Friday 4th October = New releases

Good afternoon everyone, 

I hope you had a lovely weekend. 

I have been playing with some fabulous new stamps from Lavinia stamps. 

Wow, 

These are amazing. 

The hand drawn detail is just awesome.

Tracey really has done a great job...

(Once again)

Just look, 

And this one was made using the clean up card from Billy Brayer for the design in my previous blogpost. 

The detail is second to none.

They are so versatile, but also are perfect companions for so many other stamps 

that we already have in our Lavinia family. 

They are going to be released on the Lavinia website on Friday 4th October...

So, Not long now.

I am off now, back into my craft room...

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

Good afternoon all, 

from a very wet Holmes Chapel. 

It has rained here all day so far..

Today I am sharing a Halloween design with you .

I do hope you like it.

I have made a little video to show you how I created it. 

https://youtu.be/ivrO4QFtNso

I do hope you find five minutes to take a peek. 

Have a lovely weekend all. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

More Christmas cards.

Good afternoon everyone, 

I hope you are keeping well. 

Wow, we had lots of rain today, my water butts  are full.

All 4 of them.

I guess we have seen the last of summer.

Boo hoo.

Yesterday it was our regular Hazel Grove workshops, and we had a new lady join us in the afternoon. 

It is always so good to meet new Crafters. 

We made a couple of Christmas cards, 

Using some fabulous Lavinia stamps. 

You may be surprised , 

No wreath cards.

Time for something a little different. 

I really loved making these designs, 

and they are perfect for batch card making. 

Especially the second one. 

I am certainly going to be making more of them . 

Today I was very excited when Ian my postman

brought me some secret new stamps...

Wow. That is all I can say...

So I’m back off into my craft room.

Take care everyone

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Saturday in Cumbria

Good afternoon everyone, 

thanks for popping in today. 

I do hope that you had a good weekend. 

We had a wonderful day yesterday, Adam and Danielle came round.

So we had an afternoon full of playing with trains, cars, and singing the baby shark song.

Eric loves it when the boys come round , so he really enjoyed it too. 

Thanks for all your lovely messages about him, 

He seems so much better in himself, although we still can’t walk him far or let him off his lead. 

He has his tests on his heart on 1st October, so we should get some answers then. 

On Saturday it was our monthly workshop in Cumbria. 

We had a couple of ladies missing due to ill health and a couple on holiday, 

So we all had to work extra hard !!! lol 

We missed Maggie too, who has gone back to Spain...

See you next year,,,,

We had a play with Stencils. 

I do think these are an underrated product. 

They are such great value for money and so versatile. 

We used stencils from AALL & Create, many of these have been designed by Abs, 

the man himself.

Just adding ink through the stencils give a great result. 

One of my favourite techniques is to use Brusho Powders, 

And you get 3 backgrounds for the price of 1. 

I have made a little YouTube video ladies, just to help you remember what to do,,

https://youtu.be/NSMxHuyAbOM

I do hope that you like it. 

It was such a lovely day, and I am so thrilled with all these cards. 

You really are such a talented group of Crafters. 

 Sheila made us some yummy cakes too.

Next month it is our Autumn Lavinia retreat. 

Sat 26th and Sun 27th October. 

I have two spaces left if anybody is interested in joining us. 

It is a wonderful weekend , only £80, and this includes lunch, all refreshments and a goody bag. 

Just drop me a message 

Jrcrafts28@gmail.com 

Today I am in my craft room, 

catching up with jobs. 

Then tomorrow it will be packing my bags again for our Hazel Grove classes on Wednesday. 

Thanks for joining  me today. 

Your support means so much to me 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

A stencil tutorial

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope the sun is shinning for you today. 

It has been a lovely morning here in Holmes Chapel and I 

do believe that we are in for a lovely weekend too.

I am off to Cumbria tomorrow for our monthly workshop so it will be lovely if the weather is nice for the drive there and back. 

Today I have some inky play to share with you. 

I have made a little YouTube video 

Showing how to create these three backgrounds 

From one application of ink on your Gel Press Plate. 

Here is one of the backgrounds made up into a card, using stamps and stencil from Aall & Create. 

Even Billy Brayer has come out to play once again.

Bless him, he doesn’t spend much time in his box these days . 

Here is the link 

https://youtu.be/FRzen0IWh20

I do hope you find it useful.

Heads up to any crafty friends in Belfast, 

We have a couple of places left (due to illness) for our next workshop.

It is on Saturday 12th October 

And we will be using stamps from Aall & Create 

Just email me for details 

Jrcrafts28@gmail.com 

Oh and thank you for all your lovely messages about Eric, 

He seems to be feeling a bit better at the moment.

Although we won’t know anything until his tests on the 1st October .

Better get on, 

Lots still to do, 

Take care everyone 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Dragons

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope your week is going well. 

Things are still hectic here, 

Karl has been working in Aberdeen, and Eric needed another trip to the vets.

He now has a high temperature and a huge hot spot on his neck.

Bless him...

I have been busy with magazine commissions recently.

So today I have just taken five mins out to have a play. 

I started with this favourite technique of mine. 

I chose 3 fiery colours . 

Added some extra splatters of ink 

Some stamping and blending 

Then the dragons flew in. 

Followed by some Posca splats. 

And finally I used the top line of the dragon verse for my sentiment. 

  I do hope you like this. 

The sun is shinning here this afternoon, 

I hope it is shinning for you too. 

Must get back to tackling jobs on my list 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Quick, inky background.

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope your week is going well and that 

you have a lovely weekend planned. 

Today I am sharing a tag with you .

I do love making  tags, 

They are such a wonderful way of creating small pieces of art. 

I have made a little YouTube video showing how to create this tag 

If you have a couple of minutes to spare. 

I would love you to get a brew , maybe even a little (or large )  biscuit and watch , 

I really hope you will enjoy it. 

https://youtu.be/iDu7ybNb3iQ

This is such a great background technique. 

Perfect for those emergency cards.

Most importantly , it is fun. 

I am really looking forwards to this weekend, 

as I have a rare weekend off. 

I am out for a meal and catch up drinks this evening with friends. 

Then tomorrow we are having a bbq with our neighbours. 

Just what I need at the moment. 

Hope you have a lovely weekend too.

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Christmas in Hazel Grove

Good evening all, 

I do hope Thursday has been kind to you. 

I have been in my craft room all day 

catching up on jobs. 

Eric bless him , is really quiet and has just slept under my chair all day. 

I am so worried about him. 

Yesterday it was our regular workshop in Hazel Grove. 

We had a play with some Lavinia stamps, and we created 

some Christmas cards. 

I wanted to create some quick and easy cards. 

You know what it is like at Christmas, it is nice to make some special cards, 

but also we do need quick cards too. 

Now, you know how I love a wreath card. 

These little £1 stamps are perfect for this technique. 

I do love this stamp too, 

And finally , 

We created this topper, 

Just for the camel lady....

I must admit that I am doing rather well with my Christmas cards at the moment. 

Julie made us some yummy cookies in the morning. 

In the afternoon , 

Chrissie came for a visit, 

What a treat to see her and craft with her again. 

We do miss you lovely lady. 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Christmas makes for Children

Good morning all, 

Thanks for all your lovely messages about Eric. 

He is quite subdued at the moment, but enjoying all the extra TLC.

We are just waiting for him to have a 24hr ECG .

I just wanted to pop on and show you a new box set.

Ready for Christmas .

This is a great read and has wonderful free gifts with it too. 

I am so proud to have some designs in this feature too, 

I had such fun making these and thinking up new ideas. 

You can buy it here. 

http://tidd.ly/c29a0178

Have a great day 

I am just off now to meet the lovely ladies in 

Hazel Grove. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Lovely Saturday in Carnforth.

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope your week has started well 

On Saturday I had the pleasure of teaching an 

Aall & Create workshop for 

Sharon of Rowan Tree Crafts.

I designed a little Gardening Book / Journal. 

Now I have to say that the inspiration for this came from the very talented Anne Redfern.

Thanks lovely lady for letting me use and alter your project. 

This is us all at the end of the day. 

We even had some sun too. 

We used stamps by Tracy Evans and a selection of various stencils. 

Even Billy Brayer came out to play again. 

We made the book from scratch and decorated it , inside and out. 

It was so good to see how everyone used different colours and how wonderful they all looked. 

Thank you ladies, you really made my day, 

Such wonderful projects. 

It was Babs Birthday too, so we had cake and all sang to her.

It was such a lovely day, and I drove home on cloud 9.

This soon became my worst nightmare when on Sunday morning we 

were walking Eric round the park and he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing. 

Nothing that Karl or me did would bring him back, 

Luckily a kind lady heard my screams and ran to our aid. 

She managed to revive him and he is at the vets as I catch up with you. 

The shock was just horrific, 

He was running one minute , and on the grass motionless the next. 

It is frightening how life can change literally in a heart beat. 

I am wandering round the house like a lost lamb today

I have so much to do, but my mind just won’t let me get on with it. 

Maybe some tidying up in my craft room, 

That is always good for the soul..

Thanks everyone for joining me today, 

It means so much .

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

A little piece made just for fun.

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope your Friday is going well, 

and that you have a lovely weekend planned. 

I am off to Carnforth early tomorrow morning. 

To teach a day workshop using Aall & Create stamps and stencils. 

 

I have such a lovely project for the ladies to make. 

I will show you photos next week. 

Today I am going to share a card with you. 

Now this one, 

I just made for fun. 

I bought a new stamp, 

The vine stamp from Lavinia .

Now you know me...

I wanted to see if I could create a wreath with it. 

This is what I came up with.

I had such a great time making it. 

Here is a closer look. 

I use warm autumn colours, 

Just to reflect this this time of year. 

Fingers crossed we have some nice weather for  the next couple of days 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Make each day count.

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are feeling well today. 

I have just got back after a very wet dog walk with Eric, I am 

hoping that the day will get brighter. 

Yesterday I went up to Kendal to see my parents. 

It is my Dads birthday tomorrow, 

so I went to surprise him.

Thanks Mum and Chris for keeping my visit a secret.

Now you know me, 

I just finished making his card on Monday afternoon.

Last minute dot com here...

I do hope some of you are the same and that it’s not just me...

Today I am going to share one of my samples for 

Aall & Create.

As you know I love using stencils alongside my stamps. 

I had a great time making this, and I do think you could add family photos into the film strip

That would be really cool.

The stencil is #82, film strip by Aida Domisiewicz

I started by taping my stencil using low tack tape, 

I then dabbed the Archival ink through the stencil using a make up sponge. 

This is a great way to use old ink pads 

I added some splats of ink and water and then attached it to my backing card. 

Next I cut three pieces of card , just the correct size to fit into the film strip. 

I stamped them up and added some colour, using Inktense pencils .

I used stamps #199 Eclectic Stamps and #200 Hope 

And then #210 Background mashup for the background 

All by my lovely friend Tracy Evans. 

 

We are using these on Saturday in our Carnforth class....whoop.

It is such a lovely project ladies.

I am so looking forwards to it. 

To add a clear glaze I used a VersaMark ink pad and clear embossing powder.

I added these to the design ,

Placing the sentiment in the middle. 

Here is a closer look. 

I do hope you like it and most importantly that it makes you smile. 

Have a lovely day all. 

Make today count.

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx