First post of 2013

I was quite glad to get the bringing in of the new year over with and I haven't any photos of the fireworks to show you as they were a bit of a damp squib this time. I think the cut backs had reduced the council spending on what is, after all, literally sending money up in smoke.

Of course, only a couple of days left to enjoy the festive decorations which I am not looking forward to taking down. It's such a messy chore and everything looks so bare and drab afterwards, I am going to miss the tree in the corner of the room so I'm thinking about making a display of some tall twigs wrapped with clear lights that I can hang little non Christmassy, arty items from. I think Tara will also miss the tree as she's been fascinated by the twinkling lights and baubles!

I had Christmas Eve at my sister's house - we had a chinese takeaway which was naughty but nice! I went to the Midnight Eucharist at St Chads which was "interesting" as the congregation was swelled by an assortment of revellers who had left the local pubs and clubs! There was quite a bit of disturbance, loud conversation and people wandering in and out, but it was still a lovely service.

I'd decided to spend Christmas day itself on my own and, after opening my gifts, I trotted up to St Chads again for the family communion service. It was a really fun service as the children had all been invited to bring something with them that they'd received from Santa....they all trouped to the front and the vicar asked them about their gifts one by one - you can imagine that there were some very comical conversations! It was a lovely way for anyone without family to share in the children's Christmas excitement.

Once home I got straight into the kitchen to start the roast chicken dinner. One of my favourite elements of which are the roast chestnuts which I scored and put into the oven. Unfortunately they were still rather hard when everything else was ready so I gave them 30 seconds in the microwave....still a touch too hard so I blasted them again....oh dear! A few seconds too long and the chestnuts, or should I say, brown bullets had to go straight in the bin!! However, the stuffing and roasties were good and the M&S bread sauce as delicious as ever.

I had one glass of a Rosé wine, that's been (opened) in the cupboard for who knows how long, out of a tumbler as I couldn't find any wine glasses - I think we must have been going to buy some new ones! I decided to clear the dishes and wash up straight away and had a mini Christmas pudding as a treat while I settled down to watch the TV. Downton left me in bits of course!

I was given some really lovely gifts.....here are some of the very special ones.......

.......the beautiful canvas at the front was a gift from my friend Joanne who's not too well at the moment so hope she's feeling better soon. On the right is a five year diary that asks a question for each day so you can look back and see how your ideas and feelings have changed over time....this is included in the photo because it is the annual identical gift that Heather and I gave each other! We never plan this, but every year we both choose something the same - it's quite uncanny. In the centre is a very special pressie from my nephew, Max. It's Alfi Boe's autobiography but is a signed copy! Looking forward to reading that when I've finished Life of Pi which I saw in Oxfam and Heather bought and wrapped up for me! Really enjoying it - it's an intelligent, fascinating book that has been on my list of "must read"s for a long time now.

At the top of the picture is my new smile inducing cushion which was a gift from my friend Chris who paid me a visit yesterday along with her husband and grandson - check out his artwork on Chris's blog by the way! Isn't the cushion fabulous - I think I was the very large apple lady, in the right hand panel below pineapple woman, and now I'm the one two the right of her and hoping to become the one in the middle of them! We had a really good catch up before they headed into Blackpool to see some Christmas lights.

Thank you again to everyone who sent me cards, messages and gifts - I am still trying to get round to thanking everyone personally. Oh, and my bathroom smells gorgeous now thanks to the big bowl of Bombtastic bath fizzers, creamers and soaps that Heather gave me!

Well, this post was interrupted by Tara who decided to nudge the laptop until I put it down so she could curl up on my knees. She's been getting much happier to be stroked lately which is really good to see. She can still turn and give me a nip or a scratch, but the family who gave her away had young children and I think she had to put up with a lot of teasing and tail pulling, so it's hard for her to completely trust anyone.

She's now pestering for a bit of lunch and I had better eat something too so I'll sign off for now. I made a pasta bake a couple of days ago, so I've had several meals out of it - to be honest, I'll be glad to eat the last bit today so I can have something else! Still, it makes for a few days of inexpensive eating! 

PS I inadvertently pressed the text background colour whilst typing - so excuse the odd look to the second part of this post as I can't seem to undo it!

A different sort of day

Thank you to everyone who sent me emails, texts, cards and comments for my birthday today. It was a day of mixed emotions as this was my first one not spent with David since I was just eighteen years old. We always used to play Mario Lanza's music on our birthday mornings and David would serenade me whilst giving me a big hug...he had a really wonderful tenor voice.
Of course, I had to play Mario Lanza this morning which brought back so many memories and I did shed some tears. However, Heather arrived soon after, so I "pulled myself together" and we set out to have a good day.
After visiting our mum, we went on to Freeport which is an outlet centre where we did the round of all the shops and had a fish n chips lunch. We'd thought of going to the zoo but the weather's been so unpredictable that we decided to go shopping instead! We'll save the zoo for another day.
So, it turned out to be a fun day thanks to my lovely sister.
I've spent the evening trying to catch up with everyone by phone or email and am gradually getting there - if I still haven't got back to anyone, please be sure I haven't forgotten you!
Here's a piccie of some of the cards I was sent including one from Gez that made me smile...if you open the picture in a new window, you'll see Gez's card featuring a cycling frog! Brilliant! On Tuesday, Joanne and her lovely husband "T" came to visit and brought me these lovely home grown flowers.... .....a beautifully coloured card, bookmark (which I just happened to be wanting!) and this great birdtable - wow! It's going to look brilliant in the garden and I'm going to put it where I'll be able to watch the birds from the conservatory. No excuses now - I'll have to get that weeding finished!
Heather gave me some lovely gifts including two charms for my bracelet which I tried to photograph but didn't manage - one is a silver owl and the other is a most beautiful Murano glass bead in aqua tones with delicate white flowers beneath the surface.
So, I had a rollercoaster of a day really.
I did promise to share some photos of a few things I've made this week for my day at Card-Io on Saturday. I have just a couple to share for now starting with this little collection.... .....the card features my "Inertia Starter" robot stamp set. I used stencils from Crafters Workshop and Dylusions to create the backgrounds on the robot panel and base card. The tags are made using stamps from my Off the Wall collection. I've used Dylusions ink sprays to colour the ribbons.
Below are a couple of tags, the one on the left features "Emily" who I stamped, coloured and coated with Glue n Seal (gloss version) before spritzing the tag with Dylusions ink sprays. I spritzed water through a stencil to give the bleached out dots effect and the edging is another stencil with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink blended over and then highlighted with a white pen. I wrote the words using black and white pens.
The right hand tag was made using some of the card that I prepped a few days ago and the rosette style flower is made from the paper towel that I used to roll across the wet inked surface. The bird images are from my "Arabella" stamp set and the quote from my "Creative Thoughts" set. I really like the bright shades of the Dylusions inks and found them very uplifting. Talking of bright colours, one shop we called into today was the Pavers outlet and Heather talked me into getting these lovely shoes..... ....not that I took much convincing, and the clincher was when I turned them over and we saw the soles, complete with steampunk detailing! Heather suggested that I ink them up and literally "stamp" onto card with them!
Well, it's a bit of a mish mashed, mixed up sort of post tonight, but it's getting late and it's been a long day. Thank you again for the thoughtfulness that's been shown to me and I hope to see some of you on Saturday. I'll post more pictures after the weekend and let you know how things go in Wigan.
I know it's only Thursday, but have a great weekend everyone.

A quiet time - except for the music!

The Easter break is almost over and, as I heard someone say, the reason that Bank Holidays are so good is that we can really enjoy having some sheer relaxation without feeling guilty because we're all off work! Well, not quite all I realise, but I agree with the sentiment. Hope everyone's been able to have a good break.

So, the last couple of days have been spent at home and very quietly, partly due to the horrid bug that grabbed me on Friday but seems to be on its way now thank goodness. Partly due to the fact that it's been raining all day, so the gardening had to be shelved except for planting out a few things that I've been growing indoors. Not that this is craft related, but I hope that this piccie of Tara helping me to gen up on some plant knowledge will be acceptable for Joanne's Crafting Buddies ......yes, I know it's really meant to show our furry friends helping us to craft, but seeing as I wasn't either, I think it will count! I think Tara was looking for the section on Catnip! I did say it had been a quiet couple of days, but this afternoon was anything but really. David happened upon Channel 5 where they were showing the 25th Anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera from the Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately it had been on for an hour or so, and I completely forgot about Channel 5 plus one! However, it was just fantastic and I enjoyed every second. The tenor in the Phantom role was Ramin Karimloo who, coincidentally, was on Songs of Praise last night and who we first saw in the anniversary concert of Les Mis that Heather got us at Christmas. At the end of the opera Andrew Lloyd Webber came onto the stage and welcomed the original cast. Sarah Brightman sang along with four Phantoms as well as the current one. I get so caught up in musicals/operas that I was in tears most of the way through, even during the curtain calls! If you get chance to see this then do......if you don't like the music, watch it with the sound off because the stage sets and costumes were out of this world....quite staggering really.

It also brought to mind something that I seem to come across more and more these days. So many "comedians", or guests on panel shows etc seem to find it clever and funny to make so called jokes and jibes about people purely on their looks. I'm sometimes surprised at the people who are guilty of this as they are often those who I'd thought of as quite intelligent. No matter how talented the target may be, if they happen to be less than handsome or beautiful then they become "fair game". I was reminded by the Phantom story of course, and then when Andrew Lloyd Webber appeared who must be one of the most picked upon people in this way, despite his tremendous talent. Camilla Parker Bowles is forever being compared to a horse (I think she's very attractive), Susan Boyle will, apparently, never be appreciated for her voice alone, but will always find herself being sniggered at on comedic quiz shows. The list goes on. It's a horrible side to people that I really hate. The fact that everyone looks different (remarkable when you think how few features we have!) should be accepted and celebrated, not made into the subject for cruel "humour". Why do people do it? What do you think?
Anyway, having just watched the last half hour of Phantom again, on plus one, it is time to settle down for the evening now! The rain has stopped but it's a bit late to go outside now really. I had better go as I can hear lots of hissing coming from behind the door and may need to seperate two fur balls if I don't break things up now!

Another preview...

Just popping back again to share some more previews of the new stamps, but the first picture is of a card that Joanne made when she came to help me with sample last week. You might just be able to make out the spider that we made to put into the Corked Vial, along with the ubiquitous string that seems to be a necessary part of a boy's collection of bits! The flash on my camera has rather eclipsed his boots, but hope you can make out the rest of the card okay. Joanne made a great background with lots of swooshy inks and Picket Fence Distress Stain. The card itself is made using My Minds Eye Kraft Funday paper - although it's such a great weight it really is a cardstock. Fabulous paper as there are resist areas that show up when you ink over them. Again, you can check the range out on the Personal Impressions website.
The angry boy is called Humbert, and the set he's from is "Humbert & Spider Boy" (PICSA6279) which features two little horrors! Great fun for boys and teenagers cards, or journalling of course. I wanted these to be real scruff bags with a touch of the Gothic about them. Hope you like these two...I have a soft spot for them!!! Next is another words set, this one being "Love that Binds" (PICSA6273) which is a set of dictionary style definitions. I wanted a distressed, old book feel to these, so the words are rather soft focussed and bleached out in areas. Another useful one! The last set that I'm sharing tonight is called "Building Blocks" (PICSA6288) a set of six houses that can be built into street scenes, set on top of hillsides etc. I went for a slightly Zentangled look that lends itself to lots of colouring in and highlighting with white pen work. I'll post a picture at a later date of what I did with them. Meanwhile, here's a frame that I made from scratch and painted with Martha Stewart acrylics after creating the texture with MS Stucco. The MS range is really extensive - it even includes magnetic paint! Once I'd dry brushed metallic gold and copper over the base colours I then added the central image behind the aperture. I made the background with Scattered Straw and Pumice Stone D inks and stamped steampunk images from two of Andy's new sets. I then added "Steampunk Sarah" after I'd stamped, coloured and cut her out. I added more stamped images and a selection of TH Idealogy items that I had altered with MS acrylic paints. This was a really fun piece to work on and I'll explain how I made the frame itself at a later date.
Well, that's all from me for tonight. I've got two more days to get everything finished for the show. The excitement of Stitches is approaching rapidly! Take care everyone.

me & my Elves...

It's been a busy, but fun day here. This morning I was joined by my sister, Heather and our good friend Joanne, who both came along to help me make samples for the trade show in a couple of weeks. We all sat in my workroom so you may imagine how much chattering went on amidst the creativity!
Joanne was busy inking, colouring and cutting out whilst Heather got busy with paints and canvasses and I supervised....no! Not really! I was stamping images to adhere to the canvasses. Good team work! My two elves' hard work and great company were much appreciated and made the task of making numerous cards, tags, journal pages and canvasses seem less daunting. Thank you girls! Heather brought a pack of crumpets round and David kept us supplied with hot drinks... I think he was keen for us to have the crumpets so we would stop talking, even if for only ten minutes or so!
Not quite sure why I was pulling this face, but it seems to work at disguising the extra chins, so I may well be pulling it again! Here we are, posing at our workstations and Joanne (who doesn't even have any extra chins) suggested we do the old "face resting on hands" pose, though Heather didn't have much room to rest her elbows on the table as you can see! We had a great time and got lots of work done too. What a lovely way to spend the day.
Tomorrow I'll be making more samples, working my way through all the new stamps, then breaking off at 5pm to watch the QVC hour - Crafting for Men. Tomorrow evening I'll post pictures of the cards I made for the show and would love to know what you think of the new stamps - good or bad! (but hopefully good!).

Crafts Beautiful project

Hello everyone. Thought I'd write a quick post this evening whilst David is watching a drama that I missed the start of. I've had quite a productive day, getting some specific stamp designs finished and posted off, doing some last minute grocery shopping planning a new magazine project and cooking dinner. After the long break that I've had, it did feel like a day of good results!
Whilst I was out I saw that the February issue of Crafts Beautiful is in the shops now, so I can share pictures of my Steampunk project that's in there. I used the Steampunk stamp set from Darkroom Door (DDRSO68) which has some great images - good value too as there are twenty stamps on the sheet....at least twenty....I keep losing count!
I created two cards and a shadow box and also used the Donna Salazar Sprightly Sprockets Spellbinders set (SBS5-048) mixed in with TH metal sprockets and Timepieces. I had great fun making this set. If you'd like the list of materials and instructions do grab a copy of Crafts Beautiful magazine. Here's a close up of the shadow box at a better angle to show the dimensional effect. If you're a Steampunk fan, Andy Skinner has posted a video of a short animated film with a Steampunk feel. Worth taking a look...and checking out Andy's creations too, of course!
As it's Monday I just have time to add a link to Crafting Buddies which is run by my friend Joanne. It began as somewhere to post about our pets who "join in" with crafting, but has now become somewhere to show any of our animal friends.
This picture is of a Seagull who I met in Aberdeen station when I was waiting for my train home a few weeks ago. He was very bold and very sure that I would have something tasty in my bag! Of course, he picked the right person and I was able to offer hime some biccies from the hotel! If it wasn't for his rather dashing pink feet and yellow beak I don't think you'd be able to see him at all! After me telling you that Tara was not happy at all about living with Thomas, it turns out that she just wanted him to make an honest kitty of her......

......mmmm, slight lie there. She is as grumpy as ever and I think her pose is more one of "we are not amused" than a blushing bride! Definitely not "I do", more like "in your dreams"!

One of the supermarkets here was selling chocolate eggs before Christmas and, today, I see that most of the shops have now got a range of them in. Am I the only one who finds this cynical and manipulative. No wonder we feel as though time goes by more quickly now when we are rushed from one point in the year to the next with no time to take stock (sorry about the unintentional pun!) in between.
Okay, that's all for tonight. I am just going to check that those links work and then relax for a bit before bed time. Hardly slept last night, so I am hoping to do better tonight. Tomorrow I'll be working on card samples and a new project, so hope for another productive day! Sleep well everyone!
PS the links did NOT work, so am hoping I have now done them correctly!

Just touching base

Hello folks. Just a fairly quick post tonight. Thank you for the many suggestions, crossed fingers and, even, mantras that I have received to help me find my Journal. Sadly, it has not materialised and I can only think that my worst fears were right, and it was in one of the boxes that got stolen. The fact that I have so little time to create pages makes the loss much worse. Still, in the scheme of things, it isn't life or death, so I won't dwell on it. As Heather suggested, the best I can do is to try to print out the photos I took of some of my pages to journal page size and paste them into a new book. Not the same, but better than nothing.
I have to say a big thank you to my friend Joanne who sent me a very much appreciated envelope that contained swatches of Distress and Alcohol inks as well as labels for my Distress ink pads.....I have been putting off labelling them for so long, but now I have no excuse! Thank you Joanne, you're a treasure. You may have seen Joanne's scary Halloween cat on her blog recently and I'm very happy to say that it was given to me recently...looks even better in real life! Talking of cats, Thomas has been "helping" again today as I prepped things for Saturday's workshops. If it had been a Monday I could have linked these pics to Joanne's Crafting Buddies blog, but pop over there anyway if you get chance.
As per usual, Thomas gave my efforts a good check over, made sure all the lines were straight, everything glued down properly.... ...and then decided that he could do much better. Check out that disdainful expression (and the lopsided mouth!)! For those of you who are joining me on Saturday's workshops, you can see a sneaky peek of what we're doing in the afternoon....I'll post pictures of the finished items next week. Meanwhile, here are just a couple of snaps of some recent demonstration samples. This one features my Script Robin stamp (wooden) which I inked with Distress inks, spritzed with water and stamped onto white card before cutting out. The papers and embellishments are from the lovely MME Lost & Found Christmas range which I have found so easy to work with. I had to add a tissue paper frill! This tag features the same paper range, The Philosophy tag has been drizzled with a teeny drop of Snowcap alcohol ink which I then rubbed off to highlight the word and numbers. If you get the chance to buy the Snowcap ink - do! It's excellent and completely changes the look of all the other colours. I used Rock Candy crackle paint on the numbers, which were cut from the Lost & Found Tim Holtz paper stash. Well, I said this was a quick post, and it is! So I will sign off and return next week with more photos to share.

My Friday post

I'm just popping on to wish everyone a lovely weekend and to say that we're really looking forward to seeing everyone who's coming to tomorrow's workshop.
Everything's prepped and packed (I hope!) so we're ready for a fun, but busy day. I'll post pictures of the day next week. David will be multitasking as chauffeur, glamorous assistant, official photographer and kettle boiler....there'll be nothing left for me to do!

Here is a piccie of cheeky Thomas overseeing that I have put everything into the bags and checking my emails. He pretends to be a tough cookie by the way, but he dithers about every time he goes out or comes in, as he has an obsession with staring at the corners of doorways when the doors are opening or closing! Not sure what he expects to see, but he is apt to jump out of his skin if he's going through a doorway....what a hero! And here is a photo of last Saturday's demonstration at Card-io in Wigan - it was a busy old day. Hello to everyone that popped by. I think the weather is due to break this weekend, which may be no bad thing as, at least here, it's dull but airless. I just fancy a bit of rain to freshen things up!
Finally, thank you so much to Joanne who sent me the loveliest card to wish us well with the new workshops. It was so thoughtful and it's a beautiful card which I'll share with you next week.
Have a great weekend everyone!

What a busy weekend!

That really was a busy old weekend, though there wasn't too much travelling for a change! On Saturday I jumped on the train to Port Sunlight - I've never been there before and what a pretty place it really is....must go back there for a leisurely look round sometime. I had a busy day there, though not at the stamp fair itself (sorry to those of you who have emailed to ask where I was......but I had the wrong information!) I was in the social club down the road! Here are just a few of the cards that I made for the day......a simple new home card using the row of houses from my "Hoist the Flags" stamp set. I made the cloudy background using Distress Stains with a spritz of Perfect Pearl Mist to give a shimmer. It's matted with a MS punched panel that I've inked with Mustard Seed Distress ink. I'm in a bit of a flouncy ribbon phase I think, with bows hanging off the edges of my cards! The next card is using a combination of "Magic Happens" and "Silhouetted Fairies" stamp sets which I have used over a Distress Stains background. I punched a circle out at the top and then layered the panel over white card to reveal the moon, which I added Stickles to for a more twinkly effect. I smudged my Archival black ink pad along the bottom of the stamped panel to give a fairly smudgy base and then sketched some simple grasses in with a fine black Le Plume pen. If you look closely, you'll see that I used a white pen to add a few highlights along the edges of the images nearest to the moon...it just helps to bring them to life. The stars were added with white pen too. Next is another card using my "I dreamed of castles" stamp set. This one has been stamped over book paper and lightly tinted with Le Plume pens. The Distress Stain background came out really well, and gave just the ethereal look that I wanted. I used the Stains to colour the ribbon too. A little blue shading below the castle just grounds it (even though it is meant to be floating!). Sunday was a fun day! Myself and Amy Shaw were teaching workshops in Darwen and there was much laughter throughout the day - and a good amount of crafting of course! Amy taught in the morning, making cards with a flower theme and showing the ladies how to create tissue Carnations which everyone impressed themselves with! Sheila is showing her enjoyment in her usual way as you can see! Before we got started, as everyone was arriving, we had time to congratulate Joanne's husband "Peg Leg" on his 70th birthday (I know....he looks far too young!) and their wedding anniversary which were on the same day the week before. Terry has been having a very extended celebration and here he's posing with the giant cigar that David thought he might enjoy! Two of our favourite people, Joanne and Terry are a delight to be with and Joanne is such a talented crafter. After a break for lunch and a chance to tidy up and reset the tables, it was time for my workshops. I'll post photos of what we did as soon as I can, as I somehow managed to not take any! The first card was mainly about making a background using Acrylic paint, stamps, Distress inks, Distress re-inkers and Perfect Pearl powders which became the focal point to which were added stamped butterflies and a bird. The card panel was covered with Distress stained Kraft resist paper. Here are some of the part finished cards..... and some more here..... The ladies made two more cards, one using alcohol inks and Andy Skinner's "Back to nature" stamp set, and then a card featuring a MS punch all over the page butterfly which caused some jumping in fright when the magnets clanged together! Everyone made fantastic versions of all the cards and, as you can see from the pictures, they all looked quite different.

It was a lovely day and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I'm not sure when I'll next be teaching workshops, but do keep an eye on my dates and in my posts of course, as I'll be sure to let you know what, when and where!
So, today, unfortunately, was still not a day off as I am in the last few days of getting designs finished, as well as prepping for the coming weekend's events. However, it's been nice to be at home all day, and David has kept me going with coffee and toast!
For those who have been asking, our new little friend is really settling in now. He did blot his copybook last week, as he is definitely nothing like our dear little Cherry, and is quite the hunter. He has been pouncing at our regular bird visitors and one pigeon did leave a few feathers behind in a flurry of claws and wings! There has been a grisly moment with a mouse too, but I won't dwell on that one. So, we seem to have Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde living here, as he swings from being purry and cuddly to a miniature lion! Hopefully he'll learn that the birds are off limits - fingers crossed! He is still wolfing food down, ate half of david's sandwich when he put his plate down for a moment and, last night, I even found him chomping on the skins that I had removed from my broad beans and set at the side of my plate! I guess he has been a hobo for so long that he thinks he had better fill up while he can.

He has been to the vet who pronounced him fit and well and missing his "boy bits" - no microchip and, despite posting his details on animal lost & found sites etc, nobody has claimed him. His name has been "pusscat", "oy", "ccchhh, ccchh" etc and I was wavering towards the very original "Tommy". A lady who was at the vet's with her two beautiful Shelties, thought he looked like a Thomas, as did the nurse, so, Thomas it is. It suits him. So, that's the state of play at the moment. We have been battered into submission by him really! Will keep you posted!

I'm going to get back to some work again now.....Christmas verses are calling!

Look who's crafting already!

Hello all, just a quick post to link with the lovely Joanne's Crafting Buddies blog, where you can post piccies of your pet helping you to craft....or not as the case may be!

I have had a new helper this week, as well as someone who really wanted to come inside to join in the fun!Here's Mr Squirrly, offering to come and act as a model in case I wanted to do any squirrel stamp designs.

When he realised that I was working on Christmas designs and that I didn't really need any paper being nibbled round the edges he hopped off in a sulk! Cute little fellah isn't he, and as you can see, quite bold.

However, for some really dedicated help, how about this..... ....he's only been with us for a few days, but he thought he'd check out what I was up to..... ......and it didn't take him long to join in and help. He even had a go at some cutting out for me!

Well, I must get back to work now, but do take a look at http://craftingpets.blogspot.com/ to see what other help is being given to creative people.

feline fine after my trip!

Hello folks, I really hope this post works, as everything is going bonkers with blogger (for me anyway!) since David had to change the feed...I think that's what he did anyway! Last week I couldn't publish what I'd written and now, after I uploaded all my pictures, everything that I typed came up bright blue and underlined! So...I have deleted the pictures (hoping they are still on my computer somewhere!) and am now doing the text and will try to insert the pictures afterwards. The only clue I can find about the underlining is that it's somehow connected to photos, so we'll see. What a palaver!

Anyway, I had a great trip to In 2 Crafting in Wickford, near Basildon. This is Basildon's version of the Hollywood sign, though it's somewhat smaller....quite a bit smaller! See Heather - I told you there was a Hollywood style sign there! I had a trot round the town and then went to my hotel which is on an entertainment park with restaurants and a big cinema. It was a much quieter night than usual there as they have closed down the nightclub through noise complaints! I had a stroll around the lake and fed a few birds, then it was a bite to eat and a relaxing night in. The hotel has recently upgraded their rooms and this included HD tv's. I've never watched anything on HD before and have to say that I was very impressed - I watched an animated film called The Legend of the Guardians (all the characters are owls) and hardly followed the plot as I was just transfixed by the amazing picture! Lol!

Anyway, after a comfy night's sleep (this one made up for the horrors of the Eastbourne hotel!) it was down to work on Saturday. Réne and John have new premises now and the shop is really bright, airy and spacious. I was busy all day and the ladies and I had so much fun, with lots of giggles all day, just how I like it! I was showcasing stamps as well as Distress Stains, Tissue Tape, My Mind's Eye papers and more. The Stains are becoming more interesting each time I work with them. Here I dragged them over my craft sheet, spritzed on a little water and a few sprays from the Perfect Pearl Mist (ie the "white" one) and then dragged white card through it. This gives a hazy background with a lovely shimmer. I used this with my "I dreamed of castles" and "Hoist the Flags" stamp sets, before matting onto card that I'd punched with the MS PATP Vintage Lace. Once punched I coloured it with the Spun Sugar Stain. The message is from my "Happy Anniversary" stamp set which has four assorted verses on it. I coloured the castle and the four extra towers using pale pink and blue Memento pens before assembling them and finishing with Crystal stickles on the roofs. The bunting was stamped directly onto the card and then, again, onto white gloss card. I coloured each bunting flag with Memento pens, cut them out and layered over the ones on the card. The Castle stamps can used to create cards for anyone - pink and glittery for little girls, masculine colours for men, Gothic style for teens etc. This, however, was everyone's favourite card on Saturday! It's made using my "Rose Galore" stamp set, which has the rose background, single rose and row of borders. The sentiment is from my "Sending words of love" set. The background roses were stamped with black Memento ink and then coloured with a solvent based pen. I stamped the row of flowers onto seperate white card and then joined the two pieces together, hiding the join with ribbon that I'd dyed with Distress Stains. I stamped and embossed the verse with detail silver. Tissue tape down the side of the card and the single rose stamped, distressed and cut out, was the finishing touch. Here's a large 8" x 8" card which I covered with MME Lost & Found glittered paper before embellishing with stamps from Andy Skinner's Stitch in Time set. I added a pleated Tissue Tape band down the side, an acrylic fragment, needle threader and some thread which I formed into a mini skein and held in place with more Tissue Tape. The "pretty" panel is from another Lost & Found sheet and I edge it with dyed ribbon. The Lost & Found papers are really pretty but have that distress touch as well.
Several of the ladies at In 2 Crafting asked me what was happening with the pusscat who seemed to be in the process of adopting us! Well, at the moment, he is luxuriating on David's lap! We will be taking him to the vet to check if he has a microchip or to see if they know of anyone who has lost him. He has, meanwhile, well and truly made himself at home! Here he is on the first day that he came inside....along with all the bits of grass and earth that he stomped in with him! He now stays in overnight and goes out in the morning, whereupon, after about half an hour, he yowls as if he has been treated most cruelly and continues until he is let back in. He's no trouble though......very happy to just sit on a vacant (or otherwise!) lap, or cuddle beside me on the sofa. He has become a bit of a kitchen doorstop though, parking himself there at the merest hint of food being prepared! Not surprising really when he had obviously been fending for himself for some time. He does dribble a lot though - I think it's because he has a slightly wonky mouth. One very contented pusscat! Shame you can't hear the purring which I think could possibly be heard from three miles away at it's loudest!
Do you think he's decided that he's landed on his feet? He hasn't got a mucky nose by the way, that's just his markings! He's a big cat, but he has a very loving personality and is a real softie, though he has nipped me a couple of times....his way of telling me which parts of his legs are "off limits"! I have also rediscovered the joys of cat hairs on black skirts and pinprick holes in skin due to kneading from feline feet!

So, that's where things are at the moment. He doesn't have a name yet - though Joanne named him Naan straight away! I like a two syllable cat name and am waiting till we know for sure that he hasn't got someone pining for him and to see what suits him. Will keep you posted of course!

So, it's a busy week ahead just for a change! I'm still working on those new designs with an ever looming deadline and have to make samples for Saturday when I'll be demonstrating on Crafty's stand at the Port Sunlight show. Then, on Sunday I'll be teaching with Amy Shaw at our joint workshops day. We have just a couple of places left if you'd like to come along and join the fun - just contact either of us for more details.

Hope to see some of you at the weekend. I'll be posting some pictures tomorrow to join in the fun on Joanne's Crafting Buddies blog, so please do pop by to take a look. Lastly, welcome to new followers and hope you enjoy my ramblings!

Feathered helpers

Hi folks, and especially Joanne, who has started a new blog dedicated to our animal crafting helpers. Well, like Joanne, we lost our beloved pusscat, Cherry, some years ago, but still enjoy the company of slightly less domesticated pals.

Here's a couple of pictures of some help I was getting this morning from my feathered friends.... ....mmmm, they don't look too enthusiastic today. I think they are just deciding what to do............they seem a bit distracted to me......honestly, a bit of bird seed and they lose all creative concentration! Lol!

Do pop over to Joanne's new blog on http://craftingpets.blogspot.com/ and you can link from there to this fun new site. Well, I hope so - all these URL's, links etc do confuse me rather easily! Hope to see more crafting pets later today. Lindsay

What a wonderful weekend

I regard myself as being very fortunate in that I love my work, and a large part of the enjoyment it brings comes from meeting, and getting to know, so many warm and wonderful people at demonstrations, workshops and shows. This weekend was a case in point. I was demonstrating at Topaz Crafts alongside the very talented Jo, Gill, Mary, Jane, Brenda and Lindsay. Here is a bad photo of a stunning card, made by Mary, using stencil paste which she has cleverly glittered so that the sky shades through blue to white. The photo doesn't do it justice as the shaded glitter looked just gorgeous. These sumptuous, glowing cards were made by Jane and Gill, and Gill was also making some of Heather's beaded dragonflies - her book is on the left of the picture.And here are some of the cards which Jo was making on Saturday, building up "flowerscapes" to create these fantastic scenes. Again, my picture doesn't do them justice!Here are some pieces that I was making using the Paint Dabbers Acetate Transparency technique. It's really simple, but the effects can be gorgeous. Simply stamp your chosen image onto acetate - if using Black Archival ink you'll need to heat set it to stop it from smudging, so heat resistant acetate is preferable. Once the image is set begin applying paint over the image on the inked side. You can't be too pernickety about where the colours go as you need to work fairly fast here so that the paint stays wet for the next stage. Just dab the colours on, quite thickly, in the general areas that you want them. Now take a piece of white card and lay it on top of the painted acetate. Press it down and flip it over to see the coloured image. I like to use a brayer roller to smooth over the acetate to ensure that it sticks to the card. Simply leave it to set properly and the paint will have acted like a glue, adhering the card and acetate together. You can cut the image out, use as a basis for an ATC etc. I love this technique as you look through the acetate to the paint, so it has a very glassy appearance. Do give it a try if you haven't already.Here's my table looking less cluttered than it actually was! Nice cup of fruit tea there too! I stayed with Rena and Stephen (Amy's mum and dad) on Saturday night and they are two of the most special people that we have got to know in a long time. Over the two days so many people came along to pick up tips and techniques and we shared lots of smiles and laughter - great fun! Sheila came on both days and left me speechless (and David will tell you that this doesn't happen very often!!!) by bringing me a whole set of goodies for my birthday - along with some relaxing bathing treats she had made me a card, ATC's and three amazing book pages as you can see below. Aren't they gorgeous? Btw, the Alice ATC was from Sheila on Sunday as a bribe to go through Grungepaper flower making with her! (Not that I needed bribing I hasten to add!). So, along with all the generosity last week I felt very fortunate indeed!Next you can see the other ATC's which I received - clockwise from the top left they are by Elaine, Joanne, Sheila and Chris. Elaine had only just begun making ATC's so I got one of her first two - great fun isn't it? Joanne and Sheila's ATC's both had the same sentiment which was a weird coincidence. Chris has just decided to join in Heather's swaps, so I feel a bit guilty in choosing her beach hut card now, as Heather posted her latest swap theme is "Beside the Seaside", and I'm sure this one would have been perfect! So, thank you to all of you, including Paul, who I got several big hugs from! (they are always welcome!) It made for a special couple of days.

We have added two new workshop dates of Saturday 18th September, 1pm - 4pm "Matchbox Shrines" - this workshop will include Ranger techniques such as beeswaxing, distressing, gesso etc and we'll be creating a piece to hang on the wall.

On Saturday 23rd October, 1pm-4pm (and by request!) the class will be "Christmas Cute & Clever" featuring a range of my whimsical stamp designs. We'll be making cute cards with some interesting techniques thrown in!

Both of these workshops cost £20 - ring Topaz on 01254 356501 if you'd like to book. If you are interested, I am also hoping to run two extra workshops in the mornings of both of the above dates. The first being a repeat of the Ranger Mirror class, and the second being a repeat of the Fairy Doors class, as I have been asked specifically for these. Again, please call Topaz to enquire about these extra workshops. Should be fun!

What else has been happening? Well, many of you will already know, from reading my sister's blog, that my brother in law was attacked on Saturday afternoon whilst simply going to his local corner shop. Thank you for all the concern you have shown - Heather and Graham were both badly shaken by the incident, needless to say, but thankfully the yobs concerned were caught and are being prosecuted. I won't say what I would like to do to them. The week before that our mum had a very nasty fall which left her looking like something from a Crimewatch report, with her face all purple and swollen. Miraculously, she didn't break any bones and is as cheerful as ever - David calls her the "comeback kid"! I'm hoping that we have had our share of such incidents for the moment, fingers crossed.

I'll be adding new demonstration dates shortly, but this coming Saturday I will be at Jarrold's Department store in Norwich city centre. I'll be featuring Paint Dabbers, Alcohol inks, Distress inks, clear stamps and various "acoutrements", so hope to see you there if you live nearby. Well, this post has taken me ages, so I had better sign off for now. Lindsay

PS in case you miss the post below this one - my Blog Candy is now closed, and was won by MissD.