Woke up to a very blustery, windy and on-and-off wet day.  I'd planned to go over to Oswaldtwistle (in deepest Lancashire) to meet up with Lindsay as she was demonstrating some of her stamping techniques, card making, etc, at Dawn Bibby's Design Studio, but I was having second thoughts after I saw what the weather was up to.  However, I felt a bit stir-crazy as I've been cooped up in the house all week with a cold, so decided it was about time I got some fresh air!

I hadn't been over to Oswaldtwistle before, not realising that I could catch a train directly from here (still no transport since our car got wrecked - new car not due for another few weeks) by travelling from one of the smaller local stations - it was a pleasant enough journey, just over an hour, plenty of time for me to sit back and daydream as fields of cows, trees, streams and houses passed by my window. 

Dawn Bibby's Studio is directly opposite the station, so thankfully very easy for me to find!  Lindsay was in full demo-mode so I spent an hour or so there, picking up fresh ideas for using my distress inks and also making a few crafty purchases - the new Distress Stickles, which I'd not been able to find locally, and a couple of Halloween-themed sheets for use in my ATC making.  As you can see from the photo, the Halloween theme was very much in evidence at the Studio/Topaz Crafts shop!

I then popped over to the Oswaldtwistle Mills for a mooch around and a bit of lunch - picked up some candles, sweets, crumbly Lancashire cheese and "firecracker" olives (chilli and garlic) for my other half! 

I also picked up the Witchy ATCs that Lindsay has made, she's done a really good job on them and it's great to see them in "real life" as you can examine them closely and see all the detail that has gone into making them.  I've already had a few sets of witchy ATCs arrive this week and they are all looking good, it's wonderful to see how differently everyone has interpreted the witch theme.  I'm the lucky one because I get to see all the cards! 

I thought I'd post pics of some cabinet cards I altered some time ago - they've all been swapped out now - including one that I turned into a Witch.  The larger size of a cabinet card (it's about 4" x 6") allows for a lot more "altering" and embellishing.  If you come across any of these cards when you are out shopping or car boot rummaging, it's worth buying one to have a play around with - you can really let your imagination loose on them, whatever style of art or technique appeals to you.

"Beauty"

(lots of acrylic paints, inks, stamping, embellishments and a beaded wire hanger)

"Clara"

(The name Clara was written on the back of this card.  Again, I used acrylics and stamps plus embossing powders and stamping onto torn vellum)

These two cab cards were altered for a "Crazy Carol" swap where we had to imagine they were eccentric or odd relatives