Must try harder! (posted by Jo)

What would we do without New Year and a chance to start afresh with the motivation that only saying goodbye to Christmas can bring? I love Christmas but afterwards am so keen to get things sorted out. My last six months have been almost completely craft free so to make anything would be a resolution in itself. But I've tracked my dry spell down to three things which I think will help me keep my juices flowing.

I am like so many crafters and have lots and lots of unused stash. I am in danger of becoming a mere collector. So often I find that when I rediscover something I can't remember why I bought it in the first place. So my first resolution is, when I buy something new, to make a note of the technique or project I want to use it for.

My second resolution is to be more open-minded about what materials I use. Since I have been crafting less I have not been able to keep up with what is fashionable in the crafting world. So I need to achieve results using what I already have and even pull in materials not intended for crafting. I hope this will make my work a bit more original too as I am not slavishly following recipes.

Thirdly I want to follow the advice of my good friend Judith. I am the only one of our Quartet who doesn't have a dedicated crafting space. It means I don't have a room or studio to worry about keeping tidy but it also means that when I want to craft I have to trawl round the house looking for things in all the odd cupboard corners I have to keep my stuff. I also have to put it all back again at the end of the session. If I only have an hour free to craft then most of it is spent getting out and putting away. Judith suggested having a little portable kit so that I can craft from my armchair without too much effort when I come home from work in the evening. I have a KP2 which is a very useful tote. But I have been using it for storage. Now I am going to fill it with my most used equipment and a couple of project boxes and bring it out in the evenings to make better use of my limited spare time.

I lost all motivation before Christmas and worried that I was no longer even trying to find crafting time. But I am feeling strong urges to get started again now so I am looking forward to having something to show on here again soon.

I hope you are all feeling refreshed and bursting with ideas ready to start the New Year. I know many of you craft your way through sad times and adversity and I hope it gives you as much joy and strength as seeing what you make gives to me.

Happy 2012, everyone!

My resolutions (posted by Elaine)

As Judith and Lesley have already said, life has been pretty hectic for us all lately, but we are starting 2012 intending to try harder to keep up with our shared projects this year.

Like the other girls I mean to try and keep my craft area tidier, keep on top of Christmas card making through the year and make better use of things I have already. Here are my specific resolutions though!

Firstly, I keep looking at projects on different blogs that incorporate machine sewing. I really like the effect and although I have traditionally used an old Singer treadle sewing machine for my sewing, I do now have large and small electric machines, so I have no excuse, but to make time to get practising and try and master this skill to add a new dimension to my projects.

Secondly, in order to make better use of my stash, I have resolved to stop buying loads of stamps I don't get around to using. (The trouble is there are such a lot of amazing images out there!). So, I will really try to get all my stamps indexed and organised by subject this year and that will need to include cleaning them properly and putting them away when I have used them! This is what happens when I don't and I have to have a massive clean up and it is very tedious!

Lastly, I really want to try and make more time for experimental and fun crafting, instead of always meeting deadlines and planning all the things I make instead of going with the flow, and I really hope some of that crafty playtime can be spent with the other quartet girls this year - that would really be special.

Happy New Year everyone - enjoy your crafting and make every minute count!

Elaine x

My Crafting New Year Resolutions (posted by Lesley)

Hello Everyone and thanks for stopping by,

First of all I'd like to add my apologies to those from Judith for our lack of posts during 2011.  Life did throw us a few curved balls which had a habit of getting in the way of our crafting fun, in my case either by stealing my 'me' time or blocking my mojo.  I am going to start the New Year with positive thoughts that 2012 is not going to be a repeat which leads me onto my three New Year crafting resolutions.

Like Judith, and probably at least 95% of the crafting population, my craftroom has degenerated into a complete tip to the point that I can hardly ever find what I am looking for without a lengthy search and lots of my lovely craft goodies are going unused simply because I forget they are there under all the piles of stuff or I manage without them because I don't have room to get anything else out.  What a terrible waste that is so I too am going to have a mega tidy up over January (that's how long it will take me I'm sure) and will endeavour to maintain some semblance of order in my little haven.

My second resolution is also one of Judith's because this year I left it so late to make Christmas cards that I didn't do any at all other than design team ones.  I feel really ashamed about this because I love making Christmas cards and have hundreds of stamps.  I had to use the DT ones to send to my crafting friends and that added to my guilty feelings because I like to make each card with a specific person(s) in mind so I am determined that in 2012 I will try to make a few cards throughout the year with the big push being done about October when I should be starting to feel a few Christmas vibes, lol!

My third resolution is to do my best to complete some of the wonderful projects I still have unfinished from workshops and the Paradise Retreat with Glenda Waterworth and her then team.  Most of these date back to 2010 and I  know I will so enjoy finishing them if I stop thinking about them and actually get on with them.  I'm a slowish crafter anyway but I do spend far too much time 'thinking' (read faffing there) about what to do instead of really 'doing' it.

Well, that's my three crafting resolution for 2012.  I bet yours will match them by at least 65%, lol?

All that remains for this post is to wish each and everyone of you a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Lots of love
Lesley  Xx

New Year's Resolutions (posted by Judith)

Well, several months ago, I spoke about our next project and hoped that we would be back shortly to show you what we had all been making. Sadly we have all been affected by illness either ourselves, or that of a family member. Our crafting commitments have kept us busy, and life in general has kept us on our toes.

Elaine suggested that we all post our New Year crafting resolutions before we start 2012 afresh on our joint blog, and so if you will please accept our apologies for our lapse in blog posts, I'll start you off with mine.

Firstly, I hope to keep my craft room more organised and tidy this year. It needs a major overhaul, and a good sort out. I'd like to empty it out and start again, but I can't see that happening. I think that I will have to tackle one area at a time, and be quite ruthless. I have been reading a thread on a forum that I belong to on this subject with interest, only today, funnily enough. They recommend that you sort your stuff into three piles, what you want to keep, what you want to sell or give away, and what must be thrown away. Be creative with how you store your stash too, look for cheap storage, don't spend a fortune if you don't have to, recycle if possible.

Secondly, I intend to make Christmas cards throughout the year. I started very well last year, joining in with the Bah Humbug blog, and kept going for three months! Those cards were my saving grace at the end of the year when I was unwell, so I will do that again this year, but keep going for longer. I read that sadly, the Bah Humbug blog won't be running for the forseeable future, which is a real shame, but I have a plan up my sleeve to deal with that on a personal level, anyway!

Finally, I would like to recycle more in my crafting. I already use a lot of my unused stash on a regular basis, as followers of my own blog will know. However, I want to use the ribbons, packaging, etc., that I receive in my crafting on a more regular basis. I have saved some lovely things from Christmas, and have some ideas forming for them already.

So there you go, that's my three crafting resolutions for 2012, what would yours be? I wonder what Elaine, Lesley and Jo are planning to do in the year ahead? I hope that you all have a very Happy New Year, and that 2012 is a healthy creative, crafty year for you all. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Our next project

Hi Folks, it's time to announce the choice for our next project. This time it is Lesley's choice, and she has chosen 'Tissue Tape Tricks' from the July Craft Stamper magazine, by Liesbeth Fidder, for us to base our projects on. This is a great article, packed with lots of ideas, and hopefully will give us great scope to make our own items.

Keep checking back to see if we manage to get any sneaky peeks posted, and hopefully, you'll see our projects starting to appear in the not too distant future!

Judith xx

A not so tiny bird box! (posted by Elaine)

Well it's my turn to bring this quartet of our projects to a close. Judith set us the challenge of making a project of our choice in the colour palette chosen by Rachel Jackson of cream, latte and bordeaux from the May issue of Craft Stamper. My project is inspired by the lovely little bird house made by Jean Hardy in the April issue of the magazine.

I say inspired because my bird box is not tiny. You may know that my crafty friend Judith has this great idea of Forgotten Friday on her blog, using stamps and goodies that find their way into her craft room but have never been used. I think most of us are guilty of buying more products that we can keep up with. I bought this bird box with the aim of altering it sometime.

Now I had been looking at this box as I went in and out of my craft shed and doing nothing with it for far too long, so I decided to go for the Forgotten Friday approach and get on and do something with it. Now as well as my bird box, I decided to use a fab set of stamps from Prima called Green Leaf which were purchased as a result of another article by Rachel Jackson in Craft Stamper which I had shamefully never inked! I also used some papers from a huge 12 x 12 Bella Bella pad from My Mind's Eye that I bought ages ago in Blade Rubber that had incredibly never been touched - except to stroke!

I used the corners of the pattern on the paper to make the eaves of the house. I then overstamped with the Notary stamp from Prima in Hazlenut Adirondack ink. I added my favourite maple leaf stamp from Lavinia stamped in Expresso Adirondack and and the door from Crafty Individuals stamped in Plum Archival ink. The word "home" is from the new Chocolate Baroque Home Sweet Home set, mounted into a Tim Holtz ornate frame and covered with glossy accents. I decorated the eaves with some beaded trim and braid and added paper scrap roses, paper roses and the little key with some sari ribbon to the front of the box, as you know I don't really do minimalist!

The sides of the box got similar treatment with butterflies from the Prima Green Leaf set added and some sweet little laser cut birds and a little stamped grass.

These side views also show the roof which was made of punched strips cut using an X cut punch from a newsprint Tim Holtz paper from the Lost and Found collection, edged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I made the ridge of the roof from thin copper coloured metal which I cut with a lacy edge Fiskars punch.

I mounted the box onto a base made from chipboard which I covered in moulding paste through a decorative screen and then painted in crean and inked with more Hazlenut dye ink to highlight the pattern.

The back view shows the little bird stamp from the Green Leaf set stamped and coloured with pencils, his crown has been embossed in gold and a couple of brass butterfly charms have been added. Originally the bird was going to be on the front of the house, but in the end I decided I liked it's domestic look, so added the birds to the sides and back panels instead.

I did rather stretch the colour palette as I found myself adding more pink and dark brown. Hopefully I haven't strayed too far from the original inspiration!

So thanks to Judith for choosing this project, although I have to confess I found it hard to settle on an idea to work on as the field was wide open. Unusually for me this project wasn't planned. I had to work it out as I went along, but I am pleased how it came together in the end and thoroughly enjoyed working in a more organic way! Thanks of course too, to Rachel Jackson for her inspiring colours and to Jean Hardy for her tiny bird box which inspired me to create a larger one.

Thanks for popping in to see our different projects - we always appreciate your comments.

Elaine

Carving a Niche for Myself (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, it's my turn to post my project on our joint Blog. I chose the option this month, and it was slightly different to our previous challenges. I told the girls that they should follow Rachel Jackson's colour challenge on page 78 of the May Craft Stamper magazine, but they could combine this with any other project from the March, April or May magazines. This gave us enormous scope for variety, but also made us quite nervous, wondering if we would pick the same project as one of the others. So far, Jo, Lesley and myself have all been different, but we have yet to see Elaine's project.

I knew as soon as I saw my project, that I would like to make this one, even before I had the chance to choose the CSQ project.  I have chosen, funnily enough, another Rachel Jackson project; it is on page 8 of the April Craft Stamper magazine 'Carve a Niche'. I love old books, I regularly go to charity shops and buy them to alter, or use the pages in mixed media projects. I look for lovely covers, and have some really textured ones waiting to be made into something new. For this project, I found a great burgundy book, which was a good size, big enough for my main stamp, with plenty of space around the edges, as I had plans to add embellishments.

I used a lovely stamp by Stampington and Company as my main image, colouring it with my Polychromos pencils in the chosen colour palette. I decoupaged it onto a piece of card that I had coloured with chalk inks.

I followed Rachel's instructions to cut the front of my book out, and tear through my book pages, as you can see, it took ages! I decided not to paint my pages though, as I wanted a creamy feel to my pages.

I then took some tissue paper, and stained it with tea, and left it to dry. I stamped this with a script stamp from IndigoBlu, and a phrase from The Artistic Stamper, in Timber Brown Stazon. I added this to my book cover with matte medium, as I wanted the burgundy colour to show through, in keeping with the colour palette. I added pieces of book page randomly, painted with a very diluted wash of Cranberry paint dabber.

I then stamped lots of butterflies, some onto card, some onto shrink plastic, and some onto Clearly for Art. I coloured them in, either using my Polychromos, or alcohol inks, shrinking, or heating them where necessary.I then stuck them to my book.

 

I then added a ribbon inside the book covers so that I could tie the book closed, as per Rachel's instructions.

I had an onlooker when I was taking my photos, the eagle eyed amongst you will spot her paw in this photo, she wouldn't budge as she likes to be involved. Finally, here is the finished article:

I thoroughly enjoyed making this project, and would certainly make another one. I have Rachel to thank both for her colour inspiration, and the tips and hints on the book project.
Thanks for stopping by today, Judith xx