CHA … People, Ideas, Creativity!

An action-packed day at CHA today as the doors opened and the craftivity began.

I’ll have a full report when the show ends and my head stops spinning! But in the meantime, live vicariously through me and these snaps of stamp people:

Hero Arts artists Nancy Taylor and Sally Traidman are all smiles and flowers as they get everyone bloomin’ at the Hero Arts make and take.

Posh-a-licious Dee Gruenig is all smiles… she and husband Warren have retired. Dee is considered a pioneer in stamping circles, having started her Posh Impressions stamp line more than 30 years ago. Many of her images can now be found through Judikins.

The charming Stacey Caron, the wizard behind Spellbinders dies, autographs copies of her new book, “Nestabililities Basics & Beyond,” a magical idea book using Spellbinders’ Nestabilities dies. The company also previewed several new products, including new Nestabilities  (I am lusting after the darling banner basics — so cute). Another new product is the Grand Caliber, which has a large platform, letting you cut several dies at a time, including larger Nestabilities.

CHA Teaser!

Hello! I have some sneak peeks at new items showcased at the Craft & Hobby trade show! Here’s a snippet:

(This machine from Xyron does it all — embosses, cuts, etc.)

Off to CHA!

I am off to the Craft and Hobby Association trade show! I am looking forward to seeing old chums, meeting new ones, and to see what is hot and exciting and new in the world of crafting!

In the meantime, here is a Valentine’s Day card I made for Rit Dye:

I used Crafter’s Pick Batik-EZ Resist Medium to stamp the hearts (the ones that appear white), then Rit Dye to color the pink and blue papers. I over stamped the curly heart (Judikins) and the saying (Fiskars) in black. The white embossed hearts (Fiskars) were stamped and embossed, cut out and mounted with foam dots.

For complete instructions, go to www.ritdye.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Flower Power

This must be my week for Hero Arts! Last Friday I posted some trashy treasures inspired by Hero artist Nancy Taylor. Today I have some pretty flowers, inspired by another Hero Arts artist, Sally Traidman.

Sally, who is in a flower frenzy using Hero Arts images to create fabulous felt flowers, used the Four Flowers CG290 set to create a beautiful necklace.

(You can see Sally’s necklace on page 32 of the current Hero Arts catalog.)

I am not quite that talented, so I settled for some flowered pins. And I was so impatient, I just stamped on whatever colorful scraps I had! But I think next time, I will try scrapping on some pretty pearlized paper.

I stamped the flowers, cut them out, used Glue Dots to put them together and added some Ranger Glossy accents to spice them up and make them sturdier. Then I just added pin backs.

Thanks, Hero Arts, for the inspiration!

Trash to Treasure

A month or so ago I had a chance encounter with the talented and lovely Nancy Taylor, long-time artist for Hero Arts. She had been cleaning out her late mother’s house and I was teasing her that all that trash she was tossing was not really trash, but artful ephemera waiting to be free!

She just rolled her eyes at me.  

Well, about a week later, I got a package in the mail — it was a bunch of stuff that Nancy and her sister were tossing away!  Truly, it was junk. An old booklet that came with a Crock Pot …  the insert from a long-lost eight-track music tape … some grungy old wire ties like the ones you’d find in the produce aisle… a length of twine…. an empty film cannister… a wooden box that probably held candy… and a torn piece of the movie listings from the local newspaper (circa 1980s!).

After I got done laughing, I thought, “Oh yeah? I’ll show you Nancy Taylor!” So I started to play.

The songbook was my first inspiration. I looked at it and immediately thought of some Hero Arts stamps I had never used:

Isn’t that song, “Sophisticated Lady,” a perfect fit for THIS sophisticated image?

(Besides the page from the songbook, I also punched some of the flower pieces from the envelope.) Here’s a close-up:

Here’s another from that songbook:

(stamped images from Club Scrap; Flowers by Prima.)

I’m working on the rest of the trash! Thanks Nancy!

Hmmm…. now what can I send HER?????

What trash have you turned to treasure?

Fabulous Finds Friday, New American Art Stamp

Another Fabulous Find from the Carson stamp show… a new designer and new images from American Art Stamp. These stamps are sassy and adorable! The new artist is Alece Birnbach. Check out this sophisticated sample:

Here are two I made:

(Sentiment is by Hero Arts)

Do you find it hard to stamp cards for teens? I love these scooter images — just the right amount of attitude for my nieces (I also made a set as a thank you gift for a colleague who rides a scooter… she LOVES them!):

And another version:

I can’t end this post without showing you Madison, the “baby” of American Art Stamp owner Robert Tepper:

Robert is shy, but I managed to snap this pic of the both of them:

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

On New Year’s day I realized I had skipped a few people on my holiday card list. It was obviously too late for Christmas (and Hanukkah was a far distant memory!!) but there was still time to send a warm sentiment wishing all a happy new year.

I pulled out an old (and I think retired) Hero Arts orchid image (which I love but have hardly used) and a new greeting (from a new clear set, Celebrate Everyday)  and whipped up a half dozen VERY simple cards:

Although it was a tiny bit tedious using markers to color the image, it took less time than I thought and was a nice, relaxing way to spend an hour! At the last minute I added some Stickles to the center of the orchids (which made me a little bit crazy because I realized I couldn’t stuff them into envelopes right away… I had to wait for the Stickles to dry.) But they went out on Monday, so it worked out fine.

Come back Friday when I will show off some fun new images from American Art Stamps.

And from my stamp room to yours — hope 2011 is a good year for everyone!