October: Two Pink Crops & Three October ATCs

This October, I participated in two "pink" crops to benefit breast cancer. 

The first was at Custom Impressions. This is a great store and has become my "home" store for cropping and crafting. The breast cancer charity crop benefiting the Breast Cancer Angels was a great event. It featured a raffle with almost 50 items. There was also an altered bra contest, door prizes and some delish food. Not too mention great company.  

I donated a few things for the event. Including a pair of pumps i had decorated with Graphic 45's Ladies' Diary and an undecorated album based on Kathy Orta's My Design Mini album. I am proud to say the album was very popular and recieved quite a few tickets. Yay!

 

 

I also entered a bra into the altered bra contest. It was fun to make. I used trim and ribbon to createca vintage-y floral look (#2). And i won! I couldnt believe it. All the entries were so pretty and well done. I think they were all winners and congratulations to all the participants.

I really enjoyed the crop and got alot done (my ATCs.) And store raised alot of money for the Breast Cancer Angels thru the raffle, donations and the crop, so way to go Teresa and company!!

The  second breast cancer event I went to was for Scrap Pink OC. Its run by my friend, Rachel and her Just Crop Retreats company. And yes, this is more of a retreat than a crop. But since i didn't get a hotel room it felt more like a crop for me. Lol.

 

 
This was another great event with door prizes, a yard sale type store and a huge space to work in. But the best part was my crafty buddies I hadn't seen in a while. So for me this crop was all about spending time with more of my crafty friends. Which is always awesome!
 

I enjoyed the opportunity to go in and craft during the wee hours of the night/morning because I really am a night owl at heart. And my friend Carole is the night shift and I always have fun hanging out with her, she is such a hoot.

The travelling back and forth between home and the hotel was less fun and i fid not get much sleep. But the cats needed to be fed and i was too cheap to get a room. (More crafting supplies.) But i did get a massage which made me feel way better. Plus once again a lot of money was raised toward finding a cure for breast cancer. How can you beat that?

I had to leave the Scrap Pink OC crop early on Sunday in order to make it to my monthly ATC swap at Custom Impressions. (More info here.) So I was uber tired by then. But I made it.

This month's theme for the Custom Impressions ATC group was Harvest. For my card I used a digi stamp by Some Odd Girl, a leaf stamp & die by Stampendous, Stampendous embossing powder and Viva Decor blackberry crackle paint. As accents I added some glossy accents and pearl pen to the acorn and flocking to the squirrel's tail. The stamp was colored with Copics.

 

The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!

 

I also was invited to participate in a through the mail ATC swap. The themes were Currency and Halloween. For the currency theme, I used Viva Decor gold crackle, a piece of a print out of a fake $1,000 bill, Stampendous Luxe Mix, Prima fine glitter (to cover the cricut cut $ sign) and heart shaped bling.
 

 

On the Halloween ATC, there is Guildenstern gilding on the background in sunset with two digi stamps I bought on Etsy from AuroraWings in front. I colored the stamps with Copics

So what did you do this October? Id love to hear about what you created.

September ATC: Back to School

For this month (September) the theme for Custom Impressions' ATC group was Back to School. I used a digital stamp I bought on Etsy by  Artbymiram. It is an adorably anime style girl with books and a satchel.

I colored her with colored pencils that I blended with mineral spirits in the gamsol method. To do this I filled in lightly with two or three shades of colored pencil and then blended it wit a paper "stump" dipped in mineral spirits.  This was my first time trying this method, I had picked up a kit during Shop Hop.  I did find that some pencils blended way better than others, I am not sure why and will have to investigate further.

I covered her glasses with Diamond Glaze to give a lens look, In the background I used pieces of Dear Lizzy Neopolitain paper and added some Stampendeous Luxe Mix and butter fly bling.

The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!

Teresa Collins Class at Scrapbook Daisies, Christmas Countdown Flip Album

 

 

I recently took anothervgreat class with the fabulous Teresa Collins.  This class was at Scrapbook Daisies in Xxx, Ca.  She was teaching a few classes on this trip to Southern, Ca, but the one I took was this beautiful and fun Christmas countdown, flip album with the Candy Cane Lane paper.

Teresa was such a sweetheart sharing sneak peaks of some of her new products, like Fiskers punches and scissors and he new dies and embossing folders with Craftwell. She is always coming out with something new and amazing.

 

 

The project started with a plastic frame from Ikea that we spray painted gold. (Side note: Her husband, who has been terribly sick, drilled the holes for the rings in all the frames. What a sweet and helpful man, right?) Along with some numbers from a chipboard set.

We then followed along with Teresa and her detailed photo guide to decorate all the tags and pages. I decided I wasn't crazy for the black letters in the kit and replaced them with sobe red Thickers.  I also added some of the new punch shapes, like love and feathers to the pages. And the snowflake rosette was different from original, but Teresa had suggested it. (Alot of people added it.)

I think it came out very nice and can't wait to display it during the holidays. It counts from 25 down to 1 and will be super nice to look at and change it everyday

 

 

My Version of the MDM using G45 Couture & Typography Goes to Moscow

Recently, I had a chance to make a gift for a friend of mine who lives in Moscow, Russia. Since she has never seen any of my paper crafting in person, I wanted to make something special. I decided to make a version of Kathy Orta's My Design Mini album and use Graphic 45's Couture and Typography lines.

 
I picked the MDM album because it has customizable options, but does not look too complex or overwhelming for someone who doesn't scrapbook. Also it was a new tutorial for me and looked like fun to make. Couture by G45 was my first thought for paper because my friend is stylish and the colors and feel of the paper suit her style. As I worked on the project and realized I need more pspers, I added the Typography line (also G45) into the mix.
 

I really like the My Design Mini and the idea of having a tutorial that can be customized to different projects. What a great concept! To get the MDM tutorial click here. To order the EKC #12 with MDM included click here.
 

Since I did not create the MDM design, I don' t feel right posting images of the book in progress. So we will skip right to dessert with pictures and a video link of the completed album.

 

 

 

Shop Hop 2014- A Good Read..

Rosie and I teamed up again to conquer the So Cal Shop Hop. This year the theme was books, which made for some fun photo ops and make amd takes.

Once Upon A Memory, Huntington Beach

 The So Cal Shop Hop is a great event here in Southern California. You get 20% off at all the participating stores. 

Custom Impressions, Bellflower

There were a few changes this year. Shop Hop is under new management, which was different because I used to get the inside scoop from Rachel. Also, Rosie and I had a new home store, Custom Impressions.

But we did make it to all 42 stores. Here are some highlights.

Scrapbooking Forever, Thousand Oaks

Treasured Memories, Oak Park

Wootens, Ontario

Paper Tales, San Diego

The Making Place, Escondido

My ATC card for CI's July trade.

The theme for July was Books. This was a really fun theme because there are so many different ways to go. Like do you do something about reading, or a specific book or images of books? I choose to go with reading as the main focus.
 

Once again, I choose a Some Odd Girl digi stamp, this one is of Mae reading. It is colored and shaded with Copics and fussy cut. (The old fashioned way this time.)  In the background is a card that looks lije a book page. It is from a set i bought that were close to ATC dimensions. I thought they were so cute, I even cut up the cover page and used the tiny preview cards. I attachedvthem to tge cardcwith a tiny Tim Holtz paper clip. I inked the edges of both with brown ink.
  

As embellishments to finish the ATC, I added a few bits of bling and a punvhed glitter heart. And to the bottom, the phrase "I ♡ to read" with a plastic strip style label maker.

I think it came out cute and makes me think of books and reading.  What do you think? Would you have tackled the subject of books as a general theme (like I did) or been inspired by a specific book?

The ATC trade is the last Sunday of the Month at Custom Impressions. Please call ((562) 430-8100) for details and themes. Hope to see you next month!