Wee Village and animals.

Good afternoon all , hope your day has gone well. I have been making samples ready for our Paul who is on our screens again on Sunday...I need to get them in the post tomorrow, nearly there, but it has been another long day...mind you I do love the way that it is staying lighter for longer each evening...

And my favourite flower is looking lovely in my garden

I just love these little snakes head fritillaries

And we have even had some sun on them,,,,,just perfect.

The weather was not quite as nice on Saturday, but as I was inside crafting it really didn't matter...It was Clarity Cumbria...and it was our 2nd Birthday.....sorry that Peter and Angie were unwell and not able to join us, and Rachel, Freda and Babs too, we missed you , but don't worry we did eat extra cake...

Thanks Sheila for the cake....( and Lisa for my special cake )

We started the day with a typical Clarity warm up card,

And then had a play with some stampbord

Here is a closer look...

A lovely lunch with time for lots of chatting and catching up

Then out with Some Distress inks.

And finally some Clarity Stencils, ( thanks Lynne Hammond for some inspiration with this one )

It was another fab day, thanks ladies and great to meet Elaine and Maggie...

Better go, Tess and Eric are looking with those big sad eyes, it must be walk time again...

Enjoy your evening , and thanks for coming to visit...

Take care

Jo. xxx

 

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Stampboard.

Good afternoon everyone, have you got that Friday feeling yet? It is all go here , getting ready for tomorrow's class in Cumbria...it is our 2nd Birthday ...I really can't believe that we have been meeting every month now for two years.......oh where has the time gone,,?

Seriously though I have made some wonderful friends, such lovely ladies and gent ( I better not forget Peter) and boy oh boy have we had some laughs....

We have two new ladies joining us tomorrow, so I must try and be on my best behaviour.....( well for the first five minutes!!!)

We are going to have a play with some fabulous new Wee stamps from Clarity also we will be using stampboard....

Now although this product has been around for many years , it is new to me,,.and oh it is so addictive...

And so versatile, you can use so many different mediums on it, from dye based inks, shaving foam, alcohol inks, PanPastels, Grunge Paste, oh the list goes on....

A brilliant way of using all those wonderful products that we have in our stash...

So this afternoon , I thought I would have a little play...well it would have been rude not too...and this is what I came up with.

I must say that it is my lovely friend Yvonne that inspired me to use stampboard...so thanks Mrs......you are a gem...xxxx

I started by choosing a stamp, and then making a base of stampboards that would be just the right size...

I do love this Topiary Tree Clarity stamp....and olden but a golden one,,,,

I used a piece of double sided adhesive sheet on the back , to stick all the boards together.

Next I put a base coat of Distress ink down, I used Spiced Marmalade...( don't worry about the blending, at this stage you really just need a base coat )

Next I used the Trellis Stencil and some more Distress inks, followed by some water spritzing .

To pull it all together I added some brown DI around the edges. Then I gave it a quick blast with my heat tool.

I stamped the image using black Archival ink.

And then put with a scraper tool to add the white highlights. Now is it just me or does this remind you of when we were younger and made those scraper foil pictures?

As I wanted to create a tile effect I sprayed it with Crafters companion Spray and Shine,,,,you can use clear embossing powder or UTEE but as it is such a large area I went for the spray....

Here is a closer look

I really enjoyed making this, hope you like it too.

I have so many ideas buzzing around , I just need more time to play....but I had better get on packing my car...

And then cooking some food,

I hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever you have planned...

Take care all, much love and hugs

Jo. xxxx

 

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Sunshine.

Good afternoon all , thanks for popping in for a few minutes. I would love you to join me in welcoming another new follower, I still get so excited when I see that we have another member to our happy little crafting group...I do hope you will be happy here and please feel free to leave a comment....

How has your week gone? Mine has been a bit like treading through treacle....I just don't seem to have my usual energy levels...but coffee with a special friend this morning gave me the boost that I needed.

Today I thought I would share another sample from Barbara's latest tv show,..

Now I really was against the clock with these samples so I reached for my pile of backgrounds....

This background was created using stencil card and distress inks. They were randomly blended onto the card and then the Sunshine stencil was added and it was spritzed with water.

The stencil removed and the card blotted with kitchen paper. The pattern gradually is revealed, it really is a lovely way to make backgrounds. ( do remember to use a card with no or low chalk in it )

I just cut the card into four

Stamped the words and the Country animals using Black Archival ink

 

Then some charcoal.....To ground the animals.

Some matting and layering and the design is complete

Just the job when time is against us, and let's face it , it does happen...

Speaking of which I had better get Adams birthday card made as it is his Birthday on Saturday, and as I have Clarity Cumbria I need to give it to him tomorrow...

Can't believe he will be 27......( where has the time gone?????)

Better get on,

Have a lovely evening,

Much love

Jo. xxx

 

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A fishy tale.

Good afternoon lovely friends and followers, how are you doing today?

I am frantically ticking jobs off my to do list......!!!! The trouble is more seem to being added to it at the moment!!!

So I thought I would make a nice cup of tea and come and have a chat...

I thought I would share some Groovi work with you today...now you know I am quite new to this , but I am so pleased with the way the whole system works...here is one of my cards that I sent to Barbara using the wonderful Carp and netting plates...( they can be found on the Clarity website )

I have just caught up on the show from Ally Pally on Saturday...another great show ...

I started by using the nesting circle plate...now you know I have a think about bubbles...

You see that is one thing that I love about this system,,,that you can stamp your own mark on it....it is definitely not a one trick pony....

Next came the carp

And some more bubbles, then the netting

Followed by a little white work....( I am still practicing Emma)

Next some colour using Spectrum Noir pencils.

Some more colour, a wondeful corner punch..and hey hoo...

Here is a closer look.

I really enjoyed making this and was so pleased with the way it turned out...

That's better I feel calmer already and full of energy to tackle more jobs on that list...

Before I go.

Here is a little teaser of something that just may be coming to our screens tomorrow....

Have a lovely evening...and pop back soon

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Lovely ladies in Anglesey...

 

Good afternoon all and thanks for popping in this Sunday , we have just got home after a lovely weekend in Anglesey....both dogs are fast asleep....it must be all those long walks and the fresh air...

The sun was shining this morning but it was quite windy and rather nippy.., but at least it was dry...

So good to be outside, and walking off all those calories from the extra Cake that I had on Saturday...( thanks Julie it was really yummy )

We had our first Anglesey workshop of the year, and it was so good to sees many friends come back and to meet some new ladies. I am so chuffed that so many crafters come back time after time to join in the classes , some even travel and join in a few in different area....

Our main focus on Saturday was to learn all about blending and ladies you nailed it,...

Starting with a card,

And then moving onto a jigsaw,

Which we mounted and turned it into a lovely piece of art,

Wow, look at these, I am so proud of you all...absolutely stunning....

After lunch we focuses on stamping and masking,

And then some good old Smooshing after tea and cake...

All the stamps can be found on the Clarity website....along with many other must have items...

We have chicken in the oven ready for our Sunday dinner, then it will be another busy week, well, the whole month is busy...but then busy is good.....and it will soon be my first trip over the waters to Ireland....oh I am so excited,,,.

Enjoy your evening all,

Much love and hugs,

Jo. xxx

 

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Green and Pink

Good morning all, we made it through to Friday....

Today it is a new challenge over at the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge blog....and our themes this time is......

Green and Pink....

Our host is a very special and talented friend, Beth.....

We are sponsored by Magnolia-licious...

So do pop over and see what our amazing Beth and the rest of the DT have come up with....

http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.co.uk

Here is my offering....

I started by stamping this beautiful lady from Clarity

And then I added some colour with Spectrum Noir pencils

( as always remember to leave some white areas )

Next , I grounded her with some charcoal pencil work and added just the right amount of glitter with a Clear Wink of Stella brush pen

Then I added some green ink , just a little dusting with my stencil brush and an oval stencil ( the inner part )

I also added a few star stamps these are from the Wee fairy set...

Next , I created a background....well us stamoers do like to just make as much as possible don't we....

I used some Raspberry Adirondack ink and a very lovely stamp,,,,the Floral Swirl

I had an idea in mind , so I looked in my box of embellishments, found this yummy wooden umbrella and added some colour....can you tell how much I love my Wink of Stella pens....

So now my favourite part....putting it all together....black matts and layers really do work well to make the art work pop.

Time , to play with some flowers , ribbon , the umbrella and do some arranging...

Here is a closer look....

I mainly kept to the green theme for the floral accessories...oh and a few gems too.....

I have to confess that this card then had a Birthday greeting added to it and a matching insert, because it was for a really good friend of mine. She loves to dance and I have been lucky enough to see her perform on stage....

I must get on now....off to Anglesey ready for our workshop tomorrow....see you soon ladies...

Have a lovely weekend all....

Do enter the Challenge if you can....

Enjoy.....and see you next week

Big Friday Hugs...

Jo. xxxx

 

 

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