Birds in the Barn SummerFest...

... was fun, and the rain on the day I taught at this four day event didn't dampen the attendees enthusiasm - everyone got busy and painted, stamped & stenciled to build a working clock..

I was so pleased that all the ladies finished their clocks - here they are with their projects.. usually in classes people choose their own colours to work with and are all different but the ladies all followed the sample with subtle different touches to the painting and positioning...

My main sample has a plain background (above) but the one I created in class to go on the wall at Birds in the Barn has spots stamped in Pearl Glaze and this created a lovely shimmer on the background.

It was a lovely event organised by Birds in the Barn and I was pleased to be a part of it.  You can find the shop's website HERE for news of upcoming classes and the shop location.

Could it be any more shabby chic...

.... possibly not...  I'm talking about this tag that I made to get an idea out of my head before I started something with a deadline..don't get me wrong - I don't mind a bit shabby chic, not at all

Love this birdcage stencil and have wanted to use it with my stamps for ages - I wasn't going to use it like this but I was also impatient to use the new (rather fab) PaperArtsy Grunge paste:... oh and some treasure gold.....

... and look - I stamped in a colour other than black!  drum roll please!  I like the 'no black stamping' - its definitely softened the look of the piece...

OK, back to creating 'stuff'....

Oh, and by the way Mad Men is back on our screens (here in the UK) tomorrow!! Soooooo looking forward to it - can.not.wait!!

Snow, snow, snow....

... snowflake rosettes!!!   I think I've mentioned on here before how much I love the paper rosettes that can be made from the Tim Holtz die - well look what those clever people from Sizzix have bought out... Lovely Snowflake rosettes!!!!!!!!! Ho ho ho!!  Very lovely! (these will probably find their way on to many projects this christmas!)

It looks so nice when only the edges are coloured - I'd quite happily add this to a project as a border instead of folding it into a rosette:

I used the same colour distress inks (evergreen boughs, tumbled glass) on this card. Stamped and embossed the main image from JOFY Plate6 in clear ink and added the colour over the top.  I bleached the big stars and when the bleach was dry I gently went over the stars with Tumbled Glass ink... Fine black lines were drawn to add detail to the design and ties it in with the base card colour and the black stamping of the top border and the sentiment.

PaperArtsy sells cute little papermache hearts (approx 5-7cm).. I painted this one with Fresco Finish paints: Mermaid, Crackle Glaze and a top coat of Nougat - the gorgeous turquoise/gold wax (aquamarine, Treasure Gold.. also from PaperArtsy) was wiped randomly over the surface - lovely festive shimmer.. I tied on a tag stamped with 'noel' from Plate3, and a couple of wooden snowflakes that have coloured with the same wax.  The wood absorbs some of the wax so that it leaves the 'dye' colour and then a lovely surface of gold: gorgeous.

**  On 4th November I'll be demonstrating my stamps at Birds in the Barn nr Colchester in Essex.. Please come along - I'll be there from 10am-3.30pm - I look forward to see you.  **

Santa's Elves would be proud of me....

... I'm working my festive little socks off making samples for the classes and shows that are coming up...

Its not just cards that I've been making with the stamps:

This dinky little wooden plaque (available from PaperArtsy) has a really nice surface for stamping & stenciling onto:  (i think the handle needs a bit of pazzazing up - I'll give that some thought and get back to you....)(its not as festive as the rest of the plaque! lol)

I have added shimmer to the baubles with a touch of Metallic Glaze Fresco Finish - its great because it doesn't change the base colour when added, just makes is shimmery - love it!

The edges have been dragged with Patina Treasure Gold, a new product from PaperArtsy that is a lovely shimmery wax - I can see that being use on .... well... everything possible really! lol

This plain white wreath has been in the 'to be altered' box for a while and was perfect for the idea I had for the stars that are on JOFY08 and other plates...

 

The wreath's stars were stamped onto card painted with Fresco Finish, and embellished with gems, gel pens and, of course, buttons! and incorporating Spellbinders dies (these are some of my favourite dies!)(they get used quite a lot!)
Leandra has shown these wreath cards over on the PaperArtsy blog but I love them (a lot) and so I'm blogging them here too:

 

I love how Christmas allows (no, expects..) liberal use of glitter, sparkly bits and gems - I love a bit of sparkle and am definitely not adverse to a touch or two of Stickles!

Yours festively!

Jo