Midway reminder.

Good afternoon all, 

Hope your day is going well. 

I have just walked to the doctors for some blood test results, 

and all clear, thank goodness. 

Even my blood pressure and liver are ok. 

Plus the best result, even after putting a stone on I am still ok with my height/ weight ratio.

So I celebrated with coffee and cake in the garden.

Today I am going to share some Lavinia Challenge inspiration with you, 

The theme is 

Midnight blue with an Orange Hue. 

I started by looking for a midnight blue inkpad and the only one I could find was my Archival Cobalt blue. 

So , I just used that one., 

and on my Gelli plate too. 

Poor Billy, he is a little blue now...lol.

The ink beads on the Gelli plate and gives a great background effect. 

Next came the sun and some landscape, as I needed to introduce some orange to my design, 

I stamped the tree plus the lovely horse and foal in black VersaFine Claire ink. 

Then used the edges of the dandelion stamps. 

Some blending around the edges to frame my design 

Then finally 

Some SorinkleIt and water to create some blossom .

A really quick and easy card to achieve. 

I must get on now, as it is our Hazel Grove classes tomorrow and I have card to cut and bags to pack. 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Time Flies.

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope your Sunday is going well. 

We arrived back home on Thursday , thank 

goodness that the roads were kind to us. 

So Friday we had a catching up day, work, washing, shopping, 

you know the sort of thing. 

Whilst we were travelling the lovely Jo Channon 

wax demonstrating some wonderful projects on Hochanda using products from 

AALL & Create. 

Here is one of my samples from the show. 

And here is a closer look 

I do hope that you like it. 

This started off as a demo piece from a workshop

I used ink and Brusho on the gel press plate.

It was in my pile of stash.

A very useful pile.

So I stamped part of the A4 stamp Time Flies by my friend Tracy Evans. Such a talented, generous lady.

Next I added some ink to give more colour. 

Followed by more stamping, just to add a little bit more detail. 

I stamped the lady bug, plus the wings , added some colour and then Fussy cut them. 

The wings are on the Curiosities stamp set a new release from Tracy.

A little more colour , this time with my Inktense pencils and water. 

Some splats of white gesso, the sentiment, the ladybug and finally some liquid glass 

and my design was complete. 

I did find it hard going into my craft room without Tess, 

But Eric has stepped up and is sat here with me now. 

So hopefully next week it should be a little easier. 

I have a very special card to make today .

You see Elliot will be two tomorrow. 

I just can’t believe it.

Time really does Fly. 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Good morning all.

Good morning all, 

A scheduled post from me this morning .

I do hope your week has started well and that Tuesday will be kind to you.

Here is a recent sample card that I made for Abs using 

Aall &Create Stamp #198 "Voyager" by Olga 

And here is how I created it

 

I started with one of my spare backgrounds. 

Some watercolour card and distress Oxide inks and some smooshing.

Then some stamping 

Followed by some colouring and some Fussy cutting. 

I assembled all the pieces and then added some white splatters. 

Here is a closer look 

I do love the way the colours pop, these flowers are such great stamps to add colour too.

So that is it for me today 

Enjoy your day 

Love and hugs 

Jo Xxx

Hi all.

Good morning all and thanks for popping in. 

I do hope you have a lovely weekend planned. 

Last Wednesday it was our Hazel Grove workshops and we did 

some relaxing watercolour painting. 

It was great to see everyone and catch up. 

The cards that the ladies made were just magnificent.

I love to see how different colours and different layouts can alter a design 

The stamps are from Hobby Art, a great set for men’s cards, and dare I say for Christmas cards. 

I have just finished a magazine commission , 

Yes Christmas cards...

Far too early if you ask me. 

We have come away again for a few days in our little van.

Originally Tess and Eric were booked in the kennels.

Obviously under the circumstances we couldn’t leave Eric on his own, 

so he is with us.

He loves the beach and the sea , look 

On Thursday evening we got chance to catch up with Yvonne and Paul. 

What a super time we had. 

You know crafting has given me so many wonderful friends, 

I do feel blessed. 

We had fish and chips at the seaside...

And yes , Eric had a came and went for a swim .

I think we all need a few days away to recharge our batteries. 

So I must go now, 

We are off to find a local dog friendly pub for lunch 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Midnight blue with an Orange hue.

Good evening all, 

I hope your week has started well. 

Did you have a lovely weekend? 

Wow it was so hot on Saturday, wasn’t it . 

We spent Friday with Mikey and Fran and then had 

Adam and family round on Saturday. 

Adam and Danielle had bought a paddling pool for the boys. 

So grandad had to get it out and have a play.

Jenson wasn’t impressed but Elliot loved it, 

Look. 

We had such a wonderful time. 

Creating precious memories. 

I can’t believe it is the first of July. 

That means a new Challenge over at Lavinia. 

The new theme is 

Midnight blue with an Orange Hue. 

Here is some inspiration for you, remember the winner is chosen at random and wins £40 to spend on Stamps.

As usual here is how I created it. 

I started with Archival ink and my gel press plate. 

Whoops , sorry for the Australian photo!!!!

I used scrunched copier paper and made a print. 

Next out with the large moon mask. 

Then I created a subtle background. 

Followed by stamping the main image, Aurora. 

I added some splats of ink, plus some colour using pencils. 

I stamped the sentiment twice, just to create that 3d effect. 

Then all that was left was some matting and layering, some squiggles with a black fine liner and some charcoal shading.

Something just a bit different. 

Thank you for popping in, 

Enjoy your evening 

and pop back soon. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Flowers and Gears

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope your Friday is going well. 

It is a lovely sunny day here and I have spent the morning taking 

little Jenson for a lovely walk. 

We are now home and relaxing 

He is nearly 5 months old now, bless him. 

Today I am going to share one of my recent tv samples with you. 

It uses the stamp set #195 Flowers and Gears by Olga Heldwein 

from AALL & Create. 

And it matches the breadboard that I created too, 

A gift and a matching card, what a lovely idea. 

Here is how I created the card. 

I started by stamping in brown ink and using clear embossing powder. 

Notice the ink smudge in the lower right hand corner. 

Don’t worry , we will hide it later 

Next I painted the design using distress Oxide inks and water. 

Then spritzed it with more water, I do love doing this. 

Some extra splats of ink, see how the smudge of ink has disappeared.

I added the sentiment and some splats of brown ink. 

Followed by some cog stamping. Just to add more detail in the background. 

The finishing touches were some white ink to highlight areas, and charcoal pencil 

to add shade. 

What a difference these make. 

Here is a closer look. 

.

I do love floral stamps, and these have so much detail. 

I had better go, 

Nappy changing time.

Have a lovely weekend all. 

Thanks once again for all your support 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

When you need Fairy Dust

Good afternoon all.

It is a very wet Tuesday here in Cheshire, how is the weather with you today ? 

Karl got up at 5am and left early again, (he is so busy at the moment ) 

So Eric and me went on a long walk in the rain. 

It is so funny how things work out, we met a lovely gentleman 

Who stopped and wanted to pet Eric, he said what a fantastic dog he was, but he looked sad. 

So I told him about last week. 

We chatted for a while, he has a couple of dogs .

What a nice man and like I say, funny how things happen. 

I have lots to do in my craft room but honestly I am struggling.

If only being creative was easy, and didn’t depend on how we feel. !!!!

So I am hoping that a sprinkle of Fairy Dust will help me. 

This is how I created it.

I started with some yellow distress Oxide ink. 

At this point, I wasn’t sure where the design was going.

So I added some orange ink. 

Followed by some water spritzing, and more stamping. 

Finally I added my main image, The Dragonfly keeper stamp. 

Then I spritzed again and added some Sprinkleit, and glossy Accents. 

It is hard to capture the sparkle. 

But believe me,

It really sparkles and twinkles when the light catches it. 

I hope your day goes well, whatever you are doing. 

Take care all. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx