My First Workshop

It's time to schedule my first workshop...the theme, "Molding".  I'm going to show you the techniques I've learned about making molds.  We'll work with two different products and I'll explain what product works best for what type of object.  You'll make several molds for you to take with you and make castings from my molds that I've created and make projects with the castings you've created.  I'm going to hold two classes.  I'm going to keep the classes small, since it's takes much 1:1 time to really get the technique down.  If you've followed my blog, the picture frame and the frozen Charlotte will be two of the molds you can learn to make.

Dates: Saturday, May 7th and June 4th.
Time: 1pm-4pm
Cost: $32
Location: My home

email me to sign up.

Frozen Charlotte Necklace

I made another little project tonight with one of those mini boxes I bought at craft depot...the rectangular box that's about 1" x 2.5".  I first lined the inside of the box with paper from 7gypsies, "Paddingtron".  I wrapped the outside of the box with black and white striped washi tape.  I made a mold of a frozen charlotte (you can learn in my new workshop) and embellished her with the new tissue paper from 7gypsies, button and tag. I covered the surface of the box with mica.  I added a shank button on top, black seam binding ribbon bow and a chain and I've got a necklace.

Friday Shopping & Creating

Unfortunately, Border's lost yielded me more reading material this weekend. Our Border's in Emeryville is closing, so all magazines are 40% off. This was my chance to stock up on a bunch of Stampington & other magazines.

I also went to Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley today.  They just got a new shipment from 7-Gypsies, love the tissue paper. I also picked up a paper pack from Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe Collection and also a 6"x6" pad from fancypantsdesigns, called "it's the little things". Some yummy things to play with.

I've been playing with picture frames lately.  I used the images from Sandy - her etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/onecrabapple.  Here's my latest creation.

I also hope to post my first project kits on etsy with in the next week. Stay tuned Valerie.

And lastly, here's the latest issue of Somerset Life magazine.

Here's my article. I must say, the photographers do a great job. Congrats Lisa on making the cover!

Haute Handbags Spring Issue

Yesterday, I was surprised when I got a magazine in the mail from Stampington, with a special note inside.  One of my purse projects made it into the Spring issue of Haute Handbags.

It was a purse I submitted long ago that I made from scrap chenille fabric.

The magazine should be on the newstands come April 1st. I'm so grateful to be able to have the chance to create and share my passion with others.

P.S. I'll also be in the upcoming issues of Somerset Life (Spring & Summer) and my daughter and I will be published in the new Create With Me magazine from Stampington! We're so excited, who would have thought this could be happening a year ago. Thanks to my family and friends for all your encouragement and support.

My Favorite Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Oatmeal cookies are one of my favorites homemade cookies. I've tried several recipes and this one is my all time favorite, from the Williams Sonoma Cookie book. It tastes great and it's simple to make - no mixer needed. Somehow eating oatmeal cookies doesn't seem like a guilty dessert, but almost something healthy.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups old fashion rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat over 350.
In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, then remove from the heat. Using a wooden spoon, beat in sugars.  Add the egg and vanilla into the mix.  Sift the dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour (I don't always do this).  Drop batter onto greased baking sheets and slightly flatten each mound.  Bake cookies 12-15 min. Enjoy!

Tonight, I also made this paper doll.  I found these cute digital images on etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/onecrabapple

Hodge Podge Book

Tonight I finished the Jenni Bowlin Hodge Podge book, it was her March project kit.  I used some of my own stamps and paper to embellish, in addition to the ones she provided.

 

 That was a fun rainy day project!

Scrapbook Expo - Pleasanton, CA

This weekend is the annual Scrapbook Expo in Pleasanton. I wasn't sure I was going to go until about 30 minutes before I left.  It rained all day today, which discouraged me from wanting to drive 35 minutes to the show. In the past, I've taken the day off and got to the show when it opened. This year, I didn't get there until 3pm.  It was actually nice not to wait in line and to get a parking space right up front. The crowds all seemed to have gone, however I could tell from the parking lot, that it was a busy day.

One booth sold something very surprising. At my local East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, I found these mini frames. You may remember them for a previous post. Well, I saw one booth with the same product.  I'm wondering if it's a coincidence, or they actually got them from the same place and packaged them up. The original image that I saw wasn't on them, but I swear that it's the same frame.

Here are the items I picked up.

I got some fun things to play with and since it'll be a rainy weekend, I hope to work on lots of projects.  Lately, I've been working on the Jenni Bowlin monthly kit using the Hodge Podge Book. My table is a mess of goodies.

Another Mini Box Project

I made another little project with one of the 1"x1" boxes I bought at East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.  This time I turned it into a house and added it to a vintage girl image.  I tucked a little bird inside and a pink ribbon around the box. Something quick & simple.

Weekend Shopping Up North

My daughter, Rachel and I are both into miniatures right now. Rachel likes to use miniatures for her clay projects and I like to use them for my mixed media work. My sister Diana told me about this miniature store in Novato, "Dollhouses, Trains & More".  http://www.dollhousestrainsandmore.com/about-dollhouses-trains-more We went up there Saturday morning and boy, was it worth the trip.

The store is really big and they had so many miniatures, it was amazing!  We had a ball there and must have spent almost 2 hours in there.  I can't show what I bought, since it will be used for my future class.

Sunday, I went out with my sister Lana back up North again...this time to San Anselmo and Mill Valley.  French Nest was our first stop - what a great store. http://www.frenchnesthome.com/

I picked up this necklace there, 50% off.  I love the thick chain of this necklace the most.

I wasn't crazy for the middle crown piece. So when I was home, I turned the crown piece over and embellished the other side.

I added a small bling piece with a piece of transparency and a pearl. There, I like it better now.  It's a good layer piece.

We hit a couple more antique stores in the area. I picked up this wire paper holder...got a good price and it will be great for holding my papers.

Lana picked up this wooden ornate mold...love it!

Then we were off to Mill Valley. We went to Tyler Florence's store.  Very cool store...kinda reminds me of a Williams Sonoma store.  Love the forks in the sign and the black and white striped awning.

They have this cozy book store section in the back.

I bought this chalk board there.  I just had to buy something so I could get one of his shopping bags.

Thanks Lana for showing me some great stores up North.

And last but not least, tonight I made another doll art from one of those small boxes I bought the other day.  This time I used one of the rectangle boxes, 1" x 2.5".  I stamped various images from Catherine Moore for the head, bodice and skirt.  I added black netting for the skirt.  I added a silhouette of a ballerina inside the box.  I love the shoes, it's from Paper Whimsy http://www.paperwhimsy.com/store/home.php.

East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse Haul

As some of you may know, I usually visit the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse every Friday. That's because I work @ home on Fridays and can make it to the store before they close.  Well, today being Friday, I couldn't wait to go. Today, my theme was mostly containers. 

I picked up lots of tin and card board box containers. The tin containers will be used for my first class...to be announced soon. The card board boxes are so cute, I couldn't pass them up. Tonight, I took one of the square ones and made it into a shadowbox necklace. I used the lid of one of the 1x1 inch box squares.

I added some shrink plastic body parts to the top and bottom of the mini box.  I used a house stamp from Anna Griffin to add to the sides and back. I filled the inside of the box with assorted embellishments and covered the top with some mica plastic.

I added a jump ring to the top of the head, so that I can add a chain for a necklace.  I added a bit of gathered netting to the bottom of the box, for a little skirt.  It's just a fun necklace to wear.

Made A Couple Cards Today

I just thought I'd share a couple of cards I made today. One is a simple thank you note card I made for my sister in law. She gave me a vintage typewriter that belong to her mother.  Isn't it cool?

It works okay. I need to buy a new ribbon. Here's the thank you note card I made for her.

Then today, I went out to 4th street, Berkeley again. I bought this cute stamp, "Fly The World" from Castle In The Air.  I couldn't wait to create a card with it. 

I inserted a shrink plastic girl in place of the little boy in the middle of the stamp.  I embellished the girl with a hat and skirt. I got the striped black and white paper from the new pad I bought from Crate Paper, Portrait Collection. I stamped a number 6 on the skirt - one of my favorite numbers, since I'm number 6 in the order of girls born. This "six" came from this set. I purchased from etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettyTape?ref=pr_shop. Unfortunately, she doesn't have it listed right now. It's so cute, the box is only 2.5"x6.25". I added the black tape in the upper right and lower left corner.

The card stock I used for both these cards came from CVS. It's from Paper Accents and it's 100% recycled paper. By the way, if you're in my area - Oakland - the CVS @ Rockridge has 50% off ALL craft items!  They're closing this store in June, so they're starting to discount everything. This CVS has a huge craft section too. My daughter and I stocked up on lots of goodies.

First person to leave me a comment, I'll send the "Fly The World" card to. :-)