Wonderful Wednesday

Good morning all, 

I hope your week is going well. 

I must say it is all go here, 

with lots going on in the craft room , and lots of plans being made .

Will let you know all about them soon. 

Yesterday it was our regular Hazel Grove Classes, 

and as always we had a giggle...

and for once I really can’t put on here what happened ...

but Marjorie , you are such a star....

Thanks to Julie who made the morning ladies very happy with 

Rocky road cake...and wow it was so good. 

Also Sue who treated me to mini Orange Smartie eggs...yummy 

I really am so lucky ...

We used some fabulous stamps from Lavinia Stamps. I do love the quality 

of these stamps and the hand drawn detail is just amazing. 

I love to make clean and simple backgrounds (as you know ) 

and I do love the way this one has turned out. 

It makes a great man’s card when used with the trees. 

Thanks for all your good wishes , 

Jenson is doing well. 

Sleeping like a baby .

And off course 

Elliot is just fabulous as always. 

I must go, 

I am phoning a friend at 10am, 

Angela, hope you are ready ...

It is good to have a proper catch up...don’t you think, 

Take care everyone 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Creative Stamping in Cumbria.

Good afternoon all,

thanks for popping in on this beautiful spring day. 

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

The weather was perfect for the drive to Cumbria on Saturday morning. 

Although we had a few ladies missing this month we still had a busy class, 

and wow did we work hard. 

We used the latest edition of Creative Stamping magazine, 

Available here 

http://tidd.ly/14610115

now you know how much I love these stamps. 

This was our project 

A beautiful box , 

Lined with tissue paper , 

And containing four’ just a note’ cards 

And 

With matching envelopes

Here are some of the fabulous cards 

Made by the lovely Crafters 

Fantastic work, once again ,

Just amazing 

Thanks for coming ladies and gent , 

I can’t believe that next month it is our Spring retreat, 

I am so looking forwards to it, 

such a fantastic project. 

I must go now and put some washing in, 

then back into my craft room to get on with workshop prep. 

We have Hazel Grove on Wednesday and then

Heald Green on Saturday...

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Cheese and Biscuits.

Good morning everyone, 

Hope your Friday is going well and that you have a lovely weekend planned.

It is our Cumbria workshop tomorrow

and I am really looking forward to it.

I do believe that we are in for some lovely weather too.

Before I start sorting out my bags I just thought I 

would have a catch up with you. 

Yesterday I found time to spend the afternoon doing some pyrography.

I find this so relaxing.

I have had an idea in mind , 

you know what it is like when you buy a new stamp, have a plan , 

and then you are just too busy !!!!

This is what I created 

I had purchased the cheese board a few weeks ago, 

and then I saw the new releases from AALL & Create.

This stamp  Is by Olga Heldwein and is called Balance. 

The two were just made for each other, don’t you agree? 

Just look at those mice...

And there is even a cute little stamp perfect for the underside of the board. 

Because the design is burnt into the wood the cheese board can be used and cleaned.

I think I may even have it on display in my new kitchen.

I just need to think up some names for the mice, 

any suggestions? 

I will leave you thinking, 

Time for a coffee, then back into my craft room. 

Enjoy your weekend all, 

And just for me, 

Tell someone special today , That you love them. 

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Wall Art

Good evening everyone, 

Hope your week has started well. 

I am suffering with my back again, it is all this furniture moving, 

and more tomorrow. 

We are hiring a van to take the last load from Nottingham to Didsbury. 

Mikey and Frans new apartment is fabulous and they are so excited about moving in. 

So I decided to make a piece of art for their hall way. 

We have framed some photographs for them ,as a surprise , 

but I wanted to make something  special. 

This is what I made 

Hope you like it 

Really hope Mikey and Fran like it too 

I found this frame in the reduced box in my local shop 

I cut three pieces of card 

Then I added some paint using Mr Billy Brayer ( he needed to come out and play ) 

Next I added some blue paint splatters. 

When dry , I added some stamping using this 

fabulous border stamp from AALL & Create.

Next came some grunge paste through a stencil. 

Again this is from AALL & Create. 

On separate card I stamped , added some colour and cut out my designs. 

I matted and layered my backgrounds , 

and then added the focal pieces, using some twine, and mess to add texture. 

To finish off, I added some white highlights with my Sharpie pen, and then assembled the frame. 

I am so pleased with the way this has turned out, 

Here is a closer look 

At each piece 

Such beautiful stamp designs. 

I am looking forwards to seeing this hanging on the wall. 

Have you mounted any of your work? 

It is such a rewarding thing to do.

 

Must go, still lots to do this evening, and an early start tomorrow. 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Creative Stamping in Hazel Grove

Good afternoon everyone, 

I hope your day is going well. 

Yesterday it was our workshops in Hazel Grove.

We had a play with the fabulous Stamps from this months Creative Stamping Magazine. 

We used pixie powders , available here.     http://tidd.ly/da777372. for the background , and to add colour 

to the butterfly 

Look Tracy , that thread has appeared again. 

This was our second card, using distress inks . 

I used Crushed Olive, distress Oxide ink pad ,

Available here.   http://tidd.ly/d93d8879

Another great stamp from the set. 

If you haven’t got this edition of Creative Stamping you can get it here 

http://tidd.ly/14610115

From Craft Stash, and as a Valentines treat you can earn triple points today 

Right, I had better go and cook some food for Karl, 

We are going to try and both finish a bit early today , 

Have our meal and watch a film with a chilled bottle of bubbles. 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Brothers

Good morning all, 

How are you today ? 

I have been busy already, Karl left early so I walked the dogs , 

then when I got home, well I sort of got sidetracked and spent an hour 

pottering in the garden, 

It is lovely to see the bulbe coming up and how the garden is growing. 

What a busy weekend , 

Elliot went to meet his new baby brother , 

Then on Saturday we went to have cuddles with Jenson 

After we left the hospital , 

Adam was able to take Danielle and Jenson home. 

So it wasn’t long before both boys were fast asleep

Oh, so cute. 

Yesterday , was another busy day.

Mikey and Fran got the keys to their new apartment in Didsbury.

As Mikey is still in Manchester on Jury Service , I went to pick Fran up 

from the station and take her to the estate agents. 

The apartment is fabulous, it has two bedrooms, and is perfect for them. 

We did buy them a soup maker as a surprise, well , I just think 

every home , needs one. 

Hopefully we can get all their belongings moved over from Nottingham next weekend ready for them 

both to start new jobs in Didsbury next week. 

It is ceratianly all go...

So nothing crafty from me today , sorry 

I am off now to get my bags packed for tomorrow’s workshops in Hazel Grove. 

See you soon ladies. 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Update

Good afternoon everyone , 

hope Friday is treating you well 

and that you have something nice planned for your weekend.

We are hopefully going to see our latest addition tomorrow. 

Jenson Rice was born at 9-55pm yesterday 

(Check out his initials !!! ❤️) 

By c section , he weighed in at 8lb 2oz and is doing really well. 

This was him at 5minutes old,

Bless him .

Today’s photo. 

I can’t wait to see what Elliot thinks about him, 

I know he is going to make a fabulous big brother .

Just has Adam has been to Mikey. 

It fills my heart with pride when I see how well they get on 

and they have each other’s backs...

Loyalty is so important , don’t you think ? 

I can see I am going to need more granny naps. lol.

Although , not as many as Tess and Eric have ..

Take care everyone, and see you next week .

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Will it be today ?

Good afternoon , 

thank you for popping in. 

I do hope your Thursday is going well.

We are awaiting news today , 

as Adam and Danielle are now in Hospital and Danielle is 

in labour. They went in at 5am , so will the little one arrive today , 

or will he make us wait until tomorrow? 

So I am keeping busy , 

Trying to get ahead with lots of jobs ticked off my to do list.

                         Yesterday afternoon I went for coffee with a couple of lovely ladies..

                         It was wonderful to chat and find out we had so much in common

      Before I went I made a little card. 

I started off with a background from my stash, 

I think this one uses pixie powders 

I then added some background stamping 

Then more stamping 

And some splatters. 

You know how I love the splatters. 

I added some colour using my Inktense pencils. 

Oh I do love these , 

Finally I assembled  the card , and added some sequins and splats using my white Posca pen 

The stamps are fab and are from a wonderful stamp set which we will be using in our next workshops..

Tease....tease..

I hope you like them 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Groovi Saturday

Good afternoon all, 

I hope you had a lovely weekend, and that Monday is 

treating you well. 

On Saturday we had our monthly Groovi workshop. 

The weather was much improved and we all made the journey safely. 

We had an extra pair of hands to make our morning coffee as Mikey 

had a lift into Heald Green . 

You see he is still on Jury Service , but he is loosing money on his wage. 

So he is working at Gusto in Didsbury on Saturday and Sunday to try and make up the difference. 

Unfortunately the trains are on strike on a Saturday so it makes the journey very difficult .

He even helped with the church coffee morning, bless him . 

We used the fabulous Queen plates,

and the ladies loved them . 

They are so versatile. 

You can go full on frame, 

Or just a simple border 

Or maybe something in between 

I did love creating this card. 

As you know I love to come up with something just a bit different. 

It was such a great day , we had such a laugh, 

What a fabulous group of ladies 

(We did miss you though Freda and Christine hope you are enjoying your holidays ) 

It is so good to see everyone so pleased with what they are creating..

When I got home, we had visitors...

and a certain little man had a sleep over. 

I just adore this little man, and he makes us smile so much.

It is great to see him interact with the dogs too...

We all went for a long walk on Sunday morning , 

and Eric had great fun chasing bubbles from Elliot’s bubble machine 

His brother is due this week, although I feel he may be a late arrival. 

I will keep you posted. 

Grandma has been shopping already .

Must go out now and fill up the bird feeders. 

They have been really hungry this weekend 

and all the feeders are empty. 

The nuthatch was knocking on the window before, 

I think he was trying to tell me something ...

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx