The best laid plans of mice and men................

Friday was supposed to be a finishing up day, and painting my daffodils for Marie Curie, following Matthew Palmer.   That did not work to plan at all.  

Thursday evening, I started to feel a bit off colour, with a bit of a temperature, and by Friday morning, everything ached.  So I decided to just watch and record both programmes with Matthew to follow when I felt better.  I have the kit so I can choose when to do it.  I did really enjoy watching the two celebrities creating their own paintings. 

I decided that when I have finished and mounted both designs, I will probably sell them and add what I get to the Marie Curie fund.  When my father was dying, we had huge support from our Macmillan nurse, who then brought in the Marie Curie nurses at the end.  They were brilliant and were such a support.  If anyone fancies doing these paintings, you can still get the £5 kit from Hochanda, with every penny going to Marie Curie.  Both programmes will be available to watch on https://www.hochanda.com/about/paint-the-daffodil-rewind

I also had the great shows from Leonie Pujol to watch and gather ideas from.  She was using the four new stencils she has designed for her first programmes for Clarity.  The Clarity Open Days in June should be very exciting with Leonie joining the brilliant Sam Crowe showing what they can do with the Gel Press, as well as all the other fantastic demonstrators.  Information for those will be on the Clarity website.

I did achieve some crafting which was to continue with the knitting of my gilet.  I bought the wool and pattern from the NEC a fair while ago.  It is lovely and soft and is knitting up well.  I am now halfway up the first of the fronts, having done the back.

I love the autumnal colours of this one but have a second batch of wool to do a second one.  I can't remember the colour as it is a long time since I saw it.

Tomorrow morning, hopefully, I am hoping to re-sort my boxes of stamps and stencils so that they are ready to put away logically in my craft room.  Then I need to find my storage for the PTCs (Parchment Trading Cards) so that I can keep the ones from Josie's swap together safely.  I also want to gather all my Fresh Cut Dies together in one place.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. 

P.S. I was so inspired by Leonie's creations yesterday, that I took a pair of scissors to an existing Clarity stencil, the leafy swirl, ready to have an inky play later today. 

Then I also found this second stencil which could work in a similar way, I hope.  Whether it works or not, it will still be fun to play and try.

Finish Off Friday - maybe!

I am trying to keep Friday as the day I tackle some of my many UFO's.  I am not sure how it is going to work out today.

I reckon Hochanda is going to do a take over bid.  We have Leonie doing two programmes using Clarity stencils, which should be good.  Just a thought!  I am looking forward to seeing Leonie and the lovely Sam Crowe together at the Open Days in June.  If you want a fantastic crafting event, the Clarity Open Days (June in Kent and September up at Leyburn) are brilliant.

Then we have the hour of painting with Matthew Palmer to raise funds for Marie Curie.  That should be fun.  If I get that finished, I will be happy.

I hope all those who have slipped over today soon recover from their accidents, whether inside or outside on the ice.  Take care, all of you.  This weather is the time to snuggle up inside and stay safe.

Enjoy whatever craft you do.

Why am I showing a picture of an Olympic gold medal from London 2012?  I hope it might become clear as I go on.

When you were a baby, you did not know how to run a race.  That might sound a strange thing and an obvious thing to say, but think about it.  You had to learn over years.

Very few people are blessed with the ability to achieve high levels in anything straight away.  There are, as always, exceptions to every rule.  My son proved to be the exception when he turned up at our caravan, where we were at the edge of the lake.  He got on to our friend's windsurfing, one that was very difficult to balance, with a huge sail.  He was full of confidence and we all expected him to fall off, but he just took off and sailed very happily for at least an hour.

I have been reading about how Carl Hester and Charlotte DuJardin trained Valegro to become the best dressage horse in the world.  It took careful work and years to gradually bring him to the stage of winning two Olympic gold medals.

With any of the crafts or hobbies we take up, we should start at the beginning and build a good foundation.  If you rush to do the advanced things straight away, you might be lucky but more likely have problems and then lose interest.  That is a shame.  

If you look at the parchment work of Linda Williams, the colouring of Gail Sydenhan and Tina Cox, to name just three, do not expect to match their work straightaway.  They have been learning for years and will tell you they are still learning.  They all started at the beginning and built a strong foundation.  I bet they did not produce beautiful picot on their first day.

The same applies to any hobby or craft.  Nothing worth doing is learned quickly.   Start at the beginning and enjoy learning and practicing.  The day you stop learning should be the day you shuffle off this mortal coil.

WOYWW - 503. Getting ready for my next project.

Well, Wednesday has galloped round again, just as fast as every other Wednesday.  This is the day when lots of us show what we have on our desks, having linked up with everyone else at Stamping Ground where Julia is our hostess.

I have just finished my last Groovi project, which I blogged in previous posts for those who are interested.  So I am getting ready for a couple of new projects, both of which involve following programmes on Hochanda.  Both also involve purchasing the relevant kits to use, which are what you see on my table.

The first one to be used will be the painting of the daffodils with Matthew Palmer, which is this coming Friday.  The kits are £5 each and have everything needed.  Every penny of that £5 is being donated by Hochanda to Marie Curie.  Matthew will have two pupils in the studio, Penny Smith and Jenny Eclair.  I will show you my results from this after the event.

The big box is for the very first masterclass on Hochanda.  There will be classes by several different and varied crafters, but this first one is with Barbara Gray and takes the same design in four different forms to teach lots of different skills.

In the meantime, I am busy knitting away, to finish a gilet, the wool for which I bought at the NEC about three years ago.  I am trying to finish some of my UFOs this year, of which there are a lot and this is just one.  I have cards, paintings, cross stitches, embroidery and knitting, to name just a few.

If you want to see what everyone is up to,  just wander along to Julia's blog at Stamping Ground where you will be able to see everyone else's desks.  Have a lovely day.

Follow Up Friday ( Yes, I know it is Tuesday)

This is a card that has been sitting around in unfinished bits for a while, but as I already had the colours and tools out, I decided to finish it off.  The original design was from Maria Moorhouse, but with a few tweaks from me.  Maria designed it for Mothering Sunday, but my mother and mother-in-law died several years ago, so that was the first tweak.

Here are the two separate pieces which needed to be finished.

This is the main base piece, and uses one of Tina Cox's Parchlet plates.  I added the gridwork in the centre by using the fine diagonal grid to create the little flowers/stars.  Then I re-perforated each hole with the single needle fine tool.  This made it so much easier to cut accurately, 

This centre piece uses the same colours and tools and the same Parchlet plate.  However, the centre used one of Josie Davidson's Parchment Trading Card plates.  Then, I decided to do a tiny gem in the centre.  I need a lot more practice in doing these but they are fun and can be very effective.

This is the finished article, all mounted on designer paper and a black base card.

Now, I need to clear my nice clean parchment stuff and all the other things that have found their way to my table.  Then, I feel the need for some more messy crafting..............

A very quick follow up after yesterday's marathon.

You might have seen the earlier stages of this piece on the table at Hazel Edwards' lovely Groovi classes in yesterday's blog.

Here, you can see a further development, more perforating and snipping done, and a lot more still to be done.  The first stage of perforation round the outer border has been done, but now the embossing of the design is finished, every single hole must be re-embossed to give me good holes for cutting.

I followed my own rules of re-perforating a small section and snipping it before moving on.  That ensures the holes do not have time to close up again as the parchment relaxes.

This is the completed piece with all holes and snipping completely.  The dragonflies are double layered and were snipped after perforating with the two needle split tool.  This tool was supposed to produce a picot like edge, but is nowhere near as good as using a two needle tool and snipping.  If you push it right down, it roughly cuts the parchment - not very tidy.

However, because the needles on the two needle split are closer than the two needle fine, it can be used to perforate round tiny items like the dragonflies.  If you only perforate VERY shallowly, and then use the one needle fine to open up the holes a little, it works well.

I coloured this piece with the Perga Liners, sharpened to wicked points, which enabled me to colour on the front and then I added extra colour with the pens on the back.  That enabled me to get the depth of colour I wanted but still keeping it fairly subtle and soft.

Thank you, Hazel, for lovely classes, perfectly designed to suit all levels of experience.  Looking forward to the next one.

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.

.......Stop Press......

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