A packed weekend

Thank you for all the comments about the Blog Candy and the paintings that I chose as some of my favourites...a special thank you to Emma -Jayne for helping me to find this image of "Off" which is, as she rightly said, by Edward Blair Leighton. Would you believe, even though I thought I knew every inch of the picture, the lady is not looking at the ring at all! Funny how our imagination can play tricks on us. The picture, when viewed in the gallery, is small and much more detailed and bright than it looks here, the dress being particularly well painted. Anyway, hope you like it too! Joanne, you mustn't worry about me and trains...I usually really enjoy the journeys and, when it's more practical, David drives me. I normally have a lovely time spotting the wildlife - it's just sometimes the wildlife is on the train as well!

I've been busy preparing samples for a busy weekend that starts a day early for me, as I'll be at C. J. Crafts in Edgeley, Stockport tomorrow. Here are just a few of the cards I've been making. This one features a Personal Impressions stamp set called "Elf's Christmas" and I've combined it with one of my own papers and one from Nit Wit as well as snowflakes that were the confetti from my MS Aspen punch. You can't tell here, but I alcohol inked the peel off...don't often use peel offs, but I've been using them at demonstrations recently to show various ways to alter them. It was quite nice doing something clean for a change....mind you, there are one or two strategically placed snowflakes on there!This next card was made using a Tim Holtz mask on white card and then blending Distress inks over the top, moving the mask around as I went. I brayered the background mat using a Big n Juicy ink pad and cut up the masked card, changing the quarters around for a more abstract look. The large flower is made up of three Petaloo Colour Me Crazy layers which I dyed with alcohol inks.If you've been following Tim's blog then you will have seen this next technique for creating the centrepiece of this next card. Very simply, it is a grungeboard heart, stuck to card, covered with a dictionary page and then smoothed over to reveal the details. I then grunged it up with Distress inks and highlighted the Romance definitions with a lilac pen. The background was achieved with one of Tim's very useful stamps which I applied several times using Victorian Velvet Distress ink before embossing with clear powder. Then I went over the whole card with Frayed Burlap and a little Walnut Stain around the edges. The ribbon was dyed with alcohol inks and tied twice around. An Adage ticket was pinned to the ribbon after being inked and water spattered. Oh, I also distressed the edges of the card and centrepiece using the TH paper distressing tool!

Hope you like the cards and, if you fancy a day out then pop along to Edgeley tomorrow. On Saturday I'll be back at Handmade Heaven in Chorley, which I know is always going to be a very busy day! I'll be combining Ranger products with Personal Impressions stamps for a mix of artsy and whimsical. The new Tim Holtz paper pads may well be featuring too! Then on Sunday, I'll be at Garners Garden Centre, Cemetery Rd, Stoke on Trent, where I'll be using Tim Holtz stamps and a wide range of Ranger products. Should be a fun filled few days, so hope to see some of you at one or other of the shops.

Tonight is now about relaxing, so it's a Chinese takaway - David has been decorating the kitchen, so it's all a bit topsy turvy at the moment, but looking lovely and fresh too! We've both been working hard today too, so the cooking is being done by someone else tonight! Have a great weekend everyone. Lindsay