Travelling North.....East

It's Thursday again...I can't really believe it...which means that I am off on my travels again tomorrow, this time to Darlington and Chester-Le-Street up in the North East. Bet it'll be a bit nippy up there! My bags are really heavy because I'm packed for two demonstrations and have punches as well as paper stacks and card....surprising just how heavy card is! Anyway, I'm pretty tough, so it will just give my muscles a good work out!

Last weekend I was in Bury St Edmunds which is one of my favourite large towns to visit as it has interesting little shops as well as a lovely area of parkland and gardens behind the Cathedral. I had a less than relaxing jorney down there as my train was running late and I knew I would miss my connection with a looong wait for the next one. I was willing the train to speed up but we seemed to be going very slowly all the way. After being given wrong information by everyone that I asked, it then transpired out that I could pick up my connection from a later station. So...it turned out okay but meant that I had been "on pins" for no reason. Oh well! There's not much wildlife watching to report from my journeys at the moment, but I saw quite a few dead animals and birds on Friday's trip. I think they must have succulmbed to the storm the night before, poor things. Hopefully I'll see some more uplifting sights tomorrow.

I had a very busy day at The Stamp Hut where I was using the Melt Pot - great fun! I hope the ladies who were making Christmas wishes will be receiving Melt Pot shaped packages from their husbands....I did drop plenty of hints to them on your behalfs! Thanks to Paula and Dot for looking after me and keeping me hydrated with fruit tea as always!

I have a few new pieces to share with you tonight. Well, the first two are actually only partly new! I have been trolling a Grungepaper flower tag around with me as well as one that was unmounted. So, I decided to give them a new lease of life and made two new tags. They are both covered with TH paper (Retro and Vintage Shabby) and both feature alcohol inked velevet flowers and ribbon. I've used a Timepiece and Game Spinner on one and some pleated Symphony Tissue Tape and a new (for me) MS punch called "Modern Garland".The next photo really doesn't show this tag very well, so I will take a better one if I get a chance. Here it looks quite flat but it's actually very dimensional. I used the Vintage Shabby paper again and a mix of Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet Distress ink to smudge around the edges. to make my rosette I cut a full strip from the VS paper stash and then scored lines along the length using a ruler and ball ended tool. A bit laborious, but not too bad! I then concertina folded the strip, stuck the ends together and flattened it into a rosette. I stuck this onto a punched circle as a base to keep it in place, added it to the tag (after sticking some Tissue tape across the bottom) and then glued one of Tim's buttons into the centre. I carefully piped Diamond Stickles around the edge of the rosette....I chose Diamond for the golden glint it has which tied in nicely with the button. I dyed the ribbon and Jewelled Florette flowers (Petaloo) in my usual way! (ie alcohol inks) and added these. The butterfly is a Grungeboard element of two seperate wings which I lightly inked and curled before glueing the into place. I cut a simple body from a scrap of Grungepaper and wrapped it in Tissue Tape before glueing it over thewings. I cut the antennae from more Grungepaper and slidd them under the head before adding more Stickles. A few MS Opal gems filled in some blank areas to complete. My final photo tonight is of a card featuring my Fairy Silhouette stamped onto an alcohol ink monoprint on gloss white card. I then stroked Paint Dabbers over a page from my charity shop bought copy of Grimm's fairy tales (no wonder they were the Grimm brothers - some of the stories are positively horrific!) and cut out three rectangles and three triangles which I glued down to create towers. I added details with my fine black pen. I dyed and added some flowers at the base and then popped blue gems to their centres. I drew two of my "grown up stars" with an Inkssentials white pen and then covered the fairy image with Stardust Stickles to give her a softer look. I have done a similar thing with the "Paint Dabbers on book page" towers on a recent Journal page which gave me the idea for this card.I'll have all these, plus lots more of course, with me over the weekend, so do come along if you are in the area. On Staurday I'll be at The Art Shop on Bondgate, in Darlington. I'll be using lots of Ranger products including TH stamps and papers, Idealogy and inks etc. Then, on Sunday, I'll be at Lambton Garden Centre in Chester-Le-Street with similar products as well as my stamps and cardstock. I'll have MS punches with me at both as well. I'm looking forward to this trip, as it's a while since I was in the North East and I always enjoy my time there.

Okay, better sign off now as I have some emails to send and train times to copy out before we have dinner. So, have a great weekend everyone. Lindsay