Simmi

Good morning everyone and thanks for popping in. 

Another cold and frosty dog walk today , so 

I am just having a nice warm brew whilst I catch up with you. 

Hope you had a good weekend, 

We had a wonderful time in Anglesey, 

And we have a wonderful new venue, 

A light, airy, clean , warm hall...

Perfect for workshops...

Plenty of parking and a great kitchen...

It is already booked for next April..

Today I am going to share with you a tutorial 

Using this wonderful stamp from Lavinia Stamps. 

Simmi

This really is an 

Eye catching design....!!!

Sorry.... couldn’t resist it 

I started with my background 

And began to add distress Oxide inks and water. 

Heating inbetween each colour 

This is such fun to do 

And very addictive..

When dry I edged with some more purple...

(Homage to Karen and Anne ) 

Next the stamping in black VersaFine Clare ink 

Then I added some detail to the background 

Deepened the edges by adding some black ink...

This really frames it well 

Some splats of Black Inka gold...

Now, you know how I love my splats...

I then added the words these are from a Christmas verse from Lavinia, 

Some silver gel pen and some dots of white acrylic paint. 

I hope you can see the shimmer , 

She is so beautiful .

Some gems just add the finishing detail,,,

I must get on, I am off to pick Elliot up , 

He has a Halloween party at nursery tomorrow,,,

And I have our Hazel Grove workshops..

No trick or treating there...

My little pumpkin....

Take care all, 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Die-Cutting Essentials issue 44

Good morning everyone, 

Well it is raining here this morning, 

So it was a wet dog walk,  but I don’t mind as the air was so lovely and fresh. 

I was thrilled recently when asked to create a project to be featured in Die-Cutting Essentials, 

Imagine my reaction, 

When I was asked to make a wreath,,,,

You know how I love wreaths 

I used the Brother Scan & Cut machine, 

The full details are in the magazine...

Which is out now,,,

And you can get it here,,,

Just follow the link...

http://tidd.ly/5a2e1410

It is a great magazine and has fabulous free dies...

Worth £18-99

With 134 tips and tricks...

I am off now to finish packing for Anglesey tomorrow..

Oh and  remember the clocks go back this weekend.

I think that means that we get an extra hour in bed 

Just perfect

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Bright and Beautiful

Good morning everyone,..

Another lovely dog walk this morning , 

although I do believe it is going to get quite a lot colder later this week...

Hope we don’t get snow in Anglesey this Saturday 

Today I am sharing with you  a little play that I had yesterday.

I have had this fantastic stamp on my craft table for weeks...

And I have been desperate to use it 

It has been designed by the very talented Tracy Evans...

I started with a couple of Distress Oxide inks...

And two pieces of card 

Next I added some blue ink , 

Followed by green , 

remember to dry your card in between each application of ink .

When dry I edged both pieces of card with Bundled Sage Oxide ink. 

Next I added the large lollipop sticks....

Yes , my latest obsession....lol...🤣

Gave them  a dry brush of white  gesso 

Then added some colour to them with the oxides. 

I stamped my image on the sticks...now don’t worry , 

They are quite uneven.   ,

So the stamping isn’t perfect...

But we don’t need it to be...

It will all be fine...

I repeated the stamping on separate card...

Added some colour and cut out the dragonfly . 

Next came some splatting....you know I always need some splatting 

This time I used a black Inka Gold...

Remember to add some water before putting the jar away 

When dry , I added some white work with a Posca Pen 

Followed by a black Sharpie line and some matting and layering . 

I decoupaged the dragonfly, plus some hessian for extra detail. 

The sentiment and the glossy Accents just complete the design 

I really enjoyed making this 

Just look at all the detail on the stamp 

And the best bit is that there are lots of other parts of this stamp that I haven’t used yet...

I feel another play coming on..

I hope you have a lovely Tuesday planned , 

We have Elliot coming to play 

So grandma better get a move on...

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxxxx

Relaxing weekend

Good afternoon all,

Thanks for joining me on this Sunday afternoon 

I do hope that you have had a lovely weekend.

I have had a weekend to catch  up with paperwork, plus I 

had a very good friend pop in yesterday for tea and cake,,

Look what arrived on Friday 

Thanks ladies..

They are gorgeous .

And look at the card that I got last week 

Thanks Susan,,,

And look , it is on my blog,,,
(You are famous now ) 

This afternoon I have caught up with the washing and ironing,

Oh , it was about time...

The mountain of ironing was getting so big 

Time now for our meal and a Sunday evening 

With some catch up tv

Take care all 

Have a great week.

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Autumn retreat part 3

Me again, 

Wow this has tested my patience 

Blogged really doesn’t want to play today

Anyway..

Hopefully we are getting there...

So our Sunday afternoon card was a lovely sunny one 

And would you believe that the sun did come out

Perfect for our drive home 

Look at these 

More fabulous cards 

I had such a great time catching up with so many friends,

Great to see our Scottish friends, 

Thanks for travelling so far. 

Also thanks for being so kind and generous, 

From chocolates, cake , Prosecco and even some bulbs for my new garden 

I am truly blessed 

Thank you ladies . 

I must go as we are off to Blackpool tonight 

We are taking Adam , Danielle and Elliot to see the illuminations. 

I just hope I can stay awake ....

Take care all.

Much love and hugs 

Jo.Xxx

Retreat part 2

Welcome back 

And thanks for joining me again. 

Our main project was a flower jar .

Now I was very excited about this as I had been planning it for ages 

and it took so much work to find just the right jar,

I was so pleased with the results 

Just look at these beauties 

I love them all 

And honestly they look even better in real life..

I must admit that I have saved a jar,

So that I can make a snow scene for Elliot..

Pop back to see the part 3 

Xxxx

Autumn retreat part 1

Good afternoon all, 

I hope you had a lovely weekend. 

Wow it was busy in Cumbria...

And what weather we had...

So many roads were flooded and a couple were completely blocked 

So I really must thank the lovely ladies for making such a great effort to spend two days , 

crafting with me. 

Also to Karl and Sheila for their help and support, and the endless 

supply of coffee. 

We started on Saturday with a warm up card 

Using pixie powders to add colour, 

The stamps are from Hobby Art, such a funky flower style 

I love them .

Then we made a lollipop card 

I think these are going to be the next trend 

Don’t you ? 

These are wonderful, 

I really am so proud of the group.

Such wonderful makes by all. 

Our main project was a flower jar..

But I will have to show you that in my next blog post 

As I have too many photos for blogger

So see you in a mo

Love and hugs 

Jo.Xxx