Frame Full of Grungy Goodness

Here is my entry for the Simon Says Stamp Vintage Challange - Grunge. I took a dollar store frame and covered it in distress inked grungepaper and then glued on fragments covered in grungy Lost and Found paper. I decorated piece of grungepaper with various grungeboard elements and distress embossing powder. For a final touch I added some tattered florals cut from the Lost and Found paper.
Thanks for looking!

Unity Stamps Friends with Flair Blog Hop

I signed up to be part of this blog hop on Splitcoaststampers, there are 50 of us I believe. You can follow the trail at Unity Stamp Co. blog. I love Unity for their whimsical stamps and I love this new little stamp set Whats Shakin?...so freakin cute - I picked it up at Archivers during Scrapfest! I paired it up with some Cosmo Cricket Early Bird and Garden Variety papers - perfect!!!   So thanks for looking!

Scrapfest Videos and Review

I have been wanting to take a class from Tim Holtz since I started following him - maybe 2 years ago....but he had not come close enough to Des Moines, except for Scrapfest and last year I was recovering from surgery. So when it was announced he would again be teaching at the MOA, I was on it. I set my alarm for a half hour before registration, set my laptop next to my bed and tried to sleep - dreaming repeatedly of NOT being able to get into one of his classes. Luckily that was not the case and I was set for class at 10:00 AM on Friday Sept. 17.  WOOOOHOOOOOO.
     I headed up to Minnesota around 12:30 and checked into my hotel (See Post Why I Love the Microtel) around 4, then headed over to Scrapfest around 5:30. The registration line was fairly long but you could look at all the make and takes offered and the 7 Gypsies Tray Contest Entries while waiting - plus most of the other crafters were pretty chatty. After I got my Scrapfest badge I strolled through the bargain area, they had allot of 1.99 items -much of the same stuff they have in their stores - stamps, glitter, brad packages, small ink queues, stickers etc and lots and lots of Halloween  items. They also had quite a really nice few paper pads ranging from 4.99 to 24.99, some were some great My Minds Eye and Fancy Pants value packs.  I did not buy too much here, I find when I buy random dollar spot items I end up not using them. I am not a huge scrapbooker(though I should be!) and I tend to buy with a specific project or idea in mind so I do not buy much just because its a good deal and I did not come home with any of the pretty paper packs. Next I headed up to Archivers to shop, I will be honest - very disappointed that there were not any NEW stamps from Tim Holtz in stock. Absolutely nothing from summer CHA, I think considering that Tim is a headliner - they should be sure they have his stuff in stock! They also did not have any of the new Tattered Angels Glitz or Glam in stock. I even heard someone from TA expressing their disappointment in this. They did have ALOT of the new paper lines available which was awesome! While I had no trouble spending a good deal of muula - I would have spent significantly more had the new stamps or new TA been in stock. When checking out the Archivers clerk said it was a good thing to shop on Thursday because they were already getting low on alot of hot items and by Sunday the pickings may be slim. After Archivers I did a little shopping for my daughter picking her up a couple pairs of earrings, a necklace and a feather headband from For Love 21 - all for under $15! Then I was wiped so I went back to the hotel, drank a couple of beers and crashed.
    I arrived at the mall around 9 am Friday morning, went to get in line for a make -n-take for Tombow - then realized I left my badge in the van. When I cam back the shortest line was for Cosmo Cricket so I made a cute tag, Lindsey and Julie were working the line so that was fun - plus I had been featured in their facebook a couple of days earlier so we chatted about that for a minute. Then it was time for THE CLASS. AMAZING, WONDERFUL, TOO SHORT, LEFT ME WANTING MORE. We made an adorable little book, which I show in my video. From class we took home a couple of distress ink pads, an ink applicator, a mini glossy accents and a gold paint dabber - then when we left - WOW WOW we received  a package of elements grungeboard and a brand new not yet available package of Texture Fades - the snowman and the snowflakes no less....the one I was going to buy FIRST!  I had my picture taken and had him sign a couple of things and then off I went to the land of make and takes. First I got in the Tattered Angels line - super long but a great make and take and Heidi Swapp was working the line - cool beans. Then I did the make n takes for Unity Stamps, We r Memory Keepers and I thought someone else but I can't remember. Then I ate some lunch, walked around a bit but the lines were super long and I was tired so I went back to Archivers and shopped a bit more then headed home.
     I would say Scrapfest was exactly what I expected, no big surprises. I was pretty disappointed that they would not ensure they had the newest and most popular items in stock, and I heard this time and time again while waiting in line. Maybe next year they will do a better job or maybe postpone a week or two to make sure they get the product.I have an Archivers 5 minutes away and since there were not fantastic deals on the kinds of products I use, next year  my money would be better spent  taking some classes. I wiill also plan to spend two nights next year, the lines for the make-n-takes were long and there were a couple others I would have liked to do, plus I would have liked to have had some more time shopping at the mall and around Bloomington.
Please watch my videos showing all my goodies I bought, the project from Tim's class and  the make and takes.
Thanks!!!!

Scrapfest Haul Part 1



Scrapfest Haul Part 2



 

Compendium of Curiosities Week 15

This weeks Compendium of Curiosities Challenge on the blog Studio L3  is Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge. I decided to use my new Texture Fades that I received for taking Tim Holt's Scrapfest class. He gave all participants the snowman and snowflakes Texture Fades and a pack of elements grungeboard.
The background of my project is grungepaper embossed with the snowflakes, then inked with denim, pool, sailboat blue, pearl and silver alcohol ink, then swiped with a white pigment pad  to pop the snowflakes. The snowman is grungepaper cut with Tim's die, embossed with the snowman Texture Fade then inked with white pigment and Tumbled Glass and stamped with Chipped Sapphire using the snowman stamp. I also sprayed everything with perfect pearl water. The snowflakes on the frame are from the Seasonal Grungeboard package and inked the same as the background. The fragment is also inked the same as the background and stamped with Archival Ink.

Thanks for looking!

Pretty Pretty Name Banner for my Crafting Buddy

During CHA I won a  received a VERY generous package  from KI Memories and Two Peas in a Bucket containing the complete Posh and Enchanted lines - papers and every embellishment that went with.

My crafting buddy - my niece is quite the little crafter and whenever she comes to visit she loves to sit with me in my craft space and play with all my stuff. I LOVE IT!!  This last visit while we were downstairs making cards I called her my crafting buddy and I guess she was so please that several weeks later her mom was reading to her at bedtime and she told her mom how I called her my crafting buddy.....so sweet. Last year I took her to the One of a Kind Stamp and Scrap Show in Madison and a few of the vendors were amazed at how well she could color in images and make cards. She had the best time looking at all the products and projects, she had brought along some money and bought herself some Shimmerz Bling and some stickers. We will be going again this November.
The Enchanted line from KI Memories matches her room very closely so I made her a name banner and I will be making her a Auntie's Craft Buddy sign. Below is the name Banner. I cut the banner pieces from canvas and sprayed them with glimmer mist and homemade re-inker perfect pearls mist in greens, pinks and blues. The rest of the items are all from the KI Memories Enchanted line.

Thanks so much for looking - check back soon as I will have my Scrapfest Review and Videos posted soon.

Tim

Off to see Tim and make the tiniest project ever....lol. I will be sure to post a picture.

Why I love the Microtel

I am in my hotel room in Bloomington, Mn waiting for rush hour to end so I can zoom over to the mall and check in for Scrapfest. I am in the Microtel Inn - I stay here every time I come to the Minneapolis area - maybe once or twice a year. Actually I stay in a Microtel Inn everytime I travel if possible- I love the Microtel.
Why?
1. They are always spotless - I have stayed in maybe 5 or 6 different ones and never once have I seen a stray hair or even dust for that matter.
2. They are SUPER cheap.
3. See No. 1
4. The beds are very very comfy
5. The pillows are not too fluffy - I like flat pillows - I hate pillows in fancy hotels - they are too fluffy - I have to bring my own pillow when I stay in a fancy hotel.
6. See No. 1.
7. Very few children running the halls, or jumping on the bed in the room above me or babies crying - why you ask? - NO POOL!!!  don't get me wrong, I like kids - just not loud ones when I am trying to sleep. My kid is 18 and would now much rather have $40 more bucks to spend on clothes or whatever than a pool at the hotel. YEAH!!
8. Free Continental breakfast - nothing fancy - but free if I am up early enough.
9. You can get a Suite type room with 2 queens , a pullout, fridge and microwave for about $70-80 bucks a night. hard to beat.
10. See No. 1.