I'm still here!

Hello everyone, and sorry for being so long in posting....the rumour that my leg had got infected and dropped off is not true! Lol! No, I have had my head down, putting finishing touches to the "hush hush" project that I'm working on. I've just about hit my deadline for this stage, so am feeling rather relaxed this evening, although I start work on brand new stamp designs as of tomorrow. It's all go!

Since my last post I had a lovely busy day at Ream's in Derby, where the staff and customers were very welcoming, friendly and enthusiastic. Jill's son even kept me topped up with hot drinks all day and I was given bottle of wine before I left! Yesterday was a full day of teaching at JGD Crafts in Sutton, where a lovely group of ladies had lots of fun making a varied selection of distressed, stamped and inked cards. There was a lot of laughter, but they still managed to make some stunning cards.

I shall be at the Garden centre craft shops (ex Craft Central stores) in Chester-Le-Street and Carlisle this coming Saturday and Sunday, so please pop in if you are in the area this weekend. I'll be demonstrating Sakura pens on both these days and will have ATC's to swap, so bring one or two with you if you are coming along. I will be showing various techniques, including stamping, working on acetate and doodling. I have some nice train journeys to look forward to, as the scenery is stunning along the northern routes. Hopefully I won't have any confrontations with yobs this time either!

For those of you who had asked me to email any further lists of my clear out items, everything has now gone, so my lists are no more! There is a nice space where the clutter was, although it does seem to be managing to fill itself up again rather alarmingly! Some new boxes will hopefully keep everything in reasonable order though....no more collapsing drawers!

We've had a mixture of warm sunshine, winds and torrential rain in this last week and the trees seem to have swelled to twice their size. "Our" birds and beasties are all doing well, and, as I type this, some of our regular pigeons are tapping on the window as if to order more bird seed! They are comical characters. On a natural history note, I emailed Channel 4 last night after seeing Bear Grylls (not someone I normally watch) confronting a huge Boa Constrictor in Belize. It was a beautiful, awe inspiring snake - until Mr Grylls decided to kill it because it "had a lot of meat on it". It was sickening and a complete waste of a magnificent animal. Had he really been stuck in a jungle, starving, then, obviously he could be justified in doing what he needed to do to survive. However, he was simply making a programme about survival and I was absolutely fuming (and still am, as you may guess) that he and Channel 4 thought that this was okay behaviour. I'll let you know what they have to say when I hear from them. Rant over!

Well, this has been a loooong weekend, so I am just about to nip out to the Chinese takeaway - something that we don't have very often, but we are both shattered, so are having a really lazy night. Lovely!

I shall post again, with pictures, soon. Lindsay

Ouch!

Hello everyone, well, it's been a pretty dull day weather wise...must be a Bank Holiday weekend! In a way I was rather pleased that it wasn't a sunnier day, as I would have been fed up at having to stay inside and work! (That sounds really selfish, and I don't mean it really! Or do I?!?)

I had a rather nasty accident on Saturday as I was tidying my craft things away. Those of you who I have met may have heard me say that I often work on the floor - I know it's a little bizarre, but I just sort of spread out! I was kneeling down and picking up scraps for the bin when I felt a little pin prick at the side of my right knee. It wasn't painful, but, when I looked down, the handle of my heavy duty pricking tool was sticking out of my leg and the thick, needle part was in my leg up to the hilt! (An inch and a quarter - I measured it!) It wasn't bleeding and I gritted my teeth and began to pull it out - it came out a few millimetres and that was it, it was absolutely stuck. My skin was pulling up with the tool but it would not come out...and that did hurt! I realised that it was probably the dried on glue on the tool acting like a bee sting's barb. David was washing the car so I rang his mobile, only to realise that it was charging up on the shelf! I was upstairs and manouevred my way gingerly into the bathroom which overlooks where the car is, but I couldn't reach the window to call to him, so I threw a note of the window along with a plastic razor, which was the nearest thing to hand, to attract his attention. Nothing! So, I began waving a big towel up to the window, throwing all sorts of things down to him as well as shouting my head off...still no response. I gave up and stayed on the floor wondering what more I had to do to attract his attention. After about half an hour he appeared and it turned out that he had washed the car and gone straight to Sainsbury's! He hadn't even been outside as I rained down all the stuff!

Thankfully, after a few minutes of gentle tugging, twisting and tugging, David managed to pull the tool out of my leg whilst I stuffed a towel in my mouth and felt a bit sick! Amazingly, it didn't bleed and (apart from whilst trying to pull it out) was not painful at all...the only time I have ever been glad that I've got little fat legs!

Anyway, just to warn everyone - do keep an eye on where your pricking tool is at all times! Although it was a painful experience, it was very funny too!

I found some old card samples this week whilst I was rummaging about for some card stock. This first one was made several years ago when I was heavily into using little scrabble tiles - as you can see! It's odd looking back on things that you created a long time ago, and trying to recall what inspired the design. The one below was made as a project for Making Cards magazine and featured UTEE panels stamped in purple Stazon with vintage ladies (both from the Beryl Peters colection by Personal Impressions). I used Alcohol inks onto shiny card which had a sort of mother of pearl, pinky effect, which really softened the colours.I've just finished clearing away again (no stabbing myself this time!) and am now going to start typing up some projects before a relaxing evening watching some telly...if there's anything on worth watching of course!

Take care everyone, and watch out for those pricking tools! Lindsay

Look what came today! (& a Tartan step by step)

The postman brought me a small package from Personal Impressions this afternoon. It didn't look like much. Just a small corrugated card box that rattled a bit when I shook it. Looks can be deceptive though, as when I opened it, look what was inside...........yes, the new colours of Ranger Alcohol Inks in Lights and Brights. Twenty four luscious shades that all alcohol ink fans have been waiting for. They are pretty, rather than grungy, girly, pastel, pinks, lilacs, peaches....just gorgeous!

I've made a colour swatch on gloss white card so that you can see them properly - I added it as a small picture so that you can click to enlarge it to read the colour names.

I promised to do a step by step on how to create a Tartan effect with the inks, so thought that this was a good time to do it. Sorry if some of the pictures look a little blurry (it wasn't the excitement of the new inks making my hands shake, honestly!). You'll need: Glossy white card (preferably Cast Coated....don't use photographic paper for this), two or three shades of Alcohol inks (I used Watermelon, Clover and Willow), Blending Solution, Applicator tool and felt piece, non-stick craft sheet.

1. Press the felt piece onto the applicator tool so that it grips well. Squeeze drops of the Watermelon ink across the length of the felt, spacing them as shown below.

2. Now squeeze drops of Clover ink between the Watermelon blobs - that's a technical term by the way! Squeeze a little of the Willow in in any spaces between the first two colours.3. Add a little Blending Solution across the length of the felt, bearing in mind that the more that you add, the paler the ink colours will become.
4. Sweep the tool across the glossy card in a horizontal direction. Sweep it across again below the first band of colour. The idea is to try to get the bands of colour side by side as opposed to leaving white gaps or overlapping them too much. However, don't worry about this too much - if you do get a white gap it will still be fine!

5. Turn the card round by 45 degrees so that the bands of colours are now vertical. Sweep the tool across the card exactly as before to create the Tartan effect. If needed, you can add more ink and/or Blending Solution if you feel that the felt is dragging, or want more colour.

6. Once dry...this takes about two seconds!....cut away the edges where the colours look a bit raggedy - or leave them on, it depends what effect you are after. Use the design as a background on a card, for an ATC r even to punch shapes out of. If you want to stamp onto the card do be sure to use something like an Archival pad as opposed to a Stazon which, being a solvent based pad, will remove the alcohol ink.

As you can see, it's a really simple technique, so do give it a try! Apologies to any of my Scottish friends reading this.....unless I've been very lucky, I doubt that this is a legitimate Tartan design! Do note that I put a decent amount of Blending Solution on the felt for this one, so the colours are fairly muted. Just add less for a stronger effect. Have fun and let me know if you do give it a try.

Lindsay

Calmer and Karma

Hello to all my friends and any new visitors who are reading this. The wonderful Hazel at Didos Designs (link below on m blog list) included me in her Karma award list:

"The Karma Award:These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award."

Thank you so much Hazel, it's appreciated, and something of a coincidence that Karma happens to be my absolute favourite product from Lush! I am supposed to pass this onto eight like minded blogs...I always hate this bit as I don't like picking one blog over another. I am so busy at the moment that it will be a couple of days before I nominate eight bloggers...but please don't be offended if you aren't included!!! Btw, Hazel has put some of her beautifully made ATC's as a Candy on her Blog - do check them out.

The "calmer" part of this post is that I could do with being a little calmer at the moment! I must admit that I absolutely "lost it" yesterday (which I rarely do) when it took me over an hour to find a few stamps that I needed and I had to completely re think a few projects because I was spending so long just searching for things. It's all down to lack of space, but I got so frustrated that I really went a bit mad!

Today I decided to spend my time typing up instructions for the projects that I have already completed as a break from making the ones that are still on my agenda. So I have been curled up on the sofa with my laptop typing away. It takes as long, if not longer, to write instructions as it does to create the projects, as it's not always easy to put something visual into words. Still, I got quite a bit done, so I am feeling a little calmer this evening, though very tired after a lack of sleep last night. Whenever I am working to tight deadlines I find myself tossing and turning at night as I keep going over ideas in my head. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you what I'm working on before too long!

Well, I just have time to do one more set of instructions before dinner, so I had better get cracking! Take care everyone. Lindsay

Back from Scotland

Hello everyone and welcome to new friends who I met this weekend in Inverness and Broughty Ferry. I must say thank you to Cynthia and Hazel who brought me cards and ATC's which were gorgeous and much appreciated. Thanks too to Seila who sent me two scrumptious ATC's and a beautiful card - they are all on display now before I put them into my albums for safe keeping and good memories.
Well, I had mammoth journey up to Inverness on Thurdsday - made even longer by the incompetence of the person at the National Rail call centre who I booked the tickets with! Instead of getting there in six and a half hours (as I found out that I could have done) it took me over nine and a half hours and I had to wait at Glasgow station for almost three hours - that was fun! I had too much luggage to warrant walking around the city centre, and it costs £7.50 (yes, £7.50!) to leave a bag at the station! It turned out that, contrary to what I had been told, I could have used my tickets at any time of the day, so could have been in Inverness long before I did get there. Sigh!

However, the tain journey was marvellous. Not too many travellers, so I had space to relax and stretch out a bit. The scenery was spectacular and I saw masses of wildlife - pheasants, rabbits, deer, ponies, adorable lambs enjoying the sunshine and possibly an eagle - it was a big bird of prey, but we had sped by before I could properly identify it. Thrilling to see though. I took loads of photos but, of course, through the train window they don't come out too well and, looking at them now, they don't do justice to what I saw. I got very excited when I saw the signs that showed we were in the Cairngorms National Park! There was still some snow on the peaks.

I liked this picture which came out rather well and showed the lovely evening sunlight.

Near to Aviemore there was a rather scary moment or two! There was a sudden very loud "clang" under the train and then something very big and heavy seemed to be caught underneath and was clanging along up and down the length of the carriage. At one point it banged up right beneath a lady opposite to me and she almost jumped onto the table! After a few minutes it stopped, but we were all a bit nervous to say the least! The train didn't stop or even slow down and no explanation as to what it was - a bit of excitement anyway!

After the long journey, I was very happy to see how close my hotel was to the station! Couldn't get much nearer than that! It was a very grand old hotel with a magnificent staircase which, apparently, was the inspiration for the staircase on the ship Titanic.

Next day was my demonstration at Hobby Haven, which is in a charming Victorian arcade. It wasn't long before I was busily blowing ink through straws, stamping swirly birds and distressing pieces of card! Thanks to all the ladies who came along, including Cynthia (Rainbow Lady) and Susan. I hope that you are all enjoying your new puchases! The day just flew by and I didn't even get any photos. However, I'd taken a few of the cards (in the ultra bright bathroom in the hotel!) so here are just a couple: The owl is wearing a hat taken from the Wizard Shelf stamp and the background is from the luscious Que Sera Sera papers by K&Co. The Scottish Piper is backed with a handmade Tartan effect made with Alcohol inks onto Metallic Film.

Straight after my demonstration I was back on the train, this time to Dundee which was another four hours of travelling and then a taxi ride. (Yet again I had been sold strange tickets and could have got there much quicker if I hadn't been sent via Aberdeen!). A very late dinner and a good night's sleep set me up for my day at Kitty Krafts the next day. I had not long started the demonstration when the lovely Hazel and her boys arrived (with a friend who I didn't get chance to introduce myself to - so apologies for that!). Hazel looked great and stayed for around twenty minutes so I was very proud of her!

We had a big hug and swapped a few things before she made some purchases and was on her way again - so, Hazel, this one is just for you.....
style="color:#000066;">....you deserve it and I was so touched, again, that you made such a big effort to come and see me.

Well, it was another very busy day, with a lot of laughter as well. More tree blowing, alcohol inking and distressy stamping was the order of the day. Here are one or two more cards - mostly cute ones at the moment, but I'll take pictures of some more and post those asap. Notice the terrible pun on my Cherry the Cat card....you know me, I like puns!

Louise, who owns Kitty Krafts, now has a blog, so do pay her a visit and have a look at what is going on up there on http:/kittykrafts.blogspot.com . Before long my day at Kitty Krafts was over and Louise's husband Ross kindly ran me to the station at Dundee where I took a picture of Shackleton's ship, "Discovery", which I hadn't known was there before as I had a previously only been there in the dark!It's an awesome sight and very evocative of course. So, next thing was a four hour train journey to York which was lovely in the sunshine and with more gorgeous scenery. I had about half an hour at York station to grab a sandwich for dinner and then onto Manchester. This was when the lovely weekend beagan to go into meltdown unfortunately! The train carriage was invaded by football "fans" who made the rest of the journey (nearly two hours) a complete nightmare. Apart from the incredible amount of noise they were making in general, they were also shouting out foul chants and generally being totally obnoxious. I changed seats three times but there was no avoiding them. The one train guard on board was evidently highly embarrassed but too intimidated to do anything about it. One girl was right in the midst of them all and she did have a go at them but was given lots of abuse in return - when I spoke out for her I was also subjected to the abuse. When we were nearing my station I had to run the gauntlet of their stupidity and, when I stood my ground and told them just what a lot of disrespectful idiots they were, I was called every filthy name one could imagine. As I left the train I was showered in beer! Completely soaked and smelling like a brewery, I called the platform staff and complained bitterly that these yobs are even allowed onto the trains and that there are no security staff on the trains to deal with them. Myself and the other woman were the only two people who were not prepared to put up with the situation. I've been given a form to make a formal complaint and I certainly shall. It's unbelievable the way that football "fans" (I use the word reservedly, as these are just thugs) are allowed to run riot. It was scary to note that, unlike one time where if a lady complained about bad language or behaviour, a group of men would say "oh, sorry sweetheart" - these "men" had no such attitude. In fact, one of them stood up as if he was going to have a physical go at me. Well, it was a very unpleasant end to to my weekend, but I would rather go home covered in beer knowing that I hadn't just accepted the situation but had made a stand against such yobbish behaviour, than just say nothing.

Well, I can't leave this on a bad note! So, thank you for everyone's lovely cards, ATC's, comments and emails which all mean a great deal to me. I'll post details on creating the Tartan effects and a few more cards/ATC's as soon as I can. Must go now, as there is more rest and relaxation to be done today before getting back to work tomorrow! Lindsay

Apologies

I must apologise for not posting before now, and for not adding any pictures as I'd promised. We had to cancel the workshop on Sunday, so I didn't get to take photos and it has been a blur of activity here with me trying to catch up with projects and samples for this weekend in Scotland. I am all packed up now and ready for the long haul tomorrow. It's taking over seven hours to Inverness, which I had thought was an inordinately long time...only when I checked my tickets did I see that I have almost three hours to wait in Glasgow! So, if you are in Glasgow station tomorrow between 1.30pm and 4.30pm and see someone in Starbucks, surrounded by empty coffee cups, it may well be me! I shall definitely need to take a couple of book with me!

I've made lots of samples and I'll photograph them and be sure to put some up here when I return. I've been making some Tartan designs using Alcohol inks to go with the Scottish stamps that are one range I will be showcasing, so I'll give details of how these are done, as it's a useful technique.

Now I say this every time, but if you are coming to one of my demonstrations this weekend, please do bring an ATC to swap with me! Thanks again Sheila for the lovely Easter one that you sent me - it has pride of place in my album!

Well, time for a cup of Peach and Tangerine tea now and a relaxing evening before the mad few days ahead! Oh I have new dates added to the demonstration list too, so do check them out - I'll be in Chester-Le-Street, Carlisle and Blackpool.....not all on the same day though! Speak to you when I get back, Lindsay

Sunny days

Well it's been a lovely couple of days, although the weather only improved as I was leaving Llandudno, so I had a rather windswept walk along the prom on Thursday! The sea air was great though and I slept really well - I must recommend the guest house (it's called no9) that I stayed at, as it was something really special.....charming decor, spotless, full of character yet up to date with little extra touches that made it a cut above the average, like a DVD library, freshly prepared fruit salad (no tinned stuff!) and home baked bread at breakfast etc, and Mandy, the owner, is a lovely, friendly lady who made me feel right at home. If you are going to Llandudno I highly recommend it http://www.no9llandudno.co.uk/ .

I had a busy old day in Liverpool today - hello to all the ladies (and gentlemen) who came to see me and hope you can all remember what to do with your new pens! Now it's time for a relaxing evening and a little "unwinding". I shall post some pictures tomorrow.

Finally, if you have requested a list of my items for sale and not yet received it - please email me to let me know, as the first ones that I sent out may not have come through to you due to a glitch! I don't want to re send them to everyone, so do let me know if you still haven't got yours. Have a great Sunday everyone and I shall post some piccies tomorrow. Lindsay