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'.