Crafting For The Fair

The craft fair starts again next month so its time I started to make some goods for my stall otherwise I will be standing there with an empty table.

I have done a few Tea Cozies small, medium, large,

 then using some of the scraps in the big never ending box of scraps

 I made a couple of Rooster Danglers

And this cheery chappie Scarecrow Dangler,

Its a great way of using up scraps and off cuts.

I also made a start on some bookmarks

again out of off cuts of felt.

It was Martins birthday yesterday so I had to make him a card

nothing fancy just plain and straight forward

It took less than 10 minuets to make.

Well at least I have made a start, will be working away at ideas over the coming weeks.

Nice Easy Cardmaking

Its been a while since I did any card making,

Its not like I am short of any stash,

Today I looked out some topper sheets from craft work cards

all they needed was a little embellishing 

 A few sunflowers

 glitzzed up with some brown glitter

 bunch of daisy's

with some gold mica beads in the middles

 A lovely tree

I added some crystal glaze onto some of the elements

 More flowers

added gems, card Candi and liquid pearls

 Topiary tree

with Card Candi, liquid pearls and glitter gel

 another artistic flower

Baby button liquid pearls glitter and gems.

Tomorrow I will mount them onto cards add a bit of ribbon and they are ready to go.

A Bit Of Cardmaking

I took a day off from working in the garden today so I could do a bit of crafting, after having a bit of a tidy up in the cabin I fancied doing some card making.

This a really old card blank that has been sitting in my stash for some time, I have a few different design of this type of card, there is an aperture that has a mesh behind it and you infill the mesh with Pontura Paint, it leaves a raised beaded design.

A simple stamped card coloured in sepia and die cut greeting.

Another very simple black and white card, it was cut out with my cameo I don't like this one and it may end up in the trash.

So that's was it for today 3 cards made.

Card Making and ATC's

These are a couple of cards I made today it is just a simple plain stamped image the only colour added was to her lips and the feather in her hat.

The images were stamped onto tonal card matted and layered onto black card and mounted onto slim lime red cards and three little red gems added.

The stamp was a free on that came on Craft Stamper magazine I think it was last year some time.

the first image I stamped out I used on an ATC I added a real feather to this one.

an ATC is an artist trading card they are made to the specific size of a standard playing card

The artists details are added to the reverse and the cards are swapped, they are a great way of trying out different mediums and techniques

Here is a bit of history about ATC's

Collectable trading cards have been around for over 120 years, being first produced in the 1880s by tobacco manufacturers, and later by confectionery and gum makers. Many early cards featured sports stars, but since then all manner of subjects have been covered. Collecting and trading these cards is a hobby which has been enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world.
In 1990, after admiring a collection of hockey trading cards, Swiss artist Vanci Stirnemann was inspired to produce a catalogue of his work in this format, but found that the printing costs were prohibitive. He shelved the idea, and it was not until 1996 that he decided to make the cards by hand. Thus the first artist trading cards were created.

The first exhibition of 1,200 handmade cards took place in April 1997 at a bookstore and gallery in Zurich, Switzerland. Visitors were encouraged to make their own cards to trade with Stirnemann and others at the close of the exhibition. Regular trading sessions have been taking place there ever since.
Canadian artist Don Mabie (aka Chuck Stake), of Calgary, Alberta, is credited with introducing ATCs to North America after attending one of the first trading sessions in Zurich. From there the idea has spread all around the world through the medium of the internet.
Unlike other trading cards, ATCs are never bought or sold, but with their rise in popularity there has been a growing interest in similar cards made for sale. These are usually known as artist cards editions and originals, or ACEOs.

I have a good collection of ATC's that I have swapped with others over the years, its been some time since I did any or joined any swaps, I might just get going with them again.

Back To Papercrafting

At last my cabin is sorted, I have moved units around several times now it feels right and comfortable to craft in, The sewing area was sorted weeks ago, with a division of storage to the larger end, will take some pics of the other end in a day or so, unpacking and sorting the boxes seemed to be taking an age, I have been very ruthless and thrown out lots of scrap.

This afternoon I sat down to do a bit of paper crafting, something I havent really done for some time.

card for my granddaughter

An easel card for my daughter

It was great to get stuck into some card making, these decoupage sheets came from Ribbon Box they were left over from a card making class I ran I bought them several years ago and came across them when sorting out, there are several folders of left over stuff from classes, I intend to get them all made up. 

I don't have packs embellishments I prefer to make my own up, that was one of the things I used to teach in the classes how to make up embellishments instead of buying ready made.

There is so much I want to do, now I have my craft area sorted I can get stuck in, I have got two big 8ft tables set up in the cabin, I am looking at perhaps running some small classes, but at the moment I am enjoying have the freedom of not teaching.