Bunting, bunting & ....

...  lots of cards were created at the Stamp Attic this weekend by 2 groups of lovely ladies... here are the bunting ladies (without Fiona who left before the photo call) (so busy creating on saturday I didn't get a chance to round them all up and take any photos! lol)

Lovely to see the different colour variations that were created...  I love that aspect of teaching classes.

I couldn't resist this pack of MyMindsEye paper - love the grey/blue/mustard colour scheme

Came home, and had a quick wander around the garden to find that the honeysuckle had, at last, started to flower - how lovely are these delicate blooms:

It was fun weekend - lots of laughs and creativity - looking forward to returning in September..

x

What nicer way to spend a day...

... than to make a line of bunting...

which is what we'll be doing in the class I'm teaching at The Stamp Attic on Sunday ... stamping, painting, & stenciling to create a line of mdf bunting...  there's still time to book your place - contact the shop and come and join the fun.

x

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside....

...oh I do like to be beside the seeeeeeaaaaaaa...  the sea in question this weekend was Deal in Kent where I had a fun day teaching a workshop at the Swanstitch shop....

... to a lovely group of ladies- Anita and her customers made me welcome and we spent the day creating a canvas and a couple of cards...

We laughed, painted, stamped, glued, sang 'happy birthday' to Kate, laughed a bit more and were creative all day.  Here are Anita's photos of the projects, now on display in the shop in among all the lovely paint and mixed media products:

Thanks for having me, and thanks to everyone who came along- hope to see you all again soon (well, November actually, if you're around and in the mood for a bit of Christmas themed creating!)

For the first time Matt came with me on a teaching trip (thats him peering through the window of Swanstitch in the top photo) - he stayed at our very lovely b&b in Deal while I went to teach.  We stayed at NumberOne B&B run by the lovely Nicky & Mark, who made us very welcome. I'd definitely recommend this b&b if you ever need somewhere to stay in the area - its lovely and close to the seafront, and a short walk to the high street with all its interesting shops, pubs and 'bits and pieces' to see.
Deal is a lovely relaxed town - I really enjoyed our weekend..

We drove down on Friday.. got settled at the b&B then went for a walk along the High Street..

(I love hollyhocks - so quintessentially 'English cottage garden'.. I just wish I could grow them like this in my garden!)

(worn flagstones at the information centre - how lovely is the texture!!)

.. we had a lovely meal and walked home- just as the wind changed and it got a 'little bit' stormy! (not as much as it had been in Essex the night before when we had an AMAZING storm!).

After 'work' on Saturday (too enjoyable to be called work, surely!) we walked along the seafront... a lovely relaxing way to end the day... I couldn't not take photos so here's a few:

the weather worn look of these railings on a building facing the sea caught my eye, I preferred these to the recently painted ones on the adjacent balcony - I like how it accents the detail.

We made it home on Sunday afternoon before the rain arrived, in what can only be described as torrential amounts, accompanied by thunder and lightning, so we were at home to bail out the patio and garage which were quickly ankle deep in water...  I hope you were all ok and relatively unaffected by this crazy weather we're experiencing at the moment here in the UK.... and now we have sunshine again! lol

gotta love the English summertime!

x

Creative 'leftovers'...

... make great little projects.. simple greeting cards (of the 'less is more' variety) or, in the case of these pieces, project life/pocket journaling sized journaling/scrapbooking...

I love the colours on these panels - Dusty Teal and kraft  (sigh, lovely) and one panel washed with Chalk to age/soften it a little...
These panels were also created while I was playing around with my large flower stencils to see/show how they could fit in with smaller elements - sketching, painting, die-cuts & stamping...

The pieces became part of a larger pocket style scrapbook spread - I like the 'Project Life' style of jounaling - little and often - its achievable isn't it, and to me its a bit less daunting than a single 12x12 spread

 (the panels are in their page protector- hence the reflections!)

As always I've combined lots of my current favourite elements - such as the Chloe die (Memory Box), the Happy Days papers (Papermania), a Pogo printed photo and JOFY stamps and stencils.

I like to use the stamped and stenciled elements to create layers as in the photo below where I've cut around the petals of the stenciled flower and tucked die cuts underneath and laid other die cuts on top

On the panel below I've cut the tag away from the background and tucked the photo underneath.. helps tie everything together....

JOFY does scrapbooking... I like it!... but then I am a little biased lol

x

Exciting times!....

.... are almost here....

only a little bit longer to wait... and while you're waiting here's a few things to look at...

Sneekpeeks of new stamps!! NEW STAMPS... and PAINT I'm really excited for you to see all the new products and I'll be demo'ing them at The Craft Barn on 02 August - I hope you can come along - it would be lovely to see you all..

& here's something to get you ready for THAT event which is only 161 days away... not that I'm counting or anything...

I love a bit of kraft card, and there's no reason it can't be used at christmas - I love the simplicity of this card.. and how it still has impact.  the images are coloured using watercolour pencils to give them shading and depth.. and I added a touch of sparkle to the bauble details - well, christmas expects sparkle!

Pop over to the PaperArtsy blog for more info.. and maybe some more pictures... just sayin'

x

A house that JOFY built....

... or that should really read another house that JOFY built, because last Sunday I taught another house project (I like houses almost as much as I like bunting!), this time at the Craft Barn- very different from the last one - this house (or is it a shed?) has a lovely summery garden feel to it.. full of bits and pieces..

My original sample looked like this, using my JOFY Limited Edition paints (now sold out) and I loved this house but the naughty people at the manufacturers have discontinued it!!....eek...

so quick redesign and it looked like this...

I think I like this version a little bit more than the first - more layers and spaces to fill with 'stuff'... its the same but different.

The class created a row of houses:

They did a great job - there's lots of bits and pieces in there - fun project to create - I can see more of these being made for all sorts of occasions and themes...

and look - I used YELLOW!! yes I did - YELLOW!!!

Yellow is not one of my 'go to' colours - I don't wear it, don't decorated using it and I don't craft with it but this might change now because I like how this flower looks - fresh and bright, and juicy looking!
Bring on the yellows! lol

All items are available at The Craft Barn - this house would make a great christmas gift for a greenfingered friend/family member (and yes, I did just say christmas!!... just sneaking it in there! lol)

x

BUNTING (& Cards)!!

I think I've said before how much I love bunting! and whats not to love - its a happy, pretty & decorative feature to have in the house or garden...

I thought it was about time that I taught a class creating bunting....

So that's what I'm doing at The Stamp Attic on the 27th July, as part of my weekend of workshops at this lovely shop... this makes me happy - bunting and being back at The Stamp Attic with Wendy and her lovely customers...  The bunting can be hung inside or out in the garden... 

That's what we'll be creating on the Sunday - while on Saturday 26th we'll be creating cards with a nod to the men......

I'm looking forward to the weekend - hope you can join me.  Go to the Stamp Attic website for details and to book your place.

Bunting and card making - what's not to look forward to! lol

x

Birds in the Barn SummerFest...

... was fun, and the rain on the day I taught at this four day event didn't dampen the attendees enthusiasm - everyone got busy and painted, stamped & stenciled to build a working clock..

I was so pleased that all the ladies finished their clocks - here they are with their projects.. usually in classes people choose their own colours to work with and are all different but the ladies all followed the sample with subtle different touches to the painting and positioning...

My main sample has a plain background (above) but the one I created in class to go on the wall at Birds in the Barn has spots stamped in Pearl Glaze and this created a lovely shimmer on the background.

It was a lovely event organised by Birds in the Barn and I was pleased to be a part of it.  You can find the shop's website HERE for news of upcoming classes and the shop location.

A little bit of this'n'that....

.... literally - a teeny tiny plant pot and and watering can to go with my teeny tiny shed! (otherwise known as a 'beach hut')

.. and so the shed looked a little bit more equipped for its job I doodled a plant pot and fork...

The images are coloured with the Caran d'Ache Fabrilo pens - great for creating a water colour effect.

There will be more beach hut transformations during my workshops at The Stamp Attic in a few weeks.. that and BUNTING!!! and I think I've said before how much I like bunting! lol  its going to a lot of fun running a class creating it!
More about that tomorrow...

:o)

x

Its a garden shed of Lilliputian proportions...

... that we'll be creating in my class this coming Sunday at The Craft Barn. An adorable wood house with compartments filled with a garden theme...

Places are still available so come along and join the fun - green fingers aren't necessary! :o)  Contact the shop to book your place.

x

Weekend spent at Coleman's Craft Warehouse...

.... was a weekend well spent... 

Saturday was the shop's monthly demo day, nice to see familiar faces and new ones... lots of questions  asked & answered... I demo'd with stamps, stencil and paints until they ran out!..  all projects in this blog post were created on the day and will be on display in the shop very soon.

Thanks to everyone who came and watched, and asked questions (no, sorry, I haven't written a book - but maybe I'll think about that in the future...), and the fun ladies who came to the workshops on Sunday.

An enjoyable way to spend a weekend... lets do it again soon!

I was trying NOT to find out who won the Wimbledon Men's Tennis Final (on communication lockdown!) lol  but decided I couldn't wait so I listened to the match on the drive home - very strange listening to tennis on the radio!
Disappointed at the result but it sounded like a fantastic match... sounded so good I watched the final set this morning - and it was brilliant!.....

really MUST try and get tickets for next year (we say that EVERY year! lol)

x

mmmm pretty colouring pens...

....make me happy.. yep, its that simple - & NEW pretty colouing pens (or pencils) in a box & in colour order (squeel) makes me very happy...

I like to colour in my stamp images in pen, and I've been using Distress Ink pens (which I love) but they don't work well with Fresco Finish paints which is a problem because I paint A LOT with Frescos (obviously!)... Distress Pens have their place - great if you're using the other Distress products: inks and stains, and directly onto paper but not on Frescos because they get absorbed into the paint.... so I've been keeping an eye out for an alternative and (drum roll please...) taa daaaaaaaaaaa  Fibralo pens made by Caran d'Ache!!!  oh be still my pen loving heart! lol

go on stroke the pens - you know you want to...

I had a quick play with them.. - I want to do straight forward (?!) colouring with them and so I created the little tile tester in the photo above... just playing around and getting them to blend which is what I want pens to do - not block colour, something more delicate...  

What I love about these pens is that they are water soluble- you can scribble onto a craft sheet  (or into the inside of the lid of the tin (?)) and pick up the ink with a wet paint brush and paint with them like watercolour paints!!  Bazinga!  Love!!
My little tile sample is created on a watercolour postcard which the pens worked really well on... I also painted onto Fresco Finish paints - great blending & no absorbing into the paint.. woop woop!!

If you want to see what else these pens can do check out Darcy's blog post over on the PaperArtsy blog where she did all kinds of interesting stuff with them - HERE  and you can buy them HERE

Just playing...

... with a new die before I began working on a bigger project... I like to create something small before starting on something bigger - a sort of warm up exercise..

Its the matchbox die from Sizzix/Tim Holtz and its a dinky little thing! I decorated it using bits left over from recent projects - seemed a shame to throw them away.

The die is basically a matchbox, and I added a little pull tab to encourage people to open it (and open it the right way, so the content isn't 'upside down', using the Tiny Tags & Tabs die), cut from kraft card. The stamps are from JM12,  JOFY23 & 24..

Here's the inside (flower is painted in Lade Wanaka Fresco Finish - such a gorgeous blue!) stamps from JOFY22, 11 & JM12

... and the side - I do love a bit of scallop border...

Also on the desk is a pile of postcards I've made (again, just because..) and this one looked great with the box - LOVE the retro design on the papers (DoCrafts 'Happy Days' range from last year)
(text block stamp is JM40). The tab on side of the card is a great punch by Stampin Up that I 'rediscovered' while trying to find something else - don't you love it when that happens!

This was a simple project but a lot of fun to put together..

I've been meaning to blog about the new Tim Holtz/Tonic scissors... and I thought I do it now as when I looked at my desk while making this project both pairs of 'Tim' scissors were on the desk!
I bought mine from The Stamp Attic and am so pleased I did - I love my short scissors but the longer scissors are even more fantastic - you know when people say 'like cutting through hot butter' well they really do make cutting paper, card, fabric & cardboard just like that!  and you get that nice crunching noise too - like biting into an apple - very satisfying! lol

Also in the picture is the Tiny Attacher - small but fiesty little stapler! I used it to attach my little tab - a standard size staple would've been too bit but the Tiny Attacher staples were perfect size - and quite discreet.

I'd really like to make more of these boxes but unfortunately my BigShot may have sustained a fatal injury during a class on Sunday... its gone the craft hospital to see what can be done but I fear it may be headed to the great craft shed in the sky.... :o(  so no more die-cutting for a while - I didn't realise how much I used my BigShot until I didn't have it any more...

ah well.. onwards and upwards  :o)

x