A big catch up !

Sorry I've not been around, I have to steel myself to use the computer as it is not working properly & is SO Slooowwwww ! ..driving me insane , the sooner I get a new one the better !
But on with the post ! .. Had a fantastic day yesterday on our distress ink techniques workshop ..we've managed to eek the numbers from 17 techniques to 20 & then we managed to pull another one out of the bag whilst we were worksing so we're now up to 21 (plus there's a couple of others I didn't put in ... so if you didn't know your inks could be sooo very versatile you need to come to one of our workshops lol :D
Here are the guys & girls in action :


Left to right : Meryll, Annette, Anne & Sian


And here we have (Right to left) Kim, Julie, Gill & Sheila




Here they all are again ...

And on this one see if you can spot the interloper !!! lol :D


Yep you guessed it, Sharon had the afternoon off & as Merryl had to go early Sharon snuck in to play :D

A couple of days previous I'd finally got around to tidying my desk ... & I thought I'd share this mini miracle with you :o)



& of course there is my art journal I haven't been sharing with you recently ... so here's an update :





hmmm got a feeling some of the images are on their sides .. apologies for that
Keep an eye on the website www.artisttradingpost.com for a whole range of new & exciting workshops coming up !
take care x

The biggest wooohoooo ever !!!

I'm off to Ranger U in June !!!!!!!!!
Wooohoooooooo :) xxx

Alcohol Ink Techniques workshop

Well another workshop has come & gone, this time it was the Alcohol Ink techniques workshop ... We had plenty of laughs & fun, here they are in action :





And last but not least .. Bernice & Ally (these are pretty much residential workshopees ... if there were bunks or hammocks they would just stay :D lol )

Tomorrow I shall post some more Art Journal pages that I've done recently, There will be more workshops added to the website www.artisttradingpost.com this week too .. so keep your eyes peeled !
take care x

Handmade Embellishment Workshop

Handmade Embellishment Workshop coming soon .. well actually it's on Tuesday 11th May 10am - 3pm to be precise lol :o)
I have been playing around & have a sneak peek for you of some of the embellishments we're going to be making
We're going to be using UTEE in several different ways, triple embossing & stamping, Metal art (just a little bit) Grunge paper, Microscope slides, Shrink Plastic, Fragments, Alcohol Inks, Distress Inks, a bit of collaging and a bit of stamping ... apply all embellishments to a mirror frame & there you have it :o)



Now I'm off to tidy up my work desk, after doing the embellishments & getting ready for the alcohol techniques workshop for the weekend I'm in a bit of a mess .. you never know I might even post a before & after picture tomorrow lol :D
take care x

Creative Scrapbooking workshop

I was asked to do a private workshop for a group of ladies who were staying nearby for a weekend retreat .. they asked me to do a shortened version of the Creative scrapbooking workshop that I run. We did 3 layouts in 3 hours & they all made lovely pages to take home.
Bernice was my link to the group as she is a regular attendee of my workshops :D .. Thanks Bernice :) you bought along a lovely group of ladies & here they are in action :

This is Karolyn & Carolyn


Here we have Bernice, Sue & Sue
they made it as easy as possible for me to remember their names !


(caught Sue with her purchases here lol :D )

Hope you ladies had a fab rest of the weekend, having been let in on the secret already I'm sure you did !!!

Here are a couple of tags I did the other night when playing around with some more new downloads from Artchix Studio :



Have fun x

Mini Mixed Media Canvas Tutorial

I thought I'd do a tutorial this morning for a mini mixed media canvas .. I hope you'll play along :o)

I used a cheap canvas board for this project, but any canvas or even mount board would do.
I used colourwash and glimmer mists (made my own in my mini misters with perfect pearls)and covered the canvas.

Then I tore a page or two out of an old french novel.


Using Claudine Hellmuths Studio line paints & a babywipe I cover the page. (I used the light blue first)


Then I begin to add more colours (as many as you like until your happy with it)


Next I prepare my collage elements, these are all from Artchix Studio .. well worth a look !

Then I use Claudine hellmuths Multi Medium Matte to adhere the pages to the canvas :



Next using a stencil (Crafters workshop 6x6 template) with Pine needles distress ink I just do small amounts on the paper & canvas.




Using Black Archival ink I stamped an image (stamper anonymous Timholtz stamp)on to the paper.


then I started to assemble the collage using ideaology metal accents on the watch.


As a finishing touch I have added Glossy accents to the number 5 to add more dimension.


& that's all there is to it ... You can use a smaller version of this idea for ATC's or cards .. anything really .. just have fun x

Circle Journal

This week I have been getting on with a Circle Journal that I joined over on UKS.
It is a mixed Media based CJ, and my theme is 'On vintage wings'
Here are my cover & my signing in pages.


Sorry for some reason blogger won't show the cover the right way round, Hmmmm !

Mixed Media Canvas Workshop

What a fantastic day we had .. very creative & lot's of fun. The girls all created their own masterpieces ...which I will be showing you further down the page. We started off learning the techniques & then it was play time :)

The calm before the storm lol


This is Moy & Barbara distress inking the backgrounds :


Next we have Barbara with Bridget this time ..


Here is Di :


& on the other side of the table we have Bernice, Jan & Di :


& then we have the canvas's at the end of the day : (Some have not decided if they have finished or not yet ! .. hopefully they'll send me a picture if they do anymore ...)
So first up is Moys canvas :


then we have Bridgets :


Next is Barbara's


Followed by Bernices :


Then we have Jans :


And last but not least we have Di's Canvas :


We shall definately be adding this workshop to the schedule again .. thanks to everyone for wholeheartedly taking part & having fun x

Grunge Bag

I spoke to a lovely lady called Karen the other night, she called me about an article I'd done for the Craft Stamper Magazine (Oct 2009)when I'd made a Grunge Paper Handbag (see the sneak preview picture below)

Anyhow she had actually made one and this is how it turned out .. pretty fab don't you think ? & she'd even added some of her own embellishments to it, I think it's fab & I'm so pleased that people were inspired by it. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us Karen :)
Here in all it's multi coloured glory is Karens Grunge bag :