Great American Scrapbook Convention

The annual Great American Scrapbook Convention is in town and these past two days have been a whirlwind of excitement. Yesterday I attended the 12-hour crop (actually was only there ten hours as the friend I went with had to get home early) - one of my first crops and what an experience! The creative energy in the room was fantastic and everyone was having a great time. I didn't get as much finished as I'd have liked, but learned alot - especially about how to prepare and pack for that period of time away from my personal craft space!

Today was shopping day and I arrived just after the doors opened and left just before closing. Tim Holtz was the main attraction and he was swamped with admirers all day. I went there as soon as I entered and his demo table was already several rows deep in women. Every time I went back (yes, I did serious damage in the Stampers Anonymous booth and was there three times!) it was the same. I did, however, manage to get this photo of "the man" doing his thing and got my copy of his new book autographed.


And here's poor Mario - I don't think he ever emerged from behind the cash register!

I was so busy looking at everything and shopping that I forgot to take many photos. Here's one of a little chandelier in the Crafty Secrets booth that I'm totally smitten with. Look at those cute paper cupcake holders on the lights - isn't that just adorable?! (Oops, looks like one fell off.) In fact, their entire booth was adorable and filled with awesome samples and products. Love that place!

And here's a super cute idea using scalloped circles to make a 3D pumpkin.

Tomorrow is R&R (rest and relaxation) for me before I return to teaching classes this weekend and next week. My mind is spinning with all the creative stimulation - so many ideas and so little time...

Anthologies Connection

It's June 1st and you know what that means...reveal day for the current month's kit at Anthologies! This kit is called "Take Flight" and includes papers from the Queen Bee collection of Pink Paislee, along with lots more fabulous goodies. Did I spy some screening, a wine cork and some funky yarn in those boxes? Fun, fun stuff. Check it all out on the Anthologies website here, order your kit before they are gone and spend some time perusing the fantastic gallery of projects created by the Connections Design Team this month!

I'll be MIA for the next few days. The Great American Scrapbook Convention is in town and I'm off to a 12-hour crop tomorrow and shopping on Thursday. Can't wait to see what's new - hope my pocketbook can stand it!

Let us Remember

those brave soldiers, past and present, who sacrifice so much so that we may be free. Happy Memorial Day!

Inspiration Challenge

I'm down to the wire again! I'm participating in an online "inspiration challenge" mingle which is due the end of the month. Well, technically I guess I have one more day...

The original inspiration piece was this darling ruffled flower pillow. I love the color combination and the flower.

Here is the project I made for my partner. It's a small chipboard hanging painted "Tiffany blue" and covered with two coordinating cream, brown and blue patterned papers. I used my new EK Success border punch on the center border and stamped some flourishes. The C monogram is pearl art metal embossed with the Cuttlebug and mounted on chipboard. The flower was made with several layers of sewing pattern tissue folded in a strip and then cut along the folded edge with my new Martha Stewart fringing scissors. The strip was then coiled into a flower shape and glued to the monogram.

Gotta get this in the mail!

Craft room and storage

I'm always looking for new functional and pretty ways to store my stash of supplies. Here are a few I've gleaned from different sites - I have mentioned the source if I know it.

Here's a cute and easy ribbon storage idea from Amber at Givers Log using an assortment of candlesticks.

Check out this wonderful embellishment storage - I believe it is 6' tall by 4' wide!

Love this idea for storing lever punches using a curtain rod. Wish I had more wall space!

Jars of goodies stored in an old wooden soda crate (scrumdilydilly.blogspot.com).

Check out this beautiful old library card file. Susan at westcoastcrafty.wordpress.com stores her jewelry findings in this!

Another great ribbon storage solution using wire baskets hung on the wall. (Pretty too.)

A very functional way to store buttons and tiny embellishments using the inexpensive plastic "floss containers." I like how the boxes are labeled!

And one of my favorites for storing craft paint bottles (momto2GRITs at 2Ps) using two wire racks held together with ribbon and hung on the wall:

Hope this gives you some clever ideas for storage.

Art-O-Mat

What is an Art-O-Mat? It's an old vending machine refurbished to dispense small works of art by various artists! There are many locations throughout the country where these can be found, but I just discovered that one location is just a few miles from where I live and is actually in the town where I previously lived, Keller, TX! (So, any locals reading my blog, check it out!)

You can find out more about this clever idea at www.artomat.org. As for the Keller location, it is called Art251 (www.art251.com) and is in the Keller Town Center (251 Town Center Place). As I understand it, there is a size limitation (it's in a vending machine-duh) and most are priced at about $5. What a great way to support artists and receive a tiny work of art in return. I can't wait to see this firsthand!

Sharing

Here are some random vintage ephemera images for your use. You can click on each image to enlarge, then save to your computer. If you use these in your artwork, I would love to see what you do with them! Emjoy.