A five minute make for today

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope you are keeping well. 

All good here thanks. 

Eric should have been at physio today, but obviously it has all been cancelled.

So extra massage and hot water bottle from me it is. 

I have just had a five minute play in my craft room. 

Using things that were on my desk. 

One stencil, and one stamp set..

I am in a pastel mode today..

I started by inking my stencil, spritzing it and using it as a stamp, 

Then I added some clear embossing powder, I am so chuffed , the idea just popped into my head and I love the effect. 

When dry it really gives extra dimension. 

I stamped the butterflies and hearts on some inky scrap card. 

I am trying to use up some of my stash. 

Some scribbles with a fine liner pen, just to add more detail. 

A sentiment. 

I knotted some black chord to add to the butterfly. 

And put it all together. 

Just a nice , simple, but effective design . 

Reminds me of raspberry ripple ice cream...don’t know why...!!!!

Look at the detail. 

Have fun, 

I’m off for another brew in the garden. 

I love this weather. 

Take care all.

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Monday means Lavinia Homework

Good morning all, 

I do hope you are keeping well. 

A very good friend of mine has had a really rough time, 

As her husband is in hospital. 

It is so sad as all I can do is message her and support her. 

So I really do want to have a group hug. 

From the bottom of my heart , 

Honestly we need to help and support each other. 

So today I have some Lavinia homework for you. 

As you know I post this every Monday on our 

Lavinia For You Facebook page. 

This week, 

We are going to give our piece a title (just for fun ) 

Mine is 

Hide and Seek 

I thought we could just make an inky background

Great way to practice your blending 

Just choose 3 colours, 

And have an inky ‘ work out ‘

Add some water splats. 

And then some stamping, 

I used a coloured VersaFine ink pad alongside the black one. 

This helps to build up depth. 

Next some spotlighting using an acetate moon mask , plus I blended some brown ink around the edges. 

I added some colour with pencils. 

Some script stamping 

To add extra dimension I used a VersaFine pen and a clear embossing powder. 

Now you know how I love my Posca pens. 

They just add the finishing touches. 

Hopefully you can see the sheen on the flower..

This piece really made me smile, 

I know I am silly, 

But in my head , 

Floppy and Mopsy are looking for Cottontail. 

He is hiding , 

But he thinks he might be in trouble, hence his ears are down. 

I wonder what he did, ? 

That part of the story I will leave up to you .

Have a lovely Bank Holiday Monday 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Happy Easter

Good afternoon all, 

I hope you are having a lovely day .

Happy and Healthy Easter to each and every one. 

These are some Easter chicks that have just hatched out in a box on 

my Mum and Dads radiator.

You see the Mum abandoned the nest , so my Mum had to take over...

And no, she didn’t sit on them !!!!

They have 3 healthy little chicks under an infra red lamp...

How cute. 

Today I am going to share some homework with you. 

Next weekend it would have been our Cumbria Spring retreat.

Obviously this has been cancelled , so I am giving the Crafters some homework. 

One of the stamps that we were going to use is the Passion flower stamp from Aall and Create. 

I am so lucky that my lovely friend Tracy drew this for me,, thanks so much Tracy.

It has a special significance, look. 

Passion flower Passiflora – History

Flos passionis

The history of Passiflora or ‘Passion flower’ (Flos passionis) is fascinating and unique. It acquired its name from descriptions of its flower parts supplied in the Seventeenth Century by Spanish priests in South America, known at that time as the ‘New Spain’. It was known by the Spanish as “La Flor de las cinco Llagas” or the ‘The Flower With The Five Wounds.’ ‘Passionis’ refers to (Christ’s) suffering. The parts were interpreted from drawings and dried plants by Giacomo Bosio, a churchman and historian, in Rome (1609), as representing various elements of the Crucifixion.

Symbolism

The five petals and five sepals are the ten disciples less Judas & Peter. The corona filaments are the crown of thorns. The five stamen with anthers match the five sacred wounds & the three stigma the nails. This symbolism is not universal however, in Japan it is sometimes known as ‘The Clock-faced Plant’. 

I started by stamping on card using a black VersaFine ink pad 

Next I added the sentiment, I gently shaped the stamp, remember you can easily do this . 

Next , I added some background colour, using distress oxide ink and water onto my mat. 

I then used a piece of acetate to smoosh it onto my card. 

This way , I could see exactly where I needed to add the colour. 

I used two colours, and then added extra colour to the flowers. 

I used Inktense pencils 

Next I added some texture, using Flower Pollen. 

This is a lovely product from Britannia Dies, it is like a fine powder, comes in a variety of colours  and I used glossy accents to attach it. 

When dry it really gives lovely texture to a project. 

(Cumbria ladies, you had a pot in your goody bag  ) 

I love finding new products to play with. 

So I will love you and leave you for today. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Take care , stay safe, and keep in touch. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Thursday floral

Good morning everyone, 

How are things today ? 

I know that a few of you are struggling, and life is just so hard at the moment. 

We haven’t ever experienced anything like this before, and it seems to 

be getting harder. 

Please be kind to yourself and to others. 

If you can , take your morning coffee into the garden and just look around, relax and be calm. 

If you need to chat with friends and you are on Fb , 

remember that I have my Jo’s workshop group, 

You are always welcome to come and join in. 

Especially  if you bring cake ...🍰

Today I am going to share one of my Aall and Craete samples with you. 

As you know , I love using stencils. 

I began by adding the ink to the back of the stencil, 

Spritzed it with water , and made a print on my card. 

This is such a fun technique. 

Next I added some extra stamping using one of the new fabulous little A6 stamps. 

Mini Tribal.

Now you know me, and ink plats. So I added some blue ink splats to my design. 

On separate card I stamped the flower, added some colour (ink and water ) and then fussy cut it out. 

I blended some black soot ink around the edges, plus added some to a circle of MDF.

Once the sentiment and flower had been addd , all I needed was some Bakers twine and some 

white Posca pen 

I love those words 

Don’t miss the Magic.

I think they are perfect for the way the world is at the minute. 

Let’s not get too bogged down with it all. 

Let’s all see if we can see a little bit of magic 

I had some artwork posted through my letterbox today 

Elliot had painted it for us. 

That is my piece of magic 

What is yours ? 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Lockdown Lavinia Homework

Good afternoon everyone

I do hope you are keeping safe and well. 

As time moves on we are all now realising that someone 

we know has got or has had this horrible virus. 

My niece is unwell at the moment and has tested positive, 

So Rachel, I hope you feel better soon. 

Today I have made a You tube video 

Showing you how to create this little piece of homework . 

And this is what a created from my baby Billy background 

You can find the full video here 

This one is for you Susan 

https://youtu.be/wBn0U_6Z4KQ

I hope you have fun with your gel press and stamps today 

Take care everyone 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Vellum wrap card design

Good morning all, 

How are things going today ? 

It is another sunny day here in Cheshire, and we have had another lovely walk with Eric. 

I do hope the sun is shinning for you. 

It always makes everything  seem so much better.

Today I am sharing a vellum wrap card design with you. 

I had so much fun creating this. 

It is just like creating 2 cards designs in one really. 

I started off by stamping the floral design onto card using black ink and adding clear embossing powder. 

( Hopefully you got to see the YouTube that I did last week on embossing )

I then used this as a template and placed my parchment over the top so that I could see exactly where to stamp. 

This time I used a VersaMark ink pad and white embossing powder. 

The parchment is a lovely light blue although it looks clear on the photos. 

I would recommend an antistatic bag with the parchment, and just be mindful that it doesn’t really like too much heat. 

I added colour with oxide ink and water, plus a few of my trade mark splats,

and some doodles. 

I assembled the card, and then added the wrap.

I find the best way to adhere it is to use red liner tape down the back of the spine of the card. 

This is the point where you see, if it really does line up...

Deep breath time,,,

I must admit I can see me making more of these. 

I think it has such a hint of elegance about it. 

For those of you who do groovi, remember you could gently add some white embossing from behind. 

 

Nearly coffee time here, 

Hopefully we can sit in the garden today

We have a family Skype session later., 

I am so excited about seeing everyone,,.especially the little ones. 

Take care everyone 

Stay safe 

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

 

A special Easter Card

Good morning everyone, 

Here we are another Monday in lock down, 

How are you feeling today ? 

I really hope that you are keeping well and that the sun is shinning for you.

Karl had to leave early to go to Port Sunlight, bless him, 

No rest for him. 

So Eric and me have had a lovely walk, and it really is a beautiful morning. 

We only saw one other lady, a cock pheasant and a family of bunnies.

Today I want to share a photo tutorial with you. 

This is a special card as it is the Easter card that I have made for my parents. 

You see my Mum loves dog tooth violets, in fact I bought her a white one for Mothering Sunday. 

This lovely stamp from Lavinia reminds me of a dog tooth violet. 

I used my 4inch round gel press and a couple of ColorBox ink pads. Plus my new baby Brayer...son of Billy. 

He is so cool. 

I added some Brusho and water mix. 

I also created a spare piece using my clean up.

This I will stamp up later. 

As you know I like to take my gel press to the card and press. 

I just love to watch this. 

To clean the pate I press it onto copier paper, this I will also use later to create my mask. 

This dries very quickly, so I began to add some stamping. 

I used my paper mask , to add more stamping. 

To add more depth I added some stamping using a green ink. 

I wanted to add some depth to my design so I began by blending some green ink around the edges. 

Remember to leave that white halo. 

More depth is created by blending some blue ink and then adding some script stamping. 

I drew the grass detail in and added some more Posca detail. 

Finishing details are really important to me, so I flicked a little water over the design and then added some cotton wool .

Remember the envelope too, 

Especially at the minute, 

I just want to make everyone smile. 

I need to make another couple of cards today and get them in the post. 

I think now more than ever it is important to send someone a smile and a hug in a card. 

Don’t you. 

Oh and Mum, your card will be in th post later today...

I hope you have a lovely day 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx