Happy Hallowe'en

okay I've been saving myself up for my apostrophe rant. The people who know me know my obsession with the apostrophe.

The English spelling of Hallowe'en has an apostrophe. pure and simple. The apostrophe is there because it is a contraction of All Hallow's Eve, or Halloweven, the v was removed and replaced by an apostrophe.

The Americans spell it without the apostrophe. I can deal with that just fine as there are other words that the americans spell different. that's why American English is not the same as English. But over the last few years the celebrations in the UK have become very americanised (or should that be americanized?).
For example "the holidays" is not another name for Christmas in the UK. "The holidays" is when we go to the beach in the summer and sit on our deck chairs, behind our windbreaks!

I am proud of the history of the English language and hate to see it slowly slipping away. As far as I am concerned writing Halloween, is as bad as writing Shouldnt or dont. It has an apostrophe.

Plus don't you think the word just looks much more spooky with the apostrophe?



aaaaah I feel much better for that!!

so some Hallowe'en work.
I have made a tag to go on some party bags, for a hallowe'en party I am throwing for my children later today. It gave me a good excuse to remind them all about the apostrophe too!

I have also made a door hanging, as part of a Hallowe'en swap, with one very moody looking witch (I'm not referring to the person I swapped with!!!)

I am entering these for this week's Saturday Stampers, where Kaz did use the apostrope (she's a good mate!!)

wednesday stamper- well sort of!!

The theme at wednesday stamper this week is "growing old". My card not strictly on theme, but the quote is about how being old does not change how you feel about sisters!!

The card is a commission, my friend asked me to make a special card for her sister's birthday. I had the idea for what quote and stamp I was going to use but hadn't yet put much thought to the layout. So I was browsing stampington catch up when I saw cards made with the take ten template a good few issues back and I thought it might just work with this paperbag studios stamp.

So this was the quick card I came up with, gosh doesn't it cut down the time using a template!!

in case you are interested the alpabet stamp is PaperArtsy and the font for the quote is Calamity Jane from 1001 free fonts

art doll mark 2

when I made my knitted doll, the challenge that had actually been set was to make an art doll. I thought I'd now show the "serious" entry for this challenge. The clay face was provided by anjie who set the challenge. I decided I'd make mine a buttefly, because...well because I like butterflies, I also liked the idea of using acetate wings.
I had never done anything quite like this before, that's why it's called a challenge!!
I actually used this as the tag on the knitted doll when I wrapped her up.

oh and knitted doll has a friend....more on that later.

saturday stampers- winter

The theme on Saturday Stampers this week is winter. This ties in really nicely with a winter gothic arch swap I am taking part in. so here's my contribution.
I have used fusible fibres on the background, and the main stamp is by paperartsy which I've stamped in grey as a change from black.

Mermaid

This was the birthday card I made for Carrie. This is the first time I used this mermaid stamp which is from Once Upon a Stamp. I love her wild hair! that's exactly what hair looks like underwater. I remember from years of drowning my sindy dolls.

The little shell stamp is from crafty individuals, and the fossil stamp is anita's
I've sprayed the background with moonglow mist. you can see a bit of the sparkle in the close up. the snipped bit of card sort of came about by accident. the picture didn't fit the mat properly but I'd already stuck it down. so I tried to trim it while it was stuck but my scissors slipped. but I liked it so I snipped it some more. I might even use that "technique" again sometime!

wednesday stamper - inchies

Well if ever there was a wednesday stamper theme made for me, then this is it!
I love inchies. they are my crafting quick fix when I don't have much time.
I have made my inchie to fit in with the current swap that I am running. the theme is orange and black. and although they don't have to be a hallowe'en theme, I have chosen to do this one for hallowe'en. the background is done with acrylics, and the stamped clown is courtesy of seona (thanks seona)

if anyone is interested in joining my international inchie swap the details are here.

Think Pink

This month is breast cancer awareness month, and in honour of this the monthly tag swap I participate in has the theme of think pink ladies.

Here's my tag, and my thoughts go out to all those who are touched by this disease.

don't forget you can help fund free mammograms by clicking this link. it's free and you can do it every day.

In honour of this worthy cause. I have also made my blog pink (temporarily)

my knitted doll

The forum I am on had a challenge to create an "art doll" but this was a very loose challenge, and I decided to knit mine. I have been inspired by the knitted babes, but I don't have this book (yet), so this doll (named abbey by her new owner) was my design. I made her using what I like to call "instinctive knitting" otherwise known as "making it up as I go along" I have no pattern for her so even if I tried to make another one, it would not be the same.

anyway, I was really pleased with her and I had a fun time taking pictures of her!

she now lives HERE