Clarity Belfast

Good afternoon all welcome to Northern Ireland on this beautiful sunny Sunday. I am so impressed with Karl , how he manages to book glorious weather when he books the campsites for our visits over here.

We had quite a journey on Friday with the motorway closed at Carlisle and it was touch and go with making it on time for the ferry...thank goodness for Sally SatNav.

We had a lovely evening on Friday catching up with friends and a rather nice meal out, infact we have another one last night too....( I can feel the pounds adding to my waist )

Yesterday it was our workshop and wow do these lovely people know how to look after us , so many fabulous and kind gifts...

This is us , at the end of the day , we had a Mixed Media play day

It was great to see how everyone's books were so different but oh so stunning...what a clever group of ladies. We even manage to fit in a couple of card designs too...using a certain favourite Fantasy Flower stamp...

Thanks to Linda and Sharon for all your help, Angela and Norma too, and we are looking forward to coming back in October...

Today we have had a day of walking and relaxing in the sun...and Karl is even watching the footie...

The scenery is just breath taking

So beautiful

And coffee in our new mugs ( thanks Sharon )

Barbara is on Hochanda today and tomorrow , I have recorded all the shows so that I can watch them when we get home. This afternoon she is with Tina and more stunning new plates. Here is a sample of mine from the show.

Bet you would have guessed this one was mine lol...

Enjoy the rest of your evening everyone, have a good week ,

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Another fabulous day

Good morning all, welcome to another lovely, sunny day...oh life is good.

We are up and out early this morning driving up north to get the ferry over to Ireland, ready for Clarity Belfast tomorrow....not long now ladies.

Yesterday was a long day with another early start as it was the regular monthly workshop at the Paper Warehouse,( Grosvenor ) in Kendal. As always it was great fun and maybe a little naughty at times!!!! Not me off course....

We used the Fantasy Flower stamps, as requested by the ladies and I am so happy to report that they were so well received...phew...

Our first design used the circle aperature stencil, a nice quick and easy warm up card...

Our second design was a bit more arty with some gesso and Kraft card...my new favourite technique...I bet it will soon become other people's too..

Then it was lunch time...you know how much I enjoy the buffet provided....

 

Backing papers, and clear embossing powder for this one...also some colouring in,,,so that teacher could have a nap in the corner....lol...

And to finish off some inky play and a touch of white embossing powder...oh and the usual little dots on the bubbles...

It was great to have Maggie back in the UK and with us for the summer...

After a flying visit to my parents it was back home and packing the van ready for this morning...oh I do hope I have remembered everything,,,

Mind you, if not ...we are crafters...and we will just use what we have....

Must dash...

Busy, busy, busy..

Love and hugs

Jo.Xxxxxx

 

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Lovely ladies.

Good evening all and thanks for joining me. I am going to be quick tonight as I still have my bags to get ready for Kendal tomorrow.

Today it was our regular Hazel Grove classes and it was so good to have three new ladies joining us this morning, especially as they had travelled some distance . We did have coffee and chocolate biscuits waiting for them.

We had a play with some shrink plastic and some favourite Jayne Nestorenko stamps

The background is the feather stencil, it is so useful and versatile.

Some glossy Accents just finishes off the design.

Our second card uses the script stencil in the background.

It is always great to see what the ladies come up with and see how they inspire each other.

I love Janet's use of colour ( look Wendy , she was top of the class !) And this afternoon , our vicarage made this beauty

It is great to see how the same design looks in different colours.

We did miss a couple of regulars, Chrissie, Mary and Wendy hope you feel better soon.

Take care all,

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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May already

Good afternoon all and thanks for popping in, on this May Day Bank Holiday. The weather is beautiful now and I have got so much washing dry. Isnt it funny how simple things like getting all the bedding hung out on the line can make us happy.

It has been such a lovely weekend, even though I have been working it has been so good to be able to have my coffee in the garden...

Today I thought I would share some pyrography with you...

As you know this is one of my passions...

I made this book for Rossella, using Tina's flower stamps that she had on Hochanda recently.

First I stamped the cover , front and back.

Then I burnt the design using my pyrography tool.

I added some colour , by painting using the Inka Gold. It really works well on wood.

To seal everything I gave it a spray with Crafters Companion ' Spray n Shine .

I even did some cheeky stamping on a couple of pages.

It is so nice to be able to make personalised gifts, and I have had quite a few commissions already for these little books.

I am so pleased that Rossella likes her book.

I have a really busy week ahead with workshops in Hazel Grove, Kendal and Belfast, so I had better get on. So much still to do.

Enjoy your evening all,

Much love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Inka Gold.

Good afternoon all, I do hope that your week has gone well. It has been another busy one for the Rice household , with so many different activities going on.

I had a wonderful time on Tuesday when I spent the afternoon card making with a group of carers. I was thrilled to be ask to join in these activities as part of the Carers Trust for Cheshire . It is so important that carers are recognised as they give up their time looking after loved ones, often unpaid and very time consuming. I met the most wonderful people , each one with a moving story, I felt quite humble.

It is great to be able to give something back and I am really looking forward to going back and spending time with groups in other areas.

Today I thought I would share one of my samples from the recent Hochanda shows with Rossella. I am so thrilled that Clarity have started stocking Inka Gold. As you know this is a favourite product of mine and I have been using them in workshops for the past couple of years.

One of my favourite techniques is to paint with it.

I used the fabulous new floral stamps designed by Tina. I stamped in VersaMark ink and used clear embossing powder , this is great as it gives a raised edge which helps with the painting.

Now you can take some of the Inka gold and mix it with water on your craft mat, but I like to just add some water and paint straight from the pot. This also helps stopping the product from drying out and cracking. Remember I have a " nightly ritual " when I put my Inka Gold to bed , I spritz them first with water ...

The shine on these is just brilliant

And it is great for some flicking too....( just watch out dogs,,,,oh no...too late...Tess and Eric have gold flecks on them now!!!)

Some matting and layering

I do love the effect of these paints...so many different uses...and the colours blend too...

I thoroughly enjoyed all the shows with Rossella , and she is back on our screens tomorrow...

do tune in...

I must go, the lovely man from DPD has just delivered my latest Clarity order...oh I do get excited when unpacking...it is like Christmas every couple of weeks...

Have a most wonderful weekend...

Much love and hugs

Jo. Xxx

 

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Clarity Cumbria

Good afternoon everyone, I do hope that you had a lovely weekend. It was such fine spring weather here yesterday and I was so pleased to get an hour to tidy up some plants in my garden. Tess and Eric were a great help....

Saturday was our monthly Clarity Cumbria and it was great to welcome two new ladies to our fold...

I am so chuffed with the way that this class has developed and grown, friends have been made and it really is like having a fun play day with good mates ,( oh and cake )

 

We used the new outline stamp sets, our first card used bright coloured inks.

Just look at these fabulous designs..

Before lunch we had some Bokeh play

And then after lunch we made a little piece of art to go into a frame...

I do love to make these

Then to finish off with a quick and easy scene building card design...with tea and cake ( thanks Sheila )

These cards are great for batch card making and using up all those pieces of cards that we keep

Such wonderful designs by everyone...I am so proud of you all..

It was a lovely journey home , the sun shone and my new car was really clever and knew the way...

Did you watch Rossella on Hochanda on Sunday...? She was brilliant , I loved every show...

Today , I have been making samples ready to get in the post ready for next Saturday,,,when she is on our screens again.. so I had better get back to it...

Take care all and pop back soon..

Love and hugs

Jo. xxx

 

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Honeycomb

Good evening all and thanks for popping in. I am a bit late tonight but only just finishing off. Oh it has been a long day, but lots of jobs ticked off the list.

I do hope that your week is going well. Yesterday it was our regular workshops in Hazel Grove, Cheshire.

I really am so lucky to have so many different workshops in so many regions and actually have so many real friends... it really is such a privilege to spend time with you , ladies and gents.

If you remember the other day I used a shaped card design from my lovely friend Martine Smith....

Well I loved the shape so much that we used it agin yesterday ....

And I have to say Martine, the ladies loved it too...and I have had numerous emails saying just how much they loved it and how they want to use it again...

This is the front of the book card, I do love the honeycomb stencil....( and my new butterfly die from Sizzix )

 

This is the back.... jo's bubbles stencil...so useful...

And this is the inside with two lovely tags...

The ladies made some fabulous designs...and as always it was great to get inspiration from each other .

I do think this would make a great little gift with money inside, or a gift card...( I only gave the ladies tags though....!!!! )

Must just go and make a nice cup of tea before bed...another busy day tomorrow..

Take care all

Much love and hugs

Jo. Xxx

 

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