I Found My Blitzer!

After seeing this post http://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/beautiful-cityscape-i-love-this-stamp/  by the Frugal Crafter and seeing the machine Tim Holtz and Stampin Up are peddling, I thought….I have one of them from when I was a kid, but it’s called a Blitzer. My Mum had saved it in a cupboard and it’s in good nick considering it’s 15-20 years old! I thought it would be perfect for stenciling as I have found it pretty difficult to get a crisp image all over the stencil! You add pens (I used Promarkers) and pump air through it and the ink kinda bursts onto the page. Some pens put splodges and some more find sprays of ink, fab for stencils though so I’m really chuffed!

The second image is just where I have added colour restoration when scanning it in. Interesting to see how the colours change!

Hand-Made Birthday Card

Word of the Day: 13

garrulous

adjective UK /ˈɡær.əl.əs/ US /ˈɡer-/ (click on the link below to listen to the pronunciations)

› having the habit of talking a lot, especially about things that are not important

garrulously     /-li/ adverb

garrulousness     /-nəs/ noun

Word of the Day: 12

assiduous

adjective UK and US /əˈsɪd.ju.əs/ (click link to hear the word spoken in British or American English)

› showing hard work, care, and attention to detail:

assiduous research/efforts

an assiduous student

The government has been assiduous in the fight against inflation.

assiduously /-li/ adverb›I assiduously avoid buying imported products.

assiduousness /-nəs/ noun

Ref: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/assiduous?q=assiduously

Word of the Day: 11

ameliorate

verb UK & US /əˈmiːl.jə.reɪt/ (a mee l ya rate) (click on the link to hear the word)

to make a bad or unpleasant situation better: Foreign aid is badly needed to ameliorate the effects of the drought.

amelioration  /əˌmiː.li.əˈreɪ.ʃən/ noun 

Ref: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/ameliorate

Word of the Day: 10

recalcitrant

adjective  UK & US/rɪˈkæl.sɪ.trənt/ (click on like to hear the pronunciation)

(of a person) unwilling to obey orders or to do what should be done, or (of an animal) refusing to be controlled.

noun recalcitrance  /-trəns/

Ref: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/recalcitrant?q=recalcitrant

Finally Finished….My Hand-Carved Alphabet!

Taking inspiration from a post on http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/ I decided that instead of paying nearly £20 to get some fancy alphabet stamps I’d seen, I would just carve my own. So I finally finished the ‘z’ today 🙂 They are a bit rough round the edges, but that’s the beauty. I want to do some numbers next!

Word of the Day: 9

conflagration

noun UK /ˌkɒn.fləˈɡreɪ.ʃən/ US  /ˌkɑːn-/ (follow the link to hear UK and US pronunciations)

• a large fire that causes a lot of damage
• a large and violent event, such as a war, involving a lot of people:

They may succeed in turning a little local difficulty into a full-blown regional conflagration.

Ref: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/conflagration?q=conflagration

Word of the Day: 8

 

admonition

(I’d heard of admonishment, but not admonition)

noun UK /ˌæd.məˈnɪʃ.ən/ (also admonishment, /ədˈmɒn.ɪʃmənt/ US /-ˈmɑː.nɪʃ-/) (follow the link to hear UK and US pronunciations)

a piece of advice that is also a warning to someone about their behaviour:

The most common parental admonition must surely be “Don’t stay out late”.

Ref: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/admonition#

Word of the Day: 7

deputation

Pronunciation: /dɛpjʊˈteɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

• a group of people appointed to undertake a mission or take part in a formal process on behalf of a larger group:he had been a member of a deputation to Napoleon III

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense ‘appointment to an office or function’): from late Latin deputatio(n-), from the verbdeputare (see depute)

Ref: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/deputation?q=deputation