Mini Statue Workshop at Crafty Urchins, Cheadle

Elegant Mini Statues Workshop

with John Glossop

This has been our second visit to Crafty Urchins in Cheadle, Staffordshire.

A great little shop run by Sue Tighe. She is both friendly and knowledgeable and will do whatever she can to help you.

Todays workshop was an Elegant Mini Statue. A nice little half day workshop making a scaled down version of my full size Powertex statue.

All eight of these statues turned out fab as you can see from the pictures and all the ladies started off with exactly the same kit.

If you would like to do a workshop like this you can contact Sue at Crafty Urchins direct or drop me a message

thanks for taking the time to look 

John & Heather

Powertex visits Crafters Companion Chesterfield

Powertex Demo Chesterfield

What a fantastic day and thank you to everybody who turned up for a look.

It is quite a rare occurrence these days for me to actually do a demonstration and I must admit its not my forte.

The people who attended were lovely and so enthusiastic about the techniques I was demonstrating.

A big thank you to Heather for manning the shop and setting up the display I may be a little biased but it is the best Powertex display I have seen to date.

Our first workshop there will be in September.

Check out the pictures.

many thanks for taking a look

John & Heather

A Little Vintage R'N'R

The Gaydon Annual Show

Hi all, we took a little time out this weekend for some R'n'R.

I must say it was great to get out see some lovely old light commercials.

There were vans, pick-ups and camper vans galore.

There were a few club outings here including the Ford Transit owners club and the Princess owners clubs.

All in all a great show and we also got the bonus of free entry into the British motor museum.

What more could you want on a sunny Sunday Afternoon?

Missing in Action

John Glossop Missing in Action

Morning world ( or at least the part of it that looks at this post ).

I hope you had a great weekend. I was absent on here most of last week.

This was for a number of reasons all of which are good. This week we have been networking and developing our own products here at Rosie Mcstone Studios.

You guys will be the first to know when they are ready.

Thanks for looking and have a great week.

J&H

Your Life & Mine acoustic video

           The Subtlety of Acoustics

    

Check out my sons band's acoustic version of their single Life Can't Wait.

Wherever you can please support up and coming home grown talent.

You can do this by simply going to live gigs most of which are free or spending £3/£4 on a cd.

Check them out on You tube.

Hope you enjoy.

John Glossop Workshop at "The Stamp Pad"

Mixed Media and Powertex

Todays workshop was hosted by Gwen at The Stamp Pad in Greenfields.

A lovely little shop, if you are into paper crafts and mixed media I highly recommend a visit to this shop.

As you can see we had to drive through some stunning scenery to get to todays workshop.

This is a great little craft shop and Gwen herself is quite an accomplished crafter

so it was a bit of an honour for me to be invited here to teach a workshop.

I had split the day into two workshops, the first being a lovely little shabby chic shrine, the second was a lovely simple introduction to Powertex workshop comprising of a little garden plaque.

Thank you to the 9 ladies and gent that took part and thanks you for looking .

until next time take care.

Another Powertex Statue Workshop

Statue Workshop at Jula Crafts Consett.

Another fantastic fun day out teaching Powertex fabric sculpting, this time in Consett.

When we set off at 6am the weather was abysmal but that wasn't going to deter us.

Although we have taught here before this was our first workshop at the new shop.

A lovely place and a warm friendly reception.

Eight ladies were booked on this workshop and eight lovely statues were made.

Can't wait for the next time, although we are now moving into Christmas projects.

until next time , stay safe.

Powertex Pixie Village

Gypsy Pixies move into Mansfield

There was a huge furore in Skegby this week.

A small amount of domestic dwellings seem to have sprung up overnight.

An Ahfield council spokesman said " dunt nar nart abart it duck"

Speculation and here say is that some immigrant pixies Illegal or not,  as yet we don't know the facts have set up a little shanty town just off the A38

there are fears that more will be moving in soon ( oh yes more workshops are booked)

unfortunately none of the alleged guilty pixies are  available for comment at this time, all we can do is speculate and enjoy the architecture.

I'll try and keep you posted as things develop.

Unil then stay safe.

Gardening, Mere Childsplay Update!!

Blooming Marvellous

You may remember, or you may not that Heather had bought a vintage childs wheel barrow and how we had turned it into a planter.

I was quite sceptical about using it as a planter because it is quite shallow.

well, it is now in full bloom and filling out lovely, so once again I have to bow to Heathers superior judgement.

The lesson for today is don't ask just do.

Until next time.

Pirate Girls Wear bows !!

The Laughing Skull Strikes Again 

Well its Heather's turn to wow us with one of her mixed media canvases today.

I asked her if she could make me a sample with the John Glossop Laughing Skull stamp.

I must say I am really impressed with what she came up with a great choice of colours.

So, she tells me this is what she used:-

Laughing Skull Stamp

Laughing skull Acrylic Skull ( love these )

a vast selection of embellishments ( thanks Heather )

An MDF Tile 13 x 25cm

Rosie McStone's Celestial Bodies Embossing Powder - Lilac Dawn.

Cosmic shimmer chalk paint - Chalkboard

Cosmic Simmer Chalk Paint - Orchid

Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Paint -Violet

Ranger Distress Paint - Dusty Concord

Golden Heavy body gel medium.

Paper die cuts.

I love it but then she would tell you that I am biased.

Baby Ava Update

Coming Along Nicely

Firstly thank you all for your kind words and concerns.

I thought it only right that I gave you an update.

She is coming along nicely and as you can see she is a cutey and although she spends most of her time asleep she is happy to vocally let us know when she isn't.

At 24 days we hoping she is over most of her early prem baby problems.

Well Deserved Day off

A bit of a rarity

A day off?? I know, what's that all about.

I have been working really hard here to get things moving along so we decided to book a day of and go and see my Mum and Dad and Milo for a day at the coast.

As my mum and dad were at their caravan we thought we'd spend a bit of time with them.

It was 29 degrees in Skeg-Vegas which made for a lovely relaxed walk on the beach followed by lunch and the obligatory beer.

It made quite a nice change. The downside was I spent too much money at the car boot again but got loads of goodies.

At Long Last

Skull Stamp Samples

It is with great pleasure that I get to show you these wonderful samples.

All these samples were made using the John Glossop large "Laughing Skull" Stamp.

Many thanks to

Teresa Morgan please check out her blog.

www.thefatcactus.co.uk

Julie Atkinson Please check out her blog.

Julie-Atkinson.blogspot.co.uk

These stamps are available in 2 sizes from our new website

www.rosiemcstone.co.uk

The site is new, please check it out, we are still loading stock so please bear with us.

If you are an overseas buyer you will have to contact us direct.

In the mean time check out these great samples.

Napoleonic Demitasse

A Little Gift

Whenever possible I try and get into and support the local charity shops.

Being a mixed media artist this isn't too difficult for me.

I always try and have one eye looking for a little treat or gift to bring home for Heather.

This week I stumbled upon this little gem in Barnado's

It is a little Limoge Demitasse made by Fontinille & Marraud.

Known as a half cup or a chocolate cup this one is decorated in the style of Napoleon and dates from about 1930.

It has a lovely Napoleonic Eagle crest and bumble bees and is in white, cobalt blue and gold .

A nice little addition to Heathers collection.

The rainbow mug is just to give you an ides how tiny this thing is.

Thanks for looking.

More Messing About at Samuel T's

Garden Plaque Samuel Taylors Embsay

Please ignore the clown in the top photo unfortunately he gets everywhere.

Another fantastic day of "Powertexing" with the lovely ladies of Samuel Taylors in Skipton

Another glorious day outside but who cares we were "texing"

Some fantastic plaques were made today

if I'm not mistaken the ladies loved it.

Messing on a Sunday Afternoon

Samuel Taylors Brighouse

After a few transport problems we finally arrived at our destination in the nick of time.

We received a great welcome and had a really fun day

introducing Powertex to the ladies at Samuel Taylors in Brighouse.

A glorious sunny Sunday afternoon in West Yorkshire.

"Old Friends" New Tricks

Introduction to Powertex

I recently had the pleasure of meeting up with a group of old friends.

The purpose, other than a get together and a catch up, was to introduce them to the wonders of Powertex which we've being trying  to arrange for a while.

What a great day was had by all.

Every piece looked stunning but as ever the pictures don't do them justice.

we also had time to fit in a little Shabby chic project. I showed them the correct way to cast Plaster of Paris, which they loved and were very impressed with the results.

Looking forward to my next meeting with the ladies.

Here are a few pictures of their finished projects, enjoy.

Gardening? Mere childsplay.

A Touch of Re-purposing

Have a look what Heather picked up recently at a car boot sale.

This vintage metal child's wheel barrow makes a lovely planter for bedding plants.

A quick tickle with a wire brush and a rub over with an oily rag.

A couple of bedding plants and a Powertex pixie house ( Heathers not mine).

How cool is that?

Let's see what else she can come up with.

Double Celebration Day

Two for the price of one

Hi, I hope you are all well?

Its been a good day for the family today, Firstly little Ava and Mum Leighann have been discharged from hospital today.

Secondly our youngest Beth has passed her driving test.

doesn't half make you feel old lol. 

Its these little milestones in life that make up for all the hard work and effort.

It also puts the trivialities of everyday life into perspective.

On that note I hope you all have a good week.

Baby Ava day 4

Day 4 

Well things are hopefully getting better.

Baby Ava is now off the CPAP machine and out of the incubator.

She is in a proper cot now and dressed in her own clothes even though the premature baby clothes bury her lol.

Baby and mother both doing well

Thanks for all your kind words over the last couple of days.

Ava Update

Mother and Daughters First Cuddle

For those of you that are interested I will keep you updated on Ava's progress.

For those of you that are not, I understand but please let us drivel on like the proud grandparents we are lol.

Due to Complications and problems with Ava's Breathing,  she had to go straight into a ventilator post caesarean

Leighann had her own problems and went straight to HDU.

That meant that this was their first cuddle.

36 Hours after Birth.

The picture below I'm sure will be a common sight at our place now

new born babies are tiny but early babies are really tiny.

New Addition to the Family

Welcome

I would like to introduce you to baby Ava-Drew she is the newest member of the clan .

Delivered on Saturday by C-section

Weighing in at a mighty 5lb 13ozs and 4 weeks premature

she is guaranteed to be spoiled by Granny H.

Steampunk Assemblage Finds

Steampunk Assemblage Finds

by John Glossop

Hello again, I recently picked these up in a Flea market. I don't know about you but I find them cool.

I think they are Paraffin lamps. They are a great size and shape, ideal for steampunk assembly/did-assembly.

They have some really cool component pieces and a great patina.

they are both in a state of disrepair, which means I don't feel so bad about breaking them up.

I am going to put these in the for sale category until I get round to using them.

If you are interested send me a message.

Do you have anything like this?

Thanks for looking.

More Floating Tea Cups

Another Sample

In preparation for some up and coming workshops, I have been working on my techniques and trying to improve on my initial piece.

My biggest problem seemed to be counter balancing the weight.

I have overcome that the second problem I encountered was, the glue sticks.

I am a great believer in you get what you pay for and this was obviously the case here.

I am quite happy with this finished floating cup/cascading cup project.

Powertex Garden owl by Heather Center

Three Dimensional Owl

Its that time of year when crafting takes a step outside. Heather and I decided we would have a go at a couple of projects out of the animal kingdom book by Brigette Grade.

This is Heathers Finished project.

A lovely Stone art clay 6" diameter Garden Owl wall plaque.

With the clay that was left Heather managed to make a couple of fridge magnets as well.

Keep watching to see what my project was and what I came up with.

Recent Treasure Haul

Some Recent Finds

Being a mixed media artist, I am always on the look out for interesting objects that have the potential to become part of a project.

Deep down in my mind I have usually formed an attachment with the object I have found before I have even bought it.

The downside or upside, whichever way you look at it, is that I accumulate a lot of inventory.

So, from now on everything I buy is for sale until it is used, if there is anything in these pictures you are interested in, just let me know.

In this week's haul

We have a pair of vintage French binoculars,

A lovely vintage clothes brush in a cool leather case,

2 x vintage travel irons,

a small collection of terracotta ewers,

An old Dunlop tyre repair tin,

and lastly a cool ornate sliding door catch.