A really Groovi Day!

Warning!  This is a serious overload of photos, but I did not want to leave anyone out.

Yesterday was a beautifully relaxing day over at Crafters Companion at Evesham, with the lovely Hazel Edwards in charge of a Groovi Day.  On each class, there were a real mix of experience and knowledge, from total beginners upwards.  No matter how much or how little knowledge, everyone went home with a piece of work they were very happy with.

Hazel had created three different cards, with the idea that each of us could choose the level we felt happiest with, or go off piste and choose how to interpret the plates.  With five minutes, everyone had got their head down, deep in concentration.  Such a quiet class.

 Part One - Morning Group

 

 This was a shot I sneaked of the lovely creation from the lady next to me, who had only ever used the metal Pergamono plates and was a total novice with Groovi.  What a beautiful piece of work she created.

 Her we have Hazel helping another class member choose her backing paper from the designer paper stash.

This is the kind of happy smile that everyone showed, not surprising when you look at the work shown below, produced in this group.  I will apologise for the quality of photography, but it was difficult to avoid the shadows.

Those three hours flew by and I certainly did not have time to finish my piece, my fault for taking the perforating and snipping rather further than, perhaps, I intended.  

Part Two - Afternoon Group

After a delicious lunch, very kindly brought to us by the coffee shop staff, the second group of ladies arrived.  Dee and I stayed on for the second session.  dee started a new piece while I concentrated on going further with my first piece of work.  I think we will both finish them off at home when time allows.

Again, it was lovely to see new faces, people who had little of no experience of the Groovi system.  Again, they were all delighted with what they learned and what they produced during the class. 

 Thank you to Hazel and Clarity for a really enjoyable day among a great bunch of ladies, and I hope to see you all again next time.  I also need to say thank you to all the enthusiastic staff of the Crafters Companion Store.  I hope  to see even more people there next time, and that those of you who had to miss out this time recover from these horrid bugs that are floating about.

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Due to Dawn Bibby's illness, Clarity has risen to the occasion and the very hard working Paul Church is filling the gap with a Clarity One Day Special, bringing back a lovely set from May 2018.  The first show will be at 6 pm.  Please support Paul and Clarity.

Not quite what I intended yesterday

My intention was quite modest, to mount these toppers, all left over from some of Maria's classes.

However, things did not quite work out as planned, so these are still waiting to be finished.  

Instead, the day was largely spent trying to get various bags sorted out to take to classes.  The most important was getting things ready for Hazel Edwards' Groovi workshop over at Crafters Companion at Evesham.  

Although everything is provided at any Groovi workshop, I do like to use my own tools, especially scissors.  I possess two pairs of Ringlocks, I struggle with the second pair.  Scissors are so personal and you need to get used to a new pair.

Whatever style of parchment cutting tools you eventually choose, do a lot of practice before you consider using them on a project.  Whether you choose the Exclusives, the Ringlocks, or the snips, practice is essential to get used to them.  

The other things I like to take are my own pencils.  I am a pain to share with as I tend to hold all the colours I choose in my hand while I am working.  That is not fair to those I am supposed to be sharing  with.   I also like my pencils to have wicked points which does not suit everyone else.

Why should I re-perforate before snipping parchment?

Before I get to the focus of the title of this post, there is something that I want and need to say.  For a start, most things I say here are the result of things I have done myself and found out.

I started playing with another PTC on Thursday afternoon while I was with the lovely Bromsgrove Parchers and decided to use it to try to explain something that my briain has finally sorted out. 

No 1

This is as far as I got during our session, having perforated all round, even over the bit where I made a mistake (not important as that bit will be perforated and snipped out).  After I got home, had tea, and did a few other things I looked at my good big holes to find they had closed up. Y

No 2

In photos 2 and 3, I have re-perforated a small section to give me the good holes I need to ensure good snipping.

You will hear parchers talking about letting the parchment rest between each session of embossing.  That is very important if you want good white work without the parchment buckling.

No 3

 When you perforate, you are effectively stretching tiny areas of the paper and when you leave it for a while, it relaxes, and the holes shrink again.  The secret of good snipping is having good holes.  This means that you will need to perforate again to open them up.  I have developed the habit now of re-perforating a small section and then snipping before going on to the next small section.  That ensures really good holes

No 4

In Photo 4, I have done two tiny pieces of snipping, one through the original holes I perforated during the afternoon, and one in a section I had re-perforated with the bold single needle tool.  I hope you can see the difference.  the one that is vertical is through the original holes and the horizontal snipping is through holes that I have re-perforated.  To me, the difference is very visible.  The vertical section looks a bit as if I had chewed it rather badly.  The horizontal section is not as good as I would like, but, in my defence, I started originally parching using the fine needle tools, and I struggle a little to get the neatness I would like with the bold tools.  More practice needed for me to improve.
 

Many people, who start parchment craft, love it so much that they cannot wait to finish their creations.  So they rush their work and get disappointed.  That is a shame, but often folks do not understand why it should be taken slowly.  Apart from the fact that parchment projects should be taken slowly to get the best results, it is good to focus on the process and not the end result.  

I  have seen people pick up a parchment tool and start tracing the lovely art on a Groovi plate and just relax and let the outside world go away.  You can see the tensions and stress of life just flow away from them.  Give yourselves a chance to experience that release on daily stress by enjoying the process of learning how to get the best from this beautiful craft.  

Remember that people like Linda Williams, Tina Cox, Josie Davidson and others of the Clarity design team have been doing parchment craft for years and have learned more and more over those years.  There are others on the Design Team who are much newer to the craft, but they have still taken the time to learn the techniques steadily and carefully.

Be patient and take things more slowly.  Don't try to rush a piece of work for a deadline.  Instead, take it slowly and enjoy what you are doing and you will be so happy at the end.

Nothing about Brexit here!

Well, Wednesday was a bit hectic, partly thanks to messing around, waiting for the gasman to call.  Fortunately, when he did arrive, the service did not take too long.

I did find time in the evening to do some playing with parchment, two with the Queen Mary plate and one with the Groovi Go, just for a change.

I now have ten totally different PTCs finished, ready for use, and three card toppers of different sizes.  I just need to make sure those get finished on Friday so they don't add to the pile of UFOs.  I think I will take some to this afternoon's meeting of Bromsgrove Parchers, rather than start anything new.

A couple of weeks ago, I was so fed up with serious lack of sleep that I splashed out on a weighted blanket.  As a child, we had no central heating, so I would bury myself right under the blankets with the huge cream stone hot water bottle, which were quite heavy.  Since the appearance on the scene of duvets, the clothes are very much lighter, so I wondered if extra weight might help me to sleep better again.

I have been using the new blanket for ten days and although I still don't sleep all night, I do feel that I am getting better sleep.  I really feel it is snuggling round me and helping me to relax.  I just hope the improvement continues.

I hope everyone is starting to recover from all the nasty coughs and colds that appeared over Christmas.

WOYWW - 502

Well, I managed to forget last Wednesday, but I am trying to really get my blog working from now on, so here we go.

For those reading this and wondering what this is all about, WOYWW stand for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  It is the day of the week when we show everyone what we are working on and it is supposed to be shown as it is, warts and all.

The we all nip over to Julia's at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com where we link in and then visit each other's desks and leave a comment.  All good fun.

For once, my table is relatively tidy, mainly because I have just finished some projects and need to start again with something new.  It is still parchment but using different plates.

After knocking a load of pencils onto the floor, which means trying to beat the dog to them.  So the ones in use are now in the desk storage designed for the Pergamano tools.

A plastic and wooden toast rack makes ideal working storage for the Groovi plates in use and stops the pile cascading onto the floor.

I have spent this last few days playing with the beautiful Queen parchment border grid plates, experimenting to see as many different ways of using them other than purely border plates.

Now, I have another plate, ready to play with, to see what can be done with it.  If you want to see what comes out of it, you will have to look on blogs still to come.

Just as a matter of interest, did anyone notice my mistake on the Christmas card yesterday?  Here is what I showed you yesterday.

Here is what it should have looked like.  Have you got it yet?

Right, I am going to end now and get ready for the gas man to come to service the boiler.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zyeMFSzPgGc

When is a border not a border?

When it is a border Groovi plate, is the answer.  I started on Friday, finishing off my little set of drawers, before getting stuck in to my PTC (Parchment Trading Card) for the swap organised by Josie Davidson ( https://m.facebook.com/groups/168389163628763?view=permalink&id=544406699360339  ).

Then I got hooked on making more of them, using mainly the Queen Victoria plate, which is the one that I had not used from the Queen set.  Yesterday, I used it for its original, most obvious, purpose, and started a Christmas (sorry) card.

This is now finished as you can see.

However, this, and the other Queen plates, can be used for the tiniest pieces, and you do not have to use the whole design.  You can take tiny sections and do all sorts of things by twisting and turning the plates.

This PTC uses half the diamonds only to create a useful border.

The next uses individual squares, set at an angle.  The colouring is done on the front and the back, using the Perga Liners.

Neither of these are 100% accurate, but they were just done as experiments, and just need a but more time and care to get them right.

One of my experiments went very wrong but I was able to rescue some of it and ended up with a topper for a small card.

Teeny, tiny bits of parchment are so useful for this kind of thing, and don't just throw your mishaps in the bin.  They often turn out to be the happiest accidents and teach you so much.

I am hoping that today is a bit calmer than the start of yesterday.  I had set my house alarm overnight as there have been a number of burglaries nearby.  I was woken by Flash, who was keen to go out.  So, semi-conscious, I tottered downstairs to let him out, got to the kitchen door to be hit by a wall of noise.  The alarm had gone off and the remote was upstairs.  Oh boy, was that a wake up call?  Then, of course, the phone rang.  It was the alarm company to check if things were ok.  My coffee was definitely needed to recover. 

Today is dedicated to making sure the kitchen is clear for British Gas to service the boiler.  Oh joy, oh rapture!  Then Thursday is the first of our fortnightly Groovi group meetings at Bromsgrove Parchers.  It is good to get back to classes and groups.  Oh yes, and it is the Groovi workshops at Evesham Crafters Companion on Saturday, led by the lovely Hazel Edwards.  Hope to see some of you there.

I'm back again!

This might be a short post today.  Sunday was a busy day, including a very tasty roast dinner at Bec's, cooked by her husband, Ant.  The other guests at the feast were Shaz (Silverwolf) and Doug, so there was lots of chatting, and swapping crafty ideas too.

Then, this afternoon involved a bit of sorting out as I am in the process of getting rid of things I haven't even seen for a few years.  

There are loads of stamps (not Clarity) that I no longer want, so they will be split between a couple of good causes.  Then there is a pile of metal stencils, lovely designs but it is several years since I even saw them.  After that, there are loads of dies that I have had for a while and just not touched.

The evening was a good time to snuggle down and do some parchment things in front of the tv.  I have been playing with combinations of the Queen plates and the PTC plates, both sets by Josie Davidson.

Today, it was the Queen Victoria plate for the borders on a PTC and a larger piece.  The centre of the PTC is from one of the PTC plates, while the larger piece will be a Christmas card.  The borders on the Queen plates are very adaptable and you can leave bits out to make it fit the smaller sizes and the PTCs do not have to be straight sided.  Have a look at the Queen Victoria and you will see how much I have left out to give me space to put something in the centre.

I keep looking at these plates and seeing more and more ways to use them and not just as borders.  That is one of my plans this year, to find as many different ways to use one plate or how many plates I can mix up in one piece.

Three days in a row

This is the third day in a row that I have blogged.  Something of a miracle.  

Most people who are into Groovi will know that Josie Davidson is organising a PTC monthly swap.  What is a PTC, you ask?  Well, it is the parchment version of an Artist Trading Card.  OK, there are loads of you who have never come across an Artist Trading Card (ATC).

 An ATC is a tiny piece of art, a bit like a business card for artists, designed to show off different techniques, but without spending hours on each piece.  They are 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches.  There are also Artist Trading Coins now, which are diameter of 2.5 inches.  There are lots of groups who join together and swap their little treasures.

The PTC is the parchment version and are the ideal size to try different designs without stressing over a full size card.  I have finished my offering for this month and it will be in the post today.  The picture on here is a different design, using the Queen Mary plate and one of Josie's PTC plates, which are full of tiny bits that fit well.  It took about an hour and a half from start to finish.  It does not have to contain a lot of perforating and snipping.  It will still be attractive and very welcome as a swap.

This is another PTC I have played with, again a mixture of the Queen plates and the PTC plates.  Both these designs show that you don't have to use the whole of one plate if you don't want to.  You can cherry pick the bits you want.

If you do lots of them, they make brilliant toppers for small cards.  If you were wary of joining in this month, why not join next month's swap?  Have a play over the next few weeks and see how you get on.  It is fun.

You only need to do one each month to join in the swap.

By the way, the piece of black card is covering up a name of someone it is intended for very soon.

Finishing Off Day part 2 - Results!

Getting there slowly.  My first problem is remembering the right order that Maria told us for adding each section.  In truth, it is fairly self explanatory once each drawer is folded and glued.

The painting of the two pieces of board for the top and bottom was a pain, mainly because my acrylic paint had separated out.  So the first inch was grey and clear oil which I needed to get rid of.  I have had those paints since Barbara Gray first introduced us to the Gel Press, so I half expected problems with them.

One warning that Maria gave us was to make sure you only put glue on the top and bottom of each drawer, otherwise they will not open.  That warning was ringing in my ears while I was assembling things.

The next job was to decorate the four side panels and the top panel, using the same set of Clarity stamps. 

2 hours later:-
It is done.  Finished.  Completed.  I am happy.  Projects like this are not my forte.  My fat fingers don't manipulate things as well as I would like, but I am not one to give in.  I actually enjoyed this one, and Maria is good at giving us projects that we can all do.

So here it is.

And from the top, where I finished it off with one of the large Pergamano brands right in the centre.

And a final view before I go back to creating my PTC for Josie Davidson's swap for this month.

Thank you, Maria.

Friday Finishing Off Day - Number 1

I have taken inspiration from the lovely Maria Moorhouse and today is dedicated to finishing off as many UFOs as possible. 

Hence why my table is covered in little boxes to start with.  They belong to a project we did with Maria at her Shrewsbury workshop just before Christmas.  You can see what it is when I finish it.

The second one, just visible under a Groovi plate, is a tiny PTC (parchment trading plate) which I started last night.

The work so far on this was done in 2 hours sitting front of the tv, and all it needs is to find and cut the right backing paper or card , stamp the back plate and just put it all together.

Then there are a few toppers to edge and mount.  Whatever I finish today, I will try to post tomorrow.  Who else is going to join me on Friday Finishing Off Day?