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 :-)