Sara Sandberg

The Craft Barn Extravaganza 2013, Part Five!

On the Sunday morning, some of us had booked into a workshop, to make Steampunk Goggles! I wasn't sure what to expect here, I was just happy to be doing a workshop! And I had the best morning ever!

I will start at the end by showing you what we made - although I've put it upside down in the picture! We used Treasure Gold for the front bits - and were all instantly hooked and rushed out to buy some!

Di Oliver from Tando Creative was our instructor, and what a lovely lady she is! Very is so kind and friendly, very generous with the products we were using, and completely unphased by being with all us loud crazy ladies!

Marion and Maggie above.

Gabbi and Annie

Annie

Marion

Sheel

Sheel and Trudy

Jean and Hilda

I had a lovely chat with Di about her designing of the different shapes in the afternoon. It was a real treat meeting her. You can see the Tando products on the Craft Barn website here.

This is made from the advent calendar kit! Isn't it brilliant! I'm afraid I can't remember the name of the man who made it, so if you know can you let me know so I can credit him with it please!

The final things I have to show you from the demonstrations are by Jane Collman. She turned flat die cut flowers into wonderful creations!

The flowers are coloured with copic markers.

They are shaped using an embossing tool and a foam mat - you can use the back of a mousemat. Using the embossing tool in a circular movement in the centre of the flower makes the petals fold up. You can see Jane's blog here.

Of course there were many more demonstrations, but if you want to know more you will have to join us there next year! I hope you do - it's such fun!

One of my favourite people, who I don't have a photo of, is Liz Welch. I can't talk about the Extravaganza without mentioning her, she is so talented - but I couldn't get near her table when she was demonstrating as she was constantly surrounded by a 3 deep crowd! Take a look at Liz's blog here, and be inspired by her fantastic ways with friendly plastic.

Love and smiles,

 

The Craft Barn Extravaganza 2013, Part Four!

We always look forward to seeing Jean and Malcolm from Crafty Individuals at the Extravaganzas. They are such lovely people, and Jean always has a lovely display of the beautiful things she has made.




They had some lovely new dies, one of my favourites of which was this lovely butterfly.

Jean had cut a dark card and attached it slightly offset behind the butterfly which gave a great effect. I always wonder if butterflies should be coloured the same on both wings - but Jean showed that you don't have to worry about that in your creativity, hers look gorgeous.


The bird below is another of their dies.




Another favourite of ours is Lin Brown.

Lin had made some beautiful pieces using the PaperArtsy Eclectica stamps.

Lin had stamped onto black card using Fresco paints, which was really effective.

Lin has a great way of using corrugated card in her projects - it looks fabulous! And you will also spot some of the Treasure Gold I was tempting you with the other day here!

You can see more of Lin's fabulous work on her blog.

I still have more demonstrations to show you, plus the workshop we did and the lovely things our ladies brought as gifts to show you! More tomorrow!

I hope you are having a great weekend! It's bright sunshine here but very windy - the only sheltered spot is our front doorstep, and I'm not sure if it's socially acceptable to sunbathe in your bikini on the doorstep!

Love and smiles,

Altered Domino Concertina Book Swap!

I interrupt this Craft Barn Extravaganza chat to show you the amazing Altered Domino Concertina books our members have made!

 

Aren't they fabulous?

Love and smiles,

The Craft Barn Extravaganza 2013, Part Three!

Andy Skinner was also demonstrating at the weekend. I love looking at the pieces on display that Andy has created. He is the master of texture! Here are some of the things he had made;

I love the use of the zip below!

Andy was demonstrating the Gel Printing Plate.

I'll be honest, I'm not convinced that you can't achieve the same results using other methods. Hilda says you can use a silicone baking 'tin'. But I liked the effects he achieved.

Above yellow and red were squidged together with a roller on the mat, and when dry the tree stencil was placed on top and black rollered over.

You can catch up with Andy on his blog here.

Someone I love seeing at The Craft Barn is Jo Firth-Young. She was telling me about the excitement of her new stamp range coming out. It's a lovely collection - and the bird house set jumped into my shopping basket very quickly! Jo says she loves designing and creating. She even loves to make her writing look beautiful, and if she writes a post it note and doesn't think the writing looks nice, she will tear it up and write it again!

I just love the clock don't you?! You can catch up with Jo at her blog here.

I'll be back with more tomorrow!

Love and smiles,

The Craft Barn Extravaganza 2013, Part Two!

There were so many demonstrations and exciting things to see, I will have to tell you bit by bit! There were so many exciting Paper Artsy things going on, I have to start with them!

Leandra is such a talented lady. She takes a blank canvas and starts creating, and it's wonderful watching her build it up. She just has a way of knowing what looks great. I chatted Mark at lunch time, and he too is really lovely. It was so interesting hearing about the making and sourcing of the products, with quality being the most important thing for them.

The first thing Leandra showed me was their new Grunge Paste. This is a much thinner, finer paste than the moulding paste I have already. It is great for using with stencils which have more delicate designs. Leandra blobbed some on her craft sheet and mixed it with a couple of dots of Fresco paint to colour it. She then used it with the stencil. Obviously, the thicker you spread it, the more raised your design will be.

Once your Grunge Paste is dry, you can try another technique Leandra showed us. First you paint over the whole piece with a dark Fresco Paint colour. If you haven't got any Fresco paints, you really should give them a try - they are my favourite paints ever! They dry to a chalky smooth finish, and any faint brush strokes just disappear. There is also a crackle glaze in the range which produces the best crackle effect around too!

Back to the project! Once the dark coating has dried, brush Treasure Gold over it. This is a wonderful product - it is like adding real gold to your project! It comes in a range of colours which you can see here. You just brush it on, and the dark coat underneat acts as a shadow around the raised designs. It's a wax based product, so once you have finished, you can heat it gently, and then buff it up. You don't need to wash your brush - just leave it to dry and the next day you can just brush the dried Treasure Gold off it. Leandra uses one brush for all the colours, it doesn't contaminate them.

The image above shows some different colours of Treasure Gold. Once we saw it in action, we were all hooked and I don't think many of us came home without some in our shopping bags! You will find it in The Craft Barn shop here.

There were lots of wonderful things to see displayed on Leandra's table.

The Paper Artsy Blog is a great place to keep an eye on - there are lots of useful tips and techniques there.

I'll be back tomorrow with more from the Extravaganza!

Love and smiles,