Happy Birthday Little Bro

Good morning all, 

Thanks for joining me on this Thursday morning. 

Well, I am so chuffed that the new bird feeder is being used...

We have had the usual Robin, bluetit, coaltits And hedge sparrows. 

Then we had a nuthatch who came for some breakfast, honestly I was so delighted to see him..

Love the way he feeds upside down. 

Yesterday a pair of blackbirds arrived and today a Jay, 

I really feel at home now,,.

Although I must get on and stop watching them, 

It is our Autumn retreat in Cumbria this weekend,,,

We have 30 ladies booked in...

Wow, I am so chuffed that you want to come and play for the weekend...

I do love our retreats 

Mind you , to be honest, I do get a bit stressed at this point...

You see , it is just me...

No team of helpers behind the scenes...

So all the planning, buying, emailing, cutting card etc 

It is little old me...

I worry, have a forgotten anything, will the Crafters like the projects..

Oh and did I pack that bottle of Prosecco !!!!

I will let you know next week...

Today I am sharing a card with you, 

I made this for my brothers recent Birthday 

I do love the way we can personalise cards..

Don’t you ? 

You see my brother has a couple of allotments , 

And he won first prize last year for his ..

Well done little Bro,,,

( I love to call him that , obviously he is so much taller than me )

I used a couple of stamp sets from Hobby Art..

They were just perfect , 

You see he grows, sunflowers, everlasting sweet peas, 

Various vegetables..

And onions...

Well 

Just look at the size of the one he gave me 

And did you notice..

I added his name on the plaque 

I actually used the word Christmas...

And just cut it down..

It fit perfectly 

Right better get a move on..

Have a lovely day all..

Take care ...

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Always Proud to be in Print .

Good morning all, 

I hope you had a lovely weekend,

We actually managed to get our 30 Laurel bushes planted, 

But I can tell you we were shattered last night

And this morning,

Well , 

I ache all over...

But the garden birds are happy as we got some bird feeders up.

We also found a nest of fieldmice 

And had a visiting pheasant

This is all in the week that we found a wasps nest...

Life in Holmes Chapel...

It is still a work in progress, but at least we have made a start.

Did you tune into Hochanda last week,? And see 

Chloe,

With her latest box kit..

Well it sold out...

I am so thrilled that I was asked to contribute to this issue..

With some seasonal stamping 

Some background stamping 

And the obligatory wreath card 

And it is always great to get a design on the front cover 

Thanks Chloe .

If you fancy getting your copy,

You can get one by following the link , 

From Craft stash..here 

http://tidd.ly/50abad34

It really is fantastic and has over £50 of crafting goodies inside. 

Right that is my early morning cup of tea finished 

So time to walk the dogs

And get into my craft room

Have a lovely day all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Fall, Bingo Board

Good morning everyone 

and thanks for popping in on this Friday morning. 

Today it is a new challenge over at the 

Fussy and Fancy Challenge blog 

Our new theme is a Bingo Board 

Here you choose a row , either horizontal, vertical or diagonal 

And make your design up using the items listed..

It is great fun...( and it makes you think ) 

Our hostess this month is my lovely friend Beth,,,

This is what I came up with 

I chose the second row,,,horizontally 

Shaped card, Butterfly, Fall leaves, Colour Orange, and Die Cut 

I also added a few extra squares

Bow, String, Acorn and Fall Embellishment 

I started with a shaped card 

And added some ink 

Followed by some water flicking 

And then some stamping 

Using a bubbles stamp from IndigoBlu 

and a splats stamp from Hobby Art 

Next , I cut out some leaves 

And edged them with ink 

I then cut out a couple of butterflies , 

And added some ink to them too. 

I then began to assemble my card, 

First I added some leaves , 

This is my favourite part, just arranging all the elements 

Next, I added the string, 

Followed by the butterflies, 

And finally a metal embellishment and some liquid glass 

Just look at the detail..

Pure Autumn Colours..

Thanks Beth, I really enjoyed making that ..

If you would like to join in with the challenge   Just pop along here 

http://fussyandfancychallenge.blogspot.com/

I hope you have a lovely weekend planned 

Before I go , 

I just want to say 

Happy 80th Birthday Mum...

Hope you have a lovely day..

Happy 50th Birthday little Bro 

And would you believe 

Happy Wedding Anniversary to my Mum and Dad..

Wow that was a busy day making those cards..

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Midweek workshops

Good afternoon everyone, 

Hope your week is going well. 

We have had 30 Laurel bushes delivered today...

So it looks like we are going to be kept busy planting  them..

Yesterday it was our Hazel Grove workshops..

And we had a play with a fabulous little stamp from Lavinia 

Fuchsia 

First we used it with some backing paper from Clarity..

The sentiment is from Hobby Art,

I do love to mix and match don’t you ? 

We added a little extra ink around the large moon mask to give more detail. 

Plus some script stamping . 

For our second card we used the petite gelli plates. 

These are so good for quick backgrounds. 

The little splat stamp and the sentiment are both from Hobby Art .

We were treated to homemade jammy dodgers too, thanks Julie , 

They were yummy..

It was another day full of laughter, especially from the naughty table..

And we all know who sits there,,

Don’t we...

Nudge, nudge, 

Wink, wink..

It is funny,,.

There seems to be a naughty table at all my workshops..

( wonder why !!! ) 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Crafting in Comber

Good afternoon all, 

and thanks for popping in. 

I must admit , that I am a little tired this afternoon 

after a busy but fabulous  last few days. 

On Saturday it was our Autumn workshop over in Belfast. 

And we had a special visitor, 

Bonnie came for a play day...

And she was so good...oh and so cute...

We started the day with a nice warm up card..

I do love these foxglove stamps from Lavinia. 

Then we had a little play with some mixed media...

Now I have to say that I got the inspiration for this card from Bev Hilton..

So thank you Bev  and thanks for letting me share...

Here is a closer look..

The ladies made such wonderful cards, 

We also had a rather yummy cheesecake , thanks Norma. 

As you know, I do eat my way through workshops...

We had three new ladies join us, and I am happy to say 

they enjoyed their day and are coming back to our next one,,

(As soon as I get a date.) 

After lunch we made a quick Christmas card ,

And finished the day with an ATC...

Sharon , is so good at looking after us, 

And Michael cooks a marvellous Full Irish breakfast...

Then we finished the day with a meal out...

Such good friends , good food , and good giggles..

We then got the overnight ferry home, so that today we could pick the dogs up,

And get on with some jobs. 

Karl is out early in the morning and we both have another really busy week..

Lots to do including having a certain little man visiting on Tuesday..

Workshops on Wednesday, and bedroom furniture being fitted on Thursday...

So off now to make a cup of tea..

And watch 

Escape to the Country...

Have a lovely evening all...

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Good friends .

Good evening all , and thanks for popping in. 

I hope you had a lovely weekend,,,

I had a weekend off and went to visit some very special friends of mine. 

You know I have met some wonderful people through my love of crafting...

and this group of lovely ladies are just the best.

I have known them for quite some years now...

And each year our friendship just grows stronger and even more special. 

It was funny though , I had to get the train down to Taunton...from Holmes Chapel..

Now we haven’t even been to our local railway station yet,,,

Never mind Crewe and Newport where I had to change..

It certainly was an eventful journey 

On Saturday we all met at a local hall,,,

We chatted, crafted,  ate cake and just had a wonderful time, 

Terri brought lots of craft stash and we just played, 

These are some of makes 

This one is my favourite, I love the detail. 

I also made some toppers ready for Christmas...

I really am getting on well with my cards this year 

And this was my scrap.

We all did different things , some cards, some canvases, some jewellery and even some crackers for Christmas 

And then after lunch we all had a go at the messy paint string thing...

Remember , the one we did in Cumbria...

Now that was fun...and messy...

So much so we needed a take out meal and wine to recover .

Sunday morning we all met up and chatted over a full cooked breakfast...

You really can’t put a price on true friends, ,

The weekend went far to fast...

Yesterday and today I have been getting up to date with a couple of magazine commissions..

Time now to walk these two...

Enjoy your evening...

Much love and hugs 

Jo. xxx

Wonderful Wednesday

Good morning everyone, 

Thanks for joining me, early this Friday morning. 

I had a busy day yesterday , it was a Grandma and Elliot day .

So nothing got done in the house or the craft room, so I have lots of catching up to do today. 

Wednesday it was our Hazel Grove workshops. 

It was so lovely to see everyone , 

We had a play with another of the fresh cut dies from Clarity. 

For our first card we cut the card blank , created our background on another piece of card and attached it behind .

The sentiment and butterfly are Stamps from Hobby Art. 

This was our second card 

Using black card for the die cut , and some ink blending for the background. 

Dew drops finish off the design. 

These dies are great for quick cards and look fabulous when used with ready made backing a papers...

For those times when we Need a card really, really , quickly....

And we all have those moments...don’t we??

I hope you all have a lovely weekend..

Are you doing any crafting? 

Spending time with family? 

Or just relaxing ? 

I am off on a train journey today (trains and weather permitting ) 

I am heading down to Bristol. 

To spend the weekend crafting with some wonderful friends...

I am really looking forwards to it...

What ever you do , enjoy, 

Take care all

Love and hugs 

Jo. xxx