Abu Dhabi Papercrafts

A few weeks ago, a very talented friend re-introduced me to digital stamping. I had tried a few over a year ago, and at that time, I wasn't convinced. The ink smeared when I used Copics, and I couldn't get past the idea that if I didn't use a real stamp and ink, I wasn't really crafting.

But my friend was creating the most lovely work with digital images, and she encouraged me to try again. She gave me the address of a website that compiled free digital images from all over the internet every day, Free Digital Stamps. Well, one thing led to another, and all I can say is WOW!

There are literally thousands of free images out there, and many more that cost just a little, and so I dived right in this time. Here are a few of the cards I've made with them.

This lovely girl is from Inger Harding's Blog.  Have a look at Inger's stunning work and download sweet images.

This cute little fairy comes from Making Our Mark,  a blog chock full of great copic info, classes, samples, and many freebies. Well worth the visit, particularly for copic fans!

This image from Nana Vic's Designs, was perfect for a Mother's Day card - I think that moms get thanked for the big things in life, but sometimes I'd really just appreciate getting thanked for doing the laundry!

For the inside, I used a digi from Broken Box Stock.

So, that's my first real foray into the world of digital stamps. I have to say I love the versatility, and I managed to get over my hang-up about "actual" stamping - after all, stamping an image is just a tiny fraction of creating a project! As for printed images, I have a different printer now, but I still have some issues with smudging. I'm not quite sure yet what the problem is, but it appears that the colours I use for skin tones tend to smudge more than other colours. It also seems like waiting a while after printing before you colour helps, as does avoiding the outlines whenever possible.

Hope you consider giving digis a try!

TIP:  If you downlaod digital images, I suggest you keep a record of where it came from.  Then, if you ever post your work using free digis, you'll be able to properly credit the creators, without having to spend lots (and lots) of time looking for the original source. I learned this the hard way!:D

A couple of weeks ago I felt I needed some new craft supplies :D.  So, I went out on a limb and not only did I order stuff from three companies I've never used before, I had it all delivered to our Abu Dhabi P.O. box.  Now, I order things online all the time, but always have it delivered to Canada, so I was a bit nervous about these orders.  Believe it or not, in the almost 5 years I've lived here, I have never used the postal service!

Not only did everything arrive safe and sound, it all got here in less than two weeks!  I was so excitied to try my new stuff out that I took a quick picture with my phone before I tore into it all. That's why it's such a bad picture, but I wanted to share it all with you:

The three companies I ordered from are:

Wild Warehouse - quilling supplies, great service, fast and free delivery inside UAE.

7Kids College Fund - fabulous prices, great service and reasonable shipping.

FranticStamper - good prices, great selection of dies, great service and reasonable shipping.

This could get dangerous!

Sorry for the delay in posting our challenge three winner. Thank you to everyone who participated - I hope you had as much fun as I did making ATCs. The winner is:

Memories1303

Congratulations Memories 1303! Please get in touch with Sue Renshaw via a private message to claim your prize.

The next challenge will be posted in the next few days.

I wanted to let you all know that my kids' school, the Canadian International School, is holding its second annual Charity Bazaar on Saturday March 10.

We are looking for vendors to participate in the bazaar, and I naturally thought of all of you crafty ladies! If any of you sell your work, or are thinking of doing so, please consider taking a table. The cost is 60 dirham, and all of your sales are yours. Business are also welcome to participate for the same table price, but we ask that you contribute a prize or two to the raffle draw.

If you are not interested in selling your crafts, you can sell whatever you like, including gently used items.

You can book a table by going into the school, in Khalifa A, any weekday between 8:00 am and 3:00pm. Tables must be paid for at time of booking. Here's a link to the school website for a map:

http://www.cisabudhabi.com/

All of the fundraising we have done over the last three years has gone to the Pakistan Community Welfare School in Mussafah, where students of labourers can go for a very low fee. Over the years, we have been able to provide them with basic necessities such as desks, chairs, and a new library wing.

For those of you interested in just coming to the bazaar, the hours will be from 10am to 3pm, with lots of activities to keep your young ones occupied while you shop. We'll also have a sausage sizzle and raffles. I'll post additional details as they become available.

Last week, I was asked to do a presentation about scrapbooking to a group of lovely ladies. The event was a baby shower, and I was asked if I could provdie a few samples of baby-related pages so that they could see the possibilities of scrapbooking their newborn's memories.

Believe it or not, although my oldest is 14, I had no baby pages in my scrapbooks! I had a day to put together two pages, and once again, I had to step out of my comfort zone because I knew this group would be prefer fancier pages than my usual simple ones.

Here's what I came up with:

I had no baby papers, and very little in the way of embellishments. So I stamped and cut out all the teddy bears. I really need to find some nice baby image stamps. Anyone know of any?

Cheers,

Susan