EXCELLENT CRAFTING WEATHER IN THE UK ...

The title of this post was a suggestion via a comment on my last post from Stempelientje Stempy, and as the weather hasn't improved at all from last Sunday's dismal showing (except I would almost swear I saw a glimpse of the long forgotten sun this afternoon), I thought that the title kind of fitted today perfectly too.  And it is particularly excellent weather to craft at the moment that is for sure!

Tonight I am going to show you some images collected recently based around books, journals and scrapbooking themes, and to kick us off Sylvie has made the most delightful page using the latest Alice Palace stamps - so as you can see stamps come in very useful for scrapbooking decor too - perfect!

I also received the following images from Isabelle showing how she has altered a book beautifully - a dictionary I believe - using a variety of Crafty Individuals rubber stamp images -

And to join in the fun her daughter decorated her own page as well - great stuff!

Thank you ladies, and do have a look at The Craft Barn Blog folks for more arty ways with dictionaries, plus lots more to inspire you x

I have also been having fun playing, and joining in a couple of workshops locally, taught by a very talented collage artist called Kirsten Jones.  I managed to combine some stamping and some quick doodle drawings (based on lace and flower heads) in a little sketchbook during the class, and it has inspired me hopefully to play some more with collage in the future...

 

- The third page is of course a 'work in progress' -lots of possibilities with collage here!

As Kirsten often uses pieces of wood and cardboard for the basis of her collages, we all had a go with some ourselves and I made this little picture (which fortunately fitted very nicely into a little frame I had already), plus another (as yet to be photographed) ....

Background created with acrylic paint plus our Victoria Corner masks and rubber stamp CI-171 (a very useful harlequin background stamp).  A good time was had by all who attended - and if you happen to live anywhere near, the classes were held in a great little arts venue at The Courthouse, Thirsk - definitely worth a trip out - nice gallery and a great cafe too.

Jean x

ANOTHER COLD WET MISERABLE SUNDAY IN THE UK ...

Well that's the weather here anyway - so hopefully I'm going to cheer us all up with a bit of delightful crafty stuff to warm our hearts!

I've got lots of lovely images ready to display tonight, but I'll just set off with an overview of the sort of cards we made in my 'Make and Take' session at Strikes Garden Centre in Northallerton on Saturday.  I was kept pretty busy all day, and met some very nice ladies, a gentleman, and a very young lady, who all happily made some of these one layer cards to take home with them -

The process involved using a Stix2 A4 Masking Sheet to mask out areas, which were then coloured with the Domed Stencilling and Blending Brushes (these are really great brushes for blending inks) and Distress Inks.  If you find Cut n Dry Foam tricky to use, give these brushes a go - they are inexpensive and have nice, soft and dense bristles for apply ink evenly to your surface.

Whilst on the subject of crafting with lovely ladies, I must show you the results of a day spent in the company of Lynne and co at The Craft Den in Sheffield.  I took along a 'Home Sweet Home' decorated Tando Mini House Printer Tray:

And the lovely ladies all decorated their own - in their own unique ways, and these are the results:

Just click on the image for a closer look!  Thanks to everyone who came along, and also to Lynne and her husband, who helped make the day run so smoothly and pleasantly.  If you live in the vicinity of Sheffield, you must check out Lynne's shop at The Craft Den which is packed with delights to purchase, along with her other planned workshops which she is running during the year.

Amongst other bits and pieces we used the Victoria and Albert Swirl Die, and the Gilded Cage Die to adorn our houses.  The Swirl Die is currently nicely in stock, and the Cage Dies will be back in stock very soon (just stuck in UK customs as we speak - hopefully soon to be released). 

Next I have lots of projects by the CI team to show you.  Firstly 4 cards made very beautifully by Daniele:

We have several stamps making their appearances on these - Heartfelt Bird CI-220 (top), and new stamps - Musical Notes, A Royal Bird,  and Dreaming of Lilies (middles and bottom) .  Daniele has also used the Flower Heads Elements plate on the lower two cards, and she has stamped everything on various sheets of our Background Books (which do take stamping so very nicely).

Brenda has used Dreaming of Lilies too, to make a pretty 'Get Well' card -

Plus she has used a slightly older stamp depicting those idyllic Country Cottages to make a delightful card below -

 

And Lynne has been very busy with quite a few CI stamps recently, and here are just a couple of her gorgeous makes:

Loving the backgrounds here and the detail Lynne has obtained with stamp CI-148, Floradora Girl, and the Element Plate CI-341 - perfume bottles!

Lynne has also made a gorgeous project with the new dancing couple from CI-377 - in soft and beautiful colours -

Again the detail is stunning!

Hope you have enjoyed tonight's post, and now you feel warmed and relaxed and ready to craft?!

Thanks everyone.

Jean x

A NEW YOU TUBE VIDEO FROM US, AND MORE PROJECT SAMPLES FROM THE TEAM .....

We have another YouTube video to share with you tonight, featuring a tutorial on making a simple one layer card using one of the latest addition of Alice Palace rubber stamps as the main feature, with the help of Distress Ink pads and a Stix2 Masking Sheet to create the background....

We have added both the Masking Sheets and some colours of Distress Inks to our 'Must Haves' section on the website at www.craftyindividuals.co.uk.  Here's hoping you find the tutorial both interesting and useful?!

Now I must quickly move on to show you some more little beauties from the talented Team.  Lovely Gio has made the most adorable little birdcage from a covered cookie cutter and wire, and another one of our new stamps 'A Royal Bird' CI-378 - how clever is this? ....

Gio has wrapped the cookie cutter with papers from our Background Paper Book 1 and some lace - and I love everything about this!

She has also made a very pretty card with the same stamp and some acetate ...

And also a stunning shadow box with CI-377 - 'A Night of Romance' ..

Brenda, Effie and Sylvie have also all been busy with CI-377, with fabulous results below ..

Sylvie altered an empty chocolate box above (clever girl) and there's that little Royal Bird peeking in there at the end again!  Amazing how different the projects are all using the same stamps!

Effie has also been adding to her lovely altered book, using more of the 'Alice' stamps - very colourful and eye-catching pages here!

And talking of Alice stamps I must show you two card designs I love sent over by a Sophie at http://artundshabbyblog.blogspot.de/ using the first release of Alice stamps ..

And my final project of tonight is a superb little birdy box by Sam Read made as a gift for a bird loving neighbour of hers, and featuring our little Springtime Robin ..

Thanks to both Sophie and Sam for sharing their work with us.  Lots more to come soon, but I'll sign off tonight with a few pics of Mr Monty Moodle, who grows ever more adorable with every day that comes.  Firstly here he is with a Labradoodle friend - similar colour but about 4 times the size!

Followed by an arty snap by Malcolm taken on a forest walk locally ..

What a little sweetheart ... (he's fast asleep next to his bone on the floor at my feet right now!)

Love him to bits!!

Night all,

Jean x