Tuesdays cards

Two simple cards for tuesdays class
Front

Inside - the square greeting is hidden behind the middle panel on the front

And a second really easy one just to fill the time

Daddy's little girl

Remember I said the other day about Amy sticking to Neil like a limpet whilst we were away, I managed to get a few sneaky photos, Amy hates having them taken, so I felt like I was on a CIA mission



Walking from area to area around the parks, Amy stayed by her dad's side, I didn't notice at first but Neil pointed it out and from then on I realised how close she stayed - SWEET !!!!!!


When we played the crazy golf course on the sunday, we had to split up as parties of 5 were not allowed to play together, Amy immediately said she wanted to go round with her dad
I think there is something really lovely about it all and I know Neil was pleasantly surprised.

I was greeted today by one that was 18 inches long and had a girth of 7 inches( we know because it was measured), it bent in the middle and had little bumps all over the surface, Kate commented that it reminded her of the days she spent as a nurse in a sexual health clinic in London.
Yes - Bonnie was brandishing another of her supersized........
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cucumbers !!!

My whiff of joy stamps finally cleared customs this morning - yayyyyyy, so we now have a selection in the shop

Finally, a note to my scrapbooking ladies - we are working with pink, brown and green and I used three portrait style photos 6x4inches (one of which is hidden)

Huge catch up

Saturdays class pages - sorry about the blue tinge to the photos - Amy had a 'special effects' action set on the camera and I didn't realise until after I had tried to edit them




Friday was great until around 3pm when I received a phone call from school, Robbie had been bullied by a kid bigger than him, not only had this lad made Robbies day a misery, he had assembled a little gang on the way home and threatened Rob. Rob did exactly the right thing and instead of getting involved had gone back into school and informed a teacher. So that is the call I got. Neil was at work so I had to shut up shop and get home as quick as I could, this could not have been done without a lot of help from Margaret, Carol, Linda and Mary. Carol washed all the pots, Margaret, Linda and Mary helped tidy the shop, prepare all the tables for my next class - none of this would have been necessary usually but we were due to go away for the weekend and it needed doing so I could come back on tuesday and teach the card class and ...... Mary very kindly drove me home to sort out all the problems with Rob - THANKYOU sooooo much ladies, I can't tell you how much all this was appreciated.

Anyway long story short - Rob is ok, the school have dealt with it, the boy has been punished, has apologised and seems to be makng amends, Rob came home from school happy. He has been unlucky, he was bullied in junior school, then by a teacher last year and this boy has always been a thorn in his side, I just really couldn't face him going through it all again, he is such a kind and gentle soul, I am sure this is why he is an easy target.

The weekend at Alton Towers was AMAZING, we had such a cool time, the kids all behaved impeccably and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We stayed at Splash Landings, spending Saturday and Monday in the theme park and sunday was spent in the waterpark and afterwards on the crazy golf course, we had loads and loads of laughs, I am so happy none of them have reached the stage where it isn't cool to be seen with their parents, even Amy enjoyed being with her old farty mum and dad and her annoying little bros lol, in fact she stuck to her dad like a limpet, it was really sweet to witness and .....we got photos - yeah !!!!!!!!

WE arrived home just after 9pm on monday and we haven't had chance to stop yet, so the photos will be uploaded soon. I have a neat idea for the ones we had taken at Alton Towers and I have some cards to share with you.

It was also AJ's sports day today, he came first in the running race and the relay race, second in the bean bag race and third in the remaining races, so he was a very happy little bunny (I have no idea where he got the energy from after our hectic action packed weekend)






And last but not least - mum and dad are home - yeahhhhhhhhhhh, I have missed them both so much. it was good to have dad back in the shop too, it is sooooo much easier when he is there to help.

I am going to sign off and retire to read the fourth Twilight book. Remember I said a few days ago that I didn't have the last one in the series - well I turned up for class on friday and one of my new ladies had read my blog and brought the book in for me to borrow - how sweet was that - THANKYOU Deidre XXX I am up to Jacobs chapter and I am having serious trouble putting it down.

Sweet vampire dreams XXX

Thankyou beary much

I have a few cards to make over the coming days and as I am going away at the weekend, I thought I had better make a start - I don't think the kids or Neil would forgive me if I took my craft stash with me !
So when I got home tonight after the kids had been fed and the cleaning up had been done I cracked out my copics and coloured this cute little teddy in.

The stamp is by Inkadinkadoo, stamped using memento ink, the paper is Foo fa la and the copics I used are ~ E21, E33, E35 and E37, flowers are hero arts and some mulberry roses
I also used a couple of Martha Stewart punches on this card

Today was a hoot from start to finish particularly the point where we were regaled by Sue's absolutely hilarious tale of the seaweed and the fainting shark, don't ask !!!!!!!!! you had to be there but I had tears rolling down my cheeks at one point.
The cucumber got a second outing - this time it was huge and bendy, thank goodness Vinnie was taking that one home !

We had to keep checking if there were customers in the shop and we have come to the conclusion that we need to display a warning when parchment class is in progress, something along the lines of 'Enter at ones own risk' - quiet we are not, refined we are not but my God we have a laugh.

I did have a customer say last week that coming to the shop was like coming home, warm and friendly - I can say that was the biggest compliment I have had in a long time, I had a lump in my throat actually, and no !!!! it was nothing to do with the cucumber !!!!!!!!

Anyhow, scrapbooking ladies, tomorrow we are working with burgundy, teal and cream and I used two landscape photos, both 6 X 4 inch
Saturday ladies - please don't forget I won't be teaching but the shop will be open and the kits will be available to pick up from tomorrow if you want to

Well must crack on, I've got some instruction sheets to type up and print and the pages are not totally finished either.

Tuesdays card class

The card I taught this week, it folds out and the sentiment panel creates a closure.


Anita came to see me for a coffee and a natter today to show me she had made a version of this card after class for her friend and it is gorgeous, she changed the size and did it in black white and hot pink - lurrrrrvely. I absolutely love it when one of the class members has found inspiration in a technique and love it even more when they bring in their little works of art to show me. I take great pleasure in seeing all the variations other people come up with.

I am really missing mum and dad, I have gotten so used to dad being in the shop it feels kinda empty without him there, and of course I am so close to mum it feels weird not calling her up for a natter, can't wait til they get back, their last text came from Monte Carlo - oh for the life of the rich and famous lol

Amy went shoping after school today and came home with tights and skirts - nothing strange in that you may be thinking................well Amy has not worn either since I was picking out her clothes when she was a toddler, she always wears trousers and jeans. Her new girlified clobber is lovely and I can't wait to see her in them. Neil thinks there may be a boy in her sights !!! Does this mean the beginning of all the scary teenager stuff ??? I wonder. We haven't done too bad, she is 15 after all and hasn't given us too much to fret about .............yet !!!

Well gotta get busy, I have some cards to make for some very special people and the page needs doing for class this week. No rest for the wicked .............. mwahahahahahahahahah

Family mini book

First of all HELLO Marlene, lol Marlene is one of the nicest ladies I have ever met and she has the most infectious chuckle you have ever heard, she comes with some other lovely ladies to a little scrapbook class I teach and I lurrrrrrrve my tuesdays, I sometimes laugh til my ribs ache,Marlene has a fantastic sense of humour, and she told me today she reads my blog daily, so HELLO you,so there is no pressure at all to keep the posts coming then lol

I started this book absolutely yonks ago, I got all the boring prep work done and then just didn't seem to ever get a minute to do the fun embellishing stuff.
I finally got it finished this week phewwwwwww






And some close-ups of a few of the details

The book is held together with book rings, but I jazzed them up with lots of ribbons and fibres, I also added some charms and mini tags

I made this pocket by cutting two scalloped circles with my nesties, folding them in half and then attaching onto a rectangle of cardstock so they fold across, I didn't want to totally hide the quote inside

I ran these slide mounts through the cuttlebug and then rubbed with chalk ink to add definition to the embossing

Most of the white cardstock I have used throughout the book was decorated using stamps and chalk ink to give subtle background effects

I made my own paper lace here by running a strip of patterned paper through a fiskars border punch - first along one edge and then again on the opposite edge - taking care to align the pattern as I went.

Other stuff

Thankyou Bonnie for the wonderful cucumber (yes go ahead and insert your own salacious thoughts as we all did when she brandished it today) ,and the sugarsnaps and especially the pie - that was to die for, I sometimes wonder what passers by think, I bet half of them believe I take payment in food (now theres a thought !!!!) I have had so many lovely things brought in lately - THANKYOU XXX

The boys swimming troup handed over the sponsor money officially tonight in their last session of this term, I think the photo will be going into the telegraph soon.They finished of with a play session, the change in AJ's confidence in the water is amazing, it was such a joy to watch him play without being absolutely terrified.

I can't close tonight without mentioning Michael Jackson, he was Neils and Amy's idol and I know they have suffered this last 12 days, watching all the stories unfold, I guess even those people who we don't meet but somehow make an impact on our lives have the capacity to touch us in some way, with Neil it was the groundbreaking Thriller video and all the subsequent hits that kind of made up the soundtrack to his growing up years, milestones in his youth marked and remembered by songs played so often the lyrics will be imprinted forever on his mind.

So RIP finally MJ, you will be mourned and missed and always remembered

I think this quote says it all :

To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.

Thomas Campbell - Hallowed Ground

The pages I taught in class on friday and saturday


Massive thankyou to Tracey who brought in enormous chocolate cookies this week - thankyou hon XXX - they were delicious, also to Bill who brought in the fish - thankyou XXX - I honestly have the sweetest customers (((((hugs))))))
I have loads to blog, but at the moment I have a vodka and cream soda waiting with a side of wasapeas and i am really sorry but the alcohol and snacks are winning at the moment, so until tomorrow I bid you goodnight, I will be back soon with the pictures of the mini book I have been working on.

Randomness

As promised these are the two pages I created using the techniques described in yesterdays post
When I had finished adding the ink to the first page I added some stamped butterflies and some journalling

With this second one I created gesso circles by painting the rims of various receptacles before inking - thus creating circular patterns

And just before you think I have completely forgotten my girlie pink and flower obsession I made this card tonight after work. The image is one stamped up for me, by my sweet friend Jane - thankyou so much hon XXX I don't own any of these stamps yet and she was kind enough to stamp lots along with some Gorjuss ones too, this particular stamp is a Sarah Kay stamp, coloured with my copics.


This time I did remember to note down the colours I used

Skin - 0, E50, E53
Hair, shoes and basket - E53, E33, E37
Jeans - 0, B45, B93, B97
Flowers in hair and blouse - RV10, RV21, RV23, RV34
Leaves in basket - YG63

On this card I also used 2 of my new Martha Stewart punches, we have recently taken a delivery and I must say they are lovely punches, a little stronger and more detailed than some other makes.
Paper used is by K and Co

Walking home from work takes me along this lane, completely surrounded by greenery it is a lovely antidote to a hot and sticky day at work, the birds are usually singing and the shade offered by the tunnel of trees is very welcome. My days are always pretty busy and I don't have much alone time, so this 10 minute walk allows me to sort through the days thoughts, plan my evening at home and enjoy the peace !

Another little tutorial

Okay you are going to have to take my word for this, but this really is a cool technique. Amy and I have been beavering away on our art journals again and have been playing with the gesso as a resist technique, using distress inks as our colour medium.

This is what we used

A little gesso
Some lovely colours of inks, ours are Tim Holtz
Some cut n dry foam (we used make up wedges from the chemist - just as good and much cheaper !)
And an old credit card or such, we used an old moby top up card


Spoldge some gesso onto your card

Squidge randomly onto your paper, using a swiping movement, like you do when you are using polyfilla on the walls, remembering to leave spots on the paper bare

The gesso stops the inks from absorbing into the paper, we allowed the gesso to dry and then we rubbed our inks onto the page in circles using our make-up sponges, three colours seems to give the best results

Finally using a baby wipe, wipe off the excess ink from the gesso.

These are Amy's pages, we went on to make a few more, and they look lurrrrrvely once they have other stuff on them, I will share the finished pages tomorrow.

I finally finished Eclipse last night and do not have the next book in the series, I am a little sad to leave the vampires and werewolves behind for a while, I really didn't think I would get caught up in all the hype, after all they are aimed at teenage girls, but who can resist the fantasy and lets face it Edward and Jacob aren't exactly hard on the eye - wink wink !
So I move onto a book about Henry VIII, I came to the Twilight books from reading A Dogs Life (one of the best books I have read in a long time - had me laughing and crying within pages) can you tell I am a little eclectic in my reading tastes lol, I will let you know how I get on with my new one, AJ is pretty impressed as he has just been learning about old Henry at school and he is more than a little intrigued by a man with so many wives and such a chequered past !

Scrapbooking ladies - we are working with some lovely bright colours tomorrow and saturday, red and yellow with a little blue - have I got you worried ? And I used two 6x4 inch photos, one landscape and the other portrait and 2 smaller photos approx 3x2 inch each

Well that is it for now, I will be back tomorrow, with lots more to share

The 2 cards we made in class today

This week in review

These are the pages I taught today and yesterday



the 2 cards I taught on tuesday



And the two cards Deirdre taught on monday



I just spoke to dad, they boarded their ship at 2pm, they are already having a brilliant time and he has stuffed himself silly at the all day buffet !

Kate and Barbara stepped in as tea ladies yesterday and today - thankyou very much ladies, I appreciate your help so much.

Off to finish my little project, it has been on the back burner for months and I am sick of seeing it in my plastic box so I want to finally put the last few embellishments in.

RIP Michael Jackson

Two very sad people in my house tonight, we just learned Michael Jackson has passed away and both Neil and Amy are so upset, they had managed to get tickets to see him later in the year, both are huge fans, it all seems a little surreal at the moment. Amy has gone to bed in tears.

RIP Michael

On a different note entirely and sorry this is so late, scrapbooking ladies - we are working with mainly pale blue tomorrow and saturday and I used 4 photos, two were landscape and 6x4 inches and the other 2 were smaller and measured approx 3x4 inches and there is scope for incorporating more photos if you wish

Sorry I promised to upload some more photos but yet again I am fast running out of hours,I will be back soon with art journal pages and cards and I also have a mini book nearing completion which I will be sharing as soon as it is done.

More happy stuff and last weeks class pages

Last weeks class pages, we did lots of layering and also used circles as a design feature. I cannot take credit for these fab photos, I am having pc issues so these were downloaded from the internet as my pc doesn't seem to want to open my cd drawer any more



I received some gorgeous little flowers from my very very good friend Lorraine, they are so sweet and a lovely colour, she picked them up from the show she went to at the weekend so I am dying to use them - watch this space - thankyou Lorraine XXX

Lorraine also brought me in a fantastic card from Jane in congrats for my recent publication, I will take photos and share it here - thankyou Jane XXX, it is beeeeeeautiful

And Mary came back from her holiday today and brought a huge box of shortbreads for me and the family - thankyou Mary XXX

When people are away and doing their own thing but still keep me in their thoughts, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, so this week has been a very happy week.

Dad did his last day today, so that will be it for just over a fortnight - not sure what I am going to do without my right-hand man, I certainly am going to miss him. So if I look a little lost next week, you will all know why.

Yesterday went FANTASTIC. Deirdre is a brilliant teacher and she taught 2 beautiful cards, the class was full and went very smoothly, I did the cards too so the samples will be in the shop later in the week. I will share pics of them here on my blog as soon as I get them uploaded, and I learnt a couple of very useful techniques - bonus - thankyou Deirdre XXX

Happy Fathers day

Happy fathers day, love you dad XXX
The card I made for dad

I decorated the inside of the card and chose a poem I love from the internet - so perfect for my dad

The card Amy made for her dad, she used one of mine as a guide but put this together completely by herself in the crop on saturday

Robs card, he decorated the inside to match the front

A.J's card, he made this at school and added his own special words inside (sorry the photo is blurry)


I got the kids an itunes gift card each to put into Neils card this year and gave dad a little money to spend on his cruise. We spent a little while with mum and dad this morning and then came home to spend a nice quiet day at home together. Neil watched the cricket (didn't the girls do well !!!) and Amy and I worked on our art journals while the boys played cricket in the garden, it was a lovely day, I asked Neil what he wanted as a treat for dinner and he chose stew and dumplings - which we all love yummmmmmmmmmmm. I have lots more photos to share so will be back tomorrow with the class pages for this week.