John Lewis.......

I am doing a book signing "down south", this one will be on the 15th December at John Lewis on Oxford Street (how exciting). It will be the first time I've managed to get into town over the Christmas period so I'm really looking forward to it. We are making a day (and hopefully evening) of it, Carley and Kathryn are coming in with me so we can go out after the signing. I will be in the store from 12pm - 2pm (then probably wandering the streets trying not to spend loads of money!!).

Artist Trading Card club members have a peek at the flickr account as I have just updated the photo's.

Hope to see lots of your happy smiley faces either at Topaz or John Lewis xx

Book Signing!!!

How very exciting! My book is out, I am signing a batch tomorrow for the lovely ladies who all ordered it in Portugal (thank you very much!). For those of you who I was not lucky enough to meet, I am going to do my very first book signing at Topaz on the 8th December, so it would be great to see some of you up there.

I will be in the shop Saturday from 11 - 4, then on the Sunday 11 - 1. I am really looking forward to my visit, and doing some shopping (I feel Christmas pressie shopping is a must - especially now my mums addicted to this card making malarky!!). How funny, doing a book signing!!! Who'd have thought.

Anyway, it will be great to see some familiar faces and catch up on all the gossip.

Portugal ATC's

This card has been made using components from my Sunshine Shades kit. This is a really easy one. Take one of the pre-printed cards, simply add torn flower paper to the top of the card, then edge the card using a matching ink-pad (I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink spiced marmalade). I then added a rub-on to the bottom of the card then glued three buttons along the paper line. I completed the card by adding a little ribbon underneath a jewelled flower. Easy-peasy.

This card has also been created using items from my Sunshine Shades ATC kit. I have covered a blank card with the spotty paper,with a printed car and aeroplane on it. I tore the paper to give a little interest. I trimmed the frame down, so only part of it would fit onto my ATC. Before attaching the frame I stuck another piece of dotty paper (all the papers are different to give variations to the card). This fits under the frame only. I attached the frame with 3D foam then used a "Happy" rub on to the right of the frame. To complete the card, I cut a larger aeroplane card image out and attached it to the frame, adding a jewel star to the centre of the wings.

Back Home

We're back after our successful trip to Portugal. It went brilliantly. It was hard work, with some extremely long days, but I really enjoyed it and met some wonderful people. I hope everyone who went enjoyed themselves and came away feeling inspired. I slept for 12 hours Sunday evening to recover!! Fantastic.



A massive thank you to all the people who went. It was great to catch up with everyone from Topaz, the team back together again, awwww. It was also great to see Joey again, and also to work and have fun with Carley, Paula, Jackie, Alli and Jenny who joined our little team this year. It was also great to be joined by Jules from Xyron, Dave from Fiskars and of course Sara from HOTP, who are all lovely. If you ever see Paula at any crafty do's ask her to give you a demonstration of her Spanish dancing - brilliant, she really cheered us all up when we were a little frazzled.



Anyway, I could babble on for ages about it, but I do want to share a few cards I made for the trip. I will put a couple on here with instructions, then the others on Flickr. Hello to any of the ladies who joined us in Portugal - I hope you all got home safely and have fully recovered!

Just a quick line or two........

I thought I would pop on and write a line or two as it has been some time since I have updated my blog.

Many of you will probably have heard the sad news of JJ's loss, which meant J and Dawn had to go South Africa suddenly. We have all been trying to rally round to help in anyway possible, and our thoughts are with J and his family. I know tomorrow will be another long day for them both and hope it passes quickly.

We have been getting ready for Portugal, which has come round so quickly. Where does time go? I say we have been getting ready, I have still to do my samples!! No panic - I have two days to work on those (gulp).

I have added a few more wonderful ATC's on the Flickr from the club members (keep up the good work). As usual I have seen loads of brilliant work of late, it's really inspirational.

I'll pop back on with after Portugal.
xx

Joining the club

Anyone new to this Blog who would like to join my Artist Trading Card Club please see full details which can be found on the right of this page under the archive section in May. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you. No, thank you........

One of our club members has suggested we have a section on my blog for members to say "thank you" to each other when you have received your trades. I thought that was a great idea, so here is the "Thank you, no thank you......" area. Please feel free to thank each other, and have a general chat.

Thank you.........

I've had a re-vamp on the old blog page, and updated my flicker account with some of my ATC members cards.

I've decided to add just one or two cards to the blog, and put more on the flicker account, as it is easier to view them there. I hope everyone has a look, please let me know if you have any problems accessing the page.

I have recently been getting inspired by Somerset Studio's magazine. This is a fantastic publication from the States, I have treated myself to a subsciption as part of my Birthday pressie. Definately recommend it - I have yet to put down the magazine and start crafting though. I'll pop any results on here for you to see (I'm wondering what I can chop up and "alter" around the house !).

Holiday

We had a lovely weekend break for my Birthday (all arranged by Nicky - awww). We went to a little place called Ivychurch, in Kent, and stayed in a fantastic 15th century guest house.

I have to recommend the Rarebreeds Centre. Its ace.....the butterfly tunnel is fantastic. They do loads of things for kids, and have a crafty bit (which I didn't get chance to visit). Everyone should go - check out their web site for details:

www.rarebreeds.org.uk

A few ATC's from me

This section will be undated regularly with new ATC's using different idea's and products.

The first cards (on the left) have been created using a pigment ink refill bottle - sometimes you like the ink but do not have the actual matching ink-pad, do not let this put you off using the refill ink. I applied ink directly from the bottle to the card, then spread the ink unevenly to cover the card using a sponge (allow some thick blobs of ink to remain). As the ink was a pigment ink I was able to cover the card with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Powder), and emboss. I added bronze stars to the 1st layer of molten powder, then added two more layers of powder. As the ink was applied unevenly it bubbled in places, which gives a fantastic effect, this is the card which is pictured at the back, and I left it waiting to be decorated so you could see the full effect.

The card in the foreground has been made using a rubber stamp (one of Dawns own Acrylic stamps). I applied the ink to a sponge, which I then used to apply it to the stamp, and stamped away as usual. I then used the excess ink on the sponge to edge the ATC card, which I think finishes the card. Colour the stamped images lightly using Le Plumes or Whispers pens, then finish using a clear sticker, so you can still see your image clearly.

The second card on the right has been made using a Gatefold (obviously reducted to ATC size). I stamped the inside using Dawns Acrylic stamps, coloured using Le Plumes and tinted the edges of all the card using VersMagic Niagara Mist ink pad. My favourite element of this card is the Ice Accent, these are acrylic embellishments which you can colour using acrylic paint or, embossing powder or Alcohol Inks. They are really well made and look great. For this card I have actually left them plain, and just attached them to the card using silver brads. Use them to loop ribbon through (I used two pieces of ribbon, one for each side of the card, and glued them together using strong glue, allow them to dry).

If you would like any information on the techniques or products used please do not hesitate to contact me. The original cards have been sent up to Topaz Crafts (please see my link at the bottom of the blog), where you should be able to purchase the majority of the products I use.

Good News

I'm off on my holiday today, hooray. What perfect timing, after our busy Craft day. A big thank you to Paula who was a great help and wonderful company as ever. It was a really good day, Amy and I did the early shows, which helped Dawn recover from the late night launch. We were all in really good spirits so the day went swimmingly.



I'm only away for a week, so when I get back I'll be fully re-fueled and be able to get my backlog of ATC new members sorted. The other good news is I have finally been able to get my Newsletter and the Welcome letter for my new members printed professionally, so that will really speed things up (no more swearing at the printer for me!), and the quality is superior to my little printer.



Thank you to my members who have already responded to the Newsletter, and started sending in their Themed trades, especially the ones for Postpals, it really is worth it and is really appreciated by the children and the parents.

ATC Members Newsletter

I am in the process of the membership Newsletter. If you have an email address, and would like the Newsletter sent via email, please confirm your email address together with your full name and membership number to LeoniesATCs@hotmail.co.uk

If you would still prefer to receive your Newsletter via post please take no action. The Newsletter will take me a few weeks to complete and then post so please bear with me. If you have any queries please forward them to LeoniesATCs@hotmail.co.uk

Club Members Cards

I love seeing all the fantastic work from my club members, and its my pleasure to share a small selection with you all. I really wish I could show more, but I'm afraid the club fills up lots of spare time just with the new members and arranging the trades, so I do not get chance to take as many pictures as I would like. However, have a look to the right and there are some of the great cards received and traded to date. Keep having a peep, new cards are being added all the time, and I know a few of you have spoted yours up there already.

Artist Trading Cards (the club)

I thought I would create this blog as a way of showing a selection of the fantastic ATC's I receive to trade through my ATC club. For those of you who may be new to ATC's (Artist Trading Cards), they are small cards measuring 2.5" x 3.5" which you create then trade with fellow ATCers. This is a way of sharing ideas and gaining inspiration, as well as making new friends. The best way to trade is face to face, but as this can sometimes be a little tricky, I set up a club whereby people send me their cards and I trade for them. I try to guarantee they always trade with someone different, and there is no limit to the amount of cards you wish to trade.

With this blog I will be showing a selection of my favourite cards. I will also be keeping everyone up-to-date with workshops which I am organising and theme's that are currently in place. This is not a replacement for the Newsletter, which I will still be publishing for my members.

I love ATC's, and running the club is great as I see so many fantastic works of art - I only wish I had more time to devote to my club. If you are not yet a member but would like to join I do charge a small fee of £5 to go towards the cost of running the club. Please send your cheque made payable to Leonie Pujol to:

Leonie Pujol
P O Box 1027
Canterbury
CT1 9GW

This address is close to me so therefore I'll get the post a little quicker, but please only send mail to me to this address. If you wish to send ATC's and things for Topaz please use the following address:


Dawn Bibby Design Studio & Store
Market Street Works, Market Street, Church, Accrington.
BB5 0DP


All new members will receive a Welcome pack, with a selection of goodies. Please do bear with me, as I run the club in my spare time, and sometimes I don't have as much of that as I would like! Generally Welcome Packs take me approx 4-6 weeks to send out.

Please feel free to email me if you have any queries:
leoniepujolsatcs@hotmail.co.uk