Welcome, come on in and pull up a chair

I love my new studio at the farm, it is light and would have enough room for me, if I didn't have quite as much stash!!
I have all my favourite things around me, plus the kettle and the radio, what makes it better ....well when I get to share the space and my toys with other crafters.
I would love you to come over and play sometime. So keep an eye on the calendar and sign up for the newsletter to win £25 worth of vouchers.
http://www.oakhousestudio.com/events.html

A day in the studio

Ben and I have had a busy day at the studio, we spent the morning cleaning out and re organising all my inks pads ahead of teaching the inks course on Monday. We spent the afternoon producing and bottle some new spray inks colours in the new bottles.
These bottles were on on offer at our normal suppliers and hold 75ml which is 50% more than our normal bottles. But we saved so much on the bottles we are going to be offering these at the same price as the "normal ones" so you will get 50% extra ink free. We have also splashed out on screw top AND spray tops, which means you can get both tops for our regular £4.99 price. That makes it easier to clean your spray tops at the end of a session without spilling your precious ink.  If you already have spray bottles or mini misters, we will also be able to sell the inks as a refill bottle for just £3.50
I do rather like painting with these inks too, so having the screw tops on is going to make that all easier too.
More colours to sort out next week too.
Please note that when requiring teenagers to help with production tasks generous helpings of Pringles and Quality Street certainly helps

Special Offers

Summer School Offers

We have priced Summer School by the day as some days, like those that include working on silk scarves have higher material costs. However we would love people to be able come to more than one day and may a real break of it. So here are some offers for those who are tempted to do more than one day. These codes are for use when you book on line to do any of our “summer school days” in July or August.

Book two days and save £5  Code: 2DAYS

Book three days and save £10 Code: 3DAYS

Book more than 3 days and save 10% Code: SSMEGA

When you get the checkout you input these codes into the box provided and or your discount will be deducted.

Pick any collection of days over the three weeks to qualify for this discount.

http://www.oakhousestudio.com/events.html

One Stamp challenge continues.

Here are few more photos from the weekend. These are all projects that spanned the two days.
The Canvas was small one with an easel from The Works.
I gave it a coat of buttermilk acrylic paint. Then dry brushed with coordinating blue and green acrylic paints for Making Memories. I over stamped this with the oriental text in Midnight Blue Oak House Studio Colour Chemistry Ink.
I stamped the Clematis Tower in the same Midnight ink onto OHS stamping card. I coloured it using Pan Pastels and a sponge applicator. I punch a large circle and coloured it with same two Pan Pastels and over stamped it with the oriental text.

There is also a journal and a nice box to put it in.
I think these probably need more work but needed to be as finished as possible over the weekend.
And finally I have re decorated by spray ink holder. Is this a good time to tell you that spray inks should be back on the website very soon?

there is more

 Sunday was a  much quieter day visitor wise, with mainly other artists from the studios popping in plus Martin. Every visit had food attached to it too as I think everyone thought I might forget to eat. (Don't they know me).


I finished off a few projects started on Saturday more of those later but with new Colour Chemistry inks due out very soon I was tempted to play.
I think in general I am always a fan of what every products are out on the table.
One project I had saved for Sunday was a silk scarf, I have made a few but still working on way to use stamps even more. This project is part of the fabric one day courses that are part of my summer school offering this year.


I used Derwent products for part but it was quite nice to discover the Colour Chemistry inks were best for some parts. I had put myself under pressure time wise with this one so had to resort to my latest mantra of KISS Keep It Simple S(tupid) actually don't like the stupid bit so looking for another word there. Given more time I think I would of added more flowers but today it was about KISS. So I managed to get one end painted just as Martin arrived with a chinese takeaway which I wolfed down quickly and sent him away again so I could finish the scarf.


 After that I moved chairs so I was sat with my back to the clock got my head down and tried to balance speed with accuracy. I was going to complete this if it meant staying till midnight. Imagine my joy when I finished and turned round to discover it was a few minutes to 8. Considering the time warp that occurs when you are the studio this was brilliant. So I hung it out to dry whilst I did a quick tidy up.






Dates for classes and other events at the studio can be found here http://www.oakhousestudio.com/events.html.

I hope to see you there very soon.

Lynnda  x

over night projects

I am starting today's post with projects that spanned the Saturday Night and Sunday morning. I have really begun to enjoy the effects I can get with the Oak House Studio stamps and Polymer clay. Since getting to know Tracey Spurgin and then Debbie Carlton I have an eye on what texture any new stamp will create. Despite Clematis Tower being one of my favourite stamp this is the first time I have worked with it as a texture. For this weekend I decided to "use up" some clay I had used but cured as part of a workshop. The colours had started to get mixed so I engaged Martin is blending these together. It was not my usual brand of clay and the condition was a bit of a pig, probably made worse as one colour was pearl which seems to make the clay more brittle. I spent far too long condition this clay but at the end of Saturday it was probably the mindless sort of thing I needed to do. I pressed two larger flowers and one full Clematis....I was thinking a broach and pair of earrings. I got these trimmed of of the excess clay and left them over night. On Sunday morning I began by "part curing" the shapes in a spoon to give them some dimension. At which point I was starting to wonder about how long it would take to dig out my oven to finish the job. I knew Tracey would have her oven on that day so part of me thought I'll ask Tracey when I remembered my Melt Pot is ideal for curing small pieces like this...So I did out the Melt Pot, only to discover I had left it full of UTEE. So I set about getting that out. I was just picking up the tray to tip out the last bit when I thought Hang on another project here, so put back just a little more UTEE and grabbed a cutter and poured it on to my stamp.

Both pieces where finished with rub on waxes. Oh yes those earrings...seems I got a bit clever and snapped a piece off one large flower so I grouped them all together to make one larger deeper broach. There are more One Stamp Projects to post but I have 20 minutes to get ready to go to Hull for Business Week so more later.

Revamp a lamp - a One stamp Challenge Project

Hi it's Diane from "just add glue to" blog again joining Lynnda in her quest to showcase numerous of ways of using stamps and support her with her One Stamp challenge.

After having a lovely messy time recycling a broken mirror using Lynnda's fabulous Clematis stamp, I decided to make a matching lampshade....which was a bargain £1 buy from a charity shop. 

During my experimenting for the mirror project I dug out some Mulberry paper (something I hadn't used for a long time). it has a lovely fabric quality to it and I loved the effect of stamping on it, I also discovered that Promarkers bled and blended on it beautifully, so this was going to be how I decorated it.

But on reflection as the stamped feature on the mirror was white I decided to keep to just the blue and white theme.

Like the Mirror I was conscious of safety and was careful with not having the paper in contact with the bulb or using flammable glue - I used Pinflair Book Binding glue- although modern energy saving bulbs don't tend to give off the heat of older style bulbs...better to be safe than sorry!

I randomly stuck the cut out stamped images round the shade and further adorned (hid dirty marks!!!) with some punched vellum butterflies and some 3d paint.......why oh why did I just not sit back and think "job done!!!"?

It dawned on me that often the most visible bit of  a lampshade is the inside.... I know.... I will stamp a matching design inside....

....like the mirror project I found that I could use the stamp independently of a block (particularly useful for stamping on a curved surface), but this time I added a little card handle for ease of placement, but I kept the handle thin so that I could still lay it flat and apply the ink.
I used a Whispers Ink pad which is a permanent ink but I found that rather than let it dry I could wipe it away and it left a subtle image....but me being me carried on and decide to ink over it to add a subtle colour...quite honestly...a bit of dogs dinner!! but surprisingly my daughter still liked it and says she's going to use it (in the spare room!!!)

I am really looking forward to seeing what Lynnda is going to do, as I am sure I could have done this project better... so really hoping for some inspiration and if anyone has any suggestions (putting it in the bin and starting again is a possibility!) or ideas I would love to hear from you.

Stamping and beyond - a One Stamp challenge Project

Hi I am Diane from “just add glue to” blog, I am a slightly obsessive  crafter (if you’re reading this I guess you are bitten by the bug too!). One of my main passions is budget crafting and for my blog I try and make projects without any specially bought crafting material…just paper, card and glue!
But of course I have bought rather a lot of crafting gizmos and gadgets along the way and I love collecting stamps, which I think are the best investment of all, this is my main reason for supporting Lynnda with her exciting 24hr stamp challenge. She is spot on with her passion for showcasing the many ways that stamps can be used and with that in mind I have created a couple of projects which are not actually paper based.

At the  moment my time has been totally absorbed by helping my daughter and her partner renovate a cottage to live in, and like all young couples the budget is very slim, so we are also looking for ways to furnish and decorate the cottage on a shoestring and the charity shop is our main source for interesting and unique items….all crying out to be brought back to life

First was  a little broken mirror (which had actually been thrown out). A bit of glue soon sorted out the broken frame, then out came the old tester pots of emulsion to give it a new look.

Then came the fun bit…how to decorate it and the Clematis stamp  couldn’t be more perfect for home decor projects. Lynnda inspired me to have a root through my crafting stash to use something I hadn’t used for a while and I spent a happy afternoon testing papers, powders, pens, inks and paints

and I gave the poor stamp quite a hard time…..

but a testament to its quality is it’s still standing and stamping as perfectly as when I started!! In the end I bit the bullet and decided to stamp and emboss directly on the glass…..never tried this before and I held my breath as the powder began to melt
             

 ….but I loved the result (and so does my daughter).

I used Versamark and Oak House Studio white embossing powder and again a testament to the unique property of Oak House Studio stamps, is that they are so rigid it was possible to stamp without fixing it to a block, which enabled me to position it right into the corner.
WARNING! if you do try this … do not apply the heat too closely and leave the glass to cool as soon as the powder has melted.  I certainly wouldn't try this with anything precious and safety is  paramount when dealing with glass and heat!!  The embossing is quite durable but can be cleaned off with a bit of elbow grease and polish!

To finish the mirror (and cover the broken corner) I made a couple of paper flowers decorated with beads and nail varnish!! I have more details on my blog on how to create paper flowers.
I have had amazing fun using the stamp and still have many ideas that I want to use the stamp for (and have completed one other project, a matching lampshade).

Thank you so much Lynnda for inviting me to share your Stamp challenge…..I only wish I could join you in your studio I am sure you have many great ideas to try!!!!!!!

DT Projects For The One Stamp Challenge Brought To You By Oak House Studio

The One Stamp Challenge is using the Clematis Tower stamp available from Oak House Studio.See here for all the details   One Stamp

For my first project I have used  a wooden plaque which i have added a coat of Gesso to.I have blended a selection of Panpastel to create a background.I have stamped and coloured the Clematis Tower and mini flower stamp also available from Oak House Studio the sentiment is from my own stash

For this card I have decoupaged the Clematis Stamp and have added some embossing powder and coloured is using Promarkers.The ribbon and sentiment are from my own stash.

This I think really shows just how versatile this Clematis Stamp really is !!! I have created the background with a selection of PanPastel's the basket style stamp around the edge of the page is another fabby little stamp from Oak House Studio.The script stamp and flower are from my own stash.The Clematis has been stamped twice I have then used an eraser to take some of the colour away from the stamped image.I have added some Perfect Pearls to the centre of the Stamped Flowers

Nearly There

Yesterday I went out to buy "Supplies" for the weekend, not food that is on today's to do list. I went out to buy odd bits I needed to get on with project a bit further out of my comfort zone. I had a list and only managed to get ONE thing off my list so some projects may not get completed this weekend, which just makes me cross I hadn't sourced things earlier but to be honest I was confident I could just go pick these things up and didn't realise how hard it might be. The good news is I did find others things that I want to work with, so I am sure I have more project than I can possibly finish in 24 hours. Today my list has important but not crafty jobs, like food shopping and getting my hair cut!
Anyway as I dropped off my acquisitions at the studio yesterday I suddenly realised that one of my signs was already a great example of using the clematis tower stamp off the page. This is an old roof slate salvaged whilst stay at a friends house, the words have been added by hand with a white paint marker, probably a Pilot one and 3 decoupaged Clematis flowers added with some silicon glue...pretty simple really!
If you would like to call in this weekend to see what I am up  to and offer your support then email lynndaw@gmail.com I am there 8am to 8pm Saturday and Sunday.
http://www.oakhousestudio.com/page_2658878.html

Getting going with the ONE STAMP project

My son will be finishing his first year at University in the next day or so, I have no idea where the the time goes, it doesn't seem that long since the summer holidays meant getting new school shoes and uniforms. I am really proud of how he has grown up, his sense of humour and just how good he is at know just the right thing to say etc.
But with his imminent return and the ONE STAMP project this weekend I thought I better got on an use the Mother's Day Present he bought me! Not a brilliant photo so in case you can't work it out this is a watch, a paper watch, just ripe for decorating or at this house stamping on. Ben has got used to me looking at stuff in shops and trying to decide if I could stamp on it. The "paper" has some plastic content so embossing was out, I used Silver Staz On to stamp the clematis tower stamp on to the paper strap and then coloured with Pro markers.
I hope to have more ONE STAMP projects to show as we get closer to the weekend and then hopefully lots to post on facebook during the weekend, as I wont be able to get on the blog so easily at the farm. Pop over and like the facebook page to keep up with the news http://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Stamp/283938454992714.