Journey plates. Love these stamps. www.artjourney.nl. I'll be sending the Willy Helene and Men plates next time so keep watching. :-)

Two more Paris

2007-07-10T10:30:00.001+01:00

I keep getting asked to do Paris swaps. But here is my last two. No more now!! :-)

Think Monday - Think ATC

2007-07-09T11:00:00.000+01:00

This week's theme is "Faces". So here is mine. I used an encaustic art background.

"The Sea" ATCs

2007-07-06T10:40:00.001+01:00

I made these this morning. Not for any swap but just because I felt like it. I've used collage sheets, distress inks and gesso.

Inchies

2007-07-05T14:11:00.000+01:00

This month's theme for the inchie swap on Louise's forum is blue & white/blue & cream. And here are mine.

Busy Thursday morning.

2007-07-05T13:10:00.000+01:00

The first lot of three are for a private swap with a girl I know from an ATC forum . She chose the theme of Paris. I decided to do two more so I could take them with me to swap at the Stempel Mekka in September.

Party Hats!!

2007-07-04T08:27:00.000+01:00

Mmm something a bit different from me here. Not sure if I like them or not.

Anyway this is for a 3/3 swap + 1 for the hostess (of course

;-) ). I have two sets of party hats to do for two seperate forums, so I thought I'd do them both in different styles. Lol watch out for the next lot!!

Mandy's Tags

2007-07-02T10:38:00.000+01:00

Mandy sent everyone a tag on Louise's forum to alter in a TH distress style.

Here's my effort , I hope you like it Mandy!!

Think Monday - Think ATC "Children"

2007-07-02T08:24:00.000+01:00

Here is my contribution for Think Monday - Think ATC. The theme this week is children

Altered Dominoes

2007-06-29T10:40:00.000+01:00

This is the first time I've tried altering a domino. (as you can see lol). These are for a swap on Louise's forum. The first one is for a mobile phone and the second is a fridge magnet.

TH monthly challenge

2007-06-29T09:12:00.000+01:00

Mandy sent the images this month for our challenge. Here are my three. The second and third ones are using the Brasso technique. I try to use new techniques but to me my ATCs all have a "sameness" about them, maybe I concentrate too much on trying new things?

A Tim Holtz image swap

2007-06-27T17:05:00.000+01:00

Mandy sent us all some TH images to use as a 3/3 swap. Here is what I created with mine. The first is using adirondak ink in a spritzer for a background with a bottle top for the face image , the second is the wax paper technique, the third is resist embossing and the fourth is using sequin waste as a stencil.

Wax Paper Technique

2007-06-26T09:11:00.000+01:00

These are two backgrounds I made this morning using the wax paper technique. I think they look quite effective.

I found the paper at http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/

Crowns and Wings

2007-06-22T10:56:00.000+01:00

Another swap organised by Mandy on Louise's forum. A 3/3 +1 for hosting. Think I've got a thing for kids at the moment!!

Nostalgic Couples

2007-06-20T10:24:00.000+01:00

These are for a 2/2 swap + 1 for Mandy for hosting on Louise's forum.

4x4 Swap

2007-06-18T13:12:00.000+01:00

These are for a 4x4 challenge that I am taking part in on Louise's forum. It's the first time I've done this sort of challenge so I hope I've done it right.

I only received the "men" and "Willy Helene" plates from Art Journey today, but really love them so had to use them.

Paperartsy Challenge

2007-06-17T10:33:00.000+01:00

Here are my paperartsy challenge for Mandy. We do an image challenge each month. The third one I tried a new technique with Brasso of all things. I was quite pleased with how it came out.

Monday Afternoon

2007-06-11T15:52:00.000+01:00

Yay , the kids were invited round next doors for tea so I could get to play!! Here are two ATCs I just made with my Art Journey stamps. I used some backgrounds that I made a while ago with the splat and spin machine with alcohol inks.

Monday

2007-06-11T09:40:00.000+01:00

Two ATCs for a lady that contacted me on ATCards for a blind swap.

Happy today as my Art Journey order has just arrived. The papers are even better in real life. I don't think I'll be using them just yet, they are for looking at not cutting up !! The stamps are so lovely too. And I even got a freebie, a lovely ATC made by Louise. :-)

Too hot

2007-06-08T15:32:00.000+01:00

It is sooo hot here. Very sticky and muggy, could possibly be in the high 80's. I haven't been into my craft room as the sun shines directly into it and I think I'd fry if I went in there.
{big sigh} still no stamps or papers from Art Journey but that could be due to the fact that yesterday was a bank holiday here. I like getting my post on a weekday it means I can play in the mornings, but knowing my luck it will come tomorrow (Saturday) when all the kids are at home :-(.
Have a great weekend everyone.

NevR Dull Technique

2007-06-05T20:20:00.000+01:00

This evening I tried a technique from the Berni Berlin ATC book. It's on page 32 and is called the NevR Dull technique. After reading all about it I realised it was probably the same thing as our Brasso. I made three but I'm only showing two as the other one is for mine and Mandy's challenge and I don't want to spoil it for her. I think it's quite effective.

2007-06-04T12:03:00.000+01:00

I love the Art Journey stamps so much so that I ordered two yesterday. The "kids" and the "smile" plates. Oh and also ordered some gorgeous 12x12 paper pads, "creamotion charleston", one in hip and the other in classy. (see pics). I don't know if the papers are available in the UK as I bought them off a Dutch site. The online shop was really helpful. Here is the link www.artjourney.nl , it's all in Dutch but if you email the owner she will sort out your order for you.

June's colour swap.

2007-06-04T09:21:00.001+01:00

These are my ATC's for the monthly colour swap on Louise's forum. 2 for the swap and 1 for the hostess. The first one doesn't show too good but it's better in real life.

But Why?

2007-05-27T20:36:00.001+01:00

You know how your kids say "but why can't I.... blah blah blah" well I think this little 'un is saying "but why can't I fly?" She has that look on her face.

For the background I used a background stamp that I had completely forgotten about, I've had it nearly a year from the Stempel Mekka (blush) and then used torn paper for more texture. I painted the little girl with H20's and then used computer generated text.

A Beach Triptych

2007-05-26T15:00:00.000+01:00

I was thinking of joining a triptych swap, but after the amount of time I spent on this one I think I'll give it a miss!!! I did enjoy doing it though. :-)

Beach Memoirs

2007-05-25T18:31:00.000+01:00

My new stamps arrived today, Beach Memoirs by A Time to Stamp from www.katy'scorner.co.uk so I got to work!!

Fairy Land

2007-05-25T18:27:00.000+01:00

I made this ATC today using an image that Louise kindly stamped for me, but I had to shrink it in photoshop. I love this little girl. She is coloured with H20s. And the flowers on her dress and in the top right hand corner are pressed flowers.

Vintage Bathing Beauties

2007-05-24T09:20:00.000+01:00

These are for a swap on Louise's forum. For the backgrounds I used my new Vivid inks. I love the raspberry one (top) but they are all really nice inks , so vibrant.

More Inchies

2007-05-23T12:07:00.000+01:00

The next in the series of inchies for the www.atcards.com forum. Yellow this time.

Friends swap

2007-05-19T15:02:00.000+01:00

These are for a 2/2 Friends ATC swap on Louise's forum. I've made an extra one for the hostess. I've used Basic Grey papers for all the backgrounds. The main image stamps are from Paperbag Studios and Cherry Pie. The swirls are from Rhonna Farrer.

Blue Inchies

2007-05-17T11:38:00.000+01:00

The next set of inchies for the www.atcards.com forum. Funnily enough the colour this time is... blue!!

Tuesday

2007-05-15T08:43:00.000+01:00

Well here she is , all dressed up and ready to go!! Not an excellent photo but she didn't take many in all the excitement. The theme of the prom was casinos. Apparently she was playing blackjack for most of the night!!

Monday

2007-05-14T09:45:00.000+01:00

The blue ATC is my first go at a cabinet card. I masked the little girl and then applied blue acrylic paint. When that was dry I stippled over it with white acrylic paint. Then I used Tim Holtz distress ink and distress embossing powder (thanks Mandy :-)) around the edges. Finally I stamped the text and book binding.

I was quite pleased with the result.

The green one I'm not too sure about. I used lumiere paint for the background and again the distress ink and embossing powder around the edges. I stamped images in black stazon and used the dymo for "heritage". I then added some gesso to try and age it.

Saturday

2007-05-12T17:23:00.000+01:00

It was my son Elliott's 14th birthday today. (He would like to bring the afro back lol). We had to get him this cake as it was either that or Barbie or Bob the Builder. He found it very amusing!!

My daughter's leaving assembly

2007-05-11T15:57:00.000+01:00

This afternoon we went to my daughter Sigourney's leaving assembly. I am so proud of her and she looked stunning. Biased maybe but I think she is beautiful. :-)

She is holding her Record of Achievement folder and it was full of certificates for her excellent work and sporting abilities.

She is off to her prom tonight but is having to stay over at her friends because it's quite a distance away. I've drummed it into her to take lots of photos of her and her dress so in the next few days there will be photos on here.

16 years!! Where did it go?

Thursday

2007-05-10T10:44:00.000+01:00

Well it's my ?? birthday today so what better way of spending it than in my craftroom doing my fav thing!! I made these two ATCs this morning for a Tim Holtz 2/2 swap on www.atcards.com run by louise (Zuzu). I used the Tim Holtz alchohol inks for the backgrounds and then for the first one I used a distress ink to stamp out the girl and coloured her in using cats eye chalk ink pads and pink chalk for her face and hands. I also added some sequins. For the second one I coloured the images in using cats eye chalk ink pads and twinkling H20s for her dress. Then I gave it all a coat of modge podge.

Kids Challenge

2007-05-07T18:26:00.000+01:00

These 3 ATCs are for a challenge that I do with my friend Mandy. We swap images and see what we can do with them. The third one doesn't show too well , the background is made from tissue paper and metallic paints.

Monday

2007-05-07T13:17:00.000+01:00

After weeks of gorgeous weather I woke up to a chilly and rainy day, so what better way of spending a morning than in my craftroom. I made these Da Vinci ATCs for a 6/6 swap that I am hosting on an European ATC forum.

Thursday evening

2007-05-03T18:28:00.000+01:00

Well here is my Da Vinci ATCs. Well not all of them , I did 4, these are 1 & 2 out of the 4. No 4 is almost the same as no 1 and will be on it's way to my MIL. No 3 is a surprise for the hostess so I won't be showing it yet. If you look very carefully at No 2 , in the upper stamped image you can see a Da Vinci face.

Thursday

2007-05-03T15:03:00.000+01:00

It's another beautiful day here , Summer has come early! I have been in my craftroom creating some ATCs for a swap on a forum. The swap was in the theme of De Vinci. I love the Mona Lisa and my Mona stamp is one of my favs. I'll be putting my creations on a little later :-). Too busy enjoying the sunshine in the garden with the kids.

And talking of kids here they all are!!

Tuesday

2007-05-01T11:14:00.000+01:00

I have the two youngest at home today as their school is closed due to the German bank holiday, so no creating for me today. However they have been good enough to let me sit at the pc and make this blog.
I won't be making an entry into my blog everyday so don't be looking !! Mind you with OH away what else would I do?

Red ATCs

2007-05-01T11:00:00.000+01:00

Another Red theme. This one is a 5/5 + 1 for hosting Red ATC swap. It's for the European ATC forum. Not a good scan, sorry.

Asian swap ATCs.

2007-05-01T10:32:00.000+01:00

These are for a 6/6 + 1 for hosting Asian swap for a European forum.

Red Inchies

2007-05-01T10:26:00.000+01:00

These are for the www.atcards.com forum. It's a 9/9 Red inchie swap. I tried to use different techniques for the backgrounds. So I've used patterned paper, acrylic paints, chalk inks, perfect pearls, alcohol inks and fabric.

Inchies

2007-05-01T10:24:00.000+01:00

These are my first set of inchies. I set up a swap on Louise's forum for a 12/12 Faces Inchie swap. I really enjoyed doing them.