The trouble with mirri & gloss card...

...is trying to get a photo without glare.

The last card from Saturday's workshop was a very shiny affaire and as you can see...

 ...I either had problems with lighting or the skylights...

...but I think you get the idea. The card was concentrating on the straight lines & angles that are also a sign of Deco style.

One thing that we didn't get around to was a box that Andy had on display with the other samples...

 ...making good use of the fact that the Hunkydory "Little book of..." products have six of each image - five are used on the box and you would still have one image left to make a matching card...

...the box also makes good use of the WRMK Envelope punch board. The punch part of the board makes the notches that create the "neck" of the box.

A very enjoyable day covering colours & style items that not everyone would associate with the Deco period. Thank you Andy for a fabulous workshop.

Next weekend I have a workshop with Joanne (Andy's sister) and we will be playing with the "Twas the Night before Christmas" Groovi boards. I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew LOL.................................................................................

More Deco style...

...for Christmas.

A recent issue of "Simply Cards and Papercrafting" had this wonderful embossing folder as part of its freebie...

...and with a bit of cutting out it was very easy to make it dimensional. Another pass through, embossing this time onto black mirri created the front door...

 ...and the Christmas tree die-cut is one of the dies from a recent Spellbinders set of two Deco style trees. The wreath was created using silver mirri and the pearl CS that was used for the main part of the card. It was die-cut using the Sue Wilson "Cape Daisy" from Creative Expressions...

 ...and the background was embossed using one of the Texture embossing folders from Crafter's Companion - I think it is call Dry stone wall or something similar.
A bit of matting & layering and a torn piece of card to create the effect of snow...

...and  there we have it - the finished card. It doesn't have a sentiment on it at the moment as I will decide upon the one to use once I've decided who will get the card.

There are still a couple of Deco items to show you from the workshop so do stop by again to see what else Andy (Pinnacle Crafts) had lined up for us.......................................................

A bit of...

...Deco Christmas.

Andy's workshop on Saturday was themed around Deco colours, ideas and images...

 ...this card used the Hunkydory "little book" which contains 144 fabulous Deco Christmas images...

 ...and the poinsettias were made from pearl CS that had been layered with glittered vellum.
Many folk would be surprised to know that the Deco period used a lot of pastel colours...

 ...but pink & blue (as used here) were very popular...

 ...you can just make out the glitter on the flower and if you look closely...

 ...you can just make it out on the background. There was a lot of Matt & Layering on this card...

...a total of 5 layers before the topper & embellies so this is a weighty piece...

...and although it will fit in an envelope, it would probably be better in a box.

This was the first of 3 lovely cards that we made during the workshop - I'll show you the others another time..........................................................

Here is the last...

...of Saturday's projects.

This one involved embossing folders and gilding wax.

First up, a recent DoCrafts embossing folder was used on some black CS...

 ...it is a Celtic ring frame. After applying Autumn Bronze and Graceful Peach gilding wax (Creative Expressions) the ring was cut out.

The texture embossing folders from Crafter's Companion have been out for a while but the dry stone wall pattern is still one of my favourites...

 ...an aperture was cut in a piece of 8x8 CS before being embossed and then waxed. Here is a closer photo that shows the detail a little better...

...and as you can see, the Celtic ring was adhered to the CS as a frame to the aperture.

A bit of matt & layering to construct the card...

 ...some miri and a bit of die-cutting...

...and there you have it.

With this project, there was actually texture in the form of the embossing but it is the colour applied in the form of the gilding wax that makes this visible.

Andy's workshops at Pinnacle Crafts are always fun and there is normally something new to learn or a reminder about a technique that we may not have used for a while. Thank you Andy for another super day.

I'm looking forward to seeing what workshops Andy has planned next.

This coming weekend is my friend Hilary's parchment workshop so we will meet up for lunch and a natter and then the following weekend is Easter - which means a four-day club member's weekend at Pinnacle Crafts. A whole four days to take advantage of the 30% discount that club members get on the last complete weekend of each of the odd numbered months throughout the year (Jan, Mar, May etc.). I've already started my shopping list LOL

At home I am crafting with colour & texture - I am crocheting some blanket/throws in pretty Spring shades of random coloured yarn. If I get some decent light, I'll show you what I've been up to..............................................................................

This is the other...

...Make & Take.

Originally made as a birthday card, I will be using mine as a Mother's day card.

Mum loves blue so this will be a perfect card for her...

...the sweet topper is adorable (and pre-coloured)...

...and there is now Cosmic Shimmer Twinkles in Icicle on the hatband and the bows on the shoes & flowers...

...a bit of die-cut swirls and punched flowers as additions and we have one finished card.

The stepper style of this card helps to make the topper show as the feature of the card. I love the way the blue & lemon colours work together.

So there you have it; the other "Make & Take" from Saturday's Marie Curie event.

This Saturday is one of Andy Pearson's lovely inky/mucky classes - I wonder what we'll be up to....................................................................

Happy Birthday Mum...

...78 years young.

Mum has a thing about owls - she has quite a collection in glass, china, stone, resin and then there are the pictures and other bits.

When I saw this cute canvas shopper...

 ...I just had to grab one for Mum...

 ...aren't the family of owls just adorable.
In addition to the owls, Mum is rather partial to 'hedgies' so this seemed the perfect gift to pop inside the shopper...

...it is a t-light holder. Mum is still rather wobbly on her feet since coming home from hospital so rather than risk her having flames I bought some battery t-lights so she can enjoy the effect without any worry.
As for her card...

...this was one that I made at one of Andy Pearson's workshops. The little 'steampunk' owl has a variety of self-adhesive, flat-back rivet & screw-heads dotted amongst the cogs. The flowers originally had black beads in the centres but it didn't quite look how I wanted - so I swapped to the facetted flat-back metal gems (same as I used the other week) and I was much happier with the finish.
I picked the black beads at the time to match in with the eyes of the owl but there was just something not right - you know when you look at something and there is a niggle in your mind but you can't work out what...well the Marianne Design "Diamond Gems" were the perfect solution.

So Mum's birthday is well "owled" - Happy Birthday Mum..................................................

Steampunk...

...from a different perspective.

(Photo heavy so settle down with a cuppa)

Saturday 6 February was the first Andy Pearson workshop of 2016 and with all the madness that has been going on at work and with Mum, this was a break that I NEEDED - 5.5hours of not having to think or worry about anything other than cutting a piece of paper straight or getting the 'sandwich' right for some die-cutting & embossing.

Now most folk will think of Steampunk as being Industrial & Grungy but our first make of the day threw that notion to the wind.

For speed, Andy had cut a tub full of cogs from pretty pale aqua card. Our first job was to make two borders from these cogs that would be used as a raised embellishment on the finished card...

 ...Having marked the required length on a piece of paper, I put together my borders using Cosmic Shimmer PVA glue (Creative Expressions) and put them to one side to dry.
The main panel for the front of the card was embossed with an 8x8 embossing folder...

 ...covered in clocks & pocket watches. This was matted onto silver miri and then onto a larger square of the aqua card.
After a session of die-cutting clock faces, hands and a few leaves...

 ...the card was constructed with the help of some PinFlair Gel and some bronze coloured metal gems.

The second make of the day was a bit of more traditional Steampunk.

Three panels of black CS were embossed with more clocks (I also used brickwork on one of my panels) and then gilding wax was applied - Decadent Teal was the shade I used on my panels...

 ...the loose cogs were waxed with Mink to give a contrast and the embossed panels were then matted onto some silver miri.
This was the finished result...

...and will offered to a friend who asked me to make a card for her husband (great timing).

The last project of the day was a giftbox/cracker box made to look like metal.

Starting with plain black CS, the various pieces were die-cut...

 ...waxed and assembled. The cracker box is a Tonic die and the cogs panel was a strip die (I think it was from Cheery Lyn) that we cut to size. I used Pumpkin and Mink gilding waxes to colour my piece so that it had an 'aged' and 'rusty' look to it.
The box was finished off with some wooden leaves, jute string and burlap butterflies...

...some of the cogs also got a few silver pearls added to make it look like bolts.

 So the three projects were...

 ...quite different. A quite straight forward bit of...

 ...embossing & waxing using darkish colours. A very clean (but not simple) effect...

 ...using pale colours and not a bit of wax or ink in sight. Then the last piece...

...lots of texture and shading making CS look like something else.

A fabulous day.

Pinnacle Crafts have weekday lessons every week and weekend workshops on a regular basis so if you live within access, check out what is available.

Thank you Andy for a wonderful 'playday'.......................................................................

We've all done it...

...miscalculated how long it would take to make our Christmas cards.

We either have good intentions to make a few each month through the year so that they are all done & dusted before the last posting date. Or, we start making them in the run up to Christmas and start to panic because we actually need more than we originally thought.

I used to have about 150 cards to make for my own use - family & friends but now I can manage with about 50. Even so...I still end up in a panic as I realise that some cards need to be ready by certain dates.

Imagine having to make several hundred cards for all your loyalty club card holders if you are a retailer.

At Pinnacle Crafts the family take it in turns to be responsible for creating the cards that need to be made and given out at the last Members Weekend - this year was Andy's turn and instead of cards he made hundreds of these...

...there were crates of these lovely crackers by the tills in the shop.

The Christmas cards from the shop always contain the details of the opening times of the store and the dates they will be closed over the holiday period - this is usually part of the card insert that also contains the greeting from the family. For the crackers, these were printed inserts rolled and contained inside the crackers along with a chocolate treat.

Each of the crackers consists of the base die-cut box, 6 matt layers and two die-cut poinsettia embellishments. An insert, a treat and two ribbon ties. Even working on a production-line basis, this was one heck of a lot of cutting, sticking and constructing. A lovely thought - thank you Andy.

So perhaps that pile of still to be finished cards sitting on the stool by the sofa are not so daunting after all LOL.............................................................

Friday saw the start...

...of the last Members Weekend for 2015.

So no lay in for me yesterday morning.

I had arranged to meet Hilary at 8.50am at Pinnacles. Unfortunately, whichever way I go to the Craft Village, I have to pass the retail park.

I gave myself more time than usual but still managed to get held-up at the Noak Bridge roundabout as there were folk queuing round the roundabout trying to get into the retail park and I waited a very long time before a kind lady let me through to go round.

As a result, I got to meet Hillary just by the skin of my teeth - a few moments later Andy opened the doors.

Hilary is always very organised when it comes to Members Weekend - she has a typed list of items she needs to get, would like to get, might consider if she hasn't spent all of her budget. I tend to have a couple of items that I've been planning for and a set budget.

This time I was wanting to grab the Tonic "Diamond Gift Box" - it has been on my 'wish-list' for a while and I also wanted the Sizzix seasonal word thinlets.

Here is the collection of goodies that I came home with...

 ...and you can see that I got what I was aiming for along with a few other bits...

...those crazy birds are something that I've been 'umming & ahring' about for ages. After seeing Kath Stewart's Christmas cards I just had to give in.

The Kaisercraft "Silverbells" paper pack has been something else that I've been considering - I nearly bought it at the September Members Weekend but there was something else that I wanted more.

What you can't make out in the photo is the Groovi Album that I bought to put my parchment plates in and the three new plates that also jumped into my basket.

The morning flew by.

Hilary and I did our usual of breaking for coffee before going back for another browse to ensure we hadn't forgotten any essentials. Then we went for a quick snack before Hilary went off to her parchment class.

With it being the last Members Weekend before Christmas we always get our Christmas card from the Pinnacle crew which details the shop opening times over the holiday period - no card this year but I'll show you tomorrow what we got instead..........................................................................

Tags as...

...toppers.

I've noticed that a lot of folk use tags/tag shapes as toppers on their cards and they can look very effective.

As I have been playing with some of my Magnolia stamps recently, I thought I'd have a play with one of the Tilda images that I had coloured with my Copics...

...I'm not sure what make the die was (it could have been a freebie from a magazine) but I liked the shape. With the addition of some flowers and some punched fronds...

...you don't need much more to create a card.

Another Christmas card to add to the slowly growing pile.........................................

Done and...

...decorated.

Here is the completed box...

 ...I decided not to use the roses I had made but to go with Sue Wilson's Finishing Touches dies "Delicate daisies". I used some solid and some cut-out...

 ...with Creative Expressions Blue Dazzlers as centres. The scattering of tiny flowers were cut from the PP waste after die-cutting the daisies. I used a tiny Woodware punch and then used a WACO Pearl Maker in cream to make the centres. Talking of pearls...

 ...the box lid was edged with loads of the things. Creative Expressions do the pearls on a yard-long adhesive strip and I thought this would help to strengthen the corners.

The roses didn't make it onto the album either...

...although I'm not a great fan of Tattered Lace dies this one was perfect...

 ...a few dazzlers to bling it up and a scattering of the tiny flowers again...

 ...some matching Card Candi from Craftwork Cards to hide the album rivets...

...and few tiny flowers trailing round to the back and it is all done.

The inside of the album will be a mix of decorated grey-board pages and some 6x6 page protectors - once I sort out my photos.

These Craftwork Cards PPs are fabulous. I love the colours and the quality of the paper is super - almost like a thin card (perfect for punching & die cutting).

This was not a cheap project as I went overboard with the pearls and the dies were new (the daisies were planned but the mask wasn't LOL). However, it is Pinnacle Crafts members weekend this weekend so everything was 30% off - a great saving.

I surprised even myself at how quickly I can get something done if I really want to..........................