Back home

Hello folks, I'm safely back home after a very busy few days at the NEC for the annual Stitches trade fair. I've quite a few photos to share from the show but, before that, here's my boy, Thomas, looking very sorry for himself....

...when I got home on Tuesday night he was holding up his front left paw and wouldn't let me give it more than a cursory once over. My neighbour, who's been looking after my pusscats, hadn't seen anything unusual going on, so it was a bit of a mystery. I decided to see how he went over the next day and, as you can see, I made him all comfy with my cardigan and a nice fluffy hot water bottle.

Unfortunately, his leg/paw just went steadily worse and by last night he was really limping badly so it was off to the vet this morning. I was, as you do, thinking the worst....broken leg, dislocation etc. Anyway, I'm relieved to say that the vet found a puncture wound and, along with Thomas having a very high temperature, he decided it was a cat bite.....mmmmm....I wonder who the culprit could be?! Methinks that T&T have been taking out their annoyance at me being away on each other! So, he's had a jab that will dose him up over a fortnight and the vet says he'll be feeling much better by tomorrow.

This was him a few minutes ago...bless him!

So, back to the show, and it was the usual mix of hard work, long hours and lots of fun, meeting friends and colleagues like Paula Pascual  and Paul Browning as well as having the much needed post Christmas boost that Stitches always gives. Saturday is set up day, with the freezing exhibition hall looking so full of boxes, bubble wrap, polystyrene and plastic ties that you'd think it would never be ready by the following day! There are so many men laying carpet around the hall and the sound of stands being built and finished as well as trucks and cherry pickers beeping as they wend their way between the cluttered aisles. The Personal Impressions stand is one of the biggest and it's all hands to the job of getting it ready. This is the view to the side of my demonstration counter with all my bags and boxes gradually being unloaded.......

 .....and a few hours later with my counter getting rapidly filled up!

 

I'm glad to say that everyone seemed to really like my new stamp ranges - always a relief when you bring out a new collection!

It was mid evening before we got to our hotel and were able to get something to eat before a much needed sleep and an early morning start to theopening show day. It wasn't long before my tidy counter didn't look quite so tidy....

I really do have the messiest demo table at the show!

Just along the way was the DecoArt stand where one of my best friends, Andy Skinner, was wowing everyone with the amazing samples of his work.

Round the corner from Andy, Mark Gould was holding make n takes where he was showing people the wonders of the new chalk paints. Here he is, wowing one of the PI team. Some very talented men at this show!

 As well as demonstrating throughout the show I also teach workshops each day. They are only forty five minutes long and there is not much time between everyone's classes to set up and pack away so always a little stressful! This year I was showcasing Tim's new Jumbo Tattered Florals and Spring Greenery Sizzix dies along with Ranger products and some of my quote stamps. Thankfully everything went smoothly and the ladies (yes, this year I didn't have any men in my classes!) all made great job of their projects....

.....everyone chose their colours beautifully.....

 So, Sunday came to a close at around 6pm and then it was time for a quick wash and brush up at the hotel before our carvery dinner that was really delicious. Most of us had a reasonably early night and it didn't feel like very long till we were back at the stand again next day!

One of the products that I was using was the new Distress Marker Spritzer which creates great effects and is especially useful for working with stencils as it blows the ink very specifically without any seepage to ruin the design. Whilst I was discussing the Spritzer with Neil Walker he wondered how it would work for blowing liquid inks.....no sooner said than done! It blows them beautifully - no need to buy canned air sprays or make yourself dizzy using a straw!

Later on I was starting a tag with a background of Dylusions ink spray including one the new colours - Slate Grey which is subtle and gorgeous. I used the Spritzer to blow some of the ink up to create foliage and stamped the leaping hare from my new Hippetty Hoppetty set using the kiss technique with my Zentangle Fillers set.

I decided to add a couple of little bunnies from the same set as the hare but it wasn't until I'd stamped the last bunny that I (and everyone watching) realised just what I'd done! In case you can't quite make it out, here's a close up....

....naughty rabbits!!! Ooops! Thought you might be amused by my faux pas! 

Monday evening was our traditional visit to the Chinese Buffet restaurant where we ate lots of delicious food and had a lovely time. Here's me and Monica who looks after the craft stores in the North West of England.

 

And this is Anke, who was demonstrating Viva Decor products on our stand, Elaine, my best buddy at PI and Andy. 

So, it was soon the final day of the show which is always a mixture of relief to be going home and sadness to be saying cheerio to everyone.....

.....keeping up the strength to pull the stand down are Jan and Monica......

.....but we still have time for some fun of course.......

....we had these amazing masks as part of our new Mamelok collection and I have to say that we had quite a few laughs wearing them. Mine was Dame Edna!

I didn't get chance to take many photos so I will post piccies of more samples in the next few days. Most of my "stuff" is being posted back to me as, even as a semi professional camel, I couldn't carry everything!

Right, the time has flown by whilst typing this - in fact, it was light when I started and now it's dark outside! So, I'd better go and get my dinner and check how my lovely boy is.

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!

Downloads

Just a very quick post to let you know that Personal Impressions now have instructions for some of my Doo Lally Pip projects available to download and print out. 

Simply click this link to to the PI website and it will take you straight to them. Hope you find them useful!

I'm all of a Doo Lally

Hello folks, I was going to write this post yesterday but Tara and Thomas had other ideas - in fact Tara jumped up and turned the laptop off with her paw to show her disgust that I was even thinking about not giving them my full attention! I had left them alone for four days with just my neighbour popping in to feed them, so they were rightfully feeling a little neglected and Tara has been like a fixture on my lap since I got back.

I decided to have a day off anyway after Stitches, which is always a brilliant few days but exhausting. Before I forget, if you click the link in my sidebar you can go to my You Tube site where I've posted a video of the demo areas on the Personal Impressions stand at the show. Look out for the quick Can Can moment at the end...not by me I hasten to add!

Here's a picture of some of my Doo Lally Pip samples up on display at the end of the demonstration counter....

 ....I do like a black background to show off the strong colours. I was really pleased with all the positive reaction to my new Doo Lally designs which seemed to make everyone smile.
Here's me with one of my best mates, the lovely and super talented Rachel Greig of Darkroom Door fame.....

..... Rachel and I were sharing one demonstration booth and here's Rachel with Dyan Reaveley who was demonstrating on counter on the other side of our stand. Dyan's new colours in her Dylusions ink sprays are gorgeous and a must have......

At the opposite end of the PI stand we had Ken Oliver from Spellbinders who was demonstrating the new Media Mixage range and the Artisan Explorer machine. Here he is with Jan from Personal Impressions....

Here's a nice shot of Rachel demonstrating and you can see some more of our samples as well as getting an idea of the size of the PI stand which is one of the best at the show (I know, I'm biased, but it is!).....

 

Another piccie of me here, this time with my lovely friend, Paula Pascual who was demonstrating on the Sizzix stand.......

 .....can you tell we love each other?! I wish I could smile without squishing my eyes up though!!!

We also had a lot of fun and our traditional Monday night at the Wing Wah Chinese restaurant was as bonkers as ever, with "happy birthday" sparkler topped, ice cream filled fruit bowls being brought to two unsuspecting recipients at our tables. This year it was the turn of Ken and also Patrick from DecoArt to wonder why they were being sung to when it wasn't even their birthdays! 

 .......daft, but fun! 

The show was three days of non stop talking, standing, perching on a high stool, teaching and demonstrating and meeting up with people, some of whom I only see once a year. I'm always really sad when the show closes and the stand, that took hours and hours to set up and dress, is ripped down in no time at all and everyone says their farewells. It was especially poignant this year as David always used to help to pack things away and he always took a "Team PI" photograph of us all. 

Thank you for all the texts and emails that I got from so many of you while I was away - I will get back to everyone I promise!

Well, I will post some pictures of more samples from the show in a few days as they are being photographed for Personal Impressions before being sent back to me. Don't forget to check out the You Tube clip and also to read the post below this one to enter my blog candy giveaway! Remember you need to leave a comment after that post to be in with a chance.

...and more stamps

Thank you for the lovely comments about the new stamp sets. They are much appreciated. Drawing the designs is a very solitary thing, so it's always good to get positive feedback when I finally get to share them! I was drawing again today, but have had to call it a day as the temperature here has plummeted again and my fingers are complaining.....they're prone to the cold when I'm doing fiddly pen work. I may well get some tags or cards made later instead - much more movement in that to keep the circulation flowing!

So, as promised, here are a few more of my new stamp sets, all of which will be available very soon from Personal Impressions stockists.

This one is "Daahling" (CICSA6059)...you know the type! Lol! Again, from my Doo-Lally-Pip range.

Next is this set called "Pooch" (CICSA6065) with a rather dopey character and his grumpy bulldog. This set is also from the Doo-Lally-Pip range.

 This next one is a set that's in my Lindsay Mason designs collection.....

...it's called "Too Hoots" (CICSA6035) and I really enjoyed working on this set which took ages to draw with all the dot details! I'm a big owl fan and I thought it would be fun to have some patterned ones for a change.

Also from my Lindsay Mason range, this set is called "Funtastic Robots" (CICSA6034)......

......I think this set will be great for boys (and men's!) cards as well as journalling, hence the relative titles. Incidentally, I usually do both handwritten and typed word options for the stamps and then PI decide which to use, so I normally don't know which version will be in the sets until they are on the website!

I'll finish today's previews with another phrases set, also in my general Lindsay Mason designs range. This set is called "I've had enough" (CICSA6037)....I know the feeling!

 It has a mix of fonts and the "this is me" words are individual stamps so that you can space them out however you wish. I used a couple of the stamps from this set on the tags I showed yesterday.

Well, that's it for today! I'll try and post again tomorrow if I get the chance.

I'm hoping it's not too slippery tomorrow morning as I have to walk into the village to get to church...I may take dad's old walking stick if it is icy! Then it will be getting home and warmed up again with some lunch before cracking on with work. I know I keep harping on about the temperature, but I can't recall ever feeling as generally cold as I do these days! Bbbbrrrrr! I think there may be a nice hot bubble bath on the menu tonight - lovely!

a winning card

No video uploads tonight! I will be getting some done as soon as I can though, so watch this space. Meanwhile, here's a picture of the winning card and creator from the PI section of the card competition last Saturday in Kendal. It was a really beautiful easel card made using Spellbinders dies and a worthy winner of the Grand Calibur.

Last week I was driven mad with nettle rash and today I woke up with bites on my foot and my arm! I suppose it's the downside of now being in a semi rural spot with open fields full of midges, mosquitoes and other little pesky biters. So I'm applying the cream again and taking the antihistamine tablets but still have a very itchy foot that is making me crazy and taking all my willpower not to scratch it. Aaaarrrgghh!

Kendal

It was a glorious day after a rainy start yesterday which was just as well or I'd have come home to two bedraggled pusscats - they went out at 6.30am and refused to come back in so I had to set off for the station and leave them to their own devices. As it was I still got told off by them when I got home of course!

I met up with Sarah and Esther on the train at Preston, so we travelled the rest of the way together having a catch up.We'd no sooner just about got our tables set up when people started arriving to go to the workshops and watch the demos - there were over twenty demonstrators, so lots to see. Here's Sarah with just one of her beautiful samples made with new Sizzix dies and matching stamps. Not quite sure what the joke was but here are Esther and Sheila posing by Esther's table, full of lovely samples made with dies and the Cuttlebug. You can see a basket of flowers on Esther's table and we were all given one of these by Janet which was a really nice surprise. And here's me, pulling an odd face as usual (actually, I've decided it's just my normal face really!!!) and, also as usual, with the messiest table in the whole shop! I was using Personal Impressions stamps, Tim Holtz dies and Distress inks. Andy Skinner's "Winter's Tale" stamp set was a big hit and they all sold out within fifteen minutes - I'd been looking forward to doing lots of Christmas Trees too!
In the afternoon, Sarah and I had the very nice job of presenting prizes and certificates to some of the prize winners in the card competition that Janet had organised to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Paper Warehouse shop. We were giving the prizes from PI and the winning cards were all brilliant - top prize was a Grand Calibur...wow! Well done to all the winners.
It was good to see so many familiar faces and old friends, as well as new people, all filled with a shared enthusiasm that made for a great atmosphere. Hope everyone enjoys their new purchases and don't forget to email me if you do get a memory block on what I was doing with Glue n Seal or anything else! Also, check out my older posts - you can click on any of the key words in the "Labels" list in the left column and you'll find more examples as well as some step by steps for various techniques. Just click either the name of the product, or "step by step" - I hope to add some more of these soon.
I had a quiet evening when I got home - jim jams on and lounging on the sofa basically! This morning I've been to St Chad's and spent some time after the service sitting on one of the benches in the churchyard, just contemplating things and reliving memories. Then it was coffee and a bacon sandwich in the village cafe before walking home in the drizzly rain. Once I've posted this I'll be planning a Crafts Beautiful project and working on some drawings that I've got sketched out in pencil.
Tomorrow morning I'm popping to Blackpool town centre to do some shopping for Heather's birthday on Friday, but, ssshhhhh, don't tell her! Not sure what we're going to do for her birthday yet, it depends on the weather really, but the zoo has been mentioned - there are giant anteaters and a pack of wolves as new additions there now. Blackpool zoo does a great deal of conservation work and the animals are really well cared for. Heather brought me a cutting from the local paper a few weeks ago as it was the zoo's anniversary and there were pictures from the very first day that it opened. They showed Johnny Morris riding in on a young elephant....you couldn't see in the picture but I wasn't far behind him! A long story that I won't bore you with, but I was in the same paper ** years ago as I'd been sent the very first ticket after something that I did "touched the heart" of someone at the newspaper! It made me feel very old seeing the black and white photos and reading that the original cost of a ticket was 18p!!! It's now £15.50....I think that's a bit more than inflation can account for!
Well, that's my weekend. I have to get some more mortar to finish my little wall before I can get the last big patch of the garden finished with weed control mesh and bark. I've got some steel rods to fix the bird table firmly into the ground and lots of bulbs to plant as well - I even won some last week but they haven't arrived yet! So,I'm hoping for a few dry days next week so I can get jobs done in between my real work. Speaking of which, I'll be at Cutting Edge Crafts in Skegness on the 1st September. This will be my first trip to Skegness, but I won't get a lot of time to look round as it's a long train journey and, even setting off nice and early I won't arrive till late afternoon. Still, I should be able to get a stroll along the prom if it's a nice day. So, hope to see you there if it's near your patch.

Some new stamps!

Me again. I have some new stamp designs to share with you! They will be available from the second week in September and you can find images and details of all the new Personal Impressions stamp releases on the website - link is on my left sidebar. If you go to "Coming Soon" and choose Art Stamps it will show you the full range, or you can choose my name to see my specific designs.
As I said, with David's illness, I wasn't able to get all my Christmas designs finished this time, but I had already got some ready including these I'm posting today, some "Tinchies" and some new verse and sentiment sets. Hope you like them!
The first one is an A5 set called "DIY Snowman" (PICSA5344). As you can see, it has everything you need to create lots of different snowman images...he can be two or three snowballs high, with a choice of hats, scarfs and mittens as well as various facial features. The eyes, noses etc are all separate, so you can position them just how you want.I can't wait to get started on this set as I love snowmen! Next is an A6 set called "Winter Country Scene" (PICSA6369) which is a good one for Christmas cards, winter birthdays and, of course, the tree, squirrel, tree line and plants can be used all year - even the gate can be if you cut it out and chop off the snow. I'm going to enjoy using this set I know! Finally for now, another A6 set, again featuring jolly snowmen. This one is called "Christmas from all of us" (PICSA66362) and features three different snowmen images as well as Christmas lights and snowballs. This set's a lot of fun - I love the fact that you can feature as many snowmen as you want to on a card and that you can mix the styles too. I'll post some more pics soon. They'll be available from any store selling PI products and if anyone wants to get them, just make a note of the titles and codes and ask the retailer to order them for you. Well, after last night's dramatic thunder, lightning and bouncing rain, it's now scorchingly hot. After finishing some more samples I was going to get that little wall completed whilst the weather's dry. However, my plans have been scuppered due to the local shop having sold out of mortar - how cheeky! So, it will have to wait till Monday now. I do have some other little jobs that I can attend to though and am desperate to get the bark chips down as soon as I can so the weeds don't get a hold again after all my digging and hoeing. My brother in law donated some Semperviviums and some seeds taken from their garden today, so I have a little planting to do tonight and will add the seeds to my growing collection in the garage waiting to be sown at the correct time.
I've been hampered too by my hand today. Yesterday morning I had to prune back some very tall branches from the bushes in my neighbour's garden that were blocking some of the light coming into my work area. She's been in hospital for a few weeks, so things have got a bit out of control. I was merrily cutting away when I got zapped by a Nettle that I'd not seen. Didn't hurt much but within an hour or so it felt like I had ants crawling under my skin and has just got worse. The incessant itch kept me awake half the night and I've made it worse by scratching - even though I did try not to! I now have a very red and swollen right hand (great when you're right handed!) so have seen the chemist and got some cream and tablets that I'm hoping will do the trick - and soon, before I go round the bend! At least I know to wear my gloves next time I tackle next door's overhanging garden!
Thank you for the comments about the foot drawing! If time, and my dodgy hand allow, I may well draw something else to show you tonight. Meanwhile, I'm off to rub some more cream on and get a cold drink.