Kendal and High Legh

Another quick post to say that I'll be doing the first demonstrations with my new "Off the Wall" stamp collection this weekend. On Saturday I'll be at The Paper Warehouse, Kendal, where there will be a host of demonstrations, so plenty of things to see! On Sunday I'll be at Strikes Garden Centre in High Legh, near Knutsford.
I can't do it before the weekend but I will, as soon as I can, post a step by step of my "no ruler and no craft knife" frames for shaker cards or just making a surround for images on cards - as promised to the ladies that I met yesterday in Scunthorpe. Meanwhile, for two great tutorials on making flowers, have a look at Paul's blog. They look terrific and the step by step pictures are really easy to follow.
Well, hope to see some of you this weekend. I might get to spend a day a home next week! Lol!

Off again!

I'm off on my travels again shortly, whizzing over to Scunthorpe for my demonstration at Stephen H Smiths Garden Centre tomorrow. I know...a Wednesday demo! This is the last one where I'll be featuring Gorjuss designs, for the moment anyway, as, from this weekend, my new stamps will be coming with me. I'll also be using more new stamps from the Personal Impressions range, but they'll be arriving in a week or so.
So, I thought I'd just sign in and say "hello" before I go to the station...a nice fifteen minute walk in the sunshine. Hope to see some of you in Scunthorpe!

Grubby fingers!

This is just a quick post after a long day of a real mixture of tasks. I've been making some last minute samples, doing some drawings and then, late this afternoon, getting grubby in the garden! So, if you do happen to be coming to either of my demos this weekend, don't look too closely at my fingers and please excuse all the scratches which, for once, were not caused by Thomas or Tara but by the twigs and thorny stems that I was pulling out today!
The weather's been so gorgeous that it was perfect for making a start on outdoor things. David's done some chopping back of weeds along the wall edges, made a first assault on the ants that have put in an appearance and I don't know what else! I've planted up some tubs which look pathetic at the moment but will hopefully start to fill out in the next couple of weeks, potted up some seeds and given the shrubs at the side of one wall a good cutting back.
Anyway, I'll be at Burnside Garden centre in Thornton tomorrow and Houghton Hall garden centre in Carlisle on Sunday. Mmmmm...two garden centres in one weekend.....will I be able to resist buying some more seeds? Probably not!
Have a great weekend whatever you're doing and make the most of the sunshine while it lasts. I'm off to bed now - it's 11.04pm, but I guess this post will show as being made at 2.34 am or some other ridiculous time!

Cleethorpes

Hi folks...Tuesday already, how ridiculous is that! I hardly took any pictures in Cleethorpes after all. My camera batteries ran out on Friday after I'd only taken a couple of photos and then it was just too busy on Saturday. Oh well. Anyway, this pic shows the railway station which, although you can hardly tell from this, is right next to the beach. Those benches are actually on the promenade! Now that's a station that I wouldn't mind having a long wait at...at least on a sunny day that is. Speaking of which, I set off in bright sunshine and by the time I arrived, four hours later, it was cloudy and chilly and, no, I didn't get my paddle! Maybe next time. Hope so, as it's a lovely clean beach as you can see. I did, however, walk for miles. I felt like unscrewing my feet when I got back to the guest house! I had to spend the compulsory £2.00 in 2p pieces in the arcade of course and I managed to make that last for an hour which was pretty good going. Great fun! I can recommend the Aristocats guest house where I stayed - very clean, really well decorated and one of the comfiest beds I've ever slept in. And, if this wallpaper had been in teal, as opposed to red, I would have been scraping it off the wall! Gorgeous and it even had a touch of very subtle glitter - how glam! Next day I was at M B Crafts where I was demonstrating alcohol inks and a range of my fairy and castle stamps. Mary, her staff and helpers kept the coffee and tea flowing and Rosie, the Jack Russell, kept everyone in order and greeted every customer like an old friend. After a buffet lunch it was time to clear the tables and set up for an afternoon workshop where the ladies made cards using my build a scene garden chair and Rose Galore stamps. I meant to take pictures of everyone with their cards but we were just too busy. I'll be back at M B Crafts on June 16th, so hope to see you all again ladies!
Meanwhile, back at home, the predicted cold weather didn't arrive and it's been sunny and mild. David has been painting fence panels at the back of the house and putting up some trellises, as well as clearing the weeds (and worse!) from the long, narrow bed ready for me to plant Sweet Peas and Nasturtiums. I'm itching to get some colour into the front garden now, and must get some bedding plants, more seeds and bulbs and maybe an odd shrub. How exciting! There are quite a few bees buzzing around and crowds of Ladybirds too...not sure what the collective noun for Ladybirds is, but "crowds" seems suitable!
Today though, I've been stuck inside, working on a Crafts Beautiful project and new stamp designs. I have a deadline for these of course, so I just want to get as much done by then as I can. I love starting new collections as it's mostly a surprise to me when the images appear! I generally start doodling with little idea what the end result will be - very different to when I'm designing to specific requests.
On Saturday I'll be at Burnside Garden Centre in Thornton, Lancashire and then at Houghton Hall Garden Centre in Carlisle on Sunday. Hope to see some of you at one or other venue!

Nightie night

Just a quick post tonight before I head up to Cleethorpes tomorrow for my date at M B Crafts. Looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday at the morning demonstration and the afternoon workshop. In the morning I'll be using Alcohol and Distress inks along with my Silhouette Fairy and Castle stamps. Here's some of the cards I was making in the last couple of days..........the darker card on the top right includes Snowcap alcohol ink blended with some of the clear colours over black gloss card. It makes for a very dramatic effect....and it's a change from the purples and blues that I just can't seem to break free from!!!
I'm hoping it's a nice sunny day tomorrow so I can have a walk along the beach tomorrow afternoon. It's a few years since I last visited Cleethorpes, but I clearly remember the wonderful promenade and the sandy beach that had so many seabirds. If it's not too freezing I may even risk a sneaky paddle - probably not though!
So, I am off for an early night now. I've been really tired over the last week so I've been getting to bed around 10 o'clock which very early for me. I'm sure it will do me good though and the bracing winds on the East coast should blow the last cobwebs away! I'll take some snaps whilst I'm away and will share them with you after the weekend. Night all!

It's all in the expression

Another morning post from me, although, according to blogger, my ramblings are never written at the time that I actually sit down to type them for some reason. Must be a different time zone at work. Anyway, it's actually just before 9.30am!

I had a really lovely day at Crabapple Crafts on Saturday. It took me an age to get there, even though it's not that far...I had around three quarters of an hour to wait at Warrington station for my last connection, but at least the coffee bar was open which made it bearable...didn't much like the 6am start to the day though! I met up with Esther Gundry on the platform as she was also demonstrating at the shop and we travelled the last few miles to Frodsham together. Nigel met us at the station and we soon knew he was in mischief mode....and look what he did to one of my photo cards when I nipped to the loo! Blamed Esther too.....how rude! Lol! (Told you I'd tell on you Nigel!) It was a busy day and great to meet up with lots of friendly and familiar faces again. I was demonstrating with Gorjuss stamps again, as well as some of Andy Skinner's sets. This card features one of his "Word Up" stamps as well as the grasses from his Easter set, alongside the "Little Foxes" clear Gorjuss set. The card itself is just folded from a piece of MME Kraft Funday which I've smudged some Dusty Concorde and Faded Jeans Distress ink onto. Just my colours! I was featuring the Glue n Seal technique again and, as promised to the ladies that were there on Saturday, here is the picture of one example that shows how it can go wrong if you don't make sure you cover the whole image with the seal! Poor girl ended up with a 5 o'clock shadow and I couldn't help but add a thought bubble! Again, by the way, that was just hand written and then I swiped Glue n Seal over with my finger before drying and layering on more ink colour. It's good to have some fun on demo days! I was given a fab ATC by Sonia - very cleverly put together to form this serene image. When I got home, there was a lovely card waiting for me from Redanne, who won my recent blog candy - love the air balloon with the honeycomb paper, and it was fun having a card with an instruction to peel up the DST and fold the paper back to create the 3d effect - brilliant! Thank you both, ladies, much appreciated. Finally, as also promised on Saturday, here is a sample of how you can alter the look of a single Gorjuss character with just a few lines drawn with a fine pen... ....I know some people dislike the "no face" style, but it only takes a few seconds to change that. It's a bonus too, because rather than being stuck with one expression, the lack of faces means that you can use the same image for lots of occasions. So, from left to right we have the cute smile for a happy card, the sad face for a get well card, the wavy mouth that could suit a "sorry" card, the surprised face that could say "you're how old?!", the cross face (note the eyebrows)...well, choose your own card occasion for that one. Lastly, just a different smile that's not quite as wide as the first one. You really can give an image a myriad of expressions!
Well, I must dash as Heather is about to call round so I had better be ready!

Enough to make a cat laugh...

I've got a pot of hot fruit tea sitting on the table and whilst it's brewing I thought I'd write a post as a change from doing so in the evening. It's a bit overcast here this morning, but I have a feeling it will brighten up quite soon and then I'll have lovely natural light to work by. I'm almost set for tomorrow's demonstration but there are always lots of last minute things that need to be done, plus packing everything into my "Tardis" case of course - not my favourite bit!
So, tomorrow I'll be in Frodsham for Crabapple Crafts 7th birthday celebrations - just click the link to see more details of who else will be there and some special offers for the day. I'm going to be working with a fairly eclectic range of things including some of Andy's stamps, including his Easter set. I like Easter cards to be quite simple as this one shows - just wish my camera would pick up the colours more exactly. I'll be bringing my Art Journal with me - by request! This is a new page in progress on my table the other evening. I usually have no idea what I'm going to create when I start...I just see what transpires and then go from there. This spread started by tearing round two Encyclopedia Britannica dictionary pages and glueing them into my journal. I then covered them with Multi Matte Medium so that I could work over them without anything seeping through to the other side ie onto completed pages. I've then painted them with Martha Stewart Summer Linen satin paint before wiping off areas with a soft cloth to reveal more or less of the words in the background. I drew a border using a black Promarker and then added the extra lines which I'll work on as I progress. Finally, I blended Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed and Barn Door Distress inks over the main areas - just a soft hint of colour. I have done a bit more on this page since then, so will share another photo next time. I also finished a page this week. When I started it, several months ago, I had no idea what it would turn out as. I had gessoed the pages and blended some pale blue Neo Colour over them. I had also done a very vague pencil sketch when I was on the train going to....somewhere! Because I lost my journal for a time (gulp) I didn't get any further and so the other evening I decided to see where it led me. It's a simple page, just keeping to my initial sketches and using a fine line black pen and Promarkers to add the colours, details and words. The giant mushrooms aren't my usual colour choices, but I felt like being daring! Don't think Thomas was very impressed with my efforts though.....I caught him sniggering next day as I went past the window with my camera! It was a beautiful morning and I'd gone outside to take a few photographs. The sun was beaming down on a very special place in the garden which marks the grave of our beautiful little pusscat Cherry. It was lovely to see the crocusses coming through as there isn't much colour in the garden yet. Well, I will get that cuppa now and get back to work. Hope to see lots of you in Frodsham tomorrow. I'm sure it will be a really enjoyable day.

Inertia after the Leigh Show!

What a wonderful weekend it was at the Leigh show. I was demonstrating on The Stamp Hut stand and it was non stop from the moment the show opened. Here's where I was chained to the table all day - apart from when I was taking this picture! No, not quite, but we didn't even take a break and just kept going on coffee and water. You can see all the products that I was demonstrating behind my table - except for the whirligigs of decoupage which were on the adjacent stand and kept knocking my cards flying every time someone whizzed them round!
Lots of my stamp designs and the Gorjuss range along with Ranger goodies, including my new favourite Glue n Seal of course! Here's a closer look at one side of my table, not that it was as tidy as this for very long, though I was quite good really and didn't make too much mess!I met so many people that I know, many of whom I haven't seen for an age, so it was a lovely couple of days. Hope you are all making good use of your purchases and Glueing and Sealing for all you're worth!
I'm going to be at Crabapple Crafts in Frodsham this Saturday where I'll, once again, be working with Gorjuss stamps as well as some by my mate Andy Skinner. I'll have some new My Minds Eye Kraft papers as well, which I really recommend as they're a great weight, really unusual designs and work well with Distress inks. I'll post some samples later in the week, but have got lots to catch up on for the next few days after a Thursday and Friday that got completely taken over by other things for one reason and another.
Now, my good news for today is this............ .............yes, after some people pressure, Personal Impressions have added my robot into my Off the Wall Collection of stamp sets. Initially he had been made into a Twinchie sized stamp (still available) but I asked if he could be made into an A6 set and I drew some springs and nuts to go with him. So "Overhaul Needed" PICSA6332 will be available from the end of March. This is a version of the robot I drew for one of my journal pages but he'll be just as useful for cards, scrapbooking or any altered art projects as well of course.
I'll sign off for now as it's time to sort out some food for Thomas and Tara, as well as David and myself of course!

Candy winner & a step by step

Thank you to everyone who left a comment since I posted my Blog Candy. I've used a random number generator to pick someone from 1 - 22, simply going from top to bottom of the comments. The number that came up was 15 which corresponds to Redanne. Well done! Please send me your details and I'll post out your DD kits as soon as possible. I'll organise another Candy soon, so please do pop by again for another chance.

1 Random Numbers 15 Specs: This table of 1 random numbers was produced according to the following specifications: Numbers were randomly selected from within the range of 1 to 22. Duplicate numbers were not allowed. This table was generated on 3/1/2012.

If any of you are coming to the Leigh show this coming weekend, do come and see me at The Stamp Hut stand. I'm concentrating on Gorjuss stamps as well as a few of my Build a Scene sets along with Ranger inks. I've been busy doing lots of colouring this week and here are a few more of the cards that I'll have with me at the show....... .......I find the characters very soulful as I said in my previous post, partly because of the lack of mouths and noses. I do know that some people find that a little weird, or even creepy, but it's very easy to add simple features and look how it totally changes the feel of one of the characters and makes her look cute rather than thoughtful..... ......all you need is a fine black pen! Thank you to Paul for the link to my blog. Paul said that he had bought some Ranger Glue n Seal after seeing me at Stitches...all he needed was to remember what I did with it! I know Paul was joking, but I thought I'd post a step by step in case anyone else would like to try this technique which Joanne and I came up with together when she came over to help me with my show samples. So, here goes!
Firstly, stamp your chosen image onto decent quality cardstock and colour with your chosen medium...Distress inks, water based pens, Promarkers etc...... Now heat the image to make sure that all the ink is fully dry and set.... If you don't heat set the image you may find that the colours will run during the next stage. Using a fine brush, carefully coat the whole image with Glue n Seal. Be sure to cover every bit of the image and try not to go outside the lines. I recommend a fairly stiff, but finely pointed brush for this as the Glue n Seal is quite thick and you want to achieve as smooth a finish as you can......... allow to dry, or, if you're as impatient as I am, heat set! One of the great things about Glue n Seal is that a thin layer won't be affected by heat. If you use the heat tool, allow the image to cool down as, when warm, the surface will feel slightly tacky to the touch. Now, blend Distress ink over the cardstock. No need to skirt around the image - that's what the Glue n Seal was for!.... ......Take a darker shade of Distress ink and, starting on top of the image, blend outwards to give a halo, or shadow effect, and blend in any other colours that you wish..... .....now take a paper towel and rub over the image to remove excess ink and reveal the original colours. If you want the colours to really pop, use a baby wipe, being careful not to let it go onto the background as Distress inks will react to the moisture and will lighten. I find just using a corner of the wipe to add a little moisture and then wiping over with dry paper towel works best..... ....and here's the finished result. No more fiddly cutting out to stick to a dark background, or trying to colour around an image! The tags that I did for Stitches were mostly made using this technique...... I really hope you find the technique useful and will give it a try. At Stitches I was using Glue n Seal Gloss, but I have now used the matte version which also works.
Let me know what you think and Redanne, don't forget to send me your details!