The five Counties

Last weekend involved quite a bit of travelling, hence today's post title. On Saturday I was at Weavervale Garden Centre in Northwich which was a very busy day as you can see from this photo that David took. Kate was rushing around finding stamps, card etc for customers and it was a very jolly day with a lot of fun amidst the creativity! I hope to back there before Christmas, so will keep you posted.
From there, David ran me to the train station in Manchester where I boarded the train for the two and a half hour trip across the country to Grimsby. It was a beautiful journey that went through the lush green hills of Derbyshire and Yorkshire...in my opinion some of the most beautiful scenery in Britain. Along the way the clouds kept changing quite dramatically from fluffy white, through mottled Mackerel skies to heavy, rain filled moodiness. As the train slowed at one point I saw three Roe deer calmly watching us pass them by...a big tick in my imaginary spotter's book!
By the time I reached Grimsby Town it was dark and I was glad that the hotel was literally round the corner from the station. I realised that I had gone, in one day, through Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and, finally, Lincolnshire! Whew....no wonder I felt tired!
Next day I was at Grimsby Crafts for another very busy day. Lynn had set up three big tables for me so I was able to spread everything out - not sure how I still managed to make an untidy mess! Unfortunately I didn't take my camera, so no pics to share of the day. Thank you for all the lovely feedback ladies, I really enjoyed meeting you all. Again, I'll hopefully be back there before too long.
My journey home was fine except for the two families who seemed to think that the train was a private one just for them! They were not travelling together, but both had very unruly offspring who spent the entire time running up and down the aisles, throwing things around and shouting at the top of their, very loud, voices. Despite all the black looks from everyone else, one set of parents completely ignored the hullabaloo whilst the others spent their time shouting and swearing (very strongly) at their young children...who totally ignored them. Modern parenting eh?! Needless to say, it felt like quite a long journey home!
So, this week has been spent working on some designs as well as prepping all the kits for the workshops this coming Sunday. I have just found out this afternoon that there is now a place available on the class due to a cancellation through illness. So, if you'd like to join us on a Christmassy crafting day, just drop me an email and I'll send you the details. We'll be making snowmen themed cards in the morning and a Triptych piece in the afternoon. Poor David drew the short straw (well he offered actually!) and spent today cutting up the pieces of mountboard for the afternoon session...I could almost see the Tom & Jerry type throbbing hand by the time he'd finished!
Well, before the workshops I have a trip down to Norwich to demonstrate at Jarrolds department store. I'll be on the third floor in the art & craft department - I'm usually opposite the lifts, so you can't miss me! Hope to see some of you there.
I'll be back after the weekend with some new photos to share and a few more tales from my travels no doubt. Welcome to new followers and readers and I hope you'll enjoy popping by here rom time to time. Lastly, do check out Personal Impressions website where Richard has added some more of my projects (with instructions) and samples.

Lancaster calling

Evening folks, apologies for the lack of posts this week which is due in part to Virgin Media problems so that the broadband kept dissappearing up the spout, and in part that I suddenly got asked to do some unexpected work that threw my schedule out - not much new there then! So, apologies if I have been remiss in getting back to any emails etc. I'm hoping to catch up with them tonight.

My new stamps will be hitting the stores any day now if they are not in already - I am just waiting to receive all my new sets and will then post some piccies here. My ATC designs will be out next week.

Anyway, today I have spent most of my time working on this Configurations Printer's Tray. It's larger than the boxes, though shallower. I've used all sorts in this one, including new Idealogy items that arrived this week. Also the new Grungeblocks that you can see with "2011" on them. Hard to see the effect here, but they give a more "blocky" look with the thicker Grungeboard. I've also used some images from the new Crowded Attic stash. I will be adding some more items but it's pretty full already! I'll have this tray, along with more Shadow boxes, at my day at Jarrold's department store on Wednesday. Meanwhile, tomorrow will see me back at Card Craft in Lancaster where I'll be demonstrating inky fingers....I mean inky techniques (!) as well as stamping and spritzing etc. General messiness and loveliness really! Hope to see you there.

All that's left to say is that you have until tomorrow midnight to email your quiz answers over to me, so don't miss out on the chance to win a prize and, I think, judging from your messages, more importantly, the honour of being the brainiest entrant! Lol! I promise the next one will be a little easier and I'll post those much awaited answers to this one (especially number 14 apparently!) on Sunday evening.

Talking of Sunday, David and I will be at Topaz where I'll be teaching workshops of cardmaking in the morning and a mini grungeboard album in the afternoon.

Oh yes, do also check my sister's blog to join in her swap and Andy's blog to enter his great competition. All these lovely prizes and swaps....great stuff!

So, have a great weekend everyone and I will put you out of your misery, re quiz questions, on Sunday night!!!

Fast, pre-bed post!

Hello all, and almost goodnight! Just thought I'd post a couple of quick things before I retire - up early to get the train down to Norwich in the morning. It's a long journey but a straightforward one with no changes, so I may well be able to get some drawing done as well as my usual nature watching. As it won't be one of the tilting trains, I should be able to draw without my hand slipping too much!

Anyway, I'll be in Jarrold's department store in Norwich city centre from 10am-4pm on Saturday - pretty sure that the craft department is on the third floor. Last time I went there was just before Christmas, so I'm looking forward to having some daylight time to look around the city this time. I have lots of inks, some stamps, Tim Holtz Ideaology bits and bobs, paints etc, so I have lots of tips and techniques to show everyone.

Oh, guess what? I have completed five of my pages for Heather's book swap....no one is more surprised than me that I got them done! I'm pretty happy with them, mainly, although I could think of other ideas as soon as I had committed myself to one or other. Only four more to go! I'm taking four of the pages with me this weekend as they utilise much of what I'll be demonstrating.

Well, my Blog Candy has still not been claimed, so, if it is still unclaimed after the weekend I will draw it again and post a new winner on Tuesday. So, Miss D needs to email me by Monday night or you'll all be in with a chance to win again!

Couple of questions I was asked in comments and emails, so I'll answer them here quickly if I may...My men's silhouette stamps are ref number PICS061 and are available from all PI stockists (check the PI website through my link below my photo to see your nearest stockist). My sister's blog is Heather Fenn-Edwards and is in my blog list in the left sidebar - check out Heather's latest ATC swap with a seaside theme. Places are filling up for the workshops that I have coming up before Christmas, so do be quick if you did want to come along - if you're already booked and haven't been to one of my classes before, do wear an apron! You can bring any of your own tools like scissors, knife, pens etc, but we'll have craft sheets, inks, stamps etc that you need, so don't worry too much. My Christmas toppers and cardstock will be in the shops soon - they co-ordinate with the Christmas character stamps and you can see them on the PI website.

I think that is just about everything, so I am going to have a shower and retire now. Have a great Friday and weekend everyone. 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.