Full pelt

I'm just about recovered from the show at the NEC and now busy making things for my Christmas market stall. The show was busier than ever, and Wendy and myself were demonstrating for the entire four days. Thank you to everyone who came to the stand and for all the wonderful comments about our demonstrations and samples - makes all the hard work worthwhile!

Of course, Wendy was showing how to use her beautiful Majestix stamp range....the cards she was making were just stunning and everyone was very inspired. 

I was using Viva Decor and Deco Art products and using mixed media techniques...very messy...my default mode!

 It was so busy that the main products I was using were all gone by the end of day two, so, with another two days to go, I had to work off the cuff so to speak, and come up with new ideas, changing things as I went as more things sold out....very nerve wracking but it's good to have to think on your feet!

Here's a triple hanger that I made on day three....

....the large snowflake is made using the Tim Holtz Alterations die "Layered Snowflake" which contains a die and matching embossing folder - really like this set. I used Deco Art white modelling paste to create the snow, sprinkling it with Glamour Dust.

I didn't get chance to look round the rest of the show except for quick glimpses on the way to and from the loos! This was the display at the main entrance to the Hobbycrafts hall....

...all made from paper except for the poppy wreaths which were crocheted.

At the entrance to the Crafts For Christmas hall there was another display, this time featuring "The Snowman" - as I love snowmen I had to get my picture taken with him!

I got back from the show on Sunday evening and then spent Monday relaxing on the sofa catching up with Strictly Come Dancing and a few other TV programmes - didn't even feel guilty! I was so glad to be back home with Thomas and Tara who were very happy to see me. My neighbour told me that Thomas had been sulking for England! On Sunday night Thomas crept under the duvet with me and, amazingly, so did Tara....this is a minor miracle as usually Tara won't even stay in the same room with Tom! They do seem to be getting along a little better at last.

Yesterday was the third anniversary of dad's passing, so Heather and I went to St Chad's and laid some flowers at his resting place as well as lighting candles and looking in the memorial book which was open at the date and had dad's name written there. Being Armistice day makes the anniversary even more evocative. 

It also means that I've been back here in Poulton for three years now which seems unreal - although I also feel I've been here forever at the same time. Time....such a strange thing that seems to ebb and flow depending on what we are thinking about, remembering or looking forward to.

Well, we also did some shopping and Heather even brought me a food parcel - including plenty of cat food - so I am well stocked up now. It was so cold and dank yesterday that I was relieved to get home and look forward to some time inside without having to go out again. With a full larder and fridge I can batten down the hatches and just get busy with making things to sell on my Christmas Market stall in December. I've just finished adding texture and embellishments to some MDF ornaments which are now drying as I have this little break. They'll then be painted black before I start adding all the lustre and sparkle.

I do have to go out this evening though, as it is the town Forum meeting...lots of important issues so I don't want to miss it. The police, councillors and local MP will be there, so it's a great chance to put things to them and get things done!

There is an amendment to my demo dates as we have postponed the one at Card-io in Wigan which I was meant to be doing this coming Saturday. because all the products sold out at the show, I will now be going there on Saturday 29th November where I'll be showing the Mixed Media techniques and giving ideas for Christmas gifts and decorations. I'll be returning on Saturday 28th February when I'll be teaching Mixed Media workshops - more details to follow, but if you want to ensure a place, please get in touch with Card-io directly here.

Well, I think those decorations will be dry now, so I shall get cracking with the next stage. I need to get an awful lot of things made by 5th December!

A few Christmas cards and tags

Hello from a very rainy Lancashire. I'm just taking a coffee break chance to do a quick catch up and share one or two more images of things I've been up to this week. On Saturday I'll be at Card-io in Wigan from 10am - 4pm where I'll be showcasing my Christmas range of stamps and various messy techniques - as well as some cleaner ones!

Here are some of the things I've been creating for Saturday's demonstration....

The first card was made using my "Little Festive Houses" set and I also added the tiny snowman from the "Cold Hands Warm Heart" set. The background was spritzed with Shimmer Goosebumpz before I blended various blue and purple Distress inks over it. 

Next up is a card featuring a Dylusions ink sprays background - with the white ink sprayed through a stencil over the other colours. I've used images from my "Moon Gazer" stamp set...I really like the whole moon gazing hares imagery and have a small hare in the garden that gazes upwards...not a real one of course! Though we do get hares in the fields behind the houses on my lane.

Now for a couple of tags....

.....both have snowmen from the "Cold Hands...." set. The trees in the left hand tag are from the "Little Festive Houses" set and the ones on the right hand tag are from "Peaceful Christmas" which I inked and then stamped onto scrap card before stamping onto the tag itself. Both backgrounds are made using Distress inks swept across the craft sheet, spritzed with water and then picked up on the tags. 

I added TH Christmas remnant rubs in white to the right hand tag before inking as the rub ons resist the inks to give a nice, soft finish.

Thank you for the great feedback I've had about the new stamps and especially these little chaps.....

 ....they are from the "Merry Christmas to Whoo" set. It's a shame that the camera doesn't pick up the amazing sparkle on this card - I used Tsukineko Shimmer Spritz, in Sparkle, over the whole front and it gives a very delicate sparkle to the picture that really does look like fairy dust! 

Here's one of the two Christmas Zendoodle word stamps used on a very simple card - great when you need to make plenty in a short space of time though!

This stamp is called, unsurprisingly, "Zendoodle Peace"! I took the photo using flash in the evening, hence the slightly creamy tinge. All I did was stamp, colour and add Crystal Stickles to the letters with some added dots of Stickles around the word - really easy and pretty quick!

A last tag to share using the "Doo Lally Pip Tree Fairy" stamp set.

This was a tag from my bag of unfinished bits and pieces - we all have those I think! I didn't really like the colours or how they had come together but I decided to go with it. I stamped the string of stars a few times across the surface and used a white gel pen to pick them out to brighten up the muddiness of the background a bit. More TH remnant rubs added very randomly to add more white highlights. Then I stamped, coloured and cut out little madam and added her before glittering her wings. Doesn't look quite so dreary now!

Talking of cards, I have added some Christmas cards for sale on my Etsy site and will be adding more items as and when I can....I have neglected my shop for quite a while so am determined to get cracking with it once more!

I've not been able to get into the garden this week what with work and the temperamental weather, but I've collected some more rocks for my latest project. Well, to be fair, I thought they were rocks but they turned out to be lumps of concrete! However, once they're half buried and have plants growing around them they will be fine and will do the job of keeping the soil in place.

I thought I'd end with a piece of music that I've been listening to a lot this week. It's sung by Enya and is from the Lord of the Rings trilogy which David and I absolutely loved....can't count how many times we watched the films. We always said we'd have a trilogy day where we'd watch the three films back to back in one go but we never quite found the time to do it!

Things are a bit rough here at the moment and, at times like this, I miss David more than ever, so this song pretty much sums up how I feel....

                                 

There and back again...and off again!

Fellow Tolkien fans will recognise "There and back again" as the alternative title for The Hobbit, and I certainly feel quite Bilbo Baggins like with all my travels lately! It seems I'm no sooner back than I'm off again....well, tomorrow anyway.

So, last Friday I took three trains down to Haddenham where the lovely Christina from A Maze of Memories met me and we then drove to the park and ride to pick up a bus into Oxford. This was something that I had been really looking forward to and I certainly was not disappointed. What a marvellous day it was. The shiveringly cold weather that began the day had given way to cloudless skies and sun that actually felt warm and made me squint....who knew I should have taken sunglasses?!

On the way into Oxford I spotted something that made me look twice and is, I now know, a famous landmark.....

...yep, a shark in the roof of a house! I didn't take this photo, but I did want to share the delight that this gave me! Bet the birds like to perch on that giant tail!

However, as we rode further into the city, the sights became rather more traditionally breathtaking....

Once we alighted, Christina and I began our tour of the colleges, chapels and Churches. We climbed the 127 steps up St Mary's church tower...we were both huffing and puffing a bit (!) when we reached the top but it was well worth the effort...

....just one of the magnificent views. We spent some time gazing over the panorama and also at the various gargoyles and carved characters that adorn the tower....

....isn't he/she wonderful?! Not very often that you get so close to such lofty figures.

One of my favourite parts of the afternoon was looking around the Cathedral and college grounds of Christchurch. The walled gardens were just my cup of tea.

The Great Hall was one of the inspirations for Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, when he was writing Alice in Wonderland. As one of the expert guides told us, he was sitting by the great fireplace and the long necks of the firedogs on either side gave him the idea of Alice growing when she ate the cake! One of the stained glass windows has depictions of various characters from the book. The hall in the Harry Potter films was based on this room too.

 The walls are filled with portraits of former students - it must be quite intimidating for the current students as they dine at the long tables!

There were amazing windows and carvings in the Cathedral itself but I really felt drawn to this ancient tomb chest....

One of the bowler hatted guides was kind enough to take a picture of Christina and I in the grounds....

.....sadly, I do rather resemble a hobbit beside my elegant companion! We finished the day by having a much deserved plate of warm scones, jam and clotted cream....naughty but nice! I bought a small souvenir from Christchurch Cathedral....

.....a tiny Icon Diptych which will always remind me of a lovely day.

So, after a rather exhausting afternoon I slept really well (until 5.45 am, when other hotel guests decided it was perfectly okay to stand outside my room talking...ggrrrr!!!) and it was soon time to get the show on the road at AMOM. I was demonstrating my new stamps and there were also three make n take sessions. This was the sample that I had made to give the ladies their inspiration.

I used thick corrugated card that was coloured with Distress paints and then rubbed with gilding wax. The image is one of my Zendoodle stamps - the ladies had a choice of the three different toadstool sets in the collection. Once doodled and coloured it was adhered to the panel and then embellished with Tim's tattered florals.

Needless to say, everyone put their own spin on the project. This was Trudy's version....

...and here's some great colouring from Louise....

.....and here is a picture that shows what a busy day we were all having!

You can see more of the fabulous work that the ladies did by clicking here. So, I must give a wave to everyone that came along and especially to Diane for the treats for my two terrors and honey for me, also to Julie who I hope to see at the NEC and to Miriam, Mary and Christina for all their hard work in making the day so special.

Well, I've been busy getting ready for my next trip since I got back. I'll be leaving for Birmingham International rail station tomorrow ahead of the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC on Thursday to Sunday. The worst job was definitely trying to pack everything into something like a manageable amount of luggage to haul! Here's what I've ended up with....

One extraordinarily heavy suitcase (those Sizzix Bigz XL dies weigh a ton!), my Tim Holtz bag, filled with everything from socks to die cut flowers, and my canvas bag filled with my dimensional Sizzix samples. Wish me luck...I think I'll need it!

This morning the postie brought me a jiffy bag filled with these....

....my "Ready to Go" Zendoodle stamp sets complete with their new packaging design....

....the drawings around the edges of the insert are there to give some ideas for different Zentangle designs.

Wow, that was a rather picture heavy post! I'm going to get myself into my PJ's now so I can watch the Sewing Bee in comfort with a hot coffee and a yogurt (strange combination I know!). 

Thomas is already picking up on the fact that I'll be leaving them again, so he will be getting some extra cuddles tonight! Tara doesn't seem to worry as much so long as she gets her grub, although she always goes mad with excitement when I get home...Thomas usually lets me know that he's very annoyed with me!

I hope to see lots of you at the show over the next few days. I'll be on the Card-io stand where you can also see Wendy working magic with her own range of stamps. 

I'll report back after the weekend. Finally, welcome to my latest blog followers and hope you will enjoy my ramblings!

Show time!

This could be quite a long post......it's been a week since the first day of the show at the NEC already - ridiculous! I've been up to my elbows in inks, papers, dies, glitter, stamps and glue.....nothing new there then! I'm quite looking forward to being able to take a couple of days off next week - hopefully - but, till then, it's as hectic as ever.

Working at the show over the four days was really good fun, hard work but fun. Each show day began at 9am and finished at 5.30pm so, with little time to take breaks, it was full on. I was on the Card-io stand and, while Wendy was demonstrating her own beautiful Majestix stamps, I was working with Sizzix dies. This was quite a change for me and it took me a while to adjust to not being covered in purple and blue ink! I really enjoyed showing how to construct the dimensional creations such as the Luminary and Birdhouse. These Treat Poppers (crackers to you and I!) were a big hit too....

....I made lots of them at the show. The great thing is that the crackers themselves are quite quick to make so you can afford to spend lots of time decorating them.

Here's a table decoration made from two Sizzix dies - the Reindeer and the Sleigh. The sleigh is very cleverly thought out and fits together beautifully. It's ideal for holding little sweet treats!

I hope everyone who bought the dies is having great fun using them....I know I did!

I had forgotten how drying the air in the NEC can be and so had omitted to take any lip balm with me. By day two I felt as if I'd been traipsing through a desert! Diane (Thomas and Tara's unofficial auntie!) paid a visit and took this photo of me trying to do a running repair with my lipstick...nowhere near as effective as lip balm I have to say!

Diane also brought pressies for T & T.....beautifully stamped and decorated.....

.....their names were even stamped on the reverse of the labels! Thank you Diane, they loved them! If you click on Diane's name (above) you can see some more piccies of the show.

On day four I was back to stamping and getting covered in inks. My Doo Lally Pip stamps raised a few smiles which is just what I intend! It was a day of contrasts with everyone having great fun and then the two minutes silence which is always marked at 11am on the Sunday of the show at the NEC and I found it especially moving this year.

Then, before I knew it,  the show was over - unbelievably quickly it seemed. It was quite a trek back home and, thankfully, my neighbour had put the heat on for me so I could have a hot shower before an early night. I was pooped!

I mentioned last week that I was a bit worried about the weight of my case and how I'd get on carting everything down to Birmingham. My poor case was just not up to it, so I have had to have a complete change and am now getting used to a new one. Of course, this hasn't gone unnoticed and a certain someone decided to check whether it was suitable.......

.....by the way, that's not a real mouse on the carpet - just a toy that has been mostly ignored by both Tara and Thomas!

There wasn't really much time for a rest as I was up in Durham yesterday, so I had to prep more samples for my demo there in Crafty Nook. On Monday though, I spent some time with Heather - I've passed on all the good wishes that were sent her way last week...thank you from both of us. We called into St Chads to lay a rose on the memorial book of remembrance as it was two years since our dad passed away and his name was on the page for that day.

I had a lovely time at Crafty Nook, once again working with Sizzix dies and also decorating some candles too....

...this one was made by cutting a Sizzlits die (Woodland Deer) from Graphic 45 paper which I edged with Gathered Twigs Distress ink before warpping it round the candle base. I wrapped greaseproof paper around the candle and heated it gently to melt the paper into the wax. I used the same technique to add the Martha Stewart punched fern around the top. You can't really see it here, but I also added some Rock Candy Distress dry glitter over the surface for a little bit of twinkle. 

Today I've been getting more things made for my demonstration this coming Saturday in Chesterfield at Crazy About Cake Craft who have now expanded into papercrafts as well as their established baking supplies. 

A certain someone always worries when he sees me getting my case out as he knows it usually means that I'll be trolling off again. 

I think he figured that if I was going away then he was coming too! As you can see though, he's a big boy and there wouldn't have been much room left for anything else! Bless him!

Here's a non Christmassy wreath that I made this afternoon using the Sizzix Prima Gulien die....

...the flowers are quite large so I didn't need too many to cover the card circle beneath. I used quite muted paper and edged them with various ink colours. If you look closely you might be able to see the Glossy Accent dew drops here and there.

Well, time to put my dinner in the oven and then a shower while it's cooking. Lots of ink and glue on my hands, so washing my hair should get rid of that lot! I'm a bit sore and stiff too, and it's really cold here, so some hot water and spicy shower creme is just what the doctor ordered!

PS It's amazing what they sell in supermarkets these days. We have a Booths store here and look what's in one of their carrier bags.....

This picture is specially for my friend Paul, who has a soft spot for Tara!

PPS before anyone reports me to the RSPCA I didn't ram Tara into a carrier bag for the sake of a cute photo! She is obsessed with climbing into things and has taken to running into this bag and skidding across the carpet as if she's on a snow slide!

Donkey wanted!

Just a quick post tonight. My broadband was down for most of the day so I haven't been able to catch up on my emails I'm afraid and it didn't leave much time to write a decent post either.

I'm all set for my trip to the NEC tomorrow for the Hobbycraft show. All I need now is a donkey to carry all my gear for me! The case is stuffed to the gills with Sizzix dies, card stock, stamps, inks and sprays etc etc etc, so it weighs a ton. I've carefully packed my dimensional projects into a box and that's in a large carrier bag ("please don't leave this on the train" is my new mantra) and I've a hessian bag too, just so I can take a few clothes and toiletries....and my heat gun, a Sizzix die that wouldn't fit in the case and a roll of kitchen paper. I just hope my battered old case can take the strain!

Anyway, hope to see some of you at the show - do say hello if you are coming along. I won't be taking any photos as I just can't afford to take anything non essential with me, so the camera is staying at home this time.

So, it's time for bed now....I need all my strength for the journey tomorrow!!!

...and relax!

After a very busy couple of weeks it's nice to have few days to relax a bit, although I'd have been happier if the weather hadn't turned so grim as I had planned to get some outdoor jobs done. The front door and window frames are in desperate need of some renovation, so I've got the paint and am ready to remove the peeling paintwork, fill, sand and prime before giving everything a nice shiny makeover....no chance yet though!

After being ensconced in the Doo Lally room (going a bit doo lally myself too!) making samples it was good when Thursday came around and I set off for the three day show at Event City in Manchester. I had a brilliant time there and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces, including people that I hadn't seen in ages. Thank you to everyone for the kind words, comments and very positive feedback that I received, as well as a few hugs! It did my heart good. Welcome to new blog followers and a special thanks to Neet for the fruit teas and to the mystery lady who passed the angel and heart gift to me anonymously - very much appreciated and it meant a lot.

Well, it was a busy three days needless to say! I didn't get much time to take photos, but here are a few from the show....

 

 .....lots of my Christmas stamps on display behind my demonstration table...and the odd pot or two of Glue n Seal of course!

.....that was meant to be me showing my newly painted Christmas top, but I look more like I'm trying to "get down with the kids".....or is that me showing my age there?!?!

Here's my area, surrounded by samples and products......

This card features one of the first things that I sold out of.....Goosebumps spray from Tsukineko. It's a bit like having Glossy Accents in a spritzer form and creates a texture over any paper or card stock. Of course, as it also creates a resist against Distress Inks, I had to use it to make a snowy sky!

 It's fabby stuff, available in matte, gloss or, the one I was using, shimmer effect. The closer you spray it to the card the bigger the spots will be, or hold it around 12" away for a finer spray. It's very sticky, so I recommend holding the card with tweezers, checking the vicinity for cats (!) and spraying over newspaper or other scrap surface.

Here's Wendy, on the other side of the stand, demonstrating her beautiful cards and techniques with her own range of stamps.....

Wendy works in a very clean and neat way, creating an endless array of delicate foliage and scenes. Talk about two different styles on one stand - if I tried making Wendy's cards they would be covered in inky fingerprints!

Excuse the tatty backdrop to these two tags....I just laid them on my messy craft sheet to take a quick snap!

I just wanted to show the lovely Die-Versions dies that I used on them. The Elf has a greeting taken from the Complements set and the fairy has words made from the Flutterby font set. I really like the way the letters are all diffferent sizes in that set. One rather amusing moment came when I was using Flutterby letters to add words to a snowman tag that I'd been working on. I was deciding exactly what would fit best and was trying out various words, placing letters down on the tag as I popped them out from the die cut sheet. I looked down and saw that the letters had managed to assemble themselves as "Le Snot" which caused some merriment around the table. I hastily began re-arranging everything and a few more letters finally spelled out Let it Snow!

A very busy, fun but tiring few days. You can see how shattered I was in this picture.....

 .....worn away to a frazzle! Sorry - I just couldn't help myself there! 

I'll be with Card-Io again at the leigh show in October, as well as at their new shop - more details soon.

Onto next weekend now, and I'll be down at A Maze of Memories in Long Crendon near Aylesbury on Saturday 21st where I'll be hosting make n takes and demonstrating. You'll need to book a place on the make n takes (contact the shop about this) but the demonstrations are free to all. Really looking forward to this event as everyone is always so welcoming and friendly and we have a real hoot! Susanne, I'm really sorry you won't be able to come this time and hope there aren't too many tears when you wave adieu to your daughter.

Meanwhile, I am off to keep a watchful eye on the weather and check if I dare to start work on that door....not looking good though! 

PS I forgot to say that my Blog Candy finishes at midnight tonight so last chance today to leave a comment on the post titled "Catch up time & American Candy". My neighbour will be picking a winner from the "hat" tomorrow, so be sure to call back and check if you've won!

Show time

I was quite happy to be ensconced in my workroom today, looking out at the rain pelting down and bouncing off the pavement. It's been pretty non stop, so Thomas and Tara have taken the odd chance to rush outside in a moment's let up, only to be wanting to be let in a couple of minutes later.

I've been making the last couple of samples today and then packing my case ready for tomorrow, the first day of the Event City show in Manchester. Do say hello if you're visiting the show - I'll be demonstrating on the Card-Io stand. Here are a couple of the latest things I created.....

.....this little guy is on my "Nicicles as Icicles" stamp set along with the snowman that I painted onto my sweatshirt (see an earlier post). The "snow" is kitchen towel - the non inked variety for a change! I love the font that I cut using a Die-Versions set called "Tickled Pink", it's a great size for tags, cards or scrapbooking.

I realised I'd been using a lot of blues in my backgrounds this last week, so I made a conscious effort to go down a different colour route when I was using my "Snowy Scenes" set.....

 .....I used water colour paper (I'm really liking using the torn water colour paper effect at the moment!) and created the scene very simply with the stamps...no masking required on this particular version. I thought that rather than the whole white out of a fully snowy landscape I'd colour the fields in green before adding snow in certain areas using white gesso. The two snowflakes were cut using the Die-Versions Sweet Petites Snowflake die from stiff white card which I glittered with Rock Candy Distress glitter before sweeping a touch of Frayed Burlap ink across the edges. 

I'm afraid the card blank itself wasn't the best quality one which is why it looks a little wonky!

I'll finish with another tag, this one featuring the grumpy Elf that I painted onto my Tee shirt last week......

 .....he really does deserve to have the Bah Humbug words next to him! I also used one of the Die-Versions Sweet Spots to stencil Jingle Bells very lightly in the background. My favourite bit of this tag though is the ribbon! Well, it's the technique really! I used the new Goosebumps spray from Tsukineko to spritz the ribbon first before drying it and then adding lots of ink. The Goosebumps adds a texture which also acts as a resist so it gives a very different effect to the ribbon. It looks more interesting in real life! Brilliant new sprays and I'll be using them at the show.

Well, I've had an early, very early for me, dinner so that I can just relax for the rest of the evening and be ready for a reasonably early night before my early start tomorrow. I've just got a plate and a pan to wash up (Singapore vermicelli noodle stir fry!), a hot shower to get rid of the last of the ink stains (I hope), the kettle to switch on to make a steaming coffee and then it's relaxing on the sofa in the PJ's until bed time. Lovely!

So, hope to see some of you over the next few days...looking forward to it!

I think you'll notice me!

Hi folks, I'm up to date with my work for this week anyway. Next week I have to get cracking with the Masterclass samples for my workshop and demonstrations at the Craft Barn Extravaganza at the end of May, beginning of June, but, for today....I am done! There's been a mix of light showers and lovely warm sunshine today, so I managed to get some gardening done too - I've put up a willow trellis behind my bench and planted Sweet Peas and Nasturtiums along it, planted more of the Summer bulbs, transplanted some Sunflowers and Sweet Peas into big pots and put those outside and also planted a new rose that was given to me by my friend Jan who called to see me this week. Whew! 

I've also caved in and got some slug pellets - these ones are organic and much safer around pets than the usual ones. They are really tiny and I've been very careful to hide them under the plants...just hope they work as those pesky slime trailers are out and about again now. Ugh! 

I am all set for tomorrow now and will be at Card-Io in Pemberton, Wigan from 10am-4pm. Hope to see some familiar faces there.....those of you whose email addresses I "have" please come armed with them for me as I lost almost everyone's contact details a while ago! It's always a fun and busy day at Wendy's shop and I get well looked after too, which is always nice.

You should be able to spot me in the shop as I'll be wearing my latest creation! 

It's pretty bright! I bought a (neon) pink sweatshirt and painted it using Deco Art products. PI had enlarged some of my quotes and the Doo Lally Pip logo for me and my first task was to draw around the words on the back of the paper using a pencil. I then painted the words using Deco Art Ink Effects. After thirty minutes I ironed the words onto the sweatshirt - the beauty of this medium is that you can make your mistakes on paper not on your fabric! Materials with more than 30% cotton need to be sprayed with a special prepping medium first but are then good to go. 
The words came out beautifully, but I did want a slightly more dramatic effect than the subtle black of the ink, so I painted over them using Deco Art So Soft fabric paint. This really gave me the strong look that I wanted.

Next I had to re draw my Doo Lally Pip "Moochin'" character to make him much bigger. As I drew the original this wasn't too tricky for me! I then used a fine brush to go over the pencil lines using black Ink Effects and ironed onto the sweat shirt as before. Next I squeezed out several colours of So Soft and began painting my Moochin' boy. I stippled different colours onto his T shirt to give a similar effect as the one I get when I stamp onto inky kitchen paper. The paints are really easy to work with - they flow well when you brush them on and the colours mix beautifully to create things like flesh tones.  The white is very strong as you can see.
Once I had painted him and he had dried, I used a finer brush to paint the black outlines back in and to add his features and shading dots. I then finished off by adding pink and purple circles with black centres to tie in with the packaging design on my Doo Lally Pip stamp range.
The best bit is that once the paints have dried for 48 hours they are permanent - no need to iron or heat set! They are washable and durable - brilliant! Oh, the only thing to remember is to pre-wash the garment without using any fabric conditioner before you start painting. The next thing on my list of things to paint are some white canvas shoes! The paints and Ink Effects are available from good crafts stores that stock PI products....if they don't have them, they can order them for you. 
Here's me wearing the sweat shirt, though the image is in reverse as I took it via the mirror, having no one to take the picture for me. 

 Please don't look too closely at my hands though....now I know you all just did.....as I had just come in from the garden and popped the top on to take a quick snap before getting into the shower. I completely forgot how soily my hands were - makes a change from ink I suppose!
I had to laugh when I came in from the garden earlier on. Tara pretty much claims the conservatory as her own, Thomas tends to loll around in my bedroom or my Doo Lally room when he isn't prowling about the fields. However, I was very amused to see him snugly settled into Tara's static carrying case with her quite happily sitting on the rocking chair....

 I was also very surprised that she wasn't doing her usual hissing drama queen act, but, when I walked back through half an hour later I saw this scene.....

 ....and it did make me wonder what had been going on in my absence! Lol! 
Well, I hope to see lots of you tomorrow and I'll try and remember to take some photos if I get the chance. Have a great weekend everyone.