Crafter's Retreat

I finally used that cork! and those stickers! and it looks
AWESOME

bonding with grammaD and increasing flexibility too



Rainie, my mom, and I were able to attend our first overnight crop together. My friend Lynn from church got me in with this group and this is the second time I've taught at their retreat. Now that my oldest daughter is nearing 5, she's to the point where an all day, 24 hour craft sesh (or two) is not unappealing to her, and with her level of endurance I knew she'd be up for it if the other ladies wouldn't mind her being there. After we got the okay, sent in our reservation fees, and confirmed our plans with dad, it was all she could talk about. In fact she was so excited that it made me excited to go all over again each time the subject came up. The idea of letting grandma make us breakfast while we made cards first thing when we woke up in the morning just delighted her (and I). 


CraftWithAnna TP Roll Mini Album by Barbara

I had also sent out an email offering the recipe for a fun CraftWithAnna class. I kept it a surprise, but it turned out to be Toilet Paper Mini Albums. These are really cute, economical to make, and hey it's fun to save the toilet paper rolls and pretend you're going to do something with them. Rainie would be teaching her first public class, TP roll Owls, made with a variety of circle punches and those same multi-purpose  cardboard tubes.
Her class was a hit, but her favorite students arrived just after it concluded- so she got to do it again! My aunt Lisa and her mom, Ivy made the trek to join us at Valley Camp above North Bend. The scenic location offered us some beautiful fall backdrops and we went on a family photo shoot walk before lunch. All of us out enjoying the brisk breeze as it swirled cascades of autumnal toned maple leaves in every direction. Now that we are all sporting less than shoulder length hair, that didn't bother us too much but Rainie's long strands kept blowing around her face. Coupled with her bright blue eyes and the corduroy jacket she sported, the photos I took are going to be really fun to set on patterned paper. Hmmm, maybe the left overs from the upcoming November EmbellishKits.com 2, double paged layout kit will find a home? I've got pictures in mind for the two pages that directions are provided for, but before I get into November's goodies, I'm going to make some wedding cards with the August 2014 cardmaking kit, which features beautiful black, white, and woodgrains from Simple Stories. I've been doing a fair amount of facebook stalking and unauthorized saving of pictures of my families when they post, and I hope to use that kit's dazzling array of die cuts to embellish a wedding themed mini album for my cousin Lori.
I'm falling behind a bit on my project list as I anticipate an upcoming craft fair I've committed to. Good thing I've got those handy planner pads and note pads from WriteItDesigns.com to keep track of my obligations! I finally decided it must be the pressure of having my art judged under holiday wanderers that keeps me from getting anything done... but I was able to create enough cards this weekend that I no longer feel the need to make my products fit witin a 4.25x5.5" perimeter.  After today I'll be focusing on getting the tools part of my display set up, the card rack I've never used, packaging all my cards and stuff like that, so I'll be hard pressed to finish the edit on my kit preview videos. But if you're a subscriber on YouTube, you'll get first rate notification on all my latest releases. So just do yourself a favor and hit that red rectangle next time you're watching a CraftWithAnna video.
I hope to find a few moments to dabble in Mixed Media canvas'... as if my list of to-do's isn't long enough, I want to throw in some modge podging lol. I'd better get started for the 15th time today...Until next time, friends~ Stay Crafty!

 

We're crafty and we know it!

 

 



Here's a paper sampler that's so cute, it's SCARY

Sunny Sunday

Sunday was bright and sunny at our house this week, I had a lot of time to play with the kids, who have been obsessed with gelato of late. In the afternoon Ray took Rainier out to work with him and Sunday and spent a lovely couple of hours crafting on the floor- can you spy what we created together? Watch for some dang awesome developments in my rise towards CraftDiva SuperStardom....

But first, yesterday I posted this (slanted) pic of a beautiful monochromatic scrapbook page I made at the end of Sunday. Using some pieces from the S.E.I. Alpine collection, I also mixed in some Creative Memories paper- after 10+years these thin, double sided, 11.5x12" sheets are still hard for me to use because they are so pretty! But paired with the beauty captured in these photos... a winning combo, and the short side inspired the square of color inside that gold cardstock mat.

See how I layered embellishments to bring focus around the page in a visual triangle? And that I included journaling before I put the page away in my album?! Lately I've been working on my classes for the cruises I'm offering next year, and those embellishment cluster tricks I've learned over the years are being set to paper- literally! If you struggle with journaling, you're not alone; I've found that if I don't put my pen to print soon after the page is complete, the space I've allocated will likely remain blank. No Bueno!
 

If you missed the review videos created for EmbellishKits.com this month, you can click here and the playlist should start up for you. Thanks for popping by!

Michael's Haul and Projects!

I'm really excited today to be posting my latest video, a Michael's shopping trip and what I've made with the stuff I've bought!




I love working at Michael's in Gig Harbor, the store is so clean and bright and the scrapbooking section is close to the front of the store so I can still see outside. This really helps because otherwise time disappears when I'm in there lol. It's almost like the casino, except, well I never leave with more money than I came with...
There are a lot of good sales usually and then my employee discount boosts my percentage off as well. It's hard not to find SOMETHING to take home! I find that shopping from a sales rack almost guarantees my products will coordinate, too. So that's a great tip for a shopping trip :-)
Coming home with the intention of sharing what I had bought and then building a kit was so exciting! It took a little longer than I expected for my video to get made, mostly because of getting my cards in the store and then just my usual scrapbooking and teaching schedule (You know, whenever possible).
Looking back through the finished projects, I realized I must have got an additional sticker sheet, or maybe I already had one from the same DCWV Vintage collection. I also used a lot from Basic Grey, one of the 4x6 Journalling card pads.
I hope you enjoyed this shopping trip! I love to read your comments and am grateful for my followers. What do you find yourself bringing home from Michael's? Let me know if you need suggestions, and Happy Crafting!

Dancing Days Are Here Again

Hand cut fries at the marina-
hand cut grass on my page!

Last summer my mom and I took the girls down the street to our local Marina for some bluegrass music and of course some dancing.

My mom was always dancing and singing around the house- well, anywhere, really- and that's one of the traits I've tried to exhibit myself! Sometimes my older daughter will say, mom, that's weird! And that's okay. I'm glad they see me being a little crazy and cutting loose now and again.

This layout came together really quickly. I really just layered up a handful of scraps from the page I had completed last and stuck my photo strip on top. The  picnic table die cut is fun- I actually like its super sized ratio to the photos. And my custom grass on the cooler has a little bling to it :-)

The theme of this page as I made it was "travel." All summer long I had hoped to go down for dancing and we just kept not getting around to it. Its only about 5 miles away, and we have to drive by it to actually go to town, so there wasn't any really good excuse not to have got there.

Check out Rellys challenge as she fills in over at Shimelle.com  Then go see my gal Lisa's incredible custom map layout!