Cheers!

I hope you have all been having a wonderful Easter weekend - we have been busy catching up with friends. I was hoping to launch an attack on the garden but the weather has been wild and windy, so it's back to the crafty desk for me

Here's an idea for a male card....

I cut a rectangle of white card and handcut the handle. The 'beer' is strips of brown cardstock, and the froth was made with lots of different sized punched circles. I put a layer of glossy accents over the whole tankard

We are off to lunch at another friends house today, so a quick post from me today before I say cheerio for now. I have a little giveaway planned for tomorrow so drop by then x  

Bird Crazy...

No, not those crazy birds! I'm crazy about the new intricate shape punch from Fiskars - I just find them the perfect size for my cards. Both of these cards were made with the birds punched in white, and sponged with distress inks

So I am off to another craft fair on Thursday - this time it's a retail show at the NEC, and I will stock up on the few basics that I need (that's the plan, it usually turns into a shopping frenzy, but I am resolute........), but my main reason for going along is to catch up with my Fiskars buddies, Caroline, who is my boss and over from Paris, Kath and Hina. 

And pull up a chair, make a coffee, here is a video I made for the facebook page - I wonder how many of you have this tool languishing in a drawer? When I finally got the hang of it (who knew you had to take that little orange thingy off, not me!) I use it all the time, so I hope it helps someone.....

Stitches Workshops....

The last of the trade show photos - this astonishing display was a bit of a show stopper - all the costumes, and the wolves were knitted!

 and I promised you a peek at the results of some of the workshops we attended. Now these are all about teaching you new techniques with the latest products, so I am not always crazy about the results, but take away something that I can adapt and use in another project which is more my style. 

First up was the Indigo Blu workshop. The stamp - called Elsie was stamped onto fabric. I did love the background, which had all sorts of techniques on it

This canvas was done in a Kuretake workshop - I can't tell you what an inky mess I was at the end of that one! I messed around with it a bit when I got home and overstamped a few trees onto the canvas

This one was a Paper Artsy workshop - I loved making this little box frame. Can you see on the glass some writing which looks as if it's etched on the glass? that was done with a new product called Fresco Finish Frosting Glaze - such an innovative product. You simply apply it to your stamp then stamp onto glass, acrylic or any transparent surface and get the effect of etched glass. I liked this so much that as soon as I got home, I ordered a bottle, so look out for a project or two made with it 

and lastly, I thought you would like to see the view from my kitchen window - these horses stand patiently at the fence every afternoon waiting for my neighbour to cross the road to give them some carrots - I just love them!

See you tomorrow x

More from Stitches

First of all a cute sample made with Karen Burniston dies - Kath and I met Karen and chatted for quite a while, she is the sweetest most unassuming person you could wish to meet.....

Next up a few samples made with Woodware Stamps - this is a company who have really upped their game in the past couple of years and seem to be developing a line of stamps which are big, bold and beautiful

Lastly for those of you who sew, I loved the quilt kits made by Craft Cotton Co - I really would be tempted to attempt one of these if I had a little baby to cherish with an heirloom from Grandma......

If you have a sewing area in your craft room, how cute is this thread holder?

I'll be back tomorrow to share the projects we made at various workshops, see you then x