Thursday, February 24, 2011

Finished another project from Monday

Or was it Sunday I started all these projects? Ugh, the days blend after a while. What is a highlight for me is making something like this.


It is a t-shirt for a cousin of mine. The stamped image is Ebony from The Greeting Farm and she kind of reminded me of all the personality of the two year old the shirt is for. I stamped it on the shirt with Versacraft ink, heat set it, and then painted her in with fabric paints. The name is done with a vinyl mask cut with the Cricut and more fabric paint and the flowers are left over strips from another project.


I had to use Willow the Bear as my model because I didn't have a child model handy. ;-P There are a few more of these super cute kidlet tees on deck to be made and distributed to my friends and family. I am also thinking this would make for a cute onesie for a new arrival.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What I have been doing for the last few days

I am so happy to post these photos because some of this, especially the pink and red project, has been dominating my desk and preventing me from doing anything else. So, first, let's look at the long overdue Valentine's configuration box.



I added some elements from The Art Life shop's monthly kit and then bits and pieces of my own. I had been playing with this idea since January, but when time came to assemble, I hit a wall. Honestly, some of these little boxes aren't as detailed as I would like, but that is okay too. Don't be surprised if I add to this next year. And, I still have one little box that didn't fit. I am going to make it a separate Valentine's shadow box.

Some more images of the little details on this decoration.





Once I finally cleaned off the desk from this project, I went a little crazy. That was Monday and I started five other projects that day alone. One of the projects was a re-visit to the UTEE and Perfect Pearls molded creations. Remember the hearts? Well, I found another cute mold set and I think plastic embellishments will be one of my new favorites.



I am loving these and I promise that some of them will be on a layout in the near future. Notice that some of them have a hole punched in them? Well, that is because in addition to making these to put on paper creations, I thought it would be cool to add them to cuff bracelets.


That is some grungeboard embossed with GCD Studios Chip Art tools, an UTEE flower, and a brad. My first flower cracked and the holes in the leaves are too small to put a brad through, but I think this is a good first attempt. A prototype, you might say.

Then last night I tried to make some cards. There are seven different situations that I need to make cards for at the moment and frankly, I am dreading it. I honestly am stumped when it comes to cards. I did make these two, one for an engagement and the other for a birthday, (obviously), but it took me as long to make these two cards as it did for me to make all the UTEE flowers. Sad, I know. And, I still have five more to go.


Sunday, February 20, 2011

A day with Julie Nutting

It was a special chance for me to take a class with the very talented Julie Nutting yesterday. I have to tell you that I have been following her blog and her work since I caught a piece in Somerset magazine. I love the creative use of papers, patterns, and colors she adds to each piece. And, I have to tell you that she is just as lovely in person as she is in art.

Here is the piece that I made during her class at Scrapbook Island yesterday.


I LOVE the colors! Look at the depth and texture. The girl was created from a pattern that Julie had made for us and then we "free handed" the hair. There is layer after layer of yumminess on this piece and I can guarantee that I will be using these techniques again and again.


The face has such character, even without specific features. Actually, I think it is because it doesn't have features that it has more character.


Why it has never occurred to me to use paint on bubble wrap for polka dots before is beyond me, but you can bet that I will be doing it again. And again!


I loved the layers for the skirt and how it created movement. Such an incredible class and I hope to get to take another one from Julie!

Friday, February 11, 2011

A little more CHA

Well, I meant to blog the rest of this on a Friday, just not THIS Friday. Oops! My definition of "tomorrow" may need to be re-evaluated.

Okay so what is left from CHA? Hahaha, that is a joke actually because with over 8 miles of booths, there is no way two posts can cover it. But here is the remainder of my experience there.

Before I get started in the breakdown of specific booths, I am going to give some overall observations. Silhouettes, circus, and rosettes are BIG trends in the lines. You are going to see A LOT of these and from many different manufacturers. There is a return to the 1960's feel with wood grained papers, embellies, and at least three companies I can think of right off the top using orange, yellow, hot pink, and brown in a line. I have a feeling that they are just heralding in more of this for the future and would not be surprised to see the retro-funk show up even more at CHA-S.

The industry has heard the call for the tools to make our own embellishments and they are trying to get them to us as fast as possible. There are the Glubers, the new flower dies from Spellbinders, and Foldies from Sassafras. Epiphany Crafts has created a great selection of tools to make your own epoxy pieces and buttons, furthering the genius of their offering with resin pieces that embellish the epoxy and pre-cut felt flowers to add them to as well. It goes beyond flowers and bits to Studio 490 who has put together die cut pieces you can use to create altered art bases.

Now, onto some more pictures!

Maya Road- Always fabulous! They have some great mini banners coming our way, as well as the silhouette pieces and have added three specific things I really want-- the large canvas dress form piece, the smaller dress form bits, and the 4" bottle cap!!! They are also releasing more colors of their pleated ribbon, which means more handmade flowers for me.




Here are some examples of the Studio 490 products I mentioned above. They are really neat little pieces and range in size from a few inches to fit on a layout to stand alone creations.



Sadly, while I loved the new Jenni Bowlin, Pink Paislee, Anna Griffin, Hambly, Sassafras, Webster's, and Epiphany crafts, I didn't take photos of their booths. I know that these companies have posted their new goodies on their blogs, but I am sorry I wasn't a better photographer. I am going to blame it on still not feeling 100% while I was at CHA.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Thinking pink, red, and cardboard?

I was inspired to do this layout thanks to a call over at Scrapbook News and Review for cardboard base layouts. I got a package in the mail last night and decided right then to reuse it. I cut it down to 8x10 size, a whole new size for me and went to town. I have all of my Valentine's embellishments and papers on my desk for another project I am working on, so instead of doubling the mess, I dug through the pile to find the pieces for this layout.

Now I must tell you. This was supposed to feature a photo booth strip of dear Hubsters and I, but I tucked said strip into a planner that I cannot currently find and am seriously fretting I have given away without taking out the picture. (Sigh.)

Nonetheless, I LOVE this little layout! It has a bunch of goodies on here that make me happy. Jenni Bowlin patterned papers, (one of my all time faves of hers), Sassafras Lass metal brooches which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! There is a new resin rose snuck on the bottom from Stampin Up! that are so sweet I could just eat them up, the crocheted cherries were a find on an old sweater scored at the "G," and I have really wanted to use those red glittered clothes pins from K&Co. since I snagged them last month. Add to that the awesome Making Memories mini frames and some of my all time favorite Pink Paislee chipboard letters and I have combination of girly happiness.




Wednesday, February 9, 2011

*One of the many things I will miss..*

*Edited 2/9/11-- I JUST realized I never posted this! LOL!It was a draft I had saved from November of 2009! I have no idea where my head was when I typed this, but I know that my feelings expressed here still ring true!


about Paper Popsicles is the incredible kits that Melissa put together every month. There was so much product in these kits. With my last kit she sent me, I created 2 layouts, 4 cards, 4 tags, and a mini book and there was still some pieces left over that I could use! I did add 3 sheets of card stock and the mini book, but really, who doesn't have that in their stash anyway? And if I wasn't so into having a ton of patterned paper on each layout, there would have been way more for me to play with. With permission from Melissa, here are the projects.






















Seriously, how fabulous are all these goodies?


Friday, February 4, 2011

A brief pause for a layout

Let's take a quick moment from the CHA breakdown for a layout I pulled off today. The prompt was "All About Me" and while I am fairly certain it would take more than one page to tell you all about me and that it would be boring as well, this has a few good facts.

I used Pink Paislee's Old School line combined with some of the lovely Lily Bee Catching Fall. Jillibean Soup adds some of the embellishments with the corrugated buttons and number ribbon, Maya Road gives us the yellow ruffle ribbon, Nikki Sivils the corduroy brads, and the big blue flower is courtesy of the Cosmo Cricket Glubers make 'n' take at CHA. The mini ruler and flash card are from an old kit, the little chalkboard, (LOVE!), is Darice. There are some Thickers, (green), some more Jillibean, ("school"), more Lily Bee with the banner, and Pink Paislee's 365 Degrees sticker strip. Oh, and can't forget Jenni Bowlin journal strip at the bottom and some of my favorite baker's twine.

School of LORA
Journaling reads--
I: am the oldest grandchild on both sides.
-am the only one of my siblings to have naturally dark hair.
-always dreamed of being a pro-cheerleader and Miss America.
-have practiced my Oscar acceptance speech a million times at least.
-was Grand Champion Spelling Champ for 4 years.
-was also Grand Champion Tractor Driver and Grand Champion Swine Showman.
-am a Twi-Hard.
-used to play the trumpet.
-hate the color black.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The CHA High

Attending CHA is indescribable, truthfully. Walking the 8 miles of new and inspired product alone would be enough to put most people into overload, but add into that seeing those individuals who inspire the items we as a group come to love, getting to participate in make and takes or classes with the new goodies, and all the projects that hundreds of people put together for show in the booths. Throw in a healthy dose of travel, sleeping in a hotel room, trying to look cute while schlepping a 40 pound recycled Little Yellow Bicycle bag full of hand outs, catalogs, and bits and pieces, and ice it with dinners with friends who are just as overwhelmed as you and the outcome is one needs a few days to process. (Unless you are like my friend, Daniela, and you come home ready to rock 'n' roll with a million new ideas.)

I can't believe it has only, (already!?!), been three days since I got home from LA and I am just now coming to the surface of all of the input. I have been trying to put a little on the Memory Makers forum each day for my pals over there, so some of this will be a repeat. I am going to try and take two days to get down what I saw so I don't overwhelm, (bore), any one brave enough to actually read this.

Let's start with favorites of the show. Hahaha, favorite is relative, kind of like picking your favorite child. Not something that can be done.

In no particular order, I most loved:

October Afternoon- their new Rocket Age and 5 & Dime collections totally knocked my socks off! I *almost* wish I had a son so I didn't have to try so hard to use the Rocket Age line with it's adorable little boy, his bear and bot friends, and all that retro yumminess. It is blues and oranges and looks like it is right out of the era of Leave It To Beaver. 5 & Dime is a knock out as well, with it's retro colors in pinks, reds, and aquas and I am seriously excited about getting my paws on it when it arrives at Scrapbook Territory.

(Me in front of the cool wall of the October Afternoon booth. Loved the vintage-esque posters!)

Cosmo Cricket- Julie Comstock is a genius and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new Glubers! They are essentially a 2" diameter glue dot, but there is so much more to them. They will make it so everyone can make their own flowers, fabric, paper, or otherwise. I have a dear friend who suffers from tremors and it has greatly affected her ability to create her own embellishments, something she dearly loves to do. Glubers will give her that creativity back, I am sure. While doing the make and take at the CC booth, I met the incredible Natasja Verbeek, who is very talented and kind enough to share her super rocking mini album with me. Natasja saw my unadulterated excitement over the Glubers and she showed me that they not only make these gorgeous flowers,


but the Glubers also will revolutionize how I, at least, use loose glitter. Look at this!


Yes, that is the Gluber, turned into a fabulous glittery polka dot that not only did Natasja sew through with her sewing machine, but it traveled all the way from The Netherlands and not a spec of stray glitter ANYWHERE! I kid you not, I ran my finger over it and came away clean. I am thrilled.

Crate Paper- I love these papers so much. I have a thing about thick paper, it makes my fingers happy to touch it and it makes me happy to use it. Crate Paper totally delivers on the quality of paper AND their lines are full of great colors and wonderful embellishments. This time, they knocked it out of the park form me. The Portrait Collection with it's yellows, greens, grays (!!!), and creams is just amazing. So amazing in fact that I stared there and drooled over it for two days before I realized it is a wedding based collection! It actually made me wish my wedding colors had been that glorious!


The Emma Shoppe collection is full of yummy pinks, turquoise, yellows, and greens, the colors bordering on that perfect edge of muted but not pastels. So girly, yet rich, it is another collection that I am going to love creating with. I am in the phase where I am demanding new color combos from manufacturers and while I wouldn't say Emma Shoppe is a new combo, Crate Paper has managed to make it feel fresh and exciting.


Crate Paper also released two other lines, Story Time and Home, both great lines that I loved, but Portrait and Emma Shoppe were just a bit more me.

GCD Studios- Sigh. How I would love to walk the hallowed halls of the real GCD Studios. This is another rock star company whose papers are thick and linen like and totally make my tactile senses scream in joy. There was a lot of Circus going on in the new releases among manufacturers and GCD Studios Funhouse Collection was by far my favorite incarnation of elephants, monkeys, and the dreaded clowns. Again, the soft muted colors that are not pastel, but yet have that vintage feel to them were PERFECT with the circus theme and while I haven't been to the circus since before my Grandma passed away, I will be creating some pages with this line reminiscing the times I spent with her under the Big Top.

(Daniela and I showing some of our true colors at the GCD booth.)

GCD also had two other lines that I did a fair amount of drooling over, starting with Soul Food by Melody Ross. I loved her two lines for GCD last year and Soul Food is another winner with classic 1960's/70's images of ladies and the bold color combination of orange, yellow, pink, and brown. This line is definitely FUN. I was also drawn to the innocence and the monotone beauty of Sweet Surrender. I did a layout a while back that was all whites and it is still one of my all time favorites. Sweet Surrender reminds me of the softness of that layout and how much I enjoyed creating with the white on white theme.

Last for tonight is the always stellar production by Tim Holtz. As he works with a number of different manufacturers to bring us all his creative goodies, I am just going to call it all his. If you need to know a list of who he works with, please let me know and I will post it for you. Tim is a man with the vintage soul. This time around he created Frozen Charlotte dolls, pocket watches, number plaques, and, and, and....!!! Seriously, those are just to name a few of his newest and greatest that had me drooling in the booths time and time again during my 48 hours in LA. 






This bottom picture, though blurry as all get out, has one of my other favorites of the Tim Holtz collection-- grunge blocks! I love the look of the vintage printer's blocks for letters, but I know first hand how spendy the real versions are. (And, YES, I WOULD glue down real ones to a layout if they weren't like $5 a piece!!!) I want to send Mr. Holtz a thank you for bringing me these vintage goodies without the vintage price tag. 

So, if you powered through this to the end and actually read any of that, tell your S.O. that you are owed a neck rub. ;) Be back tomorrow with a few more things from CHA!