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.
The first uses one of my favourite techniques - making flowers using dies designed by Susan Tierney Cockburn. I've been collecting her dies since her first company (Sizzix, I think) and have a pretty good collection now. One flower I hadn't spotted in her previous collections was this one; it's called 'Southern Magnolia'. I did hope I could make it look a little more like the magnolia blossom I love and see around here for just a week or so each week, but that didn't work. (The ones I'm familiar with are more bulb-shaped flowers with magenta at the base rather than the yellow she used.) Anyway, I had a go, and I do like the effect even if any resemblance is small. I used Susan's speciality card - in white for the blossom and coloured with Promarkers for the leaves, and added detail on both with Pan Pastel. I completed the flower with artificial pollen. I've struggled to find that recently, so my use in flowers may be limited! While it may not look much like a familiar magnolia, it's quite a dramatic flower, so I chose to keep the arrangement simple, and just matted and layered. The card was sized to fit the design and isn't standard, but that's not an issue since it needs a box rather than an envelope!
This second card is completely different! I've used a pattern from
Stitching Cards . I've bought quite a few of their designs over the years, and I do like the style - especially those, like this one, which 'fill in' areas rather than just providing an outline. In this instance, I've added a sentiment using one of their True Type fonts, and completed with a border created by pricking holes around the rectangle they always use to surround their patterns. The threads are machine embroidery threads which I've collected for a long time and I now have a decent range of colours.
The second card is for a man. I know cards for men is a problem for many cardmakers. It's something I've always struggled with. The top card is for a woman, and I chose to make a pretty flower - something that's pretty universally acceptable among women. When you look at the Stitching Cards website, or designs supplied by pretty much any company, designs for men tend to fall into just a few categories: sport, alcohol or scantily-clad women. The last option isn't one I'd use for anyone, and I struggle with the others. I don't know any men whose life revolves around drinking alcohol to the extent that they'd love to look at a picture of it. And there are many men who aren't interested in sport, or who are so involved in a specific sport that depicting it is actually very difficult because the details would be wrong. And, with both those options, you have to know enough about the individual to decide on 'football' or 'cricket' or 'bowls' or 'rugby' or 'fishing'. There's no universal type of image that works for all men the way flowers and butterflies or 'cute' works for women. So, he's got a geometric stitched design in non-girly colours, and I think it works.
That's it for now. I need to get back to blogging here more regularly, although I do blog regularly on behalf of my craft group here:
Crafty Harrow People
