Gem of a Card?

I discovered that I had a baby boy card to make, so thought it would be a good chance to try out the bow gem template on cream pearlised paper that I'd bought from Crafting Buddies at Ross Papercraft Show.

I didn't have any cards in that colour, so made a 5.5" square from lightweight cream pearlised card, backing the template onto the packaging card from my new clouds embossing folder (waste not, want not!).

Blue gingham ribbon went along the ribbon part, the bow was coloured with Copic pen all over, and the template dots still showed through.

Doing the gem filling was fun, but oh you need good light, good eyes and a lorra lorra gemstones!

Baby Boy

Now for the pink baby one...

Baby Girl

And of course, the Easter one. Using Ruth's embossing folder, ribbons, with pearls instead of gemstones -

Happy Easter

Photographs of your craft room

Blog Prompt #11

Write about and show off photographs of your craft room! How do you store everything? Any nifty and thrifty ideas to share? I also want you to name your favourite episode of Creativity TV to date...

Today's post is to show off photos of my craft room AKA The Crafty Study. Now do I tidy it first? No, show it as is. 

First up the Ikea wooden self-assemble storage drawers for A4 card, similar wooden storage rack for magazines which I've used for the embossing boards.  Jewellery bead stacks, Cuttlebug, Kindle, acoustic guitar (teacher Mark Cameron of Awaken/ Glasgow Guitar School). 

I use a large Really Useful Box to store my rubber stamps (Christmas ones in another box) after I had a really good clear out of them! Tuff clip boxes and folders store decoupage and various bits. More drawers for assorted card, labels etc - plastic this time, wish I'd bought the metal mesh ones.

This is the workspace looking out on my view. 

Crafty computer with new storage shelves bought at the Craft Fair. 

Have Ink Dusting equipment-->will travel.

I also have to name your favourite episode of Creativity TV to date...

Creativity TV Episode 117: Watercolouring Techniques with Michael Powell

I like this one because I love using Twinkling H2Os/ Cosmic Shimmer watercolours or Copic alcohol pens to colour in digistamps/ rubber stamped images.  I also like the look of the new docrafts Michael Powell rubber stamps - I particularly like beach huts and plan on buying these two. 

Coastal Getaway

Shore Thing

5 docrafts Member Galleries I LOVE and Why

Blog prompt #2

Support and comments from other crafters has been very important and so kind. Looking through other members galleries and blogs has been a massive source of inspiration and an opportunity to discover new talent.

First up Gallery has to be my friend craftywhippet though, like mine, her gallery is not entirely up to date! Too many things to do. 


Then, in no particular order McCrafty, SilverScrapper, jbee1, lainie and Carrieanne. Why? Well I suppose because we have each commented on each other's cards, galleries and blogs! That's how we make Buddies online. 


Cards I have been making recently include this large A4 30th birthday card.  The craft group is great for sharing different items, and I used Jane's diecuts to make the name tag and scrolls and her rubber stamps for the elegant lady and script background.  My Copic pens and Tim Holtz distress inks coloured the lady. 

Maybe I should upload it to my docrafts gallery...oops. 

CraftyGranny

Thursday 5 April 9.35am GMT+1 now imprinted on my memory as our first Grandchild Evan Andrew Bailey Morland entered the world at 7 lb 14 and a half ounces.  Mother and baby both well and one excited son of mine!

As a good crafter should, I was in the process of preparing a card, boy or girl I didn't know, when he appeared a week early! Then the name was not yet decided upon, so I finally finished yesterday when all the details were available.  Of course, since Ruth and I had been practising ink brushing only the day before, I used the technique for the edges of the 8"x8" scallop card and the cut-out shape.  My Copic pens and twinkling H2Os to fill in the Lily of the Valley rubber stamp Baby Bunting.

To think I had been nearly calm, well not quite, as we were trying out more inky pictures.  Rita, we do hope to do an introductory type video to ink brushing, that's why we're practising LOL! These are our second attempts.

Ruth used the brayer for this sky (Adirondack ink) and gives quite a bit more intense colour, so it's a choice of technique.

SECC Hobbycrafts for Christmas 2011

Alice and I left at 9.30am on Saturday and headed off to the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre for the craft show.  First of all we safely left the fee (in case we spent it) for a piece of ground called a car park, paying £6.00 for the privilege of parking in the grounds of the building. 

I got parked nice and near and we eagerly took our shopping trolley bags ready to fill up with what was on our shopping lists. 

Within the SECC there are units with rows and rows of stalls displaying many craft products from across the UK. It is great fun going round each mini-shop looking for Christmas bargains. It ran from Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th October, with hundreds visiting each day. It was therefore surprising that on the day we went, we met four people we knew!

I was torn between buying the craft stuff and filming it! I asked permission at the stalls I filmed and most folk were quite happy about it. I must say it is pretty difficult to film one-handed with an ordinary camera; I felt my video-camera with its wonderful rotating screen would be too heavy to carry around along with everything else. Happily we met Laura in the Christmas gifts hall and she filmed the two of us having one of our little chats (no crafting involved!). 

It is always a good day looking at craft -- "do I really need that?", "yes of course I do!" and by the afternoon I stopped debating with myself as it was a waste of time. Goods purchased and two tired ladies ready to go home to phone the others in the group to find out what they had bought.

We bought quite a lot for our money and have shown our purchases in previous posts. Personally, I'm delighted with my Copic Ciao pens and, having been to some art classes, feel better-equipped to try out proper shading when colouring-in my rubber stamping. I was disappointed with the storage case I bought to keep all 48 in because the pens were too fat. [Yesterday I purchased a Tatty Teddy toiletries bag instead, and used the other case for watercolour brush markers I already had.]

However, it is such a pity that with so many people having  paid to visit the craft fair there were only a handful of tables and chairs for so many crafters. Many people with disabilities craft and they had to stand to have their lunch. How much better it would have been if visitors had been able to have a chair rather than the floor to sit on! We were sitting on whatever seats and floor space we could find.

Alice's crafty-bags-to-go

In a previous post, Ruth was highly amused at my omnigrid difficulties, so we were delighted to find a stand selling a host of omnigrids, which we brought into our filming.  [If you look at the photo of the crafting bags I take to the group, you will see that I have one especially for them - no! - it's really for patchworking, but being flat it is great for carrying A4 card without bending, along with a cutting mat and scoreboard.]

We have enjoyed getting all our purchases and I hope we might actually use them before the next craft fair in March 2012! 

Clarity Scotland stamp

Surely nothing that we won't use at some point? - we get around to it eventually in the craft group - and have great plans for 2012's project evenings!
PS On Monday, I ordered for us both a Clarity Scotland rubber stamp, that had been sold out at the fair. They arrived yesterday; here is mine, still lovingly wrapped in tissue paper. 

CraftyWhippet & craftyalice chatting 

We hope you enjoy this taster of what the fair was like: 

craftyalice's loot

I squashed all my purchases onto the chair and then took more close-up photos.

Tonic Studio scissors 

Copic Ciao pens

Clarity Joy to the World stamp

Clarity Owl stamp

Embossing folder: Church

Embossing folder: Christmas Tree

Post-Belfast

In front of the Waterfront Hall, Belfast

Hi Everyone,

We have all now recovered from our Craftathon and are back to our fortnightly evenings crafting together. We are making Christmas projects, trying to keep to finishing on time -- and failing badly. 

Alice's project

Since our last crafting group evening, Alice and I have been preparing for our voluntary Wednesday craft days plus rehearsing for a repeat of the Praise Gathering concert that we were part of in June. This time with great excitement we went to Belfast. We had a wonderful time with 170 from the two Scottish choirs joining with 230 Irish singers to make yet another 400-strong choir for the concert on Saturday October 8th at the Waterfront Belfast. We flew over on Friday and returned on Sunday evening. We spent a week recovering from all the fun of it!!! 

Waterfront Hall

Alice's Alto view of the auditorium

On  Saturday the 29th October (after a Charity dinner on the Friday night) we are going to the ICHF craft exhibition to have a look at all the stalls and perhaps purchase...whether we need it or not!! LOL At the moment, Barbara Gray’s brayering techniques, distressing inks, and Copic/Promarker/Spectrum Noir alcohol pens are the craft items we are experimenting with at present. 

Alice's attempt at colouring and distressing

Hopefully we will be able to show some of our purchases after we have been to the show, but until then…keep crafting

Tatty Teddy

The latest enthusiasm – From Me to You: Tatty Teddy.
There was a free rubber stamp and dots embossing folder with the doCrafts magazine (unfortunately I forgot to photograph the first cards we made with it at the Hospice) and I’ve just bought a wooden rubber stamp of TT with Flower Pots:

Both Ruth and I bought the Copic pen B12 Ice Blue, which gives the correct blue for his nose, and the Tim Holtz Distress Ink Weathered Wood, which should give a nice grey to edge the background, plus pen R20 Blush if we fancy a pink nose! Versafine Grey, Memento Sepia and suitable pink and blue ink pads will give variety to his body to suit different cards.
craftyalice