July Craft Stamper and things Oriental

My copy of Craft Stamper arrived yesterday and I was pleased to finally see the project Michelle (Midnight Crafter) has with an Oriental theme (p 46 - 49).  Michelle has made ATC's and a matching wallet for them, it's a lovely project Michelle.

I've now put the products she has used plus some other Oriental products we have had in the shop for a long time on our website, we have an Oriental section HERE

At £5.85 per sheet (approx. A5 in size), they are great value!

There are plenty of Oriental coins and embellishments too...

I'm having a lazy day today, as well as an Oriental one.  After 7 years I've finally sat down long enough this afternoon to watch The Last Samarai film.  I enjoyed it although it was very gory!  I've got the The Last Emperor of China recorded to watch too, maybe I'll save that for tomorrow!

Oh, nearly forgot to mention, we are now selling The Craft Stamper magazine again, both in the shop and online HERE.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend too!

Jill

Metal corners for Debbie!!

Followers of DT Debbie's blog will have read about her yearning for more of these brass corners.  She was so desperate that she raided my birthday card to her last year.  I was aware that they had been discontinued but I managed to get this little pile.  Debbie is now the happy owner of a few packs.  Don't use them all at once Debbie!!!

One of the reasons I am posting this is that I remember someone else asking about these, anyway, you can find them HERE in the Brass Charm section.

Last of the cards by Karen Jackson

Here is the last card that Karen made for us for the HSNW show at Port Sunlight recently.  The lady is from Tracey's Alluring Ladies unmounted stamp sheet and the flower background is from Tracey's Butterfly Beauties stamp sheet.

Well, after showing you the mess I made with a project I worked on this week it is now a bit frustrating as I cannot show it to you!!  It is for a magazine and I'll have to wait patiently for it to be published before you can see it.  I REALLY enjoyed making it, it is my sort of thing!!  I'll let you know when it is on sale.

Well so far the weather this weekend is rubbish, I hope it gets better and you all have a lovely weekend!

Jill

Another fine mess I got myself into!!

Well, Debbie captured the moment when I HAD to have a tidy up on Wednesday!  There I am bag in hand scouping up.  Thank goodness I'd had a head start before she came and caught me mid tidy, it doesn't actually look as bad as it had.

How could I have so much room to work in and still have to tidy up to clear some space to carry on working? I know there is the what's on your work desk thingie every Wednesday, I really should submit a photo and join in, I'd be a proper candidate for it!

Trouble was that I was on a mission to start a new project on Monday, so itching to get going, I'd left the rest of the tidying up after Saturday's workshop scattered about, you know how it is, starting something new always has a huge pull.  Much more enticing than tidying up!!

By Wednesday lunchtime I was struggling for space and by Wednesday closing time, well, it was even worse!  MUCH worse, even the chairs had stuff stored on them and I won't mention the floor!!  Luckily Debbie had left well before, phew (so no photos of it!).

We are closed on Thursdays so today I will go in and find another fine mess I got myself into...

I really must have a tidy up before I get started today.  Why do we get everything out?  All our worldly crafting goodies surrounding us and about 6" of space to work in.  Surely I'm not alone in this???

Jill

Rachel's Alluring Ladies card

A quick post today with the last of the cards that Rachel made for us for the HSNW show.  Rachel has again used Tracey's Alluring Ladies stamp sheet.

I love the layout and the way Rachel has used the other stamps on the sheet.

See I can post without waffling too much!!  It's mainly because today I'm itching to get off the computer to go and continue creating something I've got on the go...It's calling me...

Jill

Saturday's Workshop!

Well, I promised photographic evidence of Saturday's workshop and here it is...

Before I go any further I have to explain that I believe that Jeanette above and Kim in the background, along with the other 4 ladies that signed up for this course, didn't FULLY realise that when the workshop was advertised as cards for men with Moonglow, that it was going to get messy.  Surely they must have had an inkling that I might bring out the jars of yummy messy stuff?  In hindsight, I think they secretly knew and were up for the challenge, well good on 'em for giving it a go!

There were 10 ladies that attended on Saturday, which was a VERY hot day, I had 2 themes going on but I'll get to the other theme shortly.  Six were signed up for the Moonglow Techniques for mens cards and 4 for Ian's birthday Time Flies card.

So, the soon to be named 'mucky 6' who opted for the Moonglow option, ALL accepted the offer of gloves.  Eeek, not a good sign, I have to admit I was worried if any of them could handle the mess they were about to encounter, even with the gloves.  But they picked up their first brush, stirred, dipped and copied what I'd shown them, and hey ho, they loved it!!  See, it wasn't so bad was it ladies?

Photo:   Jeanette...  NEVER EVER DONE MESSY before, 

she loved it and got totally carried away!  

Yes, she really did it family and friends,

I think we have a converted crafter.  Finally!!

I guided them through more techniques and they were all on a roll, demanding more paper, more card, more colours, lol!!  It was SO nice for me to see them enjoying creating.

Making those background papers were nothing in comparison to the mess I got them into with a technique that involved copious amounts of wet glue...  Gloves definitely went on for this one, lol, and I did have to nag a little bit on this to make sure they used plenty of glue.  I explained where we were going with it and they had to trust me!  I expected real protests but, by then, they were well into the messy zone and just loved and accepted it, amazing!!!   I think that my present to them of letting them loose ripping up a real newspaper from 1925 with it's authentic 'old' smell helped lots:)  Fun, but serious stuff too.


Meanwhile, I had promised a couple of lovely ladies that they could come and make Ian's birthday card that day when they asked at our recent demo day, well, it turned into 4 ladies, as it does!

Debbie, Ian and I tried to prepare it well for them to be able to come and just get on with it.

It's never a great idea to have 2 completely different themes going on in a workshop but those gals did a grand job with their times flies cards.

It was slightly odd at the end of the day to see that Ian's original card had reproduced though...

A little peek at Kath's so far unfinished cards.

And a couple of Mollies still to finish makes

The ladies then left to do their shopping, the room was very quiet.

Ummm, here's the mess on the Cuttlebug table!!!

As they left, they all said how much they had enjoyed their day which was lovely to hear.

Jill

The Lady in .... Red, and other chatter

My apologies, I didn't end up posting yesterday as promised as I had a workshop which was a brilliant crafty time, with a great bunch of people who I think all felt somewhat challenged at some point in the day.

All for the good though, as they told me afterwards that they had really enjoyed the day and learnt lots, I think it was an eye opener for some (especially that 'messy' Jeanette!!!).  I don't think I bullied them all too much:)

I was only keeping them on their toes so they could keep up with the confusion I was feeding them, lol!!!  I'll explain why when I give a full account of the day (maybe tomorrow), I do have photographic evidence!!!!

It was a VERY hot day to be inside, it must have been down to the heat, as I was exhausted by the time I got home, so no blogging.  It was yummy pasta and homemade garlic bread flopped in front of the telly last night with frequent jaunts into the garden for a cool down with Hamish (our dog).  Isn't it great that summer has finally arrived and we have lovely brightness and sunshine, it makes you feel good!!  But, I love it and I hate it too 'cos I'm of an age that doesn't need any extra heat, phew...  you can keep the heat, I just love the brightness and the fact that nature has come alive again and everything looks so nice, alive and growing.

Even our normally cold unit was hot and we actually had fans on to keep us cool, amazing to have ditched the heating and thermals for fans and open doors in a matter of days!

As I said before, I took some photos and I will tell you all about our day which included a VERY confirmed, non-messy crafter who LOVED what she was doing!  I have been informed that her messiness would shock people who know her!

Anyway, here's the low down on today's card...

It's another example of the kiss technique that Karen has used on the cards she has made that I've shown this week with Tracey's Alluring Ladies stamp sheet.  I know that people are somewhat put off by solid or bold stamps but this technique shows how versatile they can be. If you've missed this technique, do look through this weeks' posts for more details.

The panel is actually silver mirri card, a nice idea to have her looking in a full length mirror!

The dress looks to have lots of texture.

 I hope you are enjoying your weekend!!

Jill

Green Eyes

Back to Rachel Jackson today to a card she made for us for the HSNW show in Port Sunlight, again made from Tracey's Alluring Ladies stamp sheet.

Rachel has really captured the shape of the face with her shading, also with the shading on her hair.

The distress effect on the textured background card is very effective too.

Back tomorrow with more!

Jill

Workshop, Wednesday 9th June, Theme: Music

The remaining workshops on our current list are full, but we are pleased to be able to add a new date until we have a new list of workshops organised.

This workshop will be held by Michelle Wilson who will be holding a number of workshops with us in future.  The theme is music and includes items for gifts as well as cards.  There are lots of techniques involved in making these collections so there'll be lots to do and learn on the day.

The Blue Collection

The large notebook has lined music paper inside for a quirky touch for either writing music or general notes. It has a co-ordinating pencil that is attached to the notebook with grunge paper.

The CD book is yet another quirky gift idea for any music lover with CDs used for the front and back covers.

These 2 books have a matching greeting card.

The Pink and Blue Collection
This set consists of a small 'just a note' notebook, and 2 co-ordinating cards.


If you wish to book the workshop, please click HERE and if you would like further information about our workshops please click HERE.

We hope you will be able to join Michelle for the workshop, it should be a fun and rewarding day!

Jill

NEW - Crafting Fun Days at The Stamp Man

As well as our normal workshops held here in Skipton, Janet and Michelle are holding some extra sessions here that we are all very excited about.  There have been a couple of sessions so far that are held in our new workshop area, and the sessions certainly have a buzz about them and everyone seems to be happily playing in these get togethers as there is lots of chatter and laughter as well as crafting.   Here are a few dates for the next sessions

The Stampers Club               11th June      10-30 till 3-30

Exploring Art Journalling     23rd June      10-30 till 12-30pm

Free Time Session                23rd June      1pm till 3-30pm

If you wish to join in please contact Janet for more details.  You will need to book, and places are filling fast, so if you are interested don't hang about too long!!

Jill

The Lady in.... Blue

Here is another of Karen's cards made for the recent HSNW show at Port Sunlight with Tracey's Alluring Ladies stamp sheet.  Karen has stamped the image in black onto the central panel first then reinked the stamp with blue ink and used the bubble border stamp from the same sheet to remove the ink from the dress stamp before stamping onto another piece of card.  It is another example of the technique on Sunday's post.

Karen has then cut out the dress and overlaid it onto the original image.  I love the little heart she has added to the bottom of the back line and also all the tiny bling embellishments on the dress straps.

The side panel has been stamped repeatedly with the bubble border.  I love the distress effect at the top of the panel.

Thanks again Karen!

Jill

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TUESDAY TAGGERS!!!!

One of the blog challenges we sponsor is the Tuesday Taggers and it's now their 1st Birthday!  There's no better way to celebrate it than to make a tag!!!

Pop over to  the Tuesday Taggers blog to find out about their celebrations which includes a free digi stamp and you can take part in the birthday tag swap.

I decided to use the free digi stamp along with Moonshadow inks to follow the chocolate and cream theme, although I added a touch of mint as they are such a mint team:)

Jill

Blue Eyes

Today's card made by Rachel Jackson for the HSNW show last weekend is made using Tracey's Alluring Ladies stamp sheet.  Those blue eyes are so stunning! Rachel has added a clear self adhesive gem to each eye which gleam at you, unfortunately the photo doesn't show this.

I love the layout of Rachel's card and all the different textures and elements on it.

There's soft texture from the pom poms and braid.

There's bling added to the stamped circles design.

Even a touch of glittery handwriting alongside different textures and colours of stamped card.

Fabulous!!!  Thank you Rachel.

Port Sunny HSNW Show

OK, now I'm back in blogland I have to tell you about the show last weekend.  It was another successful stamp fest held by the Happy Stampers North West stamping group.  All the tickets sold out so it was a very busy show.  We were non-stop all day!  Thank you to all the group's members who gave all us stallholders and visitors another brilliant day.

As it was so busy I tried to help Ian on the till and when possible I demonstrated Tim's new alteration dies using all sorts of materials such as shrink plastic, metal, different cards plus my main aim was to show how they looked using Starburst Stains.  Many of you have seen me demonstrating these over the years and then say what can I do with them so it was nice to step back from the messy side of using them to show this. 

There was still messy stuff going on as Vix, (Vixykins) demonstrated the stains, she happily played making puddles and using cling film and showed people her technique of bleaching the stains out after painting.  This is such a fab technique and I recommend you go over to her blog for a peek.  I can tell you that the card with the 'bling maiden' is totally stunning in real life I wish you could see the real effects achieved and the shades of green are just yummy!!!  Vix also made a Post It Note book, also stunning.  Anyway do go and have a look!!

We were good bosses and let Vix escape for a lookabout and while she was gone I stepped into the messy slot and made a right mess of my hands in a short space of time!  During Vix's afternoon break, Cath Wilson, (of the former Katy's Corner) came to help.  It was much appreciated help, so thanks to Vix and Cath!!

Also helping, but from across the room was Karen Jackson of the HSNW group who has products from various stands to demonstrate throughout the day.  Karen and her daughter Rachel, who many of you know as a DT member from the Craft Stamper magazine had been busy before the day making cards using our products, plus stamps from Hero Arts that we were selling at the show.  Karen has given me some of the cards they made and I have permission to show them here.

In fact, as it has been a regular 6 monthly thing for years, I asked Karen and Rachel if I can add their names to our DT list, as they have been doing this unofficially for at least 9 years!  It was well past time I did then!!

The first card I am showing is designed by Karen using Tracey's Alluring Ladies unmounted stamp sheet.  The dress is a solid design therefore ideal for bold stamp techniques.  The first dress is stamped in solid black, the next looks to have a texture that could be achieved by removing the ink from the inked up stamp either with scrunched up paper or card dabbed on to remove the ink or possibly cling film or maybe even a piece of plastic.  It's definitely one of those experiment with what you have techniques!

The 3rd was again stamped overall in black ink then another stamp placed on top, rubber to rubber, which lifts off pattern on the 2nd stamp.

Karen has added some adhesive pearls to the dress, handwriting to the side of the panel and other words from the sheet onto the base card that is cream (which isn't clear in the photo).  It is a very elegant card!

Thank you Karen and Rachel!

Jill

Been AWOL, so a quick catch up!!!! Plus, distressed card for Crafty Cardmakers

I cannot believe it's been over a week since I last blogged, very very naughty!!

There have been a number of reasons, one being that Ian and I caught an awful bug a couple of weeks ago, which we didn't manage to shake off before the Port Sunlight show as we'd hoped.  So ended up getting a lot worse.  I've can't remember ever having a bug like it and really couldn't summon any energy for anything.

I should have posted the card above last week, it was for the Crafty Cardmakers current blog challenge, the theme being distressed, for which I was the guest designer.  It seems to have been a popular challenge.  If you wish to join in you still have a little time.

I used the nesties label 8, some of the background paper is from one of the new Tim Holtz paper stacks that I distressed with Pumice Stone and Stormy Sky distress inks.  I used Tracey's keys design from the Artistic Elements sheet.  I had a plan to use this along with a brass key which typically I couldn't find by the deadline.  I have now added it so may change the photo.  I did find the mini keys by 7 gypsies that I attached with a curly clip, aren't they cute!

The Port Sunlight show was yet again another brilliant show, very busy, too busy to take photos I'm afraid, I totally forgot after intending to take some.  Vix did a brilliant job with her demos, we're hoping she'll do the same at the October show.

Will catch up with more tomorrow.

Jill

Inspiration from Tracey Coates - Part 5

 

Well, I've been posting these as I've managed to get them ready so far and we are already on part 5!  Tracey has used her designs from Aspects of Design 55 Butterfly Garden.

Again I love the texture Tracey has with Tim's crackle paint

The key designs are from Aspects of Design 62 Artistic Elements another stamp sheet designed by Tracey.

I'm afraid the next photos aren't brilliant, I must have changed the settings on my camera, anyway I'm sure you can see enough to get an idea.

Here's another from the Artistic Elements stamp sheet, it looks like Tracey has used wild honey distress ink over white embossing.

These last designs are from Tracey's Aspects of Design 63 Alluring Ladies stamp sheet.

This is the smallest elegant lady design.

Even the dress has texture

That's all for now, I hope you are having a great weekend!

Jill