Week 186 - As simple as Black and White

Hello Everyone!

Well it's nearly here and I have still got soooooooo much to do - bet all of you out there are kicking back with your feet up, presents wrapped, baking done and trimmings looking fab!! Jealous or what! We have had a  2 great Christmas get togethers at Let's Create this week Wednesday evening and today and thankyou for everyone who popped in, we had a really lovely time and a great way to end the year.

This weeks challenge is from our lovely Brenda and this will be a 2 week challenge as it is the Christmas week so everyone will be busy with all the festivities but we hope that you will be able to pop something on the challenge when you have a minute.  My offering for this challenge is ~

Some of you may have seen this on the Pick of the Week Spellbinder shows last week.  I had the pleasure of demonstrating the gorgeous Die D-Lites and I have used several on this design.  Around the edge of the square I have used the Flourish Trim which when cut 4 times makes a lovely frame.  I have also used the Medallion Three which I have cut in black and silver and offset them to give dimension. In the middle of the medallion I have popped a few pearls to embellish the middle.  The Fantastic Flourish Trim die in the corner finishes off the design nicely.

We have 2 lovely prizes up for grabs so please pop over to the Allsorts Blog to have a peep at these and also have a look at the inspiration that the Design Team have given us.

I hope that you enjoy using your dies if you own them - I find them such a great addition to my Spellbinder collection.

Speaking of Spellbinders .................  I have the pleasure of demonstrating on the next Pick of the Day which launches on Thursday 27th December at 9pm and continues throughout the day on the 28th.  Hopefully you will have chance to catch a few shows if you are chilling.  

This just leaves me to say a HUGE thankyou for spending time to follow the blog this year and I hope that everyone in blog land all have a fabulous Christmas and enjoys a happy and healthy New Year.

Please leave a comment if you are passing by

you know I love to read them,

bye for now

Jo xxxxx

Week 185 - Oh Christmas Tree

Hello Everyone!

Well what a week - I think the car could take itself to Create and Craft - but it has been a fabulous week and I am back on Sunday and Monday.  I have got 3 shows on Sunday 9am and 7pm using some fabulous product from Kaisercraft and 3pm with the Calibur.  Monday I have been asked to step in and do a 10 am show for Kanban as they have a lot of sickness.  So another busy week - (note to self -  really need to fit in Christmas!)

Back to the matter in hand this morning our lovely Deb's at Allsorts has chosen a great Challenge for this week

OH CHRISTMAS TREE!

and this is my project  ~

These are stand alone trees that have been made out of paperback books (please close your ears if you are a librarian!) (don't use Fifty Shades ladies as you can still see some of the text!!! lol.) To have a look at a tutorial pop over to You tube and there is a lovely recording showing you how it is done.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PHxpCJlGss

(just type in making a Christmas tree from a paperback book!)

It is great fun making them and it is all thanks to Shellie (a friend of Let's Create) who came in with one that she had made - a friend had shown her and she was intrigued too.  You can make them in a smaller size too for such a cute tree.

There are lots of different ideas to decorate the tree - I have used Forest Moss distress ink, Crafters Companion spray glitter, gems and ribbon.

(If you are wondering Mark has placed them on some snow background paper to take the picture )

I hope that some of you have a go at this - such a great project and so much easier than it looks.

Thankyou for popping by and a huge thankyou for all your lovely comments last week.

Have a look at the fabulous creations that the design team ladies have come up with - pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog

I hope you enjoy a lovely weekend, keep warm get all your presents bought and wrapped and then kick back and relax.

Hope to see you here again next week

Bye for now

Jo x

Week 184 - White, Gold and one more colour

Good Morning Everyone,

Well!  what a busy week and it has flown by again! 

I had a ball on my marathon Pick of the Day for Create and Craft 11 live hours in 24 hours! 

It is getting really scary how close it is to Christmas now 

but I haven't made a Festive card for Allsorts this week for 

Helene's Challenge which is:

White, Gold and one more colour.

This is my offering for this week ~

This is a card that I have made using Teresa Collins paper products.  For those that are not familiar with her she is an American designer and I have the pleasure of demonstrating her products at the International V.I.P event on Create and Craft on Sunday (scrapping at 10am and papercrafting at 1pm)

I have used Spellbinders Grand Labels 4 for the larger labels and Labels 22 for the inside frame.

the papers are from Teresa Collins Vintage Finds 12" x 12" papers.  The butterfly stamp is from the Tell your Story set.

The flowers have been made from the papers in the set using the Spiral Blossom die.

Wild Honey Distress ink, lace and ribbon finish off the card.

I hope that you like it.

Another busy week ahead with TV again -

Sunday - Teresa Collins papercrafting 10am and 1pm

Wednesday -  Spellbinders dies 9am, 2pm and 7pm

Please pop over to the Allsorts Blog to have a peep at what the DT have to show you for Helene's

Challenge.

I hope that you enjoy a fabulous weekend - keep warm. 

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 183 - Advent - Take 2!!

Hello Again Everyone!

Well here we go with take 2 of the Allsorts Challenge which has been my week to think of a title.
I thought with it falling on the 1st of December it had to be

ADVENT

I would like to show you my Advent Calendar that I made for our Daughter Kate (who, as you know is 19 years old but just loves to have an advent calendar still!!)

I have used a Twiddlybitz Advent House which has been painted with white acrylic paint.  I have also sprayed it with silver Spray and Sparkle from Crafters Companion this gave it a little bling.

Because the House is so gorgeous and intricate you don't need to put much decoration on it but I have added some die cuts - snowflake from Spellbinders and the Sleigh and Reindeer is a Marianne design and I have cut these in silver mirri card.

The numbers have been cut from Tim Holtz Vintage Market Alphabet set which is one of my favourites.
The chocolates, of course, are essential just add your favourites and start to count down the days!
This is a project that will come out year after year and was lovely to do.  I hope that you like it too.  I would love for you to leave a comment and also pop over to the Allsorts Blog to have a look and the teams lovely ideas.

As mentioned yesterday in Part 1 of the post I was at Create and Craft demonstrating the Cuttlebug with a  huge amount of folders and the All-in-One system that has been so popular.  It was fun going back to demo the Cuttlebug.  I am back again Monday for a 10am show and if you are interested in a Cuttle Bug this is such an amazing offer.

I have quite a week at the studio and I am also there on the following days and times:

Tuesday 9pm and 11pm - Spellbinders Pick of the Day Launch!

Wednesday 8am, 10am, 12pm, 1pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, and 7pm!!!  PHEW!!

I will be demonstrating the Spellbinders Pick of the Day throughout these hours.

Sunday 9th  10am for Scrapbook Sunday

1pm Demonstrating Teresa Collins gorgeous papers and stamps.

I hope that you can catch a few of these hours and please send an email to let me know someone is out there!!!

Thankyou for your patients this week and thankyou again for Brenda bailing me out yesterday.

Must dash as I have soooooo many demos to prep for next week

Bye for now

Jo xxx

P.s  Pictures of our Birthday weekend will be put on the blog, just waiting for Mum to pop them on a disc.

Week 183 - Advent

Good Morning -

I am really sorry but would you be able to call back to view this complete post later this evening as I was unable due to what I can only think of an aliens!! in blogger last night and could not sort my post or this weeks post on Allsorts.  Brenda has saved the day with Allsorts but I am at Create and Craft until later in the day and wont be able to sort mine.  My apologies and my HUGE thanks for Brenda for rescuing me! x This is a lady that everyone needs as a friend when you are need!!! I really hope to see you later xxx

Jo x

If you notice big chunks of hair missing if you look at the Cuttlebug show that I am doing today it was from me pulling my hair out until the small hours trying to sort it!!! lol x

Week 182 - Bring on the Bling!

Good Morning Everyone!

Well I can't believe it but our 2nd Birthday weekend is here and we are all ready to PARTY!!!! 

As mentioned last week we have a fabulous weekend planned with the gorgeous Phill Martin and the lovely Anne-Marie from Hunkydory today and the very talented Ali Reeve from Stamps Away all day Sunday.

The demonstrations will start at 10am and run through until 4pm both days and there will be refreshments available all day so that there will be no reason to rush off!!

We have been getting organised for the weekend all week and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all their continued support for Let's Create and for making it such a wonderful success over the last year.

Anyway, back to Allsorts business!  This week is the fabulous Brenda's Challenge and she has chosen 

BRING ON THE BLING!! 

Thankyou to our sponsors for this week

                                                                        Flonz Crafts

                                                                     www.flonzcraft.com/

This is the card that I have chosen to show you 

I am not sure if you can see the bling but I have popped gems over the sky and the trees and houses are all sparkled with gorgeous Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles Butterfly Trails glitter.

The main picture is an embossing folder from Nellie Snellen entitled Snowy Village.  Just running it through your embossing machine and applying Broken China distress ink creates a really simple but effective design.

The frame has been cut from Spellbinders Labels 11 (a favourite of mine!) from navy cardstock.  The dies around the frame are Marianne poinsettias, branch and tree with a little bling added for good measure.

We made this in class today and everyone enjoyed it.  A great stop gap for the last minute cards that we all need to do!

I must sign off now as I have a million and one things to do before we have our guests arriving.

I will take tons of pictures and pop them on the blog after the weekend.

Please pop in if you are in the area we would love to see you.

Pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at my team mates designs and I would love you to leave a comment on here if you like what you see.

Have a go at the challenge too.

Many thanks and enjoy a fabulous weekend, thankyou as ever for popping in.

Bye for now

Jo xx

  

Week 181 - It's A Gift

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope that finds you all well and looking forward to a lovely weekend.  There is a bit of a chill in the air and it is certainly reminding us that it is now November!

Another busy week for me - I have finally been discharged from hospital this week - they are happy with how everything has gone and don't need to see me anymore.  I have also had my return to Create and Craft this week with an hour on the Get Britain Crafting section.  I really enjoyed the hour with Dave Bradford showing you some gorgeous kits from S.E.I.  The quality of these papers are second to none and it really wasn't a chore playing with these!

The shop has been as busy as ever we have had 2 great workshops using Molly Bloom stamps which was throughly enjoyed by everyone.  We are also preparing for our 2nd Birthday weekend Event which is a week today - I can't believe it is 2 years already time certainly has flown.  We have a fabulous line up of super duper demonstrators - on Saturday we have the fabulous Anne-Marie from Hunkydory and the gorgeous Phill Martin who will be demonstrating Wild Rose Studio stamps and Pro-markers.  On Sunday we will be having Ali Reeve showing us how clever she is using everything inky with masks, sprays, and anything else she can use in the Grande Calibur to wow us all.  We will be open 10-4 both days and refreshments will be available all day.  A brilliant weekend to celebrate 2 brilliant years.

Back to the matter in hand today. Our lovely Emma has set the challenge for this weeks Allsorts Challenge and it is ...................

IT'S A GIFT

This certainly gives you all a great deal of scope and hopefully at the moment when everyone is preparing and making crafty gifts for friends and family for Christmas is would be a great time to show some of your gorgeous creations.

I couldn't make my mind up which project to show you this week, they are both decorated frames which make fabulous and individual gifts.  See what you think -

This one is on a Christmas and scrapbooking theme using 2 pictures of our gorgeous friends children Brandon and Rosie.  They are such adorable children and we think the world of them so I thought let's show them off in this little frame project.  The frame is a twiddlybits wave frame which really catches your eye.  I have crackled the actual frame using acrylic paints and crackle glaze from Crafty Notions and decorated the framework with twiddlybitz snowflakes and mini Christmas tree.  The words were cut out using Tim Holtz alphabet with mirri card and a little bling finishes the project off nicely.  This is a great project to do, it is quick and gives lots of smiles when you give it away.

The second project is a shadow box frame that I put together on the C and C show on Thursday using S.E.I papers.

This was so quick and easy to make.  Everything apart from a little ink was part of the S.E.I kit including the shadow box which came flat but very easy to make up.  The paper in the centre of the frame was cut down from a 12 x 12 and the flowers were made using a Spellbinder die and papers from the kit.

A couple of Cheery Lynn flourishes and a little ink here and there finishes it off.

I would be very happy to receive this as a gift - let me know what you think.

Outr lovely sponsors this week are:-

Pretty Little Ribbon Shop

and 

Digi Darla

Thankyou to you both.

Pop along to their links to see what excellent offers they have on this weekend.

Must dash, as ever, Parchment class again today at the shop.  Also lots to still organise for next weekend.

don't forget to pop by if you are in the area - we can guarantee a great fun filled and entertaining weekend.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thank you, as always for popping by.  Take a look at the other Design team projects for some inspiration for gift making.

Bye for now and happy crafting,

 Jo xxx

Allsorts Challenge Week 180 - Young at Heart

Good Morning Crafters,

Saturday again and another Allsorts Challenge and this week it is the lovely Tracey who has chosen this weeks theme which is ~

Young At Heart

I think that you agree that this a great challenge with lots of scope to cover a range of topics.

I have decided to show you this card which makes me smile and reminds me of my next door neighbour (he is a lovely man but I hope he doesn't read the blog!!!)

The stamps are from a Creative Expression set which features some fabulous stamps that are all humerous and perfect for golf enthusiasts.  (I apologise I cant remember the name of the stamp set - I will look into it and let you know)

The papers are again from Creative Expressions and is from the foundations collection - these are an excellent A4 sheet and are double sided , very popular in the shop.  I have also included some paper piecing which worked well to emphasise his cap and trousers.  Not sure if he will be able to do anything with that golf club though!  Candy and a little ribbon finish off the layout.  What do you think - does it remind you of anyone?!

Today in the shop we have painting on parchment which my friend Maria Maidment is running (I am sneaking in as a student today so will need to be on my best behaviour.)

I hope that you all enjoy this weeks challenge pop over and have a look at the DT work at Allsorts.  Thankyou to our fabulous sponsors who are

Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps
stitchybearstamps.com/shop/

Many thanks for popping by and please leave a comment.  l I hope that you enjoy a fabulous weekend.

I hope that if you have or are going to the NEC that you have a lovely time and spend lots!!!

Bye for now and take care,

Jo xx

Allsorts Challenge Week 179 - Men and Boys

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, I am back into the swing of everything this week and loving being back into doing what I love to do.
The week has been a busy one starting with me doing a demonstration at the shop using our new stamp range.  What a fabulous day we all had and thankyou to everyone that popped along, the shop was buzzing with fellow crafters and we had some fabulous comments about the stamps.  It seems that they really love them.  The lovely Maria Maidment also demonstrated using parchment techniques with the stamps and this gave everyone some different ideas to have a go at.  Huge thanks to Maria x

On Sunday I had the pleasure of teaching at Kim Sutton's dabble day in Blyth.  Our feet didn't touch the floor but, again, such a fantastic day and so well organised by Kim and all her staff.  Their next dabble weekend is on the 1st weekend in March next year and it is well worth a visit.

Onto today's Allsorts Challenge.  This week it is Sarah's week and she has chosen

For the Men and Boys

and this is my offering for this great challenge

I have used Fishing Stan digi print from Digi Stamp Boutique who are our lovely sponsors for this week's challenge.  

The papers are the front and reverse from We R Memory Keepers - Argyle Sweater which seemed to really fit the bill.

The image has been coloured in a selection of promarkers and the background with Pan Pastels.

I cut the image out using the Classic Square Spellbinder and used the out of the box technique to cut around the fishing rod.  Some vintage photo distress ink, a little distressing with the Tim Holtz distressing tool and vintage bakers twine finishes the design off.

I hope that you like it, pop over to the Digi Stamp Boutique and have a look around, there are some smashing images to choose from click on.http://www.digistampboutique.co.uk/catalog/to have a peep.

Must dash now we have a fabulous day planned with Caroline Whatling teaching a Molly Bloom Christmas box project and I am a student!!!! I have promised to behave and listen to teach!!!  I will try to take some pictures so that you can see what we have been getting up to.

I hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend, that the weather is kind to you and that you have time to fit in some well deserved crafting time.

Pop over to have a look at the great projects the DT girls have done and hope is encourages you to have a go at the challenge this week.

Bye for now

Jo xx

Allsorts Challenge Week 178 - In Stitches

Hello Crafters,

Firstly,  its great to be back posting for the Allsorts Challenge.  Thankyou to all the fab girls on the Design Team for keeping me on board after my absence.  I returned to the shop on Tuesday and it's fantastic to be back getting my hands dirty and seeing all my crafting friends and customers. Karen, Jac and, of course, Mark have done an amazing job keeping everything ticking over.

This week it is our lovely Brenda's challenge and she has chosen a design featuring stitching.  That gives a great scope especially with stitching being so popular on our cards at the moment.  I have chosen this design to show you

The main focal point of the card is the stunning butterfly from Joanna Sheen's I Love Knitting stamp set and I have stamped and embossed it with detailed white embossing powder so that it resembles parchment.  There is so much detail in the design it is a favourite of mine and was very popular when Joanna released it.   The background framework is a Nellie Snellan die and I have used the die cut eyelets to thread the decorative cord through.  The background paper is Bo Bunny and the floral embellishment is a Marianne.

It is a great little card that would suit so many different occasions.  As usual the DT have displayed some fabulous projects on the Allsorts Challenge Blog pop over to have a peep and have a go at taking part - I am sure it will be a really popular week this week.  Thankyou to our sponsors Flonz Crafts http://www.flonzcraft.com.

Thankyou for popping by please leave a comment,  I love reading them and I hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend - keep warm the weather has turned a bit chilly!

Bye for now
Jo xx

Sooooo Excited - Let's Create stamping range

Hello Again!

I know 2 posts in one day - just a quick post as I wanted to share our new stamp range with you.  These gorgeous stamps have been drawn by the lovely Maria Maidment who is a well known parchment tutor and designer - you will have seen her work in the Parchment magazine is you are a follower of this lovely craft.

We have 5 sets - have a look at these!

I would love to hear from you to let me know what you think to them.  They are a polymer stamp and are much bigger than they appear on the front cover.  They are a joy to use.

a few of Let's Creates friends have designed some samples using them 

by Karen

                                                                      by Jac

One of Mine!

by Caroline

by Caroline

We are having a demo day at the shop today if you are around and about in the area starting at 10am until 4pm.  I will be demonstrating alongside Maria showcasing her parchment skills.

The kettle is never cold.

Drop me a comment to give me your opinion on the stamps - I do value everyone's opinions.

Each stamp set costs £10.99 if you are interested please let me know.

Thankyou, as always, for popping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Bye for now

Jo x

A Huge Thankyou!!!

Hello Everyone

Back in the land of the living and total and absolute freedom with the lap top .....  Yes!!!!!
Everything is going really well and I ventured out to the shop on Saturday.  We had a fabulous demo with Hel's Sheridan going on and I needed .........  yes needed ........... to get a fix.  3 weeks of clean hands and no ink anywhere has been more difficult than getting used to low fat food!!!! lol.

I would like to take this opportunity of saying a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for all their fabulous cards, flowers, gifts and blog good wishes I have been so warmed by everyone and feel that a recovery has definately been quickened by everyone being sooooooo kind.  The crafting world is an amazing place to belong and I am so pleased to be part of it.

Mark took a photograph of all my beautiful flowers that I have been sent and here it is

and some of my fabulous cards 

This really doesn't show all of them and how gorgeous they all were - you are a clever lot and they really kept my spirits up - they are all in a lovely box I couldn't possibly part with them.

I would also like to say a huge thankyou to Karen and Jac for being there for Mark when he needed help to keep our little empire ticking we are both so grateful.

I am going back to the shop tomorrow - can't wait to get stuck in! (I know before you say it I will take it steady - well for at least an hour!!! joking!) 

I am booked to do a demo at my own shop!!! on Saturday 27th showcasing Let's Create's new stamp range designed by the very talented Maria Maidment  - I am so excited about this. 

If you have time please pop by tomorrow as I will be putting them on here with some fabulous samples and I would love to hear your thoughts on them.

Thankyou again to everyone 

and LET'S CRAFT!!!

Until tomorrow bye for now

Jo xxx

Hello Crafters

This needs to be a quick post as I have been given the lap top for the first time since I came out of hospital and the family have given me time limit so that I do not attempt to work on it!!! WHATEVER!!!  Unfortunately I will be absent from blog land (with any pieces of work or Allsorts Challenge) for a few weeks as I have had an unexpected admission into hospital which resulted in an operation to remove my Gall Bladder!  I have been home for 5 days and unfortunately still stuck upstairs as I cant manage the stairs yet as I am still quite sore.  Fortunately it was key hole surgery but it looks as if I have been shot 4 times in the stomach!!

I hope that you will all stick with me on the blog and keep popping by to see if I have been able to update (that's when I persuade the security to give me the lap top - do they not trust me?!!!)

My biggest problem at the moment is knowing what to eat as the hospital gave me strict instructions to go on a fat free diet for at least 3 weeks and then slowly onto low fat (although they dont send you out with any more information than that ??)- if anyone has any fat free food ideas I would love to hear from you.

Fingers arent starting to itch yet for my crafting as I am still feeling a bit under the weather but I dont think it will be long so when I am allowed playtime on the laptop I will pop into blogland and have a look around.

I can hear security coming up the stairs so must dash (when perhaps not dash!) and will be in touch soon.
Thank you for popping in,
Bye for now
Jo xxxx

Week 173 - Inspired by a Song

Hi Crafters

I hope that this finds you all well and looking forward to the weekend.  Today is officially the first day of Autumn so goodbye to the Summer and hello to warm chunky jumpers and comfort food! Personally I am a fan of Autumn (and not just for the comfort food!)

I have had another busy week -  on Saturday I had a fabulous day at Busy Bees  - Sheffield - helping with their Dabble Day and the lovely Julie Atkinson and Hel's Sheridan were also there and everyone enjoyed an excellent day.

Todays challenge has been set by our lovely Emma and I think it is a fabulous one -

Inspired by a Song

and this is my take on the title

Fly Me to the Moon

Frank Sinatra - 1954

I have chosen to use a twisted easel and use a monochromatic theme.  I have used the Cheery Lynn die One Free Wish which is so classy and cuts like a dream.  

I have centred this on a Marianne Design which is the Circle Frame Die which I cut in white glitter card (not sure if this shows up) I have taken a corner stamp and enhanced the edges using a black ink.

The base paper is from my paper stash and I have added a sentiment in a Spellbinder shape to finish off the design.

I think this is a great challenge to take part in so have a go.  Pop over to the Allsorts Blog and have a look at the other DT members ideas they are fabulous.

Thankyou to our sponsor this week Pretty Little Ribbon Box.

Also, just to let you know that we have the lovely Clare Rowlands at Let's Create next Saturday showcasing the brand new Christmas designs from Molly Bloom - if you are in the area pop in to see this fabulous demonstrator.

Enjoy a great week.  Please leave a comment I love to read them all from you.

Bye for now 

Jo xx

week 172 - Purple Passion

Good Morning Crafters!

How quick does Saturday come around!  another busy week for me and Let's Create.  I had a Create and Craft show on Monday showcasing some gorgeous Crafty Notions products including some fabulous new flake colours and some really useful acrylic paints - did anyone catch the show?  Not sure Jackie flapping a mosquito away from the flake was the best idea!!! flake everywhere!!

Back to the job in hand - Tracey's super challenge this week which is Purple Passion and this is the one I would like to show you

This one is a bit of a Spellbinder fest (I know you are saying that makes a change!)  This would have been ok for last weeks layer challenge too as it is full of different layers of different papers giving the design real depth and dimension.  The picture is a little deceiving as the middle layers actually go inwards not outwards and I have inked the edges with Black Soot so that it defines the layers even more.  I used the scallop set of the edgeabilities to make the decorative band.

To embellish further I have used organza roses from Creative Expressions, a couple of pins and some black pearl glue.  This design could be used for so many occasions.

I have a great day ahead as Mark and I are going to Busy Bees Dabble Day at Sheffield.  Looking forward to seeing all the ladies again and getting stuck in to a great project.

 Thankyou to our sponsor for this week too -

Love to Stamp @ http://lovetostampstore.blogspot.co.uk/

Enjoy a lovely weekend whatever you are doing and don't forget to pop over to the Allsorts Blog to check out the gorgeous Design Team designs.

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 171 - Layers

Good Morning Everyone!

As you see we decided that we would come home from our holiday - although it was very tempting to stay as it was the most gorgeous place we have ever been too, (apart from Bermuda but family do live there and it is an exception to the rule!)  the hotel was amazing and the weather well ! the coolest it went to was 35! We have never been on an all inclusive holiday up until this one but we certainly will indulge in another next year !

Back to work though now!  

This weeks offering for Sarah's Challenge this week is

(sorry for the dark picture but hope that you can see)

I have chosen to use the Butterfly Collage stamp from Stampendous.  It is a favourite of mine.  I have used Aged Mahogany Distress pens to ink the stamp up and stamped the butterfly again to decoupage it.  With the distress pens blending so perfectly with the Distress Ink I used this to blend the whole image together.  I used silver glass glitter for some texture.  The background paper is from my stash and to finish off and creating more layers using the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die - edging this with a little distress ink to follow the colours through. Again I have used some printed paper from my stash.

I hope that you like my take on Sarah's great challenge this week and pop over to the Allsorts Blog to check our the other DT members projects.

I thought I would share this photo with you too - this will make you smile!

Mark took this when we were in the hotel restaurant and afterwards we noticed that there was a light at the back of me!

Has my hallow slipped!!!!

Enjoy a lovely weekend

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 169 - A Gift

Good Morning Crafters,

I hope this finds you all well and happy.  This is a very quick post this morning as I have a very busy day - we go to the airport tonight after we close the shop and fly on holiday tomorrow for 8 days!!!!

Turkey here we come!

But, before that ....................  calm ..............

I would like to show you my project for Brenda's excellent challenge this week for Allsorts (allsortschallenge.blogspot.com)

I thought this project that I did in a class this week would make a super gift.  

I have used a Spellbinder shape MDF plaque (we sell lots of these shapes in the shop and they have become really popular and so very reasonable)

I have crackled the background using Sheena's crackle technique with acrylic paint on the first layer, a layer of PVA glue and magnolia emulsion on the top.  To make it look even more distressed I have used Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges.

The decoupage that I have used is from the Jayne Shasky CD rom from the lovely Joanna Sheen which I sprayed with Spray and Shine from Crafters Companion - it finishes a decoupage off really nicely.

The sentiment is also from the CD rom from the Calligraphy section and again I have edged it with VP.

The foliage that was added to the edges is from one of the new Spellbinder sets - Fall Leaves.  I am really loving this one such a variety of leaves to use on so many projects.

Thankyou to our lovely sponsors this week:

and 

As always pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog and have a peep at the gorgeous gift ideas that the girls and made - fabulous work this week and lots of ideas for giving crafty goodies for Christmas.

Must dash now I have lots to do before I can set off this evening.

I won't be around next week to post for Allsorts but please pop by the week after and I will fill you in on our holiday too!!

Bye for now and enjoy a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend,

Jo xxx

Week 167 - Going around in Circles

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope that this finds you all well and enjoying the long awaited Summer that we are having.  

This week I am hosting the Allsorts Challenge and I have chosen the title

Going Around in Circles

and this is my design

I have used the simply gorgeous House Mouse Feathered Friends design, which I had the pleasure of demonstrating on Create and Craft yesterday.

You never fail to smile when you are stamping these designs and then you have the pleasure of colouring them in to!  It's a hard life but someone has to do it!

As you can see I have used lots of circles - and these have been cut out using the Grand Circles from the Spellbinder range.

I have used Pro-markers to colour the image and Pan pastels to add a hint of colour into the sky.

The backing paper has been printed from the If Flowers could Talk CD rom - again from the lovely Joanna Sheen.

To bring all the colours in I have distressed the edges with Dusty Concorde and embellished it further with flowers and a Marianne swirl.

I hope that you like the design , go on, have a go at the Challenge too.  It is quite a broad title so add anything that you want to the design.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of demonstrating at Inspirations, Preston which as we all know is the home of Hunkydory.

I was sharing the stage with Anne-Marie and Phil Martin and we all had an excellent day with lots of you lovely crafters popping in to have a peep at what we were doing.

Here are a few pictures Mark took on the day.

                                                         
                                                             Phil and the lovely Anne-Marie

                                                     
                                                       Check out that smile ladies!!!!

Not such a good shot of me but lovely one of the ladies.

Thankyou to everyone that made me feel so welcome.  It is always a pleasure to travel up North to visit this fabulous shop.

Must dash now, we have a decorating box workshop today at the shop and I am a student!!! The lovely Carolyn Whatling is taking the class and I am sure that we are heading for an excellent day of messy craft, just how I like it!!

I will pop a picture on when the project is finished to see what you think.

For now, enjoy the sunshine and keep in touch with a comment and don't forget to take part in the Challenge this week.

Bye for now

Jo xxx

Week 165 - A Recipe

Good Morning Crafters

I hope that this finds you all well and enjoying the fabulous Olympics.  The Brits seem to be making their mark and for a small Island in comparison with the other huge nations I think we are doing a great job.

Watching the Olympics has been in snatches for me as it has been another hectic week.  I have had 3 excellent shows on C and C including my first show representing Crafty Notions. This is the first show since the terrible loss of Sarah Lawrence.  These were big shoes to fill and I must say I was nervous about making sure I did the best job that I could have done.  Having Nigel presenting was the best start to the show and it all went so well with 4 sell outs in the hour! phew!!!!

May I say a huge welcome to our lovely new members on our design team - Tracey and Sarah.  check out their blogs they are very talented girls.  I hope that you both enjoy your time at Allsorts.

This mornings Allsorts Challenge has been set by our lovely Emma and the title is A recipe.  What a great idea and a recipe with no calories - even better!!! We have been asked for a design using a certain recipe of elements and this is what I have come up with

   I have chosen to make a decorative hanging using every possible Tim Holtz product!  A bit of a Ranger Fest I think on reflection!!!! As always it isn't the best photograph but have taken a couple of close ups to see more detail.

Are you ready for the list of products! First of all I took a piece of Grunge Board and cut a Labels 1 Spellbinder out. I used Distress stains - Dusty Concorde for the background - great for quick coverage -  and spritzed it with perfect pearls to add some glimmer.  I added to the background by using some paper from my stash which has a generic text on it so perfect for what I wanted.  I used Tim Holtx Flourish from Sizzix as a stencil and used Snow Cap alcohol ink to create some depth.

  I then tackled the next layer with a group of tattered florals (again Sizzix) which were cut from Grunge paper and Glassine paper I also coloured the grunge paper flourish with a cocktail of alcohol ink colours (I couldn't make my mind up at this stage!)I also spritzed these with the perfect pearls too.

the butterflies were stamped onto Grunge using the lovely floral set from Hunkydory (check these out if you haven't already - fabulous designs and great value for money)

The Ideaology buttons finished off the flowers, Creative Expressions pink pearl PVA added the girly touch and Cosmic Shimmer ribbon was used for hanging.

Great fun doing this as I am sure you can see - get your newspaper ready for the inking frenzy though!! (that reminds me must get on now as I didn't tidy up after finishing quite late and I have a parchment class this morning - I don't think alcohol inks, distress stains and parchment are a match in heaven!!!

If you are around the Preston area on Sunday I have the pleasure of demonstrating at the fabulous |Inspirations shop (Hunkydory home).  The gorgeous Phil Martin will be there also trying to upstage me!!!

Very much looking forward to this always a great day and the staff are some of the best.

I have been asked to demo Tim Holtz and Ideaology products so will take my project to display,

It would be great to see you if you have a chance to pop in.

Anyway must dash.  Please pop over to the Allsorts blog to check out the other recipe ideas from our lovely team and it would be great if you left a comment about my Tim Holtz Fest!!  Get all your Ranger stash out and have a blast.

Bye for now and enjoy a lovely weekend.

Lots of crafty love

Jo xx

  

                                                            

Week 165 - Case It

Good Morning Blogland!

Well did you all watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony?  What an amazing spectacular.  I managed to stay up until 11.30pm (lightweight I know) but I have taped the rest.  I hope you enjoyed it too - it makes you very proud to be British.

Anyway, back to reality!  It has been a very busy time again for me with some great workshops at Let's Create but also an excellent trip to Wales to demonstrate at a terrific shop Dandie Crafts which is owned by Debbie and Mandy.  A great day with a demo in the morning and a workshop in the afternoon.  Have a look at the photographs at the end of the post to see what an excellent day we had.

Back to the job in hand this morning, this is my offering for this weeks Allsorts challenge - 

The title that our lovely Emma gave us to work with was Case It.  We could take anything from the card design that she gave us and I chose to take the layout including the circle frame.  My main image is from Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic range which I have coloured using Distress Pens - really loving these they are so versatile (what else do we expect from Ranger!!)  The paper is from the Bo Bunny vintage range and I have used one of the new Cheery Lynn designs - the Sunflower - to embellish.

Thankyou to our Sponsor ~

as ever they will be giving away a lovely prize to our chosen winner.
Pop over to the Allsorts Blog and have a peep at the DT's take on Brenda's Challenge and have a go.

As mentioned earlier our trip to Wales was a great success.  We met some lovely crafters and were made so welcome by Debbie and Mandy who own Dandie Crafts - check the shop out if you are in the area. These are some of the photographs that we took on the Saturday.

Thankyou for making Mark and I so welcome.

We also had time for a little R and R and look at this stunning waterfall that we found!

Must dash, I have 4 Create and Craft shows next week and need to get some prep done!
Thankyou, as ever for popping in.  Leave me a comment I love to read comments from you. Let me know if you watched the Opening Ceremony!

Bye for now Crafters

Jo xx

week 163 - Brenda's Challenge

Hello Again Everyone!

Well what a week - what has happened to our Summer!!!  Rain, rain and more rain - but it does give us all an excuse to stay in to craft.

This weeks Allsorts is being hosted by our lovely Brenda and this was a great fun challenge.  All the DT were given a kit which Brenda kindly prepared for us.  Each kit was identical and we were asked to create a design using some or all of the kit.

If you pop over to the Allsorts Blog you will see what elements that we had to play with.

This is what I came up with. (I hope you like what I have done Brenda)

I have used a grand Spellbinders Labels 1 die to make the card blank, this is one of my favourites.

It doesn't show too well on the picture but I have made a framework to go around the middle image.  I have distressed this with Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed  DI and overstamped with the Meadow flowers from a Creative Expressions stamp set.

Part of Brenda's kit was the clock face and hands die cut - I have used this as a stencil and inked through it with Walnut Stain.  The cage and bird were also die cuts and I have coloured these with Walnut Stain DI.  I I used the ribbon and the gems out of the kit to embellish the cage and frame.

The flowers have been made from punched scalloped circles, held together with a brad, sprayed and scrunched up.  I sprayed them with Perfect Pearls Copper mica spray.  A couple of Spellbinder Flourishes finished the design off.

I really enjoyed this Challenge and having checked out my fellow DT members designs we have all come up with something totally different.

Pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog to see for yourself and have a go at the Challenge.

I am in South Wales this weekend demonstrating at the lovely Dandie Crafts - what a fabulous shop that they have and such super ladies Mandy and Debbie and they are wonderful hosts.

If you are in the area it would be fabulous to see you, pop in for a cup of tea and we are having cupcakes in the afternoon!  ummmm

Thankyou for popping in and checking out my blog, please leave a comment I really appreciate hearing from you all,

Bye for now,

Jo xx

Week 163 - Red, White and Blue

Hello Crafters!

Its a bit of a quick post this morning, we have another demo day at the shop!! Well what about Wimbledon!  Can't believe it (as you can tell I am a keen watcher of tennis) even had it on in the shop yesterday - tennis and craft what a combination!!! lol

For this week I have ~

As you can see it is one of the gorgeous Paintbox Poppet. 

This stamp is called Half Time and I do hope that the score picks up for this little chap because he looks a bit sad at the moment! 

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge and have a bash at this weeks great idea, the girls as usual have lots to show you.

Sorry about the short post,

Enjoy a super weekend,

if you are around in Newark, Lincolnshire Crafty Notions are having an Open Weekend and I will be there on Sunday so pop along and have a look at their fabulous products.

Bye for now

Jo xx 

Week 161 - Dies to Die for!

Morning Everyone!

Well it is my turn to host the Allsorts Challenge this week and I have chosen Die's to Die for as a theme. All of you know that it seems impossible for me to design a card without using a die of some description and this is what I have come up with using some of the new Cheery Lynn dies

You know when sometimes you make a card and it goes together really well and everything seems to fit into place, well, this is one of them.  The dies that I have used are some of the new releases from Cheery Lynn, the frame work that circles the flowers is the Manon's Wedding Garland and the flowers are from the Build a Flower #1.

So easy to use, all I have done is cut the various flowers in different coloured cardstock (the blue paper is a Bo Bunny, the others are from scraps.

The flourish is one of the excisting dies - one of my favourites.

I have also used Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink for the edges of the daisy flowers and the garland.

The cardstock in the background is one from Kanban.

I hope that this gives you some inspiration - I certainly enjoyed making mine.

I did promise some photographs of the demo day with Leonie that we had at the shop a couple of weeks ago, here they are and you will see we all had a great day, lots of laughs and creating (of course!)

A great day had by all!

Many thanks to Leonie for a great laugh and some fabulous techniques and hints and tips.

We also had the lovely Josie Davidson - Parchment designer and Tutor

at the shop on the 17th June and these are some of the pictures that Mum took (in House photographer if you haven't realised yet!!)

Josie and Chris - who kindly came along to help.

Some of Josie's amazing work - a very talented lady.

Concentrating!

Well I must dash - as ever I have a busy weekend I am on my way to Bristol in the next hour.  I have the pleasure of demonstrating at the Bristol Parchment Exhibition with the very talented Maria Maidment - this really isn't hard work!!!

Have a fabulous weekend whatever you decide to do.

Thankyou for popping by and I hope you have enjoyed the photographs.

Bye for now

Jo xx