Stampbord

I've been looking at stampbord for a while, but thought it was pretty expensive for what it is. (About £9 a pack of 30 1" x 2" pieces) I called in to a craft shop recently and they had a display of some stampbord pieces, so then I just had to get some to try. These little pieces of what looks like MDF are actually clay covered with a slightly porus but very smooth white surface. The image produced when you stamp on them is so clean and crystal clear- I'm hooked! You can also scratch into it if you want to emphasise any of the lines. You can use practicly anything to decorate the pieces, including acrylic paint, any ink, even alcohol inks, felts, crayons, etc etc. The 'Dance' canvas was embellished with stampbord pieces that I have been experimenting with. I will do this as a demo at the next crop. The little pendant was stamped and coloured in with ordinary felt pens, then glazed with glossy acents.
The stampbord on the tin is just stamped with black staz on. So easy but effective.

Playing

I'm working on some interesting stuff- will post about my experiments with stampbord tomorrow. I'm rushing now- I have to eat something before bed and I have a long day planned at work tomorrow. I'm not sure if it's a good thing to work one day a week. I love have 6 days off- but I seem to have to get an awful lot into one day and don't do half the stuff I had planned!! Anyhow, here's a photo Jules took of me doing a demo at the last crop. Night night.

Fun Creating

I'm having a blast experimenting with fabrics. Click on the picture for a much more detailed view. It's Carol and Karen's fault!!! They brought me an article from 'Stitch' magazine, feb/march issue which really inspired me (thanks girls:) So this is what I have made. It is made up of layers of cotton interlining that has been soaked in pva/water mixture, vilene, bondaweb and tissue paper. I stitched the cord in wavy lines (I knew I wouldn't manage straight ones!!), stitched on some silk flowers, painted it all in Gesso and then decorated it with various paint effects. I have bought some canvas and I am imagining all kinds of possibilities for making pages inside this cover. I will post when it's finished.

Best most yummy brownies - ever

This recipe is much sought after! It was given to me by Tracey Jensen, who is famous for her great cooking:) It turns out so well every time, and is really simple to make.

Whisk all the following ingredients together in a bowl.
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup marg
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder (that's 3 quarters of a cup)

bake for 30 to 40 minutes 180' . You can tell when its done by inserting a knife. It should come out with a few crumbs on, but not soft mixture. It's extra nice if its moist in the middle. Enjoy!

Yay- saturday is crop day!

I am excited that Saturday is crop day! I love seeing everyone and getting inspired. It gives me a creativity boost for the rest of the month :) If you haven't been before and can get to Cannock we would love to welcome you.
This time I will be doing a class to make a beer mat mini book. The kits are a bargain at £5, as they will include several packs of Making Memories hardware, worth about £10 on their own! I only have 11 kits, so get in early. All the proceeds will go to crop funds for a treat or to buy something useful for us as a group. See you there!

Sophie Photo

I just had to share this photo that my son Matt took of Martha and Sophie. It says so much.....

Embellishments made with hot glue

I have been having a lot of fun with a hot glue gun! They are inexpensive now, and most of us have one in the house somewhere, so I thought I would give it a go and see what I could do.
For the embellishment on the tag:

1. Trail the hot glue in the centre of a heatproof, non stick craft mat, and make a circle about 2" by 3". It needs to be pretty well filled in with glue, no gaps.

2. While it's still hot, fold an unused corner of the craft mat and lay over the top of your circle. Gently smooth it down. This will give you a nice smooth and flat finish.

3. Stamp into the warm glue with a stamp of your choice. I have used a ruler stamp. If your glue has cooled a bit too much, heat for a few seconds with a heat gun, then stamp.
Remember, if you don't like it at any stage you can remelt it with the heat gun and start again (phew!)

4. When cool, use metalic rub ons or gold leafing pen to rub colour into the imprinted image. You can then use a contrasting colour to rub over the top if you like. Chalks, inks, and acrylic paint also work.

To make the wing:

I used a buzz and bloom chipboard wing as a template, which I drew around with felt pen on the craft mat. You might be fine to do it freehand though. I then let the got glue drip onto the outline and trailed it across the middle to make the pattern. Make sure the centre lines are attached to the outline, so it will stay in one peice when you move it. While the glue was still hot, I sprinkled fine glitter over the top. You can also use embossing powders, or use rub on wax when cool.

You can then peel it off the mat and glue it wherever you want it. I have found Ranger's Diamond Glaze glues it brilliantly. Dont try gluing it with more hot glue, it just melts in to your work of art!

This is all so much easier than it sounds :)

Other ideas for hot glue:

1. Use it as a photo transfer method, by pressing your photocoppied picture into it. When cool, dampen with water and roll the wet paper off.

2. Liberally trail the gue on a heat proof craft mat to make random shapes, the more 'holey' the better. Colour as desribed above.

3. Put a blob in the centre of a silk flower. Add glitter or gold leaf while still hot. Brush away the excess.

Have fun, and let me know how you get on!

Blog followers

I just wanted to say Hi and THANKS to those of you who follow my blog. Some of you are good friends, others I don't know, but it's really good to know that someone is out there! I love sharing what I do. I would love to hear from you. Either leave a comment on here, or feel free to email me at donnadowd59@hotmail.com with your comments, ideas for me, links to your blogs or photos or just to say hello. I will be posting more in the next few days. Watch out! My son is a keen photographer and has set up a Flikr account with some of his pics. This is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjdmjd

There are some of my adorable grandchildren (not biased at all!!) and other family photos. This is one of my faves. Phoebe loves her little plastic animals more than anything else, and has a very clever way of managing to carry several at once. Not easy when you're two. She walks them round and round on the furniture. Bless!