I recently took advantage of a 50% sale at Clarity Stamps and got myself a set of stamps and stencils I admired when I last looked. I've used one of the sets to make a card for a friend.
Josephine's Rainbow
Josephine's Rainbow
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Saturday 2 November 2024
Clarity Stamps and Stencils
Friday 23 August 2024
It's been a While!
A few years ago, I took over running a craft group in a local u3a. I'd been a member pre-lockdown, and once we got back to meeting, the organiser felt she no longer wanted to do it, so either someone else had to, or the group would end. I agreed, and as a result, I've had to try out lots of different types of crafting and I rarely seem to be able to do something simply because I want to. It's complicated by the fact that the group is very varied - some have never crafted at all before, some knit but never do anything with paper, but the common feature is that only one has any of what I'd consider to be 'essential tools' - things like stamps, inks, dies, a die cutter, a selection of card and paper, pens, or even a selection of glues and sticky tapes. That causes a problem for me as most of the things I'd like to do with them are impractical, or require me to spend a lot of time in advance, for example, die cutting the bits needed. However, we don't meet in August, and while I've had to think about the projects we have planned for next term (crochet, clay, acrylic paint amongst others), I've managed to get a little time to do some things I really enjoy.
I volunteer in a hospital one day each week, and work with two people there who happen to have the same birthday which is next month, so I decided to do each of them a birthday card.
Monday 11 December 2023
Foam Flowers
It's a long time since I posted anything here: things have been busy, and most of my crafting seems aimed at the u3a craft group I belong to. But here are a couple of independent projects I've completed using flower foam.
My most recent flower project: I bought a metal wreath base from Hobbycraft, covered it in ribbon and then added a variety of flowers and leaves. The greenery was made using Susan Tierney-Cockburn dies and flower foam from a variety of manufacturers. I've used florist's wire and tape, and had to use rather different means of assembling the various flowers compared to paper, but it was an interesting experience, as was relying on hot glue! I've used Sharpies to get extra colour on the flowers and styrofoam balls (from The Works) coloured red to add to the holly..Friday 10 November 2023
Flowers and Scrabble Letters
My son and his partner recently moved into a new house. It's been a longish haul for them. Their first sale/flat they wanted fell through, mainly due to intransigence of both the other parties. Their buyer wanted to move quickly or he would pull out. The owner of the property they wanted insisted they had to go away for a month, and when they got back, they'd start looking for a rental property and only then would they be ready to complete on the sale. And all this was after nine months of wrangling when the legalities were all complete. So, it all fell apart and they waited for a couple of years before trying again. This time, they went for a new-build house, and they finally moved!
To mark the occasion, I made a framed picture. I don't expect it to be displayed forever - and I fully expect they'll repurpose the frame, but it's only intended to be short term.
The frame is from Hobbycraft. I used stencils and a variety of inks for the background, with some stamped, heat embossed butterflies too.
The 'Scrabble' letters were made using Tonic dies. The flowers are Susan Tierney-Cockburn designed dies from several manufacturers. The dark green foliage was cut using dies from The Works. The butterfly is layered and cut using Spellbinders dies.
This is the first time I've used the Rhododendron die set. I'm a little disappointed, as, although it looks fine, I don't think it's particularly realistic, which is unusual for Susan's designs. Although that may be because the instructions for making this flower are no longer available, so I had to use techniques from other flowers and hope for the best.
I do quite like the addition of orangey 'greenery'. I think it just adds something to the overall effect and helps with balance especially with a greeny-blue background.