September 1st - Patchwork

The inspiration behind this card is the tulip pattern that is often used in patchwork/quilting.  There are many others that can be adapted to paper crafting.

The next card used Spellbinders Octagonal Dies to create a patchwork quilt cover effect.

August 4th - Flowers

During this class we make flowers from wired/memory ribbon, felt and craft candi.

May 12th - Sue Wilson Inspired Card

Class where supplied with the pieces to make this card, inspired by one I had seen Sue make.

April 14th - Magic Motifs

We did not just play with Magic Motifs, but Sticky Sues, Double Sided Peel Offs (various brands), Foamies, Double Sided Transfers, and created these concertina books.  We tried out various things to adhere to the Magic Motifs etc, like Fine Glitter, Gilding Flakes, Craft Flock, Micro Beads, Mica Flakes, Transfer Foil, Craft Sand and Mica Powder.

March 31st - More Brayering

For the first two toppers Adirondack Ink pads were used to create the background using a brayer.  A variety of makes of stamps were used (Clarity, Inkylicious and Tim Holtz)

For the next topper, a Kaleidoscope Ink pad was used to create the background.

For the last topper, a Big & Juicy Ink Pad was used to create the background.

Stampscapes stamps were used to create the scenes in the last two toppers.

March 3rd - Ribbon and Things

This month we went through our ribbon/lace/thread boxes, and looked at what we could do with them went we put them on a card.  We generated these three ideas boards.

February 4th - Paper Weaving

This first card, is a card I created as an idea for how to use the small square stamps as a background.  The strips of paper (wide quilling/iris folding paper), where woven and glue together, then the text and image were stamped in the squares that were generated.

As most people are familiar with the paper weaving as shown in the card above, we looked at a variation on a theme, crazy paper weaving.  Where the strips are not cut straight.  This generates a lovely background for nautical themed cards.

 The fish are also generated by paper weaving, the pattern was found on the Craft Creations website.

2012 - January 7th - Gilding Flakes

I was first introduced to gilding flakes via using black peel-offs and double sided adhesive sheets. The black peel-off is stuck onto the double sided adhesive sheet and the gilding flakes applied over the top. This caused me a couple of problems:- • The adhesive sheets were not very forgiving if you did not get the peel-off on straight on the first attempt. • If you scratched the finished item, you could not buff out the scratch. • Fingernails when buffing would also permanently mark the gilding flakes and that area would not be as shiny as the rest of the gilded area. Then I realised you could incorporate acetate, as this would help solve some of these problems. The thin craft ordinary acetate is best. I have found that dark coloured peel-offs work best with gilding flakes, however check that the wrong side of the peel-off is a dark colour, as some peel-offs are white on the wrong side. I have found that for matting and layering, I have found copper mirror etc, to be the best.

Double sided peel-offs are another way in which gilding flakes can be attached to a project. I like these are they are more dimensional than double sided adhesive sheets. When cutting shapes with a die from the double sided adhesive sheet, the more intricate shapes are harder to remove from the die and harder to remove the first backing sheet without ripping and destroying the shape you have cut out. I like to apply wide DSST around the edges of a mat and covering with gilding flakes. You have to make sure that the DSST strips butt up against each other, as you don’t want a gap line to show through and ruin the effect. Gilding flakes can also be applied to Magic Motifs, Sticky Sue and other similar types of transfers. However I have found that the pure line art motifs do not work as well (look as good) as the ones that have solid blocks in the image. You can use ordinary clear peel-offs, but as these are usually foiled in gold or silver, you need to be careful with your choice of peel-off and choice of colour of gilding flake.

You can also use PVA white glue to apply gilding flakes to chip-board shapes or as a border. Spread the glue thinly and allow it to dry for a little while before applying the gilding flakes and pressing. When the glue is completely dry, buff with a tissue.

December 3rd - Material

This month's project was to use material in the creation of a card. The red satin material was spray glued onto thick paper and then run through a die cutting machine. The Java/Grind image was a picture panel from a strip of images bought at the NEC. It was glued onto a Pinflair square of cardboard using Pinflair bookbinding glue. I also incorporated a piece of white aida, which I have stitched using red metalic thread.

October 1st - Friendly Plastic

September 24th - Sponging Techniques

The Project Card

Picked up a weird mark bottom right corner in the corn, between craft club and posting image. Furrows and sky created by sponging and using masks. A good exercise in learning to sponge and the type of sponge you are able to use. Personally I prefer the round make-up sponges rather than the narrow triangular ones, as easier to make into a "mushroom" and hold.

September 3rd - Chalking

Chalks are a nice alternative to ink pads and promarkers, they can be much more subtle – especially if you use the pastels tones. However you do need to “fix” them when you have finished colouring with either a fixing spray or cheap hairspray (the cheap/value brands I have found to be the best). You can use the chalk “neat”, ie direct to paper/card; Using any of a variety of applicators or cotton buds and even cotton balls for an overall background colour. Hydrangea image coloured with chalks (Image to follow) I like applying chalk to the edging of a mat, especially if the mat is some pre-printed paper, it is much more subtle than ink-pads and is easier to use if you are a beginner. Two mats with chalked edges (Image to follow) Chalks can be used through a stencil, with or without embossing the image first. Two images one embossed first the other not. (Images to follow) You can watercolour with them. Mix together a little bit of chalk and water and apply to the image. Hydrangea image water-coloured (Images to follow) You can paint with them, using a chalk enhancer. Hydrangea image with chalk enhancer. (Image to follow) However my personal favourite it to stamp an image, colour it with promarkers, mask it and then apply pastel chalks around the image to create a background and/or shadow effect.

A lot of crafters use chalks over a white embossed background.

Black Card Applying chalk to black card is an alternative way to use chalks. 1) Using 3 or 4 strong chalk colours cover a piece of black card. Then ink up an stamp with versamark and stamp onto the chalk, this removes the chalk, leaving behind a black image. Make sure to fix the final result. Pear Image (Image to follow) 2) Ink up a stamp with versamark, images with some “solid blocks” within the image work best, stamp onto the black card. Next dab chalk over the stamped image, when covered then wipe and buff the image. Lastly fix the image. Fan image and Pear image (Images to follow)