Special weekend.

Good morning everyone, I do hope that your week 

has started well and that you had a lovely weekend. 

I have another busy week here ,so 

I am starting at the top of my to do list and working my way down....

So today I thought I would share a special card with you...

One for a Mum...

Or Mam if you are up north....

I wanted to play with some new Silk foam that I have...

It is like the Foamiran foam but you don’t need heat it. 

And I do blame Martine for this....

Thanks lovely lady..

I started with a piece of stencil card and added some colour...

And I have gone over to the purple side today ladies...( Karen ) lol. 

Next I added some splats of ink and water using my fanbrush .

I die cut the flowers out of white silk foam and added colour with the same Oxide ink as the background. 

I then scrunched and shaped them 

I used a hot glue gun to glue the flowers together . 

Then I attached them to the card, with some foliage from another die cut and some bakers twine. 

I stamped the letters from my Clarity alphabet Stamps, and the butterflies from an 

Apple blossoms stamp set...

I added some glossy Accents..

And finally added some glitter....

I added a little ink and a butterfly to the inside too.

Just to finish it off 

 Thanks for joining me...

I am off for a check up at the dentist now, 

So better get a move on 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Happy Mothering Sunday....

Good morning all...

I hope all you Mums, Grandmas, Aunties, and Crafty friends 

Have a most wonderful day 

Enjoy 

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Wednesday’s workshops

Good evening all,

So glad that you can join me this evening. 

Sorry I am late with this blog post but I have been spending time with a certain little man...

We have had such a lovely afternoon.

Yesterday it was our regular Hazel Grove workshops 

They were such fun, 

And Julie baked us a wonderful Gluten free, satsuma tray bake,,

It was yummy 

Thanks so much Julie 

I do think she needs to write her own craft  cook book. 

This was our first card , we used a fabulous die from Apple blossom dies, 

The background was created with distress oxides, I do love their bright colours. 

We used Kraft card for that on trend look..

The Floral bird panel can be found at craft stash...

Just click on the following link 

http://tidd.ly/4247a517

It is such a useful die.

This was our second card...

We used some of the fabulous Clarity backing papers ,

A moon mask, added some stamping..

And some colour using spectrum Noir pencils. 

This time we used white card for the die cut...

So we added some white Posca dots to balance the design . 

You know how much I love my Posca pen. 

Off now to catch up with Karl.

Enjoy your evening  all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Groovi Saturday

Good evening all, 

I really hope that your week has started well. 

Mine began at 5-30am when Karl left to travel up to 

Aberdeen for a few days . 

So I have walked the dogs, done some housework...

And then been working through my craft list..

I have a few jobs ticked off the list, 

Next lot of magazine cards made, 

Emails answered,

Two commissioned cards made, 

Next on the list 

Mother’s Day cards...

Fingers crossed , I get one made Mum..

(If not...I had better go shopping !!!! lol )

On Saturday it was our regular Groovi workshop.

Thank you ladies for braving the weather 

We used the lovely Art Deco plates 

These are such stunning plates...and lovely to just add some colour 

They are great to mix and match with other plates too..

And to use on the decorative parchment..

It was such a lovely day...and we did have a good laugh too.

I even found a new way of keeping the ladies on the naughty table quiet...lol..

Counting brads 

Thank you Jean for being such a good sport...

On Sunday a few of us went to the craft show at Leigh...

Oh it was so busy...

It was really good to see so many Crafters..

And to catch up with Martine and Susan, who were demonstrating.

It is our Hazel Grove workshop on Wednesday 

So I had better get things sorted 

Take care all,

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

ATC Time

Good afternoon everyone,,,

How are you doing ? 

I hope you are keeping safe and warm...

I can’t believe how much snow we have had and how windy it has got today..

We have a real blizzard outside at the moment. 

So I decided it was time for a catch up...

So I am sat here with a lovely cup of tea and a piece of Gluten free cake, ,

I have decided that today I definitely need cake to keep warm...

Summer is the time to diet....not winter...

It was very cold walking the dogs today , 

But yes , 

Eric went for his morning swim in the river ...

Bless him...

Look at the two of them racing across the field...

At times I can’t believe that Tess will be ten this year...

Recently I have been making a lot of ATC’s 

Remember these 

Artist Trading Cards...

They are a great way to practice new techniques,,,and just play..

There are a few things to remember 

They must be 3-5 inches by 2-5inches

They can be given away, traded but not sold. 

They must be flat enough to fit into a plastic sleeve 

And they must have the artists details on the back , 

Be signed and dated. 

This one uses the ghosting technique and a Clarity stencil 

Dies can be used too..

And small stamps are great 

They are such fun to make and swap..

Adam is on nights at the moment , I don’t think he was looking forward to 

going in tonight,,,I do hope they manage to keep the airport open .

Look Elliot wants to be his little helper..

Karl and I found this little high vis jacket and couldn’t resist buying it...

So on that note , 

A photo to make you smile. 

I am off to clean my craft space..

Wish me luck 

Take care all

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Hare today

Good evening all, 

Can’t believe how quickly today has gone,,

Wow it has been cold...and I believe it is going to get colder..

Hope you had a lovely weekend,,

We went over to The Botanist in West Bridgeford where Mikey is now 

The Manager to have a family meal and a catch up...

(A definite proud parent moment )

Today , I though I would share another tag with you..

I made this one for a tag swap 

I started with a ready made tag from my stash...

And added some Distress Oxide ink and water...

I then dried the tag before adding more ink...

And then repeating with another colour of ink. 

I stopped when I was happy with the look of the tag .

Then I added some splats of Inka gold , and dried the tag once again. 

Next I added the hare...

This is such a lovely stamp  from Lavinia Stamps. 

Now to create the background

I used a moon mask from Clarity and some Black Distress Oxide ink ,

Plus some copier paper .

I also added some black ink around the edges to frame the tag. 

Next I stamped the grasses and hanging vines ...again from Lavinia Stamps 

I stamped the Hello , this is from a floral stamp set from Apple Blossom Stamps 

Which I used a few weeks ago at a workshop...

It is such a useful little stamp..

I then added a black border and some charcoal to make it look more 3d.

All it needed to finish it off was some ribbon, bakers twine and some dots of liquid pearls..

I do love making tags...

And I am really enjoying being part of a tag swap...

Before I go....

A little photo from the weekend. 

Our little man ready for his meal out...

Take care everyone,.

Keep warm...and stay safe 

Karl is away tonight , 

So I have Tess and Eric to look after me,,,

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Favourite colours.

Good morning all and thanks for popping in. 

We have made it , 

to Friday...

Hope you have a lovely weekend planned . 

It has been another busy week ,

Busy but enjoyable,,

Wednesday was our regular workshops in Hazel Grove and it was lovely 

to have a new crafter join us...

It was good to meet you Debbie and I am glad that you enjoyed the class and 

that you would like to join us again. 

We had a play with Distress Oxide ink pads...

It was good fun. 

Now today it is a new Challenge over at the 

Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog.

Our new theme is 

Favourite Colours..

Now I know you won’t be surprised when you see what colours I have used...

No prizes for guessing..

My lovely friend Beth is hosting this challenge..

Here is what I came up with..

I just went with my instincts...

I started with a piece of stencil card, and added some yellow Distress ink...

Followed by some orange, 

Some red, an then some brown...

I also blended some colour around the edges of the card to frame it. 

Next came some water spritzing , this time I used my fan brush . (Thanks Mandy )

Love this effect when the card has been dried . 

Using Stamps from PaperArtsy

These are  JOFY set 13.

I stamped on the design using black Archival ink plus on separate stamping card. 

I did the same with the dragonfly and the flowers .

I watercoloured these in using DI and water...

Then cut them out . 

Some matting and layering , background stamping , and finally some splatting with Inka Gold ....

I used Copped...and added some water to the pot. 

I added all my  cut out parts, plus the sentiment...

And finished off with some white Posca pen ...

Here is a closer look. 

I do love these funky stamps,,.so fresh...

And they make me smile..

We all need to smile...

I hope you will pop over to the Fussy and Fancy blog 

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

To see the rest of the dt samples...

And even better I would love you to enter..

I just love visiting all you wonderful blogs and seeing your fabulous art work...

I wonder which is going to be the most popular favourite colour...

What would your be? 

Now Karen ...I can hear you shouting from Scotland...

Purple....lol....

I must dash 

Lots to do , 

Have a wonderful weekend...

Much love and hugs..

Jo. xxxx