A week of possibilities....

This week has been awesome.

Even though the weather man was wrong (again) and snowmagedon didn't hit northwest AR. Even though I've stayed up way too late most of the week and my booty is draggin'. Even though I accidentally kept 3 RedBox movies out way more than the 1 night I intended and it cost me $25.

Wanna know why this week was still so epic?

This is why:

YES!!! I received an invitation this week to join the online magazine Scrapbook News and Review as a creative contributor and writer. 

I'll be honest with you my friends, as someone who sees herself as always falling short of "perfect," I didn't expect to actually receive an invitation when I put my application in. BUT...as many of you know, my One Little Word for 2013 is "NEW," so I am determined to continue to try new things, in spite of my fears and insecurities. And look what that step got me. :)

I'm excited for the challenge ahead and can't wait to get creative!!

In other news......

I'm trying something else "NEW" this week!

I've never entered an online contest, but when I saw this one on the Helmar Adhesive I completely fell in love with it!

Ok...so it's a card sketch and since I'm not a card person, I decided to make this mini album with a hand stitched binding. It's simply 1 5X8 sheet of Kraft Paper and 2 sheets of cream cardstock the same size. They are folded in half, holes punched at the crease and Canvas Corp hemp weaved for the binding.

I was ssssooo excited because this project allowed me to finally use two Embossing Folders (a wood grain and honeycomb) and a Big Shot Butterfly die I bought recently from Stampin' Up. I ran my Canvas Corp Chocolate Corrugated Cardboard Butterfly through my Big Shot using the wood grain embossing folder to give it A LOT of extra texture (a little trick I learned from a Tattered Angels friend.) I splattered my butterfly with Tattered Angels Glam in Camel, Old Pages and Blue Suede Shoes. I also ran my aqua wood patterned paper through the same embossing folder.

I used Tattered Angels Glaze in Oil Slick for the splatter and Glaze in Saffron (my FAVORITE Glaze.) The White Damask background pattern is actually Canvas Corp's White Damask on Kraft sprayed with Mallard Glimmer Mist. (a little known fact: the soy based white ink Canvas Corp uses on it's white on kraft products acts as a resist and will give you that great POP of white off of whatever Glimmer Mist or Simply Sheer you use!)

Other accessories are Tim Holtz mini cards covered in Camel Glam and 7Gypsies metal studs.

I hope you enjoyed my little project. 

Until next time my friends...Get Caught being Creative!!

Winter CHA 2013 Recap!!

Last month I had the AMAZING privilege of attending my 2nd Craft and Hobby Association show...my first in Anaheim! 

If you've never had the opportunity, the experience is just beyond words, but I'll give it a try. :)

I was honored to be asked to work in the Canvas Corp Family booth, plus make a few projects for the booth.

Prep for CHA was a little (or a lot!) crazy! CHA moved the conference up about 2 weeks, so there was so little time between the holidays and the show to make projects and get them ready for the booth to ship. BUT...we go it done!

Here are a couple of my projects for the booth:

We had a "loose" dress code for each day of the show, so I had to plan my packing carefully. I tend to a be a HUGE over packer and this trip was no different! LOL

This is how I travel:

Houndstooth Skinnies, Black tall boots, black tunic and leather jacket.

I don't fly often so I'm still a little "kid in a candy store" when it comes to traveling by plane.

Fancy!! TV in flight!!!!

I have no idea where we were when I took this!

We landed in Anaheim! I was like "Get our of my way people!!"

This was the beautiful drive to the convention center...don't let the sunshine fool you. It was COLD the whole time. NOT the California experience I was expecting.

We went straight to the convention center and was greeted by this:

This was the first time all three companies shared a booth (Canvas Corp, 7 Gypsies and Tattered Angels.) I LOVE this sign that says it all:

The booth was a very unique...it blended all three companies, plus had "studio" space to give store owners a look at new and unique ways to use all three products.

I had the chance to wander around and see some of the other vendors. There are some FANTASTIC new things coming out...here are a few of my favs!

So cute!!! Technique Tuesday (as always!) had an amazing assortment of new stamps!

Who doesn't LOVE Authentique? This is one of their new "mini" lines.

Pink Paislee has gone Luxe! Think metallic golds and silvers and amazingly fun patterns.

This was my my FAVORITE mask from Clear Scraps. I want to Glimmer Mist with it sssoo bad!

Great abstract and background stamps from Hampton Arts.

As much fun as CHA is for seeing all the new products, it's the people you meet that really make it so fun and memorable.

My birthday twin, inspiration and fabulous friend, Cheryl Boglioli. She is an amazing talent and I am excited for future projects we have in the works!

Stopped by the Project Life Booth and met this fabulous lady! Becky Higgins was so sweet and gracious...plus I made my 2 sisters-in-law super jealous! LOL
(What is up with my hair tho!?)

I met some of my instafriends!!! (L) Lindsay Bateman and (R) Maggie Massey (AKA Midwestern Girl) are both amazingly talented girls who are part of Heidi Swapp's Media Team. They really are just two of the sweetest people you will ever meet. And did I mention GORGEOUS!!!???

My Canook friends, Trisha Ladouceur and Leica Forrest.

This is my favorite picture from the trip. It just shows that creativity does bring people together!
From Left to Right: Nic Klopper (South Africa) -ME (Arkansas, US)-Trisha Ladouceur (Canada)-Leica Forrest (Canada)-Justin Quinn (Utah, US)

.

 So...that is my trip down Winter CHA 2013 Memory Lane.

It is really is as amazing as you would dream it to be and then some.

Until next time my friends....

Feeling Springy!

Here is Arkansas, our weather can not seem to make up its mind!

In the last week our temperatures have varied from 14 degrees to 67 degrees. I think our state forgot that it's winter!

These warm temps have me dreaming of springtime fun, so I decided  I was going to jump the gun and make a little spring home-dec project.

For this Project I used: Canvas Corp's 10X10 Chunky Stretched Canvas, Burlap Pocket Shape, Easter Sampler (not released just yet!)Mixed Media Glue and some misc Canvas Corp patterned papers. From Tattered Angels I used Glimmer Mist in a Blue that I can't remember the name of (WOOPS! LOL) and Leap Frog, Baseboard in Ivory and the NEW High Impact Paint in White. (Other supplies are a little bit of Krinkle, floral wire and foam, random buttons and May Arts ribbon.)

Here's a couple of close ups of the background:

I used the Blue Glimmer Mist over the entire surface of the canvas and honestly, after I did it, I thought "That is way too bright!" So I took my Baseboard in Ivory did light spray over all of it and then a few heavier sprays. I did this while the blue was still wet so that it would give it more of a watercolor feel and less harsh lines.

For the clouds, I used 1/2 flat brush and the Tattered Angels High Impact paint. (I'll give you more info on those later in the post!) Once again, I did this part while the background was wet to avoid harsh edges. It really is just a "play with it" kind of thing. For the larger clouds, I made my base cloud and then added more paint where I wanted highlights in my clouds. 

(Note: White Acrylic paint mixed with a little water will give you a similar effect.)

For my grass, I poured a little of my Leapfrog Glimmer Mist on my Pink Tattered Angels mat and starting from the bottom of the canvas, drug my paintbrush up. (The one thing I remember from elementary school art "Grass grows up, so you should paint it that way.") To make the variations in the green, I added a little High Impact paint next to my pool of Leapfrog and then just picked up a little of both in difference amounts. 

The rest is all in your creativity! You don't have to use the sampler I used (the flowers were made using an Accu-Cut die cut machine.) You could use flowers cut from your Cricut or Spellbinder or whatever your die cutter of choice is!!

Wants some more info on the High Impact Paint? 

Debuted at the Winter CHA Show in Anaheim, these paints are ready to revolutionize any Tattered Angels fan! They come in 6 metallic and 6 basics and although they can be used along (like in this project) their main purpose to allow the artist to begin to CUSTOMIZE their current and future Tattered Angels paints.

Love the color Rosey Simply Sheer in the Plain Jane Collection, but you need it to sparkle? In a separate sprayer (or a small mixing container if you are using a brush), just add your Simply Sheer and a little of your choice of the 6 metallic colors. Voila! You have your own unique color!

 High Impact paint is compatible with the entire line of Tattered Angels paints. Can you tell that I am super excited about this!!?? The possibilities are endless! (Now if it was just the end of March so they would be ready.) 

Kylee on Fri-Dee

For those of you who stopped by on Monday, you saw the Valentine banner I made.

Well, my 5 year old (Kylee) has a love for crafting just like her mama so she decided she needed to make a love banner, too.

Thanks for stopping by and remember...each day...get caught being creative!!

Monday Love!

With Valentine's Day only 10 days away, I decided our house needed a little crafty love!

I dug through my stash and came across some left over paper from a class I taught last year using Canvas Corp's Valentine line. I LOVED the cream, red and black and decided we needed a Valentine banner!

I used from Canvas Corp: Diamond on Ivory, Red Ribbon Stripe on Ivory, Love-Amour-Amour Sampler, Red Damask on Ivory, Ivory Love Script Reverse, Ivory Love Newsprint (not pictured above), Black Cardstock, Red Mini Dot Reverse on Ivory, Mixed Media Glue, and Small Clothespins in Natural. I also used Red Glitter Cardstock from Best Creation  and wide lace & small black stones from Hobby Lobby.

This project also gave me a chance to use my early birthday present...a BIG SHOT!! I also used Spellbinder's Labels Sixteen. I used the largest 2 squares for the base and background. I then used the next smallest, along with the "Love-Amour-Amour" Sampler to make the smallest squares. The small 3X3 squares on the sampler are perfect for getting a lot of patterns without wasting paper! I also fussy cut the word LOVE from the same paper.

Here are a couple of close-ups!

I LOVE using rosettes for quick dimension. I would be totally lost with out my Martha Stewart Scoreboard for making them!! The perfectionist in me loves how crisp and even they come out!! 

The Canvas Corp small clothespins were perfect to quickly clip my finished pieces to a length of wide lace, just to add a feminine touch.

And as always in my house....I had some helpers while making this project....

Hope you enjoyed today's project!

And remember...get caught being creative!!!

What's Your One Little Word for 2013?

New Year...New Me...

Well...it's been a while since I've been here, but that is all about to change!!

This year, I am participating with a lot of you in ONE LITTLE WORD!

I have decided that 2013 is going to be my year to rise above fears of failure and pursue...with passion...NEW things.

My first NEW thing for 2013 is....

I am VERY excited to announce that I will be launching my own teaching company called The Creative Life Studios!

You can contact me at thecreativelifestudios@gmail.com to schedule me in your studio or store!!

I am excited to be constantly trying new techniques, tricks and projects that I will share here on The Creative Life Blog.

More details to come from the Studio...until then my friends...get caught being creative!!