Craft Retreat - Beamsley, North Yorkshire Sept 2011

I mentioned in my last post that my friend Linda Turner and I were going down to Yorkshire for a craft retreat. Well we have been and now we are home, tired but happy. We had a great weekend catching up with crafters we met last time in March, and meeting some new folk. We crafted, ate, laughed and went shopping to The Stamp Man and Embsay Crafts. There were some great characters and I just loved listening to their accents and banter. I also met the lovely Liz from Liverpool way who turned out to be a cousin of another crafting friend of mine, Sue.
This is the room we crafted in is part of an old church. The Beamsley project provides self catering accommodation for disabled people and their carers. So there's plenty of space. Which was definitely needed when you saw everyone arriving with their craft stuff.

I took Christmas stuff with me. I wanted to get on with some Christmas cards to take over to Ireland at the end of the month, for my Dad. I make him a batch every year for him to send out to his friends. 
I managed to make 24 (4 each of 6 designs) . Not bad considering how much time we spent yapping and eating cakes. 

This one was my favourite and the simplest!! I love the Stampendous "Wise Men" . I bought it last year and never used it.

• Blend 3 colours of Distress ink onto white card stock (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire)
• Ink up music background stamp with Versa Mark and spritz with water. Stamp onto blue background and lift off. The water removes some of the ink to give a subtle resist type effect. 
• Stamp the swirl stamp (Hero Arts S5449 Fabulous Flourish) with second generation Stormy Sky)
• Stamp Wise Men with Versafine Onyx Black and highlight detail with gold pen.
• So simple!!

So a big thank you to Janet and Michelle for organising such a good retreat. Thanks to Emma and Andy who fed us all so well. And thanks to Drew who drove two gibbering budgies all the way there and back. Although we did sleep quite a bit on the way home.

Beamsley Lovin'-Ink Retreat Sept 2011