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| creativitE |
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| scrapbooking, daily life, crafts |
If you're going to be in Southern CA on Saturday, January 23rd make plans to attend the World's Largest Crop Attempt at the Craft Super Show (which is open to the public)...it's going to be a blast!! Check out the Scrapbook Royalty blog for all the awesome details...there's going to be fun and freebies!!
See ya there!
I've been really busy getting ready for the Craft and Hobby Trade Show that will take place next week in Anaheim, CA...and while I can't show you all the things I've been working on right now, I can tell you that I'm super excited about all the new craft products that are going to be released there!! I'll be doing make 'n takes and product demonstrations for Tattered Angles (woo-hoo, I'm now part of their education team!!), ProvoCraft, Unibind, and others...so follow me on Twitter if you're interested in what I'm up to at CHA.
Speaking of crafts and new products...I think I might *need* this flower maker I saw on When Creativity Knocks. (Shhhh, don't tell my husband - I'm sure he thinks that I do not need it!!) My brain is swimming with all the possible types of flowers I could make!
(photo from Clover)
Kelly McCaleb taught a workshop at Spark and in it she showed us how to make these cute fabric flowers out of vintage fabric. This is the shirt I made in class.
I am also making a sweatshirt for my niece (I'm almost finished!) and added a i-top brad I made with fabric to the center of a fabric flower and to the zipper. Even though the brad is on the zipper pretty securely, I think I'm going to sweet talk my father-in-law into showing me how to solder them together so the i-top brad wont fall off.
Here's a close up of the flower, I just poked the i-top brad through the center of the flower and then opened the backing up and pushed it down into the backside of the flower.
(Sorry the color is off quite a bit in these pics, I took them at night)
For the zipper pull, I just put the i-top brad through the center of the zipper pull and then tweaked the backing so that it wrapped around the zipper pull and tucked the ends behind the head of the brad.
Sponsor: Imaginisce
I seriously don't even know where to begin in telling you about Spark. It was if they knew me and all of my creative outlets and created an event around it...just for me. :D
The location was perfect....such ambiance! Striped down to it's everyday-ness, this quaint pioneer village is charming, but add a touch of Spark and creative people and it's amazing!!
The details were so thoughtful....you could feel the love oozing out. They took the common event items: agenda, maps, swag bags, etc and made them special. Every bit of it is being saved so I can use it up in art journals, collages, etc.
The keynote speaker, Cassandra Barney was so inspiring...she shared her journey and heart with us. And of course a few quotes, and all of you who follow me on Twitter know how much I love quotes. :D Here's a great one by Daniel Patrick Maynihan:
..."creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous."
The fun "extras" were fun and SUCH a great idea...loved the photo booth and the fabulous photo "wall" where they had hung frames & cut out the middle so we could pose. Love the old fashion popcorn machine, the huge candy jars, the shopping...I could go on and on. :D
The attendees were such a great mix of "makers"...so there was a great vibe of inspiration, creative collaboration, and learning from one another. I was blessed to be in the "glitter group" (we had separated into groups for classes and things) with some of my favorite creative people: Lori, Kim, Sandy, Stephanie, Karen, Susan, Elena, Sally, and other friends.
The classes were so inspiring...and let us use our own muse to create projects that were our own instead of the mass production that happens at other events. I love the new techniques I learned: hairspray transfers (hello! I'm going to do that a lot now!!), crocheting flowers, artistic photography, making fabric flowers and embellishments. I want to lock myself in my studio and only come out to go on photo walks. :D
The Artisan Show & Tell was such a great way to learn new techniques and get to know each other better as we went from station to station...I love that my creative spark for the crafts I had put aside was rekindled and that I got to learn some really cool techniques and crafts from fabulous artisans.
The giving was from the heart...Scrapbook Royalty hosted a wonderful charity raffle and silent aution with 100% of the donations going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation in honor of my friend Rachel McCarthy, a one year (and counting) survivor. We raised about $2800 dollars! I won a few things: an ornament that my friend Leslie Ashe made, a fun "page candy" gum ball machine that my friend Tami Morrison made, and a beautiful baby quilt that someone Suzanne Bass made. (I can't find my slip of paper that has her dear name on it right now, but as soon as I do I'll give her the credit, she definitely deserves it, it's adorable!!)
I have a ton more photos to share, not to mention the projects I worked on, but those I'll share with you another time...for now I'll leave you with another quote Cassandra shared:
"At times our light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame with in us." - Albert Schwetzer
Spark on!!
I'm so excited to be off to Utah for Spark today! I'll be tweeting all the fun we'll be having, so be sure you're following me on Twitter if you want to hear what's going on.
Also, make sure you stop back by my blog this weekend...I'll be having a great giveaway that you won't want to miss!
I'm taking Dina Wakley's Graffiti Of My Life - Art Journaling 301 class at Get It Scrapped and loving it!! I really like that we are working on all the pages at the same time instead of individually like I usually do it. I think it's going to make a great finished project.
I hope to take photos of the progress along the way, so here's the base layer of my pages from lesson #1.
(Click on photos to see them larger.)
I think it will be cool to see how my "drop cloth" develops over the class too...so I snapped it's photo too. I recycled it from a big piece of paper that came in the box of a recent online purchase.
It was such a blessing to even be able to go to this event! I had taken a break from craft events since my spine surgery so I didn't sign up immediately when registration was announced. I ended up getting on the wait list once it was clear that I was healing well and would be able to fly there and be a part of the fun. Once Dana and Stephanie D. found out I got off the waiting list and into the event they offered to let me crash in their hotel room, and to top it off they wouldn't let me carry a thing....they became my Sherpas and carted all my craft supplies, luggage, ect. back and forth each day. -Aren't they sweet! My friends are so awesome!!
Inspiration Unlimited was a blast! I don't think I've been to any other event where I felt more connected to the other women in attendance. There was just the right number of ladies there so that we could bond and really connect with one another. Even before the actual event took place I was ready to sign up for 2010!
photo by Susan Rodriguez (aka: Bucket)
It was great to see old friends (they aren't old, we've just been friends for awhile, LOL) like Ginger (the BEST craft event planner!!), Bucket, Kathy, and others...and to finally meet online friends in real life. For instance, Janna and I have crossed paths a million times online over the years, yet this is the first time we've seen each other face to face. It was so great to hear her sweet southern voice and give her a big hug!
And then there is Stephanie, who is a CA girl too so we cross paths often yet never really have the time at most events to talk. It was so great to get to know her better. I never realize how hilarious she is...SO FUNNY! I laughed so hard with her that I was crying.
Teresa Collins is such a great instructor! I learned a lot of great techniques from her (and the other instructors as well). One of the things I love about Teresa is that you can see her heart in everything she does. She makes everyone feel special and loved.
It was great to see Layle there too. She's always a blast! I'm really going to miss her not being at IU 2010, but I think that it's great that she's striving for balance and peace in her life...and if that means she won't be at an event or two then that's fine by me!
I can't believe I never have met Tammy before this event...she's a CA girl too. Two words about her: BEAUTIFUL photography!! I re-learned so much from her. (Photography is like that for me...I forget 90% of what I learn!)
I still have to show you the fabulous project we worked on there...but I'll save that for another post, I have to get crack'n on some projects.
Good news! In the spirit of Charity and with respect to this very hard economy Scrapbook Royalty has decided to offer a 2 for 1 special for the October 10th Scrap n' Support Crop at Remember When in Valencia, CA to benefit Pink-Link!!! So, when you register you'll get 2 goody bags and 2 class kits. You can bring a friend or just keep the extra goodies for yourself! And, to top things off, I will be teaching a class there. -What more could you want LOL.
Hope to see you there!!
Had a blast at CKC Pasadena! I took 5 classes...
This weekend has been super busy for me. On Friday I was filmed for the Yudu infomercial which was an experience that took me completely out of my element, but was fun to do. Right after that my husband and I went out to dinner and then I was off to CKC Pasadena for a couple of days of scrapbooking goodness. It was so nice to have CKC finally come to So Cal although I'm afraid the turn out wasn't very good so I doubt it will be back. Although because of it's central location I was able to meet up with many of my friends...some of them that live just far enough away that we don't see each other often and some of them I hadn't ever met IRL (in real life) before but we'd become friend on-line. -It's great to be able to put a face with a name! (Thank you Al Gore for the internet! LOL.)
I'll post photos of the projects I worked on later this week.
