Mixed media frenzy

Hello all, I'm finished,done and dusted (well, not literally) for the day and everything's packed up ready to set off for the Craft Range in Burnley tomorrow. Should be a very fun and informative day with all sorts of demos going on. Mine will not be stamping, for a change, as I'll be using all sorts of products to create mixed media canvesses, cards etc. I finished this journal yesterday....

....I eally enjoyed making this, though it took quite some time working on the front and back covers and the spine. The "hinges" wrap around from the back to give a more substantial look to the book. My tip, if you are going to be using messy products on a ready made journal, is to wrap the pages in cling film before you start - makes life much easier!

As well as more substantial items, I've used the same techniques to make cards and here are two that I'll have with me tomorrow...

A certain someone has been trying to be helpful again, if you can call plonking himself on my work table as being helpful! This was his contribution this morning....

....though it took me longer to get that foam square backing off his nose than it did to get it off the foam square itself! What a fidget!

My other little pal decided that it was better just to leave me to get on with things without her interference so she just lazed about in her latest preferred sleeping spot on the back of the sofa....

.....she is just adorable - when she's not hissing and lashing out! Anyone coming to the demo tomorrow will be able to spot the latest result of her flailing claws on my hand!

Speaking of the demo, as I'm not a fan of wearing aprons (even my Ranger one!) I shall be wearing my old scruffs - including a top that's actually got a few holes in it. So, please don't think it's my normal standard of dress - not that I've ever been the snappiest dresser in the world!

Oh, if you haven't already left a comment below the blog candy giveaway post then please do so before midnight on Tuesday when it closes. Here's the link to the post that you need to comment on -candy time.

Oh yes, here's a photo from my occasional "this day last year" spot.....

.....a whole year since I repaired and painted my front door! Can't believe it was twelve months ago, although there are definitely a year's worth of little teeth marks at the bottom corner again where Tara has been trying to chew her way in - why she can't ring the bell like everyone else I don't know!

Well, that's me finished for the day, so I'll sign off and hope to see some of you in Burnley tomorrow. I hope it's going to be as sunny a day as it's been here today - just lovely. Have a great weekend everyone.

Autumn approaches

Thanks to everyone who came along to my demonstration at Crafty Corner in South Shields yesterday. It was great to meet you all and I hope that you will all be getting nice and inky with the ink sprays and spritzers! As promised, here are just a few of the cards from yesterday to remind you of what I was doing.

The snowman from my "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" set,stamped coloured and cut out and I used Stickles Icicles over his ruffles and pom pom buttons. The background is the Crafters Workshop Aspen Trees stencil that I used Distress inks through, adding less pressure as I moved down the card. The words are from my Inspirational Christmas Quotes set. Super simple!

This card is one of those that came from creating something else! I was inking a Sweet Dixie die cut dove with Versamagic and I decided to make use of the negative. I placed the dove onto a piece of card that I'd already decorated with Goosebumps spray and Distress inks and then stroked the ink over the image...thereby coating the die cut and creating the negative at the same time. I embossed the dove with both gold and silver powders and the card below with just gold.

I was showing how brilliantly Dylusions ink sprays work to create backgrounds on white card but here I used them on some manilla coloured card. By adding the opaque White Linen spray to the other, transparent, colours,it completely changed the look and toned them down. I used images from my Moon Gazer stamp set and a white gel pen to add highlights.

 Of course, as I hadn't been to Crafty Corner before, it was only right to do one of my faux bleached snowman scenes! This time, to ring the changes, I decided to work directly onto 300 gsm card that I had cut using the Sweet Dixie Holly and Star die. Those of you who have seen me demonstrating this technique before will know how simple it really is....just Distress inks blended over the card and then the snowy foreground, trees and snowman created just with brush and water...with a few details added to the snowman of course.

Of course, the cards I make on demo days do tend to be rather "unfinished" looking...often without greetings or those little extra dimensional extras - it's all about the techniques on the day!

I'd gone up to Newcastle on Friday (quite a trek) and stayed in a hotel right next to the rail station. A beautiful interior greeted me as I entered, including two magnificent chandeliers....

....they were e-nor-mous! I wouldn't fancy the job of cleaning them and they did give me a smile remembering the famous Del Boy chandelier moment!

Today has been a bit of a rest day as I was really shattered after all the travelling and getting home late. Church this morning followed by coffee with friends and then home to enjoy some sunshine in the garden.I'm making the most of the warmth as there are definite signs of the waning season...coming home last night it was already dark by 7.30pm (groan) and this morning I had to squeejee the condensation from my  windows - how depressing! To crown it, when I set off for Church, there were skeins of geese flying overhead, honking away....there we have it...autumn is on the way!

Still, the darker evenings do tend to herald good telly programmes! Downton was a real treat tonight...no spoilers though in case you haven't watched it yet! Good start to the new series though.

Well, I'm away to my bed now.My sister, Heather, is coming round tomorrow and we're going to be spending some time together in my Doo Lally work room....I guess that means we probably won't get much done if past experience is anything to go by! (Yack, yack, yack.....!).

Don't forget to leave a comment below the Blog Candy post (a few posts back) if you haven't already done so. It finishes on the last day of September. Night all.

Candy Time!

Hello all, I have some Blog Candy to give away! It consists of six of my latest Christmas stamp sets....

The six sets are Doo Lally Pip Angel Wings, Zendoodle Reindeer, Humourous Christmas Quotes, Zendoodle Christmas Trees Ready to Go, Christmas Baubles and Doo Lally Pip Stringy Snowman.

Here's a slightly closer look....

 ....and the remaining three.........

The sets are plain wrapped ones, that is, with none of the usual packaging, but they are exactly the same as those that are seen on the shop shelves! The stamps would cost around £36 to buy, so well worth winning!

To enter the draw for the stamps, just leave a comment below this post by midnight on the 30th September. If you can add a link to here from your blog, or Facebook page, that would be appreciated too.

I will randomly draw a winner on the 1st October so don't forget to check back to see if you have won.If the winner doesn't claim the prize within three days then I will draw again and so on.

Good luck everyone!

A fun Saturday

Just a few photos to share with you tonight, most especially for the ladies that I met when I was teaching the Victoria Stampers group on Saturday....I promised to post the pictures of my class samples! Hello to everyone who was in the class and a special thank you for the lovely card and the choccies - the chocs are "secreted" in a special place only to be broken into in emergencies! 

We started the day off by making a card that was inspired by doing the Ranger/Personal Impressions event last week. Techniques I've done before but hadn't used for a while...so it was good to be reminded...the proverbial much needed kick up the bum!

 We used water colour paper to stamp onto, everyone choosing from a selection of stamps that I'd taken along or ones that they had brought. The inky background panel was created with a mix of Stains, Distress ink pads and white Distress paint. The flowers are Tim's Tattered Florals die cut from Grungeboard before being inked and covered with Rock Candy Distress glitter. A simple card but a pleasing one to make!

Next we worked on making decorative hanging panels. Heavyweight card stock was the base for lots of ink spraying, stamping, bleaching and colouring.....

.....this was my example as a guide, but the ladies came up with their own versions of course.....

 .....some very neat colouring going on.......

.....and I loved what Mo did with my "Time Traveller" stamps. Here's a finished panel, complete with eyelets in the top ready for a wire or ribbon hanger......

There was just time for everyone to get started on a steampunk styled card....not much time to complete them though, so here is the card in question for those wanting to check out the details!

Thank you ladies for a lovely day and to Lynne for organising the event. We raised £25.25 for Trinity Hospice as well, so a great day all round. 

Today has been spent making more samples for the show at Event City this coming Thursday-Saturday. I ended up with so much Glossy Accents dried on my fingertips that I couldn't feel what I was doing anymore, so a good soak in hot water and some scrubbing was in order! It's almost bed time for me now with the alarm set for a really early start to get the day underway nice and quickly as the last couple of days to prep for the  show are upon me!

A warm welcome too to new followers and another reminder to leave a comment to be in with a chance to win the blog candy....after the post titled "......American Candy". Okay, signing off for tonight!

Various "stuff"!

It was so long between my last and previous posts that there were quite a few pictures and tales that I didn't share. I thought I'd do a mixed bag of a post now to give a taste of the last few weeks here.

Back in August (how scary does that sound?!) on the 11th to be exact, Blackpool hosted an airshow. I strolled the few yards down the lane at the back of the house and, across the fields I had a grandstand view.....

 ....the incredible Red Arrows were on top form as always. If you fancy flying with them, you can get as close as most of us would want to by watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e-aw3aJpBc ...how on earth they do what they do is beyond me! Heart stopping stuff!

The Red Arrows were brilliant but when a deep, heavy sound filled the air I wondered what was going to appear in the skies above me. What came into view was a magnificent Lancaster Bomber.....

 ....wow, what a sight. I found it really emotional, especially as our dad and uncle were in the air force and uncle David was killed when he was on a mission. I did take a video of the Lancaster as it was being escorted by two Spitfires....it came over the rooftops and right overhead - unfortunately, I had inadvertently turned the camera off!!!! Darn!

There's been quite a lot on TV recently about the plight of our bees, and there's no denying that they are struggling. However, I seem to have got a good percentage of them right outside my back door! The giant Lavender has been literally heaving with them all summer long and I took a few pictures of them including this close up that came out quite well....

....they are all so busy that they are no trouble at all even when brushing past them on the steps. They get very drowsy in the Lavender so I sometimes take the chance to gently stroke their fuzzy backs! My nephew thinks I'm certifiable - especially since Heather told him about the spider that I've christened Maximus, as in "The Gladiator"....every time I hoover the lounge I have to stop just short of one end of the radiator as Maximus charges out from behind the pipe and stands his ground to stop the vacuum cleaner getting to his home! He's big, but not quite as big as this chappie who suddenly appeared on the bedroom wall.....arachnophobes (like my nephew) look away now.....

....he really was a whopper, but I welcome all the spiders as they do help to keep the insects at bay.

I've had a lot of people asking how the garden is doing and my stock answer at the moment is "don't ask"! Still no lawn mower and I'm afraid the weeds have been getting out of control again. However, there have been some really lovely shows of colour and fragrance. Even now, as the summer is ending, the Nasturtiums and Sweet Peas are still blooming and there are berries on the shrubs and trees. I have a new rose and a lovely Red Rocket Berberis to plant when some of the plants around my bench have died back a bit. Here are a few of my favourite things in the garden though....

This white Foxglove was a surprise one morning....I had sown seeds for purple flowers and then this one was suddenly there in all its glory.

Stunning Sweet Peas and Pansies that both seemed to glow with ultra violet shades.

And this morning the foggy dew brought the ethereal delights

of spider's webs festooned amongst the drying Poppy heads.

Sorry about the big gaps everywhere - I had a nice quartet of photos planned to sit in a neat square....blogger had other ideas of course!

Back in mid August I also made good use of one of the thimble houses that Heather gave to me. They were one of those purchases that she meant to do something with and then never did, so she thought I might better use of them. I ripped a couple of the wooden strips out to give me different sized spaces to fill and then, after a quick sanding, I gave the whole thing a few coats of paint - you can see the dodgy pattern on the roof showing through! I left the inside back mostly unpainted as I planned to use papers inside anyway.

That was also the day after I had decided to give the Doo Lally room a real blitz! I decided to stack all my Distress ink pads in a long box that's been sitting in the cupboard for ages and I have them in piles sorted by colour families...makes things much simpler. I've got my extra fine colouring pens on top as well as my Neo colours. I admit that the tidiness didn't last too long, but it's better than it was at least.

Anyway, here's the finished thimble house, decorated and filled with a mix of my Christmas stamps, dies and other little bits and pieces. I used Gesso sprinkled with Rock Candy glitter for the snow. The little deer on the right is from my Winter Silhouette set, stamped onto shrink plastic and given a bit of sparkle with a glitter pen.

Although today turned into a gloriously warm one, there's no doubt that there's been a little nip in the air this last week or two and my neighbour/cat sitter (!) and I were contemplating the colder months drawing nearer - mainly prompted by the huge number of berries that are already heavy on the bushes which she thinks are a sure sign of a harsh winter. We were swapping tips for keeping warm and listing the things that we need to sort out like replacing old hot water bottles, getting the cardigans out of "storage" and stocking up on fluffy socks and spicy scented candles....the latter being for psychological warmth! But there's still some warm days left I think, so meals like this one have been quick, easy and cheap....almost free in fact!

Yummy, scrummy home grown courgettes, french beans and tomatoes roasted with a splash of olive oil and served on toasty bread. I found another massive courgette/marrow hiding under a leaf but, after my last disaster with one of those giants I decided to pass it onto my neighbour instead - think she did a better job of cooking it than I did!

A couple of weeks ago I was down in Coventry where I was teaching a workshop for a brilliant group of ladies who really got stuck in and we all had a great time getting inky and messy!

I can't find any pictures of what the ladies made...I'm sure they are on my files somewhere! Here are a couple of things that I've made using my new Christmas stamps though...just a random selection!

 This was an empty coffee jar that I covered with paper - out of which I'd cut an aperture that I backed with vellum, stamped with an image from the "Be Still for the Glory" set, coloured with Pro Markers.I also punched small holes in the paper and I added a collar of card that I ran through a Tim Holtz rosette strip die to disguise the screw top of the jar before tying a ribbon round it. The vellum shows the candle through really well. It's sitting on the mantlepiece beside the picture of my lovely David.

I had a lot of fun making this card. The character is one of my Steaming Snowmen and I've added him to a background that features white acrylic paint and Goosebumps spray (more on this at a later date) which I've added Distress inks and Stains to. The lamp post was cut from Grungeboard - I used Rock Candy crackle paint and Stains to get the surface textures. It's a fun card with the snowmen flying by!

Last Saturday was a completely different one as I was taking part in a puppet show for the Big Church Family Picnic. It was going to be held in the Vicarage garden, but the weather was rather unpredictable so we headed into the church hall instead. I had three roles...Camille the camel, a stripey knitted character singing "Praise and Shout" words to the tune of the Beatles Twist and Shout (with backing group!) and two sheep  amongst a singing flock - think the Beach Boys Barbara Ann with slightly different words - very funny!

 I was the two sheep on the left - my arms were a bit sore, but I really enjoyed the afternoon, as did all the children...and adults too!

Well, what a lot of photos! Room for two more though I think, just for everyone who likes to know how my two terrors are getting on. Tara has been mooning around all week as she knew there was a freshly cooked chicken in the fridge and she just can't settle till she knows that every scrap has been eaten - preferably by herself! Thomas is his usual steady self, guarding his mum every night and patrolling the garden between naps.

Love those enormous feet! As for madam, well, this picture says it all - "just you try it mate..."!

Well, I'd better sign off now before I use up my whole blog capacity of photos! I was going to watch Whitechapel but I've decided it looked far too creepy, so it's been switched off!

If you haven't left a comment after my previous post then don't forget to add one now (it must be after the previous post) to be in with a chance to win the Tim Holtz blog candy. You have until September 17th to enter.

Okay, I'm off, saying goodnight and signing out till next time.  

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!