So it has been INSANE since I got back from my crafty vacation. I haven:t even had a chance to unpack yet!!

But I did get some happy mail while I was away. I got swaps from two of my partners - one a tag swap I was in and the other the next part of my Not So Secret Sister swap. So loved them both!!

So now I have to get motivated to get back into my craft room and get myself back to my regularly scheduled crafting program!!

Till next time - stay crafty my peeps!

Prima Marketing Inc. Design Team Call 2016-2017 Application

I have decided to try again to get on the design team for the amazing Prima Marketing Inc. I really love their products - even more so after being lucky enough to attend Prima Art Venture in Edmonton in 2015. I can't think of a single project that I don't have some kind of Prima product on and I would love the chance to get to play with more of their great stuff and to show it off to all my crafty friends.

My first area of creativity is the Craft Arena - Cards, Tags and Layouts.  Below are a couple of examples of tags and a layout I made showing my style and showcasing Prima products.  

First up is a tag I made for a doll tag swap - I have so much fun colouring the Julie Nutting dolls. They are so carefree and funky they just pop on anything they go on.

I make a lot of tags - this one is again for a swap. My partner loved it.

Layouts are something I really love to make - especially since I have so many photos of my adorable grandson. I love adding texture to pages now - a technique I learned at Prima Art Venture.

My second area of creativity is the Craft Arena - Home Decor and DIY. I love making projects to decorate my house as well as my store.

I was given a theme/set of items to inspire me for this project that was part of a design team that I was on at a local store that I shop at. It was supposed to be a 6 month term, but the owner unexpectedly had to close down. I loved the experience of being on a design team though and got to create this great project that still hangs on my wall.

My third area of creativity is the Craft Arena - Mixed Media and Altered Art. I think I do more of these types of projects than just about anything else. My walls are covered with canvases and most of my family and friends receive some type of altered art for gifts.

I create Mixed Media canvases quite regularly, and this one I made for a friend for her birthday. I used the new Memory Hardware Artisan Powders, along with the Relics and Artifacts and various sprays and flowers.

This is a mini canvas I made for myself, again using one of the Relics and Artifacts - the heart, and lots of Prima flowers.

As you can see I really love Prima flowers and I always add them to my projects.

Altered Art projects are really my favourite things to make. This is an altered CD and case I made again for a swap. It was a Steampunk theme so the new Finnabair Mechanicals Grungy Butterfliess were perfect. As were all the Prima Flowers - as always!

 

Many of my projects end up as gifts for family and friends - I made this piece for a friend for her birthday using the Prima Altered Metal Bike Frame.

As you can see I do a lot of swaps - I always sign up for the ones where you do an altered art or mixed media project of some type. I made this altered mouse trap that ended up going all the way to Australia! One of my favourite things about making swaps is sending them to my crafty friends all over the world.

My last area of creativigy is in the Craft Arena - Videos and Step by Step.  I have just started doing videos and am continuing to work to improve. I have been teaching various classes since I first started crafting and now that I am working on getting onto design teams. I am trying to improve my video and instructing skills.

This first video is of a project I created of a Fairy Lantern

My dress form tutorial was the first video tutorial I created.

I appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog and hope that Prima Marketing Inc. considers my application for their Design team. I look forward to continuing to use Prima's FABULOUS products for MANY years to come. Till next time stay crafty my peeps!!

So my crafting holiday is coming to an end. The last day of my crop was today and I got a fair amount done. Also got more visiting in - one of my favourite part of attending these events.

So I decided that my altered art project "LOVE" definitely needed bling - what is a project of mine without bling?!  I am very happy with the end result I have to say.

And I don't even have to take anything down at home to hang this up! I still have room above one of the hall closets!  

And as a bonus, I was able to save the third canvas that I had thought I had ruined. I now have a cool background to use  - and I even know what pictures I want to use. Just have to get them now.

Then I wanted to try out a technique that I hoped to do in one of my journals. Since I was winging it based on a photo I saw my cool friend Wendy from W2Scrapbooking do, I thought maybe I would try it out on a tag first. I didn't have the exact colours I wanted to use (I really liked her colours and they are at home) and I had no idea if it would work so the tag was a safe bet. And it WORKED!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the end result. Can't wait to do this in my journal now.

At this point the day was coming to an end, but I still had time for a couple things. Like most crops, there was another make and take. A really cute card that I will likely use for a future swap.

And to end the day, I did the last two page layout kit that I brought with me. Fun as always, though made me sad a bit cause it reminded me that this great company that I get these kits from has closed down.  I am definitely gonna miss them and their kits.

So now I just have to get my stuff all organized and packed so I can head home tomorrow - after I get a new tire!

Till next time, stay crafty my peeps!

So day two of my crop at Treasured Memories started out really great - then my day turned pretty crappy so not sure how I am feeling at the moment. I am glad I was with my crafty friends as I am not sure how I would have coped otherwise.

Got to Treasured and had a yummy breakfast and started creating. I did a layout using the photos they gave us from the photo booth the night before and all the paper in our goodie bags from night one - it was all 50's themed so worked great! I love how my layout came out.

Then we got our first challenge of the day - you were given an package and had to create something using everything in the package. I used what I was given in the package, along with paper and embellishments from today's goodie bag. This was what I came up with.

I didn't win, but I had fun - and it is easy to do something with pics of the girls cause they are so photogenic!!

Then I started working on an altered art project.  I started off by adding texture to both the canvases and the letters that I was using.

While waiting for this to dry so I could move on to the next step, I did a two-page layout from one of my Monday Night Class kits. I am so sad that these ladies have closed down their store. I adored their kits and I am going to miss them.  I loved how this one turned out. Great way to show off some of my Cuba pics.

Then my day turned crappy - went out to check for something in my car and discovered I had a flat tire! Thank goodness for my friends with AMA who got my spare on cause there is no way I could have. And the AMA guy said that because it was a side puncture the tire is toast. Not a happy camper I tell you. And then when I went to do the next stage of my altered art project, I messed it up! Didn't have the media I wanted to use and when I tried something else  it turned out looking horrible - well to me  anyway.  I had to take a step back, give my hubby a call to calm me down and work on something else for awhile. 

It was tough - because my crafting mojo was SERIOUSLY AWOL for most of the rest of the night, but I did get the next challenge page done.  I am not thrilled with the flowers and will likely change them when I get home, but overall not bad.

After this - and a DELICIOUS supper - I was able to get back to my other project and get it how I wanted it.  This is how it is so far.  I am working on adding more bling and flowers to it, but I have to say after the muck up I am pretty stoked that it looks this good!! And the canvas that I was unhappy with I started over by covering it in black gesso. And I like the effect that had so will end up with another canvas that will look completely different! So not bad I have to say.

So after a long day I need to head to bed - gotta get some sleep so I can enjoy my last crop day more than I did today! Till next time, stay crafty my peeps!!

So today I went to my first crop at Treasured Memories. I have shopped there lots of times, but have never been able to make a crop there - not sure why, the timing was always off I guess.

Well, the first day was a blast and I can't wait to go back and do it all again!!

First off, their crops usually have a theme and this months was the 50's! So Cathy and I went as Pink Ladies from Grease!!

One of the best parts about this? When I posted this picture to Facebook, one of my friend's comments was "OMG - you are Rizzo!"  Which of course was what I was going for so that rocked!! We didn't win the costume contest, but we did get honourable mentions, so that was cool.

Like most crops I have attended, one of the biggest things is the fab food. And of course Treasured didn't miss on this one. They actually gave us First, Second and Third Dessert! My husband asked if they thought they were Hobbits!! Lol

I did get some actual crafting done too. I finished the last of the stuff from the card/tag/layout kit that I started at the crop in La Crete. I only had the layout left and having such photogenic kids/grandson made it pretty easy. Having the layout pieces all cut out for me didn't hurt either! 

I also got another journal page done that was a LONG time coming!! I got this as a kit from my pal Dawn from THE INKED STAMPER and I have had it so long that I didn't have all the instructions for the kit, didn't bring all the right products, and didn't have a full picture of the page.  So I basically took what I had with me and what Dawn gave me in the kit and used her as inspiration and just came up with this for my end result. The top picture is the base of the page (just laying down texture and text and then gessoing over that). The second picture is the page after it was completed.  Pretty happy I have to say. And Dawn is pretty fabulous inspiration anyway so it wasn't hard!  I really love the end result I have to say.

So now I have to get to bed so that I can get up and start all over again tomorrow. So till then, stay crafty my peeps!

So my crafty vacation continues. Today was a hellish and a good day all in one!  First I planned on heading out to my friend Cathy's place out in Leduc so she could teach me how to use a Geli Plate. Sounds easy, right? Well not when you don't know the city that well and you end up getting completely lost on the way there. Now, for most people, this woudn't be an issue. For me though, who has major panic attacks when they get lost, it wasn't good!! In the end, I got myself back to someplace I knew and Cathy came and got me and it was all good, but over all I should NOT have been driving today as the city seemed to have it in for me!!

But it all worked out in the end because not only did I get to hang out with Cathy and get some creating in, I got some shopping done too and added to my craft stash.

Then after some more crazy travelling mishaps - like getting stuck in rush hour traffic after YET AGAIN taking a different exit than I should have - I went over to Scrap Addicts and got to take the Graphic 45 class. Not only did I get to make a Mother's Day card, I made this cute little box that has coasters in it,  Was really fun and I love the final project!

Tomorrow I am going to go hang with my gal Kassandra and she is gonna teach me some art journalling classes!  So till next time, stay crafty my peeps.

Day two of the Dyan Reaveley classes was just as - if not more - amazing than yesterday!!! Dyan is just one of the best teachers I have ever had the pleasure of learning from and she just made the whole weekend an absolute blast from start to finish!!!

I just cannot get over what a genuinely lovely woman Dyan is - so easy to talk to and so full of wonderful creativity that she so willingly shares with all of us fans!

So day two started with a mostly different bunch to sit with - but a really great group. Everyone was so excited to start learning more.

Not quite as full as yesterday but everyone still raring to go.

So we started the day with a recap of yesterdays techniques, so of course my hands ended up all inky again. So loved that - a sign of a great crafting weekend is crazy coloured hands!!!

Then Dyan taught us that we all can draw! Who knew?! So fun, as was doing all the stamping on the page. I learned all kinds of really cool new ways to stamp and decorate a page. Cannot wait to try this in my journals.

We also learned how to use masks when we stamped so that we could do a layered look.

And we used shapes to give another totally different look to a page.

Then in the afternoon's class we learned how to make all kinds of extras, like hidden pockets, regular pockets and cutting into our pages/journals to insert tags in tons of different ways. And I was having so much fun I forgot to take pics. But I had several pages from this class that I have to do more to so I will take more photos later and add into a separate blog post.

But I think there are a couple of things that were my favourite parts of the day. The first was seeing that Dyan shared my blog post that I posted to Facebook! So cool. 

Then, myself and others in the group I was sitting with gave her a suggestion for a Ranger product and she said if she does end up doing it, she is going to give us credit. Now how cool is that?! I won't say any more cause I wouldn't want to spoil it, but I really think that would be cool if she did that for us. Just one of the many reasons to love DYAN REAVELEY!!!!!

Sadly though the day had to come to an end, like all good things do. It really was even more phenomenal that I could have ever dreamed of!! Dyan said she will come back next year and I think I will start counting the days and saving my pennies so I can do this all again!!!!!!!

Till next time, stay crafty my peeps!!