Lavinia Inspiration.

Good afternoon all, 

Thanks for joining me on this grey , miserable Friday. 

I do hope you have some spring weather wherever you are..

My frogs are back in my pond and they are getting very friendly with each other,,,!!!!!!

So I am hopeful that this is a sign  that Spring is on its way. 

Although we seem to have some cold weather , even snow,  on the cards for this weekend. 

I hope not as it is our Cumbria workshop tomorrow..

Fingers crossed ladies and gentleman..

Today , I am sharing some Lavinia inspiration with you..

I do hope you like it...

And here is how I created it...

I started with stencil card and distress Oxide ink pads...

And oh yes....my Billy Brayer....

He has definitely come out of his box now...

As we are only making a background, it really doesn’t have to be perfect...(good job really )

Next some water splatters...

Oh yes..,I love that...

Next I stamped the hare,.,

Added the moon mask and some shading 

You can see how it is starting to build up 

I added some foliage ...

Some hills. 

And some colour...

I do love to add detail, and this fabulous Dandelion stamp is great for that 

I really wanted to frame the design, 

So first I edged the card with purple ink 

Followed by Black ink. 

See how that really makes a big difference 

And then the picture frame,,,

I stamped a Lavinia sentiment , and just cut out the word Wish....

I do love to do this...

You don’t have to use the whole sentiment,,,

Some white Posca dots...

And some glitter , 

And there we have it...

The frame is from Ikea...

And I think this will look lovely in my guest bedroom...

I really enjoyed making this, the 

Distress oxides are fabulous to use...

I do hope you enjoy using them too..

Right, better get on with sorting out my bags for tomorrow...oh and get some petrol...

Have a lovely weekend all...

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

A tag for March .

Good morning all and thanks for popping in. 

Today I am going to share a tag with you...

I made this for the tag swap that I am in, and I 

have  to say I love joining in , and it is so exciting when each  tag arrives in the post. 

My colour choice is not my usual...

And it is a result of my lovely friend Dee Paramour who challenged me to use 

Colours that I don’t normally use..

I started with an A4 piece of Kraft card and using my Billy Brayer 

I added some white gesso.

Next I used my sizzix tag die...

I added some blue oxide ink , using my moon mask to give extra detail. 

Then I added some flicks of purple Inca gold...

Next I added some stamping , using this  Jamie’s Wildglowers  stamp set from Hobby Art 

I added some black oxide ink to frame the design . 

And then some added colour using my spectrum Noir pencils. 

On the Kraft card I stamped some butterflies in black Archival ink and then 

Watercoloured then with oxide ink and water. 

These are from the Jamie’s Collection butterflies set from Hobby Art. 

I Fussy cut these out and added them to the tag 

Under the butterflies I added some black thread...

I have been doing this a lot recently and I blame Tracy Evans 

I take my inspiration from her fabulous work .

To finish off the design , I added a few drops of glossy Accents , 

I do love the way that they dry. 

I must admit , I love the way that the colours are so chalky ...and the way they look on the Kraft card...

I will certainly be doing this again..

I hope you like it too...

I am off now workshop prep this morning 

and decorating this afternoon...

Have a great day all

Take care everyone

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx 

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