Just a little card I made.  It was part of this last month's Yellow Club cards.  I saw the idea for using cupcake wrappers on Pintrest while I was visiting my sister in Dubai and went straight out and bought some to play with.  I know pink and orange aren't everyone's favourite colours, but I love them because they are both sweet and happy colours.  

I am also just loveing the little flowers.  All sizes come from one single punch, and a little moulding really makes them pop on a card.

Finally this card makes me happy because of the words ... I cannot sit and hat with you, the way I'd like to do.  So brew yourself a cup of teach.  I'll think of you, you think of me.

Summer Extravaganza - Save the Date

Summer Extravaganza is planned for the end of this month - eek!!  Newsletters out early next week, but I just wanted everyone to save the date - 27.28.29 July.  And of course give you a sneek peek of our fantastic line-up.  In no particular order, we have .... Heather Doran, a fabulous cardmaker and stamper who has been published internationally, and featured on the Hero Arts Blog.  We also have Eva Birdthistle, a fabulous scrapbooking teacher and Crafting Ireland design team member ...and there is more to come.
I will have everything finalised by Monday but I am bursting with excitement so had to share
The Summer Extravaganza is our original extravaganza and has been going for 8 years!!!!  Held in the shop, we have to limit numbers so early booking is essential.
  

Summer Programme for kids!

After lots of chatting and thinking we have decided to run a weekly programme of quality craft classes for kids aged 7-13 over the summer.  So ....  Every Thursday afternoon, we have some great activity classes which are based around skills as well as making quality items that you will use at home or can give as presents.
All the classes will be taught by Kim 'o Donoghue, an qualified art teacher who moved to Ireland from America a few years ago.

hereWe have a fab picture with a few sneak peaks, but will be posting more samples on our Facebook page every week.

A full listing of the activities can be downloaded and printed here

Dublin Workshop Feedback

I was delighted to be back in Dublin this weekend, with a new format workshop, in a fab new venue.
We made 6 projects - packed with lots of techniques, at the Sean 'o Casey Community Centre, which was light and airy, and very clean and comfy.  It was such a relaxed day and everyone got their projects done, each in their own way, with personal twists as we discovered the uniqueness of fabby crafting goodies like alcohol inks and UTEE.  Just a few pics to show you what we were up to.

Hope to be back in Dublin soon.

A very creative week!

I have had one of those weeks where the projects to be finished is a bit too long.  Good in one way because it is so inspiring, but the big question is to decide what to do first - Class cards for our regular class, the fabby projects for my class on Saturday (doing things Kerry style), a mini-album swop I am doing with some very talented ladies on Facebook, and the next Yellow Club.

Today's pic is of a cute card I made for thanking teachers - a really important message at this time of year.  Giving gifts isn't as common anymore, but a nice handmade card I know will be appreciated.  You could always get the student to do the colouring themselves!

The base card is a pre-fold from Docrafts.  Sometimes it is just easier when a bigger sheet than an A4 is needed.  It is a 6X6" Stepper card.  The image is from Penny Black and is a beautiful wood mounted stamp.  I have coloured using my Copics, and then created the flowers from scraps.  The sentiment is handwritten using a white gel pen!

Learn to Dance in the Rain

Love this Tim Holtz man!  I combined him with a rainbow background which has been brayered using Kaleidacolor ink and a stirp of embossed card - suing the clocks from the Sizzix range.

It just begs for a quote inside - 'Instead of waiting for the storm to pass - learn to dance in the rain'

A few cards, and a commitment

I so need to get back to blogging, have loads of ideas flowing around my head including tutorials and more, and somehow the days tick by and not enough happens ..... I am keeping up with Facebook, with all sorts of updates, competitions and sneak peaks, so do please Like our Facebook page.

But I also want to get back to blogging, so here are 2 pics of cards I made this week using the latest releases from Sizzix and of course my favourite Penny Black sentiment stamps.

For the wedding - or wedding anniversary card I have used a simple colour pallette of white and gold, an embossing folder and these beautiful tag  nesting dies from Sizzix.  The sentiment is stamped and embossed with gold detail powder.

The little friend card is so simple and features new dies from Sizzix that cut swing cards - and economical too as you can get 2 cards from an A4 sheet.

Spring Happenings at the Siopa Bui

Loads of exciting things coming up to celebrate the turn of the season...

Penny Black Demo Day - Saturday 10 March (11am - 4pm)

Arty stamping and inking as well as some cute stuff. This fabulous company has an amazing range of stamps with stunning images, as well as the best range of wordings ever. Join us for a free demo day. Don't forget your cameras and notebooks.

Kids Club - Saturday 10 March

Mothers Day and St Patrick's Day fall on the same weekend this year so we've combined them into a fantastic kids club. Projects will include a jewellery style present for mum, gift box and card and a fun pennant banner for St Patrick's Day.

The classes are structured to suit the various age groups, with some quite complex and challenging tasks for the older group. For the younger group, the focus is on having fun!

Ages 5-8 10.30am - 12.30pm

Ages 9-14 2.00pm - 4.00pm

Cost: 15 euro per child with discounts for family bookings

Call the shop on 091 504692 to book

Coffee and Weddings!

Coffee morning is now on Friday 17th February which gives time for all the new Hunky Dory stuff to arrive - definitely worth waiting for!

Our wedding class is on Saturday 18th February - a must for brides to be and those of you that make wedding invites as a business. All new ideas for 2012, the class includes a manual of wedding wording (english and irish), a costing sheet and a lesson on how to cost your invites. The class is 30 euro including a full kit.
Call Kim at the shop to book your place - 091 504692

Hero Arts Launch - Free Demo Day

Yes, it is that time of year when we break out the popcorn and coca cola and all things American including of course the latest launch from the fabulous Hero Arts company. We have a fantastic new range of pearlescent card to work with for our demos as well as some great new cost saving ways to embellish cards. I will be demonstrating alongside the fabulously talented Linda Dawson from Cork. Don't forget your cameras!

11am - 4pm Saturday 28 January at An Siopa Bui, Spiddal Craft Centre, Galway