Good morning all, I hope you are all feeling well. I know it has been a while since my last post and once again I can only say sorry for that. I have been making my Christmas cards lately, and although I don't have that many to do, they seem to have taken all my time. I have finished them now so will hopefully get back into the swing of things. Things have been very quiet in our house lately, although we are going to my step son's house for lunch today which I am really looking forward to. It is always nice when someone else does the cooking, but not only that , we are meeting his new girlfriend for the first time so that is doubly exciting. So now onto this weeks card. I have used cream card for the background which I have embossed and pricked round the edge. I then used a Nestability for the tag which I stamped on using one of the Spellbinder stamps, I also used Nesties for the border at the bottom, the swirl and the poppies. The lady image is a steampunk image from Kanban, and I used a piece of matching paper to paper piece the coat. Well that's it for this week, I hope you remembered to put your clocks back, I can't wait for the dark nights as I love them, not sure why but I always have. Take care and hope you all have a good week.

Be back soon

Jo xx

 

It's been a while

 

Firstly, I must apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to post something new. I must admit that I lost my way for a while and couldn't get my head in the place it needed to be and also I was doing a cross stitch that I wanted to finish and that's what I was concentrating on. I have now finished it and will hopefully be back to normal, as for what the finished product looks like - will post it when I have ironed and photographed it.

So I hope you have all been well in my absence, things here have been about the same as ever really, some things never change.

On to the card and I have used the ever faithful nesties along with the matching stamps. I have used an embossing folder to emboss the base card and then layered up the fancy rectangles with a gorgeous turquoise card and finished it off with a bow. Hope you like it and will be back soon, (honest).

So until next time,

take care,

bye for now

Jo xx 

 

This weeks new card

Evening all, hope you have all had a good week and are enjoying this hot spell we are having. I have had a bit of a better week than the last one, Andy and I went to the cinema in the week to see "The Wolverine" and I have to say WOW, it was fantastic. I love superhero films and Wolverine is most certainly a superhero. The effects in the film were absolutely amazing and Hugh Jackman was as usual magnificent in the role. We went to the small cinema in Woodhall Spa (The Kinema In The Woods) which is an experience in itself. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but it is a fabulous little cinema that is stuck in a time warp and I don't mean that in a bad way, it is just like stepping into a the 1970's (when cinemas were still amazing places to visit) .

We then had a couple of rest days which got us ready for a trip to Tattershall, which is another small village just outside Lincoln. We were going to the opening of a new craft shop, and when I say new I really mean newly re-located from Coninsby. The shop belongs to Jo Channon who some of you may know from Create and Craft and her husband Mark. They have moved to a bigger premises and although not massive it is a lovely little building that feels a lot more spacious. The shop is made up of  4 or 5 small rooms and one of the rooms is a demo room.

For the re-opening Jo managed to get another Create and Craft favourite to come and do some demo's for her and that lady was the wonderfully talented Sheena Douglas. By the time we got there she had already done a few demo's and had stopped for a lunch break, so we had a look round while we waited for her to start up again. She did a couple of demo's while we were there but we couldn't stay very long as we were both in so much pain, but we enjoyed what we saw. If you are interested in seeing what she did you can see a detailed description at my hubby's blog (here).

We have just been watching the BBC to find out who the new Dr Who is and Andy is very excited as he had said during the day that he thought Peter Capaldi would be perfect and then low and behold, they announced him. Can't wait for the new series.

 So now on to this week's card. As you can see, I have been inspired by the wonderful Sue Wilson again. The base card is cream and on that is another piece of cream which is pricked around the edge. Then on that is a piece of brown, then a piece of cream cut into three and then I have used a Nestie frame with a co-ordinating stamp. I have then used some brown ribbon, a dazzler, another die for the swirls and some hat pins to finish it off.

Hope you all have a good week,

Bye for now,

Jo

xxx

Morning All

 

So here we are at the start of another week. I am looking forward to the week ahead as I have a few new techniques I want to try out, I am not 100% sure what it is that I want to do  but I am feeling very crafty at the moment and I have a hankering to learn something new. I will let you know how things turn out next time I post. It has been another quiet week (no surprises there then), but the week finished on a high with another trip to Eagle, a village outside Lincoln where I go to a craft club every month.

As I am sure you are all enjoying the weather I have to admit I can't stand it, I have never been a sun lover as I much prefer the cold. My reasons for this are; at least when you are cold you can warm yourself up but when you are too hot there is nothing you can do to cool down, also I hate feeling all clammy and irritable and I hate how it affects other people, good humour seem to go right out of the window.

On to this weeks card and thanks to Sue Wilson for her inspiration . Having layered up white card on red I then used 2 SB Die D-Lites, the ornate gate (with the gates removed) and the ornate heart. I then pricked around the edges using my Tim Holtz ruler and added Cosmic Shimmer glue dots. I finished the card off with some red organza ribbon and a Dazzler.

Hope you like the card and I will be back again soon,

Hugs N Stuff,

Jo

xx

 

Entered into: 613 Avenue Create Challenge #29 - Anything Goes

 

This weeks card

Hi all, well it has been another quiet week in the Llewelyn-Brinsley house. I have been doing a lot of crafting though, I have almost finished a cardigan I am knitting for myself and I actually picked up my cross stitch this week for the first time in ages. I am also crocheting a blanket for our bed which is coming on really nicely.

Anyway, on to this weeks card. I have used a sheet of dotted swiss card for the background on to which I have put a strip of black with white on top which has been pricked with a parchment tool to make the holes. I then put a strip of double sided tape down the middle and covered it with micro beads. I then used the grand deckle oval Nestie and put a sentiment on to finish it off. It is then finished with a ribbon, some hat pins and a dazzler.

Hope you like it, have a good week,

 take care

Jo

x

This weeks offering

 

Hi all, hope you have had a good week.

Things have been a bit quiet here really, I finished last week off with our monthly 'Craft and Chat' club. We take turns to demonstrate a different project each month (except me, I'm just not confident enough to stand up in front of a crowd, no matter how small!!), this months demo (thanks to June) was Zentangle, I have tried it before but not for ages and while I like the affect, I don't really think it is for me.

So on to this weeks card and I have made it using an embossing folder for the background, then a fancy labels die from Spellbinders and it is finished off with a lovely sentiment stamp and some ribbon.

Well that's all from me at the moment,

hope you have a lovely week and that the weather is good to you,

take care,

lots o' love,

Jo

xx oo xx oo

Having a go at Parchment

Hello all.

Well another week has passed and we still haven't had any decent weather, seems to me that the Summer is over. I hope you have had a good week, for once I can honestly say mine was good. Firstly Andy and I went to the cinema to see the new Superman movie Man of Steel, which I thought was fabulous. I know this might sound odd for a woman of my age but I love superhero films. I don't know who the actor was who played Superman but he was fabulous.

We haven't been to the cinema for ages, as they are doing work on the car park that we normally use and for obvious reasons we can't go as there isn't another one near enough for us to use.

We went to the best cinema I have ever seen, it is in Woodhall Spa which is just outside Lincoln. It is like it is from a bygone age. Everything is like it belongs in the past which was so special to see, and the staff were some of the most helpful people I have come across in a long time.

I spent the rest of the week crafting and finished the week off with my birthday. I spent a lovely day with Andy which we finished of in bed having a KFC and watching the final of The Voice (what a joke that was).

Anyway on to the card. There's not much to say on this one as I only used parchment paper, a pattern and some parchment tools. I love doing Parchment as the results can be so pretty and delicate.

Well that's it for now, hope you have a good week, will be back soon.

Bye for now,

Jo

x o x o

First Attempt

Good morning all.

Well as the title says this is my first attempt using the shaving foam technique. I have seen this done many, many times before but never had a go myself. So armed with a can of Asda smart price shaving foam (Andy gets Staff Discount so it worked out to be a bit of a bargain!!), some card and a plastic box I decided to have a go.

I have to admit it was a very easy technique which I think looks really affective and I was very pleased with the final result. The rest of the card is finished using the Spellbinders heart d-lites die, some Marianne swirls and a lovely butterfly die to finish.

I hope you have had a good week. Mine has been quite good for a change. Firstly we had some friends come to see us, which is really great as I think it is about 30 years since I have seen her. Then we had Andy's birthday, which was a nice day for him, then I rounded the week off with my craft club on Saturday. Our project was a set of notelets and envelopes in a box and I really enjoyed making them and was extremely pleased with the result.

Anyway that's all for this week,

will be back soon.

Take care

Jo

xx

 

This weeks card

Well, good evening ladies. I hope you have all had a good week.

I went to the Sincerely Yours Craft fayre at Lincoln Showground last Sunday and had a good time, which included spending loads of money. I got some stuff that I needed and some stuff that I just wanted.

So on to this weeks card. I have done this one using Nesties which I have to admit I am loving. There's not much to say about it really as it is quite a plain card, but I really love the colour and the dies, I hope you like it.

Anyway, I am just about to watch The Voice, so will say bye-bye for now.

Have a good week,

till next time

Big Hugz

x

Here is my latest card

 

Good evening all, so here is my latest offering. I fancied doing a bit of decoupage for this one, but I have to admit that I can't remember where I got any of the items I have used for it.

I hope you have all had a good week, I went to a craft fayre at the Lincolnshire Showground yesterday and had a really good spending spree.

Not much else has happened, so I will say goodbye for now but I will be back real soon with another post.

Have a wonderful week,

Lots of Love

Jo

x x x

New Cards

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't been posted for a while but to be honest I can't get used to doing it, I will hopefully soon get in to the habit and then there will be no stopping me.

I hope you are all O.K. and have had a good week. Mine has been a bit up and down, the weather has been having an adverse effect on my health (by which I mean, my Arthritis is really killing me at the moment), but I am not going to harp on about it every time I do a post, it's just something I have to put up with.

I am looking forward to the weekend as I am going to a craft club on Saturday and then there is the Eurovision Song Contest Saturday night, which as any of you who follow Andy's blog will realise, I have to suffer as well. Still it is only once a year, so it's not so bad and I don't have to put up with hours of sport as he doesn't really watch a lot of that.

Next weekend there is a Sincerely Yours craft fayre (at the Lincolnshire Showground), so I am really looking forward to having a good old spend up.

Anyway on to this card. I know it is a bit plain but I sometimes like the plain look. There isn't much to tell about this one as you can see, it is a bit of layering with a Nestie in the middle. I have used a couple of peel offs on the corners and have put some gems on the wheel.

Hope you like it.

Have a good weekend and will be back soon.

Take care,

Jo

xxx

 

 

 

 



Not much to say...

 

Morning all, not much to say today as things have been a bit quiet lately.

I have been to a couple of craft clubs, last weekend and the weekend before. I have been going to 'Eagle' (a club that originally started life as a  Mini Topaz Team) for several years now (about eight I think!!) and 'Craft and Chat' for about two or three years. They are a great way to meet like minded people and I have learnt so much from my fellow crafters. I really enjoy going as we get to do a project each month and we can then we can do whatever we want.

'Eagle' Craft Club is held in a small village on the outskirts of Lincoln, which believe it or not is called Eagle! We meet in the village hall and we occassionally have a guest demonstrator. This month it was Jo Channon, who some of you may have seen on Create and Craft. Andy and I have known Jo for quite a long time now as we originally met at a small fete, which was held in Coningsby's village hall. Andy's sister was there to sell some of her handmade cards and Jo was on the stall next to her. She is a lovely lady and I am so happy for her as she works very hard and always greets you with a big smile and a cup of tea whenever we go to her shop 'Let's Create' which is also in Coningsby (a small-ish village, 19 miles away from us).

We did 3 projects with Jo and tried a lot of techniques that I had never done before. We used the melting pot to make some embellishments, I used guilding flakes for the first time and we also did a card using a mask, Distress inks and dies. I will be putting these cards up in my next entry.

Back to today's cards now and the first one is done using a Little Claire kit. I am a member of the Little Claire Monthly Stamp club and that includes a card kit and instructions every month. Andy bought me the subscription to her club a couple of Christmases ago and he has just let it run on ever since, bless him.

The second card is done using spellbinders D-Lite dies from their first set of releases and one from the latest set. To make a change I have also used some peel-offs as they sit in my craft room, month after month never getting used.
I hope you like these cards and I will try not to  leave it so long next time!!,
see you soon,
lots of love,
Jo
x o x o

Hiya, made it at last

 

 

 

Hi, well I have to say I was beginning to think this day was never going to get here. Sorry it has been so long since my last entry, but as you know I have not been very well and when I say not very well, I mean really poorly.

I had Shingles, which I hope none of you ever get as it is not nice at all. I was in bed for 5 days and don't know where they went, I was feeling really dizzy every time I moved and had a splitting headache for most of the time. When I finally gave in and went to the Doc's, she sent me to hospital as she was worried about my eyes (I forgot to say, you get spots, as Shingles is the adult version of Chicken Pox) which had spots on my eyelids and most of my forehead.

Still, all better now Yippee.

So onto the cards. The first one was made using a picture that Andy coloured and didn't know what to do with, so I had it. I used a mask and Distress inks to do the background and a doily which I also coloured using the inks, I then used a Nestie to mount the sentiment and finished off with some ribbon and candy.

The second one was done using the church window and cross Nesties. I used guilding flakes on the windows to give the stained glass look and the cross is done in Mirri. The sentiment is also used on a Nestie.

Finally for now, something different. I recently took out a subscription to a knitting magazine and the bag was one of the projects in it. It was knitted using the free wool that comes with each edition. According to the pattern, the bag should be a lot shorter but I wanted to use it to put my pills and such in when I finished, so I added another 10 or 12 rows to get it to the right length for my purposes. The little gas flame (from the tele adverts) was made using a pattern that the editor of the magazine found for me, as I saw one in the mag and when I emailed them to ask which edition it was in, she explained that a reader had sent it to her so she hunted the pattern down for me and forwarded it on.

Well that's it for now, hopefully it won't be so long next time,

talk to you soon,

take care

Jo

xxx

 

 

 

"And I'm Feeling Fine..."

 

Hello ladies, just a quick post to let you know that I am feeling a little better today, I have no idea what is wrong with me but I have been asleep for four days so far!!! Did manage a few hours up today and have finally eaten something so I must be on the mend.

 

I wanted to show you another card really as I started this blog and haven't posted anything new yet! I made the above card using one of the new Spellbinders Die D-Lites - Bonsai tree. It cuts out beautifully, I used a little bit of the inside of a cereal packet to get the paper out of the die easier but it didn't really need it. I also used the fancy labels die with a peel-off (I still go old-school now and then!) and some fancy fabric I got from Jo Channon's shop in Coningsby 'Let's Create' (my fave shop at the mo).

Anyway, going back to sleep, hope you like the card and I will be back again soon.

Take Care,

Lots of Love,

Jo

xx

Welcome To The Start Of Something Big...

 

 

 

hopefully!!

After being nagged at for months now, I have finally given in and let Andy persuade me to start my own blog. I am not very confident with technology and I usually leave the written word to my hubby as even though I know what it is that I want to say, I am not confident enough to know HOW to say it. So please be patient with me and don't expect a deluge of cards as our crafting time has to fit in around our various aches and pains.

 

I am starting my blog off with three cards I made recently and which Andy very kindly put on his blog but I do have some new cards finished, they just need photographing and then I can put them on here, hopefully before the end of this week.

 

As you can probably see, I have used a lot of Spellbinders dies (courtesy of my husband's insane need to own every one that comes out!!). I am very much influenced by the great Sue Wilson, an American lady who is one of Spellbinders creative team and she demonstrates on Create and Craft regularly. I can't even begin to say what it is that I love about her style but she makes cards that truly take my breath away and I would love to be able to do what she does. If you have any questions about what I have done then please feel free to leave a comment and I will try my hardest to get back to you. 

 

So thank you for taking the time to read this and I will (hopefully) see you again very soon,

take care,

Jo

X O X O