Strength

Good afternoon all and thanks for joining me today, I hope your week has started well.

Did you catch Barbara on tv yesterday and today,? in fact She has now handed the baton over to Paul and he is on as we catch up. I am watching him as I type,,,so if my concentration goes, you will know why...

I have spent today getting sorted for this weeks workshops, and the day has just whizzed...

Has yours?

I suddenly realised that I had some of last months samples to share with you so today we are going to have a look at a very quick and easy card using one of the petite Gelli plates

The square one,,,( oh sounds like play school , who remembers the round window???)

 

I brayered yes....Billy Brayer actually came out of his box,,.he was so thrilled...

Some colour onto the Gelli plate and then stamped this onto the centre of my card .

Next I placed the brick wall stencil onto the Gelli plate and added more colour , before removing the stencil and stamping directly on top of the original square.

I had an idea in mind and I know exactly which stamps I wanted to use

Some charcoal for depth and to ground the little man

Some matting and layering and job done,

 

I must just show you, the door bell went whilst I was crafting and when I walked back into my craft space , Tess had jumped onto my bench

 

So I had to stand to finish my samples , bless

I am off now to cook the meal, Mikey and Fran are coming round....Adam is home and Danielle will be in soon from work, just Karl to arrive and then we will have a full house...

Just the way that I like it

Take care all

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Christmas in Kendal

Good afternoon all and thanks for joining me today. I really can't believe that it is Friday already, and I need to remind you that the clocks go back this Saturday night...

Well 2am Sunday Morning really, but I certainly won't be staying up to change them at that time. Mine will be done before I head up to bed.

Yesterday it was our monthly workshop at Grosvenor House papers in Kendal and it was so good to catch up with the lovely crafters and a couple of new ladies join us too.

We used the wonderful new Stocking stamp set along with Jo's Poinsettia stencil.

We started with a warm up card , using some fluffy stuff and some paper piecing

Then it was some stencil work before lunch

After lunch we did some colouring in, and made little bags of sweets...

These make great little presents

And a nice quick and easy card to finish off the day

Thanks for joining me ladies, and thanks to Janet who always makes me feel so welcome.

I thought now would be a good time to share a tutorial with you, using the Stocking stamps. This is one of the cards that was recently featured on Hochanda tv.

I started by stamping the stocking using black archival ink

 

Next came the masks....I am so glad that these came with the stamps..

Each time I stamped a toy , I then masked it before stamping another, then added the green garland .

Then I added some colour to the stocking so I changed my inner mask for the outer one..

Carefully cutting out the toe and heel parts

I sponged the colour one, try and remember to leave some white highlight area

Next came the red ink for the stocking and the pattern , plus some charcoal for shade .

I used stencil brushes to add a little colour

And then some fluffy stuff and some heat...( I do love using this product )

Just look at what happens..you can add some fine glitter before heating too...

Some matting and layering and I stamped 25 onto the stocking..

Oh just a thought these would make great doors for advent calendars, mmm. That gives me an idea...

Not for now, but maybe in a couple of weeks...

Well that's it from me for today...I am off to take control of this ironing mountain...

Have a lovely weekend and remember that our Barbara is on Hochanda on Sunday and Monday...

Take care all

Love and Hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Beautiful baubles.

God morning all and thanks for joining me.

We arrived back home at 11-30pm last night and oh my Tess and Eric were so pleased to us. I think Adam and Danielle are just glad that they didn't have to do the 7-30am dog walk again today.

We had such a lovely couple of days driving around County Down, it is such a beautiful place and the people are so kind and welcoming.

We found the most magical places

And we have set the date for next Years Clarity Belfast...

I am looking forward to it already.

Whilst we were away I had a couple of emails from crafters asking how I made the bauble that was on here recently....

So here we go....

This is one that I made for Barbara using the new bauble stamp set....

I just found it humorous to stamp a bauble in a bauble...!!!!!sorry...that's the way my mind works...

The bauble itself comes with the card and is available from the Creativ company

I stamped the bauble shape, and added the mask

Next some Artistry inks, and some background stamping .

Then I stamped inside the bauble

I thought these lights made a lovely place for the Robin to stand.

I just had to add some colour...

Do remember to decorate both sides of the card, also some sparkle and glitter look good too.

All that is left to do then is add some sprinkles to the base and snap both sides of the bauble together.

The good thing is the the bauble can be separated again if needed..

There are lots of stamps that look fabulous inside these lovely baubles..

Also ribbon , berries etc can be added , how about using the alphabet stamps and being able to personalise them.

Baby's first Christmas etc....so many possibilities..

I had better get on, I am off to a Groovi class this morning with some lovely crafty ladies and then it is our monthly Clarity workshop day tomorrow at Grosvenor House in Kendal...( hope you have remembered Mum .....I am coming for my tea....)

Take care all

Love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Clarity Belfast

Good afternoon all, and thanks for popping in.

I do hope that your weekend is going well, yesterday it was Clarity Belfast and what a wonderful day it was. I do love coming over here and catching up with the girls...

I am so lucky that I have such lovely friends, Sharon, Linda, Angela, Norma and Sandra really know how to spoil us.

Look at the ladies all hard at work, well I do crack the whip!!!!

Linda and Angela are such fun....

We started our day with a warm up card

And then moved on to our main project , a 3d picture frame,

Look at the wonderful pieces of art

Then it was a nice quick and easy card to finish off our day

We did have the most yummy malteser cheesecake and strawberry pavlova too....well it wouldn't be a Clarity workshop without afternoon tea....thanks ladies.

And then out for a meal, perfect way to finish off the day

I must admit I slept like a log.

Michael, second on the right, is our official tour guide...and he provides us with a route map and ares of interest to visit. Thanks Michael, you are a star...

So today we have travelled south and we are now hooked up in our campsite for tonight, we stopped off at Castle Ward . What a beautiful place, the house is amazing and full of history...

Honestly if you get chance to visit, you really should, the gardens are wonderful too.

Some of the scenes from Game of Thrones have been filmed there

Look at the view

Oh I must just tell you on our journey through the Mourne mountains today we saw a man walking his Reindeer....oh yes he had two beautiful large Reindeer on leads and was walking them down the grass verge,,,,I thought I was seeing things....

Tomorrow we are heading a little further south , and then back home on Tuesday.

Adam has just phoned to say that Eric is feeling much better so that is good news.

We have baked potoatoes cooking in the oven, so I am just off for a shower , take care all and pop back soon.

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Shades of Autumn

Good morning all and thanks for popping in. I have scheduled this post and hopefully as you are reading this we are on our way up the motorway to catch the ferry over to Northern Ireland. Our little van is packed and ready for Clarity Belfast on Saturday...so looking forward to catching up with my friends over the water.

Today it is a new Challenge over at the Fussy and Fancy Challenge blog, and I am very lucky to be hosting it...yah...

I have chosen for the new theme ...

Shades of Autumn (or Fall)

It gives me chance to use my favourite colour combination...

And I am so pleased that we are sponsored by http://wildorchidcrafts.com/

Here is some inspiration

I have to say , that I did really enjoy making this card....

I started with a piece of stencil card and the leaf wreath stencil.

Next I put some Artistry ink onto my blending mat... I do like to start with my yellow at the top and work my way down the mat getting darker in colour. I just find it a good way to work.

I wanted to add colour in a different way as I use this stencil so much, so I decided to start with the outer perimeter and add some yellow...

Then I blended some red in the centre

Followed by blending the orange in the middle....

And just for some drama, some fine wine in the centre , oh I like that

I really love this colour combination

Next I worked on my background and added some colour through the Maple leaf stencil. One colour at a time...

Until I had built up the border.

Next I got some of my embellishments and flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts

And changed their colour so that they matched my design

Look at these lovely hat pins

I assembled the card , added the embellishments , and then added this wonderful clarity sentiment

And some stamped maple leaves

Here is a closer look, I couldn't resist the little ladybird.

I do hope that you will pop over to the http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

And have a look at the stunning work by the rest of the dt.

And even better why not enter the challenge...

I am really looking forward to visiting all your wonderful blogs and seeing your makes.

Enjoy your Friday and have a lovely weekend...

I will be back with photos from tomorrow..

Take care all,

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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