Getting ready for Christmas...

That's what we did today at the workshops ....we made lots of toppers ready to make a good start on Christmas cards...

I'm determined not to be on the last minute this year....just remind me of that in December!!!!

Here are a few of the ones I made...

Eileen brought us some lovely chocolates...wheat free so I had a few....

Talking of Christmas the lovely Jenny from Hobby Art will be on Create and Craft TV tomorrow at 2pm and 7pm.....

 Sky 671

 Free view 36

 FreeSat 813

And Virgin 748 

She will be showing some fabulous new Christmas stamps ...here is a little sneak peak of some samples using them.

And,

And,

This set are so versatile....I love them...

Well enough from me....see you soon. Jo. X 

Global Warming......

That was what came to my mind when the new Clarity Stamps arrived at my craft table....I do worry sometimes as to how my mind works......

The stamp set is called We Three Kings....and includes a star and music score....but all I could see was the camels walking across the dessert....and I thought poor Barbara if all the sample cards end up the same.....so what would be different......and it came into my head ...snow not sand!!!!

I used Cloudy Blue Adirondack ink, the cloud mask, some torn paper and a sponge....to create the background. The three kings were stamped in Cobalt Blue Archival ink and the letters were made using the Letterbox kit, the design was completed by using Stickles glitter glue...

I do hope you like it? It certainly got a reaction from Martyn.....

The next couple of cards are using the stamps from O Little Town of Bethlehem...

This one uses the Spellbinder Heirloom Ornament 2010 set to make the masks...the figures were stamped on Sepia, Archival Ink.....the background was created by using the Treescape stencil and Spun Sugar Distress Ink...then the music score was added using the Spun Sugar....

Shade was created by sponging using Latte Adirondack ink...some scribble with a Distress Marker, some ribbon and job done...

The last card was my attempt at recreating the nativity table that was always in the porch of our local church.

The brick wall stencil with Latte and Espresso Adirondack ink were used to make the background....more sponging and torn paper were used to create the table.....detail was added with a Distress Marker.....

I stamped the nativity using Black Archival Ink and added a little straw....

I do find it fascinating to see how we all create such different pieces of work from the same set of stamps....

Thanks for looking in today,....and for taking the time to read and comment....I do love to read them all......and so does my Mum....

Hi Mum.....(this blog is like my diary and she reads every post...I it's great way to keep in touch....Thanks...) 

See you soon, 

Jo. X 

Where did the week go?

My goodness, I have suffered this week for my weekend away...time has flown...

It started with me putting the finishing touches to samples for the Clarity shows this weekend...(Saturday...Barbara will be in the classroom at 11am and then Sunday she will have shows at 9am and 2pm...) 

Once they were in the post, I  went to see Glynis at CJ CardCraft in Edgeley...had a catch up and bought some goodies...

Then on to samples for Jenny at Hobby Art...oh, she has some lovely new stamps out...wait until you see them...

Jenny was a very lucky lady on Wednesday and went to a workshop with the legend that is Sir Tim of Holts . Not that I am jealous!!!!!!

More about Jenny on TV next week, for now I have two samples from the Clarity Take 2 show to share with you..

This first one uses the Gelli plate and Dove stencil...

The Joy to the world stamp is from Clarity and was stamped using Cranberry Adirondack ink..

A little scribble with Distress marker and job done.

For this second card I used Distress Inks to create a background...and then spritzed water through the cloud stencil....oh this gives a fab effect...

The dove is a Clarity stamp and was stamped twice using StazOn on to vellum...(one turned around..) colour was added with a white gel pen..

The Mistletoe was stamped using Bottle Adirondack ink ...cut out...Bakers twine added and positioned in the middle of the doves..

The brilliant cloud stencil has little holes in it and I drew around these and added white Acrylic paint...oh I do love playing with Stencils.....

I think they are going to be a new obsession!!!!!

Better go now...got another busy weekend....Adam our eldest son is home after his holiday in France...I have just finished Spring cleaning his bedroom...it was a dangerous job....well, he is 24 and I did clean under his bed!!!!! Never again!!! 

Enjoy your weekend....hugs....Jo. X 

P.S. thanks for the lovely afternoon tea today Bethan...it was great to catch up....x 

It's a quick 'Hello'......

From me today as, Karl, Tess and me have just got home after spending a couple of days in Aberdaron. We stayed at a lovely camp site, high on the cliff top and this was the view that we woke up too.

We went on lovely walks,

And Tess played on the beach....but anyone who knows her knows that she doesn't like water (not normal for Labradors!!!) ....so she didn't venture into the sea.

I hope you have had a good weekend too, I'm now off to put the washer on...

See you soon. 

Jo. X 

Bank Holiday weekend....

Here it is the last bank holiday before Christmas....

So time to relax, spend time with friends and family, and recharge our batteries before winter....

Today, I am going to share some of my Clarity DT work with you....oh, how cool does that sound!!!!!

Did you get chance to watch the show on Wednesday? I recorded it and watched it in the evening....oh Maria was fab and her demonstrations were brilliant....I was so proud when she introduced me....

This first card is made with the gorgeous snowman stamp, some Distress inks, masking, spritzing and a little colouring with watercolour pencils....

It is all one layer....

To achieve this design I inked through the Clarity stencil with Distress ink and then spritzed with water before removing the mask and patting dry....this really gives a great effect...I stamped the tree stamps in Black Archival ink, a few finishing details and job done...

This lovely Christmas tree stamp is so versatile and just shouted out Zentangle to me....so I stamped using Black Versafine ink and began to doodle.....oh how relaxing.....

I used distress ink and water to add a little bit of shade at the bottom of the design.

I do hope you like these.....

Have a great weekend and thank you all for looking in....

Hugs. Jo. X 

Wow what a day.....

Well today, was the day that the lovely Maria Simms let the cat out of the bag (or bunny as in Maria's case) and told the C&C viewers that I had joined the Design Team at Clarity Stamps....

After having a quiet summer Barbara Gray contacted me and asked if I would like to join her happy little band...well ....how could a girl refuse....

So I obviously said......Yes!

All this was happening whilst I was at my workshops in Hazel Grove....the poor ladies today....I did babble ....a bit....

This is the first card that we made ....

We used PanPastels, Versafine ink and stamps from IndigoBlu.....

This is the second card that we made.....

Today, was also Denise's Birthday .....so we had cake....yum...yum...

I'm now off to watch the Clarity take 2 show with a bottle of Champagne, Karl and Tess......

Cheers,....Jo. X 

Well Dressing...

Good evening all, what a fantastic day I have had...

I've  been in Taddington, Derbyshire demonstrating card making...

Thanks to Christine for looking after me and making me lots of cups of tea...and it was good to see you Chrissie, Margaret and Heather.

This is a photo of the Well Dressing, it is made totally from natural materials, such as, flower petals, berries and moss. They are all embedded into clay base which is wet and helps to keep the materials fresh.

What is Well Dressing?

The supply of water was very important in the high limestone area of the Peak District where water would normally seep away through fissures in the underlying rock and there are few streams. Villages grew up around wells that formed from springs.

Adorning the wells with flowers appears to have evolved as a way of giving thanks, hence Well Dressing. This tradition which was peculiar to the limestone area is known to be at least 300 years old, but may go back to pagon times. 

The inside of the church was also decorated..

There was music from the Hathersage Band, Classic Cars and Steam Engines, a BBQ and a variety of stalls .

I had a fantastic day and it was lovely to be part of a community that really do care and all look out for each other. 

Whilst I remember .....The very talented and lovely Maria Simms is on C &C on Wednesday 11:00. As it is workshop day, I will have to record the show....but it is going to be a must see......(all will become apparent........) 

Thanks for stopping bye today and have a good week all,

Love and hugs, Jo.