Mother's Day Challenge

Happy Mother's Day! I am truly blessed to have had a wonderful mother--and in turn, have two daughters who are wonderful mothers as well.  What I would have given for my mom to have lived long enough to share this great journey with me, her grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  She would have been so proud.

I was delighted this week when Tammy invited me to be a guest artist on the Sizzix blog and join her in a Mother's Day challenge.  We were each to create something using the same 3 dies:   Tim Holtz Tag & Bookplate, Distressed Doily, and Tattered Florals.

It was great fun--and here are the results!  This is Tammy's . . .

and this is mine . . .

Read all the details here, and if you would like to have a tutorial for making Tammy's tag, visit here.  I can't wait to make one, too!  Thank you Tammy for inviting me to participate--I loved it!

Shirley

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I love this!

Today I got a package from Creative Play Stamps.  I was so excited--my new Sizzix die was inside!

This is what it looks like on the package

This is what it looks like cut out in canvas

This is what it looks like finished!!  I love it!
I colored it with Glimmer Mist "Sunshine,"
added a Tim Holtz button, and added some
Prima leaves leftover from another project. 
(click on image for a closer view)

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Product share: Collage Couture by Julie Nutting

This week I received my copy of Julie Nutting's new book Collage Couture:  Techniques for Creating Fashionable Art.  When I first saw it advertised on Amazon, I thought it might be a book I would be interested in -- however, I didn't know what to expect.  Some books are like a movie trailer: what you see looks good, but sometimes it is disappointing when you see the whole movie.  This book lives up to it's preview pages and MORE!  It is 128 pages packed with techniques, patterns, and literally step-by-step details on each project.

Below are some random pages from the book to give you an idea what to expect.  Not great photos from my camera, but good enough to see the excellent content.  

I don't really know Julie, but here is a link to her blog if you would like to read about her and see some of her amazing art.  http://julienuttingdesigns.blogspot.com/

ENJOY!

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Simply Renee

I was so inspired this week by Sarah Mullanix's "altered" Clip It Up (photo below).  She took an ordinary box and altered it to create a storage area on top of her Clip It Up.  See details at http://simplyreneeinc.blogspot.com/

I didn't have a box big enough to do anything to my Clip It Up, but got to thinking about my
Inkssentials Craft Spinner sitting there just looking very basic.    

This is what my spinner looks like, but times 4.  I have 4 units stacked
on top of each other (this is not recommended, by the way).  I think it
is recommend that you can stack 3 units safely, but 4 works for me
very well -- plus my space is very limited.  

So, here is my "altered" Craft Spinner.  

Fun, huh?  All ready to go back to my art studio.  

The new topper on my spinner is made from a 4.5" round chip-
board box I had in my stash of stuff. I painted it black and used
some Graphic 45 papers to trim it out.  I used a matte gel medium
to "glue" everything down and a coat on top to finish it off.  Next, 

I added a black ceramic knob to the lid of the box. 

The base of the spinner I painted black and trimmed out with a
piece of the same Graphic 45 paper that I used on the topper.  

Look what I put in the box!  Here is the PERFECT place to store 

those extra blending pads.  

Close up of finished box before adding it to the top of the spinner.
I put a hole in the center of the bottom of the box (about 1/4")  to
slip over the top of the spinner.  I didn't replace the "handle" that
came with the spinner--I just used a bolt to hold it together.  I
also put a hole in the center of the lid (about 1/4") for the knob.

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Product Share . . . .

 I love vintage Valentines!  I have a few old ones that I have found in flea markets from time to time.  Valentine's Day was one of my favorite times of the year when I was a kid.  My mom would help us (my sis, brother, and I) make valentine boxes for collecting Valentines at school.

Last week I received the Vintage Valentines book shown above.  To fulfill my "craving" for some vintage valentine images, I ordered it without ever seeing it (just published this month).  It is wonderful!  There are 48 pages (including a CD-ROM of all the images) packed with over 200 full-color valentines, postcards, valentine die cuts, etc.  All of the images are drawn from authentic valentines of the early 20th century.  If you are interested, I got my copy from Amazon, but you can probably find it elsewhere.  

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Product Share . . .

If you like pictures of vintage valentines, you will like this postcard book I found at Amazon.com.  It contains 30 oversized postcards, published by Darling & Company. The images are adorable! I know I will end up cutting them up and using them on tags, banners, etc.   The postcards are 4.75" X 7".

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Valentine Goodies

I had a "happy package" when I got home today.  It was my order from Chris and Sharon of Red Lead Paper Works in St. Louis and was filled with Valentine goodies!  I had ordered some Valentine and Easter collage sheets and some rubber stamps.  My stamps were in a separate bag tied with pretty pink bow--how cool is that! Can't wait to play with those Valentines!

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Look at my new stash of trims!  They are perfect for those vintage-looking art projects I like to do!  I was at my local Michaels earlier today and was looking at the beautiful holiday ribbons and trims (plus, they are now 60% off.)  I have looked at them several times lately when I was in the store, and wondered why they didn't have any smaller stuff.  They had them--lots of them, I am just so short I did not see them on the top row!  I grabbed a basket, and had a great time selecting these beautiful trims.  I will probably have to go back and look again now that I know where they are. 

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Great Pre-Thanksgiving Sale!

Simply Renee is having a fabulous sale of the Clip It Up storage solutions products November 15-22 with everything 50% off.  This is great deal!  I have two Clip it Up Minis, one  base unit, and the Swinging Wall Arm in my own art studio and I love them!  For Me: I would love to have the large ribbon rack--in fact I would love to have two of them!  I am going to have to do some creative thinking because I do not have room, but what a great storage solution for all those ribbons I have collected. 

These would make great gifts for any of your creative friends or family members--or if you are like me, a little something for yourself.  Visit the blog  for website for full details.  Have a happy day!

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Need help in organizing?

I am so excited about this!  The new Clip it Up Floor Model is now in stock!  I have several of the Clip it Up products in my own studio/office and would love to add this one.  I first saw it this past January at the CHA Winter Show and just fell in love with it.  It is 6 ft. tall with three  15" diameter arms.   You can even order additional arms for it.  Check it out for yourself . . . . http://www.clipitup.com/

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CHA Day Two!

Allison Davis and Stacey Atchley.  Available to stores for the first time:  Sketches for Scrapbooking series by Debbie Sanders and Allison Davis; Sketches for Cardmaking by Stacey Atchley.  How exciting!  Allison and Stacey, along with Debbie Sanders and Karin Vacha  are owners of Scrapbook Generation in Springfield, MO.  Yay!

Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, also of Springfield, MO had several new collections to show:  Blueberry Hill, My Friend Birdie, Something for Everyone, Tree Love, Happy Holly-Days, Sugar Cookie, and Boo-tiful.  

Graphic 45 was fabulous as usual!  I took several photos, but didn't get any images that really showed it well.  I loved their new collections:  Staples, Hallowe'en in Wonderland, and Steampunk Debutante, and Christmas Past. Steampunk was my personal favorite.  The colors and design of that collection had my name written all over it.  

Caught my friend Lindsey at a great place to hang out.  Her "Beach" mini book was on display in the G45 booth.  How exciting!
 

Pink Paislee had a crowd every time we went by.  (Rebecca and Tammy posing) They had four new collections Old School, Hocus Pocus, Sweetness,  Parisian Anthology.  Some of my photos are not that great.  You will love their new releases--visit their website and see it all.  

I use more Ranger products than any other brand.  I enjoy hanging out at their booth and learning new ways and techniques for using their products.  I am not alone--there is always a big crowd around the Ranger team.  They recently posted a new blog (http://www.rangerink.com/) where you can keep up with the latest news.  Also lots of how-to videos, links to their educators, etc.  I didn't get photos of everyone, but below are Tim Holtz, Dyan Reaveley, and Wendy Vecchi.

My friend Renee Hull of Simply Renee, Inc.

Vicki Conquest with a big smile.  Do you suppose she has finished with all her orders?  She was on the floor all 3 days, but I didn't see her until it was almost over.  

I should probably purchase stock in Sizzix. {smile} I have a lot of their dies.  They had a lot of new dies, and of course, the Tim Holtz line of Alterations.

More to come . . . 

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