Catch up time and American Candy

After my long absence, this could take a while! Firstly, thank you for the good wishes sent to both Heather, Graham and myself which have been much appreciated. As a family we've been, and still are, going through the mill but are trying to carry on as normally as possible through difficult times. I don't want to dwell on bad times here though....just wanted to say thank you for positive wishes and prayers that have been sent.

So, onto other things and I have lots of pictures to share, but I think I'll post some of them another time or I'll be here all night! Most of you will know that it was the big Personal Impressions/Ranger event this last week, and, one of the great things about designing for and working with PI is that I get to attend all of these "do's"! I travelled down to Coventry on Tuesday with my friend and colleague, Jan, where we met up with Jayne and Kathy from PI and, of course, Tim, Mario and Alain from Ranger as well as Dyan, Caz and Ben. Here's Dyan, Mario, Leslie (our latest PI demonstrator), Tim and Jan.

Everything was just about ready for the next day which was going to be an all day techniques workshop for retailers. There were also tables groaning under the weight of Ranger goodies in the "pop up" shop. The room looked great - the Ranger team do such a grand job of organising kits that it makes setting up so much easier.....

It was a very airy room too, lots of good, natural light and french windows opening onto a balcony with stunning views of the landscaping around the hotel.....

 We're usually here during Stitches trade show in February, when it's normally frosty, foggy or pitch dark, so it was nice to see the surroundings in glorious sunshine for once! In the evening we went for a fabulous meal at our favourite local restaurant where they have a Chinese and Indian buffet as well as an area where you can pick any meats, fish and veg etc that you fancy and have it cooked right in front of you. On leaving, it's traditional to rub the Buddha's tummy....

 .....hate this pic of me, but, of course, Tim is his usual photogenic self! Then, after a quick drink back at the hotel it was time for a reasonably early night ahead of the busy day to come.
Lots of people arriving early on Wednesday morning, eager to find a good spot!

 And here is the kit that was in front of my spot.....

 ....we all had the same kit, but with different colours so that we could swap and share throughout the day. We were all kept really busy making tags with different techniques that we can refer to at any time - we all had numbered labels with instructions of the techniques used to stick to the reverse of each tag.
Tim is a natural teacher - keeping the pace steady and quite fast (no time to spend dithering about choosing options!) and injecting humour into the proceedings of course.

 

Having the big screen was a big help for everyone. We ended the afternoon with an hour of Dyan teaching techniques with her fabulous ink sprays....

Sorry about the rather blurry image here!

My sister Heather arrived in the afternoon - we had arranged for her to share my room that night and then do the morning workshop next day. 

Another busy day dawned and this time it was two sessions working on a tag book project with Tim. I was lucky enough to be doing the afternoon session but, in the morning, I was kept busy acting as price finder, personal shopper, photographer, drinks fetcher etc etc! We had a great system whereby anyone could raise their hand and one of us would write down what they wanted and then go and add it to their shopping bag.

Here's the morning session underway...you can see Heather right near the front as I got her a good spot!!!

 ....and Heather, alongside our friend Chris, both concentrating very hard on their projects....

 ....."personal shopping anyone?"......I really enjoyed myself running around and taking orders for ink pads, stamps, stains and Idea-ology treasures!

 After the morning workshop there was time for everyone to do even more shopping! Monica and I were kept very busy checking prices and finding things for everyone. Heather's in the background waiting to say goodbye before catching the train home. Another blurry picture I'm afraid!

 Here's me with Chris, Heather and Tim - I think everyone was having a good time....Lol!

After the busy morning there was time for a quick bite, then it was back to getting everything tidied and set up again for the afternoon session and more excited ladies (and some men!). I was really glad to sit down and get stuck into making the fabulous tag book Here are some pages in progress....... 

 Each session had a raffle prize and here's the lucky winner in the afternoon collecting her bag of goodies.

Everyone also received a signed copy of Tim's second book, an apron and a "can't buy these anywhere" bag - all this plus the contents of the kits that each person had used in the workshop. Brilliant!
A really wonderful few days in great company, learning more about new products and having a whale of a time altogether! It was a real boost for Heather and myself.

Well, now onto the "American Candy" part of my post title! As I was on two workshops, I received two bags and two aprons.....so.....I am giving away a Tim Holtz Idea-ology apron, a photo card of Tim and a signed messenger style bag! 

Woo hoo! To have a chance to win this great candy, just leave a comment on this particular post between now and September 17th (it's a Tuesday). I will use a number generator to choose a winner on Wednesday 18th September, so be sure to come back and check if you've won - you have no idea how many times people forget to check! If you can add a link from your blog to here that would be even more appreciated. Good luck all!
I shall be back to post about other things, including where I'm going to be demonstrating and teaching, very soon, but, meanwhile, don't forget...you have to be in it to win it!

East to West

Well, north east back to north west anyway, after my busy weekend in Darlington and Washington. It was a nice journey up there on friday after a freezing start to the day that included large hailstones!

I had a wander around Darlington for a few hours - after being evacuated (for the second time in a month!) from the shopping centre about two minutes after I walked in there. I still don't know what it was all about, but I'm pleased to say that nobody panicked when all the alarms were shrieking, shutters started coming down and a couple of sprinklers went off! In fact, given how many people were in there, it was amazing how calmly everyone just walked to the exits.

Next day I was at the Art Shop in Darlington - so close by that I could see it from my hotel room! Hello to everyone that came along - especially to Maria who it was lovely to see again and who very thoughtfully brought me a lovely plant for the garden. Thank you Maria, it will be carefully planted out as soon as I have decided exactly where it is going to reside. I also got a box of choccies from the staff at the art shop which was very nice.
Here's one of the scenic cards I made which has Distress Rock Candy dry glitter added down the left side and added to the snow.

Sorry for the slightly blurry effect, I was taking the pictures in a rush before I left for my train!

I headed off to Washington straight after my demo finished. I was on the fifth floor of the hotel with an amazing view across the skyline so I had a grandstand position to watch several firework displays going on at the same time - I didn't know where to look first!
On Sunday I was at Dainty Supplies where I was using the new Ranger dry glitters - I'm sure they were really happy to see all the sparkle I left on the floor! 

I made this card using some double sided adhesive film and acetate.

I cut curved lines into the protective paper on the adhesive sheet so I was able to peel back each section, adding various glitter colours to them to create a  stylistic sky effect. The palm trees are stamped onto acetate which I applied to the other (sticky) side of the adhesive film. It's hard to capture the shimmery effect through the acetate, but there's a real sparkle from the fine glitters. I drew the star onto the acetate surface using a white gel pen.

One of my neighbours was looking after Tara and Thomas over the weekend because Heather has unfortunately fallen victim to one of those sudden back injuries that can come from something as simple as opening a window or picking something up off the floor. Poor thing, she's been in agony for several days and can hardly move.

I got home on Sunday night after a long journey - four and a half hours. Of course, my two terrors let me know that they were quite unimpressed that I'd deserted them for three days! I think they've forgiven me now though and they've been taking turns cuddling up to me on the sofa this evening.

Before I forget. When I was at the hotel in Darlington there were two flavoured coffees as well as the usual Nescafe sachets. I tried them both and they were delicious...one was Hazelnut and one was Irish Cream. I don't take sugar so flavoured coffees are not something I usually like but these appeared to be sugar free. Tonight I looked up the website for Beanies and sent a message to ask if the coffees did include any sugar. To my amazement, I had a personal reply from a lovely man called Mark within ten minutes, even though it was after 9pm! None of the coffees have any sugar in them, so I've ordered some for the cold winter evenings. I was very impressed with the customer service, as well as the coffee, and they are a British company (and a northern one too!) so I'm giving them a plug!

Well, I'm back to my drawing board tomorrow so I had better give my furry friends their midnight snack before getting to bed and giving my eyes a rest. Hope everyone's keeping warm.

Feel like a giggle? Read on....

I had one of my rather sleepless nights last night, dropping off quite easily then suddenly waking up at 3am and tossing and turning for hours before finally drifting off again. I never set my alarm if I don't have to be anywhere as I almost always wake very early anyway, and, if not, my Tara and Thomas soon let me know it's time to get up!

However, today they must have decided that their mum needed a lie in, so I was suddenly woken by the sound of the doorbell ringing several times at 7.40am. I hopped out of bed and realised my PJ bottoms were on the floor...I must have been too hot and kicked them off in the night! So, more hopping ensued as I tried to coordinate my legs with the legs of the PJ's! I stumbled to the front door, hair everywhere and eyes still bleary, and could see the postman through the small glass panel.

I opened the door a little and peered round, saying "Sorry, I'd overslept, so thanks for that". He smiled and proffered a package. I opened the door fully and he thrust the little computery gadget for me to sign. I was mumbling apologies and thanks again and he just sputtered something before dashing off down the drive. He didn't close the gate which is pretty unusual for the posties around here.

I shut the door and wandered back through the house. As I put the package on the sofa I glanced down and......my left boob had escaped from my pyjama top!!!!!! I was mortified. I shrieked "Oh my god!" and then started laughing! I mean, I haven't exactly been short changed in that department and the poor man must have a right eyeful....or should I say a left eyeful! 

Doubtless the story will have gone round the sorting office now, so I'll either get no post for weeks, or a queue of posties ringing the bell depending on his description! I'm just glad it was one of the postmen I don't really know, if it had been my "nice little man" who always has a chat with me, then I really would have been embarrassed!

Anyway, I thought you might like a laugh at my expense! I know that David would have absolutely laughed his socks off at that one and I even have a sneaky suspicion that he caused it to happen to make me giggle as I had one of my down days yesterday and this certainly set the day off with a hilarious tone. Was the package worth the embarrassment I hear you ask. Well, here are the main items that were inside....

Some tapes, labels, notes and a date stamper to use with my Smash book...I already had the book, but I've included it in the picture anyway. The notepad has pages with lists that you can fill in.....top ten this or that. I think many of us who were brought up on Enid Blyton books have a "thing" about lists.....picnic descriptions were a long list of sandwiches, cakes, bicuits and, of course, lashings of ginger beer! (If that means nothing to you then just be grateful you're still very young!)

The other new products were these sparkly lovelies.....

 They are the Stickles dry glitters from Ranger. The big jar on the left is the larger grained clear rock candy glitter which has a rather more vintage effect. I'm just missing the Eucalyptus green to make up the full set but I'm sure there are enough shades there to keep me happy. They are incredibly fine so I can see I'm going to be leaving sparkly trails wherever I go. 

Thought you might like to see what happens when I put the laptop down.......

.....a certain mister Thomas lets me know that he thinks I've been paying far too much attention to it rather than him! He is a comic.

The third and final part of my stint as guest designer for Darkroom Door is on their blog now if you want to take a look at the last of the projects I made. They were great fun to make and hope you like them.

Well, lunch break is over now so I must get back to the drawing board. It's been so cold here today that I've had to keep stopping to warm up my frozen fingers! And, by the way, you can stop laughing now thank you!

PS I nearly forgot to say that I'll be at Samuel Taylor's at Kershaws Garden centre, Brighouse, West Yorkshire all day tomorrow. So do do pop by if it's in your vicinity...I promise to do a full wardrobe check so as not to scare anyone away!  

Ready to go!

All packed and ready to go! David will be driving me to the NEC tomorrow morning with a car full of demonstration products, samples and a display piece that I'm really looking forward to showing you very soon. It's going to be a busy few days but a lot of fun too...we work hard and play hard at this event. It's the annual catching up with people that I seldom see, so I really do enjoy it. David will be coming back home tomorrow though and, by Tuesday afternoon I'll be keenly looking for him in the crowd when he comes to help pack up and bring me back!!

No pictures of samples yet of course, as all is under wraps until Sunday, but I will show you new things in my posts from the show.

Tomorrow afternoon will be my chance to sit on the other side of the table at the Personal Impressions Ranger workshop. I'm looking forward to trying the new products and getting some new ideas. Then Sunday will be demonstrating all morning and teaching in the afternoon. Same again on Monday and then demonstrating all day on Tuesday. Loong days and sometimes quite long evenings as well! So, check back for my nightly reports to see what we are all getting up to!

Heather sent me this picture (sorry it's a bit small!) to show you the kind of thing that we'll be doing in my Mermaid Art Doll workshop. She made this one with me a few years ago at a weekend event that I was teaching at. Hard to tell here, but she's made with various fibres, stamps, inks, wires and beads etc....and she does have a face....honestly! We won't be making one exactly like this, but hope it gives you an idea of what we'll be up to...having fun, that's for sure! Well, I am signing off for now and will be back tomorrow night....hotel wifi connection allowing! have a great weekend everyone. Lindsay

My weekend

Had a lovely day in Wigan yesterday, well Pemberton to be precise, at Card-io. Thanks to Wendy and her daughter for looking after me so well and all the ladies who came along....don't think there were any men this time! I had some of my favourite inks, stamps and flowers with me and I was also using Ranger's Liquid Pearls which are something I sometimes forget about for a while and then re-discover to my delight! Here I used them to create the background for this card. I stamped the fairy from my silhouette set and the dandelions and words which are from Marion Emberson's Make a Wish set (both PI) onto acetate. I flipped the piece over, squeezed White Opal, Flamingo and Peacock Liquid Pearls over the sheet and then brayered over them to create the squooshy effect.Handily, you can then press the acetate, pearl side down, onto card and it will stick in place. I added some dots of the pearls over the dandelion heads as well...getting really into those pearls!

I was also using Darkroom Door stamps again and this simple card is just using the watercolour technique with my Le Plume pens - coloured straight onto the stamps, spritzed with water and pressed onto 300 gsm white card. I do love this technique and the DD silhouette style flower stamps work extremely well as they allow you to build up a meadow scene really easily.I like to scribble my pens onto my craft sheet, add water, pick up the colour with a brush and tap the handle so that I get random spatters of watery colour over the image as well. I think this gives the whole thing a more painterly finish.

I received some lovely gifts this weekend too...some fantastic little icons all the way from India from two of my crafting buddies who had been out there recently. I have ideas for the icons already! When I got home there was a lovely card, tag and ATC waiting for me from another crafty friend...a lovely surprise! Makes me feel very fortunate that my work leads me to meet so many like minded people in a world that can, at times, seem very unfriendly.

Well, for some reason, I couldn't get to sleep on Friday night, so, after my busy day on Saturday I would normally had a bit of a lie in...that's to say no alarm, just wake up when I wake up. However, it was the men's final of the Australian Open and it was live at 8.15 this morning, so I got up to watch. Almost wished I had taken the lie in instead! Andy Murray was playing Novak Jokovitch and I just wanted the best man to win. Unfortunately, Murray was not only outplayed, he was also "out behaved" if there is such a term! He seemed to be very surly from the moment he walked on court and he was doing a great deal of "abusing his racquet" and swearing after his losing points. It's one reason why I like to watch Nadal and Federer...not only great players, but also they are gentlemen who take the knocks as well as the good times and treat them equally. Mmm...a famous poem springs to mind.... Well, just my thoughts anyway, and congratulations to Jokovitch for his win.

Okay, must away to bed now as I have workshops to prepare tomorrow and I think I need to catch up on Friday's insomnia! Lindsay

Chunky Book Pictures

I just managed to take pictures of my wonderful Chunky Book before the skies turned a mix of grey, purple and yellow, the Heaven's opened and the thunder and lightning began. One roll of thunder was so close and so loud that I felt the floor vibrating...I kid you not! Anyway, my camera is still determined to turn things blue, so some of the pages don't look quite as colourfully purple as they really are. So, thanks to all the talented ladies who took part and especially to Heather for arranging the swap and for making all the covers and putting the pages togrther so artfully. Here is the front cover which Heather made featuring some of my favourite colours! The remaining pictures show each person's page on the right and the previous page back on the left....hope that makes sense! Next is the inside cover and the "Timekeeper" page created by Alison Brandist.....lots of textures, masking, great colours and images on this page - love it! The next picture shows the "Heart and Soul" page by Sandra Zengler. This one has really rich colours and I love the words that Sandra has chosen. The next picture is of "Heavy Metal" by Heather Fenn-Edwards (my sis, who organised the whole thing). There's so much going on in this page and, if I'm not mistaken, Heather has used the "Drunken Scotch" technique to create the scrumptious background. Very tactile.Next is my page, "It's only Words". I used alcohol inks, acetate, stamps etc to create this one.This spooky page is by Sheila King. It's for the theme "A Ghost in the Machine" and I love all the cobwebs. When David looked through the book he said this page was his favourite!Next is a very elegant page by Joanne Parkin. It's the page entitled "With a Little Flourish"...this was the page I struggled the most with, so I was really impressed with Joanne's interpretation. The amount of work on this is really something though you can't really see the dimension here.Here is the "I Dreamed a Dream" page by June Benton which looks much more purple and aqua in real life than it does here. June has done some lovely, shimmery spritzing on this page and lots of collagey stamping to create this very ethereal page. Hilda Moffett created this next page entitled "Vintage Journeys". An array of tickets, case, maps etc adorn the page and I especially like the pennant shapes at the side....black and white Glossy Enamels unless I'm mistaken! I was quite chuffed that I got this next page by Susan Jenneys (Artyjen) because it was my favourite of her pages that she put on her blog! This one is for the theme "Take Flight" and Sioux used Grungepaper to stamp her images onto. Once coloured they have been adorned with Distress Stickles (careful how you say that out loud folks!!!). Very evocative. Finally, this shows the inside back cover that Heather made and includes a list of everyone who took part...attention to detail or what?! So, there you have it, what a treasure indeed. Keep an eye on Heather's blog as she may well be doing more unusual swaps after Christmas - meanwhile she does run a monthly ATC swap that you can join in. By the way, as the idea was to make chunky pages that also included Ranger products (though not strictly) I thought I'd photograph my book on a suitable background....any idea? It's my coveted Ranger apron!

Off to relax for a bit now, so see you back here soon. Lindsay

What a weekend!

It was hard work but it was a really terrific weekend spent at Dawn's Design Studio with a full day of workshops on Saturday and then demonstrating yesterday. Thankfully, after planning and preparing for the classes, (and bringing a personal record amount of "stuff" with me!) everything went pretty smoothly and I'm so pleased that everyone said that they enjoyed themselves...my main goal! There were some familiar faces and old friends (less of the old I hear you cry!) and we were also delighted that Sioux (Artyjen) had travelled up so far to be with us - over seven hours in her car! I was only sorry that, because of the crazy schedule on Saturday, I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to spend talking with Sioux. There was lots of excitement in the air with everyone being together though, so the atmosphere was great. One very funny moment came when Sioux suddenly let out a loud screech and we all thought she had done herself a mischief.....but no....Joanne had made her a special ATC and it was the sight of Richard Armitage's face staring up at her from the card which caused the reaction! Hilarious! Sioux made me a special ATC too - featuring Ben Murphy and Pete Duel (Alias Smith and Jones...going back a bit!) because we had both revealed that our teenage poster heart throb had been Pete Duel. What a surprise that was, as it was some time ago that we learned of our mutual fancy! Brilliant! I got TAC's from Sheila and Gez too and will post pictures of them as soon as I can locate them...that sounds awful, but I had such a huge amount of things to pack away that I put them somewhere safe and just have to remember which safe place it was! Everything is still in the car as we couldn't face unpacking it all last night. Better get it done soon though. Here you can see some of the girls in full flow (looks like Sheila was about to start handing round some of the toffees that she brought!) and just some of the masses of "stuff" under the tables.So, the morning workshop was a repeat of the Ranger Mirror project which was so popular earlier this year. Joanne and "Peg Leg" arrived early and Joanne helped us to get set up - thank you! It took some time due to the sheer amount of products we were going to be using. The Ikea framed mirrors were colourwashed and set aside so that we could then concentrate on making all the Ranger technique filled examplars to decorate them with. We started with the Melt Pot, making UTEE filled Memory Frames, UTEE agate pieces, UTEE over stamps etc. Everyone's pieces were different of course, and we had no accidents with the Melt Pots and the leads which I was trying carefully not to trip over from my position in the middle of the tables! After the Melt Pots were switched off, we moved onto Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Backed Canvas, creating transferred images and resist images by stamping onto the canvas with Multi Matte Medium. Next we used Alcohol inks on acrylic Fragments, on foil and a technique that proved to be very popular which was inking a glass piece and then stamping with Black Archival ink before removing the stamped image with tissue to reveal a negative. Here are some very concentration filled faces! We then moved onto Distress inks and Gesso (which I realised that we should really have done earlier as it needed to dry. Oops, sorry ladies!) and by then our three hours was well and truly up. Because the next workshop was only half an hour later we couldn't overrun, so everyone is going to assemble the pieces at home. Heather arrived mid morning and then joined everyone else at 1pm when the first workshop ended. Heather had brought the completed Chunky Books from the swap that myself, Joanne, Gez, Sioux and Sheila had all partaken in. Heather had wrapped each book in fabric and ribbon with name tags on them. The reactions of everyone were wonderful as Heather had done some an amazing job putting all the pages together. I'll post pictures of my book once I take them, but do check out everyone elses blogs to see some examples already posted. Thank you Heather, all your hard work was really appreciated by me and everyone else, especially as I know it was made extra tricky at the moment with your hand problems.

Well, David and I refused everyone's offers to help us clear the tables and set up for the next class...we sent them off for their lunch instead! The half hour vanished in a puff of smoke and soon we were onto the Matchbox Shrines. Here are two pictures of the largest shrine which we used Cook's Matches boxes on (just to give you an idea of scale). The first picture shows the tray pushed upwards.... .....and this one shows the tray pulled down.
My example featured an Opalite cat which I bought last year (it reminded me of our lovely pusscat, Cherry) and a lovely quote, which had a few of us cat lovers feeling teary on Saturday, which read "no heaven will not Heaven be, unless my cat is waiting there for me". The base was made from corrugated card - I love this free, lightweight packaging material as it can be used for so many projects. It was covered in paper, swooshed using Paint Dabbers and, once the matchbox case was stuck down, the whole piece was coated with Beeswax. I love Beeswaxing! The matchbox tray was painted, papered and filled with little icons, quotes and Beadazzles, and some wire was threaded through and beaded to create the pull. David had guessed that this would take everyone about an hour and a half! Mmmmm...no! There was a lot of work in creating these, and the beaded wires took quite some time, so the second, smaller shrine was going to be a work in progress. Everyone took home the relevent card pieces and papers etc and we made a start on the little matchbox with doors. Here you can see my shrine closed..............and open.

As promised, here is a brief run down of the matchbox element for this one: The tray is covered with a long strip of paper running vertically and creased well to sit neatly in and around the edges. Then a piece of paper is similarly stuck in horizontally. The cover is then cut in half down the length of the front to create the doors. Two paper strips are used to cover both doors - it's important to crease the paper as you go so that there is no tension when the doors are opened or closed. I used a gold Paint Dabber to coat the exposed edges of the card. Now the cover is stuck firmly to the tray so that just the doors remain unstuck. Back to a little wiring now! Poke a hole through each door about half way down. Thread a bead (about 7mm) onto thin wire, twist the wire together and push the ends through a door front and secure the ends with tape. For the second door, make a loop in a piece of wire, twisting the ends again. Ensure it will fit over the bead on the other door. Now push the ends through and secure inside as before. Now you just need to cut two more pieces of paper to cover the door backs, covering the wire ends. Easy! :)

For the plaque, cover a semicircle and a rectangle of card with paper, decorate with paint etc and then stick the semicircle to the top of the rectangle to make a sort of roof effect. Adhere the matchbox to the plaque before filling and decorating to your taste. I used a tiny bottle (filled with a mix of bath salts and glitter!) and made a "Love Potion" label for it and a tiny tag for the door that reads "Open at own risk". I cut letters from a Tim Holtz paper stash and added K&Co bees and a random paper key coated with Glossy Accents. The hanger is simply twisted wire and beads. Hope you like them - they were tremendous fun to make. Here are the girls and myself - minus Heather, who was taking the picture! - with their large shrines. Joanne is being camera shy and hiding behind hers!Well, I was well and truly shattered after a long day on my feet and all the talking! So, after spending some time chatting to everyone and saying cheerios etc, it was time to make a start on clearing up...ugh! Worst job! We got some sorted but had to leave some things for the morning as Amy was ready to take me round to Dawn's house where I was staying the night as her sister, Rena, has not been too well. We had a lovely roast dinner and relaxed on the sofa catching up, watching some tv and playing with the doggies! I slept really well and it was soon time to get back to the tip that was awaiting me on the tables at the shop. Oh well, we just got stuck in and then I was ready to demonstrate for the day. This included me colouring Sheila's necklace after I made a casual remark about how I'd feel compelled to alcohol ink it...it was silver and pearl colours, but now it's oranges and browns! It was another fun filled day, and I'd like to say a special hello to Caitlin and her mum. It was lovely to spend time with you and I hope you can come to a workshop - you'll be well looked after. I'll post some new workshop titles and dates shortly.

To finish, I'd like to include my quirky journal page! I wasn't going to post this one, but, on Saturday, some of the ladies really did seem to like it, even asking if I could do a stamp of this creepy character!!! I should explain that the inspiration here was that, in the mornings, with the sun coming through, I can see a really weird face in the curtains - you know how that light and the patterns can create strange images. After noticing him a few times I decided to call him "The one eyed Matador"! Anyway, coming back on the train last weekend, I saw an arched, viaduct type of bridge set in the beautiful scenery. I immediately recalled the Matador as the arch shapes reminded me of his big, tombstone teeth! So, I sat on the train sketching and by the time I got home I had got to this stage....... .......I then finished the drawing and coloured the pages, using Promarkers, over the next couple of evenings and this was the final result. I do like the colours but was cross that I made a mess of my writing! Gggrrr! Never mind. So, one creepy page was finished! That was a pretty mammoth post, made longer by the fact that the italic button keeps pressing itself for no apparent reason so I have had to keep going back over text. Very annoying! I am now going to get on with rest of the day, which means doing...nothing! This is my Sunday! Thanks to everyone who I was with this weekend, including Brenda, who worked her socks off keeping everyone supplied with teas and coffees on Saturday! It was a really great weekend and hope to see you all again soon. Lindsay

Three places left

I've just checked the status of my workshops this Saturday at Dawn Bibby's studio and the Ranger Mirror, morning, class is fully booked. However, there are three places available on the 1.30pm-4.30 pm workshop..."Matchbox Shrines". This is a mixed media class where we will be making wall hangings that have matchboxes as a focal point, containing mini treasures. We'll be papering, painting, Beeswaxing, gilding and adorning the plaques. The matchboxes will be similarly decorated and then filled with tiny ornaments, charms etc that I've been collecting for us to use. Wire and beads are also featuring, so there will be plenty to keep everyone busy! If you'd like to come along to a fun filled afternoon, please call Topaz Crafts on 01254 356501 to book. The cost is £20 which includes all materials. I'm looking forward to Saturday very much and have just finished sorting out all the materials for the classes...a pretty mammoth task it was too!

Just one photo to share with you today. I have done a couple more Journal pages but I'll just show you this one for now...the other one is a little weird to be honest!!! This one is quite whimsical. I used Sherbet Pink and Raspberry paint dabbers over my pages, the grid pattern coming from Magic Mesh which I laid on the pages before dabbing the paints over the top and then removing the mesh. The image (she looks just like me....!!! Ha!) is from a magazine as are the watch faces.I just wanted a pretty simple look to this one. My gessoed, painted pages are between my drawn and coloured with Promarkers ones - this way, it doesn't matter that the pen colour comes through to the back because the paint mediums cover it.

That's it for the moment then. Off to relax for the evening now - David and I had a fish n chips lunch yesterday and we have both been feeling a little "delicate" since then! My fish looked very grey, so I think that was the cause...we won't be going there again anyway! And it was meant to be a treat! Oh well!

So, looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday...I'll be working you hard! Then I'll be in Dawn's Studio on Sunday as well to demonstrate for the day, so do pop along if you can. Lindsay