Busy, busy, busy .

Good evening all and thanks for joining me , hope you have had a lovely day. I had had such a wonderful time , it has been our usual workshops in Hazel Grove...I say workshops....although today we have decided that they should be named 'naughty but nice' classes....as we had gorgeous home baked cake this morning...thanks Julie ...and then this afternoon more tasty treats from foreign parts , thanks Eileen...aka the camel lady...

We did manage some crafting along with the eating, drinking coffee and lots of chatting....oh and the odd bit of hoopla hooping too...

We used the fabulous Lone Cypress stamp and stencil set from Clarity.

It is amazing what you can make with just one ink pad and stencil brushes.

This one uses distress ink , a paintbrush and some water.

I have just got home and unpacked my craft bags, then repacked them ready for tomorrow's day workshop at Grosvenor house papers in Kendal....a fabulous shop, with lovely crafters , great staff and really fab lunches.

Speaking of classes , I am so excited to say that I have been asked to run some at the CraftRange in Burnley...so watch this space for more details and dates....

I had better go....still a few jobs to do before bed...

Have a lovely evening ....and pop back soon.

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Book box.

Good evening all and thanks for popping in. I am just home after a fabulous day in Cumbria.

It was our monthly workshop and it was great to have a passenger with me today . Thanks Julie for your company...even though there wasn't much room left for you.( sorry )

We had some mixed media play ...

This is what we did....a book box...

 

It started as a wooden box from The Creativ Company

And we covered it with die cut shapes and embellishments.

Front and back

Next came the black gesso....I do love this bit

So did Barbara

Then a wash of Inka gold paint....followed by some gilding wax...

Look at the shine...

The aperture would be great for a photograph but today we made a piece of art using a certain favourite Clarity stencil of mine...

Look what the ladies and gent made

The photo really doesn't do them justice...

So I took a few close ups...

And

They really are amazing

I am so proud of you all, it was great to have a new lady join us and I am really looking forward to seeing you again Cheryl.

And I did notice Dee that your box is missing from the photo....sorry...I don't know how that happened...

Dee used white gesso and her box is stunning...we all thought that it would make a beautiful wedding gift...

I think that may just be a future class.

I would love to know what you think of our box's ....

Although I had to crack the whip to get the projects finished...we all still had time for tea and cake ...just perfect...( thanks Sheila and Freda )

Well I think it is time for feet up and a glass or two of bubbles...

Enjoy your evening all

Much love and hugs..

Jo. xxx

 

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Groovi catch up .

Good evening all and thanks for joining me for a few minutes. How has your week been ?

Mine has been really busy , but I have managed to tick all my jobs off the list , well for this week, next week has an even longer list...

I even had time to pick up my new car, mind you, I think I might have been better buying a van. I have just loaded it up ready for Clarity Cumbria tomorrow and it is full to the brim.....

Today I thought I would share some Groovi designs with you ,

This one is my favourite, I approach Groovi as I do with stamping . So this one is a CAS...Clean And Simple..I also added a faux stitch line ...

Amaryllis is a beautiful cameo plate , I added some colour using Spectrum Noir pencils.

Here is Blossom, she is coloured using Distress Markers, and then some fine glitter added using a Quickie glue pen.

Thanks for looking, hope you like what you see. I had better go, time for a shower and then feet up and some tv before bed.

Hope you are having a lovely evening...and have a great weekend , whatever you have planned.

Pop back soon

Love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Sunday, a day to rest...

Good evening all and thanks for joining me,

I must admit I am absolutely shattered today, as I didn't get home until 10-45 last night, but what a wonderful three days I have had.

Here we are just finishing off setting up ,

The drive down was a little slow and I now know why the M25 is affectionately know as a car park., but I did it...( I was so relieved to pull up at the Rugby Club )

We stayed in the amazing Spa Hotel, and those of you who are going to the retreat,,,you are in for a real treat..

Here is my room mate...relaxing...

Thanks Mandy...what a great time we had...

Breakfast in our room was rather good too...especially as it was delivered by two rather lovely young men!!!

 

Here we are ready for action....

I was so thrilled to meet Linda and Tina, both extremely talented ladies...but so lovely too...generous and kind...

I can't wait to see you both again....

I always worry that nobody will stop at my desk...and no one will watch my demonstration...but as always the crafters were such a friendly bunch.I was so thrilled when the lovely Maggie sat down , smiled and away we went....before I knew it...an hour had gone

Look at all these people

The buzz was just awesome,,

It is always great to see old friends, meet new ones and put names to faces...

Here are some of the ladies who kept me company yesterday afternoon,,,and Debbie, so good to get to finally meet you...

Now remember that favourite new stencil of mine...the one that I keep playing with...well we had it at the open days...not for long though...by Friday afternoon we had sold out...and there had been loads....

So Saturday morning ...new stocks arrived...and you won't believe it...by 3 pm...oh yes...sold out once again...

So I thought we could have a little give away...

I just happen to have a Wild Flowers Stencil with no home to go too...

So leave me a comment and I will pick out a winner and send it on its way...

Time to relax and catch up with Karl...oh I did miss him...

Thanks to Barbara, Dave and all the Clarity team..the wonderful ladies and gents, and to those wonderful crafters who said such lovely things....I can't name you all, but I know you will read this ...

So this is just for you...

Thank you...and a special hug from me...

Mandy you were such a star, and you made my journey home a treat,,,I really don't know why I worried..

Have a great evening all

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Mad panic....

Good evening and thanks for joining me...we have another new member joining our happy little band ...

As you know I do get excited when we get a new follower.

Today has been workshops in Hazel Grove and we had a little visitor....he was very handy with a stencil brush....

I must say ladies your cards today were brilliant...you really did rock both projects...

I am now home and frantically packing my bags ready for tomorrow ...it is an early start and down to Kent for the Clarity Open days...( those of you who know me well , know that I really don't like driving,...so I won't relax until I safely pull into the car park )

The open days are a great opportunity to meet Barbara, and some of the DT.... And get your hands on some Clarity products...one of which is this fabulous stencil....I do love these wild flowers

A quick and simple tag....

Made by sprinkling some Burst powders onto the centre of a tag.

Then rub them in a little..

Spritz with water and leave to dry

Sponge some black Archival ink through the stencil and stamp some hugs...

Don't worry the stencil cleans really well with cheap nail varnish remover.

Some dots of white paint, ribbon and a lovely CAS tag...

I must go and double check my craft bag...

See you soon

Love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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A Lone Cypress in Anglesey

Good evening all and thanks for joining me for a few moments. I do hope that you have had a lovely day .

It has been our regular Anglesey workshop today and as always it has been great to spend time with such wonderful , creative and kind ladies...the Crafty Crew from Anglesey....

We used the fab Lone Cypress stamp which has a really useful stencil with it too, and you know how I love to use Stencils.

 

For our first card design we used white embossing powder to make a resist, look at all these great samples...

Then it was time to play with the stencil along with the stamp...

We even managed a Groovi demonstration before lunch...In fact I was worried that two of our ladies were going to miss out on lunch as they were so engrossed with their parchment work...

 

Distress ink blending was next and wow just look at these...fabulous work ladies...

Thanks Julie for the tea and cake,,.you are a star...

And we finished the day with a quick and easy card..stamping in Disress ink and dragging the colour out with water,..

It was great to meet our two new ladies, Kathy and Ann, plus one of our regular crafters was ill today ...so we all send Linda healing vibes and good wishes...hope you feel better soon.

It has been a lovely sunny evening and we have walked Tess and Eric , who are now both sleeping like babies...

So I am going to open a bottle of something bubbly...and take five..

I have another busy week ahead with workshops on Wednesday and then the Clarity Open Days in Crowborough Friday and Saturday,...

Enjoy your evening all

Cheers

Jo. xxxx

 

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Hummingbirds.

Good morning everyone and thanks for joining me today.

Welcome to our new follower, I do hope you enjoy our little blog , it is mainly crafty chat, with some coffee, cake and the odd Labrador thrown in for good measure...and knowing me ...may be the odd innuendo too!!!

 

It is another busy week here, but I am slowly ticking the jobs off my to do list..

This morning I thought I would share one of the samples I made for Pauls shows on Sunday...it uses the gorgeous new hummingbird Groovi plate and coloured parchment. These are such a joy to work with...

I simply added some colour with my Spectrum Noir pencils.

 

It has been another lovely dog walk this morning...and it was a bit cooler today , did you have the thunderstorm last night? Poor Tess was terrified...

This was Tess and Eric yesterday,,,can you see the horses in the background ? Well two of them had their foals last week...it was amazing how quickly they got on their feet....with no help from anyone,..

Here they are at a couple of days old...

I do worry when they are asleep , I feel so much better when I see them move..

Speaking of moving...good news that my Mum has moved out of her hospital bed and has gone home...

With her pot leg , a Zimmer frame and some crutches...

Sorry Dad...but your peace and quiet has come to an end...!!! lol...

Take care Mum, do as the physio tells you...

Much love and hugs..

Jo. xxx

 

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