(Art)ifice

Bottled sunshine and time for the Marmalashes

2012-01-11T10:40:00.001+11:00

It started as a challenge arising from the ashes of Australian cricket team losing to the Poms a summer or so ago. If you call this summer when they have forecast snow on the alps in Victoria today. Hail and winds for other places.
A group of marmalade makers in Buninyong decided to contest the Marmalashes ... in England. For the write up in the Guardian newspaper visit the story here. The result was the Australian XI won, eleven jars that is. Go here for the Marmlashes version of the story and how to participate this month.
January 2012 is now the time to submit your entries to Russell and the team so on behalf of the Marmalashes Buninyong Marmalade Association Inc., this is a call to all marmalade makers to enter the 2012 Marmalashes Selection Judging and Awards.
Just as I have fooled many when I have said it was time for me to work on my Cricut now is your time to contest the Ashes. In this agricultural show off season raise your wooden spoon.

The competition has moved wider than Buninyong and they invite entries from all over Australia.
Yes, there is a Marmy army!

Christmas presents

2012-01-08T16:33:00.014+11:00

Did you get what you want for Christmas?
We did!

When you open the lid there there is a distinct whiff of sense of humour!

Thanks for nothing.

techniquely not recycling

2011-12-31T12:59:00.000+11:00

Left over from some sewing was a pile of cream jersey fabric scraps. Sitting, sitting, sitting and waiting.

The tomato plants this year are enormous and need lots of support and tying up. Having used all the last batch it was time to cut more fabric strips. This time I sewed the random lengths together to make one long strip.

Rolled into a ball I can cut it into custom lengths to better fit the task. Technically it is making use not recycling and at least it isn't waste yet.

four years in the making

2011-12-30T15:32:00.003+11:00

Some years ago I saw a lovely piece of hand stitchery made up into a pin cushion(?) in a little old tart casing. I believe it was the work of Charlotte Lyons shown on her blog. Having found a little (not so old) tart tin at an op shop I wanted to reuse a piece of my silk ribbon embroidery and make one myself. I couldn't find the photo anywhere on her blog and left the pieces on a corner of my craft table to tumble around amongst the other bits and ideas in progress. I suspect Charlotte pulled it for publication in a book she produced with some friends.

Finally today I unpicked the original square pin cushion, created a pattern to suit my scalloped oval tart case and cut up the fabric.

I am very pleased to have tried the idea and tick that off the list.

Charlotte designs and sells embroidery panels for handstitching. I think they would fun for both the novice and experienced person so you might like to visit her Etsy shop.

more decorations

2011-12-24T23:52:00.001+11:00

We have now had about a dozen rainbow lorikeets* regularly feasting in the flowering gum aka our Christmas tree. The red blossom has gradually spread over all the sunkissed parts of the tree. The birds know how to hold on the the wind and continue supping on the nectar.

Flower buds lower down on the branches are now open so the birds come lower down too. As long as I introduce myself slowly I am able to move around quite close to them.

* Using Neville Cayley's reference book What Bird is That? and some long hard looks at the birds: green wings, blue heads, red and yellow chest feathers these seem to match up.

sew on and sew on

2011-12-21T09:48:00.003+11:00

Machine stitching has made its way onto some of my Christmas cards and there is going to be lots more. Apart from the effect its because I enjoy working with it. I have a sheet of October Afternooon: Thrift Shop: Last One on my inspiration board and that print should be layered up with lots of ribbons, buttons and stitching.

just can't remember how I got there

2011-12-20T12:39:00.001+11:00

Drifting around blogland I came across Viola and her other blog shabby chic inspired.. I like her altered art pieces like this ...

She has a way with repurposing dark wood pieces, lamp bases and boxes. These are mainly on show on her second blog. This is one example.

from here to here

Have a look at her spice racks. Makes me want to search through op shops for some resources to alter. I can certainly fill the compartments but really have nowhere to display the sewing box! I think I will just admire Viola's work for now but perhaps it is time to make some more bobbins for my laces.

Christmas tree

2011-12-14T16:21:00.001+11:00

We are having a Christmas tree this year. In the spirit of a "green' Christmas it is a living, breathing still rooted in the ground tree in the garden. I think the timing will just be right. There are thousands of bud~~light~~s. Thousands!!

The slightly orange shade of red tinsel is starting to arrive.

Today the multicoloured (parrot) baubles installed themselves with a flap and a lot of squawking.

I think they were checking out what is to come.

Two seasons of good rain has the Western Australian flowering gum bursting to put on a show. A couple of sunny warm days might speed the display along.

For more information on making your festivities green you might like to visit here or the article in today's The Age here.

compacted design

2011-12-11T23:45:00.001+11:00

An order for some Christmas cards had my mind working on the design questions. Paper? Size? Construction? Colours? When I saw the Graphic 45 paper, Christmas Emporium, it was a light bulb moment. The thinking was done ... well some of it ... it was a start.

The children looking in the window gave me the idea of doing layered paper to give 3D features. I used two sheets for each card, some acetate and lots of scissor work. The cutting and layering compacted the original design from 30.5 cm x 30.5 cm to a 29.6 x 21 cm A4 landscape card.

The inside

The acetate cover closed

The acetate cover ajar

simple, quick + elegant

2011-12-09T15:37:00.000+11:00

Do you need to create a few more Christmas cards and want a little help? There are some new Christmas tree diecuts at Create On Ormond. The latest delivery has some reds and greens. There is also a rich old gold which looks stunning with a few bits of red bling. Punch a hole in the top of the tree and you have some decorations for your big Christmas tree or string on a ribbon to create a swag for your window.

one more theme to go

2011-11-29T14:54:00.000+11:00

The daytime Technique Tuesday class on 6th December will be dry embossing with embossing folders, our last technique for the year.

Evening class on that day will be Distress Stickles and Perfect Pearls, then the last evening class on 13th will be a repeat of embossing folders.

There was shimmer and shine today with Stickles and Pearls. There will be another special shiny media in the embossing class. I am just waiting for Marisa to confirm it arrived in the today's delivery.

oh the things you can see

2011-11-20T09:41:00.000+11:00

A couple of months ago we had a large cut leaf maple removed the back garden. It was a tall tree with wide dense canopy that dominated that corner of the garden and the neighbour's too!
The trees next to it now have access to sunlight and water. We have access for weeding and pruning. This morning I discovered one of the trees is now in flower. It might have flowered every year but now they are easily seen with access up close.

At first look they seem limp and bedraggled. They are pale pink, bell shaped with a stiff waxy texture. Each blossom is less than 1 cm long. Such a lovely find. The planting tag says the fruit will be round blue berries.

The tree is a blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus Reticulatus - pink flowered).

by the rusty iron lamp post

2011-11-18T16:29:00.002+11:00

The mannequin from Tim Holtz's Sewing Room Sizzix Bigz die can be decorated in so many ways. It is suited to altered art and greeting cards alike. The new die Holiday Lamppost is another similar die. The die cuts all the details beautifully. The holly and berries can be cut ... or not.

I created a mantlepiece decoration on super heavy black cardboard using the lamppost as the focal piece. Marisa was interested in seeing it used in a sample, perhaps a card and my mind went lamppost --> light --> gas flame --> flickering LED tealight, got one of those! Well four actually.

In the photo you can just see the tealight flame through the lamp housing.

The next sample will be less about the holiday season and more about a lamp in a garden, white picket fence with red roses. A die that is not just for Christmas!

had to try it

2011-11-17T18:53:00.002+11:00

After talking about tissue honeycomb paper I had to give some die cutting a try. The honeycomb block is made of 26 layers of tissue. The Spellbinder ornament die cuts through 25.5 layers of tissue. Just a little teasing apart separated the shape from the scrap. Die cutting makes cutting intricate shapes easier than getting scissors into tight corners through 26 layers. Several pieces can be cut to match each other too. The Sizzix Bigz steel knife dies just chomp through the layers easily.

This green ornament was made from a full large ornament cut in half and then carefully glued together with a glue stick. Bet you can't pick the join! I cut a base shape from green card and attached the fanned out honeycomb bauble to it to support it. Add some ribbon for hanging and it could be used as a wall ornament.

I love the way some of the colours look like velvet when opened up.

Edit: Supplies of lots of shades of honeycomb paper can be bought here.

pink + cream

2011-11-15T16:09:00.000+11:00

The parts of this card have been shuffling around my craft table for several weeks. Yesterday I pulled them together with help from several types of adhesives.
This card is all about pink, one shade of pink on a cream card base. The Distress Stain: Spun Sugar was used to colour the seam binding, lace strip, tag yarn and create the background. The matching Adirondack alcohol ink: pink sherbert was used to colour the apple blossoms and silver birthday sticker. There is clear rock candy stickles adding some shimmer to the centres of the flowers.

another Christmas decoration

2011-11-11T21:40:00.001+11:00

Becca Feeken at Amazing Paper Grace has created a honeycomb bauble decoration. Travel on over to her excellent video tutorial. Becca uses the Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament die. The same principles can be applied to circles if you don't have the die.

This time it is important to use text weight paper. For the last Christmas bauble I loosely used the term Christmas paper but most of our printed scrapbook papers are heavier than text paper. Some of the flexible text weight pearl papers would look lovely. I think Becca's find of double sided purple and gold paper looks lovely and just right for the design.
After my own experiences with glue dots I was interested to read that one of her secrets is to use "very aggressive glue dots". Wonder what the brand is? I know they come on a roll, that much I picked up from the video!!
I still have some supplies of manufactured tissue weight honeycomb paper. This tutorial has me wondering if I can cut through the block with either of my die systems.

rosa 'Pierre de Ronsard'

2011-11-07T10:58:00.001+11:00

This rose is flowering beautifully this year. The buds are creamy white and usually appear about the time of the sap sucking thrips. Thrips will settle on anything white including the washing. The flowers, lots of them, have developed and bloomed between any possible invasion of thrips or aphids. The aphids have been over on the crabapples. The plant is suppose to be disease resistant, it is just not pest resistant. The outer petals are a little rain damaged but it is the rain that has helped the wonderful flowering.

renovation rescue ...

2011-11-06T17:57:00.004+11:00

... or how to use up some of the embellishments in your paper arts stash.
Did you buy some of these brads?

When the paper ranges they co-ordinated with went out of stock I began to see them discounted. That is when I bought a few sets. I could see they had potential!

Just remove the epoxy sticker and the white backing layer then clean off any remaining glue with orange oil.

The metal rim can be coloured with Copic ink or an ink like StazOn. Find some printed paper to punch out as a base. Use Dimensional Magic or Glossy Accents to hold pearls or trinkets and add some shine.

extended fence

2011-11-04T11:36:00.000+11:00

Tim Holtz's On the Fence Alterations die gives you this cut.

Then cut to 5 cm high and draw in the lower rail and extensions of the pickets.

Finish off with a coat of Distress Crackle Paint

... and let dry with cracks.

extended fence + Technique Tuesday

2011-11-03T17:31:00.000+11:00

The Tuesday Techniques class on 15 November will be about using Distress Crackle Paint. Apart from creating the class samples I have been working on some inspiration samples. The idea of crackle paint lead me to the fence die and the extended fences I have made from it.

The Tim Holtz alterations die "On the Fence" cuts a short picket fence with details 2.5 cm (1 inch) high. It is an "On the Edge" die. The fence detail is not cut away from the the main piece of cardstock at the bottom of the die. You get to make that cut.

By trimming the card stock 5 cm below the highest part of the fence you have the first step to creating an extended fence. Choose where you want a bottom rail to go then draw it on the fence in pencil. Next you start trimming away between the pickets and below the rail. More later with photos.

For class bookings please call Marisa at Create On Ormond on 03 5222 1449 or email info@createonormond.com.au.

Christmas bauble trial

2011-11-01T08:57:00.001+11:00

Using the instructions I wrote about here I have made some of the paper baubles. Whilst a bauble requires 12 circles, at 7cm diameter it was possible to get 16 circles from a 12 x 12 in piece of paper if you are cutting with a Cricut. Mine were made with double sided paper.

The design works best when there is a high contrast between the each side of the paper. The finished shape is quite strong.

The baubles were assembled with glue dots (for speed and simplicity). I had my doubts about using glue dots but wanted to see the final result. Glue dots don't like being in tension, i.e.pulled apart, as happens when these circles have all been joined. As each one pops apart I have used a small amount of gel glue and a paper clip until it dries. I recommend taking the slower path and using a glue pen like Tombow Mono Aqua which has a small tip option. Its useful for applying small quantities and in tight places. This is needed by the time you make the final join.

I made another bauble in a non-traditional print.

The Christmas print baubles were finished off with a seam binding bow coloured with antique linen Distress Stain and the one above with plain white binding.

Melbourne Cup Day and alcohol

2011-10-31T21:07:00.004+11:00

Technique Tuesday on cup day is about the coloured stuff but not the pink champagne/sparkling wine alcohol sort. Although the collection does come with mixers or rather mixatives to add sparkle!

My bag of samples is packed and ready for tomorrow morning's class. Late entries will have to be quick off the mark just call Marisa on 03 5222 1449.

using up your Christmas paper

2011-10-30T11:37:00.000+11:00

Do you have bits and pieces of Christmas design scrapbooking paper left in your stash? Or perhaps whole sheets that you might just be falling a little out of love with?

I came across this really simple design for tree ornaments here. The instructions help both with using double sided paper or using combinations of paper in a pattern. If you have a Cricut you can really get the cutting of the circles done quickly. Sizzix die or circle cutter?

They could also be used to decorate a gift wrapped in say, gold or brown paper and ribbon.

a big birthday with big numbers

2011-10-29T09:31:00.001+11:00

In about two weeks the St Kilda Botanical Gardens will be celebrating its 150th birthday. On Wednesday evening 16 November its friends are putting on a birthday party for the gardens.

This garden is a beautiful living gem surrounded by but not over looked by lots of housing. A much needed open space. Although 150 years old the garden is a living changing entity. Stunning new iron gates have been installed at several of the entrances and the entry fee for the party will go towards funding the replacement of the fence.

As part of the party decorations I was commissioned to create a set of numbers, each standing 75cm high. The shapes are painted in a shade called geranium. Just tinting and no tweaking was required when the colour was mixed. There are so many shades of red to choose from and this one turned out just right, not too pink and not too orange.

The final result when the bright flowers were added is a set of very happy looking numbers. Just right for a party!

so many ways to add your creativity to chipboard

2011-10-28T15:47:00.002+11:00

This week's Technique Tuesday class started as three ways to decorate chipboard (i.e. cardboard). Ha! Well there are a few more and in the class earlier this week the tag came together as a arrangement based on Tim Holtz's sewing room die.

Starting with the decoration of the basic tag shape as the foundation, each chipboard shape was modified in a different way. We had a full classroom and lots of action as the kraft coloured chipboard was transformed. The finished tag has become a sampler and reminder of the techniques demonstrated.

This topic will be repeated Tuesday 1 November at 6.30 pm. Yes, it is Melbourne Cup Day. Please ring Marissa at Create on Ormond on (03) 5222 1449 for more details and bookings.

changing colours to match

2011-10-22T12:02:00.003+11:00

This week I had an order for two custom cards. The shoe shaped card was to be in bright pinks, green and purple. I chose Recycle from the Basic Grey collection green at heart. Not an all over bright design it has bright flowers set on a fawn background. The shoe needed some roses and a large ribbon bow.

The roses were custom coloured with alcohol inks. The pink with some highlights in Copic airbrushing and the other shade created with Adirondack alcohol ink. Playing with the behaviour of the ink I was able to get a two tone purple rose. This fit so well with the colours on the paper. Just start with a plain white rose

its not always about T!m

2011-10-12T15:55:00.000+11:00

Yes there was some discussion about Tim Holtz's Distress Inks. Then I went on to share information about Versafine, VersaColor, VersaMark, StazOn, HA Shadow ink, Brilliance, Archival Ink and Memento. Yesterday's Technique Tuesday morning class at Create On Ormond was about the difference between inks. This topic will be repeated Tuesday 18 October at 6.30 pm for those of you who missed it and would like to be more confident with your stamping.

Drop in to Create on Ormond at 38 Ormond Road, East Geelong to book your place for the evening difference between inks class then check out the up coming topics such as using punches and ways to decorate chipboard.

over the garden fence

2011-10-09T22:01:00.002+11:00

This bottlebrush tree is now taller than the fence and has become part of our view north. The wattle birds love the blossoms.

new activities

2011-10-06T13:49:00.000+11:00

Coughs, bugs, tests, lots of antibiotics and recovery.

Spring is suppose to be a time for renewal. It is now spring, not winter, as it was when the disease started. Well late spring now and time to get moving. The garden as well as the calendar is telling me spring has sprung

One of the "get back into" aspects of life is I am back into teaching about paper crafting. This week I conducted the first of the brand new Technique Tuesday classes at Create on Ormond. An hour of instruction and lots of hands on to understand how to use your paper crafting tools and supplies.

The daytime version of this class starts 10.30 am. while the evening sessions will start 6.30 pm. Sessions will be conducted by Shelley, Rachie and myself.

My first topic this week was Tim Holtz Distress Stains. This topic will be repeated Tuesday evening 11 October.

Technique Tuesday morning #2, 11 October, will be covering the difference between inks and when to use them.

Drop in to Create on Ormond at 38 Ormond Road, East Geelong to book your place and check out the up coming topics such as using punches and ways to decorate chipboard. As you approach look out for the green, pink and orange flags flying from the fence. Once you see them, you will know you are in the right place.

colour combination inspiration

2011-08-03T13:31:00.002+10:00

from an online wedding cake catalogue. Who'd have thought!!

Grey & White Sugar Flower Cake from here

I have some white Green Tara apple blossoms similar to the gardenia bloom on the top. Then I could do some paper punching or die cut some white felt. There are some white pearls in the stash and there is definitely some lovely heavy grey cardstock in the box for the base. Construction using the easel design or one of the step card designs might fit the shapes if I want it like a cake.

tools + techniques this Saturday

2011-08-02T09:13:00.000+10:00

The tools + techniques workshop this Saturday 6 August is about using masks and stencils. These 'tools' add a huge amount of flexibility and variety to your paperart creations.

How many types of inks do you have in your collection? Stamps? Shades of Glimmermist? Dies? Cricut? Cuttlebug? The techniques you will learn in this workshop will give you some new ways to incorporate these resources into your scrapbook pages and cards.

The workshop runs from 10.30 am to 12.30pm.
Bookings can be made in store, emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or by calling 5223 2003

a little bird told me

2011-07-30T08:01:00.016+10:00

If I Goggle the question will I get the answer?

Yesterday's appointment in Melbourne gave me a chance to visit L'Uccello in the Nicholas Building. By the way l'uccello means bird. This is a wonderland. A one room shop full of vintage haberdashery along with new ribbons, threads, fabric and gifts.

If you go to the shop blog you will see pictures of goodies like this.

My purchases were packed in beautiful printed paper bags. I got to wondering why paper bags are made with zigzag edges. A Google search came up with a comment on a Japanese online journal.

"Sho pointed out a random man walking past and that the edge of his paper bag had those zigzag edges, saying they were so that you didn't cut your fingers."

Seems reasonable and that was all the search had to offer.

on the inside

2011-07-29T12:10:00.000+10:00

Here are some more photos of the inside of the birthday card from the post here.
Some details are creations from the computer and some are inspired from the printed scrapbook paper such as the wonderful lead pencils standing in their pop out container. I created some ruled pad pages for our personal greeting that went inside a rather small envelope and a page of lead pencil scribbles.

These alphabet lead pencil epoxy stickers have been a treasured part of my stash for a while and this was the perfect time to use them: the right design element and the right scale for the card.

The "N' is a popup design.

with a new twist

2011-07-26T09:37:00.001+10:00

Remember the Christmas treat parcels or humbug sachet I showed here.

I came across some instructions for sachets with all seams sewn and no adhesive. This idea here has the greeting and some decorations printed onto the cardstock.

All the written instructions can be found here.

birthday card with a touch of everything

2011-07-25T18:11:00.000+10:00

A birthday card for 11 year old member of the family has been presented so now I can do a reveal. The card is acutally a 3D book highlighting his interests and the focus of his birthday gifts this year.

Yes it was presented with a bulldog clip to hold it open. I considered the Basic Grey magnets but I wasn't sure they would hold the card open. The card has a tendency to close itself so I opted for the security of the bulldog clip.

On a later post I will show you some of the details.

rich velvet

2011-07-23T16:15:00.000+10:00

There has been a lovely pleated round velvet embellishment on the market for some time. Having rediscovered the crimson velvet ribbon I was going to use for velvet embossing I decided to try to make one of them. Not a flower and nor a rosette I have chosen to call it a rondel .. i.e. something round!

To make a rondel with a flat outer edge the pleating has to give you enough ribbon length to suit the circumference. After pulling out the gathering thread half a dozen times I had my first success. Before finally stitching up the cut ends I lightly singed them with a gas lighter to stop them fraying. One soon became three.

Then looking at my work table with the crimson rondels laying near the new bottle of Stickles silver glitter I knew they would go together . This Stickles has the old world glass glitter look of antique German Christmas decorations. A bit like its sister range Distress Stickles rock candy.

I love the look of glass glitter but, yes there is a but. Ever since I had an incident of cleaning off one of the classroom tables with a sweep of my hand and feeling the sting of a glass cut, my reservations were confirmed. Little invisible shards had fallen on the table during a previous class. My jar of glass glitter is still sealed.

So glass glitter is best for art out of reach from knocks and hands, up on the wall, not handled like cards are. It is after all still glass and these rondels just invite touching. Stickles keep them safe.

colour reflections

2011-07-12T14:32:00.002+10:00

Since seeing the KaiserCraft paper Sky (reverse), a paper with a grey background and very small cream dots, I have been mulling over these colours for a card design.

Today an email came in with the Blue Bazaar newsletter. There are new product ranges in from Margie Romney-Aslett's Authentique Collections. I keep an eye out for her collections as she usually does some great word print designs. Yes, in amongst them is a grey and yellow range, and one in pink and grey. Lots of choices in grey prints across the ranges.

A little blog hopping showed up that same yellow and grey colour combination in homewares too .

from http://tissosweetcandy.blogspot.com

I like the brightness of the yellow in amongst the greys.

this week's tools + techniques workshop

2011-07-03T23:28:00.001+10:00

On Saturday I will be running the workshop on resist embossing and using Tim Holtz distress inks. The techniques can be used for a variety of applications. You can customise scrapbook pages and create very indiviual cards.

The workshop will be help Saturday 9 July from 10.30 am - 12.30 pm. Bookings can be made in store, by emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or calling 03 5223 2003.

fabric to flowers

2011-07-01T11:28:00.001+10:00

One of my favourite braids is the strand of fabric roses sewn along a base of netting. They can be from 15 mm to 40 mm in diameter. Loved the small cream and white braids but they didn't get to my stash. I have the Ruby Rocket version in the large cream.
Yesterday I found one of miniature printed flowers on cream at Joy's Warehouse.

Michael also has a wide rose braid in cafe latte that is 6 rows wide with rows in 15 and 20 mm. I have trimmed it into separate rose strands.
I have worked out the path of the stitching that makes this look and would love to see the fabric go through a sewing machine to see this braid actually being created.

winter rose

2011-06-30T09:51:00.003+10:00

This photo was taken on the day of heavy frost this week. Beads of moisture covered the petals just as they covered all the outside surfaces. I opened the front door at 6.45 am to see the water droplets that make the fog drifting past just 50 cm in front of me.

This rose knows it is one of few in the garden and is putting on a show. Although we have had lots of sun it is opening ever so slowly. To the naked eye it is actually very dark crimson. when its show is over the bush will be pruned and prepared for spring.

all white

2011-06-27T14:07:00.001+10:00

During a visit to Chandon Craft last week I was introduced to the new SEI White Elegance range of papers. The paper "white rose" with pearl white foil on matt white and "vows" which has matt white and lots of pearl foil caught my attention. Along with the white on white layers there is some light embossing of the paper. These papers inspired me to make another shoe, adding white pearls as the highlight.

The gauze ribbon bow was made with the Bow-Easy tool using several layers of ribbon in the bow loops

glass slipper

2011-06-23T16:20:00.001+10:00

Last week we had the shoe card class: Best Foot Forward. The inspiration card I took along to show the participants was Cinderella's acetate slipper with rubon decorations and pearls of course!

Photographing the shoe I discovered that it disappears with a bright pink background and looks quite good against a blue one. Looking at the blue on white combination reminded me that I have the Cricut cartridge "Damask Decor" so some white on blue might go well as the shoe decoration. Bit of a Wedgwood look. White on this chocolate card might work as well. That too is a Wedgwood colour combination, uncommon but part of the design collection of Jasperware.

multi tasking

2011-06-22T13:02:00.000+10:00

No, not really multi tasking as multi purpose though we are not suppose to move tools back AND forth between the craft room and the kitchen. Had a bit of a laugh when I saw this photo.

Some of you may have bought the pink handled Martha Stewart fringe scissors. Haven't got around to opening the packet? Well then this is another use for them. Pink ones can be bought here.

The green ones can be bought here.

shortest day is coming soon

2011-06-09T16:28:00.000+10:00

The cold and wind are shaking the last of the leaves from the weeping mulberry tree.

On the other hand the lachenalia bulbs are racing into the light. I haven't grown these before so it will be interesting to see them develop.

new tool

2011-06-02T12:31:00.000+10:00

At the next card class Best Foot Forward we will be using a new bow making tool to make the big blue bow for the shoe.

The Bow-Easy tool makes bow making simple.

Julie at Chandon Craft has ordered in some Bow-Easy templates for us to use. You might like to reserve one for yourself. They must be arriving soon as the class date is sneaking up on me and I have shoe templates to sort out.
As you can see from the photos it can be rather addictive. I wanted to know what each of the ribbon widths and fabrics looked like when made up.

The black is wired ribbon, narrow grosgrain 10 mm and the wide blue one 38mm

Hand-cut, custom coloured tulle and gauze ribbons

Unraveled paper ribbon and paper string

Torn calico and seam binding bows

My favourite

tool + techniques workshop - heat embossing + distress inks

2011-05-30T11:35:00.002+10:00

This workshop is a lot about how you can use distress inks and also about resist stamping.

You will be learning three colour application techniques with Tim Holtz distress inks: stamping, watercolour backgrounds and smudging.

All these techniques can be applied to card making and scrapbooking (one just uses more ink). With the knowledge from the workshop you will be able to apply these techniques to scrapbook page backgrounds and embellishments to create your own individual designs.

Once you have created your workshop samples they can be assembled into three cards with the kit provided.

The workshop will be help Saturday 9 July from 10.30 am - 12.30 pm. Bookings can be made in store, by emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or calling 03 5223 2003.

sunshine + surf

2011-05-18T20:28:00.000+10:00

Using the Bird Song card class design with some customisation to suit the paper I created this card.

The card back and decorations all come from the one sheet of printed paper. The backing is two layers cut from My Minds Eye*Good Day Sunshine*Boy Boardwalk. The accordion mounts and surf come from MME*GDS*Seaside Strip Paper, the spotted side.

The station wagon on the back has brad hubcaps and acetate windows. For the sand I found a sheet of KaiserCraft*Seaside Collection*Rock Pools was the best option as it has a light two tone print in sandy shades. The sand was enhanced with the Printblocks speckle stamp and some Ancient Page sandalwood ink. The foam on the top of the waves was created with Distress Stickles Picket Fence (white glitter).

best foot forward

2011-05-16T17:57:00.000+10:00

Today I finalised and photographed the June card class sample. It is a design that has been on the drawing board for some time. The new Basic Grey collection "sweet threads" helped it pop into focus and here it is.
Put your best foot forward ....

..... and come and join the class.

The class will be held on Thursday 16 June 2011 6.30- 8.30 pm.
Bookings can be made in store, by emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or calling 5223 2003.

tweeting

2011-05-15T19:32:00.002+10:00

The bird in a cage card class "Bird Song" is on this Tuesday night.
As I mentioned here I had got an idea for another card from the My Mind's Eye Good Day Sunshine collection. I have finished an inspiration sample to take along on Tuesday night. I will post the completed card later this week.

the next big thing ... or one of them

2011-05-13T19:49:00.003+10:00

Half my magazine shelf is real and the other half is virtual. I subscribe to online magazines published by Northridge Publishing like Cricut Magazine. This form of magazine leaves more room on the shelves for other forms of paper and tools!

Northridge of course have a blog create which I was reading and then got to watching. One of the significant names in scrapbooking Heidi Swapp was talking about the next big thing in scrapbooking. For Heidi it is bows or to quote her "bows are the new flowers". The video shows how to make some quick paper bows. The lines of the bows were a bit too straight for me so I made my own template and created some bows and tried them out on some cards. The 3D effect will get a bit squished if the card is mailed in an envelope but I love the look of the bows.

buttons on the inside

2011-05-12T07:58:00.002+10:00

While I am storing buttons in the bobbin, it is also great for looking after this fabric rose trimming. I have had it hanging from a hook to stop it being crushed with the other braids.

well might you say ... not another bobbin

2011-05-11T09:39:00.000+10:00

The cardboard roll mentioned here has been made into a large bobbin. I used the same paper series as I used for the small bobbins, 7 gypsies conservatory paper.

The Cricut was used to cut the 15 cm disks for the bobbin ends and the Cuttlebug along with a Sizzix circle die for the disk that holds the the lid in place. The layers of card and paper were glued together with Tombow Mono Aqua glue. As I think I have said before the applicator tip is perfect for covering large surfaces with glue and no washing up of brushes after. Of course I should mention the part the dictionary, encyclopaedia and gardening book played in keeping the cardboard sandwich flat while the glue dried!

Trying to cut different cardboards using the Cricut was an interesting learning exercise. There is a standard "Cricut" cardboard (chipboard) with a white surface. That wasn't appropriate as the two surfaces, cardboard and white paper would have absorbed the glue in different ways and lead to buckling that would have been harder to control. Like paper, cardboard has a grain and the Cricut blade likes cutting with the grain better than cutting across the grain. This was much more noticeable than it is with paper but something I will keeping mind with troublesome cuts.

The bobbin is of course big enough to be a container and is in fact big enough for the little bobbin to fit inside.

a creative month

2011-05-01T17:50:00.003+10:00

April is THE month for family birthdays. We handed over two cards yesterday. The first was for a frequent train traveller. The A5 sized card was shaped like an old fashioned train ticket with sections punched out to validate it. This was a ticket to some birthday fun but not a ticket to ride! The card was also the packaging for the gift with a digitally cut paper zipper in the back.
The creative seed for the second card I am sure goes back to walking across a park the day before the Moscow Circus was due to arrive and take over for the month. The groundsman was carefully clearing away the fallen branches after some strong winds and mowing the lawns. He was determined to do the job right and proud of what he was doing. We had a great talk before we both moved on in opposite directions. I didn't get back to see how they shoehorned the tent into that small park.
The arrival of the Graphic45 papers Le Cirque Collection provided the paper resources for the card. The stripes of Circus Parade were perfect for the sides of the tent and the small characters on Dazzle and Delight were just the right scale for the scenery on the inside of the tent.

Our greeting was written on the back of one of the circus posters from Greatest Show on Earth. These product pictures give the papers dark ochre overtones when in fact they are rich reds in real life.

from 2D to 3D

2011-04-20T19:07:00.000+10:00

The card for May card class packs up quite flat.

This flat!

So if you're not able to hand the birthday card over (which is always more fun) it will be safe in the mail. Standing tall and full 3D it looks like this.

I have plans to use some papers from My Mind's Eye Good Day Sunshine collection with the same construction. The speckle stamp might be good for some sand. Distress embossing powder - antique linen will be worth a test too for some wet sand footprints.

The class will be held on Tuesday 17 May 2011 6.30- 8.30 pm.
Bookings can be made in store, by emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or calling 5223 2003.

think big

2011-04-18T23:10:00.001+10:00

The next of my card classes is Bird Song. It is designed to fit into a C5 envelope. This envelope is the standard size for an A4 sheet folded in half i.e. 23 cm x 16 cm. Another way of creating the envelope for this card size is to use a Cricut machine, a 12 x 24 inch mat and some colourful matching cardstock .

During the Cricut Learners classes in recent weeks I introduced the 12 x 24 cutting mat to participants. Some concern was expressed about cutting down large sheets of paper, the size you usually buy from art shops. Since you are using the Cricut to cut the accurate shape you can just cut the piece of art paper down with scissors so it fits on the mat. For test cuts a piece of A3 printer paper is a good stock to use to check sizes. I used a piece of A3 tonight and left it on the mat between different sized cuts. It enabled me to lay the card on the envelope shape to check the size.

From a little trial and error I found "AllOne-s" envelope on Wild Card Cartridge cut at 228 mm is a good shape. The "envelope" on Plantin Schoolbook is 2 cm too high for the necessary width. The trick is to understand how the envelope is related to the card on each key of the overlay for any given cartridge. The card size leads the envelope size.

hidden sugars - a good discovery

2011-04-08T14:50:00.001+10:00

Working with spun sugar distress stain has been easy with the paper, ribbons and braids. Then I wanted to colour up some white very 3D paper flowers for the project. The applicator on the stain bottle wasn't going to get into the nooks and crannies of the flower petals.

Alcohol inks are great for paper flowers so out came the pink sherbet (and my only pink) for the first test. After moistening the flower with alcohol blending solution I dropped on neat pink sherbet. Whoa! Way too dark.

The next test was two drops of pink sherbet in 1/3 mini mister of alcohol blending solution. Perfect match. Who would have thought that spun sugar was hidden inside pink sherbet.!!

Rose Card

2011-04-07T13:31:00.001+10:00

In preparing a birthday card for a rose lover I finally settled on WP Country Estate Breezeway. Along the way I had gathered up several rose print papers but this was one that spoke the loudest.

The images of the rose arbour and the large roses were cut out, embossed and rearranged to make a layered A5 size card. The image on the paper was 25 high. After cutting out I rearranged them to fit on a 21 cm high card base.

Our greetings are tucked away in an envelope inside the card.

Materials:

2 sheets of Webster's Pages Country Estate Breezeway

1 sheet Keaycolour 250 gsm Cream cardstock

1/2 sheet ColorMates Dark Mostly Mauve

Envelope - Cricut Cartridge Plantin Schoolbook

Seam binding coloured with Tim Holtz Distress Stain Antique Linen

table presentation

2011-04-06T08:09:00.002+10:00

We had a family birthday dinner late last week for which I have created some sweet baskets for each place setting. Some years ago I designed a bag. Called the "travel bag" it had a leather look handle with hand (drawn) stitching and the bag body was from a world atlas. When I wanted to use the design I had to draw around a template and cut it out.
Since owning my Cricut I have digitised the design and can now cut it using Sure Cuts A Lot and the Cricut Expression machine. With the (mental) hard work done by me to create the cutting file is was up to the Cricut to do the repetitive cutting.

Then with the "work" done I was free to experiment. I love the colour and strong design of the My Mind's Eye Lush 2 Fuchsia Stripe.

For these bags I have used Keaycolour 250 gsm cream cardstock. The tools were Cricut Expression, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder dies and Martha Stewart Scoring Board. A team effort.

more colour

2011-04-05T15:08:00.002+10:00

Copic and Adirondack alcohol media are great for changing the colour of ribbons and braids. The one disadvantage I find is that they both have a resin in them that changes the texture of the ribbons. It makes them stiffer.

A friend is dyeing fabrics and ribbons with natural dyes and I lately I have been considering some synthetic dyes. I have bought my first two Tim Holtz Distress Stains at Paperific last Friday. With an applicator in the top of the bottle it is easy to change the colour of my seam binding and laces from white to well, at the moment Antique Linen and Spun Sugar. These fluid dyes leave the seam binding lovely and floppy. Sometimes a little extra colour gathers along the edges. A bit of research on the Ranger site tells me there are 12 colours in this first release of Distress Stains.

The first piece of seam binding in Antique Linen was used in the Rose Card I have just completed. It doesn't have much bulk so it can also be used on the inside of the card.

The Rose Card will be on view after it has been presented!

a very special red spot

2011-03-28T17:17:00.000+11:00

The Linden Postcard Show 2011 closed on Saturday. Yesterday and today were the days for artists to collect unsold artwork from Linden Gallery.

Once a piece is sold a red spot is placed in the wall next to it. When I was allowed in to collect my work one piece was missing. There wasn't a spot or the paper dressed doll. Since my last visit to the exhibition she had been bought and by the time I arrived today she had been collected by her new owner.

So 'Out and About in Melbourne" is now .... out and about in Melbourne, or somewhere. Oh, I do wonder where!

Cricut Learner's Licence

2011-03-27T14:49:00.000+11:00

The Cricut class- Cricut Learner's Licence is on next Saturday 2 April.
If you have been using your Cricut machine and thought it had a mind of its own this is a chance to understand what is happening and master its use.

When it comes to assembling your manual I will also cover some colouring techniques for use on and off the mat.

Cricut Class will be Saturday April 2 at 10.30 am. Bookings can be made in store, by email to info@chandoncraft.com.au or by phoning 03 5223 2003.

in and out of the studio

2011-03-17T16:11:00.000+11:00

It is card class tonight, "Ledger of Life".

and that means I should have the sample ready for next month's class.

The April card will be ready for display when I arrive at Chandon this evening. Its title is Flower Boxes and uses the soon to be released KaiserCraft Chanteuse Collection.

With a little smoke (a template) and mirrors the card opens up to present ... pop-up boxes full of rubon flowers and a mirror on the wall.

Even the instructions are well on the way. Now that this design is sorted my mind is considering other variations and themes using the same construction principles. I also want to get back in the studio to work with my Spellbinder dies just for the fun of it. They are calling to me.

Card Class will be Tuesday April 12 at 6.30 pm. Bookings can be made in store, by email to info@chandoncraft.com.au or by phoning 03 5223 2003.

growing up

2011-03-14T19:00:00.000+11:00

The pot full of flap jack succulents is now very top heavy.

Each of the squat plants is flowering on stems about 50 cm long.

The individual flower spikes look like paint brushes. There are between 12 and 20 flowers on the spikes. Now I have seen the first tentative flower it will be interesting to see if they flower consecutively or all at once.

This spike is photographed in front of the weeping mulberry. The lush green leaves aren't acknowledging that autumn has arrived. None have changed colour and dropped.

Cricut things

2011-03-08T16:02:00.001+11:00

Have you noticed some of the newer Cricut cartridges? Ornamental Iron and Paper Lace? You can see the beginnings of these designs on some of the older cartridges like Heritage and Mother's Day 2010. These new designs are more delicate. It almost looks to me as though the fine laser cut chipboard shapes of fences and gates from Dusty Attic put up a challenge to Cricut designers to make the designs a touch more refined.

Cricut has been on my mind lots lately as I have been developing the next Cricut class. The class sample was delivered to the shop yesterday and it is now confirmed that I will be running the Cricut Learner's Licence on Saturday 2 April.

More details here. The workbook will help remind you later of what you and your Cricut can do.

an experiment or a challenge

2011-03-07T13:32:00.000+11:00

In the last post I spoke of wanting a blank border to go behind the MS Doily Lace border. I went ahead and tried some fussy cutting. I created a length of punched border then used it as template and drew along the edge with a pencil. The scallops are quite small and my cutting was not up to scratch.

My next attempt was to create a cutting file by working through scanning, Inkscape file conversion to SureCutsALot then finally cutting on the Cricut. Not happy with that result either as the whole process smoothed out the scallops too much.

It was a good challenge. Something to work on again and refine some other time.

Reminds me of

2011-02-25T10:01:00.010+11:00

Looking around pinterest I noticed this dress photo and it reminded me of the Martha Stewart Doily Lace and Vintage Lace edge punches.

from here

I would love to have matching blank punches that just followed the outline of these punches. Position the strip behind the Doily Lace and it would give the black border and black spots shown in the print of the dress fabric. It could also be achieved (less accurately) with some scissors and a bit of fussy cutting! Now that is a challenge!

Designing a Card #4 - 70th Birthday

2011-02-24T16:47:00.000+11:00

To start designing this card I asked some questions of the people who knew Peter.

Event to be acknowledged - 70th birthday
Significant work or career events - Early career building fences
Towns born and lived in - Country Victoria

Design Plan

On hand in the family documents was a photo of Peter as a boy with his dog Tony
As his early career was in fencing this was represented with the fence palings. The raffia was used to represent the dried grasses along a fence line.

For the card I then made a co-ordinated custom sized envelope with enough room for the decorations on the card.

After giving this card to Peter I decided I wanted to send it to the magazine Stamping and Papercraft with the hope that it might be published. No I didn't ask for the card back. While the construction was still fresh in my mind I made another card and envelope then sent them away. As the card was accepted for publishing it was another three months before I saw the card again.

big, bigger, biggest

2011-02-20T18:16:00.000+11:00

Last week I used up the last of a roll of adhesive tape. It had a cardboard roll as a core. Me thinks it would make another good bobbin base.

In fact as it held industrial adhesive tape the cardboard is 3mm thick, 8.2 cm in diameter and 17 cm long. It is going to be a large bobbin.

Early design plans include making it into a container and decorated bobbin.

The end circles might need to be 14 cm in diameter. None of my Sizzix circle dies will do that job. I will probably use the Cricut to cut lots of layers of chipboard that will then get glued together to give me the strength and thickness needed. Pity! I really like the way the layers of glued paper and chipboard get compressed together going through the Cuttlebug when die cutting.

Ledger of Life

2011-02-11T17:24:00.004+11:00

This month's card class 'Who wants Cake?" is on Tuesday night, 15 February at 6.30 pm.

The March Card Class design is in the bag and now on display in the shop too. The "Ledger of Life" class will be held Thursday 17 March at 6.30 pm.
Flexible in design for significant events more than just birthdays, it can be made in other paper and colour ways to be given to both the men and women in your life.

You will get lots of tips on using the Tim Holtz "On the Edge" narrow Sizzix dies. This one is File Tabs. The rubon quote is part of the new KaiserCraft rubon sheet "Life". The class title "Ledger of Life" comes from the image of one of the two clear stamps used. To finish off, some Tim Holtz Distress Ink is used in the harming of the edges of this card ....of course.

Bookings can be made in store, by email to info@chandoncraft.com.au or by phoning 03 5223 2003.

Open for Viewing

2011-02-10T17:10:00.001+11:00

Last Saturday was the opening of the 2011 Postcard Show at Linden Centre for Contemporary Arts. We were there for the announcement and presentation of the prizes. Unfortunately none of the little white envelopes came my way. It was a very cramped viewing what with artists and friends milling about. There were 1,600 pieces of art from 1,000 artists.

I chose to exhibit two paper dressed dolls "La Primavera" and "Out and About in Melbourne".

My other item was a mixed media canvas titled "Handmade Future".

I had some fun creating a paper pattern for the 'F'. I have a few small pieces of Kraft colour tissue paper left in my stash. With a little support from a piece of copy paper they went through the injet printer.

Designing a Card #3 - Dress Tags

2011-02-07T15:39:00.004+11:00

This one is a card I created to give to a friend of ours.

   Person - Woman
   Event to be acknowledged - Birthday
   Favourite colours - Bright
   Interests - Loves fashion

Design Plan

Fashion purchases come with tags. Why not put the dresses on the tags. Tags of different dress designs will make up the collection catalogue.

Stamp: Stampendous Wire Works P099 Dress Up

Designing a Card #2 - 50th Birthday

2011-02-05T11:50:00.001+11:00

The only picture available that wouldn't raise suspicions with requests was a baby photo.

   Person - Woman, dear friend
   Event to be acknowledged - 50th birthday
   Age of recipient - see above
   Interests - Reading books
   Towns born and lived in - Lived in the country, now living in a city

Design Plan

On the book theme the card was created as an accordion fold book. The pictures are a series of 5 stamp images from LazerWerks showing a girl about 14 years old who then ages about 8 - 10 years more as the series progresses. Interestingly the woman is wearing less as she gets older.
The red book is a handmade miniature with a stitched signature. The title on the inside was "The Story of a Country Girl as told by Gill Smith".

Designing a Card #1 - Shipping Crate

2011-02-03T11:26:00.000+11:00

Sometimes I don't want to give the card to the person who has commissioned it. Perhaps I need a label "Return to Maker". This is how I went about designing this card.

   Event to be acknowledged - 60th birthday
   Age of recipient - see above
   Significant work or career events - Career in shipping & freight forwarding
   Towns born and lived in - Adelaide & Brisbane
   Favourite sport and clubs - AFL Port Power and then Brisbane Lions

Design Plan

An old fashioned shipping crate marked with the towns lived in and the football teams followed.
The birthday celebrated by filling the crate with '60th' confetti.
Career in freight forwarding acknowledged with stickers reading "inspected by customs".
The greeting were sent from relatives in Adelaide to the birthday boy in Brisbane which determined the "From: and the "To:" labels.

Front view

Overview

Inside

Back view

Greeting

Surrounded by supplies

2011-02-02T20:27:00.005+11:00

and you can't focus on ideas? Last week I had a request from a class participant to help with ideas for a 90th birthday card for a male friend. Whether the card is for a male, female, old, young, birthday or significant event you might find the design of the card easier if you answer the following questions about the card recipient.

- event to be acknowledged
- age of recipient
- favourite hobbies; cars, gardening, sewing, reading
- interests; gemstones, travel, history
- significant work or career events
- towns born and lived in
- favourite sport or club
- significant or favourite colour

In designing the card keep in mind it is not about 'your' favourite colour, paper design,or whether you like ribbons and flowers, or not.

Answering the above questions for herself 'E' realised that a card built around a 'cricket' theme would fit.

I will post some samples of cards I have made for special events in the days to come.

Bookends

2011-02-01T20:06:00.004+11:00

On the weekend I decorated one of the Kaisercraft bookend drawer sets. Which one? The right facing one of course! That is what I bought! The great idea with these drawers is the same set can they be assembled and decorated as the left bookend or the right bookend. You decide when you start working on them.

I used pages from the K & Co pad Classic K "McKenna". In the collection there are two of the same pattern, one light pink and the other a deep crimson.

I matched the pattern and put the light pink on the vertical surfaces and the dark on the horizontal surfaces. Each piece of paper was distressed with Ranger-Archival Ink- Sepia before attaching. It is waterproof ink. This was important as I used the Tombow Mono Aqua (yes, water based) liquid glue to adhere the paper to the MDF. I love the soft grooved nib on the bottle. There is no need for foam brushes (and cleaning them) with this nib. As the ink was waterproof, any excess glue, and there was a little bit, didn't smear the ink.

For the drawers I tried to pick a different flower design for each of the front faces.

Rolled anticlockwise and with each of the drawers rotated here it is as the left bookend.

The chipboard drawers were painted on the bottom and the inside before assembly.

The drawer pulls are large clear plastic beads held in place with jewellery fittings.

storage for small items

2011-01-31T20:24:00.000+11:00

Sometime ago I came across the Altoid toolbox tutorial on alphamom. Brenda Ponnay painted several tins in fire engine red, attached handles to the lid of an Altoid tin and wired several together to make a wonderful miniature toolbox .

No Altoid tins in my craft room but looking at the sour drop sweet tins that were starting to accumulate I thought I would make a miniature bento box ... or two. No painting required as the colours are plain and bright. I tried gluing the tins together with a solvent glue but once the surface had skinned over it was taking way too much time for the rest of the glue to set. In the end the layers are stuck together with craft silicon which also helped with the fact that the lids are embossed.

What is a bento box? It is a Japanese lunch box. Some have a single layer with multiple compartments while others have stacked layers with compartments. They keep the different parts of your lunch separate until you are ready to eat them.

Miniature, yes, at 6.5 cm in diameter and 7.5 cm high.

So with silicon, a 1.5 cm brad, a small bead (to go under the brad), patterned paper, Copic pen with airgrip and Cricut machine the bento boxes are made and ready to be filled.

February card class you ask?

2011-01-20T20:19:00.000+11:00

Who Wants Cake?
This class will be combining the fun of using one of the very fine laser cut chipboard shapes from Dusty Attic and some bright glittery birthday paper from Art Stamps Australia.

I enjoy making cards from this style of glitter paper as the glitter isn't loose as it is encapsulated in a lacquer. The lacquer makes the paper cleaner, easier to work with and it can be altered.

This class will be held on Tuesday 15 February from 6.30 to 8.30pm.
Bookings can be made in store, by email to info@chandoncraft.com.au or by phoning 5223 2003.

signed, sealed and delivered

2011-01-18T20:42:00.000+11:00

more unpacked. signed in and put on the table. With some help from a friend, on Sunday I delivered my entries to the Linden Postcard Show 2011.

The items entered are for sale and there are a series of awards to be won:
   Linden Award $5,000
   Palais Theatre Management Artist Support Award $2,000
   Yarra Trams Award $1,000
   St Kilda Art Supplies Award $1,000 worth of art materials
   6 Postcard winners each receive $250 and have their work reproduced as Linden Postcards.

All will be revealed 1.30 pm on Saturday 5 February at the opening.

So if it has seemed a bit quiet around the blog lately it is because I have spent time completing the pieces and getting the February card class designed.

it will only take a second

2010-12-15T07:15:00.002+11:00

to pick this year's red currant crop.

A few months ago I was given several mature red currant plant cuttings. A couple of them came with green currants. For the moment they are living in pots and seem to be quite happy. They have put on new pale green growth and the currants have ripened. I am surprised the blackbirds haven't found the fruit. Perhaps one of them tried the fruit and told the others not to bother. Mind you there have been plenty of mulberries in the garden to feast on.

Summer's Jewels

If I was to make some jelly from this crop it could easily be stored in one of these bottles!

height 5 cm & diameter 1.5 cm

Maybe home grown red currant jelly next year. Delicious!

another gift treat package

2010-12-14T15:52:00.003+11:00

These ideas pop up lots at Christmas but they are so useful for events at other times of the year. One for a gift or lots for a party.

Here is another Martha Stewart idea from her 2007 magazine.

Instructions are available here.
I thought the labels could be cut using the Spellbinders Nestabilites Labels Seventeen set. The 5.5. cm wide might do the trick. As the cone design is based on a square of paper it would be possible to scale up the size of the cone for lots more filling if required.

how would Martha Stewart make them

2010-12-13T08:01:00.003+11:00

This style of paper decoration is popping up in several places on the net now. These paper balls have been created using last year's Christmas cards. You can get Martha's instructions here

I like haberdashery or how to make bobbins

2010-12-12T09:29:00.001+11:00

I enjoy mixing my sewing supplies with cardmaking and paper arts. At the last Paperific I spent some time with Julie Van Oosten at her Collections stand. One of her latest products is making thread bobbins or spools from cardboard.

I have purchased her bobbin kit but once I started making bobbins I made them larger than the kit sizes. The bobbins are used for storing some of my ribbons. Seeing my resources helps inspire me and I love the way these bobbins have turned out. My Cuttlebug with the original Sizzix circle dies have come in really handy. Sizzix dies love cutting cardboard.

I use Pritt Power glue stick for attaching the paper to the cardboard to both sides before die cutting. The pressure of the cutting process helps complete the adhesion.

Paper by 7 Gypsies - Conservatory Collection

The Swiss dot and ruffled ribbon from here. I have taken to buying white ribbon and then colouring it with alcohol inks as needed.

Brassed off eyelet with a little help from Copic pens

with a little help from my Cricut

2010-12-11T10:01:00.001+11:00

These two containers were created for friends. They hold a gift of lots of petite chocolate balls.

When I last came across this design the artist had used 20 different pieces of paper and made it into a hanging bauble. I have left an opening in mine with a ribbon to seal it up. When the contents have been eaten these can be converted into hanging baubles.

Bigger is not better with this construction as the weight of the chocolates flattens the bottom 'fins' of the ball. I chose not to make it a hanging ball. Cello wrapped sweets would be a lighter filling.

The finished size of the ball is 11 cm and it is made with 20 pieces each 6 cm in diameter.

After cutting the circles on the Cricut they must then be accurately scored. I made up an equilateral triangle template in two layers of cardstock. It is worth making up a test bauble to work out the sequence of the patterned pieces. This can be quickly stapled together for the test These balls have a top of five pieces in one pattern and a bottom in the other print. There is then a belly band of 10 pieces in alternating prints.

The Cricut makes the circle cutting very quick and simple. If you are using one print you will get 16 circles of 6 cm diameter from one sheet of 12 in x 12 in scrapbook paper.

kittens are not just for Christmas

2010-12-10T08:05:00.000+11:00

... but rabbits are definitely only for Easter.

For last night's card class I wanted to give the participants a gift to finish off the last class of the year. The pillow box holds some chocolates and my wishes to them for next year. The packaging was made with a combination of high-tech Cricut to low-tech Scor-Pal.

I used the pillow box from the Cricut Easter cartridge. Punched out the rabbit cutout with a circle punch.

Then I backed the circle cutout with a piece of lightweight acetate and used some double sided tape to seal the sides of the box. The box was then packed with the message and the chocolates.

The first thing to make for the decorative sleeve was a template indicating the score lines and position of the circle punch. The hole in the sleeve is smaller than the hole in the box to allow for some misalignment and issues with getting rid of the rabbit.

This box size worked well with the 1 3/8 and 1.25 inch circle punches we have been using in recent classes. Larger boxes will come with larger rabbits. It just might get harder to pull a rabbit out of the box.

time to go

2010-12-09T10:44:00.000+11:00

One of the cards I made using rosettes was for a birthday. Last weekend it was time to send it off. Due to its design the card needed a box to protect it in the mail. On my trips to the usual shops that carry gift boxes I carried a piece of paper the size of the card to check the fit. The boxes were generally too tall and just a bit too narrow.

In the end the solution was DIY using my favourite construction material, foam core. I was able to make a sturdy box of just the right width and height.

I hope it has arrived in time.

garden flowers and the hidden cast

2010-12-08T18:53:00.000+11:00

Planning a photo of some of the flowers from the garden I put together 3 different roses and two buddleia blooms of different ages. However the fauna decided to come along as well: 2 slaters, 3 earwigs, three different spiders, ants and some other small moving critters. Quite a cast.

The slaters surprised me. I thought they stayed with the leaf litter on the ground and under pots.

have you wondered

2010-11-27T22:04:00.001+11:00

where old rubber stamps go to die? Mine certainly haven't perished. They are all still with me. I went looking through some of the boxes of wood mounted Christmas theme stamps wondering whether to design this year's cards around some old stamps and new papers. In the end I chose new punches and old papers.

Getting a little distracted on this journey I rediscovered two of my Hero Arts stamps called Small Square Background Edge (4 cm x 4 cm) and Square Background Edge (5 cm x 5 cm). I think they were the inspiration for some of the current collection such as Aged Print Frame.

I can see all of them being used with Tim Holtz Distress Powder over some small printed images or other stamp designs. There are plans to go back into the boxes and get out the solid shadow stamps that go with these shapes.

January 2011 Card Class

2010-11-26T19:47:00.000+11:00

This is a shabby chic card however the techniques to be learnt are great for applying to other card themes and pages for both the male and female recipients of your paperarts.

So you have been collecting chipboard pieces? Dusty Attic's barbed wire? Iron railings? Locks and keys? Wind mills? Tim Holtz's Distress Powder is not your usual embossing powder. Trying different ink colours and powders is a lot like alchemy and quite addictive.

So here is the January 2010 card class sample Iron Camellias.

The class is on Thursday January 13, 2011 at 6.30pm.
To join the class please contact Chandon Craft by dropping in, emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or calling 03 5223 2003.

wollemi(te)

2010-11-17T09:40:00.000+11:00

It has grown in height about 25 cm since the end of its winter. Not our 'winter' ending in August but when the tree detected the temperaure had started to rise and the daylight was increasing. The resin of the polar cap has ben shed and the tree has thrown its new branches wide open to the sun. I must now watch out for the growth at the end of least season's branches.

On the left a photo from 8 November. I blinked and now the tree today on 17 November
Last season's branches are the darker green leaves at the bottom of the photo.

sorted

2010-11-14T18:16:00.000+11:00

These paper decorations would definitely have my Christmas decorations sorted if I decorated for Christmas.

Photographed in Tokyo you will see this on photographer Zhang Jingna's blog.

layer upon layer

2010-11-05T09:48:00.000+11:00

The sample for December's card class is now on display in Chandon Craft. It is the final Christmas card for this year and the last card class of the year. The design is about creating a variety of looks from die shapes such as frames, labels and brackets.

The class is on Thursday December 9 at 6.30pm.
To join the class please contact Chandon Craft by dropping in, emailing info@chandoncraft.com.au or calling 03 5223 2003.

PS. Make a note your diary. The first card class for 2011 will be Thursday 13 January at 6.30pm. I will post a photo as soon as the sample is complete.

yesterday's iris

2010-10-31T16:13:00.002+11:00

It didn't seem like it would stop raining yesterday so I stepped out into the garden with an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other.

This iris was being shy and retiring, its petals furled against the rain.

I couldn't resist folding back the petals and having a look inside. Incredible details. Too wet for the bees!

I put the petals back hoping it might help the flower withstand the continuing rain, another twelve hours of rain in fact. Today it is dry, open and quite wind blown.

Edit: additional photo

The windswept look today

a rosette for another occasion

2010-10-29T14:44:00.001+11:00

This card was made for a family 60th birthday. Using the smudgy Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey papers from a couple of years ago it had the right tones for a male card. The Spellbinder pinking circle dies and EK Success border punch Arrow, provided spiky circles for a male look rather than scallop edges used with a previous cream rosette card.

a rosette for every occasion

2010-10-28T14:27:00.000+11:00

This card was made for a Deakin University graduation last week. It has a similar structure to the birthday card I made for a family 60th birthday. My degree certificate has a seal rosette embossed in it and this provided the inspiration for this card.

how (bio)degrading

2010-10-20T11:43:00.000+11:00

The polar cap on the Wollemi pine is becoming very unsound. Looking very grungy. I want to help it on its way but that may damage the very new shoots. Last year there was a stage where parts of the polar cap resin stuck to the new shoots and deformed them. If this happens then maybe I will help.

bliss

2010-10-18T12:58:00.000+11:00

I collect fabric, paper, books, paper crafting tools and Copic pens. As in I am still adding to the each of these collections. I have a collection of Prisma coloured pencils and Tombow markers. These I haven't added to for sometime .... years in fact.

Doing a little blog hopping from Heather Moore's personal/professional artist blog skinny laminx to the one she writes for SA Elle Decoration I discovered this pencil collection. I could start collecting pencils all over again. It would fill in some of the gaps too.

They kindly offer a subscription for purchasing the full collection of 500 pencils, 25 pencils for 20 months. Then they have been so thoughtful to provide several storage/display units to answer the "where do I put them when they arrive" question.

polka dot rosette

2010-10-15T08:03:00.000+11:00

Along with the strawberry rosettes made from the 'right' side of the paper I have been making some from the back of the sheet. The back of Cosmo Cricket - Garden Variety - Strawberry Fields has a multi coloured spot with lots of possibilities. I have picked up the red and teal colours for highlights.

Printed paper - Cosmo Cricket - Garden Variety - Strawberry Fields

Cardstock - Keaycolour china white

Dies - spellbinder nestabilies scallop

Copic pen

Martha Stewart - scoring board

Fiskars border punch - threading water

EK Success - button punch

gold rosettes + punch + spellbinder dies

2010-10-14T12:46:00.003+11:00

There aren't too many Alison Ellis papers in my collection but I have taken a liking to the gold on cream and gold on pale pink papers. The gold really shimmers with all the folds of the rosettes.

Printed paper - Alison Ellis - Eastern Elements Earth swirls

Cardstock - Keaycolour china white

Dies - spellbinder nestabilities circle + scallop

Copic pen E43

Martha Stewart - score board

Martha Stewart - punch around the page - string lace

Craft stickers - gold line + scallop

matching Distress ink colours

2010-10-13T22:18:00.000+11:00

Just a reminder for the women at card class last night about the Distress ink colours that go with the KaiserCraft 'Tis the Season collection of papers.

Forest moss - green

Fired red brick - red

Vintage photo - brown

Rusty hinge - burnt orange

playing with rosettes

2010-10-13T16:20:00.004+11:00

... and it definitely feels like playing. I have started making paper rosettes to put on cards.

It is a very simple technique but then I started looking around at how I could apply other papercraft tools to add to the embellishment.

Rosette + Copic colouring + spellbinder pinking circle x 2 + embossing + Alison Ellis paper + gold edging =

Printed paper - Alison Ellis - Eastern Elements Wind Swirls

Cardstock - Keaycolour china white, gold card

Dies - spellbinder nestabilities pinking circle

Copic pen

Martha Stewart - scoring board

Craft stickers - gold line