Thank you for our Christmas cards....Happy New Year 2016!

It was lovely this year to receive so many Christmas cards from customers and we wanted to say thank you by posting a couple of photographs of them on the blog. The two cards in the photographs are from Sue and Greer.

Wishing all our customers a very Happy New Year 2016!

We want to thank you for your custom and support during 2015 and look forward to seeing you next year at our workshops and demo days.

Love from all of us at Craft Boutique 84. x x

New Year Opening....

Craft Boutique 84 will be opening after the Christmas and New Year break on Wednesday the 20th of January 2016.

If you would like to reserve any products you can call the shop on 020 8530 1244 as we will be picking up telephone messages.

Please keep checking the blog as we will be posting our 2016 workshops and demo days that will start at the end of January.

Best wishes,

Lyn and Dan
x x

It's a little crackers this Christmas....

A friend of ours Janet came into the craft shop just before Christmas looking for card to make Christmas Crackers. She decided on Foundation Card in Teal from Creative Expressions which matched her colour theme this year.

When they were finished Janet sent us a couple of pictures which she said we could post on the blog. Janet made 14 crackers in total and we know she put nice little treats in them for the family. We think they are absolutely beautiful, which is why we wanted to show them off.

The silver flowers that Janet has used to decorate the crackers is made from Sheena Douglass' Perfect Partners Poinsettia Stamp and Die set also bought from our craft shop at eightyfour.

We hope you like these as much as we do. 

Love Lyn and Dan

x x

'Tis the Season' Look what we did!

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

In November we had a Christmas Decoration Making Workshop and although a little late with showing you what we did on the day, this weekend is the perfect opportunity to show you. 

We had a great day with lots of tea and cake, including some mince pies to get us in the festive spirit!

Using PaperArtsy chalk paints, rubber stamps, WOW embossing powders and lots of glitter, some beautiful Christmas decorations were produced.

We hope you enjoy looking at the photographs, look out for our workshops and demo days in 2016!

Lyn and Dan

x x

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

Tip: The picture above shows some of the decorations drying in between coats of paint. Each decoration had two coats of paint sanded lightly in between each one, before decorating with the stamps, embossing powder and glitter.

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

Hello, We are back! Look what our first post is...Christmas Decoration Making Workshop...

Christmas Decoration Making Workshop 

Sunday 15th November  

12pm to 2.30pm

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well, sorry it has been so long since we posted anything but we are back with lots of exciting posts, workshops and demos at the shop in Wanstead. 

Christmas is rapidly creeping up so we thought is would be a good idea to get into the craft festive season.

Spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea and a piece of cake enjoying crafting at Craft Boutique at 84.

We will be using a few different techniques to produce beautiful Christmas Decorations, that can also be used for your Christmas wrapping or as presents for people. 

Cost: £12.50 per person

Refreshments and all your materials included.

Limited spaces available so to book your place please e.mail us or call the Gallery on 0208 530 1244.

We look forward to seeing you.

Lyn and Danielle 

BOXING CLEVER...

Picture work © Geoff Wilkinson 

We had a great night yesterday here at Craft Boutique at '84' in Nightingale Lane, Wanstead. The theme of night was decorating these lovely, handy jewellery boxes, although of course you can use them for whatever you like. Starting with just a plain undecorated box people soon got into the swing of things and as you can see there was some terrific crafting going on. There was tea, cake, bucks fizz and fun and everyone went home with a box they had completed.

Next Sunday we have a free demo day between 12 and 3pm if you are in Wanstead or nearby pop in and have a look what we are up to, hope to see you all then...

PS if you go to our September workshop page you can see all the craft demos and workshops for the month..

        Picture World © Geoff Wilkinson

ROLL UP, ROLL UP....

Today is the start of the Wanstead Art Trail and the Wanstead Fringe. We have free craft workshops today between 11am and 3pm so do pop in and see what we are up to...and don't forget today there is 10% off all craft products...hope to see you later...

CHECK THE SEPTEMBER WORKSHOPS..

Hi everyone just quick note. Apologies for not posting recently but we have been so busy re organising our craft shop, it's all in one room now, and preparing for next month. As you may know September in a very busy month in Wanstead, we have the Art Trail running from Saturday 5th  till Sunday 20th and the Wanstead Fringe running from Saturday the 5th till Saturday the 12th. We are keen supporters of both of these and are running several craft workshops during these events. When you have a second please look at our September page and check out a full list of what we have going on...

We hope you have the opportunity to pop in and say hello..

Brand New from Sheena Douglass….

New! Just Released Perfect Partner Festive Fancies from Sheena Douglass.

Another range of great Dies and Stamp Sets from Sheena, perfect for all your Christmas Craft Projects. Comprising of Baubles, Christmas Lights, Santa's Little Elf Helper, Fairies, Holly and much much more.

The sets also contain images and sentiments that can be used all year round in conjunction with her other Perfect Partners, which is why they are the ‘Perfect Partner’ for your crafting.

We have ordered them and they will be in the shop next week!

We will be stocking the full range.

Special offer: If you buy a matching Die and Stamp Set from the new Perfect Partner Festive Fancies range you will receive a 10% discount.

If you would like to pre-order, we can reserve them in the shop for you. Just give us a call on 0208 530 1244.

Special offer is only available from our shop in Wanstead and while stocks last.

It's a White Wedding….

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Happy Saturday! I hope there is lots of crafting going on this weekend.

We were recently asked to make a wedding card for somebody for a wedding they are attending this month. We really enjoy doing projects like this, because we think it is a compliment when somebody asks us to make something crafty for them. 

We thought it would make a great post on the blog, so you can see what we have been up to. It is another joint project from us and on this occasion we did not have a design in our minds before we started. All we knew was that we wanted it to be in either cream or white pearlised card and wanted to incorporate an embossing folder to add texture.

As you can see from the photograph above we went with a very simple colour theme. I think it is always very interesting when you limit the colour combination on a craft project and in this instance the  main colour is white with a hint of silver.

The card itself is made from Crafter's Companion Centura Pearl 300gsm card and the colour is 'Snow White Hint of Gold'. Using the same card and Creative Expressions Heart Lattice embossing folder we created the top layer. Once the card was embossed we then die cut out Sweet Dixie's Floral Heart Frame which created a heart shape in the card, again in the same Centura Pearl card. Behind the heart cut out we put a piece of silver swirl texture paper to create contrast. We then stuck down the embossed card layer with Scotch Double Sided tape and using STIX2 double sided foam pads stuck the heart die cut out over the top of the shape in the card to create a 3D effect.

Using the Wild Rose Studio Dies, 'Little Butterfly' and 'Peacock Butterfly', we die cut one of each in the Centura Pearl card and one of each in the silver swirl texture paper. Using glue dots along the bodies we stuck the silver paper butterflies over the Centura Pearl butterflies. The self adhesive pearls on the floral heart are white 8mm and the ones on the body of the butterflies (which hopefully you can see) are 3mm, both from Creative Expressions.

The sentiment proved the most difficult as we really could not decide what to do. We went quite subtle in the end and I think it works really well. We cut out a small circle die, stamped a Wild Rose Studio sentiment using a VersaMark Watermark stamp pad and heat embossed it using WOW!'s Metallic Silver embossing powder. We used the STIX2 Foam pads to stick it to the card, again creating a 3D effect.

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Finally to add some finishing touches to make the card a little more special, we used a butterfly stamp from the 'Lovely Garden' stamp set by STAMPENDOUS! to stamp a butterfly on the inside of the card and the envelope in metallic silver. 

I hope you have enjoyed today's post.

Dan

x 

What a Lovely Garden….

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

We are really big fans of Jumbo Cling Stamp sets and the matching dies from STAMPENDOUS! They are versatile to use in lots of different craft projects.

So using the 'Lovely Garden' stamp and die set we did a joint project and something a bit different for tonight. A craft project in a frame! You can see the finished piece in the photograph above.

The first thing we did was to stamp the large and medium rose, along with some leaves and the butterfly using a Rangers Archival Wendy Vecchi Ink Pad in 'Watering Can' on smooth white stamping card. The grey colour can be a good alternative to a black ink as it is a little softer. 

Next we die cut out the stamped images and coloured them using Tim Holtz Distress Inks in a variety of pinks such as 'Victorian Velvet' and 'Spun Sugar' and greens such as 'Mowed Lawn'. 'Mustard' was used to highlight the leaves and flowers and 'Seedless Preserves' (deep purple) which adds depth again to both the flowers and leaves.  

For the butterfly we used a combination of blues including 'Salty Ocean', adding the orange of 'Spiced Marmalade'. We used a Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool, which is great because it is small and round and easy to work with.

WOW! Ultra High Clear Gloss Embossing Powder was used in conjunction with a Watermark VersaMark stamp pad to give the die cut images a ceramic look, which creates a beautiful shine.To make the centre of each of the flowers I used Rangers 'Daffodil' Liquid Pearls. 

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

To stick the large flowers and leaves to the white mount board we used Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue. The smaller roses and butterfly were stuck using STIX2 Double Sided Foam Pads to create a 3D look. This was also used on some of the larger roses around the edges to make them look more realistic. Mount board was used for the background because we were going to put it in a frame. In fact mount board is really good for using as a background on craft projects as it is sturdy but not too thick.

The picture frame we used is made out of a plain white wood moulding and was made in our Photography Gallery in Wanstead, 'Eighyfour'.

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

We had fun making this project, especially using the new products from STAMPENDOUS!

We hope you enjoyed tonight's post. Look out for another post on Friday night.

Lyn and Dan

x x x

New in Stock!….PLAID Fabric Art….Fabric Creations Inks

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson

Just arrived at the shop in Wanstead! Fabric Creations Inks.

These super soft fabric inks are the perfect formulation for stamping, stencilling and brushing on fabric.

The inks are machine washable and are available in a large range of colours.

If you have never done any sort of craft on fabric before, don't forget September is Crafting Month at the shop in Wanstead and there will be the opportunity to have a go. We will be posting details soon.

With crafting on fabric you can create some beautiful projects, not only for yourself but ideal as gifts!

Happy Crafting,

Dan

x

I'll Bee Back….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Well I did say I would be back with the Triple Decker, Double Stamping technique and here I am. I absolutely love the bees at the moment, they are so 'Summery'!

The card in the photograph above is made out of black card stock and as you can see there are three layers of a white card on top which is smooth white 300gsm. The black card has also been used to create the borders for each of the white layers and I think it frames them really well. All the layers were stuck down using a Crafters Companion Extra Strong Permanent Glue Tape, which is an easy to use double sided adhesive.

I used a PaperArtsy Stamp Set, JOFY Collection 30 from Jo Firth-Young. I used the honeycomb effect stamp first as the background which I used with a Rangers Archival Ink Pad in 'Potting Soil'. I stamped first on paper then on the white card. This made the background lighter to really bring out the bee stamp image, I used a Rangers Archival Ink Pad in 'Jet Black' to stamp the bees. The 'bee happy' sentiment is also stamped in the black and I did this last so not to smudge anything else.

To get the stamped effect on this card, you temporarily stick all the white layers of card together and then do the stamping. Once done you then put the black layers of card inbetween. You need to make sure that you line the card up so that the image looks continuous.

I coloured the bees with two PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints, 'Yellow Submarine' and 'Tango' using a water brush which allows you to blend the paints beautifully together. I think the bright colours against the stamped background and bees works really well, as it creates a real contrast.

I hope you have enjoyed tonight's project. We have had some nice feedback from people who have seen it in the shop.

Happy Crafting!

Dan

x

P.S, Look out over the weekend for posts on new products we have in the shop and yes some of them are Christmas related! 

I also wanted to let you know that September is going to be Crafting Month at the shop in Wanstead. Look out for details on free demos, make and takes, workshops and lots more where you will have the opportunity to learn new techniques and see new products. We will also be showing you some techniques that customers have asked to see and have a go at again. 

You're the bees knees!

Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

Take one PaperArtsy Stamp Set, JOFY Collection 30 from Jo Firth-Young and a WOW! Embossing Powder in Metallic Gold Rich and look what you get. A card which I think is simple in design but really quite beautiful. I used two rubber stamps from the collection, the large bee and one of the sentiments. It really is a great stamp set as it reminds me of Summer!

The base of the card is made from a beige/brown card, I think you can see the colour of the card better in the second picture. I stuck a piece of  'Milk' coloured Foundation card from Creative Expressions to the inside of the card using scotch double sided tape, so that the writing would show up and used a matching cream envelope.

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson 

All Rights Reserved

I used a Woodware Magic Anti-Static pad and rubbed it all over the card which is used to help eliminate smudges and fingerprints on the card. I have to be honest and say we use this every time we heat emboss. Next I used a VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad to stamp the bees and the sentiment and I started with the bees from the top doing one or two at a time. So I stamped, sprinkled the embossing powder, removed the excess and then used the heat tool, then repeated the process until all the bees were done. I did the 'You're the bees knees!' last as I didn't want to smudge anything!

                                           

Happy Crafting!

Dan

x

Meet These Guys….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

First of all we have to apologise for not putting a post on the blog, on Friday night. Rather than be in the shop on Sunday we had a stall at the monthly Farmer's Market in Wanstead as a bit of an exercise to let people know about the craft workshops we run and the shop itself. So Friday night and Saturday we were busy doing lots of projects to show people. Tonight you get to 'Meet These Guys'…. and I promise we will post something extra this week to make up for missing a post last week.

Tonight's project is all about keeping it simple. It is amazing what you can make using only a few craft products and by not complicating everything. We decided to make a 'set of cards' that could be used for any occasion but were all along the same sort of theme.

As you can see the cards in the photograph are made using A4 Creative Kraft Coloured Card from Creative Expressions, which is a great  alternative to smooth white card or  using a coloured card as a base. The A4 card was cut down so that each of the cards measured 7 inches by 5 inches. The top layer of  cream coloured card is Foundation 'Milk' Card, 220gsm from Creative Expressions. We also stuck a piece of 'Milk' Card on the inside of each of the cards to use when writing a message, that way you can use any pen and don't have to worry about the message you write not showing up on the Kraft Coloured Card. We used a combination of Scotch Double Sided tape and Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue to stick the inside and outside 'Milk' Card.

The technique used on the front of each card is actually heat embossing. Each of the stamps were stamped using a Versafine Ink Pad in 'Vintage Sepia', then we used a clear WOW! Embossing Powder which created that beautiful 3D embossing texture. The clear powder allows the colour of the Versafine Ink Pad to come through.

The pre cut stamps themselves are by Sam Poole from Creative Expressions. We have had them in the shop since they were launched last year and they are a favourite of not just us but lots of customers as they are so versatile. There is 'Squeak', 'Hoppity Bunny', 'Mr Bear', 'Hoot' and 'Mr Fox'. All of them come with a sentiment as you can see, they are £4.99 each and we sell them in the shop and on our website. We added a flower stamp from Woodware to go with the mouse which I think works really well.

As a finishing touch we added a cream coloured envelope to contrast against the Kraft Card and to match the 'Milk' Card.

I hope you like these guys as much as we do.

I would like to say a big thank you to our friend Maude, who is also a regular on our craft workshops. Maude was kind enough to help us get the cards ready for the market on Sunday. x

Happy Crafting everybody,

Dan

x x x x

PRETTY IN PINK….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

I always associate the colour pink with the word pretty, so when we decided to make a 'pretty card'  the colour theme was obvious. We also decided that we do not use background papers enough. So what do you get when you put the two together? You get the card in the above photograph….Pretty in Pink!

The card itself is made from smooth white 300gsm card, the background paper is from a Phill Martin Setimentally Yours Designer Paper Pad called Graceful Butterflies & Dragonflies. The paper in the pad is 8x8 inches and is 170gsm premium paper which makes it suitable for lots of different projects. It features 4 designs in 6 different colours and you get two sheets of each, so 48 in total and the pad also coordinates with other products from Phill's Graceful Range.

We used an embossing folder from Creative Expressions called Large Heart Lattice which is a favourite of ours as it gives a beautiful effect, which I put through our Spellbinders Grand Calibur. The paper was stuck to the card using Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue, which I think is a must for any crafter as it is easy to use, adheres really well and is clear when it dries. To give the card a 3D look, you will see a middle panel was also created and stuck to the card using STIX2 Double Sided Foam Tape.

The dies used to create the toppers are both from Wild Rose Studio called 'Peacock Butterfly' and 'Flower Circle', to match the butterflies on the background paper. We used a selection of Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in various pink shades 'Victorian Velvet', 'Spun Sugar' and 'Picked Raspberry' to colour the die cuts, blending them with a Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool which is perfect for this type of work. 

Using WOW! Ultra High Clear Gloss Embossing Powder we gave the butterfly and the outer edge of the flower circle a 'ceramic' look. The middle of the 'Flower Circle' was then stamped with a sentiment stamp from from Wild Rose Studio using a Tim Holtz Distress Pad in 'Victorian Velvet'.  The 'Butterfly' and 'Flower Circle' were then attached to the card using STIX2 Foam Pads. Finally we added some Mini White Pearl Swirls from Creative Expressions to the body of the butterfly and to create it's antenna.

We hope you have enjoyed tonight's post and it has given you some ideas.

Lyn and Dan

x

www.craftboutique84.com

Hello PEBEO…...

                                             Picture world © Geoff Wilkinson - All rights reserved

The sun is out, the weather is warm and today I had that exciting "Summer Feeling". It is hard to explain and you are probably thinking where is this going but I think it has something to do with the nights being lighter for longer and  me thinking to myself nothing is impossible. So tonight I wanted to post something a bit different to reflect my bright mood. So the project in the photograph above is what tonight is all about….BRIGHTS!

Among all things crafty that I love, I am a fan of mixed media. I can't specifically tell you why but I think it is to do with my love of different textures, even when making my cards you will have seen that textures are important to me,  whether they be made with an embossing folder or the use of something like Rangers Glossy Accents.

Tonight's project is made using products from a French company called Pebeo, founded in 1919 and still family owned. I always say that at Craft Boutique at 84, it is really important for us to stock products  from companies that we like working with and Pebeo is no exception. They do a huge range of products offering what we think is fantastic quality.

So let me tell you how I made my project. It is done on a piece of square canvas board and the first step was to use Pebeo's Clear GEDEO Resin to create the sun effect in the top left hand corner and the streak effect on the left had side. I then used some of their Studio Acrylics Sand Gel in white to create the beautiful sand texture on the bottom right of the canvas. The resin and sand gel gives you great 3D textures as your base. You will notice in the middle I added a small piece of scrap booking paper as I wanted to see how the other products would work with it. I stuck it to the canvas by using a gloss gel, similar to a Claudine Hellmuth type product, I think a clear PVA glue would also work.

The colour itself is made by using a mix of PEBEO Vitrail, Fantasy Prisme and Moon, all of which can be used to create transparent, honeycomb and marbled effects. To bring the 'sun' out I then used GEDEO Mirror Effect Leaves in gold, which is a foil so you just rub it on to your project. Lastly, and I am not sure you can see them in the photograph but I used gold gilding flakes for sparkle (yes, I know I couldn't resist).

I really hope you have enjoyed tonight's post, it was fun to do. If you do not use a lot of mixed media  and would like to have a go we are going to be running some short workshops in September to give you the opportunity to have a go. It is a really good opportunity to learn about new products and see how they can be used in conjunction with your craft work. I think the gilding flakes is a great example as we use them a lot in our card making at the shop.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and get to do some things crafty.

Dan

x

www.craftboutique84.com

TRIPLE DECKER….DOUBLE STAMPING….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

You know sometimes when you are working on a craft project and you get really excited inside because you have a feeling it is going to look really nice when it is finished? Well that is exactly how we felt when we started doing this card. This is a technique that we have seen before but never used, so really wanted to give it a go and are really happy with the results.

The card itself is made out of black card stock and as you can see in the photograph above there are three layers of a light cream card on top which is a Foundation Card from Creative Expressions, 220gsm and the colour is called 'Milk'. It is a real favourite colour of ours. As you can see the black card has also been used to create the borders for each of the cream layers and I think it frames them really well. All the layers were stuck down using a Crafters Companion Extra Strong Permanent Glue Tape, which is an easy to use double sided adhesive.

Two different stamps were used to create the images on the front of the card, The first one was a leaf style clear stamp from Woodware and was stamped using a Rangers Archival Ink Pad in "Watering Can", which created the soft background. Next using a Rangers Archival Ink Pad in "Jet Black", we stamped the flower stamp and this is what created the bolder look against the soft background. I think that the grey and black ink combined works well against the black and cream card, however you could use other ink pad combinations to create similar effects. 

To get the stamped effect on this card, you temporarily stick all the cream layers of card together and then do the stamping. Once done you then put the black layers of card inbetween. You need to make sure that you line the card up so that the image looks continuous.

To finish off the outside of the card, we used a Rangers Liquid Pearl in "Majestic Purple", which although quite subtle against the bold stamped image of the flowers, the colour compliments the grey and black colouring.

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

To make this project a bit more special by linking the inside of the card to the outside of the card,  as you can see from the photograph we also stamped the flower in "Jet Black" and added the "thanks" sentiment from PaperArtsy.  Just a little tip, but when using a colour card as the base for your project, you can use a more neutral coloured card on the inside to write your message. I think that the "milk" card works really well in this instance.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project. The triple decker and double stamp technique is a lovely way to work and I have a feeling over the next few weeks you may see some more projects with a similar look.

Happy Crafting!

Dan

P.S - Just a reminder that we have a card making workshop at the shop in Wanstead this weekend on Sunday, so if you would like to join us please call the shop on 0208 530 1244 to book your place.

Card Making Workshop on Sunday the 28th of June

Card Making Workshop - Theme: Die Cutting 

Sunday the 28th of June

12.30pm to 2.30pm

Cost £7.50 per person

(includes all the materials you need and of course tea, coffee and cake!)

Limited Spaces Available

To book your place, please call the shop on 0208 530 1244.

All That Glitters….

 Photograph World© Geoff Wilkinson - Design World © Lyn Wilkinson All Rights Reserved

There is always something striking about using vibrant, bold colours against a black background, no matter what craft project it is you are working on. I find that they stand out beautifully against the dark background and I think the two examples in the above photograph are no exception. 

Using a VersaMark Watercolour Ink Pad we stamped a Sheena Douglass Poppy Stamp onto both pieces of black card, then used a WOW! Embossing Powder in "Metallic Rich Gold Regular". Once heated with a heat tool it created a great image from the stamp. For the main card standing up in the photograph, we decided to make it a "Just A Note" card using the same technique to create the sentiment. The sentiment is from a clear stamp set from Wild Rose Studio and they are really versatile to use on cards among other projects. Although a very simple card to make I think it looks very effective. 

The piece of card laying down was stamped and heat embossed in exactly the same way, however rather than leaving it plain we wanted to experiment and see what the poppies would look like "coloured in". For this technique we used a Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder in "Perfect Gold", which was mixed with water and applied with a paint brush. The experiment worked, it looked great once it had dried. I think it just shows you how versatile you can be when using your stamps and embossing powders.

One tip when working with stamps and embossing powders, is to use an Anti Static bag and wipe it across the surface before you start. It helps to eliminate smudges and fingerprints on your work.

Happy Crafting this weekend!

Dan

x