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Saturday, February 28, 2009
Crafty Friends
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Birthday - My Morning Adventure
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Coin toss on Red House in Pacific Grove or Tadish in San Francisco.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Creative Recharging
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Snowman Birthday
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Is it Spring yet?
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When I moved my hubby's office to the back bedroom, he now has a nice view of the daffodils blooming in our vegetable garden. I'm always reminded of the time my daughter decided to play flower girl and went out and cut all the flowers she could find to make one huge bouquet. Now all we have to worry about is the snails.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Moving Day
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
Star Book
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A Place to Bark - Fundraiser Update
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We are working extra fast in getting our rubber stamp images done so we can start raising the money to help finish the "cat house". Claudine Hellmuth, Suzi Blu and Lydia Fiedler are all volunteering to design something super special. I'm going to handle all the manufacturing and shipping of the stamps. Purrcy is adding some of his kitty cuteness. I'm sure Maddie and Splotchy (Lydia's fur babies) will be joining in too.
Craft Room Clean Up Part 2
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This is my other art studio that I finished cleaning up this morning. First photo was how it looked yesterday before the big clean. My hubby is having a wild juice meeting (Mona Vie) so the room is now set up for that. Right after everyone leaves, it turns back into my studio. Lucy and Purrcy decided the best place to dig their claws in the carpet was right on the seam line. Don't know how they knew it was there but it was the go to spot. When I finally figured out what was going on, I covered it with a gray runner mat. Fur babies were not happy but have stopped trying to pull up the carpet.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Craftroom Clean Up
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It's been a tough month and my studio space is showing the signs. I decided since I had today off, I would do a craft room marathon clean up - again! Just don't know how it gets so out of hand! Purrcy was nervously pacing the room while I was throwing out all those scraps of paper I just had to save and tackling mountains of junk. Lucy gave up after of few hours of following me around. One of the things I decided to get rid of most of my Stampin Up stamps. Purrcy was witnessing the packing up of my SU stamps. Can you see the panic in his eyes? If you check out the before and after photos, my May Arts ribbon has now replaced my SU stamps. It's been 6 hours (and counting) of cleaning and I've only got my inner studio done. To help keep me going I've been playing non stop craft videos on my computer. I'm not really watching them but I've heard some good tips and getting ideas for my next round of classes. I'm getting ready to tackle the big studio which shouldn't take as long since it has to get cleaned up every week for my hubby's wild juice parties.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Published - sort of
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I've finally been published! Well sort of if you count one of my emails being posted on Creative Leisure News website. I made a comment a few months ago and Mark Hartnett, the publisher ask me for more details, so I sent along a longer version. He did some editing and then posted my comments. Here's the link. http://www.clnonline.com/archives/clnarchives/2009/cln20090202.html
Go to the "Our Consumers Need Community" section.
To help support my theory about good customer service and age, I want to share what happened to me this week. I called Scrapbook Island, a store that isn't close to my house, looking for a specific brand of paper. The other stores in my area haven't received it yet. Lucy (I remember her name because one of my fur babies is named Lucy) answered the phone (live person) and when I explained what I needed, she said she was just checking it in so it should be out on the floor in the morning. Now here is the great customer service part. I walk into the store the following day which was filled with happily chatting customers (they were checking out the new line from Studio 45) most of whom were over 40. The one staff person in the middle of the chatting group, looks up and asked if I needed any help. I'm guessing she is over 40 too. When I said I called last night and was told the paper I wanted was here, she went and found Lucy. She wasn't sure if the paper was put out yet so went to ask Lucy. While Lucy was looking for my paper (this is a big store so it's not as easy as it sounds) I chatted with some people in the clean well lit cropping area. After Lucy showed me where the paper was, she went back to multi -tasking, re-stocking and chatting with the regulars. I'm guessing they were regulars since the conversations were about vacations, their families etc... This is a store that has found the right combination of product, staff and customer service.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Upcoming Fundraiser - A Park To Bark
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Speedball Printing Press
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Sunday, February 15, 2009
On the Edge Card Class
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The Hero Arts stamp (it's the green background stamp on the HB card) was a bear to use and I finally had to used my big metal press to get it to work. The rubber is not even and there is too much open space to stamp it rubber side up.
Beginning Bee Keeping Class
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http://www.sanmateobee.org/class.html
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
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Thursday, February 12, 2009
Free Make n Take next Friday
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The covers are two 4x4 chip board coasters with 8 blank pages.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Glitter Mist Recipes
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I came across this recipe for glimmer mist and thought I would share. It's a fun but messy product. It's not high on my must have list but I plan to give this recipe a try.
Memory Mists are pigment-based and Glimmer Mists are dye-based. Glimmer Mists also have a metallic 'glimmer' to them, Memory Mists do have a few metallic colors, but most are just color, no glitz.
You can make your own at home with stamp pad re-inkers, water, & a spray bottle. The more ink you use, the more intense the color. For the glimmer effect, you can add mica powders - if you use something like Rangers Perfect Pearls, they already contain a binding agent, so you're all set, but if you use something like PearlEx powders, you'll need to add a little Gum Arabic or the mica powder will rub off once it dries. It's a lot of fun to create your own custom colors! At CHA the demo person at the Tattered Angels booth was telling people to shake the bottle well and spray it like hairspray. Well one woman did what she was told and sprayed the Glimmer Mist over her head and into the eyes of the people standing next to her. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee in my pants. When she left the table I asked the demo person if she was going to change her description on how to spray the mist as I looked at all the ladies with sparkling raccoon faces.
You can make your own at home with stamp pad re-inkers, water, & a spray bottle. The more ink you use, the more intense the color. For the glimmer effect, you can add mica powders - if you use something like Rangers Perfect Pearls, they already contain a binding agent, so you're all set, but if you use something like PearlEx powders, you'll need to add a little Gum Arabic or the mica powder will rub off once it dries. It's a lot of fun to create your own custom colors! At CHA the demo person at the Tattered Angels booth was telling people to shake the bottle well and spray it like hairspray. Well one woman did what she was told and sprayed the Glimmer Mist over her head and into the eyes of the people standing next to her. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee in my pants. When she left the table I asked the demo person if she was going to change her description on how to spray the mist as I looked at all the ladies with sparkling raccoon faces.
Part of my CHA order
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I ordered all this ribbon for my up coming classes. I'm always having a hard time find enough ribbon for my classes, so I decided to stock my studio with 31 of my favorites. It was really hard not to got over board and order everything they had. :)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Mini "Bee" book - New 3x3 Class
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Friday, February 6, 2009
Work in progress - One in a Million
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Thursday, February 5, 2009
Birthday Present
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Circle Journal Challenge 2009
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12 x 12 deep canvas, Liquitex inks - Phthalocyanine Green, Cadmium Yellow, Iridescent Rich Bronze, Transparent Burnt Sienna. Luna Lights Blue, Stickles Xmas Red, Alcohol Inks - Gold, Pitch Black and Cranberry. Savoir Faire watercolor - Gold and Carmine Red. Golden Gel Medium - Glass Bead Gel. Cricut Expression, copper tape and misc. bird pin. I painted several layers of paint on the canvas then used sponges to rub some of the colors off. I used my Cricut Expression machine to make the stencils and masks for the word HOPE and heart.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Take Out Menus - Mini Book
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I'm still looking for a silver charm of a fork, knife and spoon for the center of the flower. I know I've seen them before but heck if I can find it now. Edit - I found a charm at one of the local bead shops which costed $$$. I will have to go online to find a better deal. I do like to support my local stores but I know their mark up is over the top.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Hot bag at CHA
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I loved the colors they used for their new line but overall it's was pretty boring. Didn't really separate itself from the other companies new lines. Since working at going green, I brought a bag home to use when I make quick trip to the grocery store. It's a heavy plastic type materials so if anything leaks, I should be covered.
Covered Cake Boxes
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Something that surprised me at the show was how many of the companies showed their scrapbooking paper being used for non-scrapbooking ideas. Round covered boxes was very popular at the show this year. The Doodlebug booth was all set up like an old fashion ice cream shop decked out in pink - photo on the right. The photo on the left is once again my favorite booth, Graphic 45. They covered everything with their new paper line. I was told that she uses ATG tape to cover her projects since she doesn't like the results with any other type of adhesive.
I have some box ideas in the works for my next round of classes.