Thursday, May 28, 2009

Tutti Frutti Bangles

Winter is only a few days away in the southern hemisphere but to chase off the winter gloom I've been working on a collection of bright, sherbet coloured bangles. This set is called Tutti Frutti and includes square, flat, cuff, geo and half round bangles cast in a variety of translucent colours. What a fun collection! And this set is called Pink Lemonade . Stacking and layering them is a great way to wear them. Choose a single colour family like this one or a combination of colours, like the Tutti Frutti mix. If you're interested in adding some of these bright beauties to your collection of accessories, head on over to my website where you'll find a variety of colours and shapes available for purchase....
Monday, May 25, 2009

Scrapbook Expo Workshops

Butterfly Fantasy Australia's biggest papercraft-dedicated craft show is on at the Southbank Convention Centre in less than two weeks. There are almost 50 exhibitors to whet your papercrafting appetite with their wares. All you lucky crafters in Brisbane, it's right on your doorstep! I'll be demoing on the Stamp Antics stand over the weekend and I'm also teaching three workshops using Friendly Plastic. So if you're interested in learning how to work with this unique material, there are still a couple of places available in the Sunday workshop wh ere you'll learn how to mould with Friendly Plastic. You can book online until June 2nd or call 02 9452 7575 to make a phone booking. Or if you miss the deadline, you can book a t the show if there are any places still available. Tropical Fish Stamp Antics are sponsoring my classes and they have generously supplied all the materials in the kits - you even get to keep the Tim Holtz Tonic scissors in the Trop...
Thursday, May 21, 2009

How to Turn Modern into Vintaj - Take 2

It's time to get the recipe book out again today and use a tried and tested recipe - Let's revisit "How to turn modern into Vintaj". This resin piece was a contradiction in styles - classical cameo cast in modern lime green - beautiful, yet ugly! But, add a few choice ingredients - a beautiful filigree stamping and some coordinating glass beads - and well, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. And that brings me to today's piece - a glitzy, faceted cabochon. This piece definitely doesn't fit into the classical category either but it is a lovely shape and it's faceted so it catches the light as it moves. I think it will definitely benefit from the "How to turn modern into Vintaj" recipe. So let's begin with the cabochon and wrap it snugly in the filigree. Add some coordinating beads and chain ........and voilà - How to Turn Modern into Vintaj - Take 2! And like it's counterpart, it looks just as good from the back! Delish!...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Friendly Plastic Pen Classes

This weekend I'm conducting the first of my Friendly Plastic Pen classes at Stamp Antics. If you've been following my blog you'll have seen a number of these pens gracing my posts over recent weeks. This particular one is called Royal Orchid and is a gift for my dear friend who celebrated her birthday yesterday. I packaged it up in a neat little presentation box and it looked like a million dollars - a really practical, yet arty-crafty, gift for a very dear friend. She was absolutely delighted to receive something made just for her, and I loved making it for her as much as she loved receiving it. If you're interested in learning how to make your own (start making them now for Christmas!) then check out my website for class details. Bookings can be made direct with Stamp Antics but be quick because the morning class is already full and there are only a couple of places left in the afternoon class. But if this weekend doesn't suit, there is another class sched...
Thursday, May 14, 2009

Autumn is a Second Spring........

Here in Australia the leaves are turning and winter is fast approaching. We've farewelled the warmth of summer days and we're enjoying the last bit of colour autumn has to offer. It is my favourite season of the year. In Queensland, we're lucky to have a dry, mild winter - no winter gloom in the Sunshine state - and we only have two seasons: the wet one and the dry. We don't see a changing of the seasons and we seem to move almost seemlessly from summer to winter. It is wonderful to still be experiencing warm days in the middle of May even though the nights are now chilly. The only sign that winter is approaching is the shorter days. But having grown up in a cooler clime, I sometimes miss the changing of the seasons....... no colourful leaves in autumn and no deciduous trees in winter. So today's offering is an ode to those days of my youth when I experienced a true autumn - where the lush green leaves of summer gave way to the fiery shades of red, orange and yell...