Veg i inked today!

Good evening my lovely bunch of veggie voyeurs!!! :)

Tonight is a special occasion for "Veg i inked today!", in that i bring you this episode LIVE from Maddy's house!!! Why is that so special i hear you shout? Well we all remember the last time i inked something whilst i was staying at Maddy's......yes that's right, i almost poisoned myself to death on a prickly pear! Oh the pain, oh the hairy spines in my skin, oh the swelling......oh the howls of laughter from a sympathetic Maddy whilst i was close to calling an ambulance!!!

Anyway, all is well this week, because i have inked something and it didn't injure me!!!

So enough of the waffle, feast your beady little eyes over my......TURNIP!!!

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What a lovely round little beauty this was! :)

Only small mind you, i always thought turnips were bigger than this, but this one was only about three inches across. Anyway, enough about the vital statistics of vegetables, I'm weird but I'm

not that bad yet!

I can't fault this little gem for standing still whilst i inked it, some fruit and veg wriggle about all over the place, but this one stood proud and didn't make a murmur!

I used silver mixative with the turnip, made a nice change from gold. The blues didn't come out quite as nice as I'd hoped, but was did make this something special was the gorgeous pinky purples it produced!

Just check these out!

I have to hold my hands up to having to take these pics before the ink dried too much, turnips make the ink go really dull after a very short while, so you have to take it while you can! (Don't say i don't teach you anything!)

Veginkability rating for the turnip? I'm going to give this one a modest 5!!! It was nice to ink, but nothing special. It wasn't an onion put it that way!

Like i said though, i have emerged from this unscathed, free of any foreign objects, and clean as a whistle....not an ounce of ink on my hands! Does it get any better than that!!!? Maddy can breathe a sigh of relief that no emergency services have been called! :)

Well my good friends of blog land, keep well, keep smiling and I'll see you all next week for another episode of...."Veg i inked today!"

Remember, keep smiling......it makes people wonder what you've been up to! :)))

I've been playing with the new Gorjuss stamps!

Maddy had a lovely parcel from the postie this morning, a whole set of the new Gorjuss stamps from Funkykits.

So i pinched one to have a play with, and made a card for the latest Saturday Sketchers Challenge.



After about half an hour of me stressing that the papers wouldn't be right, and Maddy telling me to shut up as they would be.....i finaly managed to throw this one together. The images are great to colour, so i used Copics on this one. That means i can enter it into the Copics Colour Challenge too as i used the green that is needed this week.



I will be the first to admit that i am not much of a card maker, probably because the whole envisaging layouts and planning what colours will go where, totaly does my head in! This one turned out ok though, so i'm quite happy with it. :)



Hopfelly the Saturday Sketchers and the Copics Challenge will like it too.

Now brace yourself for the coolest thing i have ever had in my craft room! A little while ago the lovely Angela Daniels from Fiskateers sent Maddy a huge RAK, and she included some goodies for me too.

I had lots of lovely stash, incuding a threading water punch, 12 x 12 papers, chipboard and other gorgeous embellishments. However the icing on the cake was my first non-girly looking craft tool ever! Check this baby out!!!



HOW COOL ARE THEY?!!! :)

So am massive belated thank you to Angela, your pressie is much appreciated!

Last but most certainly not least, keep a close eye on Maddy's blog tomorrow night, she will be posting some a little bit special. Obviously not quite as special as my inked veg that i will be showing at the same time.....but bless her, she tries! :)

Welcome....to "Inky Cottage".

Hi everyone....over the past week I've been working on a project i have been meaning to do for ages. Storage for my mini ink pads.

I usually have them lying around, or shoved in a basket where i can't see them properly, so i did what any good crafter would have done.....gave them a home. Not just any home though, i gave them Inky Cottage! :)

I wouldn't mind living there myself! Inky Cottage was made with the stunning TwiddlyBitz Chipboard - Christmas Advent House Kit from Karen at Charmed Cards and Crafts. Thank you Karen :)

As soon as i saw this kit in Karens shop, i knew it would be great for storage. As you can see, as well as it accommodating the eye shaped ink pads perfectly, my Twinkling H20's were having a sleepover too!

I did this in crackle paint, then brushed randomly with Distress Ink to dirty it up a bit. I wanted to get the feel of a lovely cottage that you might stumble upon deep in the woods. That's why i added the bits of twig on the roof to look like there were roots and ivy growing over it.

There are so many uses for this, i tried some of my smaller wood mounted stamps and they fit lovely in there as well. You could make boxes for each hole, and fill them with crafty stash, brads, buttons etc.

I reckon it will look quite nice up on my scrap room wall....what do you think?

Thanks for looking. :)

Someone is NOT impressed!!!

A quick bit of background info for those who do not have kids or who don't watch kids tv programmes.
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"H20: Just Add Water" is a popular kids programme about 3 girls in Australia, they turn into mermaids when they touch water and all have special powers.
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Anyway, this morning i woke up and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea. My girls had already been up a little while and had obviously been busy. Reaching up on my shelf for the teabags i discovered a little notescribbled on some paper.....(excuse the spelling lol)...
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I chuckled to myself, as i often do when i find litle notes from the kids. You almost wish you could spend a minute in thier heads to see what they are thinking lol.
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However someone else was not so impressed! You see the note was not apparently written by my youngest as first thought, oh no. "Apparently" a certain little man wrote it!!!
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CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!! Rotty is still bruised and battered after the Copic collision, he hasn't even had the energy to take his glasses off......and a little monkey has gone and stuck a plastic fin on him!
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"Hey Rotty.....you ok there mate?"
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"Tell me i'm seeing things boss, just tell me I'm SEEING THINGS!!!!!!!"
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"Hmmm, not sure i can Rotty, sorry about that, you see they were up earlier than me and you know what kids are like."
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"This is humiliating boss!!!....no other word for it, get me down from here before anyone from the sewer sees me!!!"
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"Ok Rotty, right away mate...besides, i think you look quite fetching in it lol."
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"Leave it boss.....LEAVE IT!!!"
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Think i better let him go and find his dignity again. :)

Veg i inked today!

Waheyyyyyy!!!! Good evening everyone......sorry I've turned up a bit late, had a bit of an incident with a rubber glove and some gold mixative.....not to worry though, welcome to another night of bizarre inking, yes folks it's time for another episode of "Veg i inked today!"

Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and lose yourself in the land of arty veg.

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This week challenged me a little, not because of the fruit I've inked tonight, but the ones that failed miserably in practise! I wrecked a turnip, obliterated a radish and the less said about the parsnip i tried the better! Grab your hankies people, yes i'm sorry to say that they have all now gone to that big casserole in the sky....it really was that bad! :(

So we find ourselves here once again waiting with baited breath, itching to find out what will be revealed to your good selves. Veggie fans, will you please stand up and put your hands together for .......THE LEEK!!!

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As they say in football, this was a game of two halves. (I think they say that, i can't stand football myself, but hey!). Yes folks, i liked one half of this leek, but not the other half.

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The end with the leaves, sprout tops, whatever you want to call them, did not ink very well at all, in that the colours went dark very quick. Possibly due to the leafy end being much greener in colour, so the colours didn't stand out as well. The other end was lovely to ink though...

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Each colour gave off a lovely vibrant finish, a bit splodgy here and there but then again this was a quick one tonight.

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The gold mixative played a big part again, and broke up some of the darker colours nicely.

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The thing i loved most about this weeks veg inking, is that it demonstrates perfectly how you don't need tons of colours to get numerous results. All i used this week was red pepper, wild plum and stream blue. A bit of gold mixative here and there but otherwise just the three colours.

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Yet look what we get when they collide....everything from greens to pinks, purples to vibrant turquoise colours. An excellent example of getting more for your money by mixing them.

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Yes i can hear you all gathering closer, biting your lip in anticipation, coffee cups shaking with excitement and wondering about the veginkability rating. Well this one i think deserves a 6!!!

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Had the other end of the leek been better, i would have easily given this an 8, but i think a 6 is still a fine score for this lanky fellow.

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Unfortunately i forgot to wear rubber gloves gain, so i now have to spend a week with coloured hands, and people feeling sorry for me because it looks like i have been tattooed by a drunk blind man....using a mop to apply the ink! :)

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Thank you for tuning in again everyone, i hope you like my leek. Have a great week whatever you are doing, and i look forward to popping around all of your blogs over the next few days. I was a bit rubbish at that, but Maddy showed me am easier way to do it.....so I'll be seeing ya!

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Night all :)

A fantasy 12 x 12.

Hi all,

Recently i have been working on something for Jennie at The Artistic Stamper. She will be at the Make-It craft show at Farnborough, Hants from 20th - 22nd Feb, and i was asked to make something for the stand.

I was asked to do something with one of my fairy doors i make. I haven't made any for a while so this was a great opportunity to dust off the chisel and set about something special for the show. After sitting in my craft room for days on end wondering what to make, i came up with this 12 x 12 layout.

I am quite chuffed with the end result, at first i was doubtful whether something so "blocky" as a wooden door would suit a paper craft layout, but this actually fits quite well with the fantasy theme.

At first i went with a very plain background 12 x 12 paper, but then i came across this one from the DCWV "Once Upon A Time collection". All I've ever done with that collection was stroked it lol, so it was a pleasure to use it on this LO.

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The door itself was kind of a new experiment for me, in that i usually spend a long process getting the finish right with paints and varnish. However here i used a thin coat of Picket White Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint for the finish, and what a result! I am so pleased with how this turned out, just as you'd imagine an old weathered painted door to look.

Another first for me was the fact that this door can open! :)

A single brass hinge covered with ultra fine glitter, allows the door to swing open, revealing a hidden world behind it....

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The view behind the door was made by covering a backing paper from the Crafty Individual "Trees" range, with ultra thick embossing enamel (UTEE), then i sealed some pine branch punch leaves under another layer of UTEE. The effect looks real magical in real life, you could almost get away with thinking it was underwater.

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Now until this project, i have to confess to having been an absolute oaf at embossing! However i recently purchased an anti-static pad which appears to have made a major difference. On this layout, i really wanted to use one of the any of Jennie's Calligraphic background mats, and as you can see, it worked beautifully with embossed gold against the background layer of greeny-blue distress ink. I also edged the whole 12 x 12 with embossed gold. The embossing isn't perfect, but i'm still a learner so go easy. :)

Another product that totally sold itself to me whilst using it, was the Tim Holtz masks. I used a couple of pieces from the "Time works" sheet. I blended distress ink over the masks so that it was similar to the 12 x 12 paper, i think it turned out pretty well and i really enjoyed using these.

I thought the Once Upon A "Time" wording fitted nicely with the clock piece....

What else is there....ah yes.....a little tag made from black stamp board and embossed with one of Jennie's stamps, backed with a crackle glazed stamped paper.

Finaly, i have to mention the door plaque. The name of Jennie's challenge blog and another one of her stamps. Anyone who has seen my doors before, knows they are hand carved, and this plaque was no exception. I think it goes with the door nicely.

So i just wanted to say a big thank you to Jennie and Hel's for asking me to do this, it opened my eyes to a few techniques that i have been wanting to try for a while now, as well as trying out new products.

Talking of which, here are the products i used from Jennie's shop, all which can be found here...

Various rubber stamps, including background mats, flourishes and word stamps....

Calligraphic mat 3 for the gold embossed background.

"Object d' Art" stamp for door plaque.

"ART" stamp for the embossed tag.

Flourish swirl stamp (part of) for around the door.

Flourish swirl stamp for embossing on page.

"Diamonds" texture mat for "ART" tag backing.

Chipboard tag for embossed "ART" tag.

Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint (Picket Fence - white).

Various colours of Distress Ink applied with the blending tool and foam pads.

Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE).

Gold Embossing Powder

Tim Holtz Ideaology "Timeworks" masks.

Crackle Accents. for back of "ART" tag.

Crafty Individual backing paper "Trees".

Thank you for taking a look.....hope you like it. :)

A cunning plan!

Hi all.....well as you know we left my little stash minder busy building something last time....



All i heard last night was banging and sawing, and a few colourfull words coming from my craft room as Rotty worked on his project all night.

"How's it going Rotty?"

"Mighty fine boss, mighty fine!....been working on a fail-proof plan to get rid of that mouse once and for all!"

"Really Rotty? I must say i'm impressed with your confidence in light of your past "mishaps".

"So what have you dreamed up this time my little sewer assassin?



"DADAAAAAAAAAAA!!!......feast your eyes on this little beauty boss!"

"Wow Rotty, what on earth is that contraption?

"It's simple boss....what you are looking at is a one of a kind, double action mouse elimination device!" I call it the "Snap, Thwackle and Pop!"

"Well i have to admit Rotty, i wondered what you were going to come up with next, but this takes the biscuit!" "Well done fella!"

"Thank you boss....now pay attention....if i can run you through it......first off, we have the standard issue mousetrap".......



"On it's own, not a bad method of mouse trapping i admit, but couple it with my home made bow, and what you get is a double trouble mashing machine with a one way ticket to Calvin Mouses left ear!!!"

"Nice one Rotty, tell me more.......oh and nice glasses by the way!"

"Cheers boss...anyway.....so i guess you must be wondering why the name "Snap, Thwackle and Pop?"

"Well yes i was wondering Rotty, as well as wondering where your whiskers had gone?"

Ah, got burnt off in the accident last week......anyway.....first Calvin Mouse sees the fake cheese on the trap......he steps on it and SNAP!!!!!......the trap then flips him over and loads him into the bow......THWACKLE!!!!!!.....thats the sound of the most powerfull bow you'll see this side of the sewer......i borrowed some of your hemp cord for the string if thats ok?"

"Thats fine Rotty.....and the Pop?"



"POP!!!.....is the sound of Calvin Mouse's ears as he gets fired out of the window and back to Maddy's craft room in Leeds! I've perfected the calculations to ensure the trajectory is spot on."

"My my Rotty, what a technical business this mouse elimination can be eh?"

"Certainly is boss.....hang on, i reckon that bow could do with tightening a little bit".



"Umm Rotty, i don't like to interfere or anything, but you do realise that trap is set don't you?

"Do not fear my worrysome boss, a little known fact is that the sewer rat has the stealthyness of a....well a stealthy thing.....we can tread so lightly, you'd think a shadow was on it!!!"

"Now then....just a little more this way....

"SNAP...THWACKLE........POP!!!!!!!!!...AAAAAAAH!!!



"ROTTYYYYYY!!!!!! WATCH OUT FOR MY COPIIIIIIIIIIIICS!!!



"Oh nice one Rotty!!!! Are you ok?"

"Uggghhhh.....aggghhhhhhh....get me out....GET ME OUT!!!!!



"What are you like Rotty.....i think your calculations were slightly off mate!"

"Very funny boss, have you ever thought of doing the comedy circuit?!" Just get me out of here will ya?".

"Sorry Rotty...i guess it's back to the drawing board then eh?"

"Oh yes boss, just as soon as i get the feeling back in my legs....that mouse is FOR IT!!!!!"

Veg i inked today!!!

Jumping veg roots people!!! Is it that time of the week again already?!!!

Yes it's Thursday night which means it's time for another episode of "VEG I INKED TODAY!"

Oh yes my loyal veggies, it's the one night of the week when you become a veggie viewer, audience to the edible...and leave concerned, knowing that you'll never get that five minutes of your life back!!! :)

So onto the veg. This week i went for this particular subject not only because of it's lovely texture which i thought would be great for inking, but also because it was a lovely specimen. It was huge!

Ladies and gentlemen, veteran fruit fans and novice veg enthusiasts.....may i present to you.....

THE PEPPER!!!



I thought this would be an excellent vegetable to ink because the skin is so shiny and smooth, i thought it would be another success like the onion.

However whilst it wasn't too bad, the ink dried pretty quick and therefore it dulls too soon. There are still some lovely colours in there, i just wish they were all as vibrant. You can see some of them are turning a "matt" finish instead of a nice gloss.



Sorry everyone....a bit of noise in the background, can't hear myself speak!

"Rotty....keep it down a bit will ya?"

"Sorry boss, just making something".

"Easy there Rotty, that thing is sharp!"

"No probs boss, you just worry about ya veggies...i'm a professional ya know!"

"Hmmm...professional what though! What are you making anyway?"

"Ah, just this and that.....i have a cunning plan which incorporates a certain little someone!"

"Please go careful Rotty, you wrecked my craft table last time, i was cleaning up ash and whiskers for ages after the last cunning plan!" "What are you doing with that branch anyway?"

"Hush hush and all that....don't you worry boss.....all will become clear soon *wink wink*!"

Sorry about that everyone....where was i.....

I love the way the blue mixed with the gold mixatives on this bit, here's a close-up....

Veginkability rating? Hmmm.....tough one. I reckon i could do better with the colours, but then again i have to go with my first attempt so i'm going to give the pepper a modest 5!!!

Not a bad score, remember that not all veggies will turn out well, indeed if my fruit escapades are anything to go by, they can be an absolute embarrassment at times!

To think this started off yellow anyway...... :)



Thank you for coming back for more veggie adventures everyone, it's always nice to see my regular followers here, and lovely to see new veggie voyeurs too!

Until next week......keep smiling! :) In the meantime, I'll leave Rotty to his cunning plan!

NEWSFLASH!! I knew it!

Hi everyone, sorry for the sense of urgency in my title, it's just that Rotty has shown me something that i think you should all see.

"Rotty? You there?

"Yeah man, i is here bro innit..keepin it real....yo big Calv me maaaan!!!!"

"Ok Rotty, i know you have been to see your pals in the sewer, but theres no need to come back all "gangster like".

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"Ah sorry boss, you know how it is...anyway whats up?

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"First of all...hows your injuries Rotty?"

"Well as you can see I'm all patched up, hand is a bit mangled still and my left ear is a bit swollen still, but otherwise i'm fine.....anyway...."

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"That hand does look bad doesn't it Rotty (not at all like your bosses Fimo skills rival a three year old).....a sling, bandage and an eye patch too?...it certainly was a nasty accident, i guess you'll be keeping clear of the heat gun from now on?

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"Yeah well....if you will leave those things hanging about.....anyway......"

"I was just telling the bloggers about the news you've heard....i thought it may be important enough to pass on?"

"Ah yes indeed boss, not only have you been saying it for a while anyway, but i now have information about a certain "someone" from a reliable news source!"

"Really Rotty? Please tell us more...."

"Well boss, it's like this....as you know I've been hanging out in the hood for the past couple of days, getting over the accident with the heat gun and dynamite and all that business"....

"By hood, i gather you mean the sewer Rotty?

"Yeah boss.....ah you speak street lingo too? Cool....anyway...whilst i was there hanging with me pals, word on the street was that the most trusted newspaper in the underworld of the sewers, "Rat Weekly", has run an article about you know who". "

"Look for yourself boss"...

Well would you believe it Rotty!!! To think theres all those bloggers out there that are being duped as we speak! Seems like anyone will fall for a cute pair of ears these days eh?

"Looks that way boss, hopefully they'll understand now why i need to take the steps that i do?" "Mice are real cunning you know, us rats have known all along, but it takes a while for you humans to pick up on it."

"Fair enough Rotty, so whats up your sleeve next for Calvin Mouse?"

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"Aha....hush hush and all that boss, but lets just say, if i pull this one off....it will be "another string to my bow" so to speak!!!"

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"Well you take care of yourself my little mangled mate, and i look forward to seeing what is in store for Maddy's little furr ball!" :)

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*A big thanks to Paula for the info on the paper, i have a feeling it will be Rotty's favourite read. :) *

Rotty Rat looks busy...

Hi all, well I'm taking a break after inking the onion last night, these things take it out of you ya know! :)

Oh look, someone looks excited, i see the postman has been for Rotty Rat....he's been waiting for something since he got here. Keeps saying he's got Calvin Mouse a present or something?



Hi Rotty....what have you got there then? May i say that under the circumstances of why you are here, i think it's pretty damn decent of you to get a present for that mouse of Maddy's.

So what is it then Rotty?



"Tadaaaaaaa! Look at this little fella boss!" Been waiting all week for this, just Calvin Mouse's size don't ya think?".

Oh nice one Rotty! That will stop the little critter from getting into my craft room won't it! :)

Oh look, it even comes with it's own pretend slice of cheese, if you want you can go and get some real cheese from the fridge. I happen to know he has a soft spot for a bit of Stilton.

"Nah it's ok boss, i have something i made earlier to stick on it.....something with a little more of a "kick" in it shall we say." "Be right back".....



HOLY BLENDING PADS ROTTY!!!! Where on earth did you get that from?!!!

"You know how it is boss.....hush hush and all that business".

Whatever you say Rotty, I'm sure you're an expert at this kind of thing. Please go careful though ok?

"No probs boss....you're dealing with a pro here".



Umm, the thing is Rotty, you've not worked in a craft room before have you, and there's a few things you should be aware of......Rotty? Can you hear me?......

"mumble mumble...who on earth left that hairdryer going on the table, I'm telling you, that boss of mine is pretty clumsy at times....it could blow all his craft stuff away....oh well"...

Rotty.....i should warn you....."Listen boss, i said everythings cool ok?.........

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my Rotty Rat.....are you ok there?

"Grrrrrr...cough cough splutter....flippin mouse!....back to the drawing board i think....grrrr!!!"