Craft, a cab and a cat!

Well, I meant to add this post yesterday but my day off got in the way! It was a really lazy day of sitting on the sofa and having a few ambles round the garden to see what, if anything, was coming up.
A big hello to everyone who came to The Paper Warehouse in Kendal and High Legh garden centre. Here's my table at Kendal, complete with the stand of the first batch of new stamps - this was the first time they had been on show, complete with the new packaging for the "Off the Wall" collection. You can just see my boards of tags in the background and look at all that lovely Glue n Seal on the table! There were lots of demonstrations going on so there was lots to see - though shortly after I took this picture I was rooted to the spot so to speak, and didn't get to see much of anything myself! I must mention Sandra, who I saw at a demo in Lancaster before Christmas and mentioned that one of my cards was in Crafts Beautiful magazine with instructions if she wanted to make it. Well, not only did she do that but she entered the prize giveaway competition - and won! Absolutely loads of goodies. Well done Sandra! I did ask where my bit of the prize was but........only joking! Always great to know that somebody really does win these things.
In the afternoon the lovely Chris came to see us all - here she is with our mutual pal, Esther, who was on the table near me, die cutting like mad all day. It's always great to see familiar and friendly faces at these events. I did take a pic of Sarah at her table too, but, as she was in front of a window, all that came out was a silhouette! Here's Esther with me...we keep meeting up on trains on the way to events as we are both dedicated rail travellers, lugging our kit around the country! On Sunday I went to High Legh, which is only a few miles from Knutsford station...though the taxi driver who took me there evidently thought it was much further and charged me £20!!! I was furious but very little I could do as my bags were in the boot of the cab so I had to pay up. What a rip off! I have since rung the firm and complained but spoke to a very rude man who eventually put the phone down on me. Nice customer service. It became a talking point for the day, with everyone agreeing that it was a disgrace. Just to show that most people are kind, thoughtful and caring though, I was offered a lift back to station - thank you Lynne, it really was appreciated. I mean "thank you Pauline", not Lynne! Don't know where that came from! Apologies Pauline - and after you helped me out too - how rude of me!!! Sorry! And Mo, who runs the craft department, bought me some seeds and seed trays to make up for my rip off ride - so thank you Mo, and I will be sure to post piccies when the flowers bloom!
A warm welcome to the newest blog followers and those who haven't figured out following but who tell me they regularly read my ramblings! Thanks for all the positive feedback I got over the weekend which makes all the work worthwhile.
Finally, here's a snap of Thomas for the cat watchers out there. He had been a dirty stop out and decided to take advantage of the warm night, refusing to come in. Next morning he looked bleary eyed and I later found him on his special blanket at the end of the bed having somehow pulled my nightdress over himself! Talk about making yourself comfy! As promised this weekend, I will be posting a couple of step by step ideas as soon as possible - one will be my "no ruler, no craft knife" frame and the other will be spiders! So, do check back as I will try and get them on here very soon.

Kendal and High Legh

Another quick post to say that I'll be doing the first demonstrations with my new "Off the Wall" stamp collection this weekend. On Saturday I'll be at The Paper Warehouse, Kendal, where there will be a host of demonstrations, so plenty of things to see! On Sunday I'll be at Strikes Garden Centre in High Legh, near Knutsford.
I can't do it before the weekend but I will, as soon as I can, post a step by step of my "no ruler and no craft knife" frames for shaker cards or just making a surround for images on cards - as promised to the ladies that I met yesterday in Scunthorpe. Meanwhile, for two great tutorials on making flowers, have a look at Paul's blog. They look terrific and the step by step pictures are really easy to follow.
Well, hope to see some of you this weekend. I might get to spend a day a home next week! Lol!

Off again!

I'm off on my travels again shortly, whizzing over to Scunthorpe for my demonstration at Stephen H Smiths Garden Centre tomorrow. I know...a Wednesday demo! This is the last one where I'll be featuring Gorjuss designs, for the moment anyway, as, from this weekend, my new stamps will be coming with me. I'll also be using more new stamps from the Personal Impressions range, but they'll be arriving in a week or so.
So, I thought I'd just sign in and say "hello" before I go to the station...a nice fifteen minute walk in the sunshine. Hope to see some of you in Scunthorpe!

Grubby fingers!

This is just a quick post after a long day of a real mixture of tasks. I've been making some last minute samples, doing some drawings and then, late this afternoon, getting grubby in the garden! So, if you do happen to be coming to either of my demos this weekend, don't look too closely at my fingers and please excuse all the scratches which, for once, were not caused by Thomas or Tara but by the twigs and thorny stems that I was pulling out today!
The weather's been so gorgeous that it was perfect for making a start on outdoor things. David's done some chopping back of weeds along the wall edges, made a first assault on the ants that have put in an appearance and I don't know what else! I've planted up some tubs which look pathetic at the moment but will hopefully start to fill out in the next couple of weeks, potted up some seeds and given the shrubs at the side of one wall a good cutting back.
Anyway, I'll be at Burnside Garden centre in Thornton tomorrow and Houghton Hall garden centre in Carlisle on Sunday. Mmmmm...two garden centres in one weekend.....will I be able to resist buying some more seeds? Probably not!
Have a great weekend whatever you're doing and make the most of the sunshine while it lasts. I'm off to bed now - it's 11.04pm, but I guess this post will show as being made at 2.34 am or some other ridiculous time!

Cleethorpes

Hi folks...Tuesday already, how ridiculous is that! I hardly took any pictures in Cleethorpes after all. My camera batteries ran out on Friday after I'd only taken a couple of photos and then it was just too busy on Saturday. Oh well. Anyway, this pic shows the railway station which, although you can hardly tell from this, is right next to the beach. Those benches are actually on the promenade! Now that's a station that I wouldn't mind having a long wait at...at least on a sunny day that is. Speaking of which, I set off in bright sunshine and by the time I arrived, four hours later, it was cloudy and chilly and, no, I didn't get my paddle! Maybe next time. Hope so, as it's a lovely clean beach as you can see. I did, however, walk for miles. I felt like unscrewing my feet when I got back to the guest house! I had to spend the compulsory £2.00 in 2p pieces in the arcade of course and I managed to make that last for an hour which was pretty good going. Great fun! I can recommend the Aristocats guest house where I stayed - very clean, really well decorated and one of the comfiest beds I've ever slept in. And, if this wallpaper had been in teal, as opposed to red, I would have been scraping it off the wall! Gorgeous and it even had a touch of very subtle glitter - how glam! Next day I was at M B Crafts where I was demonstrating alcohol inks and a range of my fairy and castle stamps. Mary, her staff and helpers kept the coffee and tea flowing and Rosie, the Jack Russell, kept everyone in order and greeted every customer like an old friend. After a buffet lunch it was time to clear the tables and set up for an afternoon workshop where the ladies made cards using my build a scene garden chair and Rose Galore stamps. I meant to take pictures of everyone with their cards but we were just too busy. I'll be back at M B Crafts on June 16th, so hope to see you all again ladies!
Meanwhile, back at home, the predicted cold weather didn't arrive and it's been sunny and mild. David has been painting fence panels at the back of the house and putting up some trellises, as well as clearing the weeds (and worse!) from the long, narrow bed ready for me to plant Sweet Peas and Nasturtiums. I'm itching to get some colour into the front garden now, and must get some bedding plants, more seeds and bulbs and maybe an odd shrub. How exciting! There are quite a few bees buzzing around and crowds of Ladybirds too...not sure what the collective noun for Ladybirds is, but "crowds" seems suitable!
Today though, I've been stuck inside, working on a Crafts Beautiful project and new stamp designs. I have a deadline for these of course, so I just want to get as much done by then as I can. I love starting new collections as it's mostly a surprise to me when the images appear! I generally start doodling with little idea what the end result will be - very different to when I'm designing to specific requests.
On Saturday I'll be at Burnside Garden Centre in Thornton, Lancashire and then at Houghton Hall Garden Centre in Carlisle on Sunday. Hope to see some of you at one or other venue!

Nightie night

Just a quick post tonight before I head up to Cleethorpes tomorrow for my date at M B Crafts. Looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday at the morning demonstration and the afternoon workshop. In the morning I'll be using Alcohol and Distress inks along with my Silhouette Fairy and Castle stamps. Here's some of the cards I was making in the last couple of days..........the darker card on the top right includes Snowcap alcohol ink blended with some of the clear colours over black gloss card. It makes for a very dramatic effect....and it's a change from the purples and blues that I just can't seem to break free from!!!
I'm hoping it's a nice sunny day tomorrow so I can have a walk along the beach tomorrow afternoon. It's a few years since I last visited Cleethorpes, but I clearly remember the wonderful promenade and the sandy beach that had so many seabirds. If it's not too freezing I may even risk a sneaky paddle - probably not though!
So, I am off for an early night now. I've been really tired over the last week so I've been getting to bed around 10 o'clock which very early for me. I'm sure it will do me good though and the bracing winds on the East coast should blow the last cobwebs away! I'll take some snaps whilst I'm away and will share them with you after the weekend. Night all!

It's all in the expression

Another morning post from me, although, according to blogger, my ramblings are never written at the time that I actually sit down to type them for some reason. Must be a different time zone at work. Anyway, it's actually just before 9.30am!

I had a really lovely day at Crabapple Crafts on Saturday. It took me an age to get there, even though it's not that far...I had around three quarters of an hour to wait at Warrington station for my last connection, but at least the coffee bar was open which made it bearable...didn't much like the 6am start to the day though! I met up with Esther Gundry on the platform as she was also demonstrating at the shop and we travelled the last few miles to Frodsham together. Nigel met us at the station and we soon knew he was in mischief mode....and look what he did to one of my photo cards when I nipped to the loo! Blamed Esther too.....how rude! Lol! (Told you I'd tell on you Nigel!) It was a busy day and great to meet up with lots of friendly and familiar faces again. I was demonstrating with Gorjuss stamps again, as well as some of Andy Skinner's sets. This card features one of his "Word Up" stamps as well as the grasses from his Easter set, alongside the "Little Foxes" clear Gorjuss set. The card itself is just folded from a piece of MME Kraft Funday which I've smudged some Dusty Concorde and Faded Jeans Distress ink onto. Just my colours! I was featuring the Glue n Seal technique again and, as promised to the ladies that were there on Saturday, here is the picture of one example that shows how it can go wrong if you don't make sure you cover the whole image with the seal! Poor girl ended up with a 5 o'clock shadow and I couldn't help but add a thought bubble! Again, by the way, that was just hand written and then I swiped Glue n Seal over with my finger before drying and layering on more ink colour. It's good to have some fun on demo days! I was given a fab ATC by Sonia - very cleverly put together to form this serene image. When I got home, there was a lovely card waiting for me from Redanne, who won my recent blog candy - love the air balloon with the honeycomb paper, and it was fun having a card with an instruction to peel up the DST and fold the paper back to create the 3d effect - brilliant! Thank you both, ladies, much appreciated. Finally, as also promised on Saturday, here is a sample of how you can alter the look of a single Gorjuss character with just a few lines drawn with a fine pen... ....I know some people dislike the "no face" style, but it only takes a few seconds to change that. It's a bonus too, because rather than being stuck with one expression, the lack of faces means that you can use the same image for lots of occasions. So, from left to right we have the cute smile for a happy card, the sad face for a get well card, the wavy mouth that could suit a "sorry" card, the surprised face that could say "you're how old?!", the cross face (note the eyebrows)...well, choose your own card occasion for that one. Lastly, just a different smile that's not quite as wide as the first one. You really can give an image a myriad of expressions!
Well, I must dash as Heather is about to call round so I had better be ready!