It's official..............

........not only do I not know what day it is.........I can't even get the correct month either !!
Those of you who were eagle-eyed enough to notice on the newsletter saw that the last day of opening before our Christmas break was 11th Sept !!???!!
You see, I really DO need a break lol !!
Anyway, that's me finished now for Christmas, the shop will stay open for browsing, but no more orders will be despatched until our return on the ........er ??? ................let me check.............6th January lmao !
Gift Vouchers will still be available throughout the Christmas break as we can activate them remotely, you just can't spend them til January lol !!

Can you believe, I have hardly started making my Christmas cards, the deccies are still in the loft and I have been madly shopping on-line for the rest of the pressies all evening !! Next year I WILL be organised !! - where have I heard that before ??

I'm thinking I will use this little chap (Stampotique - Santa Baby) for most of my Christmas Cards, there's just something about him I like, I have got him all stamped out, just need to start colouring him now and playing around with the layout, these were just a couple of test ones.....the way I am going, they will be the only ones finished lol !!




They will probably look nothing like either of theses when they are finished ! Who wants to take a bet that I end up nipping to M & S for bought ones - shock horror !!!!

Watch this space ........next blog piccies will be aforementioned bought ones !!

Right off for some zzzzzz
Goodnight all
Lyn

Sidetracked !!

Yeah, I know I am supposed to be making my Christmas Cards, but I got a little sidetracked with this fab stamp !! I just love this Stampotique stamp, so was itching to do something with it. First I went for mad colours, a real clash and now I'm not sure what to make of it LOL !! Then I toned it down a little and went for something more tasteful !??? Anyway here they are...........





I might even make a start on my Christmas cards later................or not !!

Lyn x

ooh yummy stamps !!

Oooh.... I'm all excited today as the final 3 boxes in the yummy stamp order arrived yesterday.......so I am thrilled to welcome STAMPOTIQUE to the Craft Emporium !!! YAY !!
I love these stamps and there are not many places in the UK to buy them. We have loads to choose from too :)
Stampotique are really popular at the moment and it's no wonder as they are soooo cool !!!

Well, it's been one of the busiest weeks on record at the Craft Emporium this week, October Afternoon Very Merry has been flying out of the door in practically every order......... so there has been very little time to catch up with everything else. Please tell me I am not the only one who hasn't even made a start on my Christmas Cards or Christmas shopping yet !!


This has been hanging around on my desk for a couple of weeks, so I finally took a piccy, I was messing around with Grungeboard and found a use for one of the Grungepaper flowers I made a while ago. I just love the Tim Holtz Funky Flame stamp and seem to use it for everything at the moment !!


Right, it's about time I thought about making a start on my Christmas cards ( I did say "thought about" - will probably not get around to actually making them for a few weeks yet LOL !)

Bye for now


Lyn x

Buried under Pizza Boxes and coming up for air !!!!

Wow - It's official..... Very Merry is a hit !!! I am always amazed at how quickly the new October Afternoon products fly and order tons of it, but I have never seen a paper line sell so quickly........looks like an early start on the order packing again tomorrow lol !!



I treated myself at the weekend to some of my pal Dyan's fab new Ephemera Download Collage sheets, so have been cutting and sticking tonight and came up with this 7" x 5" canvas. I somehow don't think she is finished yet, I've already gesso-ed out the background once, so will ponder on it for a few days.



If you haven't seen these lush collage sheet downloads yet, then hop on over to Dyan's Blog and take a look, there are 7 fab sheets and more to look forward to very soon too.

Oooh, and we should hopefully have some fab new stamps on the website by the end of the week ....... one part of the order is already here and I cannot wait to get them on-line, but need to wait for the other 3 boxes to arrive so they can all go on at once. I love this stamp company and am thrilled to be stocking their products. But.... you are going to have to wait for a few more days yet to see which range it is... yeah I know, I'm a tease lol !!

Ok, darling husband has just looked at my canvas and declared it a pile of c**p !?!?!? It's probably about as good as his golf then....... ha ha !!

Goodnight all

Lyn x

A VERY MERRY Day !!

Yes folks - October Afternoon VERY MERRY has arrived !!! HOORAY !! Gorgeous papers, stickers and wild cards. In the same consigment we also have the Farm Fresh and Report Card Rub-Ons, Stamps and Wild Cards. Check these beauties out !!



and how about these fab offerings...........


I know many of you have been waiting (and hoping) for the Very Merry collection to arrive in time for JYC and it has just made it !!!!

So what are you waiting for - go shop !!

It was a dark and stormy night..................

Was it ever !!!! Storm force 10 winds and torrential rain have been hitting the Island overnight and this morning. So, up I get at 7.30, coffee on, computer on, just sat down to sort out my farm (yeah another farmville addict lol) when I heard the drip, drip, drip of water !! Oh no, the rain had managed to get in through the dormer roof and my lovely canvas which had been sitting drying over night was awash !! So buckets and bowls at the ready, I set about trying to salvage the remains.........it's not too bad, could have been much worse, but will need to re-do the background and some of the paper embellies. Was gonna post piccies of it today, but will have to re-hash it first.

I know I haven't been around for a little while, for a start we are still manically busy which is good, but I have also been having major problems with blogger, the few times I did manage to get a post started, it just wouldn't upload ??? I also cannot get on other blogs, everytime I try and look at one, my computer just does a complete freeze........I have been trying to have a look at everyones lovely work honest !!

Well, the week started off quite challenging, when amid all the wind and rain, Everest arrived to fit the new windows !!! Let's just say it was a bit breezy, but nearly all done now, they are back tomorrow morning (weather permitting) to do my craft room and the study which I am so not looking forward to....having to shift everything out or cover it up !!! I suppose it will be worth it in the end.

A few good things to look forward to in the next week or so..........October Afternoon VERY MERRY has shipped !!!!! YAY !!! At last !!! The poor folks were all struck down with Swine Flu, so were very short staffed and that held everything up even more - hope they are all feeling better now.
The second good thing ........a couple of my favourite stamp ranges are coming to the Craft Emporium..........hmmmm should I say which ones yet ???? Maybe I'll let it be a suprise LOL !! The first range has already shipped, so not much longer to wait and the second one will hopefully follow shortly after.

Well, I really hope this storm ends soon, my daughter and all her friends are coming over from Uni for the weekend - feel sorry for them - 4 1/2 hours on the ferry across the Irish sea in this weather YUK !! Steph is well used to the stormy seas by now, but her pals are gonna get a bit of a shock !! Let's hope it dies down a bit.

I will leave you with a few random pics of stuff done over the last couple of weeks..........


.........and a couple of quickie cards with the new Blonde Moments Christmas Papers "All I Want For Christmas"






Lyn x

More piccies from the weekend !

This class was great fun, we made this cute little Time mini box, incorporating all sorts of cool techniques including stamping, watercolouring with Glimmer Mists, metalworking and making the fab Fob watch for the front - I just love the crackled effect which we did with lots of lovely Ranger Crackle Accents poured onto the face.




Lyn x

An amazing weekend !!

You soooo need to go to the next Artsy Crafty weekend - it was absolute heaven !!! On second thoughts I shouldn't be saying that as it will be all booked up too quickly next time and I might miss out LOL !!

What a great time was had by all, Leandra and Lin were fab teachers, the classes were brilliant - lots of inking, metal working, painting, spraying - you name it, we did it. It was lovely to meet so many new friends and catch up with some old ones too !! We chatted, laughed and exchanged email addresses and vowed to meet up at the next one. I was so busy having fun that I didn't take that many piccies, but here's a few snaps of the "works in progress" and hey I actually completely finished everything !!!! That's unheard of for me.

Lin doing a demo with the Ten Seconds Studio Metal and tools - fab stuff !!



A "work in progress" - will need to take more piccies of the finished project and upload them later in the week.



The start of the main project - a fab clock, we worked on various parts over the course of the weekend.



Working out where to place everything on the backing canvas



Nearly finished (it's not really crooked, it just hadn't been stuck down yet !


Penny made her clock in beautiful shades of blue (and she'll kill me for uploading this lol !!)



We played with Utee too


The lovely Trish and Suzanne...


Lots of masking and stamping to make a little mini accordian book....


And last but not least, our lovely Dutch friends Louise and Jeanette, we had such a laugh in the bar on the final night. Louise is the very talented lady who designs and makes the fab Art Journey Stamps - check out her fab blog for loads of inspiration here



So back to reality on Tuesday, trying to clear the backlog before the next wave of postal strikes and pack 50 Mystery Kits ready for the UKS Cyber Crop - and no, I can't tell you what's in them cos it's a secret !!!!

I finally took pity on the very lonely boxes from My Minds Eye that have been sitting here unloved and unpacked since the end of last week - check out the gorgeous Life Story 1 & 2 here .... I have to admit the images are not brilliant, but trust me, they are fab in real life.

Right I think it's time to climb the wooden hill before I fall asleep at my computer.

Goodnight all !

Lyn zzz zzzz zzzz zzzz

Bad blogger !!!

I know, I know - it's been a while again !!! Does anyone know where I can get a magic potion so I can have at least another 8 hours in everyday !! Lots more deliveries keep turning up - I think the shopping fairy ordered them whilst I wasn't looking (that's what I keep telling dh anyway - he reckons I have more stock than our local Tesco's and why do I possibly need it all ? - er.......... cos it's a shop !!)



Anyway we have the gorgeous Making Memories "Vintage Findings" which arrived at the beginning of the week...............






Pink Paislee "Mistletoe & Co" arrived the next day but only managed to get it on-line today and there are loads of boxes sitting here waiting to be opened with the fab My Mind's Eye Life Stories 1 & 2 in............. no way can I even allow myself a peek in those boxes as I am off the rock in the morning and haven't even packed yet !!!! 'fraid they will have to wait now until I get back on Monday.



We managed to get as many orders out as possible yesterday before the strike and have lots of lovely emails saying they arrived today, which was brilliant news. I was mostly expecting them to get stuck in sorting offices up and down the country. No orders were posted out today as we just didn't want to take the chance of them getting stuck at the bottom of a huge backlog - after a long discussion with our local delivery manager we have taken his advice and posting of orders will resume on Monday. We are so lucky here on the Island as our posties are not part of Royal Mail and it's business as normal, however they will probably have a very quiet day tomorrow with very little UK mail arriving in the morning.




Yay this weekend I will be mostly getting messy !! It's the fab Artsy Crafty weekend down in Newport Pagnell with the wonderfully talented Lin from LB Crafts and Leandra from PaperArtsy - what a combination ! So off in the morning via the plane to Luton with my pal Penny, can't wait to meet up with loads of my craft buddys from around the UK. We even have time for a little retail therapy too before the event starts on Saturday - result ! Now that I have been reminded to take my camera (thanks Katy lol) I can take loads of pics and post them when I get back.


Right, I suppose I'd better get off this computer and start throwing a few things in a bag - or I'll be packing 10 minutes before we leave as usual - I am trying so hard to be organised with this trip - (think I've already failed miserably)

Will tell you all about it when I get back.




Lyn x

Still buried under Pizza boxes !!

Oh dear, it's been a little while hasn't it.............what can I say, except life and pizza boxes keep getting in the way !! Just as I thought it was calming down a bit, another October Afternoon delivery has arrived, so we are getting a bit manic again lol !!

The fab 8 x 8 OA Report Card and Farm Fresh Paper Pads have now arrived along with the Label Stickers and Die Cut Shapes (which are in sticker form this time and not just pop outs) . Still waiting on the Stamps and Rub Ons and the fab new Christmas range which I am hoping will be here soon.
Talking of new goodies, a couple of yummy deliveries are currently winging their way over the Atlantic and will be here very soon - the new Pink Paislee Christmas range and the much awaited Vintage Findings from Making Memories, so keep checking the latest product section of the website.

I promised a while ago that I would post some piccies of my lovely new racks, you know the ones that wouldn't stay on the walls with just Glue Dots !!!!

Well after several trials and tribulations and a few visits to the builders merchants for 70 thousand different gluey like substances including one called " Sticks like Sh*t" !! - can you believe they actually called it that lol !! - well it doesn't stick at all !..... I had to finally resort to the tried and tested "screw the the blinking things into the wall" method !! So here they are in all their glory - I just love them.

and the new Ink Pad Storage Unit

I am finding it so much easier to use stuff now that it's at arms reach, half my inks and paints were stacked away in boxes and I was just too lazy to get them down from the shelves. No excuses now to create something !!! Just need another 8 hours in the day !

Ok, I need to go and eat some food before I expire !!

Will try not to leave it so long next time.

Lyn xx

Happy Saturday !

I have officially declared today a "no work zone" - I have the house to myself all weekend and after the manic week of all the "October Afternoon" orders - I am shattered and having a nice lazy day, still up at 7am though - that was a lie in lol !


A nice yummy breakfast of granola, strawberries and yoghurt, an even yummier lunch of chocolate, lots of inky stamping of various bits of paper and some sax playing to chill out. (that's the bit where you need to feel sorry for the neighbours !!)

I've been meaning to upload this pic of the Grungepaper Flowers I made last week, so here they are ! Not the best in the world, but I had loads of fun making them, just need to put them on something now !

I've been stamping all afternoon and as usual have very little to show for it lol ! Is it just me, but I have loads and loads of bits ie. stamped images, backgrounds etc, but very little assembled ! I did manage to finish one ATC however, and have used the Rock Candy Crackle on the entire piece, not sure whether it will show up very well as my piccy taking is rubbish !!


I may even have chocolate for supper as well, seeing as the chef is away at the footie, hmmm ....chocolate, a nice glass of red and X Factor - what more could a girl want LOL !!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, I may even finish something else tomorrow , and I am trying not to think of the massive box of Prima flowers that need to go on the website !!!

Lyn

Woo Hoo !!! Look whats just arrived !!

Just a quickie post as I am knee deep in boxes of lovely new stash.................yes it's the delivery you have all been waiting for........ OCTOBER AFTERNOON IS IN THE BUILDING !!

Still lot's of the range to ship from the US and yes, there are Label Stickers and Die Cut Shapes coming sooon along with Stamps, Rub-ons etc. I will sort out the Bazzill match packs as soon as possible - may be a couple of days as new cardstock will need to be ordered.

Enjoy !

Lyn x

And the winner is......................

..lucky for some number 13

So congratulations Bonjen3 - if you would like to email me your addy at lyn@craft-emporium.co.uk I will get your goodies off to you.
Thanks to everyone for taking part and leaving a comment :)

Well the weekend flew by, operation "re-organise craft room" began in earnest on Saturday morning ! My brand new shelves were itching to be filled, but first dh had to take an electric saw to my existing shelves - everything was cleared off, shelves sawn and re-positioned with amazing ease (since when did he become such a whizz with electric tools ???) and then it was time to put everything back, now here comes the law of sodd - it never all goes back does it ? I had twice as much space and still there were boxes of stash sitting on the floor without a home..........how did that happen ? So it is still a work in progress and will post piccies when it is finally all sorted. I just love the little wall racks for my dabbers and inks, but note to self - they will NOT stay up with glue dots lmao, so down to the builders merchants to buy some "no nails" today and then it will all be finally finished.

Had a fab time on Sunday at my pal Penny's house - we played with grungepaper, stamps and inks and made loads of gorgeous flowers - I will post some pics as soon as I get a chance to get the camera out. Oooh finally had a chance for a little play with the Rock Candy Crackle too - brilliant stuff I officially love it !! Restocks are on the way and should be here at the end of the week.

Right, as usual Monday is mega busy day and I need to be finished at a reasonable hour as I will be dashing to my first saxaphone ensemble rehearsal - wish me luck ,or should it be - wish them luck lol !!

Lyn x

Blog Candy !!

Well I promised Blog Candy and here it is.............at last !!

The weeks are flying by at the moment and I have been buried underneath new products galore, so no time to do anything but pack orders and upload new stock lol !!



Anyway, who wants to win some of the new Sassafrass papers ????


Just leave a comment telling me which one of the three new paper collections is your favourite and the lucky winner chosen by the random generator will get them - Simples !


Don't forget to say which collection you would like, you can choose from Amplify, Monstrosity or Sweet Marmalade ! Will leave this running until Sunday night.





Got a fab delivery due in a few days time......... oooh wonder what it can be ?

Let's just say I have just ordered a ton of pizza boxes ready for the scramble !!

Awww....... I have given it away now lol !! Get ready to start stalking the site is all I will say for now !

Have a great day !

Lyn x

Fab weekend !!

Well it's been non stop since we got back from our weekend trip, no time to blog or catch up with anything lol ! We had a brilliant time discovering the Yorkshire area, staying in Knaresborough and visiting York, Harrowgate, and all those gorgeous little villages around the area - it's such a great part of the country ! We stayed in a beautiful georgian place - Newton House, if you are ever in the area I can highly reccommend it, the breakfasts are to die for !!


Had a fab time at the Great Northern Papercraft Show, caught up with Dyan and the crew from Art from The Heart, had a natter and brought back all the fab new Blonde Moments range for the shop. I did treat myself to some great storage units for my own craft room - we all love storage yes ?

It would have been a good idea if I had measured my area first though lol !! I now have to move all my existing shelves to fit them in, which is going to be a massive job !!! Still it will be worth it in the end.

Those friendly delivery men have been visiting me again lol !!! All in all 12 huge boxes turned up yesterday !! So now ploughing through them and trying to get them all on-line, Pink Paislee has arrived and is now on-line, 2 new collections, Twilight and Amber Road - gorgeous !!

Sassafrass Lass is next to be checked off and uploaded - so keep checking the latest product section.

Right better get some more work done !!

Every cloud........

Well we are off the little rock at the weekend to take dd back to Uni, I'm sure gonna miss her, and her organisational skill with the stock rooms.........and the fact that she has got all my accounts bang up to date !!!


Seeing as we are going "across" anyway it seemed like a good idea to have a few days away, so we are off to the Yorkshire area and I thought "what a great time to catch up with my pal Dyan and all the gang at the Art from the Heart Studios" - well, double whammy as it is only the Great Northern Papercraft Show that weekend !!!! Now how did I engineer that lol !!! So I can catch up with all the news with Dyan, have a few hours at the show and.....................bring all the lovely brand new Blonde Moments release " ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS" back for the shop - RESULT !!! I am sure you are all following Dyan's blog so you can see all the sneaky peaks from her new collection on there and wow what a fab stand she will have at the show !!!

I just have to show you this though.........






..........how fab is that ! Colour your own papers with all the lovely Blonde Moments Pearl Pigments - therapuetic or what !

Not sure what dh will do whilst I stroke paper and gossip, but I am sure he will find something in the area to occupy him.

ooohhhh.... Look whats arrived !!

The brand new and fab Tim Holtz Rock Candy is here !!!!!!!!

and 17 (yes 17 !!) new colours of Distress Stickles.

Check out Tim's fab YouTube video on the new Rock Candy Crackle Paint........

ooh more new goodies !!

YAY !! the new Basic Grey is now here.....

Just finished unpacking the last box now !! Wow, Friday night - I do know how to live LOL !!


Well, the end of another crazy week and we are just about getting up to date with the orders, next week will be manic for another reason as I will be trying to find time to help dd get all her stuff packed ready to go back to Uni at the end of the week, so no crafting for me this weekend, just tons of washing and sorting lol.



Don't forget there is still time to hop on over to Tuesday Taggers for a chance to win the Cosmo "Boyfriend Papercrafting Kit" - everyone has the same chance of winning by taking part in this weeks challenge, so if you haven't already entered why not give it a go !

Hope you all have a great weekend !

Oooh almost forgot - OA Farm Fresh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooooh I love this !!!!!

Normal service is resumed !

Normal Twix service that is lol !! We are now fully twixed for the next couple of weeks. Anyway onto more important things.....................who wants to win a Cosmo Cricket "The Boyfriend" Collection pack ???

The Craft Emporium are once again pleased to sponsor this weeks TUESDAY TAGGERS Challenge, so if you want to win this fab prize, just hop on over to Tuesday Taggers and join in the challenge.

Have fun !

A little bit of "me time" !

Well, I have taken the plunge and booked to go on the fab Artsycraft Weekend in October - this fab altered art weekend is being organised by Leanda from PaperArtsy and Lin from LBCrafts - what a combination of talent !!!! I am now officially counting sleeps LOL !

Not sure whether it is all sold out now, there maybe a couple of places left - the link is here anyway - hey I will actually get a whole weekend to get messy with inky stuff and spend some time with good friends !!

Another delivery of goodies arrived yesterday which I had totally forgotten that I'd ordered !!!

Lots of fab clear stamp sets at a great bargain price of only £4.99 !!! Loads of Christmas sets and lots of all occasion useful type ones too :)

I made this card the other weekend using the My Minds Eye "Colourful Christmas" papers and of course the very popular snag'ems Polar Bear and totally forgot to put it on here lol - so here he is...........

Note to self...............

.............don't upload new products to the website after a 14 hour day and 2 glasses of wine !!!!
It has taken me twice as long and "shock horror" I nearly gave it all away for nothing LOL !! Just a tiny pricing error.....like forgetting to put any prices in at all !!
Anyway the new Making Memories MISTLETOE is now on-line, still a couple of the papers and the embellies to arrive but lots of lovely papers to be going on with.







Well, the Cosmo has really gone down well, it's been flying out all day, some of you even managed to grab the Mini Decks before they sold out ( still a couple of "Boyfriend" left) if you are very quick !


There's good news and bad news today - the bad news is......still no Twix's.......... Noooooo!!

...and the good news is..............well let's just say a *new to us* range is coming to the Craft Emporium very soon.... ok, just a little hint... think lots of colours LOL !! ???


Ohh, and if you see some Christmas trees lurking in the "travel section" you'll know why !

Woo Hoo !!!

Just a quickie post as there are still more boxes to unpack !!
The brand new Cosmo has arrived..... three fab collections - THE BOYFRIEND, EARTH LOVE and JOLLY BY GOLLY, all on-line and ready to order, I am just digging myself out from a pile of Bazzill sorting out the colour matches LOL !!

Mini Decks are flying out so you need to be quick !!

Nut and Meg have arrived !

Oooh.... aren't they fab ! The new Christmas stamps from PaperArtsy have just arrived. 8 new un-mounted plates with loads of fab images, I'm still pondering on which is my favourite, it's between the Fairy( Plate 6) and the Cat (Plate 8) - which ones do you like the best ?

We have also got the 4 new Squiggly Mini's and 12 brand new Ink & The Dog Mini's too. I can't wait to play with these !

Lots more lovely goodies are due to arrive at the end of this week........I'm stalking the delivery men again LOL !!

Arghhh..... we have also ran out of Twix !!! I'm afraid it is going to be a Twix-less few days until I get a chance to climb from under this pile of parcels and go buy some more....but hey look on the bright side - no calories for a few days !

Woo Hoo !!!

YAY !!!! New October Afternoon piccies are up

Check out the fab "REPORT CARD"



Watch this space for the next range FARM FRESH coming soon

Leandra Beads

I've been having great fun at the weekend playing with my Melt Pot and making Leandra Beads........Leandra Beads were developed by Leandra Franich from one of my favourite stamp companies Paper Artsy.
I have teamed my beads with one of the 7 Gypsies Bracelet Kits - they are not perfectly round, but hey that adds to the charm !



Suze Weinberg has a great YouTube video here.. go make some !!

The kidnapped Polar Bear !

Awwww.... I managed to kidnap one of those cute little Polar Bears before they all left me for their new homes LOL:



The papers are the new Imaginisce Polar Expressions with a little sprinkling of Stardust Stickles and the Ranger Inkssentials White Pigment Pen.

Well that's the weekend over, I'm just back from a fab Indonesian supper at our neighbours home - good food, wine and great company !! Hope you all had a great weekend too !