November 12th class at the Community Center...

Hi all,
Just in case you haven't checked KD's Crafty Concepts blog, this is what I'll be offering for my November 12th class at the Whitman Community Center (WCC).  We'll be doing three cards in this class.  You can do it!  We've got some great combinations of different dies & punches from several companies.  It's so much fun interchanging dies with different companies to see what you can come up with.

So here are the three we'll be doing.

Spellbinders and MFT.

Martha Stewart and Memory Box.

Spellbinders, MFT and PTI.

So, pop on over to KD's Crafty Concepts and click on the PayPal button under the October 12th post.  This class is almost half full now, so you'll want to get a seat!  And there are still openings in my October 21st class for Halloween and Fall cards.

Hope to see you there.  Caio for now!

Ciao Bella!

Classes at the Community Center...

I just wanted to let some of you know that I'll be holding my first class at the Whitman Community Center  next week and in the event that you had forgotten Kim's and my joint blog, KD's Crafty Concepts, then you can catch up here.  But all students should definitely be putting KD's Crafty Concepts into their Favorites to stay abreast of what we'll be doing in the upcoming months.

I've scheduled the first class for Friday, October 21st from 7 to 9pm and my second class will be held on Saturday, November 12th from 1 to 3pm.  I'll be adding more classes as we go along.  I've just had a few commitments to take care of before I fill the schedule up.

So, here's what you'll be doing on October 21st:  a little Halloween and a little bit of Fall...

And here's a sneak peek at one project for the November 12th class:  a jump start on your holiday card making...

So make sure you check KD's Crafty Concepts for my schedule -- we've made it convenient for you to use PayPal when signing up!

I hope to see you soon!

Ciao Bella!

That old saying...

...when one door closes another one opens.  There's something to say about truisms rather than groaning.  I know, I know, I'm the first one to put down these sayings or "mom-isms" as I like to refer to them.  However, with the closing of the Scrapbook Cupboard, I have been invited to teach at The Crop Shop in Rockland and my first class is coming up this month on Thursday, the 20th from 7 to 9 pm.

I'd love to see my students from the Cupboard in my new venue and invite you all to call the store at 781-792-2767 and reserve your seat.  It would be a homecoming of sorts just to see you all again.

So without further adieu, here are the cards I'll be doing at The Crop Shop.  I thought I'd choose a holiday theme using several sets of Spellbinder dies in a different way and using some of these new gorgeous papers just in -- can you pick out ALL the different patterns used?

The Crop Shop newsletter will be going out this week and I look forward to seeing some familiar faces!  Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Feline Frazzled?

Just a little play on words.  This funny cat image is from Stamps by Judith and his name is Frazzle.  This has got to be one of my favorite images in my stamp collection.  He's so versatile and will fit just about any occasion.  Here are two examples of Frazzle that I did for one of my last classes at the Scrapbook Cupboard.  People had been asking me for years to please duplicate the Frazzle series.  So I picked these two out of the dozen or so that I've made.  It was a really fun class and we had a blast.

Here's Frazzle!  This is one of my favorites and is in the Stamps by Judith catalog.  It was too cute not to copy with a few added twists of my own.

And for those difficult "guy" cards...  I know, I know -- the colors are quite girly, but they still work so well with the theme, don't you think?

Check out what the inside says (below).

There was a lot of laughter at class that nite.  Soooo many of you had the perfect man in mind to give this card to.  

Stay tuned for more info on future classes and where you can find me.  Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

The Last Hurrah...

Well, it's been a roller coaster ride this past week with 5 classes in as many days.  I am plumb tired.  I have one more class this week at the Scrapbook Cupboard (it's full as they all have been) and my LAST class forever at the store will be next Monday (big sad sigh!).  Since I just got the product to work with, I had to throw something together really fast in order to advertise this class.

The product I'm using is a new set of heart dies from Cheery Lynn Designs and it was worth the wait.  I just wish I'd had more time to put something together and not be rushed.  I really have lots of ideas for these dies, but time has been my enemy with all these classes and late product arrival.  So, without further ado, here are the two cards I put together.  How fitting that they are hearts as my heart will miss my students in a very big way.  We've had 8 years together and have had more fun than I can ever tell you.

This first card is a cupboard fold (how appropriate) to which I added some designer panels to jazz it up and then edged them using a gold leaf pen.  I then put a very different twist on the smallest of the heart dies and created this flower and decided to push it toward the holiday look.  The large white heart is the largest of the dies and after cutting it out, I ran it through a holly leaf embossing folder and edged it in gold leaf.  Next was die cutting the hearts for the petals and constructing it in a flower shape.  It went a lot faster than I thought.  A few die cut holly leaves, a little glitter and it was done!

The second card was based solely on this beautiful designer paper.  It just begged me to use it.  So I constructed this card using the various dies in the set.  I knew I wanted to use silver mirror paper, but gee, I seem to have run out of it.  What do to?  Aha!  Go grab the tin foil, glue it to a piece of cardstock and die cut the heart.  It worked great and continued the inspiration for the remainder of the card.  I topped the entire image off with a triple-loop silver bow made with my E-Z BowZ of course!

Well, if you haven't signed up for this class, you'd better pick up the phone!  It's bound to be a full and fun last night for me and my students.  

That's it for now -- all but the crying part, that is.  Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Learning to say goodbye...

Many of you know that I have been teaching at the Scrapbook Cupboard for about 6 years and many of you know that the store is closing  at the end of this month.  Bev has valiantly struggled to keep the store afloat in these hard economic times and we managed to help keep it going for another year as Kim and I pulled together for her.  I hate change as I'm sure many of you do so it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to Bev, my fellow teachers and, most of all, my students.  I have so enjoyed our times together.   We've had many a wacky class -- those that I lose total control over especially.  I don't know what you guys do to me, but it turns into a lunatic night of good-hearted insults and crazy stories and many laughs.  I've wondered some times how we ever managed to complete our projects.  I love you all.

So, to change this from maudlin to upbeat, you need to know that Kim and I are trying to work something out where we can continue to instruct you in the world of rubber and mixed media.  For those of you who do not know, Kim and I established a separate website last year when Bev was originally closing her doors.  It's where we plan to keep you updated on our next move.  So put www.kdcraftyconcepts.blogspot.com into your blog lists and become "Followers" so that you'll be first to know what's happening in Kim and Donna land.  We may have a few surprises for you and that's all I'll say right now.

We're also on FB, so you can Friend us there and catch up on all things K&D.
Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

I LOVE Memory Box Dies!

I have been having more fun than a barrel of proverbial monkeys with these dies.  I have a few new ones on order and I can't wait to get them!  I got some really cool Fall ones and some Christmas ones as well.  Okay, okay, here you go.  This die is called Pristine Border and I've probably just hit the tip of the iceberg on how to use it.

Here's one I just did for a very quick card using Harvest Berries from Papertrey Ink and the Pristine Border.

Now, most of you know how I'm always complaining that I just can't seem to put a simple card together.  I don't think it gets any easier than this!  I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

This second card using Pristine Border and a stamp from Penny Black was a bit more detailed, but "uber" simple nonetheless.  See what you think.  You can click on any card to make it bigger to see the detail.

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's post -- please drop me a line -- I'd love to hear from you!

Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!