Fabric Fascination

 What fun we have had this weekend. Lin arrived Friday morning for our first proper ArtsyCrafts exploration session. We had a few ideas floating that we have been discussing for a few weeks, so after refining them somewhat, we decided to embark on a fabric kick. This entailed spending most of the day shopping....one of our most favourite things to do!

We arrived back at PaperArtsy HQ, armed with a whole lot of stuff that sounded really alien and started to play. Lin needed a quick lesson on my sewing machine, and we were off, cutting, embellishing, trimming, transferring, burning, melting...you name it, we tried it.

The first craft I mastered as a young child was sewing. I learned how to smock and embroider by 11 years old at school- I was always finished first, and mine was always the neatest in class, it just seemed to be really easy for me.....but I had spent hours at home mucking about on Mum's sewing machine just for fun, so maybe I had a head start without realising it at the time.

Through high school and University I more often than not sewed my own clothes. When the kids came along I went to quilting classes, and enjoyed hand-sewing teddy bears (which I taught Mark's Mum to do), and I usually had a cross-stitch or 3 on the go as well as a quilt, beach bag or Christmas stocking... Now, after 10 years of paper-crafting I'm trying to deliberately sew as wonky as possible. 

How times change. Loose threads, ragged edges, crooked seams...I am unlearning all the things that mattered - which makes me think that anyone can do it. If you were a train crash sewer at school then this is perfect for you! There is no skill involved in this kind of crafty fabric construction.

Have you tried it? machine sewing? With paper or fabric? A line of machine stitching is the fastest, cleanest and easiest 'gluing' method. 

Layering fabric is pretty much the same as layering paper, except you get to fiddle with transparent, chunky and lace layers, then one row of stitching combines the lot in a blink. I'm in love with fabric all over again, but attempting a whole style that is completely new to me. But I'm thrilled how my paper experiences give me ideas for good composition with fabric. Stamping is easily incorporated, so it's a familiar process, but softer and very exciting to explore.

And (uh-oh)... Lin now wants (*needs*) a new sewing machine. She must have said it about 50 times. "I'm loving this. I need one like this. I've got to get one soon." over and over and over. 

After 3 days of fabric play (1.5 more than we budgeted...) we have dreamed up a really cool fabric project for one of the ArtsyCrafts days. The pics here are a few early sneaky peeks. I think class is going to have to be BYO machine...but you will probably need 1 machine between 2 or perhaps 3 people, but that's do-able, isn't it? 

Do you guys have machines or access to one from a friend, Auntie, Mum or Gran that is stashed in the back of a cupboard somewhere!? We have a handful of people who travel by air, and I know those people would be able to share with those UK based lovelies who come by car. You only need straight and zig zag stitch, so a basic model is ideal....it doesn't need to be an all beeping, computerised gizmo ....but that could be interesting to watch in action!! This event will be at the Warrington venue which has a HUUUUGGGGEEEEE room, with loads of sockets for electricity and lots of tables and plenty of space. 

So we know 1 of the 3 classes will need a machine, but the other 2 days won't, so if you really don't want to tackle a fabric item, then there will still be 2 other days of painty, metallic and other crafty tasks to get stuck into! And we have a couple of great ideas for those too, but they need refining further before we can spill the beans!!

The purpose of this blog post is to get some feedback on your thought about working with fabric. The piccies give you a taste of where we are heading with this idea. Do you likey? Are you happy to bring a sewing machine with you? I promise the sewing is all flat layers, there are no seams, inside outie complicated stuff. Simple simple simple.....

Please, take a moment to give us your honest thoughts, ArtsyCrafts isn't until June 8,9,10 so we have lots of time to make changes, but you are the ones who come to these events, so tell uswhat you think. Thanks for your time.
Leandra

ArtsyCrafts in Spring is only 6 weeks away !!!

Lin and I spent most of last week together planning the 2 Spring ArtsyCrafts weekend events which are only just around the corner you know! Usually we would have this info ready a lot earlier in the year, but we have both been a tad busy to say the least!

So the good news is this time we have delightful snippetty pics of the actual projects for you to  decipher and interpret. The theme is Fresco Lifestyle, and that is  big clue that we could possibly be using our new Fresco Chalk Acrylic paint line........well..... quite a bit!

We are thrilled with this line of paints, they are totally unique, unlike any other paint out there. A chalk finish means they are perfect to stamp on with all inks because they are extremely matte. They do not need a primer or undercoat on any surface (including usually hard to paint surfaces like glass, ceramic, metal and wood etc), and they are good for indoor and outdoor use. So Lin and I really can't wait to show you some of the cool stuff we have been up to with them for Spring AC!

To find out all you need to about the events, go to the homepage of our retail website here and in the 'events' section down the Left hand side of the page, you will find links to the Newport Pagnell (May 28/29, 2011) booking form, and also to the Warrnington (June 18/19, 2011) Booking Form.

The DeVere harben House Venue at Newport Pagnell is close to Luton International Airport, and the DeVere Daresbury Park, near Warrington is the same distance from either Manchester airport,  or John Lennon Airport in Liverpool. So both have access for international crafters, and of course both are not far from major motorways either.

So I guess you would love to see some sneaky peekys of the projects.

Working with texture is going to be quite a big theme this Spring. Colour will be more subdued than we have done in the past, but of course there is always the opportunity to boost it up if you prefer. It's going to look stunning either way!

You will also figure out how easy it is to paint glass!

And we will even be working with a completely new product which can be great experimental fun  along the way....we think its going to be an awesome result.

So we are really looking forward to seeing you at one of the 2 venues, for yet another fabulous round of ArtsyCrafts creativity, and of course it will be a great time to spend with your old and new ArtsyCrafty friends.

This year we are also including in the price an evening meal on the Saturday night (in addition to lunches both days) so you can relax and enjoy getting to know each other over a bite to eat.

Remember if you are staying in the venue, you will need to book your accommodation direct with them. Details are on the forms.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Leandra

May 2010 {ArtsyCrafts} Action

Yes another 2 fabulous weekends are over. It's so hard for us and the peeps attending to keep quiet about what we actually made until both events are over, but I am sure you will see from the following pics what a fantastic time was had by all! 

 Linda (LB Crafts) is my partner in crime and the other half of ArtsyCrafts, together we develop these wonderful weekend retreats so we can share with you our ideas with Ten Seconds Studio Metal, PaperArtsy Stamps, and all our other most favourite brands and hottest new products out there. Can you believe these weekend were our 7th and 8th events! We have been doing this for a few years now.
Here is the team, from left Jo, Lynne H, Linda B, Karen and me, Leandra owner of PaperArtsy. This is a pic from last year, we added Linda E to the lineup this year as Lynne H snuck off to New York for a surprise weekend with her hubby.

We tend to be so focussed on the classes, that we always underestimate how long it takes us to set up the shop, but Lynne Howe (when she retires we will have to get her blogging!), Jo Firth-Young and Linda Elbourne set about developing their own unique style of merchandising on the Fri evening set-up, and then Karen had the job of trying to find where everything was Saturday morning. It always looks scrummy by the time everyone arrives though.

 The theme was Flights of Fancy, and we made 3 fantastic items, one was a quicksie, and the other 2 projects were more in depth and took several session to complete. Overall, our weekends are all about techniques that you may apply to many situations, and learning how to use new colour combinations. When participants book, they get an opportunity to indicate their preference, but usually when you see the item samples in real life, you inevitably wish you'd picked something more adventurous! No fear, there are chances for free choice, so over the weekend you get to try one or two things that might be way out of your comfort zone if you wish.
We started out clean and tidy, 

 but boy those girls can craft up a storm! 

Oh look, there's Linda E, bet she led those Shabby Blue girl's astray...have you seen her desk lately?? Well no need to be too tidy when you are on a mission to enjoy yourself is there?

One of my fave technique of the weekend was using a new spray from Crafty Notions on top of Distress Ink. Instant softness, mottled-ness and loveliness! And no hard work at all, just a squirt here and there, hey presto. This (sample above) was created by the hilarious Rita from Spain. She gave everyone the warm fuzzies on Weekend 1, and we learned how to communicate in a mix of Spanish, French and English. Very entertaining.

And how beautiful those BG's looked with a bit of stamping on top using HP1004 and HP1005. Love how the Pink and orange, sunrise people made samples ranging from vivid and bright, to soft and subtle.

Or how about a tissue flower, die cut (grunge flower die), stamped (HP1004) distress-inked and sprayed with sparkles. Love the crumply texture from this technique too. Oh there was soooo much to loooove!!

How coould I forget the ohhhs when we demoed this bit. Ferro paste and stencils work really well together. Who knew? We did of course! another of those.."I wonder...." discoveries. Add some colour and spray and you get yourself one wicked tree. Soft and pale, or bright and colourful, the choice is yours.

So that was the first half of day one, and we had loads more to come!! We really do work hard to give you lots of new fun ideas to enjoy at these retreats!


The main project this time was a sampler board with 9 different techniques with metal, terra texture and ink techniques onto a smooth polyester adhesive fabric. Onto that we added metal embellishments, and under we made a canvas as the support.

The different colour combinations and choices everyone made along the way gave each participant a totally unique finished project. 

Hairy terra caused a few eeuughhh ohhh ahhhh's, and when the colour went on top with the magic spray it was a winner technique (below).

And of course we had the new and wonderful 'goop' (aka Inka Gold) to play with. Look at how metallic it can be on black backgrounds, but we also coloured in with it on pearl metal too...yes it sticks to metal, yet rubs off if you get it in the wrong place, so mistakes just don't happen with this stuff! Check it out on black painted terra!

'But the metal is always a new thing for many people at these events, and they did beautiful work, both new and experienced crafters!

This was a really clever idea for a freestyle design with a pointy tool!

And I'm pretty sure this is Sue C's sample..who'd have thought slate metal would look so fab with Mocha kaiserpaint on top?? Love that Kabuka mould! One of my faves.

But when you stamp an image like the bird from SIFF4, and puff the metal, then colour with Inka Gold, you really start to bring metal to life! The depth you can add working metal this way is always stunning for any project.

Evenings are fun too at ArtsyCrafts, and we got our resident comedian Linda Elbourne to show us her special way to make a metal rose using the PaperArtsy dies (stamped Grunge Flower or embossed Scallop flower). 

Here she is doing her thing. Some people stamped theirs with the grunge collage stamp that fits perfectly on top of the die cut. (Tip match the notch in the die with the roman numeral clock petal) and others embossed their metal die cuts with an embossing folder, but everyone ended up with a fab bellie for their sampler board.

So once laid up on their canvases and with the metal bellies made on the Sunday, it all started to come together. The songbird die makes another lovely metal bellie that would be useful on cards or scrapping layouts too.

 

The hardest part was deciding how to lay out all the elements, but once in place each person created their own masterpiece which doubles as a great reference point.

Now this piece above is one of the Pink and Orange ladies starting work on the canvas backing board. Look how scrumptious those colours of Inka Gold looks through a stencil! I was soooo excited by this!

Bonnie on week 1 got the 'teachers pet' award for this discovery. She die cut the song bird, embossed on the dot folder, then she stamped over the top of that the image from HP1005 and sanded off the black from the spots. We were 'well impressed' as we say here in Essex!

And the birdcage was a fun embellishment idea too, the card and acetate were die cut together with the birdcage die, then overstamped with the image from HP1004. We had a trick for painting that that got a few ohhs. Love those ooooo's when you demo! LOL


To finish the weekend we did a new project that is actually made from these picture frames. You can find them here in the webshop.

 

They were painted, and decorated with frames cut from the largest of the square pointy dies. We also ran a size smaller frame die thru the bigshot with metal and an embossing mat on a kabuka or big daddy mould. This method of speed embossing opens up a whole new level of speedy metal crafting when you have one of those big-shot guys to play with!

Here is Karen's birdhouse in sunrise colours (BTW she stayed at the camp-site down the road which we keep hearing great things about. it's only a tenner a night!)

Here's one made by one of our younger attendees Bethany. She was brand new to this whole caper and made great stuff all weekend!

So if you want to come to the next round of ArtsyCrafts we have 2 more events planned for autumn. The Newport Pagnell venue (near Milton Keynes) is booked for October 23/24th, and the Warrington venue is booked for October 30/31. Mark your diary now! Booking opens on Monday June 7th, and you can't book without sending a booking form with payment. Please note, for security reasons we cannot take credit card payment over the phone without a booking form in our hands, so you must send your form in first, and then phone to make payment the next day. We expect both events to sell out fast, so please follow this procedure. Both booking forms will be available online in the next week to download from the ArtsyCrafts link here.