Paper Rose Sasha Copic Card

This is the sample from the Copics class I ran last month:

The stamp is from an Australian company called Paper Rose. It's called Sasha. The paper is from Kaisercraft, and the Copic markers used for the dress were from the B90 family.

I cut the word from glitter cardstock and added some colour to it with the same Copic markers that I used for the dress:

The pearls and diamantes were also coloured with Copic markers - so that EVERYTHING matches :)

Thanks for stopping by!

White on White card

White on White came up as a topic for a card class - AWESOME!

Having to create contrast and texture without the use of shades of colour was a challenge, but I just love how these cards turned out.

This was one of my favourites:

I created the circle pattern by taping together some circle dies with painter's tape and embossing them onto the card before adding the embellishments. I love it when you can use tools you already own in different ways.

In the photo the sequins look pink (they have an irridescent finish), but in real life the whole card is white. White can be a challenge to photograph, but I think you can see all the details well enough.

The word sweet was cut from cardstock three times and stacked one on top of the other. I then applied Stickles to help it sparkle a little:

Thanks for looking!

The Art of Well Being

For our blog hop this month, the team at Gel Press® are indulging in a little introspection and asking how art helps maintain or improve our well being.

For me, the main attraction of art besides the colour and sense of accomplishment is the social aspect. It's a way for me to connect and interact with like-minded people in a safe, nurturing environment.

I feel fortunate to teach classes at my local craft shop. This gives me ample opportunity to interact with crafty people when they come along to learn a new technique or about a new product. I also get a huge sense of accomplishment when I finish planning the class, and then an added bonus at the end when I finish delivering the class and I see happy smiling people who are proud of their efforts.

This is an art journal page I taught recently:

We created a few sheets of fabulous arty paper with a Gel Press® gelatin plate, then die cut them with the teacup die. Elements of the designs were outlined with white gel pen, which really helped unify the very different papers. The alphabet stamps are by Darkroom Door.

 I loved that everyone's teacups all looked so wonderfully diverse, even though we all started with the same tools and materials.

One of the ladies had also booked her daughter in, and as she happens to be one of my daughter's classmates, it gave me an opportunity to include my daughter as well. Here is her design (that she chose to pop on a canvas to hang on a wall):

I love how art brings people together. It binds people across generations and great distances. It keeps me sane and functional.

To find about how art helps the well being of the other members of the design team, hop along and read following the list here:

Ann

Cindi

Cynthia

Elena

Kathy

Keri

Kitti

Jen

Sandee

Teresa < you are here now

Gel Press

Classes at Paperific 2015

I'm excited to announce that I will be teaching a couple of classes at Paperific this year.  First up is a layout class:

This will run on Friday at 2:30pm and on Saturday at 12pm.

Each participant will receive a whole KaiserCraft Touch of Gold paper pack and Collectables pack (so there's heaps left over to take home!). We will create some unique embellishments to use on a quick layout, and have a little play with gold foil. It's essential you bring some foam tape, otherwise everything else will be available to share in class (bring your own basic kit if you can to save time).  Bring a 4 x 6 photo (black and white looks fabulous with this range of papers!), or you can add one at home.

The second class is a card class. Here's a little sneak peek:

The card class will run on Saturday at 10:30am.

We'll make four lovely cards using the new Silver Bells pad from KaiserCraft. We'll add silver string, sequins and bling. We'll also have a little play with Pan Pastels and even make a shaker card.

All the information you need can be found on the Paperific website, and bookings can be made on the here.  If you have any questions, please use the contact me form in the sidebar of this blog (over there on the right), or call Little Bits on 03 9798 4122 Mon-Sat 9-4pm.

Hope to see you there!

Mixed Media Canvas Class at Paperific

Here's a little lookie at my Mixed Media Canvas class:

Darkroom Door stamps together with a bunch of products from X-Press Graph-X. Lots of floral action too :)

This class as well as my Radiant Cards Class run daily at the Paperific Expo from 29-31 August. Bookings can be made on the website. Bring apron and gloves - everything else will be provided.

Getting excited now! Hope to see you there.

Radiant Card Class at Paperific

Here's a sneak of the card class I'll be teaching at Paperific this year from 29-31 August:

We'll be using the gorgeous Radiant range of papers from Authentique - so bright and cheery! We'll also be using Darkroom Door stamps and a bunch of dies and punches from a variety of companies. I must also acknowledge the very generous sponsorship of X-Press Graph-X who will be donating the awesome Foam Tape we will use on all the cards.

There are still some spots left if you're interested in booking in. All bookings can be done through the Paperific website (see class 4 on the list).

I look forward to seeing you there!

Carved Caravans

I loved this set of stamps when I first laid eyes on it - Carved Caravans by Darkroom Door.

The set was carved by Godelieve and the images are perfect for so many occasions.  Here are some samples from a class I taught at Little Bits a couple of weeks ago:

The result will always be a fun, happy card!

Thanks for dropping in!

Butterfly Mannequin Card

This card idea I taught recently at a class at Little Bits is great for teen through adult girls:

This is the new Butterfly Mannequin stamp from StampIt, and I have cut out her wings and popped up the dress part. A little bit of fussy cutting, but the effect is worth it I reckon. The wings have been shimmered with a Wink of Stella pen. I drew the frame by hand (which always makes me nervous!). Papers are by KaiserCraft.

When I get a spare afternoon (ha!) I think I'll make a batch of these in different colours, just to have some on hand.

Thanks for looking!

Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo Melbourne

Just under a couple of weeks to go until the Melbourne Scrap and Papercraft Expo, and Beck Beattie and I will be teaching classes there for one of my favourite online shops Craft Queen! Beck will be teaching a couple of layout classes (the peeks I've seen look amazing!), and I'll be teaching a card class in the afternoon.

Here's a sneaky of my cards:

In my class we'll be making three cards for ladies, and then tweaking them to make three more suitable for men. The full details on how to book in can be found on the expo website.

Looking forward to meeting some of you there!

Aaaah....flowers

These were the cards we made in the first Copics Project class of the year I ran at Little Bits last week. Instead of stamping, we used black outline stickers for our images and coloured them with Copics:

The gorgeous shiny thick lines of the stickers made colouring a breeze. After colouring, we traced around a Spellbinders Curved matting Basics die, allowing some of the leaves or petals to overhang.

We cut our images out and placed them on the new Darkroom Door Grid Background:

 

The sentiments come from the Simple Sayings and Whimsical Words sets, also from Darkroom Door. I think you'll agree - the results were some very striking cards!

Thanks for dropping in today!

Mixed Media Background Prima Doll Tag

Well that was a long title!

Here's something we did in one of my classes late last year - we made our own mixed media backgrounds:

and then we used them to paper-piece parts of a Prima doll and made a tag:

Messy fun! The very best kind I say :)

sympathy cards

For this class, I put together some cards that were not only sympathy, but also suitable to give someone who may be looking after a loved one. To let them know we're thinking of them as well as the patient.

First up is a card on a lovely background paper from KaiserCraft and a Spellbinders butterfly:

Next is a Spellbinders Window Die D'Lite on a background paper that's had some ink sponged on it. The butterfly and words come from Darkroom Door's Wings set:

Then we stamped a tree from Darkroom Door's Trees set with black Archival ink, and sponged a background over it. We flicked water droplets onto the ink to create the spots:

And for this card, we stamped the Hero Arts poppies and then gave them a subtle shimmer with a Wink of Stella pen:

 

Here's a close up of the shimmer. The black dots are from a Viva Pearl Pen:

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Ink splat cards

I taught a class a couple of weeks ago, and we played around with ink splats.  Here are two cards that compare and contrast different techniques to achieve a similar look.

First up, the pink splat card. We used Darkroom Door and Hero Arts stamps with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink for this look, resulting in a neat, planned look:

 

On this second card, we spattered Wild Honey Distress Stain with a paint brush, resulting in a more random look:

The sentiment comes from the Darkroom Door set called Simple Sayings. Now is the perfect time to mention Darkroom Door's new website :) And it's probably a good time to mention that there's a brand new release just around the corner. Shhhh - I've already said too much!

Masculine Cards

Here are a couple of masculine cards from a class I ran before Fathers' Day at Little Bits.  The first one has lots of Tim Hotz stamps on it on KaiserCraft paper:

And this second one uses Darkroom Door's Steampunk set on FabScraps paper:

Thanks for looking!

Copics class - clothing

I run monthly Copic colouring classes at Little Bits. Our last class was about colouring clothing, and we found this cute Little Darlings image to practice our denim on:

We didn't focus on hair and skin too much, so her hair is a little rougher than usual. I teamed the image with KaiserCrafts newish Tea Party range of papers. Love these colours! We cut the image out with some Spellbinders dies.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cards with Feathers

I ran a class at Little Bits with feathers as the theme.  Today I'm showing you the cards we made.

First up using MFT dies and the new Darkroom Door set called Simple Sayings:

Next, using a real feather with a handmade paper bead dangle, and Darkroom Door's Simple Sayings again:

This is a Stampendous peacock feather stamp coloured with Distress Markers and hit with Stickles. the words are from StampIt:

Then we made our own feather using washi tape:

Here's a close up of the Spellbinders butterfly and the Darkroom Door French Script background:

and last but not least, a soft card suitable for sympathy:

That feather stamp is from Darkroom Door's Correspondence set, stamped in a soft blue Versamagic ink. The words are from Hero Arts.

Feathers are so IN right now! Love them (well, I love anything birdy, so it's no big surprise!).

Thanks for looking!