Monday, 9 September 2013

Another idea for the Surprise Package and a Sneek Peek of my next Online Workshop

I forgot to share this design idea for a wedding version of the Surprise Package.


I was aiming for elegance.  I used lovely pearl card stock and it could be easily adapted to the colour pallet of any wedding.


I added a pocket in the envelope so you can tuck in a gift card or cash for the happy couple.

For those of you that don't know, the template and video workshop for this project is available to purchase from either my ETSY shop or direct from my blog, forth workshop down on the left hand side bar.

Here is a link to a you one of my very first Tube video that shows you what the surprise in the Surprise package is!!!


And now for the sneak peek of my next online workshop - I am finishing off the photo instructions today ....well that is the plan so I may just get this up for sale tomorrow!!!


Ha ha - how naughty - there may be some fellow tag folk out there that may recognise this!!!!  A sneek peek and a clue ;-)

It is a bit chilly in my craft room today so I have on my fluffy socks again - guessing that Autumn is on her way.  It was misty out there this morning.  Have a great day and thank you for popping by X

Sunday, 8 September 2013

Stamp Club Coming Soon!!

For some time now I have been working on two new areas of development for my online workshops and on Friday I ordered the first batch of goodies in preparation.  Today I have started setting up the first of the two areas.  It is my plan to running a Stamp Club.

I have been teaching card making classes for over 2 years now and it is my experience that most people, myself included, want to get the most out of the stamps they buy.  They are an investment and we want to make the most of them.  Although I am still working on the details, the intention is to sell a set of stamps with 10 online classes.  I can supply to anywhere in the world subject to postage and packing and if people have the stamps already they can opt to purchase the online classes without the stamps.

Each set of card classes will include simple and more complicated designs and they will all explore lots of different stamping and card making techniques.  There will be itemised tool and material lists and the lessons once purchased will be available to use day or night 24/7 always.  Once you have purchased a set of lessons you will have the links to the tutorials so that you can use them whenever you want to make a particular card.

Whilst I am making my videos I also intend to make tutorials for things like how to create inners for cards, all the different card folds, tips and techniques, etc. which will eventually grow into a useful library resource - particularly for those that are new to card making.

I am really excited about setting this up.  I will still be working on workshops to fill up my ETSY and Blog sidebar shop.  These workshops will focus more on home decor projects and mini scrapbook projects.  I think I am going to be very busy!!!  There is a fun Advent project coming soon!

Today I fired up Photoshop and set too making a new intro slide for my Stamp Club Videos.  I think you can still recognise it as belonging to The Craft Project but it looks different to the videos that are on my free You Tube Channel.  So here is a sneek peek!!!


I have also set up the credits (you know the bits at the front and back of my videos!!) and I have changed the intro music.  It is very odd hearing a different tune on one of my videos but again I think it is worth doing.  By the time I have made the first set of tutorials and am ready to launch my first kit I will know for sure if I want new music!!!

I videoed the first tutorial yesterday so I am ready to edit tomorrow!  I will keep you posted of my progress.  If you want to leave me some feedback on the kinds of things you would like from a Stamp Club I would love to hear what you think.

It has taken me two years to get to this point and now it is time to step up a gear!  Wish me luck!!!!!

Thank you for popping by X

Art Journal Page - Bloom and Grow

Good Morning.  It  is bright and sunny here this Sunday morning and I just popped in to see if my video uploaded to You Tube during the night!!!  It is always a happy moment when the upload is successful!!!

Here is my completed page.


Do you like my pretty watering can???  I think I have created what could be my second quote on this page so feel free to use my phrase - add my name and then because you have quoted me it becomes a quote!!!!!

A sprinkle of imagination helps your creativity grow.  Helen Allen

I have created a new label for Quote so I can find this again - It would make a fun card don't you think. I have a class coming up next week so that gives me an idea!!!  I have another quote somewhere on my blog.  I have noticed that some blogs I visit have search facilities so I am going to learn how to put that on my blog next.......maybe I will have some breakfast first ;-)  Brain fuel!

My son told me last night he needs to do his homework on computer binary code today and I told him I am interested in seeing what he is learning............I think I need an extra large helping of breakfast for sure!!!

Before I post a link to my second Art Journalling Video (this one turned into a tutorial because of the resist technique I was using to make the funky frame for my page) I thought I would share my first ever journalling page.

This one was pre blog and pre You Tube channel but I was inspired to try Art Journalling by a video I found and watched on You Tube.


Actually there is another quote of mine on this page!

Travel to where your Imagination takes you then take time to enjoy the view.  Helen Allen

You can quote me on that!!!!

There is also pieces of Graphic 45 paper on this page....did I rip it?!!!!???  I think I definitely like including book page paper on my Art Journal pages.  I love that each of my pages are completely different.  I am a bit of an explorer of different styles and I think my Art Journal shows that I am.

My tummy is rumbling so I am going to stop rabbiting and post my link.


Hope you like it!  Have a great day and thank you for popping by X

PS Search bar added and I found my first quote........

Who needs therapy when you have art? Helen Allen

Definitely going for my breakfast now X

Thursday, 5 September 2013

Callum's Room Update

On Tuesday I managed with help from hubby to put up a photo mural - you can see the theme taking shape now!!!  What is nice about this mural is that we stayed in a hotel just off Times Square when we visited New York.  Happy memories!


We should hear we can go and pick up Cal's carpet today or tomorrow - We have gone for a Black and grey stripe.  Most of the small bits are out of the room in preparation but Callum and his Dad are the muscles that need to shift most of the big pieces of furniture out so the carpet layer can do his thing!  It is all starting to take shape and I am glad the painting is done!!!  I have painted this room 5 times in total!!!!


I am going to have a bit of a play in my Art Journal today and I may fit in a spot of afternoon sunshine! Callum is back at school today and I have to say getting up early wasn't as bad as I anticipated ;-)

Here is the link for the August tag video that I posted a couple of days ago.  A video showing how I got from Tim Holtz's inspiration to my interpretation.


Have a fab day and thank you for popping by X

Wednesday, 4 September 2013

WOYWW 222 (Three Little Ducks!)

Morning Everyone!

Bit of a lie in today - the last one of the Summer holidays as Callum goes back to school tomorrow!  Has it been 6 weeks already????

Here is my first WOYWW photo, the before shot......


Mess, mess and more mess!  This is the mayhem left behind after making Tim Holtz a thank you present and after finishing off making my August 12 Tags of 2013 tag.  Oh what fun I had as you can see!!!  If you want to see what fun we had with Tim when he visited us in the UK I have posted about it here, here and here!  I was very excited as you can tell from the 3 posts!!


Here is my desk after a quick tidy - I now have room to finish off my tag book that we made at the workshop - I will share photos when it is finished.  In shot is also my Art Journal as I want to make another video.

I uploaded the video from my 12 Tags of 2013 series last night.  I have been making a video of each of my tags this year.  I thought it would be a fun way to share.  It is fun to see how I go from Tim's inspiration to my interpretation.  I love to see all the creativity that his challenge inspires in everyone that plays along.  I will post that in my next post.


Here is the tag that I gave to Tim - I popped a smaller tag in the pocket (don't know why I didn't photograph it!!!) to say thank you for all the 12 Tags fun.


....here is the other side!  Now as you scrolled down you may have noticed I have Pinterest buttons!  I have taken the buttons off the photos of my mess but kept them on things I think folk might want to pin.  This is my new found blog skill!  I feel quite techie now ;-)  Always something new to learn.  I thought I would include these tag photos here so I could give you the link to the 'How to do it'.  You need to be a bit careful because you are playing with the HTML code (scary) but I managed it first time so I think most people could.  Hope you find it useful.  TIP.  As I copied in the code I wrote down the line numbers so I could delete the code easily if I messed it up!!!

That's it from me - off to have a late breakfast and then back for some desk hopping!!! If you don't know what desk hopping is then follow this link to the WOYWW hub to find out more - It's great fun and you meet lots of lovely crafters along the way.

Happy WOYWW to you and thank you for popping by X

Monday, 2 September 2013

Pinterest Buttons and A Valuable Lesson Learnt!!!

Hi there - just a quick, but I hope useful post, to my fellow bloggers!  I love Pinterest and have lost many a happy hour exploring a beautiful pin trail!  For anyone that doesn't know what Pinterest is it is an internet pin board.  It is fabulous for collecting gorgeous crafting ideas, inspirational photographs or quotes and a whole host of other things.  The beauty of each pin you make is that when you click on it much later it takes you back to the internet site you found the image.

This is really really useful for tutorials you want to try out, crochet or knitting patterns, recipies, etc.  You may know I am redecorating my son's room and I have been collecting ideas on a mood pin board I set up.  When we made the final choice of wall paper I clicked on the photo of the wall paper and was transported to Amazon ready to make my purchase.  It is so useful.

If you blog then there may be crafters who pop by who want to pin your tutorials or project photos to inspire them or to try out later.  You can make it really easy for them by adding a pin button to the images on your blog you are happy for them to pin.  It was a bit scary to be working with the html code of your blog but I have to say the tutorial I found was very clear and easy to follow so I am sharing the link with you.

This link is for the instructions on how to add a pin button to your images and how to take it off the photos you don't wish to be pinned.  It also shows you how to take the button off photographs you don't want the button on.

This link lets you add a Pinterest widget to your sidebar so people can follow your pin boards if they would like too.  I follow lots of boards of people who like me love Halloween and Christmas decorating.

Now I need to show you that I followed the tutorials and they worked for me so if you scroll down my right hand bar you will find the pin button to take you to my boards which you are welcome to follow and I am adding a photo of my Surprise Package Workshop and if you hover over the photo you will be able to pin it to your boards if you already have them.  Then one day in the future when you want to make this project you will be able to click on the photograph and it will take you back here to my blog where you will be able to click on the link below the photograph and it will take you to my ETSY shop where you can purchase the workshop!  Genius don't you think and I definitely didn't need to be a genius to do it!!!



I am so glad I decided to share this Pinterest knowledge as if I hadn't I wouldn't have learnt a very valuable lesson!!!  I had no idea that ETSY shop items have an expiry date and that you need to renew the items on your virtual shelves!!!!  So I have just renewed this workshop!!!!  I could have ended up with an empty shop :-O.

Here is a video to show you what the Surprise is!  This is a fun project to make and to give.  I hope you like it enough to Pin it and then one day when you need a special card for a special occasion..........


Here is the video of the version I made for my Graphic 45 Audition - I love the oriental style of this version!!!


I hope this post is useful to you if you have been thinking about adding Pinterest to your Blog.  And I certainly hope it proves useful to me and that I can persuade you to pin this project and one day follow the links to my blog or shop to purchase this workshop!!! ;-)

Have a great week and thank you for popping by X

Oh What Fun We Had - Part 3

A bit of a delay in my final post for more painting and a  day out!  Today I should start putting up the Wall Paper in Callum's room so I thought I would finish off posting the photos of our wonderful day with Mr Holtz before I get all glued up!!  I am keeping my fingers crossed I can get this photo mural up without messing up - no second chances with a photo mural!!!  It should make a massive difference to the room - I will post more about that later.

We had a fab day out yesterday when we dropped Callum off to visit his friend Holly.  We were very close to the place I was born so we decided to visit Catterick - a large military town to see what we could see.  I had my Mum on the phone telling us what she could remember and my Mother in Law was with us recounting what she could remember and it was fun putting it all together.  I think I now have a photo of the second house I ever lived in and where my little brother was born.  The huge coincidence is that a couple of years later my husband's family lived in exactly the same street!  We snapped a photo of my husbands first ever school too.  Eventually our families were posted to Cyprus at the same time many years later when we where 18 and 19 and that is where we met and fell in love.

The hospital where I was born sadly no longer exists but we did find the ruin of a very old bungalow that we think might have been my first home - both Mum's tell of a house with no electricity an only a range to cook upon - hard to imagine today!  I am going to see what my Mum thinks when she sees the photo.  Even though I have no recollection of my birthplace whatsoever as I left as a toddler it was fun to explore!

So back to my Tim Holtz Workshop Serial!!!  Now where was I???...  Here is a photo taken at the end of the class when suddenly Christmas arrived!  Yes we got presents too!  In this photo you can see Emma talking to Jane from Personal Impressions who was the event organiser.  She did a fantastic job and made a lot of crafters very happy bunnies indeed so a great big hug to Jane.


You can see our table looks tidy again as we packed away all our lovely inky goodies and our projects in our newly gifted idea-logy bags - see below ;-)


Here am I posing with Mario.  I think I need to shrink the strap of my bag or I will be falling over it!!!  Mario and Tim must have had cheek ache after all the photos they posed for!  I am sure as you see all our photos arriving on blogs everywhere that our smiles show what a lovely time we all had.


So another huge thank you to Tim and Mario for coming to visit us and for sharing some fabulous crafting in the real world.  It was a wonderful treat and I am looking forward to completing my tag book and filling it with photos of a great workshop and day out.


What treasures!!!!!  Look at those cute little stamps and the first of my collection of layering stencils!!!


Here is my tag book so far.  It is now time for me to have fun finishing it off.  I love that ruler binding and the measuring tape book wrap.  I am going to put all these photos in it so I have a great memento of our day and all the fun we had together.


Here is a photo of me and Deb two very happy crafters indeed!  So all that is left for me to say is wherever you are in the world if you, like me, love the inspiration, techniques and products Tim Holtz shares with us in the virtual world of crafting and he is in your neighbourhood giving a workshop do not hesitate to get on that phone to book your seat!  Deb and I loved meeting so many wonderful people who loved to create just like us.   It was a heartwarming experience as well as a wonderfully creative one.

So a massive thank you to Tim for sharing his creativity, to Jane of Personal Impressions for organising such a wonderful day and of course to all the people who worked so hard to make our day such fun including of course Mario - I will treasure my little wish bone charm!

Oh what fun we had!

Thank you for popping by x

PS I will post photos of my tag book as soon as it it finished.
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