Warrington ArtsyCrafts {we loved it } !!

Another fun filled ArtsyCrafts weekend to remember has gone all too fast. Lin and I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute. They are hilarious events, lots of fun, laughter, and learning. This time I tweeted (follow me here)  all the way through the weekend and it was fun to get feedback from peeps all over the world following us as we worked. Twitter is like a mini blog, and I love commenting during the day on what we are up to and putting photos up on twitpic.

A lot of hard work happens behind the scenes in the lead up to ArtsyCrafts. A big thanks to Karen for kitting up perfectly again. How could we do it without her? She is a true gem. Lin and I can hardly call our play days together designing classes work now can we?? It all comes together when we start setting up the tables. Lots of space for everyone and a huge box of supplies to use!! Plus each peep gets their own meal tool kit for the whole weekend.

This time every person finished every project, and the extra time to embellish the arches paid off with gorgeous copper accents adding a new dimension to the finished pieces. The time theme was perfect for the arch, there was a lot of happy peeps so excited about the pieces they made. We liked the venue a lot and we will certainly be considering another event there in the Autumn. Some of the goodies we had for sale including all Tim's newest inks and other relevant toys!

Lin's daughter Sarah gets married in a couple of weeks (big excitement in the Brown household) and so once Lin has recovered we shall be putting the finishing touches to the May ArtsyCrafts events. I am so looking forward to the bird theme. It will be stunning.

BTW This is how the new mini packaging looks (below). We are gradually getting all the stock switched over.

I think there are only 1 or 2 places left on the first weekend of May ArtsyCrafts, week 2 is fully booked. If you want to go on the waiting list you can as we occasionally have the odd last minute cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances. I am really looking forward to this one. The theme is Flights of Fancy, and we have some fabulous new stamps to incorporate into the projects. Simply can not wait. They will be available from April 1st online. Here is a sneak peek of the Squigglies, there are also some cool A5 new Ink and the Dog stamps called 'Hot Picks'. I'll save those for another day.

So here follows some weekend piccies, stamping on fabric.

embossing metal with scootchy tools

 using moulds and pieces the metal around the frame

 new Ten Seconds Moulds with a time theme (handy!)

adding some copper trim

beginning to paint distress - putting the paint on...then we take it off again!

adding paint to a terra-stamped slide-mailer

how amazing is this? LOVE it! We added stamped metal bellies to this project

In the evening we came back for a chilled session to sew the embellishments like tiny seed beads onto the stamped and coloured fabric. Not everyone's favourite task, but as an incentive we offered a secret project if they did speed sewing in 30 mins.

Each group was given a baggie of bits, and they had to make a card from their bits. My favourite bellie was these gorgeous tags stamped with the Urban Snapshots tree from Plate 3. Adore this effect!!

If you were in Kay's group it was the hardest 30 mins of the weekend while she worked her team into a creative frenzy - drill sergeant major styley. Lin and I fell about laughing watching her competitive streak shine through but it all paid off as the whole group voted their team as the favourite card of the evening.... I think we were all impressed by the sheer number of products and techniques they squeezed in!!

Start of Sunday and we were straight into the 'Leandra beads' to embellish the bottom of the arches. Wooden painted beads dipped into UTEE, and perfect pearls worked perfectly as the finishing touch. Everyone managed these perfectly.

Those who didn't mica dip still had sparkly beads from the gorgeous Precious metal colour paints on the wooden bead base.

With the afternoon looming we started on stamped bellies for the arch. The 6 petal rose (SIEN10) worked a treat for this creation of Kay's and generated lots of oohs and ahhs. She made a tape sandwich and said the rose held in position so easily, and even found this metal version easier than grunge-paper roses! I can't wait to have a go myself! Love it when people do their own thing in class, we were all inspired by the individuality expressed  on each arch at this stage.

Amy also did a rose with the same stamp, and she ran hers thru the bug with quite different results. We all totally loved this too, so now we have another version to try out....so very awesome!!

But there were other gorgeous flower creations going on around the room too. These ones are from SIEN4 which is a fabulous plate. You can make diddy flowers for the centre with shrink plastic!

How about a crown or Fleur de Lis?

And this gets the genius award....metal buttons!!! How cool, and with thread. I tell you...these guys may have been metal beginners..but boy were they good!!

How about this arty idea from Mell - love how the copper is positioned at the foot of the frame with the contrast of the eyelets!

Alice was totally chuffed with how hers turned out.

My Auntie Alice (left) dropped in to have a catch up at lunch with me and stayed to see what the ladies had been up to. She was fascinated with everything they had achieved over the weekend.

And after lunch the last session. A new take on the platter we made in a previous AC. This time a tiny tray was painted and the metal embossed and sanded. All the colours made for such different results.

Mell did pink

This blue and brown combo was very modern (here the pieces are just being loosely fitted.

And the greens also looked amazing....

And how about this chocolate - denim one!! How can you ever choose a favourite! They all were absolutely wonderful!

Well I think all that gives you a brilliant flavour of our fantabulous ArtsyCrafts weekend in Warrington. Yes you should have come! So don't miss the next one. There are only a few places left on the first May weekend (8th & 9th). Don't miss it!! All new classes and lots of new products to play with!!

Thanks ladies, you were wonderful. Sorry this isn't the best photo and this was before you were holding the arches....

oh and who can forget the lunchtime bunny! That's his paw behind my head. Cheeky bunny!

Pinch and a Punch {very gently of course}

Blimey, it's March already and I am very excited. SO much going on this month, new stamps out soon, March ArtsyCrafts is in the new Warrington venue, and a show at the end of the month.

But first up this month is Craft Stamper catching us on the hop again. We have had emails this morning from people wanting to buy the  stamps on offer for the article I wrote for the April issue out today. I haven't even got a copy yet, but some of you out there have!! So i just managed to upload the offers , check out this link http://shop.paperartsy.co.uk/craft-stamper-april10-253-c.asp and you can get your hot little hands on all you need to make this fun project. 

The birds are stamped on pearl metal but this whole thing would look cool done with Rum and Raisin papers too if you're not into paint.

Try it in your fave colours. How cool does it look in pink and brown...this one by Jo Firth-Young ...here's the back

 and the front.

The project is a collaboration by Lin at LB Crafts and me, it's one of the classes we taught at the October ArtsyCrafts last year. All the peeps loved this as it's a fair dinkum proper stamping project. Looks simple, but actually there are quite a few tricky dickie techniques in there that many of us haven't used for year and years. So something nice to get your teeth stuck into. In class we were surprised at how many peeps didn't realise you could actually stamp on top of paint so easily and with such sharp results - well you can with kaiser colour paints as they produce an extremely matt and chalky surface that accepts ink beautifully.

All the stamps used for this are from the ever-so-quirky Ding and Dong family of Squiggly Ink stamps, and don;t forget to check out the matching minis. These are time themed bird stamps-very cool.

Have a great day, and if you made this at AC post the link to your blog to show the world!! Don't be shy!


Leandra
PS be a twit with me: twitter.com/PaperArtsy it's not hard!

Good Times {Leandra's World}

Yoo hooo...yes I'm here...I know its been a while, and there was me thinking how organised I have been! Maybe I was a tad delusional about that....??? My attempts to blog have been scuppered of late. So now that the laptop is temporarily resurrected after a 3 day near-death experience, the kids are away at school so I can actually access a computer, and I have a break in the rubber pressing schedule, I can take a breather and fill you in on the latest goings on here, cos when i write it all down there has been quite a lot on!

New You Tube Project
Half term holiday I had a great day with Millie, Ella and Mill's friend Marie making this little trinket box. It is such an easy project. The boxes are here, and they make the most beautiful little gift for anyone. The kids had no problems making this at all. And you can see us all playing and sharing nicely together here on this new PaperArtsy technique video. Don't forget to subscribe to the PaperArtsy Youtube channel so you can see more demos like this.




A project like the teeny box is an awesome idea for a kids party. 3 of our kids have birthdays in Summer here in the UK, so 'Art & BBQ Parties' are all the rage. We make some stuff, have a paddle in the in the temporary pool, finish making the stuff, have a BBQ...and just oooze thru the day. It's easy to host because the kids are entertained the whole time! All the other Mums are really impressed because its something different and no one does old-fashioned home based parties any more so you become an art goddess/ cool mum overnight. Because we have 3 birthdays in 4 weeks here I also like that these events turns out to be a really affordable way to have a bunch of kids over. Even Miss 16yr old thinks this is an acceptable activity to have friends over for! Tip: for impeccable behaviour infer you might video bits for youtube! LOL


Play Day with Jo and Lynne
What else have I been up to? Had a great day with Lynne Howe and Jo Firth-Young getting some new Arch samples made for the March ArtsyCarfts weekend in Warrington. 

This is a new idea I had with 2 of the brand new Ten Seconds moulds that will be available any day now. I am sure Cheryl from TSS planned for the moulds to be used this way, but I felt pretty chuffed to work this out myself! LOL I fitted bits from new moulds into the frames made by another. These should all be in stock soon, along with the new colours of metal. mmmmmmmm

Here is Jo meticulously painting her balls to be used as the base of the Leandra Bead, She discovered a new way to drip them so they look like the shape of a Xmas ornament. We liked the Jo FY variation - a lot.

And because we call Jo the queen of the cuttlebug, she duly lived up to her reputation, and worked out how we can do the Split cuttlebug technique Lin and I developed for the arch frame using an embossing folder that I thought wouldn't work because of its orientation...if that doesn't make sense then you'll have to wait to the retreat to find out how that works! LOL Needless to say she is one clever bunny and Lynne and I have booked her to come and show us more bug ideas for a whole day!! (exciting - cos I have a few ideas of my own to try)

ArtsyCrafts in March
If you want to join us for ArtsyCrafts in Warrington mid-March, there are are still some places available. Personally, the arch is my most fave class because it incorporates everything I love the most: fabric stamping, metal working and UTEE. All great techniques, plus we have 2 other classes, 1 of which is totally new allbeit an adaption of a previous concept. Booking information is here, and you should check out the youtube video with samples and other info too.

Stitches Trade Show
This weekend just been we had a lovely time at the Stitches trade show in Birmingham. This is a show just for retailers where all the latest products for the year are released. The hard part is working out what you *need* and what you can't live without, and trying to find something that no one else has spotted! LOL 

Our 2 May ArtsyCrafts retreats have a 'flights of fancy' theme, so Lin and I were eyes peeled for trinkets and products to squeeze into the schedule. Like this - adorable little tweeter box. Just love it, but it's not available yet. Soon.

The drive up we had a lot of snow, at one point we followed a snow plough pushing snow off the road on the M6! The good thing was the roads were pretty quiet, so we still made good time. It seemed the aisles were pretty quiet early on, so I had a lovely chat catching up with Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door while she was starting off her demos for the morning. Lin and I went out for a lovely meal with Rachel at CHA last year, so it was great to see her again.  At the same time we then got nabbed by Claudine Hellmuth and Mario (that's Claudines golden locks front right!) so we all chin wagged for a while, and Rachel showed her the crayon resist technique on the gorgeous rose stamp she has.

We were all stunned to see Mario (Tim's right hand man) in jeans, this never happens, even in a blizzard he is known to stick to shorts. I tweeted this pic to see if anyone could guess who it was. Teresa from Ranger clocked him within minutes. LOL

Flicked over to the other side of the booth to watch Suze demo the meltpot for a while. Lots of peeps watching had been in Ranger classes the day before and were loving all the great things she so effortlessly makes. Here I got a quick shot of Suze's stuff on one of the stands at the show, with Suze! 

Every year I get to see Suze on at least a few occasions at various trade shows, and Mark and I had a great afternoon walking the show with her while she was on a break. It's like escorting a royal comedian/phtographer around the show! We had a lot of laughs and spotted a lot of demos and products and people who we all knew. She goes click, click click with the camera non stop to document every step of the way. She is such a great blogger. Check our Suze's blog for a day by day blow of the show and her exciting time here in England and at QVC this week. She is back in June so maybe you can catch her for a class at the Craft Barn. I'll be demoing there too in June for the bi-annual demo day - great weekend, and Lingfield is a typically English, very pretty village.

Suze and I were very excited to see Michael de Mengs newest book on one of the stands. Love his work.


Tim was in fine form as usual sharing all his tips and tricks with his latest products. He has new inks (which we will have available to use and buy at ArtsyCrafts in a couple of weeks...they are already here ready packed in the class kits...every new colour!!)  Also his new book is jam packed with step outs of all the techniques he has been teaching for years, and showcasing how they fit in with his various product lines. A great reference. I can't wait for his new sizzix line to ship. I am not much of a die cutting girl, but have seen how tim uses them a lot over the last couple of years, and I guess this means I will need to get a big shot. Can my green bug do it all? I am not very up with the play on all things die.

I loved this antique expandable box he keeps all his 'bits' in. Here's a close up. Bet airport security love that!

And waiting in the wings, ever so excited to meet Tim was the lovely and very talented Linda Elbourne. She is such a Tim fan...well stalker is probably the word really...LOL...and she was so in awe she was pretty much struck dumb in his presence. I think if Wendy Vecchi was there too (her other idol) she probably would have passed out in the booth. Tim made a gorgeous sample for her, and she was holding it like the most precious relic in the world. If you could get her to part with it for a peek then you were doing well!! He signed it and she managed to pull herself together to pose for a piccie!

This is the second photo, still a bit blurry, sorry Linda.... must practise with my iphone, I'm good at close up product shots, not so good with peoples!!

Mark and I had a really nice lunch with the Ranger family before heading home. We usually catch up with these guys for a couple of weeks every year at EU and USA trade shows, so it's always nice to hang out and talk about non work stuff. 

This year it was an iphone convention. Suze and Alain were on blackberry's but the rest of us were comparing iphone apps, flicking photos about, 'bumping' details, acquiring new apps.... have you got this/ that etc.  I was the saddo, my apps are practical things like biz calculator (takes off and adds on VAT, or works out the margin of profit!), weather watch, or flashlight, or the jamie oliver app for peeps in a rush! At least I actually had apps, Dy had none until she got Carl! ROFLOL. Guess she and I don't require these time waster gizmos cos we don't have as many hours to fill on planes as Tim and Mario! Anyway we got shown Talking Carl (the only app Dy now has), and now that I know my account password (Mark takes care of all things techno for me) I also have rat on a scooter too! Small things, but very funny. Hugo now knows how to hold Carl's mouth open and he growls for ages, and if you have a Carl on 2 phones and get them talking to each other they get higher and higher pitched until you think the phone is going to explode! So now we have a new child consequence- 'if you keep doing that you can't talk to Carl today kiddo!' Love that!


If you are not an iphone peep, that last bit probs made no sense at all.

Craft Stamper Mag
In the current Craft Stamper Magazine (March issue) we have some gorgeous samples from our very talented and able Design Team using our newest stamps which are of a time theme.(Clocks Ink and the Dog Stamps) You will see these stamps popping up in the mag a couple more times in imminent issues, so there should be plenty of ideas to fuel your muse. 

Featured in Stamping Contrasts was this image (Clocks plate 1) skillfully used very creatively by Jo Capper-Sandon, Jo Firth-Young, Lin Brown and myself to create a variety of different samples. A big shout-out to them all for playing along with us, and wow have they made some beautiful items! Check out the magazine or their blogs to see snippets of their beautiful pieces.

This is one of the samples I made based on the easel card concept with a see through acetate panel. The background is Rum and Raisin papers washed with gesso. Love those papers, and of the 14 designs, only 3 are Christmas, so the colours and patterns are year-round useful - gotta love that. {BTW these are on sale at only £2.50 per pack for 28 sheets of A5 double sided paper!!}

The full clock collage was stamped on the paper, the clock face masked and purple inks sponged around the edges of the clock. This was laid up to Periwinkle metal and black card positioned on and behind the acetate. (check me-PURPLE!)

Stamped on the front of the acetate is the large grid image from Clocks Plate 2. I then cut out the inner part of the grid to leave a frame. On the back of the frame I painted in Viva Precious Metal Colour (gold) a few elements, then over-painted that with white Kaiser paint. Love this idea and haven't done it for many years. It creates a great window to feature the image behind.


The second sample was only shown front on in the magazine which really doesn't show the depth of the piece. Hopefully you'll get a better idea with these pics.

 

First off the background is periwinkle metal formed on a diamond mould and attached to a circle of chipboard. Some of the diamonds are scribbled on and distressed with white paint, and a few diamonds are decorated with Rum and Raisin papers.

A second chipboard circle is cut to make a frame which is textured with terra and stamped into, then distressed with paint and glimmers. Behind this a piece of acetate stamped with clocks plate 1 is secured. The acetate has the key and postmark painted from the back with gold viva precious metal colour. Use puff pads to lay up the 2 layers of chipboard, and on top of the acetate, the clock is stamped on pearl metal, puffed out, filled from the back and placed in position.

This was quite a complicated piece, but I really enjoyed making it,and the colours are so NOT me but I did enjoy the end result. Maybe I'm going to be a pastel-purple girl this year! 

Right well that is my marathon catch-up post done. Next big job here is to file a whole heap of photos so that we can have a new PaperArtsy Catalogue online for you to see with beautiful artwork from the Design Team. I'll make sure to blog piccies in much shorter posts of the coming days!

Don't forget you can follow me on twitter @paperartsy . I'm a better twit than blogger! LOL

Love to see your comments so don't be shy !

Leandra