Friday Inspiration

Friday 1st May @ 6.30pm

Friday Inspiration crop night is on again and we are really looking forward to relaxing, chatting and perhaps doing some scrapping, with friends. We hope you can make it to the shop friday night for some fun!

Make and Take:
Our make and take will be a mini canvas that has been colourwashed. There is one example in the shop, but the possibilities are endless. This is a quick idea for a gift or as a special canvas for a child's room. The canvas can be masculine or feminine.

All materials to make the canvas will be supplied for the cost of $4.

Friday Inspiration Challenges:
These challenges were a hit last year, so we have decided to bring them back! There will be a small prize for one person attanding the crop who completes the most challenges on the night.

Challenge One:
Use this double page sketch to make a double layout or two single layouts.


Challenge Two:
Use this sketch to make a single page layout or a card


Challenge Three:
Use this photo as inspiration for a layout. You can use any aspect of the photo to inspire you - it may be the colours, it may be the shapes, or it may be the theme. Let your imagination run wild!

Challenge Four:
Use this card as inspiration for a layout about your Mum, mother-in-law, or an inspirational woman in your life. Just because Mother's Day is just around the corner!



Challenge Five:
Make a layout using the idea of over-sized embelishments, as in this layout below.


We hope to see you there!

Roll With It!

Tuesday 5th of May @ 7.30pm

This layout focuses on a newly popular technique called "distress and roll". We will use it to jazz up some patterned paper on our layout. You will also learn to make some distressed flowers using the same technique.

Supplies needed:
One photo 4" x 6" (10cm x 15cm, portrait orientation).
Three photos 2.25" x 1.75" (6cm x 4.5cm, landscape orientation)
One piece of double sided patterned paper OR two pieces of coordinating patterned paper (one for the background and one for the foreground).
One piece of cardstock.
Alphabet for a title.
Three to four scraps of patterned paper for embelishments.
One scrap of note pad patterned paper for journaling.
One medium sized brad.
One shaped eyelet.
Gems.
White and another coloured gel pen to coordinate with your layout.
Ink to coordinate with your layout.
Dimensional foam tape or spots.
Hole piercer.
Edge distresser.
Sandpaper.
Tab, star and scallop punches if you have them.
Crop-o-dile or eyelet setter if you have them.
Scissors and craft knife.
Water mister or neutral coloured glimmer mist and a heat tool if you have them.

Techniques used:
Sanding, inking, distressing, hand made embelishments, multi-photo layout, hand journaling, fake stitching.

New Product Nights

Tuesday and Thursday night classes have been rolled into one big night on a Tuesday. This is so that we have a bigger class with a fun atmosphere for our regular classes and also so that we can make way for some kit and product nights. The product nights will cost between $20 and $50 (to be advised prior to the class) and you will go home with a full product kit, from which you will have made a great page, altered item or cards. We look forward to seeing you there.

Thinking of Term Two

Again I am planning! Term two pages are under way and I have been seeking feedback from current students in planning classes that they want and will enjoy. If you have some feedback for me, please feel free to talk to me because I would love new ideas and techniques to try out in class.

Classes will run as usual in term 2. Classes will once again start in the second week of term and run as follows:

Class One: Tuesday May 5th
Distress and roll technique class. This layout will focus on teaching this new technique to jazz up your patterned papers and you will also learn to make some distressed flowers using this technique.

Class Two: Tuesday May 19th
Button Up! This class will focus on making your own buttons and altering shop bought ones. This class is great for utilising some of your stash in an alternate way and getting the most out of it.

Class Three: Tuesday June 2nd
Inking Techniques. This class will focus on the techniques of using alcohol inks to create great backgrounds and a title.

Class Four: Tuesday June 16th
Fun with Fabric. This layout will focus on using fabric on your layouts as a background and as an accent. We will also introduce a great new paper product with the look of lace to give this layout zing.

Class Five: Tuesday June 30th
Three Hours of Power! I have received great feed-back about the 3 hours of power class that I ran last year, so I am doing it again! In this class we will make 6 layouts. Thirty minutes is allocated per layout and each one will incorporate things we have learned in class for a simple yet effective page.

This class schedule is a draft only and may be subject to change prior to the commencement of classes and may change without notice.

Friday Inspiration:
We will see the return of "Friday inspiration" (previously Friday Frenzy) in term two. An evening crop will be held in the alternate week to classes and will cost $10 for admission. We will have sketches and challenges for you to have a go at that will be posted on the blog for your inspiration, even if you can not attend the evening get together at the shop.

We are also introducing a new segment, the Friday make and take. The aim of the make and take is to provide a quick, technique focused mini-class at around 7.30 during the friday inspiration evening. Class tutorials will be provided free of charge. On some evenings you will be required to buy a kit for the class, or contribute towards the cost of materials that are being used, but this will usually only be about $5 (some classes with frames etc, may need to cost a little more, but student interest will be called for prior to this being finalised). You will go home with a finished piece of work that you have created on the night.

Some make and takes will be:
1. Mini canvas
2. Utee beads
3. Shaddow box frame
4. Artist trading cards
5. Birthday book
6. Quick layouts
7. Mini album
8. Scraptacular!
9. Altered and hand made embelishments (this one may run over a few friday evenings).
10. Tag, You're It! These make and takes will run over a number of friday nights and focus on some great techniques to produce eye catching tags for use on a layout or you could make your tags into a great mini album with 6-8 pages. Alternatively, each one could become a separate artist trading card.

Stay posted for some great savings and class incentives for term two.

I hope to see you in class again soon!

Inchies and Twinchies

Tuesday 7th and Thursday 9th of April
7.30 pm

Confused? Inchies technique uses 1" squares of "goodness" to create an effective and unusual layout. Just to confuse you more, twinchies uses the same principles but 2" squares are filled with photos, embellishments and other items that you may want to include.


Supplies needed:
Five photos 1" (or 2") square. These can be individual photos, parts of a photo that has been cropped or one large photo that is trimmed into enough squares to cover the grid in this layout (think outside the square!). You can use more or less photos if desired (10 grid squares in all).
One piece of cardstock.
One scrap of cardstock for journaling.
Alphabet for a one word or short title.
Assortment of patterned paper scraps, buttons, brads, felt, flowers, tickets, fabric, etc.
Large brackets.
Embroidery thread and needle.
Neutral ink.
Gel pen for journaling.
Mat pack.
Foam mat for hole piercing (eg, 12" x 12" Midjemoo mat).
Sandpaper, hole piercer, ruler, pencil, eraser, foam tape if desired.

Techniques used:
Inchies/twinchies technique, grid formation, template use, sanding, inking, painting, hand journaling, photo cropping, hand stitching.

Farewell to a Friend

I had a distressing phone call from one of my scrapping team today, to say that she may not be returning to classes as she is moving away in the very near future. She had nothing but positive things to say about classes and gave me the ultimate compliment by saying that through our class this fortnight that I have helped to bring her closer to her Father.

I want to say a very heartfelt thank you to T. Myself and your fellow scrap buddies say farewell and safe journey (because you are in for a journey). We wish you all of the happiness you deserve.

For the Boys

As (a majority) women scrappers, we often find it easier to scrap for the girls in our life. This class is focused on scrapping effective pages for the boys in our lives - strong and clean lines, bold colour combinations and great photos of our men folk to match.

Layout one: "@ 15 m"

This layout is based on an interview or review style. For hints and tips for conducting an interview, my "Quizes and Questions" book is availabe to look at in the shop. For a review style (where a little man can not give you answers to your questions), write down some facts as answers to "stages". An example of this would be, as I have done, a review of what a child is achieving at a certain stage of development (foods eaten, milestones achieved, etc).

Supplies needed:

One photo 4” x 6” (portrait orientation).

Your interview or review Q & A pre-printed onto cardstock. The dimensions of this should be approximately 16cm wide and 22cm high. A good way to achieve this is to make a table in MS Word.

Scrap of patterned paper.

Alphabet for a short title.

Chipboard tab accent, or a scrap of patterned paper to make a tab.

Assortment of small and medium sized brads and buttons.

Three medium sized embellishments for a cluster and brads to attach if required.

Sandpaper.

Neutral coloured ink to compliment your colour scheme.

Layout two: "Faces"

This layout features paper tearing to create an uncluttered yet masculine look.

Supplies needed:

Two photos, 6” x 4” (landscape orientation).

One sheet of cardstock.

One piece of double sided patterned paper, one side light, one side dark/bold OR one piece of patterned paper and scraps for other uses.

Alphabet for a one word title.

Stars, flowers etc for accents (I used 3 transparent stars of varying sizes).

Three small brads to attach accents.

One medium sized brad as an accent.

Gel pen for journaling.

Favourite ink to coordinate with your layout.

Sandpaper.

Please don't hesitate to email me or call if you need help selecting your interview or review for this fortnight's class.

Christine.