Sweet Lilac Sunday.

Good morning do hope you are well and keeping warm and dry in this terrible weather.

Today, is the day for a new challenge over at the Sweet Lilac Challenge Blog....

And the new theme is Baby.....

I have been waiting for an opportunity to use my fantastic new Clarity Victorian Alphabet...(designed by Barbara Gray)..so here's my project ...I do hope you like it...

It's so lovely to use I can see these stamps bring featured on here so much...

To start with I put some masking tape on my card ....to give me a straight edge..

Next I stamped the letters using Gray Flannel Memento ink,

I added some colour with my Graph' It markers ...I wanted to keep it all quite pale...

Some matting and layering and some lovely lace from Sweet Lilac Flowers...(yes, they sell lace too!)

Next some little wooden embellishments...how cute are these..

Here is a close up of the letters...I hope you like them as much as I do..

And of course there has to be some amazing Sweet Lilac flowers, here is a close look at them.....

If you would like to enter the challenge or take a look at the other DT projects then just go and visit...

 http://sweetlilacflowers.blogspot.co.uk/

The winner each month receives a hamper of Sweet Lilac Flowers...

Thanks for visiting today and as always, I really appreciate you all and your comments...

Take care....Jo. X 

Happy Valentines Day.

Good evening all, I do hope that you've had a day full of love and happiness, and that you're feeling contented this  Friday evening.

Karl and I will be having a quiet meal in as I've been a little under the weather this week, but once the antibiotics kick in I will be all fine and dandy again...

It has been another busy week with three magazine commissions to get ready and then tomorrow is workshop day in St Helen's.....

Here is a sneak peek at just a couple of things that we will be making...

Using Clarity Stamps and a Marianne Die,

And Distress inks with Clarity Stamps,

Thanks for looking in today ...and have a lovely evening...

Jo. X 

Be my Valentine.....

Good morning all, and Happy Friday...

Today, is a new challenge over on the Fussy and Fancy Friday Blog Challenge..

The new theme is ....Be my Valentine....

And here is my inspiration.....I do hope you like it....I specifically wanted to use another colour scheme other than the traditional red...

I started with an MDF heart.....once again if you would like some MDF visit the MDF Man....... http://www.mdfblanks.com/

I used glue and some rather gorgeous paper from Graphic 45....from the Secret Garden Collection...

I let it dry for a few moments, then cut the heart out with a craft knife....A glass cutting mat makes this easier...

I then lightly sanded the edges with a block also from Rob...Mr MDF....

I choose some matching orange card and cut out two hearts with a Marianne Die....LR0159...I then edged the paper with Inka Gold Paint- Old Silver...

I used cut 'n' dry foam....I also used the paint on the heart dies and the matching flowers from Sweet LilacFlowers..

The sentiment is from Claritystamps and I used a Memento ink -Tangelo..

I cut some post cards out of some more Graphic 45 paper, then assembled all the ingredients...adding some metal embellishments and bakers twine...

Here are some close up photographs...

Love these roses...

And these dies..

There are three dies in the set...this is how they look when cut out...

Marianne Dies have sponsored our Challenge today ....so thank you.....

I hope you like my inspiration, the other DT members have made great projects too... I would love you to go and take a look here...

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

And even better why don't you enter the challenge.....

I would love to see your interpretation ....

And on that note I must leave you as I have lots of jobs to do today...a long list awaits me.....wish me luck....

Craft hugs....and have a good weekend....Jo. X 

What a workshop

Good evening all, I hope you've had a good day.

Mine didn't start too well but once I got to Hazel Grove and met up with the lovely ladies it was all happy thoughts....

Today, we used some Angelina Fibres and an iron.....and not a shirt in sight...

This is the first card that we made...

Using Clarity Stamps and the seaweed stencil...

We had a visitor too and he was first to use the fibres!!!!

Did you know that you can colour your fibres with Alcohol markers? Gives a great effect..

Our second card used both the sea horse stamps, the stencil and a really lovely sentiment from Clarity....

All the Clarity products can be found here....

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/

I do love this sentiment....and to be honest true friends are so special....and mine...you know who you are....xxxxx

As usual we did have a laugh....some chocolate....and it's Chrissie's Birthday tomorrow....so Happy Birthday Chrissie....lots of love from us all...xxx

Before I go ...I would just like to show you a photo of Mikey ....as some of you know he has epilepsy and has been quite unwell .....in fact, twelve months ago we were looking at permanent disability.....but with the help of Remploy ...Mikey got a place to study with The Devere Group..and then got an apprenticeship place at Gusto restaurants...he has just passed his exams and been offered a permanent job and further training....

We are so proud of you Mikey ....well done babe....xxxx

So on that note I am signing off for the night....

Catch you soon....hugs....Jo. X 

Marionette Monday

Well hello and how was your weekend? ...ours started off with the lock on our front door jamming on Friday.....it would not budge...the key wouldn't work, so all weekend we had to use the back door....and Adam finished work at 5am....!!!!!

We did manage to get a very good local locksmith to come and have a look today...and after some head shaking, some tutting and some 'well, I thought that would have worked!,' .....and many pennies later we have a new lock, new keys and more to the point a front door that I can open.....yah....

Anyway yesterday was Clarity Sunday ....did you manage to watch any of the shows? ....yes Mum ...I know you did....thanks for watching....

Oh I do love to see Nigel with Barbara ...they make a great team and Nigel was so funny. I think he is ready to move in with fellow DT member Lynne....well she does make exceedingly good cards....

It was great to see all the fabulous designs ...and if you missed them you can always find inspiration on the website.....

 http://www.claritystamp.co.uk/ 

As for me, I loved working with the Marionette stamps and stencil...

This was one of my cards, I used the stencil, sail boat blue Adirondack ink and the brilliant stencil brushes...the Marionettes were stamped in Memento ink and coloured with Graph It markers...

I stamped the hands, coloured them in and cut around the fingers....then added some small wooden sticks...

The strings were drawn free hand with a fine liner pen...it's quite spooky how real the hands look...

Right, I'm off to cook some food ....hungry boys and all that....

Thanks for taking the time to read this and leave comments...I do love to read them...and welcome to our new followers...so good to have you join us....

Call back soon...

Jo. X 

Love and Romance...

Well it's the month of all things Valentine....

Good morning...welcome to a new month and a new Challenge over at the Clarity Challenge Blog....

Well Done to last months winner...oh, we had some super entries...I do hope you get chance to pop over and have a look...really inspirational.

On to today...and our new theme is 

 Love and Romance...

Here is my take on the theme.....

I thought I would go for something different to the usual hearts....or flowers...

I started with the brilliant Letter box kit and Archival ink....I worked my spacings out on copier paper first...

Then stamped the lovely little Bunnies and used a mask for the moon with Adirondack ink, Cloudy Blue.

Some Pesto Adirondack ink to ground the bunnies...

Then some tree branches in the corner ....and two little birds...these stamps are from the remountable English Garden set...

I added some colour to the bunnies with my alcohol markers....

Then some gentle shading with a sponge under the words and I just had to use some cotton wool for their tails.....well it just had to be done!!!

Here is a close up...

I do hope that you like it and that it inspires you to join in....the other DT members have come up with some fab ideas too....have a look...and remember the winner gets a £50 Clarity gift voucher....

http://claritystampchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

Quick reminder too, that Barbara is on C&C on Sunday with the fabulous Clarity shows....9-11am and 2-3pm

Have a great weekend...

Crafty hugs....

Jo. xxx

Love in a box....

Morning all....how is your week going?

I finally finished my next lot of Clarity samples yesterday and got them in the post....oh some great new stencils and stamps.......in fact they will 'tug at your strings!!!!!'

You will see on Sunday......remember to watch.....

I'm just about to walk Tess and then take Karl off to the station as he is off to London....

So what did you come here for today....oh yes....something to look at....

So here is a little Love box that I made with the Stamps from last months TV shows....

The two sea horses had to be involved....oh heads up ladies ....we are using them next Wednesday.....yah....

The inside of the box was also decorated and the tissue....well we so need attention to detail....

Then inside I had made some love cards......oh....

And all together we have Love on a box.....

Thanks for looking in and have a go day.....need to dash.....

Bye....stay warm it is going to get cold....

Hugs......Jo. X