Something from CHA

I was in California in January for CHA.  It was my first time there and I had so much fun!  The classes were amazing.  And then there was the show floor.....indescribable.  There is so much to look at.  So much information to soak into the brain.  It was a good thing that we had several days to keep going back to the show.  It took that long for my little brain to wrap itself around the goodness of what I was seeing.  And I still didn't see everything I wanted to!!!

I want to share one of the projects I made in a CHA class.  It was a mixed media class and focused on some new paints that are out by Luminarte.  I am in love with them!

The covers to this cute mini album are wooden door hangars.  So cute.  I love how you can see into the mini through the hole in the front.  (We covered the hole in the back one with papers). The wood was already primed for us so when we added the paints there was a slight "crackle" appearance.  The photos really don't do this one justice.  The paints have a shimmer to them and blend so nicely.  We even added pigment powder to the covers (a dry powder that is concentrated color).  Love how the instructor allowed us to add to the inside by writing with a paintflow pen around the cut out.  A bit extra....the tiny branches tied with twine added to the outside for the bird to sit on, the painted flowers, and the cut outs of the paper line just made this album for me.  The center page is a canvas pocket that was painted with the paints and watered down to create a wash effect.  Every person in the class (of say 60) had a different interpretation of the colors.....reds, yellow, greens, blues, turquoise, browns.  I could have stayed and played all day!

Hope you enjoyed it!

Scrapfest, here I come!!!

I am so excited about going to Scrapfest!  It is in Covington, Louisiana next weekend (Feb. 28 thru Mar 2) and I can hardly wait.  I will be teaching an adorable mini album using the new Bo Bunny Prairie Chic paper collection. It is truly adorable and the mini was so much fun to make.  Take a look:

 This is the cover and shows all the cute details.  All the wonderful eye candy!!!  A fun clip to hold it all closed.

 A side view showing the pages.  The album is totally interactive.

  Another view of the front cover.

This shows how the pages are interactive.  The mini album has a unique binding system that I will teach you in class.

Are you going to Scrapfest?  I would love to see you in my class!!!  Sign up at the Scrapp n' Savvy website.  

Don't miss the excitement......come see us at Scrapfest!!!

Something pretty on a rainy day

A few weeks ago I rearranged my craft room so that I can take advantage of the natural light that streams through the large picture window.  I have a lot of trepidation about it but in the end I was really happy with the changes.  Of course, with changes there comes the battle to make the space work.  I work in a specific way and I guess I am lucky that I can organize my room accordingly.

I love being able to open the windows and let the wonderful breeze blow in.  And so do the kitties!  I'm sure they think I moved everything just for them!  So today, with various storms rolling through, I have really enjoyed the windows.

I thought I would post some pics of the project that I am teaching tonight and maybe bring a smile into your rainy day.

 This is the one we will actually make in class tonight.  Below is the one I originally made for class.  However, since Valentine's day has come and gone I thought it might be better to concentrate on spring.

 I am pretty sure I showed these little cuties in a previous post.  Just wanted to give them some time here before they get added to the Easter project I will make tonight as an extra for the class to see.

Hope your day is happy!

The Queen of Everything

Mary Englebreight has it right.  The Queen of Everything.  I made this little cutie a few years ago and it adorns my desk area.  It amazes me that something so terribly simple can make me smile.  It can literally give me a boost when I need it most and make me realize that I am indeed the queen of everything about ME!

I have been wonderously busy these last few weeks.  I am pretty sure that I could totally live in my craft room!  I guess it is a good thing that I have children who need me and make me walk away from my craftiness sometimes.  I have been impatiently waiting for the new things to arrive from CHA.  Karrie, owner of Scrapp n' Savvy ordered so much.  It feels like Christmas to a child!  Finally, some of the new things rolled in yesterday.  Thank you Mr UPS man!!!!  First up was some of the new Teresa Collins stuff.  It is really cute but I did not buy any, yet.  I had my sights set on some other goodies.  So....

 These are mini bottle brush trees.  So amazingly cute.  I wanted them the minute I saw them at the Melissa Frances booth.  I have some serious plans for these little cuties.

And these.  Oh my!  These are resin pieces, again Melissa Frances, that come in a variety of shapes.  Totally in love with all the frames.  These are not huge as you might be able to see my thumb at the top of the picture.  You can stain them, distress ink them, paint them......oh so much goodness!  I can see the frame on the front of an album or part of a mixed media canvas.  I just can't even tell you the detail on these.  And so many to choose from.  Stop by the store to see them all.  And the paper.  Oh the paper......bought some of that too......my imagination runs over!

Check back.......I have some more fun to share later this week..........

just a few cards to make cupid proud!

I am delighted.  I have made all my Valentine cards and it is not even the 13th yet!  I even have the ones to mail completed.  Yeah.  I handmake about 15 cards for this holiday so it can take a little bit of time.  Cardmaking is something I really enjoy.  I get to take little bits of goodness and put them all together on a small mat.....wonderful.  It's also a way I can use up those little pieces of lace that I just can't seem to part with.

I had purchased the Authentique valentine 6 x 6 pad to use in a project.  Reality.....my class happens after Valentine's day.  Ugh.  I had made a really cute project.  So, I became the proud owner of a whole 6 x 6 pad with 3 pieces removed.  What else was I to do.......time to make the cards.

 I just love the simplicity of this one.  A little vintage lace, a vintage postcard, some bling.   Perfect.

 By far one of my favorites today.  Love the new Maya Road pink ribbon here.  I have had the vintage tag for over a year now.  Just some pink yumminess.

 This is actually a huge sticker that I ordered online.  It was a whole sheet of vintage looking postcards of many sizes.  I did not like what the sticker was so I fussy cut what I did like.  What you cannot see in the pic here is that the stamp at the bottom has a gloss finish to it.  Really stands out.

 Simple.  To the point.  Again using some of my vintage finds.  Love the black lace edge.

 Tied for my favorite today.  Love banners.  Love the Maya Road ribbon again.  The Maya Road vintage metal roses are really adorable too.  The little vintage girl in the center is from the Authentique line.

Little boys.  This is for my youngest.  He adores wordsearches and animals.  The Authentique paper was perfect for this.  A little bit of glitz to suit mom and I am done!

Hope you enjoyed these few cards.  Hope it inspired you to get moving on yours!  Next time I will show you my Valentine project that is not going to be a class!

I can hardly wait!!

I am so excited!  I am going to teach a class at Scrapfest in Louisiana at the end of the month!  I finished my project yesterday and it is up on the website now.  I thought I would share a little pic with ya'll though.....

I will show you more of the details at a later date.  It is soooo adorable inside though!  I used the new Bo Bunny Prairie Chic paper along with new petaloo flowers, some Maya Road beauties, and some Tim Holtz embellishments.  I had this in my mind when I saw the papers but sometimes everything comes together better than I imagine.  This is one of those times.  

I hope you adore it as much as I do.  Have a great day.

Craziness and a new project

I'm Back!!!!  I am so sorry for not posting this last month or more.  I actually did write quite a few posts but for whatever reason instead of pressing Publish, I pressed Save.  You know what that means?  That means that the posts did not appear here in the blog for you to read.  They were just hanging out in my blogosphere waiting for me to make them "real" posts and not drafts.  So sorry again.

It has been incredibly crazy here, as usual.  A little catch up is in order I think.  Christmas was wonderful as always.  Loved having all my little ducks home!  It still amazes me that I have adults!  The changes in them have been mind blowing and wonderful!  My parents stayed with us all through the holidays and we hated to see them leave.  Mid January I left for an incredible WEEK of creative energy known as CHA.  First time.  Oh my.  It was, well, incredible.  I expected some warm, wonderful weather in sunny Anaheim, California.  But no.  It was cold.  One of the coldest on record.  So cold that Target got some of my hard earned cash in exchange for some warmer clothes!  So cold in fact that I had chapped skin from the biting wind.  Overall, I still had an amazing, memorabe time with Karrie, Tove, and Michelle.  (Remember girls, we are all Princesses!  Ah, Disney is not just for children!)  Came home to a house full of sick children who spent a week running me ragged and pushing all my responsibilities and crafting back.  Finally things are starting to return to normal levels of craziness here.  There is so much more that happened in that month and a half but this gives you a wee bit of life here.

So, on with the project!  This months first class at Scrapp n' Savvy is an unusual mini album using the We R Memory Keepers Antique Chic paper collection.  I have added a bunch of vintage ribbons and trims and also used most of the embellishments from the collection to make this little treasure.  Love that it will hold a 4 x 6 photo without having to trim it.  On to the pictures.....

So, the pics are pretty much out of order.  Sorry.  However, it gives you the idea of the album and the trims.

I am planning of posting regularly from this point on.  I hope you all stay tuned and check back with me.  I have tons of cute projects I want to show you and a video or two.  Keep calm and craft on!