Faith in Nature

At a workshop this month we used the hostess stamp set "Faith in Nature" and the results were excellent. 

The colour combination of lucky limeade and early expresso, together with a watercolour technique meant that the cards had instant appeal.

The same evening we experimented using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the flowers in the basket.  A really useful tool once the technique has been explained!

It has been a really busy month already, but I found time to go the Cathedral Flower Festival with friends.  What a splendid display of beautiful flowers and incredible talent.  There are a lot of talented people here in Lincolnshire, and what a privilege to be able to exhibit in such a magnificent building.

I took dozens of photos and it is very hard to just select one or two to show here.

The theme was the Olympics, hence the riding gear and the bicycle wheels!!!  Oh yes, that is what I was doing since my last post...watching the Olympics!!

That is all for now, with a bit of luck I will get more organised very soon, but please don't count on it.

Happy crafting.    Hugs Mandyx

Bright Blossoms

Good morning.

Last week I had two most enjoyable classes based on the versatile Bright Blossoms stamp set.  The cards, based on two Leamington 'swaps' from Zoe Tant and  Louise Jones proved very popular and the post-it note packet, a version of which I recently did with Barbara in Gainsborough, was a big hit.

Here are Shirley's, Robbie's and Cath's cards and packets ,all slightly different.

Shirley's

Certainly they are all very bright and cheerful, the sort of cards I always like making,  The 'Bright Blossom' stamp set is excellent value at £11.95.  The clear and simple images are so versatile.

Robbie's

The combination of Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip never fails to please.

Cath's

Cath was a newcomer to our afternoon class.  She has come all the way from Cyprus to live locally and we wish her every good fortune in the future.   Look forward to seeing you again, Cath, very soon.

Ginny and I have decided to run twice monthly Christmas Card making sessions starting in September.

Please see the Classes page for further details.

Happy crafting   Mandyx

A great afternoon!

Yesterday I spent a lovely afternoon crafting with three friends and a charming Spanish student.  They each made three cards, same sample for each of the cards but all turned out slightly different, which is great.

Alison's black card certainly has a cheeky look about it!
The original design was one of Emma Daye's...thanks Emma.

Here are Angie's cards...........she kept saying <not bad for a first attempt>  but she has done at least two previous classes with my friend Dawn!!

                                                                                      Natalia's cards

And here are Helen's cards.....

Three very different cards but all happy and bright, just the ticket for a lovely, sunny afternoon.  

Natalia and Helen

Last weekend I was at the U3A Harlaxton Summer School.  It is great to be able to spend 3 whole days crafting while someone else does the cooking AND the washing up!  There were about 100 people there studying a wide variety of topics including castles, creative writing and singing, but of course, I was in the papercraft group with our new tutor, Ros.  I met several old friends and made a few new ones and we all enjoyed learning a number of new techniques.  Whilst it wasn't a Stampin'Up weekend I was able to use one of my punches I took along for the pop up card.......

.......and some papers for the super patchwork demonstrated by Vivian.  Many thanks, Vivian, I will work on this idea!

While I was away Ginny went along to the workshop at Doncaster, but she, along with others, was disappointed with the ideas and quality of the materials.  However, I gather the show as a whole proved interesting.

Can't resist including a photo of Sam, the elder grand-daughter, at her graduation on Thursday. I was very proud of her. It was a very emotional day for everyone.

And this is Emily, her sister.

It looks as if the summer might have arrived....let's hope so!  Enjoy the sunshine.

Thanks for stopping by.   Happy crafting.   Mandy