Happy New Year

Good afternoon all, 

                                                                                    As the year draws to a close ,

 I just want to thank all those wonderful crafty ladies and gentlemen who have joined me in our workshops this year,,,

                I have loved spending time with you, crafting, chatting, eating cake and sharing so many experiences ...

                        I have lots more plans for 2018, and I am really looking forward to sharing them with you all...

                               Enjoy your evening...and I hope the New Year brings lots of Happy and Healthy times...

     I really appreciate your friendship.

Thanks for coming here, reading my little blog and leaving comments..

Much love and hugs...

Jo xxxxxx

Precious gifts

Good afternoon all, 

Thanks for popping in this Saturday afternoon. 

How is your weekend going ? 

We have been for a long dog walk this morning and then we are taking Elliot 

Out this afternoon. 

He is just having his lunch....bless him..

He is six months old today..

Here are some more lovely cards 

That you lovely Crafters have given me,,

Beautiful, 

Gorgeous 

Designs 

Each and every one...

And I love them all. 

Thank you so much 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

More wonderful cards

Good afternoon all, how are you today ? 

I must admit I am a bit lost this week, and find it hard to remember what day it is....Christmas just seems to leave me in a muddle,.,

Do you find the same ? 

We took the dogs down the fields this morning and it had been freezing , but some places were still muddy 

Silly me make a mistake a walked over a large puddle, but ended up slipping and then falling through the cracked ice. 

I can tell you the water was very cold...and the air a bit blue...!!!! 

Good job Karl was there to lift me out...

So I am a little bit tender today...

As for the dogs ....they just watched...

Karl did ask if I was practicing for dancing on ice !!!! Bless him..

Anyway...

Onto today’s cards...

As promised I am sharing more of the fabulous art work with you 

I am so honoured that I have been sent these 

And the messages inside..

Wow thank you all so much 

And the gifts...

What can I say 

You are such a generous and lovely group of friend 

Look at these 

My Pointsettia is still looking fab , thanks Janet and Susan 

I have so many things to treasure 

I will pop back tomorrow with the last instalment 

Take care all 

Enjoy your evening 

A bottle of wine and a film for us...

After an afternoon nap...

Or as Fi calls it a granny nap...

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxxx

Fabulous art work...

Good afternoon all, 

Thanks for joining me today 

I do hope that you are still enjoying this wonderful festive time 

As promised I have some fabulous art work to share with you 

I feel so blessed that I have been given the most amazing Christmas cards 

This one really made me smile.

And this one is so pretty.

I am going to aim to photograph them all, 

And share them with you over the next few days 

Another stunner 

I have spent many a moment just looking at them all 

I am so lucky to have such wonderful and talented friends.

Now if you haven’t seeen yours , don’t worry 

I will be back tomorrow with some more.

I am off now to cuddle a certain little man,,

I am on granny duties

And loving every minute of it 

Take care all,

Enjoy your evening and see you again tomorrow 

Love and hugs 

Jo. Xxxxx

Happy Christmas everyone...

Happy Christmas everyone,,,

I hope you have a most wonderful time,,,

Enjoy, relax and be happy 

We had the most fantastic time with Mikey and Fran joining us for Christmas Eve and then Adam , Danielle and Elliot for Christmas Day..

Elliot even joined us at the table for Christmas dinner 

This was him half an hour later...

It was just all to exciting 

Tess and Eric gets lots of wonderful presents too...

And Eric watched some tv before bed 

Enjoy Boxing Day...

Take care all..

Much love and hugs.

Jo. xxxx

Nearly there .

Good afternoon everyone and thanks for joining me, 

Come on in , pull up a chair , 

Have a coffee and mince pie with me,,

How are things going today..? 

Are you getting there..

I am , thank goodness...

All the presents are wrapped, 

Most of the food and drink is ready...

Just a few fresh items to collect tomorrow.

So it is time to just sit, chill and enjoy this wonderful season...

I have been given the most amazing cards and present this year...

Look Julie made me a gluten free Christmas cake..

Thank you so much Julie. 

I am going to enjoy it...

And you all know how much I love cake, 

I am going to photograph the cards...

Wow there are some real stunners...you really are a very talented , and generous bunch of friends. 

So for the next few blog posts 

I am going to share some of them with you...

In no particular order...

No favourites here..

So keep popping back to see them and drink up the inspiration..

Enjoy these next few days...

And remember to just relax and take it all in..

Much love and hugs. 

And a big thank you..

Jo. xxxx

Catch up

Good afternoon all and thanks for popping in. 

How is your week going ? 

I am slowly getting there,,,ticking jobs of the list..

Every year I think I will be ready for Christmas early...I get organised....

Then things happen...and time whizzes...

And I some how end up on the last minute. 

But do you know what....

We always have a wonderful time...

I hope you are getting organised too...

Time is such strange thing...some days there isn’t enough...and then other days it just drags...

Over the past few months I have found that time has been running away with me,,,

So I have decided to step down from the Clarity Design Team...

This means that I will have more time to concentrate on workshops, magazine work and oh yes ...retreats..

And keep enjoying what I do...

I would like to thank Barb and Dave for a fabulous few years on the DT , and I will miss 

my fellow dt memebres..

But I am sure I will still see them around Fb etc..

I have already started making plans for next years workshops...and I will post dates soon..

The Cumbria Retreat is fully booked and I am also looking a new venues in the area...

I will update you all when I know more. 

I am really looking forwards to having a couple of weeks off over Christmas , to 

Spend some quality family time...

But don’t worry , I will keep up with some blog posts...

And I have a few new ideas to try ready for future classes. 

I also have a certain little man to spoil..

Take care all,

Enjoy your evening

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxxx

Christmas

Good morning everyone , I do hope that your week has gone well...

It is our last Challenge of the year over at the Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog. 

Our new theme is 

Christmas 

Perfect for this time of year.

Here is my inspiration for the challenge 

As usual I have a photo tutorial to share with you. 

I started by dare I say... cutting up one of my Stamps...

I do this quite a lot, 

I just find it makes this stamp more usable 

So I started by stamping the wreath shape...

( you should all be good at this by now lol )

Next I filled in the little gaps 

That looks better 

Next I stamped the little pine cones, followed by adding some chunky white embossing enamel , 

And then some  matting and layering 

On separate card I stamped some holly berries. Cut them out and then added them to 

the card. 

I then used a Tim Holtz pointsettia die and some decorative paper to make an embellishment.

I do love the embellishment stage...I spend ages just arranging them and playing .

I hope you like my design and that you will go over to the blog and see the fabulous designs by the rest of the dt .

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

This Challenge is going to run until the 12th January 2018, so there is plenty 

of time for you to enter...

I hope you have a lovely weekend, 

We have lots of family activities planned as it is Karl’s birthday on Sunday...

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxxx

Busy times.

Good afternoon all and thanks for popping in. 

Sorry for not catching up with you for a while but wow have I been busy . 

On Saturday it was my last workshop for this year and it was a Groovi day....in more ways than one, 

Another lovely day crafting with friends, catching up and eating mince pies .

Fab work ladies,,,as always. 

We have Adam, Danielle and Elliot living with us again , as last Thursday they had water pouring through the ceiling again...

Not good , especially as the plumbers can’t seem to find out where it is coming from. They have even cut a rather large hole in the ceiling, 

Which makes the living room very cold. This is definitely not the time of year to have a hole in the ceiling. 

So grandma is having lots of extra cuddles and grandad went out and got a present to cheer Elliot up.....yes....like he needed an excuse !!!!!

Elliot’s first car..... lol..

Today I have been making Christmas cards, not for me though...for a late commission that came in over the weekend...and a rather large order it was too..

But it is finished now...phew...

I must make a proper start on mine soon.

Hope your week is going well...

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxxx

Another Tag.

Good evening all and thanks for popping in. 

How has your week been so far? Good I hope. 

I have been trying to get my long list of orders completed. 

I do love this time of year when people order so many personalised gifts, 

I have been busy with pyrography, cards and some canvas work...

I feel like one of Santa’s little helpers...

Going with the festive theme I have made a tag today to share with you. 

I have used the Sizzix tag die , 

Cut out a piece of the decorative paper from the Shenandoah pad 

So many great areas to choose 

I also cut the tag out of white card to use as a backing 

I glued them together...then edged the tag with black distress ink. Adding some background with the Script stencil . 

Next I added some stamping using black Archival ink . 

Some foliage around the edge..just to frame the design. 

Then some black ink and torn paper to ground the carol singers, and the moon mask and black ink to add 

the moon. 

Next some colour using gel pens and then some snow...

Using chunky white embossing enamel. 

Finally a little more black ink , just around the edge of the tag . 

And the finishing touch of a ribbon and some small pine cones . 

I just added some white Posca marker to the cones ...just to look like snow...

I do believe we might be in for some snow at the end of the week,,,

It is certainly going to go even colder...so thermals at the ready..

Before I go...

I just wanted to share a photo of the little man with you. 

At the weekend it was the neonatal Christmas party at Stepping Hill hospital, and Elliot bless him slept through his first 

meeting with Santa...

Look 

But don’t worry he still got a present ...

Thanks Santa..

Take care all...

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxxxx