What a weekend!

It was hard work but it was a really terrific weekend spent at Dawn's Design Studio with a full day of workshops on Saturday and then demonstrating yesterday. Thankfully, after planning and preparing for the classes, (and bringing a personal record amount of "stuff" with me!) everything went pretty smoothly and I'm so pleased that everyone said that they enjoyed themselves...my main goal! There were some familiar faces and old friends (less of the old I hear you cry!) and we were also delighted that Sioux (Artyjen) had travelled up so far to be with us - over seven hours in her car! I was only sorry that, because of the crazy schedule on Saturday, I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to spend talking with Sioux. There was lots of excitement in the air with everyone being together though, so the atmosphere was great. One very funny moment came when Sioux suddenly let out a loud screech and we all thought she had done herself a mischief.....but no....Joanne had made her a special ATC and it was the sight of Richard Armitage's face staring up at her from the card which caused the reaction! Hilarious! Sioux made me a special ATC too - featuring Ben Murphy and Pete Duel (Alias Smith and Jones...going back a bit!) because we had both revealed that our teenage poster heart throb had been Pete Duel. What a surprise that was, as it was some time ago that we learned of our mutual fancy! Brilliant! I got TAC's from Sheila and Gez too and will post pictures of them as soon as I can locate them...that sounds awful, but I had such a huge amount of things to pack away that I put them somewhere safe and just have to remember which safe place it was! Everything is still in the car as we couldn't face unpacking it all last night. Better get it done soon though. Here you can see some of the girls in full flow (looks like Sheila was about to start handing round some of the toffees that she brought!) and just some of the masses of "stuff" under the tables.So, the morning workshop was a repeat of the Ranger Mirror project which was so popular earlier this year. Joanne and "Peg Leg" arrived early and Joanne helped us to get set up - thank you! It took some time due to the sheer amount of products we were going to be using. The Ikea framed mirrors were colourwashed and set aside so that we could then concentrate on making all the Ranger technique filled examplars to decorate them with. We started with the Melt Pot, making UTEE filled Memory Frames, UTEE agate pieces, UTEE over stamps etc. Everyone's pieces were different of course, and we had no accidents with the Melt Pots and the leads which I was trying carefully not to trip over from my position in the middle of the tables! After the Melt Pots were switched off, we moved onto Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Backed Canvas, creating transferred images and resist images by stamping onto the canvas with Multi Matte Medium. Next we used Alcohol inks on acrylic Fragments, on foil and a technique that proved to be very popular which was inking a glass piece and then stamping with Black Archival ink before removing the stamped image with tissue to reveal a negative. Here are some very concentration filled faces! We then moved onto Distress inks and Gesso (which I realised that we should really have done earlier as it needed to dry. Oops, sorry ladies!) and by then our three hours was well and truly up. Because the next workshop was only half an hour later we couldn't overrun, so everyone is going to assemble the pieces at home. Heather arrived mid morning and then joined everyone else at 1pm when the first workshop ended. Heather had brought the completed Chunky Books from the swap that myself, Joanne, Gez, Sioux and Sheila had all partaken in. Heather had wrapped each book in fabric and ribbon with name tags on them. The reactions of everyone were wonderful as Heather had done some an amazing job putting all the pages together. I'll post pictures of my book once I take them, but do check out everyone elses blogs to see some examples already posted. Thank you Heather, all your hard work was really appreciated by me and everyone else, especially as I know it was made extra tricky at the moment with your hand problems.

Well, David and I refused everyone's offers to help us clear the tables and set up for the next class...we sent them off for their lunch instead! The half hour vanished in a puff of smoke and soon we were onto the Matchbox Shrines. Here are two pictures of the largest shrine which we used Cook's Matches boxes on (just to give you an idea of scale). The first picture shows the tray pushed upwards.... .....and this one shows the tray pulled down.
My example featured an Opalite cat which I bought last year (it reminded me of our lovely pusscat, Cherry) and a lovely quote, which had a few of us cat lovers feeling teary on Saturday, which read "no heaven will not Heaven be, unless my cat is waiting there for me". The base was made from corrugated card - I love this free, lightweight packaging material as it can be used for so many projects. It was covered in paper, swooshed using Paint Dabbers and, once the matchbox case was stuck down, the whole piece was coated with Beeswax. I love Beeswaxing! The matchbox tray was painted, papered and filled with little icons, quotes and Beadazzles, and some wire was threaded through and beaded to create the pull. David had guessed that this would take everyone about an hour and a half! Mmmmm...no! There was a lot of work in creating these, and the beaded wires took quite some time, so the second, smaller shrine was going to be a work in progress. Everyone took home the relevent card pieces and papers etc and we made a start on the little matchbox with doors. Here you can see my shrine closed..............and open.

As promised, here is a brief run down of the matchbox element for this one: The tray is covered with a long strip of paper running vertically and creased well to sit neatly in and around the edges. Then a piece of paper is similarly stuck in horizontally. The cover is then cut in half down the length of the front to create the doors. Two paper strips are used to cover both doors - it's important to crease the paper as you go so that there is no tension when the doors are opened or closed. I used a gold Paint Dabber to coat the exposed edges of the card. Now the cover is stuck firmly to the tray so that just the doors remain unstuck. Back to a little wiring now! Poke a hole through each door about half way down. Thread a bead (about 7mm) onto thin wire, twist the wire together and push the ends through a door front and secure the ends with tape. For the second door, make a loop in a piece of wire, twisting the ends again. Ensure it will fit over the bead on the other door. Now push the ends through and secure inside as before. Now you just need to cut two more pieces of paper to cover the door backs, covering the wire ends. Easy! :)

For the plaque, cover a semicircle and a rectangle of card with paper, decorate with paint etc and then stick the semicircle to the top of the rectangle to make a sort of roof effect. Adhere the matchbox to the plaque before filling and decorating to your taste. I used a tiny bottle (filled with a mix of bath salts and glitter!) and made a "Love Potion" label for it and a tiny tag for the door that reads "Open at own risk". I cut letters from a Tim Holtz paper stash and added K&Co bees and a random paper key coated with Glossy Accents. The hanger is simply twisted wire and beads. Hope you like them - they were tremendous fun to make. Here are the girls and myself - minus Heather, who was taking the picture! - with their large shrines. Joanne is being camera shy and hiding behind hers!Well, I was well and truly shattered after a long day on my feet and all the talking! So, after spending some time chatting to everyone and saying cheerios etc, it was time to make a start on clearing up...ugh! Worst job! We got some sorted but had to leave some things for the morning as Amy was ready to take me round to Dawn's house where I was staying the night as her sister, Rena, has not been too well. We had a lovely roast dinner and relaxed on the sofa catching up, watching some tv and playing with the doggies! I slept really well and it was soon time to get back to the tip that was awaiting me on the tables at the shop. Oh well, we just got stuck in and then I was ready to demonstrate for the day. This included me colouring Sheila's necklace after I made a casual remark about how I'd feel compelled to alcohol ink it...it was silver and pearl colours, but now it's oranges and browns! It was another fun filled day, and I'd like to say a special hello to Caitlin and her mum. It was lovely to spend time with you and I hope you can come to a workshop - you'll be well looked after. I'll post some new workshop titles and dates shortly.

To finish, I'd like to include my quirky journal page! I wasn't going to post this one, but, on Saturday, some of the ladies really did seem to like it, even asking if I could do a stamp of this creepy character!!! I should explain that the inspiration here was that, in the mornings, with the sun coming through, I can see a really weird face in the curtains - you know how that light and the patterns can create strange images. After noticing him a few times I decided to call him "The one eyed Matador"! Anyway, coming back on the train last weekend, I saw an arched, viaduct type of bridge set in the beautiful scenery. I immediately recalled the Matador as the arch shapes reminded me of his big, tombstone teeth! So, I sat on the train sketching and by the time I got home I had got to this stage....... .......I then finished the drawing and coloured the pages, using Promarkers, over the next couple of evenings and this was the final result. I do like the colours but was cross that I made a mess of my writing! Gggrrr! Never mind. So, one creepy page was finished! That was a pretty mammoth post, made longer by the fact that the italic button keeps pressing itself for no apparent reason so I have had to keep going back over text. Very annoying! I am now going to get on with rest of the day, which means doing...nothing! This is my Sunday! Thanks to everyone who I was with this weekend, including Brenda, who worked her socks off keeping everyone supplied with teas and coffees on Saturday! It was a really great weekend and hope to see you all again soon. Lindsay