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