Fantasy Flowers

Good evening everyone and thanks for reading this, and spending a few minutes with me..

Today I am going to share some of Sunday's artwork with you. I was so excited as we used my new stamps,,,yes Barbara let me ( yes me ) draw my own stamp designs ...

I wanted to design a floral stamp....that had a hint of a thistle...well we were in Glasgow.

So I drew my design and thanks to Jim and Paul...they arrived ...I wanted an outline stamp and a solid stamp...just so that they could be versatile...and oh yes they are...so many possibilities

We started with some kiss stamping, using the script stamp, and then the script stencil in the background

Just look at these.

Next some ink blending....well you just have to

Notice the stencils in the background again...

Oh I was over the moon with what the lovely ladies created

After lunch we used Kraft card and some of the papers from the Brighton Rock paper pack

And look , such wonderful colours

After tea and cake ( again , thnaks to Eileen ) we played with a tag...

I hope you like this stamp as much as we did , I still have lots of ideas of how to use it,,.it is great with all those inky backgrounds...

I was blown away when I was handed a beautiful bouquet of flowers at the end of our retreat...plus a planter for sweet peas, honestly ladies ...you really are all stars..

Clarity Cumbria retreat is going to be the next one,,,possibly in October....watch this space...

Although Karl and me didn't get home until 9pm , it was such a wonderful time,.we were both shattered but in a good way.. we stopped off at Tebay services for our tea...well you really can't drive past that services, especially on Mothering Sunday...

I have been busy this week making samples for Barbara's Hochanda shows this Sunday and Monday, and they safely arrived at Clarity Towers today..

Saturday is local workshops at CJ CarcCrafts in Edgeley , will be good to be local...

Karl is in London today...so I need to go and pick him up from the station...

So I will love you and leave you

Take care all..

Jo. xxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

What a weekend...

Hi everyone and thanks for popping in... hope you had a lovely weekend.

It was a very busy one for me, but such fun...

On Friday Karl and me drove up to Glasgow , and how lovely it was to be driving in spring sunshine. We met up with Emma and a couple of the ladies, had a good catch up and then it was off to bed .

Saturday morning arrived and so did the crafters. It is so good to meet new ladies but to see some of our regular crafty friends too..

We split into two groups, now Emma will tell you all about her Groovi, Parchment workshop...

So I will concentrate on the Mixed Media workshop today .

The ladies all had goody bags waiting for them,

 

Hope you like my design....They were made by my lovely friend Debbie, who also decorates t-shirts, sweatshirts etc...so if you need any , just let me know and I will put you in touch...

One of the items in the goody bags was this set of fabulous new Clarity Stencils....I really needed a script and a feather , so thanks Barbara, Paul and Jim for making them for me...

They are great to use with ink, paint and grunge paste...and it was GP that we used with them to make our book covers

Look at these beauties...

Honestly , the photo really doesn't do them justice , I was blown away by the fantastic designs.

Whilst we were waiting for various bits to dry we used some of the backing papers from our goody bags and covered a lovely little pencil pot...

Which just happens to be perfect for Clarity brushes

Look at what the ladies made,

And they looked brilliant with Groovi tools in too...

Such brilliant little pots and useful too....

When we left the building , the sun was shinning , and that really was the icing on the cake...

Oh did I say cake, thanks Eileen for all the yummy cakes that you made...

( Honestly I always put weight on at workshops...)

Some crafters who lived locally went home , and others went back to various hotels. Some of us went for a curry and catch up...but it was soon bedtime and time to put the clocks forward.....oh that hour made so much difference .... note to self ....before booking a retreat check that the clocks don't go forward.........

I am still playing catch up with jobs so I will tell you all about Sunday's workshop tomorrow..

Have a lovely day and enjoy some sunshine,..

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hats off....

Good evening everyone , and thanks for popping in. Hope you had a lovely weekend...really don't know what happened to Monday , it just flew ....but I was playing with the new stamps and Stencils that arrived ready for our Clarity Glasgow retreat next weekend.

Eric loves the look of them...I just hope the ladies like my new designs too...

Back to Saturday and it was our monthly Clarity Cumbria, and it was another fun filled day....

We had a play with the hats, shoes and handbag stamps ....now you know how us ladies love our shoes and handbags...

Two of our regulars were away, Lisa and Elaine, we did miss you...but don't worry we ate your cake...so it didn't go to waste...( thanks Sheila for the yummy cakes )

We started our day with some smooshing

Look at these

Then it was out with the Burst powders

Wow , these are fabulous ladies and gent, I love the colours

After lunch we used one of my all time favourites , the stamp stamp....

Don't you think she looks first class????

Loving these gang,,,

And finally after tea and cake we finished off with some Kraft card and some paper piecing .

And some kinky boots, not sure if I could walk in these heels...not now...maybe once upon a time....

I borrowed Karl's car again, but fingers crossed mine new one may just arrive next week...

I can't wait..

Today I have been getting ready for our Hazel Grove classes tomorrow...and posted a couple of samples off to Rossella ready for her Hochanda shows on Sunday...

I do hope that you can watch her, what an inspirational lady , and so generous too, unfortunately I will have to record her, but I am really looking forward to catching up with the shows on Monday. We won't get back from Glasgow until around 9-30 pm , so it will probably be shower and bed...

Well the food is ready so I had better go and feed the family.

Take care all,

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Springtime

Good morning all , thanks for joining me on this Friday morning. I do hope that you have had a good week.

Today it is a new Challenge over at the Fussy and Fancy Challenge blog.

Our theme is Springtime ,

And our host is my lovely and talented friend Annie..

Do check out her blog and those of the other dt members, here

http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Plus, why not enter the challenge ....you know you want too....

I decided to make a clean and simple design for Spring.

I Started by stamping the letters on a piece of stencil card, and then masking them.

The letterbox kit is so useful .

Now the eagled eyed amongst you will see that I actually stamped the letter N upside down.....but don't panic....I have a plan...( do tell, have you ever done that ? )

Next I stamped these springtime floral stamps,

And then added some Artistry ink

Followed by some Spectrum Noir pencils.

Some matting and layering.

And some must have white pen...I really couldn't live without my white pen...and this one from Posca is just fabulous. Have you noticed I have decoupage the letter N....it is now a design feature...shhh don't tell anyone that it was a mistake....

Next I added some spring flowers and a bow,

 

Followed by these lovely butterflies.

And the finishing touch , another favourite of mine is Enamel Accents , do try this product....it is very addictive

And they dry really well

So there we have it my take on Springtime

And the last couple of days we have had some spring like weather...the gardens are starting to wake up, and the spring flowers are looking wonderful.

Although I believe we are in for rain this weekend, typical as it is Clarity Cumbria tomorrow. I still don't have my new car, so I will have to borrow Karl's once again. Must remember to change that radio channel .

Lots of bags to get packed today...plus I am expecting a rather large and special order from Clarity...oh...I am just so excited....

More about that next week,

Enjoy your weekend all

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Jive

Good evening all, sorry I am a bit late, but it has been a busy old start to the week.

Karl is in Aberdeen so I have been trying to catch up with my long list of jobs...

I really need to get sorted for Cumbria on Saturday, Hazel Grove on Wednesday and then it is our first Clarity Glasgow retreat on the 25th and 26th.... Emma and me are so excited...and hopefully , fingers crossed We will have some surprises for everyone.. it is amazing how much organisation goes into a retreat...but I am sure it will all be worth it....

I have just a couple of things left to do tonight , then I can go and put my feet up for five minutes before bed...think I had better get some food too...

 

Before I do, I think we have time for a little dance..

.a jive to be precise...

 

The background paper is from the Brighton Rock paper pack , and I just added the word using the stencil and black Archival ink. Don't worry your stencil will clean up ok, I used nail varnish remover..

The topper is made using stencil card, distress inks and some bubbly water...

Then when dry more Archival ink this time through the jive stencil

A really quick but effective card design.

Just what I needed for tonight.

Still no news on my new car, so it is lots of walking for me...

Adam is slowly improving,,,,he is still having physio thanks for your lovely enquiries

Take care all,

Much love and hugs.

Jo. xxxxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Clarity Manchester

Good evening all and thanks for popping in. I hope your Saturday has gone well and that you have a lovely evening planned.

I have my niece and husband here , it is so good to see them and spend time with them . So just whilst the food is cooking I will have a few minutes with you.

Today it was Clarity Manchester and we had some canvas playtime...we used some Clarity Stencils and stamps,,,I wonder how many you can recognise

There was some grunge paste,

Some book paper ( and yes I did check all the pages first )

Some paint and ink

Some white gesso

And some splats....( I do love splats )

We had a few ladies who were on holiday today and a couple who were unwell, but we still had a great time and as always it is great to spent quality time with friends.

The only down side was that the heating was broken so everything took ages to dry...thank goodness that we had a couple of heat guns...and everyone managed to complete their piece of art.

I am off now , food in the oven, Prosecco in the fridge ...

Enjoy your evening

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy