Friday 1 January 2016

Another year over

Well I seem to be doing really badly keeping this up to date. Lots has happened since my last post and you know nothing about it. I am going to try really hard to post more often this year (famous last words). Katy graduated from Worcester University and moved back home.

Working on samples for my Docrafts demonstrations at the moment and I also need to get the samples for my Wilmslow Workshops done. This is a taste of what I am doing -







Well I had better get back to making my samples. I am going to go out later and see if there is anything in the Crab Apple Crafts sale that I should have.


Wednesday 11 February 2015

Birthday today

Well, looking at the last date I posted, I feel I should really get my act together and start posting on a more regular basis. Lots has happened since my last post - James has graduated from Cambridge with a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has one job offer and another interview tomorrow - so I will be losing my little boy sometime soon. I have also become a Docrafts demonstrator which is really exciting. This is my first official demo -

and some of the card samples made on the day -



Well I had better get ready for work.



Saturday 28 September 2013

Everybody back at university now

Well I had this mad idea that I would keep adding to my blog over the summer but somehow having my 'children' home for the summer has kept me busy with lots of other things. They are all back now so my time is my own again.

It has been a really busy summer and my diary is looking quite full for the next couple of months. So a whistle stop run down of features of the summer -

Quick weekend with all the family to Paris. James will have finished at university next summer so we don't know what he will be doing so this was possibly our last chance to have a family holiday.


 





We then built a medieval monastery garden with my club from my primary school at the Tatton Park RHS Flower Show -


We got a Highly Commended.











Whilst at the show I had a completely mad moment and bought a beautiful carved seat which is now in my garden -

 
Later today I intend planting round the base of my seat (Katy calls it our Harry Potter Throne) so watch this space - I will try and get it photographed and added to my blog.

I have run a few craft workshops over the summer, had a stall at a craft fair and spent a happy day last weekend demonstrating at Crab Apple Crafts. It doesn't feel like work when you can spend the day playing and chatting to fellow crafters. A couple of cards made last weekend -


 
My next workshops at Crab Apple Crafts are on October 11th when we will be making cards with a Christmas tree theme and pop-up cards  - a couple of samples

 
 
 
Well. I had better get on - the rabbit will be wanting his breakfast.

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Last sample for now

Finally finished the samples of the cards that I will be doing at Crab Apple Crafts next month, Here's a quick look at one of them :-


All I have to do now is tidy up. Space is needed before I get Katy on Friday from university with all of the things she has accumulated this year.

Wish me luck!

Sunday 19 May 2013

What a busy couple of weeks

Just have a few days to get through and it will be half term giving me a chance of catching up with some jobs. I need to get upstairs to sort out my craft room as I have card samples to make for workshops I will be doing at Crab Apple Crafts next month. At the moment my desk looks like this :-

 
Not leave a lot of space for crafting!

Thought you might like to see some of the cards I have been making recently using the Marianne Collectables flowers and leaves stamp and die sets:-


This one was quite easy using pretty papers and stamping and embossing the flowers before die cutting them.



 
This is very easy - just need some suitable backing paper. You can't tell from the picture that the front of the card is cut across diagonally
 
The next two are coloured using Pan Pastels (which are my latest addiction)
 
 
 
 
Yes - the lines on the second card are wonky (that was the effect I wanted although they are maybe a bit more wonky than I had intended)
 
The next card has been coloured using Distress inks as watercolour paints to match the colours of the backing paper:-
 
 
This one also uses Distress inks and a border mask. The Tim Holtz birdcage die was also used. The Marianne dies were used for the tissue flowers:-
 
 
 
The last one for now uses the same stamps and dies but foam sheets for a completely different look:-
 
 

 
 
Well I can't put off the inevitable any more (and the washing has just finished so I had better go and hang it out whilst there is a chance the rain is staying away).
 
 
That's it for today. May post later if the craft room is tidy to show you how hard I have worked today!
 



 

Sunday 21 April 2013

Taking the first step

Thought I would take the plunge today and start a blog. I have been thinking about it for a while but never quite got round to it. Whilst working in the garden and the greenhouse yesterday it made me feel good and I had the time to think about what I might like to share with people.