WOYWW # 224

It's been a busy couple of days since my last post.

  Deliveries have started arriving in the shop ready for the build up to Christmas & we've actually had some decorations & Christmas cards in a bit earlier than usual.

Mum & I were off at a buying event for the shop all day yesterday at one of our gift suppliers HQ, ordering for new year & spring season deliveries.

 We even managed to stop off at the shops on the way home & do a bit of buying for ourselves :)

New shoes!! Yey!!

 

Anyway, today I have decided to take the plunge & join in with WOYWW for the very first time.
 If you'd like to join in too, pop over to Stamping Ground for all the details.

After my post the other day my blog friend Anne suggested that it might be a good place to start for entering challenges & finding new blog friends, so here goes!.

 

 

As you can see there's a few IndigoBlu Christmas stamps there ready to play around with.

I'm working on the next projects for our October/November Out Of The Blue card making workshops & we'll be using these stamps for those.

There's also a few primed wooden hearts & little trays that have been waiting very patiently for me to get around to using &  I have a few ideas in mind.

 I've also got some Woodware fishing themed clear stamps there which I have some ideas for for men's cards,  & tucked in the corner there is a Crafty Individuals robin stamp for me to get cracking on some of my own Christmas cards too, thanks for that one Carole.

As you can see there's the latest copy of Craft Stamper magazine & a few shades of my trusty Distress Inks which I could not be without.

 

What this space to see the finished articles!

 

Thanks for visiting

 

Amy x

 

 

 

Sparkle & Shine

In my last post I promised to show you the glass Christmas decorations we will be making at a local craft group in November.

 As a result of our card making workshops I have had a few local groups contact me to ask if I would go & hold a workshop for them.

 This particular group asked me to do a glass painting project that would be completed in the 2 hour time slot & be able to be carried home.

 If you have used solvent based glass paints ( my preferred type of glass paints) you will probably know that they take quite a while to dry & if any dust particles should happen to land in the design you've just spent ages painting you'll have to start again or it just won't look very nice.

 Plus it can be quite messy, & fumy.

 

So, with all this in mind, I came up with these using a different technique

 

 

The pieces of glass are pre cut & drilled with a small hole at the top.

 I used dreamweaver stencils & embossing paste & applied various glitters whilst still wet.

Once dry I added sequins, diamantes, die cut elements & glitter glues to highlight certain areas & around the outer edges of the glass.

I then finished them with some ribbon tied through the holes for hanging.

 

When they catch the light the glitters really glisten.

 I think they'll look great hung on any Christmas tree with twinkly lights shining through.

 

Hopefully the craft group ladies will enjoy making these on the night, hope you like them too.

 

See you again soon

 

Amy x

 

 

 

 

Autumn Forest

Well, it seems like ages since my last post!.

 Lots of things have been going on in the world of Out Of The Blue.

We've had a Summer sale to make room for all the lovely new Autumn/Winter & Christmas stock that has started to arrive and there's been lots of planning for our Christmas & New Year workshops.

 Although I love Summer, I do love it when the season begins to change & everything starts to feel, smell & look different.

 We are lucky enough to live quite near to Westonbirt Arboretum & I do like to go along during the Autumn to see all the fantastic colours of the trees as they change. Here's hoping I can fit in a visit this year!.

 

Tonight is our second Out Of The Blue workshop making this card design.

 Last week was the first & everyone thoroughly enjoyed it & bought up all the spare stamps etc.

  I had to place another order with fingers crossed it would all arrive in time for tonight!.

 Yesterday a lovely box arrived containing more stamps & lots of lovely colours of mega flake from IndigoBlu & I have to just say what great customer service & speedy delivery we have had with every order placed with IndigoBlu, something that I think is very important.

The card was made by stamping the IndigoBlu  Bare Forest Stamp onto clear acetate using purple Stazon ink. I was planning on using black stazon but do you think I could find it?

 Nevermind, as I think the purple goes perfectly with the oranges & golds in the Autumn Blaze Mega Flake used for the background.

After letting the ink dry, I applied double sided sheet to the image, stamped side up, then peeled off the other backing & applied the Autumn Blaze all over.

I love this effect & I have to say it was passed on to me by my crafty friend & co teacher Carole who has put a tutorial of this technique on her blog that you can view by clicking  Here.



The backgrounds that the forest is layered onto are  embossed with the Creative Expressions hyper magical embossing folder & highlighted with gold gilding wax.

The leaves were created in the same way as the forest by using the leaves from the IndigoBlu stamp set Bloomin' Great.

The card was finished with some raffia & the 'with love' sentiment.

 

 

 

Thanks for popping by & checking out my project, next time I'll be sharing some Christmas decorations I've been working on for a workshop I've been asked to run for a local craft group in November.

I'd also appreciate any advice you may offer on how to 'up' my followers numbers.

 Maybe I need to make myself enter a few challenges which I may need tips on too!?

 Anyway, all advice & comments are most welcome.

 

See you soon

 

Amy x