White on White card

I am trying out all the ideas I am getting on Pinterest...I have to make it pay its "rent"

...I feel that I spend far too much time on the net getting inspiration and not enough time at my desk using it!

I bought Tim's brick wall die by Sizzix today because I needed it to finish off my "house set" of window and flower box dies that I have already...I realised this when making the House Warming card the other day and had to use my Prima stencil which was a bit large in proportion to the rest of the card.

So here is my latest card done with the Tonic window and window-basket dies (on pop foam dots) together with Tim's Brick wall, all cut out of white Bazzil card stock.

Thanks for the visit.

Bella

Chalk board writing

I have seen on the Pinterest site a lot of inspirational quotes done in chalk and decided to give it a go...Not as easy as it would seem!  This is my first try.

Bella

House Warming Card

I was asked to make a house warming card by a friend to give her son and future daughter in law...

This is what I made!

I used distress ink through a Prima Stencil for the bricks.  Martha Stewart 5 blade scissors for the grass, Sizzix dies for the sunflower, fence and sign (which is stamped with Tims wood grain stamp in Coffee archival ink and overprinted by my printer with the text) and the Tonic die for the window and window flower box.  The little roses are spirals rolled and glued with greenery from the Tonic window box die.

What's on My Workdesk Wednesday 212? Card samples.

Hello there my fellow Wednesday Desk Hopper from Julia's place over at Stamping Ground.  Welcome to my cold and wintery desk in Cape Town, South Africa.

I got new dies in my store yesterday and decided to do some card samples so peeps can see what they can do with them.  This is how I photographed them for my store email and is what is still on my desk this morning before I whisk them off to the store when it opens!

Then some of you might remember the wonderful gift I was given a few weeks back...here is the giant printers tray as it stands now.  It has had a light spray with black paint and I am busy making little drawers for each of the bottom two rows to put brads and charms etc in.  The top row has glass jars of beads, the second row, small Sizzix dies, the third row, my glitters, 4th and 5th rows, my metal embellies for classes which still need boxes or jars or some such containers...a work in progress!  In fact if you look at the photo above, you can just see the bases of the next row of boxes to be made in front of my "note to Self" white board...

Thanks for the visit to my desk, now I am off to see what you have for viewing...

Bella

Tim's Tag for June

Well, I have been meaning to go get some watercolour paper since the 1st of June...it being the 19th today, I finally got to the shops!  How scary it is when time just evaporates before my eyes!

I used the Tim stamp I was gifted last week and coloured it according to his instructions and made the background tag using the identical colours. (having tested various papers, I have found that Manilla tags are simply the best as they hold the colour well)  The background stamp is from the Papillion set and I decided the tag needed something extra so I put a heart on a jump ring and attached it to the ribbon.

Only 10 more days to wait till Tim does his July tag!
Thanks for the visit.
Bella

What's on My Workdesk Wednesday 211? EVERYTHING!

Hello my fellow Desk Hopper, welcome to my desk in Cape Town, South Africa.

I am busy with this Saturdays class layout and a Spiderman card order for later today...

It has taken me a week to get my craft room sorted and to find space for all the paper storage cubes I was gifted last Tuesday...all 15 of them!  My dining room table is still covered in piles of organised books and magazines that came home in them, but that is another post altogether...its a gift that just keeps on giving!

I am officially the proud owner of one of Lunch Lady Jan's fabric buntings as my swap for WOYWW4.  Due to my clean up, re-organise and sort out, I had just got rid of my curtain rail and curtains, but had not yet taken down the hooks, which was a good thing cos when this arrived in the post yesterday, I knew just where it was going to go!  The perfect fit!

Then here is my pass it forward gift from Neil, my official partner who spoilt me with lots of chippies and a fab ATC.

Here are 2 more ATCs that arrived from Nan G and Ali H, just in time for today's desk viewing.

I leave you with a few more shots of my room to show where I have jigsaw puzzled the cubes in! 

Thanks for the visit, I will see you at your desk shortly!

Bella

Accordion Clock Card

There have been a few accordion die cards on the blogs lately (This one by Helen really took my fancy) and I was inspired to see if I could make my own using one of my existing dies.

I recently purchased Tim's Tick-Tock clock die and have made a card by folding the paper and cutting it with the fold not quite to the top, that worked well, but this is just so much better!

I accordion folded a 6"x 12" piece of green card stock and cut it with the die.  Then I did a normal flat piece of black and cut that twice for the cover of the card, keeping the inner circles for the backs.

I used florists wire as the "spinner" for the inner circle and sticky tape for the joins between the inner circles (put a backing piece of sticky tape in the centre of each piece so it does not stick to the card).  The photo below is wrong as I first stuck them all on the same side, but the one sticky tape piece has to be on the other side of the frame so that it will fold in the right direction, look at the last photo to see what I mean...I forgot to re-photo this image again after I corrected it...

I then cut one more full black clocks so I could use the inner circle and stuck the black "backs" over the florists wire so the circles could spin on an axis.

Lastly I decorated the card using Tims Gadget Gears die covered in crackle paint and distress stain, the Do Crafts gears die as well as the Couture Creations Timepiece folder swiped with Peeled Paint distress ink and some yummy idea-ology for added pop.

Thanks for the visit.

Bella

What's on My Workdesk Wednesday 210? The Tip of an Iceberg!

Hello my fellow Wednesday Desk hopper!  Welcome to my desk in a Wintery Cape Town, South Africa!

I say the tip of an Iceberg and I mean that figuratively of course...no ice here!  I was gifted the most amazing gift yesterday by a lady who is moving house and wanted a good home for some of her stash that she has decided to part with.  I am still bouncing off the walls,the ceiling and the furniture at the generosity of her gift and what I hope is the beginning of a wonderful friendship as I did not know her well before a 3 hour natter yesterday...

So the top photo is my desk and the mere "tip" of the stash which I have started playing with...Tim Holtz wooden stamp, original Sizzix dies which you can see the cuts I have made to test and a Tim die too in the front right.

Now the view of my Chaislounge (sp?) where I unpacked the box of original Sizzix dies into categories like flowers, kids, shapes etc as well as 3 x A4 sheets of unmounted rubber stamps and another Tim die and one of his books and 2 more Stampers Anon wood stamps.

Here is the box it all came in which still has that awesome Shadow Box font in it which I have loved and adored, but not been able to afford ever since my first class I attended where it was used 9 years ago!

My dining room...full of books on the floor and 15 paper cubes each full of a lifetimes worth of Scrapbooking magazines and then the most beautiful and useful giant printers tray which I am going to get hubby to put up in my studio for me to put the dies into as the small ones all fit.

Here is a close up of the inside of each paper storage cube to show they are all full of magazines which is how I got them all home

Then I have been getting happy mail from the WOYWW4 swap as I made extras and agreed to swap with some of you...Here is Hettie Crafts (Sam), Ros A, Kim Young and Sandra De's beautiful little creations!

Sorry it is such a long post for those of you who like to "speed desk" but I just had to share my incredibly generous gift with you all.

Now I am off to see your desk over at Stamping Ground where Julia valiantly hosts us all each and every Wednesday

Thanks for the visit

Bella

Cards from Tim's Sizzix Dies

Well, if you are a regular Wednesday desk snooper then you will have seen my typewriter card made from Tims die which you can find more about HERE, including the jpg I made so you could download and cut out your own card inner and paper piece...

BUT...I got to thinking about the other dies Tim has in the vintage line and how they could work as cards and these are what I have made!  (well,I had to do a rather pricy shop first...as I had not NEEDED these dies before...)

The clock face was a freebie off the net somewhere and the speech bubble I got off Google images.   I feel a little mass production coming on...off to my desk, no more PC procrastination ( Pinterest...) and the like...for me

Thanks for the visit

Bella

What's on My Workdesk Wednesday 209? Thanks

Welcome fellow Desk hopper to my desk over in Cape Town, South Africa!

Today my desk is all clear from the creative chaos that ensued as I created 2 double pages on Saturday and Sunday...

I am envious of the 18 or so ladies who gathered together to crop this past week-end, to meet in person with Julia and Lunch Lady Jan to cement online friendships which have grown over time due to this wonderful phenomenon called WOYWW where we gather as like minded people to snoop and share our spaces, ideas and projects, the world over.  So I would like to thank Julia for persisting with what must at times feel a bit like a millstone around her neck, with this thing called WOYWW.

In fact looking at most of our blogs through the months, if it was not for WOYWW, we would be quite inactive...as most of us only make the effort once a week to blog and join in with the gang over at Stamping Ground on a Wednesday.  I speak for myself mostly as I always mean to blog in between, but then life gets in the way...and I find myself back on Wednesday AGAIN!

Though having said that,  I did manage to do a tutorial HERE on how to do the Typewriter card complete with downloadable jpg for you to print and cut for yourself.  If you have a Silhouette or eCraft cutter, email me and I can send you the cut file if you like...

So THANKS Julia for the friendships I have made and the things I have learned during the past 3+ years that I have been participating.

Thanks for the visit.

Bella
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