Christmas in Hazel Grove

Good evening all, 

I do hope Thursday has been kind to you. 

I have been in my craft room all day 

catching up on jobs. 

Eric bless him , is really quiet and has just slept under my chair all day. 

I am so worried about him. 

Yesterday it was our regular workshop in Hazel Grove. 

We had a play with some Lavinia stamps, and we created 

some Christmas cards. 

I wanted to create some quick and easy cards. 

You know what it is like at Christmas, it is nice to make some special cards, 

but also we do need quick cards too. 

Now, you know how I love a wreath card. 

These little £1 stamps are perfect for this technique. 

I do love this stamp too, 

And finally , 

We created this topper, 

Just for the camel lady....

I must admit that I am doing rather well with my Christmas cards at the moment. 

Julie made us some yummy cookies in the morning. 

In the afternoon , 

Chrissie came for a visit, 

What a treat to see her and craft with her again. 

We do miss you lovely lady. 

Take care all

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Christmas makes for Children

Good morning all, 

Thanks for all your lovely messages about Eric. 

He is quite subdued at the moment, but enjoying all the extra TLC.

We are just waiting for him to have a 24hr ECG .

I just wanted to pop on and show you a new box set.

Ready for Christmas .

This is a great read and has wonderful free gifts with it too. 

I am so proud to have some designs in this feature too, 

I had such fun making these and thinking up new ideas. 

You can buy it here. 

http://tidd.ly/c29a0178

Have a great day 

I am just off now to meet the lovely ladies in 

Hazel Grove. 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Lovely Saturday in Carnforth.

Good afternoon all, 

I do hope your week has started well 

On Saturday I had the pleasure of teaching an 

Aall & Create workshop for 

Sharon of Rowan Tree Crafts.

I designed a little Gardening Book / Journal. 

Now I have to say that the inspiration for this came from the very talented Anne Redfern.

Thanks lovely lady for letting me use and alter your project. 

This is us all at the end of the day. 

We even had some sun too. 

We used stamps by Tracy Evans and a selection of various stencils. 

Even Billy Brayer came out to play again. 

We made the book from scratch and decorated it , inside and out. 

It was so good to see how everyone used different colours and how wonderful they all looked. 

Thank you ladies, you really made my day, 

Such wonderful projects. 

It was Babs Birthday too, so we had cake and all sang to her.

It was such a lovely day, and I drove home on cloud 9.

This soon became my worst nightmare when on Sunday morning we 

were walking Eric round the park and he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing. 

Nothing that Karl or me did would bring him back, 

Luckily a kind lady heard my screams and ran to our aid. 

She managed to revive him and he is at the vets as I catch up with you. 

The shock was just horrific, 

He was running one minute , and on the grass motionless the next. 

It is frightening how life can change literally in a heart beat. 

I am wandering round the house like a lost lamb today

I have so much to do, but my mind just won’t let me get on with it. 

Maybe some tidying up in my craft room, 

That is always good for the soul..

Thanks everyone for joining me today, 

It means so much .

Love and hugs 

Jo xxx

A little piece made just for fun.

Good afternoon everyone, 

I do hope your Friday is going well, 

and that you have a lovely weekend planned. 

I am off to Carnforth early tomorrow morning. 

To teach a day workshop using Aall & Create stamps and stencils. 

 

I have such a lovely project for the ladies to make. 

I will show you photos next week. 

Today I am going to share a card with you. 

Now this one, 

I just made for fun. 

I bought a new stamp, 

The vine stamp from Lavinia .

Now you know me...

I wanted to see if I could create a wreath with it. 

This is what I came up with.

I had such a great time making it. 

Here is a closer look. 

I use warm autumn colours, 

Just to reflect this this time of year. 

Fingers crossed we have some nice weather for  the next couple of days 

Take care all 

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Make each day count.

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are feeling well today. 

I have just got back after a very wet dog walk with Eric, I am 

hoping that the day will get brighter. 

Yesterday I went up to Kendal to see my parents. 

It is my Dads birthday tomorrow, 

so I went to surprise him.

Thanks Mum and Chris for keeping my visit a secret.

Now you know me, 

I just finished making his card on Monday afternoon.

Last minute dot com here...

I do hope some of you are the same and that it’s not just me...

Today I am going to share one of my samples for 

Aall & Create.

As you know I love using stencils alongside my stamps. 

I had a great time making this, and I do think you could add family photos into the film strip

That would be really cool.

The stencil is #82, film strip by Aida Domisiewicz

I started by taping my stencil using low tack tape, 

I then dabbed the Archival ink through the stencil using a make up sponge. 

This is a great way to use old ink pads 

I added some splats of ink and water and then attached it to my backing card. 

Next I cut three pieces of card , just the correct size to fit into the film strip. 

I stamped them up and added some colour, using Inktense pencils .

I used stamps #199 Eclectic Stamps and #200 Hope 

And then #210 Background mashup for the background 

All by my lovely friend Tracy Evans. 

 

We are using these on Saturday in our Carnforth class....whoop.

It is such a lovely project ladies.

I am so looking forwards to it. 

To add a clear glaze I used a VersaMark ink pad and clear embossing powder.

I added these to the design ,

Placing the sentiment in the middle. 

Here is a closer look. 

I do hope you like it and most importantly that it makes you smile. 

Have a lovely day all. 

Make today count.

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx

Gel press and embossing folders.

Good morning everyone, 

I hope you are well this Monday morning. 

Welcome to our new followers, 

It is great to have you join us on this crafty journey. 

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, and join in. 

Today I just wanted to share a little technique with you. 

Gel press, ink and embossing folders to make backgrounds 

This is a great way to create backgrounds, 

But do take care .

It can be quite addictive.

I found myself looking for all my old embossing folders. 

I have made a short YouTube video to show you 

https://youtu.be/jgkTKwdFYgg

I do hope you like it 

Have a great day all.

Lots to do in my craft room today 

Much love and hugs

Jo xxx

If you go down to the woods.

Good afternoon all, 

Wow, I can’t believe it is September already. 

So that means we have a new Lavinia Challenge. 

Our new theme is 

If you go down to the woods 

Here is my inspiration.

I had great fun making this card.

I had no idea how it was going to end up, 

I just began stamping and playing. 

I began by stamping some images, 

I do love this fairy door stamp, 

Next , I blended some distress Oxide Inks around an oval mask. 

Followed by some black ink, and more stamping. 

Little leaves this time. 

Wow, what a difference they make. 

I added some colour by using some ink and water on my mat and painting it on. 

Then I moved on to creating the backing card. 

Some stamping and some splats of ink. 

After mounting the design, I added some extra little fairies, 

Plus another door. 

Look,

I wonder 

Who lives behind a door like this ???

You can enter the challenge here 

https://laviniastamps.com/lavinia-stamps-monthly-creative-challenge/

It would be great if you could join in. 

I always look forwards to seeing all your wonderful designs. 

Have a lovely afternoon all,

and hope September is kind to us all.

Much love and hugs 

Jo xxx