Finnibair

Here's another few pics I took at the recent trade show at the NEC.  This time of Finnibair and a few of her gorgeous pieces of artwork.  

She's rather intriguing to watch as she adds layer upon layer, definitely well beyond the 'feel safe' zone that most of us have.   Needless to say I stayed for a short time watching her at work but some people did make me giggle the way they were chirping away asking hundreds of questions and the poor soul hardly got the chance to finish answering one before she was on to the next which did make it more difficult for her to demonstrate. 

Anyway, I thought you'd like to see some of the gorgeous pieces she had made so here they are. 

Off now to get some more chores done before heading back to work tomorrow. 

Toodles
Xxx

Stunning artwork

Hels Sheridan

Need I say more! 

Sorry I've not posted for a few days but needed to spend time with friends & family.   Hopefully back on track now though. 

Last week's trip to the NEC just couldn't be done without stopping by Hels.   Such a pleasure to watch and I wouldn't dare repeat some of the conversations we had.  Lol.   Here you can see her in action creating a masterpiece for my dear friend Pauline Wheeler who also requested it he signed by the queen of crafting herself.   Poor Hels..  we even stole some of her gorgeous truffles.  Lol. 

Hard to believe its been almost a week already and I'm sulking big style as next weekend Hels is going to be at Susan's shop 'Crafty Bunch' in Telford and Pauline is going along too so I'm the only one missing out.   Can you believe they have the cheek to call themselves friends!!!  Lol.  

Oh well.. its after 2am and my bed is calling so will bid you all good night. 

Lorraine Xx.

Nice designs

Quick one tonight folks as its 2.30am and I'm up for work in 5 hours.  Didn't realise the time as I've been glittering away all night making samples for the shop.  

Anyway, I just had to share these fab products with you and they are just a selection from the range available.   Constructed from MDF, laser cut to the highest quality and manufactured in the UK.   May I introduce to you Candy Box Crafts.   The guys who run the company are very down to earth and I'm pleased to say that Jones Crafts have just recently became their UK distributor so watch out for them appearing in more shops up and down the country.  

Well I said it was short & sweet tonight so that's it for now.   Back tomorrow again with more. 

Toodles
Lorraine.  Xxx

Distress ink storage unit

Well my time at the CHSI show is sadly over and I'm home again.   I sure will miss Susan Jones & Pauline Wheeler (my partners in crime) as we had such fun from the moment I arrived till the moment I dragged my suitcase out of the hall this afternoon. 
Over the next few days I'll be uploading a mix of pictures both of samples and from the show itself starting tonight with something I made for Jones Crafts. 

Products used:

Ink storage system - Candy Box Crafts
Papers - Kaiser Crafts base coat range
Paint - Kaiser Crafts
Spellbinder die
Mod Podge
Silicone
Self adhesive pearls

Technique:

Start by constructing the frame and   adding a coat of paint

I wanted to have some fun with the paint so for the back of the unit I created a distressed and dripped look by multi layering colours and water spritzing.  These paints are such fun to work with that you don't have to just flat paint with them.   I actually adore them and they have a superb colour range as well. 

For the paper layers I measured my sections and cut accordingly.   I slightly under cut as I wanted to have a painted outline around all the sections.   These were then all glued in place.  As the base coat range is double sided I decided to use the unit as a reference system also.  Top left hand corner has 1 side of the paper showing and the box immediately below has the opposite side.   This allows me a quick view of both sides of 10 sheets of the paper!  I sanded all of the edges then added a little ink to give that slightly aged look. 

Finally I die cut some flowers, all from the base coat paper range again and adhered to the box using silicone and added some self adhesive pearls to the centres. 

Candy Box Crafts are pretty much newcomers to the market and I can highly recommend their products.  Precision cut & high quality. 

Well that's it for tonight I'm afraid, back to normality tomorrow with a wee day in the shop. 

Toodles for now.
Lorraine xxx

NEC

Evening all.   What a fantastic day I've had here at the NEC.   Arrived just after lunch time and quickly met up with Susan Jones & Pauline Wheeler who totally led me astray.  Lol.  

Needless to say there was lots of laughter and sadly 6pm came around too soon and we parted ways for the night.   Thankfully there's a repeat session booked for tomorrow!!!  

Anyway, I finally got checked in to the hotel,  called room service and then hubby..  lovely Cumberland sausage & mash for dinner tonight.  Very yum indeed.   Alas I'm feeling an early night coming on so going to get my stuff organised for morning then snuggle in bed and watch tv for a wee while before lights out.  

Back tomorrow but here's some samples from the Sizzix stand that we saw today.  

Toodles
Xxxx

Home to roost

Just a quick post folks as I'm amidst the housework frenzy just now preparing for my few days away.  Oh I'm getting ubber excited.  Lol. 

Anyway, here's a sample made for Jones Crafts.  

Products used
Wooden bird house
Papers - base coat range from Kaiser Craft
Flowers - mix of Kaiser crafts
Luggage label - Kaiser crafts
Pins - from stash
Paint - Kaiser Crafts
Adhesive - mod podge & silicone

Technique
Paint edges of house
Cut papers to approx sizes to fit and adhere using mod podge
Sand edges and highlight using distress ink
Write message on luggage label
Adhere paper flowers, pins and tag in place using silicone gel.

I adsolutely adore this base coat range of papers.   So versatile with fantastic looking results. 

Well that's it folks..  the washing machine isn't going to empty itself, the iron is refusing point blank to do the work off its own steam so guess its all down to little old me & only me!  

Laters!
Xxx

Glitter hairband

Its been a busy old week again with lots going on so today although its my day off I'm still making samples.  Lol.   This time around I decided to take a plain plastic headband and transform it to a glittery one.   Kids are going to love these!  Probably end up with them wanting a different coloured one for every day of the week.  Lol. 

Products used
Plastic hairband
Purple glitter
Sparkle mod podge

Technique
Coat hairband with MP, sprinkle with glitter, allow to dry then repeat process.   Once your second coat is dry proceed to apply another 2 coats of MP (allowing dry time between coats) to seal the band.  Simples! 

Anyway, its now heading towards 3.30am and I have a busy day ahead tomorrow so best head off to bed.   Tomoz agenda consists of housework, washing, ironing & packing my case ready to head of to the trade show at the NEC on Sunday morning.   Two days away from home with no chores to do apart from peruse new products and catch up with old friends...  Bliss, perfect bliss..  woohoo.   Don't worry as I will share photos with you all.  Lol. 

Nighty night
Lorraine xxx

Glitter glasses

Here are a few glitter glass samples I made for the shop this week. 

Magazine write up

For anyone who has never visited the craft shop I work in here's a magazine interview with the owners Donald & Gaynor. 

Spotlight on hubby

Just a quick post to give you a slightly better insight to what I'm working with just now.  This is just a small section of the finished project so in a respect its still a sneaky peek.  Lol.   Right enough poor hubby doesn't know that he's making an appearance on it but I'm sure he'll enjoy being in the spotlight.  He normally does.  Lol. 

Anyway, must dash as today is my last day for samples as they need to be shipped off so they can be displayed at the show this coming weekend.  

Toodles for now
Lorraine xxx

Blooming fun

Evening all and hope everyone's had a fab weekend.  

So, what have I been up to since my last post on Thursday?  Hhmmm let's see..  Friday brought about some of the normal 'day off' chores (boring) combined with working on a sample for the Stitches show (much more fun).   

Yesterday I was working in the shop and had planned on sample making at night but to be honest there was no way that was happening as I had glaze sprayed so many ceramic pieces for customers that by the time I got home I had a dull throbbing headache, eased only by dim light & darkness.   Not a good idea to craft under those conditions.  Lol. 

Thankfully today, after a bit of a dodgy start I got in the flow and completed my project, right down to sealing it all.  Yay...  Complete.  Now as I type I'm lying having a little soak in a nice big hot bath.  Lol. 

Well that's about it for now but I'm off tomorrow again so that means time for crafting again.  So until then... Toodles. 

Lorraine xxx

Sweet tweet

A wee peak at tonight's creation.  Full reveal will be made next week.

Lots going on in life at the moment so I've sadly had very little time for my blog or facebook but am doing my best to fit everything in and I'm always available via message if anyone needs to get hold of me. 

Today has been a typical day..  up, ready and off to work, returned home about 6.30, chilled over a cuppa for half hour then organised dinner and had a quick clean up.   Dishes done, animals fed and settled down to a bit of crafting for a few hours.  The day has flown by!   Now it's just after midnight so off for a quick flick through a mag before hitting the hay so I'm bright eyed and bushy tailed at work in the morning.   Will hopefully get another wee peaky picture posted tomorrow night again.  

Well folks that's it for tonight, so sleep tight, sweet dreams and don't let the bed bugs bite. 

Xxx

Work time (or play)

Busy wee day working on samples for Jones Crafts to be exhibited at the upcoming craft & hobby trade show at the NEC. 

Oh I'm drooling over my stash.  Lol. 

Layers! Xxx

Finally...

Boy does that feel good.  I've finally managed to unleash some personal creativity today instead of repetitive stationery making.   Ooohhhh it feels awesome!!!!!!!!!! 

Started the day with a lie in as I'm very much a night hawk so was near on 4am when I finally nodded off and slept till around 10.30.   Leisurely start over a few cups of coffee whilst finishing off the day invitations.   Mid afternoon we floated out for a bite to eat, followed by a trip to the supermarket then popped in to see Mum & Eric.   My poor wee mum has been a little down lately so I took her in a nice big bunch of multi coloured roses and you'd have thought I'd given her a million pounds with the smile it put on her face.   So nice that such a little gesture meant so much to her.   Warmed my heart so it did.  Didn't leave Eric out either..  took him in a couple of loin chops for his dinner.  Lol.  Finally left there just after 7pm and headed home to organise dinner, nothing too exciting, just some quick fry fish.  

Once I tidied up, you know the crappy household stuff I mean, tended animals etc I got my big box opened and my brain in action.  I've had so much fun with a piece of wood, 3 tubes of paint and a mini mister.   Amazing how a few simple things can get me so excited but then again.. I was raised to appreciate the simple things in life. 

Alas, I've cleaned up ready for morning,  its now creeping towards 3.30am and sadly I need to sleep.   I'd much rather keep crafting but somehow I don't think hubby would be amused to find me still sitting here in a few hours when he gets up for work.   Lol. 

With that said I'll bid you all a find farewell for the moment being and hope you've all had a fabulous weekend. 

Happy crafting
Lorraine xxx

What a sight

Well folks I can hardly believe it's basically been a week since I last posted!   Sorry about that but I've been a real busy wee bee.   The picture is a wee snippet of what is spread all over my dining room table.  Lol.

110 labels printed & die cut then another 110 larger labels cut and both adhered together before being mounted on the cards.   Rather a lot of inserts printed.. 4 per card and each piece of card had to be cut to size prior to printing.   In addition to that I've been in the shop working 3 days and posting on the shops facebook page every day too.  

My respite this week has consisted of a 2 hour soak in the bath yesterday and a visit to the beautician today to get my nails done. 

Tomorrow... Well I feel the need to crack open a large cardboard box I have sitting with lots of yummy stash inside and woohoo...  Got a wee day off on Tuesday too as I'm working next Saturday so get a few days in a row to sit and get creative.   Lol. 

Off now to get a few things tidied up then I can sit and chill.  

Toodles for now
Lorraine xxx