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What I mean is having a look back over the last few days and a look forward to the next few! It's been an unusual one for me as I normally work at home during the week and get out and about at the weekends, but this week I was down in Oxfordshire, but more of that later.
Last Saturday was so enjoyable. I was at Crafty's in Liverpool and the day just flew by because it was so busy and so much fun. I was mainly demonstrating Martha Stewart punches but with lots of inks and stamps thrown into the mix as well. Everyone was really enthusiastic but thankfully no fights broke out when certain punches were running out! Thanks to Elaine and her lovely staff for making it such a fabulous day.
On Sunday we went over to Thornton, near Blackpool and I must apologise to those who came along wanting to buy the products I was using, but there had been a delivery problem and things hadn't arrived in time - ooops! Hopefully you have all picked up the things you wanted now. Hello to everyone I met at the weekend anyway - familiar friends and new faces.
So, on Tuesday I travelled down to Abingdon for a special trade event the next day. Although it was only for trade customers I thought you might like to see what we got up to! The day was organised between Personal Impressions and Country Love Ceramics and was to show how inks, stamps etc can be used with bisque, paints, texture mediums, various varnishes and non-fire glazes to create exciting results. I was working alongside Andy Skinner who is their resident ceramic artist and expert. It was a very inspiring couple of days as Andy had some amazing samples and lots of tips and techniques. We are still discovering the different effects and what works with what. Do check out Andy's website http://www.andyskinner.org/ and have a look ate some of the terrific things he's made. Anyway, here I am teaching one of the make n take workshops yesterday afternoon - the picture was taken by my lovely friend Paula Pascual who took a moment off from creating a plaque to be the official photographer! Thank you to Paula for helping me to get set up and handing things out too.
Here's a picture of one of the projects that we made on the day. The Script Robin was coloured with Le Plume pens, spritzed with water and then stamped onto the bisque tile. You may also recognise one of my favourite MS punches, the Pine Forest edger and Best Creations gorgeous Snowflake paper from their Frosty Christmas range.
Here's the corner of one of the tables...look at all that lovely creative "mess"! 
But have a look at some of the things which Andy has been making over the last couple of weeks..... ......none of these have been fired, although you would never guess. Andy's used Gesso, Texture Mediums and Varnishes to create these pieces which he's coloured with Distress inks, Perfect Pearls etc and embellished with stamps. Aren't they fabulous?
Here are a few more of the pieces that Andy made..... 
.....watch this space as I will also be bringing some Bisque ware into my samples.
Here's a picture of one of the projects that we made on the day. The Script Robin was coloured with Le Plume pens, spritzed with water and then stamped onto the bisque tile. You may also recognise one of my favourite MS punches, the Pine Forest edger and Best Creations gorgeous Snowflake paper from their Frosty Christmas range. Here's the corner of one of the tables...look at all that lovely creative "mess"! But have a look at some of the things which Andy has been making over the last couple of weeks..... ......none of these have been fired, although you would never guess. Andy's used Gesso, Texture Mediums and Varnishes to create these pieces which he's coloured with Distress inks, Perfect Pearls etc and embellished with stamps. Aren't they fabulous? Here are a few more of the pieces that Andy made..... .....watch this space as I will also be bringing some Bisque ware into my samples. I got back late last night feeling pretty tired so have spent today catching up and preparing for the coming weekend. So, on Saturday I'll be at Houghton Hall Garden Centre in Carlisle and on Sunday I'll be at Strikes Garden Centre in Northwich. I'll have Christmas themed stamps, my seasonal cardstock and toppers as well as MS punches, inks, Best Creations papers (sumptuous!) and Spellbinders dies, so there will be plenty to peruse!
I'm not sure if I'll have chance to post tomorrow, so will wish everyone a great weekend and am off now to colour in some stamped images ahead of my demonstrations. Lindsay
Lastly, here are a couple of Christmas tags that I made yesterday. The left one has Pine Needles and Fired Brick Distress inks blended over the tag (made from that brilliant card!) which I lightly spritzed with water for the snowy effect. I used two more of my new MS punches (nearly forgot about them!) the Postage Stamp M283006, and Medium Holly and Berries M232316. I love the dinky stamp punch. I cut two little festive images to fit within the stamps which I had lightly darkened with ink. I applied Crackle Accents once they were on the tag. I used a little piece of Tim's Symphony Tissue Tape to wrap around the tag near the base. An Adage Ticket, which I inked and spritzed and the numbers were some 3d card stickers which I applied red Stickles to. The holly was punched from Glitter adhesive paper from BC again. The words are stamped using an image from a lovely stamp set by Marion Emberson, which I will be using on Sunday - amongst other things! The main image from the set is the lovely swirling tree on the blue tag, as well as the message which I curved to fit the edge of the tag. The stamp set is called "Christmas Wishes" PICSA6160. I added punched holly again. Both tags have ribbons which I dyed using alcohol inks. Hope you like them! 
Well, time to relax for a while now. My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.....oh oh, I'll be bursting into song in a minute! So, I'll be back after the weekend with more photos - if I remember to take any! Have a great weekend whatever you are up to. Lindsay
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!
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, 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. 
.......and open.
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.
.......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
We have just got back from a trip to the supermarket where I had a bit of a giggle, wishing I had a camera in my phone. As we were going through the self service checkouts I spied a very extrovertly dressed young guy...oversized red baseball cap, white baseball type jacket and very loud red baggy trousers. I was just saying "Here's my dream guy" to David, being humorous of course, when David pointed out the familiar monogram on his hat...."T.H." in 4" high white letters!!! "It's Tim Holtz!" said David, causing me to have a giggling fit at the idea of Tim dressed like that! Well, it made me laugh anyway!
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.
The inside features one of my Cosy Christmas toppers behind the white card in which I cut the aperture using the MS circle cutter. I used the Holly card at the sides and the ornament punch again across the top. There is a second Teddy topper and you can just see the Cat topper sitting inside! The greeting is from the matching message toppers sheet.
I had to do a double shuffle to pack away as my train up to Workington was at 4.15! Special thanks to my two friends who drove ahead of us when David was taking me to St Helens station....they knew the quickest way, so "Thank you", you know who you are! I did catch the train! So, off I set to Workington, in Cumbria, where I had not been before. I had a relaxing evening of a meal, some telly and a good sleep before a good breakfast and then set off to the Crafty Workshop. What an enjoyable day it was there! I met lots of new people (and one or two ladies that I already know...some of you get about nearly as much as I do!!!) and haven't met such enthusiasm for some time!!! Hello to all my new friends up there. One of the things I made on Sunday was this little Christmas tag using Distress inks to colour the tag before spritzing with water for some snowy effects. I used Tim's Tissue Tape (Symphony) across the bottom of the tag after tearing and inking it slightly. I inked the Grungeboard numbers and adhered these with Glossy Accents and then the Adage Ticket which was inked, spritzed and held in place with Foliage accents and a brad. The cute reindeer was one of many silvery motifs that The Crafty Workshop had in stock and I simply alcohol inked him before adding the obligatory red gem nose! (Well, you have to really!) I alcohol inked the ribbon too....you know me! I had a great time up in Workington, so hope to be back next year. Oh yes! There was much discussion this weekend about the DI colour "Dusty Concord"! I'm ashamed to say that I could not, for the life of me, bring to mind the origin of this name! However, on Sunday, Lesley suddenly got the answer....it's a grape variety! Duh!
Back to a little Art Journalling now. I had been working on this double page for a few evenings and I forgot to take a picture before I began colouring it in. Here are the pages once I had coloured them and the second shows them after I had added some words.
I kept this one simple....it is just a pictorial way of expressing how I feel sometimes when all the deadlines come at once, all the bills arrive together, etc etc...I'm sure we all have days like this! Hope you can relate to it! I used my usual black drawing pens to draw the design and then used Promarkers to colour before adding more details and the words. The colours are flat in the sky area where I used the broad nib to colour with. The watery areas are more "shady" as I didn't want to go over them too much and was using the finer nib. I like the contrast in the flat and more textural colour though.
Just a word of warning...it's going to be a very busy day with only half an hour between the morning and afternoon workshops to get everything cleared up and set out....making me dizzy just to think about it! If you are coming to the Shrines class then you may wish to bring any little tokens, charms, tiny ornaments etc that you might like to include in your piece. Don't worry if you haven't, as I have a little collection of treasures that you can pick from. However, the more eclectic our choices the better! Joanne....I feel terrible now, as if I have misled you! When I said that Personal Impressions had sent me all the goodies for the workshops I didn't mean that I had the latest, not available yet Ranger/Idealogy stuff....I wish that it had been so, but will have to wait a little longer yet. I have plenty of lovely things though!
I promised that I would post a picture of this card which features a lovely winter village stamp from Personal Impressions (P241P). This is not the original, properly finished card, but one that I put together to remind the ladies who were at the last few demonstrations what it looked like. The stamp is the central image and I've simply inked the two large trees again to extend the width of the scene. I used Distress inks to create the background with water to create the bleached look. Again my camera has done a pretty shabby job of showing the image and colours at their best, never mind the tiny amount of fine glitter that I added. I'll have to start avoiding blues I think! Anyway, not exactly the best version of this card that I've made, but hope it's enough to remind everyone that was convinced they would forget what it looked like once they got home! 
On Friday - I know, I'm time travelling here...we went over to mum and dad's. I was going to put a picture of my mum here, but post editor (or whatever you call it) is messing me about tonight, and it won't let me move anything around. Gggrr. Oh well, I will have to leave you with this snap of Tara, lounging about on the armchair...very different from the nervous little pusscat who arrived at mum and dad's from the cat rescue centre last year!
The next card is an 8" x 8" base and I've used Distress inks to create the atmospheric colours of the sky before bleaching out the stars, ground and trees using water. The colours I used were Weathered Wood, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concorde, Pine Needles and Walnut Stain. I stamped the fairy and greeting using a Coffee Archival ink pad, then coated the fairy with Glossy Accents.
Those who were on my last workshop may recognise the technique which I used on the next card! I stamped the oval framed fairy onto acetate and then covered the reverse with Ranger paint dabbers - Cloudy Blue, Willow, Raspberry and Pearl white. I then placed a piece of white card over the paint, pressed down and allowed the paint to dry. It acts like a glue so I was then able to cut out the oval and place it onto a couple of Nestability ovals. The glitter is by Martha Stewart and the borders were made by pressing the glitter onto three strips of ultra strong tape. I also dotted Glossy Accents over the card and sprinjled with more glitter. 
The next card is a quirky one! I used a baby wipe to pick up colours from a Hydrangea Big n Juicy ink pad pressed onto my craft sheet. I let this completely dry (don't heat baby wipes as they tend to shrivel up!) and mounted it onto card. The fairy and castle were stamped in black and then covered with hologram embossing powder. A greeting and a few touches of Just Glitter pen in silver complete the look. 
Next is the row of mushroom houses again and this time I wanted to use a single small fairy from within one of the frames. I just inked the image carefully to avoid getting ink on the actual frame and stamped her onto an alcohol inked background. I highlighted the fairy's magic stardust with a little Stickles. Don't know why this looks quite so blue as it wasn't in reality! 
Lastly, this is me making a concerted effort not to use my favourite purple, blue and pink combination! So I went for ochres and greens instead. The background and flowers are alcohol inked and the fairy stamped in black archoval. I then masked her except for her wings, and overstamped using a Versamark Watermark ink pad before embossing with Stardust powder. I repeated this (just focussing on the wing) onto heat resistant acetate, then cut out the wing leaving a tab which I pushed through a slit made in the fairy's shoulder. This is a simple way to add dimension and so much easier than trying to stick a second wing into place with adhesive knowing it may well fall off! Stickles were added to both butterfly and flowers and the sentiment was simply stamped, matted and popped on the corner. Mmm, I quite like the colours after all! 
Anyway, hope you enjoyed looking at the cards and, if you missed the stamps and want to see what comes in each set, check out the QVC website and type in 590 112 for both options. 