Creative Charms Sale Update

If you haven't been taking advantage of the Creative Charms Inventory Clearance Sale, you might want to check it out.  The latest additions to the sale are as follows:

It's a Boy & It's A Girl Stickers

These adorable felt stickers and epoxy brads are perfect for your baby projects.
Inventory Clearance Price - $.95 per package
Original Retail Price - $4.99 per package

Quantities of 6 Only   6 Packages for $5.70

Blooming Garden

These felt stickers and epoxy brads are perfect for your spring projects. Available in pink and blue.
Inventory Clearance Price - $.95 per package
Original Retail Price - $4.99 per package

Quantities of 6 Only  6 Packages for $5.70

3D Sparkly Garden Brads
 

You get 6 fabulous three dimensional butterfly brads and 6 flower gems in each package. Available in green, blue, purple, white, and orange.
Inventory Clearance Price - $.75 per package
Original Retail Price - $2.99 per package

Quantities of 6 Only  6 Packages for $4.50

Seasonal Medley

Spring medley offers a variety of sparkling flowers in pink, purple or blue. Fall, Summer and Winter Medleys are also available at this special price.
Inventory Clearance Price - $.35 per package
Original Retail Price - $1.99 per package

Quantities of 6 Only   6 Packages for $2.10

Vintage Jewels

These self adhesive jewels will give your projects a sophisticated sparkle.

Inventory Clearance Price - $.65 per package
Original Retail Price - $2.49 per package

Quantities of 6 Only   6 Packages for $3.90

I have used all of these embellishments and they add a lot to you cards and other projects.  You can check the label for Creative Charms in the right side column to see many examples.  (You can also click on the two card photos in this post to go directly to the original posts).

I hope you are having a nice weekend - we had a few snow flurries here!

I managed to clear off the pool table today - it was full of crafty things.  Sooner or later I'll have the craft room clear enough for that long promised "tour."  ...OK...it may be later...

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One design - many variations

This morning I delivered all 28 of my framed pieces to the Community Center and set up the exhibit.  Our son did most of the carrying and adjusted all of the hangers with the help of a committee member for the art space.  Everything went very smoothly and I came home to try to catch up on a lot of things that have been "on the back burner" while I got the exhibit pieces organized.

I took photos of the exhibit but I need to go back and retake some of them.  The lighting is very bright and everything is under glass now so it is difficult to avoid the glare.   I also want to "tweak" a few of the placements to even things up a bit. 

 

I used these red designs on my statement board for the exhibit.  They are all variations on one original drawing that I did in the Silhouette Studio software.   Then I eliminated certain sections to created different patterns, similar to the way I use "hide selected contour" in the Cricut software.  It is so interesting to watch the patterns develop. 

One of the things on my list of things that need attention was the update to the Timeline Cover on my Capadia Designs Facebook Page.  They changed the pages over today and I threw together this collage very quickly so there wouldn't be a big blank spot at the top of the page.  I think this is too busy - it was just some of the images that were quick and easy to find from recent projects.  I'll probably change it as soon as I get another chance to look for some photos that will work.  If you use Facebook, have you created a timeline cover already?  I'd love to see what you made.

We have an event Saturday morning and then I am planning to catch up on a lot of paper work and email.  If you emailed me in the past couple of weeks and haven't heard back, please try again if your question is still unanswered.

I am not sure where the subscription emails stand since my timing has been off this week.  If you are getting this post in an email, there may actually be two short posts.  I think I can get back on the normal schedule this weekend.

Have a great weekend!

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Final Show Preparations Completed

It's been quite an experience getting my projects ready to hang.  I was so busy getting everything together that I didn't take my usual in progress photos for each item.  Tomorrow the show goes up and I'll be able to get back to all of the things I've put off this week!

I have to give a big thanks to my husband, who added hooks and wires to all of my frames so they would work on the hanging system used at the Community Center.  He fixed 27 frames (only one was already set up the right way)!

Now our living room can get back to normal.  I've been stacking up the frames in what our sons call "pointless room #1" to keep them out of the way (I guess they are right about the amount of activity in the formal living room).

It is interesting to figure out ways to frame things like cards or ornaments.  I always pick up frames when I see them at a good price so I only had to add a few more to make things work out evenly (you know, I had to keep things as symmetrical as possible!).

The last thing I put together was my biography and "artist statement."  I added some photos of the Cricut and Cameo machines in action and gave a bit of an explanation about the ways I create designs.  The weathervane doily is hanging just around the corner from this sign.

I'll have more photos to share tomorrow once everything is hanging.  It's all packed up and ready to go - now to find my craft room under all of the debris!

I realized that I was so tired last night that I forgot to post this, so I added a photo of one of the new designs at the top.  I'll be back later tonight with more of an update about the show.

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Bunny Candy Holders Turn Three!

I was looking back at some Easter projects and realized that this little bunny treat holder is celebrating it's third birthday this year.  The concept for making this type of candy holder is simple and you can use virtually any shape on the front and back to suit the season or the occasion. You don't even need to use a die cutting machine (but it will make things go a little faster).

 

The bunny candy holders are cute and very easy to make.  Mine were done using Cricut Design Studio and the Doodlecharms cartridge.  You can follow the same directions to make one with the Gypsy,the Cricut Craftroom, or the software you use with your non-Cricut machine.  If you are using the Cricut and don't have the Doodlecharms cartridge, you could create your own design to make something very similar with a few circles and ovals.  In the original post, I gave step by step directions for assembling the bunnies.

I made this group of bunnies with my sister - you can see the problem we ran into and how we dealt with it HERE.  There are so many ways to dress up these little bunnies - if you make any of them, I'd love to see how they turn out!


Thanks for your patience while I've been getting ready for the exhibit.  I've been so busy getting some of my projects into frames - it's amazing what a difference a frame makes!  I have just a couple of sneak peeks to share.

I have been cutting some of my original designs using the Silhouette Cameo.  Some of the cuts are very intricate but they are coming off the mat beautifully.  The secret seems to be doing a double cut to make sure all of the twists and turns are fully cut.  The paper I am using is from DCWV.  The Dazzle glitter paper is more like a vinyl and does not clog up the blade with glitter dust at all.  As you can see the cuts are perfect and the designs lift easily from the mat.

I'll be so happy to have all of these pieces moved over to the show - once they are hanging things might get to be a little more normal around here!

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Another Favorite Easter Project

Tuesday was a very full day and I was out at appointments for a good part of the day.  I am getting closer to finishing everything for the exhibit but I haven't had time to edit photos to post.  I will take photos after everything is in place on Friday morning. 

I realized that I totally forgot about my ATCs for this month - I'll have to send them late!  I made this bunny ATC a few years ago and I thought I'd share the LINK to the original post.  These would make a cute addition to an Easter basket. 

The eggs are loose inside the layered frame and they are fun to shake around.  You could even add a little loose glitter inside - everything is better with glitter!!

Thanks to everyone who shared an Easter Memory - if you missed yesterday's post here is a LINK so you can add your story on that post.

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Easter Memories

Easter is just a couple of weeks away.  After all the mild weather we've been having, the temperatures have plummeted and we may have a freeze overnight.  We had snow on Halloween and maybe we could have it on Easter too!

One of the sponsors at the Blissdom conference last month was Hershey's.  They had a fun booth where you could design a custom Easter basket and take a photo with the Easter Bunny (sorry - I didn't get one!).  My basket filled with some delicious chocolate treats should arrive soon.  When we made our basket choices, we were asked to join the Hershey's "Bunny Trail" and post some Easter tips, memories or traditions. 

You can follow the Bunny Trail by clicking the image above to go to the Hershey's site.  You'll find coloring pages, craft projects, egg hunt ideas, egg decorating stencils and holders and even some digital scrapbook papers.

When I think back to Easter in my childhood, there are a few things that stand out.  I have two older sisters and we always had special Easter outfits - including hats.  That's me in the photo with a corsage almost as big as my head. These dresses often were matching sister dresses in sets of two or three.   When my brother came along, he didn't have to dress to match!  Some years when the weather was still chilly we had fluffy white muffs to keep our hands warm (yes, I really am that old!).

Apparently, when we posed for these photos I was not about to let go of my Easter basket!  My love of chocolate started early and continues to this day.  When I was little my favorite was the plain Hershey milk chocolate bar, now I prefer the dark chocolate.  Growing up in Pennsylvania, I had several school field trips to Hershey, PA.  We would take a tour of the factory and then go to the amusement park (I guess the factory tour satisfied the "educational" component of the field trip!).

I really don't remember my Dad wearing bow ties but he had one on for this Easter photo.  It's always fun to look at old photos and see the styles and how we looked when were were young.  It looks like that basket was getting a bit heavy - I can hardly hold it up.  We always had a chocolate bunny and there was a great debate over the proper way to eat it.  It seems cruel to take off the ears first, but I think that is the most popular way to start!

I scanned these old photos and made a digital scrapbook page with my Creative Memories StoryBook Creator 4.0 software using the Reminisce Spring Digital Additions.  It was interesting to see that the next photos in the book were from my birthday in July.  We didn't take a lot of photos, so the ones that are left are very special to me.

Our family has a great tradition of egg hunts.  When our boys were young, we lived near my sister in New Jersey and she would hard boil five or six dozen (!) eggs.  They were dyed in lots of pastel colors and my brother-in-law would hide them in the yard.  He would keep track with an elaborate hand drawn map to make sure that all of the eggs would be found.  The hunt was quite challenging (think yellow eggs high up in a forsythia bush) and everyone would get involved in helping the kids find the eggs.

My Dad always would get a big kick out of both the hiding and the search.  For years we have kept up a joke of hiding eggs (the plastic kind with Hershey's nuggets and jelly beans inside) at his apartment whenever we visit.  Last time I was there he gave me a bag with what he thought were the "last of the eggs."  Little does he know that they'll be returning, refilled and hidden in unexpected spots, when we go to visit Easter weekend.

In 2010, I made the layout above for some egg hunt photos.  I had forgotten about it but now I am motivated to find some photos from the New Jersey egg hunts and fill in the photos spots!  I even made an egg card with some of the offcut pieces.  You can find details about the card and the  layout and how I designed it HERE. 

Thanks to Hershey's for motivating me to make this heritage page and for the Easter basket that will arrive soon. Be sure to check out the Bunny Trail - there are lots of fun things for you there.

What are some of your favorite Easter Memories?  I'd love to hear about your family traditions.

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Creative Memories Cricut Cartridge Sale

It's been a very busy weekend - I've had two machines cutting most of the day!  The frames for the show all need to have hooks and picture wire added (the system for hanging at the center will not accept the claw hooks or loops).  Why is it that no matter how much you do ahead of time, it always comes down to a last minute crunch!  I have four more days so it will all be done - just in time!

I wanted to remind you that the Creative Memories 12 Hour Cricut Cartridge Sale is Monday, March 26th from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central Time.  If you buy one cartridge at the regular price ($55) you can buy a second cartridge for 30% off ($38.50).  All of the cartridges are included in the sale.  Only one 30% off cartridge is available for each full price cartridge.  If you buy two cartridges at regular price you can buy two at 30% off, and so on...  There are a limited amount set aside for the sale so it would be a good idea to order early in the day to be sure to get the cartridges you want.  If you don't have a regular Creative Memories consultant, I'd be happy to have you order through me, Here is the LINK to the cartridge page on my Creative Memories personal website. 

There are now seven exclusive Creative Memories cartridges, Cheerful Seasons, Reminisce Accents, Stork's Delivery, Traveler, 'Tis the Season, This & That and Divine Wedding  (just click the words to go to the cartridge description page).  The newest cartridge, Divine Wedding, is a great addition to the collection.  This lovely bouquet is just one of the many multi-layered cuts on this cartridge.  While it is a "wedding" cartridge, there are lots if items that can be used for other occasions. 

There are some lovely feather images on the cartridge, and a beautiful script alphabet suitable for monograms.  The word art is perfect for a wedding album and some of the phrases would work for other layouts or cards.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of the cartridges.  You can see all of the images by clicking the link in the description of each cartridge.

Here is a look at just one of the things I cut out this weekend.  This elegant doily is a variation of the design I created from the photograph of a weathervane.  If you missed that post, you can find it HERE.

I hope you had a great weekend.  Sorry for being a bit off schedule - I'll catch up by the end of the week!

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Water Marbles and Journals

While I was looking for an Easter photo for another project, I came across this image of a vase of water marbles on my kitchen windowsill with the sun shining through them.  I found the water marbles at the Boston Flower Show last year and I am still fascinated by them.  The post with more details about the marbles can be found HERE.  The bright clear colors remind me of the Dylusions spray inks that we worked with at the workshop with Dyan Reaveley on Thursday (for a You Tube video of Dyan demonstrating one way to use the inks, click HERE.)

I was thinking some more about Dyan Reaveley and her art journaling and I remembered this book that I got for Christmas last year.  The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, by Caroline Preston, is a novel told in pictures in the form of a scrapbook. 

It is very interesting to read with all of the vintage images and the typewritten notes remind me of my mother's old typewriter.  In a lot of ways the book reminds me of the Smash books that are so popular right now.

I realized that I have lots of random paper ephemera from all of our trips and it might be fun to use them to do some collages.  I tend to come back from a trip and put all of the bits and pieces in a bag from the trip and that is where they stay for as long as it takes to get around to doing something with them.

What do you do with the paper items that you collect on a trip?  I do put them into albums...eventually, but I think it might be fun to do something like these pages.  I just want to add some colorful backgrounds made with Dyan's inks as a base.

I'll be working away all weekend, getting my projects in frames, cutting out a few more designs, writing my "artist's statement" and preparing a photo board for the show.  I need to have about 25 pieces framed to hang and they all need to use the picture wire system so a lot of my frames will need to have screw eyes and wire added.  Wish me luck with getting it all finished up!

I hope you have a great weekend - and that you can find time to do something crafty!

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Canvas Art with Dyan Reaveley

And now for something completely different!  I had a great time yesterday messing about with inks and paints at the class taught by Dyan Reaveley, Ranger's International Senior Educator.  Dyan has a signature line with Ranger called "Dylusions."  The spray inks have the most amazing clear and bright colors and her stamps and stencils can help even a novice like me feel "artsy!"

Dyan is all about color, pattern and creativity.  I thought it was terrific that even her suitcase was unusual and fun!  Dyan has a great way of encouraging everyone to "do art."  She says:

My mission is to introduce everyone to the fabulous therapy that is art journaling and creating mixed-media art. Art is not the finished result; it is the actual act of creating that emerges when you let yourself play. It is the journey it takes from the soul.

Dyan taught three workshops at Ink About It - the morning class made these accordian books with watercolor paper and the Wednesday evening class was a kraft resist mini book.  You can see more photos on the Ink About It Blog.

Here is another glimpse at some of her work - fueled by Dr. Pepper!  The bright colors are so much fun and the many layers of pattern and color keep your eyes busy taking it all in.  The words are sometimes incorporated into the designs (as a sort of secret journaling) and sometimes added in white blocks on top.  She has some phrase stamps in her line that make you laugh and/or think, such as "if you are already walking on thin ice, you might as well dance," and "boys will be boys and so will a lot of middle aged men." (both from the Say What you Mean set)  A few stamp sets came home with me on Wednesday and after taking the class I know I have to get a few more.

We were finished in time to have the treat of watching Dyan work in her journal - adding layer after layer of colors and patterns and then placing collage pieces (she had a large stash of things already cut out) and doodling or otherwise altering them.  It really is all about the process and there is no right or wrong. If it means something to you - just go for it!

Our projects began with this very chunky canvas, about six inches square and a little over two inches thick.  It is nice that it will stand very well by itself - no easel or stand is needed.  We painted the edges and a bit over the front with black paint.

Then we used two colors of Adirondack acrylic paint to make a blended background on white cardstock.  We used baby wipes to paint and blend the background - it sounds a bit odd but it worked very well!

We added some random circles and lines and then stamped some images and painted the leaves with ink.

Before we glued the paper to the canvas, we attached the birdcage - painted black and sprayed with Perfect Pearls Mist.

We used perfect pearls mixed with water to paint the birds and flowers.

We also stamped on the sides with Perfect Medium and added Perfect Pearls in a variety of colors.

The birdcage is attached with a tiny brad and a game spinner from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology line.  Dyan gave us a tip to just use the metal pieces randomly (most of the metal items come with three finishes in the package - copper, brass and nickel).  That way you never have to worry about matching things up in the end.

I took this photo in bright sunlight at home - can you see the shimmery pearl finish on the bird?  I like the way we curved the bird through the cage.  I gave it just a dab of glue on the tail feathers to hold it together since the birdcage can swing freely.

The effect of the Perfect Pearls on the black sides is so pretty.  I also think this leaf stamp is lovely and it is on my list for the next shopping trip.

The great thing about projects like this is that they all look good in their own way.  I am used to working with computers and images that are precisely symmetrical (which I love to design) and it was nice to just let this piece develop and not worry too much (though I am still not quite sure about the color of the largest toadstool!).

Dyan was a wonderful instructor - lots of helpful advice and tips all delivered with a great sense of humor.  After class she posed for a photo with my friend Renee Zarate (check out her blog HERE).  Renee has been published frequently in the Stampington publications (Stamper's Sampler, Take Ten) and she used some of Dyan's stamps for the article seen here.

Here I am with Dyan (still wearing my kitchen apron that I grabbed on the way out the door to keep ink off my clothes).   When I stopped by the shop on Wednesday (just to pick up a few ink pads for a technique from the Tim Holtz online class I am taking) I told her that I loved what she makes but it is totally outside my comfort zone - definitely not my usual type of project.

I helped to pick up at the end and there was a bit of the stamped paper she had used to demonstrate.  I asked her to sign it for me and I love what she wrote.  It is a different world from digital scrapbooking and die cutting designs but I think I'll definitely be trying some more of this!

Thanks to Ink About It and Dyan for a great class.

Now I really have to get busy and pull my pieces together for the exhibit that goes up a week from today!  I think it will be a very busy weekend...

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