What a busy weekend.

Good afternoon all, and thanks for joining me. 

I hope you had a lovely weekend, 

Wow it was a busy one here...

It was my Birthday and we had lots of activities going on, plus 

On Friday we got the go ahead on the house that we love and their estate agent Marie was sorting 

Everything out for us,,,she has been a real star...

But then on Saturday we got a phone call from our EA to say that the couple who put an offer in the week previous

Had not sold their house, in fact , it wasn’t even on the market...

So once again we lost the dream house.

To say we were gutted is an understatement 

Hey ho....

We just keep plodding on...

I must thank everyone for the wonderful messages, cards, flowers, gifts,  Prosecco and gin...

That I received for my Birthday 

And 

And look what Julie made for us , yesterday 

It was so yummy....and healthy too..

Spot , the five a day..!!!

It was our Hazel Grove workshops and we used 

A lovely poppy stamp set from Hobby Art 

These are the cards that we made 

I loved creating the background for this one...

And I will certainly be using it again...

I do love Poppies...

They make me smile..

So does this little man...

Unconditional love...

Can’t beat it...

Oh and that smile...

Thanks for joining me...it has been a while...

Take care all...

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Trust

Good afternoon all and thanks for joining me today. 

Have you been getting lots of emails about GDPR? 

It’s all because the law on sharing information has changed. 

So I thought it was a good time to remind you , my loyal blog followers 

and my lovely friends who come to my workshops that I will never share your details with anyone,,

As you know I love to share ideas and I get so excited if anyone finds 

Inspiration here...

I also like to credit anyone who inspires me,,

Unfortunately not everyone has the same values...

I have seen this at first hand ,

And recently some stamp designs are being copied and sold as unbranded Stamps..

It is also happening with dies..

But ladies please be aware that not only is this morally wrong , 

But you are buying substandard goods...

I was so cross recently , 

One of the designers who I adore has had her designs copied

Tracy Evans is such an inspiration...to me and many others .

So I thought long and hard about what I could do..

Me . Just little old me,,,

So I decided that I would go and buy the stamp set from a reputable store 

And blog about the issue...

My way of putting you, 

My lovely friends in the picture..

And please , I’m not preaching at you...

I just want to gently inform you...

So , with my new purchases , 

I have made my tag ....for the May tag swap...

I do hope that you like it ...

These are the stamps..

I started by making the background using Distress Oxide inks 

Obviously next came the water splats...

Followed by some stamping 

See how it is building up. 

Next some Inka gold splats 

And some more stamping .

On separate card I stamped the star, and added some colour using the Oxide ink and water .

Next came some Fussy cutting .

Finally some tag assembly 

And some decoupage 

A metal embellishment

And some glossy Accents..

As you know these little drops are my passion at the moment .

I do love , how they dry 

My tag for the May Tag Swap...

You are a star and you inspire me

Tracy...just for you..

I had better get on..

Thanks for joining me 

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Cumbria Crafters

Good morning everyone, 

What a beautiful day...yes another one,,,

I hope you had a lovely weekend, 

I have to say the Royal Wedding was very special, and oh my 

I thought the bride looked like a real princess...so beautiful 

We had our Cumbria workshop on Saturday and it was so funny when 

Some of the ladies arrived in wedding head gear...oh I do love you ladies 

Oh and gent (sorry Peter ) 

We started our day with a quick and easy card...using 

A fabulous stamp set from Hobby Art 

Designed by my lovely friend Lisa B 

And it is her Birthday today 

So Happy Birthday Lisa 

After coffee we made a tag card, 

Inspired by Jenny Mayes herself...(thanks lovely lady ) 

Look at these beauties...

So proud of all the Crafters 

The afternoon started with some Kraft card 

And Sheila had made wedding cake 

Yes a lemon and Elderflower sponge...

Thanks sis ...

To finish off we made our usual ATC’s 

What is lovely is that ladies who are unable to attend make an ATC in advance and post it to me,,.

When we swap I then take one and post it out .

I have been to the post office this morning 

So they are on there way ladies..

As always it was such a lovely day

I really value all my fabulous craft friends..

Thanks for all caring emails and messages 

Still no offer on the house (well acceptable ones !!! )

We have a lovely couple who are  very interested 

But they need an offer on their house first .

We have a viewing this Thursday , a cash buyer ....who wants to move quickly..

But I’m not holding my breath..

I am really trying to stay positive, 

I know what will be, will be,,,

But sooner rather than later would be nice...

Thank goodness that I get my daily fix of Master Cutie..

He keeps me going and makes me smile...

Enjoy your day all..

Thanks for your friendship...

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxxx

 

Favourite Florals

Good morning all, 

Well another day and another blog post...phew...

I am on a roll.

Don’t worry as it won’t last...

It is another lovely day out there and I have been for a long walk with Tess and Eric.

Today I am thrilled to be hosting the latest Fussy and Fancy Challenge 

I have chosen Favourite Florals as the theme. 

Here is my inspiration. 

One of my favourite flowers...Poppies...

And I just adore the Mecanopsis poppies 

But unfortunately they won’t grow in my garden..

I used a fabulous Poppies Stamp set from Hobby Art.

I started by repeat stamping the poppy head 

Then added some colour and Fussy cut them .

For the background , I started with this great circle stamp from the set 

Then added some splats 

Some script. 

Some splats of Inka gold, 

When dry I added a piece of fabric square..

This was a purchase from Port Sunlight last Saturday.

Some bakers twine and the poppy came next 

A lovely sentiment from the set 

And finally 

I stamped and coloured a butterfly 

I do love these pens...

And after a wonderful tutorial from Jenny Mayes , I am now using mine. 

Not just looking at them .

Like us Crafters do...

And my little finishing off trick ..

Some glossy Accents 

Do pop over to the 

Fussy and Fancy blog 

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

And have a look at what my teamies have come up with 

Fabulous inspiration 

I am really looking forwards to visiting everyone’s blog and 

Seeing what you come up with 

I hope you have a lovely weekend planned..

Will you be watch a certain special wedding 

It is our Cumbria class ...so I will see it when I get home,,

Just to get in the spirit of the day though 

We are having wedding cake and wearing hats!!!! lol.

Have a great weekend all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Reflecting...

Good morning everyone, 

What a beautiful morning 

I have lots of jobs on my craft list today,

So I got up early , walked the dogs and I am going to tackle them. 

Karl is in Poland for most of this week , so I am the boss...lol...

Yesterday we had our regular workshop in Hazel Grove. 

Chrissie had asked for some instructions of reflections...

So I based the workshop on ways of making them 

For our first card we used a mini Gelli plate to create our reflection. 

Remember if your stamp is symmetrical you can use first and second generation stamping. 

Also remember you don’t have to use all of the stamp. 

This was created using a piece of acetate as the carrier for the stamp...

I also used a slim Jim acrylic block yesterday and got a fab reflection. 

Glossy Accents and gel pen can give a lovely shimmer on the water 

Hope you can see it here.. 

On these samples I used Lavinia stamps...

So glad to see that you enjoyed yesterday’s blog ...as the 

Feather stencil has sold out....

Must get on 

Enjoy your day

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxxx

Fuzzy Lemon Dies

Good morning everyone...

Well , I thought I would blog two days in a row...

Now that is good for me,,

Today I want to share some fabulous dies with you.

They are from a company that I have been using for a long time now..

Craft Stash...

They are Fuzzy Lemon dies...

Do check them out 

Here

http://tidd.ly/c875a775

They also have some good deals on cutting machines,

The Gemini......  http://tidd.ly/317a67a1

And Big shot fold away   http://tidd.ly/107b5544

Look, such fresh designs...

I love this feather ...

This is what I came up with 

I die cut the feather three times..

The dies cut really well 

Then I added some colour using Oxide inks 

And yes Karen , the colour is just for you...lol. 

Next I started on the background, I added some colour with a stencil brush 

And then stamped some splats using a fab stamp from Hobby Art...

It is from the Becki’s Backgrounds Stamp set .

Then I added the circle stamp.

Followed by more splats of Inka gold..

On separate card I stamped the word stamp 

When I started assembling card , I added some bakers twine 

And some white highlights using my Posca pen . 

This was such a quick and easy card to make, but I feel a very useful one. 

It could be used for so many occasions,,,

I do hope that you like it 

Thanks so much for joining me...

Off to play with Elliot...

Now I just have to include a photo of these two..

Tess and Eric don’t want to be left out ..

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxxx