Thursday 28 May 2009

Monsters... Fairies.... Bogeye... And more...

I was working hard a few weeks ago to make up some samples for Lili of the Valley and their new product launch on Create and Craft. If you click on the link above, then you will be taken to their website, where you will find oooooooooodles of lovely stuff for a massive 50% off!! What a sale!

If you are fortunate enough to have caught the show already (more showing dates are on their website) then you may well have seen my cards. There were lots of wonderful ideas on the show too, but here are a few of the ones that I made. I hope you like them.

This was my little bag. I made it from an envelope and a strip of cardstock. The papers are all included with your designs in the collection and they correspond with the images brilliantly. The greetings are included too, so really, all you need is your imagination.


Oh my lordy.. I absolutely love pigs, and these two little ladies are no exception. Well, I say they're ladies, but they could well be used for male cards too. I pleated a strip of paper and attached it to the card and finished with buttons.

Now isn't this monkey cute? This is what I absolutely love about the LOTV products, the cuteness. When they first started trading, I remember seeing them up in Harrogate (I think it was) and just needed the fairies, which I think were one of their first sets. My love of their products has never changed as they are so generic and not limited to childrens cards either! I love cute!! Always have.. .always will!

Oh boy this card was so much fun to make.. I know the pictures aren't brilliant but they were on my phone. (too lazy to get my camera out! lol)

This little panda is adorable.. just look at his lickle-ickle eyes.. and his hair-do!
The papers are all included again, so with all the sets that are available you will get a great collection of backing papers to add to your stash, and they are all inter-mingelable (is that a word?? but I'm sure you know what I mean!)

Now finally, how can I end this post without my little cuties? We were out walking yesterday - a long long walk as I was in a majorly bad mood! - and we came across the Barley Field. Well, not so much came across it, because it's always there.. lol.. but we haven't had a venture in there for a few days, and I can't believe how much it's grown!

It was sooo funny to watch Holly bouncing in typical springer style and thoroughly enjoying herself.

Here's a quick pic.. spot the springers!!
Holly is in the background (can you see her?) and our Chunka Munka, Scooby is here at the front.

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Feeling very very sad..

Oh isn't life a shit at times? And I mean that in the strongest sense of the word!!

Yesterday I heard from my friend Nikki, with the shocking news that her beloved hubby David had just passed away. I absolutely cannot believe it!!

I usually ring Nikki every Monday, just a habit we got into, and we chat hither and dither about anything and nothing, and generally have a yarn to put the world to rights.. but because it was a Bank Holiday, family at home, we missed our call this week. So yesterday, I had an appointment in the morning, walked the dogs in the afternoon, and picked up the phone to ring for our natter and there was a message which had been left.

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather when I listened to it. It came as a complete shock and the first thing I could do was to ring her. I feel like I need to be there with her, but Scotland is such a long way away, and I know she has family and friends around her, so that makes it a bit better. But still.. I have met David and he was a gentle, wonderful person.

I know David was Nikki's love of her life, and the reason she got up in the morning,he was also their son's best friend.. so I can only imagine what she is feeling right now. She has 1001 things running through her head at the moment and all I want to do is throw my arms around her and tell her it's all going to be okay.. but I can't, and that's hurting!

So, Nikki, if you're reading this, remember we all love you and we're thinking of you and Kris at this very very sad time, and if you need anything at all, just ring me.

I don't quite know what else to say really, I just hope she finds a way to try and move forward eventually.


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Tuesday 26 May 2009

Is it morning already??

I'm sure there's someone up there taking the hours away, you know!

We've had a lovely weekend here in Doncaster. The weather has been fantastic (even though I'm not a sun worshipper!) and we've managed to get lots of things done in the garden. There's only one bad thing I've found this weekend - FLIES!!! I HATE flies with a vengeance, and I'm sure they're all congregating in my house!!!!

It was just starting to look like a bit of a wilderness out there, and I'm sure when the furballs went out they thought they may never return.... it probably explains why they're insistent on cuddles before they venture out, and why Scooby doesn't like to go in the garden by himself! Mmmm.

Anyway, the grass is now cut down, some of the weeds have been pulled and the patio has been tidied.. and best of all? I managed to clear some clutter from my craft studio! Yep.. I can officially get back into it now - there's room for my chair!

It was starting to look like - well, I don't know what! - and I had to fight my way into it whenever I wanted to look for something.. and the overspill? That went in my sitting room in two more drawer cabinets. LOL. I desperately needed to get into the studio and give it a good turf out. I got the middle dumping ground done completely, and a couple of shelves, now all I need to get done are the worksurface and the back storage area.. *sigh*

I'm just hoping that the weather is right for next weekend too, sunny.. hot....we could get the garden finished at this rate!

Sunday 24 May 2009

Back to Normal...

Well... it looks like I've managed to get everything sorted with my blog/Firefox now, so here I am - able to upload some photos without faffing around with photobucket! How good is that?!
So.. here we are.. I tried my hand at a few different challenges this week whilst I had a bit of spare time.

This first card was made for Kathy's challenge - here's the sketch Challenge 10
And here's my take on the sketch..

 
I used Stampin Up products on this card, mainly because I liked the colours. Here's a close up of a few bits... 

As you can see, I curved the flowers and butterflies once I cut them out (and added some 3D gloss)

This was the greeting which came with the stamp set, and because I wanted a more muted colour over the white cardstock, I rubbed green pastels over the top. I accented the flowers and wording with 3D gloss. 
This was the next challenge sketch on my list - Kathy's Sketch 11, followed by my take on this one. All of Kathy's sketches are wonderful to work with!
 
 
As you can see with this card, I've turned it around on it's end and because it was for the lads at Motosave (who have done a sterling job this week with our car - more on that later!), I decided to use male colours, and thought the flowers would be better missed out so I added the wording really where the flowers should have been. Hope you like it!
Here's a close up of the colouring. 
 
I am a bit ashamed to say that I've had this stamp now for absolutely ages, I think it came from Funkykits (?) and I opened the packet to stamp it for the first time this week! 
Now onto my next Challenge.. 
This cute little pink card was for RosieDee's Challenge blog no. 35. It was called Layered Stamping. So, I stamped out my Gorjuss girl and layered her up onto the front of the card. Pretty pinks all around. The papers are the new ones from Papermania. Aren't they lush?
It also fits in with the challenge this week over at ABC challenge - the theme this week is O - for Orderly. Everything had to match, so I made my image central to the card and added two dimensional butterflies in an orderly fashion. lol.
It also fitted in with this sketch (3 challenges with one card - now that's what I call efficient multitasking!) The sketch is from Stamp Something - another great little challenge blog. I did miss off the sentiment, because I usually don't add one until I know what occasion I'm using the card for.
So.. that's my first set all sorted.. You want to see more??

I decided to join in the Pink Elephant blog Challenge too. It's the first time that I've entered it, so I hope it's good enough. I love the card anyway, so I don't mind too much if it's not.

Here's the requirements - Monograms/Letters - Thank you includes letters doesn't it? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick? lol.

And this one too - Stamp Challenges - and this is what they put..
This week we want to see your Clean and Simple Thank You Somethings! We would like for you to browse Lauren's work and find a card to CASE or create your own card inspired by one of Lauren's creations. Please remember to keep it clean and simple though as this week is all about Lauren's style!
So here goes.. the card I cased from Lauren.
And mine -
 
a little close up too - 
I did change the colours, and I made mine from SU cardstock. I added little glitter gems to my design across the card too. I am not generally one for the simple look, but I personally LOVE this card - now that's not something I generally say!

Right.. that's all for now folks..

Have a good day tomorrow whatever it is that you're doing. You never know, I could well be back on here again now I'm on a roll!

Jeeez!

I am verging on insanity now!!! (well, pretty much slightly more than normal!) LOL..

I have just downloaded Firefox (thanks Katy for the comment!) and I'm hoping that this cures the stupid problems I'm having with Blogger.. well, that's before I delete this god-forsaken blog and move it to the more stable Wordpress..


Well, at least it will let me write a post and not boot me off - you never know, I may be back later with some new projects!!

Now then.. anyone got any hints and tips about Firefox?? Saving things as favourites?? lol.

Speak later x

Thursday 21 May 2009

Well.. whaddya know!

Here I was yesterday, playing with some stamps that had never been inked (whoops!) in all the time I'd had them, and I decided to try my prisma's on my Whisper White card from Stampin Up.. The image stamped beautifully mainly because the WW card is so smooth, and it gives a brilliant surface to stamp on.

Then it came to colouring.. I got out my prisma's, OMS, stump.. and thought, no, I'll use baby lotion to see if it does make it blend a bit better than the OMS.. and blimey I was impressed! It was better to blend with that than the OMS.. so I know what I'll be using in future! Anyone want a jar of OMS?? lol.

Oh well, onto the card I eventually made after all my faffing.


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The stamp is Elizabeth Bell, can't remember the name (reflections I think), The papers are from My Mind's Eye pack. They are really beautiful - sparkly and lovely!

Here's a close up


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Right.. that's me done for now, see you all again soon I'm sure!
Happy crafting until then.

Lili of the Valley Challenge

This week over on the LOTV Challenge blog we have a template challenge. The template was designed by me, and there are some stunning cards to see with it too! I am soooo loving the little doggy card, but you'll have to nip over to see it.. You also stand the chance of winning a little Moggi Stamp.. it's sooooo cute!

Anyway here's the template -

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And here's what I did with it..

jO

The papers are My Mind's Eye, and I just love the patterns and colours of it.. I can't remember which online shop I got it at, but will check and add the link for you.

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Here's a little close up of the Bunny. I coloured him in with copic markers, then restamped the image and layered up the prezzies. A little doodling around the edges just finishes it off I think..

Aaaand... get this..

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After seeing lots of cards on the blogs with a decorated inside - I decided to try my own! It's a bit plain, but hey.. it's a start!

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Belated Happy Birthdays..

Because I was having problems uploading my photos.. I couldn't show you my pics of the Birthday Girls..

Holly and Truly have both had their birthdays this month. Holly was 2, and Truly was 3.

Here are the girls enjoying their special days..

Here's Holly.. little Miss Sweetness. Always loveable, cute and lovely.


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And here's Truly.. as you can tell, often life is just too much! I know it's not a brilliant photo, but I just love her when she's asleep.. lol.. if you knew her, you would too! She's got ADHD I'm sure!!


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Now, of course I can't not include my beautiful boy... Here's Scooby..

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This photo is quite comical for us.. now Scooby is quite a cutie-patootie anyway, but between me and you, he just loves his Ted Ted.. He took it to bed with him every night until a few weeks ago, when I reckon Ted Ted must have been snoring too much and he chewed his nose off! As you can see, even when Scoob's was plodding around the house, he had to go and find his teddy to keep him company. Cute! Love him!

Beside the seaside... beside the sea...

Well, not exactly, as I'm not sure whereabouts the Range at Southport is away from the seaside.. lol.. but I was nearby. I could hear seagulls, and smell the sea.. does that count?

Anyway, I'm not back to waffle on.. I'm here to eventually manage to upload some pictures. These have to go into my Photobucket account to be able to get uploaded! How Pathetic! Thanks everyone for the info you left after my post about blogger.. it was helpful!

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This card was made using products available in the goody bag. I used the flocked papers (lovely to stroke!) and added buttons and blossoms to finish it off.

This next one was made using the new Papermania Decoupage sets. Now, anyone that knows me, knows I hate decoupage with avengeance! But these ones I managed to get cut out and stuck together prior to my demos, so people didn't get too bored watching.. or before I fell asleep!

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For this card, I used the Jesse Edwards stamps. I couldn't demo these up at Southport because, as usual, they didn't have the stock. It's a bit disappointing up there really, because they don't tend to get the new stock in for the demo's, they arrive just after.. but hey..

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This card was made using the papers from the Goody Bag. They are the lovely Jesse Edwards. I love these colours, they are vintagey and just my cup of tea! I love the navy in particular. The butterfly punch flew out (pardon the pun.. lol) and completely sold out at Doncaster, and nearly sold out at Southport.

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Another thing from the new PM items I am loving, is the Glitteration stickers. They are scrumptious! They have gold, black and white/silver and the lovely thing about it them is the fact that the glitter doesn't come off.. I used them around the borders around the card, finished with coredinations card and dimensions stickers (goody bag items again.)

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The chair on this card is cut and decoupaged from one sheet of paper. I finished it off with a couple of buttons and a little ribbon bow.

Right... I'm off to upload some more pics on here, and put some Stampin Up cards up onto my other blog (link at top of page!)

See ya later.. Happy Creating everyone.

Tuesday 19 May 2009

What the heck is happening with Blogger????

I give up!

I've got lots to show everyone and bloody blogger is playing up again!!! It's been like it now for days and I can't upload a group of photos..

in draft blogger, it comes up with a .do file that won't download images unless I put them on my photobucket account, and in normal blogger, it won't let me nudge the pictures down the post when they *annoyingly* go to the top of the page!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHGHGHGHGH

I feel better now! Never mind, I can upload to photobucket later.. it's just such a farce....... what does anyone think of wordpress? Is that any better??

Monday 18 May 2009

Going... going... gone!

Blinkin' eck! Where does all the time go these days?? I'm pretty sure it's a sign of getting older.

I ended a very busy week by going upto The Range, in Southport, to do a Docrafts demo. I love the ladies who come up to see me there, they are wonderful - chatty, funny, pleasant. What a wonderful way to spend a day. There were also a few new faces there - some that had just started crafting, others that just came to see the demo.... so welcome to you all!

My two regular ladies came up too.. (you know who you are.. hope you got back to the car in time lol) - before I forget, if you're reading this.. I found the little red book with your notes in on the shelf at the end of the day - get in touch and I'll post it on).

A great day was had by all, the only disappointing thing was they didn't have most of the new items I was supposed to be demonstrating, which is always a disappointment. The new butterfly punches 'flew out'.. pardon the pun.. these are just stunning - I love mine to bits!


I do have some projects to show you, but I need to get a crack on with my SU workshop cards for today.. Did you know I've organised some classes? Click on the link at the top to find out more.

The rest of this last week was taken up by making some new samples for Lili of the Valley and Debbi Moore, to take down to Create and Craft for some new shows.. so I can't share those I'm afraid. But the products are lovely.. LOTV got the upper hand this time - cute all the way!!!

So, that was about it.. a busy day again today, but I guess there's no rest for the wicked is there.. so I'll go and get myself up and sorted, then make a start.

See ya later!

Thursday 14 May 2009

WORKSHOPS

Details are now up on the workshop tab at the top of the page - nip over and take a look...

Contact me on joaustin22@aol.com for more details..

Wednesday 13 May 2009

and ...

Did I tell you??

I'm going away for the weekend in a few weeks.. crafting luxury!

I'll spill the beans later.. lol..

Where??

Time?! Where does it go these days? We're already on Wednesday, and this week has just absolutely flown by!!!!

So, what have I been upto? Oooooooh boy lots of fun, that's what!

Saturday went by in a whirl.. I had a demo at the Range, Doncaster.. and my god, it was busy!! Everyone is loving the new product out and I enjoyed myself with my regular customers and friends.. we had a blast and lots of laughs! Thank you to all of you who dropped by to come and keep me company (and spend lots - but hush hush on that.. the men may be reading.. lol) The new butterfly punch 'flew' out the store, and by around 10.30 we had none left at all.. fantastic.. but they are soooo lovely!

Saturday evening, my lovely daughter decided to treat us all to a meal at Woodfield Farm. It is such a lovely atmosphere down there, and the meals are lovely (not least very big!!!!) By the end of my starter, I was absolutely stuffed, but persevered and finished my main, and then had a LARGE piece of banoffee pie to finish - I was soooooo bloated, but jeeeez, so worth it! And I didn't gain a pound, so that's even better! Thank you Carley, you're a treasure. You see, in our house, we share everything. Leyton, my hunny of a son, treats everyone one month, we do the next, and then Carley does the one after.. we take it in turns.. which is so lovely! Martina will join in when she's old enough too I guess.. but for now, she can just enjoy everyone else's generosity.. lol.

Sunday - not quite sure what happened..long walks for the puppies, town to do a bit of mindless shopping! And that was about it really.. just a general nothing sorta day - a lovely day at home with Hubby and family!

On Monday, I nipped over to Selby to see my 'Mummy' from Stampin Up.. Monica. Oh we had alot of laughs, and I loved her instantly! She's such a doll, I can tell you she is so lovely. We had a natter, lots of giggles, cuddles and then lots of creativity! We made our way up to her little crafting paradise and did lots of crafty bits.. not least this stinkin' cute little frog!

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Now isn't she just the cutest little fwoggy you ever did see??? We had a dabble making some basic ones to start with, I'll show you mine later!!! And then Monica made this little cuteser! The only part I really had on this card was the lily pad.. cut freehand and then inked around and some lines embossed into it.
The hours just flew by, and I just managed to get home in time to make dinner, have a bath and flake out for the night!
So onto Tuesday, and well, the time just went again! I had to get my car fixed in the morning. The gear stick was having a few personal problems and kept disappearing into the floor! I've never seen anything so wierd in all my life, but I'm reckoning it's just a Hyundai thing.. lol.. It's held in place by two rubber squares, and they had worn out, so I picked up the replacement parts that I'd ordered last week and made my trip over to see my buddy Mark, who works at Motosave.. He's such a darling. He insisted he wasn't taking anything for fitting then (well, Trev fitted them.. Mark just watched lol). So, half hour later, I was on my merry way back home.
I then did a bit of cooking - vegetable bhaji's (yum!) and Carley made some carrot cake muffins (even more yum!).. off to make the dogs... do dinner... then relax! Day gone!
So today, I have loads of samples I need to make for this weekend - LOTV bits using some fantastic new products, and Debbi Moore - again using fantastic bits and pieces!!! Oh lucky, lucky me!! I love my job!
And between now and Monday, I have some prep to do for my workshop, details coming soon - there's noone really nearby who reads this I guess, so as long as the ads are up in the local area, it doens't matter I suppose.. lol.. It never ends does it? I wouldn't ever have it any other way though. Life is just perfect and I am thoroughly enjoying myself..
Don't forget though, if you fancy becoming your own boss to and working for yourself, then get in touch.. Stampin Up could be the way to go!! I'll tell you all about it.....

Friday 8 May 2009

Spring had sprung!

Oh what a lovely week we had last week - beautiful sunshine and lots of dry days! What better way to spend some of my coffee break by wandering around the garden to snap some of the beautiful flowers which are just starting to come out.... escorted by three little pupsters of course - who don't make taking photographs all that easy - you point the camera, they jump at you with excitement and woof! Nice!

Anyway, I've made these images larger than the normal upload size - hope you like 'em this way.


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This is a lilac that just grows and was never planted! In 22 years, it's only flowered a few times, and this year it's come back even more beautiful than ever.. and smells great too!


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A close up of the Lilac's very pretty, waxy flowers.

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I'm not exactly sure what this 'tree' is.. I bought it from Wilko's around six years ago as a sad looking little branch (I'm a sucker for poorly plants!). I nurtured it and it repays me each year with an abundance of these fantastic, blue little flowers - and the little birdies love it too! It's now around six foot tall and makes the garden look so summery!

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Another of my strange little favourite plants - the humble Dandelion flower! Don't ask why I like them, I just do - I suppose it reminds me of my childhood playing with dandelion clocks in the woods with my sister and grandma! Oh, those were the days - remember them Jules?

Well, that's my photo update for now.. Hope you like!

Hellooooooo strangers...

I'm still here... hopefully gone but not forgotten! Sorry I've been away for a while, I've had a bit of work on this week to catch up with.. sorting out workshops, doing samples, demo stamples and the like.. phew.. all finished now. I'm at the Range, Doncaster tomorrow, so I had to get some bits and pieces done for that over this last week, and let me tell you, there are some really pretty new products out this month!

Anyway, here are some of the projects I've been making this last few weeks - these were for Stamptivity and I got sent the new set of Fairies to work with - they're really pretty and I hope you like what I've done with them.












There are a variety of different things I've used on these cards, but if you're wanting to know about anything in particular, just email me and I'll get you the details..

Right.. that's all for now.

Love Jo xx (and I promise I won't be a stranger for too long again! )

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