Central Public Library Anniversary and more Craft Shows

The Central Public Library in Prof. Joseph J. Mangion Street, Floriana will be commemorating its 30^th Anniversary and the Malta Libraries together with the Ministry for Education and Employment will be organizing an Open Weekend on the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th June 2013. 

Craft persons registered with the Malta Crafts Council will be exhibiting as well as selling their crafts during this weekend.

So mark your calendar and make this a date!  Enjoy the Open Day and look around the Craft Tables...you may even find something you like for Father's Day or even start your Christmas Shopping early this year!

Opening Hours:  Friday 14th June             6.00pm -   9.30pm
                           Saturday 15th June       9.00am - 10.00pm
                           Sunday 16th June       10.00am -   9.00pm     

See you there!

Forthcoming Craft Fairs

Along with the change in weather, comes the opportunity to attend outdoor festivities and functions.  Hopefully the weather will change for the better.  For me 'for the better' would mean sunny but not too hot with a nice light breeze.  Am I asking too much?  That would be the ideal weather for setting up our craft table at the forthcoming Craft Fairs this coming weekend.  So if you don't have anywhere to go or attend, and if you live in Malta or Gozo, mark your calendar and make this a date.  

We will be setting up our table on Friday 3rd May in Merchants Street (upper part, in front of Auberge d'Italie).  You can come over anytime between 9am and 2pm.  This is being organized by The Commerce Department in conjunction with  The Malta Tourism Authority.  The theme for this fair is "Mother's Day".

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Another two dates to mark are actually the following two days of this same weekend!  So Saturday 4th May and Sunday 5th May are another two days to mark!  This time the venue will be San Anton Gardens and this will be 

The 110th Annual Great Spring Show! 

For more information on opening times, how to get there, entrance fee, etc. visit... http://www.maltabulb.com/malta-horticultural-society.html

 

Make it a Family Day outing! Hoping to see you all at either of or both shows!

 

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MY FIRST RADIO TRANSMISSION ON RADIO ELENJANI

If you would like to tune in to my first show, Kreattivita' ma' Doreen will air on Friday 28th Sept. 2012 at  9.30am.  

Here is a direct link to live streaming on Radio Elenjani 95.8 FM

http://www.livestream.com/radju_elenjani

Being Creative ON AIR!

I will be hosting a new show Live in the coming weeks on Radio Elenjani  95.8FM

This all came about when my nephew asked me casually if I'd like to host a show of my own about Crafts, he knows how much I love crafts : )  My first thought was, "Oh no!"  but then the thought kind of grew on me, and now I am in training and getting my show all set up.

So soon my creativity will be going on air and I will actually be talking about Creativity.  This is my very first experience so wish me well : )

My show will be called "Kreattivita' ma' Doreen" which translates to "Creativity with Doreen" and it will air every Friday morning.  I will give you more details as to when the programme will start very soon.
Thanks for stopping by : )

Housewreath with a difference...

Today I'm featuring a wreath with a difference. My friend Joann of the "Holiday Year-Round Tree" and "Holiday Room" fame has shared her creativity with me again. So with her permission I am posting it here today, hoping it may inspire others to try this lovely, novel and stylish idea.
This could have been a Wordless Wednesday post as the pics are very self explanatory but I had to give credit to my friend.
Thanks again Joann : ) Well done!

As an added footnote I'd like to add that Joann took last year's wreath and just re-arranged the flowers and added the numbers. The numbers are foam and she got these at the Dollar Store. We might need to get ours from a hobby store which would be more expensive or try to cut your own from stencils downloaded from a stencil site on your pc. She coloured the numbers and stuck them onto the wreath with glue dots and toothpicks. Have fun trying to make your own : D

Beaded Crosses for Easter

Here is what I have been busy with these past few days...I made these beaded Crosses for Easter to give to my family and friends. Thanks Cathy in Mt for the lovely beads you sent me recently. I also used some shimmering ribbon which my future Daughter-in-law had given me : )

I made these crosses using this pattern. However I altered the tops and tails as instead of the lanyard as a holder, I just made a knot in the ribbon to create a simple circle. The bottom I tied with one Uni knot similar to this method but again I adjusted this to suit my project according to the ribbon I used and added a small tassel to finish it off.





These are great tokens to give to friends, workmates, children in Catechism classes or even made for fund-raising.

In case anyone wants to try making these crosses, I started off with a length of about 90cm. of ribbon. To finish off the tassel tie an extra piece of ribbon, fold in two and tie to the 2 ends to create a tassel with 4 pieces. Maybe the instructions are not too clear but I finished these off in the best way according to how my work proceeded so maybe you will find another way to finish off yours. Have fun trying these out! God bless!

Making a 3D Decoupage card ~ Part 2

Preparing your card

Prepare your card by cutting out a 26 x 19cm piece of cardstock...choose a colour that will go well with your chosen 3D picture. Fold carefully down the middle of your card and score the fold to create the basic card on which you will build your 3D picture.

Assembling your picture

Once you have all the pieces of your selected design cut out (see Part 1), you can start by gluing the largest (full picture) design to the front of your prepared card.

Now you can build up each layer by taking the next design, seeing where it has to be placed and adding your pre-cut (or cut your own) double sided adhesive foam pads (square or circles), glue dots or silicone glue to stick the layers in place. I get mine from the hardware store or the Lira (Pound) stores.

The double sided tape in the example above refers to double sided foam tape.

Do not place the form pads too close to the edge of the picture. Peel off the paper from each pad and place your next picture carefully in place.

You will notice that each consecutive cut-out has part of the previous picture missing and the more pieces you add, the smaller they are – this is of course how the 3D effect is achieved. Keep layering your design until you have assembled the complete project.

Finishing Touches

You can achieve a more rounded and natural effect, for example when making petals, by curling the edges of the top layer (using a shaping tool, the back of your scissors or your fingers) before assembling your project. Wherever you notice white edges, you can cover these by rubbing the edge with a pencil, this way you will achieve a grey outline effect which will eliminate the harshness of the white edges. You could also varnish the finished project with a matt or glossy decoupage finish (you can buy this from a hobby store). This is ideal if you are framing the design. Some papers already have a glossy finish.

Here is the finished card, I'm afraid I had taken this some time ago and my camera was not what I use now so it is not very clear but it gives you an idea. I also used silver cerne relief (outliner) to outline the picture and create a framed effect.

~ I hope you will enjoy making a 3D card soon ~

Sorry for the font size and mix in fonts, don't know what went wrong but it did not look like this when I got the post ready for posting!!!