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Sunday 31 January 2016

Our family tree

Good afternoon all and thanks for popping in today ...I do hope that you had a wonderful weekend and feel rested ready for a new week ahead.

Today I just thought that I would share a quick make with you...

It uses a shaving foam background from my stash...oh these are so useful...also if you find that your Mr.MoJo has gone on holiday making some backgrounds is a great way to get it back...plus shaving foam is such fun,,,and after all crafting should be fun...

I do like to start with just one colour in the shaving foam and then add new colours one at a time,,,this was was made using Peacock Feathers bottled re-inker...( available on the Clarity web site )

I started by stamping a Wee Tree...

Once I had decided which way round to have the background...!!!! Sometimes I twist and turn the card so many times....does anyone else do that ? Or is it just mad old me?????

Next some words from the Word Chains...I did toy with stamping Treemendous ....but in the end decided to go with our family tree...

As you know I love these charcoal pencils...and they are great for adding some background to a design...

Some matting and layering....and it just still needed something else ...so I added a sun....using a moon mask...or sun mask in this case...

Here is a closer look

A nice and easy one for a Sunday...

I must say I had a lovely treat on Friday ....Karl got home from work and told me to pack a bag.....lucky for me ....it wasn't pack your bags Mrs!!!!!

He had arranged a night for us in a hotel, we had a beautiful room, a gorgeous meal and yes a bottle of bubbly on arrival...

And when I asked him what the occasion was...he said...it was just because....

How lovely was that.....and it made me think that we all should do something nice , say something nice , not because we have to but just because....so let's see if we can all do that this week...

I have another busy week ahead and some rather special new stamps to play with....honestly I love these ones ...so much so ..I just can't stop using them,,,,so watch out ladies....lots of classes ahead using them....whoops ...I can't say anymore...just wait until you see them on Sunday...

Enjoy your evening all

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

Friday 29 January 2016

A Groovi Friday

Good morning all, hope your Friday has started well. I am just home after walking Tess and Eric and my goodness it is windy outside today....do take care all...

Now apparently Google is removing followers from our blogs....!!!!!!grrrrrr

So I have borrowed some information from my friend and fellow DT member Janet Pring

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Please note that if you follow my blog (or anyone else's) by friends connect and you haven't signed up by using a google account, google are removing you. Apparently now you can only use friends connect to follow a blog if you have a google account. If you are finding that you aren't seeing all the blogs you normally follow, it is beyond the control of the bloggers, so please don't think you are being blocked!

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I have to say I was getting quite upset when I was loosing followers, I thought I was doing something wrong on my blog and offending people...

So please sign in with a google account if possible....thanks...

Right back to today and I thought I would share some Groovi work with you....I have a taster session for crafters coming up in a few weeks , so I have been having a play....

Here is one of the samples that I have made,,,,it is just my take on it...so I hope you like it...

I do love this plate....already it is a favourite....and can be found here

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Groovi/19357-/Art-Nouveau-Poppies-Groovi-Plate-Set

I started by doing the outline and then let it relax....oh so that means time for tea and cake,,,,( shame , but it has to be done ) .

 

And then my favourite bit....the white work and some subtle colour....

For this one I used Spectrum Noir pencils.

I really loved making this and the best bit, everything was quickly put away in my storage ( now you know how I love storage..it's a crafter thing )

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Groovi/18973-/Groovi-Album

I attached the parchment to black card using brads.

If you have bad weather this weekend, Groovi is a brilliant way to spend some time sat inside in the warm, with that cup of tea and piece of cake...

I am off now to battle the shops and get some food in for the weekend...hungry boys and all that....oh they can eat....

Have a lovely Friday....

And I will see you soon,

Much love and hugs,,,,

Jo. xxx

 

Wednesday 27 January 2016

A beautiful poppy.

Good evening all and thanks for popping over and sharing a few moments with me.

It will be a short blog post tonight as I have a few jobs still to finish, but I just wanted to share some photos with you. It was our Wednesday Cheshire Craft workshops today and as always it was a day of fun, catching up and some crafting.. We had three new lovely ladies joined us this morning , it is always great to meet new crafters. ..Thanks for coming ladies.

We used a beautiful little poppy stamp...available here...

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Clear-Stamps/Floral/4884-/Poppy---Unmounted-Clear-Stamp

This was our first card design,...

Spot the circle dots stencil...

And the Wee foliage stamps,

I do think this would look great too in oranges and browns , in fact you could make a whole selection of cards using different coloured inks.

Our second design was a typical Jo one,, sorry but it just had to be done.

Some repeat stamping...and a little glossy accents...

All washed down with some coffee and a chocolate biscuit.

What a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Thanks for your company ...must get on...

Love and hugs

Jo.xxxx

 

Monday 25 January 2016

A love tag..

Good afternoon all and thanks for your company,,.hope your week has started well.

My day began at 4-30 am when Karl left for work, he has a very busy week ahead of him...so once I was up and had walked the dogs I decided that I would make a start on some pyrography orders...what a lovely relaxing day I have had..

Now as I can't share them with you yet, I thought we would have some love...in the form of a tag...

I do love to make tags....

Did you see Paul yesterday ? He made some fab tags too....

This one started with some Picked Raspberry DI ...or pickled Raspberry as it has become known,.,just randomly blended into the centre of the tag

Then I added some brown....I do love pink and brown together

Next I did some good old water spritzing....

Then to enhance these I used the super texture stencil..... http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/Stencils/19464-/Town-amp-Texture-Super-Stencils-+-FREE-Punchinella-Strip which can be found on the Clarity web site...

This really is such a versatile and useful stencil.

 

A brilliance white ink pad is great for this...and this is what I had....

Cool...

Next came the lovely Wee couple from the Wee Folk and the words from the word chains, all stamped in Archival ink...Potting soil...

I grounded the couple with some charcoal pencil work, remember it is these little finishing tricks that make all the difference..

I Couldn't resist adding the beautiful bright pink ribbon,,,here is a closer look...

A really bright and cheerful tag...

Just the job for a Monday....and if the weather forcast is to be believed we may be in for a bit of a wet and windy week...mmmm

But at least it isn't going to be the snow that the East coast of America has just had...those poor people..

I must go ....still got some emails to answer before I make some food...

Have a lovely evening all,

Take care

Love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

Saturday 23 January 2016

A card and a gift..

Good afternoon all, and thanks for looking in...

I am just home after workshop day at CJ Cardcraft in Edgeley...and once again thanks all for a lovely time...

I promised Susan that I would do a blog post so here I am ...just in ...coat off , kettle on and iPad at the ready...

Today we made a card and a gift, you see I feel that it is great to make something other than just cards every once in a while...

I wanted a vintage feel for both so we did some distressing...and used muted colours.

I do love this sketched lady stamp...one of my all time favourites...

For the gift I wanted to make something a bit different ...so at 2am when my mind does its creative bit , I came up with this Post it note cover....

Let's face it we all use post it notes...and these can be personalised, especially with the alphabet stamps.

These will make great little presents too...

Here are some of the crafters makes....

I always mean to take more photographs....but once I get talking ...I just forget...so please forgive me to those who work I haven't captured.

All the stamps are from Clarity and can be found on the website...

I am off now to empty my craft bags....enjoy your Saturday evening...( remember Paul is on HOCHANDA tomorrow )

Much love and hugs...

Jo. Xxx

 

Friday 22 January 2016

Our Home,,,

Good afternoon all, and first of all welcome to our new followers....I always get so excited when we have new members....do pull up a chair and make yourselves at home,,,

How has your day been ? Good I hope....

I have been getting ready for tomorrow's workshops in Edgeley....we have a card and a crafty project to make I am so pleased with both especially how the project has worked out....we have two new crafters booked in too . It is always great to meet new crafty friends...

So today I thought I would share another one of my samples from Barbara's last show on HOCHANDA tv...

I really loved making this one,,,as you know , I have a bit of a thing for stencils..

This uses the new Texture Super stencil...it is so versatile....and can be found on the Clarity web site.here...

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/New-In/19464-/Town-amp-Texture-Super-Stencils-+-FREE-Punchinella-Strip.

I started with a piece of stencil card...it really is my go to card of choice..

And I stamped one of the new Wee Houses....plus made a mask for it using a post it note..but I am sure that I noticed on Barbara's blog the other day that Jim has now made masks to go with the stamps...

I made a border using copier paper and brushed some Sail Boat blue ink into the space.

I find it easier to turn my work through 90degrees , it is just a quirk of mine .....sorry...

Next using the texture stencil I added some Mustard seed DI, and then cleaned my stencil.

Then I proceeded to add more colour

And more, until I was happy

The pattern really did remind me off the old Lava lamps that we used to have.....

I do find it important to clean the stencil when changing inks so that the colours stay true and don't go muddy.

When the paper is removed , this is what I had....

I then added some colour to the house using Spectrum Noir pencils, and some shading using Charcoal pencils...

The words are from the word chains....and are stamped in Black Archival ink..

Some matting and layering and all that was left to do was to add some glossy accents to the Windows...

It is these little finishing touches that make all the difference...

I am going to make this background again using different colours and see if I can make animal print paper...

Before I go I just want to remind you that our Paul Church is on HOCHANDA this Sunday 10am , 2pm and 5pm...... I do love his shows , and I will be watching with my coffee and cake,,,

Right I had better get on, still got to pack my bags, then cook the meal....and walk the dogs...

Enjoy your weekend .....

Much love and hugs.

Jo. xxx

 

Wednesday 20 January 2016

Be inspired by bottles.

Good afternoon all and thank you for all your kind and wonderful comments yesterday...

I am just back from walking the dogs and today the sun is shinning and that in itself makes such a big difference to the day..

After a bad couple of days , I had so wonderful news and that was an email to say that my design has been given a Top 3 slot over at the Country View Challenge...just what I needed to lift my spirits. Thank you ladies......

You see I do love to enter challenges, it is a great way to meet new crafty friends, and stretch yourself....and even better when you get such lovely feedback...( plus you get to have a little look around other blogs too )

Now onto their new challenge which you can find here...

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/35-january-2016-be-inspired-by-bottles.htmlChallenge 35# January 2016 Be inspired by Bottles.

Challenge #35 January 2016 Be inspired by Bottles.

So here is what I came up with

A message in a bottle.

I started with some Stencil card, a moon mask, stencil brushes and Adirondack inks...and I created my sky...

Next came the sea....I added some green to differentiate from the sky.

And then onto the beach and I added the sand...plus some colour for the sun.

Next I stamped my BeachBabes using black Archival ink. ( I do love this stamp....always have...)

A bucket in the sand.. Which I then coloured using my Spectrum Noir pencils.

Then onto my message....I distressed a piece of paper..

Added my message, rolled it up and put it into my bottle. ( don't tell Karl as this is going to be his card )

Some string , glossy accents and florist sand and my design was complete.

Oh they do look right at home at the seaside...

All the above stamps are available on the Claritystamp website...do pop over and have a look...

I must get on now...lots still to do...oh before I go ...I must get tell you what happened before...

I was ironing...one of my baggy tops...( those of you who know me well , know that I like to wear loose, baggy fitting clothing...) this one is a particular favourite of mine...when Karl said...what size is that as it looks particularly roomy? .... Now as I didn't have my glasses on...I said...oh I'm not sure...

Well he looked at the label, started laughing and said...oh love , you should have gone to Specsaver....

I obviously hadn't had my glasses on in the shop and had bought a size 18 thinking it was an 8....!!!!!!

Note to self....Wear glasses next time....!!!!!

On that note...

Thanks for looking in....and do pop back soon

Love and hugs...

Jo. xxx