It's A Date! - Class Update

Last Thursday was the last Papercraft Session of 2011 and I decided to push the boat out with regard to the choice of stamp sets available to use. We were making mini desk calendars and I brought in a total of 20, count 'em, stamp sets for everyone to play with, together with inkpads and markers in every single colour in the Stampin' Up! range!! I think some of my ladies were a bit overwhelmed by the choice, oops!

Although the desk calendars didn't look anything special when we started, by the end of the evening everyone had produced 12 individual pieces of art to see them through 2012 in style. I'm so proud of everyone for the designs they came up with; I was blown away by some of them. Typically, I forgot to get pictures so I'm afraid you'll just have to manage with my offering -sorry! Here's what all 12 months looked like together...

...and the following are my personal favourites...

 

The Papercraft Sessions will be back on Thursday 19th January and I'll be posting details of the 2012 sessions next month.

Although the Sessions are taking a break, I will still be crafting away and posting my efforts as always so please keep popping back!

Light Up Your Life class update

I've just realised that I haven't shared the results of my candles class last month - what was I thinking???

It was a fantastic class and everyone made really professional looking projects as you can see here...

 

It's a shame I can't say the same about my photography skills. I forgot my camera and had to take this using my phone so it's not great to say the least.

I've since heard from a couple of ladies who attended the class that their other halves assumed they'd bought the sets in a shop because they looked so good! How proud am I??

It's hard to tell from the photo but the pillar candles were stamped with the 'Ornate Blossom' stamp, which is a total bargain at £9.95. The tealight sets have a variety of images from the 'Just Believe', 'Framed With Love' (retired set) and 'Circle Circus' stamp sets.

We also used cardstock and matching DSP in Cajun Craze, Concord Crush, Elegant Eggplant, Bravo Burgundy and Night of Navy. With the Designer Series Papers being available in all the SU! colours it's really easy to make sure everything co-ordinates perfectly.

Sneaky peek at... Light Up Your Life

This week's Papercraft Session is sure to be an illuminating one (*groan* ) as we're stamping on candles.

We'll be creating stamped tealights, and a pretty gift box to present them in, together with a co-ordinating greetings card. We'll also be tranferring stamped images onto a small pillar candle - these make fab Christmas presents! Here's a little look at the sort of treats we'll be making, although a choice of colours and designs will be available.

 

There are just 2 places left and booking closes at 8pm on Tuesday evening, to allow me the time to get all the materials prepared. Please call me on 0757 848 6669 to book your place.

On a different note, take a look to the left of my blog and you'll see I'm now sporting a banner to celebrate getting picked for the Top 3 in last week's Simply Stampin' Challenge! How chuffed am I?? It was first time entering the challenge so I'm especially proud. Now what can I come up with for this week's challenge I wonder?...

Fancy Folds class update

This was probably my favourite class so far. It was lovely to see everyone create the cards after initially thinking they were too complicated. That's the beauty of tri-shutter and easel cards, they're deceptively easy to make!

I completely forgot to take a photo of everyone's cards at the end and I only have a sample of the easel card which is a real shame. If I can persuade one of my class members to sent me a picture of the tri-shutter card we made I'll edit this post accordingly.

Here is the easel card we made, which was inspired by a canvas made by the lovely Margaret. As always, I wanted to put my own spin on it as, for me personally, I don't feel comfortable demonstrating someone else's design. I take great pride in knowing that all my cards are unique and reflect my style.

I used Daffodil Delight textured cardstock as a base and layered up the main image using Marina Mist and Peach Parfait card. The patterned paper is from the In Colour 6x6" DSP stack, which is exclusive to Hostesses who hold a qualifying workshop (qualyifying = sales of £150 or more. E-mail me if you'd like to hold a workshop).

This is what an easel card looks like from the side when it's standing. The sentiment on the base is mounted using Stampin' Dimensionals so that it keeps the top part of the card in place. When folded the card lies flat so it can be posted normally.

Here I've given a close-up view of the 3D stamping technique we used. First we stamped the flowers, from the 'Just Believe' set, using Bashful Blue ink. Then, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alighment, we stamped the image again in a darker shade (Marina Mist) just slightly to the left of the original image. It creates a fabulous shadow effect and is so easy to do.




The butterflies (from the Sale-A-Bration set 'Bliss') and the frame ('Just Believe' again) used on the base are stamped and hand-cut (yep, not a die-cutting system in sight!) to add that extra 3D element.

Sneaky peek at... Just A Note

This sneaky peek is a little bit misleading as it's not *exactly* what we'll be making at the session tonight. The idea is the same but we'll be using smooth card in different colours. This is a set of notecards I made for a friend using the gorgeous textured card from Stampin' Up! in Old Olive and Real Red (a real classic colour combo). I've used the cherry stamp, inked up using SU markers, from the Tart and Tangy stamp set and I think it makes a really cute, kitsch pattern. It reminds me of 1950's diners and poodle skirts.

I've used the One Sheet Wonder (OSW) technique, in as much that I've stamped up a single A4 sheet of Whisper White cardstock with a repeat design, and then cut sections of the card to make each card.

This is my take on the OSW, as a normal OSW is used to make ten cards and mine makes six. I knew there were certain designs I wanted to use that required larger pieces of stamped card so I decided to sacrifice quantity to get the designs I wanted.

On the green card above I punched out three individual images using the Circle punch and matted them with the contrasting red card. The sentiment is from a retired set that I've cut out using the Word Window punch. The red card is probably my favourite. I've highlighted the cherries paper by using contrasting card and the Eyelet Border punch.

The sentiment on the red card above is stamped onto contrasting card and cut out using the Extra Large Tab punch.



I've used faux stitching on the green card above. It's so easy - just use a marker to draw a zigzag line over the edge of your paper to make it look like it's sewn to the card. If you have time to make it look even more realistic, use a piercing tool to make holes where each stitch would go through the card. Both cards use the 'friends' sentiment from the Just Believe set.

In this week's session I want to see everyone's own creative flair so I'm not setting precise instructions. Depending on the stamp sets that people choose, they will be able to use their OSWs in different ways. I'm really looking forward to seeing what is created.

Boys Toys class update

I had a lot of fun at this week's Papercraft Session, despite a kettle malfunction leaving us all slightly parched. As well as the 'Rock Star' card I showed you in a previous post, we also made a punch art BBQ card for those Dads who like to do the cooking as long as it's outdoors ;D

Every part of the barbecue is made from Stampin' Up! punches and even the beer bottles are made using the Word Window punch. The clouds are made using the 'faux clouds technique', where I've punched out a shape using the scallop circle and used the negative image as a template to apply Craft ink in Whisper White using a sponge dauber.

The sentiment is from the Sale-a-Bration set 'So happy for you' and the 'dad' is stamped using the Just Perfect alphabet stamp set and that all important Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alignment.

I nearly forgot to say - see the embers flickering from the barbecue? That's actually the stems from one of the stamps in the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set! I used a Real Red marker to just ink up the parts I wanted to stamp. It's good to take a step back and look at your stamps sometimes in order to see what else they could be used for.

The MP3 gift card holder uses one of the sentiments from the Just Believe stamp set, which is one of my favourite sets from the current catalogue.

Here's a pic of the completed projects from the class.