Week 152 - Shaker Card

Good Morning Everyone,

Just a quick post this morning as I have got a very busy day ahead.  We are having a Demonstration Day at the shop with the fabulous Hels Sheridan demonstrating Studio 490 and Art Parts.  If you are around the area or fancy a drive out we kick off at 10am and as always at a Let's Create demo day we will be having lots of offers, lots of laughter and, of course, lots of cake and coffee! 

Some of the products that Hels will be using are the Ranger and Ideaology range and the card that I am posting for this weeks Allsorts Challenge is using Grunge paper and distress inks as the main products.

  It really doesn't show the true colours in this picture as the flash gives it a bit of a shine( without the flash it was too dark - couldn't win really!) and it doesn't show that it is actually a shaker card!! I used micro beads for the shaker element and the camera didn't pick this up.

I have used a Bo Bunny dot paper for a background and overstamped it using Creative Expressions Flutter Floral stamp set. The flowers, leaves and butterfly were also stamped with the same stamps onto grunge paper.  I used an Archival black ink gave it a quick blast with the heat gun and coloured each element with Distress Ink colours Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint and Wild Honey.  The frame was also cut out of grunge paper using Grand Labels Four in the Spellbinders range.  A little glitter on the edges of the floers and butterfly and a few gems finishes off the project. 

I hope that you are inspired by this design  - pop over to the Allsorts Blog to view the other fabulous designs from the girls.  Remember it doesn't always have to be Christmas to be a shaker card! Remember there are always lovely prizes to be won and the Allsorts Challenges are always so very popular.

Must dash, Hels will be arriving at the shop before me!! Hope that you all have a fabulous weekend and find a little time to do what we all love - Crafting!
I will take some photographs of the day and post them shortly - keep an eye out for them.

Bye for now
Jo x
Jo

The show that never was!!!!

Well! I'm not sure if anyone of you did tune in for the 5pm show with me demonstrating Joanna's fabulous new products if you did I wasn't there!!!!

The story goes a bit like this ............................................. As I didn't have to set off from home until at least 1.30pm to get to the studio in good time I thought I would watch Joanna's show that was on at 12pm just to see her fabulous demos but also to check on the sales so that I had a bit of an idea what was selling well and or sold out!  at 12.15pm it was very apparent that sales were amazingly good and that the new cd rom If Flowers Could Talk was flying (never thought it would be any other- when you see it you will see why!)  Not only were the CD's going well, so were the new Cameo stamps that I had a fab demo for, and the Lace stamps, and the House Mouse, and the Thomas Kincade - are you getting the picture!!!  At 12.30 pm 4 YES 4 items had sold out including 3 items that I had prepared demo's for - Oh Dear!!  By 12.45pm the CD was at 75% sold at this point I was really panicking as I only had 2 demos left and these were for the CD!  By 12.55 I thought I would give the studio a ring to see if there was any stock left and they promptly said No sorry we won't need you for 5 pm!! I spoke to Joanna who was totally elated at how the show went, and assured me that she would organise a show so that I could do the demo's another day.

Anyway, the least I could do was to post a few of the samples that were going to be demonstrations so that you can take a peep at what you would have seen!!!!!!

This was a quick demo using the Jayne Shasky CD - as I am sure you all know by now this is the favourite CD to date and is so versatile.  Mark kindly painted the MDF plaque with acrylic paint and created the crackle effect as the base for the gorgeous Gerbera decoupage and the sentiment.  I distressed it around the edges with Vintage Photo to give it the lived in effect.  A little crystal lacquer in the middle of the flowers finished this off.

This was another demo using the House Mouse decoupage - this is the new collection called fun and games and this is a fabulous image of the baby mice sleeping.  This screamed out to be a New Baby card. Hope that you can see the detail ok.  Cute arent they!

Sorry about the picture, not brilliant, hope that you can see these new Cameo stamps.  the corners are amazing, they have fine lattice work and a butterfly in the design.  I stamped and embossed them with black sparkle from Creative Expressions onto parchment paper.  I also used the Damask embossing powder from Crafts Too for the background and Silver Glass Glitter for around the Spellbinder aperture. I am totally in love with these stamps - be prepared to see more designs using them.

This is a closer shot of the actual Cameo and you can see that I embossed the image a little with one of my Parchment tools.  I added a few pearls to finish it off.

I hope that you liked the samples and I hope that I get to demo them really soon on C and C.  I don't normally use the blog to advertise the shop but I do have the all the products mentioned coming into the shop in the next day or so if you are interested.

Must dash now - Spring cleaning with Mum tomorrow so must get to bed.

Thank you as ever for popping by and if you have time pop a comment in to let me know what you think of the new goodies from Joanna.
Bye for now
Jo xx

Week 151 - Sketch

Good Morning to Everyone,

Well!  if the farmers tell me that they need MORE rain!!!!!! ................  I am not sure if you have been the same this week but we have had all of March and Aprils rain fall in one week!!!  Apart from that it has been a good week in the land of Let's Create - a bit strange in the fact that our Daughter Kate has been on holiday in Spain which is her first foreign holiday away without us!!!!!  Of course she has been in heaven I am sure soaking up the sun and trying out a different cocktail each evening - which I have been sent pictures of each time - most of them have looked like a nuclear explosion! Not many e numbers in those ......................  I think so!!!!!  Of course I haven't had full details of all the activities over the week but I did bump into a friend who is on facebook with Kate and she did say that going back the hotel at 6 am was cool Mrs Channon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  At that point I just stopped listening and carried on with my daily goings on!!!  LOL  She is back home today - I do hope that she wraps up warm as it is horrible - she has been warned!!!

Apart from all of the above I have been kept busy by Joanna this week with 2 shows at C & C and another at 5pm this afternoon - hence fast typing as I have still to pack everything!  I have had an abundance of fabulous product to demo with (its a hard job but someone has to do it!) including the ever popular Jayne Shasky but especially the brand new Mandala stamp range - wow were these fabulous to work with and they were very popular on the show - thankyou to everyone that emailed in, the cup was overflowing with lovely comments.  I haven't taken pics of the samples but have asked Mark to do some for me so I can post these tomorrow along with the demo cards I am taking in this pm which are another set of new stamps entitled Cameo - another gorgeous set that shouts out to be stamped onto parchment.  Hope that you like these - I am sure that you will let me know.
Well back to this morning I have my Allsorts DT card for this week which is inspired by a great sketch from our lovely Emma - pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at the sketch.

(the flash has made it a bit sparkley) I have used the Embellishing Flourishes from the Eco Green Crafts selection. I have stamped them in Creative Expressions Black Sparkle embossing powder which have been done on a piece of mount board that has been crackled and distressed and edged with the same embossing powder.  The flower has been made from 8 layers of a scalloped edged Spellbinder fastened together with a brad and then spraying each layer and pleating and scrunching up into a tight bud.  When all the layers have been scrunched up carefully (as they will be damp and fragile) open up the flower and then dry - this will made the flower quite sturdy.  You can distress the edges and add glitter glue if you wish.    The paper for the background is the new Bo Bunny Vintage Double Dot coillection and I have finished it off with a piece of egg shell ribbon that I have coloured using Distress stains (really loving these at the moment they are so useful) and a crystal pin.

I love working with a sketch especially if you have got a creative blank (often happens!!! - age related I have been told - funny ........not!!)

I hope that you like my take on the sketch, pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog and have a go there are some gorgeous vintage ribbons up for grabs from the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop and some even more great cards from the Team.

If you have a few moments to spare today at 12 pm Joanna will be launching her brand new totally stunning CD Rom called If Flowers Could Talk on C & C today and I am on at 5pm for an hour using anything that she has left for me!

Must get on with the packing or I wont be going anywhere!!!!!
Enjoy a lovely weekend and please pop by tomorrow I will be posting those samples to show you from the shows this week.

Thankyou as ever for popping by and thankyou also for all the wonderful comments on last weeks post.
Bye for now
keep warm
Jo xxxx

Week 150 - Buttons and Thread

Hello Everyone,

Well that was a short week wasnt it, where did it go.  I hope that you all enjoyed a lovely Easter break and the weather didnt spoil everything for you.

The lovely Fleur has chosen this weeks Allsorts Challenge and it is entitled Buttons and Thread and I had the perfect set of stamps that I felt would create the focus for my offering.

As you can see I have used the Vivienne and Jasper set of stamps from Kanban.  I just think this set is so cool!  (not sure if a woman of my age can say that!! )

I stamped the image with Archival black and then coloured it with Pine Needles DI.  This isnt one that I use often, apart from Christmas, but it really suited the project. I have also used Broken China in the Distress Markers to highlight the pleated areas.  We have just had them delivered into the shop and they are just fabulous! If you have a chance to try them out do. 

I used the Button mask from a Special Touch of Masks for the background and embossed this onto some of the Kanban core cardstock which again is a fantastic addition in the shop.  I embossed it and lightly sanded it back to reveal the stunning alternative colour.  I used bakers twine to thread through a few of the buttons for effect.  (I didnt have just the right colour so I distressed it a little with the Pine Needles.)

As you can see I cut the image out using a Spellbinder label to frame it.  Vintage ribbon, a zipper rose and swirls finish the project off.  I had a fab time creating this and I hope that you like it.  Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog to see all the other projects that the DT ladies have done. 
I would love you to pop a comment in, let me know what you think to the project. Let me know if you have had a go with the Distress Markers too.

Hope that you all enjoy a fabulous weekend and don't forget to pop onto the Allsorts Blog.

Bye for now

Jo xx 

Week 149 - Bingo!!

Good Morning My Blog friends

Here's hoping that you are all really well and are looking forward to the Easter Weekend.  I am so pleased it is here so I can finally eat some CHOCOLATE!!!!  40 days didnt seem to be that long when I decided to give it up for Lent.  We always gave something up when we were children and it didnt seem this bad then!! 

Anyway, less about chocolate and more about this weeks post!  Well week 149 at the Allsorts Challenge has been chosen by our lovely Brenda and is Bingo!  This is the first time that I have taken part in a challenge with this title and what a great idea.  Pop over to the Allsorts Blog to have a look at the full bingo chart and have a go yourself,  just chose a line and base your project around each of the items in the line. This is what I chose to do:

The items that I needed to include were Stripes, pearls and pink.

I was pulled back to the gorgeous House Mouse stamps too. This is the

Cosy Toes set which is in the Allsorts range from Joanna Sheen.

 I have coloured all the images using promarkers and edged each circle with some Spun Sugar DI.  Adding a little glitter on the edges makes is very girly.

I think my favourite image is the baby mouse in the walnut shell, this makes me smile everytime.

The papers are from my stash but fitted the part for the stripes! There are some little pearls which finishes the list off nicely.

The DT have created some fabulous ideas using the Bingo grid pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog and have a peep.

If you have time between eating chocolate (sorry there I go again!!)  pop a comment on the blog - you know they are always appreciated.

I would like to wish you all a lovely Easter and hope that you are able to spend time with family and friends at some point.

Finally, keep an eye on the blog this week as I am posting some BLOG CANDY!!!! to celebrate reaching 300 followers.

Bye for now

Jo xx