Working on the house

Not the house I live in though, rather the house that I've been creating for the Masterclass that I'm teaching at the Craft Barn Extravaganza in June. Here's a sneaky peek of the project....

....and here's the link to the Craft Barn where the Masterclass details can be found - Bijou House Masterclass. It will be on Friday 6th June and is a full day workshop with lots of inking, painting, stamping, shrinking and general messy fun!

I'll then be demonstrating at the Extravaganza on the Saturday and Sunday (7th  and 8th June) where I'll be using my latest stamps as well as all sorts of other goodies. I'm really looking forward to the trip as I had to cancel at the eleventh hour last year due to my late brother in law's illness. So, hoping to see lots of you there for what will be a fantastic few days of creative inspiration from 27 demonstrators over the weekend.Some will be there for one or either day - others, like myself, will be there for the whole weekend.

Last Saturday I was up in Barrow in Furness where I was teaching and having a fun day with a group of ladies who fund raise for the Macmillan charity and the local hospital. They each made three projects and then there was a raffle as well me having the onerous task of judging their card competition!

Here are some pictures from the day....

 ...we were in a lovely community centre, really bright and spacious. The first project was using a Sizzix Birdhouse die. Some of the ladies had the fun idea of using one of my "funny owls" behind the little circular hole in the birdhouse!

The ladies said they normally make cards, so they really enjoyed doing something a bit different. We did make some cards though, using my Doo Lally Pip characters....

We finished by making wall hangings but, for some reason, I didn't get any piccies of those. 

The ladies had prepared a lovely buffet lunch so we were well fed and watered throughout the day! Here are the cards that I chose as the three winners, though it was a tough choice! The theme was cards for men.

This was the third placed card which had glass painted acetate boats and I liked all the different textures and surfaces like the vellum waves....

Second place went to this detailed folding card that had so much going on and such a lot of detail.....

...a great deal of work went into it that's for sure.

My first prize choice jumped out at me as it was like a painting and just had that certain something that appealed to me....

Well done to all of the ladies though, as all the cards were great.

We've had some glorious weather here and yesterday I was able to walk to the village and back with no jacket on - that feels good doesn't it?! I've not had much time to get into the garden, but have managed to get a few extra plants in, including two Ivies that I've planted at the foot of the fence panels in the hopes that they will strengthen them as they grow over them. 

Thought you might like this rather comical picture of Tara. Every morning she and Thomas go outside before breakfast but it isn't long before I see a little face with such a pleading and desperate expression that you'd think she had been locked out all night!

Ha ha! What a little comic! 

Well, not a very long post tonight as I am going to have a shower, put my PJ's on and get some dinner in time to settle down to watch Masterchef - Heather and I both love watching it and discussing the various culinary triumphs and disasters the next day!

I'll be posting on my other blog (My Rambling Spirit) as soon as I can squeeze in some extra time - all about the lovely Easter week that I had with my friends from Church. So, I'll sign off for now and get those PJ's laid out ready!