. . . and still ANOTHER condensed CHA Report

I was totally FLOORED by the displays at the Jolee's Jewels booth . . . these were in a contest sponsored by Jolee's and were totally magnificent examples of Swarovski Crystal creations . . . I totally feasted my eyes on these beauties and more! Please click on these images to see the enlargements of all the gorgeous beadwork!!!!

What an thrilling week this has been! I'm totally fortunate to have been able to view and participate in this extravaganza!!!!!!

Still ANOTHER condensed CHA Report

Today was another exciting day at CHA . . . Suze

Weinberg demonstrated her famous UTEE and made a wonderful dimensional finish on her charm . . . the "glitz" you see on the background is deceiving . . . it's simply foil paper in the back . . . a trimmed Mona Lisa collage image . . . and she finished it off with sparkling Stickles on the corners . . . her own designer Stickles colors . . . I was so thrilled when she actually gave me her sample!! I LOVE Mona! LOL!!I was captivated by the Environmental Technology Inc. booth which had an Easy Mold made out of silicone rubber that could be put into the oven with the polymer clay in it . . . therefore, detailed and delicate shapes such as old skeleton keys can be made of polymer clay without fear of breakage while removing the clay from the mold before baking . . . how novel!!!!
Suzanne McNeill, author of Creative Dyeing for Fabric Arts published by Design Originals (it must be so new it wasn't on the website yet) . . . had a workshop using permanent markers on coffee filters . . . a cloth doll . . . and a silk scarf . . . everyone's came out differently . . . what fun!!!!
This sample is from the Creatively Green Metal Raku Workshop taught by Rebekah Meier and Barbara Matthiessen . . . Rebekah taught painting and metalwork techniques using tools from Walnut Hollow . . . Barbara Matthiessen is from the company Earth's Safe Finishes, paints and mediums that are environmentally friendly . . . I was amazed at the amount of pigment in the colors and, yet, they were "green" . . .

CHA had much to offer . . . I didn't get to see everything in detail, but what an exciting opportunity to be there in person!!! Wow!!!!

Another Condensed CHA Report

Today was another exciting day at CHA . . . I stood in line to do a Make It Take It at the Ranger booth . . . it is always so popular and the new Tim Holtz products are such innovative ideas!!! Here's a tag out of Grungeboard . . . he now has a Paper Grungeboard . . . the cutest and practical tiny stapler . . . new stamps at Stampers Anonymous . . . new Ranger products . . . many of his new line is SO new that I couldn't find a link to them except for the stamps and the Ranger products . . . he is UNBELIEVABLY talented!!!!! What a creative mind!!

Heidi Boyd, author of Simply Beautiful Beaded Jewelry, gave a workshop using hardware materials . . . like from the hardware store!!!! I just couldn't pass that up!!! Here we made a lovely necklace using stainless steel washers from Ace Hardware!!!!! They really look aesthetic!!!!! LOL!!!!

Amate Studios had a wonderful Make It Take It using their charm backings and the Suze Weinberg UTEE and Melting Pot . . . I love the way the gold swirled in the fuchsia color . . . it's really gorgeous in person . . .

Jolee's Jewels had another easy and beautiful Make It Take It . . . today we made a charm bracelet using the most adorable insect charms and Swarovski Crystals . . .

I have more photos to share . . . but it's getting late and I have to get up at 5:00 AM for a 7:00 AM workshop tomorrow . . . more to come!!! LOL!!!!

condensed 2009 cha report

I was fortunate to have been chosen to attend the 2009 CHA (Craft and Hobbies Association) Convention for January 2009 by Deborah Sandoval of Blended Palette Boutique this year . . . I was also fortunate to have been able to attend in workshops . . . the first one was with Patti Brady, talented author of Rethinking Acrylics: Radical Solutions for Exploiting The World's Most Versatile Medium . . . Among other skills . . . she taught us how to use the new Golden Paints Digital Grounds . . . the directions which are online . . .

The first scan is of a inkjet print onto the prepared Digital Grounds . . . I love the way it was simple to "trim" the transparency using a brush dipped in water rubbing gently on the areas I wished to remove . . . I added color to the back of the transparency with acrylic paint on the evening gown . . .
The second scan is the transparency on a colored and textured background . . .

What a thrill it was to be able to take a workshop with the famous and talented "Polymer Princess" Lisa Pavelka, author of the book Polymer Extravaganza and the successful DVD Polymer Clay Treasures . . . this complicated-looking brooch was amazingly easy to do . . . Lisa has also introduced a new line of her own line of products through JHB . . This adorable door hanger was a Make It Take It at the EK Success booth . . .

This elaborate looking earring by Jolee's Jewels was an amazingly quick and easy Make It Take It . . .

We totally had so much fun at Suze Weinberg's THE QUEEN BEE Hot Wax Stylus class . . . she kept us laughing all the time!!! It was to our delight that what appeared to be a complicated technique was totally fun and playful!!

Suze generously gave me permission to post our picture from her workshop on her blog to my blog . . . that's me peeking over her shoulder to the right of Suze . . .

I am SO looking forward to tomorrow for more of CHA!!!!!! LOL!!!!

Spritz . . . Drip . . . Splatter Technique

One of my 43 Yahoo Groups (Yes, I know . . . I must be obsessive/compulsive or something!!! Sheesh!! LOL!!!) . . . not all of which I am active, of course, had a second 120-page Technique Swap in February 2009 . . . the first one was AWESOME . . . I received 120 incredible techniques from 119 other mixed media artists!!! I decided to put my technique on my blog to share with others and for clarification to my fellow swappers . . . here's a photo of some of my pages drying in my craft room . . .

I made homemade color spritzers from 1 teaspoon Ranger Adirondack dye re-inkers and added distilled water to fill a 2 oz. spritzer bottle from Wal Mart I purchased for 50 cents each . . . I used a cardboard box to place my cardstock in for spritzing . . . DON'T ASK ME WHY!!!!! (Whadda mess I made!!!!!) Sheesh!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I spritzed the first color sort of horizontally into the cardboard box . . . I held the cardstock vertically to let the color drip . . . then placed it down flat when I was happy with the result . . . let dry . . .

I did the same with the second color . . .

I then made a "mask" by using my die cut machine to cut out a butterfly and lay it on top of my cardstock . . .

Next, I spritzed my third color over the mask . . . and splattered the darkest color by unscrewing the cap from the spritzer . . . holding the stem over the cardstock . . . and tapping the cap until enough color splattered onto the cardstock . . .

Then I removed the mask . . .

You may or may not need to use the "reverse" mask to guide you to add dimensional glue (Ranger Glossy Accents or JudiKins Diamond Glaze) to the image . . .

That's it!!!! Only 119 more to go!!! KIDDING!!!! I'M JUST KIDDING!!!! (sort of!!!) LOL!!!!!!

Other references for color spritzer recipes can be found at http://www.fredbmullett.com/ . . . go to COLOR . . . then go to CLICK HERE ADIRONDACK COLOR WASH CHART and http://timholtz.typepad.com/ . . . go to FEBRUARY 2008 . . . then to MARCH TECNIQUE CHALLENGE . . .

Have fun!!!!

Kreativ Blogger Award!!!! YIKES!!!!!

This has been a FANTASTIC year!!!! I'm so fortunate to have won another blog award!!! This one is from Sharon House on December 10, 2008!!! THANK YOU so much, Sharon!!!! The rules of this award are pretty straight-forward. I am to name 7 things that I really love and pass the award along to 7 deserving bloggers.

Seven things I love:

1. I love that fact that I was lucky enough to find dh#2 whom I wish to grow old with (he's say . . . what do you mean . . . you ARE old!!!! LOL!!!) . . .

2. I love the fact that I am descended from simple, hard-working people . . . I miss my parents very much . . .

3. I love my normal dysfunctional family . . . heck . . . if we were perfect, we wouldn't be human!!!! LOL!!!!

4. I love my in-person and internet friends . . . they have brought so much joy into my life . . .

5. I love to laugh . . .

6. I love to make art with friends . . . it's a social thing to me . . .

7. I love harmony in my life . . .

7 deserving bloggers I'd like to pass along this award to. It's such an educational and pleasureable experience to visit the blogs of others.

1. Zeborah Loray
2. Dawn T. Heath
3. Aparna Sordi
4. Snow Davidson
5. Sue Shute
6. Francine Groulx

7. Vicki Holdwick