Back home and raring to go!

Hello, I'm back!

Just a quick post to let you know I'm back on Manx soil, and hopefully I'll be back into the swing of all things crafty very soon.
I love taking my trips across to the UK, it's the coming home I don't like.  All that unpacking, washing, tidying up to do, it's just no fun at all.  But I knuckled down yesterday and all the washing is done, the house is clean and tidy again, and the cupboards are full!  Now I can get on with the important stuff - back in the old craft room.

I had a fabulous weekend with my lovely crafty girlfriends, down in London.  We did a little bit of sightseeing.  Had dinner in China Town (nom! nom!).  Shopped in Covent Garden, tea and cakes in Shaftsbury Avenue and of course, the main reason for the trip, the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show at Alexandra Palace.  We had such a ball, we're already planning next year's trip!

I was ever so good, I only bought one thing that wasn't on my shopping list, it was a little on the large side though so I've had to leave it with Susan in the UK for now - I only had hand luggage and there was no way it was going in my case!!!  What did I buy???? ......... well, it's a pocket watch (for BIG pockets!).  It goes with the large clock face you can see in this picture of all my new stash - you guessed it, we went to see the MDF man!!!

I told you I'd been good.  There's not that much there, really.

This is why I bought the pocket watch ........ here's the sample that was on display on the stand .......

How fabulous is this!!!!  Follow this link, it'll take you over to the blog of the lady that made it.  There's details on products and techniques she's used to create this stunning piece of art.
No idea when I'll have the 'time' to start mine, but I've already jotted down a couple of ideas.

I can't wait to get started with all my new goodies.  You can see, I finally gave in and bought a Gelli Plate (thanks to Barbara Gray for that!)  The new JOFY stamps came home with me too, along with some Studio 490 goodies and a few other bits and bobs.  I think the rest of this week is going to be fun, don't you!

I gave you a sneaky peek of some of my Indigo Blu samples, that I left with Kay on Saturday (thankfully they made it down there ok).   Did you see the shows?  We actually watched the morning one from our hotel room before we checked out.  Here's some of my samples in full ......

This one is using the gorgeous Ella Bella stamp and the Bubble Background .........

A very simple card to do.  I lightly inked a piece of white cardstock, using Distress inks then stamped the bubbles around the edges in two shades of blue ink.  Ella has then been stamped in the centre, in black ink, and heat embossed using a clear powder.   A touch of Glamour Dust highlights some of the bubbles, and I added the word Dream to finish it off.

I also decorated one of the Folk Hearts, using the Poppy Meadow stamp set.

The heart was given a coat of white Gee-So then a layer of white acrylic paint.  I stamped the lovely sentiment in the middle, using Black Archival ink, then stamped the poppy around the edges.  I added the colour using a mix of markers and pencils.  There's a touch of Kroma Crackle on there too, just patches here and there, on the front, that have been painted over with white acrylic paint once the cracks had appeared. The back of the heart was painted with the Black Gee-So then I mixed some of the Kroma Crackle with some red acrylic paint, spread that on and let it dry. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the back, but Kay did show it on the telly.

The last one is the gorgeous Elizabeth Bennet, framed using the Vintage flourish.  So pretty!

Hope you like them.  All the products I've used can be found on the Indigo Blu Website.
There'll be more of my show samples over on the Indigo Blu DT Blog tomorrow (Wednesday) if you'd like to take a look.  If you pop over there today, you'll find more inspiration using the Indigo Blu stamp range, from the very talented Jo Rice.

I'm off now to read a bit more of my Dummies Guide, for my Mac Book.  I'm not getting very far, but I have managed to sort out my email, write this blog post (minus the pictures - haven't worked that one out yet!), and of course bookmarked some craft sites.  So, I'm getting there, slowly.

Thanks for popping by today, I'll see you again later in the week.

Cheerio for now.

Linda

xx