Closing out some kits

There's a whole lot of purging going on...in my scrap room, that is. And it's beginning to look almost inhabitable again. Okay, actually, it looks better than inhabitable. But you'll have to wait a few more weeks for the grand unveiling!

I've also been working on a lot of new projects, which you'll be seeing over the next few days on the Imaginisce blog. A bit of a departure from my normal stuff, so stay tuned.

I don't think I ever shared the layouts from my classes at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. My class was called "Top It and Rock It: Adding the Wow Factor" because we used the i-Top and the i-Rock tools from Imaginisce on both layouts.


Both classes use the Garden Party collection from Imaginisce, which is pretty much sold out everywhere at this point (but see below if you want to get your hands on some!). We also played with the Pop-Up Posies and Roly Rosies, which were a big hit with everyone.


Everyone loved how easily this layout came together...


And the ribbon flowers are much easier than they look:

I'm selling the few remaining class kits on Etsy if you're interested. They come with full-color, step-by-step instructions and I'll even include some modification suggestions in case you don't have an i-Top or i-Rock yet.

And since I've been asked a lot lately about where you can buy these tools, they are available at Michael's stores (and you can use a coupon!) and online at Oh My Crafts (which has some great bundle packages for i-Top and i-Rock).

I'm not affiliated with either of those options. Just passing along the info.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am who I am

I've debated whether or not to post this. I like to keep the blog upbeat and positive. But I've learned over the years that there's a fine line between constant positivity and B.S. No one's life is perfect. No one gets everything they want every time. Life is about celebrations AND disappointments and learning lessons along the way.

From http://walkingonseashells.tumblr.com

I did not make the Kaisercraft design team. It was disappointing. While I'm very proud to have made it to the Top 25, obviously I wasn't what they were looking for. And after seeing the entries of those who were selected for the final team, I can see why. That's not my style. I was trying to make my style fit their product, and it just wasn't going to happen. I should've known when I received the product they wanted me to use for my final entries...it's not something I would've ever chosen to create with.

It started me thinking about what my "style" really is. I've never really been able to describe it because it seems to change all the time. Sometimes it's influenced by other scrappers, by the product I'm working with, by what I've seen in a magazine -- it's constantly evolving.

I looked back at the layouts I did early on, before I started the whole publication and design team pursuit. They're much cleaner and simpler than what I do now. I miss that. It was much faster...much less pressure...much more "me."

One thing I say a lot is: I am who I am...take it or leave it. I'm honest (probably to a fault) and opinionated and outspoken. I'm easily distracted, impulsive and moody. I'm most definitely NOT a perfect mother or wife or employee or volunteer. And I'm okay with that. Because the people who matter don't mind, and the ones who mind don't matter.

And that's the attitude I need to have about crafting/scrapbooking/etc. I need to be true to me and to my style -- whatever that is. If I inspire someone along the way, that's fabulous. But the reason I started doing this (and the reason I will keep doing it) is because I love what I create. It makes me happy. And that's enough.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll leave you with one of the projects I created for my Kaisercraft entry, using their new "Velvet" line. It's nice, but it's not "me."


I do really love the flower I created using a strip of black lace and a Gluber.


I doubt this layout will ever be in my scrapbook...I think I can do something with this photo that I'll love much more. Maybe something simple...

98 degrees...

...and I'm not talking about my favorite boy band. It's definitely summertime. Time for tank tops and seeking out that last bit of shade wherever you can find it.

Here are a couple of summery projects I did for the May issue of Scrapstreet, featuring SRM Stickers:


I used the For the Record collection from Echo Park, which worked perfectly with these photos of Cecily planting her geraniums.

Next up is a card I gave to a sweet friend of mine.

That strawberry sticker makes me crave chocolate. But honestly, I pretty much crave chocolate all the time anyway. It's not the sticker's fault.

In other news, I had a great time over the weekend at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. I go every year with my friend, Jenn, and it's always a fun day of shopping and classes. But this was my first year to actually teach a class -- definitely a different experience, but a fun one. Thanks to the 40 people who took my class this year. Hopefully you enjoyed it and learned some techniques you'll use on future projects. And a special shout out to Imaginisce for sponsoring my class and loaning me i-Tops, i-Rocks, Petal Rollers and i-Bonds for my students to play with. Do I really have to ship them all back? (Just kidding...they're on their way. Promise!)

I did manage to take one class this year, and it was a great one: a Postage Stamp Collage taught by Jenni Bowlin herself. I loved meeting Jenni -- she is as sweet and down-to-earth as I imagined -- and I bought a ton of fun stuff at her booth, including this fabulous stamp:



And this one, which we used in the class:


I also fell in love with the ink pads and paint dabbers, so I picked up a few of those.

Epiphany Crafts was there, too, and the booth was hoppin'! It was fun meeting Cathi (who I've known via email and Facebook for the past two months), and she was kind enough to give me a couple of new tools to play with. Love working with Epiphany!

Next project: a major purge of my scrap room with a little reorganizing. It's definitely time.

Reasons I'm Extra Happy Today

1) It's Thursday. Which means tomorrow is Friday. And I'm only working a half-day on Friday because...

2) I am teaching at GASC on Friday and Saturday

3) And shopping at GASC on Friday and Saturday (cha-ching!)

4) The Little Yellow Bicycle layout I posted on Monday was one of the three winners of the LYB
challenge at 2Peas. Woot woot!! Check it out here.

5) I finished my layout for the Imaginisce June challenge on time.




There are bits of Splash Dance, Happy Camper and Berrylicious all mixed together on this layout. Plus a Spellbinders die-cut that I sliced in half to go along each side.

It's a fun challenge...so many ways you could go with it. You have until June 25th to play along and create your own entry to win a prize pack valued at $75, so check out all the details and enter here.

I'll be back on Sunday with a recap from GASC. In the meantime, enjoy what's left of the short week!

Charmed

I've never been much of a jewelry-maker -- my man-hands don't work well with tiny jump rings and itty bitty beads. But I received some charm settings from Epiphany Crafts and they were calling to me.

I dug out some scraps from Echo Park's Be Mine and the sticker sheet from For the Record, and soon, I had repurposed an old charm bracelet into something fun and new:


I liked it so much, I decided to make some matching earrings. I found a "Fancy Earring Findings Set" at Joann (on sale this weekend!), so all I had to do was put a jump ring onto the charm and slide it onto the hook.


Silly me...I showed them to my mom and she decided to keep them. Guess I'll be making another pair!

Thanks for stopping by!