Another quickie.. Internet down..

Hi, chaps.. Another quickie from work... My internet service is down at home. Have been spending AGES over the last few days arguing with BT!! Have NEVER received such appalling service from any provider of any service!! FINally found someone yesterday to acknowledge it's their fault, but it will be Thursday evening, at least, before I am back on-line at home. Grrrr!!

Missing you all like MAD!!!

Hugs,

Email is down!

Quick message from work to let you know my email at home was down this morning. Don't know if it's an ISP fault or my PC, so not sure how long it will be out of action. If you're waiting for a reply, that'll be why! ;o)

Smile and the world smiles with you...

<<-- a="" award="" buddy="" from="" href="http://dawnscrafttime.blogspot.com/" i="" isn="" my="" received="" t="" this="" wonderful="">Dawn

, who always makes me smile every day, too, with her lovely artwork, and her kind words. Bless you, my friend! :o)

And this one on the right was from my friend, Shirley, in NC. A blog award I have received a few times now, but every time I do, it is very humbling to think that people would go out of their way to bring a smile to someone by recognising their work. It's like a pat on the shoulder that says, "You did good." And who can complain at that. :o)

Thank you, Dawn and Shirley, for your friendship and generous spirits.

Now, ordinarily, you're supposed to pass these on, but I usually get to deliver them after they've already received it from someone else, lol! So instead, I will just invite all the visitors to my blog to accept these awards from me with my best wishes for a blessed autumn season! :o)

Thank you for dropping by and leaving your comments.

hugs,

Chris xx

Sassy Crafts DT Challenge Sketch

This was made in accordance with Emma's sketch for the Sassy Crafts DT Challenge. I have used papers from the Basic Grey 'Ambrosia' 6"x6" pad, which I ordered from Sassy Crafts earlier this week. (First time I have ordered anything from Emma, and I was amazed at the turnaround.. less than 24 hours! That's the kind of service I like! Thanks, Emma. :o)

The stamp is from Whipper Snapper, and is the one I mentioned below that I won in a blog candy draw from Maria. Apologies to the purists, but I just HAD to draw in a mouth! In order to get her in on this sketch, I also dropped the wording from the side. (To see the stamp image in its entirety, scroll down to my RAKs & Blog Candy post a couple of entries ago.)

Basic Grey Challenge #3 ~ Distressing

This is my DT card for the Basic Grey Challenge blog, Challenge No. 3: Distressing. It was great to see your ATCs last week, and very gratifying that it was the first time some of you had made an ATC, so that was cool!

We would like to see you using distressing techniques on your creations this week! :o)

Both the background and foreground papers in this design are from Basic Grey's 'Infuse' collection.

Distressing techniques used:

• Tearing
• Distressing the edges by dragging them through the blades of my scissors
• Inking the edges
• Embossed the background paper with the distressed Harlequin-style folder from Cuttlebug (can't remember what they call it.. diamonds, I think)
• Sanding
• Stamped a rough shadow panel on the patterned paper with dark brown Chalk Eyes ink
• Used 'Field of Sky' stamp to apply some aging 'dots' around the edge of the DP panel
• I used Timber Brown StazOn ink to 'age' the metal embellishments
• Instead of brads, I used old office paper fasteners, which I salvaged from my dad's office when he passed away.

RAKS & Blog Candy

I was looking for a word beginning with 'R' to mean 'abundance', as I have had an abundance of RAKs lately!! I found 'repletion'... I am definitely replete with RAKs! lol :o) Quite archaic language these days, I guess, which is a shame in my view, but there you go.

As well as two lots of stamped images, and various packs of stash, I have been meaning to photograph these cards for a while now.. They arrived to wish me well in my new job (which I start on Monday). :o)

The top one is gorgeousness from my lovely bloggy friend and fellow Inspirational team member, Jane, and the second sweet card is from my Funky Hand team-mate, Ruth.. a lovely, and very talented lady who loves her ribbons!! ;o)

Thank you, both, once again! They're lovely cards!

Then there is this little beauty which arrived this morning! :o) I am very happy about this! It's blog candy that I won last month from Maria, but she hadn't realised that she'd sent it surface mail. Bless you, Maria, I'm just happy it got here! Thank you! It was very well worth the wait, and I can't wait to get her inked! (Any minute now!! lol) And isn't that card sweet? I love it! :o)

Ever wondered how to do a Comment Link?

Have you ever wondered how to do that comment link thing where people say "You'll find my card on my blog HERE", and there is a magical link that takes you directly to their card?

It's wonderful! It means that when you're working your way through a list of challenge entries to have a nose at all the crafty goodness, you don't have to dig through their blog to find the relevant card. It's such a boon to fellow challenge anoraks! :o)

I learned how to do it from my pal and talented Funky Hand team-mate, Kath. She has generously offered to extend this knowledge to anyone who asks her! If you go to Kath's blog HERE, you'll find her invitation lodged at the top of her blog.

It's a VERY simple thing to do, and very elegant. Why don't you give it a try?

New card!

Well, all the blog candy prizes have been sent out now, and the UK ladies will be receiving theirs today, I hope. I know Suzanne received the main prize yesterday. I made ten cards to go with the little prizes, but sadly didn't get chance to take pics. This is similar to the designs I made, though, to give you an idea. Very simple.

New header ~ What do you think?

I am having a GOOOOD day!! :o) It started when my postie left me two RAK-packs of goodies this morning (which I shall blog about properly when I have taken some pics), and I have made 10 cards today.. Count 'em. TEN!! Only simple ones, it has to be said, to go to the ten people I will be sending mini blog candies to. Well, you can't send blog candy without a card, can you? ;o)

Unfortunately, it was dark by the time I'd finished, and I wanted to get them packaged up ready to post tomorrow, so there will be no photos.. sorry.. Maybe the recipients might show them on their blogs in due course. Some of them are going to a land down under, so it could take a while! :o)

It doesn't end there!! THEN... I came back to my 'puter to find that my DT boss over at the Basic Grey Challenge blog, the lovely Martine, had made a blog header for me as she noticed I hadn't put one up. It was a total surprise. How sweet is that? :o)

That's twice in one day that someone has gone significantly out of their way to surprise me with something nice! How delightful!! :o)

Thank you, Martine and Gina! :o)

Chris xx

Blog Candy Winners!

Thank you so much to everyone who joined in with the Blog Candy, and offered their views. If you're considering the issues for yourself, you may wish to have a read through the comments to see how people have responded.

There were two people whose comments were inappropriate to publish (I mean that they were out of context, not that they were rude, or anything), but two negatives out of 137 is a pretty clear indicator of how people feel on this topic. (One person in the draw commented on the wrong post, but I included her.)

One of the issues that came to light through someone's comment is that apparently the Captcha letters can't be read by the screen scanners used by visually-impaired people, which significantly hinders their ability to participate fully in the blogging community. Isn't that a good enough reason by itself to give a switch to comment moderation a try?

How I chose a Winner

I spent the last few days going to every blog, and saying hi, made a list as I went of how many entries each person was entitled to, based on the rules I stated at the outset. Then I made a spreadsheet with all the entries on. The total came to 412.

I then used a random number generator at Random.org to pick 11 numbers.

Yes, there was originally only going to be a single prize, but as there was such a wonderful response, I am going out tomorrow to buy some little token prizes for another ten people who left comments. I was thinking perhaps little packs of Studio G stamps (if I can find them), or something of equivalent value.

These are the numbers and I've added the names of the winners:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

217 ~ Suzanne (wins main prize)
264 ~ Allison
185 ~ Kitty Kats Krafts (Sam)
11 ~ Lori Barnett
299 ~ Shirley
165 ~ Tip Top
252 ~ Sammi
357 ~ Tegan
30 ~ Ultramum
77 ~ Roxy
321 ~ ink'n'rubba

Timestamp: 2008-09-15 18:11:26 UTC

Please would the winners email me with their addresses, and I will send your prize in the next few days. :o)

Chris xx

In Memoriam

Remembering the Americans, the British and people from other countries who were lost, or injured, or whose families were broken in the tragedy of 9/11.

Card for Sophie

This card was made for my crafty mate, Debbie's daughter, Sophie. She turns fifteen today! Happy birthday, Sophie! :o)

I have also submitted it to Sassy Crafts for my DT card for this week, as it uses Basic Grey 'Cupcake' paper, which is available on the Sassy Crafts web-site, HERE.


I thought I had a stamp with birthday candles on, but couldn't find it, so drew my own and covered them with Glossy Accents.

Inchies & Twinchies

Inchies, and twinchies, and thrinchies and moos
All of them crafty, and so many to choose,
Scrapping and stamping, distressing and such
RAKs and blog candies to keep us in touch,
Trading cards for artists to swap,
Sketches and challenges for our weekly hop.
How would we cope without our card craft?
We’ve papers to stroke, and some think us daft,
But with others to share our sweet obsession,
We spend and we spend to increase our possession
Of stamps and ribbons, brads and gems,
Pencils, paints and lots of pens.
When will it end? Hopefully, never..
But one things for sure, we’ll have friends forever!

..........................................

To all my bloggy pals,

from Chris xx

DCM ~ Shabby Saturday Sketch

This card uses the sketch from this week's Daring Card Makers' challenge on their blog HERE. The prize is being sponsored by one of my DT bosses, Anice from Funky Hand. It is a free dowload of the wonderful 'Shabby Saturday' papers, which I've used here. (The numbers, the brackets and the green flowers are all from the Shabby Saturday download, as well. The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment is from the 'Now That's Funky' CD-Rom, also from Funky Hand. If you'd like to browse the range of CDs and downloads available from Funky Hand, go to Anice's web-site, HERE. Highly recommended, but then I would say that, wouldn't I? lol ;o) I do admit I am biased, but I love the papers!!)

If you would like to see Anice herself, and you're not doing anything at 9.00am this Thursday 11th September, she will be appearing on Create & Craft offering some inspiration on how to use some of the papers from her CDs.


Other items used: Piece of leftover Basic Grey paper, Rhonna Farrer flourish stamp, a stitches stamp, Making Memories 'Heidi' rub-on letters, some Craft Planet irridescent glitter glue, some brads and twine, and some doodling on the brackets.

2Sketches4You ~ Christine's Sketch

This sketch was quite challenging, but I think I cracked it in the end! ;o) Just as well it's night-time, as glittery effects seem to photograph better in artificial light, and this one is blinged to the gills!!

I used some obscure Christmas papers from a pad I picked up yesterday which was on offer, some Sizzix snowflakes in white glitter CS, some gorgeous little sparkly crystal snowflakes by Dress-It-Up, and some Ixie Dust around the angel (a bit like Beadazzles). And, of course, I Stickled everything with Star Dust.

2Sketches4You ~ Kazan's Sketch No. 8

I should just about make it in time with my card for this week's challenge, I think! ;o) This is based on Kazan's Sketch #8.

The bottom edges of the rose papers look straight, but they are torn and then rolled and inked. The photo also doesn't show that the papers, the sentiment and the butterfly are all raised on 3D pads.

• Papers: HOTP Paper Pizzazz
• Flourish stamp: Rhonna Farrer

Time to Rock The Vote!!

Time has come on the Y.OU K.NOW Y.OU R.OCK challenge blog to vote for your favourite card of the month for August. This is mine, and if you fancy it, please take a couple of seconds to visit the blog and click on my name! It is that simple! :o) All votes would be much appreciated! :o)

The theme for August was 'Heavy Metal', and you had to use some kind of metal embellishment on your design.

Basic Grey ~ My First Card for the New Challenge Blog

Yayyy! The new Basic Grey Challenges blog announced its first challenge this morning... 'Buttons'! They don't have to be Basic Grey buttons, as long as something on your card is a BG product.. papers, stickers, brads, buttons, fibres, stamps, you name it. The DT cards have been posted, and we hope that you will all come and join in with the challenges!

You can find the new blog HERE.

Meanwhile, this is my card for the first challenge, using BG 'Archaic' papers, stickers and buttons, with some twine, some white cardstock and a little bit of doodling in the corners, and I've given Dino some extra spots. :o)

House Mouse & RAK..

This card is a catch-up on two of the challenges on the House Mouse challenge blog.. The first challenge theme was 'New'.. new baby, new anything, really, so the element of 'new' on this card is that I bought a new House Mouse stamp so I could take part! lol ;o)

I also used the sketch from Challenge #3, but because my card ended up being quite masculine looking, I couldn't fit the second challenge... lace... onto it. Will try to incorporate that into my card for Challenge #4. :o)

The papers are Basic Grey, from an 8½" x 8½" Designer Paper Pack. Pearly brads are Papermania.

And this cute card arrived yesterday from Allison!! You must know I have a thing for bees! Thank you, honey! hehe! ;o)

Card for Emma..

I bet you thought I'd given up crafting, didn't you? Ha! Well, you were wrong! ;o) I made this little beauty a couple of days ago, but couldn't post it until the recipient received it. I'm sure it must have arrived by now, and I have been BURSTING to blog it, so here it is.

I am late with my entry because of exciting events in my life lately, but the layout is based on the wonderful Sketch #2 from my very talented Funky Hand design team-mate, Carol. (Do check out her blog.. she is an amazing designer! And she will be posting her sketches every fortnight. The next one is due to be revealed on Tuesday.)

Now, I do not possess a sewing machine, and wouldn't know how to operate it if I did! So check this out.. this card is hand-stitched! Took forever and made my hand hurt! I think it may be a while before I do that again!
The cream paper is an interesting thing... one of those happy accidents. You can't see from the photo, but it has a lovely soft, velvety texture. It was the result of a mistake. I decided I didn't like a panel I'd adhered to a previous card, so tried to remove it, but it was stuck fast and only the surface came away, leaving this rough creamy-coloured stuff underneath. I was trimming it off to salvage the card base to use for matting, and was about to dispose of the rough bit of card, when I noticed its beautiful texture. I stamped and chalked the rose on it, and it looked wonderful, and inspired the rest of the card!

Toot-li-oot-toot-toot!!!

Am I having a mega week, or what??? ;o)

Today, a new challenge blog announced its presence to the world. I wish there was some way of getting that bloke who does the voice for 'This is the Chicken Legend' ad for Macdonalds to do a voiceover for this announcement... 'Fraid you'll have to use your imagination... Ready?

This is not just any challenge. This is....

The hope is to post the first challenge this Saturday. For more info, go HERE.

Now, you may have guessed my toot. To my utter amazement, Martine (who has started this blog) has accepted me onto her DT! I am chuffed to bits! I wasn't going to take on any more DT work now that I am starting a new job soon, but ~ well, I mean ~ it's BASIC GREY!! How could I resist? ;o)
It actually dovetails very well with my Sassy Crafts DT involvement, as I can purchase my Basic Grey items from Emma!! :o) Great synergy. Hehe!
I do hope you will check out the new blog, and join in with the challenges. It won't be the same without you! :o)
Chris xx

Anti-Word Verification Crusade Button..

Oh, lookee-lookee what I've found!! Hehe!! Actually, it's with thanks to Allison at Stampin' When I Can, who led me to Julie's post HERE, which is brilliant.. a lot more succinct and direct than mine. And look what she has invited us to take to wear on our blogs with pride...