Another tag idea!

Saw this in pinterest, LOVE it! It's from http://www.2gypsygirls.com/search?updated-max=2011-11-04T08:00:00-07:00&max-results=7 where you can buy the kit, or maybe you can make your own from all the scraps you have?

Christmas tags

I've got that Christmassy feeling! Been playing with some different techniques, one of which I found on Tammy Tutterow's blog.

http://tammytutterow.typepad.com/tammy_tutterow/2011/11/tuesday-tutorial-frosty-deboss.html

You will find a full tutorial there on how to use distress crackle paint to make the snowflakes look frosty. Seriously great idea :D The photos above are my takes on festive tag ideas. Click on any picture to enlarge. Get those inks out and get messy!

25% off at Hobbycraft

Just had a voucher from Hobbycraft. 25% off everything! It can only be used this thursday from 2pm. Here's the link to download yours :-)
http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/Assets/Downloads/20_voucher.pdf?utm_campaign=20111020%20-%20Friends%20&%20Family%2025%&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_medium=email

oohhh pinterest

http://www.pinterest.com/ is so full of fab ideas! I love this one. I will be making one of these for my daughter-in-law for Christmas. Let's hope it looks a bit like this one ha ha! I found the creator - Jess, her blog is

http://scrapgoo.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-09-16T09%3A00%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7 and there is another view of it on there. I will add a photo of mine when it's done. I am already feeling just a little excited about the festive season :-) I popped into Hobbycraft today, and it's better! They have moved things around, have more samples, have a good. though small, section devoted to all things Tim Holtz, and the prices have come down quite a bit on dies amongst other things. Have a visit, and call in to see me and say hello. I only live round the corner xx

Craft channel

I'm loving the new craft channel www.mycraftchannel.com You can watch crafts shows on the internet with scrapbooking celebs like Teressa Collins etc. It's new and there are a few glitches, so be patient, but I thinks it's going to be really good :-)

Rag Quilt for our latest addition

Welcome to the world Heidi! My son Matt and daughter-in-law Martha had little Heidi on Wednesday. She is so adorable- I am amazed at the overwhelming feelings of love that I have for her already :-) I love being a grandma, and all that it entails. I made my first quilt for Heidi. It's a rag quilt, quite easy and enjoyable to make. There are some tutorials on youtube that I followed. I'm thirsty to do more!!

Film

We are part funded by Staffordshire Adult and Community Learning Service. Some time ago they gave us the opportunity to have a film made about us that can be mutually used for publicity. This is it! Thanks to all those who were willing to be filmed. Sorry to those who didn't make the final cut. I would like it to be known I had no say whatsoever in the content!! I think it gives a good flavour of our crop. Well done everyone.

Free motion embroidery

I am loving all the cute free motion stitched pictures that are around at the moment. I did a class at Carol's last week, and have been playing. These are my first attempts. I also treated myself to Poppy Treffry's book, 'free and easy stitch style' which is excellent. It begins with the basics and has quite a few cute project ideas.

The Weekend

I had a fabulous weekend! Kevin and I sat on a committee to help organise a singles weekend for 25 plus age group for our church. We had about 400 delegates, and had lots of fun. Everyone was so friendly and out to have a great time. My contribution was to order some massage chairs and a chocolate fountain for 450 for the dance. Well, that was the right choice for me, loved both! A massage chair is now on my Christmas list ha ha! I also ran a scrapbook class, and met some great people, and some expert scrappers as well as newbies. I love that feeling when people go away from the class happy with something they have made. Joy! My daughter Becky came along, and had a go at bungee trampolining and the climbing wall. Of course, I would have too, but was just too busy (oh yes I was). Enjoy summer, there's not much of it left. I plan to get as many picnics and bbq's in as I can :-)

New die and crop

I've been playing with our new die for the big shot:-) It makes great mini books and will cut through mount board so perfect for the covers.

Also, there is another great free download from Cloth, Papaer, Scissors- here's the link: www.clothpaperscissors.com/free-fabric-artprojects/?a=cpse110808

Don't forget it's the crop on Saturday. I won't be there, but will miss you all! Enjoy :-)

July Crop

I'm excited about the July crop!!!!! We are having a little film made about us on the crop day. Because of that, we have some extra funding so I am putting together a free class for anyone who wants to do it. I have ordered some things which should come tomorrow so I can put together some samples. We will be playing with craft glassine and our Tim Holtz dies, including a new one....yay!!

Free Vintage Ephemera Downloads

Had an email newsletter from Stampington with some really cute downloads. Here's the link: www.stampington.com/artisan_avenue/2011/june/download.html

FREE COLLAGE E BOOK

Cloth Paper, Scissors has a really nice free download today. It's only takes a few seconds to download and has some great ideas in it. You need to sign up and give your email address, but I like getting emails from them anyway! They usually have something to get the creative juices flowing :D Here's the link.
www.clothpaperscissors.com/mixed-media-collage/

Art Journaling pages

These are just a few pages from my little A6 art journal, loving doing it! I will have it full in no time at this rate!

Holiday purchases

Couldn't resist a trip to Crafty Devils in Barnstaple. I also scoured the charity shops and got some little treasures. Bit of a milinery theme going on here me thinks!

Holidays and Creativity

Well, we've been in Devon since Saturday, and it's been a wonderful week. We have had 2 caravans on the North Devon coast, our 3 children and their families. The grandchildren have been such a lot of fun! They live so fully! Every moment is packed with interest, questions, enjoyment, joy. They know what it is to live 'in the moment'. We can learn so much from them. I love that they tell it like it is, even our 18 month old lets us know what she wants, and what she thinks.. So, it's been busy but I have still managed to do some art journalling. I try to make all my art meaningful, I don't want to leave a legacy of art that doesn't have a message, but that's just me. My art journal has a theme of passing on what I have learnt about enjoying life. I put together a kit, with my little travel journal, pens, mini watercolour set, glue and scissors. I scoured the charity shops in Barnstaple and found a fab old book about French artists, which has lots of great images I have been cutting out and jazzing up for my pages. I will upload some of them when I get home. I have loved being creative in this inspiring and beautiful environment. If you are going on your holls, don't forget to pack some craft things.

Saturday's workshop

Carolyn's piece- beautiful!

Ellie's lovely art. I love the colours on this one.

Ruth's work.

Ruth brought some of her wonderful pictures along for us to be inspired by. Ruth is a good teacher, very easy to listen to and she has a way of making you feel like you can do it! So many of our group did beautiful monoprints. I am putting two on here, but there were many really lovely pieces of work.

Ruth Allen Art Workshop

I am so looking forward to the next crop on 14th May! Ruth Allen will be coming to do a workshop for us. Note the picture is from her website : http://www.ruthallenart.co.uk/ The workshop will be for a couple of hours in the morning, free to us all, paid for by a grant we received for adult learners week. Kevin has been on holiday this week so we are having a great time, enjoying the weather, walking, shopping, and behaving like tourists in our own town! It's fun.

Bits 'n Bobs

Gel Pen Bargains - Some little snippets of information for you. Hobbycraft are selling Signo gel pens for 29p each, reduced from £1.60! They are the 'smelly' variety - e.g green is mint, pink is bubblegum etc. I can't actually smell them, maybe that's why they are such a great price! There's some by the tills and some further down in the shop. Signo pens are bright and colourful, perfect for art journalling. Tyvek - Great for mixed media work, Tyvek can be purchased by the sheet, but is not cheap. I have discovered that some envelopes are made of Tyvek and can be used for crafting. I will do a demo in May to explain it all, but until then save your Tyvek envelopes! They are usually white on the outside, grey on the inside and feel like plastic. Shire Hall Gallery - Once again the gallery in Stafford has a great exhibition. There are several artists work on display, I particularly enjoyed Caroline Kirton's work. I can thoroughly recommend it!

Cloth Paper Scissors

I have just signed up to the Cloth Paper Scissors website. It's a good mag, lots of interesting articles, and the website looks great too. You get four free technique sheets for joining, and access to galleries with ideas, tutorials etc. I thought you might enjoy it!

http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/

Altered Scrapbook

We had a fantastic time at Anneliese Bates altered scrapbook workshop on Saturday. Anneliese is so creative and full of enthusiasm, it's contagious! I know several of the ladies have been continuing to work on their altered scrapbooks, me included. Here are my efforts. My book is about my ancestors, a subject very meaningful for me. I want it to sit on the coffee table and be perused by the family, so they can get to know and love their family who have passed on. As many of you know, I am a Mormon. My faith means a great deal to me, and I believe that we will be reunited with our families in heaven some day. That is why I want to know and honour them. That is why scrapbooking as we know it began in the 1970's in Utah. Mormons who had done their family trees wanted to be able to present the information in a creative way, preserving the photos and memorabilia for future generations to enjoy. That is also why there are so many Mormons in the scrapbooking industry - Heidi Swapp, Teresa Collins, Lisa Bearnson (founder of Creating Keepsakes), Rusty Pickle owners, Creative Memories, and others. So now you know :-)

Art Journal Page

Here's another art journal page. I bought 'Journal Bliss' by Voilette, and it inspired me to do this page. It's supposed to be a self-portrait (I can hear you chuckling!) but it was fun to do. It's a great little book, well worth getting.

Workshop

Those of you who are coming to the workshop on Saturday, I hope you are as excited as I am!!! We have the hall from 9.30 till 3.30, to allow for time to set up and clear away and still have a 10 till 3 workshop. Pack up your photos and bits and bobs, and get ready:-) Oh, and don't forget to bring lunch. You won't want to stop working to go out and get something xx

Transformations

I've been having some fun painting furniture for my living room. I needed a chest of drawers wide enough for the TV and DVD player to go on. I found a pine one in a charity shop, just crying out for a bit of attention! Some friends who visited recently put me on to Annie Sloan paint, and it's brilliant. It is water based, very chalky, and covers really well. When it's dry, which is only a couple of hours, you rub in wax and buff it up to a lovely sheen. I'm thinking there must be ways to use this in scrapping, its such great stuff. So here are the before and afters'.

Artist Trading Post

I have just got back from a fabulous holiday, all refreshed and ready to get on with things. I have had an email from Annaliese who is running the workshop for us at the next crop. She is bringing a few goodies from the Artist Trading Post www.artisttradingpost.com to sell, but if you want to place an order from the website she will bring it for you to the workshop, so you save on postage and packing costs. There is so much lovely stuff on the website, I highly recommend it. Make sure you add a note to your order to let them know Annaliese needs to bring it to the Cannock workshop.

Art Journalling

I have done a bit of art journalling before, but I was really inspired by Trish's journal at the last crop. She got me so enthusiastic I had to go home and start right away. This is my first 'proper' page and I loved doing it. As I have a holiday coming up (Lanzarote tomorrow actually!) Trish also suggested I get a smaller book and do some backgrounds on the pages so I can take it with me and work on the less messy bits when I am away. Well, I have done it, and prepared a little box of watercolour pencils, and souffle and gel pens so I can create on the beach :-) I am even more excited about my holiday because I get to create too!!

Crop and workshop

Don't forget to bring the balance owed for Annaliese's workshop to the crop on Saturday. Here is a list of what to bring:

• a selection of photos to put in the book you will make, can be themed eg. wedding, baby, holiday etc or random.
• scraps of papers, ribbons or bits that will go with your photos. This is optional as a selection to choose from will be provided
• scissors, craft knife and cutting mat if you have them. If not there will be some provided.

This is going to be a great workshop. Annaliese sounds as excited and enthusiastic as we are!

Collage Sheets

Thanks to Ellie for finding this great website with free collage sheet downloads. Go to www.flickr.com/groups/freecollagesheets/ . It's the crop this coming Saturday. I am working on a demo and it involves tissue tape, can't wait to experiment.
This week has been really busy for me, but fun! I have had a great time seeing all the grandchildren over the weekend- and that makes me very happy! Did I tell you I have the 3 most gorgeous granddaughters in the world?
I have steered away from my scrap room this last week. It's a complete mess from my very productive creative frenzy! I get so frustrated that I just don't have enough room to have the things that I need out and easy to reach. I know I am very lucky to have a room to call my own, but I need either more space or yet another huge clear out!! I will have to face it soon, or there will be no demo Saturday :-(

Time to create

I am finally making time to create, on a daily basis. It's always been hard for me to give myself 'permission' to get in my craft room and forget everything else, but I am doing it! I am reading the book 'Creative time and space' and I have found it really helpful. How wonderful it is to get lost in time and the process of creating, and then to have something to show for it. I have been playing with my Big Shot and love the Tim Holtz Bigz dies. I will be making some samples for a demo at the February crop. I have had the most fun with the embossing folders. The metal flower pictured was cut with the Tattered Florals die and then put through the Big Shot in an embossing folder. I then rubbed paint over it with my fingers, highlighting the raised edges. The other flowers are made with the same die, just using different papers/card, some embossed and some collaged. Texture is everything!

Ooooooohhhhhhhh crop!

It's the monthly crop on Saturday! We have Caroline from SCRAPZ coming with the shop, and I will do a demo. I am really looking forward to the first crop of the year. If you want to come to our Altered Scrapbook workshop with Annaliese Bates in March don't forget to bring a deposit of at least £10 on Saturday to secure your place, don't miss this one! I wanted to draw your attention to a blog I found which has kept me occupied for ages tonight- so much inspiration! It's www.polkadotchair.com I wish I had found it before Christmas! There are some great gift and decorating ideas on there. Have fun browsing :-)