Craft and Hobby Association Super Craft Show

I am still recuperating from a day on my feet at the Craft and Hobby Association's Super Craft Show. This year was the first time CHA allowed the general public to attend, but it was not the Trade Show. I would have loved to attend the BIG show but I am not a member of CHA. I am not, nor do I work for, a buyer, supplier or designer of craft products — yet.

What it was was a chance to shop for things at a great discount (a $15 current stamp set for $5 - score) or shop for things you can only get online, Papertrey Ink anyone.

It was a chance to learn new crafts and try new products. I did my first make and take at the Papertrey Ink booth with Heather Nichols' assistance. I made a lovely bag at the JoAnn Fabrics booth where I learned all about the new Fiskars products from Cheryl Waters, one of the four lead Fiskateers. At the Splitcoast Stamper's Make and Take booth I saw Sherry Cheevers and worked with Beate Johns on the bracelet below using Tim Holtz products. I have loved both of these ladies work for years. I wanted to talk to Sherry and tell her how much she reminds me of one of my favorite people but didn't get the chance. Just for those in the know - she is so Nancy.



It was also the chance to meet or at least see craft celebrities. My first celebrity sighting was Wendy Russell from She's Crafty. She was one of the people who cut the ribbon with giant Westcott scissors. I saw Nichole Heady, owner of Papertrey Ink, shaking hands at the entrance to her very crowded booth and I got to meet Fiskateer Tami Bayer. It was a chance to meet other crafters as well. Women, and a few brave and supportive husbands, came from all over the place. There were people from Minnesota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia in line to register on the Spotted Canary website for the T-Shirt, pin, free goody and a chance at the mother load prize basket. I felt like a wimp saying I traveled 30 minutes. I met a woman from Denmark who was debating on whether to purchase an item because it may make her luggage too heavy. I spent a wonderful hour in line to purchase Papertrey Ink goods chatting with Rebecca and Amy, a couple of sisters from the UK, that hour alone was worth the price of admission.

I also met Michelle Ogdahl from Unity Stamp who was promoting their Ippity opportUNITY. She was a hoot during the Provo craft drawings. I signed up and walked away with a business card a stamp set and a lot of ideas for what's next for me. Here is the first card I made with their Straight from the Heart set.



Until next time.
Happy Crafting,

Katie

Idea A, Execution B -

I have a lot of great ideas for cards, but they don't always come out so go when I try to make them. Here are 3 examples of great ideas that I need to work on to make great.


I love this idea. But the stamps I have are not the font I would use for this. The background could be brighter. My original thought to was to make whatever was behind the bus be bright and colorful but I got lazy. The idea to have swirls on the bus was late in coming and I stamped it on the card without covering the road. Again laziness. Laziness is the ruin of all great ideas.

I just wanted to see what the card would look like so we will call this a prototype and I will make another, better version soon.



I love the idea of visual puns so this missing you card is right up my alley. But the execution is only fair. I had stamped the letters to see if the idea would work and set it aside for months. If you are a reader of this blog you know that the Urge to Purge is great and I was making cards from the prestamped drawer. I added the circles using the "button as a stamp" idea I saw on Nicole Heady's blog a while back. It was a bit plain so I added the answer to the visual puzzle with the "missing you" sentiment. We'll call this version 1, I will be playing with this idea and making different versions until I get it just right.




This card is purely test the stamps, use the scraps. It's not my favorite card ever but I do like a lot of the elements. I like that the images are stamped on the base instead of being a strip on the base. I like the texture on the sky bit. I don't know If I've ever used that Fiskars texture plate before and I really like it for swirly sky. I have the embossing tool from Fiskars but honestly I hate it and don't use it. I ran this through the Cuttlebug and it works great that way.

Well I'm off to the Craft and Hobby Association's Super Craft Show. Can't wait to see the new Cuttlebug, the new stuff from Fiskars, and all the other companies that are there.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

tags a lot and an experiment

I love making tags. They are generally quick and easy. Of course I tend to make them in batches. So I have at least 2 of every one here and the "for you" tag - I've got 12 of them. I have 12 in pink too.

So the question is... Which ones to YOU like best? If you had these tags would you use them on gifts? Cards? Scrapbook pages? home decor?

I don't have a little girl in the house but I would totally use the for you tags on favors for a birthday party.

The Experiment
I have a collection of acrylic die cuts. Love them but don't always know what to do with them. I don't cover them with paper — takes away from the coolness of acrylic. But I don't really use them so they just sit.

If you are a regular reader you know about the Urge to Purge mode now in effect at my house. I decided if I'm not going to use it, it's time to lose it. So anything in the I'm not using it pile ripe for experimentation. When I experiment I don't expect things to go "perfectly", I expect I will even lose materials and that's ok. It's time to learn, to see what's possible. There is not enough of that in my life.

Experimenting takes a lot of pressure off. It's not expected to be "right" or "perfect". Heck it may even melt under the pressure. I am happy to say that it didn't melt (under the heat gun) it did quite well actually. I used ultra thick embossing powder and Versamark. I thought the piece needed some texture so I stamped a swirl on it. What do you think?



Happy Crafting,
Katie

Daylight is best

Last night I was experimenting with materials and inks and put together this lovely- one of the few things worth saving from the adventure.

This morning I've discovered something that is just as valuable as the knowledge of what works and doesn't work in the crafting part of putting together this blog. 7:45 am (at least in the summer) is the best time to take pictures. The sun comes in my office window and blinds me while I'm sitting at the computer but if I set up the giant sketch pad on the rolling cart and position it just so I have the perfect daylight photo studio. No wind. No glare from the table top. No need to stop when the sun moves higher in the sky because the studio is on wheels. I can shoot for about 2 hours before I lose my light indoors.

I suspect that there will be a lot more creating now that I know I have such a wonderful set up for photographing my creations. Funny how that works. I dug in boxes of old cards to find things that I haven't shared and shot a few this morning. I'll be sharing those as well as new creations in the days and weeks ahead.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

Ravinia, Metallic CS, Collage Worthy

The B-52's at Ravinia
I went to see the B-52's at Ravinia this past Wednesday and first of all thank you to Charlie and Mark for the tickets and thank you to all the people who watched my son that evening. I wouldn't have been able to go had it not been for your generosity.

Second, OMG can they still bring it. I remember dancing to the B-52's my freshman year in high school and that was a very long time ago and they are still out there doing their thing and looking good doing it.

We had lawn seats and if you are familiar with Ravinia you know that these are not your normal outdoor venue lawn seats. Bring a picnic basket and relax. "The smell of citronella and old money," as one friend quipped because these are not your wieners and chips kind of picnics. There are candelabras, glass vases with large bouquets of fresh cut flours, wine and more wine. You can't grill but you can eat very well without heating anything up.

I took some pictures but there are only a few that turned out. Here are a few of them, no not one image of the band turned out.




Bronze, Silver and Gold
The day after the concert I had an appointment in the Loop so the boy and I stayed with a girlfriend in the city (Thanks again Aunt K). After the appointment and lunch we headed off to the Paper Source. Just to see what they had on offer.

I found metallic cardstock (CS) in bronze, silver and gold in the discount bin, 50% off. They were all different sizes but I didn't mind. I stood there and envisioned what I would do with each of them before handing over the cash, so if you are on the Christmas card list be prepared.

The bronze CS was actually folded cards, which made this card easy to make. I stamped the image and water colored it, then adhered it to the base. OK but not great. Then I remembered my gold butterflies.

I used cardboard packaging from some Stash tea to make butterflies with the SU! butterfly die weeks earlier. How lucky/lazy can you get — sturdy pre-folded cardboard in white? Then I stamped and embossed the Baroque Motif swirl in white on the inside. Then I spritzed the butterfly with gold Pearlex in cheap hairspray. It's like Tattered Angels but a bit stinkier and a lot stickier. Because of the weight of the butterfly it's adhered with glue dots.

Don't know what I'll use this card for but I like it. What do you think?



High Resolution Collage Worthy Images

I have been uploading images to my Flickr site and then sharing them with the Collage Images group.

I am currently working on scanning and uploading The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser, copyright 1895. There are a lot of figures and I am scanning the ones that seem most interesting for collage work, like Figure 70 here. What an interesting image of Intellectual Faculties. In 1895 apparently you could call someone "feeble" and no one thought anything of it.

If you are interested it altering books or anything else for that matter and need an image or 12 check out the Flickr Collage Images group there are a lot of interesting images there. Most of my images are 300 dpi, which is best for printing out and using in the physical world. A couple 200 dpi images sneaked through, my apologies.


Happy Crafting,
Katie

Weathering the storm

I love the clouds background stamp by Hero Arts. I first saw it used on Kristina Werner's blog in a post titled MACM – Greetings, Earthling!

I knew I wanted it the minute I saw her card. When I purchased it I was in a foul mood, my former employer had announced the imminent job cuts that week and I was sure I was on the list. My first thought for the stamp was to create a storm. I used a dark blue ink on a bit of going gray card stock and added depth with prismacolor pencils.

I added the umbrellas a couple of days later and it has been sitting on my drafting table ever since. While talking to one of my former coworkers whose position was also eliminated I saw the storm and the phrase "We'll weather the storm together" started running through my head. A few days after that bit of inspiration when my mood had greatly improved I decided to finish the card.

The blue sky use of the cloud stamp is happening now as you can see in these tags:



and this card:


I went to see the B-52's last night and I took a couple of pictures maybe I'll post those tomorrow but we were both up late last night. The kid was up past midnight and so we both need to get to bed.

Happy crafting,

Katie.

Make your own Map

I love this road trip page. I always like when some image is used to replace a letter. I wanted to show a map of the trip but didn't want all the roads and towns and other writing that's on maps. So I had to make my own, and you can too.

Use a map from google or mapquest and make a square crop on the computer of the area you want to use. Then blow it up to the size you want, I used 12x12. It doesn't matter that it is messy just make it the size you want. Cut the states out, but do not resize in any way, then using contrast setting in your image manipulation program (I use Photoshop) darken the image. Do this for each state.

Print out each state separately. Choose the paper you want to use for your state and place it face down. Then take the print out and use a tiny bit of dry adhesive (SNAIL or tape) to keep it from moving around. Use the face down method ONLY if you can see the ink through the back of the print out. I used standard copy paper and it worked great.

I did this face down so the adhesive wouldn't muck up the good side of the paper. If you can't see through your paper you will have to reverse the image on the computer before printing it out. Always mark North or Top on your print outs so when you put them together you know how they go together - which end is up if you like. If you have a lot of pieces you may want to mark them on the back so you can keep them straight.


Our road trip went around Lake Michigan so we needed water paper. I let my son pick the darker side or the shimmery lighter side you can see he chose the darker piece. The states were made from some old Die Cuts with A View paper - the first stack I ever bought years ago, a sheet of round paper that I got at the Target Dollar Spot last fall, and a random bit of card stock. The letters, which I love for their size and font, are from Pressed Petals and the wooden elements are ancient embellishments from Marcella by K & Company. I searched the internet for license plates to use at the bottom and printed them out on photo paper.

My scrap companions thought I was crazed not to have at least a photo of the car on the page and urged me to run to the parking lot and get a shot of Mitzy (yes, the car has a name). I stood my ground and left it as is, showing off the route and the games we played on the way:
The license plate game - my son even had a write on wipe off board with a map of the country on it so he could check them off.
The state line woo - where you all yell "woo" as loud as possible as you cross the state line. Not to be confused with the state line "whoa" which is what you say if you cross the line into a state you were not intending to visit. Happened only once, I was lost in a blizzard long, long ago.
Are we there yet? - where the kid asks and we sing the 10 more miles to go song until we are sick of it.

More tomorrow. I need to go get ready for the B-52's at Ravinia tonight. Must finish up the tabouli.

Happy Crafting,
Katie

Chasing Butterflies

Well butterflY. Just one.

I went outside to photograph a scrapbook page from this weekend's crop and after I did I noticed a butterfly on the flowers in the garden.

Hey I have a camera right here in my hands," I thought to myself and took two steps closer to get a better shot. I got a lot of shots in fact.
I jumped over the hostas to get a good look at him (or her).
I shot some more.
I jumped back over the hostas.
I shot him again.
I walked around to the other side of the flower.
More shots.

When I came in the house to get the photos of the page off the camera to post here they weren't there. Just a lot of pictures of this big beautiful butterfly dancing in the flowers. Maybe I should be delighting in what God has made and not worry about showing you what I have made. So today I am sharing a bit of Nature's handiwork -- my stuff will wait.



To see all the photos - even the one's this little guy flew out of go to my flickr site.

happy crafting,
Katie

You're the Tops!

Just playing with Stampin' Up!'s ABC images and paper scraps. I had what I thought was a good idea for a sentiment but didn't like the way my handwriting looked so I opened up InDesign and typed it out, then had the program space out boxes where the punched pieces would go. A 10 percent gray is just enough to be a good guide but not enough to be distracting if I was off with my placement. I love hybrid card creating.

My son is taking me out to the movies tonight. He won a singing contest at camp and is using the $5 to take me to the $2 movies. Need to get going.

Happy Crafting.
Katie

The Last Day with Glad Press'n Seal

I love this bit of my son’s writing, this was the last assignment for the year, and this is what he wrote with all the spelling errors intact:

I like math & sincie the most about first grade.

In 2^nd I may like math and sincie. I think math & sincie is very fun. I will have to do a lot of sinsie to be a palentologist when I am all grown up I also liked the Crismas party.

I think it's hilarious that he consistently spells science so poorly but is only one letter off on paleontologist.

We went to the library this evening to use their Windows computer. Apparently no one with a Mac should be out of work, but I digress. My son was none to keen on watching mom use the computer instead of getting to use one himself so after I got my stuff done we headed to the kids section so he could play computer games. We made a detour to the craft aisle to get a few books on scrapbooking first because I have a crop this weekend and was looking for a bit of inspiration.

One of the books had a section on doing your journaling long hand, without a computer or stickers or stamps. {yikes!} I don’t like my handwriting on scrapbook pages but there was a phrase that stuck with me, “history will appreciate your handwriting.” What a concept, but I know it’s true. I loved my mom’s handwriting but she has developed tremors in the past decade and at times she has trouble signing her own name. So I wrote the date on this page and part of the headline, and let my son’s handwriting be the feature of this page. Plus I may start journaling more long hand.

I would have done the entire headline in my own hand but I have been saving these chipboard stickers to use on a school page for the boy so long that the glue had lost its stickiness and I had to glue them down.

I laid the letters out on the page and really liked the look. To keep them exactly in that position I used Glad Press'n Seal. I took the Press'n Seal to the letters and after they were stuck to it, I turned the headline and Press'n Seal over. I added adhesive and then placed the whole thing right where I wanted it, no having to arrange things twice.

I don’t now if Press'n Seal will work in the Xyron, but if it does Woo Hoo. I have been doing the perfect placement trick for years using repositionable (repo) tape and that stuff gets expensive. It the elements are small and don’t need to go through the Xyron I can reuse the tape, but if it’s going through the Xyron the adhesive makes it impossible to reuse repo tape.

Give this trick a try it works great.

Happy Crafting

Katie

My Favorite Giant

My Favorite Giant
Originally uploaded by ColeAndJosephine

I saw this in the Illustration Friday group on flickr and thought of my friend Glenn and I wanted to share. Tomorrow back to my own works.

Happy crafting
Katie

1 week

I will be taking a week off to recuperate from this weekend and to visit with family. Hope you all had a fabulous Independence Day holiday and when I come back I will be healthy and raring to go.

Katie

Style on Style

Style on Style
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

I needed to go to the bank yesterday and while I was out that way when to Archiver's too. I walked around putting things into my imaginary cart and, using my imaginary millions, bought the place out. But because I live in the real world as much as necessary I didn't get all the cool stamps, papers and tools I wanted but I did get some inspiration. Whoever is designing the sample cards at the store I went to is in love with embossing powder. Every card has some embossed element.

One card in particular had a small image of a woman on a beach, not embossed, but the background circles were. I wish I had taken a picture of it for you to see. An embossed background instead of foreground was unexpected and really nice. I didn't emboss my background but I like how it turned out.

This is the first card I've made with the new Stampin' Up! set Elements of Style. I got it because I love something I can color but I decided to use it as a somewhat subtle background for this card. After laying the ink down I tried to think of an image that would work on top of it, to mimic the Archiver's card. I remembered the 20's Lady stamp from Stampabilities.

The Archiver's card was a dark color with a white focal point, a light color with a white focal point wasn't cutting it so I when searching for a scrap of something darker. In the prepunched drawer I found a die cut tab from SU from the old days. From before I was a demonstrator, from before they sold die cutting materials.

It's a beautiful sunny day here. I like the results I got recently when I photographed a card in daylight. (What a concept. I have been a late night crafter and blogger for so long that I almost forgot what daylight looks like.) So this morning I thought I would photograph today's card on the patio, in the daylight. One thing I don't have to worry about when photographing stuff indoors — wind. I finally just leaned the card against the patio table umbrella pole to keep it from falling over and skittering away.

Hope you like today's card and that you have a wonderful 4th of July holiday with your family and/or friends.

Happy Crafting
Katie