desire to inspire

This Friday's class

2012-01-31T19:06:00.006+01:00

I have been asked to put the projects on here that I teach in class so here are three canvases that I made with Valentine's Day in mind. Ladies, you will be able to make one of these this Friday the 3rd February - the choice will be yours but you will need to bring your own photos.
The pictures on mine are from a Darkroom Door sheet and I paired up the men with ladies -
the first canvas is the teenage innocence - when they believe they will be together forever and friends forever - soft and sweet the second is the older stage of romance - the wining and dining and loads of red roses to show you care -
and the third one is the settled down - maybe married or planning a wedding but still very romantic -
Am I daft - or do you see what I see in them - let me know...
and I will be back tomorrow with the next week's projects.

Bye for now
Sue

My Lovely Monday girls...

2012-01-30T20:12:00.004+01:00

For the last four weeks I have been teaching the younger girls drawing and painting techniques. They experimented by dropping alcohol into various paints to see/get a reaction and learnt the proportions of a face and the construction of flowers and to get texture into hair and lots more... their concentration is amazing considering their age...
and here they all are - ages 11, 10, 9, 11,7 and 7 - with their finished work...
pretty good hey!!Right, I'm off for food

Bye for now
Sue

Plastic fantastic

2012-01-29T12:31:00.014+01:00

Long post today so settle with a cuppa and a biccie and enjoy...
When the Sizzix friendly plastic dies first came into the shop last year I made all these samples and haven't had a chance to demo them what with Christmas and all that .... The plastic is fiddly to work with but if you can overlook the odd misshapen piece they work just fine. I have worn the brooch and one of the pieces has gone abroad so they are lovely to give as presents...
here's a close look at a layered necklace - the tiny stamped image is from a Tim Holtz stamp set before shrinking and the brooch is layered with a brad...
a small bracelet and a simple pair of earrings.....
another couple of necklaces - the one is diecut from a christmas ornament die pinned through with a copper brad and hanging from a plaited waxed cord and the other is from a shrink die embellished with a bead and a metal charm...
and on Friday 13th I taught it to a class of ladies - it's great fun watching it curl and roll around...
and if you look at Cristina's blog Cristinejoy - Scrap you will see the pieces she made on there...
Mu might be smiling but nothing went to plan for her so only Ruth's pieces to see...

and here's Pat happily showing what she made... and then this Friday we moved on to Friendly Plastic.....
I showed the ladies how to join pieces together, marbling, patchwork, draping, flowers, a use for the dreaded peeloffs and then left them to play... and here's Pat pieces - aren't they fun -
and Mu's adorned with a bit of bling and embedded with peel offs!!! but a good use for them...
and last but definitely not least here's Ruth's.....
Well, before you desert in droves with boredom I'll go now but I have sooooo many new projects to share with you on here that I will be back much sooner - hopefully - then I have in recent weeks.
Bye for now
Sue

Winner of give-away

2012-01-25T09:13:00.006+01:00

This is my random number generator. She is a Lhasa Apso called Kyipo who can sniff out a stray piece of paper at 10 metres....she had just had a bath a few days ago I laid the pieces of paper on the floor and called - Kyipo come - usually she bounds in eager to please and......pieces of paper are ripe pickings - she is off with them.... but today she refused to co-operate - why am I surprised... she's a girl after all!!! eventually success - she pushed slip number 4 but still refused to look at me!!! Marsha if you email me your snail mail address I will get the die in the post to you.

I am now totally drained after that manic fifteen minutes and now have less than 10 minutes to shower, wash my hair and go to the shop!
Bye for now
Sue

The Give away is now closed...

2012-01-25T00:10:00.002+01:00

Firstly, thank you to the 4 new followers - I didn't reach 50 but 46 is a lot nearer than 42. Very happy.
Can I suggest to those folks who have been following me a while that you take a look at the newbies blogs and leave a welcome comment - its always nice to know someone is looking at your work isn't it?

Ok its just gone midnight on Tuesday 24th and the give-away is now closed. I will activate my random generator first thing in the morning and do the draw to see who's won so take a look after 9.30 Spanish time - 8.30 UK time - don't know elsewhere in the world sorry!

Bye for now
Sue

Ta Da!!! Post 300...

2012-01-18T15:27:00.005+01:00

.......and a GIVE-AWAY.

It's hard to believe that when I started this blog in October 2008 we would now be celebrating 300 postings...and 42 lovely followers. Perhaps I can persuade a few others to follow my blog to push the number up to 50 - here's hoping...

If you comment here at the bottom of this post before midnight on Tuesday 24th January you will be in with a chance of winning this beautiful die from Sizzix. It is one of their shrink plastic jewellery range. Remember, if you don't leave a comment you won't win so don't be shy - its very easy.
Bye for now
Sue

Post number 299!

2012-01-13T14:56:00.015+01:00

As you can see from the title I have reached post number 299 - tada! and a drumroll!! and to celebrate post 300 you will have to read to the bottom and find out about it...

I have been making projects with Prima products - did I tell you the Prima ladies are coming in March - are you sure I told you??? and so I have lots of projects to show over the coming days but I couldn't get the photos right to my satisfaction and so yesterday I e-mailed my eldest son who is a very good amateur photographer - he has had exhibitions of his work - and explained the problem. Well Mum he said its the macro setting you need to use !!!!!Huh! what I said and where????? so having explained it slowly to me like to an idiot - yes I know - I got it!!! and so now I can - hopefully! - take better close ups of my work.
Anyways, I decided to make an easel card for my youngest son and his new wife...and then I decided to construct a drawer for it to sit on... and then it needed a little book to go inside the little drawer - well it did really ...and now the project is made it is so nice that sorry Jon and Jodie but you are not getting it!!! and here it is... and here's the front cover of the mini book...they got married on a terrace overlooking the lake at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas - absolutely beautiful - everything...the first pair of inside pages...there was laughter all day - and I know you are not supposed to laugh when you are getting married but they were like a pair of toddlers giggling - they are so much in love...
and here's the second pair of pages...makes a change to see Colin in a suit and me in a dress...and a very proud mama... "that's my boy"and the back and front covers...as you can see a very small, intimate wedding but just what they both wanted...
it was a fabulous day... and here it is altogether....hope you like it...I certainly do...
and so onto this morning - a while back I made a Sizzix suitcase with a mini album to go inside and it's a lovely project for a class...
and here's the small but very select group of ladies Ruth, Ana and Pat showing their suitcases and mini albums...well done ladies - I enjoyed this morning and I think you did too.
Right if you are still with me I shall be having a "give-away" to celebrate my 300th post - so keep watching this space - better yet join in as a follower and you won't miss it - and if you feel like commenting at the bottom I love receiving comments so feel free.
Bye for now
Sue

Feeling nearer to normal thank goodness

2012-01-05T16:14:00.004+01:00

Having looked forward to a break from work over the Christmas and New Year period and then finding myself ill for just about the whole holiday it has taken me a while to feel well enough to even think about all the projects that I had in mind.

So, with the ear infection finally clearing - unfortunately the cough still lingers - here's just a short post to show you a scrapbook page I made with Prima products.
I love this photo of my eldest son and grandchildren in our pool last summer.
For those of you who don't know - drum roll - tada!!! I have the Prima team coming from the USA on their Europe tour - so ladies, put the 15th and 16th of March dates in your diary. The lovely Prima ladies will be doing three classes on both days. The Prima products are gorgeous and so easy to work with and it should be a real treat.

Bye for now
Sue

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T11:34:00.007+01:00

Well, Kate I managed it. Here is the January page of my 366 page journal. I was determined to join in again this year - for those who don't know Kate Crane has run the 365 day challenge - see The Kathryn Wheel on side bar for Kate's blog and details - for the past I think this is the third year. I participated fully in 2010 but fell off in February last year as there was just so much going on in my life but this year I am determined to keep going.
This is part of the cover...
this shows the detail on the cover - basically I took a plain Kraft covered Moleskine journal, added a layer of titan buff - that was before I had decided what to do and it took away the bareness - then over a crafters template I spread a layer of moulding paste and let that dry. I then hunted around - don't forget I am at home and only have a few basic products here - and found a couple of old Tattered Angels mist sprays - sea glass and tattered leather - and gave a good old spray and left that to dry. I then thought aha I'll make it pop with a light coat of gold rub n buff but grabbed the Chinese red in my eagerness and what a good mistake that turned out to be. It now looks like old leather with loads of touchy feely texture - what a happy accident.
Right, I'm off to do the ironing - it never goes away does it. Mustn't complain though as its the only "around the house" job I do these days so
Bye for now

Sue

wishing you all the JOY of the season

2011-12-24T10:31:00.007+01:00

Taking a few days off from the shop to spend time at home re-acquainting myself with my patient husband and lovely dogs and cat.
I made this JOY on grungeboard in the summer when Christmas seemed so far away and now here it is already...where did 2011 go?Bye for now - may see you again in 2011 but if not be ready for loads of new projects in 2012.
Sue xx

Hurrah!! blogger has let me in again!!!

2011-12-13T20:38:00.005+01:00

Has anybody else been having trouble getting photos to load on their blog. I have spent the last few days trying to get in but no good - blogger won...
BUT..... just now when I tried I managed so here goes - lets hope I get to the end before it has revenge on me or something!!!

This morning I woke to a most beautiful sky coming in through the bedroom windows but as I reached for my camera my cat Tia decided she wanted to be in the photo too...This is the beautiful sun rise I was trying to capture...just look at that paintbox coloured sky... Whew! - yesterday was one busy day for me. In the morning I had a group of ladies from Jalon U3A to learn about distressing...
they bought a Big Shot machine and dies from me earlier in the year and I did a class for them then to demonstrate that...
and now they want to progress with their card making so I added a little distressing to the die cutting and you have some fabulous cards and some very happy ladies...
and then the usual youngsters class in the evening...
I haven't done tea-bag folding for years (I was asked how to do it by one of the regulars a week or two ago) and I taught the littlies to make a pillow box and a card and some teabag folded flowers and it was a really quiet class!!! Just look at the concentration.
We had a problem in the loo last week as you could hear water running but couldn't work out where from...well today I had a builder with a Kangol hammer and a plumber and we now have a few tiles missing from the floor but...Friday ladies if you are reading this... the water is back on and the loo is functioning again - no more trips to Mr Punch, the local cafe/bar to use their ladies.
Bye for now
Sue

A Graphic 45 Christmas

2011-12-08T13:21:00.014+01:00

The trouble with this time of year is that everyone is making Christmas cards and I made mine way back in July and August ready for the Christmas market I staged in the shop in September.

I am still teaching Christmas but behind the scenes it is Valentine's Day and Easter. I will show a few sneak peeks of what I have been working on over the next couple of weeks but for now you will have to be content with the Graphic 45 cards I made to show what you can do with just one pad and a few odds and ends. and here's an extra one that wouldn't fit when I attached them all to the display board.

Bye for now
Sue
ps and I still have loads of G45 bits left for future

December already

2011-12-01T17:20:00.002+01:00

Just a quick post. Here is the Advent box that was a joint effort between my lovely friend Tanya and myself back in the summer. It has had so many lovely comments - and sold a box or three to other crafters hoping to make a keepsake to pass onto future generations - that I thought I would share it with you all today.
Bye for now
Sue
ps Happy Birthday Mum - 87 today

The last couple of days

2011-11-20T22:04:00.011+01:00

I've been working hard making up for the down-time when I was so empty.
Yesterday morning as well as teaching a class of children and serving in the shop - with help from the lovely Yaa - I made four Christmas cards for my immediate family - 3 children and Mum - all very similar but all different and using the lovely Autumn limited edition colour Distress Inks - we have just a couple still in stock at the shop ladies - the ripe persimmon colour really brings the tattered floral die into life as a poinsettiaIn Friday morning's class the ladies made three of my twelve Christmas tags - here's one of them...very bright and cheery...6 happy ladies showing their tags...Mu, Maxine, Ruth, Pat, Shirley and Rena...I love the colours on this one... this looks so pale but it's just a bad photo...

Well, the washing and ironing is done, Craig has been voted off the X-factor - boohoo! and now I am going to snuggle up in bed with my kindle and find a new book to read - just finished The Winner by David Baldacci about a lottery scandal - very interesting

Bye for now

Sue

my mojo has returned...

2011-11-17T16:39:00.010+01:00

Woohoo - it seems that painting the wooden boxes worked as my mojo is back - the ideas are now tumbling fast as ever - faster than I can make the samples.
With teaching classes and working in the shop - there are just not enough hours in the day now.
I found a Maya Rd accordian album that I had attached Basic Grey kraft papers to in a drawer and as soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do with it - strange as it had sat there unloved for absolutely ages!
Fast as you like I unclipped the jump rings and started by distressing all the edges with a new favourite Distress Ink Pad - Gathered Twigs - one of the limited edition for autumn range.
This is the front of the album with a grunge stamped man - glossy accented later -
a bit of stamping and a bit more die cutting,a shrink plastic dangly and a metal star.The inside pages came together really well with more stamping, die cutting, a few bits ' n'
bobs and some Broken China and Shabby Shutters to liven it all upLast night I had three very quietbut very giggly girls to class. They were making Christmas cards using Wet Look Markers.

Here are Arlette, Alice and Celine showing the zillions of cards they made...
and here they are giggling again as Alice dropped hers.....

and here's the sample board they were using to make their cards...... loads of quick and easy and light to post Christmas cards- just what you need.....

Mum has hurt her back and Colin has gone to sort her out so I need to give the littlies their dinner so

Bye for now

Sue

Hoping for a bit of inspiration...

2011-11-13T09:51:00.010+01:00

I have been going through a complete brain melt down since my holiday. I haven't been able to rouse any ideas or inspiration which is so unlike me - my brain normally travels faster than my hands can write down the ideas or process them - so I thought that if I bought a couple of plain wooden boxes from the local Chino bazaar - like pound shops - and painted them it might kick start my mojo or at least awaken it. I have loads of assorted sewing items and buttons scattered around so I thought if I gave them a home in one place that would be a good start so this is what I made...
A distressed sewing bits n bobs box...
and a button box... in a funky urban style...very Barbie pink and bright...with grungeboard letters and rub-ons...
Will have to see on Monday if the therapy worked but I am generally pleased with the way they turned out and if nothing else they will be useful and help me be a bit more organised.At the start of the week I made this little book with sticky back canvas covers, alcohol inked letters and spray inks for Inga as I had forgotten her birthday - to give her due credit Tanya originally made one for me - although I used templates with the spray inks...as my mojo was still somewhere over the USA I decided I could lift the idea and I know Tanya wouldn't mind...after all it was a personal gift for a friend and not a class.

Right, I have loads of ironing still to do - 16 days away sounds good but when you come home to bad weather and can't dry the washing and the clothes you are wearing in the meantime also need washing it mounts up to 3 and a half weeks worth - anyway, I am now wafffling so I will say

Bye for now

Sue

Jon and Jodie's Wedding - 27th October 2011

2011-11-02T08:44:00.012+01:00

I promised a few snapshots of the wedding so here they are...

Here come the girls..... daughter Victoria is 3rd from left in the frilly pink number and Granddaughter Abigail is in front...

and the boys - well most of them...what's Lucy doing there??My lovely eldest son Lee and grandson Joshua...
The Announcement...plus Jean, Jodie's Mum looking on...
The waiting is almost over...

Jodie on her Dad's arm... They are pronounced husband and wife...A very proud Mum... Jon having a bit of fun with his nephew Joshua... There was smiles all day...

Colin and I had ordered the cake and it was a complete surprise to them - this followed a lovely meal in the Paris restaurant in the Eiffel Tower ...and more smiles...

It was a fabulous day all told and everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves.

Jon phoned last night from Sandals in St Lucia to say they are having a really good time in a beachfront room, they have been sailing and Jodie is having a golf lesson today.

Today is the first day I have felt anything like normal??? but I have been advised that epsom salts are good for swollen aching feet so I am off to buy some and then open the shop

so Bye for now

Sue

2011-10-31T18:58:00.024+01:00

Yay! I'm back - well my body is here but my brain and eyes are having serious trouble functioning. Walking round Las Vegas on Friday catching the last minute sights plays havoc with your feet and and then all that travelling afterwards not arriving home till midnight Saturday and I am still so out of it!!! I went to the shop this morning to takeover from Inga but I wouldn't say I worked and luckily its Halloween parties so no little girls class tonight and tomorrow is a big fiesta here so time to catch up with mountains of washing and hopefully more sleep.
I thought I would show the card I made for my youngest son's wedding. Jon works in the film industry and proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower on October 27th last year and they married on Oct 27th this year in Las Vegas and had their reception at the Paris Hotel in the Eiffel Tower restaurant. I also made them an album - a sort of this is your life...
I contacted Jodie's Mum and she sent me photos to which I added ones of Jon at a similar age...they were so surprised and pleased...
You and Me - this is our story...Three wishes for them...

baby Jon

and baby Jodie...

what a cutie... and another cutie... yes he was and still is all boy with a love of wheels - bikes, cars, Grandad's train...

Jodie age 8 to 13... We very reluctantly let Jon have a bike at age 16 to get to college..... Jodie age 16 and growing into the beautiful woman she has become... Off to a festival at age 19... Jon age 19 and a reunion concert of the school barbershop group he sang with and at Victoria's 21st with Chris 3rd from left one of his best men The two loves of his life besides Jodie - his bike and his golf...a charming and adorable girl...

This page speaks for itself... Don't know about superhero but he is all these and more... This is probably my favourite page of the whole album... Jon's birthday in 2009... These next two pages I left for them to complete as I hadn't any photos of the engagement or their trip to Paris... and I couldn't ask for any without arousing their suspicions... This was last Christmas

I hope you enjoyed the album - they certainly did and the wedding was absolutely beautiful and I will show photos of that later in the week

so Bye for now

Sue

We're off on our hols.....

2011-10-12T22:00:00.003+02:00

Woohoo! and tra la lala la - we are off tomorrow for our first holiday together in over seven years. Living just seven minutes from the beach and in a sunny climate, holidays for us normally consist of Colin going golfing for 4/5 days with his golfing buddies or me to a trade show. We both hate leaving the dogs and cat and so a friend is moving into our house while we are away.

We are flying to the USA on Friday, joined by our eldest son and 2 grandchildren and daughter and son-in-law and where we will be joined by our youngest son and his lovely fiance Jodie for their wedding. I will show photos of the album and wedding card I made for them on my return just in case they happen upon here in the meantime.....

So that and teaching and putting together contingency plans for the shop and washing and ironing (and being ill to boot!) and I am badly in need of this holiday so I will leave you with a photo of the loveliest of girls taken at the end of class on Monday night...

so be good and I'll be back - well if its that good and I enjoy it too much I might not! haha!
so Bye for now
Sue

feeling sorry for myself...and it's all Colin's fault!!!

2011-10-08T17:58:00.006+02:00

Not really but he had the cold first!!!
I made this jigsaw piece to teach lots of techniques to the ladies. It involves using three different types of inkpad, some stamping both with ink and paint, triple embossing, shrink plastic - loads of laughs and oohs and aaahs there - and a sprinkling of accent beads. Went down a treat... and here are yesterday morning ladies showing their jigsaw pieces - I managed to get through the class OK somehow as I have a really bad cold - closed the shop an hour early today though as I felt so rotten...so sorry girls forgot to take photos of the lovely work you did today... Here's my lovely Wednesday girls , Arlette, Alice and Celine showing the Christmas tags they made...

and here's the Monday girls...Sienna, Liza, Ana, Dayana.Daniella, Ciara and Lauren...

As I said earlier I have a really bad cold, shivering, head pounding, teeth aching - going back to bed so

Bye for now

Sue

Last 4 tags of Christmas...and a bit more...

2011-10-01T19:44:00.013+02:00

Thursday and Friday we had some rain - in fact it positively tipped it down - along with flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder - having said that it was much needed as this summer has been long and hot and so humid...this was the sight outside the front of the shop with me in the dry... Here are all the Christmas tags together on a board as they are displayed in the shop...and here's a bit of how they were made...

blend some colour, stamp a bit, colour and add some embellishments and its done...again lots of colour, a frame, a strip of tissue tape and a dangly bit and we're done...a bit of embossing through the Big Shot, a touch of colouring over the top, add a rosette, a frame and a bit of stamping and hey presto another tag done...

this tag looks quite dull but its not really - just a little more subtle than the others.

and now for something totally different to what I normally do... a set of Christmas cards made very quickly and easily but very effective nonetheless using Wet Look markers and clear and rainbow sparkle embossing powder - a new favourite of mine...

These cards went down very well with the ladies in class yesterday.

Right off to have chips for tea and watch X-factor and totally chill...

Bye for now

Sue

An inky weekend...

2011-09-25T18:27:00.012+02:00

This sums up the weekend I have just had. Inky fingers = joy at crafting and pure pleasure atthe wonderful company. One of my ladies Barbara, brought three of her friends from the UK to Spain for a weekend of crafting. She left the choice of projects to me but stressed they must be small and light as they were only bringing hand luggage. I chose to teach them a mini Ranger U - lots of techniques which they then made into a tag book, four Christmas tags - see blog post of last Tuesday - a sprayed and spritzed album for their weekend's photos and also a sprayed one page book. Whew! I work them hard but they must have enjoyed it as they are all talking of returning for another weekend next March.

They blended and diecut....and sprayed and rolled.....

and laughed..... Let's have a group photo before you go...

The lovely Liverpudlian, Barbara has had extensive dental work and is unable to smile at the moment - its a great shame as she is such a laugh.....Joy showing all the projects she made......Jen looking oh so pleased with herself.....

and last but certainly not least young Gina.....a relatively newbie to crafting but who shone with her inspired ideas... Right, my feet are screaming so I am off to soak them and then slouch in front of X-factor
so Bye for now

Sue

Otoño

2011-09-22T15:24:00.010+02:00

Autumn or Otono in Spanish is a lovely time of year when all the colours are so beautiful.
I decided it was time to refresh the window display - the Barbie pink cupcakes have ceased to be Barbie and are more baby pink with the sun fading them yet I didn't feel it was quite time to delve straight into Christmas with it being 33 degrees outside and so the last two mornings between customers I put together these autumnal pieces..... A rustic photo album made from corrugated card... A tag and a photo frame also made from corrugated card - the other side has two panels complete with staples to display photos...I attached some birds and butterflies to my lantern... I thought this looked OK but now I see the photo I will add some more bits and pieces to it tomorrow...

A chunky tag with a sprig of berries... a very simple card with some die cut leaves and a few left over berries... and another simple card with a bit of stamping and a Tim Holtz flower...Not too bad for a bit of a rushed project...

Bye for now

Sue

Four more tags of Christmas.....

2011-09-21T20:38:00.006+02:00

Here are four more of my twelve tags of Christmas.....this one has a touch of batik and a tissue tape flower...
this one - well, I can't remember how I did it because it was the first one I made! but its a pretty tag nevertheless...

this one is bright and jolly - just how Christmas should be - with lots of Dabbers and grungeboard...

and last but certainly not least is this pretty blue and white lacy textured tag...

last four tomorrow - or maybe something a little different - who knows - so you'll just have to keep watching.....

Bye for now

Sue

12 tags of Christmas - a little early...

2011-09-20T17:13:00.006+02:00

With my Christmas themed open day in mind I made my twelve tags of Christmas a little early this year...so here are four to start off with - more later in the week.....
This tag has been spritzed and flicked, stamped and the flower altered..... and this tag has been textured and the lovely rosette added.....this has Dabber, Distress Ink and a bit of die-cutting...

and this one has the flower and book plate made with Alcohol ink and acetate - from where is a secret!!! along with masking.....

so that's it for today...

Bye for now

Sue

Christmas in September

2011-09-19T21:00:00.006+02:00

These are my first four Christmas cards for 2011. I shall be posting more of my Christmas projects throughout the week so keep watching... Bye for now

Sue

Quick preview of yesterday's Christmas Open Day

2011-09-11T16:25:00.012+02:00

Yesterday, to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the opening of the shop we held a Christmas Open Day. We substituted mince pies and mulled wine with Sangria and turron and had Christmas music playing in the background hopefully adding to the atmosphere considering it was 30 odd degrees outside. We didn't count the people who attended but the shop and classroom - converted into a market - for the first three hours were packed solid. From 1 till 4 there was a pleasant stream of customers and we even managed to grab bacon butties from the nearby English bakery for a late lunch. We had such good feedback from people who attended and there were ladies there from Alicante (an hour away), Valencia (an hour and a quarter) and even Madrid ( over 4 hours). It was so busy - and in the middle of all this chaos the credit card machine decided to stop working!!! - that I forgot to take any photos. Here are the friends still smiling after six gruelling hours who helped make the magic...
Yaa, Inga, Molly, Norah - my first ever student who lived above my old shop and who has come to stay for ten days, Dayana and Becky - both vying for Yaa's job! Dayana and Becky did a fabulous job at the make 'n' take table - we were raising money for the APASA local Dog shelter and feral cats rescue...The whole team...This is my lovely friend Inga who looks after the shop in my absence with her beautiful daughter Dayana... This was the main display table showcasing my Ranger tags, my Tim Holtz man cards, my Baroque cards, my Crafty Individual cards made from their new stamp and their drool, drool Christmas books and the beautiful Advent box collaboration that Tanya and I made in Belgium last week...so pleased with how all these turned out and I now have loads of projects to teach in the coming weeks...and on the easel in the background are my Graphic 45 cards...my Sizzix shrink plastic jewellery - I am so not a jeweller - I have great sausages for fingers and I am so proud of myself for making these tiny pieces...and the oh so gorgeous Sizzix suitcases - I am so in love with these - I have made loads - not forgetting the beautiful Sizzix rosettes that Tanya made on the tree... this display table looked so lovely...The Crafters Companion CD and stamps..."we're walking in the air" - what says Christmas more than that...

I will show these projects in more detail in the next few days....

Bye for now

Sue

ps didn't show all the tables as the photos weren't good - but there was Iris folding make 'n' take and a Sizzix demo table and a table with Molly's frames, Mollypop flowers and flower presses but will take better photos and show these later in the week...

pps sorry if I sound pleased with myself but that's because I am at the way it all came together and the way all my lovely friends rallied round to make it work and for caring so much. Thank you all girls from the bottom of my heart - that sounds soppy but I truly mean it. Love you all xxxxxxx

A birthday party and a few days away...

2011-09-08T19:30:00.009+02:00

Just a quick update as Colin and I are off to dinner with friends Molly and Arie so I'll be brief...
This morning was my Birthday and having only arrived home at 1.30 am from Belgium I was quite tired but with a Christmas Open Day on Saturday to prepare for I still went to the shop.
My friends Inga and Molly came to help along with Yaa my lovely Saturday girl and Inga's lovely daughter Dayana and we all got stuck in making yet more cards and pricing up products and unpacking and other stuff.
Inga lured me to the front of the shop while they put up a Happy Birthday banner and balloons and set the table for a party with chocolate cake...I spent a few days away with Tanya in Belgium also visiting Holland for a trade show and we had a really good time even though Tanya got tired after her battle with cancer.
We stayed in a superb hotel in Holland and they spoilt us rotten with the food.
Tanya had mozzarella with tomato tower, consomme and hand made croquettes on top of tomato in jelly for her starter... my goats cheese interspersed with black bread with pink grapefruit.....gorgeous... this was as delicious as it looked.....slice of dried apple on top of cinammon ice cream with crumbled meringue, apple mousse and the apple crumble tart itself.... Tanya and I at the hotel enjoying our apple crumble and cinammon ice cream... This was Friday morning's class before I drove to the airport. That's me up to date so

Bye for now

Sue

Spend,spend,spend!!!

2011-09-05T20:31:00.003+02:00

I have just spent two days at kkd, a trade show in Holland - where I met up with friends and acquaintances - Tim, Mario and Alain from Ranger, Marsha and Mariska and Nolly, Anita and Betty and some of the other lovely people who work there.......

and spend was the operative word!

I wandered around the warehouse where I chose loads of lovely goodies for the shop but especially for the Christmas Open Day. I just have to pull out all the stops when I get back to make up the samples.

Back in Belgium at Tanya's watching Come Dine With Me on TV in Belgian so
Bye for now

Sue

signing out for a few days...

2011-09-02T00:19:00.006+02:00

At the start of August I taught a class to the ladies showing them how to spray with mica powders and distress re-inkers.
With the sample pages I have made myself a mini journal to take with me tomorrow. I am going to Belgium and then with Tanya to Holland to a trade show so I will be away for a few days - not holiday exactly but visiting with a valued friend and her lovely family and some shopping even if it is buying for my shop! Here's one mini journal...

and here's the other.

This is recycling at its best. The lollipop flowers were made from the kitchen towel used to mop up the ink on the sprayed pages... The inside pages are almost too lovely to journal on but I am sure I can force myself!! Right I'm off to bed - still got to pack but that will have to wait for the morning... so

Bye for now
Sue

Here's some of my work!!!! at last...

2011-08-30T08:35:00.014+02:00

I am so busy making samples for my Christmas Open Day on 10th September that there is very little work that I can actually show without giving away the surprise effect on the day but

Yeah! Woohoo! here's something I made that I can actually show! This suitcase and mini album was great fun to make and I thought the girls would love to do it.... a glimpse inside the mini book... And from last night's class here's Lauren, Megan and Daniella with their beautiful suitcases and mini albums... Zoe from Valencia - she goes to the same school as Paola and Andrea below - in a city the size of Valencia how much of a coincidence is that!!! This is Marta, Paola and her sister Andrea from Valencia...On Sunday afternoon Tanya wanted a last yoghurt before leaving for the airport so we popped into smooy.....Just look at all that luscious goodness - Tanya's is topped with marshmallow, pineapple and chocolate and mine with marshmallows and chocolate... all those calories!!! a kiss goodbye...

On Sunday - her last day - Tanya got her sex on the beach...at last! It only took 4 weeks but she managed it!

This series of my work was displayed in the window and I was asked by one of the Spanish ladies if they could buy the canvas so I made it into a class instead...uhoh! more of my work!!!!! and here they are with their canvases - all the same but all so very different...

Gotta go, shop to open, people to see, things to do and all that so

Bye for now

Sue

A treat for Tanya and musn't forget the girls...

2011-08-25T18:06:00.022+02:00

As you can see Tanya and Colin get on famously - they pull each others legs and are totally mad to be around...This is the second fortnight Tanya has spent with us in six weeks and apart from our house, the shop and the local beach we haven't been anywhere and so with Inga (and Dayana) looking after the shop Colin, Tanya and I drove down to Calpe, a small town a few miles south of here for a look around and a fish lunch for which Calpe is famous.
As I am seriously allergic to fish and seafood Colin rarely has the option of sharing a sumptuous fish meal and Tanya loves fish - here she is sucking the lobster juice off her thumb...
They had previously eaten - hm!!! no!!! pulled apart, sucked and dribbled their way through!!! - a platter full of enormous langoustines...
I realised halfway through that I should have taken a photo of the rice, lobster and squid dish...
you should have seen the mess the pair of them got into - ... We then drove down the coast to Alfaz del Pi where we had coffees and where they had these cute pedaloes...On Wednesday evening the lovely Becky brought in her fashion journal to show me. She totally embraced journalling when we did it earlier in the year and so I decided to show off some of her beautiful pages - there were also spots and dots, black and white and stripey madness but I had to choose and so here they are...bring on the fashion! keeping an eye on the time goody two shoes On Wednesday evening the older girls made star books - Maria, Iciar, Lucia, Cristina, Alice and Becky, Berta, Beatrix and Mar...Dayana had made her star book at Monday's class and she comes on Wednesdays with her Mum Inga who helps me with the classes and so I let her loose with some cardstock and dies...what a lovely scrapbook page you've made Dayana...
On Monday night the youngsters also made star books and here's Sienna with hers... Anastasia and Lucia... Lauren, Daniella and little Zoe...and here's the rest of the gang from Monday - Remy, Maddie, Megan, Dayana, Sonny, Lucia..... Sadly, as the school summer holidays come to an end, most of the youngsters are returning home soon so its bye till next year to some of them

It's now 8 at night and still so hot that I think I will pop off for a dip in the pool to cool off so

Bye for now
Sue

A relaxing day in Javea

2011-08-23T22:07:00.007+02:00

Tanya's second trip here is going much too fast. On Sunday we decided to have a complete day off as we have both been working hard in the shop each day. Tanya has been making lots of projects for upcoming events she is teaching at and I have been running the shop, teaching classes and trying to fit in making samples for the Christmas Open Day in September.

Two yoghurt places have opened on the beach and so we treated ourselves to a yoghurt - mine had melon, mixed nuts and caramel and Tanya's had kiwi, muesli and chocolate - llao llao is by far the better of the two for taste...and here's the lady herself enjoying it...

We lazed the day away under beach umbrellas - the sun is fiercely hot - Tanya with her cross stitch and me reading the Sunday papers...

and nicely relaxed - and also despite being under the umbrellas we had both caught the sun - we went for a drink afterwards before coming home for a dip in the pool in the cool - well cooler - of the evening

Very enjoyable and much needed

Bye for now

Sue

A round up of the week ...in pictures - well almost

2011-08-17T21:26:00.012+02:00

Today, the shop was incredibly busy and I actually did some crafting! though not intentionally!

I couldn't find the project for tonight's class which is my Dina Wakley journal from an online class I took with her some time ago and which I was going to use to show the girls how to use gesso and spray inks..... and so when needs must..... I rolled up my sleeves and set to at ten minutes to two - we close at 2 - and sprayed, gessoed, sprayed some more - loads of layers, took it home and doodled on it, typed and printed out a quote and whew! taught it tonight...
very happy girls Alice, Berta, Megan, Becky and Alesha with their lovely pages.... and I caught Beatrix, Beatrix number 2 and Iciar just as they were leaving..... the terrible twosome - Alice and Megan - we'll miss you Megan but it will soon be Easter and you'll be back... the little sweeties from Monday class - they marbled card and bound it into notebooks and diecut a message for the front... good work all of you... and here's the card I made whilst the ladies were spraying and stamping on Friday morning...and Suzanne here on holiday and in need of a crafting fix... and Pat, Mu, Rena, Shirley and Carmen sharing a laugh...

Tanya's here for another two weeks r and r and I will update you on what we have been up to - sadly no mojitos or sex on the beach yet as we haven't had time but the weekend is approaching and we know how to enjoy ourselves...

and having just said that I am absolutely kn.....ed and I'm off to bed - I know, what a wuss you're thinking and you'd be right.....

Bye for now

Sue

Happy Birthday to art y facts

2011-08-08T15:42:00.046+02:00

art y facts, my lovely craft shop had its fifth anniversary Monday of this week.
When I opened the shop I confided to a friend that if I could stay open until Christmas I would be happy, then it was Easter and then the first anniversary. Well, five years have flown and I am still here Woohoo! I have made so many lovely friends in that time and we have moved on to bigger and better things. The shop is now in premises four times the size and in a better location even though on the same road... and has a dedicated craft studio.

We are holding a Christmas themed open day on 10th September between 10am and 4pm and there will be demonstrations, make 'n' takes and loads of ideas to help kickstart the Christmas crafting season if it hasn't already started for you. This in part explains why there has been no blog posts as I haven't had anything to show. I have made loads but can't show it just yet. This is the advert in the local Female Focus complete with editorial. More details later in August...

And here are the loves of my life Abigail and Josh - they came to stay for a week bringing Dad ( son Lee) and I had so many cuddles and so much fun with them -and they both love - and are good at - crafting.

My latest favourite is a new Sizzix die that makes suitcases. No sorry it die-cuts suitcases - you have to put them together and I have made loads - did I say how addictive they are!!! All I can show you now are these two and the mini album I made to go inside the pink one. The others will be unveiled at the open day - did I mention we are having a Christmas open day 10th September from 10 till 4!!!

Here are some of the girls that came to class last night - I broke my own record of fourteen from last Wednesday - EIGHTEEN girls came! Whew!
back row - Alice, Megan,Alex, Victoire, Iciar,Cristina

front row - Olivia, Alexia, Anna, Dayana, Celine, Beatrix...
they are a mix of Spanish, English, French, German and Russian/Canadian nationalities

April, Nicole and Chloe...

Berta... I don't know how Alesha and Klara managed to escape my camera but I will get them another time - you'll see!

For classes I normally make the same project on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday during term time but with holidaymakers coming to class I am having to teach different projects each class and with not knowing how many will turn up its difficult to kit up but not to worry - we cope.
Monday night saw the girls making what I call Marsha's bag - Marsha made these as a make 'n' take at kkd last year or the one before...thanks Marsha -they are brilliant but despite the air con on at 17 degrees in the shop the gluesticks still melted and the bags had trouble staying stuck. Outside was high 20's even though it was 7 at night. Saturday 6th August eight girls made paper bag albums... Friday morning eight ladies made coin spinner cards...Megan (below in red) has been coming to classes for four weeks in summer and two at Easter since July 2007 and is now 12 and taller than me. I suppose at 5 foot 3 that's not so difficult!

She and Alice (seated in blue) are now old friends and they and Alesha had a fit of the giggles when I said smile please girls...not possible!!! control yourselves!!! no chance!

Gotcha!!!Abigail with Dayana the same night with their coin spinner cards... right, let's see if i can remember all their names....

Natasha, Kayleigh, Ola, Alesha at back, Daniella, Dayana, Zoe, Sofia
here they are all busy...
Blaithin, Lucia, Alesha..Sienna... Dayana... Natasha..Lauren...Chloe my little boxes with a tattered flower and a Wendy Vecchi rose... eleven - no not lords a leaping...did I mention I am having a Christmas themed open day on 10th September from 10 till 4 - I did! oh well never mind..... but eleven ladies (and girls) making boxes and two different types of flowers... Tanya and I do enjoy ourselves when we get together....she stayed for two weeks to recuperate from her awful cancer treatment... her lovely son Bart has booked her a surprise flight to come for another fortnight and on Monday night I will be driving to Alicante airport to collect her. I heard a shriek one morning and asked "what's wrong?" "I've found three eyelashes" she said so pleased. It will be lovely to see how much her hair has grown in two weeks.

I took Tanya to visit Feddie, a Spanish neighbour who has built a Gaudi inspired garden - I knew she would love his place...I will show more photos of his house and garden in future...Back to the shop... and a bit of face painting...well not literally..four visitors... and three regulars Becky, Dayana and Alice with their doll paintings.

I think that's a precis of the last four weeks Whew!- hope I haven't bored you.....and don't forget the Christmas open day on 10th September from 10 till 4 - see you there.

Bye for now

Sue

artsee bloggers

2011-07-15T17:30:00.003+02:00

Look what's new this week...

Geri and her husband have set up this blog for arty farty types - it's not a challenge site - its a site to see dozens of amazing artists sharing their work. They call it a directory of the creatively inclined and I agree so if you want to share other artwork or just view it click on the button and it should hopefully take you there.

Right, I have Tanya, my lovely friend from Belgium arriving later tonight for 2 weeks or r and r so I'd best be off so

Bye for now
Sue

my butterfly ladies

2011-07-10T14:55:00.006+02:00

I haven't blogged much lately as I have been working on some future projects for September and there hasn't been anything to show as it is almost all in the pieces stage. I play about with bits for ages before deciding how to put it altogether so I thought I would show you instead some pages from my A4 molesking journal.

In April I was sitting one afternoon after work and saw some butterflies flitting around the garden and wondered what they would be like if they were human and this is my interpretation...

these were just sketches done with a Pilot pen and my watercolours.

and this is the inside front cover of the moleskine

so from my own happy place

Bye for now

Sue

Language skills

2011-07-10T14:12:00.004+02:00

Had an interesting morning on Friday. The ladies came to make lollipop flowers from fabric and kitchen paper.

Four ladies in class - no problem you would think and normally you would be right -such a small group would be quite a pleasure -

well it was a pleasure and thankfully I had asked Yaa my lovely Saturday girl to come in to help in the shop. Let me explain...

Pilar, the lady Yaa is helping, is Spanish and only speaks Spanish and when you don't understand her she says it again...only faster! She is so keen the words cannot tumble fast enough as she tries to explain......

Barbara (standing) is English and only speaks English

Chantal in stripes is Belgian and only speaks French

are you with me so far .....

and Emma is English but has lived in Spain since age 13 and luckily also knows French from school

and so between us all we had some very interesting conversations.

Since living here in Spain my language skills - rusty to say the least - have been sorely tested.
I have a wide variety of crafters coming into the shop from Germany, Netherlands and France and the like. I learnt French and German at school but was never very confident at the verbals and with the passage of time ...well need I say more.....mange tout, mange tout!! a la Del boy!

but it all went well and they are back for more next week so they all must have enjoyed it.

Right, need to get the ironing done but it's soooo HOT. Might just leave it till later!!!!!

Bye for now
Sue

Kits for the kids

2011-07-03T08:56:00.008+02:00

I was asked a few weeks ago if I had planned any courses for the school holidays and the answer was nothing more than the usual classes. These continue all throughout the year because whilst some of the regulars go to their homeland or just on holidays, the rest still attend added in with the children here on holiday from Madrid and Valencia or UK.

With this thought in mind I put together a kit consisting of a sketch book, two gel pens, two paint Dabbers (Ranger of course) and a selection of bits and bobs to help them with their journalling. I added doileys, die cuts, alphabet styles, phrases suitable for girls 8 to 14 - the hours I spent on the internet researching these - lids, sequin waste, a page of journalling prompts, a page of hints and tips which walks the girls through the order they can add layers - which we have been doing in class over the last six or so weeks and lots more.

These kits have proved to be very popular and so I decided to use exactly the same kit to make some example pages for the girls and here they are

I just loooove this page. Just a simple face from a magazine -the flower with eye is cut from another image so she has two different colour eyes - didn't we all love adding moustaches and glasses on photos in newspapers when we were younger - this is hopefully just the next step up from that!
On this page I have used the sequin waste to add texture and stamped with lids using Stream and Mountain Rose - my two chosen colours - a fun page... I did these next two pages to dispel the idea that you needed more than two colours. Some of the girls believe that more is more and I have tried to tell them that you use what you have this page is mostly images from magazines with a little Dabbered water and doodled word "blue" Colin is home shortly - he has been away in UK on a golfing jolly with our two sons - and I am sooo tired. Looking after two dogs and a cat, an 86 year old Mother and keeping myself fed and watered - most of which Colin takes care of has taken its toll and add in the neighbour two doors down who had a party on Thursday night which had a singer with a microphone in his garden no less!!! belting out Elvis hits until 12,50 am!!! when I had gone to bed at 10 absolutely whacked for an early night. Add in looking after the shop, teaching classes, the washing and ironing, watering the plants all of which I always do anyway, de-pooing the garden - how can two little white fluff buckets produce so much of the stuff!! and a large delivery which Yaa helped me to check off, price up and put out yesterday and more projects in the pipeline and I think my head is about to burst! so before it does I will say

Bye for now and see you soon

Sue

Woohoo - 2 days off!!!

2011-06-23T11:28:00.004+02:00

Yes, I have two whole days off. Woohoo! Tomorrow is San Juan a major fiesta here in Javea and so the shop is closed and my lovely friend Inga offered to run the shop for the 4 hours today to give me a whole 2 days off together...can't remember the last time that happened... Christmas I think...
Anyway this is what I have been teaching this week - its finger painting overlaid with journalling. Kate from the Kathryn Wheel blog inspired me to finger paint so thanks Kate - it was quite freeing and the girls loved it...there are drips and splashes under all that writing and drawing and doodling so some texture as well...quite happy with the way it turned out

and here are the girls from Monday showing their pages...Right, off to make the most of these two precious days so

Bye for now

Sue

RIP my Lovely Dad

2011-06-18T08:53:00.005+02:00

If roses grow in heaven, Lord, then pick a bunch for me.

Place them in my Dad's arms and tell him they're from me.

Tell him that I love and miss him, and when he turns to smile,

Place a kiss upon his cheek and hold him for awhile.

Diane Radischat wrote this on her wall today and it is so appropriate as my lovely Dad would have celebrated his 89th Birthday on 5th June but sadly died aged 84 on 30th June 2006 as I was preparing to open my shop and he never lived to see what a success it has grown into. He was the person who put a pencil into my hand and guided it as I learnt my letters and he shaped my words by showing me how to write neatly by using the squares of football pools coupons.
I spent hours of my childhood helping him sort his maggots for his fishing trips - that was his passion - along with birdwatching, gardening and making things - he was so creative. I have so many things in my home that Dad made and they will be lovingly passed onto my children.

I am getting maudlin now so got to go

Bye for now

Suexx

Kate's DVD's

2011-06-17T18:39:00.004+02:00

busy, busy, busy but never too busy for friends....and my friend Kate of Craft Stamper fame has made not one but two DVD's
Kate has a unique style of art journalling and she explains things so well in her quiet, patient manner and lovely Yorkshire accent that you will feel that she is with you every step of the way -
is that OK, Kate - do I win your free DVD's now!!!!! only joking

.....seriously, Kate is a lovely lady blogfriend who I met in person last year when she and her family came on holiday to Spain and she and I had a fabulous inky and painty playdate at the shop.

For your very own inky and painty playdate with Kate you can buy her DVD's from Traplet.com or go over to Kate's blog - the Kathryn wheel on the sidebar - to see more details and more of her fabulous work and be in with a chance of winning her DVD's - but no sorry - they're mine!!!!!. hahaha!!!

Bye for now
Sue

doodled names

2011-06-11T08:41:00.005+02:00

I love doodling. I find it so relaxing and usually sit with a book and pen whilst watching TV. These name doodles are from ages ago. I remember sending my daughter a birthday card made from her doodled name and her birthday is September, whether that was last year or the one before I can't remember. Anyway, here's Abigail (Granddaughter), Colin (OH) and mine....

Right, I have a shop to open and a class of 8 to 12 year olds to teach doodling to so I'll doodle off..

Bye for now

Sue

It's so easy to do and so relaxing...

2011-06-08T20:20:00.009+02:00

Small group of girls tonight which makes a nice change. They get a lot more attention when there are fewer of them which is good for them and for me. They made the journal page the same as the other girls this week and were equally keen.
Poor Celine wasn't able to come to class and she came into the studio with her finger splinted - she had broken it after it was slammed in a door. Hope to see you next week Celine. I love doodling. I find it very relaxing and regularly sit doodling while watching TV. Well I am female and can multi task don't you know!! I have loads of journals full of doodles. The girls were looking through them and asked if they could do some next week so yes no problem... Just a very small selection of my doodled pages...

Well it has been a long and busy day so

Bye for now

Sue

Monday mania

2011-06-06T21:11:00.007+02:00

Tonight started off as quite a normal class - girls painting, cutting, sticking, diecutting, just the usual... but it soon disintegrated into uncontrollable laughter...when some of the girls found googly eyes while they were waiting for their Mum's - I shan't name the culprits! but..... the younger girls soon joined in...

...pity Carla had left by then as she missed all the fun. I arrive home on a Monday night absolutely shattered but you can see why I enjoy these lovely girls

Right off to watch Dragons Den and eat my cheese omelette and then bed so

Bye for now

Sue

2011-06-04T16:27:00.015+02:00

***edit don't know why both cards look bent - must be something to do with the camera?***

This week it was two birthdays...both on the same day - 1st June.

This is the card I made for my friend Molly - she of the mollypop flowers!!! and I won't reveal her age but... I shall be the same age in three months time - anyway, the edges are all Distressed, the button is utee, the flowers are recycled jacket lining and mosquito netting and the black lace is the edging from the mossie netting - how's that for ingenuity! huh!!! She was thrilled with the card and Colin and I are going there for a meal tomorrow with her and Arie... fingers crossed for good weather as we have been having very unpredictable weather of late...

the second birthday card was for the lovely Jodie - my daughter-in-law to be - and I used the gorgeous Teresa Collins paper and glitter card -- Jodie is a real pink and pretty girl - see her legs below! My son proposed to her at the top of the Eiffel Tower and their wedding reception meal is at the Parisian restaurant in Las Vegas in October so when I saw this cardstock at Stitches I knew just who I would use it for and have been patiently waiting for June to come around...

I took this photo of Jodie at my daughter Victoria's wedding - both girls are really tall and very slim - its just the angle I took this photo that make Jodie's legs look huge - sorry Jodes -
This is the page that this weeks class will be making... it includes stamping, stamping and heat embossing, painting, doodling, painting and drawing a face, die-cutting and journalling... and here's Blanca, Elena, Celia, Becky and Blaithin after class this morning... and this is my original journal page...
This morning while wife Arantxa shopped I chatted with Josep - they are from Valencia an hour and a quarter away - who turns out to be a Northern Soul fanatic - Dyan if you are reading this he will be at Cleethorpes in 2 weeks time - Arantxa is a Tim groupie so what an alright couple!!! This is the page all the girls in last weeks classes made and which I forgot to photograph.....
and here are the Monday girls - giggling at Mina - she's a real cutie but quite a handful!
Right, I had better take advantage of the sun shining to put some washing in the machine - its been one day beautiful and the next day pouring - quite unusual for May/June here in Spain so

Bye for now

Sue

a passion for journalling

2011-05-28T22:00:00.012+02:00

***edit...bad Blogger has removed the last three photos so this is the happy smiling faces of the girls with their work earlier today...***

Well, I am battered and bruised this week. On Wednesday morning I stepped into the bath forgetting that Colin had just had a shower and my right foot slipped and my left leg hit the side of the bath with a thump - ouch! bruise about 4 ins long and 1 inch high and then following that I went for a blood test and the nurse took the blood without me feeling a thing - very unusual as they can't usually find a vein but no probs but then soon after this grotesque purple bruise appeared at which I have been asked numerous times what's happened to your arm??? and then last night going to the loo mid-sleep I walked into the corner of a table - another bruise this time on my right hip!

Anyway, injuries apart I have had another busy week. Unlike many of my UK counterparts I can't make a set of projects and decide on dates and then wait for people to book them - the good folks over here either live here all the time, live here part time or are just on holiday and so my ladies - and children for that matter - come when they can. It can make for huge headaches and so I just have to go with the flow. It's difficult to decide what to teach so I usually let the ladies decide what they would like to learn and work around that and with the children I think who will/might be there and do the same. Doesn't make life easy but then who said it was!

Last Saturday Becky had asked if they could do some more journalling so very happy with that I agreed and took a couple of pages from my journals and simplified them. I looked for pages where there were lots of techniques and Becky, Izzy and Charlotte were very happy. These are the original journal pages and the examples...minus the page I forgot to photograph! duh!

The girls scraped paint and stamped and gessoed and doodled.......and smiling faces were the end result with requests for more next week...

Bye for now

Sue

a bit of journalling...and a few other bits of what I've been up to...

2011-05-17T21:28:00.010+02:00

This morning in between customers I decided to do a bit of journalling as I haven't done any for what seems like ages...so out came my lovely new-ish Crafty Notions spray inks and Crafters templates and away I went. Spritz, spritz, turn over...the template that is, not me.!!!.....in my A4 moleskine. Bit of Dina masking, a bit of Dabbing, a bit of stamping and then what to journal? I decided to take a break, put the kettle on, grabbed the newspaper and the ginger biscuits and as I read my horoscope it all fell into place. I have been feeling uncertain about a couple of things lately and as I read I knew instinctively what to journal. I am planning on teaching a class on making flowers in different shapes, materials, etc and so yesterday morning I got out some scraps of fabric - some man-made and some not (good job I have fast reaction times as a couple of pieces went whoosh!!) but those below made it and I am not too displeased how they turned out. Weird how Blogger manages to turn photos around though - this was landscape!! oh well! My good friend Molly,who makes the most beautiful albums from all sorts of recycled products, asked if I knew how to make an album from kitchen roll insides ....and I had been saving kitchen rolls for just that purpose... so I gave her a few and suggested she make an album and come and show the Saturday youngsters. She did and a couple of Saturdays ago she took the class. It took much persuasion on my part to convince her she could do it but she had them eating out of her hand. She only decorated the front cover to make them use their own imagination and she was surprised at their inventiveness and they loved her. All of the youngsters have been bringing in sweet wrappers, empty cereal packets, lids and other recyclable things and their challenge was to use any or all recycled materials as possible.
Below is the album I made and my flowers and heart are die cut from kitchen paper from the spray ink classes I have held many times lately, there are dried banana leaves cut into butterflies, leaves and flourishes, feathers from an old boa, and all pulled together with Distress inks, a few tags and ribbons and a piece of old lace.

I think it worked really well and the colours remind me of a bathroom we used to have that was avocado and for which I bought burgundy towels and a piece of Laura Ashley fabric in burgundy and green to make a roller blind. Ah, happy days!! ...and here's the girls last night busily heat embossing their already Distress inked kitchen rolls... Next week they will finish decorating them and bind them into beautiful albums.
These girls, of all the classes, embraced the recycling the most - perhaps its their age

Right, I'm off to bed so
Bye for now

Sue

Crackle glaze

2011-05-13T23:09:00.004+02:00

I went to get my hair cut today and have a pedicure. Karen, the beautician said we have a new product in, it arrived yesterday, will you try it? When she said it was Crackle Glaze well I just had to give it a go now didn't I? I had quite a hard time choosing which colour to go for as there were some lovely colour combinations and in the end I settled on black over silver......

.....so what do you think??? Yucky feet I know but the nails look OK now all trimmed and polished. Karen applied two coats of silver nail polish, left it for 5 to 10 minutes to dry and then painted the black over and while we watched, it cracked!!! just like that. Amazing huh!
Watching it crack gave me a few ideas to try out on Monday when I have no class and time to play so

Bye for now

Sue

A week of repeats...

2011-05-08T19:28:00.015+02:00

This is what I have spent my Sunday doing! Making air dry clay foods.......well it beats doing the ironing any day!!! The pizza and breakfast are unfinished - pizza has slices of pepperami on its base but no tomato or cheese and the breakfast tomato is unfinished - my red marker ran out- oh and the tomato on the burger isn't done either...but the cakes aren't too bad. This was my first attempt - well actually my second if you count the faces I made yesterday... so I am not too disappointed with them...

I made these when yesterdays class had left - the lovely Liz Welch had been using air dry clay on her blog and with a spare half hour to fill I made these gruesome offerings... I first taught this marbled paper years ago and was asked by one of the Saturday girls if they could do this... ... and here's the youngsters from Saturday with their marbled notebooks... This is a CD album project I first made last year and Barbara had seen it lurking in the shop and asked to make it -I didn't tell them it took five hours to complete.....

and here they are ... Friday's ladies with their CD albums... I took this into the light so sadly you can't see them too clearly but they are all smiling...even if just the bare bones of the project was complete -they will need to add the stamping and finishing touches at home...my lovely friend Norah (2nd left in the photo) is visiting Javea and came to class - she has been so ill and it is great to see her looking so well...

Celine has been asking for ages to decorate wooden boxes and so on Wednesday the girls sanded and painted their wooden boxes ...after unscrewing all the metal hinges and fastenings of course... Right, I have an iron getting hotter and hotter so I had better go and attack the pile - how come there's so much when there's only the two of us these days???

Bye for now
Sue

Not the Royal Wedding...

2011-04-29T20:28:00.013+02:00

Well today, on the day of the Royal Wedding in the UK, the excitement wasn't much in evidence here in Spain. No bunting, street parties,etc and life seemed to go on as usual on the street outside and the shop was as busy as ever - except for my ladies at class. Barbara , however, said nothing was going to stop her coming to class - she comes for a week or two every month and times her flights to maximise attendance! How's that for making one feel good - did you like that "one"!!! slight royalty effect rubbing orf methinks!!!

Anyway, as there was just Barbara and me I got out the airdry clay and the new Karantha moulds and we played. We were having so much fun that I got out my meltpots and we did some Utee-ing too.
The face above is airdryclay with mica powder, the crown is Utee poured into a mold and pour mould and the free shape is Utee poured over a stamp and rubbed over with mica.

Add some copier paper spritzed with mica, some heat embossing, some crackle paint and to make it look really ancient I rubbed it over with my fingertip dipped into a Frayed Burlap Distress ink pad - stick all that to a canvas and you have a piece to be proud of.

This is Barbara's canvas and airdry clay pieces. She certainly didn't rush away to her TV after 2 hours either!!! I can safely say we both had a fantastic morning - no pressure, no stress, just pure enjoyment.

I have been making lots of projects for future classes and so haven't been blogging of late but I can show you the window display with the letters covered with Teresa Collins new range. It has caused a lot of comments, all of them positive I am pleased to say and I really enjoyed "creating" them.

The cards on the lower shelf are ....gasps in horror....the "decoupage" range from Nitwit designs and at Stitches I thought it was just the thing to attract the ladies who don't as yet frequent my shop as they are bright and colourful. Well, time will tell but again they have had very positive feedback. Myself, I prefer distressed and vintage but not all crafters think that way.
I will be back later in the week with photos of some of the projects.

Right I am off for an early night so

Bye for now

Sue

2 matchbooks and counting...

2011-04-07T08:39:00.006+02:00

Seems my mojo is back big time...All through March I was feeling uninspired and sooo tired that I couldn't think straight and this week I can hardly sit still the ideas are buzzing faster than I can make them. This is the total so far in only 3 mornings - 8 cards, 2 match books and a set of letters gesso-ed and ready for me to decorate...

this was catch up week and so the girls who had unfinished projects worked on them while Alice Oh!! here you are again, with Chloe, made this week's project... Alice has been coming to classes for 3 years and so knows my stamps as well as I do and made something weird and wonderful for her bedroom wall while this is only Chloe's 3rd week and she followed mine learning die-cutting and triple embossing (the flowers) on the way...

two very pleased girls...

Gotta go, got a shop to open so

Bye for now

Running wild!!!

2011-04-05T23:09:00.003+02:00

Here are the girls hard at work at class last night.... and here they are with their beautiful work - well Mina's not looking too happy as she hadn't completely finished hers...Yesterday morning and today - in between serving customers - I have been busy making cards for the next few Friday morning ladies classes - there are a few techniques here - and for once I feel happy that I am ahead - if only slightly!!! The cards are pretty basic but its the techniques I am teaching, the ladies can then take the ideas and let their imaginations run wild - the words my ladies, run and wild don't usually appear in the same sentence but well there's always a first for everything so they say!!! Lol!I'll let you know after Friday how wild the ladies can get!!!!! so

Bye for now

Sue

Just one word...

2011-04-02T18:28:00.005+02:00

TIRED!!! so I will just show you this week's project and then buzz off for a much needed restso Bye for now

Sue

40th Birthday present for Gayle

2011-04-01T21:52:00.025+02:00

Sorry ladies, it's a long post tonight...it's OK there's lots of pictures and not much writing... but I had to share with you this album I made for my lovely hairdresser friend Gayle who celebrated her 40th birthday on 6th March...I took my trusty point and press camera which never lets me down...but guess what...that night it chose not to co-operate and so some of the photos aren't what they should be but nevertheless we had a fabulous night out at a local restaurant.....so sit back and hopefully enjoy...

I shrunk the menu to fit inside the fabulous Baroque die by Sizzix...and our Queen for the night...

The table before we invaded...and Gayle and co snuck outside to enjoy a ciggie or two!

Some of these photos weren't the best but I had to work with what I had and they are a memory after all...

the left hand flap opens up to reveal a panoramic triptych of everyone seated...

There were photos of Gayle through the years - even with the 80's curly perm!!! and some beautiful baby ones too...

Gayle didn't know whether to laugh or cry and did both...

Gayle had loads of presents and.....

...lift the flap and here's just one of them...

Cheers!!! and lift the flap to see Caz's shoes.....

Just had to take a photo of Caz's shoes - you can tell she's the youngster of the group

Just look at the size of that pepper pot!!!!! with 26 ladies there you can guess there was a comment or two!!! Lol!

but by the time the cake complete with naked men came out my camera battery had died so I've had to leave that one for Gayle to find and attach...

As I hadn't got all the photos I made some pockets and tags for Gayle to add photos later...

A few photos of the food...and of course the wine!!!

I made a little envelope to hold the flyer with all the good wishes... I got all the ladies to sign it...

I went to have my hair cut and...shhhh! whisper this bit - coloured this afternoon and gave it to Gayle and she

was delighted with the album

and even if I say so myself so was I.

Bye for now

Sue

The new Crafty Notions spray inks were a hit...

2011-03-27T19:43:00.024+02:00

This is a long post and has taken me ages to write because I am doing it in the intervals between the Dancing on Ice final. At the moment Sam has skated the bolero - captivating was Jason's comment!! and Laura has yet to skate - no idea who will win as they are both fantastic. At Stitches, the trade show in February I thought I would buy a few bottles of Crafty Notions mica spray inks to try, and boy are they gorgeous!!! Just look at those stunning colours and the mica in them mixes like a dream. It looks delicious being swirled around and they spray really easily too unlike others I have tried....they have also almost sold out so if you want some be quick.

so I had a play on Thursday morning and I sprayed sheets and sheets of cardstock and also in my A4 and A5 Moleskines - a real joy. I converted some of the cardstock into birthday cards adding die cut butterflies as you can see here... they have a batik-like quality to them. Also in the photo below are the journal pages I sprayed and on the reverse the inks leaked gently through and left some lovely images....

Today, was sunny and warm and so I took myself out to the naya and equipped with a can of Pepsi and a Cadbury's creme egg I was all set.

It's weird journalling in an A4 size. I have so many A5 journals on the go and the larger size can be quite daunting at first but I am enjoying working in the larger size. As an artist I always worked large as it is much more freeing but for journalling smaller seemed safer.

Anyway, I doodled around some of the flower images that had leaked and added wording from my quote collection which reads " If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom"

In my A5 journal I had sprayed through a new Sizzix butterfly die cut - I used the butterflies on the cards - and also dabbed the leftover spray onto the page reversing the image...look at these beautiful colours... and today I added some fairies that a friend gave me last year and found some wording which reads "Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life, and everyone deserves a little sunshine" .....which is a beautiful sentiment.

On Saturday morning I introduced the girls to the spray inks and they loved them. Here's Blaithin and Becky with the cards they made...

I find it so lovely when the ladies continue at home what they have learned in class and even more so when they bring it to show...

and on Friday morning two of the ladies brought pieces - Maxine finished her doll painting off at home with a feather and beading - truly a mixed media piece...

and Ruth brought in two examples of last week's alcohol-inked beer mats class that she made at home.....

Both stunning ladies!

So I decided to let the Friday ladies into the secret of these lovely inks and they donned rubber gloves and settled down for a messy time - you could have heard a pin drop the concentration was so great...

Lin doing an Ainsley Harriott, or at least seconds before she had her left arm raised!!! Lol!

Mu, Lin and Florence showing their creations...

Right, they are just announcing the winner so

Bye for now Sue

Sorry Alice

2011-03-26T20:59:00.005+01:00

When I took this photo of Celine and Alice on Wednesday showing their completed 2011 journals, Alice commented that she had never seen a photo of herself on my blog - and Alice has been coming to my classes for well over 3 years - and so in order to put things right here she is.....

and this is the only other photo I could find on this computer Alice, as Colin has moved all my other photos onto my notepad and I cannot access them on here, sorry.

Dayana and Alice summer 2010 So Alice, BIG apologies and will do better in future.

Bye for now

Sue

Tonight

2011-03-21T23:05:00.002+01:00

If I look all hot and bothered it's because I was. Running round helping these gorgeous girls who all worked so hard tonight making cards in a patchwork style. I gave them a pile of papers, some punches, the Big Shot and some flower dies and some stamps and peel-offs and after showing them what I wanted them to do matching edges and lines they did me proud.

Aren't they all lovely.

Bye for now

Sue

A day off...

2011-03-19T23:14:00.007+01:00

I have had a very relaxing day today. It was a fiesta - Spanish Father's Day - and the shop could not be open and so I made the most of the peace and quiet while Colin was out golfing. I read a bit and then started my other new A4 Moleskine by doodling on the inside front cover- always a daunting task - all that lovely clean paper.....I might add colour at a later date but for now its just doodledand then it's easier to use the inside pages once the front is done

I did pick up a couple of Ranger Dabbers and add a little colour on here and looking through the little book where I collect quotes and stuff I found the perfect wording.

All in all a very productive but relaxing day so

Bye for now

Sue

2011-03-19T01:46:00.008+01:00

There's me so tired I can't sleep and what happens. I have lunch today and promptly fall asleep on the sofa for a couple of hours and now I am wide awake and it's 2 in the morning so I thought I might as well catch up on the blog so here's what we made in class today.
I made this beer mat trio last August for a Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge and the ladies have been asking me to teach it. They brought in their beer mats and armed with rubber gloves they pounded their little blending tools to their hearts content...
pause for a photo ladies please...

and here's what a few of them made.....

Well, I am going to bed to read and see if that helps me to drop off - at least it's a fiesta tomorrow and so I have the whole weekend to spend asleep if I wish...yeah I wish!!! you know along with the washing and ironing and all the other chores you try to put off as long as possible so

Bye for now

Sue

ps Oh and I still haven't finished unpacking all those boxes - 4 left I think

Boxes of goodies

2011-03-16T20:27:00.003+01:00

If I thought I was tired yesterday look what arrived today... yes... 10 boxes of goodies ordered at Stitches in February...and that's not all... there's at least another four boxes to come and that's not taking into account the back orders (or for the uninitiated the products I ordered that weren't in stock at the suppliers)I opened one or two boxes tonight while the girls were busy and found the eclips machine that I ordered for the shop - that's right - for the shop not for little ol' me - no of course not!!!

perish the thought!!! and as soon as I have it set up it will be available for use on scrapbooking nights. Woo hoo! Excited who me haha! and extra cartridges and of course loads of dies for the Big Shot...oh! and did I forget to mention somewhere in there is a 12 x 12 Big Shot Pro for the shop too!!!!!

Must go and have something to eat before I fall over so

Bye for now

Sue

Overwhelmed - who me!!!

2011-03-14T23:02:00.009+01:00

Does anyone have a few hours to spare that they could lend me.....on second thoughts, perhaps not, as I am pretty certain that I will not be able to return them! Just at the moment I am feeling totally overwhelmed - well OK not strictly just at the moment but for a few weeks now since just before I went to Stitches. So much to do and so little time.....and on top of all that the orders that I placed at Stitches are due to arrive this week!!!! anyone know how to clone yourself?????
One of my daughter's best friends, the lovely Gillian who was a bridesmaid at daughter Victoria's wedding is getting married herself later this month and so I made her a trifold-shutter card from the gorgeous L'Romantique collection from Graphic 45 - such beautiful designs.

This morning I made an easel card for my Isla, a beautiful 5 year old who is my grandchildren's half sister - they share the same Mum...and who calls me Granny Clifford like my own two do...
Tonight in class the youngsters completed their 2011 art journals - a voyage of discovery of paint techniques...not bad for 6 to 10 year olds... there are 28 pages in these journals all painted, splatted, dribbled, stippled, spritzed and stamped and probably much more besides and Saturday Jonas...

and Blaithin - seen here with the lovely Yaa my Saturday girl completed their 2011 journals...
some youngsters are still to finish theirs...

and on Friday morning my lovely ladies finished their 3 week project of a doll painting - all who said I can't paint or draw - just look what they have achieved.
The unfinished painting in front of the photo belongs to my good friend Lorraine who sadly had to take her poorly dog to the vet's and wasn't able to be with us

So with an album to make for good friend Liz and another to finish for Gayle whose 40th birthday I went to last Saturday week...and those are just in the pending tray...this is not mentioning all the other half finished projects still lying around and all the projects I shall want to make when the delivery arrives and whose ideas are floating round in my head...now do you understand when I say I am overwhelmed and I am not after sympathy - it is all self inflicted
pressure so as Lesley, the Editor of a magazine I advertise in said earlier today....hhhmmmm and just Breathe!!! so with those words I shall say

Bye for now

Sue

TTFN

2011-02-18T08:28:00.002+01:00

I definitely won't be here for a week as I am off to the UK to Stitches the trade show at the NEC later today to hopefully buy lots of new goodies to sell in the shop so... wish me luck as you wave me goodbye!!!! well for a few days anyway! Lol!
Bye for now
Sue

Doll Paintings

2011-02-17T16:31:00.003+01:00

Here as promised are a selection of the doll paintings to be used as examples in tomorrow's class.

Bye for now

Sue

N.B.

2011-02-17T09:06:00.002+01:00

Just a quick posting to remind you that the Doll Painting 2 week class starts tomorrow at 10.30. I know it's short notice but the computer has only just been returned from the computer hospital so haven't been able to access it for a week. If I can find photos of the paintings I will post them later today.
Bye for now
Sue

Feast or Famine...

2011-02-10T20:54:00.022+01:00

...or like buses when three come all at once. No posts (bad blogger that I am) and then a looong one tonight so grab a cup of coffee and a biccie or two and relax - lots of pictures and not too many words so not too onerous!! Lol!

For the start of the year I devised a project where the girls could make their own art journal over the course of five or six weeks learning new techniques along the way.

I had done this myself last year as part of Kate's 365 day challenge which they had followed with interest - they were so excited...

I will put some of the fabulous pages the girls have made when I remember to photograph them... So here's mine for 2011....
January is spritz, snip, stencil and create ...

splash and splatter for February's heart banner...

weird doodled letters and stippling through offcuts in March...

Loads of painty fun in April...and some 3d writing... flying high with a spot of punching and doodling in May...

Showing the girls styles that they might not have come across in June...

introducing another art style in July... August with flipflops and long cool drinks... over resist Last night the girls were absorbed painting September's page...

September and the leaves are changing colour ...

the spooky October page... The ribbon technique explained with a real piece of ribbon for November... and December and dry brush (or rather dry Dabber) technique and masking... the "All about me" page...except I haven't yet worked out how tall 5 foot 3 inches is in metric...

and the back cover says it all.....Bye for now

Sue

I've got that shrinking feeling.....

2011-01-21T21:54:00.006+01:00

...and not its not me that's lost weight but books that shrunk! This morning in class the ladies made mini books from shrink plastic. The stamping and colouring and shrinking were great fun BUT... ...this was what caused the ladies the trouble this morning - the ribbon lacing...there were a lot of "oh sugar"! and "ggrrrr"! and such like words used - hahaha! The holes in the shrink plastic were made with the Bind-It-All before shrinking and in the card pages with a hole punch BUT putting it altogether with narrow ribbon - it took ages and there were lots of sore fingers and more words... The shrink plastic book cover started out the same size as the stamp - 10 x 7 cms... and ended up 4 x 3 cms...So here are the ladies with their mini books...

Lin, Florence and Q... Jean, Margaret and Pat...

As usual there was loads of catching up to be done and lots of laughter - add in cups of coffee and ginger biccis - what more could a girl ask for.

Bye for now

Sue

2011-01-09T10:29:00.019+01:00

Let me explain why I have been away for so long. I'll set the scene, shall I.
Busy lawyer daughter and army son in law in UK need a few days r and r with totally-in-need-of-a-rest-Mum and golfed out Dad. Just a quiet adult family Christmas, reading, playing cards and generally relaxing. Sounds like a good plan you say.

Shop closes at 2pm on 22nd December and at home the decorations are out ready to decorate the tree. Really looking forward to having nothing to do for 10 days.

Colin pops out to take my Mum to meet her friends for a meal (she is 86, 6 stone 9 and lives on her own in a 1st floor (no lift) apartment opposite the shop where she can walk to all cafes, seafront, hairdressers, etc) - you with me so far. Totally independent - works at the charity shop two mornings a week . She sees him and promptly falls over breaking not only her hip but also her shoulder. No flesh there to soften the blow. One ambulance to Denia hospital and a hip op later and she is ensconced there for the duration of Christmas. In Spain, nurses do the medical bits and the family do the rest - you get the picture!

Meanwhile, at home the builders finish the extension to our new bedroom on the ground floor at 5pm on Christmas Eve so Colin and I are busily relocating furniture and clothes and stuff up and down stairs (the reason I need a ground floor bedroom is difficulty with stairs) so that daughter and son-in-law can have somewhere to sleep.

As she is so healthy Mum's hip heals quickly and they discharge her to our care within days... except that she has a broken shoulder so she cannot use crutches or a zimmer frame and needs help to walk or rather shuffle. Trips to the loo are a nightmare as her shoulder is too painful to touch and Mum cannot get up without help. Luckily, Colin has a relaxer chair and Mum is settled in there for day and night.

The lady in charge of the charity shop comes to visit on Saturday 1st January and says Mum should have not have been released and needs convalescent care and she arranges for Mum to go into a nursing home for a month where they have all the facilities we don't have at home. Mum went there happily on Tuesday and has now had a shower - a little thing so easily taken for granted.

So my longed for rest and that of my family came to naught. The Christmas tree doesn't need packing away as it never got put up. Victoria and I escaped to the shop for a few hours on the Saturday to scrapbook her and John's honeymoon and we all had a meal out on New Years Eve as you'll see below but that was it.

It wasn't all gloom and doom though....
Colin has a plate of leftover turkey.....you would never think it looking at this photo now would you!!!

On New Year's Eve we managed to settle Mum and then pop out for a couple of hours to the pre-booked meal at the President Bar on the Arenal. It was raining so unlike other years at midnight the place outside was deserted. Normally, at midnight,while the fireworks burst overhead, everyone is outside and greeting friends and the atmosphere is electric but this year was a real damp squib. Inside we tried to make the best of it though Lol!!

I have been keeping a 365 day challenge journal for most of last year - I say this even though I did lapse a couple of times when things in life just got too hectic - ie, moving shop in April and Oct/Nov/Dec when the shop was just sooo busy. It was the idea of the lovely Kate Crane who started this idea last year and is continuing over on her blog The Kathryn Wheel - see on side bar.

This year I intend to carry the idea on but in a new way. With Mum now being taken care of I have premade all -well almost all - the months pages in advance as that is how I fell behind so the new project to start this year off is a journal. It is on quite a heavy watercolour paper so ideal for watery, painty, inky stuff to be added. .

The front cover... inky January...

splattery February...

stipply March...

painty April...

dabby May...

scrubby June...

and July... a touch of Dina Wakley here...

that's all I have done so far but the rest will happen - having made it into a class it has to now doesn't it??

The lovely Becky working on her journal cover yesterday morning.,,

and last but definitely not least the adorable Yaa, my Saturday girl with Elsa who lives in Madrid. Elsa came to my classes all through the summer and is here visiting her Grandparents and came to see if there was a class on - there wasn't - so she could make something. She went away very happy with a star book made with Yaa's help.

So that's it.

Bye for now.
Sue xx

Attitude!!!

2010-12-08T18:09:00.003+01:00

Well, just like buses, no posts for over a week and then three in one day!!! Today was a fiesta and so I wasn't allowed to open the shop. The sun was out, the sky was blue and it was 22 degrees in the naya ( Spanish conservatory) so out came one of my new A4 moleskine journals - but don't tell my daughter who has bought me these two for Christmas! so shhhh! not a word!.....

and I sketched and painted another doll portrait...but this one has attitude. All the others have been butter wouldn't melt if you know what I mean but this one - well see for yourself. Right I really am going so this will be the last

Bye for now for today

Sue xx

A bit of recycling

2010-12-08T10:08:00.006+01:00

Becky's Mum displayed a poster for Javea Rugby Club annual ball in the shop and as I was taking it down I thought what beautiful card it was and decided to recycle it into tags so yesterday invited Becky to join me. ..
left -my tags and centre - Becky's tags and Becky hard at work. She is an avid crafter, excellent at school and a thoroughly lovely girl.
Bye for now

Sue

Merry Chirstmas

2010-12-08T09:36:00.008+01:00

Yes, this is the blackboard at the pub where the Clifford family had their annual Christmas meal this year. As we are all scattered over three countries, England, Scotland and Spain and cannot all celebrate together we have a Christmas in November or December instead. It is a movable feast so we all gathered at daughter Victoria's house in Birmingham this year.

This is the scene that greeted us when we opened the curtains on Saturday morning - SNOW - Yuk!!! However, granddaughter Abigail and I braved this and went shopping. I may not like the big city that Birmingham is - in fact it is where Colin and I grew up and went to school - but the shopping cannot be faulted. The men tried to go golfing - what!!! - but settled for an indoor golf driving range instead.

Loads of shopping later the family regrouped and went for our annual meal.

l-r Our youngest son, Jon, daughter Victoria, her husband John and oldest son Lee.

We then went to the German market that stretches through the centre of Birmingham - it was packed with happy people all muffled up from the cold -brrr, was it chilly??? it was!!! but the hot chocolate laced with amaretto was gorgeous. Joshua and Abigail enjoyed the carousel.

Well, that was last weekend. I will try to catch up with the goings on here later - today is a fiesta so no work today. After doing the HUGE mountain of ironing - I aim to get my journals out and play and will be back later so

Bye for now

Sue xx

Techniques on tags

2010-11-20T23:15:00.014+01:00

This is the tag that we made yesterday morning in class when 10 ladies turned up to play. Loads of lovely Ranger techniques - a mini Ranger U. I started off by showing them quite a few techniques on three tags and then when they were familiar with wrinkling, ironing (nuff said there!!!)...batik-ing, spritzing and flicking and distressing edges I showed them how to put them altogether in one tag. Jean proudly showing her finished tag... Jean, Karen, Bea, Jane, Lorraine, Christine and Pat... Jane, Karen, Lin, Bea and Jean using the Big Shot to die cut their flowers... Lin, Mu, Margaret and Pat hard at work...Right I am off to bed now - lie in tomorrow Yay!!!

Bye for now

Sue

What a "Friendly" weekend we all had!!

2010-11-09T21:24:00.026+01:00

Friday morning started off what was to be a manic but excellent weekend.

Margaret showing her finished black and white album

I had invited the lovely and talented Queen of Friendly Plastic Liz Welch to come and teach some classes at the shop so once the normal Friday morning class was over and lunch was done I headed off to Alicante airport to collect Liz. There were two days of work/fun with four separate classes - oooze and aaahs, beads, button bonanza and patchwork play.

Interspersed with photos of people and their work are Liz's wonderful and inspiring pieces of work - as usual Blogger is not allowing me to load in the places I want or to move them!!! so mixed up or not here are...

...Jane's pieces and Liz's gorgeous mask

On Saturday it was class as usual for the youngsters and I let them join in the "Friendly" fun.

Blaithin's pieces (she is 11 years old) and Jonas with his necklaces for his Mum

Becky modelling her necklace...
Liz's fabulous bag

...listening to Liz explain... not sure whose hands these are...

and then on Monday morning Liz and I had a play date with some grungeboard, Distress inks and a Big Shot machine.

This is Colin with Liz just before I took her to the airport for her flight home. Mutual appreciation going on here - Colin, Liz and both dogs. Liz also fell in love with Colin's massage chair.

The high winds on the airport run made me later than expected getting back to the Monday class and so in my absence Inga very kindly stepped in and helped the littlies make their albums .... after which I drove home and promptly fell asleep watching Masterchef Australia - huge joke that as everybody know I don't do cooking!!! but I do love watching this programme.

Liz e-mailed me to say she had arrived home safely and so thanks Liz for a fantastic few days. Please come back again - everyone loved you.

Bye for now

Sue

busy, busy, busy....

2010-11-05T09:13:00.003+01:00

This is the weekend that Liz Welch is coming and getting everything ready has made my life very hectic this last week or two. Liz is doing four different classes using Friendly Plastic and I am really looking forward to them as she is such a master (or should it be mistress!!!) of it. To see her work go to Rarelizzie's blog. You will be amazed at the gorgeous things she can make with a 7 inch piece of plastic.
Well gotta go, lots still to do plus my usual Friday morning class to teach so
Bye for now
Sue

get ready for Christmas...

2010-10-25T22:17:00.006+02:00

Been playing around with mica powders lately and today being the 25th of the month was a get ready for Christmas class...

This was stamped and heat embossed and then painted with mica powders - very elegant...
and these two cards were spritzed with mica powders and with die cut and embossed baubles...same elements but one mounted onto black and one onto white card.

Trudie, Jean and Angie after this afternoon's 25th class... three very happy ladies - Trudie's a complete newbie...

Seven children tonight between age 6 and 9 - lots of noise, some singing and lots of work done on their black and white albums.

So that's me - completely shattered but very happy.

Bye for now

Sue

the text read " she said yes"

2010-10-24T23:35:00.005+02:00

Just wanted to share my happy news with you all.

Just had a text from my youngest son who took his girlfriend on a surprise holiday to Paris and they climbed all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower tonight where he said isn't this romantic and she said yes so he pulled out a diamond engagement ring and she said yes again. Woohoo!! I am soooo happy - they are such a lovely couple. They have been together three and a half years and are so much in love.

Bye for now

Sue

at last - some me work done

2010-10-08T00:13:00.017+02:00

Don't you just love the cover of my new Moleskine. I bought it in Holland in February and thought I would never use it but well you know - it has been stroked and admired loads so off came the cellophane and this is what I have been working on in spare moments...did I say that??? I never have spare moments!!! oh well!

here is the inside front cover complete with doodling and a little watercolouring to try to disguise the marks left by those Dylusion inks on the next page. The little campervan was already there with some words which I have incorporated. I am quite pleased with this but I like the next two pages even more ....

- more Dylusions sprays - you would think I loved these wouldn't you!! well I do! and some heat embossing and stamping (isn't she great) a bit of writing and doodling and da!da! its done.
I also love my watercolours - they are made by Lyra and are like wax crayons. They have the most intense colour and are so creamy to use. I have had these for years and they never seem to get any smaller although the blue one melted with the heat here...

My other new best friends are these little beauties - a foam spreader thingy which applies gesso just beautifully and two gelly roll pens from Sakura that seem to write perfectly on any painty or inky surface.

This afternoon we drove to Benidorm to buy some bags for the shop and stopped for a coffee on the way home at Albir. There were people in the sea and lying on the beach.

Today's date, time and weather and yes it was 36 degrees at 15.49 Phew!

Bye for now

Sue

adding onto last post...

2010-10-07T23:52:00.003+02:00

I would forget my head if it was loose - can't blame this one on Blogger!!!

Here are September's pages finished...

and this is October's page as it stands at the moment - I will add to it as the month goes on...The writing in the top left corner says...

The Jacaranda is a tropical beauty with its soft graceful fern-like foliage and clusters of fragrant, purple trumpet shaped blooms

and in the bottom right

It is said that if you are walking underneath the Jacaranda tree and one of the trumpet blossoms fall on your head you will be favoured by fortune

and in the bottom left it says

The fruit is technically a berry ranging from 2 to 4 inches in diameter.

Leaves are dark green, pointed with a round base and from 3 to 5 inches. Leaves can live for as long as 3 to 5 years.

so that's my Life as an Edwardian lady done then!!

Bye for now

Sue

Aahhh, October is here!!!

2010-10-07T21:24:00.016+02:00

This was the sky as I pulled into our drive on Monday night at 7.30 - isn't it spectacular. I took loads of photos but I won't bore you so here's just one...

These are the youngsters having a good time at Monday night's class - they are sewing ricrac and die cut flowers onto the back cover of their black and white albums... This is a Jacaranda tree in our garden that has fern like leaves...

and our beautiful orange tree - sadly this tree might not survive as we are having an extension to the downstairs bedroom and it will have to be moved...the oranges on here are the sweetest you can find... I took one Jacaranda and one orange leaf and one from a tree that might be a fig tree - it self seeded so who knows! and used Dyan's Dylusions sprays and sprayed over two pages of my 365 day challenge diary - long overdue but better late than never eh Kate!...I then wrote a little about each and did a bit of sketching and doodling

I drew around an orange tree leaf onto hammered card to give a good texture and then cut 30 more and then sprayed them, again with Dylusions - very messy but fun - boy did my hand ache after cutting 31 of them!! I will write on the leaves each day and stick them in at intervals when I have two or three... and this is some of the youngsters having a laugh at class last night...

More soon

Bye for now

Sue

A bit of fun

2010-09-29T15:37:00.006+02:00

I bought a 7 Gypsies book when I visited Dyan at Art from the Heart a week or two back...
here's a couple of pages sprayed with her Dylusions inks and stamped with one of the Stampotique stamps I bought from her and a bit of stitching...
it will have some journalling at some later stage when time permits...

and this is the cover of the book and some tags and tissue tape I altered with Dyan's inks - and yes they do stain your fingers!!!but they are so much fun... and finally, its a hard life, but somebody's got to do it..... Well, I was asleep.... Bye for now

Sue

a new album

2010-09-24T20:03:00.021+02:00

(this page got somehow deleted and won't let me put it back where it belongs...)

Saw the Dr this morning and he gave a clean bill of health to my lungs, its just that I have been left with this irritating tickly, cough thingy in my throat. Imagine clearing your throat a million times a day and that's it - very annoying.

So onto this weeks class - well for the next couple of weeks - a black and white album. I had decided I needed to do a new album and one of the girls had commented how many of her photos were brightly coloured and a black and white album would set them off nicely so putting two and two together this is what I came up with.
The front cover is a mixture of stamping, heat embossing, stippling, masking and different ways of colouring texture embossing.

a pocket and tag and a diecut bird and cage and a messy bit with some flowers...I'll tell you how to do this one next week ladies...I just love this Tim bird stamp and with a couple of pockets and tags and flowers...

here is where the deleted photo should be!!!

This is true black and white...

some ribbled mosaic and more flowersa textured pocket, a couple of tags and some painty, doodly stuff...

some stencilled stars..

some stamping and stuff with paint - stuff is my 8 year old grandson's favourite word when asked what he has been doing... a few little houses... A beautiful Tim Holtz flourish and some more painty stuff... some more stamping and heat embossing and stencillinga die cut frame and yet more flowers, a bit of doodling and an envelope for keeping momentos... back cover complete with die cut flowers and ricrac pierced and stitched Bind it, tie on a few ribbons and there you have it - the completed album

So here's this mornings ladies - Q, Diane, Brenda, Jean, Margaret and my lovely friend and helper Lorraine all making the front cover. Diane and Jean are both here on holiday and were able to learn the techniques without making the whole album and still take a lovely piece of work home. The photo was taken well over finishing time but well who's clock watching - sadly that's why Eileen is not on the photo as she had gone by this time Bye for now

Sue

Cough, cough, cough.....

2010-09-19T12:17:00.003+02:00

Just a quick post - have bronchitis, feel limp and sweaty, all energy going into keeping the shop open and classes going so nothing to post. Am on 2nd course of antibiotics and got to have chest x-ray on Tuesday so back to bed for me...
Sue

Quick precis of my trip

2010-09-12T17:21:00.019+02:00

Just a quick update on my trip...

flew Alicante to Maastricht on Thursday afternoon and was met and driven to Belgium

woke up on Friday and Tanya said "you look awful" ,had a throatful of golfballs, throbbing head and earache but still drove to Ghent and back

drove to Holland on Saturday
and visited Kars on Sunday and Monday and then drove back to Belgium

Tuesday was a rest???day - Tanya's cleaning lady and physical therapist came, the man came to read the electric meter and a phonecall from Customs had Tanya on the phone for ages - so much for peace and quiet!

Wednesday Tanya called the Dr out as she was still ill and he prescribed me antibiotics after he heard me coughing and told me I had bronchitis
Wednesday I flew from Brussels to Leeds/Bradford, popped in to Harrogate and then drove on to Redcar

Thursday I drove to Whitby and sightsaw and shopped,
Friday I drove into Redcar and shopped some more and crafted and played two games of Scrabble

and here's a few photos of those last ten days....

Tanya had a tall slim Italian and I had a laughing siren when we arrived at the hotel in Holland...

This are the nine small canvases Tanya had made for Kars and was demoing...Aren't these two just adorable...they belong to two members of staff at Kars...and Anita I will forward the photo to you later today... The Mum in this photo is Sharon - she actually has seven children!! here she is with hubby and six of them and doesn't look old enough to be a mother let alone a grandmother and her Prima layouts were gorgeous.... Diana and I had a long chat about how she retrained at the age of 45 and set up the Graphic 45 range.....she is a Mum of 6!! how do these American ladies do it??? The Graphic 45 stand was just awesome...that's Diana and one of her daughters Amy... Re-acquainted myself with these two lovely ladies - Marsha and Liesbeth...and Mariska Here's Tanya's three still living at home - Robin 9, Bart 20 and Estee 7..... Wednesday 8th is my birthday and Tanya really wasn't up to making me a birthday card so she gave me one of the tags I watched her make for Kars when I was staying with her in February and which features on the cover of their magazine and also on their newsletter... Dropped in on Dyan - couldn't pass within 4 miles of Art From The Heart and not stop and say hello now could I....

Here's Dyan teaching her older girls the wonders of spraying with her new inks..... couldn't resist buying some for myself but she still won't let me have some wholesale for my ladies - you will just have to order them direct from afth...

Persuaded Sharon at Prima to let me have a spare make n take for Norah. my lovely friend in Redcar who is battling colon cancer and the chemo is making her hands and feet raw and skinless.... We had a lovely afternoon spraying Dyan's inks on a 7 gypsies book and tags - I will put those photos on tomorrow.....then off to Norah's local for dinner.just look at that home-made burger Caught in a traffic jam on the road to Newcastle airport I grabbed the camera and took a photo of the Angel of the North -hadn't expected it to be quite so close

Well, you didn't expect a short precis did you - after all I have been away for ten days!!!

Bye for now

Sue