Felt Keyrings

 Today's project was led by Mary, and we made some sweet felt keyrings

Beryl

Jyotsna

Maria

Mary

Nadi

Shilpa

Shobha

Sue

Tricia

Spinner Cards

 At our most recent meeting, we had a go at making spinner cards. These are quite simple (especially if you have a die cutter) but look quite impressive.

Beryl

Dominique

Jyotsna

Maria

Mary

Nadi

Shilpa

Sue H

Tricia

The cards are A6 sized, made from half a sheet of A4 cut along the long axis. Most shapes were cut using a Big Shot and a range of dies from various manufacturers, although some members supplied their own 'spinners'.

New Year and New Projects!

To start 2025, we spent our session today playing with acrylic paint, stencils, brushes, and assorted unconventional mark makers. The original idea came from Karen Telfer via this video to make gift card holders. But the technique also produces some lovely, textured pieces which can be used for other things - gift boxes, cards, and I'm sure other things too.

Tricia made her original example and it turned out like this.

The basic sheets created this afternoon:

Beryl

Dominique

Maria

Mary

Nadi

Tricia

 

Stitching on Card

 Stitching on card is one of my favourite techniques when it comes to making cards, and there are two websites where I get most of the patterns. They are Stitching Cards and Form a Lines . Both sites offer a range of patterns for (currently) £1.36, but they both have a smaller range of patterns that are free to use, and which I have permission to share in a 'class'. I did that recently, and we had some lovely results - using machine embroidery thread and 300gsm white card.

Beryl used a pattern intended as a bookmark, but made it beautifully with some extra white space.

Dominique made this lovely wreath and decorated it with beads and other embellishments.

Jyotsna stitched this lovely birthday card completed with a stamped sentiment and some sticky gems.

Nadi also chose to use the wreath pattern, but added some rather clever extra beads as well as sparkly additions.

Shilpa made this lovely birthday card and put her own spin on the stalks and leaves.

Tricia also used the wreath pattern (well, it is December) and finished with some glitter dots.

There are other ways to stitch on card, and some companies sell dies for the purpose. Spellbinders have done some good ones, although they do make non-standard sizes as almost everything they produce is aimed at US A2 sizing which is a pain. However, the dies can be used on a 6 by 6 cards with some additions. This was stitched on thinner card (to help with cutting) and with Perle Cotton as the holes are bigger. (Dies from other Marianne were also used, as well as sticky beads.)

It's also possible to use finer thread - and metallic thread works well as the larger holes are more forgiving than the ones you prick for yourself. Here, the bauble was stamped using a very old Chocolate Baroque stamp.

There should be more photos when all the cards are finished!

Playing with Clay

 At today's meeting, we all revisited our childhood and had a play with clay! Some used actual air-dry clay while others used the lightweight clay that's marketed for children (and is available at much higher prices for adults under the brand name Hearty.) Apart from shaping the clay, I think we all found just handling and kneading it quite therapeutic - a bit like having a stress ball!

It will take a while for all the projects to get finished - clay takes a while to dry and if it's going to be painted, you can't really do that while the clay is wet. But, here's a first sight of what we got up to. We used hand moulding, we used various things to cut (from biscuit cutters to container tops) and also used some sugarcraft cutter/moulds.

Barbara moulded this adorable dog (with bone!) from the lightweight clay.

Beryl made a range of biscuit-cut hanging decorations using 'normal' clay.

Dominique made some beautifully colourful creations using the lightweight clay.

Mary made some lovely hanging decorations with 'normal' clay.

Parvin made a lovely butterfly and smaller hanging decoration using the lightweight clay.

Shobha made some lovely creations using the lightweight clay.

Origami Shirts

 Nadi led this project - she's a fan of making cards for men using origami shirts and has made quite a few.

Beryl made a couple of shirts for use later:

Shobha mad this card in beautiful shades of green.

And Tricia decided to adapt the idea using Christmas origami paper to come up with a Christmas t-shirt: