I think Spring is here!

It's a glorious day here on the Fylde, so I hope you're enjoying decent weather wherever you are...I think we deserve some warm, sunny days now. Today was my day to spend with Heather, visiting our mum and then doing some grocery shopping in the village. We each had a wrap for lunch and, when Heather left, I decided it was too nice a day not to make a start on the garden, so I've just come in after a couple of hours of rather random tidying. Random because, yet again, the garden has got away from me and it's a formidable task to get it back into some sort of shape. So it's just been a bit of hoeing here, pulling up some weeds there and a bit of pruning in between. Barely any difference if truth be told, but it feels nice to have made a start. Thomas and Tara really enjoyed being outdoors with their mum too! I'm still plucking up the courage to use the new lawnmower though!

I'd like to say that my garden is full of colour like this....

 ...but that is the annual carpet of crocusses...crocii (?)  that St Chad's church in Poulton is famous for. They are glorious and draw visitors and their cameras from far and wide!

I left the beautiful flowers in Poulton behind on Friday when I travelled up to Beverley ahead of my demonstration the following day at Studio Craftique in Hessle. My journey was delayed due to an "incident" on the line - yet another person had chosen to end their life in front of a train. I say "yet another" because it seems to be happening more and more and is a tragic reflection of the pressures of modern life. Very sad.

When I changed trains at Hull I was met by this character in the station......

....a statue of the poet Phillip Larkin. It's a very lively statue with the figure looking as if he is just dashing for his train like the rest of his fellow passengers.

Whilst in Beverley I managed to take a look around both St Mary's church and the vast Minster which is just awe inspiring. It's almost impossible to imagine the time, labour and skills that went into creating these astonishing buildings.

Even the organ pipes were most beautifully and elaborately painted and adorned.

Well, after an evening in Beverley it was time for a good night's sleep before going along to Hessle and Studio Craftique where I soon got set up for a busy day.

I was working with Ink Effects and So Soft paints from DecoArt as well as Doo Lally Pip and Dylusions stamps, Fabrico pens, Tim Holtz fabrics and Sizzix dies - great fun! Here's the completed tote bag that I showed you a sneaky peek of last week....

....I used the So Soft range to paint over the stamped images and Fabrico pens to add extra details and the wording. All the mediums used are fully machine washable...and I've really tried and tested their durability which is second to none.

Another tote bag, but this one featured leaves which I painted through a Crafter's Workshop stencil, framing a hessian panel that I'd appliqued two kooky birds onto (Sizzix Bigz die Birds # 3). I cut the birds from Tim Holtz fabric and felt and sewed them with a small zig zag stitch onto the hessian. I love the birds die. They are such simple, yet effective characters.

I made good use of the cards that I'd prepared a couple of days before and which I showed in my last post. I simply machine stitched a selection of hessian and plain and patterned fabrics onto Kraft card blanks so that I could paint them on the day. This one was fun to do!

I stamped the "behatted" skull, from Dyan's "Day of the Heads" set, onto the hessian using black Archival ink and then painted it with So Soft colours. When dry, I added details using a black Fabrico pen.
Here are three more cards made in the same way......

....everyone seemed to like this simple, yet effective, technique. To paint over the patterned fabric (see flowers on the centre and right hand cards) I used the So Soft Ultra White which is great for working over dark colours (or patterns) as it gives great coverage. It's useful as a base coat for other colours too, so you could paint a pale pink over a dark blue fabric by applying the Ultra White first. 

Well that's a brief round up of my weekend! Tomorrow I'll be getting things ready for next Saturday's day at Time 2 Craft in Chesterfield. I have some new Susan's Garden flower dies to get to grips with. They are very relaxing to make though, so I shall enjoy listening to a radio play whilst I cut and shape the petals.

Meanwhile, after the glorious day, it is getting very chilly now, so I am going to put the heat on for a while and then take a nice hot shower to warm up before dinner. Pasta tonight, nice and easy.

Sewing AND ironing!

Crikey, I think I should lie down in a darkened room having done both sewing and ironing this week! Having said that, neither were related to the dreaded housework, so not quite as bad. I've never been a fan of sewing though and neither has my sister...mainly due to the fact that our mum used to be a fantastic seamstress who had the ability to turn a length of fabric into a beautifully made garment without the need of a pattern. She would take a few measurements, make some marks with tailor's chalk and then the scissors would flash and, in no time, she'd be fitting the fabric pieces together in situ on whoever she was making the garment for - pins held between her lips as she went! Heather and I just never felt we could come up to her standard I'm afraid.

Anyway, on Saturday I'll be at Studio Craftique in Hessle, near Beverley where I'll be demonstrating DecoArt So Soft and Ink Effects fabric paints as well as Fabrico pens, Sizzix dies, stencils and stamps. The Ink Effects are really great to work with if you're a little nervous of painting directly onto material as they are painted onto paper before being ironed onto the fabric - foolproof! (Hence the ironing!). Below is an example of the Ink Effects on a simple white T shirt....don't ask me why I took the photo at the rather drunken angle!

I inked up the quote stamp with a black Fabrico pen and also used it to add the outlines around the figure and the musical notes. The paints are fully washable.

The So Soft paints give a more vibrant finish and are painted directly onto fabric. No heat setting required and the painted items are machine washable after 48 hours...brilliant! I used the same Dylusions character (Ruby Rainbow) stamped onto plain white fabric and then painted with the So Soft, including the new glitter colours. Once dried, I turned it into a small cushion.

The borders, bird and railings are all from Dylusions stamp sets. I like the fact that you can see the text detail on the wings beneath the glitter paint.

Normally I'd have had to resort to hand stitching around the cushion but Heather brought round her little sewing machine for me to use. Quite funny really as she hasn't used it herself yet - told you we both have a "thing" about sewing! However, once I got started I was well away and, before long, I was zig zagging around Sizzix birds appliqued over hessian......

....and sewing fabric panels onto cards ready for painting on Saturday.....

 ....the machine helped as it's small, lightweight and easy to use. I was even able to use it on the floor, pressing the peddle with my hand and, thank goodness, even at top speed it was easy to control!

Hope to see some of you there on Saturday as it will be lots of fun.

Meanwhile, here are a few more pictures of things I've been creating with my new stamps. Another tag made using my "Frayed Around the Edges" Doo Lally Pip character, this time using the new Tim Holtz spritzer and Distress Markers through Tim's new Doily stencil....

....the spritzer really does give a great effect though very detailed stencils. I've been asked if using the spritzer will use up the ink in the pens more quickly so I asked Tim and he assures me that it won't - all good!

There is one of my new quote stamps on this next, over the top, piece! 

I was showcasing Tim's Rosette strip die and his burlap panels- don't think I could have fitted any more on there really!

And a couple more tags to share....

....Dylusions ink sprays on the left tag and I used Tim's stripes stencil on the right tag which made me think of a woodland so was perfect to add my new owls to.

Well, it's 6.30pm and dark outside after a beautifully sunny day. The days are certainly getting longer and it really does feel as if Spring is getting close enough to touch. Can't wait to have a few free days to get the garden tidied and some seeds sown. But for now it's time to draw the curtains and get my dinner ready  - a simple concoction tonight of a crunchy Caesar salad with some crispy bacon and cherry tomatoes.

I'll be off on my travels tomorrow and Thomas is already sulking! He's back to full health again now and no limping at all...though I'm sure he's going to use that raised paw when he wants to tug at my heartstrings! 

Have a great weekend everyone.

Oh, before I go, here's a saucy photo to share with you that I've borrowed from a good friend's Facebook page....

 ....any ideas? It's Dame Edna and a rather large eared, moustachioed character who, as you can see from the stance is very tall. But yes, under the disguises it's me and my pal Andy Skinner! And no, to answer a query when Andy posted this on his Facebook page, you don't need to be buying wedding hats!

It was more than all white!

Oh dear, my puns are getting worse! But I did see a heck of a lot of snow over Friday and Saturday, as well as being in Yorkshire, the white rose county of course.

Friday (at least here) was bone chillingly cold and I stopped off at the shops before I got to the railway station to get myself a warm hat....I looked ridiculous, but my head and my ears were warm. I thought I'd pose in it when I got home from church today.......

 .....so you could have a titter at my expense!

Anyway, armed with woolly hat, scarf, gloves and fleecy jacket I made the journey over to Hessle - it was a rather more complicated trip than it should have been due to the derailed train that had burst into flames in Manchester last week causing lots of disruption to the routes. Thankfully, nobody was hurt in that incident, but there's been quite a lot of track damage I think.

I didn't take my camera this weekend as I was quite loaded up, but I was really wishing that I had as the views from the train were fantastic. All the train journeys through Yorkshire are spectacular anyway, but with the deep snow it was all the more enchanting. I would have liked a picture of the two huge snowmen in a field, each wearing a traffic cone hat!

Once I reached Hessle I checked into my B&B which was a lovely country house. I wandered into the village to get a bite to eat - I must admit that I wasn't too keen on having to cross the footbridge over the motorway - makes me shudder to think of it...I almost had to close my eyes when the lorries were whizzing by below me! I was a little early for any of the restaurants but I found a pub that was serving food. I'm not a pub fan at the best of times, but being female and alone in a pub is not my favourite thing at all. I was all set to just eat my meal quietly and go, but I was chatted up (!) by one of the locals! No matter what I said he didn't take the hint, so I had to endure his company whilst I ate and then make my excuses and a sharp exit! Guaranteed to give one indigestion! And no, I wasn't wearing the hat!

Next morning I made my way to Studio Craftique which is a new shop, opened by Amanda and her husband just three weeks ago. I was made really welcome...including by Bobby, their gorgeous five month old black labrador (who took off with my hat at the end of the day!!). Hello to all the ladies, as well as a few men and some youngsters who came along to the demonstration. Everyone was really friendly, so it made for a very enjoyable first demo of the year. I even had a surprise visit from my friend Lynnda who I have known for years but haven't seen for almost a year, so that was the icing on the cake!

I'm sure that Studio Craftique is going to be a very popular destination for crafters in the area, as Amanda is running regular workshops and demonstrations and she's really keen to get everyone stamping and inking and journalling! I hope to have some photos of the day if Amanda's able to email them to me.

Well, the day flew by and soon I was making my way home again, thankfully in less arctic conditions than the previous day! A quick microwaved meal (slap wrists!) was in order so that I wasn't eating too late and then I had a good night's sleep - you can't beat your own bed can you!

This morning the usual church service was held, instead, in the primary school hall as it was "education Sunday". It was a lovely service with lots of cheerful music and the children singing and doing the readings. I did have a wobbly moment though, when they sang (very beautifully I have to say) the Bette Midler song, The Rose, which has such meaningful words. However, it was, all in all, a very uplifting morning and I was able to spend some time chatting over coffee with new found friends.

So, it's now the final push to get everything ready for Stitches in a few weeks. Lots to do, but it's always fun to be working with new products. I must go now as Tara is hinting, very heavily, that she wants to play, so I'll go and throw her toys around for her to chase!

Oh, and don't forget what they say....if you want to get ahead...get a hat!