'Card Making Craziness!!'...Look What We Made....

This month's craft workshop theme was 'Card Making Craziness'. We held the same workshop over two nights on Wednesday the 1st and Thursday the 2nd of June. We had a great turn out again this month and everybody said that they had a really wonderful time. Thank you to everybody that attended. 

The variations in everybody's cards looked fantastic and were going to be used for a mixture of occasions including Father's Day, an engagement and birthdays to name a few.

We used the new 'By The Sea' Clear Stamp Set from Creative Expressions to create a nautical themed card. The matching 'Lovely Garden' stamp and die set from Stampendous! was used to make the negative space themed card featuring the butterfly. The negative space background was coloured in using Crafter's Companion Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink markers and they were also used to colour in the boat on the nautical card. Also used on the night were a variety of WOW! embossing powders (they are fab!!).

Below are photographs of what was made on the night, we hope you enjoy looking through them.

Lyn and Dan

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Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

What a Lovely Garden….

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

We are really big fans of Jumbo Cling Stamp sets and the matching dies from STAMPENDOUS! They are versatile to use in lots of different craft projects.

So using the 'Lovely Garden' stamp and die set we did a joint project and something a bit different for tonight. A craft project in a frame! You can see the finished piece in the photograph above.

The first thing we did was to stamp the large and medium rose, along with some leaves and the butterfly using a Rangers Archival Wendy Vecchi Ink Pad in 'Watering Can' on smooth white stamping card. The grey colour can be a good alternative to a black ink as it is a little softer. 

Next we die cut out the stamped images and coloured them using Tim Holtz Distress Inks in a variety of pinks such as 'Victorian Velvet' and 'Spun Sugar' and greens such as 'Mowed Lawn'. 'Mustard' was used to highlight the leaves and flowers and 'Seedless Preserves' (deep purple) which adds depth again to both the flowers and leaves.  

For the butterfly we used a combination of blues including 'Salty Ocean', adding the orange of 'Spiced Marmalade'. We used a Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool, which is great because it is small and round and easy to work with.

WOW! Ultra High Clear Gloss Embossing Powder was used in conjunction with a Watermark VersaMark stamp pad to give the die cut images a ceramic look, which creates a beautiful shine.To make the centre of each of the flowers I used Rangers 'Daffodil' Liquid Pearls. 

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

To stick the large flowers and leaves to the white mount board we used Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue. The smaller roses and butterfly were stuck using STIX2 Double Sided Foam Pads to create a 3D look. This was also used on some of the larger roses around the edges to make them look more realistic. Mount board was used for the background because we were going to put it in a frame. In fact mount board is really good for using as a background on craft projects as it is sturdy but not too thick.

The picture frame we used is made out of a plain white wood moulding and was made in our Photography Gallery in Wanstead, 'Eighyfour'.

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

We had fun making this project, especially using the new products from STAMPENDOUS!

We hope you enjoyed tonight's post. Look out for another post on Friday night.

Lyn and Dan

x x x

You're the bees knees!

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Take one PaperArtsy Stamp Set, JOFY Collection 30 from Jo Firth-Young and a WOW! Embossing Powder in Metallic Gold Rich and look what you get. A card which I think is simple in design but really quite beautiful. I used two rubber stamps from the collection, the large bee and one of the sentiments. It really is a great stamp set as it reminds me of Summer!

The base of the card is made from a beige/brown card, I think you can see the colour of the card better in the second picture. I stuck a piece of  'Milk' coloured Foundation card from Creative Expressions to the inside of the card using scotch double sided tape, so that the writing would show up and used a matching cream envelope.

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson 

All Rights Reserved

I used a Woodware Magic Anti-Static pad and rubbed it all over the card which is used to help eliminate smudges and fingerprints on the card. I have to be honest and say we use this every time we heat emboss. Next I used a VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad to stamp the bees and the sentiment and I started with the bees from the top doing one or two at a time. So I stamped, sprinkled the embossing powder, removed the excess and then used the heat tool, then repeated the process until all the bees were done. I did the 'You're the bees knees!' last as I didn't want to smudge anything!

                                           

Happy Crafting!

Dan

x

Meet These Guys….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

First of all we have to apologise for not putting a post on the blog, on Friday night. Rather than be in the shop on Sunday we had a stall at the monthly Farmer's Market in Wanstead as a bit of an exercise to let people know about the craft workshops we run and the shop itself. So Friday night and Saturday we were busy doing lots of projects to show people. Tonight you get to 'Meet These Guys'…. and I promise we will post something extra this week to make up for missing a post last week.

Tonight's project is all about keeping it simple. It is amazing what you can make using only a few craft products and by not complicating everything. We decided to make a 'set of cards' that could be used for any occasion but were all along the same sort of theme.

As you can see the cards in the photograph are made using A4 Creative Kraft Coloured Card from Creative Expressions, which is a great  alternative to smooth white card or  using a coloured card as a base. The A4 card was cut down so that each of the cards measured 7 inches by 5 inches. The top layer of  cream coloured card is Foundation 'Milk' Card, 220gsm from Creative Expressions. We also stuck a piece of 'Milk' Card on the inside of each of the cards to use when writing a message, that way you can use any pen and don't have to worry about the message you write not showing up on the Kraft Coloured Card. We used a combination of Scotch Double Sided tape and Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue to stick the inside and outside 'Milk' Card.

The technique used on the front of each card is actually heat embossing. Each of the stamps were stamped using a Versafine Ink Pad in 'Vintage Sepia', then we used a clear WOW! Embossing Powder which created that beautiful 3D embossing texture. The clear powder allows the colour of the Versafine Ink Pad to come through.

The pre cut stamps themselves are by Sam Poole from Creative Expressions. We have had them in the shop since they were launched last year and they are a favourite of not just us but lots of customers as they are so versatile. There is 'Squeak', 'Hoppity Bunny', 'Mr Bear', 'Hoot' and 'Mr Fox'. All of them come with a sentiment as you can see, they are £4.99 each and we sell them in the shop and on our website. We added a flower stamp from Woodware to go with the mouse which I think works really well.

As a finishing touch we added a cream coloured envelope to contrast against the Kraft Card and to match the 'Milk' Card.

I hope you like these guys as much as we do.

I would like to say a big thank you to our friend Maude, who is also a regular on our craft workshops. Maude was kind enough to help us get the cards ready for the market on Sunday. x

Happy Crafting everybody,

Dan

x x x x

PRETTY IN PINK….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

I always associate the colour pink with the word pretty, so when we decided to make a 'pretty card'  the colour theme was obvious. We also decided that we do not use background papers enough. So what do you get when you put the two together? You get the card in the above photograph….Pretty in Pink!

The card itself is made from smooth white 300gsm card, the background paper is from a Phill Martin Setimentally Yours Designer Paper Pad called Graceful Butterflies & Dragonflies. The paper in the pad is 8x8 inches and is 170gsm premium paper which makes it suitable for lots of different projects. It features 4 designs in 6 different colours and you get two sheets of each, so 48 in total and the pad also coordinates with other products from Phill's Graceful Range.

We used an embossing folder from Creative Expressions called Large Heart Lattice which is a favourite of ours as it gives a beautiful effect, which I put through our Spellbinders Grand Calibur. The paper was stuck to the card using Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue, which I think is a must for any crafter as it is easy to use, adheres really well and is clear when it dries. To give the card a 3D look, you will see a middle panel was also created and stuck to the card using STIX2 Double Sided Foam Tape.

The dies used to create the toppers are both from Wild Rose Studio called 'Peacock Butterfly' and 'Flower Circle', to match the butterflies on the background paper. We used a selection of Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in various pink shades 'Victorian Velvet', 'Spun Sugar' and 'Picked Raspberry' to colour the die cuts, blending them with a Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool which is perfect for this type of work. 

Using WOW! Ultra High Clear Gloss Embossing Powder we gave the butterfly and the outer edge of the flower circle a 'ceramic' look. The middle of the 'Flower Circle' was then stamped with a sentiment stamp from from Wild Rose Studio using a Tim Holtz Distress Pad in 'Victorian Velvet'.  The 'Butterfly' and 'Flower Circle' were then attached to the card using STIX2 Foam Pads. Finally we added some Mini White Pearl Swirls from Creative Expressions to the body of the butterfly and to create it's antenna.

We hope you have enjoyed tonight's post and it has given you some ideas.

Lyn and Dan

x

www.craftboutique84.com

All That Glitters….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

There is always something striking about using vibrant, bold colours against a black background, no matter what craft project it is you are working on. I find that they stand out beautifully against the dark background and I think the two examples in the above photograph are no exception. 

Using a VersaMark Watercolour Ink Pad we stamped a Sheena Douglass Poppy Stamp onto both pieces of black card, then used a WOW! Embossing Powder in "Metallic Rich Gold Regular". Once heated with a heat tool it created a great image from the stamp. For the main card standing up in the photograph, we decided to make it a "Just A Note" card using the same technique to create the sentiment. The sentiment is from a clear stamp set from Wild Rose Studio and they are really versatile to use on cards among other projects. Although a very simple card to make I think it looks very effective. 

The piece of card laying down was stamped and heat embossed in exactly the same way, however rather than leaving it plain we wanted to experiment and see what the poppies would look like "coloured in". For this technique we used a Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder in "Perfect Gold", which was mixed with water and applied with a paint brush. The experiment worked, it looked great once it had dried. I think it just shows you how versatile you can be when using your stamps and embossing powders.

One tip when working with stamps and embossing powders, is to use an Anti Static bag and wipe it across the surface before you start. It helps to eliminate smudges and fingerprints on your work.

Happy Crafting this weekend!

Dan

x

It's All A Bit Space Like….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

With Father's Day being in just a few days we thought it would be a fun way to use some of our new products from WOW! to create a card. As you can see from the photograph, I think the card has turned out to have a space feel to it. 

The card itself is made from 300gsm smooth white card and all the layers have been made out of coloured card called Air Force Blue which I think is a great colour, especially when making cards for men and it works well with so many other colours. I decided to use a simple two colour combination on this project.

The bottom layer was heat embossed using a new background stamp from WOW! called "POP" which was stamped onto the card using a VersaMark Watermark Ink Pad. The WOW! embossing powder colour is called "Metallic Silver Regular". An embossing folder was used to give texture to the second layer and and it was also edged in the silver embossing powder. To stick all the layers of card I used Scotch Double Sided Tape.

For the final layer, I have to be honest and say that I tried to do a few things before I decided to just add a sentiment, everything else just looked a bit too much. So, I am not always keen on my own writing, but I have to say it is amazing what you can do with a VersaMark pen and some silver embossing powder! I think that the simple writing on the top layer works well. 

I also think I could becoming 'addicted' to the great effects you can get with embossing powders! I really like the combination of the embossing powders with an embossing folder as I am a fan of combining textures as it makes all sorts of projects look so interesting.

Happy crafting! We will be back on Friday with another project post, using a stamping technique that is simple but very effective.

Dan

x

WOW! SUMMER COLOURS 2015….SNEAK PREVIEW BEFORE THE WEEKEND AS PROMISED

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

AND HERE THEY ARE…. Summer Colours 2015! Featuring Long Island Teal, Atlantic Seaspray, Daytona Sands, Mulberry Mist and Florida Sunset. The colours are absolutely beautiful and sparkly, which as some of you will know I love a bit of sparkle!

Available from our shop in Wanstead this weekend, they retail at £2.50 each. We are running a special offer in the shop for this weekend only. If you buy all five colours we will give you a WOW! small storage case for free to keep them in.

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Dan
x

(Offer available on Saturday the 13th of June 2015 and Sunday the 14th of June 2015, while stocks last. The offer is only available in the shop in Wanstead which closes at 4pm on Sunday.)

WOW! Look What We Made….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Embossing powders and glitters can be used to create wonderful craft projects and that is what we used to decorate the two canvas blocks in the photographs in this post. You can also use them to make striking backgrounds, create effects on your cards, to make jewellery and embellishments as well as using them in your scrapbooking projects, the list is really endless as the powders and glitters are so versatile.

                                      Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

The two projects above were made with new WOW! Embossing Powders. WOW! is the range we currently stock in the shop and sell online. Not only are their products gorgeous and absolutely lovely to work with, but as retailers WOW! is a great company for us to work with and that is very important to us at Craft Boutique at 84.

We actually used their new Summer Colours for these two projects, using all the colours in conjunction with each other. There are five colours in the collection in total, comprising of a gold, silver, bright pink, vintage look pink and a teal. In order to get the embossing powders to stick to the canvas blocks, tissue paper, little hearts and sentiment banners we used a Versamark Ink Pad which worked really well. We also used it on the stamps to create the images and sentiments and then used a Heat Tool on everything to melt the powder which created the raised finishes.

I hope from the photographs you can see how well the colours work with each other. The canvases are on display in the shop if you want a closer look the next time you pop in. 

The Summer Collection colours we used will be available in the shop and online from this weekend, which is a little ahead of their main release. We will be posting the colours on the blog before the weekend as a sneak preview.

Thank you for reading this post, I really hope you have enjoyed it. We certainly had a fun time making them, there was lots of laughter….

Happy Crafting,

Dan

x x x

What A STAMPENDOUS! Day We Had Today….

All pictures World © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

Today we had a card making workshop at our Gallery

in Wanstead and what a STAMPENDOUS! day we had. The sun was shining, the craft room was bright and airy, the refreshments were well received and we had a lovely group of ladies who spent the afternoon crafting. 

The theme of today was STAMPENDOUS! Jumbo Rubber Cling Sets and matching dies, to colour in we used a mixture of Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads, PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints, Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks and in some cases we used WOW! Clear Gloss-Ultra High embossing powder. You can see some of the beautiful results for yourself in the photographs.

We will be posting more workshop dates soon, in the meantime we are having a Free Demo Day on Sunday the 31st of May between 12pm and 3pm. Come along and join us for an afternoon of everything crafty! We will be showing some of the latest products, plus demonstrating techniques with samples to share.

There will be Tea, Coffee and Cake! We look forward to seeing you.

Lyn's Happiness Card

Design and Photograph World © Lyn Wilkinson - All rights reserved.

Those of you who know me, know I love black and white together as a colour combination on all things crafty. So when I decided to do the card pictured above I chose my favourite colour combo, introducing gold as the third colour. 

The white card itself is a 300gsm smooth card. The border stamp is new in the shop, it is called 'Floral Doodle Square'  and is a pre cut stamp from Stamps To Die For, decorated with gold foil. I then 3D mounted some black card in the centre of the square and in the middle of the card placed a butterfly using STIX2 foam pads, that I die cut from the 'Peacock Butterfly' die from Wild Rose Studio which I also decorated in gold foil. 

The writing is a favourite of mine and I have used it on a previous project, but I just love the words. It is a Woodware clear magic stamp called 'Happiness Is....', which I stamped using a Perfect Medium stamp pad and then embossed with WOW! 'Ebony' embossing powder.

I never tire of butterflies....
Happy Card Making,
Lyn