Maxine Gordon meets a York woman who has a way with cards.

IF you know your spirelli from your ornare and your lac from your quilling, chances are you will have happened across Maria Hutchinson's shop in York's historic Fossgate.

Craft Heaven is exactly that - a divine destination for anyone with an art for craft, particularly card-making.

From lightboxes and heat torches to stencils and stickers, packs of card and embellishments to scrapbooks and coloured chalks, every tool, material and adornment you need for card making can be found within its four walls.

Maria, a keen card maker who also enjoys silk painting and embroidery, opened the shop last November, aiming to plug a gap in the market.

She said: "Whenever my friends and I wanted something we could never find it in York. I felt York needed its own specialist craft shop and I also wanted to run my own business."

Following customer demand, Maria is now running a series of practical workshops teaching a range of card-making techniques.

Each session focuses on a different set of skills such as embossing, rubber stamping, parchment craft and paper pricking. They run on selected Sundays from this month to October, from 10.30am-4.30pm and cost £16 each. Refreshments will be provided but participants must bring their own packed lunch. Booking is essential.

Here is an outline of Maria's programme:

July 3: Rubber Stamping and Form A-Lines. Learn how to make a watercolour cards using rubber stamps and also a prick-and-stitch card using rainbow-blending threads.

July 24: Iris Folding and Paper Pricking (Ornare). Create cards using the a special paper-folding technique and learn the art of paper pricking.

August 7: Lac and Chalk Techniques. Cutting and folding to give a look of lace and decorating cards using stencils and chalk/pastels.

September 4: Tea Bag Folding and Cards For Men. Make cards using a basic folding and sticking technique on small 'tea-bag' squares of paper and also learn how to create simple cards for men using embellishments and hand-made paper.

September 18: Spirelli and Parchment Craft. Spirelli is the art of winding rainbow-blending thread around different shapes for use on cards. You will also make cards using parchment.

October 9: Quilling and Heat Embossing. Quilling involves rolling thin strips of paper into coils then arranging them in a shape, such as flowers or animals. In heat embossing, pigment ink is used to create a raised, colour effect on card.

Maria will also be running some workshops on Christmas-card making in October. She said: "We have all sorts of customers, from students to mums with young children to retired people who have plenty of time on their hands. An awful lot of people make their own cards. They find it very therapeutic and relaxing and also satisfying to see the end result."

To find out more, or make a booking, pop in to the shop or telephone 01904 626081 or email: maria@craftheaven.wanadoo.co.uk

Updated: 11:27 Tuesday, June 28, 2005