Everything Springs Forth

Hello everybody!

Spring has arrived at last,well that's what I thought, but, it may have changed its mind, after this week's performance.  We were just getting used to every day being lovely and warm with wall to wall blue skies when the cold winds came and for some unfortunate people snow too. At least when it's dull and cold you don't feel guilty when inside crafting. I've been busy making a SPRING banner to hang up in my little craft room.

It's quite funny working on the blog because I haven't got the hang of it yet and Leanne decided that I should get used to using my own computer, ( she can be bossy sometimes) that although I wanted to have these pictures in a row, side by side, I couldn't get it to do that and neither could Leanne so they are in a nice vertical row.

April for me is a very busy month as most of my family have birthdays and anniversaries so I have been trying to get in front with them as well as make the samples for the future card classes.

APRIL SHOWERS will be my first card class and I am hoping the weather doesn't decide to copy me.

Sat. 21st April

My first sample was using a Dreamweaver stencil which I ran through my Cuttlebug, a sneak pic above.

 

Mollyblooms 'George' is a lovely stamp for this topic with wellies and fancy checked raincoat which I stamped onto my new My Minds Eye check paper and cut out.

Hope you like the black and white themed card  as it is great for a man's card, which are always more difficult to make. I used cityscape stamp and Tim Holtz embossing folder.

BOTANICALS is my class in May, sat. 12th. I have been playing around with a new Stampendous! stamp that's great for backgrounds. I have used Adirondack- Wild Plum and Lettuce ink pads the latter being one of my favourite colours, but I won't show you the sample as it will be a surprise on the day. I might also do the Lettuce with another shade so you can have a choice which colours you prefer together. As you can see too, there is a little watercolouring on this class.

Hydrangea (below) is a combination of a very large stamp by Stampendous!, of which I can get if anybody would like it, and a Martha Stewart punch which I have in stock. Watercolouring too, and some lavender Stickles to finish. The Hydrandea stamp was so large it didn't fit on my largest block.

Below are two of the stamps I will be using for this class, the left is the Flower Frenzy, which as I said earlier is a great background for any card and also the Magnolia.

My next classes are as follows:- Sat June 16th    -   Mix bag of cards using a 6"x6" My Minds Eye paper pad which each person will receive and......................

Sat. July 7th    -  Six cards made with one pack of Woodware stamps, the theme being Bugs, Caterpillars and Butterflies

  

Before I sign off, I have a few Spring pics from the garden just to prove it has arrived, really!

 

Oh! and below, a lovely spring card Leanne has made. Using her technique of different shaped cards. She is so far ahead with her card making she puts me to shame, but I am so glad she is enjoying the making of them.

My ongoing project is to get my new craftroom up and running then we can have an Open Evening with tea and cake and Leanne will be able to have a chat with you all and thank you for all your goodwishes in person. I will post the details as soon as we have a date.

If you wish to attend any of the classes please email me at. ... craftyhearts@hotmail.co.uk.

Until next time both myself and Leanne wish you all a Happy Easter.
Bye for now.x

February and fairies...here already!

1st of February here already where does the time go, no sooner am I thinking of the next theme and the next months classes than they are here before you know it. I like the month of Feb as it is my birthday soon and I always think we are on the way to spring, not thinking that February can sometimes be colder than January and in this instance it could be, as the weather men keep threatening us with colder weather to come. The one good thing about this crafting hobby is, that it keeps us busy when we have to stay indoors. Not a problem as I can watch all the rain from were I am sat busily crafting.

My next class is on Sat 11th Feb and is the fairy theme, large, small and silhouette fairies.

 

Pretty fairies that will be nice for a young girls birthday as well as grown ups too. I have used lilacs, pinks, turquoises and pale greens and used Lindsay Mason, Stamposaurus and Craft Companion stamps.

This is a little dinky stamp from a company called Cart-Us, but as most of the crafting ladies know I stamp a few up in little packs so I can collect money for a donation to the church hall I teach at, so you will be able to make up more cards if you like.

This time I have made five cards for the class and added a technique that everybody can have a go at using the brayer, distress inks and metal stencils, so you will be able to make backgrounds for use with your stamps. As usual playing around with the inks ends up with most of the ink on ones hands, which I'm sure in my case jumps out of the tin and straight onto my fingers. One of the ladies mentioned that she had heard that if you use Cussons Imperial leather soap, the ink comes off more easily, but I don't think that works for me, I just end up with turquoise soap. Any ideas are much welcomed as I have had purple and blue fingers(especially thumbs,but don't know why that is) for days.

The metal stencils are Impressabilities from Spellbinders and I have eventually got to use them. Both the stencils, brayers and inks are available to buy at the classes.

It also gives me a chance to play more with my brayer, as you can see in the picture it still looks very clean.

My class in March (Sat 3rd) is titled "Fresh and Fruity" and covers grapes, strawberries, peaches, and apples. The card below is obviously the grape one and is appropriately made as a "get well card". Although on the card you can't see the greeting as I have only given you a sneak peak as usual. Wouldn't be as exciting, I don't think if you new what all the cards you were making looked like.

I have Molly Bloom Strawberry card and Magnolia peaches which I am working on at the moment and will put more on the blog as and when I am happy with them.

I will have new dates and themes for my next classes too. Later in March- Mixed cards including Easter and April Showers with Molly and George(Molly Bloom) are waiting to be stamped.

I think that is all for now, just hope you like the samples I have crafted and I am off to sort my rooms out, moving furniture throwing things out etc.( when Stephens not around) as eventually I will have this extension room turned into a craft room and display room then I can invite all you ladies here for an "Open Evening" like we used to have at the shop. Can't wait.

Bye for now and carry on crafting.
Take care till next time,
Jennifer and Leanne x

All Things White!

This Christmas we, being Leanne and myself decided that everything decorated would be white. Charlie the cat was a bit hit and miss as he has a lot of white patches but too many other patches so we decided just a bit of white on his collar would suffice the decorating there. The theme was very folk-arty, with wood tree decorations and of course a few red ones too. Every time I went out shopping I would be on the look out for white decorations.

Think Charlie was on the look out too! Possibly in the wrong place though!

He is often  more of a hinder than a help as they say. He's a nosey cat.

We had some lovely white wooden reindeer, white birds on white bells, white baubles and a white star to sit on the top of the christmas tree.

We picked up some large alphabet letters from Hobbycraft that are made of papier mache and painted them white too, they had quite a few coats of Gesso and Leanne made a few white flowers to attach to the "N" for decorations They looked very good when they all stood together to make the word NOEL.

White/red potpourrie was there in the window in white bowl to finish the display, and to smell nice too.

What was so nice was, that because it has been quite mild weather of late, we had a few beautiful white roses out in the garden so it was a shame not to take a picture of one of the unopened ones. Can you believe that in December we would have roses out?! This one is a Princess Diana rose that came out after she had died, and it is still flowering, perhaps not quite at the right time this year though, but still lovely to see, and keeping with our white theme.

Another of our white decorations, besides the Father christmas beard, was an Advent candle which I decided to light while watching tv, then went up to my craft room to make a few cards, as you do, forgetting the candle, only to come downstairs to find it had burned down from 1 to 18, with a nice heap of candle wax on my marbled fireplace. Could have been worse or do I mean disastrous, what's that I can hear myself and everyone else saying, 'never leave a candle burning when not in the room!' Luckily it didn't mark the fireplace. Think I may have had problems with candles in the past, melting onto the carpet, exploding glass ones that also melted the carpet, you would think I would have learnt something by now wouldn't you...

Put a little sneak-peek in of the snowman I made a few years ago at Aunt Jemimas, a great place for sewing, but it's the card in front that I'm showing off, what Leanne made me for christmas, and what you can't see is that it is full of little beads on the leaves on the tree. She made some lovely cards this year.

The very last thing with a white theme I thought I should add is the white socks Charlie wears everyday.

And now for something completely different as Leanne would say, my next card classes are as follows: 

Sat.14th Jan. - VintageTheme  FULL

Sat. 21st Jan.- Vintage Theme

Sat. 11th Feb.- Fairy Theme

Sat. 3rd March- Fresh and Fruity

The samples below are for the Vintage theme and I am making each card a different colour. The first has been stamped using denim blue Adirondack ink pad.

The 2nd card is usind a few different textures with white and milled Lavender distress ink(wanted to write MULLED must be thinking of the wine,not that I drink, and I honestly don't).

Thirdly I have used tattered rose distress ink and a vintage sepia with pinks and mulberry papers. Hope you like them! Got another three to enjoy doing and have got my colours nicely worked out.

All the classes are at St.Cuthberts church, Douglas Hall, Lytham Rd, Fulwood, Preston. and start at 10.30am-3pm  - £23.00 including everything except your lunch.

If you would like to take part in any of the classes just contact me via an email : craftyhearts@hotmail.co.uk

I will update the next blog when I have made the samples for the next classes - until then thankyou for all your support through 2011 and hope you all have a peaceful 2012.

Happy New Year all.

Jennifer and Leanne x

Hello campers :)

Hello campers I'm here again trying my best to blog, still not as straight forward  as I would like it to be,but because I have written a list of what to do nextI am getting better, apart from when I can't read my own writing. Leanne sat next to me again tutting now and then as if to say have you not remembered that bit. Anyway this is another of the Christmas samples belonging to the Christmas class of  19th Nov, repeated 26th Nov, using some of the Molly Bloom stamps, of which this is one of them. I've used traditional colours red and green in both the samples shown (with spotted as the theme), but I'm also using black spotted paper and a penguin stamp.

If anyone is interested I have a class on Sat. Dec. 3rd where I have made a Christmas wallhanging and a Christmas cracker using a diecut cracker. There is plenty of stamping cutting and glueing.

I have always loved making Christmas decorations and try to make something every year that is different for my sisters.As you know my sister Susan is a crafter too and comes along to the classes, so it is sometimes hard to make something for her, using papers etc.that she hasn't seen before.(We are often out and about on our travels, via the craft shops looking for new crafting goodies.) Susan always has an advantage, as at this time of year she goes off to America to see her son and his family, so gets to look at the craft shops over there. My other sister Joanne although not a crafter is an excellent baker.(Some of you will have tasted her cakes when we had the open evenings at the shop).

 So here's hoping that Susan doesn't see the blog and I can make her a wallhanging similar, perhaps using different colours and that Joanne doesn't go on the blog and I can give her the cracker. Hope you like them, let me know via an email if you want to come along and make. craftyhearts@hotmail.co.uk

Better close now as Stephens in charge of dinner,not may I add something he does often, and at the moment he has hurt his foot, which seem to stop his hands working, but who am I to complain, he is making an effort. Hope the chicken tastes as good as it smells....

To be continued......

Happy crafting all.
Jennifer x

Christmas is a-coming, sooner than we think.

 Good afternoon all!
At last I have managed to do a little updating on the blog. I love sorting out the pictures and writing something alongside, but, it's not as easy as I would like it to be. Lovely, patient Leanne (sometimes not so) is trying her best to give me step-by-step instructions, and I am following and writing it down at the same time, so that hopefully I will have no trouble the next time I'm trying to blog.

Just put a couple of pictures of the things we made  previously on the Autumn class, to give people a few ideas if you have to make any Autumn birthday cards. Alternatively, as the scarecrow picture shows, we cut him out and attached him to a wooden stirring stick we acquired from the coffee shops.(Two coffees,three sticks.) Hoping there isn't a shortage now. It's a nice idea to put it into a plantpot and give as a present.
The stamp we used was a Molly Bloom.








Another Autumn card we made using
Magenta stamps and Sissix embossing
folder and gently sanded the Core-dinations card to reveal the birds and flowers.

The first of the two Christmas classes using Craftwork Cards papers etc. is on the Sat 22nd October (FULL) and  Friday 4th November 2011

Here's a sneak preview of the cards coming up on the next Christmas classes.



Craftwork Cards shaped cards have been used on this sample and I have stamped the tree several times, coloured with Pro-markers then layered up the separate pieces.



People often ask me where I get my ideas from, and for this card I saw a similar birthday card with presents on and it gave me the idea of cutting the card away to reveal the presents. It's a great way of using up the scraps of card and papers we seem to accumulate.

 The next Christmas classes using Magnolia

stamps and Molly Bloom stamps are as

follows:

Sat. 19th Nov. 2011

Sat. 26th Nov. 2011

of which there are limited spaces, but,

for the ladies that have booked in advance

I have just one sample at the moment, but

will put a couple more on as and when I

have completed them.

Lovely Magnolia stamp, whose girl is sitting clutching a

heart bauble on a background of embossed,

and distressed holly. Oh so cute.

Last but not least, Leanne has been busy making her Christmas cards too.She has been stamping and as you know Leanne's favourite thing is cutting out, so she has been a busy girl cutting out stars and reindeers.

And finally to everybody out there who follow the blog and all the lovely ladies that attend the classes, I wish to thank you all for your kind words and support. Leanne is improving slowly and feels much better herself and is looking forward to the day when she can come along to the classes and help cut out all the small things we challenge you with.

Kind regards to you all and happy crafting.

Jennifer x

"Oh so cute" and "Sewing and stitching"

First of all I must say 'Hello' to everybody who takes a peak at this page and appologise as it has been such a long time since I last blogged. Blogging doesn't come natural to me as you know, it means using the computer much more than just sending or receiving emails. Again I look to Leanne for help,poor lass isn't feeling at her best today, but hopefully I will press the right buttons and all will be well.

Took me a little while to get back into the swing of actually sitting down(or if I am stamping, standing up) and making cards again for a class, but it never takes long to get back into it as it's a hobby I love.

On the "Oh so cute" class I have made cards that are suitable for baby/children/adults using Molly Bloom, of which I need more (that sounds like a typical crafter) Magnolia and Stamposaurus stamps. If any of you ladies watch Create and Craft on the Tv, they had the very stamps I have used on the baby cards, oh so cute elephants. All the cards have different shades of gingham or spotted papers.

"Oh so cute" Sat. 13th August ---- FULL

I have just added a couple of cards from the sewing and stitching class, this is on Sat. 20th August. Usual time start 10.30am - 3pm.
I have on this class stamped a flower image onto calico to let you all have a go at stamping on material, which is something I like doing. Luckily I have yards of calico if there are any mistakes, ha! ha! Lace is very popular at the moment so I have included that too.

My next date for the card classes will be September 24th and hopefully I should have that titled soon. I have all my classes booked right up to December so will let you know of them soon too.

No doubt I will be onto the Christmas ones before long, I have a lovely Molly Bloom stamp waiting in the wings.

Just a last note, Leanne would like to thank all the people that made her 21st cards and presents and to thank everybody for their best wishes too. As soon as she is able to blog herself (hope that's very soon) she is going to put all her handcrafted cards on.

I look forward to seeing all you crafting ladies soon, take care Jennifer