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!

Stamps, shows and Sizzix

I'm almost ready for my bed, but I thought I'd just take the chance to do a quick post before I retire. I'll be replying to the emails that are lingering in my inbox tomorrow, so please don't think that I'm ignoring you if you're awaiting a reply!

It was great to see so many familiar (and unfamiliar) faces over the three days of the Event City show last week. It was a busy old time but really fun too. Here's my table looking a bit messy (just for a change!)....

....you can see how good Big Shot machines are....Wendy brings this one along for me to use at the shows and it's still going strong even though it's years old. I was kept busy showing how to make flowers using the Sizzix Susan's Garden flower dies.This is the Burlap canvas that you can see part done in the above picture...

...I used black gesso over some of the canvas and then rubbed copper Metallic Lustre over the surface. Not the best picture as the colours seem to have gone a little day-glo for some reason!

The quote is from one of my new stamp sets (I just used part of the quote here) and you can see the full collection here. I have a new series called Zendoodles, which comprise images that are perfect for doodling inside, but there are also "ready to go" versions that I've already zentangled. There are also filler blocks and borders to go with the designs. Here's a card made using the filler blocks stamped over white card which I then sprayed with Dylusions inks. I used a black pen in between the blocks and a white pen to highlight the patterns.

The heart is from another Zendoodle set which I've doodled and coloured. The borders have been stamped too and the word is from one of Tim's Remnant Rubs sheets. The Zendoodles are such fun to work with!

I've not forgotten the Doo Lally Pips of course! Here's one of my new characters called "Sartorial Elegance"....

.....I'm sure we've all come across one of those well dressed teens.....not!

And my take on Miss Haversham.....

....well, she's actually called "Frayed around the edges"! 

This tag has images from my "Funny owls" set.....

....I used Tim's Stripes stencil in the background and it made me think of a woodland, so it made an ideal choice for the birdies.

I'll share some more of my samples of the new designs tomorrow. Meanwhile here's another version of the rounded birdhouses made with the Bigz XL die of the same name.....

.....this one was made at the show last week and I used the mini daisy dies to create the little flowers as well as Tim's new Spring Greenery die for the foliage. Here's a closer look at the roof.....

Well, my bed is really calling now as it's been a long day....making more samples for next week, die cutting lots of pieces for my workshops at the show, typing up instructions.....and I also got around to a cosmetic repair in the kitchen that has needed doing for ages. Why I did it today I have no idea, except that it was getting on my nerves! Whoever had fitted mum and dad's kitchen had made a poor job of the counter edges either side of the cooker, leaving the bare chipboard on show on the edges. Not just unsightly, but a magnet for crumbs and other cooking detritus - yuck! So, I decided to sort it this afternoon and, after cleaning everything, I laid a bead of silicone sealant along each raw edge to stop bits getting stuck down there. After the sealant had set I used a small brush and painted over the remaining chipboard with white gloss. It might not be the most professional of finishes but at least it looks clean and tidy and it should be a lot easier to keep crumb free now!

So, a good night's sleep is what's needed now and then I can get cracking for another productive day tomorrow hopefully. I hope none of you are being too badly effected by the terrible weather and all the chaos that's been created. Night all.

Catch up time and American Candy

After my long absence, this could take a while! Firstly, thank you for the good wishes sent to both Heather, Graham and myself which have been much appreciated. As a family we've been, and still are, going through the mill but are trying to carry on as normally as possible through difficult times. I don't want to dwell on bad times here though....just wanted to say thank you for positive wishes and prayers that have been sent.

So, onto other things and I have lots of pictures to share, but I think I'll post some of them another time or I'll be here all night! Most of you will know that it was the big Personal Impressions/Ranger event this last week, and, one of the great things about designing for and working with PI is that I get to attend all of these "do's"! I travelled down to Coventry on Tuesday with my friend and colleague, Jan, where we met up with Jayne and Kathy from PI and, of course, Tim, Mario and Alain from Ranger as well as Dyan, Caz and Ben. Here's Dyan, Mario, Leslie (our latest PI demonstrator), Tim and Jan.

Everything was just about ready for the next day which was going to be an all day techniques workshop for retailers. There were also tables groaning under the weight of Ranger goodies in the "pop up" shop. The room looked great - the Ranger team do such a grand job of organising kits that it makes setting up so much easier.....

It was a very airy room too, lots of good, natural light and french windows opening onto a balcony with stunning views of the landscaping around the hotel.....

 We're usually here during Stitches trade show in February, when it's normally frosty, foggy or pitch dark, so it was nice to see the surroundings in glorious sunshine for once! In the evening we went for a fabulous meal at our favourite local restaurant where they have a Chinese and Indian buffet as well as an area where you can pick any meats, fish and veg etc that you fancy and have it cooked right in front of you. On leaving, it's traditional to rub the Buddha's tummy....

 .....hate this pic of me, but, of course, Tim is his usual photogenic self! Then, after a quick drink back at the hotel it was time for a reasonably early night ahead of the busy day to come.
Lots of people arriving early on Wednesday morning, eager to find a good spot!

 And here is the kit that was in front of my spot.....

 ....we all had the same kit, but with different colours so that we could swap and share throughout the day. We were all kept really busy making tags with different techniques that we can refer to at any time - we all had numbered labels with instructions of the techniques used to stick to the reverse of each tag.
Tim is a natural teacher - keeping the pace steady and quite fast (no time to spend dithering about choosing options!) and injecting humour into the proceedings of course.

 

Having the big screen was a big help for everyone. We ended the afternoon with an hour of Dyan teaching techniques with her fabulous ink sprays....

Sorry about the rather blurry image here!

My sister Heather arrived in the afternoon - we had arranged for her to share my room that night and then do the morning workshop next day. 

Another busy day dawned and this time it was two sessions working on a tag book project with Tim. I was lucky enough to be doing the afternoon session but, in the morning, I was kept busy acting as price finder, personal shopper, photographer, drinks fetcher etc etc! We had a great system whereby anyone could raise their hand and one of us would write down what they wanted and then go and add it to their shopping bag.

Here's the morning session underway...you can see Heather right near the front as I got her a good spot!!!

 ....and Heather, alongside our friend Chris, both concentrating very hard on their projects....

 ....."personal shopping anyone?"......I really enjoyed myself running around and taking orders for ink pads, stamps, stains and Idea-ology treasures!

 After the morning workshop there was time for everyone to do even more shopping! Monica and I were kept very busy checking prices and finding things for everyone. Heather's in the background waiting to say goodbye before catching the train home. Another blurry picture I'm afraid!

 Here's me with Chris, Heather and Tim - I think everyone was having a good time....Lol!

After the busy morning there was time for a quick bite, then it was back to getting everything tidied and set up again for the afternoon session and more excited ladies (and some men!). I was really glad to sit down and get stuck into making the fabulous tag book Here are some pages in progress....... 

 Each session had a raffle prize and here's the lucky winner in the afternoon collecting her bag of goodies.

Everyone also received a signed copy of Tim's second book, an apron and a "can't buy these anywhere" bag - all this plus the contents of the kits that each person had used in the workshop. Brilliant!
A really wonderful few days in great company, learning more about new products and having a whale of a time altogether! It was a real boost for Heather and myself.

Well, now onto the "American Candy" part of my post title! As I was on two workshops, I received two bags and two aprons.....so.....I am giving away a Tim Holtz Idea-ology apron, a photo card of Tim and a signed messenger style bag! 

Woo hoo! To have a chance to win this great candy, just leave a comment on this particular post between now and September 17th (it's a Tuesday). I will use a number generator to choose a winner on Wednesday 18th September, so be sure to come back and check if you've won - you have no idea how many times people forget to check! If you can add a link from your blog to here that would be even more appreciated. Good luck all!
I shall be back to post about other things, including where I'm going to be demonstrating and teaching, very soon, but, meanwhile, don't forget...you have to be in it to win it!

Frosty greetings everyone! Well, it's certainly frosty here anyway and I imagine it's going to get even colder when I head over to Stockton later. The garden looks like it's been sifted with icing sugar this morning and the bird bath has refrozen even after I'd melted the ice with boiling water. So, the suet, cheese and seeds have been liberally sprinkled on my bird tables and everything from blue tits, my robin and some very big seagulls have been having a good breakfast. You know it's cold when there's steam coming from their little bills! Bbbbrrrr.

It was too dark to take any photos of what I was making yesterday, so I've just snapped a few pictures of the festive configuration box before it gets packed into my case.

The boxes were covered in a mixture of Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium papers and Tim's Composer tissue wrap.The individual box edges were covered with tissue tape and I used MME All is Bright tape for the edges of the main box.

The TH mini lantern is such a cute addition and well worth the fiddling about that I had to do after deciding to place it in the tall thin box with not much room for fingers!

The deer (and numbers) were die cut from grungeboard using Tim's Movers & Shapers die SZ657493. I inked the deer using various brown tones and added some white gel pen dots to its rump. It just fitted nicely into it's box so that it could be held in place with a little Multi Matte Medium on either side as well as a big blob at it's feet which was then sprinkled with clear rock candy dry glitter.

The little red bells were a freebie from Crafts Beautiful magazine last month and I attached them with a jump ring and brad along with leaves from Tim's Festive Foliage pack which I inked in green. The snowflake is from the Christmas Adornments pack which I dabbed with white acrylic and then Stickles Diamond glitter glue. I filled the corked vial with Rock Candy glitter and cut the tiny tag from the Graphic 45 papers.

 I love the TH Woodland pack with the trees and wreath that can be coloured with ink. I used the small tree here and sprayed it with two shades of Dylusions ink before adding some Gesso "snow" and wrapping with the mini tinsel from Tim's Winter pack. The Seasonal muse token has been painted and inked and I added some TH stripey paper string.

I inked one of the TH Baubles with a teal Promarker and used TH box corners to give a finished look to the piece. I'll have this with me for tomorrow's demonstration at Suzicrafts in Stockton, as well as some other boxes, tags cards and canvasses.

I thought you might also like to see the latest things that my two mischief makers have been enjoying. Thomas decided to help me with the jig saw that I'd been doing in the evenings....

 ....I did complete the puzzle but, despite searching everywhere, there was, annoyingly,one piece missing. Not that I'm accusing anyone of course!

And Tara decided that the box which I brought some groceries back in this week was the perfect new spot for her to sit in.....

 .....she's been plonking herself in it with great delight, so it looks like it will be a fixture in the lounge for a while until she loses interest! I'm glad to report that she is finally becoming much happier and trusting, even choosing to snuggle up with me on the sofa from time to time. Unfortunately, even after a year, she still thinks Thomas is a complete yob and hisses at him every time he walks past her. Still, it's good to see her so much more contented.

Well, I had better go and finish packing my case ready for my four and a half hour journey to Stockton. Hope to see some of you there tomorrow.

When I get back I'll be able to post some pictures of some of my new stamp designs which will be out early next year, so watch this space!

I think I'll just dig out an extra scarf before I go...

PS I've been meaning to say that if you have emailed me and not had a reply, please check that you're using the correct email address and not my old one. The old email address is now completely defunct and the one at the top of my blog is the right one.

Christmas baubles

Just a fairly quick post today. I'm waiting in for a parcel that the PO tried to deliver on Saturday. The soonest re-delivery date was Wednesday, so, of course, I waited in all day for it to arrive - it didn't! So an irritated call to my local sorting office this morning resulted in the very nice man (no, he really was very nice - I wasn't being sarcastic!) telling me that he had personally put it out for delivery for me yesterday and had no idea why I hadn't received it. He rang me back to say that it would be with me sometime today and then had a chat with me about my mum and dad who he vividly recalled from when he used to do deliveries himself. Needless to say, his personal chit chat with me managed to assuage some of my annoyance of the rubbish service! 

I'm going to be at Samuel Taylor's in Leeds on Saturday where I'll be teaching a workshop in the morning and doing a demonstration in the afternoon. So, I thought I'd share one of the things I'll be demonstrating....

....these baubles are great fun to make using the Tim Holtz rosette Sizzlit dies from Sizzix. I used the original single die as well as the mini rosette die which has two smaller sizes. If you are using heavier weight cardstock, or mirri card, I suggest a cool melt glue gun to adhere the rosettes to the backing circles as they have a tendency to pop off otherwise! 

Here's a closer look at one from a side view to show the dimension better....

...I'm hoping to make quite a few for my tree as they are a great way to use up those odd sheets of decorative papers that we all have taking up space! 

These ones are pretty simple...just a few papers, card and either brads or gems for the centres and I've just used white cord for the hangers. However, I'm going to be making some with glittered edges, maybe some tinsel sandwiched between the two largest rosettes, ribbon hangers etc. Great fun!

Before I forget (again) I have now got the new Ranger Sticky embossing powder and have given it a try. It's very good indeed. Simply stamp using an embossing ink, sprinkle on the sticky embossing powder and shake off the excess. Have your glitter ready, heat the powder and immediately pour on the glitter. I pressed the glitter down slightly. Shake off the excess and voila, a glittered image. I was able to use a brush to dust away the excess without it moving the stamped image at all. One tip is to use an anti static pad first of course. So, it gets a thumbs up from me.

Well, that'smy coffee break over, so it's back to work - colouring in at the moment, oh, and waiting of course!