Stampaholics Rewound

 Hi Crafting Friends

I hope you are all safe and well. Even though lockdown restrictions are easing things do feel far from normal. I know that personally I won't feel comfortable flying anywhere for sometime. Whilst I am more than happy to holiday in Scotland, it means that is not so easy to go to Ireland to see my family. 

As some of you know I have led occasional workshops at my local craft shop McOyster Paper Crafts for about 3 years now. Adrian has been able to reopen the shop but unfortunately there will be no physical workshops for sometime. So I have ventured tentatively into the world on on-line tutorials. 

Having had my own shop Stampaholics in Perth, I know only too well how hard it is to keep going in a very competitive market place. Whilst it is so easy to buy products on line, nothing is better than going into a proper craft shop. Its a great place to meet like minded people, be inspired by samples and take part in workshops. Cupar is 40 mins away from where I live but it is the only craft shop left in my area. Hence I wanted to help Adrian if I could by posting craft videos using products that he stocks to give some inspiration and techniques on how to use them. Adrian's Facebook page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/McOysterPaperCraftsAtPolesApart 

It's early days and I am still finding my feet. But in time we plan to offer proper workshops on line and even live!! I am not quite ready for that yet. I have also set up my own Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StampaholicsRewound which will have some of the same tutorials but also using stamps that I love that are not available at McOyster Crafts.

We are very open to feedback, suggestions and comments. I hope you enjoy what we are trying to do.

Keep crafting.    Siobhan xx

 

Lockdown Project

Hello friends

What a strange year it has been so far. I hope you have all managed to keep your health and sanity throughout lockdown. I have been working throughout this time. It was quite daunting at first having to wear so much PPE and not knowing if your patients had Covid or not. Some of our patients were positive for the virus but required lung scans. But after a while it just became part of our job and we got on with it. Thankfully in Tayside we are seeing very few new cases and I hope it stays that way.

I wanted to do something for myself during lockdown. I wanted to try my hand at art journalling but I am not "arty". So I decided to pick a theme and start a stamping journal. I wanted it to be a sort of catalogue of my favourite stamps and quotes etc. I also thought it might kick start me to see a stamp and use it to make a card.

I have now completed about 12 pages and it has been an enjoyable project. I have found stamps I had forgotten all about and used them in my pages. It has been a great way to unwind and be creative at the same time. My theme is nature (No surprise there for anyone that knows me).

Here are some of my pages:

 I love small birds so this had to be my first page. Most of these stamps are from Crafty Individuals.

 I bought this Stampers Anonymous set some time ago and had never used it. I love the ant walking across the page!

 This was my favourite page early on. I took Geology as subject in my first year at uni, because I had an interest in fossils. I was so disappointed to find that we only had one lecture on fossils!! Again I bought an Andy Skinner set with fossil images and this was the first time I used it. Why do we do that!!!

 I live near the river Almond in Perth and I regularly see our resident heron. Such a beautiful bird. So I had to have a page to honour it. 

Thats all for now. I will share more next time.
Take care and stay safe.

Siobhan xx

First Workshops for 2020

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have all recovered from the excesses of the season and are ready to try out new ideas in your craft space. I spent a bit of time over the holidays having a clear out and some re-organisation. I always feel it helps get me back into the mood to craft again!!

I have some new workshops planned for McOyster Crafts in Cupar to tell you about.

The first is a mixed media project using an MDF shaped top hat. I immediately thought "Steampunk". However the techniques lend themselves to a variety of other projects. The challenge is coming up with a doable project in three hours. So this project works in that time frame.

 We will be using embossing paste with a stencil, embossing folders with foil, paint techniques and making flowers. 

The second workshop is a technique based stamping class using large floral stamps. This is another in my "Stretch Your Stamps" series. This format goes back to my shop days when I would make display boards featuring one stamp done in lots of ways to show their versatility. 

This would work with a lot of stamps on the market and you probably already have something similar in your stash.

This one layer card with a masked border is very simple but effective for a quick make.

The second card uses triple embossing to create a faux ceramic hand painted tile that makes a lovely focal point.

The third card uses gold embossing and pixie powders to give these lovely jewel colours that shimmer in the light.

One stamp, three looks. I also have other samples to show you at the workshop. 

There are two dates in March and one in mid April. If you are interested please contact McOyster Crafts at Poles Apart in Cupar for availability and booking.

I am sure many of you like me are Tim Holtz fans. I have been following the new releases from Sizzix and Stamper's Anonymous. I know I need to start saving now for all the new stamps and dies that I have to get my hands on!!
I have already bought a couple of new Tim Holtz Sizzix dies. I fell in love with the new thinlits colorize die called Theodore. I am not really into this sort of thing but I just had to get this one. He is a lovely big bear. And unfortunately there are more to come ... an elephant, a giraffe and a zebra. They all look amazing and no doubt I will have to buy them! Here is my first play with Theodore!

Keep crafting!!
Siobhan xx