What happens to Time......Where does it go?

Hello All my crafty friends,

My word doesn't time fly when you are having fun.I cannot believe that it has been over a month since I last blogged.
I did promise to show you some piccies of our session with the lovely Maria from Clarity stamps.

The samples where stunning, and the group was so inspired with all of Marias tecniques.
We had a great session, and had 17 ladies join us.I am saying ladies, as up to now we have no men join us,but of course our sessions are open to both ladies and gents .

 After the demonstration Maria had a make and take organised for the group.The ladies got really stuck into the make and take table, and produced many amazing samples which they where all extremely proud of.

The feedback from the group about the CLARITY SESSION was fantastic, and we are hoping to get Maria back in the near future for another amazing demonstration and make and take.

We are not having any crafty meetups during August ,but are back in September.

RETURN DATE: WED 11TH SEPTEMBER 2013

Same place, same time in Lowton Warrington.

Will blog towards the end of August and of course will also a do a reminder for the meetup at the same time.

Well hope you are having a great summer , and will chat to you in the next couple of weeks.

Take care nd happy crafty days to you all

Jacki x

Clarity comes to us tomorrow

Hi Everyone

Yes, I know I am a naughty girl for not blogging for a while,but things have been quite hectic at home.

Just to let you know that the lovely Maria Simms will be joining us at our group in Lowton tomorrow.
Maria demonstrates Clarity products which are excellent quality,  and I am sure those who join us tomorrow morning willl have an extremely inspiring session.

It will be good to see all the members who join us every week, and both Sue and myself are so happy that you have continued to join us in our new venue.You are most welcome to join us and I am sure you will have lovely crafty Wednesdays with us.

Will Update you fully on how the session went, and hopefully have some great photies to show you all.
Nighty Night XX

Crafting Makes The World go Round

Hi My Crafty Friends

Just a short  sweet post ,just to let you know that I am still in blogland.After quite a few days of glorious sunshine in the North West of the UK we have woke up to such a gloomy day.

It didn't seem to both my little Westy dog, as he just sat in the garden looking up at the skies and watching the rain come down.He just loves loves the rain,but when I tempted him to come back in ,his treat won the day.

Here is my little westy waiting for his treat,doesn't he look so cute?

I haven't done an awful lot of crafting this last week as I am having major problems with my joints so have really had to watch what I am doing.Sleeping has been a nightmare and I have wished I could unscrew my arms ,take them off and put them on in the morning as they have been hurting so much in bed.

I love crafting ,but it can take over so much of your house.
Does anyone else have the same problem?My kitchen table should be called my crafting table as very rarely clear from crafty bits and peices.My other half sat down for his tea last night and said"which bit is my food".

I said don't exagerate your only sharing the table with a couple of my crafty bits.
Not quite true as it is rather full,so today I am going to try and tidy up ,so at least he does not have to share his food with trimmers,paper,punches ribbons and so much more.

Well, I am just waiting for my Stampin Up order to arrive,my little westy frightens the poor delivery guy to death. When my first delivery arrived he was petrified ,he thought I had a huge Alsation dog,but he started laughing when I told him it was a just a little small westy .


Hope you all have a wonderful day whatever you are doing and will speak to you all soon.
Take Care xxx

Crafty Easy Photograph Frames-A little Stampin Up

Hi All

My word I have actually had chance to get onto the the computer and try and catch up with everything.
This Bank holiday has been really busy with my family coming down from Durham,Thankfully they have all gone back home now as they are back in school tomorrow.

They love coming to my home, as they love crafting and just love my crafty stash.
This time the 2 oldest children covered little brown craft oval boxes which I had picked up in  the SALE in the RANGE shop.
They ripped loads of very colourful bits of paper and glued then directly onto the boxes.They looked really effective ,but I forgot to take photies of the.They have promised to send me pictures as I said I will make them some paper photo frames for them to be displayed in.

"Yes" these where the same frames as I had shown the craft group how to make at the last meetup.
Below are the style which I demonstrated at the group.They are so SIMPLE ,but so EFFECTIVE.

This little freestanding frame originally had my partner and son in,but when I told them I was taking it to the craft group they became photo shy.So now I had just an empty frame so I stamped a little scene from one of my STAMPIN UP SETS which looks very pretty and matches the colour of the frame perfectly.

The ladies who joined in said this was a lovely project to try as it was such a practical item.Of course you can fancy it up in your own style this was just to show you one of the ways how to make it look eyecatching.

Why not join us for our next meetup which is on

WEDNESDAY 5TH JUNE 2013

We are in Lowton ,Warrington which is so close to the motorways and the A580(East Lancs Rd)

For full details with adress and times etc just have a look on the right hand side on the menu bar.

Look forward to seeing our regular and new members this coming Wednesday,and if you need any help or have any questions etc do not hesitate to contact us.
Take care and speak soon

Did you make it? Crafty projects by our members

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all well and not too confused by our glorious British wheather.One minute it is quite warm with the sun shining brightly ,and the next dull,miserable and raining.

You just do not know what clothes to put on when you get up in the morning!

Today I was so cold ,I even had my warm boots back on again.What a contrast to the last couple of days when I wore my slip on shoes. 

I have even put my central heating on for an hour as my feet and my hands where freezing.My son reckons I need to live in a green house as I don't like the cold.I think somewhere such as Caribean islands........would be a better idea.

Below I have posted some of the beautiful crafting projects that our members of our crafty friends group in Lowton,Warrington have made.I demonstrate a mini craft along for members who enjoy paper crafting.  I have been teaching members how to make boxes,baskets,bags and embellishments .

Another lovely member also showed the group how to make fabric embellishments which we all enjoyed immensly.Many of the members have gone home and have been practising making the projects by themselves.

I am sure you will all agree that they are all beautiful, and all have their own individual style.It is wonderful to see the group enjoying crafting.

We do hope the members love joining both Sue and myself, as much as we love putting on the group.

We know many people look forward to to joining us once a fortnight,and welcome anyone who is interested in coming along.

The group is really informal ,and is for people who enjoy all styles of crafting from knitting,crochet,paper crafting ,jewellery making,sewing and so many other crafts.

Perhaps you just need to get out of the house to socialisefor a couple fo hours ,sit and chat  and learn a new craft, the choice is yours.

Here are a couple more pictures of members crafty makes.

 

 

Hope you have enjoyed looking at what we have been making ,and I will be back shortly with details on how our last session went.

Pop back to see a picture of the origami photo frame which I will be putting up in the next day or so.

Speak soon and take care. xx

 

Hello all my crafty friends,long time no see.

Sorry I have not posted for some time ,but as you know time flies by especially when so much is going on in your life.

Family life just seems so busy at the moment ,and there never seems enough hours in the day.

I have finally set myself some goals today, and one was to catch up on my blogging,so here I am .

As you may or may not know I am part of a craft group in Lowton ,Warrington in the UK.

We meet up every other Wednesday, and we have a small demo/craft along with all the members.

We have been concentrating on papercrafts and have been making a range of boxes,bags and various embellishments.

We have also had Rachel, another member, show us how to make fabric embellishments, this was a great session ,but up to now I do not have any photies to show you all.

Time ran short at this session so I never managed to take the photographs as I usually do

 Hopefully I will get some at the next meeting and I will post them for you .

I know a couple of the ladies complted cards with these ,so I will try and get some photographs off them all.

Once again THANK YOU Rachel, the session was brilliant.

The pictures below are from the previous session,so please accept my appologies for not posting them sooner.

This was the style of boxes and bags that I had done at the prevoius session, and two ladies brought the ones in that they had made at home.

Jackie W made the ones below ,I do not know how she never managed to eat the choccies she had put inside them.

The little flat bag would you believe was a plain old envelope, and I showed the members how to make them into little decorated bags.

I am sure you will agree that Jackies bag is gorgeous and has a lovely country style feel to it.

.

 Michelle another member brought her baskets in ,which she had also made at home.

They too where gorgeous,and it was fantastic to see that the ideas from the group have been used at home .

I love the way in both the members had adapted the original baskets,boxes and bags which I had demonstrated to them.

It shows that everyone has their own crafting style and I just love this.

I have also been doing a little crafting,unfortunatley not too much this week.I have been having problems with my joints so have had to cut down on my crafting as they where causing me so much pain.

Here are the cards that I have made ,do hope you like them?

These are the large 8 x 8" cards which I have used a variety of stamping tecniques on.

Well everyone I will try to make sure that I keep up with my blogging ,and now I am off to watch the film Hoodwinked with my son.So goodnight, and will catch up with you all hopefully at the end of the week.
Nighty,Night and take care Xxxxxxxx

A little bit of Boxing Homework

Hi all my crafty friends,

Hope you are all having a chilled out weekend,perhaps managing to do a little crafting!


I have been meaning to write this blog for the last couple of days,but with one thing and another ,I have just managed to start it.
I suffer from sinus problems, and this week has been no exception. I have also have been constantly sneezing, so not too sure if I have a cold starting ,or perhaps a little bit of hay fever.
Does that suggest we are actually going to get a little bit of springtime?

Last Wednesdays Crafty friends meetup in Warrington was so enjoyable.We had a fantastic turn out, and many new members came along.Thank you all so much for joining us, and do hope to see you every fortnight.
  Many members brought in their boxes from home, which I had shown them how to make at our previous session .Their pictures are below and as you can see they are so different ,but are made using the exact same technique.
We as human beings are all so different, and the boxes are a prime example of this, as no two boxes where the exact same.

I am really enjoying showing the members such a variety of tecniques ,as I know they can take them away and make them into some amazing projects.
Please keep following the blog as I will be showing you so many other tecniques over the coming months.
If you would like to come along to our Crafty Friends meetup, just take a look at the  menu
 "where we meet up" this should have all the latest meetup dates.

Will be back shortly as I am just editing the pictures of the projects we focused on at our last meetup.

Speak soon all my crafty friends xx



 

Beautiful Butterflies-Stampin Up Style

Hi All

Sorry I have not been in blog land for a while,but hopefully you will love what I have to show you today.

Well we have to start with the wheather,thats what us Brits are known for.
It wouldn't be a conversation if the wheather wasn't mentioned.
This morning was lovely and bright, and it really stopped me feeling down in the dumps,but alas this did not continue.This afternoon we saw grey clouds appear ,and it has now started raining.
My little Westy dog has just poked his nose out of the patio doors ,felt the rain reversed,sighed and went to his bed.He does look rather sad now.......Poor Westy dog.......

You may well be wondering why I am mentioning butterflies in the title,well I thought with spring close by, we may well be seeing butterflies in the next couple of weeks.With this being a couple of weeks away my next best thing was to show you the not quite so real butterfly stamps which come from STAMPIN UP.

Although these are not real,they look truly amazing  and are perfect for all your crafty needs The styles are perfect for all sorts of papercrafting ,and with the with the stunning collections of the Stampin Up inks they look amazing in whatever colour they are stamped in.

Below are a number of stamps that are from the main STAMPIN UP  Catalogue page 115,this set has 7 stamps,excellent value for money,great versatlity.
I have used various STAMPIN UP ink colours to give you an idea what they look like when stamped.

A BIG BONUS is that the stamps also have a matching punch which are so easy to use, and they cut out the butterflies perfectly.I personally struggle cutting out perfectly ,but the punches save me having messy edges.

Stampin Ups Swallowtail super large stamp  has the WOW factor,you literally only need this stamp and it fills a card.Decorate with all sorts of mediums from chalks ,water paints ,glitters this stamp gives you great value for money.

If you like the look of these stamps and are close to Warrington why not pop into our crafty friends Craft group this coming Wednesday.The stamps will be out for you to have a look at and for you to have  give them a go.You can see the full address at the top of this page including times.

BELOW is the large Stampin Up SWALLOWTAIL STAMP which is stunning and is a favourite order of many people.I used the Stampin Up ink pad as my water colour palette and I was so pleased with how it turned out.
This stamp is on page 18 of the mini summer STAMPIN UP catalogue and well worth every penny at only £12.95.

Do hope you have enjoyed looking at these beautiful butterflies,they may not be real,but they are gorgeous little beauties and well worth adding to your crafty stash.Butterflies are a crafters dream and I know they are part of many peoples crafty stashes.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend ,and hopefully I will be back mid week to show your the makes from the CRAFTY FRIENDS group this coming Wednesday.

Take care and speak soon.
TTFN

Making an Origami Box In Craft group Warrington

Hi Everyone

 Just a quick post to say thank you to all the lovely ladies who came along to the crafty friends craft meetup in Lowton, Warrington today.
We all had a lovely morning ,chatting,crafting and swapping ideas.
Our group is for all sorts of crafts from papercafts to knitting,quilting,jewellery making and so much more.

This morning I did a CRAFT ALONG showing how to make origami paper boxes which I just love making. You can do so much with a box, dress it, and decorate it in 1001 ways.

The ladies who joined in where really pleased with their end result, and no doubt there home will have many boxes in different rooms.
Come on ladies let me have some phtographs of all the boxes you will now be making..................

Below are the boxes I made as samples for this mornings session ,and do hope you like them.They are perfect for all sorts of storage, from favours, to keeping you earings or small crafty bits and pieces in.

 Below are the boxes in close up ,the white box has beem embossed using embossing folders, and the top has been decorated with faux pearls and paper spiral roses, and edged in irridescent glitter.
The sides have been finished off with sheer oranza ribbon, and a co ordinating green faux mini buckle.

 The next 3 boxes I have decorated using the STAMPIN UP SECRET GARDEN STAMP SET which I usesd in a variation of ways from stamping with my stampin up ink pads in a selction of the most up to date colours.I have heat embossed the silver and pink box ,but it is the same flower that is in the set.

This stamp set is such a useful set, and you can do so much with it.
You can even get the matching dies  which cut out the stamped images for you which is fantastic if you stuggle with cutting out small bits.

If you come along to the group and would like to see these stamps please just ask and of course you can have a try out with them.I know you will be so impressed withese stamps.

Hope to put another post up within the next couple of days so don't forget visit us again in the near future.
Take care and speak soon.

A Serious Stamping Week-Stampin Up Crafty Projects

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all having a wonderfully relaxing Sunday.I was awakened very early this morning by extremely loud chirping birds in my garden.Every year about this time the birds try their haredst to wake me up extremely early,well they definately did this morning.
I lay in bed wondering do birds speak to each other ,and wondering what language they speak to each other in?

You can see where I am coming from as they travel thousands upon thousands of miles in a year and probably meet birds from many other countries,"yes" I am having one of those deep and mindful mornings.............

Hope you have have managed to get a little crafting in,I know many people have struggled to do this .The reason being the children are still off school as part of the Easter Holidays  in the UK ,some children had two weeks off, and others just the one week off depending where you live in the country.

I have been doing a little crafting ,and have been enjoying using my new crafty STAMPIN UP STASH that was delivered to me last week.I have a had a great time experimenting and trying out new papercafting tecniques.Below are a couple of pictures of the bits I have been working on and do hope you like them.

I also love working with material, and have made a lovely 3D effect picure using LAUARA ASHLEY FABRICS which co ordinately perfectly, and where finished off a with a selection of upcycled buttons.
I love the shabby chic feel and these represent this feel perfectly,so much so that I have 2 similar ones in my bedroom which are lovely as the 3d gives a different look to wall decor.
Here is the one I have just completed.

Just a quick REMINDER out next CRAFTY MEETUP is this Wednesday in Lowton Warrington which is very close to Wigan,St.Helens and is close to the major motorway networks.If you fancy joing us for a morning of craftiness or just to sit and have a coffee and learn new crafting tecqniques ,you would be most welcome to join us.

Our members all love their own style of crafting from paper crafting, crochet,quilting,knitting,jewellery making and many more.

If you have been thinking of starting a new hobby or need to get out and socialise this may be perfect for you .By coming along you may be able to decide which is going to be the perfect craft for you to have a go at. 

CRAFT- A- LONG THIS WEDNESDAY 10TH APRIL

This session we will be looking at making very simple origami boxes which are perfect for all sorts of gifts or even storing small crafty bits and peices.
I have lots of these boxes for gems ,small flowers etc
We will be making origami boxes and if we have enough time going over the  spiral flower tecniques ,which can be used to decorate the boxes.
If you would like to join me in making these, here is you craft Ingredient list for this session.

INGREDIENTS:

*  Card(or substantial paper) cut into squares,not very thick card as we will be doing a lot of folding .

* Scissors,bone folder or ruler if you do not have one 
* A circle template for the spiral roses( I use a plastic cup so anything like this would be fine
* Pencils ,pens to mark the circle
*  Wet glue for the roses(i use tacky glue,but whatever wet glue you you like to work with)Pritt sticks are not ideal for this type of work

If you have a craft tool box you will probably have all these in it,so just bring this along with you and please do not forget to label your items as many craft items are the same and we would hate for them to go missing.

I HAD BEEN making a number of boxes and baskets for the Easter period, and below are a couple which I thought I would show you.They where decorated with a Spring feel to them and where all stamped with the new STAMPIN UP SECRET GARDEN STAMP SET.

If you like this stamp set I will be bringing it along with me so you will be very welcome to use  it as it may be something that you would like to add to your crafty stash.

STAMPIN UP CATALOGUES:

If you have one of my catalogues from the last craft session or have picked one up from me recently,just to let you know I will be placing my order next Thursday. 

***  STAMPIN UP APRIL/MAY SPRING SPECIAL OFFER***

Order items of £35.00 or over and receive 10% off the order

Below is a mini version of the origami boxes that we will be making at the craft meetup in Lowton Warrington.I am working on a display of boxes to bring along on Wednesday for our session so keep checking back as I will have them up by tomorrow evening.

 

Will speak to you all soon,just off to get my lunch and back to making my display boxes.

Do not forget of you have any questions/queries please just contact myself Jackie jackeanne@yahoo.co.uk

or Sue at missdefied17@yahoo.co.uk.

Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday,take care xx

 

Neil Wittaker-Flowers and More Flowers

Hi All

Sorry I have not updated my blog for quite some time,but you now how it is with life!
As I have said before there never seems enough hours in the day, and just how do you mange the time you do have?

Well today I had some time to myself, and had a brilliant day out with my friend Lynn.
As some of you may know I have been into floristry for many years now.

I love updating my ideas and I find that watching live demonstrations the best way to do this.
I am a visual learner so I was in my element watching all the demonstrations.
I noticed that my local floristry wholesalers where having a floral demonstration on today, and the very talented award winning florist Neil Wittaker was showing off his amazing talents.

Well what a show it was,it didn't go with a bang ,but more of a gust of wind ,and my word horrifc gusts of wind...........
We both arrived expecting the demonstration to be held in the wholesalers itself ,but "OH NO", low and behold, a large Marquee was set up outside.We ventured inside and there where just 5 of us, and lots of empty seats,we where shivering,there was a small heater ,but it was not doing anything as the flaps of the marquee kept on opening up.I think our cold, and snowy, icy weather had put many people off attending as they are usually so well attended.

We all looked like eskimos, all done up in our boots,hats scaves and gloves ,and what made me giggle when Neil had completed a demonstration  we all applauded ,yes, the 5 of us ,but we where all laughing as we all had gloves on ,and you could just hear a faint echo of a clap due to our gloves muffling the sound.

The demonstrations where fantastic, and we both learnt so much from Neil ,lots of hints and tips.We watched for 2 lots of one hour sessions and after that we where just too cold to watch the last demonstration.

We bought a number of bits and pieces to make displays ,we where both really very good and did not spend too much.You could spend ,spend and spend in there.They have such a fantastic assortment of floristry items as well as a full array of of crafting items,including ribbons and more ribbons and stunning home decor items. 

By this time we where cold,hungry and thirsty,so off we went to the family pub across the road to treat ourselves to lunch.We talked and talked and talked as we always do,my other half says when I start talking I can speak forever.Slight exageration ,but I do know what he means haaa haaa.........

So thank you to my friend Lynn for such a lovely day ,and cannot wait for our next meetup.

Below are some pictures for you all of the demonstrations with Neil Wittaker.

As you can see the arrangements where focused on the Easter theme ,but of course the tecniques could easliy be adapted for all sorts of occasions.

Well I am off to get my hot chocolate and to watch the tv in bed, as I am so tired and maybe read some of my new crafting magazines,thats of course if I can keep my eyes open long enough......


Hope you all have a wonderful week, and if you are local to Warrington,don't forget the craft meetup is this Wednesday the 27th March.
Even if you are not local ,you would be most welcome to come along you would be made very welcome.

Take Care
Jackie

Mothers Day-Cards & Boxes

Hi All


Hope everyone has enjoyed the bit of sunshine we have had in the north west of England today.
Doesn't it cheer you up to see the sun shining in the sky.
Perhaps we actually do have spring on its way ,so keep your fingers crossed.

While out shopping I noticed the shops full of mothers day cards ,and all of a sudden I remembered that I had promised my son that I would make a card and gift for his partner.They have just had there first baby,my first granchild and he wanted a special card made from her.

So once I was home I got to making them for him .I decided on a 5 x7 card  as I wanted to personalised it using my new Stampin Up lovely letters alphabet and needed quite a bit of space.To this I added a cute owl ribbon which was from my craft stash.I have been using a lot of the embossing folders especially with the white card as it gives such a clean look to projects and used this on my background of the card.

I wanted the card to have a special feel to it so made a co odinating box.I used the Stampin up stamp field of flowers  to decorate the box, which is one of my favourites.I further embellished the box with a full fluffy satin ribbon bow.Do hope he likes it ,but he likes anything that is handcrafted so that is a big bonus.
I have a picture below and do hope you like it.

Do hope that you have been joining me on my blogging journey,I would love you to leave a comment just so I know I am not waffling to myself.

Take Care and speak soon.

Paper Roses And Flowers

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all well and are enjoying the start of the weekend.
Have you all decide to do a little crafting ?
 
Sometimes you need to sit down and have a couple of hoursto yourself crafting and creating ,it can be so de stressing.So if you have the opportunity,or maybe find the opportunity to sit for an hour to do something that you enjoy.
Have a full hour of stamping ,paper crafting jewellery making ,knitting ,crocheting or any other type of craft, and I will guarantee you will feel the benefit of it.

I just want to say what a lovely morning was had last Wednesday the 27th February at our Lowton,Warrington crafty meetup.It was so good to see so many lovely people turn up to enjoy a couple of hours crafting as a group.
The group is growing week by week, and many new friendships are being formed which is so lovely to see.

We are just getting used to the layout of the new venue, so both Sue and I had a little time to get a bit of crafting in before the session finished.

It is wonderful to see such a vast array of crafters joining us we have beaders,knitters crocheters card makers,paper crafters ,parchments crafters.

We also have a lovely young lady who has just started her her own wedding stationery business, which is so inspiring to see.The young lady is called Laura Owen and her business is called Peacock Blue,which is going from strength to strength.
Laura has informed us that she will be adding new products on a regular basis to her newly established website so don't forget to pay her a visit.

This week I did a mini demonstration on how to make paper flower embellishments which can be used for so many crafting projects.

Below is a card sample that I made, and just used one of the simple paper flowers which I demonstrated, and used it to embellish the card.
Very simple ,but very effective,don't you think?

I used the Stampin Up Lace embossing folder for a good proportion of the card, and also decorated the envelope with the same embossing folder .

A small verse was stamped in the corner which was from theSTAMPIN UP Pursuit Of Happiness Clear stamp set.
The rest of the embellishments where from my craty stash,ribbon,lace and diamontes.


 

Below are the samples which I made in all sorts of sizes and in various designs and colours.

 I think most people are generally  surprised as to how easy how easy these where to make.
These where the looped style flowers,but I also made the rolled roses which you can see below along with the rolled rosed with a slightly different way of rolling them up. 

                                  Below are the two lots of rolled paper roses flowers.

I would be interested to know what you think on the flowers, or have you made similar ones and how have they turned out?

A lovely member Kath made beautiful babies embroidered cushion cover for my new garnd daughter, and it was just perfect so a “BIG THANK YOU” to Kath and hope to see you in the our next session.


Well I am off to do my hour of paper crafting, and  sit and destress, and do hope you are all doing the same.

I am planning to do  STAMPIN UP Saturday Session which I will hopefully get to share with you all,so PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE.

Bye for now 
Jackie