About Me

I'm a freelance artist, designer and demonstrator and have been involved in arts and craft my whole life in one way or another. I design stamps for top British company Personal Impressions, under the "Lindsay Mason Designs" brand, as well as papers, templates and other crafting products. I'm a certified Ranger Educator and my first book,"Stamping", was published in 2009. I also design regular projects for Crafts Beautiful magazine and have made guest appearances from time to time on QVC. I've recently joined You Tube under the name of LindsayMason1000 where I'm posting short technique videos and you can buy my paintings and hand crafted pieces from my Etsy shop. My work takes me all around the country demonstrating stamping, papercrafts and general inkiness! When I'm not working, I love gardening, church & community activities, nature watching, journalling, music and theatre and just relaxing at home. Email me at: ljm.design1@virginmedia.com

Saturday 31 August 2013

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!

28 comments:

Susanne said...

So pleased to see you back on your Blog as Jenny told you on Wednesday I was starting to get worried about you and your family. Would love the opportunity to win Tim's goodies really kind of you to give us all a chance to win. Hope to see you soon at AMOM :)

pearshapedcrafting said...

Oh boy! What a great time we had! Love the photos - especially the side shot of me that shows I'm not a total grey haired old biddy - still a bit of brown clinging on there! Hope you can settle down to work now all the excitement is over! It really was great to see you and Heather - pity the time flew so quickly!! Hugs, Chrisx

pearshapedcrafting said...

Forgot to say - don't enter me in draw or I'll have the same problem!!! X

Glennis F said...

What a fabulous time you have had Lindsay - it's a shame he doesn't venture to NZ - I would love the opportunity to do a workshop with him. Nice to see you posting again, I have missed you

Oksana said...

Hi Lindsay, looks like you had a wonderful time! So jealous! But thank you for the candy opportunity!x

sue from Barnton said...

Welcome back Lindsay enjoyed the tags look amazing and hosuexpe to see you in Winnington soon.

Paul B said...

Glad to see you and Heather having a ball and some much needed fun. Sounds like you didn't have much time to sit and breathe. What a whirlwind few days you've had. Hope you've come away with some new ideas and techniques to teach us all too. :) Pxxxx

Diane said...

So jealous Lindsay, but so glad you all had a great time !! Hope you can make 21st Sept at AMOM as it will be fab to see you again !!

hugs Diane xx

Jacqui mort said...

Wow Lindsay you're looking fabulous!! So glad to see you back on your blog and happy you and Heather have had a brill time in Coventry. Hope to see you very soon. Take care and hugs to all the family jacqui x

soniajones said...

Nice to have you back! I'm sending you and Heather 'positive vibrations' hope you're receiving them...... Tim's bash looks fantastic - one day..... xxxx

mags said...

Wow, it looks like you had a really fab time. Nice to see you blogging. Thanks for the chance to win this fab candy.
Mags
x

TAM said...

Good to hear you had a fabulous time - must say it looks amazing in any photos I've seen.
Looking forward to you coming back to Coventry in the near future.
Take care
Trudi

Sandyb said...

What a wonderful event. Would love to meet Tim, never mind be taught by him. I bet you did some brill samples as usual.
Take care
Sandra

Anonymous said...

Hi Lindsay, sorry not to have been in touch sooner...seem to be chasing my tail at the moment!!! So glad you, Heather and Chris had a fantastic time with Tim. Love your photos and the chance to win, thank you. I'll be in touch very soon dear lady, give my best to Heather. Lots of love S xxxx

ginny c said...

Glad you and heather had a lovely time, would love to have been ther and meet TIm the photos are great how is your garden going my neighbour gave some runner beans home grown definitely taste better, thank you for the chance to win. Best wishes ginny xxx

Est xxx said...

Ooh Lindsay I'm so jealous you did these workshops ;-) hope you had fun.
I think I'd like to win ;-) xxx

Kym's Crafty Cards said...

Lindsay, it sounds like you had a lovely time seeing Tim, taking part in the workshops, meeting up with fellow crafters and spending time with Heather. What could be better? I would love to have my name put in the draw. I love anything Timmy!! Just wish I was well enough to go to some of his events when he comes to the UK. Best wishes, Kym xxx

Bobbie said...

Wow! It looks like it was an amazing Workshop! Thanks for sharing the pics and the blog candy!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic pics ! Your tag book looked amazing x

bex said...

So pleased that you had a fantastic time,looks amazing,soooo jealous.Many thanks for keeping us in the loop and making us envious. XXX

Daise76 said...

Nice to see you enjoying yourself, it looks like you've had fun with Tim. Take care Sxx

Neet said...

Wow, seems as if you had a wonderful two days full of fun and friendship as well as getting lot of goodies.thanks for the chance to win some goodies and what fab goodies they are.
Hugs, Neet

Krazyk said...

Looks like a fab day, so jealous. Karen

flipdoodle said...

great photos. tim's such a good teacher. can't wait til the next one! debbie.

Rachel Greig said...

Looks like you all had a great time! Wish I was there too rubbing that Buddha belly! :)

Redanne said...

Can't seem to leave a message on this post but I keep trying! Mo and I tried for hours to book the Tim day but sadly did not get through - love your photos though, looks like you had a fabulous time! Putting the candy on my blog (sorry for being so late!). Lovely to see you yesterday at Event City. Hugs, Anne x

christine said...

Sounds like you had a fabulous day, great photos

Karen Petitt said...

I have added the photo and a link to your blog Lindsay. Thank you so much for the chance to win. I'm also now following your blog too hugs Karen