Lavinia stamps in Cumbria

Good afternoon all, I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Karl has gone to watch football, Jenson has gone home, so I am 

catching up with my ‘to do list’.

So I have a lovely cup of tea, and I thought we could have a catch up. 

Yesterday it was an early start for me, as it was our Cumbria workshop. 

I have to say the weather and the driving conditions on the motorway were horrible. 

It was great to see everyone and welcome a new lady to our group. 

We started with a lovely little warm up card. 

Then it was time to get the gel press plate and Billy Brayer out.

Plus some Brusho powders, and the petite gel press plates. These really are so wonderful to use. 

These Lavinia stamps just go perfectly with this technique. 

Look what the ladies and Peter made.

Such wonderful designs

I just love all of your cards,

It really is such a pleasure and a privilege to be able to teach you,

and even better to have you as friends. 

Look what Freda made for me, and wow does it taste good. 

They are such a talented group as Peter makes the most yummy Marmalade.

So I came home with both.

Oh, I am so lucky, thank you both. 

Before I go today I just wanted to share another photo from yesterday.

This was Elliot, 

he was a pageboy for Danielle’s best friend. 

I can’t believe he isn’t 2, until July.

Now I can’t show favouritism, 

So here is Jenson.

He was enjoying his sleep over.

 I just adore them both. 

Better get on, I have finished my cup of tea. 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday and that you have a good week ahead.

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

Pipe Dog.

Good afternoon all, 

I hope Friday is treating you well. 

I have just been packing my bags ready for our Cumbria class tomorrow.

I can’t believe that we have another full class and a waiting list.

It seems only five minutes ago that I was looking at the hall and booking in the first five ladies. 

Did you manage to watch Abs on Hochanda yesterday ? 

He is such a lovely man, and so creative. 

Here is one of my samples that he showcased.

You have heard of sausage dogs,

Well this one is Pipe Dog. 

I started by stamping the background using a couple of distress inks. 

This way the colour is quite muted and pale.

Next I blended some ink around the edge. 

Followed by some matting and layering. 

On separate card I stamped the dog , added some colour and cut all the pieces out. 

I do love this stamp, it really makes me smile. 

The die cut pipe parts just fit in perfectly. 

I love his expression, 

Some splats with my white Sharpie pen plus some fine liner grass and my design was complete. 

Sometimes I do worry about the way my mind works!!!!

Hope this design made you smile.

All the stamps and the die are from AALL & Create.

Must get on, 

We have Jenson again for a couple of nights, but this time it is whilst Adam, Danielle and Elliot go to a Wedding. 

Danielle is a bridesmaid and Elliot is a pageboy.

I am so pleased that he is feeling better and able to be there. 

Lots to do before he arrives. 

Take care all.

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Chrissie returns.

Good evening all and thanks for popping in. 

Yesterday it was our regular workshops in Hazel Grove.

What a fabulous day it was, especially as our lovely friend Chrissie popped in.

Chrissie used to attend the workshops but then her and Don moved to Yorkshire. 

We really miss them so it was so good to see them both yesterday, 

have a catch up and a hug. 

We had a play with pigment powders (Brusho, Color Burst, Pixie powders) and some Lavinia stamps. 

This was our first card, 

It was great to see all the different colour choices and how the cards turned out. 

Our second card was a contrast, 

Here we used the powders to water colour the poppy .

I love this stamp set. 

Today I have been prepping for Cumbria on Saturday, we have another full class plus a waiting list. 

I had a lovely surprise today when a friend popped in for coffee, 

It is always so nice to catch up. 

Must go now and get our meal ready. 

Thanks for all your lovely messages, Elliot is home and feeling much better.

I am so pleased as I was really worried about him. 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Sunflower Power

Good afternoon all.

Happy Easter, I hope you are having a lovely time. 

Sorry I am late with my blog post but we have had a busy weekend. 

You see Elliot was unwell towards the end of last week and ended up 

being taken into hospital on Friday. 

Bless him, he is still there and in isolation. 

He has a severe bacterial infection and is on a drip, he is being so brave. 

So we have been looking after Jenson.

He has been so good but the night feeds have left grandma a little tired. 

Fingers crossed that Elliot is home soon. 

So today I am going to share one of my recent samples from the AALL & Create shows on Hochanda. 

They were hosted by Jo Channon and what a fabulous job she did, 

I just loved making this sample,,,

I stared with the Sunflower stencil buy  Olga Heldwein, and added some Brusho powders. 

Followed by some water.

Wow, look at those colours. 

I used another piece of card to mop up.

Now this gives a fab image...my favourite of the three.

Yes, you see we can get three images from one technique 

Use the stencil Brusho  side down for the third print. 

I chose the middle piece and added some stamped detail. 

Using the numbered pencils stamp by Tracy Evans. 

I do love this stamp

I added some colour plus some shading using charcoal pencils. 

A sentiment and a die cut added extra detail, then, to finish off I added a fabulous little pencil.

I thought it was perfect, and what is even better is it was a gift...thanks Lisa. 

Some matting and layering and job done. 

I had great fun creating this piece. 

Right, I need to go now and try and catch up on some paperwork etc. 

So if I haven’t replied to any messages, emails etc I am sorry , I will get round to it.

Look my little soldier in his hospital bed. 

And his little brother fast asleep with Grandad. 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Beautiful bouquet

Good afternoon all, 

hope you are having a good week.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will all 

have some beautiful weather this Easter weekend. 

I have an egg hunt planned for a certain little man. 

Today I am going to share another dt sample with you. 

This one is from the recent AALL & Create show with Leonie. 

I started off by creating the background.

I just love how  this is so unpredictable.

Next I stamped using black VersaFine Claire ink. 

I then added some more detail to the background using this fabulous stencil and 

some more green  ink, followed by some stamping. 

This is a great way to add layers. 

I stamped the design once more on separate card, added some colour and cut  it out. 

After matting and layering, I added some hessian and then decoupaged the flower. 

I do love how this is building up. 

More matting and layering, followed by some splats of green ink. 

I just have to add splats to just about everything these days. 

The sentiment is from another stamp set from AALL & Create called Bouquet small. 

Some string in a bow to finish off.

Then I just couldn’t resist, 

The design just needed some splats of white Sharpie pen.

Here is a closer look. 

I do hope you like what I have created. 

I must love you and leave you as Adam and family are coming round. 

He is 30 today...

I really can’t believe where the years have gone...

Especially now that he has his two boys.

More coffee and cake today for me then.

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Anglesey workshop day

Good afternoon all, 

I hope your Sunday is going well. 

I just wanted to pop in and share some photos with you. 

Yesterday it was our Anglesey workshop. 

It is always a pleasure to travel to Anglesey and spent time 

with this lovely group of ladies. 

We started the day with a quick and easy warm up card. 

Recognise this stamp from Fridays blog post? 

Our main project was a Lavinia clock.

I do love to teach some mixed media, 

Either painted with black or white gesso. 

I didn't manage to photograph all the fabulous creations. 

So sorry ladies. 

But I did get a few 

It was such a fabulous day, 

Thanks Julie for your help and ladies

I am so proud of you all and your gorgeous creations. 

The weather was beautiful and the roads were kind to us, 

even Manchester United managed to win their match.

So Karl was a happy bunny.

I must admit, that I am a little tired today. 

Tomorrow I have an outing with two very special friends, followed by a family meal out.

Mikey and Fran are stopping over so it will probably be a very late night.

Enjoy your evening all 

Do pop back soon

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Friday Dreams

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope your Friday is going well and that 

you have a lovely weekend planned. 

For me it is our Anglesey workshop tomorrow, 

so a busy but wonderful day to look forward too. 

I have a lovely mixed media project planned for the ladies, and as I was 

getting the class stamps sorted out , 

I had an idea. 

One of the stamps is the fabulous Flower Flourish stamp from Lavinia stamps.

https://laviniastamps.com/product/flower-flourish

Now you know me...

I do love a wreath design, 

And yes I wanted to see if the Flourish stamp could be used. 

This is what I came up with .

Have you seen these new acrylic blocks. ? 

Pretty special, and yes I did have to buy a couple. 

One to use and one to stand in my window as an ornament.

You can get them here 

https://laviniastamps.com/product/engraved-acrylic-blocks

I started by stamping the Flourish four times, turning the card through 90degrees each time. 

Then I stamped  in the gaps, for this part I found it best not to ink up the stem part 

of the design. 

Then it was just a matter of adding some extra leaves 

Some berries, 

Followed by more foliage. 

I added some ink and script stamping to the background. 

Followed by some splats of SprinkleIt 

I added one of the fabulous new Crow stamps, 

Gave him a Dream to stand on. 

White and sparkle gel pens added the finishing touches 

Here is a closer look.

I just adore making theses cards, 

What is your favourite design to make? 

I do hope you like today’s creation, 

Have a lovely weekend all.

Please take care .

Much love and hugs 

Safe travels tomorrow ladies 

Jo xxx