Stitches & hearts

Hi bloggers!, yet another busy week seems to have passed me by  in a bit of a blur. 

Today Mum & I visited the Stitches trade fair at the NEC in Birmingham to order nice new crafty goodies for the shop.

I've come away with lots of inspirational ideas, just can't wait for the orders we placed to arrive so I can have a play.

Our favourite stands this year were Creative Expressions, so many new products were showcased on their stand today we just didn't know where to begin!.

 Woodware, always such fab card samples on display. 

 Paperartsy, lots of lovely conversation & gorgeous design displays.

 Indigoblu where we watched lots of lovely Ice Resin creations taking shape by Nikki

 & Sizzix whose samples were great & we loved the retro 1950's range. 

Really wanted to share this cute tree of owls on the Sizzix stand.

The pink owl, bottom left actually had fluttery eyelashes! So cute. 

This huge wooden owl was on display at the entrance to the hall. I know a few people who would love this in their garden! 

Isn't he great?.

Just had to take a picture of this amazing creation, everything has been knitted! & that cute little pup reminds me of my sister's collie dog.

We also held another workshop for Out Of The Blue this week. As it was the day before Valentines we decided to do a heart/lovebird theme. 

Everyone really enjoyed making something other than a card this week & went home with a sweet gift for a loved one.

Here's another one of the designs I made as a sample to inspire them.

Hope you like it.

 Quite a few of the ladies were rather taken with this Heartfelt Creations stamp, I love it & am sure we will find lots of uses for it in future workshops.

This time I stamped & layered the flowers in Festive Berries distress ink. 

 Also loving that black Distress Glitter!

That's it for tonight, off to bed now as I'm back up at Stitches again tomorrow with Carole, here's hoping we don't have any car problems this year! 

See you soon! 

X 

Pretty little heart

Hi everyone,
Today I am showing you a little creation I made as a sample for this weeks 'Out Of The Blue' workshop.

We thought we'd do something other than a card & decided on some decorated MDF shapes in the form of birds & hearts. A bit of a valentines theme?.

I've made a few of each shape & here's one example

The MDF blank was primed & then painted with Adirondack lights pink sherbet acrylic paint. I then stamped a script stamp  with a butterfly in the design in clear embossing ink & heat embossed with white embossing powder. I used the same stamp & embossing powder on lilac card & cut the butterflies out. I shaped them & stuck them to the heart & added pearl gems & lilac coloured craft wire for the bodies & antennae. The same craft wire was used to make a hanging loop & a pendant at the bottom to which beads were added.



I also added a strip of white cotton lace across the heart to finish.

I made a few others of different styles & techniques.
 Our group can choose what techniques they want to use on theirs based on the examples Carole & I have to show them.

I really enjoyed making this little heart, a pretty hanging gift, tag for a wine bottle or maybe a tag for a wedding gift?.

Thanks for visiting

Amy x 

Second Zentangle inspired workshop

Hi bloggers, well this week just seems to have absolutely flown by.

 We've been to the Spring Fair at the NEC ordering lots of lovely new gifty things for the shop which is completely exhausting as it involves miles of walking with so much to look at & allow your brain to process with lots of decision making involved. I feel like I need a holiday! But, having said that I do enjoy catching up with reps & meeting the owners of the companies we deal with. Its also a great way to see what new trends will be emerging.

Anyway, as promised here are the pictures I took of some of the cards created by my group at our last workshop using Dreamweaver stencils & Zentangle.
Our second set of crafters really enjoyed this workshop & several have been back into the shop to buy more stencils, pens & other bits & pieces to create more cards at home.

This card was made using a black peel off sticker which was cut around & mat & layered. A lacey die cut edge was added along with stripy ribbon & an introduction of red with the stencilled 'valentine' & hearts.
We always say all materials needed are provided but if anyone wants to bring anything along they are more than welcome. Well, the lady who made this card brought along a box full of fabulous dies, I was very jealous! They were all beautifully stored too, something I definitely need to work on.

I also had a few new ladies in my group who had never attended one of our workshops before & had not really done much card making.  I think they did a fine job & I'm pleased to say they have booked onto future workshops.

A couple of ladies decided to make Valentine's cards with a bit of red & white on black zentangle too. 

Well, that's going to be it on the Zentangle subject for a while! We are working on our project for this Thursdays workshop using MDF shapes rather than card making. 

Hope you all have a lovely crafty weekend, I think I need to catch up on some sleep!

Amy x