Teaching, Demonstrating, Working... its all fun to me!

... and this coming Sunday - the 29th - I'll be having fun at Birds in the Barn near Colchester - check the website for details..

please come along and keep me company - it'd be lovely to see you and I'll be working with some of the lovely products the shop has...
I'll be wearing my painty stitching hat!

Classes!

I'm teaching a class at the local college - 10 weeks of beginners Card Making- which I'm enjoying a lot.

That runs in the evening and during the day you can find me at several shops in the South East running a class or two - I hope you can come and join me for some inky/ painty fun - call the shops for details & bookings  :o)

(I'm going to be uploading photos of classes in stages because Blogger is being a bit tetchy today! lol)

Classes at ImagineThat, Upminster:

25 April 2012 (wednesday)

10:30-13:00  Hats Off

14:00-16:30  Path of Least Resistance

24 May 2012 (thursday)

10:30-13:00  Path of Least Resistance 

14:00-16:30  Hats Off
09 June 2012 (saturday)

10:30-13:00 Hats Off

14:00-16:30 Path of Least Resistance

Shamefully neglected blog!

.. its been a month since I blogged! My last post was headed 'poor neglected blog' but I've gone way past that now! lol

Where to start ... I don't know!... life takes over sometimes doesn't it.. I have a part time job and sometimes after standing on my feet all day (and I mean ALL day) when I get home all I want to do is sit down.. in silence.. no noise.. nothing....  We all feel like that sometimes don't we?  Zapped of creativity

but now the rush of that job is finished (back to normal hours etc) (& can I just also say that I really enjoy the job so its no big hardship - well apart from the standing up lol) I'm back and raring to go again - oh yes - got to learn to pace myself (and I'm sure we've all felt / thought that too!)

A month!... hmm might have to get the diary out to see where I've been and what I've been up to..

*  Well, I had an article in April's issue of Craft Stamper, and an article in May's issue too which is out on Friday

*  I had fun teaching a class at Imagine That in Upminster...

I teach there about once a month and really enjoy it - a lovely shop full of reeeaaaally nice scrapbooking papers etc.  I'll blog upcoming dates when they're finalised (no, really I will!)

*  I also started teaching a 10 week card making class at Southend Adult Community College - LOVE teaching here - the course covers lots of card making techniques starting with the basics - its always nice to go back to basics isn't it?

*  And, MAD MEN series 5 has started !!! LOVE this programme!! its got to be in my top 10 fave programmes EVER.. don't even think about ringing me at 9.00 on a Tuesday because I will not pick up the phone.. nope.. not at all.. don't even waste your time dialing my number! lol

I'm still watching this as much (if not more) for the clothes and sets than the plot.  Well how can you not - the women are beautifully dressed, the men are handsome and the homes are to die for - I am seriously coveting the Draper's new split level apartment... be still my 50/60s loving heart....

* I also taught a class at The Craft Barn.. omg - sooo much lovely product under one roof it makes my head spin! Seriously - I go in 'needing' 1 thing and come out with so much more! lol
Here are the lovely ladies who came to my Die Cutting Masterclass

phew, there was a lot of die cutting and embossing in that class - lots of samples..

* I popped into PaperArtsy before they went off to VersionScrap (that's definitely on my list of 'things to do' next year - its sounds tres fantastique) and came away with some seriously fabulous and inspiring new Hot Pick plates of rubber - so inspiring I really didn't know where to start! lol
I have designed some classes using them and so watch this space for details... to see all the new stamps head on over the PaperArtsy website

oooh ooh and more Lynne Perrella images - its all too much - too much inspiration...

*  I went to a training day in London for my job (learning about the lovely Pandora products).. I miss being in London - I forget what a beautiful city it is... it was nice to sit on a bus on a sunny day (i'd rather do that than be on the underground) travelling down Oxford St, through Trafalgar Square and into the City...

A little rubber loveliness to get you in the London mood:

HotPick 1208 from PaperArtsy

*  *  *

Phew! I think that's enough for one post! Here's a picture to finish, from my new 'art journal' - its similar to the book I showed in the last post but a bit bigger.... its pobably going to be filled with lots of randomness

Take care

Lets not leave it so long next time! lol

Poor neglected blog....

.... 'sidelined' because life takes over sometimes doesn't it?! 

Among the paint brushes, pens, rolls of tape, bits of paper, & work-in-progress-projects on my desk (and the occasional cat ) there are a couple of books that I've made following patterns I've found in books or on the www to see how they are made (i like making books). I use them to put little tests and ideas into (and sometimes I use them as a 'work avoidance' technique.. lol).. but they are just little books of stuff. They sit on the desk for a while and get worked in as and when the mood takes me etc etc etc.

This is the one I've just filled up, its reads like a snapshot of projects, articles and classes I've designed & planned over the last 6 or so months, and its quite small - 9.5x11cm.
Its almost like a mini journal.. a notebook about what I've done and lessons I've learned...

I like that the book doesn't close - that bits & pieces stuck in have given it lovely touchy feely quality.  It was made from a single sheet of paper that has been folded several times, then the folds were roughly seperated and the formed pages were sewn together at the centre. I like the 'rough' feel this gives the book - the pages don't quite match up but thats makes the book quite unprecious to work into - a bit rough and ready.

 Bits and pieces left over from my many projects with the Claudine Hellmuth 'Bloom' stamps sets - and there's a bit of PaperArtsy in there too.

This is a Papermania (DoCrafts) die that I wanted.. no, needed when I saw it in a magazine.. but then couldn't find it.. so I forgot about it... until I saw it in a shop last week - so pleased: it was like finding treasure - I couldn't take it to the cash desk quick enough! lol I especially like that it die cuts the entire alphabet in one go - makes a great stencil which is what I was playing about with on the pages.

One of my favourtite spreads - LOVE!! ('flight' was a recent addition - new die, so i was using it on anything I could! lol)

 This is where this book became useful - the right hand page of the spread has been gesso'd.  The same colour distress inks where used on both pages - look how differently the inks sit on the pages - who'd have thought they would be so different!?!

The colour on these pages are so lovely - they were left over from something and I didn't want waste them so I stuck them in...

... same goes for the tag & butterfly on this last spread.. they'd been on the desk, on the pinboard, back on the desk - I was getting fed up with moving them about so I've put in the book!  Waste not want not.

So there you are - my little book of stuff.. and now that one is finished I've made myself another, this time slightly bigger - with doodles, sewing, sprayed pages, more sewing, tabs & comic book pages - love it already - here's a sneak peek:

I'm off - got to make flags for cupcakes (what else would you do on a Thursday evening! lol)

Take care

ACP Week 8 part 2: Graffiti Jigsaw

Welcome to some more game piece fun!!
Today its jigsaws - great for using in.. erm.. well .. stuff! 
During the 'big studio clear out' I found a bag of blank jigsaws that I'd bought.. these ones are a bit tricky to stamp onto because of the cutting grooves.. so they've been in their bag for a while and I was seriously considering throwing them out but I had a light bulb moment - you know the type: the ones that come when you're least expecting them:  PAINT THE JIGSAW! no stamping required -
paint on them like you would do a journaling page... 
throw in a bit of stenciling...

I'm not throwing the rest away - I had fun making this - didn't take too long & I think they have lots of possibilities...

expect more stencilling on the next few...

Have a good day

ACP Week 8: Red + G = Game Pieces

Love a red & blue colour combo!! sky blue, denim blue, royal blue - not fussed - they all seem to work with red.

G = Game Pieces

I bought a complete vintage set on Ebay a few years ago.. it seems a shame for it to just sit unused on the desk so I used 2 of the boards as the covers of a simple journal/notebook - it took a lot for me to use these because they're are sooooo lovely..

The book has a loto board front & back, heavyweight cartridge paper pages (lovely for sketching, writing, painting and inking onto) and nice simple binding of book rings (another favourite). I like to use these as it makes adding & removing pages really simple (and you can tie pretting ribbons and embellishments onto them).

I'll be back tomorrow with another 'game piece' project (or maybe 2) and then I'm all caught up with the ACP and back on track. 

When I post on Tuesday/Wednesday it'll be the start of a new month/ new colour! ta da - and I'm being brave and using a colour that is not in my comfort zone - which will be a learning curve!

Hope you're all well, and are enjoying the sun (assuming you have sun!)

Take care

ACP Week 7 part 3: What no paper!?!

No not a single scrap - today's project is completely made of fabric (well it is fabric week!) making up for the minimal amount of fabric on yesterdays piece.. lol

I love to sew projects! There is something so traditional about it... I wanted to add more layers to this piece but couldn't find any more red fabric in the box under the desk... so I stopped.  Then I started another project and while looking for ribbon in a set of drawers I found red fabric - lots of it -spots, checked, plain!! how frustrating is that! lol
Nevermind, I'll save those fabrics for another day... another project...

I completely forgot to add this picture at the start of the week - flowers from my 'valentine' and love how they fit with my red black colour scheme.. gorgeous colour.

and the other good thing about these flowers is that they are 'cat proof'! Bertie chewed the end off a leaf and promptly spat it out (classy cat) and wandered off... yay...
shame can't be said about my beautiful Hibiscus which he chews on a daily basis... naughty puss

ACP Week 7 part 2: Circus time!!

I think this stamp has to be one of my favourites from the PaperArtsy Lynne Perrella stamps - love how she's wearing her hat an 'ooh la la' angle. lol

(the fabric part of this week is in the ribbon - in case you're wondering... lol minimal but its there!)
Papers are MyMindsEye - love this range - they've produced them in all range of colours and they've all been beautiful.

I went the the Birmingham trade show at the weekend, I was in two minds whether to go and I'm so glad I did!:
*  Gorgeous products on show as unusual - I had to be dragged - dragged i tell you - away from the Button Company stand... so.much.loveliness!! 
*  StampBox let me stroke/touch their paper samples (sometimes you have to see/touch paper stock)
*  I met some lovely people.. (which hopefully will lead to some interesting teaching opportunities)
*  I watched demonstrations
and generally had a very worthwhile trip!

Gotta go - things to do, classes to plan.....

ACP Week 7: Red + F = Fabric

I don't know what happened to last week and the ACP - everything else seemed to take over! but I'm going to try and get back on track this week - apart from going to London today its going to get my full undivided attention until I go back to SW on Friday (SW=shop work, I only work 2 days so back to crafting 'work' soon :o) )

Red is the main colour this month - I like how it can used in so many way - to portray love, anger and patriotism.
And if you're going to have a dress - there's nothing more show stopping than a red dress! OK, Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell (here in a picture from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) also have show stopping figures which help! lol  (but they are not the only ones - how about Jessica Rabbit, Betty Boop, & Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman - all have striking red dresses!)

 

Red & Black - always a striking combination:

F = Fabric

Today's project is some cute embellishments I made out of die cut felt - and I think I've covered how much I love felt! - its right up there with buttons, calico & Kraft card stock on the 'favourite items to work with' list.  I used to make and sell these on Etsy but I made these especially for the ACP - they'll turn up on something over the next few days I'm sure....

OK, got to love and leave you - off to London... (oh yes... going to London... by myself... it'll all be fine... I've packed the Epi-pen... no unexpected trips in an ambulance for me this time!)

Have a great day

WOYWW

I've been having a sort out of my workroom, and while the shelves look better & organised the same can't be said for my desk! lol  I took picture from several angles but it didn't look any better from any of them so here's the best (tidiest) angle:

 Two of my sketchbooks are on the desk because I was looking for something to inspire me for M's card and I haven't got around to put them away yet - and thats not because I'm a messy mare but because I've been working elsewhere! ;o)

And so you are not left with the impression that all is messy in Jo-land here's something pretty for you: a simple postcard I made using a new stencil I just bought - LOVE!!!
The postcard itself is one from a whole batch I made a while ago out of dressmaking patterns.. LOVE!!

If you'd like to know what all this WoYWW is all about head HERE to the blog of Julia 'Queen of Desks' where you'll find the details and lots of other desks to snoop around.. Enjoy!

Aaaanyhoo that's all for today - off to teach a class at Imagine That...

Take care