Clean And Simple Botanical Design

Good morning everyone, 

I hope today finds you well. 

I do think a little sun helps us all, 

and lifts our spirits. 

Today I have a lovely Clean And Simple design to share with you. 

I must admit , I really enjoyed creating this. 

I just had a lovely little play, with inks, 

some stamps and a stencil. 

If you would like to join me, 

I have created a little YouTube video...

https://youtu.be/j8ArfNo7aw4

So why not grab a brew , a snack and let’s have a catch up. 

I must just take a minute to thank you all for your support and 

wonderful emails and messages, 

It is such a wonderful family on here. 

Also big thank you to Jane for my surprise gifts that arrived today 

I feel so spoilt.

Thanks so much. 

I must get on now, 

I have a magazine commission to finish and get in the post today...

Enjoy the rest of your day 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Creating perspective and atmosphere

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope that you had a lovely weekend. 

We had such a lovely workshop on Saturday and honestly 

I am so, so proud of the ladies. 

They really nailed and embarrassed how to add atmosphere and perspective onto a flat stamped design 

This was a class that I had been specifically asked to teach. 

It was lovely to have some new ladies join us too. 

Thanks so much for all your friendship and support. 

I got up extra early today, so that I could get all my jobs done and then get  into my garden.

Not quite there yet 

Just going to feed and walk Eric and see if I can have an hour out there before we eat. 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Inspire with ink and a Lilium

Good afternoon all, 

Wow, it is Friday already.

What a wet Friday morning it was too. 

Mind you they keep mentioning snow at Easter,,,

I don’t like the sound of that. 

My Easter egg hunt in the snow,,,,noooooo

Today I have a bright , card design to share with you..

Spring crocus colours. 

I have used a Lavinia stencil and one of the fabulous new stamps 

The Lilium 

Here is a closer look 

Look at the fabulous stencil work 

If you would like to join me, 

I have made a little YouTube video 

You can find it here 

https://youtu.be/CYr89trcrvA

It would be so lovely to have you join me. 

For those of you joining in tomorrow with our Lavinia perspective class , 

I will see you at 11am. 

I am really looking forwards to spending time with you, and so many of you 

this week...wow. 

I am so thrilled . 

Take care everyone. 

For those who need an extra hug

Here is a special one 

Just for you...

Hugs 

Jo xxxx

Beauty in Blue

Good morning all, 

I hope you are keeping well. 

Wow, we have another new follower...

Thanks so much for joining this happy little band of crafters. 

Today I have a little YouTube to share with you. 

I made a sample for the recent Aall & Create shows on Hochanda 

and I received so much lovely feedback about it .

Plus some questions, so I thought I would create a YouTube. 

It is so lovely when you all get in touch, 

although it sometimes takes me a while to reply.

You can find the YouTube video here 

https://youtu.be/XFcJGdTjRak

I hope you can join me and create this beautiful butterfly in blue. 

I must get on now, 

So many jobs to tick off my list today 

Including making Mikey a Birthday card 

I cannot believe that our little boy 

Will be 30 tomorrow...

Where have the years gone ,

Oh , he was such a cutie...( ok, I am a biased !!! ) 

Take care everyone, 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Believe

Good morning all, 

I hope you are feeling fit, well and ready for a new week. 

I can’t believe that it is Monday again,

The weekend just whizzed.

Thanks to everyone who joined me with the live Lavinia workshop as part 

of the extravaganza.

Wow, so many of you, thanks so much. 

Today I am sharing a recent Aall & Create sample with you. 

I have had so many requests asking how I created this piece. 

I stared off by creating a basic background, 

Some Ink, Direct To Paper, some water splats and some tone  on tone  stamping

It really is amazing what you can achieve with just one ink pad . 

Next I added some stamping in black ink.

I added clear embossing powder over the top.

As you know this is something I like to do. 

I used one of the stamps of Tracy’s new stamp set #449- Through The Meadow 

Next, some watercolour painting, using a couple of ink pads. 

I love how this is building up already. 

As I wanted to decoupage the butterfly, I stamped that section out twice more. 

Added some colour using Inktense pencils and then fussy cut them. 

I also stamped the butterfly onto a piece of vellum. 

I got out my Groovi bag and added some white work from the back. 

It is always so lovely to combine different areas of our crafting into a project. 

Here is a closer look. 

Some white posca splatters , washi tape and doodle corners finished off the whole design .

Thanks so much for popping in today, 

and for all your amazing support. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Choose Happy

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope you are having a lovely, relaxing day. 

Yesterday was such a busy day for me , so today I am 

catching up with housework, and gardening, 

Oh and the dreaded ironing. 

So I just thought I would pop in and say Hello. 

I have a lovely tag to share with you. 

I had such fun creating this. 

It used  one of Janet Kleins, new stamps for Aall & Create. 

I stared with some DTP, with my ink, 

To be honest it was Direct To Tag for this one, 

Do you like the border ? 

Do you recognise it ? 

I thought it was quite a clever way to use her hair .

I used inks and water to add some colour. 

I stamped out my main figure, added some colour and fussy cut her out. 

Some washi tape, sentiment and some wool...

Here is a closer look. 

Today is definitely a day to Choose Happy 

I hope you have a happy day...

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Day 2 and Jiminy is in the frame

Good afternoon all, 

I hope Friday is treating you well. 

Welcome to another new follower, 

I am just so chuffed with all our new followers , on here, on Instagram and 

on my YouTube Channel. 

Thanks you all. 

Group hug .

Today I just wanted to pop in with a quick design..

Jiminy is in the frame,,,

This was such a fun sample to create . 

I started with the fabulous Bramble border stamp. 

You know me, 

I just had to create a frame. 

Next I added the adorable JIMINY , 

I do love the  £1 stamps from Lavinia 

I gave him some scenery too. 

I wanted some more interest, 

So out came my Brusho powders. 

And some Posca dots. 

Think off all the possibilities for this frame. 

I hope you are enjoying the extravaganza, 

Please remember to join me for  the workshop LIVE , 

Tomorrow at 11am , Lavinia For You fb group. 

This is what we will be creating 

Or something similar...depending how I feel. 

The class list is in the Lavinia fb group. 

I must go and get my things ready, inks etc .

I hope you have a lovely weekend, 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Extravaganza time

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope that your Thursday is going well. 

Another day and another migraine here, 

But I know it could be worse, 

so I promise that I am not moaning. 

Just please excuse any mistakes in my blog , 

but it isn’t easy typing. 

Today I am just popping in to remind you about 

The 4 day extravaganza 

over at Lavinia HQ.

You can join in on the Lavinia Facebook page , on Instagram, 

Check out the planner 

I have prerecorded a video tutorial using the wonderful new Lilium stamps 

and PanPastels. 

You can find it on the Lavinia Facebook page . 

I really hope you enjoy it. 

Take care everyone 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Lined Triangles

Good morning all, 

Hope you are impressed that I am here again..

Wow, it is a busy time in the craft room at the minute. 

I hope you are enjoying watching our Abs on Hochanda. 

He is doing a bit of a marathon .

Here is another one of my samples 

I had such fun creating this, 

My inner child made an appearance...😂

I started by stamping the design in 3 colours of Versafine Clair ink. 

Then I added some clear embossing powder, 

I always recommend doing this especially if you are going to add some watercolour painting.

I had such fun, painting the triangles, 

One at a time. 

I also added some of the new washi tape, and I just had to stamp  on a little wooden stick.

You know me .

I also stamped and coloured in one of the new little houses from Janet Klein, I thought it would make a lovely focal point. 

Here is a closer look 

And 

Thanks as always for popping in, 

Time now for my morning coffee. 

I hope you have a lovely day, 

Whatever you are doing. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Beautiful Butterfly

Good morning all, 

I hope Tuesday has started well. 

It is a wet start here so another wet dog walk. 

I do hope we get some sun later this week, I think we all need some. 

Today I have a tutorial for you, using a fabulous new stamp from Tracy Evans for Aall & Create.

It is #449 - Through the Meadows. 

You know how I’m loving creating meadow designs at the minute, 

So this is just right up my street. 

There are 3 large stamps on this A4 stamp plate and each one is a design in itself .

For this design I wanted to stamp in a different colour to black. 

As you know it is something I have been doing quite a lot recently. 

I am sure my friend Karen will approve of the purple vibe. 

Next I added some colour with ink and water. 

Then I added some shade , 

It always amazes me what a difference some shadows can make. 

Next I added some extra colour plus some highlights using yellow. 

I love this colour combination. 

I also stamped the butterfly out twice more, added colour and cut them out. 

I added a fabulous rusty clock hand to the body of the butterfly. You can 

have so much fun, you could add a pen nib, a safety pin, so many possibilities.

I also added some Posca pen and glossy accents. 

Look how fabulous the yellow posca splatters look. 

I hope you manage to catch Abs today and tomorrow on Hochanda. 

Thanks for popping in 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Blackberries

Good morning everyone, 

Hope this new week is kind to us all. 

I’m afraid I have some bad news to share , this is especially sad for 

all our Cumbria Crafters. 

Our lovely friend Elsa lost her battle with cancer last week. 

We will all miss her, but I am so proud to have known her and have 

such happy memories .

My thoughts are with her family and friends, especially Ruth and Jenny. 

Today I have a simple and elegant design to share with you. 

This uses the new Blackberry stamp from Lavinia stamps. 

This is such a beautiful stamp , the detail is amazing .

I simply stamped using black ink and added clear embossing powder. 

You could just leave it in black and white if you wanted.

I decided to add some watercolour painting. 

I actually used my watercolour paints too. 

This is so relaxing to do. 

Some paint splats, a bow and a simple word. 

Dreams

Thanks so much for popping in, 

We all need our Dreams.

Especially at the minute. 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Seren

Good afternoon everyone, 

I hope your Sunday is going well. 

Today I have a photo tutorial to share with you. 

I have used a couple of the fabulous new stamps from Lavinia Stamps. 

They are being launched on 16th March on the Lavinia website. 

I just loved creating all the depth and detail in this piece. 

I started off by stamping my main images in black Versafine ink. 

Next I added some ink to start and building up my colours, 

You know how much I love burning bonfire aka crackling campfire 😂

Some stencil work, 

I had this idea of creating a sort of cave effect all around Seren. 

Next I added more ink to build up the frame 

Plus some pencil work to add detail to the rocks 

I used my chalk pastel pencils once again. 

I decided to decoupage Sirens wings. 

I then added a little more colour and  depth using my chalk pastels, posca pens and finally some glossy accents 

Here is a closer look 

Alongside the new release , Lavinia are having a 4day extravaganza 

Here is the timetable,,,

I am hosting the online live workshop next Saturday morning 

I do hope you can join me.

Time for lunch now...

Our soup is ready 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx