Such a Busy Weekend - Love It!

It was the weekend of Craft Out West last weekend.  Yippeee!  Craft Out West is one of my favourite craft shows.  I think I like that it supports Hospice West Auckland.  I also really love meeting all the locals and getting to chat with lots of lovely people.

We had enough room with the wall behind us to have our sign up and some layouts and card ideas

Here is my table that I worked out.  Melissa and I made a great team!

Here is the stand for the Martha Stewart goodies and the EK Success Punches

This was the stand for the Spectrum Noir pens and lots of lovely stamps

And of course here I am getting ready for another great show!

Here are some photos of my stall at Craft Out West.  I was in a different spot this year.  Not sure if it was the different spot or that fact that the weather was so beautiful outside, but the crowds seemed quieter this year.

My daughter Melissa helped me for both days and she did a fantastic job of demonstrating the Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay and the border punches.  I on the other hand was demonstrating the Spectrum Noir pens, and the Teresa Collins modeling paste and templates.

The big surprise again this year was the popularity of the Dress It Up Buttons from Jessie James.  On Saturday in particular these just went crazy.  Mind you so many of the buttons are just too cute to pass up.

The craft show was from 10am - 4pm both days.  So after the show each day there was not much time to do much else but get ready for the following day and have dinner.  But on Sunday morning I was able to get out and water my veggie garden before the show.  Little did I know that there would be a wonderful surprise at the end of the day.

So after the pack down of the show and getting home, the front fence was completely finished and there was another beautiful looking garden bed at the top of the three I already have.  Also my bean seeds and corn seeds have sprouted - so excited.

My baby beans just starting to sprout!

On closer inspection I found these tiny corn seedlings had finally sprouted!

Colouring Modeling Paste

I wanted to share with you a project I created on the weekend where I used some more of the Teresa Collins Modeling Paste - I am really loving this and adding texture to my projects.
I thought it would be fun to add a bit of colour so here is what I did.

I started with a blank canvas - this canvas is one of those flat ones.

Next I used some really fun spray inks.  I used three different makes and colours, Heidi Swap Colour Shine, Tattered Angels glimmer mist and my own home-made spray ink.
I sprayed all over the canvas, now because the surface of this canvas has been treated with Gesso (like most bought canvas') the ink did not seep into the canvas but rested on the top, so to dry it I used my heat too.  Love the effects I got with the blending of the inks, even the splotches look cool.

Next I grabbed one of my 6"x 6" Crafter's Workshop Templates and added some modeling paste just in white.

Then I wanted to add some colour to my modeling paste.  So I added some of the paste to a little plate, then using the spray ink that I used on my canvas I sprayed some colour to the modeling paste and mixed it together a bit.  Now because I had added some extra liquid to the paste it was a big more soft, almost sloppy so be careful how much ink you add.

I used two different templates with the coloured modeling paste, I used the Teresa Collins Scallop 12"x 12" stencil and a small journaling stencil for a last bit of interest in the bottom right corner.
Before drying the modeling paste with my heat tool, I went and washed all my templates, just with cold water and my fingers.
When using your heat tool to dry modeling paste be careful as some heat tools are too hot and can cause modeling pastes to start to bubble.  I also left this to dry overnight.

The following day I added some punched shapes using my Martha Stewart layering punches and a little bit of bling.  I am really pleased with the results.

I would love to see what you create with colouring some modeling paste for your next project.  Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think of this fun wee project.

Finally Finished

How many have projects that you were meant to complete ages ago and just haven't gotten around to it yet?

I will admit I have a few of those.  But this past weekend I was able to cross one of them off my list and completed it - yahoo!  And much to my daughter Melissa's delight as well.

I couple of years back Melissa and my husband Brad redecorated her room.  The paint was chosen and applied, new curtains and nets were found and put up.  Melissa even found some awesome wall stickers of owls and trees and also added them to her room.  I promised I would make a lovely 'Dream' banner for her room.  I found some 4"x 6" chipboard and painted it with the accent paint used in her room.  I even die-cut and glittered the letters for the word Dream and that is were it stayed at for awhile.

I had planned to finish it for her birthday that year and then for Christmas, but it just didn't happen.  I could not find the accents and elements that I wanted for the banner.  I was also having issues with the glitter, in that it kept coming off the letters.  So it was put aside in my craft room.

We over the weekend Melissa went to a friends for a girls night sleepover.  This was my chance to do something with the banner.  I felt inspired.  It was the perfect opportunity to also have a play with the new Teresa Collins Modeling Paste.  Oh I had so much fun.  Firstly I fixed the glitter problem.  I matted the die-cut letters on some more cardstock, then added a bit extra glitter in areas that looked a little sparse.  To affix the glitter so it would look pretty and yet not fall off I covered the letters with Dimensional Magic - perfect.  You could use Glossy Accents and get the same result.  I put these aside for the rest of Saturday.

In the meantime I took the chance to play with the Teresa Collins Modeling paste and some stencils.  Firstly I used the Teresa Collins Scallop stencil and covered a 12" x 12" grey cardstock ready for a layout.  Maybe not the greatest idea for a first project, but it came together well (I will show you the finished result later in the week).  The paste is so easy to work with.  So next I grabbed the painted chipboard and a variety of stencils and went to work (OK play).  Working with a smaller area was a lot easier.  As soon as a background was done that stencil went straight to the laundry sink and cleaned so the modeling paste did not have time to dry on the stencil. (unfortunately I did not take photos as I went, only the finished project)

On Sunday I was able to put the whole thing together and I am really pleased with the results.  I added some die-cut doily bits as well as some butterflies and flowers punched using the Martha Stewart Layering punches.

I suppose this winter it is time to work on some of my cross-stitch projects that need finished from previous years (shhhh ... I rather be scrapbooking LOL!)