ATCs and more

Well June was a busy month for me created three different classes for The Crop Shop in Rockland. I created a seasonal calendar set with 7 Gypsies shadowboxes along with stamps, embellishments and die cuts.

Also, this Teacher thank you gift using the Kaisercraft drawer set.

Finally, I ended the month by teaching this napkin decoupage technique using the Viva Decor Ultra Licht and their napkin decoupage. Two cards and one journal were given a three dimensional look using this technique.

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are 3.5 x 2.5 inch cards that are decorated with a theme and/or technique. People can swap these in groups to exchange ideas and techniques. Since this can be daunting to some at first I created this class to help new comers create their own ATCs using the new ATC line by Creative Imaginations. This company has made it convenient to create ATCs by packaging cooridinating frames, diecuts and paper. This class shows that you can do more than just swap the ATCs but you can also use them to adorn cards. This class is Saturday, July 7th from 10am-12pm at The Crop Shop in Rockland, MA.

I'm currently working on classes for August and September along with more class for the fall. Come by and take a class.

How a blank canvas picked me up out of my creative slump!

Yes, it’s been about 5 months since I had a blog post. Between the holidays, vacations, super bowl (work related) and a death in the family, I haven’t been in a crafty state of mind. My craft room was a disaster and I didn’t want to enter it let alone craft in it. I finally committed and after 3 hours I could see the floor again. You can see below before and after photos.  

Now that the room was in order the next step was to create some projects for classes. I had completed three projects before the holidays and those classes were submitted and taught at The Crop Shop. They can be seen below.

BoBunny Snowfall Album

Double-Z Fold Album card

Bird Arch album

But as I thought back I couldn’t remember the last time I created something for just the heck of it. I get together with some friends each month and we craft. The last couple of gatherings I haven’t really been in the creating mood, more of an organizing mood (figure out a way to organize and store, embossing folders, metal die cuts, and of course the ever expanding pile of ribbon).

Well, today after helping out some close friends at a great craft event, I met up with some other crafty friends. We were gathering to share and explore the world of art journaling. We had bought some Dylusions stamps a few months back and we thought getting together for some inspirational time would do us all some good. I had bought the Dylusions sprays also and brought along some stencils and masks and some old ledger books I bought on eBay. I started out playing with the sprays and inking up the pages of the ledger book to get a good base for the pages along with seeing how the colors looked when applied to the pages. This was a great way to get my feet wet again. 

Once I finished the pages one of the ladies gave us some canvases she had laying around her house and thought maybe we could do something with them. I first started to spritz my favorite color palette (red, oranges and yellows). On the coated canvas they dried a little muted but were okay. I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the canvas and since I had been working on a napkin decoupage technique I had seen at one of the craft trade shows, I thought it would be a good idea for the canvas my friend had given me. As I started looking through the many decorative napkins I had procured over the last week, I picked out a couple and then realized the sprays I was working with were a little bright for the color palette of the napkins. But I was not about to be deterred, so I just started spraying layer upon layer and blotting the pools of color over and over until the right blend of colors appeared on the canvas. I will say this I don’t think I could recreate the background to save my life. It was a happy accident so to speak that this particular color scheme came together.


Next, I selected the napkin I wanted to be the main focal point and then some additional elements from another napkin. I applied the Viva Décor decoupage to the napkin. Then I added some Viva Décor ultra licht clay to the areas I wanted to become three dimensional and then added the final layer of napkin by applying the decoupage again. The next element was adding some accent to the butterflies to make them pop and I did that by applying some Viva Décor Crystal Gel to them. My final touch was to stamp a saying from one of the Dylusion sets. When all was said and done,  I had a completed piece of art that I did JUST FOR ME! I felt so happy, excited, elated, gleeful, energized and of course a sense of satisfaction. It took a blank canvas to raise me up from the creative rut I was in to a Crafty State of Mind! Thank you Jacki!

Merry Christmas!

Just dropping in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

I Keep Chugging Along…

Last weekend I was able to actually take a class at The Crop Shop, where I teach classes. It was a great change of pace to see how another teacher approaches instructing students in a class. The project was wonderful and the instructor, Jean, was very patient. I cannot wait to show my mom how to do it too when I visit her next month.

I’ve been up to a few things this past week and they are mainly swap driven. I completed my 12x12 ‘June’ layout for a calendar swap I’m running at The Crop Shop. 

I also, finished two sets of ATC’s (artist trading cards) for the ATC club at the store too. One theme was ‘Retro’ for last month’s swap, which I couldn’t attend since I was on vacation.

The other is ‘Wild Card - Designers Choice’ for this weekend’s swap. I figured out I do better when given a theme. It took me awhile to figure out what to do for it. I wanted to definitely use paper and embellishments I already had on hand. I started digging through some old scrapbook paper from K and Company and was able to come up with something. It’s simple but I think it works and looks nice.

I also finished assembling the kits the 2012 ‘Inchie' Calendar class I’m doing Saturday, December 3^rd from 10a-12p. I only have four spots left in the class so if you would like to take the class or a kit please call the store at 781-792-2767 or go to the website and signup via PayPal.

 

Last but definitely not least my new Silhouette Cameo arrived this week. Yes, I’ve had it since Monday but have yet to take it out of its box. I hope to tackle that next week after the holiday weekend. I’ve been just salivating over this machine since I saw it at CHA in July. I bought my original Silhouette just as the Silhouette SD was about to come out, so I was able to get it pretty cheap. The one feature I always wanted was for it to cut 12x12 and now the new Silhouette Cameo does just that. I’ve already started making room for it in my craft room.

I’ve several more projects I have to complete over the weekend so I hope everyone has a wonderful Black Friday weekend.

Moxxie mini album and more Inchies

Here’s the class that I taught today at The Crop Shop. I saw this paper by Moxxie and just had to have it. I knew I wanted to create a mini album with this line and that it would be perfect to showcase photos of kids and family at Christmas. When my mom came to visit in September I was looking through her stuff and saw an example of a circle exploding book. As soon as I saw it I knew that it would be perfect to use with the Moxxie Party at the Pole collection. I also wanted to use the character die cuts as pop ups in the album. After a little bit of trial and error I was able to figure out how to make it work with this type of album.  We had a great time in class this morning and the ladies enjoyed making the album too.

Between teaching the Doodlebug Advent Calendar and the Moxxie Exploding circle album I held my first Inchie swap at The Crop Shop. The ladies from the swap at the other agreed to transfer over to the new store and continue swapping inchies. We had a good time swapping and meeting a couple of new swappers to join the group. We swapped our ‘Thanksgiving/Fall’ and ‘Wild Card’ inchies along with the ‘Black Friday’ challenge inchies.

'Thanksgiving'

'Wild Card - Cat's Meow'

'Black Friday'

We decided our next meeting would be Sunday, January 8^th 2012 from 1-2 pm.  The two themes we decided on are ‘Elvis’ and ‘New Years Resolutions’ and the challenge is ‘Asian.’

I also put the finishing touches on my next class at The Crop Shop, which is a 2012 inchie calendar. Here’s a sneak peek of January.

 

The class is Saturday, December 3^rd from 10a-12p. You can call the store to sign up or go to the website and pay via PayPal.

I'm Back and Ready to Go!

It’s tough to get back into the swing of things when you’ve been on vacation. It was nice to spend time with my parents even though we were always on the move. 

Plus, I had the opportunity to watch my nephew play football under the Tuesday Night Lights. 

Which is a big deal when you grow up in Texas. (He's the one in red/white jersey #88 tackling the kid from other team)

Now, I’m back and it’s been slow getting back into the Crafty State of Mind. I put the finishing touches on the advent calendar I showed ya’ll in my last post and here it is….

This calendar can be hung on the wall for a cute holiday display. Each day can be attached and removed easily and the calendar comes with a small drawstring bag to keep all the ‘inchies’ safe for storage until the next year. Now you can tell your children or grandchildren that once the tree is decorated and the presents are under the tree that it’s Christmas. The class is being held at The Crop Shop on Saturday,
November 5^th from 10am - 12pm. Please call the store (781-792-CROP) to sign up or you can visit the website and pay via PayPal the cost is only $20.

Also, on the agenda that weekend is the ‘Inchie’ Swap. Come in and explore the wide world of  ‘inchies.’ What is an ‘Inchie,’ you ask? Well, it’s a 1x1 inch piece of art. As a group we choose the themes, usually two themes and a challenge, that interest us to create for the ‘inchies.’ Then at the next meeting we swap all our ‘inchies’ to see what everyone came up with pertaining to the themes. The class is being held at The Crop Shop on Sunday, November 6^th from 1pm - 2pm. Please call the store (781-792-CROP) to sign up your first swap is free and then each additional swap is only $5.

I have another class at The Crop Shop and here’s a sneak peek.

It’s a mini book that you can showcase some holiday photos. The class is being held at The Crop Shop on Saturday, November 12^th from 10am - 1pm. Please call the store (781-792-CROP) to sign up or you can visit the website and pay via PayPal the cost is only $25. I’ll show more of it next week.

I’m almost finished with another class; which is an ‘inchie’ desktop calendar that you’ll be seeing soon.

I’m ready for the storm so I’ll be hunkered down in my craft room making many more projects that you’ll get to see in the coming year. Yes, I have to work that far ahead to keep my head above water and not drown in all my craft supplies.

Slow Going but Committed!!!

Yes, it’s been three weeks since my first post but I’ve been busy. My first post was done in rush so I could get something up so students from Scrapbook Cupboard could keep tabs on what I’ll be doing and where.

The store has since closed and I’ve been busy getting my next projects for classes at The Crop Shop, in Rockland, MA completed before I go on vacation tonight. I completed two projects so you can look forward to seeing those on the store website/calendar. Make sure you sign up if you are interested in taking either of these classes.

I’ve always loved advent calendars ever since I was a little girl. I couldn’t wait to open the little doors on the paper ones and see what saying or picture was behind it. The joy was even more when I had a chocolate candy advent calendar. These calendars come in all shapes and size these days, plus they can contain candy or even toys for kids. This obsession continues to this very day. So much so, that my friend Kim Parkinson gave me a big wooden advent calendar in the shape of a tree for my birthday this year. I cannot wait to get out all my supplies and start decorating it.

For my class on Saturday, November 5^th from 10am-12pm, I was able to combine two of my favorite things ‘inchies’ and my love for advent calendars. Some of the supplies are seen in this photo. Check back for a sneak peek to how these supplies were used to make a cute advent calendar for the holiday season. These will be a joy for kids to count down the days until Christmas.

Have a great holiday weekend.