Our monthly Card Club classes are very popular.

We offer seven sessions each month on weekdays, evenings and twice on a Saturday.

Please click on Class List for the latest dates.

Each month we learn a new design or technique, and practice making a prototype if necessary, before using the idea in a couple of different ways. You are encouraged to be as creative as you wish and do not have to exactly copy the examples.

We aim to have fun in a relaxed environment and share ideas together. Beginers and experienced crafters alike are welcome.

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Here are examples from previous card club sessions over the last couple of years:

This card features the "encrusted jewel technique" where we used Chunky white embossing powder, plus champagne glass glitter and shaved ice,  all by Stampendous!

 Julie Staves has used the snowman with some patterned papers for the following two cards. I really like both these cards, and they would be simple to mass produce too as the little guy is simple to colour!

The following couple of sample cards feature new Stampendous embossing powders, and this "Jumbo Holly Stocking" set which shows another way that the "encrusted jewel technique" can be used:

 This was another of the cards made at the Woodware retailers event, and also features a new black vintage embossing powder which is really lovely. I like the way that we used the holly leaves to create the background, and then inked the edges to highlight the detail.

Stampendous have bought out lots of new embossing powders- vintage mahogony (that we used in class for the "encrusted" snowman card), plus vintage olive ,and vintage plum - both seen here on this card that I also made at the Woodware retailers event. I have ordered all the new colours for the shop!

I think we may be seeing lots more of the  Magical Snowman in the craft room and on our clever local crafters projects very soon!

Thank you to Woodware, and the Stampendous team for all the inspiration.

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September Card Club

This month I used this Christmas decorated wooden block designed by Jane Gill as the inspiration for card club.

I made this at the Woodware retailers event last weekend in Yorkshire with Jane. We stamped a lovely background onto subtle patterned paper using Janes' Festive Background stamp Woodware JGS260 then heat embossed using several different coloured embossing powders. 

The large Christmas Rose  Woodware JGS256 was stamped onto a new product by Ranger - Clearly for Art. A plastic that can be die cut, stamped, coloured, but best of all, heated and shaped.  It comes in either clear, white or black. This product  would be lovely for creating flowers or embellishments to decorate picture frames etc.

Here is my card design inspired by Janes block:

I stamped the same clear flower stamp onto subtle red patterned paper and then used a combination of foam pads and distress inks to create the shading and dimension.

We also stamped the envelope to match, plus decorated inside our cards:

The greeting on the shrink plastic tag, and sentiments used inside the card are all from Janes  Christmas Verses clear stamp set Woodware JGCL551.

We also made a bonus birthday card using the same design:

The flower this time is Janes Clematis Woodware JGS255.

I used A4 pearlised card for the card base, plus the new Nestabilty edger dies for cutting the pretty edges. There are 6 different sets that can be mix and matched so everyone had lots of choice when creating their own card bases.

Everyone really seemed to like the cards and techniques as we ran out of the stamp sets at our first session, but the big box of pre-ordered stamps that were ordered by lots of you at card club have already been delivered by Woodware and are in the shop to be collected. 

Thank you Jane for all the ideas and inspiration.

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August Card Club

In August we made three different cards created by the Hero Arts designers using this great set of Hero Arts stamps:

We made the top three cards in class.

Here are a few more cards on display at the craft centre that we have made using the set:

The double clear stamp sets are not usually available to sell, but the wholesaler was selling them off cheaply probably due to an overstock.

Each set contains a sample of clear stamps from a variety of Hero Arts sets, plus colour instructions for making 6 cards.

We have a limited quantity of ten sets left (for only £10 per set) in the shop. Let us know if you would like one reserved for you. *************************************

July Card Club

This month we have made a standing pop up card! 

Once you have mastered the mechanism of the card it can be decorated and used for all sorts of occassions.

We have had great fun making a variety of different designs to give you lots of inspiration:

(Wild Rose Studio clear stamp - Milton with card)

(Wild Rose Studio clear stamp- Cherry Cupcake collection: Mia with Bouquet)

(Wild Rose Studio clear stamp - Fergus with Teddy)

(Owl and Cat cut using Cricut cartridge "Create a Critter")

(Stamped images from Woodware Garden Greetings clear stamp set, and pot and flowers made with a variety of Woodware punches)

(Rocket and Alien images cut with Cricut cartridge "Boys will be Boys")

(Robots cut with Cricut cartridge "Boys will be Boys")

(Patterned paper Fancy Pants, Beer and Pump image from a wooden stamp from Personal Impressions in the craft room. Froth made with Woodware Fluffy Stuff!)

(Wild Rose Studio clear stamp  Football Lad, patterned paper Making Memories)

(Giraffe image from Personal Impressions Little Musings clear stamp set. Patterned paper on card and in the background "Baby Mine" by Fancy Pants) 

And here is the design used for a Christmas Card!

(Images of Snowmen on Hero Arts clear stamp set: Let it Snow)

What can you create using this months design?

Please do bring your cards into the craft centre to share as it is great to see lots of different variations!

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June Card Club

This is the card design we made in June.  The card is suitable for a variety of occasions.

Many thanks to the Craft Stamper magazine which gave me the initial idea and inspiration for the card.

The reverse twisted easel is a very useful design that can be used with all different types of images. Have a look under "Card Challenges" to see two other completely different cards that I have made using the same design.

We are using patterned papers from My Minds Eye Stella Rose, and Fancy Pants.

The Artemio clear stamp set that we have used has two main focal images, as well as twigs, leaves, flowers and a border design. Fantastic value at only £9.50.

These two lovely cards were made in class.  The first card uses the other main image on the stamp set. I like the way the little bird has been masked and stamped to sit on the twigs!

And Suzette Stevens really enjoyed getting inky with her great creation!

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In May we have made three masculine cards using an interesting  technique called "cracked ice" that uses UTEE, a heat gun and the freezer!  

This month we used a wide variety of stamp sets by Woodware, Hero Arts and Personal Impressions to create our focal images ready to "crack".  The spotty patterned paper is from My Minds Eye.

Here are a few of my variations:

As usual everyones' creativity made each session interesting so here are a few different cards I managed to photograph.

This one is by Julie Staves (who finished first as usual!):

Jane Towse made this variation  with some clever cutting out of that cork screw!

And this card was created by Jackie Honeycombe:

and this card is by her daughter Ruth:

The next card is by Mel Young:

Marilyn Allman and Jeanette Thompson turned the card lengh ways and made these great variations:

Linda Clarke used the Hero Arts little Monster set for this fun variation (sorry about the strange yellow lighting):

Traci Mortimer used the spring set from last months card to make this  pretty variation:

Lyn Hunt used a HobbyArt set to make this clever variation:

And Wendy Fane used the same set for this great variation:

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I pulled out a favourite clear stamp set of mine (Woodware Forbes and Friends by Jane Gill) to make my set of cards:

Susanne has also used the Twinchie/Inchie design to make this cute baby card:

We have already had some cards made for the challenge!

I took a few photos to inspire us (and everyone's names have been put into the prize draw!)

Jane Towse has made a cute inchie/twinchie card use the Woodware Micey set!

Ann Sinclair has used the lovely Anenome clear stamp for her beautiful card:

Ann Baker has made two cards! This image on her first card of Tatty Button works brilliantly:

And here is Ann's inchy/twinchy design:

Jane Churchman has been inspired to make these two lovely cards:

....and her daughter Kayleigh has used a Wild Rose Studio stamp to make this charming card:

Jan Benskin has elongated the card size and used the Bee Happy Hero Arts clear stamp set for this sweet card:

Jeanette Thompson has made two cards. The first card uses the Woodware daffodil rather than tulip clear stamp set, also designed by Jane Gill. The flash on the camera has really shown up the glazed pen detail on the flowers.

Jeanette has used a large singles clear stamp (Woodware Fancy Flower by Francoise Reed) for her second entry:

Julie Staves pulled out a sweet elephant stamp for her card and used the three techniques for colouring her image:

It will be great to see what else we all come up with!

April Card Club.

This month we made three different cards designed and inspired by Francoise Read. Francoise is an expert when it comes to colouring stamped images so we used three of her techniques to make our cards have that extra professional finish!

We used a  clear Sakura glaze pen, and a clear Sakura stardust pen to highlight parts of our images, plus a watercolour wash on our backgrounds.

Our first card with the lovely tulips (Woodware clear stamp set designed by Jane Gill) can be used for so many occassions - Happy Birthday, Thank You, Get Well, etc.

By using a subtle green patterned paper, and green card  you can colour your tulips in any colour you want!

We coloured the flowers with either Promarkers, water colour pencils or paints, brush markers or coloured pencils, and then added a subtle glaze over the top with the Sukura clear glaze pen.

Our second card is spring themed and the tag can be stamped with any greeting. The stamped squares were a mixture of inchies and twinchies!

We used the same colouring techniques again to enhance our stamped images:

Our third card is suitable for an anniversary, wedding, engagement or special day! Having stamped the main image we stamped the little cloud, included in the set, to create the background, before colour washing the sky, glazing the balloon and glittering the flowers!

Sally Meridith came up with another idea in class using the parcel from the same set. I was inspired by her to make this card:

I want to thank Julie and Linda for allowing me to use the next two photographs - such great sports for sharing their beautiful work - even if the cards didn't go quite as planned!

A challenge for you!

Pull out any stamps you already own and make a card using any of the three designs that we made at this months card club. Use the same three techniques as Francoise does to enhance your stamped image.

Bring your card(s) into the craft centre before next month's card club to share and your name will be added to a random draw to win a prize!

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March Card Club Designs!

This month we have made a great selection of masculine cards designed by Jane Gill for Woodware. We used the following two sets of clear stamps, and the matching decorative brads:

The first two cards are very effective but simple to make:

The third card is a little trickier to make and the chess pieces require a bit of careful trimming:

This fourth card requires some careful colouring but looks great, especially with the line of brads to add a nice decorative touch:

The final card was very popular!

Here are some variations that I came up with. By placing the cards in this way you can minimise colouring in,  so it is much quicker to make!

This second variation is also quick and easy to make. I stamped the chess pieces with white ink on the red card to make a background, and then coated the one chess piece in glossy accents (which doesn't really show up in the photo!) so minimal trimming!

This third variation also requires minimal trimming:

This is my variation on the elegant dinner jacket card - a tatty smoking jacket!

Here is another jacket variation:

I used a different colour scheme (thanks Julie) and a Hero Arts wood effect background stamp to give added interest to these chess pieces:

Suzette Stevens also used the same wood effect stamp and came up with this variation. There are lots of wood effect scrapbook papers in store that could also be used to get a similar effect:

and finally.... Maggie Styles has taken the Chess board idea, but used the Wild Rose Studio sports car stamp to make this great variation: 

Some Lovely Variations!

Anna Cox has made a beautiful selection of cards inspired by February's card design.

Anna has used a Woodware clear stamp set for this very pretty card:

The sweet little bees hiding in the flowers are made with a Hero Arts clear stamp set:

This stunning flower is made using one of the beautiful new  Hero Arts clear stamp flower sets:

The little girl with a cat has been cut using the "A Childs Year" cricut cartridge. This is such a simple but clever idea from Anna - and well worth card lifting!

February 2011

A different card again this month. We practiced making a template to make a tent fold stair card, plus made flowers using scalloped circle punches.

Here are some of my sample cards: 

Here is a side view:

The paper pieced ladies are made using clear stamps by Wild Rose Studio (£4.99 each).

Here is an alternative idea. I cut the large heart using the Sweet Hearts Cricut cartridge, and the heart border using an EK Success deep border punch. The  stamped image is from House Mouse coloured with Promarkers.

Here is another alternative version using a heart cut with Nellie Snellen Frames dies, which I cut using the Cuttlebug.

I used up some patterned paper and card left over from my Scrap Club layout to make this alternative mens card. The oval and frame are cut with Nestability dies.

I  used Glossy Accents to highlight images:

Carol Avery made a giant flower for the front of her card - stunning:

Linda Clare and daughter Megan also made this gorgeous flower for one of their cards:

Megan has turned her lovely lady in blue (that has been beautifully paper pieced) into a Mothers Day card:

Sue Buckinghams' orange flower card was very striking:

Yvonne Kingsman's two colour black and red card was also lovely:

Sue Ward made this gorgeous valentine's card (probably for her cats!) in a lovely shade of blue. It was really pretty.

Maggie Styles made this lovely card for her husband:

Diane combined the flower and the house mouse images to create these two beautiful cards:

...and finally another colourful example by Jenny. This card can be used for a variety of occassions from Birthday to Mothers Day.