Rubber Stamping - North Wales

Good afternoon ladies & what a lovely afternoon it is too. Today I have a photo of a little card I made for a young couple who recently had their first baby; Just a very clean & simple card.  Base card is a 4x4 cream card with a pale pink polka dot layer.  The baby in the basket is a stamp I bought many years ago & I stamped & embossed it in gold, then coloured in lightly with my pearlescent watercolour paints.  I die-cut the "New Baby Girl" in cream card & glued it along the bottom & then added some flat back gems for a little bit of bling.  There is also a tiny star gem attached to the string hanging from the basket. Right, I am now off to hunt for an ink pad I have mislaid.  It is a very important ink pad because it is the first one I ever bought.  Believe it or not it still works - well - it does if I can find it.  It should have been in the same place as the first stamp I ever bought - but it wasn't. That's...

Good afternoon everyone - how is your bank holiday weekend going? This afternoon I have another member showcase for you & it is once again Rita from Mold II club. This time she has had one of her cards featured in "Papercraft Essentials" magazine on the "Your Cards" page. Well done once again Rita.

Good afternoon ladies Today I have had a good "me time" session.  Although it wasn't all just for me, but it was.  Confused?  So am I. I have been making up some new samples for the WI talk I will be giving in just over a week. so that I will have more of my own work to show them.  It's funny but once you start looking around the craft room - mind you - that should say "when I started looking around my craft room" - it was actually quite surprising how much of my own work I had that I could take with me. Once I needed a break from that I sat & sorted notes for making a folded, box-style, card frame.  One of my workshop rubber stamping ladies wants to keep a card she was sent & wants to frame it in this way.  After trying it herself & failing she asked me to write her some instructions.  So that is all done now. But before I give them to her - I need to make one up. So that will be a task in the next couple of days. I am not sure wha...

Good afternoon ladies here I am with the second set of photos from Tuesday's Mold II club night & they are of the evenings project - the fold over box; Elma's box has been made in this lovely soft grey paper which really suits the pink ribbon & delicate fan.  That is a lovely die-cut fan Elma. Another delicate background on Dot's box & the white flower & die-cut leaves are just perfect for it. Carolyn has gone Christmassy for her box - ( is that actually a word?  The spell checker doesn't think so - but I am going to leave it). There are some really delicate & beautiful dies about now aren't there.  Those baubles are really nice. This is Carol's box - a very pretty floral paper over a lilac box.  I just had to take a photo of the front base - where that little white flower is sitting.  That is the nice thing about this box you can have room to add some embellishments in that way. Annette's paper is lo...

Good afternoon ladies - this afternoon I have the photos from last night's Mold II meeting. Well, some of the photos - as this set are of the Show & Tell for the evening where the theme was a card - black & white & floral. Here are the photos; Two cards from Carol.  The top one has a lovely embossed section with a little oval frame into which that paper flower sits perfectly.  The second card has those lovely black swirls surrounding the white flowers. Betty used this lovely "wild flower" stamp which is just ideal for black & white & suits so many themes. Two cards also from Elma.  The first one is a triptych style card & has been made especially for someone who likes their garden & flowers. The second card has a 3-fold front & the circular topper keeps the card closed. Great idea. A really lovely sympathy card from Dot. One of those CAS designs. Inside there was the most lovely poem - I wish now ...

Hi everyone - I have just got in from the Mold II club night & what a very nice evening we have had. Tomorrow I will have photos from the evenings Show & Tell and Project. Betty had brought in a couple of bottles of Schloer in order for us to give a toast to Liz in her memory.  There will be about 6 or 7 of us going to the funeral on Thursday - so we will be well represented. For myself I have been preparing samples of rubber stamping in its various forms as I am giving a talk to a WI  in September. It is almost impossible to know what to show & what to leave out given the amount of time I have on the evening.  Also taking time to go through the things I have in boxes for samples.  It is easy enough to take lots of cards that I have received but of course I don't hold on to much of the work I do myself.  But I found some quite interesting things that had been put away. Well it is nearly my bedtime so I will say goodnight now. Sleep well.

Just to let you know I have added the materials list for the October workshop on the "Events" page There are a lot of things on there & I will be bringing a lot of stuff with me that you will be able to use.  Obviously you may wish to bring your own embellishments that is not a problem as you may well have an idea how you will want your canvas to look. I really would appreciate knowing numbers at your individual September meetings & I will be bringing along a couple of my canvases to give you ideas. Once I know if there are any of the Mold & Mold II members attending I will hand out leaflets with the directions to the Rhuddlan Community Centre.   I hope you will be as the CSNW ladies are looking forward to sharing the day with you.

Good morning - it's Monday & I have just checked my posts from yesterday & felt the photo of Rita & her cards needed tweaking a little.  Unfortunately the shine on the right hand side of the photo of the cards I cannot improve on - but I think I have made it a little clearer. Good afternoon everyone The member showcase this afternoon is from one of our regular showcasers - Rita of Mold II club. Rita was really smitten with the Bendi card shown to the Mold II group by Carolyn & immediately made quite a few.  Also about that time - the magazine Quick Cards did an article on the same card - so Rita sent a photo of hers to them.  They contacted her & asked for a photo of herself. They put it on the letters page. Rita received a copy of the magazine two days ago & sent me a photo from it; Well done once again Rita. That's me for today  'Byee.

Good morning ladies Today I have the second set of photos from the Mold meeting last Thursday & they are of the project for the evening - the fold over box.  I only took the photo from the top - perhaps I should have stood them on something as well so that the sides could be seen, as most were in contrasting papers. Everyone decided to make the smaller version; I watched as Rhiannon carefully cut out these flower embellishments from a sheet of paper. Lovely finish to the box Rhiannon. Maureen has a stylised flower stamped into the centre of her box lid - very delicate. Joanna hadn't finished her box, that flower compliments the backing paper really well. Mair's paper choice really didn't need embellishment - it is beautiful. I don't know if Mair is going to add something to it later. Janet has decorated her pink box with a lovely die-cut butterfly AND because she is our glitter queen some glitter ribbon & there was also some ...

Birthday Greetings Today is 20 August & a Mold II club member has a birthday Happy Birthday Annette Enjoy your day Annette

Good afternoon ladies. Sorry there was not a post yesterday but I had a pretty busy day. I have the photos from last night's Mold club meeting & the first set are of their cards for the Show & Tell - where the challenge was Floral - Black & White only; Maureen has a lovely flowing floral background to her card, which nicely compliments the floral topper. Janet's beautiful flower is surrounded by a very striking black & white chequer board border. That flower is gorgeous Joan's card is the one she made for her sister's 70th birthday. The floral background paper is really effective under those lovely die-cut corners. Sorry about the shine - but the card was still in the cello bag to keep it clean. I love this striking front edge that Mair has given her card & the nice touch of the smaller flowers attached to the ribbon hanging down from the top flower. Rhiannon's card features a lovely die-cut bouquet of f...

Good afternoon ladies I have been having a crafting day today, along with getting paperwork sorted for tomorrow's Mold club night, which included writing the notes for the fold-over box. The fold-over box that I showed you at earlier meetings was a little on the large size - so I have put together another smaller one.  All the decoration is hand-stamped & it holds 6 hand-stamped notelets with envelopes.  It will either be a present or a raffle prize -  I haven't decided. I haven't photographed it yet as some of the notelets, which I coloured with watercolour paints are still damp.  But will take a photo tomorrow & put it on here then. That is me for today. Hope you are all well.

A very good evening ladies - but rather late I must say; Yesterday evening I attended the monthly meeting of my HSNW club - (the one that originally brought you the Stamp Festival at Port Sunlight). The celebration? Well last night was our 21st birthday  - it is amazing to think we have been going that long.  Lots of people have been members - some still are - me for one. All because 4 of Carolines customers to her workshops (me being one of them) wanted more play time. So! HSNW was born. We had a pleasant evening with some demonstrations from members of the club & some nibbles & drinks to celebrate.  Non-alcoholic of course. I couldn't let an occasion of this sort to go unnoticed - so I made a card to give to the committee, for the members & here it is; I had the topper in my stash box waiting for the right card.  The "Happy Birthday" was a stamp I have had for some time - possibly free on Craft Stamper magazine - but not sure.  For...

Good afternoon everyone - I hope you all had a good weekend. Today I have a photo of another mixed media item that I created recently.  I started it last Thursday when I was showing the technique to my 3 rubber stamping ladies at the craft shop. Here is the square; The colours are much better "in the flesh". I didn't want to make another card - so I had a think about it, then remembered a selection of papier mache boxes I have stashed away.  Took a look at the collection & found I had a square one just the right size.  So I decided it would go on the lid. Before gluing it down I painted the inside of the lid & the box & then the base of the box with black acrylic paint.  On the sides of the lid I used Inka Gold wax.  I cut a strip of black card to go around the box & then stamped a flourish on each side.  To stamp the image I used the Inka gold wax - when it is dry & polished it looks great. Here is the box from on...

Good afternoon everyone - gosh these weekends come round quick don't they!  I hope you have lots of nice things planned. This afternoon I have another of my recent cards to show you; I started with a white A5 card & layered it with some dainty floral paper & an embossed white card which I used with the debossed side up.  I then stamped the flower group & coloured with my watercolour paints.  It's a Woodware stamp & comes with two sentiments - I think I picked it up amongst some sales items.  It is really nice & will work with lots of different techniques I think. Right I am off for some more "me time" crafting. 'Bye for now.

AN UPDATE TO THE INFORMATION BELOW I HAVE HEARD FROM BETTY AGAIN - & IT IS FELT THAT RATHER THAN SEND FLOWERS A DONATION TO CANCER RESEARCH IS MORE FITTING. Should you wish to send flowers you would have to get them to the crematorium the evening before. I have had a phone call from Betty of Mold II with the following information regarding Liz's funeral. The funeral is to be held Thursday 25 August  10:30 a.m. Wrexham Crematorium.  Pentrebychan,  Wrexham,  LL14 4EP.

Good  morning Just to let you know I have updated the club pages with details of the September meeting, including a photo of the card you will be making with Carolyn at Mold & Mold II meetings. CSNW ladies - I will show you the zigzag card later.

Good morning ladies I have decided that this week I will try as much as I can to indulge myself for myself. There are many different things I want to try but always seem to get them left behind everything else.  But I will share them with you. Whilst taking a break in one of my larger indulgences I remembered an idea I had seen somewhere combining stamping & embossing folders.  So I thought now was the time to try it out. Here is the photo; For the stamp I used one of CaroLines texture stamps, from years ago.  It is just the words "Happy Birthday" in a type of Oriental script repeated over & over again. I inked it with a Caramel Adirondack ink pad & then stamped it onto the smooth inside of the embossing folder.  (That's the side where the paper gets pushed into the design).  I then placed a piece of white card inside the folder & ran it through my Gemini machine. For the next stage I used Vintage Photo distress ink to gently...

Hello ladies While I was going through various photos on my computer  - the ones that I keep that are relative to the blog - or items of interest, & I found a member showcase that I had not yet blogged. Do you remember back in June I went to a workshop where I created an MDF mirror that had jigsaw pieces around it?  I blogged about HERE One of the Mold meetings following that - Janet a member of the group, brought in her mirror that she also had made using the same MDF base.  Here it is; Isn't it stunning/ I didn't put too much on mine at the workshop, but it is sitting on a shelf waiting for me to add more to it to make it more interesting.  Another one of those "to do" jobs to add to my ever growing list. It is beautiful Janet & thank you for showing it to us.  Sorry it took me so long to put it on the blog. 'Bye for now. .

Good morning everyone Today I have photos of the MDF heart that I decorated, & which I started at the Mold II meeting late last month; This is the back of the heart which I covered with a blue & white Snowflake designer paper & added a die-cut fancy Merry Christmas to put on it. This is the front, which I painted with a mixture of acrylic paints to arrive at this shade of blue which is as close as I could get it to the colour of the paper on the other side. (In real life it is a little more subdued than this - but not much). I die-cut some Poinsettia petals out of white paper & blue & white snowflake designer paper.  I glittered the edges of the blue shapes - a slightly unusual thing for me.  Having worked out where I wanted the poinsettias I then stamped the sentiment, which as I did on the black heart - I stamped with white gesso.  I then glued the white flowers in place, followed by layering the blue flowers & then placing a ...

Good afternoon ladies Sylvia who is a new member at Mold II got in touch with me & asked if I would be able to put a poster on the blog about a coffee morning she is involved with. Well! This is your blog - so I said yes.  Here is the poster & after the photo there is a letter from Sylvia about the cause; Here is the letter; "The reason the Histio UK charity is so important to my family is because when my grandson was 20 months old he spent 3 weeks on life support followed by 40 weeks of chemo after suffering an illness called Haemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). It is so severe that if not caught within 3 weeks is invariably fatal - thanks to Alder Hey for recognising it. Ironically he went into oncology 4 years ago yesterday (my birthday!). He is now in remission  but there is no timescale on when or if it will come back. The only 'cure' at the moment is a highly risky bone marrow transplant so getting other treatments is vital. There is ...

Good afternoon everyone I have finally this afternoon finished the heart that I started at the Mold II meeting & have just taken a photograph. So after I have uploaded it to my computer I will put it here for you to see. In the meantime here is another recent card that I have made; The base is a cream DL card I layered some patterned designer paper & cream card onto the DL card using distress ink around the edges to help them to stand out. Before layering the cream panel onto the base card, I stamped & embossed in gold the 3 floral panels on to it.  Each panel was then given a pale water colour look & the greeting panel adhered under the centre floral panel. This also had a little pale watercolour finish to it. On Thursday morning I have a rubber stamping workshop & the ladies will be making the mixed media card that we made at our May meetings.  They were supposed to be doing this at their July workshop - but unfortunately I had to cance...

Birthday Greetings Today is 9 August & a CSNW club member has a birthday Happy Birthday Joan Enjoy your day Joan

Good afternoon ladies. This time I have a photo of a recent card that I made; The lace panel on the left side of the card is a Kaisercraft stamp that I spotted recently & it had been reduced.  So a no-brainer then that I had to add it to my stash. I felt it complimented the square floral panels quite well, all of which I embossed in Gold EP. To the square panels & the little greeting panels I added a very light watercolour tint. Very pleased with this one.  I have a few more to show you which I will do over the next few days. That's me for today. 'Bye.