techniques, techniques and more techniques

(Warning: long wordy post to follow )

Not sure if it was just me but seemed there were *lots* of techniques being taught & demonstrated at CHA this year. Most were distressing techniques, but not all of them. In any case, I was able to experiment and try out new products and learn new ways of doing things. Here's a quick recap:

I did a quick mk-n-tk at the Tattered Angels booth. We used their "Glimmer Mist" sprays with their masks to create our own custom backgrounds. Our demonstrator pointed out that using Glimmer Mist on older papers is a great way to give them new life. As the project progressed, I also found out they can help you tweak the colors of your papers if they're not quite matching the way you'd like. We were also showed how the masks can be used as a pseudo stamp right after they've been used since they're loaded with excess spray -- great idea! Plus there are clear stamps that match up with the masks so that you can stamp onto your spray altered papers once they've dried. One more thing-- besides using a heat gun, using a foam sponge brush to manipulate the spray (depending on the look you're going for) will help remove excess liquids and help speed the drying process.

Marah Johnson was in the Creative Imaginations booth demonstrating alcohol inks with metallic spray paint. I missed the actual demo, but it sounded like a very cool technique so I'm going to try to find a video online.

The next stop on the "technique train" was the Heidi Swapp booth where Heidi was demonstrating her new "invisible" products --papers and such with resist images that are revealed after they are altered with distress ink (or other products?) You can see a video here.

Tim Holtz, the King of distressing techniques (and related products) was spotted in more than one booth either in person or in the form of his ever-present inks, tools, etc. I've been intrigued by his "grunge board" products for awhile, but until now I haven't acquired any because I wasn't quite sure what to do with it (other than the obvious paint, ink, glitter). However, after learning a cool technique at the Idea-ology booth, I can't wait to get my hands on some grunge board. The technique was a sort of built-up layer of steps, with a "removal" step. After mask/paint/stamping/distress inking the grunge board was wiped with a baby wipe to remove some of the ink. It's a wonderful "removing" distress method, that leaves the prior steps of paint and stamping exposed (and the distress ink). The finished product was terrific!

KaiserCraft had a cool little wood board book that was assembled in a clever manner where patterned papers created the "hinges" that held the book togehter. I'm thinking this little trick would be great on chipboard books too and can't wait to find an excuse to use it.

At Maya Road, I got to do a make-n-take with the lovely Lisa Pace. There was more playing with spray products --the Maya Road sprays are very different than Tattered Angels. Depending on how heavily they're sprayed on will result in a rich, deep (matte) finish. We used a light coat on bits of coffee filter to make the sweetest little layered flowers.

The last technique I really enjoyed was hand crafting flowers from paper. We used magazine pages to create our flowers (mums, I think). At any rate they were so cute and I can't wait to give this technique a try with patterned scrapbook paper. Interestingly, this demo was outside the scrapbooking area of the show in the general crafting area. This was a good reminder to not forget the general crafting side. In fact, the very next day we went back and made a cute little heart ornament/pendant only to find out that our demonstrator was the designer of one of the newest Cricut Cartridges!

I love all the fun things waiting to be uncovered and discovered at CHA.

postcard from CHA

Me and my sis Cat at the Graphic 45 red phone booth

I was there and yes, I have the aching feet to prove it! I took over 600 pics. Lots of cool stuff!

This year's show is just a tad smaller and quieter than the last couple of years, but that is all relative and CHA is still a HUGE show with so much to see and absorb. This year's "green" theme means more environmentally conscious products and packaging - everything from organic inks, scaled down and reusable packaging and bulk retailing.

Having a great time --wish you were here!

prima

I had the pleasure of taking an awesome class at Prima headquarters yesterday. There's a very comfortable classroom right there at the factory, and our instructor was uber talented Liz Hicks. The class project was a mini book with a gorgeous cover of flocked swirl paper and of course yummy Prima blossoms. We worked with Glimmer Mists (Tattered Angels) which I've only tried a couple of times in the past with not very happy results. Yesterday tho, I fell in *LOVE* with those little sprays. We used them on some plain white primas and on paper and chipboard --so sparkly and pretty. We also did some fun things with Stickles. I haven't finished my book yet, but here's a pic of the class sample designed by Liz.


Our paper was a bit different than this --we used was tone on tone (instead of the black flocking) plus my glimmer misted blossoms are pinkish. I'll post a pic when I've got it done. And here's a not-so-great pic of the classroom:


After the class, I roamed some of the factory aisles where there was an awesome warehouse sale taking place. So many cool things in there --many of which I'd never seen before. I'm sure my jaw was hanging open the whole time.

What a great little appetizer for CHA!

ETA: You can check out all the cool new releases from Prima at their blog here.

about cha

It occurred to me that not everyone may know what I'm talking about when I say "cha". CHA is the Craft and Hobby Association. They hold two 'to the trade' shows annually one in summer and one in winter. So, my CHA references are to the winter show which begins this Sunday at the Anaheim Convention Center here is southern California. The show is quite massive filling the entire facility including the lower level.

And as the name suggests, the entire crafting industry is represented (tho scrapbooking is by far the largest single sector within the show). So, as you walk the floor you might see manufacturers of media for the fine arts, products for the garment and sewing segment, yarn, fibers and needle arts, and cake decoration, and so on. You'd recognize some of the heavy hitters by name, I'm sure and all of these have huge beautiful booths: Wilton, Lion Arts, Red Heart, Singer, etc. Even Hewlett Packard displays at CHA.

This will be my third year attending as a member of the SGT design team. It's a great experience for me as a designer and teacher. Each year that I've gone I've learned new techniques and gained a greater understanding of many products on the market. Plus there is so much inspiration at every booth, that when the show concludes --at least for me-- I'm ready and eager to get busy creating.

I'll be sure to post lots of photos, so stay tuned!

queen for a day

Remember that old show? Well, actually neither do I. But I do remember hearing about it anyway -lol!

The queen for today is none other than Queen & Co! I have been having so much fun blog hopping and seeing what is being released at CHA this weekend. I found my way to the Queen & Co. blog today and as always just love everything! I'm only the teeniest bit jealous of my friend Kristin who gets to play with their stuff all the time.

I was also impressed to read that Queen & Co. is downscaling their packaging in favor of more earth-friendly approach (can you say bulk embellishments?) With the theme for this year's CHA show being "It’s Easy Being Green: Discover the Possibilities" I imagine there will be similar changes from other manufacturers as well.

Check out the Queen & Company blog here.

it's a blog party

The "my creative cafe" blog is having a pre-CHA celebration and you're invited. Check out their blog party and enjoy the yummy eye candy here.

zing! went the strings of my heart

Zing is a new embossing powder from American Crafts. This is what they're saying on their blog:

"Zing isn’t ordinary embossing powder – it’s the most even, opaque and vivid embossing powder available. It’s ama-Zing! Easily apply powder to any image, heat and watch as it takes on a beautiful raised effect. Zing embossing powder is packaged in two ounce bottles and is available in a variety of colors and four unique finishes: opaque, metallic, glitter and fluorescent."

Doesn't it sound wonderful? I have to admit that heat embossing is one of my favorite techniques and the thought of having a cool new powder to work with has my heart a-flutter. In any case I hope my heart strings go zing when I actually get me some "zing".

Every time I type Zing I think of an old Doris Day-Rock Hudson movie where they were marketing a mystery product called vip. Vip....Zing.... they sound the same, right?

Hi there, I'm the Zing Girl. Oh, yes folks... everything I got I owe to ZING.

Ack, can you tell I'm running on 3 hrs. sleep?

so stinkin' excited!

ETA: I received my kit (woo hoo!) and have updated this post. Turns out I actually got the December kit instead of the January kit, that I mistakenly expected. Makes no matter to me, because it is still a rocking awesome kit!

I just found out I won a kit by Studio Calico from Willow Traders and it is SOooooo cute!

It is the December "Center Stage" kit and has all this cool stuff in it:

Patterned Papers:
Charity Die-Cut (Crate Paper)
Fortitude (Crate Paper)
Red/Lt Neutral Notebook Cardstock (Creative Imaginations)
Birdcages - Antique White on Kraft (Hambly)
Lacework (K&Co)
Rouge Big Dot (Making Memories)
Snowflake (Making Memories)
Gingerbread (October Afternoon)
A Christmas Carol (Pink Paislee)

Embellishments:
Mini Shimmer Alpha - Silver (Making Memories)
Lace Border Stamp (Studio Calico)
Vintage Journaling Cards (Studio Calico)
Rouge Brad Combos (Making Memories)
Calendar Rub-Ons (Maya Road)
Green Apple Pixie Stix Glitter (Pink Paislee)
Red/White Ticket Strip (Creative Imaginations)
Vintage Hotel Receipt

Wooooo hooooo! Doing my happy dance right now.

a heritage layout

I completed this layout for a SB challenge. I've always loved this photo of my dad (at abt. 10 yrs) with his family. In fact, this photo is one in a series taken that day. The others include one of just my grandparents, and two portraits of my grandma's sisters and their husbands (or beaus? not sure if they were all married yet at the time). I really cherish the old family photos and would like to get more of them scrapped this year.

For this project I was able to use some products from Websters Pages. This is a company whose products I've admired "from afar" for awhile now. They've been a little harder to locate than some of the more well known mfrs, but so worth looking for & finding!

just two more days

Just look at all that yummy, yummy ribbon and trim. I want to roll around in it! In the background there is my Cricut Expression that moved in here last November after my baby Cricut misbehaved for the last time. (A certain well known retailer made me a black Friday deal that I couldn't pass up.)

So what's the point of this pic? Just a hint at what I've been up to for the past week or so and a subtle reminder that there are only two more days until my "Very Stylish Girl" class. There are a few spots left and you can reserve a seat by calling the store. In case you missed my earlier post, this class is inspired by the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's and its star Audrey Hepburn.

This week between kit prep and the stuff known as "daily life", I also managed some scrappiness. I completed this layout for a special scrapbook that you can learn more about here.

first layout of 2009

Here it is --my first page of the year. I had some help on this one. I was stuck in neutral and couldn't think of what do scrap or where to start. Don't you just hate when that happens?

But thanks to Jana Eubank, whom I scraplifted (see her original layout here), it all came together and I'm super pleased with the results. I used the new "Bittersweet" line by Basic Grey --it's just lovely and was a delight to work with.

Feels like it's been a long time since I scrapbooked. Even though I've been very crafty lately, I haven't actually created any pages of my own with photos and all so I'm very happy to get past my scrapper's block and have a page done.

where to begin?

It has been a month since my last post and it's hard to know what to start with. I guess I'll start with what stands out most dramatically in my memory. We had quite a scare this past Sunday --a fire in our yard.

Now that some time has gone by I can call it a small fire, but the night it happened to me it was nothing less than a four alarm deal (or at least a three engine event --yes, that's how many trucks the fire dept. showed up with!) Let me just add that no fire feels "small" when it is on your property and threatening your home.

What happened was that my DH cleaned out the ashes from the fireplace earlier in the day. He was sure they were cold (well, thought he was sure) and tossed them into our big black plastic barrel. I guess there were a few embers left though and they smoldered throughout the day and into the night. Thankfully a neighbor --and get this, not one on our own street, but one who lives behind us-- saw the flames and called the fire dept. He also drove over to our house and knocked on the door to tell me there were flames in our yard. Without his help, I hate to even think of what might have happened.

I'm also thankful that the trash barrel was in the little brick and stone wall cubicle where it is meant to be kept (instead of where it is sometimes hastily deposited against our covered patio or side of our house). Also in our favor that night was an absence of wind so the flames were shooting straight up in the air and not licking the bare branches of a nearby tree, the eaves of our house or patio. Or worse still the neighbor's home which is quite near to the trash area.

What's left of our black & green barrels

We could hear the sirens from the moment the neighbor informed us of what was going on but they sounded so far away given the size and vigor of the flames. Thankfully, dh was able to attack the fire with the garden hose and after a bit the fire was tamed. It came back to life as the fire dept. arrived but they doused it in short order with some foam and more water. They also delivered a quick lesson to dh on *not* disposing of ashes in a trash can.

I am so thankful to my neighbor (whoever he was), the fire department, my hubby & the backyard hose and the fact that we still have our home and only lost two trash barrels. Whew!

The rest of December wasn't nearly as dramatic, but quite enjoyable nonetheless. I taught six or seven private classes in my home and that was lots of fun though a lot more work than I expected. It was wonderful to have as students some friends that I didn't know too well and now feel so much better acquainted with. I also got to visit with one of my cousins (Hi, Leah!) whom I hadn't seen in way too long. I was so happy to be chatting with her that I kept forgetting to give instructions on how to make the paper bag album we were doing in that class -lol!

Temporary "classroom"

We had my dad living with us for the two weeks of winter break while he waited to move into his new place. That made things a bit tight with the classes going on and all, but as the saying goes "houses filled with love, have walls of elastic." Dad is now settled in his new place near a quaint little downtown area nearby known as "the village".

One low point of the month was a bout of stomach 'flu that hit us all (well except for my dd). It was a nasty, painful bug that knocked the rest of us down for about a half a week each, tho thankfully not all at the same time. So glad to be done with that! My son is still down with it, but if it follows the same pattern with him that it did in me and his dad, he should be back in business later today or by tomorrow.

Hmmm.... what else? Oh, yes. We had a karaoke party. (I guess I should say *I* had a karaoke party, since the rest of the family are not big fans of the activity -lol!) Had just a few friends who love to sing (like me) over and it was so fun. We sang our little hearts out until we were croaky.

Now, it's back to business with prepping for my January 17th "Stylish Girl" class and whipping up some samples for the February class kickoff event.

Never a dull moment!