About The Midget Workshop
Thank you very much for taking the time to have a look around my Workshop!
Making things - even if only a mess! - has been an aspect of my life for as long as I can remember. I am very lucky to have had many "crafty" people in my family who have all taught me various ways of making unique and beautiful things. One of the most important things that this has taught me, along with patience, is the skill that is involved in a lot of crafts that many take for granted. I am always keen to give a new craft a go even if it means that I am not very good at it because learning the process is as important as learning to be good at it.
I was introduced properly to the world of papercraft by my mother-in-law, who very kindly made my husband and I our amazing wedding stationary. Until this point, I had only used rubber stamps to decorate my school books and the odd letter here and there. Unfortuately, the thank you cards that our photographer made for us were not anywhere close to the same high standard that our invitations had been and so I took them apart and made them into new cards. I loved it, and was bitten by the bug from then on!
For the most part I use Lili of the Valley stamps to create my main card images. They are a British company and make the most beautiful stamps that you can't help but want to use! They have an amazingly friendly team as well and have been very helpful with any questions I have had with their products. They also have a very good Angel policy in place which is not something you often find. I can not recommend them highly enough and in order to help fellow sufferers of that crafty itch, their site can be found at www.liliofthevalley.co.uk.
To colour my images I use Copic Ciao markers, which are like magic! They are blendable alcohol pens with an amazing range of colours available. Like many of the items that I use, they are the only alcohol pens that I have tried mainly because I've never needed to find an alternative. One feature that I really do like about them is that they are re-fillable. So once the pen runs out you can buy replacement ink rather than replacing the whole pen.
I love to use glitter where I can on my cards to bring that extra little twinkle to the finished article, and this is nearly always in the form of Stickles glitter glue. I've not been allowed loose glitter in the house since the fateful incident when my husband spent a whole day at work with an initially unnoticed light dusting of the stuff all over his face ... Shiney noses and glossy areas are created with the use of Inkessentials Glossy Accents.
If you have any questions about any of the techniques that I use, please feel free to drop me an email and I will be happy to answer your questions!
As well as papercraft I love to knit, crotchet and sew. Like many other lovers of craft I have, at all times, got a half-finished project of something or other stashed in various locations around the house.
Many thanks go to my Web Midget for making and maintaining my lovely website! And also to Grandma who made the suggestion that I sold my cards in the first place!
Cheryl Matthews
Chief Midget
