Life is just...

Hi folks...you've heard that saying "life is just a bowl of cherries" but not if you live and work in the cubbyhole it isn't...I thought I would have a little break from the work stuff and have some fun with Shari's 2nd Art Journaling Technique...

but it soon became clear when I saw the list of materials...it wasn't going to be a walk in the park...more like a trek up hill and dale considering I don't have any of Dyan's fabulous Dylusion Ink Sprays...to be honest I'm inclined to steer away from anything that is likely to spritz the walls of the cubbyhole with all the colours of the rainbow. But I'm not one to give up at the first hurdle so I decanted some Distress Re-inkers into Mini Misters and got to work...to be honest there was more colour on me than ended up on the paper but hey ho I did manage to avoid the walls and it's nothing that Tim's scrubbie and a hot shower didn't put right. I have to warn you that mine turned out nothing like Shari's...don't know quite what happened but I found myself going off on a completely different tangent...

but just when I thought it was all going swimmingly...my fine black liner refused to play the game and my Inkssentials White Opaque Pen just gave up the ghost and died...

and the temptation to play is everywhere...I'm sure you know that a certain person has a Tattered Floral Challenge running at the moment...oh boy I've had to call on every inch of willpower to resist the temptation to play along just yet...first I have a hot date with this month's Penny Black Saturday DT card-still at the drawing board stage which is a bit of a worry and a Fiskars Workshop card to nail so time to grit my teeth and get back to work...toodle oo for now...see you all tomorrow.

Hugs Kath 

xxx

No WOYWW again...

Hi folks...already it's the middle of the week and the day that lots of us crafty folks hop over to WOYWW but I'm going to have to give it a miss again...2 weeks in a row...absolutely shocking...I'm beginning to suffer from withdrawal symptoms. The cubbyhole workdesk has been scrubbed down after the mucky painty sessions and is looking all spickety-span ready for the next onslaught of creativeness.

The Fuse and I are taking a little road trip this morning to The Papeterie to meet up with the rep from Fiskars' UK distributor...

the Big Boy will be strutting his stuff and I'll be doing what I do best...chatting and partaking of a coffee and a buttery and if you don't know what a buttery is...it's a North East of Scotland delicacy...sort of a doughy roll...very very yummy and laden with calories but it's allowed on odd occasion special treat days...that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

See you all tomorrow

Hugs Kath xxx

Sneaky Peek Time Again...

Hi folks...I'm back in the crafty swing...the cubbyhole production line has been firing on all cylinders and Saturday's workshop projects are in the bag but before I make a start on the demo projects...it might be a good idea to clean up yesterday's mucky workdesk...

a basin of hot soapy water and a scrubbie are guaranteed to make short work of my messy painty dabblings and clean up my "tattie howking" hands at the same time but before I take the plunge...it's time to announce the winner of the Craftwork Cards Give-Away....

LORRAINE B (30)

please get in touch with your address Lorraine and your parcel of goodies will be popping through your letterbox real soon. It's onwards and upwards so just time to share some sneaky peeks...

My class has been advertised over on the Papeterie Facebook Page as the "Mad Messy Masks" Class...can a mask be mad and messy I wonder or heavens forbid...are they trying to tell me something...see you all tomorrow

Hugs Kath xxx

I'm not playing...

Hi folks...I've managed to sweet talk the old body back into working mode but I'm feeling a little hard done by this morning...yes I've got my moaning minnie grumpy hat on again...throwing my toys out of the pram and in my best spoiled brat voice "I'm not playing" and that sums it up in a nutshell. Lots of new goodies have arrived in the cubbyhole and as per usual there are work deadlines to nail before I can put my playtime hat on...woohoo the cubbyhole crew have managed to get some Distress Paints...not as many paints as we wanted because you all beat us to it and caused a serious out of stock shortage in the UK...really how inconsiderate of you all...

And the freebie goodies that made it home with me from Stitches are adding to the temptation...thanks to the lovely Leandra and Mark at Paperartsy for the save my bacon goodies

no more wrinkly tissue paper now I've got Satin Glaze...I can discard the old credit card method of applying texture pastes now I've got palette knives and some super duper Grunge Paste to get messy with...

heat gun and some fabulous WOW embossing powders from the lovely Richard and Archie at WOW

While watching me inking the Letterpress Plates with Versamark they asked if you could then emboss the inked impression...why not...let's give it a shot...so embossing powder and a heat gun appeared...I inked and sprinkled but because I didn't have a power point...Archie had to sprint from Fiskars to WOW holding his precious cargo to melt the powder...absolutely hilarious and let me tell you the result was absolutely gorgeous...I should have taken it home to share with you and they refused to take the heat gun back...how kind was that...2 of the nicest and funniest guys on the planet.

left over glue from my demos...a girl can never have too much glue...don't you know

and my gorgeous sparkly blingy lanyard from my lovely chums at Crystal Avenue which is now a permanent feature of my demo wardrobe...

last but by no means least...WeRMK gorgeous Spring papers and embellishments that I just couldn't resist from QVC...

I'm not really a crafty channel shopper but when I know that my lovely buddy Marion will be on air...it's a great excuse to have a break and a late lunch and she always has that naughty twinkle in her eye which translates as "Kath you really need to get these"...so it would be so rude not to.
But the thing I came home without...a pair of these cute animal Fiskars kids scissors for Brodie and Oliver...

top priority on March's shopping list at Hobbycraft at The NEC...

but it's time for Moaning Minnie to get back to work with this pile of goodies from THE PAPETERIE...

fingers crossed Mr Mojo is in the house and raring to go with lots of ideas for my demo and workshop next  Saturday...if you want to come join me for a day playing with masks...stamps...paints and lots of messy textured techniques (gloves will be provided if necessary) give The Papeterie a ring on 01224 802337 to book your place and you know what...in my little world...work and play are often one and the same thing.  A little reminder that you have until 8pm tonight to enter the Craftwork Cards Give-Away...I'll see you all tomorrow to announce the winner.

Hugs Kath xxx

hoop-de-doo news...

Hi folks...I know you're all going to be thinking that I've finally lost my marbles...Ok it's true there are some days that I don't fire on all cylinders in the memory department and I hold my hands up to having more than my fair share of little hiccupy senior moments such as forgetting to pick up my suitcase at baggage reclaim and locking down the whole of Birmingham airport but let me put your mind at rest...I haven't totally succumbed to the dottery old woman syndrome just yet...well perhaps just a little bit.
I'm sharing some hoop-de-doo crafty news today and making no apologies for telling you all again that my local crafty store THE PAPETERIE won BEST CRAFT RETAILER SCOTLAND in the Immediate Media British Craft Awards 2013 at the CHSI Trade Show in Birmingham...voted into first place by you...the customer.  I'm mega mega chuffed to bits for Charlotte and her team who work their socks off to make THE PAPETERIE a premier crafting destination...keeping abreast of the latest trends and making the customers happy happy and oh my giddy aunt...here comes the muchly excited...in fact thricely excited bit...you are going to be positively ecstatic about the fabulous treats that Charlotte has lined up for all the lucky crafters who live in this neck of the woods...not ONE...not TWO...but THREE fabulous mega inspirational crafty persons will be heading to THE PAPETERIE in the coming months for your delight and delectation and kicking off the fun will be...

the adorable and very talented Nikky Hall from Polkadoodles on the 11th May...

followed by the Queen of Spellbinders...the sweet Sue Wilson on the 6th July

and before you have time to recover...the one and only Barbara Gray from Clarity Stamps will be winging her way back to Scotland on 13th July

Exciting isn't it...it's sit down and take a deep breath news but please take care if you're currently dancing across the ceiling...all demos are free and I bet there will be fabulous special offers to tempt you to get creative on the day so I think now might be a good time to dust off your piggy bank and start saving some crafty pennies. But it's back to the day job and first task of the day for the cubbyhole crew is to tidy up yesterday's creative chaos...

and move on to the next job on the crafty list.  Thank you all for your blog birthday good wishes and I have to say I had a little giggle at the "here's to the next 5 years" comments...I think you're forgetting this crafty girl is now skidding uncontrollably down age's slippery slope...so no guarantees...let's just see how it goes.

See you all tomorrow

Hugs Kath xxx

Fun with the Fiskars Fuse...Day 2...

Hi folks...I'm slowly getting back in the crafty groove although the old body is still having the odd protest...working 4 days at a show is seriously hard work...standing behind a demo table from 9.00am until 6.00pm takes it's toll on the old legs not to mention what the never ending chatting does to the vocal chords but it's the bestest job in the world...I love meeting all those lovely folks who share my passion for all things crafty and I'm so so lucky to be part of the fabulous dream team at Fiskars...loves you all and thanks again for a great show. And for someone who can talk the hind legs off a donkey...I can never resist an opportunity to sneak in a good old blether with crafty mates...the one and only gorgeous Mrs (Nikky Nikky Noo Na) Polkadoodles and yours truly setting the world to rights while I pretend to be working. Nikky will be making a trip up to The Papeterie in May to share her fabulous talent with us Scottish crafty folks...yeeehaaa...can't wait...fun is definitely on the menu when Nikky's around...

but it's not all work...come evening the Fiskars crew kick off their shoes...chill out and unwind...catching up with the old friends that we only see twice a year and because this is a warts 'n all kind of a blog...I'm sticking my neck out realising that I may well scare the living daylights out of you by sharing a god awful photo of me being led wildly astray...I suspect they were trying to get me tiddly...did it work...well you can draw your own conclusions...

but it's a big mistake when you're old and wrinkly cozying up to a beautiful young filly (my gorgeous teamie Hina) especially when the carefully applied polyfilla has evaporated under the hot show lights and note to self...make sure you hold your stomach in next time. I was slightly bemused by the folks that said I look much younger in real life...crikey they need to either clean their specs or hot foot it pronto to the opticians to sort out their wonky vision but back to the serious crafty stuff and more samples made with the FUSE CREATIVITY SYSTEM...

Medium Design Set-Curvy Square 
I love the effect you get when you ink the design plates with Versamark and letterpress onto Kraft Card..

Medium Expansion Pack-Curvy Square

the butterfly was die cut and letterpressed on  fabric 

Medium Design Set-Square

Medium Design Set-Bird

Medium Expansion Set-Bird

I just adore this cute little chirpy chirpy cheep cheep character...

Medium Design Set-Curvy Square 

Medium Expansion Pack-Curvy Square

Medium Design Set-Snowflake

the snowflakes were die cut from shrink plastic and coloured with Alcohol Inks...

Medium Design Set-Curvy Square 

And sacre blue...how could I have forgotten that 5 years ago today I took the tentative step of starting a blog...venturing rather gingerly into the baffling world of computer technology and and here I am 2125 days later still wittering on about this that and the other. Little did I know what an amazing journey it would be and how many wonderful friends I would make along the way...I truly appreciate your company and all your kind comments but there's been no time to organise mega birthday celebrations...the cubbyhole crew will just have to settle for a little bit of cake and quick rendition of "Happy Birthday Blog"...see you all tomorrow to share some "I could crush a grape" mega...mega...exciting news.

Hugs Kath & Buddy
xxx

Fun with the Fiskars Fuse...Day 1

Hi folks...I'm still buzzing after my Stitches adventure...it's just a pity that the old body doesn't want to join in the excitement and I wish I'd got the number of the truck that ran me over when I wasn't looking. The show was so busy with craft buyers from the big chains...shopping channels and independent retailers from across Europe all shopping for new products but I didn't get a chance to hop around and check out all the lovely goodies on show but I did find time to pay sneaky visits to the Sizzix stand...it's always so beautifully decorated with gorgeous samples and this one really caught my eye...this adorable house showcasing the extraordinary talents of my lovely Sizzix buddy...Paula Pascual...

but I didn't have my camera with me so I borrowed this pic from my lovely buddy Enfys...pop over to her blog where she's making me very jealous with pics of all the lovely goodies she spotted at the show including this beauty...hard to believe this started out as a tatty old piece of polystyrene...

but back to the job in hand and time to share some of the samples I made for Stitches using the fabulous...

FUSE CREATIVITY SYSTEM

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I've had with THE FUSE...in fact the cubbyhole turned into the proverbial sweet shop and I was like a big kid playing around and experimenting with lots of different materials. And you know me I have a bit of an obsession with snowflakes so this one jumped right to the front of the queue...die cut...embossed and letterpressed onto white cardstock and then glittered with Glamour Dust...inspired by my Hero Arts buddy...the lovely Shari Carroll...

Medium Design Set-Snowflake

Medium Design Set-Snowflake

die cut...embossed and coloured with Broken China Distress Ink

Medium Design Set-Tag

Medium Design Set-Bird
this cute little bird die cut and letter pressed onto felt...

if you're a stamper you'll know it is virtually impossible to get a clean crisp image on felt using the traditional stamp method but with The Fuse you get perfect detail everytime...

Medium Design Set-Tag

Medium Design Set-Leaf

the leaf was die cut and letter pressed onto felt...

Medium Design Set-Curvy Square
Medium Expansion Pack-Curvy Square
die cut and letterpressed on Aida...

Medium Expansion Pack-Square
I used the rule design plate from the above pack to letterpress onto twill ribbon...

I'll be back tomorrow to share more Fuse makes...in the meantime I'm off to give the old body a good old talking to...time to get back to the day job and put my thinking cap on for my first demo and workshop day of the year at THE PAPETERIE on 2nd March...did I happen to mention that it's now officially the BEST CRAFT SHOP IN SCOTLAND...just a week and a bit away and then get stuck into my project and the prep for the Fiskars Workshop at Hobbycraft at the NEC in 4 week's time...I think I may need a few cuppas before I look out a pile of big girl knickers for some "back up against the wall and skidding in by the seat of my pants" cubbyhole sessions...just a normal day really in this hectic space we call The Cubbyhole.

Hugs Kath xxx