What a fabulous weekend ..... we should do it more often!

Happy Monday ......

What a great weekend we've just had .... hope yours was a good one too!

After a lovely crafty day last Friday, I was told that hubby and I HAD to be in The Saddle (Chris's place) that evening .... no matter what!
Hmmm ....... now I don't usually like surprises but ..... this one was a good one!
My brother and his wife had come across for the weekend ..... it was so nice to see them.  Chris was the only one that knew anything about it (and Sam his girlfriend), apparently they'd been organised it for weeks!!  Thanks love ....... what a fabulous surprise for your old mum!!

We all had a lovely night out ...... called in to Artisan see Lauren as she was working, she was as surprised as I was .... lots of squealing and hugging going on!!  It was also Chris's one year anniversary of having his name above the door at The Saddle ..... hasn't that 12 months gone quickly!!! ........ so as you can imagine, there might just have been a little bit of celebrating going on!!
We did it all again on Saturday too!! Oh yes .... you've guessed it ..... Sunday was a bit of a lazy day!

Not only was I out partying all weekend ....... it was workshop weekend too!!  There wasn't too much of a headache on Saturday morning ..... just as well really as we had the usual crew around the table, plus a few extras for this one.  The place was full .... and we had a great day.

Four cards, with matching tags, all done using Kraft Card.  
It's one of those things I think, you either love it (which I do)  or .... you're never quite sure what to do with it!  Well I gave them all a few ideas ...... starting with simply stamping onto it using a black ink and adding a some black and white cardstock ...... very elegant.

I gave them a choice too .... either everyday using the gorgeous Penny Black Poppies ......

or a Christmas version with the jolly Inkadinkadoo Snowman ......

Next we did some white embossing ..... which always looks stunning on Kraft card .....

I love my large Clarity Christmas Tree, especially with a touch of sparkle and some added falling snow .....

And why not add a bit of festive red into the mix ......

 Snowflakes white embossed again, but also stamped in Crimson Red Versafine .....

But, it doesn't have to be just Christmas cards ...... this colour combo works just as well for everyday designs

Tags to match too .....

Then it was on to some simple colouring on Kraft card ....... stamping with a brown ink and using water colour pencils ......

How cute is this little guy .....

Add some Picket Fence Distress ink around the image and a little falling snow and you're done.  A nice quick and easy, one layer card with matching tag ..... great for posting!

And of course .... there was an everyday option .....

This time stamped in Black and coloured using Prismacolor pencils ..... with a tag to match

And finally ...... we finished the afternoon with what was my favourite, and everyone else's I think ..... white ink on Kraft card.

Inspired by the ladies from Inkylicious ..... and using their beautiful stamps, two wintry snow scenes.

First option ...... using a stencil and white ColorBox ink to create the circle, then stamping the Inkylicious Winter Lodge over the top ......

This is where the MISTI is such a useful tool.  To get all the detail of the stamp clear, over the white ink I stamped the image about 3 or 4 times using a brown ink pad.  Then I added in some extra white detail, the snow on the roof and the trees, and around the bottom of the lodge, and then ..... I stamped the lodge again over the top.  Because I used the MISTI each stamping was perfect!

The other option was made using the same white ColorBox ink and a piece of copier paper to create the snowy hills ......

I used stamps from the new IndigoBlu Winterland Wood and the Inkylicious small Winter Cabin

With my copier paper masks in place I stamped the images first, using the brown ink again (Ranger's Java Bean Dye Ink)

Then I added in the snow ......

The ColorBox white ink works really well on Kraft Card .... I will say though they are quite a wet ink pad so less is definitely more.  I always like to use a brush to apply my inks and I start with very little on the brush and gradually build up the depth of colour.

Love how these two designs turned out.

I said it was a busy workshop ..... I think everyone enjoyed it though.  They've booked on the next one anyway!

Well .... that's Monday nearly over with.  It's going to be a bit of a whirlwind week I think ..... I've only 4 days .... 3 now ..... to get everything done, then I'm off on a little trip across to the UK next weekend ...... I'm so excited!!!!  More about that later.

Right now it's time I got on with the dinner .... tummy's rumbling!!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .....