Clarity time in Cumbria.

Good afternoon and thanks for dropping in on a Sunday. I do hope that your day is going well.

Our Sunday dinner is cooking quite nicely in the oven and Tess and Eric are both asleep after a long walk this afternoon.

Yesterday it was Clarity Cumbria and as always it was great to see everyone.

We started with a warm up card using Clarity stamps and the new background stencils.

They really are so versatile

Look at these wonderful cards

After coffee it was out with our Distress inks

( I love this wilted violet colour...)

Such wonderful colours.

Then after lunch we had a bit of a jigsaw time...and I do believe that they all arrived home safely...no bits missing....

A bit of reflecting after tea and cake...( thanks Sheila)

There is some great inspiration here.

And the weather was great too....I had a lovely drive home...

I am so lucky to spend so much time with lovely , crafters....and I can't believe that we are booking venues for next year already...

I had better get on....next week is another busy week with workshops in Hazel Grove and Edgeley, Cheshire...mmmm....what have I got planned for the crafters....pop back and see.

Take care....

Much love and hugs....

Jo. xxx

 

Best Wishes....

Good evening and thanks for sharing a few moments with me...how is your week going? I really can't believe that it is Thursday already,...

I do love this lovely weather, although a little colder it is nice and dry ...great for walking the dogs...today we had three walks,,..Tess and Eric are now fast asleep....

I also seem to be washing for England....!!!! Great to get it all dry....

It has been another busy week on the crafty front...lots ticked off the list and lots of preparation done,..

It is Clarity Cumbria on Saturday and I am all packed up and sorted....

Today I thought I would share a Best Wishes card with you.....

The background is the wonderful Ken Oliver Color Burst powders...now , you know how much I love these...

They are fab, and so easy to use....and very importantly the backgrounds are great for those last minute, emergency cards....( hey Mikey!!!! The ones that you need to be made....yesterday!!!!)

These backgrounds are also useful if you don't know what type of art work the recipient likes...a win, win, in my book...

Some stamping , some colour added....and a border....that's it.....

Works well as a Thank you card too...

Must go and do some ironing...

Take care.....

Pop back soon

Hugs.

Jo. Xxx

 

Groovi weekend in Glasgow...

Good afternoon and thanks for joining me for a few moments...I hope you had a lovely weekend...I must admit that I certainly did...

It was Our Clarity workshop in Glasgow...such a great bunch of crafters...( lovely Emma ...we did miss you though xxxx)

We had a couple of new crafters who joined us and two special friends flew in from Northern Ireland...

Eileen was in charge of the kitchen and my beloved Karl was turning his hand to whatever was needed.

We had a playtime with a couple of the new Clarity Background stencils...

Some Clarity stamps and some Distress inks...

Look at some of the beautiful work...

Another fab stencil

And more fabulous cards.

After lunch we had a most enjoyable and relaxing Groovi session....

It really did go so quiet.....

In fact Karl said he is going to recommend it to all his friends as a way of having a quiet life and happy wife!!,,

Some more samples

And a close up

We had some dare I say. 'Groovi virgins.'..and just look at the amazing results that they got..

Great job Heather and Denise...

Thanks ladies, and yes we did have chocolate and Cake too...

The time just flew , well it does when you are having fun...

The weather was kind to us and the drive home was wonderful with the most amazing scenery and colours of the trees.

I fear it may get a little colder from now on...

Have a lovely evening...

Time for a lovely cup of tea, before walking Tess and Eric...

Then a evening with my pyrography machine...

Much love

Jo. xxxx

 

Midweek and it is workshops in Stockport, Cheshire..

Good morning all, do hope your week is going well....it is a manic but very enjoyable one for me with workshops in three parts of the U.K.....Wales last Saturday, England yesterday and Scotland this Saturday...

As I say busy but so enjoyable...I really wouldn't change it for the world....I feel really blessed that I am able to meet so many wonderful people...

Back to yesterday...and we had a very seasonal class and focused on Autumn....

Have you any of the leafy stencils from Clarity? Well there are quite a few and they are just perfect for backgrounds and quick cards....

This was made using distress inks and the mini blending tool....

The Wee Folk stamps are great for this type of design ....

Just look what the ladies made.....

Such fabulous designs....and all different....I just love them all...

Next we brought into play this wonderful little Maple Leaf set of stamps...

It is great with Distress ink blending...

But looks equally as good when randomly stamped with Adirondack inks..

I love the sentiment that comes in the set too....

Ladies your work is fab...

And everyone finished every card....yah....( mentioning no names...whoops sorry Chrissie....xx)

Now because we have been crafting together for oh my....over three years now , we have quite a few....well let's call them in house jokes...

One of our ladies........has a thing about a certain Christmas design with camels on it....honestly you had to be there....it is always coming up in conversation....she even made me a special camel card last year....

Well look what she brought me yesterday...

A present from her holidays...

Thank you Eileen....I love him.....

It was another day full of crafting, good friends and lots of laughter....

Thanks for everything ladies....

Must get on now....so much to do...I need to have everything ready to hit the road tomorrow morning....

Glasgow get ready...

Have a great weekend all...and I will see you soon...

Love and hugs...

Jo. xxx

 

Christmas in Anglesey

Good evening, sorry for not chatting for a few days but it has been a busy weekend with Clarity Anglesey...

Karl, me, Tess and Eric set off on Friday and came home yesterday....our little van was our home for a few days...

It was great to be back in Anglesey , meet up with the lovely ladies and meet some new crafters...it is so rewarding to see our group grow, friendships form and people having a good time..

Oh and yes ....more yummy cake...thanks Julie...X

Do you know two of the ladies have lived in the same village for the past few years and never met....

That's what I love...crafting ....bringing people together...

We had an early Christmas....( it gave me chance to make some more cards...that's six now....yah...)

And

Plus,

Also....

 

Just to be different....we decorated little wooden plaques ....regular readers will know that I am really into gifts alongside cards...

I fear that I have started a trend....

Here are some photos to show you what I did...

Add some ink...

And some stamps.

Charcoal for shading

White gel pen

Some Stickles.

And gilding wax..

And the beauty of this is that with the wonderful Wee Folk you can create so many different designs.....and with the alphabet....oh....personalised door plaques....

The weather was beautiful and Sunday we even needed sun cream....

The views from the campsite are just breathtaking...

I must get on....it is workshops in Hazel Grove tomorrow...

More lovely ladies....oh and maybe more cake!!!!

Enjoy your evening...although we have rain now...

Love and hugs,

Jo. xxx

 

Autumn Colours.

Good morning all, hope you have a lovely Friday planned.... Karl and me will be packing the little van, and along with the dogs we will be heading off to Anglesey ready for Clarity Anglesey tomorrow....yah...

Back to today and it is a new Challenge over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge Blog..

The new theme is .......Autumn Colours

And is hosted by the lovely Eileen

And sponsored by Aurora Wings...

Here is my inspiration for the Challenge.

I do love these colours.....

I started with a certain Jo's Bubbles stencil ...well it would be rude not too!!!!!

And a piece of Stencil card.

Next some blending with Distress Inks...Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral and Barn Door.

Some spritzing with some water...and then I added some colour around the edge and stamped using the Crackle stamp...

 

These lovely leaves were stamped using Archival ink.....mmmmm perfect card for a male....

Next some matting and layering and then the sentiment....

The finishing touches of these wonderful matching leaves are from Sweet Lilac Flowers..

I do hope that you like my design , also I would love it if you would enter the challenge.

http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk

All the stamps, and the stencil are from Clarity and available on the website....

http://www.claritystamp.co.uk

If you get chance pop over and see the inspiration from my fellow DT members....they are fabulous....

Must get on....lots to do....

Enjoy your Friday and have a lovely weekend...

Take care and see you soon...

Love and hugs,

Jo. xxxx