Ofsted is over

Thanks for all the good wishes for our Ofsted inspection this week at school. I am happy with the way it went and we await the report which will be with us in a couple of weeks and will be given to the parents and published.   In 3 1/2 days I have spent 50 hours at school and another 8 hours travelling to and from, so as you can imagine I am really tired, but .......................................................................................

I am now suffering ink withdrawal and need to get creating. I also need to go out and the kids are coming over tonight, but I am sure I can get something done today.

At least Lucy and I can share some crafty chat tomorrow as we are going to the local car-boot sale together.

I had a great boost on Wednesday as I have managed to get hold of the seasonal distress inks and they arrived in the post - YAY - and my Vagabond stopped working a couple of weeks ago, but good old QVC have replaced it as it was only 8 months old and that arrived yesterday so I am ready to get going again.

At the moment the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the cherry tree stands very proud with it's red leaves.


Have a wonderful weekend.

luv {brenda} xoxo


Update
I am just checking challenges I had entered and I have been chosen as a Spotlight Artist for my Halloween Diorama at City Crafter Challenge.

Birthday Box

It was my daughter Maddie's birthday last month and this is a box I made for her. Those who know me will recognise the stars as being her most favourite thing for jewellery and bits and pieces.

 The large pleated star I made using the TH rosette die - just another of the shapes I have been experimenting with using this die.

Enjoy and thanks for looking. The weekend is almost here, time for another break.

luv and hugs {brenda} xdoxox

Quick post

Dear All

I will not be around for a few days to comment on your wonderful posts. I have had a quick look through the dashboard tonight and visited some of your blogs, but I am sorry I haven't been able to comment on your amazing creations I have seen.

If anyone knows anything about our English schools inspection process you will know exactly how I feel when I say my school has Ofsted on Thursday and Friday. For those of you who don't know, it means a team of inspectors will be in for 2 days interrogating our data and policies, observing the teaching, talking to staff and children and generally looking for evidence of pupil's standards and progress and the quality of teaching and learning to be able to make a judgement about our school. I didn't get home tonight until 11.00 pm as I am getting all the pre-inspection paperwork ready.

Wish us luck and I will chat again at the weekend.

For now my school and staff will have my full attention with our aim to have a very positive judgement.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Trick or Treat - Halloween tag

Happy Monday - did you have a good weekend? I kept mine quite lazy, trying to catch up from busy weeks working full time now.

So here is a Halloween tag from me today using PanPastels and DIs on a ribbed kraft tag.

All the embellishments are downloads and cut out (I must get some more stamps!!!) The skeleton is from the Graphic fairy, the bats are free clipart and the Trick or Treat sentiment is from Inktegrity.

The masks were layered using embossing ink and PanPastels.The Happy Halloween was pastelled, sprayed with sealer then DI blended round the edges.

The Trick or Treat sentiment was blended with dried marigold DI then PPs blended on the edges while the ink was still wet. Quite mellow colours don't you think?

Please link any Halloween cards or projects you make to my Halloween linky so that I can come visit and see what you are making and leave you some love. I will draw someone at the end to receive one of my Halloween tags as a give-away. It could be this one!!!

Have a great day.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Crafty Ribbons - Halloween
Digi Doodle Shop's Best - Distressing
Samuel Taylor's - Halloween
PanPastels - Autumn colours

The Stamp Man - Circles

Well better late than never they say. This is my second post for today and my piece for the Stamp Man challenge. For this fortnight, as you can see, the theme is circles. I struggled with this one, Mr Mojo doesn't stay around when you are tired does he? And I lost some circle stamped pieces that Jill sent me to use - what am I like - honestly?

My inspiration was Laura Liddell's tutorial on how to make your own craft resist card at Gingersnap Creations and the colour combo at Play Date Cafe.

To get the colours and effect I wanted I ended up using -
DIs - dusty concord, mustard seed, peeled paint and black soot
Whispers colouring pens pinks and purples and Aquamarkers Bamboo
Archival black
Aspects of Design antique effect background stamp from The Stamp Man
TH Papillon and Mini Classic stamps
clear embossing powder and versamark
kraft card and white card
Spellbinders Lacey Circles

My learning for today is -
This was much more about technique than outcome. Next time I will try it on cream or white card to see the different effects. I also need to get some more large background technique stamps. Artist? Well I would like to think I'm getting there!!

Please pop over to the Stamp Man Challenge blog to see the fabulous designs from the team and I hope you will participate. Don't forget that Jill gives a £10.00 voucher to the winner as chosen by the DT, well worth an entry don't you think? Jill has her new on-line shop going live this weekend and she now accepts PayPal as well.

Hope your Sunday is going well. Thanks for stopping by today and thanks even more if you have been here twice.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Halloween Diorama

We have a fabulous line-up at Fashionable Stamping Challenges again this week, where we challenge you to make anything but a card. There is so much scope for this and the fabulous Stampettes have got some amazing inspirational pieces for you to check out. 

So what can you make with a canvas and a wooden frame???

A slow reveal - but warning photo overload!!!!!

I have had this piece in my head for months and months just waiting for Halloween to come round and it has also been in the making for weeks and weeks. I would do a bit, think some more, leave it and then come back to it again. I don't know how many times I have done that.

The frame was painted with gesso and stippled to give texture then stamped with 2 different background stamps, one in brown archival ink and the other in black, and then covered with a wash of PaperArtsy metallic glaze. 

I used TH tissue tape covered the back edges of the canvas. The stamp is from Crafty Individuals - thanks Lucy for letting me ink it up. 

After painting the image with DIs, I covered the bird with glossy accents.

So you can see I am using the back of the canvas to give me some 3D space.

It's been great fun collecting all the pieces and then putting it together. It looks a bit different now Shirley from when you last saw it.

Hand made labels, alcohol inks, beads and BBQ ash all make up the apothecary bottles. 

The labels are available from one of my posts HERE.

The spider and web are from a Halloween party spider web pack.

You can see that my melt pot and beeswax came out for this project - dripping wax over the cork stopper and letting it drip down the sides of the bottles.

The shiny skull is a valve cap!

Can you start to see what I have made?

Some jewellery, Charlotte doll mould, pumpkin and mushroom add to the overall effect. As does the skull and rose ring that I got from a car-boot sale recently.

The old watch was also from a car-boot and the bugs are off of necklaces bought from Primark in their sale at the end of the summer.

I am really pleased with this 3D diorama and will hang it in my hall for Halloween. Sarah at La-De-Dah is a talented and inspirational artist and hosts My Mojo Monthly - so this month I thought I would show this piece and I thought I would enter it and see if it is eligible for her creative surfaces focus, although it's not a book cover, so probably not - but please let me know Sarah.

So go take a look at what prize is on offer at The Fashionable Stamping Challenge blog and I look forward to seeing your creations over there.

If you are making a Halloween card, tag or project, please link it to my Halloween Printables post HERE. 

I am making some Halloween tags and will give one away on the 1st November.

I thought I would enter this into these challenges -
Crafty Individuals - Winged things
Happy Daze - Christmas or Halloween
Tando Creative - Spooktastic
Delightful Challenges - Make it dimensional
City Crafter - Going 3D


Happy Sunday to you all and thanks for stopping by to take a look at my creation.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Halloween Tag

My tag today was made in Photoshop Elements using a background from Dezinaworld and other elements from the Graphics Fairy and sentiment from Inktegrity. The black butterfly is also from Graphics Fairy cut out, stickled and sprayed with silver shine.

I have stamped and added a TH ticket highlighting the date for Halloween, some ribbon and the flowers.

I hope you are having fun creating Halloween bits and pieces. We don't celebrate it, but I like playing with the darker elements just once a year.

Have a fabulous weekend.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Challenges to have fun with -
Fussy and Fancy - Halloween
Rainbow Lady's Challenge - In the misty moonlight
Samuel Taylor's - Halloween
DragonsDream Tag It On - The whole of the moon

Vintage/Shabby Mini Album

Oh dear my workshop for Saturday has been cancelled, not enough people want to learn distressing techniques, still never mind. It looks like my Christmas card workshop and this mini album workshop will go ahead.

So I thought I would post some pictures of the mini album I am teaching in November at The Art of Craft (details on the page under the header). I think I have been very adventurous trying to fit alot into the time allocated but we will give it a good go.

Front cover

If you can get to Farnborough in Hampshire, come and enjoy a couple of hours, inking and sticking with me. I am soooo looking forward to it. I hope you like this one Irene.

Hope your week has been good and that you have some nice things planned for the weekend. I have the choice of 2 x 60th birthday parties and a meal for another friend's birthday on Saturday night. Aren't I the lucky one?

Have fun whatever you do and thanks for stopping by today.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Button Up

Hi Everyone

This is the title over at Divas by Design for the next challenge and we want to see how you use buttons on your projects and I have chosen to make a tag this time round.

Recipe
Tag
Die cut tag.
Cover in black acrylic paint.
Stamp and clear emboss.
Cover with lighter acrylic paints.
When dry rub paint away from the embossing.
Adorn with your favourite embellishments.
Corset
Stamp onto scrap paper.
Spray with mists.
Colour in with pens.
Sew buttons on and add lace.

Supplies
Stamps - Clear Expressions, Andy Skinner, Personal Expressions, TH
Eco-Friendly paints, black, peony, lilac, white, clam shell
Buttons, lace, vintage image
DIs - spun sugar, broken china, vintage photo

Hope you are having a good week.

Take care.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

 I would like to enter this into these challenges -
Cards and More - Lace and buttons
Ribbon Carousel - Anything goes

Halloween Printables

Are you having a Halloween party or are you making projects for challenges like I am. Well having made a couple of my own bottle/jar labels I then find there are a number of freebies on the internet.

If you would care to share any Halloween project you make with me, then please scroll right to the bottom to link it up. I would be so pleased to see it and leave you a comment.

These I found here and here.

And more here.

These were the ones I had made.

Have fun with your Halloween projects. Please link back to me if you use any of these labels, or in fact any Halloween project at all, and show me what you have created. I will come over and take a peek.

luv and hugs {brenda} xoxox

Leave your Halloween project link here. You have until the 1st November. I look forward to coming to see your creations.