REWIND SERIES: Vintage Canvas Collage Workshop

We have another workshop recap to share with you today and this one is for a fab piece of home decor and again has so many possibilities for creating great keepsakes and presents for friends and family.

For this project we used the Tim Holtz Burlap panels which come in two different sizes. Our guests had the option of making one 6" x 8" panel or two 6" x 4" panels.

When creating this panel I followed Tim's example that is included on the back of the packaging for the 6" x 8" panel, that way I knew each piece would fit comfortably. Designing the 6" x 4" panels was a bit more challenging but I soon found a layout that worked.

Once I had cut the chipboard pieces to size I then cut out some patterned papers to fit each piece and create subtle backgrounds to each tile.

I embellished the panels with some Tim Holtz Idea-ology embellishments, including the miniature pocket watch, metal arrow, and a metal ornate frame. I also used the Tim Holtz Adventure Words: Block and Tim Holtz Friendship Words: Block die sets to add some typography and meaning to each canvas.

I decided to design my canvasses to create a keepsake of some wonderful holidays that me and Conor have been on to Rome and Disneyland Paris. I added some of my own embellishments that I had collected on these trips to make each canvas a bit more special.

So how did our guests get on.....? Let's have a look at their creations:-

Pauline

Mags

Becky

Linda

Chris

I think you'll agree each canvas looks great and I really love this part of recapping these workshops. Just looking back on the photos of what each person made brings a smile to my face. I love seeing how each person takes each element and puts their own little spin on it to make it more personal to them.

I'm sure these canvases are displayed in a prime location in their homes so they can admire their handiwork!

REWIND SERIES: Spring Houses Workshop Recap

Back in May 2017 we hosted one of my favourite workshops called 'Spring Houses'. Unfortunately I didn't come back to the blog to post the results of this workshop and share with you the wonderful creations our guests made. I'll start by sharing some photos of the set-up for the day and then follow with some photos of what everyone made.

This project was definitely popular with our guests as we had a full house for the day.

Each kit was prepped ready for our guests to get stuck in. Before the workshop we asked our guests to send us a photo they wanted to include on their house so that we could tint it in a sepia tone and print in at the correct size.

So that our guests could follow our example on the day we set up our houses on a moving plinth that slowly turned round.

So without further ado, our guests arrived and started on their Spring Houses creations. The final results are excellent and each set of houses look fabulous!

Zoe

Joanne

Jen

Oceaniana

Diana

Becky

Linda

Pauline

Chris

I think you will agree that everyone's creations look fantastic and I love how the colours of the flowers vary between each example as out guests decided on which colours they wanted to use. This project has a great vibrancy to it and definitely gives a feeling of Spring in your home.

REWIND SERIES: Ilfracombe Christmas Bauble

The last project on our Ilfracombe craft retreat has got to be one of my favourites! We wanted to make a special memento from this trip that our guests could hang up on their tree at Christmas time. Me and mum love making Christmas decorations and especially love any decorations that have a nautical theme to them so this made for the perfect project.

To make this decoration we started with a simple clear glass bauble (you can often find these in large packs in a garden centre or craft store such as Hobbycraft). We decorated the bauble with Mica Flakes that were a seaside mix of colours to fit in beautifully with the theme of the project. To get a lovely smooth finish around the bauble we made sure everyone gave the bauble a good 'buff' once they had applied all their mica flakes.

We applied some alcohol ink around the cap of the bauble so that the colour complemented the colours on the bauble.

To provide a memento for this trip, mum sourced a vintage postcard image of Ilfracombe which we managed to shrink down and use as an image on the front of the decoration. Once we glued this in place we went round the edge with some Stickles glitter glue. To finish off the bauble, we added some seam binding, that we had dyed to match, so that our guests could hang their decoration on their tree.

Not only did our guests make a beautiful ornament but we also gave them the materials to make a box that they could store it in!

To make the box we used the We R Memory Keepers 1.2.3 punch board and sourced some seaside themed papers to decorate the box with. We also used the same punch board to make the bow that sits on top of the box.

To keep the bauble in place within the box, mum also designed a circular plinth that we inserted inside so that the decoration could sit on it so that it stayed in place. This also kept the decoration at the perfect height within the box so that you could see the bauble through the circular window on the front.

Once again we used a set of magnetic discs to make the top of the box easy to open and close.

This decoration forms the basis for some wonderful creations you could make to personalise your own baubles for friends and families. There are so many colours of mica flakes to choose from that you can theme the bauble to whatever you like.

So that concludes our Ilfracombe craft makes but stay tuned for even more projects that we are featuring in our REWIND series from 2016-2019.

REWIND SERIES: Traveller's Mini Photo Album

On Day 2 of our Ilfracombe craft retreat we designed a miniature album project which our guests could use to fill with photos of their trip or perhaps save it for a future travelling adventure!

I designed this album to be a miniature accordion style so as you opened the album at the top, it would expand like an accordion so that you can access each miniature photo card and pull it out of the slots.

I added some tabs to each photo card by punching out small circles and folding them in half over the top of the card. I used Tim's miniature stapler to hold these in place. This helps make the photo cards easy to identify and pull them out of each slot.

The album is held together using magnetic discs on the flap of the album. I also added a nautical gold button to the flap for extra decoration.

I finished off the front of the album by adding a stamped postcard image and added some twine with a camera charm attached to the front. We also die cut some words from Tim Holtz's Handwritten Vacation die set and decided to use the word 'Travel' on our sample album.

This is such a cute photo album that can easily fit in your bag if you wanted to share photos from your trip with friends and family.

As you can see from the photos above it is an album I am still yet to fill with my own photos but once I do I'll put another post up to show you the finished result! 

REWIND SERIES: Seaside Memory Jar

Our first evening project at the Ilfracombe Craft Retreat was this adorable memory jar inspired by all things seaside.

We started the project by painting the lid of the jar using Distress Paint.

To fill the jar we used some sand (on this occasion we used some sand we had collected from a previous trip to the seaside), we sourced some MDF bucket and spade shapes and painted these using Tim Holtz Distress Paint. Lastly we added a mini glass jar filled with miniature shells.

In our example, mum added a vintage beach themed photo around the back of the inside of the jar. We left it up to our guests to decide on the photo they wanted to add to their jar.

We finished off the project by adding some twine around the neck of the jar and attaching a nautical themed charm.

This project would make an excellent gift for someone special and can easily be modified for different occasions throughout the year.....I'm thinking Christmas!

NEW WORKSHOP: Memory Village

We have a new and exciting workshop coming in September called Memory Village.

This cute project uses the Artful Dwellings Bigz L die by Tim Holtz. I managed to source this die from Ebay about 2 months ago as unfortunately this die is now retired. I knew as soon as I got it that I wanted to use it for a workshop project.

The houses are die cut from chipboard and I cut two each of each house so that they could be layered together for extra stability. This also enables you to join each house together, sandwiching the tape in-between the houses.

Each house is covered with a decoupage paper in a newsprint design and I used Tim Holtz Vintage Distress Collage Medium to adhere the paper to the chipboard. This helps tint the colour of the backing paper for a vintage effect.

Once the collage medium had dried I added some paint to two of the houses and just applied this using my finger and then rubbing off the excess paint using a dried baby wipe. Once my backgrounds had been created I then had fun adding pieces of ephemera from the Tim Holtz Ephemera Pack Snippets and Tim Holtz Layers Botanical. I also added some pieces of vintage lace to add a contrast of texture to each house.

I added some stamped imagery using a variety of floral, bird and stitching stamp designs. Finally I finished off each house using some Tim Holtz Chit Chat stickers and also Tim Holtz Clippings stickers. I also added a little splatter of paint to each house.

To join the houses together I used a brown paper tape and cut small pieces that I backed together. I then glued these in place, sandwiching them in between the two pieces of chipboard.

This project was so fun to make and is definitely a great gift idea leading up to the festive season. These home decor pieces look great on a shelf of a bookcase and are a creative way to display your favourite photos.

For more information about the workshop and how to book please click here.

REWIND SERIES: By the Sea Framed Panel

Inspired by our workshop with Tim Holtz in 2016, 'Distress a Little Different', we decided to create a framed panel project that our ladies could make on our Ilfracombe Craft Retreat.

We painted the wooden panel with Tim Holtz Distress Paint and then added some highlights of colour using Distress Crayons. To add some flecks of gold we used Ranger foil sheets with a Ranger prick stick adhesive. 

Moving onto the background of the collage, we first layered pieces of ephemera (a mixture of Tim Holtz ephemera and nautical themed ephemera we found ourselves) and then added some colour using Distress Crayons. We also included some texture by adding some stencilling with Ranger texture paste.

Moving onto the foreground of the collage we added a framed box with a photo of an old vintage Ilfracombe postcard. The framed box was inspired by the mini boxes from the Tim Holtz Configuration boxes. This was then painted with Distress paint with some added detailing using Distress Crayons.

Underneath the box we added some scrabble letter embellishments that we had painted to add some extra colour. Extra embellishments included a vial bottle with a rolled up vintage image in, some die cut seaweed embellishments and die cut seagulls.

All in all a beautiful piece of home decor that our guests can hang up in their homes and remind them of the Ilfracombe Craft Retreat.

REWIND SERIES: Ilfracombe Craft Retreat 2016

I can't believe this craft retreat escaped the blog back in 2016! After the success of our first craft retreat in 2015 in St Ives, we decided to host another retreat but this time we headed to North Devon to the small harbour town of Ilfracombe.

We hired out a property in a beautiful spot on the edge of the harbour with beautiful views out to sea. Our house was called Quayfield House and can be found on Holiday Cottages website if you fancy hiring the house for your own craft retreat. Although it was in a beautiful location the steps leading up to the property were a bit of a killer!!

Our retreat was Saturday to Wednesday and included 4 projects that our guests would be making over those days. We organised 2 big projects for Sunday and Tuesday, with 2 smaller evening projects to fit in alongside those. Everyone had a free day on Monday to explore Ilfracombe and do some sight seeing.

We will be going into further detail about each project on each of their own blog posts so you can see more up close pictures and a deeper description of what we used and how we made them.

DAY 1

After breakfast on Sunday morning we laid out the table for the first project of the retreat which was By the Sea Framed Panel. 

Since it was the first day of projects we also provided a little gift from us which was a Vintage Follie apron!

I think we can all agree the ladies looked great in them!

Our view from the craft table was wonderful, looking out over the harbour. Although I think it may have been a bit distracting at times!

After the first project on Day 1 we organised dinner for everyone at the house and then got the table set up for our first evening project which was Seaside Memory Jar.

DAY 2

Due to bad weather on the 2nd day of the retreat we decided to bring the projects forward a day so that our guests could enjoy their free day to explore Ilfracombe in better weather conditions, since Tuesday was looking like the nicer day.

Our first project of the day was Traveller's Mini Photo book.

We always like to include a project that our guests can put photos in to remind them of their retreat or perhaps save it for a trip in the future.

Our evening project for Day 2 was a lovely memento for the trip to remind them of their travels at Christmas time. We were making an Ilfracombe Christmas Bauble.

We decorated the baubles with mica flakes that were a seaside mix of colours to fit in beautifully with the theme of the project. We found some vintage seaside images that we could shrink down in size and glue to the front of the bauble. We then decorated round the edge with some Stickles glitter glue. 

Everyone also made a box that fitted the bauble inside perfectly to keep it protected until they could hang it up on their Christmas tree.

DAY 3:

Today was everyone's free day to go out and explore what Ilfracombe had to offer and get some souvenirs to take home.

We had fun exploring the town and even took a ride on the town's Dotto Land Train to travel around Ilfracombe's tourist destinations.

I couldn't help but take a picture of this board we found outside one of the local coffee shops. So the next time you find yourself debating eating a cake, don't think twice!

So that is the end of our story about our fantastic craft retreat to Ilfracombe in 2016. Unfortunately we haven't planned any since this retreat as life has just been getting in the way. But it is definitely on the cards and we are constantly looking for beautiful locations to organise our next retreat at so who knows, a Vintage Follie Craft Retreat could be coming your way soon.....