Seth Apter Weekend Event

Hello everyone, we have just had the most fabulous weekend event and would like to tell you all about it and share some photos. As you may have seen, 3 weeks ago we launched some new stamps by Seth Apter. 

We just knew that you would love them, They work perfectly with all of Seth's other products, stamps, stencils and dies. With this in mind we wanted to create an event that really focussed on Seth, his products and more importantly 'his style' 

We set about organizing a 2 day event with the man himself. Seth designed two brilliant projects for us and flew over to teach them in person. The venue for both days was MerrymeadeHouse, Brentwood, Essex. A multi function facility built in 1912, this building was a delight with a wooden panelled entrance way and large bright rooms. 

We took over 3 rooms, one as the classroom, one for refreshments and one for the shop and demos. A huge shout out to Mustard Seed who provided the food both days. It was super yummy. 

The shop was fully stocked and Mark was kept busy in there guarding your baskets full of goodies. 

The Saturday workshop was attended by customers and #PATwits, 36 in total. Seth immediately put everyone at ease, although there were a few worried faces as he asked each person to introduce themselves to the group. It was a great ice breaker and the whole day flowed brilliantly. 

Seth had total control of the room with everyone watching intently as he demoed. 

We began by working layers of Fresco paints onto a 12 x 16 canvas board. These included Seth's brand new limited edition colours which are available now from your favourite PaperArtsy stockists. 

Many layers later the canvasses were beginning to take shape and get very busy. this is Darcy's project about halfway. 

While we were busy working Seth periscoped. 

Part 1. 

LIVE on #Periscope: Coming to you from my PaperArtsy workshop in the UK https://t.co/1H9SctJ0ak

— Seth Apter (@sethapter) September 3, 2016

Part 2.  

LIVE on #Periscope: UK workshop round 2 https://t.co/2yBksq8u3z

— Seth Apter (@sethapter) September 3, 2016

At lunchtime I managed to take a tour of the room, everyone's canvas looked so different, truly amazing considering that we were all using the same paints and similar products. 

Layering,layering,layering right from the start. Lynn, Ayoti, Julie.Paula,Emma and Marie. Julie and Paula are CAS crafters and this was a little out of their comfort zone but they did brilliantly. Seth is such a great teacher, encouraging and inspirational, that everyone dug deep and produced pieces that they loved. 

We also started work on a smaller 8x8 canvas board and 3 diddy little boards. The transformation from these early photos tot he end results was staggering, you will be surprised when you see them. 

Here is Seth demonstrating a water technique. A lot of water went flying about, and you can see Tricia backing off so that she didn't receive a shower. 

At one point Seth accidentally splashed some paint on his shirt, he then decided to wipe off the excess paint from his canvas onto his shirt. This led to even more paint being added to the back of his shirt. 

Not content with that he wanted some stencilling adding to the front, to even things up. So here is Darcy stencilling with Guacamole Fresco paint and one of Seth's new stencils.

I foresee a whole new fashion line from Seth, this looks so cool. 

Here things are starting to come together, the different sized boards were layered up, and again every board in the room was different. 

Seth encouraged us all to take photos along the way as he really wanted us to remember all the layers and how our work evolved throughout the day. Helen always has her camera and here she is making the most of drying time between layers. 

All Seth's stencils became very painty, they ended up looking like works of art. 

We were very lucky to get a sneaky look through Seth's own journal, some amazing pages in there. Check out his blog to see more photos of his journal work. 

In this photo Seth is explaining how he tackles the final touches of his pieces, he showed us his favourite doodling and outlining techniques. 

He gave us lots of ideas that we could try out on our canvasses, having lots of options ensured each canvas became unique. 

Everyone had such a fun day, the atmosphere was totally relaxed and friendly. Alison was almost inspired to break out into song.

A cheeky shot from Catherine. 

More happy messyness, the entire room was buzzing with inspiration and colour, with lots of oohs and ahhs. 

Heads down and working hard, everyone here is outlining and doodling. Rebecca,Jackie, Debs, Hazel and Helen. 

I am sure you are dying to see how those canvasses turned out, well here are just a few. 

Catherine Johnson

Debs Wainwright

Hazel Agnew

Ayoti Mittra

Caz Newton

Helen Lindfield

Kirsten Sheridan

Darcy

Rebecca Harris

At the end of the day we all gathered for this fun photo, it really does show just how much fun we had throughout the day. 

A huge thanks to Catherine, Lynn,Debs,Rebecca,Hazel,Kirsten,Ayoti,Caz,Seth and Helen who allowed me to use their photos. 

Lots of people helped clear up, special thanks to Paula my chief brush washer, and in no time we were all set up for the Sunday workshop. 

Lauren and Leandra here setting up a display rack. 

Sunday morning saw the arrival of retailers and teachers, again Seth put the whole room at ease with his relaxed approach and witty banter. The project this time was an A5 ring binder containing several pages. 

Again we started with lots of layers, guided by Seth. 

going from this...

...to this...

Seth was a true star throughout, here he is demoing the focal stencilling, always with a smile on his face. 

It was at this point that Leandra logged into Periscope, and here you can watch Seth working on the cover of his journal. 

LIVE on #Periscope: Seth Apter demo at PaperArtsy https://t.co/kBlxmHAN7z

— Leandra (@PaperArtsy) September 4, 2016

Margaret's binder went from this..

to this.. the difference is amazing. 

Inside the binder the pages quickly turned into a catalogue of paint techniques. 
Subtractive paint technique. 

Blending with Frescos and overstamping. 

At lunchtime Tracy Scott popped onto the demo desk to show off her brand new stamps. 

Back to the pages, here is one from Lauren. 

Another finished cover, this time from Erica. 

At the end of the day another bunch of very happy ladies. 

I think you will agree it was a very special weekend, full of fun and painty goodness. Seth really was a dream teacher and we hope he will come back soon. Thankyou to everyone who helped out with prep and in the classroom over the two days, but mostly a massive thankyou to each and every one of you that came along.