Abalone

Abalone is the newest member of the Opals family and we had plenty of oohs and aahs at Melbourne Paperific a couple of weekends ago for its release. It is a pretty cream (with interference qualities), paler than Sandstone and more luminescent. A good way to describe Abalone is Pearl – it has that soft delicate sheen of good pearls – you almost want to rub it across your teeth to see if it is gritty!!! As a result it will do things that the others will not.
1. Being finer, means that its cover is not so solid for going over pictures. Hence you get that wax over picture look. It gives the appearance of computer enhancing on the photo but I really like it for softening the image
2. Even though it is fine, however, it covers things like chipboard and plywood much better than other light colours. However, we suggest that most of the lighter colours – like Mango, Fool’s gold, Lemonthyme, Tarkine, Blue gum, Wineglass and oddly, Waratah – work better when you use a white pad to put the Opals on rather than the Versamark. The effect is more solid colour. One of our design team (thanks Leanne - take a bow) came up with the idea of adding the stick on sparkles and I think they really make those pieces look very Christmassy.

3. Speaking of using the white as a background, I used white to put the Abalone Opals onto glass. I love strawberry fantasy film over this, but some pieces I did today using the Sunkissed is just like mother of pearl. It is a great foil for the pieces that we do with Currawong as the base. I am sure a jewellery piece using two pieces of glass - one black base and one Abalone – would look fabo. Must have a try when Uni exams finish on Saturday.
4. I love the look of the Abalone with metallics – so the foil lattice works really well for me. I demoed using the foil lattice in Melbourne a few weekends ago and someone watching could not believe that we had created in a few minutes what she had just paid an arm and a leg for at a jewellers. Mwahahahaha – that will teach them!
5. I have also played with the darker colours (like Lady Baron) and then putting the Abalone over the top. It gives a kind of crackle effect which I really like too. Something else to play with in my ‘free’ haha time.
6. Finally we made some lovely Christmas baubles at Melbourne Paperific using snowflakes dipped into glitter. It gives a lovely soft effect - I think it's better than the Snow Gum and much more delicate! If you got a chance to come along and do a make and take you will know the project I am talking about.

Okay so that's a whole pile of ideas to do with the newest Opals colour - I will try to get some photos taken over the weekend (post Management Accounting exam - Saturday 1 p.m. urrgh!) and post them next week so that you can see what I have been wombling about.

Paperific is coming to town...

Normally I don't start humming Christmas tunes till December - but with Paperific around the corner, whats a girl to do. We have four new stamp sets released with your favourite designs in much larger sizes. these are fantastic, my favourite being the Christmas set (the snowflakes in particular). The look book has also come back home looking spiffy from the publishers, and i love it. Much more manageable that a great big scrapbook album!!! Finally, I always hinted we would have something else at the stand - well wait no longer. For those of you who have been following Somerset Studios, Cloth Paper Scissors, Altered Books, Claudine Helmuth, Michael De Mang and all other talented artists - they all use one kind of paint/mediums etc - Golden Paints. These are fabulous fluid acrylics that flow onto paper effortlessly like a glaze. The are highly pigmented and dry quickly. The best thing is you can overlay the colours in thin layers and create out of this world results. My favourites are the Irridescent bronze and the Micaceous Iron Oxide (which actualy has iron particals in it and feels like sandpaper). Finally we have a heap of their wonderful mediums to sell as well including a fabo introduction kit which contains soft gel (gloss) , regular gel (semi gloss), heavy gel (matte), light moulding paste, coarse pumice gel and clear tar gel. inside the box you receive a sample chart with ideas on how to use the mediums. For those of you who have never used gel medium before - it is a great all round glue for collaging papers and heavier materials (metal charms etc). I know these will go quickly - so make sure you stop at the stand and get the colours you want asap!!!
Will fill you in on more Paperific details tomorrow.
Niamh

Tomorrows show and sneek peeks

Hi All,
We the Tassie show has finally rolled around and we have some great stuff in store for you. All Kaiser craft will be 25% off their normally low price. We have the brand new Tim Holtz stamps (beautiful designs...), his scissors, paints and inks, the newest Making Memory stamps, Heidi Swapps new mirror adhesive stickers and ghost shapes plus her new Christmas papers (in mint green and hot pinks), Teresa Collins stamps, and much much more. We also have the newest Pipe Dreamink Book (rolled off the presses today!!!), and the brand new Opals colour Abalone for you to try out.
We also have three great FREE make and take sessions for you to do - see the pictures above for inspiration. Those of you not able to make it to the show tomorrow - we will be bringing all this stuff (and more) to Melbourne Paperific in 3 weeks time, with another 3 make and take projects.
The details for tomorrow are as follows

TASMANIAN PAPERCRAFT FESTIVAL

DEVONPORT HIGH SCHOOL

91 Best Street, Devonport, Tasmania

SAT 27th SEPT & SUN 28th SEPT

9am till 4pm

BOTH DAYS

Look what we have been up to...

.

Well, we have been busy! A new colour, new book (second one on its way) and 4 new sets of stamps. What more could a girl want. The book is called the Look Book and will have a series of volumes covering Scrapbooking layouts (Vol 1), Cards for all occasions (vol 2) and so on. Vol one will be available in October - hopefully so will Vol 2. Above are the proofs from the first book - it looks so good in real life. Basically, every show we go to, people ask about the layouts and cards we have on display in the stands. many people forget to bring their cameras, or have been encouraged not to in the past (BTW- never an issue at the Pipe Dreamink Stand - always feel free to take photos!!!). To make it easy for you we have combined all the layouts into a book with a materials list and a technique relating to the layout. This is not a how to book - rather an ideas book, to inspire you to use your Opals. I will upload some more photos of the printed books when they come back from the publisher.

Dear old sock monkey is making himself useful showing you all the brand new addition to the Opals Embossing range, called Abalone. It is a finer grain than the other enamels, which allows you to do even more with it. Abalone is a soft cream colour with a interferance sheen of reds, greens, blues and violets across the surface. It is a transluscent colour as well, allowing you to place collaged images below the surface and build up the layers to create a beeswax like finish. This looks fantastic on vintage pieces of artwork. I can see this colour really taking off with those doing heritage type ablums and card - or wedding cards etc.

I will post a picture of the stamps when they arrive back as well - needless to say - watch out for 'main sized' (thanks Pauline!!!) birds, owls and trees...
Niamh
PS: Those of you in Tassie - see you all at the Devonport High School this weekend for the first Tassie Papercraft show on Sat/Sun. We have some fantastic new make and takes - plus loads of new stamps from Tim Holtz, Making Memories and Teressa Collins, 25% off all Kaiser wooden shapes, papers, Heidi Swapp stuff (plus you know - like Opals and stuff!!!). See you there.

Slack, slack, slack!!!

Here is my first attempt at a video blog - hope it works!!! Please ignore the mess in the background - this is what working on a book will do to your area:) Video blogging is a good distraction form cleaning or working BTW!
Niamh

New stamps, updated retails and your help please...

Hi All,
Well back again after the last two weeks. SIA was a great event and hopefully lots of you local retailers will now be stocking opals and all our other products as well. I have updated the website retailers list with lots of new retailers, but if I have missed off you local retailer who sells Opals - can you please let me know.
We had a blast at Paperific in Melbourne and already have some very (very!!!!) cool new make and takes in mind for October - think wings and glitter... My obsession with all things birds hasn't slowed down, as evidenced by our new sets of stamps. The owls and butterflies were a huge hit at both Paperific and SIA, and the winter stamps have also been popular with those who have already started their Christmas card collections. All of the new stamps are in stock - so if you would like to get your hands on them - just email us at opals@pipedreamink.com or go to the website.
I apologise for the photos- but i can't seem to place them in the right place today in blogger!!! oh well.
Finally - if anyone knows a Kerry Johnston who came to Paperific last week could you please get in contact with us. She left a parcel at our stand and has left a message on this blog - but we have not heard from her since. if you know how to contact her can you let us know so that we can return her stuff.
Thanks Everyone
See you soon
Niamh

Attention Kerry J

Hi Kerry - can you send your address to us at opals@pipedreamink.com
and we can send your parcel of goodies out to you. It has gone back on the pallette - so may be a few days before it arrives back in Tasmania.
Thanks for contacting us
Niamh

Back from Paperific and Fantasy Film Video

hi All,
Well we all had a great time at Paperific meeting you all. we can't wait till October for the next show - with more new products to be released then!!! the new stamp sets went down a treat and I will endevour to add them today to the website for all of you who missed out on attending the show.
We had lots of people go through doing the four make and take projects and watching the demos. i did say that I would include a youtube video from the very talented Zeb showing how she did the fantasy film technique. it is a little different from how we showed you over the weekend - but it should be similar enough to jog your memory.
Have fun playing with all your new toys!!!
Niamh

Getting ready for Melbourne Paperific

Hi All,
Well, it it coming round to that time of year again when Sue and I pack up all the stock and get it ready for the pallet to be sent to Melbourne for the new show at the end of march (28th - 30th March - Caulfield Racecourse). we have all the Opals babies with us, as well as our stamps sets, fantasy film, the very popular tidy trays (get it quick - these sold out on the first day last year), heat guns at a great price and many more goodies we have found around the place. We will also (fingers crossed they arrive) have three brand new stamp sets being released at this show (see the spring set at the side). The stamp set is 4-6in large with all the images having a great deal of line texture to produce great textured pieces with your opals.

I have also been busy creating new artwork for the site and the show, and have updated the gallery with the new pieces. Loving the combo of rosevears, sandstone and bluegum at present - as well as all the brights (no change there!!!).
Have fun creating everyone
Niamh

New Artwork and working on the webpag

Well I have been busy uploading (and making) new artwork for the gallery on the website over the last few days - the joys of summer holidays:) I have decided to go for a flicker account for the moment for the company website due to issues with our old site being hacked into. This way it is all Yahoo's responsibility!!!
Have I said - I love Flicker - so easy to use. It would have taken (and did) ages to create the gallery section the way I wanted it. This was you can view the individual photos or a pretty slick slideshow. Best bit is with the unlimited space - we can have the pictures bigger than normal - Yeah!!!
The other thing I will be regigging tomorrow is the order form and the products/gallery page. So if you are having issues with the website tomorrow - it is probably just me messing around.
Anyway - here is a sample of what I have been up to - enjoy
Niamh

Opals Lava Technique

Jen Hodge (from our talented design team) has shared her fantastic Opals Lava technique on You Tube as well. Jen has been using this technique to make jewellery and hair for Art dolls. It is an easy technique to master - but because of its properties - every single piece you make will be totally unique.
Enjoy
Niamh

Opals on You Tube

Hi All,
We often get asked how to pour Opals into moulds to create jewellery pieces or embellishments for a scrapbook page. Well, a very talented US Artist (Zeb) has been playing with You Tube, moulds and of course Opals and come up with some great videos for you to watch. In the following two videos, Zeb is recreating a stone effect using Snowgum and other colours, as well as a jade effect. Both are pretty cool. I will post the other videos as they get up loaded.
Enjoy your viewing
Niamh

Stone Carving Video - Snowgum and mixed Opals plus Krafty Lady Moulds and After Midnight Stamps

Faux Jade Opals using Snowgum, Franklin, Alpine Heath plus Krafty Lady Moulds and After Midnight Stamps

Happy 2008

Welcome to the new website/blog for Pipe Dreamink 2008. I made the new years resolution to have the new website fully updated and working by the 1st of Jan - missed out by a day due to technical errors and me being in charge!!! Oh well:)


New things on the site

• I have updated the products page and it now contains all the new Opals Colours (the Temperates, St Clair in the classics range and the extra large Frankin), the Opulent Image Stamps, Fantasty Film, and all the necessary accessories needed to use the Opals (trays, inkpads, heat gun, chipboard and more)
• The gallery is in the process of being redone - all the pieces are being photographed and it is my aim to have it up and running by the end of the month
• The blog will be updated at least once a month - and I will try to do this more often. This will include new artwork and a project with some step by steps.

To all of you who have waited so patiently for this to happen - thanks for waiting. School holidays are a blessing at present and I hope to capitalise on it over the next coming month...
I hope you all have had a fantastic holiday period and I wish you all a very happy, safe and prosperous new year.

Niamh