Sunday, September 30, 2012

My favorite purchase during my Junk Bonanza trip...

was the bracelet I bought made from chicken wire and old ties - and a bead.  Are you familiar with the People articles titled [something like] "She really loves her..."?  They are articles about clothing or accessories of celebrities - and they like them so much they wear them all the time.  I felt that way about this bracelet!  It is so comfortable, light weight, bendable, easy to wear.... and made from chicken wire and old ties.
So I went and bought a life-time supply of chicken wire... getting ready to think about making those bracelets.
Nicole also bought one - hers was basically black.  The vendor at Junk Bonanza also designed headbands, flowers, small clutch purses, and hats from ties.  She was very creative.  Sorry to say, I do not have her business card and I cannot remember her website.  Regardless, it gave me great ideas and hopefully some inspiration.

Friday, September 28, 2012

More Projects...

I was working on projects and was pleasantly surprised when I pulled out two Christmas mini books and found that they were basically done.  I just needed to add a few embellishments to the books.
The second book taught us a different book binding technique.  The cover was a piece of vinyl or plastic wallpaper.  We glued it on and then heated it to make it nice and snug to the cover of the book - kind of like shrink wrap.  
 You can see that we have something like booklets in the book - we had to sew each booklet into place through the spine of the book.
This class was taught by Dana Edwards at Paper Vineyard.  She does beautiful design work.  I think I will keep one book and give one away as a Christmas gift.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Just in Time for Halloween

I took a class at Scrapfest in either 2009 or 2010 - I think 2010 - by Little Yellow Bicycle.  Those classes are only 45 minutes long so almost all projects don't get finished in class.  I pulled it out and completed it.
 It is an envelope book, but I personally don't like those.  I don't like that you need to open an envelope, and pull out the sheet inside.  So I taped the envelopes closed and made the card inserts just separate pages in the book.  I really do like it.  Here are a few of the pages:
 They gave us so many embellishments - it was amazing.  I thought it turned out very cute.  I probably have enough to do a second book - and I just might do it.
Do you have any unfinished projects?  I have drawers full of them, but I would love to hear about anything you might be working on.


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Every once in a while I have to be Santa...

for myself.  Christmas came early for me this year - at least my present to myself.  During my recent trip to Minnesota, we stayed with Nicole parents.  Guess what they had?  A Keurig!  I obviously knew about them, but had never used one.  I thought they were pretty slick and thought maybe I would get one for Christmas.  Well... Christmas came early.  I ordered a coffee machine, but not a Keurig.  I ended up buying a Tassimo by Bosch.  Bed Bath & Beyond had a special on Tassimo products, so I took advantage of it.  Happily, it came today!  I am so excited about using it.  I came home, opened it up and immediately started brewing.
I could not believe how compact it is.  It is actually smaller than my regular coffee maker.  I also purchased a shelf to put under it that holds a nice sampling of coffees and teas.  
I'm ready for company!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Remember my goal?

To complete some projects BEFORE I start new ones - that is so hard!  I love walking through stores and selecting new paper.  I definitely have an addition to paper.  Not long ago, I started a beach book, fashioned after Debby Schuh's "Recipe of Me Book."  I used a line put out by My Mind's Eye.  I am always drawn to the beach and grew up going to the beach almost every summer.  I burn easily, so it is hard to believe I like the beach.  Anyway, I finished that book on Friday night, crafting with Cindy.  Here are photos of some of the pages...
 I haven't used Glossy Accents in a long time, but it really adds a lot of dimension to any project.
 I used Stickles on the cover to brighten up the palm trees.
 A lot of folded pages...
My sister and her family live near the beach in Florida, and her son absolutely LOVES to surf.  
So I am thinking this would make a great gift for his family.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Christmas Card Class Samples

I stayed home most of Saturday and worked on the card samples for my Christmas card class set for November 10, 2012 at Paper Vineyard.  I haven't taught for about a year, so it will be a lot of fun to be back in the class room.  I already have people who have signed up - so that's exciting!

I selected 5 different product lines.  The first one/snowman card is from Echo Park's Christmas line selection.
 These two "tree" cards are from Authentique (on the left) and Bazzill (on the right).
 This "gift" card was made with the Creative Imaginations line.  It could be easily converted into a holder for gift cards.
 I used Graphic45's Christmas line for the last card.  I just love the "visions of sugar plums" sheet - so beautiful and bright.
 Here are the five different designs we will be making in class - 10 cards today with two of each.
Maybe you can join us.



Saturday, September 22, 2012

Wedding Tag Book

One of Kate's friends, Jackie, is getting married to Michael today!  Jackie wanted a little help with putting a tag book together, in which she plans to have her guests write down "advice" -  I think this is a wonderful idea.  Once all the tags are done, she will be able to keep them on a ring in a tag book.  I thought it turned out well...
The cover is a black and white photo of the happy couple...  dancing.
I stamped a design on each page in a subtle silver color - something of a wedding design.
Added some ribbon to the ring...
And this is the finished tag book.  This would be a great thing to put on a coffee table.
Happy Wedding Day to you, Jackie and Michael...
and wishing you a life time of wonderful memories!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Putting one of my purchases to good use!

There are so many things seen at Junk Bonanza - the creativity is amazing.  I will show more pictures in a couple of days, but I want to show you these today.  I am always mesmerized by what people come up with.  One of my purchases was a pair of gloves/mittens, whatever you want to call them.  The vendor took the sleeve of a wool sweater and made a pair of mittens, with the fingers and thumb exposed.  I was so excited!  I told her I was from Phoenix but my hands get so cold at work that they actually hurt.  So here they are...
I am able to type while wearing them.  They are lined with fleece.
I will admit they look a little funky, but they definitely do the job of keeping my hands warm and are easy to slip off when necessary.  More photos later this weekend.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Special Quilts

My friend, Jean Barabe, stopped by our office today - she used to work with us and we miss her terribly.  She took up quilting and she wanted to show us a few of her finished quilts.  When I saw them, I knew I wanted to share them with you.  They are amazing!
I could not believe the amount of work that she put into these quilts.  Just look at the detail in the top quilt - it is absolutely beautiful!
Jean said that these quilts took her about a year to do.  I can totally see that.
I had to get a close up of the last one.  The center of each block is a cow.  Now how cute is that!
Jean, thanks SEW much for sharing your quilts.  I am extremely impressed!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Second Day at Junk Bonanza... and more!

was a lot of fun.  I don't think it seemed as crowded as the first day.   It seemed difficult to walk down the rows during the first day.   Before I show photos of "junk," let me share that we went to the Pannekoeken House for breakfast.  We met Nicole's Aunt Carmel and Uncle East.  On the menu was an item called Mettwurst.
When I asked what it was, no one could really tell me, just that it was a sausage.  The waitress let us know that it is very similar to kielbasa.  It was very, very good.
Nicole and her mother both ordered an apple and cinnamon sugar pannekoeken.  Oh my gosh, did it ever look good, but it was really sweet.
Nicole and I said our goodbyes and we headed straight back to Junk Bonanza.  Here are some treasures from our second day...
There were several booths selling doll heads... or bodies.
Decorations for your outdoor planters.
I believe this dress skirt was made with a newspaper/book paper. 
A heart made of a bike/mechanical chain.
Another dress or possibly a slip.
Ball jars made into candle holders.
Street signs.  This one is for Nicole's friend, Sam, whose favorite number happens to be "13."
Doll bodies to go with those doll heads seen earlier.  Dolls were hot items this year, but when they are headless, it is just a bit creepy.
Mirror framed with painted, metal squares.
Here is Nicole shopping.  After that, it was time to head to the Mall of America and see what was going on with Scrapfest12.  This event is put on by a big chain store called Archivers.  We hit the store first to do our shopping and guess who I ran into there?
Yep.  Our good friend, Lindsay Moore (formerly of Cosmo Cricket) but now he is with Carta Bella.  I bought my first Carta Bella paper on this trip and I am anxious to use it.  It is always good to catch up with friends.
One of the class samples is a set of cards  - love the color scheme.  The birthday candle is so very cute! I believe, but am not sure, that the paper line is Simple Stories.
A 12 x 12 calendar for 2013.  This was designed by 7gypsies.
Halloween - check out the black cat.  The moon is halfway covered up by paper by curling back the corner of the paper square - very "slick" idea.
Authentique's Christmas line - the line I selected for my Christmas card class.
Layouts by Graphic45 - they have the nicest metal embellishments.  Check out the door knob.
Simple Stories - layouts - love the yellow and turquoise paper.  Absolutely gorgeous.
I believe this is Fancy Pants, and the banners are so very cute.
This is Tim Holtz giving a demonstration on his Vagabond die cut machine.  He is always so good and explains things so well.  We actually saw him at Junk Bonanza the day before.
I also went by Bazzill and found Joey Otlo and Margie Aslett Romney working hard at the make 'n take table.  I spied Margie at Junk Bonanza, as well.
I then met my friend, Denise, at the Mall of America, but totally forgot to take a picture of her.  She has not changed - she is sweet and beautiful, a wonderful friend.  We talked for 3 hours and then it was time to go home.  I am so tired as I write this blog that I can hardly keep my eyes open, but tomorrow is not busy in the morning.    Thank goodness - no plans until tomorrow afternoon, when I see my friend, Shelly.  Won't that be nice?!