Viva Decor addict

hello everyone,

Well, it was a fantastic (yet tiring) weekend for me at the Extravaganza. Great to see everyone again (waving) and demo using the beautiful Pardo Clay and Bead Rollers we have in the shop and online.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I made during the demos, but I will show you more finished items when they are done. I will make sure I write a mini workshop with pictures to show you my favourite technique so far (clay and alcohol inks) which was very popular during the demos.

Did I say addicted? yup, I LOVE Viva Decor products!

One of the paints I love working with  (like them all really, but I’ll talk about this one today) is the Croco paint which gives you a true crackle. You have to be patient as it takes several hours to dry, but the result is well worth it.

So here’s one way of using the transparent one. Here I have applied the transparent Croco paint on a Crafty Individuals chipboard frame and let it dry.

I then inked it with alcohol inks to match the colours on my page. Isn’t it great?

Thanks for visiting.

Please let us know what you think in a comment below

september extravaganza

For those of you who are not on our mailing list, I have added a list of demonstrations and workshops to the blog (see tabs at the top of the page).  We have hired two halls this time the Community Cetre and the Victoria club to try to make it easier for people to see the demos.

The address book workshop is full but there are still places on the remaining workshops, so have a look and decide what you fancy doing!

We have also put a pdf document on the website for you to download of address labels for the loyalty cards, if possible we would really love people to fill these in in advance as this will help us reduce queues in the shop by speeding things up at the tills. Click here to go to the page

See you soon

Sandy

SUE RODDIS WORKSHOPS

Workshops with Sue Roddis

 

 

We have the dates now for the workshops with Sue Roddis.  They are the last weekend in August – Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th.

 

 

Both are full day workshops and are priced at £35per person per day.  This includes all materials and unlimited drinks during the day.  Lunch is not included but this can be reserved at the coffee shop next door or there are plenty of pubs and restaurants in the village for you to try.

What will you be making on Saturday

I want to keep the actual projects a bit of a surprise for you for the day, so the snippet below gives you just a flavour of the project which is a faux metal book . 

The project is made with foil rather than metal and the picture only shows one page – your book will have several pages.  You  will also be using different Paper Artsy stamps with the foil, inks, and other goodies.  There is flexibility and on the day you can choose alternative stamps and either go with the colours of Sue’s revised project sample or choose your own colour scheme.   

 What will you be making on Sunday
 
On Sunday the project involves one of our wooden desk calendars.  Below is a previous version that Sue has done.  This is just to tease you because again you will be making a different version on the day! 

From this

to this

You can only book by ringing us on 01342 836398 and places are limited so if you are interested you do need to get in touch,

Happy crafting!

More from the extravaganza

Hi

Just thought I would work my way through the remaining demonstrators just to prove they really were all there for those of you who didn’t quite get to the front!

First up is Kay Carley was demoing her brand new stamps

It was Jayne Harvey’s first time with us and she was working with her Stamposaurus stamps as well as shrink plastic, fun flock and Sakura pens

Here’s Lindsay Mason, she was using the stamps that she had designed and beside her was Jenny Mayes doing her magic with her Hobby Art stamps.

Here we have Kiki who was working with Crafty Individuals stamps and Beatrice next to her who showed us lots of things to do with her latest three Katzelkraft stamp plates.

Paula was demoing my favourite new toy the Slice machine, she loves it as much as I do!

When Carol Staples wasn’t doing workshops she was demoing Kadoodle stamps.

Last but not least is Sandra Dry. She and Christine Dark had decorated their demo tables to look like a beach in celebration of their new Kadoodle stamps unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of the two demo tables side by side but they did look very effective.

We have lots of samples from the weekend which we will be posting over the next few days – it might have been sooner but I fear that Isabelle is going to have to work quite hard on my photos (I slapped my own wrist as she is just too far away to  reach and in return she has given me a tutorial on taking good pictures – not easy when you are faced with someone who doesn’t know what any of the buttons on the camera do and can’t find the instructions)  anyway I have promised to try harder!

Because she is an all round good egg in addition to the above, reminding me to stop biting my nails and nagging me for all things I never quite get to Isabelle has been working on formatting the step by step sheets and we should have the first one up very shortly.

Must dash I have to get on to my to do list or Isa will either be grounding me or sending me to the naughty spot next time I speak to her!!

See you soon

Sandy

thank you!

First I must say a huge thank you to everybody for making the extravaganza such a great success.  I’m sure you will all agree that the demonstrators did a fantastic job and our staff worked so hard for us we are really very grateful.  I also want to say thank you to everyone who came along and remained good natured despite the fact that it was packed both in the shop and the demo halls. Here are the first of the pictures from the  weekend so take a look and see if you are famous!  We’ll try to get more up later in the week.

This was the main hall before it got really busy, you can see Sue Roddis and Carole Cann  doing their thing in this shot.

This was the smaller demo room Lexie and carol Cockbain are just visible with their bits.

The really good news is that we have secured an additional venue for September, we will have the Community Centre AND the Victoria Club so we can spread the demos out to give you more space and better views and we can use the additional parking spaces at the Victoria club too .  We’ll keep you posted on what is happening but the dates for your diary are 12th and 13th September, we hope to have 19 demonstrators once again – more details nearer the time, we think you will be delighted with the line up once again.

This was the shop on Saturday and again we have a cunning plan for September to help the flow and make things easier to get at.

I have put up a few more pictures of the demonstrators hard at work and we’ll start putting up samples and projects in the next couple of days.  My plan is that each week  from now to the September Extravaganza we will put up one step by step project sheet for you to download prepared by the demonstrators and based on techniques and projects you saw them demoing  this weekend.

Francoise was doing some lovely things with peel offs and stamps, she always does things with colours that I wish I had thought of!  You can just see Christine Dark who was doing some beautiful colouring with Distress inks

Leandra’s work was amazing, she really does inspire you to try new things and just to get your hands dirty and have a play!  In the background is Paul from Go Kreate, our only boy!

Julie Hickey is in the foreground was only with us for the Saturday but she managed to create some wonderful samples which you will be able to see if you pop into the shop.  In the background is Jane Collman, we have more of her sample boards up in the shop showing you how to shade and airbrush with Copic Pens

I’ll put up some more pictures of the “event” in the next couple of days and then we’ll start with the samples and projects.

We hope you had as much fun as we did.  The September Extravaganza is next and we really think you’ll be tempted to come back again ….. how could you not be when you see who’s coming to demo!

see you soon

Sandy

extravaganza weekend

I thought you might like to have an idea of the kinds of things you will be able to see at the Extravaganza weekend.   We can’t describe all of techniques as there are just so many plus some of them are brand new and we haven’t seen them ourselves yet!   One things is for sure, there is something for everyone and whether you are just starting out or are an experienced crafter we  are sure you will be inspired and pick up great tips & techniques!   So here goes with a little taster……

• Carole Cann will be showing you projects using Ten Second Studio Metal products.  Over the course of the weekend she will be using lots of metal, a little Cuttlebug and Go Kreate, a smattering of Elusive Images, a dash of dabbers and a smidgen of peel offs to create amazing samples.
• Kay Carley will be working with her lovely brand new stamps , which are being released any day now.  She will be colouring them with Copic pens and Coloursoft pencils.
• Carol Cockbain – On Saturday she will be using Dreamweaver stencils creating projects with the new Crackle Paste, metal leaf and glitter and her favourite Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists.  On Sunday she will be demoing her own beautiful flower stamps which she has designed for Kadoodle, she will being combining them with distress and inks as well as a new technique she has been working on with Glimmer Mists and watercolour paper
• Jane Collman – will be working with the Copic Pens both days and she will show you how to get the most out of both the pens and the airbrush system. Learn why some stamps work better than others, why she recommends certain inks and papers for use with the pens
• Christine Dark- has some fab new stamps released for this weekend with a distinctly summer feel.  These stamps will transport you back to childhood and days on the beach.  She will be showing you how to use Distress Inks to stamps and colour.
• Sandra Dry - has also been busy designing her new stamps she has added a couple more of our larger ladies and a couple more of her very cute Loupy Lou designs.  Sandra is a real whizz with the Coloursoft pencils and will be sharing all her tips with you.
• Leandra Franich – Leandra has some truly wow new Paper Artsy stamps out which work really well with Metal.  She will be showing you lots of lovely techniques to get the most out of the stamps and will be dipping into some of the Ten Second Studio and new Viva Décor products as well as a smattering of Glimmer mists and one or two surprises.
• Jayne Harvey – Jayne will be working with her cute Stamposaurus stamps combined with shrink plastic, Fun flock and Sakura pens.  If you think pens are just for writing then Jayne will show you the light and as for the fun flock….touchy feely to a whole new level!
• Paul H from Go Kreate will be bringing us some brand new Boo outfits as well as never seen before dies and they are going to be very popular including a new alphabet called Lingfield – how cool is that!
• Julie Hickey is demoing the latest releases from Craftwork Cards they are lovely and summery and her samples are inspirational, gorgeous and achievable as always.  She also has a little treat for people visiting her while they last so check it out!
• Beatrice Neumeister – Beatrice has brought out three new stamp plates recently Dans Ma Maison, Nature and the newest one Paris Monuments and she has some wonderful projects and techniques to share with you.  If you like techniques Beatrice is your girl!
• Paula Pascual – will be showing you the wonderful new Slice machine this weekend – find out why we all love this little beauty!  She will also be sneaking in a bit of time with the new Making Memories Tag Maker gadget, which is a really nifty way to create your own metal rimmed tags
• Christine Quincy – Definitely loves Crafty Individuals stamps so she has picked a few of her very favourites to show you what they can do.  She will be working bringing her own flair and imagination using a variety of inks
• Lindsay Mason will be working with Personal Impressions latest clear stamps that she designed and as always she has a few tricks up her sleeve including some new boxes she has been working on
• Jenny Mayes will be showing you her latest floral and Scene-its stamp releases.  Jenny always manages a master class in watercolour whenever she demos and I defy you not to be mesmerized!
• Francoise Read is using herclear stamps and peel offs from Woodware combined with Inktense pencils.  Francoise comes up trumps every time and will inspire you with her samples and demos
• Sue Roddis – Sue has a great altered project to share with you and she will be using Elusive Images stamps to show you how you can achieve quirky and fun projects by thinking outside the box!  Look out for what she has done to some of our boxes and items for altering
• Carol Staples – when Carol isn’t running workshops she will be working with her own Ma and Pa Iggly stamps as well as afew others all combined with the Go Kreate nesting frames and a range of paints, inkpads and pens!
• Lexie Wilson - between workshops Lexie will be working with the Little Claire designs.  Bring your sunglasses and expect glitter and bright colours!

Remember the demonstrations are FREE and run continuously throughout both days with the demonstrators based all together in the Community Centre in Lingfield, just around the corner from The Craft Barn shop.  If you have never been before, Sunday is usually a bit less busy than Saturday but the atmosphere on Saturday is just incredible.

Two more demonstrators join the weekend extravaganza!

I am thrilled to be able to let you know that we have added 2 more demonstrators to the extravaganza weekend in June taking the total up to an amazing 19! 

Julie Hickey will be with us just for the Saturday.  She will be showing you all the latest lovelies from Craftwork cards and her wonderful samples are truly inspirational.

Paul from Go Kreate will be with us for the whole weekend AND HE’S GOING TO BRING LOADS OF STOCK WITH HIM – INCLUDING THINGS WE HAVE NOT HAD BEFORE !!!   I’ve warned him to be very afraid if he runs out so  take advantage and grab your favourite dies- old and new whilst he’s with us!

Can’t wait to see you all, it’s going to be a great weekend!

Sandy

JUNE EXTRAVAGANZA

Hi everyone

First of all thanks to everyone who has been so positive about the Demos and workshops for the June Weekend, we are pleased that they have gone down so well and that so many of you are looking forward to the event.  It makes all the hard work worthwhile knowing how much you look forward to these special weekends.

I must warn you that five of the extravaganza workshops are now fully booked, and spaces on the remaining workshops are gradually disappearing.  If you do want to join in, don’t wait to book because there are limited spaces left.

The reaction to the workshops has been amazing once again and so we will see whether there is any way we can increase the number of workshops for the September extravaganza weekend, to try to accommodate demand.  We have been talking about creating a second studio for sometime now, so we’ll try to get this sorted for September.  Please feel free to nag my husband when you see him in the shop, I’m sure we can wear him down between us!  (Sorry Ian!)

If anyone is having difficulties booking accommodation for the weekend, please feel free to give me a ring (01342 836398) or email me  (sandy@thecraftbarn.com) and I’ll see what we can do to help.

See you all in June!

Sandy

JUNE EXTRAVAGANZA

Spread the word and block out your diary because we have just published the details of our fabulous June extravaganza weekend on our website.  This year it is the 6th and 7th June and we know you are going to love what we have arranged for you!.  We have 17 demonstrators for you,  based in Lingfield Community Centre, including some who have not been with us before as well as some of your favourites.  There is also a  full workshop programme running in the studio at The Craft Barn.   For those of you who travel from further afield and like to stay over, we have included a list of local hotels and guest houses.  Click here to see all the details.

Thanks for visiting, we really hope you will be able to join us for this wonderful event.

Sandy

First Birthday Craft Fest – Saturday 7th March

Can you believe it is very nearly a year since we took over at The Craft Barn!

To celebrate we are holding a 1st Birthday Craft Fest

We will have 5 demonstrators with us all day (10 -4) – details of the first three are below and we’ll release info about the remaining two nearer the time.

Carol Staples will be demoing the brand new Go Kreate nesting frames and 12″ border dies which are about to be shipped to us any day.  She will also have an extra surprise for Cuttlebug users.

Jane Collman is demoing the fabulous Copic Markers

Carole Cann will be showing you wonderful things you can make using Ten Second Studio products

THIS IS A FREE EVENT JUST TURN UP AND BE INSPIRED

Hope you can join us

Sandy