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.

Deep Breath - WOYWW Virgin

Not sure if I have been hanging round Linda E and Jo F-Y too much in recent days, but I somehow feel compelled to share with you what's on one of my desks. (Fingers Crossed I'll get it right) (That just sounds like I'm showing off) But the sad thruth is that my 'real' desk is missing in the portacabin that is supposed to be my art space, but somehow turned into a storage area.......so I actually can't even get to my desk. I think its over there in the corner somewhere, but I haven't seen it for about 18 months! I hope I manage to follow Julie's instructions correctly about how to play along!

Not sure if this is stretching the rules or not, but I do have lots of other 'desks' that I do craft related stuff at/ on everyday here at PaperArtsy HQ, so kind of thought you might find that more interesting!


I promise I will endeavour to actually show you my desk one day, as Jo F-Y and I have big plans for the portacabin this summer, maybe we'll do a 'before' and 'after' thing at some point...but for now you will see my workshop desks. Deal?? 

So what IS on my desk??? 

This shiny new Epsom printer...its a bit of a long story, but the semi-edited version is we decided to change the packaging method, process, index sheets and bags for all of our stamp collections late last year. Since then Mark (OH/ Mr PA) and I have been debating (read: arguing) over how to do this. He insisted it could only be done with a big grandaddy of an Epsom printer that would cost in excess of a monkey (Essex speak for 500 quid) and once we found out using it to print frequently onto laminated card was going to immediately void the warranty that was a deffo "No chance Lance!!" (this is a common down-under phrase - In English you would say 'have a laugh') . So we had a stalemate for sometime until 'he' found another solution.

My blinding (if i say so myself) idea to go full colour, but still print the actual image onto the new backing cards (beautifully designed by Mr PA) was the bomb, except for the minor problem that we hadn't figured out how to actually print onto these gorgeous new babies that had already arrived from the printers. Kinf of cart before the horse situation!! Our reasonably expensive business HP was not really up to the job because the new laminated index card was too thick, and to slippery to be picked up by the roller, then it was too stiff to bend to go round the roller, and thus couldn't get back out the same side it went into the printer in the first place!. [ I feel at this point that i am losing you...Ok I'll cut to the chase]

Long story short, new printer does the job because it's a straight thru feed, and after a cunning 'Mr PA' modification we are also able to use compatible inks (we could have spent over 600quid just on branded ink in the last week if we had not got a printer that can use compatible inks). And yes i know, I can hear what you are thinking.... we have once again voided the warraty just right there, but it was such a cheap printer, that if we blow up one every 2 months it still works out cheaper than the grandaddy. So I'm cool with that OK!

So what looked to you like a boring printer on my desk is actually a highly revered, respected and well adored addition to PA HQ. The last several days she has been printing her little socks off to swap all the existing stock onto new index sheets and into fresh new baggies. So that little black beauty may just look like a boring printer to you, but OMG it is a total life saver and adored, very precious printer to us.!! And she was cheap...maybe we should call her Maureen!!  In fact i think we shall.

And this is what she has done for a few of the squiggly ink stamps.

BTW. If you are of a nosey disposition, then you should follow me on twitter (@paperartsy), as I post loads of piccies and snippets everyday/week about what is going on at PaperArtsy World HQ, (I am a much better twit than blogger). 

Thanks for dropping by.

Leandra (Mrs PA)

 

One more sleep - and one peep's chance

So we are frantically packing the vehicles with stock, samples and goodies for this weekend's fabulous ArtsyCrafts event when Lin phoned to say one attendee has just got a text that her flight from Scotland has been cancelled due to that volcano getting busy again!

If you are at a loose end this weekend and fancy a weekend of creative enjoyment and would like to buy her place, then call Linda on 01234 714848 by 5pm

Looking forward to seeing everyone, the weekend will be so much fun!!

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It's all going on here!

Well we are almost ready for Version Scrap, the show which is in Paris this coming weekend April 9,10,11. We shall depart in the wee hours of Thurs am to head for Paris. We have all day to set up and the show opens that very evening to VIP peeps- who they are and how they get in I have no idea, but I'm just praying we arrive and get set up in time for doors opening at 6.30 pm. The show then continues for 3 days 9am to 7pm, those Europeans really work us hard! Breakdown is until midnight Sunday, and then we come straight back through the chunnel on a nocturnal crossing, we just have to make sure we are back in time to pick up Mark's parents from Heathrow at 6am Monday!! They fly in from New Zealand to stay with us for a month. I am pretty sure that the house will be in no fit state to receive them so I am praying for a miracle that I have the energy to clean up and re-organise for them on our return from Paris - that gives me about 3 hours! LOL. We do have to co-ordinate a major room shift about with the kids as Courtney needs her own room with GCSE's looming, so she'll move into Hugo's room, Hugo will share with Millie and Ella who have a large room, and the in laws get Courtney's room. Oh boy, its not a simple as just making the bed up! Lets hope they are too jet-lagged to notice too much of the chaos they will meet! Day 2 of them being here is FIL's 70th birthday, and I haven't even thought about that!!! Blimey. It's going to require all of my organisational and bossy skills to get the troops focussed for this effort. Anyway I am not thinking about all that until Monday!

For now we have some fab stuff to share with you. HUGE excitement here!!! Developed for release at the Version Scrap show we have dies to match our new Hot Pick stamps that were officially released on April 1st. Yes you are not seeing things...dies!

Use this stamp set HP1004

and you can stamp the large flower and leaf image onto the flower die PAD-GF. This is the larger of the grungy-collage style, steampunky image (top right) that Mark created and is causing such a buzz stamped as a metal rose. And you can see why... here it is all in one colour of metal, but it looks fab with different colours layered up too!!

PAD-GF

OMG think of the possibilities, that you can even die cut your metal to make a metal rose it fab-u-lous. Samples like this were a magpie magnet on my demo table at the NEC! Everyone wanted to do the metal rose thing, and its so much easier than grungepaper as the metal holds its form...although I do admit to totally loving those grunge ones too!! Anyway we are filming a you-tube of the metal rose technique so stay tuned, we just have to fit in in with the show, room re-organisation and in laws! LOL

Oh but it doesn't stop there! As if!!

We also have the birdcage as a die

PAD-BC

Here is the birdcage stamped onto acetate, I then painted bits with gold precious metal colour, and once that was dry, added some acrylic paints ...that's why its is the reverse... paint acrylics over the stazon on the stamped side, then flip the acetate over. Start with a Die cut acetate shape, stamp on it and go to it!!

The Moth

PAD-M

And to go with this set HP1005 we have

The bird

PAD-SB

And the tag base for the filmstrip

PAD-PF

And for the smaller flowers from the Squiggly Ink Flora and Fauna set

We also have another flower die to match the scallop edges of the larger flower from plate SIFF5

And to match the Tops and Tails plate 3 (SITT3) dragonflies we have these two. I love dragonflies as bellies on cards, they are so easy and very effective, especially in metal!

 All these are available to order on-line now. We will try to get orders out before we go to Paris, but if your order doesn't arrive by Thursday, then it will be shipped after Tues 13th April once we are back from the show! At least you know you will be top of the queue if you place an order now!!

Oh and I forgot to tell you, last week (before Easter) I spent 3 days with Lin putting the final touches to the May ArtsyCrafts weekends. We are really pleased with how the classes have all turned out, suffice to say birds abound with many techniques. Its going to be fab fab fab!!!

Here's a few sneaky peeks

I think both weekends have sold out, but if you still want a place call Karen on 01234 714848 to go on the waiting list.
Here is the state of Lin's workroom on Day 3!! And we thought we tidied up the night before! Oops