Good morning everyone,

Well, I've recovered from a great weekend at Stoneleigh, it was great to see so many friendly faces, especially the lovely Pauline and her daughter.
Apart from demoing on the stand, I did my own shopping and picked up some great stamps and ideas from fellow crafter's to bring back to Maidstone for future workshops. So many thanks to Wendy at Card-io, Kay at Indigo Blue and Kay of Hougie fame.
I would share some pickies of the cards I made but unfortunately they went onto the van, I will try and get to them tomorrow and share them later.
Here is the talented Kay and the lovely Phil having s quick cuddle.

Thanks for

Visiting, pop into the warehouse it would be great to see you.

Happy crafting Julie x

Good morning everyone,
What a busy few days ahead we have. Today is our ribbon flower workshop with the lovely Trish from The Ribbon Box,
There are a couple of spaces still available, but if you cannot make today then pop along tomorrow, where Trish will be demonstrating all day 10.00 till 4, you can even have a go yourself and go home with your creations.
There will also be the lovely Eileen Godwin and the equally lovely Barbara Cleggett, who are using masks,inks,stamps and dies.
If jewellery is your thing then we have that covered also, our very patient (well she has to be where I am concerned) Lynne, will be showing you how to make earings, sit down and choose your style from a vast range of beads or some bling and make your own to wear home.
Nearly forgot there is also a shop to browse around while enjoying a cuppa and a cake.
We look forward to seeing you.
On a personal note I want to thank the Tuesday ladies who stayed behind and helped me re-organize the shop, there will be a little gift waiting for you next week.
Happy crafting Julie x

Morning everyone,
I have the day off today, but I will still be crafting, we just keep away can we.
I have been busy this week away and home, firstly a great day with Eileen Godwin who will be demoing at our extravaganza on the 28th June. Then there was Lynn's jewelry workshop, now I am not a beader but I gave it a go and was pleased with my efforts, thankfully Lynn has a lot of patience.
Finally I have been stamping with the Chocolate Baroque Harebell butterfly stamps, I hope you like the pickies.
What a mixed week I have had, this weekend I will be prepping for future workshops check out the Web site for details I look forward to seeing you.
Happy crafting Julie x

Good morning everyone,
Yippee, Spectrum noir pencils have arrived and I have been busy playing with them.I will show my final results later but I'm loving them, so smooth and they blend beautiful. I have to say I have been using them on their own and over Promarkers both with great results.
Here is a quick card using Chocolate Baroque stamps, my fave at the moment but this will change next week when their new butterfly stamps arrive.

Since I took this picture I have added gems and beads to the centre's of the flowers, drop in one day and see it in the flesh or catch us at the Taunton show in June.
I hope you have a great weekend,
Happy crafting Julie x

Good morning everyone,
A big thank you to everyone who came over to see us at Biggin hill, it was great to see so many familiar faces. I love demoing at local shows we get to catch up with so many friends.
I also have to thank Marion and Jackie who helped me by making some card samples, and also Marion for helping me on the day.
I have been busy at base camp this week with my pop up box workshop, it still amazes me how each one is so different.
I  have the workshop again on Friday if you want to come along it will be great to see you, I think there are still places available check out the Website.
Here are some pickies of Tuesday's boxes, and the keys are from a previous workshop, hope you like them, please leave a comment it's always good to get feedback.
Happy crafting,
Julie x

Good morning everyone,
I hope you all had a great weekend, I definitely did. I love it when parcels arrive it means (normally) lots of things to play with.
The most difficult decision is where to start.
After Friday's workshop with the lovely Eileen Godwin ideas were aflowing.
Now today I am getting ready for tomorrow's workshop.
Work,work,work it's so hard lol.
Here are some pickies of Eileen's day and a card I made with stamps from Woodware check out the Website.
Hope you like it,
Happy crafting Julie x

Happy Easter Monday to everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying your Easter break, I have been very good and have kept off the chockies but somehow hot cross buns have found their way into my home. I have eaten 4 already only 2 to go then it's back onto the salad's lol.

Here are a couple of pictures using the Butterfly daisy collage stamps from Chocolate Baroque, might fave at the moment and great value as you get so many stamps on one sheet.

Keep enjoying your day and happy crafting Julie x

Good morning everyone,
Apparently this weekend is known as the DIY time, where Homebase and the like are rubbing their hands together, and expecting a rush to their stores.
Well I shall be doing my own DIY only not on the house but making some cards.
Here is a sneaky preview of my workshop in May I hope you like it. I have used a beautiful bird stamp from Hobbyart called Bird song.
Have a lovely Easter and enjoy everything that comes with it, that includes chocolate of course.

Happy crafting Julie x

Good morning everyone,

What a great day I had yesterday, first thing I spent the morning at Eileen Godwin's workshop, can not wait for her day at J and C, Eileen will be demoing with some of the new Chocolate Baroque stamps check out dates on the web, I now there is only a few places left so don't delay, she is a very talented and fun lady.
Then in the afternoon took Maizey out for a stroll, what lovely weather we have at the moment.
Then in the evening I tried to create cards for future workshops, only I was struggling to see through the tears. Does anyone else find watching Britain's got talent emotional?, first I was crying with laughter then crying with the stories of the contestants.That beautiful girl who was bullied and then sang with so much feeling WOW!
Now today I would love to say I am running in the London marathon lol, instead I am still in my jarmies watching from the sofa, but days like this makes me proud to be British, London looks great.
Have a great day and happy crafting,
Julie x

Happy Mother's Day

     These are the flowers that I sent to my Mum, they are origami Kusudama flowers. These ones have been made using scrapbook papers but any pretty papers you have would look good. J&C Creations have lots and lots of lovely paper that you could use and pretty buttons for the centres too.
     If you would like to know how to make them there are tutorials over on YouTube that explain everything. They are easy to make as each petal is made separately and then you build the flower, my neighbours six year old has been making them with me so it's something the children can do with your scraps.

     I hope you all have a lovely day whether you're a mum or not. 

Happy Crafting.......Rocky.

Good morning everyone,
Since I last spoke we have been to Harrogate and had a couple of workshops, so we have all been very busy.
We have also had Christmas, well not quite but that's what it has felt like with parcels arriving daily, with new stock that we ordered in from the trade show, so much to play with and so little time.
We are at Birmingham this weekend so come along and see Lisa demoing with some great products.

Here are a couple of pictures of Barbara's workshop where the ladies made an Easter basket. A good excuse for buying some chocolate.
Happy crafting Julie x

Butterflies for Mum

    With Mother's Day just a couple of weeks away here's an easy idea for a quick make that can be done with the children.
     I have die cut some butterflies using a Tim Holtz die but if you don't have a die cutter or a butterfly die then Tando chipboard butterflies are the easy solution. There are four of each of six different shapes in one pack.
     Stick one butterfly to another of the same shape with a small florist type wire in the middle, red double sided tape is great for this as it's very strong, it even works on metal shapes.
     Once you have stuck them together you can begin to decorate them. The chipboard one has glitter all over it in various shades of mauve and purple and the metal ones are a combination of using the outside of the can (I thought the words were pretty good for a butterfly) and colouring them with inks. The mottled one is done with alcohol inks but if you don't have those then use your alcohol markers, they work a treat and the children can do this easily.
     When die cutting a drink can I would not allow small children to do this bit but older ones under supervision are fine. The edges of the die cut shape are rounded over slightly when cutting so they're not too sharp but be careful with the offcuts.
     Being on fine wire these butterflies will wave in the breeze outside or just look good flying above a nice pot plant on the windowsill. A gift is always more special when it's been lovingly made so this would be ideal and inexpensive too!   Have fun.........Rocky.

Good morning everyone,
It was my birthday yesterday and also the first anniversary of the Tuesday group, ( crikey where did that year go ? ), well after a quiet start the ladies arrived and surprised me with beautiful flowers and lovely cards they had made.
I have such a lot of talented friends. Barbara made one of her famous cakes which went down well with a cuppa, so a big thank you to all for making my day special.
I think I will leave my cards up for sometime, here are some pickies of the day.
Happy crafting Julie x

Good morning,
Hope you all had a lovely weekend.
Saturday night was quiz night in the village, off we went with so much hope, needless to say we came last, I could make excuses but basically we were rubbish. But I was with my good friends and had such a great time which to me was more important.
Talking of good times the workshops went well last week and the ladies produced some lovely toppers.
Special thanks to Barbara who was on dog duty, I had to take Maizey with me as I was out all day.
Here are some cards we made using Heartfelt stamps and the resist techniques.
Happy crafting Julie x

Whoops Maizey sneeked in there.

Spike The Taghog

     Say Hello to Spike the taghog. He's a very useful chap to have by your telephone as he'll hold on to any notes you tuck into his back.
     Spike began life as a very tired and worn out old paperback novel, he has been well read but sadly was no longer loved in his original form. Now he has a new lease of life and will soon have a new home too.
     The book was approximately 300 pages long which was plenty. You'll be amazed at how fat he gets as you fold all his pages in half, that's why I find a paperback is better for this project.
     If you search 'altered books'  you will get an amazing array of art, Spike is a real beginners item but he was fun to make. He has old buttons for his eyes and nose and a selection of medium size tags for his prickles.
     He could hold messages by your phone or on your desk, he could also be a very novel birthday book with twelve tags stamped with each month of the year for you to list all those important dates you need to make cards for.
     I hope you like him, have a go at making one. It's really very easy and a great fund raising way to use up old unwanted books and buttons, but you will need strong glue, greyboard and tags from J and C Creations.

Happy folding, Rocky.

workshop day

Good morning everyone,
Well I survived the first week on my own, my son also has come through his first of 24 weeks as a ships photographer, on a PandO cruise liner sailing around the Carribean. Lucky boy.
I've been busy though not only catching up with the ironing ( I know but it had to be done) but a!so prepping for my workshop today.
Its a full house today but there are some places available on Friday,check back tomorrow to see how it went.
Happy crafting,
Julie x

Good morning everyone,
We had a great weekend at Birmingham were we spent 2 days  looking around the trade show. So many yummy things and yet could not come home with anything, so frustrating, but we have placed lots of orders so I am going to have to wait.
We also met up with so many friends that we only see at the show and those we see regularly, reminds me of weddings.
It was strange at the Tuesday group yesterday telling them about the show but keeping what's coming secret I felt like a cast member on EastEnders.
We also came away with some super ideas for workshops, keep an eye open on the website.
Happy crafting,
Julie x

Morning everyone,

Looking forward to today and will tell you tomorrow how it all went.
But here is a couple of sad pickies the floods have caused.
My heart goes out to those that are suffering this wet weather and hope it improves soon.
Happy crafting Julie x

New week

Good morning everyone,
Well Monday has arrived and I am glad to say that the river has been kind, I can leave my home without putting on the wellies.
But the weather does'nt look good for the week so fingers crossed, I will take some pickies when it's light and show you tomorrow.
I had a great day on Saturday at Eileen Godwin's workshop playing with Distress inks, my fave, and I am happy to say that she is coming to J and C soon, keep a look out for dates later.
Just watching C and C wondering if our lovely Barbara has another e-mail read out, she is fast becoming the famous Barbara from Maidstone.
Looking forward to tomorrow for Barbara's Stencil workshop, I have seen the samples and they look great.
Happy crafting Julie x

Fridays busy day

Hello to everyone,
Wow I needed this weekend to relax, after such a busy day on Friday although I still had to do some crafting.
I was on my own at the unit as the girls were at Exeter working equally as hard.
We had the ladies crafting in the morning and Lyn's workshop in the afternoon. Most of us had never beaded before so it took alot of Lyn's patience, but we all had a super time and went away with smashing bracelets. Can not wait for the next one.
Check out the workshops on the home page.

Happy crafting Julie x