Back to normal.

Good morning all, and thanks for popping in. We are home, unpacked , dogs collected and now trying to catch up with everything.

We have had a wonderful two weeks and it was good to spend time together, relax, read and just sit back and take stock of everything. You see sometimes life just goes at such a pace,,,,you know what I mean...as a family it has been such a mad, busy six months...

We started off by driving down to the ferry, catching a few sights on the way

And yes it was raining....a theme which stayed with us for most of our holiday...not that we let it get in the way...

Our first stop was in the Vendee at a campsite where we used to take the boys before Mikey was too ill and we had to stop having holidays....do you know that is nine years ago....I can tell you it was a very emotional visit.

Next we drove down to the Dordogne and had a couple of nights at a lovely Adult only site, owned and run by a lovely English couple.

I won't bore you with lots of photos, just a few key ones...

Next and up to Burgundy , to a chateaux site....my favourite of the holiday...

And we actually had a couple of days of sun

Look this was our pitch

The night before we left we had fireworks and a terrific thunderstorm and then onto Calais to catch our ferry home

We kept in touch with Adam and Danielle every day, ready to come home early if needed, but the little man has been good and waited...in fact today is the day that they go into hospital to have him induced . The hospital have been so good and prepared them for what will happen and taken them round the special care baby unit. So please think of them today and send lots of good wishes , i will keep you posted.

Must get on,

Lots of love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Celebration

Good morning all, and welcome to another scheduled post... I am keeping everything crossed that is post manages to reach you .... Although Karl and I are having a lovely holiday in France the lack of internet and phone signal really are a bit of a pain...

Especially as poor Danielle is in and out of hospital, the little man is so eager to make an appearance, he is 33weeks now and I am worried that he will arrive without his grandma to help....I have messaged her and told her to tell him to wait until next week.....

We have found the most gorgeous items of clothing for him,,,,oh they are so cute...and very French....

Anyway... onto today's Fussy and Fancy Challenge

Our new theme is

Celebration...

And here is what I came up with... I do hope that you like it ..

I used the large chrysanthemum stamp that Barbara and Dee launched at the Clarity open days in Kent...oh it is fabulous.

I started by stamping in VersaMark ink , adding white embossing powder and heat setting

Then using my artistry ink pads I started to blend the colours, working from the centre , outwards .

I started with Fine Wine,,,well we are at a chateau campsite in Burgundy

And added Blaze, Orange Popsicle, and Golden Tumeric

Then I used the Happy Birthday stamps from the sentiment words set , some water spritzing and my favourite Tim Holtz butterfly die.

Some matting and layering and a few dots of liquid glass... Ido love to add detail using this product

Plus a tiny heart embellishment,

It is these little details that really help to complete a design .

Do go and have a look at the inspiration from the rest of the dt, and if possible enter a design yourself....it could be Birthday, wedding, exam results. Well any form of celebration.

http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

I had better go now , time for a walk....whilst the sun shines, only we have rain forecast again for a few days...

Hope all you workshop ladies ( and gent ) are all being good whilst I am out of the country....lol..

Take care all...

Au Revoir

Jo. xxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

A great day for gardening

Good afternoon all , thanks for joining me with this scheduled post. We have had so much rain this week and everything in the garden is growing at such a rate , that I just can't keep up.

So I thought it apt to share a card made with the fabulous gardening set from Clarity.

I started with a piece of background card that I had made using the distress Oxide inks....oh have you seen the new colours???? Mmmmm

I do find it useful to have a few off these ready

I stamped the tag stamps and the garden folk . ( I used a piece of copier paper to mask the soil area )

And then I added some ink to build up my scene

 

I punched some mini moon masks...Have you seen that you can buy blank sheets of the masks? These are really useful.

Some more stamping

I stamped some of Tina's flowers and leaves onto the background paper, cut them out and then added them to my tags. I do use these stamps so much. Oh and that favourites Posca white marker of mine.

I then added some stamping to a Kraft card blank

I let the design flow onto the back. I do like to add some decorative detail to the back of cards

And finally added the tag, plus a pair of gardening gloves .

Speaking of which , I bought Adam a pair the other day as after his first day of gardening in his new house his hands were full of blisters...bless him...it is all a learning curve. Danielle and him are going to learn so much in the next twelve months.

I hope you have a lovely weekend planned, take care all...thank you so much for popping in and supporting me...it means a lot.

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

No internet

Good evening all, and thanks for popping in.

So sorry that I have been away for a few days but I am having internet issues....and all my scheduled posts have failed....

Karl and me are having a well deserved two week holiday in France...our first one for nine years...

And we nearly didn't get here...you see Danielle is in hospital again,,,for those of you that don't know we are going to be grandparents soon....and yes we are absolutely thrilled.

Baby Rice is only 32 weeks but he is being a little tinker....and keeps trying to arrive early...Danielle has had the steroid injections to help his lungs but he could arrive any time,,,because it could be anything in the next few weeks we all decided that our holiday must go ahead .....Obviously we are in touch , thank goodness for Skype etc...

And a special Thanks to our wonderful friend Mary who is keeping an eye on things....

Anyway , I am trying this short post without any photos to see if it will post...I am keeping everything crossed...

Take care all, enjoy your weekend...

Much love and big hugs

Jo. xxxx

Posted with Blogsy

Crafting in Cumbria..

Good afternoon all and thanks for joining me...

I do hope that you have had a lovely weekend....Yesterday it was our Monthly workshop day in Cumbria...and what a fabulous day it was....and we even had extra cake , thank you Rachel

Our main project was a Mixed Media art journal...which we completed throughout the day...

Whilst waiting for various parts to dry we made a card using the fabulous new stamps that Dee had requested for the open day...I knew that I needed these as soon as I saw them,,,Thanks Dee...I love them ..

We used the large butterfly stamp, Artistry ink pads, white gesso , a selection of stencils and some Kraft card. Just look at the colours...I love them all.

And just look at the journals

We decorated the front and the back

And they looked even better in the flesh...

Look at this one that Freda made....to take to her sewing group...

It is stunning...I love the zip detail...

We did have a few giggles too....and a Birthday girl....

Happy Birthday for yesterday Gwen...

And even the weather was good for the drive home.

Plus , I have some good news , the foal was found in time by the farmer and is up and about and doing well...

Always good to end the week with some good news...

Take care all,

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Mother Earth

Good morning everyone, hope Friday finds you well.

Karl has left early so I have been out with the dogs. We were walking down the fields at 7-30 this morning just as one of the horses gave birth to a foal....obviously I kept the dogs away but was really upset as the foal just didn't seem to move...I have left a message with the farmer so I am really hoping that everything is ok...I shall be walking down later to check as I am just heading out to an appointment .

Before I go , I have a few minutes to share a card with you....

This uses one of the new Clarity stamps....Earth

I started with a piece of stencil card and stamped the main image

I then masked the image and started stamping some leaves from Tina's flowers stamp set, using a variety of artistry ink pads.

Using a lovely palate of browns, oranges, yellows and greens .

Then using a brush I dragged some more brown ink away from the mask, this will add a shadow effect around the image, look , this is what I had when I removed the mask.

 

Next , I added some colour to the main image using Soectrum Noir pencils.

I used a sentiment stamp and an accessory stamp to compliment my design

I do hope you like what I have created....

Mother Nature is so wonderful, I was looking to see how the frogs in my pond were growing the other day and I spotted one having a sleep in my montbretia grass. Look....how cute is he....

Oh, just seen the time...I had better dash...

Mikey and Fran moved in to their new flat on Wednesday and all went well...it is beautiful and I am so happy for them both...

Clarity Cumbria tomorrow...so lots still to do today...

Have a great day all

Much love and hugs...

Jo. xxx

 

Posted with Blogsy

Clarity Open Days

Good afternoon all and thanks for popping in.

Sorry for the lack of posts but it was a very busy weekend down in Kent...

I had workshops on Wednesday , then an early start on Thursday...the open days Friday and Saturday , I finally pulled onto the drive at 10-45pm on Saturday....long days but well worth it....and I even managed the drive both ways without any problems...

Unfortunately, we were so busy that I didn't have much time to take photos so I have borrowed some from Lynne, and some from Clarity...thanks both....hope you don't mind

 

I managed to take a couple before the doors opened

This was my crafty space

Three lovely ladies hatching a plan

Sam looking professional

And then,,,,Jayne joined us lol..

I do love catching up with this wonderful lady

We normally have a group photo , but time just got the better of us ...as soon it was time to open the doors

And let the fun begin

It was so good to meet Alex from Hochanda, what a special lady, and wow, so stunning...I did feel little and old next to her...so don't look to close...please

( you know how I hate having my photo taken )

 

 

 

 

I made lots of samples with Stencils and ink blending

And the odd canvas too

It was so good to catch up with Barbara, the team, old friends and make new ones....

A really fabulous two days...

Back home now and preparing for the next few workshops. Plus on Wednesday karl and I are renting a van to take Mikey and Frans things to their new flat in Nottingham...

So that is all four of them now moved out so we are back to two adults and two dogs...

I'm getting off now as a trip to IKEA is in order this evening to buy more furniture for the kids....

We are getting quite good at this building malarkey...

Before I go, do tune into our Rosie , tonight and tomorrow with her one day special....

It was such a pleasure to meet and spent time with her , what a lovely lady....

Much love and hugs..

Jo. xxxx

 

Posted with Blogsy