International Charm Day - 28 April

Just a quick post to let you know that we will once again host an event to celebrate International Charm Day!!

(Or as Amber Dawn from Inventive Soul calls it - International Handmade Art Charm Day)

To quote Amber Dawn -

On this day we celebrate life, friendship, artistic charms to wear. We do this by sharing and wearing our own handmade art charms or give gifts of charms, charm making supplies or charm related items. Love, hope, charity, creativity, friendship, kindness, happiness and sharing are many of the founding components behind this event. We share with those we know and those we do not know.

Please join us on 28 April 2011

at my (Benice's) Studio.

You can pop in  at any time between 10:00 and 15:00.

(Allow at least 2 hours to complete your works of art
and socialise a bit)

R50 will buy you a cup of tea, a cupcake (what else?)
& the supplies needed to make two items of handmade art.

 

You will make a "Bobbin Fairy" (to keep), as well as
a "Message on a Thimble" which you will swap for another one
made by one of the other participants.

Please email us to ensure we keep a "spot" for you!?

Be sure to check out Amber Dawn's website to find out what people all over the world will be doing on the 28th...

And the Winner is: Candice !

I decided to go with the names... and not the numbers, much easier!?!

I asked Marie to do the draw ....

.....  and CANDICE is our winner!  Congratulations!!

Please send me an email with all your details so I can mail you your apron.

The ladies who attended the class today really enjoyed it! Better therapy than Prozac or blue hair!!

Most of the aprons are still under construction, but you should get an idea of the fun we had by just looking at the photos!?.

Birds, flowers, swirls and butterflies were cut from quilting fabric with Spellbinders & Sizzix dies.
We ironed applique paper onto the back of the fabric to stabilize it, before die-cutting the shapes.
A lot less cutting time by hand and perfect circles, ovals & butterflies every time!!
Then ribbon and buttons were added.
The rose trim was stained with Dala's Sun Paint,
quotes stamped (with Archival Ink) and there you have it...

This is Belinde's apron.
She decided to go for a needlework theme. She also does quilting and plans to find even more stuff from her needlework box to embellish her apron.

 *******

 Karen's apron looks very stunning in pink and red with a touch of turquoise.
We stained the rose trim with a colour that matched the colours of the birds and flowers.

Here is Karen's (almost) completed apron in all its glory!!

*******

Mariette opted for a brown, olive and turquoise flower and bird themed apron.
The bird images came from quilting fabric.
Once again she ironed applique paper onto the back before hand-cutting the intricate images.
SO much easier and a lot less fuss!

 The images of leaves (Hero Arts) were stamped onto quilting fabric and then cut out. 
Fancy ribbons were used for the stems...

********

Mercia also went for the flower & butterfly theme.
The combination of yellow, green and red reminds you of summertime...

 See if you can spot the dragonfly!?
Same rose trim (under the bird), but this time we stained it green.

Mercia used gathered ribbon and seed beads to "jazz up" her flowers.

 ********

Even though Marie & Mercia used the same colour scheme,
each of their aprons has a personality of its own.

TIP:  When using a stamped quote like Marie did on the pocket.

Stamp it on a separate piece of fabric, cut it out and then iron onto your apron.
(If you have a smudged or incomplete image you can redo it and not mess up your whole work of art!!)

 *******

Riette! You slipped under the radar??.... no photo of your apron?!

Please send us a photograph of yours.

A heartfelt "Thank you" to all our blogging friends for your support and feedback!!
You are the reason we look forward to  signing on every day...

Elna & Benice

? Lucky Number ?

Hi Everyone

Today was my day for mistakes..... I won't tell you all of them, but there were at least 5!

One of them was trying to publish this post. This is my 3rd attempt.

Here are a few glimpses of Claudine's apron that is still under construction, but looking gorgeous!

After everything that happened today, I think I need some flowers........

so this is for all of you who might feel the same!

Tomorrow we are having an apron class, the FIRST one! 

During this class we will ask someone to draw the lucky number. 

But there was a bit of a mix up. All my fault!

Nr 4, you are now nr 5.

 Nr 5, you are now nr 6. 

I was unsuccessful in leaving a comment on our blog for Lyn, who wanted to enter the competition.

But she is nr 4. This was the email she sent to me, and my reply.

Hi Ladies

I also want to enter the competition but do not have access to any ‘blogging’ sites …
I did your class at Hobby-X – altering a messenger bag – was great fun, thanx for the knowledge.

Kind regards

Lyn Webb
------------
Hi Lyn


I have entered you, your lucky nr is 4.
Keep well and try to go on to the blog!

Elna

**************

Sorry Girls for the mix up. But Good LUCK to you all.

Now let me end the day, go to bed and dream of aprons.... or something to make things better!!!

Competition Closes on Sunday

You still have time until Sunday night 12pm to enter and win a Cotton Canvas Apron. The Lucky Number will then be selected, and the apron will be posted.
Just leave a comment on the previous post and you will stand a chance to win.

For the class at Hobby-Ex I wanted a certain colour paint for the Messenger Bags, so I mixed it myself. For the Tekkie Class in Delmas, I used the same colours. Here is my recipe: 5 parts white Dala Sunpaint and 1 part colour of your choice, except for the Navy and the Red. Their mix are about 50/50.

The brown is about 80% brown and 20% white.

Remember to cover your project with a layer of Dala gel medium and to spot wash softly with a soapy sponge.

Fatima Mangera-Minty attended my class at Hobby-Ex. This is her bag that she went home with, stunning! We did some decoupage, masking, foam stamping, rubber stamping and some paint spraying with the Dala Sun-paints.

All of these techniques can be used on the aprons.

TIP:

When finished spraying the paint, wash the nozzle of the spray bottle. By doing this, your bottle's nozzle won't clog up. Treat it as you would treat a brush.

Thanks for visiting!

Decoupage on Canvas Sneakers.

At last!!

My studio is again neat and ready for a new project.

After Hobby-Ex my studio looked like an explosion in a haberdashery store. 

Today is our Blog-aversary! We are one year old!
So this is a gift for you, something many of you have been waiting for.

The Tekkie
(Canvas Shoe, Sneaker) Tutorial

 

You will need:

a pair of white cotton canvas shoes

hot strong coffee

diluted paint
water spray bottle

craft paint

paint brush golden long synthetic hair 

plastic dropper

serviette (paper napkin) picture
scissors
gel medium

foam stamps

rubber stamps

archival ink

diamante

glue for diamante

fabric liner 

Ribbon

1. Drop hot coffee in certain spots on the tekkie.
2. Let it dry. (hairdryer)
3. Spray the places you want to cover with craft paint with a bit of water mist.
4. Drop some diluted paint on an area and let it flow, spray more water if needed.
5. Let it dry.
6. Cut the pictures from the serviette. 
7. Remove the 2 or 3 back layers.
8. Do your layout on the tekkie.
9. With enough gel on the brush, start from the inside of the picture and work to the outside.
10. Go over the same area a few times until the gel has gone through the paper and onto the canvas.
11. If you see baubles, there is air underneath the paper. Spray a little water and rework the area.
12. Let it dry.
13. You are now ready for foam stamping with acrylic paint.
14. When that is dry, you can do some rubber stamping.
15. Finish the project off with some rabric liners and some diamante.
16. Replace the laces with ribbon that matches your colour sceme.
17. Spray with Scotchgaurd or paint with Dala Waterproofing Medium.
18. Clean with a damp sponge.

*****

Also for the anniversary, we deceided to give away an apron to alter.

*****

All you have to do is to leave a comment on the blog

about what you think you will do with your apron to Zush it up.

We will use the random number selector to choose the winning number.

 

 

Hobby-Ex

A huge thank you to everyone who came to say hello at Hobby-Ex. I've met a whole bunch of new girls who are very enthusiastic about crafts and the Tekkies were a huge success, thanks to Claudine for spotting the article in a Somerset Magazine over a year ago and telling us that this would be a big hit, and yes, it still is. The Dala Sun paint really works well on the canvas, on the tekkies, the aprons and the messenger bags. The Dala ink mixes well with the new Pearlescent Powder for a shimmering effect when you spray the medium on the canvas. A very little powder goes a long, long way.I REALLY like the powders and they are very well priced.

The girls who attended my Messenger bag class, please send me photos so that I can publish them, they really came out better than mine. I will put you all on our newsletter list, if you don't want to receive the Newsletter, please just unsubscribe.

Getting ready for the show was hectic, and I still wanted to decorate an apron to wear during the show. So Thursday morning I decided that here was no time to paint and I decided to sew. So this is the result.

You can sew on anything you want to. Remember, this was not made for cooking, but for showing off!

Remember, you don't wash a piece of art, but you are welcome to cover it with a layer of Waterproofing Medium, available from Dala. 

Ja, tot 'n stukkie lanternpit!

The blank aprons made from cotton canvas and ready to alter

(in Medium and Large) are available from our shop.

Please order via e-mail, from wohlitz@mweb.co.za

A seperate link to the shop will soon be up and running,  

The price for an apron is R 98.95, excluding postage.

The tekkie tutorial will soon be posted!

Thanks for visiting!

Important Changes to our Class Schedule

A huge "Thank You" to all the visitors for popping in over the last couple of days...

Please note that there have been a number of changes to our class schedule at Rosemary Manor.  You can contact Mignon to book your place -just click on the notice above for her contact details.

We will publish the dates for the Greeting Cards and the Bunting classes very soon!?

Hope to see you there!!

Another Soul Sisters Class

I received an urgent SMS (text message) from Jaclyn on Sunday to ask if I could teach the beading class for the next series of Soul Sisters workshops due to start this Friday...

So instead of having a quiet week before attending  Hobby-X on Thursday, I am knee-deep in counting beads & charms, measuring ribbons & waxed cord, checking watch faces, gathering all my beading tools and freaking out every so often!?

This is just a hint of what we plan to do at the class...

... a Fibre Wrist-Watch!?

Elna is also in the throws of packing kits for her In2Crafts workshops at Hobby-X, so I guess we will "see you" next week.


Thank you for visiting...