Busy day here at JoFY.co.uk!!

OK, its a wednesday and so that means WOYWW, but also its the 30th of the month which means its..

Banana Frog Blog Hop

Welcome!.. if you've arrived here as part of June's Banana Frog Blog Hop (starts at 9.00am). This month's theme is  SUMMER which is appropriate as Summer has arrived in the past few days with a bit of a fizz, bang, sizzle and bringing some great temperatures (HOT HOT HOT!) but I for one would really like a bit of a breeze to go with them! lol

I created a card this month using the 'Hiya Chick' and 'Kawai Kokeshi' stamp sets (available here). A concertina card peeking through branches of trees to see birdhouses and buds on branches....

Its a concertina card made up of 3 panels, with apertures cut in the first 2 pages to reveal the layers behind. Here's a better shot to show detail:

Thanks for visiting as part of the blog hop - your next stop is Julie who can be found here.  Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

Welcome! to those of you here for a snoop at my desk - here it is:

Quite tidy don't you think?  But don't go thinking I haven't been busy - I have but its 'secret' stuff!
Lets take a little clockwise tour around the 'tidyness' starting bottom centre... black 25x25cm sketchbook - all my ideas and drafts get put in here as a sort of thinking process; lovely background stamps by Imagine That (more from them later!); great numbers/dates stamps by Papermania - more about those tomorrow when I come clean about something; yummy inks that are being played with at the moment inside the sketchbook; my (I made this) very sophisticated pointy tool holder ie 3 bits of polystyrene stuck to a bit of greyboard - its very chic! lol every desk should have one!; and last but not least my Tim Holtz scissors and a bone folder - both essentials on my desk... I wouldn't normally draw attention to my scissors but I will today because I FOUND THE SCISSORS' CAP!!!!!!! this made me very happy because I lost the cap and the cap on TH scissors is v important because they're very sharp and when I'm working I keep them in my trouser pocket (at the back) and I really didn't want to stab myself in the butt with them or tear my trousers/jeans.. so thats why. HAPPY!

Thanks for visiting, now off you go to snoop round other peoples spaces (that's what i'm going to do! lol) or to find out more about WOYWW go here

BUT, before you all go - can I have your help please?  What is this plant?

UPDATE!! The plant is a shrub called Sambucus Black Lace - Thanks to Tracy for settling that - I'm going to get one or two of those for the garden - v pretty!  oh the power of the web - or the WOYWWers - who needs Google to answer questions!! lol  Thanks again!

(It was in the garden of a local dentist and I love it - its leaves look almost black and the flowers are various shades of dusty pink - really unusual... It stands about 3-4 feet high.. I asked my gardening guru aka my Mum! but she couldn't identify it and suggested I look in the gardening book under 'small shrubs' if thats any help for anyone to narrow it down - it looks kind of oriental don't you think?  So if anyone has any ideas what it might be please leave a comment - THANKS!)

Banana Frog day & WOYWW

The past week has been a lot of this'n'that and today was no exception...

* finishing my Project of the Day for Banana Frog which you can see here - the card on the left is a taster.

* jumping up and down for five minutes with excitement (mixed with slight terror) because I was accepted to have a stall at Village Green 2010

* Opening the post to find nice, v nice, things inside! (I love when its not bills! lol)

* another stint at the studio for Art Trail

* time spent in garden, part of which was trying to teach Bertie cat that chasing butterflies (while v entertaining) is NOT acceptable.

* weighing up what is more interesting/better use of time this evening: going to a private view or more getting-ready-to-move tasks... mmm thats a toughie.... Not!

*fighting with the PC and new printer .. why are these things never as simple as they seem - or should be! lol

*and finally photographing my desk to show to the WOYWWers out there.. I'm waving at you - yes YOU   :o)

So, its quite tidy today - please note the essential cup of coffee, my favourite ink pad - large archival and general..erm..stuff...  and check out that big piece of white - thats the worksurface!! tadaaa!!

.. and not a cat in sight!

busy - but in a good way...

Been flitting about doing a lot of this'n'that:

: at the studio hanging my small amount of exhibits as part of the Studio's Leigh Art Trail exhibits - Tricia, Tessa & Brons work looks FAB hanging in our oh-so-neat studio, sorry that should be Art Gallery (for 1 week of 52 thats what it is! lol for the other 51 weeks its a working studio - enter at your own risk!)

: at the College putting card making samples into the exhibition to advertise the course I teach starting in September.

: going to Imagine That for a chat with Emma.... watch this space..
: spending the day(s) at PaperArtsy HQ contemplating 1) Operation BSCO (big shed clear out)... its got to have a title 'cos its not a small job.. there is talk of a skip being needed! lol and 2) creating samples for an uncoming event... fun fun fun.. (roped in  DD Franich No3 as a guinea pig for timing purposes - she did a top job! and modelled too! Star)

: writing an article

: writing a course

: making samples with some lovely new Banana Frog stamps

: spending the day at The Craft Barn - their Extravaganza weekend - a great day indulging in watching demonstrations, chatting, and buying nice new stash - mostly paints, inks, a couple of dies and a pad of the lovely new Basic Grey Kraft collection.  I also had my practical head on and bought some blending foam (its like gold dust!), a sheet of foam for the bitch  lovely butterfly die to help it punch out successfully (?), MASSIVE book rings, and some lovely little foam 'brushes'.
: creating samples with PaperArtsy stamps - LOVELY new HotPicks - go check them out on the website

: just generally getting creative - love it!
: and now contemplating moving my craft workroom to a different room in the flat ... but having given it some thought I think that sounds far too much like hard work! lol

These are the Cosmic Shimmer Mists I bought - how lovely are they?!? and thats one of the stamps I bought - lovely for backgrounds....

WOYWW

Hi to all you visiting WOYWWers.  My desk today is my computer desk which is where I'll be sitting for most of the morning until I head over to PaperArtsy HQ this afternoon where it'll be a much more creative desk! lol

If Leandra (PA head honcho, creative guru and all round fab chick) joins in today I'm sure she'll show you something more creative....

Anyway - here's mine:

and yep, the desk top piccy: thats me and DH on our wedding day... aw too cute! and the 'I-don't-know-what-I-did-before-I-had-one' Iphone. No picture of Bertie this week - all the fame and nice comments are going to his head!  Our other cat is Lola - very pretty but quite grumpy and when I'm down in the workroom she 'keeps me company' and sits/sleeps in a section of the bookcase in the workroom - pretty much with the sole purpose of hiding from Bertie!

Thanks for visiting - I'm off to work and then tonight I'll sit and go here, there and everywhere visiting all the other nice desks and creative lovinesses....
go here to see what the WOYWW is all about...

Altered book pages....

I was thinking about altering book pages the other day, and so dug out this book I made a while back when I was studying for my City&Guilds in PaperCraft (oh yes!).  I made it to act as a resource of things that could be added to a page to include photos, ephemera, extra space or just interest and I thought I'd share it with you....

Its not a pretty book - the pages are intentionally blank so that you see the technique not the pretty (!?) papers that have been used.

Hope you can work out what's on each page, if not then leave me a comment and I'll explain!  Hope you like it and maybe find it useful.

Tricia North - aka Reform - UKHandmade

(Stitch detail by Reform)

Tricia - aka Reform - one of my studio-mates and creatives is featured in the current issue of UKHandmade online magazine - go here to take a look.  Yay for T!

Tricia, Bronwyn Oldham and Tessa Frampton's work (& an informal display of mine) will be on show at our studio during the Leigh Art Trail - starting 12 June and running for week... check out what's happening HERE, the trail is a great way to explore what Leigh-on-Sea has to offer... and take this opportunity to see our studio in its pristine state (its a small window of opportunity- only happens for 2 weeks every year so make the most of it! lol)

PaperArtsy Hot Pick 1006!

This is the latest in PA's Hot Pick line of stamps - v nice! and they've added elements - the moth and leaf - that will work with the dies they have - Genius!

And just in case you've not been paying attention and are wondering what the 'hot picks' are here are the previous 2 plates (1004 on left, 1005 on right) and you can buy them here.  How could you resist them??

WOYWW

phew - just about scraping in... not much to show this week (can't show actually 'cos what I'm working on is going for publication) but Bertie has made more than 1 appearance on the desk today so here his is in all his desk snooping glory - hunting for cotton buds (he loves a cotton bud does our Bertie! wierd)

Sorry about the picture quality - taken by the phone camera...  and also don't be too concerned about his lack of tail - he does  have a perfectly normal one but was swooshing it side to side so fast (!?) the camera could catch it lol

And yes, for the eagle eyed among you, that is a scalpel and a pair of scissors he's almost sitting on but please be assured that no animals were harmed as part of this WOYWW.   lol

WOYWW has been going for a year! YAY for everyone who has been brave enough to show us their creative mess sorry desks.  Head on over to here to see the list of everyone who joined in this week and/or to see what this WOYWW is all about.

Thanks!!

Thanks for all your lovely comments about yesterday's Banana Frog bloghop project - and I hope you all enjoyed the hop around the Frogletts sites.
Keep checking the BF blog to see who's won (press the BF button on the screen right hand side to go there) .
Good luck!!... and thanks again!

:o)

Roll up, Roll up - Its Blog Hop Day!!!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to us

Happy Birthday dear Banana Frog

Happy Birthday to youuuuu!

Mornin'
please excuse the quality of the singing - I'm a bit croaky this time in the morning.... croaky:..  frog ?! get it. ... oh nevermind, lets get on with the fun of the blog hop which this month has a BIRTHDAY theme.
So follow the links around and don't forget to leave comments wherever you go 'cos there are prizes/pressies to be received... each of the Froglets (thats us on the design team!) will each be giving  a prize to one frog fan (thats you!) who comments on our blogs... which is very nice don't you think!  lol
So don't forget to comment - you've got to be in it to win it as they say!  Also leave a comment on the Banana Frog blog as there's more prizes to win over there...

So here's what I made:
I was going to make cards but then I thought of something more practical - how about a book to hold all the dates of peoples birthdays so no-one gets forgotton? - because no-one likes to forget someones birthday do they?!  I've also included anniversaries in my little book - 'cos they're quite important too aren't they?! - all dates that should be remembered!

To decorate this book I've used the stamps sets Journaling, Super Dreamy, and Pharmacy - some of my all time favourite BF sets....  These are such great versatile stamp sets.

The book is fairly small - 10x20cm.  I used 3 colours to stamp on the white and Kraft cardstock pages - tumbled glass  & pumice stone distress inks and archival black - I like to keep the colour schemes simple and then embellish on top which I've done here with stickles, gems, and fabric embellishments - again some of my favourite elements.

I stamped circles to add the dates and names into, and when it was an anniversary I added a heart to identify it.  The little lined journaling squares are for notes and other dates. 

Right that's me done - I hope you enjoyed your visit, now 'hop' on over to see what Michelle's bringing to the Banana Frog birthday bash (I love a bit of aliteration!)... don't forget to comment!  You can find Michelle here!

July Craft Stamper

This month's Craft Stamper comes out on Friday and a few pieces are up on the website, so to get your creative juices interested go here and to see my web extra piece go here ... created from the Summer Masterboard I created for this issue - I love the cards I made for this article - when i look at them they make me smile - so bright and summery... and seeing as its currently raining outside we could do with a bit of summeryness couldn't we!

Here's a sneak peek:

WOYWW + a whole lot of other stuff....

its been a week since I last posted anything - that's neglectful of me isn't it!?  But its not as if I've been sat on my tush watching Jeremy Kyle and Loose Women - I've been busy behind the scenes....

This past weekend was spent helping out at the second Flights of Fancy ArtsyCrafts weekend - it was such a good weekend spent with 50+ painting, metalling, inking ladies creating some great projects... I went indoors at 7.00 friday night and didn't come back out into fresh air until 9.00 on sunday evening and i don't think I even noticed!  I was having too much fun (ahem.. working hard).  I love working at these events. There was lots (and lots) of paint, and just as much metal to be worked, sweets, prizes, lots and lots of die cutting and embossing - oh we worked those die cut machines- the Big Shots (mine is affectionately known as Bertha) and the Cuttlebugs... and Linda and I counted 50 kits out and back in, ....oh and I had a lift journey with a whole load of lively 70's-costume-clad party goers.. don't ask

Here are the uber talented Lin Brown and Leandra Franich:

How could you not be inspired when you look at these colours: 

Tables at work (or is it play?):

A couple of sneakypeeks of one of the projects:

And it was all going swimmingly until we got back to PaperArtsy HQ and I discovered I'd forgotten to pack my weekend bag in the car to come home! (in fairness there was a lot of stuff to pack in the cars, and I'd at least remembered to pack all my craft equipment (all the important stuff!)) Doh! How could I have forgotten the bag with my clothes etc in! When I hear of people doing the same thing I can never understand how they can forget something so fundamental!  Well quite easily apparently - I had to laugh really... 

I've since been reunited with said bag, thanks to Lin at LBCrafts (big thanks to her!) for organising TNT who brought it home on Tuesday:

I laughed a lot when I saw the size of the lorry it turned up in! The bag and contents are all safe and sound - even the banana and 4 apples that I had packed inside for snacks! roflol

Right, enough of this waffle - WOYWW:  here is my desk: ok, small confession - this is my desk on Tuesday but believe me it's not going to change much (at all) today! lol
I bought some new distress colours while I was at ArtsyCrafts, and so I'm in the process of making myself some colour charts inspired by the ones I made for the tables at AC(2nd photo).

I'm testing out the format in my sketchbook (I do that with most projects etc), and that cute little castle on the bottom left of the page is one of the new images by Banana Frog (called fairytale princess) .. and please note all that nice white space - thats the worktop! TaDaaaa!  yes we can actually see the worktop!

That's all folks - I'm determined to visit everyone this week.. so I'd better get to it! I have a feeling it could take a while! lol

Oh, one last thing - if you fancy coming to one of the ArtsyCrafts weekends (and why wouldn't you?!) details are on LBCrafts website and PaperArtsy's.

EDIT / ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN COMMENTS:
1: My overnight bag is actually not too big - shown here
2: The picture of cushions was a colour inspiration for the Banana Frog design team - you can see how they interpreted it here and here
3: The BigShot:  well, I'm a Cuttlebug fan really - I have been known to stroke my Bug while saying 'i love my cuttlebug'! lol Its a great little machine - portable, it suckers to the table so it doesn't wander off when you're turning the handle, and its very versatile...... BUT then I tried the BigShot!! its as good as the Bug but feels sturdier and smoother and because of the depth of the dies will go through a bigger variety of materials.. but the dies are expensive and gererally only come one to a die plate whereas the Cuttlebug dies often come in a pack that has a die and coordinating embossing folders.... no definitive answer I'm afraid - its all swings and roundabouts... it'll all come down to personal choice in the end..

WOYWW...

mornin' all

don't be fooled by the state of my desk this morning - its not messy: its BUSY - see the difference- the lovely stuff on my desk it mostly PaperArtsy - I'm spending the day working with their great new dies, and their stamps and papers.... such a nice way to spend the day...

busy, busy, busy - I'll be popping about to snoop later... take care.