My weekend

Had a lovely day in Wigan yesterday, well Pemberton to be precise, at Card-io. Thanks to Wendy and her daughter for looking after me so well and all the ladies who came along....don't think there were any men this time! I had some of my favourite inks, stamps and flowers with me and I was also using Ranger's Liquid Pearls which are something I sometimes forget about for a while and then re-discover to my delight! Here I used them to create the background for this card. I stamped the fairy from my silhouette set and the dandelions and words which are from Marion Emberson's Make a Wish set (both PI) onto acetate. I flipped the piece over, squeezed White Opal, Flamingo and Peacock Liquid Pearls over the sheet and then brayered over them to create the squooshy effect.Handily, you can then press the acetate, pearl side down, onto card and it will stick in place. I added some dots of the pearls over the dandelion heads as well...getting really into those pearls!

I was also using Darkroom Door stamps again and this simple card is just using the watercolour technique with my Le Plume pens - coloured straight onto the stamps, spritzed with water and pressed onto 300 gsm white card. I do love this technique and the DD silhouette style flower stamps work extremely well as they allow you to build up a meadow scene really easily.I like to scribble my pens onto my craft sheet, add water, pick up the colour with a brush and tap the handle so that I get random spatters of watery colour over the image as well. I think this gives the whole thing a more painterly finish.

I received some lovely gifts this weekend too...some fantastic little icons all the way from India from two of my crafting buddies who had been out there recently. I have ideas for the icons already! When I got home there was a lovely card, tag and ATC waiting for me from another crafty friend...a lovely surprise! Makes me feel very fortunate that my work leads me to meet so many like minded people in a world that can, at times, seem very unfriendly.

Well, for some reason, I couldn't get to sleep on Friday night, so, after my busy day on Saturday I would normally had a bit of a lie in...that's to say no alarm, just wake up when I wake up. However, it was the men's final of the Australian Open and it was live at 8.15 this morning, so I got up to watch. Almost wished I had taken the lie in instead! Andy Murray was playing Novak Jokovitch and I just wanted the best man to win. Unfortunately, Murray was not only outplayed, he was also "out behaved" if there is such a term! He seemed to be very surly from the moment he walked on court and he was doing a great deal of "abusing his racquet" and swearing after his losing points. It's one reason why I like to watch Nadal and Federer...not only great players, but also they are gentlemen who take the knocks as well as the good times and treat them equally. Mmm...a famous poem springs to mind.... Well, just my thoughts anyway, and congratulations to Jokovitch for his win.

Okay, must away to bed now as I have workshops to prepare tomorrow and I think I need to catch up on Friday's insomnia! Lindsay