Happy 2015!

Happy New Year to you all and it looks like it's going to be a busy one again. Lots of ideas pinned to our Pinterest board for 2015 so we have already drafted out a schedule for the year ahead. (see your email)

Our first workshop of the year will be next Wednesday 28th January. All the other dates for the year are on the side bar, but it will be the last Wednesday of the month as usual, apart from November when we have our two workshops. We then have our Christmas meal in December - usually on a Wednesday too.

Our January workshop will give you the opportunity to get a head start for the year. We will be making cards with a calendar or month theme, so you can make a card for any birthday or other occasion and tailor it to the month the event takes place.

If this doesn't appeal you will also have the chance to make a 2015 calendar to get you organised for all your important events in the year ahead!

Memberships will be due this month too. The cost of membership will remain at £15 this year and then each workshop will be £5. Non members will pay £6.50. Members will receive a craft pack and we will announce our new Challenge for 2015 on Wednesday.

Straight out of the pages of a book...

We had a ripping time on Wednesday - tearing pages out of The Bronte Sisters collection, Field Guide to Birds, The Compleat Angler and the The Home Gardening Encyclopedia to name but a few - all in the name of cardmaking! There were even a few sheet music, dictionary pages and road atlas pages that found their way on to our cards. We showed no mercy! (Please note that no first editions were hurt or damaged in the making of our cards. We had bought the pre-loved books from charity shops with the specific purpose of making cards out of them!)

We used pages for both backgrounds and embellishments. Michelle got chance to demonstrate the iTop gadget for making buttons and badges. We also die cut, doodled, stamped, distressed and watercoloured using our watercolour markers. See below for our creations.

Not sure whether it is appropriate or not to be tearing up books when it is World Book Day this week (Thurs. 6th March), although you could say we are celebrating books through art!

Metal Effects

Summer hols are nearly over so one last workshop before we start being infiltrated with Christmas cards!! This month we are focusing on faux metal effects. Techniques available include using scraper foil board with the Cuttlebug embossing folders and using metal tape with alcohol inks and acrylic paint. The metal gilding flakes will also be available for anyone who wants to revisit this technique.

You still have another month to complete your challenge - create a new card from an old card.

See you on Wednesday.

Just photos...

...from last night's workshop.

Acrylic paint crackle embellishments:

Acrylic paint background techniques:

And the Summer Sun Challenge Cards - joint winners were Sally-Anne and Mandy. Well done to you both!

And to all our other entrants. See side bar for a reminder of our new challenge.

Bright as a button...

We got the button card techniques all sewn up on Wednesday as you can see with all the different cards that were made below! 

We used buttons as accents/embellishments:

 We got creative with buttons:

Button balloons...

Button birds...

...and Button Bugs.

And we created sewing theme cards with different colour and pattern variations.

Well done to all. Another productive and enjoyable evening! 

And the winner of the Card Competition is...

...Linda Walker!  See below for Linda's winning card and Evan Davis holding the very same card, just after judging the competition. Linda was presented with her prize of a few crafty goodies and her membership money back at the last workshop. Well done to you Linda!!

 

Second prize went to Linda Bradley for her patchwork field card. Linda also received some crafty goodies - but at arms length as she had the lergy and didn't stay for the workshop last month!!

Our third prize winner was also not at Card Club so we will give out her prize at the July workshop and leave the surprise till then!

We were a select few at the June workshop but the creativity was definitely still flowing. Here are some of the backgrounds and finished cards from the last workshop along with new demo notes.

Click here for the demo notes on batik backgrounds.

Click here for demo notes on using Cosmic Shimmer sprays and masking techniques.

Click here for Sheena Douglass's instructions on the Promarker acetate backgrounds.