A Good Time Was Had By All

A week ago, we travelled to Bristol to our Annual Parchment Reunion at the Bristol Parchment Craft Exhibition.

What a lovely weekend!

Amanda our youngest came with us to support us along with her partner, Matt.  They did us proud, Amanda was a tremendous support to us all, helping at the till plus keeping an eye on Mother-In-Law who had to come with us and Matt, not even knowing anything about Parchment, let alone Crafting, took to it like a duck on water, helped us set up in record time and did a great job on the till too. We are so very lucky to have such a wonderful, supportive family and we make a brilliant team together.

Our other daughter, Kate, helped too by keeping an eye on Amanda & Matt's fur babies which was a very important job. I have to show you a picture because they are just the cutest ......

We met all our lovely friends and had a real catch up with everyone, a super exhibition and such inspiration, there were some amazing Parchment exhibits! 

Exciting news....that we will have some new pattern packs on the website soon so watch this space!

All for now

Hilary xx

What do you use for your Colouring?

We have a selection of colouring markers for you to choose from, and they all work brilliantly on all your card making and parchment as well

Not only that, but we sell them most of them individually so you can try a few first and then add to your collection whenever you like.

Tim Holtz - DistressMarkers

These are water based and double ended, with a brush tip one end and a fine point the other end.

Kuretake Clean Colors

There's about 80 different colours of these lovely 'Real Brush' pens. They are water based and actually have a proper paintbrush so you can blend these colours beautifully. Again sold individually so you can try just a few of these wonderful colours.

FaberCastellPolychromos Pencils

Of course, I can't do an article about colouring without mentioning one of our favourites for colouring. These Polychromos pencils are the BEST, they are artist quality oil based pencils, they blend well together and you can blend them with oil to make fabulous backgrounds as well.  Again we sell them individually so you can try a few first. We also sell them in sets.

Pergamano PergaColours

These are water based and double ended, with a bullet tip one end and a fine point the other end. They come in a box of 30 lovely colours.

Happy Crafting

Hilary x

Easy Emboss Stained Glass Templates

Thought I'd show you a few examples of the lovely Stained Glass EasyEmboss Templates from PCA. Like all the templates they are really versatile and you can infill them and just use parts of them, mixing and matching as you go.

What a great way to do your parchment!  You can find them all here on our website



So here's the Daisies template, the first picture is just how it looks when you have used the template to make your outline on your parchment paper, and the second picture is coloured using FaberCastell Polychromos pencils, some have been blended on the back with Dorso oil and then the colour has been enhanced on the front.

Here are some more examples of some of the other templates



So many different ways of using these templates

   

Here are 2 examples of the same template, completely different styles. These two butterfly cards were made by Karen from our design team. The card on the left had been infilled with traditional gridwork and the butterflies have been worked separately and layered as 3D

There are more templates available here if you make any cards from them, please send us a picture we would love to see it :)

Happy Crafting

Hilary x

Creative Stamping Issue 24 April 2015

How thrilling to see my Window Box card published on the front page of the latest Creative Stamping Magazine.

If you haven't bought this magazine before, it comes with a wonderful set of stamps and lots of ideas on how to use the stamps

We hold regular craft workshops at the shop, please pop in and see us or give us a call if you would like to join us.

Happy Crafting!

Paper Folding with Pretty Papers

I love pretty papers, and we have so many pretty papers, including parchment papers and vellums, in the shop that I thought I'd play around a do some paper folding which seems to be in my mind at the moment. I happened to be surfing around the Internet...as you do....and saw something like this on my travels so thought I'd have a go with some pretty pink flower fairies vellums. I used A4 papers for the back so its actually quite large, measuring about 50cm in diameter, but of course it can be made a lot smaller and I thnk a teeny weeny one would make a great embellishment for a scrapbook page or a card, but this one is perfect to hang in the shop window.

Hunkydory Lady in Red

Some Hunkydory kits look more enticing than others, and when I first looked at the packet for these Lady in Red luxury cards I wasn't too sure how they were going to turn out.

I needn't have worried.

These kits are gorgeous. I say it every time, but the quality of Hunkydory kits is astounding. The silk cardstock is thick and glossy, and the cards are all pre-scored so they're easy to fold.  

The silver foil edging is really hard to photograph, but trust me - it looks fabulous. And I think these illustrations are really beautiful. (I love red shoes.) 

These are the pyramage cards, with four layers to each image. There are four designs in the pack.

But wait!

The leftover images from the pyramage cards....make the invertage cards.

I know it was late at night when I was putting these together, but I thought that was pretty clever.

The same four designs are repeated, and this time instead of the stepped card, you get a box and frame to put these in. Each box has a foldout piece on the back so it will stand upright, and a hook so you could even hang it on the wall.

I just love these cards, I think they're quite beautiful. After all the sweetness and light of Christmas, these monochrome cards with a splash of red look stunning.

I don't normally post about prices on the blog, but I just wanted to let you know that this kit which makes 8 cards is currently only £6.99, which I think is a real bargain.


Kate x

More Art Deco ladies in decoupage

These are my favourite. Maybe that's why I'm saving them till last?

All these cards are on 4x4 blanks, so the image itself is only about 3x3. Beautiful.

Mirror card is really difficult to photograph, but there are gold highlights on all these decoupage images, so I had to use some as a mount.

These cards don't even need a greeting, I think. Just lovely as they are. I double-mounted this one but that's as much 'extra' as it needs.

This one is my favourite of all. I used some embossed card, but you could run a background through the Cuttlebug for extra texture.

Thanks for sharing my decoupage ladies!

Kate x

Art Deco Die Cut Decoupage

Oh gosh, I wish fashion was still this glamorous.

 Also, I wish I was this thin and elegant!

 And hats! Can we bring back cloche hats?

I think this one is best kept for special occasions only, though. Imagine turning up to work in that!

You can find this decoupage sheet here.

My final group of elegant ladies will be appearing tomorrow!

Kate x

Polka dot decoupage cards

These decoupage flowers are some of our new stock for January. They are die-cut and super quick to assemble.

Because they are so simple, at first I couldn't think how to arrange them on the card without any kind of background shape or element.

Then I realised that actually, this was perfect for me to add my own backgrounds and greetings, and make a much more varied range of cards.

I love how this banner looks like it's floating, but actually it's just using silicone glue instead of 3D pads. (Shameful crafting admission: I've only just started using silicone glue, that stuff scared me!)

You might also notice that these cards have a watermark on. There are so many websites out there that take images and use them as their own - and even places like Pinterest where people blog images without the original source - that I felt it was about time I laid claim to my own work. I really hope that these images inspire you to get creative. And if you post your own work online, you can find out how to make your own watermark brush in Photoshop here. 

I've also been trying out the Art Deco Decoupage that's new in the shop...that'll be up on the blog tomorrow!

Kate x

New Die Cut Decoupage

Hello,

I’ve been putting the first of the new products for the year up on our website today.

We have 2 new Die Cut Decoupage series. They are in stock & available right now in the shop.

There is the Art Deco Series & the Polka Dot Flowers Series….with a special offer to buy the complete set in each range.

Art Deco Die Cut Decoupage

Polka Dot Flower Die Cut Decoupage


Hope you like them

Pinterest inspiration to life

Phew! I can't believe Christmas is over. I feel slightly bloated from eating far too much chocolate, and totally ready for a new year of creativity.

Have you heard of Pinterest?

In case you haven't, it's a website for collecting links to all sorts of inspiration. A bit like the corkboard I used to have pinned up by my desk...except this is all online and so each image links back to the original source.

Pinterest is a great place to spend hours collecting inspiration...but I wanted to make sure that I did something with all of this eye candy. So, I present: Pinterest to life. I'll show you how I've used an image from Pinterest to create something myself.

Check out this image on my Pinterest board. These lovely cards are by Danielle Flanders. Simple, colourful...you can practically hear my brain whirring with ideas.

And here's my version. I used a coloured card blank, and rounded the corners of the white card front. Then I used a collection of flower stamps across the card, stamping right over the edges. I only have small sentiment stamps, so instead of putting the greeting over the flowers I used the white space at the top. I left off the machine stitching, and replaced the string with ribbon, because that made the card more 'postable'. The colours I've used are much softer and more autumnal, as those are the inks I had to hand.

I love Pinterest for ideas, but I love it even more when I can use those ideas to make something of my own. I want to spend less time reading website and more time making things. This is just the start!

Kate x

If you'd like to 'follow' me on Pinterest, you can find me here.

2011 review

Hmmm....2011. Where did that go, then? The week between Christmas and New Year is, for me, always a time to reflect on the year that has gone, and make some plans for the year to come.

For me, crafting in 2011 was about new products. Some things stay with me throughout - I think scrapbooking and cardmaking will always be a part of my crafting repertoire. But this year I definitely noticed myself trying out new products and techniques, which I'm really pleased with. I feel like I've made a great start, and 2012 will be all about learning even more. So before I come up with some plans for next year, in no particular order, here is my 2011 Top Five:

1. Promarkers. I know, I know, I'm late to the party. No change there then! But I'm so glad I discovered these little beauties. My stamps have all gained a new lease of life and I love the bright, vibrant colours that Promarkers give. I will admit I was a little bit nervous in the beginning - there are a lot of tutorials and blogs out there and I had the impression that there was some 'secret' to Promarker technique. I'll tell you now - there isn't. I'm sure there are lots of ways I can improve, but even my first efforts are pretty pleasing.

2. Border punches. These aren't new either, but this year I've moved away from just using them on scrapbook pages and they've really helped my cardmaking. I love pretty trims, and I feel a bit daft for taking so long to bring these into my cards. Now that I have, I can't stop!

3. Greetings stamps. Something else that has completely changed the way I make cards. These fabulous sets of clear stamps on an A6 sheet are reasonably priced, great quality, and really versatile. I used to either write my greeting, or look for a sticker, but these stamps give me dozens of options and look much more professional. They are absolutely the most useful stamps I own.

4. Yarn! Specifically, the Sirdar Bonus range. I first started using this last year, on my first crochet blanket. Since then, Mindy has expanded the range to include almost every colour you could need. And I'm using quite a few of them in this ripple blanket. It's also deliciously soft and has beautiful stitch definition when you crochet.

5. Wooden crochet hooks. Apart from being gorgeous, they are also easy to use and much lighter in my hand than the metal ones. I've also managed to develop a new technique for crocheting which doesn't make my wrist click, so I'm hoping to avoid any craft-related RSI in future.

...and, 6. Paint Fusion. I'm sneaking this in, because it's not a product I use. But Hilary has spent a lot of this year perfecting her technique and doing some amazing paintings. It's so exciting to see someone learning something new and loving it so much - and deservedly so, because the results are amazing.

What products have you enjoyed this year? I am so excited for 2012!

Kate x

Working on it

This is my desk, tidied.

Gran's gift this year will be the same as last year - a selection of handmade cards that she can use for any occasion. So right now I am in the midst of bright colours, birthday sentiments and lots of flowers.

Did you make any Christmas cards? I'll be honest - mine were shop bought this year. Card making is a challenge for me (which is why it's taking me so long to do these cards for Gran) and Christmas cards were not on my priority list. I think I might have to do a batch of birthday cards for myself, that way I don't have to make any more cards for another year!

In other news - Wightcat Crafts will be the main craft supplier at the Bristol Parchment Exhibition, 24 June 2012. Exciting times!

It's a family affair

Saturday afternoon went something like this...
Making: Christmas cards and samples for the shop.
Talking: to customers about embossing, and friends who like Tim Holtz-style distressing.
Drinking: lots of cups of tea.
Sharing: my crochet and Mum's painting (which deserves a whole post of its own).

Yep, I like afternoons like this!

K x

Hunkydory domed flower cards

Aren't they beautiful? These cards are lovely, I think they'd make a beautiful centrepiece. The decoupage is all made of the same 300gsm silk-art card and so the flowers look really 'full'. These cards just use the standard items in the kit, but you could add extra butterflies or flowers, and I'm dying to make some as proper 'shaker cards' with lots of glitter. Fabulous!

A new perspective - To the Manor Born Tunnel Cards

These tunnel cards follow the same kind of design as the Glimpse of Glamour cards, but with an added dimension - quite literally.

You get a set of figures in a range of sizes, so you can arrange them within the scene to create some really incredible perspective. The background papers also have a sharp vanishing point so you can really see the depth in the scene.

It takes some planning, as you need to think about which figures go where for the best effect. Once you've done one, you can soon see how it's supposed to work and then it's up to you to create these charming silhouette scenes.