The last post...for a while!

I think so anyway! It all depends if we can get a wireless reception while we are away house and cat sitting for mum and dad while they are on holiday. If not, then I'll be posting again in a couple of weeks. My samples for this weekend's events are done...pretty much anyway...and I have sorted everything out for taking away with me, which was a real headache as I have to continue working so can't afford to leave particular inkpads, stamps, papers and so on behind! I also have to break up my break, so to speak, halfway through to go down to Eastbourne - some rest eh?!

So, on friday I'll be off down to Basildon, which is not my favourite journey as it means using the underground and trotting around London with my bags to get to the next tube station. Still, it should be fine so long as the tube services are running smoothly. I'll be having a relaxing evening at the hotel then giving a demonstration at In 2 Crafting in nearby Wickford on Saturday. Hope to see some familiar, and new faces there. Here are some little peeks at the kind of things that I will be doing there. This first one features a Hero Arts stamp (Silhouette Flower HACG105) which I've stamped onto my favourite gloss, coated cardstock which I had first applied alcohol inks to. I love the depth that this technique brings to the image. I then used the same colours of inks to dye some Petaloo flowers and a ribbon. Dyeing flowers this way is a great way to clean up any leftover ink from the craft sheet so I always have a few small blossoms to hand for just this job. I used some Bazzill card to cover part of the card blank and smudged a little Distress ink around the card. Great stamp!More Hero Arts on this card - the distressed backround border on the cream card is Aged Print Frame (HACG154) which is a whopping 5.5" x 6.5"! I've stamped it onto cream card and then added several shades of Distress inks...just a random mix really. I then stamped images from HACL290 Printed Flowers onto acetate which I had applied alcohol inks to. I cut them out and curled the petals a little before sticking to the distressed background. I smudged some Distress Stickles, in Walnut Stain, around the card edges to complete the look.

This card features my Butterfly Words Background (PIRM016) which is one of Personal Impressions stick on rubber stamps (these are mounted onto cushioning and remain sticky so they can be placed on and off blocks with no mess). I love the detail that rubber stamps give. I stamped it twice onto inked gloss card and then cut out the two butterflies to mount over the ones on the main image. I dyed the ribbon and flowers to match as before. I masked off the card about two cms down from the top and blended Bundled Sage Distress ink (love this colour!) over the top. The top of the card was then punched using the incredible Pop Up Butterfly punch from Martha Stewart - such a simple way to add dimension. I cut a slit in the spine just below the punched line and wrapped the ribbon through and around. I simply adhered all the elements, including the "waste" from the butterfly punch. Hope you like them!
Well, as soon as the demonstration is over I have to make the journey homewards but will carry on to mum and dad's. Next day I'll be at Windmill Craft at Marsh Mill in Thornton - thankfully not far from my parents! I'll be using loads of Ranger products at this demonstration, so will be getting exceedingly inky and grunged!
I'm working on a new stamp collection so am looking forward to sitting in the garden with my sketch book as long as it stays dry! The following Friday I'll be catching the train again to meet an old mate of mine who will then drive us both down to Eastbourne for an event at ESK warehouses. It will be a fun weekend with lots of demonstrations on the Saturday. As it's such a long haul (about as far as you can go without falling off the edge!) we are staying over another night and coming back on Sunday. I'll be glad to get back to the last week of our break though!
The Saturday after that I'll be at Card Craft in Lancaster for a demonstration of a range of products and techniques. Then we'll be heading home again on Sunday and I expect I'll have plenty of photos and tales to share. Till then, hope everyone keeps well, happy and creative! Lindsay

My busy weekend

It's been an extra long weekend as I was demonstrating at C J Crafts in Edgeley on Friday as well as being at Dawn's Design Studio on Saturday and Sunday. I had a busy old time on all three days, which is just how I like it! On Friday I met lots of new ladies as well as seeing some familiar faces, namely Paul from the Artsiders, Sheila from Rubber Addict and Edna, who I have known for years and we bump into each other every so often. Hello to everyone and I will reply to all the emails that I received as soon as possible - promise! I'll be back at C J Crafts in July, so hope to see you there next time.

On Saturday I was teaching a workshop at Dawn's Studio and we had a lovely afternoon...so much so that the class over ran by nearly forty minutes!!! Below you can see Sheila and next to her is Rena, Dawn's sister, who had decided to treat herself to an afternoon of crafting. Think she enjoyed herself! Just look at all the mess we made....well, it wouldn't be me if the table wasn't a tip!Here are a couple of photos of some of the samples that I made for the workshop...the card used Martha Stewart punches and glitter strands - scrumptuous! We dyed Colour Me flowers, from Petaloo, and ribbons using alcohol inks - I really enjoy creating co-ordinated looks using this technique. In front of the card you can see the fairy jars I made. These are such fun to make and perfect for kids at heart like myself, or to make for young relatives.

We used vintage photos (copies) which we lightly tinted before adding stamped and painted butterfly wings. The fairies were put into the jars with various flowers, twinkly fibres and glitter confetti. Alcohol inked jar lids, ribbons and faux vintage tags complete the fantasy.
On Saturday night I stayed with Rena and her lovely husband Stephen (who had cooked his delicious parsnip soup for me by special request!). Also staying over was little Alicia, their grandaughter, who kept us all entertained with her dancing, singing and never ending energy...including playing statues, mister crocodile and learning how to do forward rolls or "cockle overs" which sounds much more fun! I had a most wonderful evening full of laughter.
On Sunday I was demonstrating in the Studio....mostly Beeswaxing, but with other things thrown in by request! It was a lovely day...especially as almost everyone from the previous day's workshop turned up to see what I was up to!
When we got back last evening David made a delicious salad with his renowned handmade chicken burgers (he mixes a bit of stuffing in with the mixture!) without buns, so quite healthy too. Then we settled down and watched Avatar which Stephen had loaned us. We weren't sure if we would enjoy the film, and I didn't know much about the plot beforehand, but we were very impressed on many levels. Purely on the cinematography (if that's the right word for a mostly CGI film) it is stunning and the colours are breathtaking. The CGI work is also astonishing of course, but what really impressed us were the messages within the storyline....analogies of invading empires trying to eliminate the native people, the responsibilities that we have to look after our world and issues of racism are all included. I think we'll be watching it again before I return it!
Well, I've had a semi relaxing day today (Monday is my Sunday) but also managed to get some sketches done in preparation for inking them up tomorrow. So, will sign off for now and post again before the weekend. Lindsay

Fairies

Just a quick little post to say that there are some places available on my workshop this Saturday at Dawn's Design Studio in Church, Accrington, Lancashire. The class runs from 1pm-4pm and we'll be making two fairy themed cards, using alcohol inks, stamps, acetate, Martha Stewart punches and more, plus a "capatured" fairy in a jar. The cost is £20.00 and if you fancy joining us then please give Topaz Crafts a call on 01254 356506.

I'll be at the Studio the following day too, creating items decorated with beeswax in an all day demonstration which is free of charge. Hope to see some of you there.

I've been making some extra samples for my day at C J Crafts tomorrow, so am getting on with some sketching now before dinner and a relaxing evening before the busy weekend. Lindsay

Personal Impressions (PImpressions) on Twitter

Personal Impressions (PImpressions) on Twitter

Dawn's Residential Weekend

Two posts in one night! I'll need to lie down in a darkened room after this one! Well, it was another busy weekend as I was one of the tutors at Dawn Bibby's residential weekend. It was a mixture of hard work and lots of fun, so all of us felt pretty shattered afterwards, including the seventy odd ladies who attended - I mean seventy odd as in number not as in "odd" ladies!!! On the Friday I was at the studio helping to prepare kits and let's just say that I don't want to see any more gilding flakes in a hurry! We went to the hotel to prepare and then meet and greet all the ladies and one or two husbands. It was a great start to the weekend as everyone got chance to chat and make friends and I got to meet up with a few people who I only see once or twice a year.

On Saturday it was a full day of workshops - here are the ladies on "my" table looking all fresh and ready to take on anything! It was a very intense day with so many projects for everyone to get through. I was joined by Heather in the afternoon, and she also helped the ladies at my table. She was joining us to demonstrate and host a table on Sunday - something new for Heather, so she did really well...knew she could do it! In the evening we had a lovely dinner and a fun evening, including dancing - here is my lovely friend Paula looking gorgeous and elegant as usual! And here are Dawn, with her lovely sister Rena, Rena's husband Stephen and Amy of course.

On Sunday, after a bad start for some of us....I overslept for the first time I can recall in years (!) myself, my sister Heather, Jo and Paula were demonstrating in the Design studio and in the afternoon we all hosted tables for everyone to come and have a go at various projects and techniques. Here are some of the ladies making Beeswax plaques at my, as usual, very messy table!

And here are some samples that I made using the Beeswax techniques...the blue plaque doesn't show up too well as the Perfect Pearls I smudged on there are reflecting the light back. The orange hanger has a set of chipboard wings that I cut in half and popped under the lady image. These and the ribbon hanger on the blue plaque are all held in place purely with the wax - no other adhesives required!

I had great fun creating the pieces and I'll be demonstrating the techniques at Dawn's studio this Sunday (all day) so if you fancy seeing the samples more closely then do come along. Everyone seemed to really enjoy using the wax as it is just so different and so easy to create great effects with. On this Ikea mirror frame I used scraps from a Victorian calendar along with some Maya Road chipboard flourishes. 'Scuse the fingerprints!

Well, I shall be demonstrating at C J Crafts in Edgely, Stockport on Friday, then teaching a fairy workshop at Dawn's on Saturday - we'll be making cards and a fairy in a jar! Then I'll be in store all day on Sunday too, so another busy weekend ahead.

If you would like to see more pictures from the weekend, then have a look at Heather's blog to see her fabulous beaded dragonflies and at Paula's blog to see the brilliant slide show that she has put together. Amy has also added photos on the Topaz Crafts website. I'll end with a big "hello!" to all the ladies that I met at the weekend and hope that you really enjoyed the whole experience. Lindsay

At last!

Hello all, and apologies for being sooo long in posting! Our Scottish trip was almost a fortnight ago now, but when we got back I had to hit the ground running with my tightest deadlines to date. I got the vital work done and then got on with the merely important things! Lol!

Anyway, what a wonderful time we had in Scotland. We drove up to Dundee, stopping off at Gretna where we called at the nearest place to get a coffee which turned out to be an outlet centre. It was a lovely sunny day so we spent an hour strolling around and I bought a much needed pair of shoes (half price!) before we set off again. It's about a five hour'ish journey but the Sat Nav added an extra forty five minutes by refusing to acknowledge the road our hotel was on and sending us miles out of our way! As David said, we knew we had gone too far when we asked for directions and were answered in Norwegian!!! Lol! We eventually arrived and, after a quick change and a coffee we went out to find the sea - we knew it was nearby, but it was very hard to get to. Along the way we stopped to take a few pictures of this amazing phenomenon in the sky. I had only been looking at similar pictures on the tv a few days before...it isn't a rainbow but something similar caused by ice crystals in the sky being hit by sunlight at a particular angle. I think that is right anyway! It was incredibly beautiful and the camera just couldn't capture the full effect.We finally reached the sea, and strolled along the shoreline looking into rock pools (nothing seemed to be living in them!) and me paddling in the freezing water. As you can see, the light here was incredible with a beautiful clarity and dramatic depth. I was so pleased with this photograph - one of the best I've ever taken I think, even though I more or less pointed and clicked. As you can tell, I was enjoying myself and it was especially good to have David with me to share all the wonderful scenery. I've been up to Kitty Krafts in Broughty Ferry several times but always by train so have never had the chance to have a good look around the area before.

Although you can't really tell, this is us! I was taking a shot of the sea when I saw our shadows, so I switched my attention to those instead - wish I really did have long legs like that (well, maybe not quite that long!) . Next day I was at Kitty Krafts run by Louise and Ross. It was a busy old day meeting familiar people and new customers alike. Hazel had texted me to say that she couldn't come along after all as she had hurt her foot, so that was the only downside of the day. However, a big hello to everyone who did come along - Punum, I haven't forgotten your request and Personal Impressions are sorting out postcards as I write, so I shall send you one as soon as I have them.

As soon as the demonstration had finished we set off again, this time driving down to Jedburgh on the Scottish Borders. We stayed at the Spread Eagle, a 500 year old family run hotel. Next morning we drove about twelve miles to Kelso where I was demonstrating at Mayfield Garden centre. What a busy day this turned out to be! I met some wonderful, enthusiastic ladies as well as some very patient men! I'd hardly time to take pictures on either day, but here is a very simple card using my Men's Silhouette stamp set (PICS061). I stamped the image onto white card using a Versamark Watermark pad and also swiped a bit of the ink below the man to ground him. I had mixed a scoop of gold Perfect Pearls with some black embossing powder and used this on the image. Once embossed and cooled, I simply swooshed some Distress ink from the image outwards to create the misty look behind him - a mix of Weathered Wood and Old Paper. This card features a background made using Ink Potion no 9 and Impress re-inkers over Personal Impressions coated gloss card which I then overstamped with the fairy and the dandelions from my Flower Silhouette set (PICS057) using a black Archival ink pad. I restamped the fairy using a Watermark pad and applied Pearl Shimmer embossing powder. The scroll on the left was made using an EK Success punch: Scroll and Dots.Not sure what I was doing in this picture but it looks a bit scary! As you can see, I had an enormous area to work on, but I still managed to make a mess!

We left Kelso feeling very uplifted and made the long journey home. We saw lots of wildlife on all the various legs of our trip....unfortunately, apart from the birds, it was all dead! We had never seen so many creatures killed on the roads, including, very sadly, two deer on the central reservation just a few yards apart. Must have been a nasty shock for the drivers too.
All in all a great trip with mostly wonderful weather and always beautiful surroundings. Now I must get on to my second post with pictures of last weekend! By the way, I still can't get the yellow off my last post....I was using the spellchecker which I had not used before, and no matter what I do it will not convert the background back to white. I shan't be using it again! Lindsay