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Evening everyone, well, it's just gone 10pm, so I should say Night everyone I suppose! It's been a busy day here with sample making and parcels coming with products for me to make them from, all leading up to Stitches in just over a week's time, as well as my demonstration at Martin's Cards & Crafts in Liverpool this Saturday.
As promised here are a couple of photos of some of the things that we did at my workshops last Saturday. These are two of the cards that I used as samples and feature Tim Holtz images stamped onto coated gloss card. You'll notice that I've got quite into twine at the moment, as well as those addictive little bottles of Liquid Pearls! Everyone made variations on my samples and there were some really lovely creations...which I didn't get to take pictures of...darn! 
The afternoon class was using various Ranger products to make jewellery pieces as you can see below. The little Idea-ology clip at the top of the fourth piece from the left means that it can be unclipped to hang a different pendant. We simply used ribbons and cords for the workshop pieces, but if you're using a chain it's very handy being able to have just the one and swap the actual pendants over. The first three pieces are made with UTEE (the first one edged with Beadazzles), the fourth one is a Memory Capsule with a stamped background and tiny shells enclosed. The Gorjuss Girl image is adhered behind a Facet using Glossy Accents with an Idea-ology Bauble hanging from it and Martha Stewart Micro beads edging it. (This piece is one of the items featured in my project for the March issue of Crafts Beautiful which is out now - so I think I'm okay to post this picture!). The floral brooch uses handpainted silk fabric and sticky backed canvas edged with....you guessed it....Liquid Pearls! The centre is made using the Epiphany Button Maker. This brooch is a very simple one and can be made with most fabrics - they're an ideal project if you are making items for sale at fairs being both inexpensive and relatively quick to make. Leaves could also be added, beads used in the centre etc.
Now for the mystery sneaky peek! Mmmm, wonder what this can be? Well, it is something that I'm working on for Stitches and the fact that I'm using the cover card from an almost used Vintage Shabby paper stash is not significant at all. I have some creative pals helping me with this project, so will reveal what it is when it is all done. Looks pretty awful at this stage I have to say! Good thing I have faith that it will all turn out fine!! 
I must, before I sign off, mention that Heather is without her computer at the moment. It went off this week and she is waiting for her techy friend to call round and give it an emergency check up and possible operation! So, she asked me to say hello to everyone and explain why she may not have replied to any emails or posted on her blog or left any comments. Hopefully, she'll be back on line soon.
The afternoon class was using various Ranger products to make jewellery pieces as you can see below. The little Idea-ology clip at the top of the fourth piece from the left means that it can be unclipped to hang a different pendant. We simply used ribbons and cords for the workshop pieces, but if you're using a chain it's very handy being able to have just the one and swap the actual pendants over. The first three pieces are made with UTEE (the first one edged with Beadazzles), the fourth one is a Memory Capsule with a stamped background and tiny shells enclosed. The Gorjuss Girl image is adhered behind a Facet using Glossy Accents with an Idea-ology Bauble hanging from it and Martha Stewart Micro beads edging it. (This piece is one of the items featured in my project for the March issue of Crafts Beautiful which is out now - so I think I'm okay to post this picture!). The floral brooch uses handpainted silk fabric and sticky backed canvas edged with....you guessed it....Liquid Pearls! The centre is made using the Epiphany Button Maker. This brooch is a very simple one and can be made with most fabrics - they're an ideal project if you are making items for sale at fairs being both inexpensive and relatively quick to make. Leaves could also be added, beads used in the centre etc.Now for the mystery sneaky peek! Mmmm, wonder what this can be? Well, it is something that I'm working on for Stitches and the fact that I'm using the cover card from an almost used Vintage Shabby paper stash is not significant at all. I have some creative pals helping me with this project, so will reveal what it is when it is all done. Looks pretty awful at this stage I have to say! Good thing I have faith that it will all turn out fine!! I must, before I sign off, mention that Heather is without her computer at the moment. It went off this week and she is waiting for her techy friend to call round and give it an emergency check up and possible operation! So, she asked me to say hello to everyone and explain why she may not have replied to any emails or posted on her blog or left any comments. Hopefully, she'll be back on line soon.Okay, well, I am off now as it's been a long day. There seems to be a glimmer everywhere, and I'm not sure if it's my tired eyes or, more likely, the glint of glitter and micro beads that I have managed to leave around the place today! Well, you know what it's like! Lindsay
The afternoon brought Melt Pots to the table and we poured clear UTEE over stamped images set into Memory Frames, made a simple flower brooch using Claudine Helmuth sticky backed canvas, a pendant made with clear Memory Capsules containing various beads, shells etc and we finished with a simple (but, I think, everyone's favourite!) brooch made using Gorjuss Girls images set behind Facets and each with an Idealogy Bauble. These are something that are featuring in next month's Crafts Beautiful (March issue I think?!) for a set of Gorjuss Girls projects that I have done. As per usual, I think we probably made quite a bit of noise as the classes are always such a social occasion and there is always some good natured ribbing (who can pour the most perfect UTEE layer for instance) and laughter. David and I hadn't seen all the Topaz crew since before Christmas, so it was lovely to catch up with everyone again - Brenda was a star as usual, keeping us all going with "brews" and biccies in between demonstrating in the shop, Gill, who was manning the tills, Jane who was beavering away making samples and Dawn was also there, sorting out all the products for her forthcoming workshop weekend. On Sunday Mary was the official refreshments manager. As ever, Topaz feels like a home from home with everyone being so welcoming and happy to help.
In the afternoon, everyone did some face painting...that's painting a face for a page as opposed to painting their own faces! This caused quite some consternation at first as almost everyone was less than confident in their painting faces ability! I wanted to cut through that self imposed barrier and, as you can see, the ladies all proudly showed the results of their (in some cases, first) artistic endeavours....you can see Sheila peeping over her face which she topped with a tiny hat! 
We used Colourwash Dyes, book pages, paint dabbers and Gesso to create interesting backgrounds which were embellished with patterns stamped in acrylic paint, doodles and collaged images. Everyone was working in sketch books which I had provided so that these could be used either as practice pieces with notes about techniques etc, or as full on journals. I like the idea of a journal about journalling if you see what I mean! 
Next is Sheila's favourite page which she created with book pages, Gesso and paint dabbers. She really enjoyed collaging the magazine images together and creating the wings from painted book pages. She's also started adding frames and doodles around the image. I can't wait to see how these pages develop. 
Time seemed to be something that we are all very aware of as it was a theme that seemed to evolve in a few pages...including in my own journals. This bold page is from Elaine's book and she really threw herself into the process...we all loved the way she chose to use a "typical" model image and then changed her completely by twisting the feet, replacing her face with a watch dial etc. I love the colours too! 
And next is Kath's favourite page in progress......Kath made the incredibly delicate egg for me which I showed on here a few months ago, and she confessed to me that she feels quite out of her comfort zone when working with papers, pens etc. However, she showed no signs of that this weekend and here she used Gesso and paints over book pages and made a brilliant job of the wings and toadstools that she created from scratch. Kath also showed us photographs of some of the eggs she has transformed into works of art....they are absolutely amazing and we are trying to pursuade her to teach some egg decorating classes. 
Below is a really delicately coloured spread that Rochelle is working on. The gorgeous image of the woman was the starting point and Rochelle took lots of time to choose the placing of each image, the colours and framing to create a very flowing page. I'm looking forward to seeing how Rochelle's pages progress as she has a really good eye for layouts.
Victoria knew exactly that she wanted to have a mum theme for her journal as she is pregnant herself. I really loved watching Victoria's work unfold as she started out quite nervously having never done anything like this before, but, by the end of the day she was confidently doodling, cutting, sticking and painting! A natural journaller! 
Ethereal was the word which both Sonia, Karen and myself kept repeating whenever I came over to their work area. This page is Sonia's and I love the way she has softly blended the colours and chose images which perfectly suited the delicate effects. There was a happy coincidence too as Sonia added the dove images before she realised that the book page she used had reference to doves in it. (Weirdly....I have Radio 4 on as I write this, and they have just mentioned doves this second!). 
Here are Karen's pages and she is going to add some crystals going from the outstretched hand to the oversized bauble. Again, I love the colours that Karen chose and, hard to see in this photo, the delicate crackling effect that Karen drew around the framed areas. 
Chris brought some of her existing journal pages to show us and we all loved the very specific type of quirky humour that shone through them. Chris is really addicted to journalling now! Here is her work in progress with the time them (told you!) and as you can see, like many of us, Chris feels as if she is always chasing time! Can't wait to see where this page ends up! Don't forget to show me next time, or email me a photo or two!
It was a brilliant day and I have promised that we'll do another journalling workshop before too long. We'll concentrate more on words, doodling and drawing next time. Oooh er! Talking of future workshop dates, I have booked two more at Dawn's and, just to clarify, all the workshops which are listed will all be going ahead and we are looking to add more. Just check the Topaz website for dates and themes, or on here for my specific classes. The two new dates for my classes are Sunday March 27th - 10am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. Then Sunday April 10th, also 10am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. I'll be posting the themes for each class shortly.
For anyone who likes the style of the buildings....watch this space! Now it's time for some intense sample making for Stitches. Lots of exciting new stamp designs and I have quite a large new range coming out which I will post sneaky peeks of as soon as I can without getting into trouble! Many thanks in advance to my good friends who have stepped in to help me to make a display piece for my demonstration area at the show, again, I'll be showing you what they are up to as soon as I can.
Handily, you can then press the acetate, pearl side down, onto card and it will stick in place. I added some dots of the pearls over the dandelion heads as well...getting really into those pearls!
I like to scribble my pens onto my craft sheet, add water, pick up the colour with a brush and tap the handle so that I get random spatters of watery colour over the image as well. I think this gives the whole thing a more painterly finish.
The next card uses the 300 gsm card too. I stamped the beach huts from the DD set Seaside Vol 2 using Vintage Photo Distress ink. I heated the ink to dry it before using my waterbrush to draw the ink in from the stamped image to colour tint it. I tore the image and that of a piece of paper from Tim's Lost & Found stash...I am back into tearing I think! I layered these up and added the stamped shells from the same set, coloured as before. The lovely sentiment is also from the same set...love that teensy script!I simply tied some twine around to finish the card. 
The final card has a Bazzill Basics base to it. I tore (see what I mean!) a piece from the Vintage Shabby paper stash and added it to the front. I stamped the starfish panel, shells and words (DD Seaside Vol 1) onto PI gloss coated card using Black Stazon and coloured them using Le Plume pens. For the sentiment I literally streaked the pen across very quickly to give texture to the panel. The shells were cut out with a tiny border just to show them up better. I made a small hole in the card spine, threaded twine through and tied it round, parcel style, knotting at the front. I threaded single strands of the twine through three buttons and added them over the twine on the card using 3d foam on either side.
Next is the newest card in the personal Impressions own range. There isn't a picture of this cardstock as it doesn't come in a labelled pack as the others do. However, this one is a real gem of a cardstock and is called PIP300CWH....catchy eh?! It stands for 300gsm card white. Your local shop can get this if they don't stock it and it's usually sold in single A4 sheets or packs of between 10 and 25 sheets. It feels less smooth than the previous card but it has almost magical qualities to enhance your stamping and distressing work. You'll find that Distress inks blend beautifully and, what's more interesting is that, spritzing with water, or brushing water on, will give you the most dramatic faux bleaching effects. If you blend dark colours over the surface and then stamp a figure over them it may look great except for a deep blue face! Simply paint the face with water, dab with a paper towel and the face will really "pop" white again for you to colour as you wish. This card actually keeps water based inks wetter for longer, so is ideal if you want to stamp onto it with a Big n Juicy Rainbow ink pad and then brush water across for a blended effect. In fact, you may even want to heat set the ink slightly first - much better than having to quickly grab the brush in a race against time in case the ink dries! Really fabulous card that I am so glad to have to hand all the time.
So, I hope that helps all the slightly confused ladies that were buying the three cardstocks on Saturday and hoping that they would remember what they were each for when they got home!
And, these three tins of fabulous Darkroom Door stamps by Rachel Greig. They are (L to R) Tour Eiffel DDRS049, Seaside Vol 2 DDRS054 and Seaside Vol 1DDRS053. Gorgeous aren't they? And I love the fact that they come in these slimline storage tins - my tip is to write the number of stamps in each set on the inside of the tin using a marker pen. That way, you don't risk losing any of the smaller images as you can count them up before putting them away. I'll be using these on glossy white card and colouring them with the Le Plume pens. New pens...what a treat!
So, just thought I'd use my coffee break to show you some of the things I'll be demonstrating this Saturday at Dainty Supplies in Washington...Tyne & Wear, not DC! Come along early if you want to grab any of the stamps as I think they will be gone quite quickly. I'll also be using Art de Fleur sets 1 & 2 and Friendship Flowers from the same range.