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... this panel makes me smile... its a workshop I ran at Birds in The Barn last month - the panel (6x10in) uses JOFY12&15 & mini20, Fresco Finish paints and misc coordinating papers... it makes me smile because its the 'cutest' project I've made in quite a while! :o)

The little birdies are such little cuties lol (ahem, even if I do say so myself lol) - they must make me smile!

I had fun putting it together - little birds peeking out of the birdhouses:

Sitting in the trees:

... and a touch of die cutting - love putting big die cut words on projects... (and I especially like the 'tree house' complete with its little family of tweets...)

...and also I loved using the dark colours against the paler background - rich jewel tones- must try and use those colours more often....

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Craft Stamper September 2013....

... a lovely colourful issue including a couple of articles using JOFY stamps - which is great :o)

I have an article using JOFY13 featuring cards and a triptych:

.... and an article by Kay Carley using JOFY12 with Copics & Distress Ink pads - creating beautiful cards:

The cards featured in the article are just so beautiful - everything looks so dainty and almost ethereal - love them... Kay's blog is here if you'd like to see some more of what she does.

Go grab yourself a copy - is a cracker!!  :o)

An Old Seadog's Sanctuary....

I started this project many many months ago... I planned to make this 'Beach Hut' (or Portaloo as they're affectionately known) from PaperArtsy into a Scrapheap Hut... I gathered together tires from toy cars, I covered the roof in scraps of metal 

I stamped the walls in Sky Fresco Finish and washed with French Roast... (I LOVE how the walls turned out - the hut looks as if its been created from boxes found in a skip or washed up on a beach)

... it was all taking shape & looking good.... and then I was distracted by other things and it has sat on a shelf since then... niggling at me each time I walk past... 

....until today... when it became 'An Old Seadog's Sanctuary'.... I can just imagine a gnarly old fisherman or sailor (cross between Capt Birds Eye and the uncle from Only Fools & Horses) sitting outside on the wood smoking a pipe...

This shabby little retreat was inspired by several things- a display at Birds in the Barn, the Dungeness home of director and artist Derek Jarman and a bag of shells I brought home from Mexico (last April, that was STILL on my desk  waiting to be put away - sometimes it pays not to be of the 'tidy' variety! lol)... all those elements look lovely against the dark background of the hut...

 ... and a phrase from JOFY16 which is available in shops now ( www.birdsinthebarn.co.uk have JOFY16 and mini23 & 24 in stock)

 ... pleased that all the little bits and pieces around the hut are found or rescued - shells from Mexico, the Portaloo was rescued, the gravel is from a flower or candle vase... OK the wood is a bit of a cheat - Artemio sells boxes of 'driftwood': lovely smooth pieces of wave worn wood ... I have some sea-worn glass pieces but I have no idea where (!) when they turn up (probably when I'm looking for something else) I'll add it to the composition.

... but for now I'm happy with it.....

I'll have some more projects to show you this week made with my new stamps and on Saturday I'll be demo'ing them over at The Craft Barn, South Nutfield.

I don't think we could have been more inky painty...

.... than we were today in my Fresco Finish workshop at Birds in the Barn... but just to make sure I'll do it all again on Sunday with another group!...

The group created a selection of tags using various surfaces, paints, glazes, JOFY stamps, & pastes...

... which were then all tied up nice and safe in a cardboard wrap:

Looking forward to running the workshop again - and if you're coming on Sunday its advisable to bring an apron!... just sayin!  lol

:o)

Reschedule of workshops at The Stamp Attic....

.... that I had to cancel in June due to very unforeseen circumstances (!)

The new dates are Saturday 14 September for Card Making workshop.....

Sunday 15 September for a Triptych workshop....

I would love to see you there-  I hope you can join me... its going to involve stamps, paints, inks - crackle glaze- but no sanding (honest - no sanding! lol) - its going to be fun!

Pop over to The Stamp Attic website for more details and to book a place.

I spy with my little eye....

.... were the clues in a previous post...

... something beginning with BH.... which stands for:

  

Beach Huts!  2 new minis from the JOFY line of stamps, 

.. the second clue on the post was ... something beginning with BB and that stood for ...

Beach Ball - one of images from the new JOFY16 plate that has a lovely seaside theme- seemed appropriate as I live near the 'sea' - well the Thames actually but we have beaches and beach huts... and a pier!... and as we're currently having a mini heatwave here in the UK doubly appropriate.

These stamps will be available from August.

A lovely time was had.....

..... at Crafting Time on Sunday by me while teaching my 'Grow' canvas workshop to 13 ladies willing to get inky painty.

Using JOFY stamps, Fresco Finish paints, Grunge Paste and stencils they created lovely canvasses (20x20cm) - here are a couple of snapshots, - sorry there aren't more but my other photo's weren't up to much - not in focus, bad lighting - not my best photography day.

 Liz did a beautiful job of painting the flower heads - they look so round and juicy!

I think this is Jackie's - the 'mermaid' Fresco Finish was an unusual choice for the petals on this flower and really pop off the page - love it!

I'm looking forward to going back to Crafting Time soon. Keep an eye on my Workshop/Classes page for dates.

Fun filled week...

.... last week was a weird and wonderful selection of this'n'that...

tuesday - a normal day in the land of sparkly things...
.... and a quick trip over to PaperArtsy HQ.... I spy with my little eye something beginning with B H....

wednesday .... a lovely day over at Tewin teaching a couple of workshops for Card Inspirations - really nice to see some familiar faces (and of course new ones too)

thursday ...another 'quick' trip to a&e - its an on-going issue - all under control now :o)
... back home to find a pigeon has flown down our lounge chimney and can't get out - its not a big chimney (and pigeons are quite big) so we're not sure quite how it managed it - but it did.....

friday... 0700hrs  operation free pigeon! it took both me and hubby to extract our feathered friend from the chimney - it had settled (probably exhausted) on the mesh at the bottom of the chimney - our chimney hasn't ever been a wood/coal burning fire one so the mess was minimal (LOTS of lost feathers) and the pigeon, I can happily report, was fine - we (lol, ahem hubby) put it on the garden table and it flew off straight away - a happy ending.  We were quite proud of our rescue effort - while in our pj's at 7am!!

saturday... a this'n'that day

sunday.. a lovely day teaching my 'Grow' canvas workshop over at Crafting Time.... more about that in a later post...

It was a good week!
Something else exciting happened too but that's also for another post....
I spy with my little eye something beginning with BB...

Enjoy the sunshine...

Flower Filled Mini adventure part 2....

... I took 'quite a few' photos so here's a few more....

Daisies - big bright happy flowers - what's not to love about them!

 ... and these wierd and wonderful flowers- look spikey but actually soft - love the prehistoric look of these..

 and these - they look as if they're from another planet - props from an episode of Star Trek! lol
and they're carniverous - flies watch out!

... and these are sooo pretty...

 ... these roses are amazing - so beautiful! They're like a oil painting...  all these colours from one plant! gorgeous..

 ... and last but not least... be still my lupin-loving heart!  This is what I'm aiming for in a corner of my garden! (as long as I can keep the snails, slugs and earwigs away! lol chemical warfare will soon commence in my on-going battle with those critters!)

The planting of the flowers was just as inspiring as the plants themselves:

Love this 'wildflower' look especially the white Eryngiums at the front - I going to be growing some of those (wish me luck!)

.. a similar scheme here - chalky white & greys with splashes of pink and claret all framed by the green - I think I could recreate this look with a bit of Fresco Finish in Snowflake, Concrete, Sherbert, Claret, Blood Orange, Elephant & Tinned Peas .....  (?! lol)

OK, now I've shown you all these pretty pictures I'd better go and water my garden - the plants are enjoying the heat but only when they're watered - like the rest of us!

Enjoy the weather

A Mini adventure....

..... to Hampton Court Flower show...

Such an amazing gathering of flowers in one place - came home with lots of bulbs - not flowering until next year - you have to be patient to be a gardener don't you!

I took 'a few' photos - hard not to as there was so much to see!  I think every type of flower must have been represented somewhere in the many marquees.

I may have to blog the photos over a few days.....

First off - how does nature create flowers like these!!! amazing - they don't look real!  How are these perfect 'honeycomb' petals created!?!?:

 .. and the colour on these dahlias?!!?

And, do not not adjust your sets - these Dahlia were this bright! they look digitally enhanced but they're not! Amazing, beautiful.

..  and at the other end of the scale these flowers are so dainty and so detailed:

 ... Love the wierd combination of this flower - the gerbera-like base petails and spiky centre trumpets...

So inspiring to see all these flowers- both for the garden and for art - the colour combinations are mind boggling!

... and now for some random photos:

I loved this Joules advertising car at the show.... we recently bought a Mini Countryman - its white - but I might get busy with the Fresco Finish paints and doodle something like this on it...  JOFY flowers down each side???  lol

(I'm joking - but if I give it a make-over I'd never lose it in a car park would I lol)

The show wasn't just about flowers and garden design - there were stands about the environment and sustainability - this sculpture was cleverly constructed out of empty plastic bottles, hubcaps (yes hubcaps) and other items that are usually discarded into landfill.

I'm glad the lady is stood by it - illustrating the size of the piece.

And last but by no means least today - I was drawn to this exhibit in the beautiful Rose Pavillion - I do love a vintage sewing machine!

I would definitely recommend the show... we were lucky with the weather - sunny & hot- unlike the previous couple of years which were very wet (gotta love the British summer! lol)

I'd love to visit Hampton Court Palace itself too - fascinating amount of history - but thats for another day out....

Sunday 14th July .....

.... I'll be at The Craft Barn in Nutfield...

A whole day workshop of card making using JOFY stamps, Fresco Finish paints, with a bit of painting, cutting & sticking too - what better way to spend a day?
There are a couple of places left so if you fancy joining in the fun call the shop (0844 800 8551) to book your place.

Hope to see you...

Fun in the sun...

.... the sun this weekend was too nice to miss but I had some colour ideas I wanted to explore so I took everything I needed outside... I sat in the sun and while the freckles where topping up I painted flowers in my sketchbook - trying out different colour combinations...
Its all fairly simple stuff but I got a lot out of it....

My 'go to' colours for this stamp design are Blood Orange, Haystack & Pumpkin Soup...

.... but I wanted to see what other colour combo's worked...and I cross out the ones that 'don't'..

I LOVE Squid Ink - its like a dark aged lavender - Love it!

... and love these two colours also - purple with orange (Eggplant, Blood Orange, Haystack)!! what's not to love! lol

so there it is - a not-seen-in-public-very-often page out of my sketchbook!  I hope its inspired you to try different colour combinations with the JOFY flower stamps..

Card Inspirations....

..... was one of the first shops where I ran classes - I loved teaching there & I was really sad when they closed their bricks & mortar shop a couple of years ago.... They have maintained an online shop and this month they are going to run their first 'pop-up' shop in Tewin where I will be running a card making class in the morning and another in the afternoon (repeat of morning).

I'm really looking forward to returning to Tewin - I hope you can come along to shop or get inky/painty with me.  It would be lovely to see some familiar faces.
To book your place please call Card Inspirations - go here for more details.

Last week I had plans.....

... well organised plans... which were unfortunately scuppered by unforeseen events which meant I had to take a week out of my normal day-to-day.

I had to cancel workshops at The Stamp Attic - sorry to everyone who was booked on the workshops - Wendy and I will organise/reschedule and I hope you are able to rebook and join me.  I don't ever like to cancel workshops but I had no choice - 'take it easy' was among the instructions given on leaving hospital... (but its hard to take it easy and the more you do it the more tired you become!) (in my experience! lol)

Aaaaanyhoo - last weekend, before my week ground to a halt, I taught workshops at Birds in the Barn - lots of fun creating cards and a canvas with the JOFY stamps - and I was chuffed when Bracken (youngest member of the class) gave me a name badge she'd made for me. I love it and its going on my pinny. Thanks again Bracken :o)

So 'taking it easy' this week has meant not going out much - luckily it was final week of Wimbledon so at least there was something (not repeats! yay) on the TV... and what an amazing Wimbledon it was! Shockers all round but AT LAST... & Britain has only waited a mere SEVENTY SEVEN years!!!!! (we are a patient nation!)... but at last Britain(Scotland) has a Wimbledon Men's Champion!!!  Phew!

Well done Andy Murray.... (I'll hold my hand up and admit I've not always been his biggest fan but he played a great tournament and was a worthy winner)

Today PaperArtsy ran their first Retailer Day in Brentwood - I popped in as Brentwood is only 20 minutes away so not too tiring for me... lovely to see everyone getting inky-painty - I didn't take any photos except this one - me & the oh-so-talented Darcy with her lovely JOFY girls (which I love!)

So that is a round up of the week that really wasn't... next week I'll hopefully be back to 'normal' and will be coming to you with photos of .. creative stuff... & news ;o)

Oooh one last thing - I'll leave you with a pretty picture - we have 2 sambucas bushes in our garden that we brought with us from previous houses, and they have teeny tiny flowers on them:

Amazing - those flowers are only about 5mm in size - possibly smaller - nature is amazing.

... and speaking of teeny tiny - while I was looking for the above photo I found this picture:

..... this teeeeny tiny snail was on a leaf of another bush in the garden... sooo tiny! (but I don't care how small it is it should still stay away from my dahlias and lupins! lol)

That's enough waffling... hoping next week has an air of normality to it!

xx