All Dried Out

First attempts

Jane brought along to the craft group all her moulds and we tried air-dried clay for the first time. The trick is not to handle the clay too much - some of us cottoned-on to the technique faster than others! The frames and large flowers are Martha Stewart moulds, the rose and sunflower are WOW moulds.

Martha Stewart Frame Mould

WOW Rose Mould

There are qualities in the clay, some more pliable than others. They were partly set by the time we finished and craftywhippet loaned me a box to carry them home. Unfortunately, putting the box on its side was not a great idea and a few got broken or bashed. They will gradually harden further over the next few days and then they should be decorated with the likes of Twinkling H2Os, Copic pens or Spray & Sparkle. We will see how they turn out! I've never been handy with clay so if they are usable it will be amazing.

Owl be seeing you

The craft group met for the first time after Christmas and two of our birds flying off to sunnier climes for a while. Jeanette came up with a wee project which I'm not showing till the recipient gets the card!

MaryNSC this is right up your street! - Then we used a kit that I had been given by a friend and made up four owl cards with lovely gold-foiled tree trunk and sliding shutter over an owl, which unfortunately I forgot to photograph.

Hunkydory Twit Twoo Just for You

Both types of Cards made up

Yesterday I made up the four different Baboushka (Russian Dolls) owl cards, with silicone to attach them and their wings. The folds are very fragile though. Easy but cute.

My gingham Baboushka owls inside each other

My gingham Baboushka owls opened out to display

I've been making other birthday cards, including my Grandson's - which isn't until April - a clue is that Evan likes the Disney Pixar Cars DVDs Mater's Tall Tales - and of course a valentine card for hubby, but they also can't be revealed just yet.

Craftywhippet and I have been talking about making a video, but it's taking a long time to happen! Anyway, chat to you next time...

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Now We Too are One

Hi Everyone,

I can hardly believe that my little grandson is now one year old. Where did the time go?

As expected Leo liked the tissue paper despite the fact it had no taste or nutritional value and stuck to his mouth. His attention was upwards to the balloons that were being bounced about by the adults. Well, who says balloons are for children only. It was a very humid day so we all melted into the settee while Leo sat happily biting into his favourite toy ...an empty cola bottle... calmly watching the world go by.

Leo's card was thought of about six months ago.  I suggested to Alice that she could make it for Evan's first birthday then any mistakes would be amended when I did mine. I am not called crafty for nothing!!

Like many of you crafters I hit a "block" and kept thinking, "I will look at it tomorrow", but all the tomorrows crept up and one day I knew that it HAD to be sorted.  With Alice's careful measuring and my eyeballing measuring I finally got past the block and into what I wanted to do. It was not however without its problems. As I said earlier we are in a heat wave, so working with glue and double sided tape is not easy when the glue is melting and tape has stuck to your fingers. I laid my almost finished card down and when I lifted it two "tiny" (even "smidgens") of tape had stuck to the two back photos. They had to be removed, as my subtle attempts at fixing were a total waste of time. Photos were removed, reprinted, insert added and card finished.

The card is pride of place on the birthday boy's mantelpiece.  My daughter very discreetly pointed out a little letter is missing on the inside verse. Ah well it happens to us all. It will be easily fixed and anyway Leo can't read yet. I still have a couple of nice photos to add but as yet they have not reached my laptop.

Leo 1

Birthday is over now so time to concentrate on other cards!!

Love

Virtual Gardening

There were just three of us at the craft group but we had fun making up a Sandie Burchell craft kit from CraftsUprint (see right hand side panel on blog for link). Three pages were printed out on 160gsm white card, cut and assembled to give a decoupaged-style triangle 3D card to send to anyone who loves flowers. The personalisation is on the back and could have text boxes added via the computer before your sheets are printed out. All three of us were successful as we kept pace with each other.

Gardening x3

I have tried these kits before, making a crafting one (can't find my own photo of it made up!) and a handbag one - and they are great fun to do.

In the Garden

Handbags and Shoes

Crafting

Hope you're enjoying your crafting. It really is summer here in Scotland, we have had the most amazingly warm and sunny weather. So no complaints about not having a summer this year.

Yarn Bombing

"Yarn Bombing -- or as it’s called in Europe, Knit Graffiti – has been taking hold all over the world. From fibre artists who craft covers for a water tower or bus to small community groups who cover lampposts and parking meters, embellishing the world with yarn is a celebration of beauty and a sign of hope and humour. This kind of work is joyous, whimsical, and opens up what knitting and crocheting can be. Yarn is the new paint of our time. Community groups, local knitting groups and individuals have been collectively knitting and crocheting bringing the traditional craft to life."

I visited the Village Arts Centre in East Kilbride after my daughter-in-law told me it had been Yarn-Bombed for the next day's fun. I got a few photos and thought it was a great idea -- showing off knitting and crochet in an unusual way.

Mushrooms

Pillar

Pompoms

Woolly Trees

Couched in Wool

Mushrooms

Flower Power

Floral Display

Mushroom Posts

And with that photo, it's the end of my post!

What is Pergamano?

Following my recent Post, Rita, of SoulComfort blog, had to Google the answer, so I've done the same. The answer is:
Pergamano is a trade name for Parchment Craft supplies.  However the term Pergamano ('Perga', Spanish for parchment and 'Mano', Spanish for hands) is now used world wide to describe this fascinating craft.
The heavy parchment paper is a translucent grey colour, but when you pressure-emboss it (pressing on it with a small round-ended tool) on a soft surface, it becomes a satiny, opaque white.  In addition to pressure embossing, there are various painting and perforating techniques that can be applied to make a very elegant looking piece of art work.  Using perforating tools such as the flower tool, the four hole piercer and the diamond tool and grid make the parchment lace-like.  With these techniques, you can make cards, bookmarks, boxes, lamp shades and even three-dimensional flowers.

In process

So, now that my white pen has arrived, before the craft group meets tonight, I've finally finished mine, remembering to use tissue to keep my sweaty paws from marking the front.

Traced, Embossed and partly Perforated

When I tore the pin-pricked edge I realised that I had forgotten to go through both front and back together. Pity. However, not too bad for a first effort.

The Finished Card

All I have to do now is to make an insert for the words, which also strengthens the card to stand. I think I'll send it to Jean!

Instead of all-white colouring and embossing, the back of the flowers can be painted. Jean had lots of samples she had made and they are beautiful.

Have a try yourself. Mind you, one wee tip I know is that vellum in a folder run through the Cuttlebug or Big Shot or whatever, gives a very Pergamano-like effect! Shhh...

Paint Fusion

Previous to our special craft afternoon, the group met for Jane's Project using Sheena Douglass' Ancient Arches rubber stamp set. Pulling out all the stops, Jane led us through the steps:

• rubber stamp the edges of an 8" square card with crackle pattern
• gold heat emboss the feather on a smaller square piece of brown pearlised card
• using three toning distress inks, sponge blobs over an A6 piece of the same brown card
• rubber stamp the arches on top of the rainbow mix
• using a wet paintbrush, streak-lift-off paint in lines where the rays of light would come through the window and land on the pillars (remembering that light travels in a straight line!), and from the little arched window
• paint twinkling Luminarte over the lines to sparkle
• matt the picture onto gold and place onto the brown
• add a banner when ready to personalise
• use Copic pens or similar to colour pearl stones and decorate corners

Ancient Arches

Pin-Pricking and Pergamano

The craft group met for a special event with our "Crafting Mama", Jean, who showed us how to do two projects. In a beautifully sun-warmed conservatory we enjoyed the lunch items we had brought then moved on to the business of the day.

Firstly pin-pricking from a pattern with decoupage in the centre.

Pin-pricking Decoupage

Secondly Pergamano. Well, my white gel pen wouldn't work. Then I didn't get on at all with pen nib and white ink, it was like being back in primary school with a scratchy nib (showing my age there!). So I left finishing tracing the pattern till I ordered a new white gel pen. The pen has arrived and I hope to finish tracing, embossing and pin-pricking/tearing to show Jean that I really did finish my card. Craftywhippet finished hers with only a teensy slip of the tearing...

Craftywhippet at work on the first project

Christmas is early this year

Well I did do some more crochet. I finished the Christmas stocking for Evan, and I made the Granny Squares a little larger than in the past. The bells on the hanging loop amused him but I wasn't convinced that he wouldn't chew them off, so the sock has been removed till December!

Santa Sock

Santa up close

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Adventures with Evan

Unsurprisingly, I'm a typically besotted Granny. Evan's fascinated by the washing machine and tries to fill or empty it whenever he gets the chance. (Oh that he will still be like that when he's a teenager!)

My finger might get jammed

Another item he loves is Hudson's water bowl. Looks like Evan is with his Granny in enjoying plastic ducks!

Teaching the fridge magnet quack quack to swim!

Granny at Praise Gathering Belfast Hilton

By the way, the aftermath of the cake...

and the remnant remains