Playdate and a pressie...

I started this page in my moleskine this morning and shall try to add some journalling later. I tried to capture the essence of girls having fun together. My lovely blog friend Kate Crane (of Craft Stamper fame) and her family are here on holiday at the moment. Kate came to the shop today for a playdate and brought in her 365 day challenge diary and her A4 and A5 moleskine journals to show me (at my request I may add). They are all so fabulous - so much to take in - too much in fact.
We both layered paint and ink and other messy stuff on our pages and we were so engrossed in our work we didn't notice the time and it was gone half past two before we realised. She went off to join her family at the beach and I realised I hadn't taken a photo of her page. Hopefully we will meet up again before she goes home.

Kate gave me a fabulous atc - in her own special style - I am so doing a happy dance. Isn't it just gorgeous and aren't I the lucky one. Sadly the photo doesn't show the sheen or the brightness of the colours but in real life it's even more lovely. I tried to take a photo of us holding my camera not very successfully... Kate took a much better one with her camera that she will email me when she gets home but here's this one for now...Here's this week's project for the youngsters who come to class....

the frame and easel were given a paint wash just to soften the look while keeping the woodgrain... detail of the lollipop flowers.... and the butterfly....stamped, coloured, Stickled and with a beaded body and antennae

Here's the girls from last night who worked so hard with their work

Becky, Katie, Dayana, Sabrina, Megan Bye for now

Sue

I went and had my hair re-styled yesterday - Gayle cut layers into my bob and flicked out the ends. It looked fabulous when I left the hairdressers



...but when I got up this morning!!! no photos of that I can tell you. I need to learn what to do with it - I have had a bob for more years than I care to mention - so easy - and now, well!!!

A couple of posts back I showed some friendly plastic atc's I had made for classes. I love working with it but am a Jill of all and master of none so my pieces reflect that.
I can't tell you how proud and amazed I am that I got a blog comment from.....the Queen of Friendly Plastic herself - yes Liz Welch - how cool is that. I feel so honoured that she even bothered to look at my blog never mind to leave a comment. I have met her a couple of times and she is so lovely to talk to. She even gave me a couple of her pieces that I showed the ladies this morning. I am so in awe watching her as she works.

This morning I carried on teaching friendly plastic and it was...friendly I mean...
and it did all I could have asked. Here are Gill, Mu and Q happily working away. Q and Gill sing in a choir so there's always lots of singing going on when Q comes - this morning it was musicals, West Side Story, Carousel and Cabaret.



here's Gill's


and Mu's


and Q's


They did well especially as it was their first time. There will be more techniques for them next week.
I forgot to photograph Liz's pieces and they are at the shop but I will tomorrow. Liz, if you are reading this I still can't master the ooze technique so any tips for it I'd be most grateful.

Must go as it is my new dog's 2nd birthday and we are off to a party at her Mum's house so
Bye for now
Sue

It's good to be friendly...

Had good fun yesterday trying out the friendly plastic for classes later this week and next.
The atc on the left is the new one I made and the one on the right is the one you have seen before.



Thought this looked like some exotic flower...


...but then again it could be Christmas trees....


These are Inga's pieces...



Inga joined me in the shop to learn about and familiarise herslf with a few products as she may be looking after the shop while I have holidays,days off etc, if things work out. She is a talented silk batik artist with a delightful daughter Dayana who comes to Monday classes.

On Monday evening when Emily's Mum came to collect her, her big sister Melissa brought me this gorgeous scarf she had made me over the Christmas holidays.


It is actually two scarves - one red and one brown and they entwine. Lots of pompoms! I was so happy as it is lovely and soft and warm. If this chilly weather continues I can see me wearing it every day.

Gotta go as I have Melissa and other girls for Wednesday class so
Bye for now
Sue

late night...but worth it!!!

Q asked if I could show them what to do with friendly plastic and so last night I was up working until 1.15 trying to finish these four atc's for next week's classes. I didn't need to stay up but I just kept thinking I'll just finish this bit... and this bit ...and before I knew it time had flown and I was even too tired to take photos...but after another busy morning in the shop they are now photographed and ready.






I keep looking at the bottom two and thinking they need something else but for now they can lay on my craft table until it hits me what's missing. The bottom one unfortunately doesn't show the lovely shimmer of the mica powders.

and here's my 365 day calendar challenge up to date - click on the Kathryn wheel blog on the sidebar if you don't know what this is.



I have the day off tomorrow (only reopened the shop yesterday after a two week break) but it's the Spanish three Kings fiesta when all the Spanish children get their presents...how sad is that as its the day before they go back to school!

Bye for now
sue

Preparing for halloween

Now this really is what I call Monday...Sunday before you've gone to bed even if it is 00.46 is still Sunday in my book...

Anyway, this week being half term holiday some children (and adults) are away but for those that still wanted to come to class I made a few atc's for them to take inspiration from.....



both Dayana and Louisa came tonight and painted masks, unfortunately unfinished and made atc's.

Dayana's fabulous atc's..she is only 8 years old...



and wearing her mask....



...and Louisa who is 9 modelling her mask - her super atc's are on the table in front of her...



don't they both look gruesome!!! wish I knew how to put the pictures side by side??

Today's earring watch - these are lime and amber and hand made, bought when we visited La Coruna in the north of Spain some years back...



...think all this talk of Halloween and colour orange are having an effect on my hair - it's looking less blonde and more orange in every photo!! obviously some magic in the air!!!

Well, time for bed said Dougal or was it Zebedee??? so I'm off - nightnight

Sue

Houston, we have a problem!!!

Last week we had a problem with the computer breaking down and having to go to be repaired - that was Thursday - and so Colin brought the laptop from the shop. Well, wouldn't you know it - we came down Friday morning and that had decided not to work too!!! so on Saturday that went in for repair. We have the main computer back but it is still not right and has to go back again tomorrow so I will blog now while I still have the chance!!

Tonight's class was really good and Emily brought a friend, Sina who is visiting from Germany. The girls work so hard and considering their young age they do extremely well. We made a little book to store the atc's that we made last week.

Here they are all working hard... Well I had planned on showing the photos I took but "it"!!! will not let me so that will have to wait till "it" is finally mended.

so Bye for now (for who knows how long)
Sue

atc's from Wednesdays workshop.

top row - mine
2nd row - Tanya
3rd row - Norah
4th row - Erica
5th row - Christine
6th row - Katharine

The left one was done with alcohol inks, middle one was pre-stamped with three flower images and right one was Tim's spritz and flick technique.

My Mum and her friend are arriving tonmorrow for a week's holiday so off to tidy the house, make up beds, etc so
Bye for now
Sue x

Sophie's last kidz club

Sadly, Sophie (right)is returning to the UK - recession and all that... so we made ATC's and traded them...and we had kiddie champagne and chocolate chip cakes for break.

and here are the ATC's we made courtesy of a technique nicked from Dyan (Art from the heart) Reaveley. Thanks Dyan x



Gotta go - shop to open, class to teach - continuation of a mini book started last week. maybe photos later.
Bye for now Sue xx

Tanya tagged me.....

Tanya tagged me.....I have to take a photo of me right here, right now as I am- no putting on make up, hair brushing or anything - just as!!! Grab Colin's new camera and away we go. Oh well I tried - never mind doesn't my bum look big in this - I hadn't realised how my nose has grown aaaaagghhh!!!!! and where have all those veins come from - think I'll have to go back to my own out of focus camera - I look so much better on there!!!!

Today is a fiesta (Spanish Father's Day ) so I thought I would just relax, do a little artwork for myself, take the dog for a leisurely walk etc but think I had better grab my make up bag and hairbrush before I go as I don't want to scare the locals ha!ha!

I now have to tag five others and challenge them to do the same so here goes:

Dyan, Kate, Suze, Sian and Jackie - hope you are up for it girls!

Last night I started the girls on drawing faces - to get them to really look at details of how eyes fit into the head and such like with the intention of them doing a self portrait picture next week and the week after. These are the two suziblu inspired atc's I made to give them an idea of what their finished work would look like only on a bigger scale. I have been drawing a lot of suziblu type atc's lately and I am really enjoying gettiing back to this type of art

These are the five steps I showed to the girls to get them started.

and these are five pictures I myself drew when I was at school so they would have been done in the 1960's. I found them when I was looking for something else and took them to show the girls. When you think how we agonise which products to use and on which surface - these were done on the type of paper that children were given with school type coloured pencils!!! those were the days!!

Anyway, enough reminiscences, off to walk the dog through the forest

Bye for now Sue xx