Polly Plays

So my excitement was worthwhile. After only a couple of days waiting my package from WalzingMouse arrived, having been despatched on Saturday from the North of Ireland.

To tell the truth, I was beginning to feel a little guilty about not having done anything with the set for two whole days so I set about playing with it this evening. The price I paid for this endeavour was high...

I had set a lovely tender beef stew on the stove to cook slowly while I was playing out in my craft studio. Having been neglected by those left in the house disaster was narrowly averted; the addition of some crushed garlic & ginger, tomato paste and a few spices saved the day. When served with buttered basmati rice it tasted pretty good; thank goodness I caught it when I did!

Back to my card making: as you can see the quality of what I've done is far from perfect, but you get the idea, right? I think it's a valuable lesson learned, use a slightly heavier weight card for my mounting paper rather than expensive lustrous paper which is in short supply. The idea was good, but it didn't quite work, did it - notice the 'bagginess' - although on reflection it could be a shadow as the real thing doesn't look that bad.

The stamp set used is a really Christmassy stamp set, created by my friend Claire Brennan of WalzingMouse Stamps. This is one of her newly released range of high quality polymer stamps which reflects Claire's craziness when it comes to Christmas - she's an addict!

Just to be awkward I decided to do something a bit different. Seeing as my youngest son LB celebrates his birthday just three days before Christmas it seemed kind of appropriate to make him a birthday card. I hope that you like it, and more importantly that he does - even if it is a tad early/late!


Materials used:
plain blue paper} - The Paper Mill Shop
lustrous white paper }
white hammered card }
Joanna Sheen Italian Marbled - Warm Backing Paper Pad
Stazon Ink black
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tea Dye & Old Paper
PTI Perfect Match Palette Hybrid Ink - Dark Chocolate and Fresh Snow Pigment Ink(on ribbon)
Heat It Up embossing powders, copper, black, blue glass and clear
Colourbox Fluid Chalk Ink Blue Iris
Anita's Gem Stone Wheel
Lavender Grosgrain Ribbon - Dovecraft's
Brown Ric-Rac Ribbon - American Crafts
Buttons - Prima


So now that I've shown off my latest creation and pointed out its faults, I am happy to report that the stamps worked like a dream. Like a lot of new stamps it was necessary to condition them, this removes any residue and makes it easier for the ink to adhere to the images and results in a better impression.

After use I wiped the stamps down with moist toilet tissue from Lidl and returned them to their acetate sheet with the in built cling still very much intact, which is great because this isn't always the case! All in all I am delighted with my new stamps and wish Claire every success with her new venture, why not give her a visit and see for yourself...

Polly Pierce