Allsorts Challenge - Week 305 - Easter

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that you are enjoying a lovely Easter weekend - Easter is always a time that I look forward to as the weather seems to be improving and the lighter nights are here again.  The gardens are starting to come alive and people generally start to feel a lot more cheerful.

Today is Allsorts and our lovely team member Wendy has chosen Easter as our theme and this is the project that I made that fits the bill.

It really is a simple design and has no ink involved! the print is from a really lovely paper pad from Daphne Brissonet available from Joanna Sheen and they are fabulous.

It doesn't show too well but the lemon background paper is glitter and the blue is a pearlescent card. I have distressed the edges on all of these layers as well as the image. 

The dies are from Joanna Sheen's Signature range and we are very honoured to have these available to buy on our website and our special Spring discount is still available until and including Easter Monday so dont miss out on this.  All you need to do is quote the code SPRING15.

I would love to hear from you by leaving a comment - let me know what you are doing for this lovely Easter Break.

Please pop over to the Allsorts Blog and have a look at the other team members lovely work.

Thankyou, as always, for popping in and hope to see you again on Tuesday,

Bye for now

Jo xx

A little bit of Love!

Wow Thursday already! and the Easter weekend is almost upon us.  

I have chosen a project today with a little bit of love in it.

Yesterday Mark and I had been together for 32 years! so I thought this would be appropriate! 

(so a bit mushy I know!!)

It really is quite a basic card but could be used for a Wedding, Anniversary and Valentine card and the colours can be planned around the occasion.  It could even be used for an invitation idea.  

The background embossing folder is from Sissix and really creates a lovely backdrop without taking your eye away from the main focal point which is a Spellbinder Die-lite from some time ago. the swirl is from Joanna Sheen's signature collection of dies and the flowers are from a Tonic punch.  A little stamped greeting, a feather and ribbon bow finishes it off and brings it all together.

I hope this inspires you in a direction that needs a little love!

Thankyou so much for popping in and hope to see a comment from you if you have time.

I will be back on Saturday with the Allsorts Challenge post as usual and look forward to seeing you!

Enjoy Good Friday and don't forget to have a Hot Cross Bun it is the law on Good Friday!

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 288 - Animal Magic

Good Morning everyone,

Welcome to my blog and another Saturday so it must be the Allsorts Challenge.  This week our lovely Team member Tracey has chosen an excellent title for the
Challenge ~.....................................................................

Animal Magic

This should give everyone plenty of scope to think of a project and enter into the Challenge this week.

I have chosen this project to show you to give you some inspiration ~

I hope that you can see that there are two extremely cute House Mice in the middle of the lovely bright sunflower! this is a decoupage image from one of Joanna's recent decoupage packs which include all of the images of House Mouse that have previously been on CD roms so they are now available to everyone to have a play with.
The background die is also from |Joanna Sheen and it is the Lattice with the Oval aperture which cuts out separately so that this can be used on another project.
I have also cut some matching background paper and popped some of the waste squares into some of the lattice so that it adds a bit of dimension and interest to the design.  This is such an easy project as the decoupage does all the work for you.  Some hesian scraps just finish off the scene nicely.

I hope that you can pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog to check out the other Design team members work - there are some fabulous ideas. Also have a look at what prizes are on offer to the lucky winners.

Today I have a very busy one ahead as I am at the studio demonstrating the pick of the week for Tattered Lace, my first show at 8am! Having looked at the shows yesterday I'm not sure how much stock will be left for me as they were flying out of the door!
I love working with embossing folders and especially from Tattered Lace as the designs are so different.
I am sure you are all really busy now with all of your Christmas preparation but still finding some time to have a little crafting time alongside all of the busy too!
Enjoy a lovely weekend whatever your plans are and I hope that you can find time to leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my project this week.
Thankyou, as always for popping in and hope to see you next week.
Bye for now
Jo xx

Week 285 - Anything but a card

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope that you are all well and that your week has been busy and happy.

I apologise for not doing a post last week, I was at the NEC and the hotel internet was a little testing!!

I gave up in the end! sorry!

Anyway - onwards to today's post and a fabulous challenge from the Allsorts crew.
Our lovely team member Tracey Mouse has asked us all to make ...........

Anything but a Card.
This is a great theme and as it is so close to the Festive season I hope that we see lots of lovely ideas on the Challenge for ideas for Christmas presents perhaps.
I have decided to show you a plaque that I made for Joanna for the NEC and plaques always make a lovely crafty present and you know that I love making them too.

 This is using one of the oval plaques from Joanna Sheen and we are so pleased to have them in the shop now so that we can do all of our lovely projects. Firstly, I covered the plaque with some Kaiser background 12" x 12". I have used lots of dies on the project. The flowers are the quilled roses from Spellbinders cut out of patterned paper.  The butterfly is the middle of the lattice aperture die from Joanna Sheen which has also been used on the background of the plaque.  The ivy flourish is a mdf shape that is a replica of Joanna's ivy flourish die.  These are such fun and lovely to use. 
I hope that you like my idea and that it  has inspired you to have a go at the Challenge this week.  The team have made some gorgeous projects so please pop over and have a look at these on the Allsorts blog. Thankyou to our generous sponsors for this week. 
I would love it if you left a comment for me and let me know what you think of my project.
Also, enjoy a fabulous weekend.  As always we have a busy one with a workshop day near Lincoln today with a fabulous group of lovely ladies and Sunday is Let's Create Dabble Day in Tattershall and we have 52 lovely crafters having fun all day with our lovely guest Mel Heaton.  Really looking forward to seeing everyone over the weekend.
Next week I am busy on Create and Craft covering the Pick of the Week hours for Tattered Lace. These are all new dies with the Pick of the Week being an amazing Panorama set with fantastic results when they are put together. My first show is Monday at 6pm. I hope that you can join me then.
Must dash now its a bit foggy this morning so need to hit the road.
  Hope to see you again next week,
enjoy a lovely weekend whatever you are doing,
Bye for now,
Jo x 

Week 283 - Allsorts Challenge

Good Morning Everyone!

................................and November already!

Oh my goodness! Time is flying!

Well I have a lot to show you today so keep with me!

Firstly it is Saturday so it is the Allsorts Challenge and today the Team have been asked to make a card using .................

Masculine ideas

 and this is my take on the title ~

  I have used a Pinflair scene as the background and coloured with Gentle Blends. The main focal point is the owl which is one of Joanna Sheen's mdf shapes, I have inked it and then embossed it with bronze embossing powder.  These shapes are stunning and you can find them on Joanna's website.  they are so unusal and can be used for so many different projects but still light enough to put onto a card.  The leaves are from Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves die and I have inked and stained them to give a real Autumn feel.  The branch is also a Tim Holtz die.  Matting and layering the design finished off the card.  I hope that you like it.  The real leaves on our window sill in the shop seem to have joined in with the picture but hope that you can see the card!

We have had a busy week starting with a trip to the Tower of London to see the spectacular Poppy display.  Thousands of people had the same idea - it was so busy but well worth the trip. Here are a few pictures so that you can see the amazing project ~

 

When the display is finished there will be 888,264 poppies representing the lives that were lost in the First World War.  If you have the time before they are taken away after Remembrance Sunday I would highly recommend a visit.  It is truly breathtaking.

Also this week we have had the Children's Halloween craft class which has become a regular activity at Let's Create and these are a few of the pictures we took and also the window at the shop which looks fabulous!

The children choosing their leaf before painting them and making them into ghosts!

Great fun!

Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at the other Design Team members projects.

Thankyou very much for popping by and hope that you can leave a comment.

Let me know if you have been to the Tower of London.

Enjoy a lovely weekend and if you are going to the NEC next week pop by Joanna Sheens stand to say hello we will be there!

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 279 - Allsorts Challenge - Autumn

Good Morning Everyone!

Welcome to another Saturday morning and a card for the Allsorts Challenge design team as usual.

Thankyou to everyone who is following my Christmas Inspiration posts, there will be another one after this post to check out!

Our lovely Sarah has given us a very apt Challenge for this time of the year and I am sure it will be a really popular one ~

AUTUMN

and this is my offering ~

This is a print from Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kindcade pads - you are always guaranteed to find a stunning picture from these pads and this one is no exception.  I just love the colours and the way the pathway leads you through the design.  I have used a Sheena Douglass embossing folder for the background and 2 designs from the Sue Wilson dies for the border and the corners.  The leaves are from the Tim Holtz range and I have cut them in patterned papers, moulded them a little and inked the edges with distress inks.

I was really pleased with how this all came together and such an easy card which could suit a gentleman's card too.

 I have also took a couple of pictures of the outside of our shop as the foliage on the building (I think it is a Virginia Creeper? let me know if this is right!) looks so gorgeous at this time of the year.

Unfortunately it wont be long before it is all over the pavement which Mark will have a chunter about!!

I hope that you like the project today and please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to have a look at the other Autumn themed projects from the Team.

I am in Preston at the fabulous Inspirations shop today demonstrating a whole host of lovely crafty goodies so if you in the area please pop in to say hello.  We are staying on the Sunday too and running a workshop so a busy weekend ahead but most enjoyable at one of the most freiendliest shops that I have the pleasure to work in.

Please have a look at todays Christmas Inspiration on the following post - don't forget to leave your comment to be in the Blog Candy draw at the end of the 30 days.

Thankyou, as always, for popping in

and

Bye for now

Jo xxx

More Spellbinder Samples

Good Morning Everyone!

Well what a miserable old day it is in Lincolnshire I hope that it is better where you are. I thought I would try to brighten the day up and post a few more samples from the World Launch Shows that I have been doing (I hope that you are not bored yet!)

 

 

 

This is one of my favourites and has quite a few of the goodies from the show including the background which is an embossibility - Mediterranean Medallion. I have inked it with Dusty Concorde Distress Ink and then versamark and covered with embossing powder Aurora Sparkle from Cosmic Shimmer. This makes a lovely effect.  The other dies that I have used in the centre is the Create an Iris, The wonderful Locket Die-lite and one of the flourishes from the Die-lites set.

The background is a Crafts Too embossing folder.

 

Another one for today has also be created using several dies from several sets and this is one that I started to demonstrate on Sunday but ran out of time.

The background has been embossed using the Labels 34 Medallion Embossibility, the corners are from the Gold Corbels and Accents Shapeabilities, the Butterfly is a Die-Di-lite and the main focal frame is a mixture of Gold Labels Thirty Four and the M|ajestic Squares. I used Joanna Sheens dried flowers for the centre. Quite a list!!

 

I hope this has cheered you up a bit. I would love to hear from you - leave a comment if you have time and let me know what you think of the designs.

I am back on Create and Craft tomorrow at 5pm and 7pm with some more demo's from this vast selection of wonderful dies.

Thankyou for popping in and

Bye for now

Jo xx



Week 230 - Treemendous! Allsorts Challenge

Good Morning Crafters!

Apologies for not being around last week for the Allsorts Challenge I was a little unwell last weekend and then the week disappeared somewhere!

 

Today we will be heading to Blyth by the time this appears taking part in Kim Sutton's Dabble day - she is expecting 84 people so it will be a busy day.  Hope to get some pics too.

 

Today's Allsorts Challenge is going to be a popular one I am sure and it is our lovely Brenda's turn to choose and we have been asked to use a Tree of any sort in this

 

TREEMENDOUS challenge
 

This can be as simple as a Christmas Tree and this is my piece of work ............

 

 

 

and to no surprise it is a House Mouse! This is one of my favourites the little mouse being pulled by his friend is sat in a walnut shell - how totally cute is that! and he is carrying the Christmas Tree.
The frame of the picture is an embossing folder from Crafts Too it is called Poinsettia frame, coloured with Distress Ink. The paper is from my stash and the poinsettia is a Marianne Die.  The sentiment is from the stamp set from our lovely Joanna Sheen.  This is a very simple card with very little to do but I hope that you like it.
Please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge blog to check out the other Design Team members posts and see all of their gorgeous work.
Thankyou also to our sponsors:

Yours and Mine Papercrafts
and
Digidarla.

I think Sunday beckons a day off after a hectic week and very busy day at Blyth.  I hope you enjoy your weekend whatever you are planning (weather speaks of being a bit rough so don't go to the beach!)
Take care and please pop a comment down if you have a couple of minutes I love to hear from you.
Bye for now
Jo xx 



Week 188 - Dies and Punches

Good Morning!

I hope that this finds you all well and hopefully snow free so far! Oh I really hope that it doesn't come down like they are predicting - everyone keep their fingers crossed.

I have some amazingly exciting news today that I can share at last with you all - I have had to keep it real quiet until today under strict instructions!

Firstly I would like to share my creation for this weeks Allsorts Challenge the title for this week has been chosen by our lovely  Sarah and  is .................

Dies and Punches

Now this fits in really nicely with my exciting news .........................................  which I will tell you about in a minute!!! 

This is the card that I have chosen to share with you 

This is a really simple card that I have made using Spellbinders D-lites.  The 4 repeated dies are Grateworks which I think really lends itself for using as a background.  The cut is so fine and the best way to adhere these fine dies are with Crafters Companion Stick and Stay spray.
The middle focal point has one die from the Medallion 2 set and the flower is the Daisy Flower Topper set which is one of my favourite flowers from Spellbinders.  Adding a little ink to each layer with a few pearls in the middle really finish it off.
As I said a really easy, simple card but showing you how versatile the D-lites dies are to use.

DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY BLOG CANDY POST - CANDY STILL UP FOR GRABS UNTIL SUNDAY 20TH 

Thankyou to our fabulous sponsors this week who are
CRIMSON CLOUD .http://www.crimsoncloud.co.uk/142-crimson-cloud
AND
A PASSION FOR STAMPS http://apassionforstamps.blogspot.co.uk/


Now I think that you have waited long enough (I hope you do find it exciting after all this waiting!! lol)
On Sunday I have been asked to Demonstrate the World Launch of this years brand new latest releases from Spellbinders!!!!  wayyyyyyy
It is a very exciting weekend for C and C and this starts today at 5pm - they will be filming live from the CHA trade show in America (they have sent Nigel and Leonie over!!!!!! oh what mischief they will get into I am sure) and they will be filming and linking this over to C and C.
On Sunday I will  be demonstrating all these amazing new dies and embossing folders at 2pm and 4pm.
I will also be on at 10am demonstrating for Joanna Sheen so another busy day.
If you are a Spellbinder addict these shows are a must see so that you can see the very latest designs.
If I get a word in edgeways I hope to show you some lovely demo's using these.
I hope that you are as excited as I am to be doing it and hope that you can tune in and send an email to let me know what you think of the new designs.

Well, after all that blurb I will leave you to pop over to the Allsorts Challenge Blog
to have a peep at the other DT's work which is fab as ever.
I hope that you enjoy a lovely weekend - I Know I will!! and pop back next week as I will be showing you some of the samples that I will be demoing on Sunday's show.

Thankyou so much for popping by and please leave a comment if you have a minute to spare.
Enjoy this week's Challenge
and 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

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

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 147 - Use a Recipe

Good Morning Everyone!

Well we have woke up to a gorgeous morning and it only looks as if it is going to better.  Spring has finally arrive and thank goodness too!

This week at Allsorts lovely Helene has given us our Challenge for the week and it is Use a Recipe in our creation of choice so here is my offering:-

and this is the inside of the card.  (I know it isnt brilliant to see but hope that you can make it out!)

I have used Joanna's Country Kitchen Spiced Peaches set of stamps, I had the pleasure of demonstrating these on a C and C show a few weeks ago and they are a set of 5 at the moment.

The detail on the stamps are super and make a really unusual card for lots of occasions.

As you can see I have used lots of vintage colours (vintage photo & spiced marmalade) and hopefully made it look a bit Victorian. The papers were from my stash and the lovely foliage is from the Tim Holtz die.  If you can spot it in the foliage there is a shrink plastic jam jar from Joanna's stamps.  

Not sure if I got where I wanted to go but I was happy with the result. What I love about this set of stamps is that the recipe is included.



I hope that you all pop over to the Allsorts Challenge to have a look at the stunning ideas from the design team and I hope that you can join in this week too.  We have some fabulous sponsors again.

Must dash now I have 10 lovely ladies that are waiting for me to start a scrapbooking class!!

Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the super weather and .....

Dont forget to alter the clocks!!!

Bye for now

Jo xx

Week 144 - Spread your Wings

Good Morning Everyone,

I am hoping this finds everyone well and happy and have enjoyed the last couple of lovely Spring days. 
Today's card is my design that I have popped onto the Allsorts Challenge blog this week.

I have used the stunning decoupage from Joanna Sheen's Giordano collection.  The detail is amazing and if you love your cutting out decoupage, as I do, this will be right up your street.

I decided to marry it up with the beige, golden and brown colour scheme which I really like.  The brown dot paper is Bo Bunny the other paper that I used was out of my stash.  As you can see I have used Tim Holtz distress tool and vintage photo distress ink to really vintage it up. 

Pop over to the Allsorts Challenge site and have a look at the gorgeous cards from the design team and it would be lovely if you could join in too!  Please bear in mind that the wings need to be included in the main image of the design.  There are some fabulous prizes up for grabs from Crimson Cloud @ http://www.crimsoncloud.co.uk/.

Thank you for popping by and having a peep, I would love it if you left a message.

Enjoy a lovely weekend whatever you are planning.

Bye for now

Jo x

Allsorts Challenge Week - 131 Pendants

Good Morning

This is my card for the Allsorts Challenge - I am also using it as a demo for Joanna's show on Monday ( 10 am and 4 pm Create and Craft) as I have the pleasure of using the Faye Whittaker All Our Yesterday's stamps which is called Special Day.  All the range of stamps are exquisite and so detailed as Joanna's always are.  I have used promarkers to colour the image which, as I am sure you know, I am fairly new to but I am enjoying so much.  For the pendant I have used white glitter card and a heart punch and distressed the edges with a little black soot to make them pop out more.  To set the scene I have used a Cheery Lynn die which I have fallen in love with and to finish off a few Marianne dies.  I hope that you like my take on the Challenge.

It is also our Birthday weekend so it is really mad here today! but we are so looking forward to the weekend events it is going to be fabulous.  Please pop in to help us celebrate if you are in the Lincolnshire area.

Must dash now everyone needs organising! 

Bye for now and thank you so much for popping into see the blog

Jo xx

Allsorts Challenge - Black and White Plus One!

Good Morning Everyone,

This is a short post this morning as I am popping over to Peterborough for my first joint show with Joanna at 4pm!  House Mouse Saturday no less!  Really loving these stamps and, of course, the promarkers which I am quite new to.  It is really difficult to pull yourself away from these when you get stuck in!

Anyway the card that I have submitted to the challege this week is a medallion.  As you see from the title it needed to be Black and White plus one - my plus one (if you can see it) is the mirri card which has just lifted it a little. The medallion that I used is a Creative Expression design which is quite contemporary and can be used for Christmas or a special birthday and using different colours to suit the occasion.  I have also used the Swiss dots embossing folder to create another layer.  I hope that you like my idea but please pop over to the Allsorts Challenge there are, as always, some gorgeous cards to view and why not have a go at the challenge - it is great fun!

Must fly now - cant be late for the show - I will post again tomorrow to show you the card that I will be demonstrating this afternoon. 

Bye for now
Jo x

Halloween is fast approaching!

Good Sunday Evening to you all! 
I hope that you have enjoyed a lovely weekend whatever you have been doing.  This evenings post features my first ever Halloween card that I submitted for my 4th week as guest designer in the Allsorts challenge. Having never made one before I thought I would go for the obvious which was the black and orange colours and the skeleton and cobwebs.  I used a Tim Holtz stamp for the main image which I added gold lustre embossing power and cosmic shimmer spray.  I sat this image on torn pieces of orange bazzill which I distressed with black soot distress ink and then added faux stitching to make it look as if it was put back together roughly and die cut leaves to add the autumnal feel. I distressed the edges of the other card with Tim Holtz distress tool. I added the wool to give it further dimension.  The trick or treat text was a Woodware alpha stamp set which was perfect for the design.  I thorougly enjoyed making this and look forward to next year so I can have another go! 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has posted and emailed me following my last post.  Wow what a response I have had - I am SO appreciative of all the fabulous comments and good wishes that I received.  I am very much looking forward to getting stuck into my new role with Joanna and getting back to C&C and I am so pleased that you are all pleased too. 

That's all for now, let me know if you have made any Halloween cards, leave a comment and let me know!

Bye for now
Jo x

PASTURES NEW - NEXT INSTALMENT!

Hello my blog friends,

Following my previous post regarding my future shows with Create and Craft I have some VERY exciting news which I would love to share with you all. 

I have been approached by Joanna Sheen to join her and work alongside her to present all the wonderful products that her company brings to you all on Create and Craft.  My schedule will not be so demanding and this will work amazingly well for me both personally and with other business commitments that I have.

Having admired Joanna's work for many years this position could not be better and I am very much looking forward to my first show which will be on Wednesday 9th November at 10am and 5pm. This will follow with a joint show on Saturday 12th November. I hope that you will be able to find time to have a quick look.  Let me know what you think to my fabulous news!

Bye for now
from a very excited Jo! xx