Trees and demos

Like with many other cards, I get the feeling that is a bit out there. Let me explain. I often do what I call over the edge cards, I sure like to make them and probably would be delighted to get them, but that is not the point. Cardmaking is one of the few generous hobbies out there becuase you make something to give to someone else and therefore that person tastes whould be on your mind while making the card. But, how many people would appreciate the over the edge cards? Not sure. However, since I like to make them I will keep making them. Some day I may even get one!

Although there has been a clear trend of trees and wood grain images in the craft world, I haven't bought that much with trees or wood. Except, that is, this lovely Penny Black stamp. I thinks is so pretty yet perfect for men cards, so that is why I used it for a card that I did at a workshop with the same title.

By the way, next weekend I will be among the large group of demonstrators at the Glitter Pot. Loads of super talented cardmakers will be there, so if you can make it, you should not miss the event!

Details, details

When I design a project for a workshop, I always have in mind that not only has to look good but that is has to have some technique that the attendants can learn or master in the class. I have already commented in other post the difficulty on guessing what techniques or styles is going to be well received, so I tend to try and pack as much as it is possible. For this layout I choose by nestabilities flowers and creating a background paper lace by using all white card.

Bellow, you have a photo of the lace paper created by using five different edge punches -all by Martha Stewart, with the exception of the first one in pink which is by Fiskars-. By layering them it creates a soft effect, lace like, hence the name. I can not take credit for this technique, obviously, but I also ca not remember the first person I saw it used by, so apologies for that.



And here you have a detail photo of the flowers.

Love, love, love

this two love birds are going to get married soon. Hassan is Omar's only brother and he is getting married to the gorgeous Debra early next year. When they came for a few days in May Omar and i took them to Hever Castle and did a mini engagement shoot. I really liked the photos so I used them for the layout that I did for the multi photo layouts workshop at Topaz Crafts a few weeks ago. Incidentally, it was the same workshop where Joan brought the Rafa photos!

Layout

I have been wanting to post some pages in the blog for quite a while now, but with the uploading problem it hasn't been possible.



So, now with the Picassa web album I can upload but the quality of the photos is not very good. Anyway, at least I can share this layout I did for one of my classes at Topaz Crafts, Lancashire.
I used Lemonde papers (Basic Grey), Whitewash card, Martha Stewart punches (border and butterflies) and Cuttlebug folder.

I am useless!

In many ways I am useless, but specially with internet related things. I have not been able to solve the issue I have so that I can post pictures again in the blog. I have come up with a solution for the time being, so I use Picasa web albums.


This card is one of the ones I taught at The Glitter Pot two weeks ago. It was part of the All about Circles workshop, which featured only circular products. The Acetate Scallop circles and card ones are from Craftwork Cards, and papers by Pebbles Inc.

Still issues with blogger

Actually with my ftp server, which it is really annoying as I have loads of photos to share.
I took last week off as my cousin Angela came to visit us from Spain. As neither Omar nor me had ever been to Cornwall, so we decided to go for a few days. As planning is not our forte we decided to do a road trip without any plans but just book the hotel on the same day. At the end we only spent two nights, but we did go to a lot of places.
The first day, we stopped at Stonehenge, Exeter -lovely cathedral and surroundings-, Dartmoor National Park -we actually only stopped once, but the moor that inspired The Hound of the Baskervilles is a fascinating park- and then we got to Plymouth to spent the night. We loved Plymouth. It is really enchanting place and we had a fab dinner at The Barbican Kitchen, yummy food.
On the second day, we went to Penzance, on the way we stopped at Looe, Truro, other coastal towns, Lizzard point -beautiful spot of coast the most southern spot in Great Britain-, and finnally we got to Penzance where we spent the night. To me, it was a bit disappointing, it felt less lively than I had anticipated, but it was nice enough.
The third day was brilliant. As soon as we woke up, which for my standards was early, we went to Mount St Michael. It is a lovely place, but you have to have proper shoes as the path to the castle is steep and uneven. After that we had a picnic on the beach in front of the St Michael, but as soon as we finished eating the rain started so we decided to jump into the car and go to Land's End. A part from the monstrosity that is that hideous tourist centre/arcade, the scenery is great. After that we went to St Ives, and we all loved St Ives. Although a bit too crowed for our liking -it is August after all- the place has a great vibe to it and it is charming, lively and artsy as well, a mix of surfer dudes and art galleries, ice cream vendors and pasties shops... just lovely. On the way back home, we stopped at Tintagel. A bit of a let down for me as i always loved the Arturian legends, but I would like to come back again and checked it properly.
We got home really late, passed midnight, but it was worth it as we had loads to do the next day as my cousin wanted to go to London to do some shopping, which we did.
As you can imagine, we did loads of kilometers in just three days, maybe not very relaxing for some, but we enjoyed thoroughly.

Well, at least now I know what the problem is with my blog. Basically issues with the FTP server. Hopefully will get sorted soon, not so sure how soon that is. And it pains me, because I have loads of photos to share.
I am taking a week off, we have some plans to do a road trip around England.

Blogger problems

Somehow I am having major issues with blogger to upload photos. Errr!
I will try to fix it as soon as possible, which may take a couple of days as I have a workshop all day tomorrow at The Glitter Pot.

More wraps and Richie

Another Richie card, this one uses a wrap (elegant square), foiled paper, spring die cut flowers, card candy and of course one of my In Circles.

More Craftwork Cards

this card is another card i did last week. It is inspired on the one Julie Hickey -who works for Craftwork Cards- did here. In my case, I used Richie papers and Spring flowers and the large scallop square maps as the main card. Like yesterday's card, thanks to the fact that the srping die cut flowers are made out of thick card you can link them together and make them hold the thin strip of card a the right edge. To finish off the card I used one of my messages in circles.

I am off to prepare friday's classes at The Glitter Pot and also finish off some articles as their deadline is fast approaching!