Out with the Old

and in with the new!!!

Hi everyone!!!

Well fall is slowly approaching and you know, that means change is coming. I teach at a few local stores in my area and I had been doing a class called the Baker's Dozen. Well I am retiring that class and will begin offering a new class called The Card Shop Cards class in September. This class offers 3 cards, in the 5"X7" size with lots of layers, glitter, die cuts, embossing and more. Here is a sample of one of the cards in the first class:

 This new class starts in September, please check out my calendar page for more details.

Just had to share with you the new class news. LOL

Stamps used Sparkle n Sprinkle - Dahlia set 500
glitter- Sparkle N Sprinkle - Purple Mist
Sizzix Embossing folder
Inks - Memento
Flower - Sizzix
Tag - Spellbinders

I am submitting this card in the following card challenges:

Crafty Calendar - August Anything Goes 
Splendiferous Creations -  Flower Power
Brown Sugar – Green, Blue and White
Creative Corner - No.32 - Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge -  No. 20 - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts  No. 180 - Favorite Colors

Well I have a stash of new sets to go thru and start working up. Hope to see you soon. Have a great week.

Doggone happy

Hi Everyone
Today I sat down and started working on my Sparkle N Sprinkle cards for the month and decided even though I wasn't able to participate in the blog hop last week, I would go ahead and make a card that celebrates Our Furry Friends. I used dog stamps from a set that I recently received. These are really so cute, I thought I'd share the project with you.

The set I worked from is Dog House, set 168.  BTW that set is on sale right now, so you might want to snag it at its lower price..


 


Since I have three cats, they seemed a little put out that I made this dog card but they'll get over it. LOL

I decided on a step card and it turned out so cute. I love it. Also, directions to make this cute step card are here. It's really easy to make a step card, so I hope you try it. Well that is all I have today , oh, BTW, there is one more thing before I go......................

A few months ago I mentioned I had some news I would be sharing later on in the summer. Well, it's later on and I thought I'd let you all know what the new venture is that I've been preparing for. I am very excited to announce that  I will be teaching locally and because of the new venture I've just added a new tab here on my blog, right above, the current post. The new tab is called My Class Schedule. When you click on that tab, it will take you to another page that shows a calendar with dates showing the classes I have scheduled and where I will be teaching. By clicking on a date that contains an entry, you will get a pop up window with a class description and other information. Also by scrolling on down, right under the calendar, you will see pic's of class samples. The calendar will always be located under the tab My Class Schedule on that new page.

So, for those of you who live in the Greater Cincinnati area, I hope that you can join me in some classes that you might be interested in taking. Please remember to call the store and arrange to reserve your spot.

I am really excited about my new venture and I hope some of you local ladies can join me in some of my classes.Oh if you are ever going to be in the area, hope you decide to sign up for a class if there is something that you like and if our schedules coincide. LOL

Well that is all I have today for you.See you soon,

Stampaway Day 2 of classes............

Well day 2 at Stampaway came early for me. And some of you know I am not an early riser. But I dragged my butt out of bed, went to breakfast in the hotel and went over to the hotel for my first class. 8:00 a.m., what a time for a class. This class (Sheer Fusion) was with Nancy Curry and she always teaches a great class. After 2 hours and much fun, I learned to play with alcohol inks a little differently. My masterpiece was done. Its amazing that a few colors of alcohol inks, a couple of pieces of transparencies  a black piece of canvas board and some masking tape can give you a really cool piece of artwork.(Getting up for this class was worth it.)

OK on to class #2. Gaye Medbury was the instructor and she taught us how to make a book called Step it Up. This is another class that I loved. This book is really not quite done. It needs some additional embellishments but the book is together and I love he way it looks and it is really pretty easy to do this book, even though it really looks complicated.

This book opens to pages that are in a step fashion and when you reach the center, you will see a page that explodes open to reveal a beautiful collage.

Amazing how a few folds can bring a book alive and make it so exciting.

OK now it's time for class #3. The one and only Tim Holtz is the instructor. I waited in line for about 30 minutes while the class in the room finished and Tim could get in and get set up for the students who were eagerly waiting for his 1st class of the day. The first person I see is Mario checking all the bins that hold all the kits for the classes.

                                                                                                                                                    

Next I see Tim and his other assistants going into the classroom to get it set up. In record time the doors open and we are allowed to come in and take our seats.

Charmed Possessions is the name of the class. Class starts and we all get our kits for the first class.We will be making a pin and 3 pendants.

The pin

A keyhole pendant

The Heart Pendant

The Bracelet

I am sitting at a table on the left side of the room up front. We have a great table location. And we are all at round tables. The room is a large room and we don't feel like sardines, yea!!!!!!

After a fast 2 hours, we are done with the class, and we have all made 4 cool things and we all are sorry the class is over. For those of us taking the next class we get to save our seats and go outside while they set up the room for the next class. So we all take a break and go back in after the room is ready again.

The next class I wasn't sure I would like. What, not like a Tim Holtz class?????? Well I am not a person who journals so The Journey Journal just didn't sound like something that I would necessarily like but, hey, it turns out it is a great little journal, a book or whatever you want to call it, but it is too cute!!!!

So whats not to like about this little suitcase.

It just so happens it holds the journal, and the journal is only 2 1/2  X 3 1/2.

A gift from Tim and Stampers Anonymous (Thanks Tim and Ted!!) And yes we received a gift in the first class as well, a grunge board alphabet. NICE!!!

All in all, the classes that I took this year were great and really exceeded my expectations.

Next was the preview party at 7:30  Friday night. It was so nice, and I saw so many familiar faces, vendors and friends alike. I got back to the hotel around midnight carrying a lot of bags. Saturday morning I went back to finish up and got home at 4:15. What a wonderful weekend.

Here is a small slide show that I made for other pic's that I took along the way. Enjoy!!

Tomorrow I will be going to the Burlington Antique Show at the Boone County Fairgrounds. Since the temperatures have been so high, I am getting an early start. I will be meeting a few friends at 8:00 to try and beat  the heat. So stop back to see what I pick up tomorrow.

Well that is it for now, thanks for stopping and see you later,

Barbara

Altered States of Mind Retreat

Altered States of Mind is a club that meets at the store once a month for about 2 hours. A few months ago we all decided to have a retreat and hold it at the store and be together from 9:00 a.m. til 5:00 p.m.The date agreed upon was Saturday Oct. 17.  Carla offered to teach us a few things and we took her up on her offer. It was decided that we would make altered dolls, a water color transfer, and wire beads. So we all brought in the raft of things needed for each of our "classes" and so began our altered day of fun.

 Below are the photos of my dolls. I will post more later on the watercolor transfer and the wire beads.

ALTERED DOLLS

We all started out with wood blocks. I brought in about a dozen that were about 2.5"X3.5" and about 1.5" thick. Another size which was more square and larger was also made available to anyone. I made 2 dolls and used the size mentioned above. We then took porceline dolls purchased at the dollar store, and totally disassembled them and used the limbs and the heads.(To me this seemed so sacrilegious at first, as a child I would never do this to my dolls.) But the end result is so cool. After some paint, doll parts and ribbon and effemera, here are the end results of my creations.  

   

Its amazing how doll parts and various other items can really transform a block of wood. The altered doll on the left still needs a few more things before she is complete and the angel on the right still needs a halo, but this gives you an idea as to what I was up to on Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon,

Barbara
  
  
 

The Weekend at Stamplistic

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything but I have been really behind and I've been trying to get caught up. Here is the latest:

I had an opportunity to attend a class taught by Tim Holtz at Stamplistic, a rubber stamp store in Amherst Ohio. I received an invitation from Jennifer, the owner of Stamplistic, to come up.So I signed up for a class and went up for the weekend.

Day One

I left Ft. Mitchell, Friday morning and arrived at Stamplistic later that afternoon. Tim and his assistant, Mario, were already at the store for a meet & greet from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. What a great event that was. The ladies came in and sat down right next to him while he demo'd some distress techniques. These ladies were thrilled. After the meet & greet, we all headed to Jennifer's lake house for a grill out. It was great. We all got to get to know Tim and Mario better and we sat outside around a firepit to keep warm. It was a tad cool up on the lake.

Day Two

Saturday was Sweetest Day and neither Tim nor Mario was not familiar with that holiday. Tim thought Jennifer made that one up, but he researched info online, he read the story, and gave us the background on this day of celebration. So for rest of the afternoon Tim kept calling it SWEETNESS DAY and we kept correcting him, too funny. For those of you not familiar with this day of celebration, click here to read the story of the origin of the holiday.

Saturday was also the first day of classes. I got to work the 1st class. Let me explain how that works, all the students are given a paddle with a number on it, similar to one used by bidders at an auction. Then, as Tim explains a product, if the student wants to purchase the item, they raise their paddle and I write down their number next to the product name on a sheet of paper. We take the info to the front and start to bag up their requests and by the end of the class their bags are full of their goodies. Pretty cool. Everyone loved the ease at which this worked. In the second class I was actually a student and it was a great class. We made Raku and fragments from clay and used a host of other items that Ranger makes and Tim explained a lot of the properties of the various items. The class was 3 hours and that went by fast. We had plenty of time for the class though, it's nice not being rushed. Another nice thing,you do not need to bring anything to his classes (not even adhesive - a little private joke on this one). After class I went to the front counter and assisted Mara, Stacy, Jennifer and Bev getting everyone checked out and helped in getting the next group of class participants checked in. It was so busy.It was fun and the time flew. After the last class I went to Jennifer's house and crashed.

Day Three:

Day Three was a repeat of day two, with some students returning for more classes and some students taking their first class from Tim at the store. My plan was to leave at noon however that didn't happen. The store was slammed with one class leaving and another class getting set up. I also had to say my goodbye's to everyone.

So after helping everyone I left at 1:30. What a great weekend.

See you next time and thanks for stopping by,

Barbara

Flourishes

I just haven't had time since getting back from CHA to play or do anything. The other day I was browsing the blogs that I normally review and I saw the cutest Cinderella carriage. And for the life of me I cannot find where I saw it. So I put on my thinking cap and tried to recreate what I saw.

If you like the flourish stamps then you will be able to do this with little problem. The top card was my first venture into this. I stamped flouishes to resemble the base of the carriage and next I used the Nestabilities to cut the scalloped oval. As I positioned the oval my minds eye saw a baby carriage ,so I cut the oval to make the carriage look like the top was up.

 Next I wanted to make the "Cinderella Carriage" I used the flourishes stamps and built the base. Next I cut a circle and an oval using the Nestabilities. Then using a glue pen I traced all the stamped flourishes and added glitter. I added the glitter to the carriage part and wella!!!.....Cinderella's Carriage.

Hope you like these and thanks for stopping in.

See you next time

Barbara