LOTS TO LOOK FORWARD TO

It's a time for thinking about the year ahead. 2011 is a new decade, lets make some goals that will get us where we want to be. Whether we are looking at our crafting or general life goals, we will accomplish so much more if we know what we want to achieve. So, think what you would like to happen in 2011, and then write down some steps that will set you on your way. You could even scrapbook your journey. The most important thing is that you take those steps! So often we set goals and don't achieve them, because we don't follow through and do the work. Lets change all that and live more purposefully in 2011. I have always loved this quote, I hope it inspires you too!
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours" David Henry Thoreau

Crop 2011

CROP DATES
The crop will take place on the second Saturday of each month, except for February when we couldn't get the second so we went for the first Saturday. Dates are as follows:
January 8th
February 5th
March 12th
April 9th
May 14th
June 11th
July 9th
August 13th
September 10th
October 8th
November 12th
December 10th

WORKSHOP- If we get at least 15 people signed up, the workshop will be subsidised for regular members, so a workshop that usually costs £30 will be yours for £20! Karen or Carol need your £10 deposit by the January crop to secure your place. I am very excited about this workshop!!

Next years workshop

Just a note to let you know that the very talented Anneliese Bates (www.anneliesebates.co.uk ) will be running an altered scrapbook workshop for us on 12th March next year. She is a certified Ranger Educator and has had work published in a number of magazines. She works at the Artist Trading Post. I have seen her demo and she is brilliant! It should cost around £20 to £25 , so maybe you could ask Santa for an extra pressy? Deposits need to be in by the January crop. Get excited!!

Christmas Crop

It's our Christmas crop this Saturday!!! I am so sorry I will miss it. We are at a good friends wedding in Peterborough, and just can't miss that. I hope to be sending along a little thought for each of you though. It's 10 till 3, as normal. Bring along a £5 scrapbooking gift if you want to take part in the gift exchange. Are you following Tim Holtz's 12 tags? Yesterdays was fabulous- see picture above. I can't believe that creativity! Good news though, you don't need the die to cut the flower if you haven't already got it. I cut a strip of paper with a wavy edge and it works fine. OK, not as good as Tim's, but that is because its me doing it!! Enjoy the crop xx

My Christmas Tags

This tag was painted with blue crackle paint, stamped with the word then stickled over the lines.

Gold heat embossed all over the tag with the holly stamp, distress inked and adhered printed flower, highlighted with stickles. Red holly berries were done with red stickles.

This one was gold heat embossed with holly stamp, distress inked edges, stamped holly on another card and cut out, then distress inked leaves.

I used flocked red patterned paper for the middle, gold crackle paint for the bottom, inked, stamped and distressed the lot! I glued a button on and used glossy accents to put a star on it.

This is my favourite. I stamped 'NOEL', distress inked whole tag, inked and adhered robin, inked grungeboard crown and added gems, punched holes and threaded fabric through for ribbon bow.

I distress inked tag, stamped on it, added star that was made by pressing angelina fibres onto a stamp with an iron, added lock which was made by pouring beeswax into a mould and painting.

Inspired by all things Holtz (LOVING his tags) I've conjured up a few of my own. These tags are so much fun to do! They don't take long, and are just doable little pieces of art. Have a go! I will be making some sweets for Christmas and attaching these tags with ribbon.

Christmas Tags

This is exciting! Tim Holtz is doing it again! He has created 12 amazing tags for Christmas and he is posting photos and instructions every day so you can do the same! His blog is always inspiring. Even if you don't have all the dies and stamps that he uses you can adapt the ideas to what you have. I will be following him avidly as ever, and I may even post some of my own creations. Tim's blog is www.timholtz.typepad.com

Altered Apron!

I've made a crafting apron! I loved playing with some fabric scraps I had, and an apron is a great blank canvas to have a go at. I chose some bits and bobs (a couple of stamps, pictures etc) and laid them on my printer/copier. I taped some fabric to a piece of card and fed it through on 'copy'. It printed really well. I am not sure it will be waterproof, but that's OK, I am not planning to wash it. I cut out each item, backed it with wadding and a backing fabric and stitched around the edges. My favourite bit is the little brown stamp. It looks so cute padded out :-) For the 'create' part, I used Tim Holtz masks on plain fabric and sprayed dyes over the top. When it was dry I sent it through the printer taped onto card, having put the word 'create' on a word document. My little brooch was from 7 Gypsies, I added the pearls, letter beads, and pin.

Don't forget the crop tomorrow. Fun with angelina fibres .

YaY! CrOp TiMe

It's our Cannock crop tomorrow. Love it when we get together. I always get so much inspiration and go home with renewed enthusiasm. Ellie is bringing the shop and doing a fab demo on the Tim Holtz dies using leather (hhmmnnnn. Interesting!) . Can't wait for that. At the last Friday night crop I did a demo on using polymer clay to make buttons. It's easy and enjoyable. Above is a picture of the ones I made.

Hobbycraft Inspiration

I had a brilliant day at the NEC Hobbycraft show. There was tons of inspiration. I LOVED the Artist Trading Post stand! I didn't realise they were so close - near Buxton. Anneliese Bates was the demonstrator, and she great. So many good ideas, so check out her blog. I bought a fantastic old printers tray for £10 from them, after seeing what Annaliese had done with hers. This picture was from her blog. I will post mine when it's done.

Friday night crop and demo

Get excited! It's our friday crop this week. It's free! It's friendly, it's fun! I have a demo ready on how to use polymer clay to make embellishments and buttons. I have loved playing and have made some samples to show you. See you there 6 till 9.

Friday night crop

Hey! We have our first evening blog, courtesy of our funding from community education. It's tomorrow night, 6 till 9 pm. There will be a demo, come and enjoy the fun for free!

Evening Crops

I have confirmed the dates for our three evening crops. The last friday in September was not available, so I went for Friday 1st October. The other two are fine, 29th October, 26th November. We have the hall from 6pm till 9pm. Admission is free :D Put it in your diaries.

Shire Hall Exhibition

I called in to the Shire Hall Gallery in Stafford town centre yesterday and fell in love with the exhibition they have on at the moment, called 'A sense of place'. I couldn't take my eyes off of Rachel Grant's collaged pictures of houses and a huge quilt type piece of a map depicting the local area. You must go and see it if you want to be inspired. She has a web site too. www.rachel-grant.com
I have been preparing for my crop class. We are on holiday next Saturday for a week, so I needed to get it done this week. Those who want to do the class will be using embossing as a resist, painting, and making wax embellishments. I loved playing and hope you will too!

Waxworks

I just finished decorating this box in my scrap room. Click on the picture for a close up. I brushed a layer of melted wax over it first, to make a base. I then dipped various collage pieces in melted wax and laid them on the base. In a few areas I built up the wax a little deeper, used my heat gun to soften it, and pressed stamps into it for a few seconds. I then used gold metallic rub ons and buffed it up. I also added a little perfect pearls to give some dimension. That is what I like best, the depth of the effects, and the layers with peeps of colour and pictures showing through. The top drawer I collaged a photo and scrunched up tissue paper in to the wax. Interestingly, the photo dipped into hot wax suffered no ill effects :D I thought it might soak up too much wax, or be difficult to work with but it was fine. So much fun to do!

Experimenting with wax

I am having a blast experimenting with the melt pot and beeswax. The picture above isn't mine, it's taken from a google search on beeswax collage. Not sure who the artist is. You know how I love beeswax! I've done 2 layouts as samples for the September crop class. Think vintage, think blue, gold and grey, you can even think sand and sea. Bring with you either a sea side photo or an old vintage style photo. Black and white would work well too, any theme. I love it when my scrap room is littered with brushes, glues, fibres and papers. It means I'm in creative mode. There are some interesting videos on the Ranger web site that give some inspiration about using wax. Oooohhh just the thought gets me excited! Everything will be provided for the class, but if you want to bring any of the following it will save you having to wait for things:

clear stamps, heat gun, non-stick craft mat, blue acrylic paint, natural sponge, clear or white embossing powder, brown distress ink pad, stickles.

Things

Next crop is 11th September, and I can't wait! I really missed the last one. I am doing a FREE class! Ellie will be bringing the shop, and we will have a theme of cupcakes. I will bring some (I have a great new recipe, see previous post, yum yum)and if any of you would like to bring some too that would be great.
We have had some good news too. Community learning have awarded us £100 to try running and evening crop. Woohoo! I am going to sort some dates out, one a month for September, October and November. Let me know if you want to come and there are certain evenings you can not make. They will be free for the first 3 months.
Finally, Stampington magazines have their annual back issue sale on. Shipping is the killer, but I've ordered 3 magazines and it will work out about £5 each. Have a look: http://www.stampington.com/back-issue-sale/

Class and Crop

DON'T FORGET - the August crop is the first Saturday - the 7th!
Also, Trish has let me know about a class in Shrewsbury, it's
Making Fabric Books, Saturday 25th September from 10.00-4.00 at the Gateway Education & Arts Centre, Shrewsbury SY1 1NB tel 01743 355159/ 361120. The tutor is Mariatta Alker. Course Code A1043, the cost is £26.00 and it says:
This course will show you innovative ways to use fabric, paint, paper and more to create a very special journal for photos or keepsakes
We have signed up. Why not join us?

Crop Shop

Happy Daze is the shop that will be coming to our crop on 7th August!! Have a look at their website www.happy-daze.net. They have some wonderful stash, including the Tim Holtz Ideology range. Wish I was going to be there to enjoy it! I would suggest if you want anything specific you contact them through the website. You could maybe even put in an order via the website and get them to bring it along. I'm jealous I won't get to be there:(

Hard Work!

I spent some time today doing crop paper work. Not exactly riveting news I know!! I have filled out the application for our funding until March. Then I applied for extra funds to run 3 evening sessions to see if we have enough interest to have one a month (would LOVE that!) I have also applied for us to have a film made about us and what we do. If successful, the film would be put on the Community Learning website and we could use it to promote ourselves. I will let you know as soon as their is any news about it. The future could be very exciting! I will not be at the next crop :( A very dear friend of ours is getting married in Norwich, so we will have an overnight stay in Peterborough (where we used to live for 12 years) and have the day at the wedding. I am looking forward to Septembers though, and I plan to do a mini class for everyone. Carol and Karen will do a demo in August and arrange for a shop to come. What would I do without them? Thanks ladies!

Theresa Collins Stamp Maker

I enjoy Theresa Collins blog, it's worth a look if you haven't seen it before. She has now developed a new product, a stamp maker. I don't know when it will be available in the UK, but will let you know as soon as I hear. It seems that you can use some designs that are included, or you can use your own. That could be so much fun! Imagine the possibilities..... I know there was something similar at one of the craft shows I went to, but this looks like a much cooler version :)

Spools!

My holiday was great - we were in Devon with the whole family. Loved it! I am pretty exhausted though. I called in to Crafty Devils, a shop on a retail park in Barnstaple. I was really impressed, they had tons of Ranger stuff and all the latest Tim Holtz bits and bobs. If you get a chance to go, take it!
I came across this blog and love these little spools :) There is a how to video clip. Here's the link
http://nirvanaelements.blogspot.com/2010/06/simple-little-crate.html
Enjoy xx

C'mon England!

In celebration of all things English, I made these cup cakes this afternoon. We are having all the family round for the England world cup match tonight, so I decided a nice unhealthy pizza and cakes tea would go down a treat. It was theraputic, and though it took me a couple of hours it was a lovely way to spend a wet afternoon. I love cooking for the family. My granddaughters love 'birthday cake' (as they call any iced cake) and I am really looking forward to seeing thier faces when they spot these! I am decorating our little reading room next week, then back to some crafting after that. I can't wait.

Cannock crop and demo's

I'm excited about the crop this Saturday! It's a double demo day! We have Caroline and Ann from Skrapz coming with their shop and they will be giving us a 30 min demo on glimmer mists. How exciting! They have made up a little 'tag techniques' kit at a cost of £2.50 for anyone who would like to buy it, but you don't have to buy it to watch the demo. Karen and Carol are also doing a demo of their lovely board book using foam board. Here's what you need to bring if you want to do that:

3-5 sheets of co-ordinating thick scrapbook paper

Ribbon for ties and extra for embellishing

3-5 small photos

Buttons, flowers etc

PVA glue or double sided tape

Ink for edges

Craft Knife

Basic tool kit.

Pencillines

I was enjoying browsing the Pencillines website and found myself wondering if you know about it. It has a guest designer who sketches a scrapbook page design. Then others use her design and make their own versions which are posted on the site. There are some really beautiful pages on there, so sit back, relax, and be inspired. Here's the link: http://www.pencillines.com/

Yummy scrummy Stampington!

I adore the Stampington mags, so much to inspire there! They have some lovely vintage tickets in the free download section, see above. Although these mags are hard to get hold of here, you can pay to digitally download some of the mags from their web site for $9.99. Here's the link:
http://www.stampington.com/html/sew_somerset_winter10.html
That should take you to an interesting page.
Tip: if you just want a sneak peek, you can see some of the articles from each mag by clicking on the 'see what's inside' button under each issue. Enjoy browsing :)

My creations

Well, this is what I've been making recently. The pattern for the bags is from a Kath Kidstone book which is an excellent intro to sewing. The blue bag came free with the book. All the fabric pieces were ready cut out, you just have to sew it all together. I'm loving it! I'm learning new skills :) My daughter liked mine so much I bought some pretty red fabric and made one for her too. I had to make the pattern for that one, and it worked out OK. With the left over fabric I made a cover for a little book. My inspiration for the water colour stitched picture was direct from a book called 'Page after Page' by Frances Pickering, so many ideas in there!

tree

I am just loving the blossom this year! This tree is right outside our house. I think it must be the best yet, maybe because we had such a hard winter. Something beautiful often comes our of something difficult.

Grungy Inspirations

I had a great creative excursion with Trish- we went to some fabric/arty shops in Eccleshall and Newport which were a joy! Oliver Twists in Newport and Pollyanna Patchwork in Eccleshall. Such amazing fabrics, I wanted to take the whole lot home! I noticed there are some new demos on Tim Holtz's web site, inspiring as ever, ENJOY!
www.timholtz.com/demos.html

Update

The adult learners week class - the hall will be open from 7pm, the class will start around 7.15 to 7.30. Please bring glues, scissors, pencil and anything else you usually need. There are still a few places left :) I'm excited about teaching it.

Free Class

Good news! We received some funding to run a class during adult learners week. The idea was that we would use the class to encourage people who are new to scrapbooking, or new to our group. There are some places left so I am now opening it up to any group member who would like to come and bring a friend or relative with them. It's 7.30 to 9 pm on Friday 21st May in our usual venue in Cannock. Email me if you want a place. I'm not sure what the class will be exactly, but I am considering a Tim Holtz style tag book. Further updates to come.

Dry Spell

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. I'm having one of those rare dry spells where I have totally lost my mojo! Nothing is inspiring me:( When I get a time like this it usually means there are other things on my mind, or I need a break. Maybe it's time for a creative excursion. I get in the car and go shopping, not to buy but to check out the new seasons colours in clothes shops or interior design shops. Usually something will attract my eye and I will be inspired, and that is the most wonderful feeling! I love it when my head is so full of ideas I have to get them all out and scribble on any little scrap of paper in my bag. Inspiration is out there, you just have to find it. Sorry I'm not providing much for you at the moment, but come back soon!

Crop time!

I'm looking forward to this months crop on Saturday, 10 till 3. Karen and Carol are doing a demo, Ellie's bringing her shop, what more can we ask for?? Bring your own things to work on. Not sure what I'm doing yet, I'll probably decide 9 am Saturday!! In the meantime the sun is shining so I'm off to a garden centre so I can feel like spring is FINALY here :)

Home pictures

Creative Home

All my creative energy is going in to our house at the moment. I've been working on the bedroom, but it's slow because my health isn't great, so baby steps. It's wonderful to decorate a room, and then get to enjoy it every day. It has always been my goal to make our home a refuge from the world, a place to replenish and relax, and it's beginning to feel like that for me. As always I love a bargain, and have made the most of sales and junk shop finds. The bed linnen and curtains were from Dunnelm sale and are really soft and cosy even though they look luxurious. I painted my pine chest of drawers and distressed it with Ranger distress ink!! So glad I have all this stuff ha ha! My fave find is the mirror, which I bought from the Katherine House Hospice charity warehouse in Stafford, it's well worth a visit if you get a chance. I paid £6 for this dark wood, tatty and uninteresting mirror, but I could see it had potential. I painted it and distressed it and now I LOVE it! Pictures to follow.

Skrapz

Ann and Caroline are bringing their shop to saturday's crop. They are bringing some new Prima and Basic Grey things, and stickles (can never have enough of those!) If there is anything in particular you want them to bring you can contact them through their website, www.skrapz.co.uk. Can't wait for saturday!

Class for March

Here's a couple of teasing pics to give you an idea what the class will be :)

Under the influence- of Tim Holtz

You can see the effect he's had on me! I was given a tatty box which I was going to throw away, then decided it might make a good place to keep all my fave Ranger stash. So I tried out some techniques from the book. I've also been trying out the different techniques on tags and flowers, believe me it's addictive! I am especially liking the rock candy distress stickles. They leave a subtle glittery effect, but vintage, not cheap looking. I will need more of that!

In The Zone

March crop - it's a longer day, 9.30 till 4.30 or whenever you can make it. I am doing a class which will be subsidised. The cost will be just £1, but you will still need to pay the usual £5 admission cost. I have 15 kits, so if there are not enough to go around priority will be given to regular members. I hate to have to leave anyone out, but we can't buy all the stuff for an indefinate number :( Hints about the class- think grunge, think clear! I ordered the QVC TSV the other day and it arrived this morning. It's fab, Tim Holtz's new book and lots of ranger bits and bobs. It's stimulated my creativity no end! I will bring it to the crop.

clear album

I made this as a wedding gift. Using the clear album was a fun challenge- I had a great time doing it. This was a papermania album, and I am going to try cutting something similar on my cricut. I will let you know what happens!

Saturday's Crop

We have an extra long crop on Saturday. 9.30 till 5 YAY! Admission is the usual £5 and Ellie's class is subsidised so will cost just £2.50. Should be a great day.

CrEaTiVe

getting creative! I am in the zone ha ha! At the moment I am working on a monoprint for my niece who is expecting a baby any day. I did one of some retro shoes for my daughters birthday, pictured above. I've been playing with fabric scrapbooking too, and I made a page for my son and daughter-in-law of their lovely baby Scarlett. I lightly glued the fabric and elements in place before hand stitching round the whole thing! It was a labour of LOVE, believe me. But creating feels so good, and I am loving sewing while I watch TV. I somehow don't feel like I am wasting my time.

CROP

This saturday 13th its crop day- yay! I have a wedding to go to in the morning, but i will be there in the afternoon. Ellie is doing a great class that will be subsidised to regular crop goers. Admission is the usual £5, and the class is £7.50 but regular members will get it for just £2.50. Exciting stuff. Here's the sneek peak :)

UGH!

so so frustrated with my new laptop! It's amazing, but will not let me download photos. I have some cool stuff I've been working on (even if I do say so myself!) and I'm keen to tell you about it. I am not at work at the moment, my body is rebelling against me, but it has allowed me to focus on creative things, so I guess there is always and up side. Also- the planing for the special crop in March is coming along really well. It's going to be a chocolate crop or even a choc-a-crop! If anyone has a chocolate fountain we could use let me know. It is going to be a good day:) More info coming soon!

Crop Plans

Despite the cold, us hardy scrappers met for our crop yesterday. We made some decisions to change a few things, hopefully to have less to organise but still lots of inspiration and education going on. Chris has taken some notes I will post on here soon. Carol has put together a crop plan/diary for us to refer to. If you want to offer to do a demo or a class let me know and we will put you on the list.
CROP DATES – DEMONSTRATIONS

2010
Jan 9th Donna - demo
Feb 13th 6 x 6 Paper bag album – 6 photos – Ellie
Theme - Friendship
March 13th Special Day
April 10th
May 8th
June 12th
July 10th
August 7th
September 11th
October 9th Special day
November 13th
December 11th
I am excited for a great year of scrapbooking ahead! If you can, come and join us.