Back to basics

Good afternoon everyone and thanks for dropping in. I do hope that your Sunday is going well. I seem to be deaf in my right ear at the moment, I just woke up that way yesterday morning...so things seem a bit strange to me.

It didn't interfere with our Clarity Manchester workshop, thanks goodness.......we had a Groovi class and it was so good to have a full class and have such a wide range of crafters at different places on their Groovi journey. We even had a lady who was a complete beginner and just came to use my equipment and basically try the system out. I do think that is what workshops are all about. I have to say that she enjoyed her day and yes she went home with lots of purchases....don't worry I'm not going to say how much was spent..after all what happens at Craft class stays at craft class.....!!!

So we spent the day starting off with basics....going right back to the beginning and using the starter kit

Then we used the class plate and talked about adding colour

After lunch we talked about embossing, adding glitter and how to attach the parchment

Here I have used one of the backing papers from Northern Lights .

There was just time for tea and biscuits, and a card design using coloured parchment.

I do love to use elements of the Groovi plates and just play

Next time we are moving onto pricking and cutting...and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone again...

Did you manage to see Rossella on Hochanda this morning...I was absolutely transfixed to my tv...what a brilliant show..I am really looking forward to the next one..

Here is a sneak peek of one of my samples..( did you spot it? )

I am not surprised that a couple of plates sold out within the hour...

Tess and Eric are fast asleep after another long walk down at the fields...we still have lots of puddles and Eric loves to just jump right in...Tess is still a bit tentative, but she does go in a little further than she used to

I am so glad to have wellingtons.

 

All good fun,

Enjoy your Sunday afternoon , whatever you are doing..

Take care all

Love and hugs

Jo. xxxx

 

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Hello Doris

Good afternoon all , I do hope that you are warm and dry...and that storm Doris hasn't been a problem for you..

My day started at 5am when Karl left for Bristol, and I just couldn't get back to sleep...so by 7-30 I was down the fields with the dogs...and what a brilliant time they had, Eric was even swimming in a very large puddle...but oh my...they were so muddy...they certainly needed hosing off in the garden,

After some quick breakfast I headed out for an appointment in Bramhall, now it only takes 50 minutes to walk...but what a day I had chosen to walk...( mind you I had no choice as I am still without a car)

I not only got soaked to the skin , but had to dodge , low flying wheely bins and branches , you just have to laugh ....

Yesterday it was our usual craft class in Hazel Grove and we did a masterclass on ink pads and their uses...many of the ladies forget which ink pads to use with Alcohol markers, distress markers etc..

So we did some stamping with VersaFine ink and some watercolouring using Aqua Markers,..and the beautiful Jayne Nestorenko stamps...

We used watercolour card, for this design,

We also used distress inks, some blending, faux bleaching and used this as a background and added a rather fabulous die .

The butterfly is one of Jaynes designs also...for this design we used Linen card...just to showcase different textures of card.

I know , I have used my favourite colours again...I really must mix my colours up a bit...lol..

It was another lovely day with both classes being such fun...

I must go now and get some ironing done,,,lamb shanks in the oven for the men for tea...although Karl won't get home until about 9-30

Have a lovely evening..

Much love and hugs

Jo. Xxx

 

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Petite Gelli plates

Good afternoon all, hope you had a good weekend and that Monday is treating you well.

I had a busy time with Clarity Cumbria on Saturday and then the Stitches Trade show at the NEC yesterday,

It was so good to have a catch up with Barbara, Dave, Paul , Linda and the Clarity gang plus to see so many friends...far too many to mention...it really was a fabulous day. Thanks to Glynis and Claire for your company.

On Saturday we had a play day with the petite Gelli plates...

We started with the lace technique, this is so effective and I must thank our Barb for this...did you see her when she did it on tv?

Here is a closer look, I do love to use the charcoal pencils to add depth .

Look what the crafters made

After coffee and flapjack we looked at some techniques using stencils and the Gelli plates

Then after lunch it all got a bit fishy

Look at these

 

And Freda, look Lisa was top of the class as she added some fishing net to the side of her design , how fabulous..

..wish I had thought of that....

We were treated to special Birthday cake...thanks Penny...and Sheila had made us yummy cakes too,,,so we had tea and cake before our forth design..

We did have a couple of ' naughty table ' incidents which had us in stitches...but my lips are sealed..!!!!

After all ....what goes on in Craft club....stays in Craft club...

If you haven't used you Gelli plates yet , please do get them out and have a play...

They make the most fabulous backgrounds...I can't wait to finish this one..

I do love my workshop days and I have met the most wonderful ladies and gentlemen..It is such a great relaxed environment and a great place to learn new techniques. So if you haven't managed to ever get to a local class...I do urge you to join in...I am sure you will love it.

I have been making Groovi samples today , but I must admit , I have been a little bit tired...so I think I may just hang up my light panel and head for the shower..

Thanks for joining me...enjoy your evening and see you soon

Love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Ribbon and Lace

Good morning everyone, hope you are well this Friday morning.

It has been an early start here and the dogs have been walked already. Tomorrow is Clarity Cumbria and I have lots of fun things for the ladies to do...well it keeps them out of mischief!!!!

I will have to borrow Karl's car again , and I am going to change that radio channel before I set off...

My hire car has gone back and my new car has been ordered , but it may take up to 12 weeks to arrive,,,so it's a bit of a nightmare, thank goodness that I have some very lovely and dear friends.

Today is a new challenge over at the Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog and our theme is

Ribbon and Lace

Here is what I have come up with

I have really enjoyed using the petite Gelli plates , so I thought they would fit this theme so well

I used the round one and added some red ink

Then thanks to Barbara for this technique , I stamped the ink through some Lace

This really does give a lovely effect. It would be great for invitations, and it is so quick for batch cardmaking

Next came this beauty of a rose stamp from Clarity , I stamped it on my design plus an a separate piece of card .

Added some colour, remember to leave those little ares of white

Some matting and layering plus the ribbon

I cut out the flower heads and decoupaged them onto the main image, plus added a little dragonfly from the remountable bugs set.

Some Bakers twine , and a few little leaves , plus those must have sequins and some glossy Accents

 

And there we have it , my take on ribbon and Lace. I do love to see some white area on a card...

Sometimes we get a bit scared of leaving white , and overdo things and then wish we had walked away...

I would love you to join in the challenge , also go and take a look at the wonderful designs from the rest of the dt... http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Have a lovely weekend all

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

 

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New toy

Good afternoon all and thanks for joining me, I really can't believe how quickly today has gone .

I do hope that you are having a lovely Valentine's Day and that you have a romantic meal planned for this evening...with maybe some bubbles..

I must just share this photo with you...

Thanks Donna,,,it is wonderful

I have spent the day getting the designs sorted ready for Saturday's class in Cumbria...oh it is going to be fun....

Speaking of fun ...we had such a great time playing with our new toys at CJ Cards , Edgeley last Saturday...

This is them...they are great and can be used on so many different surfaces...and Glynis has got a great choice of colours in the shop too.

Once dry they are permanent....

Really quick and easy for making backgrounds, and they can splat....!!!!!

This was our finished design...spot the Clarity stamps and stencils

 

After lunch and cleaning our hands....we had a Groovi afternoon , and used the new woodland plates..

With backing papers from the Northern Lights paper packs

As always it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday...

I must go now , cook some food and light some romantic candles...

Thanks for asking about Adam , he is slowly improving and started Physio on Monday...

But it's going to be a long job..

Anyway...bye for now

Take care all.

Much love and hugs..

Jo. xxx

 

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PanPastels

Good afternoon all, thanks for joining me and welcome to another new follower....happy dance time again...

I do hope you enjoy popping in and as always if you can leave a comment I really do appreciate it.

Yesterday it was Hazel Grove workshops and as always the ladies had me in stitches....( more on that later!!!)

I often ask the crafters if there is anything that they would like to have a workshop on and a couple of ladies asked for a PanPastel refresher....

So that is what we did,,,,

Have you got any PanPastels? They are great , and I have a box full from my days demonstrating with Kay.

They were developed when artists used stick pastels but found they were very dusty , so pan shapes were used to house the pastel....hence PanPastels...

They come in a wide range of pure colours such as Magenta...then a Magenta Shade which means black has been added and Magenta tint which has white added...

There are also some new sparkly ones,,,,,

The pastel can be applied by sponges, applicators with sox on...( the best is when the ladies bring odd socks !!!!!!) they can even be scraped into a pot with some water added and used for watercolours .

This was our first design , we began by stamping the bubbles stamp using VersaMark ink, this is great as it gives such a fab effect. Then the PanPastel is added and it is darker where it sticks to the VersaMark ink.

We used Linen card stock as this gives the impression of canvas

Next came the background Stencils, I used a variety of Clarity Stencils and just sponged the colour through them .

The main image is black pastel through the wild flowers stencil.

Remember that the pastel can be rubbed out this reveals the white card underneath and a rotating eraser is fab for this...

A sentiment and some butterflies.

Finally some sequins, the new must have thanks Eileen and Mandy...

Pastels can be fixed , I use one of the crafters companion sprays...it is best to avoid hairspray as in time this yellows.

Here is the same technique just different stencils, and a black fine liner...

Our second design was a quick little 6x6 card.

Here we just added the VersaMark ink through the stencil, removed the stencil, and cleaned it...then added the pastel...

Gives a great quick background.

I find the stencil can be quite difficult to clean so cheap nail varnish really works a treat.

Now one of our afternoon ladies Margaret, is a lady vicar and hence we call her our vicarage....

So she took a few minutes to say a prayer with us all...

Here it is...

I do love that,,,,and we did laugh....it was so funny seeing the ladies reactions....

Hope you like it too...

So on that note ...take care all...

Pop back soon

Much love and hugs

Jo.xxxx

 

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Beautiful dancers

Good afternoon all, how is today treating you? Ok , I hope ,

I have got all my bags packed ready for tomorrow's workshops in Hazel Grove , we are having a masterclass on PanPastels....as requested by the ladies...and would you believe it we are not only fully booked for both classes but now have a reserve list....whooopp....who would have thought it...

I must just take a few minutes thank you all for your lovely messages , emails, presents and flowers....you are all so kind.... and I really appreciate them all ....

Adam is still struggling and is back at the doctors tomorrow , but we know it will be a while before he is 100% ...

Today I thought I would share a piece of parchment work with you...I created this for Barbara's Hochanda show on Sunday - hope you tuned in...

A Parchment, Stencil combination...

I just rested the stencil on top of the parchment and gently traced the outline with tool number one.

At some points where the stencil was delicate I had to hold it into place...oh and remember to breath...

I then added Jaynes wonderful frame remembering to stop when I came to the dancers. This is where a stamping background really helps.

Now I haven't got step by step photos sorry...as you know I am still a novice with Parchmnet and never know if the piece will turn out...but as I progress , I will start to take some...promise...

The words were added next and the background from that very useful plate from the starter pack.

I added some detail to the dancers, I do love using the piercing grids to add embossed detail

The moon got the dotty treatment too..

I added some colour from the back with Spectrum Noir pencils and my favourite charcoal pencils before attaching the work to a sheet of the wonderful backing papers. I am so pleased with the way this has worked. I can see me playing more and more...

The new stencils are fabulous....and no...you don't have to be a dancer to use them,,,,good job...lol..

Take care all, enjoy your evening....

Much love and hugs..

Jo..xxxxx

 

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