Not long to wait now .......

Happy Wednesday folks ......

It's the middle of the week already ..... how's your's going?

We've got another gorgeous day here .... I can't quite believe the weather at the moment, it's a long time since we've had a May like this ...... it's so warm!!  Please, please, please let it continue for the net two weeks or so ...... TT is no fun in the rain!

I mentioned at the start of the week that Lucy is back on our TV screens soon, with more fabulous goodies from Sweet Poppy Stencils.  Well you've not long to wait now ..... Friday May 25th at 10am and 3pm.

There's new stencils, the new matching Buddy dies, stencil mediums, shimmer paints and I'm not sure but, there might be some new stamps too!  I do know that there will be lots of tips and techniques on how to get the most from your Sweet Poppy stencils ..... you won't want to miss it.

Here's a few of my ideas .... if you were at Port Sunlight you may have had a sneaky peek at these already.  I know Lucy opened up the box when I gave it to her!

The Bi plane and Banner is going to be on the show ..... along with the matching dies
This is such a funny stencil ...... great for guys projects, and for kids designs

See how the stencil and the matching dies work beautifully together.  I've used the stencil for the plane along with the Glossy Black stencil medium ......

And both of the matching dies .........

The banner was cut straight from my coloured background card and also from a piece of white cardstock.
The white one I inlaid into the background card, and then on the coloured one I stamped my sentiment ..... using stamps from one of the brand new Sweet Poppy Stamps sets

I slightly off set it on top of the white one giving this white edge to the bottom which makes the banner stand out I think

I also highlighted a little of the detail on the Bi plane, using one of the Liquid Chrome Markers

Here's another idea using the same stencil .....

Pale Blue Pearl stencil medium this time ..... I love these little pots of coloured pastes

Nothing fancy, just the paste through the stencil and then die cut ..... easy!

The background was simple too ....... various colours of Distress Oxides mixed with water and then splattered onto a square of white card ..... so much fun to do.  just make sure you have a clear desk first!

I die cut the word happy from the background card, and a couple more from plain white. 
I inlaid a white one back into the coloured background ...... not forgetting to put back the inner bits from the coloured one (the pieces from the middles of the a and the p's)  I put the other white one on top of that and finished with the coloured one on top ...... love this look!

I stamped the rest of my greeting, fussy cut it and attached underneath.

The plane was attached using a piece of folded acetate to make it stand off the card .... it moves around a little too

Now, I know the sun is shining, and it is only May but ....... dare I say, Christmas is coming!!!
Have you started thinking of your festive designs yet?  Maybe not ..... but Sweet Poppy are already on it .......

The beautiful Mehndi Snowflake ..... so pretty and delicate.  A nice size too, great for making quick Christmas cards.

I've used one of the Shimmer Paints for the background onto a piece of watercolour card

Once it was dry, I stenciled the snowflake over the top, just slightly off one edge using the Glossy White stencil medium 

Whilst the paste was still wet I sprinkled the design with Crystal Glitter .... so sparkly!

And I used one of the new Sweet Poppy stamps on the bottom

Remember I said make sure you have a clear desk before splattering inks to create backgrounds well, don't know if you spotted the little stray pink dot on my snowflake.  I obviously didn't clear my desk  completely ........ oops! 

Last one ..... the gorgeous Poinsettia stencil ......

An old favourite stencil design ...... three different sized poinsettia flowers that now have matching Buddy Dies.  Now you can create gorgeous layered festive flowers.........

The dies cut beautifully ..... even the little one, although I will say you do need to put it through your machine a few times to cut all the small detail between the petals.  I tend to run it through my Big Shot and then run it through again backwards,  and I do this twice and for me that's enough.
You can see I used the paste and glitter and the dies still cut perfectly

A leftover piece of background card found in my stash and a sprinkling of chunky white embossing powder to finish off

And here's one of the stamps again .... well part of it anyway .....

Don't forget ........ tune in to HOCHANDA (Sky channel 673/Freeview 85/Freesat 817) on Friday May 25th at 10am and 3pm. 
Enjoy the shows ...... I'll be watching.  Well, that's if I haven't set them to record, because I'm sat outside enjoying the weather in our new little treat to ourselves ......

This arrived yesterday ........ it's only taken us about 20 years to take the plunge (excuse the pun!)
Yes we've finally bought a hot tub! 
Every year we have the same conversation ...... shall we get a hot tub? Then we've talked ourselves out of it and bought something else.  And for the last three and bit years we haven't had a garden as such so ...... we were sat on the patio one evening and hubby said 'wouldn't it be nice to have a hot tub here'  Here we go again I thought ....... next day we were out looking for a fire pit for the garden, didn't find one we liked but hubby did show me the hot tubs!  Another week went by where we thought about it, changed our minds, then thought about it again.  Anyhow ....... here it is!
It arrived yesterday and it's finally all ready to go. 
I checked the temperature this morning .... it's a nice warm 38 degrees.  I just need to check the ph levels etc., now and then we can dive in ...... well maybe not dive but you know what I mean.  Perfect after a hard day in the craft room!!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
Time to try my new swimsuit on!

Cheerio until next time ......