One for the boys

Hi again, 

Thanks for popping in today. 

It has finally stopped raining here, hope it has for you too, 

Today I am sharing a fun card with you.

This one uses stamps by Janet Klein and is quite quick to create, 

I began by creating a background scene. 

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Then I added some stamping 

 I also did some extra stamping , so that I could add colour , cut out and decoupage these figures. 

I also added some extra doodling with a black fine liner pen. 

I do love to do this 

Such a fun scene, 

I added the cowboy and the sentiment, then the rope, 

I thought it tied the whole thing together. 

I do think that it is these little touches that make a design special.

Such a great card for a boy, 

I would have to add a dinosaur 🦕 if it was for Elliot. 

He is just obsessed with them at the minute. 

That’s all from me today. 

Time to feed and walk Eric. 

Take care all

Love and hugs 

Jo xxxx

Recycling a custard tin

Good afternoon all, 

Hope you are keeping well. 

After a very wet start to the day, the sun has finally popped his head out here. 

Today I have been doing some recycling .

I blame my friend Tracy, 

she has so much to answer for.,.lol 

This is a the same background as yesterday’s piece, but I have used it over a recycled custard tin

This is such a lovely and useful thing to do...

And it makes a great gift too,.

I have made a little you tube video , 

You can find it here 

https://youtu.be/6oVyPZprne4

My tin is sat on my desk, now I just need to tidy the rest of my desk up, 

Thanks for popping in , 

Take care 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Flower Meadow

Good afternoon all, 

I hope you are keeping well and that you had a lovely weekend. 

Our online workshop on Saturday was so lovely, 

It is great to be able to spend time with friends, 

Even if it is virtually and online. 

Today I have been creating a wild flower meadow...

No, not in the garden.

It is far too wet outside 

I have been playing with inks, 

a Lavinia stencil and some fabulous Lavinia stamps, 

I have made a little YouTube video for this one 

You can find it here 

https://youtu.be/cncTtvo5aAU

I am off now to walk Eric...

Looks like we are going to get wet again 

Take care all 

Stay dry and safe 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

A wreath card....never

Good morning everyone, 

I hope you are feeling well and  positive today,

We have made it to Friday.

I have an online class tomorrow, so I am getting my craft room ready. 

What I really mean is doing that arm sweep thing across my desk, 

Just so that I have some room

Today I have another Lavinia sample to share with you. 

When I saw what stamps were in this bundle, 

Well I just had to make a wreath card. 

You know me, 

I began by stamping the wreath, 

Now at this point you could just add some berries etc a sentiment and you have a lovely Christmas card. 

I added the hare and some berries , 

Followed by some blending around the edges. 

I added some water splats to the ink to create a little more interest. 

Followed by some chunky white embossing powder, 

I love the way this looks 

Such a lovely mix of stamps. 

Just a quick chat from me today, 

Lots to do 

Please take care 

and have a lovely weekend

See you next week

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Love these bunnies.

Good afternoon all from a very wet Cheshire. 

Today I am sharing a Lavinia sample with you. 

It is one of the samples that I have made for tomorrow’s shows on HOCHANDA. 

I have already put the photo on social media, where I have been asked about a tutorial 

So here we go..

The background was created with distress oxide ink , Brusho powder and my gel press.

I then added some stamping using VersaFine ink 

After that I created the moon and some shading around the edges. 

Next some scenery and the verse. 

I stamped the verse using VersaMark ink and then added the Mica Minerals, I used Copper 

I love this effect, 

Although it isn’t easy to show you 

Look 

Such a beautiful effect.

Before I go, I must just show you how the boys are taking after their grandma. 

After a couple of hours painting, 

Look at Jenson.

Now how many of us end up like that !!!! lol. 

Take care all 

and thanks for popping in 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Seed heads

Good morning all, 

Welcome to our new follower, 

Please pull up a chair, get yourself some coffee and cake and make yourself at home. 

I just wanted to start today by saying 

Get Well soon to Audrey, 

She is one of our lovely Cumbria ladies and she has been quite unwell..

So I hope you feel better soon...

Big hugs from us all. 

Recently I have been looking at using the Ombré effect and how it can be used to create backgrounds. 

This is one of the designs that I have created 

And I have made a little YouTube video to tell you all about it...

You can find it here 

https://youtu.be/iUJfWLZlJKM

I do think if the seed heads were coloured on red , it would make a fabulous Christmas card 

It just happens that Lavinia stamps are on tv this Friday,,,

Here is one of my samples 

Here is a closer look 

I must admit Mandy is going to go and host the shows this time, it should have been me, 

But with hotels not being fully open and the first show is 9am. 

So we have to be at the studio by 7am...

I would have to leave here at 4am,,,so it makes sense for Mandy to do them as she lives so much closer..

I will be watching her and cheering her on,,.

With coffee and biscuit, obviously 

Well, that’s my catch up for today, 

I actually have a hair appointment booked for today, cut but no colour, 

It will be very interesting..

Thank goodness my workshops are online at the minute...

Take care everyone

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxxx

Mix and Match

Good afternoon and thanks for popping in. 

I do hope that your Tuesday is going well, 

Karl left at 5am yesterday to drive up to Edinburgh where  he had a couple of labs to visit, then onto 

Glasgow today,,,bless him , he is so busy and has been all through this pandemic.

I keep telling him that he needs to take a few days off. 

Mind you , I have been left home alone, well with Eric 

So I have been in my craft room trying to get ahead, 

Catching up on orders, YouTube videos etc. 

Today I have a couple of samples to share with you 

I just love to mix and match , stamps, stencils and designers. 

This new stencil is fabulous, some ink, 

Then change position of the stencil and add a different colour of ink. 

Add some background stamping 

A focal point, 

and yes that stick did come from a pot of Aldi ice cream,,,,# bin dipping lol.😂

The wings and body are from the Take Flight stamp set 

Now the stencil had ink on it, 

So I cleaned it , onto another piece of card 

Added some more stamping , a touch of washi tape , and this adorable dog, 

Some wings and a sentiment. 

I do love to create these sorts of designs, 

Bright, lots of detail, but also some white space. 

I’m off now, time to feed Eric.

Take care all

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Hare

Good morning all, 

Hope your weekend has started well.

It was a wet dog walk for us first thing today, and it looks like it might rain all day. 

Have you been watching the Aall & Create shows on HOCHANDA this weekend? 

They have been fabulous .

This is was one of my samples from yesterday’s shows. 

And this is one from today’s shows 

This hare stamp by Tracy is my favourite, I know we shouldn’t have favourites !!!

But I just love Hares. 

I started by using Billy Brayer to add some colour onto my card stock 

Next some stencil work 

I stamped the hare in black and added some colour with pencils 

To make the Hare more 3d I added some white and black charcoal pencil. 

It is so effective

You will see me use this stamp so much more..

I just adore him

Thanks for popping in 

Take care all 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Friday catch up

Good afternoon everyone, 

Wow, what a busy week. 

Thanks to everyone who left lovely comments, 

emailed me...

And messaged me...

You know how much your lovely words mean to me..

Such a lovely surprise to get flowers too.

Thanks so much Janet and Susan 

It has been a busy week , mainly creating samples for this weekends tv shows on HOCHANDA. 

Lots of lovely new stamps...

And oh yes, 

The hare is my absolute favourite...

I just couldn’t stop using him .

On Wednesday it was Elliot’s 3rd Birthday. 

Obviously we couldn’t have a proper party so just close family members...

It was still a wonderful day

He is just so adorable..

I know I am biased,,,

His brother is a bit of a cutie too...

And yes, he did eat all that cake...

The sun is shinning here now, 

So I am just going to walk Eric.

I am really looking forwards to having a couple of days off...

Mind you, I do have to spend a couple of hours in my craft room tomorrow,,

Take care everyone 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Lovely ladies

Good morning all, 

I hope you are well and that you had a lovely weekend. 

It was another busy one for me with our online class on Saturday plus family visiting, 

With more friends popping in yesterday. 

We are having to stagger everyone , all the lovely friends and family who want to wish Elliot a 

Happy 3rd Birthday. 

As our garden is larger than Adam and Danielle’s it is easier to social distance here,,

Saturday’s class was just wonderful and I get so excited when I see all the photos of the fabulous finished pieces , 

and the recycling of tin cans is becoming just a bit of an obsession..

We used stamps by Tracy Evans, such useful stamp sets. 

I am so proud of the way that the crafters have embraced the online classes, 

especially as it looks like we could be looking at next year before being able to meet up again. 

I must say welcome to our new blog follower, 

It is always such a thrill to get new followers,

Also thank you to everyone who has subscribed to my YouTube Chanel, 

I have found some things very demoralising at the minute, just some things that have been happening in the craft world, 

and last week I very nearly gave it all up. 

But then I read such lovely comments on my group, YouTube , here etc and 

I think , no, don’t let the bullies win.

I was so thrilled to get to 2K followers on You Tube and that really did make my day. 

Aall & Create had another ODS on tv last week, 

And here are a couple of my samples 

A gift bag to brighten up anyone’s day 

Thanks for popping in, 

I must get on, 

I need to spend today and tomorrow making more samples ready for more shows at the end of the week..

Hope you have a lovely day, 

Take care 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx