Don't try this at home!

Well, once again, I have been misssing from my blog but unfortunately I have a really good excuse this time!

You see, two days before Christmas I fell and broke my arm just below the shoulder and of course it had to be my right arm.  Apparently it is the worst bone to break and also the most painful - ouch.  Because of the type of plaster cast required for this sort of injury my arm has been set at a right angle and is supported by a foam sling around my neck. The consultant joked (I wasn't in the mood for jokes at the time) that patients didn't know which caused the most pain - the broken arm or the weight that is carried by your neck - hmm. And as a little extra I cannot sleep in bed, again because of the design of the plaster, and so I have to spend my nights upright in a chair downstairs and sleep is in short supply. Now, having road tested this type of break on your behalf, my recommendation is definitely don't try this at home.

However I have not taken to the blog to whinge or moan; there are many more people far worse off than me and I am sure you heal much quicker if you have a positive outlook.  I have become very inventive over the last few weeks.  You don't realise how much you use two hands - taking the top off the tooth paste, filing a broken nail, opening a packet of biscuits.  All common place jobs that we take for granted.  And as for crafting well..... can't stamp cos the paper/cardstock moves, can't cut out 'cos although my teeth have come in useful for some things (toothpaste cap, nail file etc) I have yet to perfect the art of being able to hold the paper in my teeth and cut with my left hand - am not in a hurry to go back to A & E; and colouring in... I shall leave that to your imagination.

There are some upsides - other things on my list of can't dos are dusting, ironing, hoovering in fact h*******k of any sort is out of the question! But I CAN use a computer with my left hand and although typing is slower it is possible.

So as I can't do any crafting I hope you don't mind me sharing some inspiration from the archives.  Over on Chocolate Baroque the Stamp of the Week is Damask Hearts and there is free delivery until the end of the month too. So in true Blue Peter fashion - here's one I made earlier (alot earlier).

This is very a simple but effective card.

1. Stamp the background with Onyx Black Versafine ink (great for detail stamping).  
2. Use Archival Black ink to stamp the heart and word 'love' onto red velvet paper and cut out.
3. Attach the spotty ribbon and adhere the heart and word motifs with either silicone glue or foam pads

There you have a card in about 15 to 20 minutes. Great for Valentines, hubby's birthday,  engagements, ruby wedding anniversaries or change the colours and it would be good for weddings too.

Whilst digging in the archives I found one or 2 projects that are worth having the dust blown off.  I hope to share these with you soon, after all I have no excuse not to blog more often have I?  
Lesley

Making some crafty time with gorgeous new Chocolate Baroque Stamps

I have been rather busy lately, so blogging has gone by the wayside (nothing new there then).  Which means I have also been too busy to do much crafting but you need to keep your hand in so to speak. 

Now I love nothing better than a playday, when you can dive into paints, inks, stamps, paper etc and have a no holds barred experiment with loads of products.  Nothing structured just loads of mess, lots of fun. But what happens when you don't have a whole day to play? What do you create when time is not in abundance?

How about a crafty power hour - one hour when you create and complete at least one project. Now I know this probably requires a little bit of planning, and sometimes we like spontaneity, but it can also be quite satisfying to actually have something to show for your efforts rather than just a pile of bits.

I have been playing with the new clear stamps sets from Chocolate Baroque which are on general release today - Party Birds and Words and Happy Birds and Words. Both sets have a great selection of words and phrases together with some cute birdie images.  They really fit in with my ideal of quick, simple, clean looking cards.  So together with the stamps, a selection of papers from the Polka Dotty printable download AND a kitchen timer(!) I set to.

And here is the result of my first power hour.

These are really easy to achieve and would make great bookmark cards. All you need* other than the stamps and paper is a circle punch or circle die, some plain white card (I used 12" x 12" white cardstock folded in half and cut into 2.5" strips) and an inkpad. I found it very satisfying to have completed four mini projects inside the hour. And also giving yourself a time limit can actually focus your attention;  it can help if you have had a creativity slump and it stops you faffing about! Good confidence booster too.

So the next time you haven't got much time why not try your own crafty power hour.

Enjoy
Lesley

*By the way, the kitchen timer is optional