Free Spirit

Hello all, and a special hello to everyone that I saw in Kendal on Saturday at the Paper Warehouse craft event which was really busy. The team there look after us all very well and keep us topped up with drinks and snacks all day so we can just concentrate on being creative.

I was working with my Zendoodle stamps and pens from the Artline range - all Christmassy I'm afraid! Here's one of the cards that I made which also featured papers by Teresa Collins....

....again, quite a simple card as I wasn't using all my favourite spritzy inks and sprays!

As I like to occasionally share a photo or two from "this day last year" I thought I'd jump back to 2012 and share a couple from this time two years ago. One is a card that I made using my Hopeful Harriet Doo Lally Pip stamp set....

....and the second is a gardening, well, building photo.....

...two years since I rebuilt one of the walls in my garden! Can't believe it's so long since I finished that job but I'm pleased to say that it is still standing! 

I haven't been out and about much since I was in Kendal, except for Church on Sunday, as I've been holed up in my Doo Lally room creating canvasses and hangers for my Etsy shop. I've been working in stages on several pieces at once but here's one that I finished this afternoon....

My poor fingers are every colour of the rainbow now - as well as thick black paint! I'm now working on a much bigger canvas, so I'll share a photo once it's finished.

Well, it's been a gloriously sunny and warm day today but I've been too busy to get into the garden, I might just spend half an hour on my bench with my book now though, to make the best of the evening before the sun fades. I do have loads of bulbs to plant but, I confess, it is a task that I always seem to struggle with. I think it's because there is no immediate reward as there is when putting plants into the garden - everything looks exactly the same when you've finished and it's a bit of a bore to do! However, I'm trying to focus on the prospects of Hyacinths, tulips, daffs, narcissus and crocus in a few months time to spur me on!

Meanwhile, the fields adjacent to me got their first haircut in years at the weekend. Everything had got rather jungle like and as the grasses and weeds were cut back there were rabbits running all over the place as well as much interest from the gulls and crows.

Yesterday evening I spotted this chappie....

....it's the first time I've seen a heron here, so, another one to tick off my list!
Well, I'm off to get into the garden for a while, so will sign off. Hope the weather's good where you are too.

Unseasonal apologies

I know it's still only August, though you'd be forgiven for thinking it was almost October after the crummy weekend weather we just had, so I feel I should apologise for posting festive images this early. It's the nature of my work, of course, to be always a few steps ahead of the calendar and it's Christmas products that I'm using on demonstrations at the moment. Only a couple to share tonight though and quite straightforward ones at that - I'll be at Paper Warehouse in Kendal on Saturday and they prefer clean and simple cards there. I find them harder to make than my usual messy style!

Anyway, I've been working with my Zendoodle range of stamps today, both the ready doodled versions and the plain ones. Although the idea with the plain ones is that you can fill them in with Zentangle patterns, they are also perfect for paper piecing. As I'm using some Teresa Collins papers on Saturday too, I thought it was a perfect way to utilise them. This one is an ultra simple card using my Zendoodle Tree stamp...

...told you it was simple! Just a few adhesive gems and some Stickles (oh yes, and I get a bit of sneaky distress ink in there with a little water spattering!) to add some sparkle.

Next is my Zendoodle snowman and I made the background directly on a folded A4 white card using a Crafter's Workshop stencil (Aspen Trees) and Weathered Wood Distress ink, just blended more softly as I went further down.

The sentiment is from my Inspirational Christmas Quotes set. I must admit that I did enjoy cutting out and piecing all the snowman's clothes - for a change anyway! I finished off with Aged Mahogany Distress ink smudged round the edges and some baker's twine wrapped round the spine.I stuck little circular stickers, from the Teresa Collins paper pack, back to back at the ends of the twine. Simple but I quite like this one!

I was looking back at my "photos from this day last year" but, as they happened to be of a ginormous spider, I decided not to put them up here! Tomorrow will be a year since Tim Holtz and the Ranger team came over to the UK for the weekend event with Personal Impressions - where has the time gone?! This was what I was doing at the event....and it was fun to be on the other side of the table for a change!

Heather and I spent some time together for her birthday - it was very low key but that was what she wanted, so the birthday stripper had to be cancelled....no...I'm only joking! We just went for a Sunday lunch and both felt like we never wanted to eat again! If you haven't seen Heather for a while you'll get quite a surprise next time you do as she has lost over three stone to date and looks great.

Well, it's only just past 9pm and it's dark already...how depressing is that?! Worse still, Blackpool Illuminations are switched on this Friday (by Peter Kay this year) so that's that! Time to wash the dishes and make a coffee I think so I'll say goodnight. 

Oh, if you read my previous post and went to look at the canvasses on my Etsy shop - they're not there anymore! I'll be adding some new items very soon though. Right, off to the kitchen now - night all.

A bit of all sorts!

Just a late night post before bed time. It's been a busy day here one way and another. This morning I had the final dental appointment to fit my second replacement crown. This should have been done almost two weeks ago but the new crown had a fault so it had to be made all over again. It's nice to have a decent smile back, though it will take me a while to realise that everything's normal again I think! As my homegrown sweetcorn are very nearly ripe for harvesting, I asked the dentist if my new choppers would withstand biting into the cobs....apparently yes, so I shall look forward to that!

The sweetcorn have been very interesting as I've never grown them before and didn't really know exactly where the cobs grew. I foolishly thought that the yellow spikes growing at the top were going to magically turn into corn and was a bit disappointed at the idea of only one ear of corn per plant! As it turns out, the male flower is at the top and the female flowers that shoot out from the sides are what become the edible cobs - at least three or four on each plant...can't wait!

Talking of things horticultural, I was pretty miffed a couple of weeks ago when my new neighbours decided to cut back the shrubs that are between our front gardens. The shrubs are growing from my neighbour's side and they said they'd like to trim them a bit. The plants have come over onto my side and I said I was fine with them being trimmed as long as it wasn't too drastic as the birds like to perch in them. It was agreed that we'd do the trimming when I was at home so that we could all agree on what got cut back.

Unfortunately, when I was out one morning, my neighbour decided to get busy with the saw and hacked away at everything. Worst of all, he came into my garden and cut back the foliage that was hanging over my low wall as well as breaking one of my solar lamps in the process! I was quite annoyed to say the least. However, nothing has been mentioned and I don't want to fall out with new neighbours who are, otherwise, very pleasant. I'm sure they thought they were doing me a favour, but it has left my garden looking very bare at one side and with no privacy from next door...gggrrrr!!!

To make things worse, there's very little soil on my side in this area so I have been puzzling over what to do next. So, after visiting our mum this morning, Heather and I went to the garden centre and I got some bags of topsoil, compost and grit with a view to creating an area that I can plant up. Last night I found some large rocks that were hidden from view by overgrown Heathers, so I heaved them out and split them with a hammer and chisel. This is as far as I got this afternoon......

.....I've moved a few things around and now I need some new plants!

The gaps above the wall used to be full of lovely shrubbery with blossoms and berries : (  

I've moved some of my pots to fill the gravelly areas that have no soil at all and I've put some new plants into the deeper soil that will, hopefully, grow and create some privacy once more....

...it's not that I'm antisocial, but I don't like having an uninterrupted view into next door's garden! I've planted a lovely fern that I dug out of Heather's garden....she did give me permission! Next to it are a couple of Sunflowers that should flower nicely now that they're in open ground and, to the left of the fern is my bargain of the day..... 

....it's a "Magical Four Seasons" Hydrangea which, apparently, goes through four colour changes through the year. Heather and I loved the vintage look of it and I've wanted a Hydrangea for ages.This one was a steal in the special offers section!

Well, from gardens back to festive makes and here are one or two more examples of what I've been up to with my new stamps. This one is using my Zendoodle ready to go Angel set and the words are from my Inspirational Quotes set. The strip down the side features the Tsukineko Irresisible spray in Lulu Lavender which I then blended over with Shaded Lilac Distress ink.

Here's another card featuring my Peaceful Christmas set. I used a background from my selection that I have ready to use...it was created with Dylusions ink sprays onto damp 300 gsm white card which I then spritzed with white Dyusions through one of Tim's stencils. Not an especially festive stencil, but the colours worked really well and give a Northern Lights glow to the card. For this scene I simply added torn strips of white card with some shading of course....Distress ink applied with a waterbrush.

I'll be making more examples with the new Christmas stamps tomorrow, so will share them as and when!

I thought you might like to see a couple of new spots that Thomas has decided are great places to be. The last couple of days have seen him enjoying being in my company in the garden, but he soon gets bored of me taking more notice of plants than of him! His latest sleeping bed is here......

...curled up on top of the Heathers which make a very springy, if slightly prickly, cushion. If I pat him he goes up and down as if he's on a trampoline!

This morning I couldn't find him in any of his usual places until I went into the bathroom and discovered that his newest resting place is here.....

.....in the bath! Who knows what goes on in the feline mind!

Well, a bit of an eclectic mix of piccies tonight, but I'll be back with more Christmas creations in the next day or two. Nighty night all.

Forgot my hat!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

More coffee break previews!

You must think I am always taking coffee breaks! It's just a good time to post on here whilst I'm having ten minutes or so away from my work table....er....for table, read  floor! I just spread stuff out so far and wide when I work that it's simpler to work down there...keeps me flexible too!

Anyway, here are some more previews of my new Christmas stamp sets. Thank you for all the lovely comments and emails that I've had about the ones I posted yesterday and, to answer some of the queries, they will be out sometime in July and will be available from any Personal Impressions stockist. If your nearest store doesn't have them, just make a note of the code number/s and ask them to order them for you.

Okay, on with the next sets. This first one is my "Zendoodle Reindeer Ready to Go" CICSA6311.

As I explained yesterday, the Zendoodle stamps all have two versions of the exact same image - one plain and one ready doodled. To answer a question that I was asked last night, you don't get both versions in one set - there is a choice of either the plain image OR the ready done one. Just to illustrate, here is the plain version of the same reindeer....

...this one is "Zendoodle Reindeer" CICSA6309 and, as you can see, this gives you the outlined areas for infilling with your own doodle designs.

Okay, next up is a set called "Branching Out" CICSA6338....

....this set was in response to many requests for my stripey branch to be made as a stamp so I have added three other, more festive, variations as well. Of course the stripey one can be use all year round. Turn it through 45degrees and it works as a tree, seaweed etc.

This set was my sister's favourite from the Zendoodle range........

....maybe it's because Heather is an expert sock knitter! Anyway, this one is "Zendoodle Christmas Stockings" CICSA6321. Lots of scope for bright colouring, fine glitters and general fun with this set!

I love snowmen and I love using silhouette stamps so there are a couple of the icy fellows included here....

This set is called "Peaceful Christmas" CICSA6325 and I know that I'll be using this a lot in demonstrations and for my own cards this year. Dylusions ink spray backgrounds, Distress ink backgrounds and some white gel pen highlights....I can see them now! 

Back to Zendoodles and this is "Zendoodle Snowman Ready to Go" CICSA6320....

....well, I had to, didn't I?! What a jazzy outfit!

Next up are "Little Festive Houses" CICSA6329. Ideal if you're sending cards to anyone having Christmas in a new home or the "our house to yours" cards of course. I'll be matching these with little snowmen and other characters.

 A big word now! This is "Zendoodle Joy RTG" CICSA6317. Lots of festive doodles within the letters on this one.

Finally, for now, another Doo Lally Pip set....

....this is "DLP  Night Before Christmas" CICSA6334. Not sure about health and safety with her candle carrying technique! The candle can be cut away and replaced with anything else or she can even hold the stocking of course. She also has a pair of optional script wings that can, of course, be used with other figures.

Well, that was an interrupted coffee break and posting session as my neighbour popped round for a chat so I will have to scarper now and catch up with myself....and make a fresh coffee too I think!

I'll be off to Coventry first thing in the morning for my day at Daisy Jewels and Crafts teaching a workshop. So, I'll post some pictures of that when I get back.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A peek at new Christmas stamps!

Morning everyone, I'm just having a quick coffee break and, as the images of my new stamps are now available to see on the Personal Impressions website, I thought I'd just take a few minutes to share a few with you. You can see the whole collection by clicking here, although there are a couple more still to be added later today.

Well, here goes....I've just chosen a few different sets from the whole collection........

....first up is "Little Fairy" CICSA6332. She's a pretty sturdy little thing with her boots and stripey tights! She has a nice stream of starry sprinkles to waft around the place though.

Of course, anyone who knows my work will be aware of my obsession with snowmen of all different styles and here's one of my new ones.....

....he's called "Stringy Snowman" CICSA6337 and he's in the Doo Lally Pip range. I'll be stamping him directly onto my backgrounds and then stamping him again so I can cut out his head and body to layer over the top....no cutting round stringy arms for me! 

A set of quotes now, these ones being "Inspirational Quotes Greetings" CICSA6341. If, like me, when you make quirky, cute, or just non religious Christmas cards you still like to have the option of some words that allude to the real meaning of Christmas in some way, then I hope these will fit the bill.

Another thing that I like to feature in my stamps are owls! So I decided to create some festive ones along with their very own icicle strewn branch. They all different characters, from the rather bewildered one on the top right to Mr Grumpy on the left! Sorry about the appalling puns though....another of my favourite things!

This set is "Merry Christmas to Whoo" CICSA6323.

Another fairy now, or at least someone who wants to be a fairy! She is another in my Doo Lally Pip range and is "DLP Tree Fairy" CICSA6330. Her socks look pretty much like mine usually do when I'm relaxing on a chilly evening! Of course, you can always clip off her wings (ouch!) when she's not wanted as a fairy...and use the wings elsewhere needless to say.

To finish this first peep, here are three of the seasonal designs from my Zendoodle range. As with the first collection, there are "plain" sets and "ready to go" versions of the same designs. There are twelve new Christmas designs, so that amounts to twenty four in total...are you keeping up with me here?!? I'll just show you three of the ready to go versions here, but if you prefer to do your own doodled infilling, then the plain versions are for you!

This is "Zendoodle Dove Ready to Go" CICSA6315. As with all the Zendoodle range, it's a good size to make a big impact on a card or to use in a frame as a decorative picture. I'll definitely be making some decorations with this one as it's an easy one to cut out and decoupage of course. Rather than wild colouring on this one I'll probably choose just one or two tones of grey, lilac or blue and do some gentle shading.

Trees next, and this set is "Zendoodle Trees RTG" CICSA6319. A row of highly decorative trees that can be used as they are  or, of course, cut down into individual or smaller groups. I may have to restrain myself with my colouring on these or I might get carried away!

Finally for now, this last stamp is "Zendoodle Angel RTG" CICSA6312.She's an Angel and she's Zendoodled and there you have it!

Hope you enjoyed the first look at just some of the new sets. I was literally dreaming about doodling by the time I had finished all the Zendoodle designs! There are lots more sets in the collections so I'll share some more next time.

Meanwhile, my break is over and I'd better get back to work!

An extravagant weekend

I'm just having my coffee break so it seemed a good time to post a few pictures from the Craft Barn Extravaganza weekend. My day is going to be a rather sporadic one anyway as I have to go to the dentist again later this morning and I've some grocery shopping to do before I come home...when you walk everywhere you don't waste a trip into the village! This evening I have friends from Church coming round for a film night. We are beginning a study course based on "Les Miserables" (the version with Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe) which should be really interesting, so we have to start by watching the film - I have already seen it and next week there will be another group coming round to watch it, so I'll have seen it three times then! As I cried buckets the first time I am getting the tissues ready for everyone tonight!

In between times I am getting on well with new stamp designs...always good to see those blank sheets of paper starting to get covered with images! I usually don't have much idea what I am going to draw when I pick up my pencil, I just let it hover over the paper until something starts to form. Pretty much the way I work when I am creating projects too!

So, last Thursday morning I set off for Surrey which involved trains to Preston, then Euston, underground to Victoria and then another train to Redhill. Thankfully everything went to plan and all the trains were pretty much on time....the only blip being at Preston where, with less than four minutes to departure time, the platform for the London train was changed. It wasn't even announced but just came up on the screen - good thing I noticed a few people dashing past me! So, I had to run with my case up the stairs, across the bridge and down the other side. As I was still not fully recovered from the flu like symptoms of the post root canal infection (!) and as my case was heavy enough to feel like my shoulder was being wrenched from its socket, this was not what I needed! Less than a minute later an announcement was made that the London train was now going from the original platform where we had all just been! *!!#** (insert whatever you feel is appropriate!). I looked at the stairs and thought "okay, you can do this"....and then a knight in shining armour came to my rescue and asked if he could carry my case. Now, Janet Street Porter et al would tell me that I should have given him a withering look and lugged the case myself....no thank you....I am more than happy to be helped by a strong man! Not only did he carry my case but he hoisted it over his head which really made me giggle inside as he was obviously enjoying being the hero of the hour for me! (Another reason why I would never decline an offer of help). 

Apart from the usual rudeness of people travelling on the underground everything else went fine and I was at the Craft Barn after about four hours. I was able to have a wander around the shop, the Priory Farm nursery and the farm shop and then it was off to nearby Godstone where I was staying. This is a tiny village with a lovely duck pond and just a few little shops including one selling antiques and curios  that I had a wander round for a while. I then spotted a sign for the parish Church and this led me up a long public footpath at the side of a nature reserve where I saw Grebes, Tree Creepers and all sorts of butterflies and other birds. I also came across this fallen "tree" that was really more like a mass of tangled roots...

...I'd love to have this in my garden!

After a good stroll in the sunshine it was time for dinner and then some relaxing in front of the TV before a good night's sleep. Next day was my Bijou House Masterclass and I got everything set up in the marquee adjacent to the Craft Barn. There was a lot to get through but the ladies applied themselves and everyone managed to finish - well, we decided it would be better to stamp out the flowers for the outside of the house so they could be coloured and cut out at home rather than rushing them. So, lots of alcohol inking, shrinking, distressing and embellishing produced some great results. Michelle and Helen concentrating on painting their roofs......

....Chris using a glue stick to add embossing powder to the seams of the walls and Anne preparing to stick the roof to her house.....

 ....by the end of the day we had some great houses.....

...and we only overran by half an hour!

Another quiet evening in Godstone and it was soon Saturday morning and the start of the demonstration weekend. We were all hoping that the forecasted thunderstorms would keep away! The marquee was all set up with tables and chairs and everyone busied themselves making eyecatching displays. This is when I envy those who travel by car and can bring shelf units and dressers with them! Here are some of the tables....

This was Di Oliver's display....see what I mean about the shelves?! Amazing creations. And here is part of Jane Gill's table...Jane's usual eye for detail in her beautiful creations.

 Here's Julie Hickey's calm, pastel display...it looked so fresh in the heat of the marquee.

 You may well recognise the work of the mediums master himself....Andy Skinner of course!

Here's Pauline Wheeler's lovely array of scrapbook pages and more - as you can see, Pauline was enjoying the Extravaganza experience!

 Lots of fantastic pieces to look at on Neil Walker's table.....

 And here's my, "it all came in a suitcase" display! Needless to say that it didn't stay this tidy for long!

It was an amazing weekend and a big hello to all the lovely people that came to see us. Your comments were so uplifting and it makes all the hard work worthwhile. I didn't get a chance to take a picture in the midst of the bustle of the two days but I did snap a view inside the marquee near the end of Sunday when people were starting to drift away and I could finally take a breather!

This was just one half of the marquee!

Here's one of the cards I made on Sunday using Dylusions sprays and a Crafter's Workshop stencil for the background. I used my Zendoodle Hearts stamp set and another CW stencil for the word love - simply using a white gel pen to draw through and my fine black pen to add a shadow. I think the heat was making me go for really vivid and bright colours!

I loved these bags that two of the ladies had made. Needless to say, the one on the left was the one I would have snaffled being in my favourite colour combination!

Another card that I made at the show, this time using my Dreams have Wings stamps which proved to be a popular set. I drew the ricketty fence with my black pen and added the grassy tufts at the base by swiping a Memento dew drop ink pad up from the bottom of the card.

I do love the richness of colours that can be achieved with the Dylusions sprays. I tend to keep my cards very simple really - just letting the images do all the work.

Every table had one of these on it by the way....

...a very thoughtful gift from the Craft Barn team - all hand made of course and filled with sweeties!

Well, I really should get back to the drawing board now and then it will be time to walk round to the dentist and see what he's planning to inflict on me today! My face is still numb so I'm still finding it tricky to put my lipstick on straight!

Oh yes, I have picked the first starwberries from my plants in the conservatory...all two of them! They were lovely but I'm guessing you need a heck of a lot of plants to make it worth bothering! There are two courgettes that are almost ready for cutting off and I've been picking the sugar snap peas and eating those straight from the plant. The tomatoes are tiny as yet, but there are more appearing daily so I'm looking forward to some scrumptious veggie meals soon.

Right, I will away and hope you haven't fallen asleep whilst reading this looong post!