April Showers

The weather over the last few weeks has been typically april showers hasn't it. And I know we are in for some more flooding  in the area but the sun will eventually come out and sure you can't have a rainbow with out the rain, (i know there is some symbolism in there, hee hee!). Anyways in acknowledgement of our lovely Irish weather here is my April Showers card :)

The sun is from the Paper Smooches digi stamps, you can find them at this link . 

Another sneak peek at our next class on Sunday May 13th, there are a few places left so do check out the full class details and price by following this link. If you can't make the class and would like the kit with full colour instructions then give me a shout at scraplim@gmail.com 

Finally, great news from Kerry from An Siopa Bui. She is coming down to do the class and I have asked her to bring some goodies, naughty or what!

Talk soon,

Eva

What a great weekend!

My Mum had no idea that we had arranged for the whole family to be with her at the gorgeous Carrig House to help celebrate her 75th Birthday. And boy did we celebrate, we're still recovering!

Congratulations to Lisa who is the winner of the carfty goodies, as picked randomly by this app :) http://bit.ly/hB7E6H Lisa send me your postal addy and I'll post out the goodies :)

Right off to make a birthday card for a someone who loves Ooooooooooooooowls :)

Sneak Peek and Competition

So I have just finished making the next class "Altered Box & Mini Book" using the Café Garden papers by American Crafts, and I have to say I love it! I can see me making a few of these as gifts but the first one will be mine (mwhahahaha). I'm going to use it to remind me what I am grateful for. It will have notes and photos about the ones I love. Want to have a peep in the box?

I might even show more during the week :D (ta da da da, ta da da da). Give me a shout on 086 3817677 or email scraplim@gmail.com to book your place. 

• Date: Sunday 13th May

• Studio Space, Annacotty

• Time: 11am – 4pm

• Cost: €25 (includes all your materials, tea/coffee and lunch)

I know I joke about calling my Mum Yoda and its not because she is small and green (small maybe but certainly not green!), it's because she is such a wise person! Well It's her birthday today, "Happy Birthday Mum". And boy are we are going to be celebrating with her tonight. 

So i thought I would have a wee competition to celebrate here :). The question is, what age is my Mum today? Hint: The answer is on her birthday card somewhere.... Just post your answer here and I will randomly pick a winner on Monday and they will be posted out some scrappy goodies :) Best of luck!

Altered Box & Mini Book Class

The next Scrapbooking Limerick class is now available to book and I'm really looking forward to this one! It is an altered box and 6x6 mini book class using the yummy new collection from American Crafts called Café Garden. "Its rich ambiance boasts vintage wallpaper - inspired floral patterns, teakettles and silverware." Sounds delish!

• Date: Sunday 13th May
• Studio Space, Annacotty
• Time: 11am – 4pm
• Cost: €25 (includes all your materials, tea/coffee and lunch)

You won't need to bring photos to this class as they can be added afterwards, what you will need is your basic tools, trimmer, inks, glue etc.


As the numbers are limited to 12, booking early is advisable. For more information or to book your place either ring me on 086 3817677 or email scraplim@gmail.com

Catch Lights

I was recently talking to some crafty friends about taking portraits and in my opinion the eyes have it! Focus on the eyes and you can get away with the rest of the face being a little soft. Try and capture the reflection of the light in the eyes, also know as catch lights as this adds life to your subject. The best time of day to take a photo is during the golden hour, just before the sun sets or just after it rises. The photos below were taken in large open interior spaces with loads of light for professional headshots. However we you can do this with your own images.

How to do this at home:

In this example below I asked my daughter to stand just inside the door where she would be in shade, and got her to face the light. As you can see in the close up the lights were caught in her eyes (as well as myself).

 If you are out and about, try placing your subject just under the shade of a tree facing the light. You will need to adjust the contrast and remove any colour casts using your photo software but you should have the same effect, giving the eyes some beautiful life.

A weekend of craftiness

Phew, back in the door after a long but great day! An early start this morning to collect Kate and then a relaxing drive to Athlone for the Jamoree CHA 2012. Thanks to Create with Kate and Mandy for a wonderfully creative day. Not only was the class superb but also the make and takes. Some fantastic goodies in the shop too :)

Mandy's BoBunny Class:

Make and Takes (more like another class really):

I even managed to get a layout and a card done too :D

Yesterday I got to craft with the lovely Ber. We had a good laugh, chilling and working on our card swap for Busy Bee's. I managed  to get mine done by using Paper Smooches Spark challenge as inspiration.

If you want to know how the above card was made just check out the video below:

Right, off to get the school bag ready for the morrow :D

Paper Smooches - Inspiration that helps the mojo

I love it when you find something utterly inspirational, something that just fits and feels like you. Well i did, woohoo! I found a site called Paper Smooches Stamps by Kim Hughes, they have the cutest stamp designs and they ship internationally (US based company). You can try before you buy with their totally FREE stamps by clicking this link.

They also have this great blog called the Sparks challenge blog that really got the creative mojo in full swing! They post up an inspirational image and your challenge is to create a card, tag, layout, altered item (etc) from this image. Why not give it a go. Below is what I did after going through their challenges, a marathon of card making.

Bee Happy - challenge image is striped leaves and a yellow flower, the Bee Happy and the Bee are both FREE didgi stamps from Paper Smooches :)

Love you, hearts is inspired by this image of rainbow words, the "love" is another FREE digi stamp. 

For You, Flowers - inspired by this challenge i love the pure colour of this image and the hint of colour inside of the bunny ears :) The "for you" image is a FREE digi stamp.

Yellow bird is inspired by this image of blue and white frames with a touch of yellow and green. Check out the bird and thanks on the freebie stamps here

Why not get involved in the challenges for utter inspiration and check out the amazing work by other crafters :)

White Box Frames

Woohoo, utterly deligted these arrived today! Both 12x12 and 8x8 White box frames. Most are sold already and another order will be placed with the manufacturer shortly. If you would like to book either a 12x12 or an 8x8 just give me a shout on scraplim@gmail.com 

Specification
white MDF frame - perfect for painting, sanding, inking or leaving as white
the depth from the back to the glass is 2.7cm approx2mm glass frontMDF back
Strut for hanging or standing


Prices
12x12 €20 plus p&p or collection
8x8 €15 plus p&p or collection

Photography for Communion and Confirmation

Have you booked your child's Communion and Confirmation photography? If not then check out this great offer for a mini photography session for just €50. Contact 086 3817677 to book your child's session now.



Easter Crop & Class

Utterly exhausted but utterly happy :D What a fantastic group of creative women! Thank you all so much for taking the time out and travelling for near and far.

Our class today was inspired by Easter and was called "Little Chick". The idea was to use colours inspired by spring such as white, yellow, pink and green. I love how there was so many interpretations to the class above:

I really hope you all had a wonderful day and to all the newbies i truly hoped you are hooked! Check out the images of our Crafty ladies (sorry Fiona I only got your back :(). I love the faces of concentration :p

Keep an eye out for the next class coming shortly :D