In the Studio - August

Summer is definitely here with more dry, bright and warmer days and this is reflected in the workshops on offer this month. I am also making a return visit to Lanhydrock in Cornwall where I will be demoing lots of bright and fun products with the newest Tim Holtz stamps and stencils. As so many of you are off on holiday or busy with children and grandchildren in August, there are fewer formal workshops but all the drop in sessions will continue as normal.

Tuesday 2 August 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Wednesday 3 August 11am to 2pm

Monthly Layout Workshop £15/1SWV/£12(if paid at time of booking)

This month's sample layout is in soft colours with a subtle glisten from bead gel with stencils and sparkle from embossing powder with stamps both giving texture and dimension. I have used a 6"x4" black and white photo in the 'for instance' but as ever the layout can be adapt to suit more photos of different sizes.

Thursday 4 August 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Saturday 6 August 11am to 2pm

Accordian Mini £15/1SWV/£12(if paid at time of booking)

Join me to make this simple 6"x4"X1/2" mini with an accordion inside giving you lots of space to decorate, add photos and journaling. I have made mine in 7Dots Studio Homegrown collection but, as always, you have a free choice of papers.

Tuesday 9 August 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Wednesday 10 August 11am to 2pm

Daisy, Daisy £15/1SWV/£12(if paid at time of booking)

What could be more evocative of summer than sitting in a meadow making daisy chains? Daisies spell summer to me and I have used these wonderful flower and foliage stamps by Lin Brown for PaperArtsy combined with dainty papers from Lawn Fawn to create five pretty cards from the pastel to the striking with vellum, embossing powder, masks and resists.

Thursday 11 August 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Saturday 13 August 11am to 2pm

Colour Layering Flowers £15/1SWV/£12(if paid at time of booking

These stamps from Hero Arts are combined with the huge range of colours available in Versacolor inkpads to create beautifully shaded blooms just right for summer. I have experimented with unusual colour combinations and masking to create both subtle and striking one layer cards with the illusion of dimension.

Tuesday 16 August 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Thursday 18 August 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

The studio will be closed on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 August as I will be behind the demo desk at the Cornwall Papercraft Show at the Lanhydrock Hotel and Golf Club just outside Bodmin. If you are heading down that way do make a note in your diary as it is a cracking little show in a lovely venue.

Tuesday 23 August 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Thursday 25 August 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Sunday 28 August 11am to 3pm

Art Journal Sunday £5

Drop by the studio between 11am and 3pm and join in the fun with inks, stamps, stencils, masks, paints and other media all provided. Just bring your journal, pour yourself a cuppa and get started. We have lots of new mixed media products in the studio for you to try, from Tar and Glass Bead Gel to Fluid and Hi Flow Acrylics.

The Studio will be closed on Monday 29 August.

Tuesday 30 August 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Well, that's it for August but I will be back with a full schedule of workshops in September. I hope you all have a wonderful summer now the weather has started to improve Val x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mini Book Tutorial

Just wanted to say thank you to all our 'likers' and 'followers' plus a warm welcome to all the new faces joining us on Facebook, Twitter and this blog, so I felt a little freebie tutorial might be in order.

This really simple mini book is ideal if you have never made one before and a quick and easy gift for a special celebration or holder for photos from a special holiday. These are the papers I have used in my 'for instance'......

.... they are the new Homegrown collection from 7Dots Studios in deep rosy pinks, greys and greens. I used a trimmer with both a cutting and scoring blade, a bone folder for really crisp, neat folds and some 330gsm cream Cardstock for the 'bones' of the book.

I started with two pieces of the cream cardstock, the first 13" x 6" scored on the long side at 4", 41/2", 81/2" and 9" which make the outer cover. The second piece measures 16" x 6" scored on the long side at 4", 8" and 12" which makes the central accordion.

Fold all the score lines then assemble by sticking the back page of the accordion to the inside centre page of the outer cover - I tend to used double sided tape when I make books but you can also use your favourite wet glue which gives you a bit more 'wiggle' time to get everything lined up perfectly.

See I told you it was easy!

Now to the decoration.

When I make any project I always decide which papers I am using on the largest areas like the covers and page backgrounds before I cut anything else out - all the smaller pockets etc can be made easily from the scraps. I decided on the signature paper from the collection, the one with the poppies for my outer covers, cut them ready but didn't stick them down - I hadn't decided on the fastening for this book at this point but whether I use magnets or ribbons they will need to be secured onto the covers under the papers!

I covered a strip of plastic plasterer's tape from the DIY store with treasure gold to use in smaller pieces throughout the book for some texture layered with some mini pages die cut and stamped with various dies from the KellyPurkey range of planner dies and stamps by Hero Arts. Of course all the lovely co-ordinating tags and elements from the collection made decorating this book a breeze with just a little Tim Holtz Washi Tape thrown in here and there and some Prima doily dies cut from leftover cream card too!

 

 

Here is the front cover opened to the left....

....and to the right with the front page of the accordion in the centre. I tend to use similar papers on each opening with repeated colours and elements to help it all hang together and avoid it being overly busy.

Here is the accordion opened to the right where the backgrounds are with the grey and green toned papers with highlights of the pinks and creams....

....and then to the left, where I have used more pinks and reds in the base papers then added accents of green, grey and cream with just a dash of pink to decorate. I have left spaces for small photos throughout the book as I have some vintage family photos in mind for mine.

You could make a matching gift box to present a mini like this in though it is freestanding for display by itself.

Well I hope you have a go at this little mini and would love to see how you decorate yours, links in the comments please!

If you live near enough and fancy making this, including the matching pizza style gift box, on Saturday 6 August 11am to 3pm you can book by email and the class costs £15 paid on the day or just £12 if paid at the time of booking. (Class fee includes all materials etc.)

Hope to see you soon

Val x

 

 

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All Caught Up!

It has taken me all week but finally all the outstanding orders from the Newbury Show last weekend are on their way to the PO and lots of the empty spaces on my walls and in my racks are filled again.

Want a quick peek!

Oh all right then....

New Graphic45 8x8 and coordinating 6x6 paper pads in Safari Adventure and Children's Hour with all the sizes of their brilliant Policy Envelopes in both the black and red - I can just see a smart envelope book with one of each size and colour for the pockets and pages... Hope to have the new Halloween in Wonderland Deluxe Designer Kits next week and am already chasing delivery dates for yesterday's reveals of the stunning Autumn collections, did you see the brilliant At The Races and St Nicholas collections, can't wait!

Next up all the Distress racks have been refilled, still no stock of Vintage Photo in the mini size but hopefully next week, and all the other colours in both sizes are here.

Also on the ink pad front.....

Versafine is fully restocked in both sizes, first time we have been able to get Smokey Grey in the full size pad for weeks....

...as too are the Versacolor cubes, great value for money and brilliant for the layering stamps which are the hot trend from several companies at the moment. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed we are now carrying the full range of Tsukineko's Ultimate Metallic cubes too, twelve shades of rich metallic pigments ideal for next season, which we are not mentioning, far too soon for the C word. Also a quick reminder we carry all the colours of StazOn inkpads at £5.70 for the standard colours NOT the £7.50 charged by a certain large craft superstore!

Ok on to the stamp walls, first up Tim Holtz...

Cats, birds, coffee cups, skylines, butterflies, stencils and mixed media dies #2 and #3 are all back in stock. Unfortunately still no Showtime, Wildflowers or Garden Flowers so I will reorder (again) next week. BTW did you catch the sneak peeks of the new dog stamps this morning? So cute!

On to PaperArtsy.......

Just a little range of Lin Brown stamps and stencils plus some JOFY, beautiful florals from Elizabeth Borer and the newest Darcy stencil. Love PaperArtsy stamps but as PaperArtsy themselves exhibit at all the same shows we do, we have decided to limit our stocks to just a dozen or so lines at a time but we will mix them up so there will always be something different.

P.S. We have their Crackle Glaze in stock too now!

And finally as they say, Kaisercraft's newest A6 stamps, three more designs from BoBunny (love the Falling Hearts and Stars), and some new Summer lines from Hero Arts plus all the ever popular Stamp and Cut sets back in stock. Forgot to photograph them but we also have all the Prima Doily and Leaves dies back in stock and are expecting their beautiful new Rossi Belle collection papers and flowers in about three weeks. Meantime I almost forgot to mention the new Homegrown collection from the fabulous 7Dots Studio, full of rosy pinks, dark greens and greys, delicious and so useable. We have all the papers, die cuts, stickers, and word bands in stock and the stamps should be here next week.

My desk is laden with lovely things to choose from for new workshop projects so it will be a very busy weekend but a most enjoyable one here. Why not pop on down and checkout the new stock and maybe get a sneaky peek of some of the new projects in the pipeline. See you soon Valx

 

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In the Studio - July

July already and the year speeds on! A busy month ahead with a guest appearance at the Newbury Papercraft Show on 2 July and lots of new artwork to prep for the new seasons 'on the road' workshops in August (Basepoint), September (Lancashire) and October (Cornwall) and exhibitions in October (Port Sunlight 1st & Doncaster 16th) will pop the full list with all the workshop details here on the studio blog as soon as it is complete.

The studio will be closed on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 July as I will be demoing all things Tim Holtz at the Newbury Papercraft Show, 10am to 4pm in the Berkshire stand at Newbury Racecourse.

Tuesday 5 July 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Thursday 7 July 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Tuesday 12 July 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Thursday 14 July 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Saturday 17 July 11am to 2pm

Boys Will Be Boyz £15/1SWV/£12(if paid at time of booking)

Join me to make modern, fun and quirky cards for the boys in your life using fab stamps from JOFY with greetings to suit most occasions.

Tuesday 19 July 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Wednesday 20 July 11am to 2pm

Monthly Layout Workshop £15/1SWV/£12(if paid at time of booking)

Too many photos for a single layout but no room in your album for a double one? Here is a nifty idea that can include up to 25, yes 25, photos in a single layout and no, you won't need a magnifying glass to see them! I have used one 6"x4" photo and the rest are 4"x4" but that is just my preference, you could go larger or rectangular to suit your story.

Thursday 21 July 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Sunday 24 June 11am to 3pm

Art Journal Sunday £5

Drop by the studio between 11am and 3pm and join in the fun with inks, stamps, stencils, masks, paints and other media all provided. Just bring your journal, pour yourself a cuppa and get started. We have lots of new mixed media products in the studio for you to try, from Tar and Glass Bead Gel to Fluid and Hi Flow Acrylics plus the new Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencils.

Tuesday 26 July 11am to 6pm

Croptime £5

Are you a scrapbooker? Thinking about trying scrapbooking? Got lots of photos but don't know where to start? Stuck for layout ideas? Want to try your hand at a mini book. If this sounds like you then why not pop along to our new Croptime drop in session between 11am and 6pm every Tuesday. It is not a taught workshop but more of a social session where we are happy to share all our tools and equipment with a few ideas thrown into the pot too! Kettle and coffee jug are on so just bring along whatever want to work on, beginners very welcome.

Thursday 28 July 11am to 9pm

Stop By and Stamp £5

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced crafter, make cards, scrapbook layouts, art journal pages or create Mixed Media pieces, stamps are a great addition. In these sessions we make all our workshop tools, stamps and consumables available to you so you can have fun experimenting and creating without having to buy all the bits and pieces. Why not drop by, enjoy a cuppa and have a go!

Saturday 30 July 11am to 3pm

Flip Folio £30 2SWV/£24(if paid at time of booking)

A great idea for displaying lots of photos on a particular subject or from a particular occasion. My 'for instance' is a gift for the parents of a new baby but think wedding, anniversary, graduation, Halloween or simply a wonderful holiday. The folio is 81/2" x 41/4" x 3/4" so takes photos sized at 4" x 4" with space for journaling etc on the tags. I will also show you a quick idea for a gift card holder to tuck inside or save for another occasion.

That's all from me for now, hope to see you in the studio soon x

 

 

 

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