Life Happens - All at Once!

Life just got crazy busy this past month and I can hardly believe it's been over three weeks since I've blogged. So what has been keeping me busy?

First of all, the week of Sept 13 I flew to Albuquerque to babysit Drew and Grant for three days, then got home to teach class and left again to babysit Carl and Mitchell Friday night in Austin. (So thankful for the SW non-rev benefits!)

Drew finally ready for a walk - it took us 1/2 hour to get ready
and we only went 1 1/2 short blocks!

Grant is sitting up now

Carl is such a card - when you run out of things to paint,
paint your brush!

Mitchell learned to roll over and also put
his toes in his mouth!

 Once I returned, we were in full swing getting ready for the Little Blue House's sixth annual "Little Somethings" Workshop on October 3 and 4 - three sessions of three-hour workshops. Participants created 9 "little somethings" projects (stocking stuffers, little gifts suitable for co-workers or neighbors, a wearable, baked goods packaging etc.) We had 112 sign-ups and spent several weeks designing the projects, cutting papers, assembling buttons and ribbons and twine, creating 17 samples of each project and packaging 200 kits of each project! It was a success, but oh so much work. We were exhausted at the end!

Kitting in progress

Samples all loaded to transport to teaching venue

9 projects students made

"Lil Blue" vintage camper (aka mobile store)
we managed to get inside the venue!

Classroom set up

The LBH gals and Santa

On top of that, I had a full house of visitors the same weekend. Initially we were going to babysit Drew and Grant (from Abq) so Dana and John could go to a concert in Dallas and spend the night there. Then Kelly decided to bring her boys up to see their cousins and my oldest daughter, Kim, who also lives in Austin came with her so she could meet Grant! It was a full house!

With all that going on, I've gotten several weeks' behind on the Documented Life Project but am trying to catch up before life gets hectic again.

New Mixed Media Canvas

Here is my newest mixed media canvas class which I will be teaching this fall at The Little Blue House.

I used Echo Park's new fall paper collection, "The Story of Our Family." The colors are fresh and bright and very fallish without "screaming fall." It's hard to see in the photograph but there are mica products on the trunk and grass giving the piece some glimmer and shine. This was a fun canvas to create and I hope to be able to share it with many students soon.

All our new classes are on display at the store and we are taking signups even if you missed coming to our Open House yesterday. There are projects for everyone!

You're Invited!

The Little Blue House invites you to our

"Welcome Fall" Open House

Wednesday, Sept. 9

10:00 am - 8:00 pm

Free Make&Take from 10am-2pm and 6pm-8pm

We will have all new class projects on display and will be taking sign ups for

upcoming workshops!

And the House will be transformed with new Fall merchandise you will love!

Mark your calendars and join us anytime on Wednesday!

Be Inspired!

Join us at the Little Blue House on Friday, May 30 to preview our new summer buffet classes and a new series of "Be Inspired" workshops.  These workshops will feature new trending techniques - texture, stenciling, Ver Day, Cattle-ist leather, doodling, unique scrapbooking techniques, Hazel and Ruby masks, and Reverse Confetti stamping.  Each class will be offered four times - two day and two evening classes - with dates in both June and July, allowing flexibility to fit into your busy summer schedules.

Come join us for our 
Summer Preview Party 
at The Little Blue HouseFriday May 30th
10am-6pm
​We will be releasing
some NEW...
*LBH Buffet Projects
 *Be Inspired Summer Series Workshops
*Designer Paper Collections & other Goodies 
 

We will have FREE Make & Take for you to enjoy, Lots of Give-Aways & Yummy Refreshments all day at The Little Blue House! 

New "Loved" Layouts

My two new layouts for the LBH are now available, either as kits or buffet classes.  These were created with Mom and Dad in mind - one with a feminine twist and the other more masculine - but they could be used for any women or men in your life.

For her:

For him:

Stop by the LBH or call (817-431-7930) to reserve yours.

Don't forget my giveaway - keep commenting for a chance to win the Tim Holtz messenger bag!

Are you ready for Christmas yet?

The Little Blue House has been hopping these past few weeks! We've taught packed Buffet classes trying to get everyone's projects completed before Christmas.  Tomorrow is my last class for this year - sounds very strange!

Luckily for me I haven't had to prepare much for the holidays. Our family has rented a house in various parts of the country for the last five years and everyone comes to spend the time together. It's fantastic - no decorating, no shopping, no wrapping, no baking - just spending quality time with the family.  This year we are going to the wine country in Northern California for five days - my husband and I plus our five kids, two sons-in-law, one boyfriend and two grandsons. Can't wait!

Looking back through the blog, I've noticed that I never posted the holiday projects I created, so I will share them here.

Double-page Layout

Vintage Tree

"Family" Block Set

Project Premiere

Our Holiday Project Premiere yesterday was a huge success! Thanks to all who stopped by to see the new products, new class projects and to make the cute little candy boxes at the Make-n-Take. I was busy demoing the new WeR Memory Keepers punch boards for gift bags, candy boxes, square boxes and pillow boxes nonstop all day long!

I managed to snap a few photos of The Little Blue House before we opened the doors. Everything looked so pretty and festive. We even had Christmas music playing and lots of yummy Christmas cookies and punch.

If you happened to miss the special event, do stop by anytime to take a look at the fun class projects  we have created!

Tis the Season

It's hard to believe that Christmas is on it's way! Tomorrow we are revealing all the new Christmas class projects at The Little Blue House Project Premiere.  

Here's a sneak peek at one of my projects.  I can't wait to share all of my projects as well as the gorgeous projects created by the rest of the design team!

Stop by and visit The Little Blue House tomorrow

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Free make-n-take, refreshments and prizes!                       

New Fall Classes

I'm busy creating classes for the Christmas classes for the LBH Preview on Nov. 2 (next Saturday) and I haven't even shared the fall classes here yet!

This is the Halloween double layout, "Fright Night," I created using the gorgeous Halloween collection from Teresa Collins.

Crepe paper rosettes

A scary skeleton using Clearly for Art

And lots of washi tape!

 My spooky Mixed Media "Beware" canvas has been very popular. Everyone has had fun with all the paints and "lotions and potions" used on this project. I love that every canvas has come out just a bit different, but all great!

I also designed a new set of tags for our popular blocks and base set. These are non-seasonal and can be on display at any time. I used beautiful burlap fabrics and lace instead of the usual patterned papers. I love the simplicity of them.

Lace, pearls, twine and metal - a perfect combination!

These classes are all being currently taught at The Little Blue House, so if you are local, stop by to visit or call to reserve your seat!

After next weekend, I will be able to share the Christmas projects - right now they are all WIPs!

Art Journaling 101

Come join me at a new Art Journaling class at The Little Blue House!

The inner artist in you will love coming out to play at this fun workshop! Come explore the world of Art Journaling and you will enjoy learning lots of artsy techniques using all the latest and greatest lotions & potions!

When:  Wednesday Oct 16th
Time: 10am-1pm or 6pm-9pm
Cost: $20
Instructors: Susan Tidwell & Lynette Chiles

You will be required to have a Dylusions Art Journal (large one) for this workshop. If you sign up for the workshop, you will receive a 25% discount on your art journal if purchased at the Little Blue House. 

Dyan's "perfect" journal - a blank journal that features matte white heavy cardstock, ideal for the application of Dylusions Ink Sprays and techniques using water, inks, paints and mediums. The journal cover is made from sturdy chipboard and filled with 64 unlined pages for endless paper crafting creativity.

What to Bring:
*Dylusions Art Journal
*White Gesso
*Heat Resistant Craft Mat
*Heat Tool
1 in. Bristle Brush

*all available at the LBH

You may call or stop by the LBH to reserve your spot. Please let us know if we should hold a Dylusions Journal for you!

I hope to see you there! Lynette and I have lots of information and fun ideas to share with you. Be prepared to get messy and have FUN!

It's been a long time!

Almost a month to be exact! This has been such a busy several weeks - where to start?

I spent a wonderful weekend with my artsy girlfriends in Atlanta (one of the girls moved there a few years ago and we've kept in touch - she invited us all to her house for art time!).  We arrived on a Thursday and everyone left Monday late afternoon, except for me! I had to stay until Tuesday since I travel non-rev and flights were booked until then. (I didn't mind though!)

Karen treated us all royally. She drove us around town to several favorite spots - we visited the most wonderful stamp store (Impressive Ideas I think was the name - in Roswell), then Archivers and, of course, a few quick stops to local Hobby Lobby and Michael's stores, along with a few antique malls and shops. 

She had many gifties for us - totes made by her sister from Tim Holtz fabrics, an entire shopping bag for each of us filled with all kinds of odds and ends and goodies - and several projects for us to work on.

Handmade tote from TH fabric

Here are some of the fun things we created.

Tiny pincushion from a vintage mold

"Ghoulie spoolie" I'd seen on Pinterest and took supplies for all to make

Paper mache witch's hat

And our "big" project was this fun chipboard house which we each decorated with papers we brought. Three of us did a Halloween house; one was a spring house; one was Christmas and one Thanksgiving.  This was sold by Stampin Up several years ago and they took it off the market since it was very difficult for most consumers to make. Karen scarfed them up at a great deal on clearance and shared how to make them with us.  It took all of one long day for us to do and none of us are novices!  I still might put a little fence around the base of mine, but I've run out of time to fuss with it now. The windows have vellum in them and a little tealight sits inside to light up at night.

Love the bats coming out of the chimney

There was an abundance of laughter, reminiscing, girl talk and just the relaxing with good friends.

A fantastic time was had by all and we've vowed to make it an annual affair!

On my way home I stopped in Austin for a few days to visit this little guy. And then he also came the next weekend for us to babysit while his parents went to Chicago for a wedding. We love every opportunity to spend time with him. He's at such a darling age now - talking in short phrases and really cute!

Once home, I hit the ground running!  The LBH Fall Open House was held the Saturday while I was gone, revealing all the new fall and Halloween class projects.  So we started prepping kits in full force and teaching new projects. And now we are planning and designing Christmas for the Holiday Open House in early November!

Hopefully I will be able to blog more regularly now. I'll be back soon to share the projects I created for fall classes.