A bit of flower inspiration..

... its only since we have moved that I've realised how few flowers there were where we previously lived - not many flowers in front gardens - in the gardens around us now there are lots of beautiful flowers (due to well established gardens) - I find them really inspiring - colours and the flower shapes themselves.

Lupins in a neighbours garden - beautiful colours!! Love how they fade from pink to orange, with a touch of paler colours. Definitely having some of these in our garden.

 This plant was in our garden - I have no idea what it is but love the seed heads with their wispy tops.

LOVE these roses - from our new garden - big old fashioned blousy roses - I especially like how the centre opens in what seems to be multiple swirls when they come in to full bloom.  Gorgeous.

Father's day....

I didn't get to see my Dad on Father's Day, and that's ok as he was watching & supporting my brother who had cycled from London to Brighton (for charity, so well done to him!). But I did call my dad and sing 'happy father's day' - and who wouldn't want that! rofl
Here's his card:

Fanfare please...

..no, seriously, I'd like a fanfare...

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee was fabulous and definitely had its fair share of fanfares (as a country we do have a flair for pomp and ceremony don't we!)
...so the fanfare is not for that...
...and not because I may be owed a fanfare from back in 1977, for the Queen's Silver Jubilee, when I was dressed like this:

I was a very cute Britannia! lol (ahem, even if I do say so myself)

the fanfare is because... wait for it... we bought a house!!!!

.. not: we're buying a house, oh no -  we have actually bought a house! oh yes! - we've
... got the keys,
... stripped the wallpaper (well, some of it),
... trimmed the garden (I've got secateurs and I am not afraid to use them! lol)
... booked the workmen
... and we move in next week!!!! (7 weeks from offer to completion - not bad!)
I feel there should be a fanfare, if only a little one because this is the 3rd time in the last 12 months we've tried to buy somewhere - well they say 3rd time lucky don't they! 
I kept it quiet because I didn't want to get my hopes up or jinx it. lol  I wanted the keys in my hand before I could do a happy dance! So its all very exciting and we're really pleased (if a little bit knackered from moving!)
And to top it off look what I bought from the owner:

oh be still my vintage-trunk-loving-heart!! Its lovely - and it's travelled in style: one of the labels on the side is for the Orient Express! :o)
Moving into a new house is exciting isn't it?! We found September 1960 newspapers under under one of the carpets - I'm LOVING the illustrations - very 'mad men'esque

So, that's what I've been up to - I hope you're all well and nobody's been affected too much by all this rain! when will it stop!? Its JUNE!! isn't it supposed to be hot & sunny!

Speedy post...

... well as speedy as you can be in this hot hot hot weather - which I'm loving by the way!! I'm actually browner now than I was when I came home from Mexico last week! - that's a first for me - my 'tan' normally gets bleached off by the airconditioning on the plane home!
(but please don't think I've been laying in the garden all week - no no no I've been out clearing the garden getting ready to had the keys back to the Landlord - more about that another day..)

This is a speedy post because I have to go to work - and apparently it is going to be hotter than hot - south facing shop with full window shop front - I think I'm sweating just thinking about it! (well not actually sweating - horses sweat, men perspire and women glow - isn't that how the saying goes?? So, in that case I'm 'glowing' just thinking about it)

aaaanyhoo..... it was nephew No 3's birthday yesterday and here's the card I made him:

I love this stamp from Stampotique - Twinkie needed a little 'something' to bring to the birthday celebrations as he climbs over the 'J' on his way to the party.... so I sketched a balloon for him to carry - oh yes... I sketched... direct to page.. with a pen...  no pencilling in first! (am proud of myself that I didn't faff about with it, overthink it - just got it done! lol)
(PS I am really enjoying sketching at the moment)

Aaaaanyhoo... the birthday boy loved his card and that's all that matters isn't it?!

Have a great day - enjoy the sun....

Jo

Where do I start??????

... lets start with last Sunday and the class I taught at The Craft Barn wjth lovely group who got inky, painty and a little bit sticky making this:

 A wooden triptych altered using the fab.u.lous Lynne Perrella stamps from PaperArtsy and Spellbinder dies.  I love these stamps.. .and how the project looks - here's the icon front & back:

...I laid all the finished pieces out to be photographed:

... and when I turned around all the group were snapping photos like a group of paparazzi trying to catch a drunk celeb coming out of a nightclub!! lol
Gabby, Francesca, Sue & Allison & Karin tucked behind.

So, that was Sunday...

Are you wondering what I was doing for the last 3 weeks when I haven't blogged?

Well, there was a lot of this:

... and a bit of this:

...and then.... oh.. too much, I'll tell you more tomorrow..

Thanks for stopping by..

Have a good day

Teaching, Demonstrating, Working... its all fun to me!

... and this coming Sunday - the 29th - I'll be having fun at Birds in the Barn near Colchester - check the website for details..

please come along and keep me company - it'd be lovely to see you and I'll be working with some of the lovely products the shop has...
I'll be wearing my painty stitching hat!

Classes!

I'm teaching a class at the local college - 10 weeks of beginners Card Making- which I'm enjoying a lot.

That runs in the evening and during the day you can find me at several shops in the South East running a class or two - I hope you can come and join me for some inky/ painty fun - call the shops for details & bookings  :o)

(I'm going to be uploading photos of classes in stages because Blogger is being a bit tetchy today! lol)

Classes at ImagineThat, Upminster:

25 April 2012 (wednesday)

10:30-13:00  Hats Off

14:00-16:30  Path of Least Resistance

24 May 2012 (thursday)

10:30-13:00  Path of Least Resistance 

14:00-16:30  Hats Off
09 June 2012 (saturday)

10:30-13:00 Hats Off

14:00-16:30 Path of Least Resistance

Shamefully neglected blog!

.. its been a month since I blogged! My last post was headed 'poor neglected blog' but I've gone way past that now! lol

Where to start ... I don't know!... life takes over sometimes doesn't it.. I have a part time job and sometimes after standing on my feet all day (and I mean ALL day) when I get home all I want to do is sit down.. in silence.. no noise.. nothing....  We all feel like that sometimes don't we?  Zapped of creativity

but now the rush of that job is finished (back to normal hours etc) (& can I just also say that I really enjoy the job so its no big hardship - well apart from the standing up lol) I'm back and raring to go again - oh yes - got to learn to pace myself (and I'm sure we've all felt / thought that too!)

A month!... hmm might have to get the diary out to see where I've been and what I've been up to..

*  Well, I had an article in April's issue of Craft Stamper, and an article in May's issue too which is out on Friday

*  I had fun teaching a class at Imagine That in Upminster...

I teach there about once a month and really enjoy it - a lovely shop full of reeeaaaally nice scrapbooking papers etc.  I'll blog upcoming dates when they're finalised (no, really I will!)

*  I also started teaching a 10 week card making class at Southend Adult Community College - LOVE teaching here - the course covers lots of card making techniques starting with the basics - its always nice to go back to basics isn't it?

*  And, MAD MEN series 5 has started !!! LOVE this programme!! its got to be in my top 10 fave programmes EVER.. don't even think about ringing me at 9.00 on a Tuesday because I will not pick up the phone.. nope.. not at all.. don't even waste your time dialing my number! lol

I'm still watching this as much (if not more) for the clothes and sets than the plot.  Well how can you not - the women are beautifully dressed, the men are handsome and the homes are to die for - I am seriously coveting the Draper's new split level apartment... be still my 50/60s loving heart....

* I also taught a class at The Craft Barn.. omg - sooo much lovely product under one roof it makes my head spin! Seriously - I go in 'needing' 1 thing and come out with so much more! lol
Here are the lovely ladies who came to my Die Cutting Masterclass

phew, there was a lot of die cutting and embossing in that class - lots of samples..

* I popped into PaperArtsy before they went off to VersionScrap (that's definitely on my list of 'things to do' next year - its sounds tres fantastique) and came away with some seriously fabulous and inspiring new Hot Pick plates of rubber - so inspiring I really didn't know where to start! lol
I have designed some classes using them and so watch this space for details... to see all the new stamps head on over the PaperArtsy website

oooh ooh and more Lynne Perrella images - its all too much - too much inspiration...

*  I went to a training day in London for my job (learning about the lovely Pandora products).. I miss being in London - I forget what a beautiful city it is... it was nice to sit on a bus on a sunny day (i'd rather do that than be on the underground) travelling down Oxford St, through Trafalgar Square and into the City...

A little rubber loveliness to get you in the London mood:

HotPick 1208 from PaperArtsy

*  *  *

Phew! I think that's enough for one post! Here's a picture to finish, from my new 'art journal' - its similar to the book I showed in the last post but a bit bigger.... its pobably going to be filled with lots of randomness

Take care

Lets not leave it so long next time! lol

Poor neglected blog....

.... 'sidelined' because life takes over sometimes doesn't it?! 

Among the paint brushes, pens, rolls of tape, bits of paper, & work-in-progress-projects on my desk (and the occasional cat ) there are a couple of books that I've made following patterns I've found in books or on the www to see how they are made (i like making books). I use them to put little tests and ideas into (and sometimes I use them as a 'work avoidance' technique.. lol).. but they are just little books of stuff. They sit on the desk for a while and get worked in as and when the mood takes me etc etc etc.

This is the one I've just filled up, its reads like a snapshot of projects, articles and classes I've designed & planned over the last 6 or so months, and its quite small - 9.5x11cm.
Its almost like a mini journal.. a notebook about what I've done and lessons I've learned...

I like that the book doesn't close - that bits & pieces stuck in have given it lovely touchy feely quality.  It was made from a single sheet of paper that has been folded several times, then the folds were roughly seperated and the formed pages were sewn together at the centre. I like the 'rough' feel this gives the book - the pages don't quite match up but thats makes the book quite unprecious to work into - a bit rough and ready.

 Bits and pieces left over from my many projects with the Claudine Hellmuth 'Bloom' stamps sets - and there's a bit of PaperArtsy in there too.

This is a Papermania (DoCrafts) die that I wanted.. no, needed when I saw it in a magazine.. but then couldn't find it.. so I forgot about it... until I saw it in a shop last week - so pleased: it was like finding treasure - I couldn't take it to the cash desk quick enough! lol I especially like that it die cuts the entire alphabet in one go - makes a great stencil which is what I was playing about with on the pages.

One of my favourtite spreads - LOVE!! ('flight' was a recent addition - new die, so i was using it on anything I could! lol)

 This is where this book became useful - the right hand page of the spread has been gesso'd.  The same colour distress inks where used on both pages - look how differently the inks sit on the pages - who'd have thought they would be so different!?!

The colour on these pages are so lovely - they were left over from something and I didn't want waste them so I stuck them in...

... same goes for the tag & butterfly on this last spread.. they'd been on the desk, on the pinboard, back on the desk - I was getting fed up with moving them about so I've put in the book!  Waste not want not.

So there you are - my little book of stuff.. and now that one is finished I've made myself another, this time slightly bigger - with doodles, sewing, sprayed pages, more sewing, tabs & comic book pages - love it already - here's a sneak peek:

I'm off - got to make flags for cupcakes (what else would you do on a Thursday evening! lol)

Take care

ACP Week 8 part 2: Graffiti Jigsaw

Welcome to some more game piece fun!!
Today its jigsaws - great for using in.. erm.. well .. stuff! 
During the 'big studio clear out' I found a bag of blank jigsaws that I'd bought.. these ones are a bit tricky to stamp onto because of the cutting grooves.. so they've been in their bag for a while and I was seriously considering throwing them out but I had a light bulb moment - you know the type: the ones that come when you're least expecting them:  PAINT THE JIGSAW! no stamping required -
paint on them like you would do a journaling page... 
throw in a bit of stenciling...

I'm not throwing the rest away - I had fun making this - didn't take too long & I think they have lots of possibilities...

expect more stencilling on the next few...

Have a good day

ACP Week 8: Red + G = Game Pieces

Love a red & blue colour combo!! sky blue, denim blue, royal blue - not fussed - they all seem to work with red.

G = Game Pieces

I bought a complete vintage set on Ebay a few years ago.. it seems a shame for it to just sit unused on the desk so I used 2 of the boards as the covers of a simple journal/notebook - it took a lot for me to use these because they're are sooooo lovely..

The book has a loto board front & back, heavyweight cartridge paper pages (lovely for sketching, writing, painting and inking onto) and nice simple binding of book rings (another favourite). I like to use these as it makes adding & removing pages really simple (and you can tie pretting ribbons and embellishments onto them).

I'll be back tomorrow with another 'game piece' project (or maybe 2) and then I'm all caught up with the ACP and back on track. 

When I post on Tuesday/Wednesday it'll be the start of a new month/ new colour! ta da - and I'm being brave and using a colour that is not in my comfort zone - which will be a learning curve!

Hope you're all well, and are enjoying the sun (assuming you have sun!)

Take care

ACP Week 7 part 3: What no paper!?!

No not a single scrap - today's project is completely made of fabric (well it is fabric week!) making up for the minimal amount of fabric on yesterdays piece.. lol

I love to sew projects! There is something so traditional about it... I wanted to add more layers to this piece but couldn't find any more red fabric in the box under the desk... so I stopped.  Then I started another project and while looking for ribbon in a set of drawers I found red fabric - lots of it -spots, checked, plain!! how frustrating is that! lol
Nevermind, I'll save those fabrics for another day... another project...

I completely forgot to add this picture at the start of the week - flowers from my 'valentine' and love how they fit with my red black colour scheme.. gorgeous colour.

and the other good thing about these flowers is that they are 'cat proof'! Bertie chewed the end off a leaf and promptly spat it out (classy cat) and wandered off... yay...
shame can't be said about my beautiful Hibiscus which he chews on a daily basis... naughty puss

ACP Week 7 part 2: Circus time!!

I think this stamp has to be one of my favourites from the PaperArtsy Lynne Perrella stamps - love how she's wearing her hat an 'ooh la la' angle. lol

(the fabric part of this week is in the ribbon - in case you're wondering... lol minimal but its there!)
Papers are MyMindsEye - love this range - they've produced them in all range of colours and they've all been beautiful.

I went the the Birmingham trade show at the weekend, I was in two minds whether to go and I'm so glad I did!:
*  Gorgeous products on show as unusual - I had to be dragged - dragged i tell you - away from the Button Company stand... so.much.loveliness!! 
*  StampBox let me stroke/touch their paper samples (sometimes you have to see/touch paper stock)
*  I met some lovely people.. (which hopefully will lead to some interesting teaching opportunities)
*  I watched demonstrations
and generally had a very worthwhile trip!

Gotta go - things to do, classes to plan.....