New News!!!! CSR2010

Now I can let the cat out of the bag about my "news" I had hinted at in the last couple of posts. Bevlea has posted to the Creative Soul Retreat website and blog that I'll be teaching an all day class at CSR 2010!!! What a surprise that first email was from Bevlea asking if I'd be interested! Colour me shocked, but very pleased as well! I'll be teaching a Technique Twinchie which will incorporate 5 of my favourite techniques.....Sheer Heaven Transfers, Faux Metal, Tissue Paper Background, Faux Tin Type and Foil Tape. There are 2 styles, either Gothic - black, silver and crimson or Vintage - cream, brown and gold. Twinchies, for the uninitiated are two inch squares - basically double inchies. It gives you a little more room to work on as inchies would be too small to handle Sheer Heaven (and give it the respect it deserves) or Faux Metal as well!


Here's some pics of the samples...and the link to my class


"Gothic"...

"Vintage"...

To say I'm excited and quietly chuffed would be an understatement....of course, this is assuming anyone wants to actually DO this class.....hahahaha. I'm really looking forward to attending CSR2010 to not only do the classes I've booked in for as a student, but to catch up with the great girls once again who I'd only previously met on the "box" prior to March this year at CSR2009!


I'm personally slightly laid up at the moment...having had a minor laparoscopic procedure to sever some adhesions that had been making a nuisance of themselves in my gut region for oh, say, 10+ years!!! I was thrilled the Dr even gave me colour pictures of my insides with the adhesions still in tact! Cool!!! (I feel an atc coming on....) They wanted to keep me in hospital for an extra day or so as they were worried about my low blood pressure. I tried explaining it's always low, but no, they had to keep checking (and commenting!) about it. I was talking to one of my students on Saturday (hi Lisa) about it and I laughed because I was explaining to her that my breathing is even much slower than my husband's when we're going to sleep at night......all of a sudden I put 2 and 2 together....my death-pose that I adopt for my sleeping position, my low blood pressure, why I'm drawn to the spooky/gothicy/weird, my ~relatively~ youthful look for my (old) age......hmmmm.....could this mean I could get a spot in the next Twilight movie??? Is there something about my past I don't know about??? hahahahahahaaa.......

Credit Card Background Technique

This fortnight's technique for my atc classes is an old favourite...Credit Card Technique! It's one of a very few techniques that when demonstrated, draws ooohs and aaaahs from those seeing it for the first time (Soot technique is another responsible for this phenomenon!). If you haven't tried this technique before, grab some paper, some paint, a little water spritz bottle and an old credit card and give it a go! It's one quick way of turning out some awesome backgrounds for use at a later date....or now, as the case may be! For instructions scroll down to my "labels" section on the right hand side and click on "credit card" and all will be explained. No, not you girls...(my students!) you have to wait until the class.....I'll KNOW if you read it!!! lol

"668" (LOVE this quote!!! Background stamp is Stampers Anonymous gate, face is by Zetti, little flourish surrounding the face on the shrink plastic is by "I can't remember". ;-).... )



"Portrait" (The colours used for this background are Jo Sonja Aqua and Plaid Folk Art Metallic Antique Copper - amazing colour!!! Ironworks stamp is another one I'm not sure of...sorry, but I did use my Copper Dreams mix of embossing powder - for the recipe click in "labels" on embossing powder recipes and you'll get about 6 of my recipes for my own embossing powder mixes.)


"Darkness" (Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous tree stamp with Antique Pewter embossing powder mix)

"The Raven" (Bird, branch and wire stamp are all from Michelle Ward's clear stamp set Bird Sanctuary. Yes, that's texture paste around Mr Poe!)

"Sleep"(Angel wing stamp and drippy stamp up the top, both from Michelle Ward's In Vogue set, click here. Quote by Edgar Allen Poe)

In my last post I hinted at some exciting (for me anyway!!!) news....this weekend I'll be able to reveal all!

Shrink Plastic & Steampunk!

This morning is the final Shrink Plastic atc class at Scraptivate that I'll be teaching in this fortnight's series of classes. So here are the last few SP atc's....for a little while at least. Though SP will show up in future atc's as it's such a great little embellishment for atc's as well as cards!

Here's the raffle atc that was won by Karen Beazley on Tuesday night.

"Double"... (stamp by Teesha Moore - Zettiology - same stamp I used on a previous SP atc)

These next 2 are earlier atc's featuring SP. The first one is stamped onto almond coloured SP, which I find wonderful for any face stamps as the colour is perfect for a light skin tone.

"Love Hate"... (yes, I know the "E" is backwards, first time it was a mistake on the Love but to make you all think I did it on purpose, I just repeated the mistake on Hate! Face stamp from Beeswax)

"Breathe"... (the main image on this piece of SP is not a stamp. I ran the sheet of white SP through my inkjet printer! The ink will never dry though, so you have to very carefully cut it out, then shrink it without getting your fingerprints anywhere near the image and when it's shrunk, the ink is set! Cool huh!!! Make sure the image you print though is extremely light as we all know how much colours intensify on SP!)

Finally, my Steampunk atc on Tissue Paper Background from a previous technique, also including black texture paste (natch!) and some wonderful little metal cogs. There ya go Julie!!! lol

"Steampunk"...

I'm working on something really, REALLY exciting but my lips are sealed for the moment....no, it's not the book. ;-) Stay tuned...

Shrink Plastic Class & Tissue Paper Background...again!

Today I had the first of my 3 Shrink Plastic Classses and I was thrilled to see how many of the ladies had never used this product before. It can be a thoroughly addictive little addition to atc's as quotes and small embellishment stamps created on shrink plastic are the perfect size for your atc's. I tend to use more of the white and frosted (ruff'n'ready) shrink plastic though it is also available in black, brown, clear and almond. Though the almond is tailor-made for any face stamps as the colour is perfect for "skin". Some samples...

"What you see"... (The Vision stamp is Stampers Anonymous, the eye-glasses stamp is one I'm not sure of....may also be Stampers Anonymous???) This shrink piece is mounted onto a piece of coloured gauze, which is in turn mounted onto a piece of foil tape adhered to a chipboard piece. It actually looks very mirror-like, which I thought was appropriate for the quote and stamps used in this piece.

"Live in the moment"... (Quote from one of Tim Holtz unmounted stamp sets - I think it's Nature's Moments)

"No distance"... (Hero Arts Vintage Map stamp - unfortunately discontinued)...PLUS black texture paste around the shrink piece.

"Odd"... (girl stamp on the shrink piece is Teesha Moore Zettiology, staples stamp is Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous) I must also tell you I bought one of Tim's new Tiny Attachers with the mini staples. You can see that I've used them on this piece below to attach the watercolour background to the black surround. I like to colour them to match what I'm doing....I simply break one of the refill staples in half, then colour the whole thing with a coloured sharpie before inserting it into the stapler. Voila.....coloured staples!!!

Below are a couple more from my previous class on Tissue Paper Background, these are the ones that ended up in my book. For each class I make 2 atc's that go into my Technique Book with the instructions on the opposite page, also 1 atc for each of the classes I teach to be given away as a raffle, as well as some other samples. As I tend to do one-off original atc's rather than multiples, this can be rather time-consuming as I also type out the instructions for everyone so they can all make their own book. It means that in 6 months time (or 2 years!!!) they can dig the Technique Book out, flick through and repeat any technique they have learnt from the my classes and they will also have a couple of their own samples in their book.

"The purpose of life"...

"Closely lie"...I do have one more tissue paper background atc to show but I'll save that for my next post. It's entitled "Steampunk" and is basically black, grey and silver......with little cogs!!! My current favourite atc!!!

Time for some shut-eye....alarm is set for 4am to take Jarred & Elice to the airport for their trip back home to Newcastle. I'm sorry to see them go as it has been wonderful to have them here but they will be back for good in a short 6 months. I'm sure it'll seem like a long time to them....5-1/2 years down, 6 months to go....not too shabby an effort I must say for a boy who left home at 18 and will return home at 24, most certainly a man! Do I hear "engagement" sounds in the background for next year?????

Tissue Paper Background & another card

The tissue paper background that I've been teaching in my current atc classes is proving really popular! The ease of use, non-messiness involved and the fact that it looks so darned great is impressing the girls so much that they are all chattering away about how they're going to use this technique to make cards, more atc's and even scrapbook pages! Here are some more samples.

"Nocturnal" (a favourite one of mine!) Yes Megan...that's Dimensional Magic on the lips! Private joke, when Megan first started in my atc classes her glue of choice was DM! I was horrified, all that shiny gluey stuff that could potentially ooze out and scream "look at me!!!!". One of the things I tell my students is that because atc's are so small, you have to pay particular attention to detail - like colouring the edge of your chipboard pieces AND having no glue showing! lol

"Perfection"...

"Dream"...

Here's a card I made using some of Julie van Oosten's new Collections range - the transparency is new, as are the hearts and wings. I painted the heart with Ranger Picket Fence (white) crackle paint, then a soft metallic pink over the top. I covered one set of wings with paper and dry-brushed white metallic paint over it and the bottom set of wings have just been painted with the white metallic paint. I stitched the transparency to the pink card using a platinum coloured metallic thread - this sure beats having to hide any glue that you may have used and negates the use of brads or eyelets to attach the transparency. A bit of white gauze, some white scallop German Scrap on the inside right of the card and it's a quick, easy and pretty (did I say that???) card.

The very lovely Di O'Cobhthaigh (weirder than my name!!! - pronounced O'Coffee!) presented me with the Renee Award, which I thank her for (you can read about this award on Di's page). I've not been passing awards on of late as quite a few people have gone all "no-awardy", which is their perogative of course. Do yourself a favour though, visit Di's page as she's new to atc's but is doing an outstanding job with them!

On a personal note for my family that read this blog who live overseas, my son Jarred and his girlfriend Elice are home with us for a 2 week holiday. We don't get to see them very often, usually only once a year as Jarred is stationed at Williamtown, an air-force base in Newcastle over East. But by December of this year he will have done his 6 years and will be trying to get a posting back here to Pearce Air Base in Perth. His chances are pretty slim of getting the posting as there is only 1 position available and 20 people have applied for it. Regardless, he'll be back in Perth though as he wants to be home with his family and Elice is also a West Aussie and is missing her relatives as well. It'll be wonderful to have us all together again as we are a pretty tight-knit bunch. I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks and of the 70 people who are coming, 44 are family!

Tissue Paper Background, Cards, Dichroic & other stuff...

My next set of atc classes is on Tissue Paper Background. I teach a few different ways of attaching the tissue paper to the card stock....xyron, jac paper, gesso, gel medium and I also use both black or white tissue paper, as well as dress pattern. The white tissue can be painted over with washes of paint - of course Golden paints work really well as they are so pigment intense and one drop on a brush with some water will give you plenty of coverage on an atc. When I use the black tissue I don't paint it, hmmmm....having said that I just had a brainwave about using interference colours dry-brushed over the black tissue, must try that! I generally use embossing powders on the black tissue as it stands out nicely against the black background.

I've not had a great deal of time to do lots of samples so here's one to start with...Wednesday I'll get more done and include them in the next post. If you have a look at my class list to the right you may notice I've updated it to include more classes. I'm all planned out right through 'til October this year, super-organised in some areas, super-slack in others! hahahaha


"Di-vin-ity"...





With Mother's Day just gone and a cousin's 21st party also on the same day I had reason to make few cards recently. As I've said before, I'm not a card-maker and I say this to myself so I don't have any expectations about how they will turn out....how slack is that! lol These 3 cards were all done using basically the same technique - cuttlebug a piece of chipboard, paint with metallic paints, some embossing on it, then some Treasure Gold or Dazzle Wax wiped on, a few other bits & pieces layered on top and that's it! Simple but effective....for a non-card-maker!


Two Mother's Day cards... (absolutely shocking picture, sorry 'bout that)

Casey's 21st Card...

There's another Mother's Day card I made earlier using Julie's Collections bits & pieces but that's at work and I'll have to remember to take my camera with me to get a shot of it. It's all pale pink and pretty, not really my style but I CAN do pale pink, just don't get along that well with bright, hot pink!

I bought a dichroic pendant recently and loved it so much I bought one for my cousin's 21st as well! Here's a picture of mine.....absolutely beautiful colour in real life....and here's where I bought it from.

On another note....(excuse the pun!), I'm not into reality tv programs but I have made an enormous exception for the last few episodes of American Idol....purely for the chance to catch Adam Lambert on the show! Oh dear.....has this boy affected quite a few grown women or what!!! So Jen, this next atc is for you....no, I mean this IS for you....come to the shop and collect it.....you Adam Whore you!!! This is meant in a non-judgemental, friendly way.....lol....I'm one too!!!

Lastly, here's the last of the Sheer Heaven atc's I made, this was the raffle one.

"Traverse"...

Lastly, lastly...my friend Barb T recently bestowed on me a Kreativ Blogger Award and I thank her very much for that. I've had this one before, (it's the bright pink & green one in the list on the right) so I won't pass it on again but I'd urge you to check out Barb's blog. She may be all isolated in Wagga Wagga, but it certainly doesn't show in her work!

Sheer Heaven Transfers & Victoria (flower alert!!!)

Today is my first atc class with the Sheer Heaven Transfers, well not actually the first one as I've done this technique before in my classes, but it will be the first time many of my students will have used this fantastic product! It's got to be the most fool-proof type of transfer one can do. All you need is a sheet of Sheer Heaven (available at Scraptivate of course), a teaspoon and some 70% Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol). I also like to use watercolour crayons to add extra colour around areas where the transfer doesn't go so the transfer blends fairly seamlessly onto the background.


It does need to be transferred onto a porous surface, watercolour paper, card stock, scrapbooking paper, book paper or even fabric! Definitely a non-coated surface, though you can use inks to colour your paper before hand if you like, just keep the colours light so you can see the transfer. Jessica is the creator of this product and she has a wonderful website where you can learn about all the different things you can do with it, here's the link.



"Secret of Life"...

"Beauty"...

"Trouble"...

"Accursed"...

"Classic"...

Towards the end of our trip last year we visited a wonderful city called Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Of course a visit to the famous Butchart Gardens was an absolute must. I DO like real flowers, really I do!!! I have an aversion to flowers that are used in abundance on scrapbook pages as fillers and as I'm not a frilly, pretty type of person (my style I'm talking about...lol) you won't see flowers appear on anything I do. But hey, I'm a Gemini (yep a BIG birthday coming up soon) and I'm quite within my rights to change my mind. You never know, I could end up with grand-daughters one day and I might go all "florally"....but don't hold your breath. ;-)

So back to Victoria, we also visited the Butterfly Gardens before Butchart and was amazed at the beautiful habitat where butterflies flit around in an enclosed (humid) garden and the visitors can walk through to be amazed by their beauty.

The first picture gives you a glimpse of what lies on top of those glorious wings....we followed this one around for ages trying to get a picture of it when it landed but it kept flying away. So we sat for a while, it landed on the seat and Grant put his hand out near it and it opened up it's wings for us. What a tease!!! Fabulous colour!

Butchart Gardens is 55 acres of lovingly maintained gardens, pictures speak louder than words....

I have culled my photo's from the trip and I have 103 of Butchart Gardens alone! That gives you an idea of how fantastic this place is, if you go to Victoria...it's a must-see place.

On a final note, my friend Joan turned 50 last Sunday so we had a little get-together at Michael's place to celebrate her birthday and catch up with everyone again who attended her funeral. Joan was always 2 months older than me which was always a cause for a little ribbing here and there about her being the oldest. I had decided that it wasn't particularly fair she should stay 49 forever so she is going to age every year, as I do. There won't be any more birthday celebrations at Michael's, but I'll be having my own little "happy birthday today Joan" day on the 26th of April each year. It would also have been their wedding anniversary which makes it doubly difficult for Michael. But she's still around, floating somewhere on the edge of my consciousness all the time and occasionally I catch a glimpse of some "thing" at the corner of my eye.....you never know!!!!