Why I like postmen...

Well, I do when they bring me packages filled with lovely things! This afternoon brought me some Le Plume pens to replace the old ones that I have been trolling around for several years now...I'm really bad at throwing pens away - always thinking that next time they will work! There were also these lovely templates by Crafter's Workshop, which I'm going to be using with ink pads and Perfect Pearls Mists.And, these three tins of fabulous Darkroom Door stamps by Rachel Greig. They are (L to R) Tour Eiffel DDRS049, Seaside Vol 2 DDRS054 and Seaside Vol 1DDRS053. Gorgeous aren't they? And I love the fact that they come in these slimline storage tins - my tip is to write the number of stamps in each set on the inside of the tin using a marker pen. That way, you don't risk losing any of the smaller images as you can count them up before putting them away. I'll be using these on glossy white card and colouring them with the Le Plume pens. New pens...what a treat!So, just thought I'd use my coffee break to show you some of the things I'll be demonstrating this Saturday at Dainty Supplies in Washington...Tyne & Wear, not DC! Come along early if you want to grab any of the stamps as I think they will be gone quite quickly. I'll also be using Art de Fleur sets 1 & 2 and Friendship Flowers from the same range.

Well, now to mount the stamp sheets onto Kling-On, finish my coffee and then back to preparing more samples for Saturday. I'll try to post pictures of some of my samples before the weekend. The templates are available from Anyone stocking Personal Impressions products, as are the stamps, by the way. Lindsay

The wanderer returns

Not that I've been wandering! Quite the opposite really - I feel a little bit like a hedgehog that's reluctant to come out of hibernation! Christmas was quite a stress filled week and I've been taking some time out to catch up with some much needed sleep and a little R & R too. I've still been working away at home, with new designs and magazine projects. The picture below is of part of a set of matching pieces that I made which are in the February (current) issue of Crafts Beautiful. We'll be doing something in a similar vein on my first workshop of this year in a couple of weeks. These particular examples are made using the lovely Rachel Grieg's Darkroom Door stamps - gorgeous images. I'm looking forward to seeing Rachel again in February when she visits the UK for Stitches and workshops at Dawn's studio. Looks like the sun was shining when I took the photograph.....mmmmm, not much sign of it today. It's a very dull, dour day today.Well, it seems a little tardy now, but I hope that most of you had a lovely Christmas - I say 'most of you' because I know that a few people had a fairly depressing time. Let's all hope that this year can be a fresh beginning and that we have more positive things happening.

Apologies to those who never did receive their Christmas cards from me....that's apologies from the post office I think really! Thank you to everyone who sent cards to David and me, they were much appreciated, beautiful and it was difficult to take them down after the twelve days were up!

Well, I shall be back into the travelling about mode next weekend! I have enjoyed the novelty of being at home at the weekends, it feels quite decadent! So, I'll be up at Dainty Supplies in Washington, Tyne & Wear next Saturday. I'm going to be demonstrating stamping and stencilling with the new Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists and Crafter's Workshop stencils. I'll be using Darkroom Door stamps too, so, if you are around the area, do pop in and bag a set - they are top quality and come in snazzy tins to keep them safe and for easy storage.

The weekend after that I'll be at Card-Io in Wigan - I'll have more details next week about exactly what I'll be demonstrating. Then I'll be busy with workshops at Dawn's Studio at the beginning of February. These will be stamping (cards), making jewellery with Ranger products and an all day Art Journalling class. I've had a few email queries as to whether the workshops are still going ahead, as you will have no doubt read/heard that Dawn and her family have taken the decision to sell the shop. I can reassure you that, yes, all the advertised workshops are going to be running. Dawn will keep everyone posted as to any more classes that may be added after these. I know that many of you will be very sad, including myself, at the news, and I know that it was a difficult decision for everyone involved and that we all wish them well.

I'll try to catch up with any emails that I'm still late in replying to and the next thing I know it will be Stitches time again, so lots and lots of samples to be made. That's my favourite few days in my working year, when I get to catch up with everyone - including Tim of course...think I shall have to warn him about some of you who are going to his workshops in February!!!

So, I'll sign off for now...I feel as if I have almost forgotten how to blog after all this time! Will be back with more photos soon. Lindsay

PS Please do check out my rant blog, or go to http://www.fishfight.net/ to find out about a very important campaign, if you haven't been watching the Channel 4 programmes on the state of the fishing industry. This is one of those times when the general public can really help to get things done!