yesterday's workshop

Good afternoon ladies, I hope you had a great time at the stamp festival - those of you who went. I think I meet up with most of you.

I didn't stay long.  Just long enough to get the things I wanted & the things that shouted at me to buy them, because I would not be able to manage without them.  But I was very good & didn't spend a lot. Then when I got home I set to making some cards using my new stamps. I had 3 to make over this weekend as it is Gareth's birthday this week, then 10 days later it is Elayne's (his wife) birthday & right in the middle it is their first wedding anniversary. I finished the anniversary one this morning & they are now on their way to them.  I have had to post them all together as they will be away for their anniversary & Elayne's birthday.

I bought some lovely stamps from Honey Doo, & some more masks for my canvas & art journal work.

Yesterday I was at an all day workshop with the Happy Stampers group. At least one of the festivals we manage to get one of the retailers to stay another day & give us a workshop.  This time it was Ali Reeve from Stamps Away (also known under the name Clever Cuts).

It was a great workshop & she showed us different ways with Distress Inks & was full of lots of interesting information, which she just gave out as her whim took her.

I have photographed the things I did & I am going to show you here, but I am not going to say how a couple of them were done, as I have Ali's permission to show you in one or two of your evenings. This of course will be next year now - & it is great for me, because I now can fill another 2 of your meetings.  Don't forget if you have any ideas - or would like to show your group something - please let me know & preferably this side of Christmas please.

Here are my projects from the workshop.  The cards are only fronts not complete cards;

This was the first project

This is the parts of the second project - I will be putting that together shortly.

The reason the project is not finished is that it was put to the side to dry & we got on with another project - then ran out of time to put this one together.

I think this one is my favourite project & I can't wait to show you.

Those of you who have watched Ali on Create & Craft will know that she likes to take advantage of every day items in her projects.  This is one of them.

We needed some vintage looking paper. It is (or rather was) just an A4 sheet of copy paper & the household item that aged it - coffee grains!

Whoops - didn't photograph that very straight.

This is 4 mini canvases coloured with Distress Ink (not in a straightforward way), then decorated & stuck on the background card.

This project I may very well take apart & re-do in a different manner, with perhaps a little more on it. Will show it to you when it has been done.

So! I had a very busy day & have to admit I was quite tired at the end of it. 

Oh & I also bought some stamps from Ali, including 2 sets of mini scenes - they will go well with a freebie set that was on a magazine recently.

Right! I am up to date now, so will see what I can find to chat about tomorrow. It won't be the 3 cards I mentioned earlier, as sometimes Gareth takes a look at the blog & I don't want the cards seen before the time for them to open them.

'Bye for now.