cool, new toys!

I went to a four day retreat over last weekend which was just great. It's the third year I've gone now and it's something I really look forward to. It's on another sheep station that does B&B farmstays and we craft in the shearing shed and we get catered for and all. It's just great. I did 18 layouts and 20 cards.

But out of all the stuff that I took, want to have a guess and what I forgot? Yup, my trimmer. d'oh! Luckily someone had a spare.

oh, can you send me the link, too, please Sue? Ta.

Sue, the Woodware looks even better than other ones. As far as I know, you can have 12 different cuts with that one if you wish .

Copago - "18 layouts and 20 cards"... in 4 days?
WOW! You're a machine not a human .

oh they were pretty long days - we didn't waste too much time of petty things like sleep!

My latest toy is the scor-pal. have you guys hear of it? Makes scoring so easy. I like to make boxes and things like that and it makes them easy too. I'll put a photo in the craft gallery of a card box I made.

Oh no, Sue! I hope goes ahead! I remember last year you had a great time and came back with new techniques.

I have a scoring board, mine has card folds on one side and box folds on the other side, not that brand though.

'18 LOs and 20 cards' Hmmphh!!! Some people have all the luck *nyah*

If I could do 18 layouts in a whole year I think I'd be over the moon, just the idea of getting inspiration for that in 4 days is giving me an attack of the vapours!!! Can't wait to see yours, though, Jill (I might even be able to scraplift some of your hard-earned ideas )

Thanks for the PM Sue, have tossed that one into the 'wish list' basket and we'll see what the 40th birthday fairy brings me

I have a scoring board too, sounds like yours, Sue - a purple-y coloured board. Honestly? I have never used it! I can't get the hang of it, particularly not for the embossing element. Then again, I'm just not a card-maker. I can't seem to get the knack of simplifying things. My cards always end up looking a mess that I'd be ashamed to offer anybody!

Keeping my fingers crossed that your parching weekend doesn't get cancelled! I too remember how much you enjoyed it last year.

Ladies you have finally sort of persuaded me - this evening I have actually stamped no less than four images and painted them!

I was watching some water colour painting on telly this evening so thought perhaps I would stamp a couple of bits and colour them in with paints and it was fun.

Last week I bought some new stamps, I couldn't afford them but they were cute - they are owls. I am waiting for some EZ Mount Foam to arrive so that I can use them, they didn't have any when I bought the stamps and they are rubber rather than acrylic.

A couple of my efforts are sprays of flowers but the others are little fat robins so presumably I cut those out and stick them on cards rather than just leaving them on the scraps of card which I stamped on.

Don't laugh but this evening I am going to a group which makes cards. Apparently we make three cards with the materials provided and tonight it involves the Glitter girls' embossing boards.

I have been told to 'bring your crafting kit', I really don't think they mean this, I would need a removal van!

LOL 'bring your crafting kit' ... sounds a bit vague to me too!

I don't think I'd be able to craft away from home simply because I don't think I'd know which pieces of my 'kit' I'd need. At the very least I'd need my cutting mat, huge ruler and roller cutter, then there's the various glues and sellotapes, then what paper am I going to need, how much, in which colours? Embellishments for finishing: usually I choose these when the main body of work is done, and I try out lots of different things before deciding what to keep ...

Sounds like an impossible task to me to 'bring my crafting kit'!

Do let us know how you get on, though!

You're probably alrdady there by now but I hope you have fun. How big a crafting kit did you take??
That retreat that I go to involves taking four large boxes AND a set of drawers

I like the stamping and card making mostly because it is a small area and becuase if you are stuck for ideas there are so many forums, blogs, galleries that you can get ideas or even just copy straight from.

Needless to say I took lots of the wrong stuff and not enough of the right stuff! I took a glue-gel instead of foam tape and the wretched stuff had solidified in the syringe. Then I didn't take my creasing board nor mini guillitine nor my bowmaker. I really didn't need any of the various markers and fibre tips and only used one pencil from my box of 120 - that raised a few comments though, drool time.

I am going to a workshop in November so that will be fun. I did enjoy this evening, a bit of a challenge making cards to their design.

They have a 'shop' and most things are cheap, like Nesties for £12. I ended up buying a 2nd hand Big Shot for £28, I have ordered a few dies.

Perhaps they should supply a list of items you will need when you sign up. Sounds like a good excuse to sell you more 'stuff'.

I borrowed some things from women at the same table but felt guilty after a few bits. In future I will know what to take and for good measure I have ordered a nice wheelable craft tote to take it in, not from them.

I went to a 'workshop' on Saturday afternoon. This time I took some equipment only to find that they had it all this time and the object of the afternoon was to make as many cards as we wanted using the equipment which some will not have access to at home. The makings of cards were there for all to use but I found that the work space allocated to each person wasn't to my liking, plus being sandwiched between two women meant they spread partly across my already limited space and it would have seemed bitchy to push their stuff over.

I ended up just stamping so that I could so something with them when I got home. My preference is to use 'quality' card blanks and the card supplied was too flimsy for my liking. Another time I will know what to take in the way of equipment and will also know to take some of my own card blanks, just using their papers and trimmings.

Today I started a blog for my cards, anyone wanting the url can send me a PM.

I am SO excited, well I lead a sheltered life so it doesn't take much. So what, I hear you ask, has got her in a tizzy. The man who runs the local branch of the charity where I help out is today returning from America where he appears to have spend much of his time being transported to a variety of craft stores shopping for me! He has been to Archivers, Michaels, Walmart, Hobby Lobby and Target and from what I can gather he has made purchases in the lot of them! These are gifts for me, not just shopping on my behalf. I know there are paper flowers, butterflies, 'stickers' and punches so it will be better than Christmas.

I will be collecting some of it tomorrow but one of his cases is currently on a world tour, well at least it is taking the scenic route from Chicago having not got having got itself onto the BA plane after a domestic flight from Appleton. I think it is going via Washington thence to Heathrow then to Gatwick then home to Jersey.

The poor man ended up missing his Gatwick to Jersey flight as he was trying to find out what happened to his bag on arrival at Heathrow. It is times like this that it pays to be flying Business as they do look after you better than when you travel steerage.

Sounds like you are in for a fun time opening goodies, Sue! Enjoy!

It is going to be like Christmas in March for you Sue!

*..Sounds like Sue may have an admirer...*

ohhhhhh that sounds good. You're probably like me and read on forums about what shops there are in the US and the prices in them ... sounds like a great haul!

He is a very happily married man, he is also very generous. His wife knows what he has given me, she came in with her Christmas cards for me to recycle today so it really was a wonderful day.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe what I am in the middle of doing, re-organising my craft store room! This is a tiny room off my kitchen, about nine feet by five feet approximately.

Against the back wall is my sewing machine cabinet which is used as a sort of table, heaped with junk right now but intended to be a sort of craft table. Fat chance, no room. then there is a metal office cupboard, six feet high by three feet wide which meant there was dead space in the corner between the cupboard and the cabinet. Then there is an old metal filing cabinet inside the door with more dead space between that and the cupboard. I had two shelf units on the wall opposite the cupboard, each with three shelves.

Then I had a brainwave the other day, if I moved the cupboard to the garage in some dead space there and got rid of the old filing cabinet I could have shelves in their place, shelves which could go right to the far wall by the side of the cabinet. I can have forty feet of shelving plus the floor under the bottom shelf! This would replace the floor and four three foot shelves in the cupboard and I will still have the cupboard in the garage.

I have now emptied out the room to make room for the items to be removed, I have bought shelving and had it cut to size. Now I need to call in the 'hump and dump' people to move the cupboard and take the filing cabinet away then I can slap some wallpaper on the wall where the filing cabinet was, it isn't papered behind or to the side of it but I have half a roll left from that room. Then I can attack the wall with my electric drill and stick the shelves up, or get someone to do it for me.

At the moment I cannot get into my kitchen or move much in here, it is amazing what you can fit into a small room such as that.

I thought that I moved a post by mehaul but it appears to have been lost.

I had a good clean out recently. Our floorboards were being done so absolutely everything had to come out of the house inclusing the craftroom. It was so good to get rid of stuff that I hadn't used for so long and really thin out all the stuff. I just need time to use it all now!