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!

Butterfly Award...

Oh, my goodness!  I just got awarded the Butterfly Award by my dear friend Barb Bruder over at Art and Soul Creations.  I never even heard of it, but I LOVE IT!!  Thanks Barb, and definitely right back at you.  For the uninitiated, here's what it looks like and the series of questions that go with it.

As part of this award I have to answer the following 12 questions and pass this on to 5 people. Here are the answers to my questions: 

Name your favorite color? 
Blue, pink, purple - Oooh don't make me choose!  I love them all!

Name your favorite song?
The Prayer- by Josh Grobin & Celine Dion


Name your favoirte dessert?
Creme Brulee (but that's only at the top of my list)


What wizzes you off at the moment? 
Blatant fraud.  (don't ask!)

Your favorite pet? 
Gabby, my sweet kitty

Black or white? 
Black is slimming, my dear
Your biggest fear? 
Bridges -- HATE THEM!

Best feature? 
Sense of humor

Everyday attitude? 
People pleaser (only cuz I want to!)

What is perfection? 
A day with my kids

Guilty pleasure? 
chocolate - is there anything else?

When you're upset? You REALLY don't want to know!

So now I pass this on to you, dear blogger friend.  Some of you may not even know who I am, but I am a definite fan of yours!


Barb
Julie
Becca
Dawn
Shona

Ciao for now.

Ciao Bella!

Just checking in!

No card pics today.  But I do have a short tale to tell.  I had signed up to do the convention in Troy, NY this past weekend with my E-Z BowZ, so we left on to set up for the show.  All went well and we had a slow, but steady stream of people stopping by the booth -- be sure to pop over to the E-Z BowZ blog for a lookie-loo.  Well, as you know, Irene hit with a vengeance and day two of the show got cancelled (ugh!).  So what do three women do while holed up in their hotel room weathering the storm?  Here's one pic of my friend, Chris.

We actually got to spend an entire day doing NOTHING!  My other friend, Regina, was also with us.  After spending a weekend with them, I've decided that we have gone totally techno -- they both have iPads, I have a Kindle, two of us have cell phones and between the 3 of us there were more darn rechargers in that hotel room -- it looked like a room full of snakes!  So we played Words with Friends, and 7 Little Words, watched TV, called our loved ones from time to time and then ran next door in the wind and rain to a sports bar to grab a bite to eat.  When was the last time I did absolutely nothing??!!

On Saturday morning we got up early as we had seen a fabulous looking diner on the way to the convention center.  I just HAD to take pictures of it for my favorite granddaughter.  I think she'll get a kick out of it.  Here they are:

And, yes, the clock is right -- it's 7:10 a.m. when we were there!

I was so impressed with the pristine look of this fabulous diner.  It was a jewel!  And the food was to die for!  I got a bowl of oatmeal that you could have floated a small yacht in.  Mmmm!

And here's a foggy view from our hotel parking lot.  The hotel sat on a knoll looking down into the valley and across to Renssalear I think.  This is just outside of Albany.  Can you see the pockets of mist here and there?  And you can barely make out the city through the haze.

We had a great time in spite of Irene, but it's really great to be home again.  Thanks for stopping by!

Ciao for now.

Ciao Bella!

M'Lady's Slipper

Hi Ciao Bella followers!  Wow!  I don't know where I've been this past month, but I hope I had fun wherever it was!  I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted anything.  I must have been busy (and I hope I figure out what it was.).  So, my apologies to m'ladies and here's a set of cards to go along with that apology.

We've been using quite a bit of the micro fine glitter at the store and I had to run a few more of these classes to keep people happy.  Not that it was a drudge -- believe me, I loooove working with this product by Elizabeth Crafts.  It's the smoooooothest, finest glitter anywhere.  There's a certain technique involved when doing these cards and it involves very wide tape, transfer tape, peel-offs and, of course, glitter.  Here's a look at both the cards:

For those of you who are not familiar with this technique, it's called Burnished Velvet.  I always get a kick out of my students when they start to burnish the glitter and you always get the same reaction:  "oooh!  look at that sparkle!".  While it's a bit time consuming to do the larger image, it's still a really fun project to do because it's like a puzzle revealing itself one piece at a time, but unlike a puzzle, you have complete control over what goes where.  It is such a fun techique!  The purple card was done using one of the smaller images in the peel-off package.  Here I used a square scalloped (Spellbinders) backing to show it off and I used the same technique using my wide tape and the Glitter Ritz glitter.  It was topped off with a lovley quadruple loop bow made on my Craft-Dee BowZ bow maker which you will find on my other blog.

Here's a close-up of the larger "slipper".  Hopefully, you can see how fine the glitter is and how it sparkles in a "hushed" way, so to speak.  You'll notice how I left a lot of the black peel-off in place to mimic patent leather.  Click on either image for a close-up.

Well, I hope you'll forgive me for my lapse in time and that you have enjoyed these cards.

Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Playing catch up!

Hi there!  Sorry, but I've been a wee bit busy catching up on life after CHA.  I think I'm ready for the next round!  I had a class and a demo to do this past week and another demo tomorrow in RI, so for me, this is catching up!

First, let me tell you that I was published in the new issue of Vamp Stamp News.  They were looking for techniques using mostly solid stamps.  Mine is on page 11 in the center if you care to charge out the door looking for an issue (LOL).  Actually, if you click on the link above, you'll see my card in the "blinker" at the right hand side of their main page.  It was fun to do.

I thought I'd share a few more pics from CHA that you might enjoy.  It will be a hodgepodge of different vendors and I'll try and be as accurate as I can so that you can do some web searching on your own.

First, let's start off with more Spellbinders.  These are really cute (and big dies!).

Then we're off to Heartfelt Creations.  Oh, boy!  They had some unbelievable "stuff" there!  This little basket is their newest die and you can actually make a stand-alone basket with it.

And then there's some of Heartfelt's  flower dies

Then these last few are from Just Rite.  Oh, Lordy, I could have spent the day in their booth!  

Well, that's it for CHA!  Hope some of these cards teased the creativity in you.  

I'll try and be back a lot sooner with some other stuff I have going on here.  Until then, ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!

Back from CHA!

Hey bloggers,  I'm baaaack!  And glad to be home -- it's true what they say -- there's no place like home.  I really hate living out of suitcases.  But aside from that, we had a grand time, great flight, wonderful company and soooo much to look at.  It's a good thing they didn't plant columns in strategic places in the convention center because I KNOW I would have slammed head on into them with all the gawking I was doing.

So let me give you a rundown of some things that went on.  This may be a long post, but I'll try and incorporate pictures that I think you will enjoy.  I took soooo many pictures!  I'll start off with a picture of the convention center in Rosemont (outside Chicago), IL so you'll feel like you are there with me.  We stayed right across the street from the convention center so it was an easy walk each day.  But the heat!!  It was 99 degrees several days - that cloying, heavy, yucky kind of weather that left you gasping for air.  So here's a picture of the convention center:  (you can click on any picture to enlarge it)

And a picture of the inside entrance.  Oh, were you expecting to see thousands of people?  I believe the next few pictures will give you an idea of how the economy has effected this industry.  You've all heard stories of the thousands of people, the crushing crowds, the elbowing thru the aisles, the waits to do make & takes.  Well, these next few pictures will tell it all.

This is the entrance into the show.  Hello!  Anybody home? 

A picture of the "thousands" of people crowding the aisles.

This will kill you -- My Minds Eye?  ONE person in the booth?  This was a little scary to see.  Nice comfy, come-on-in booth, though, don't you think?

Kim and Sue by the pink flamingo just inside the door.  Some of the decorations were over the top, but this caught my eye because I wanted to match it to Kim's hair!

You are most likely wondering what in the world is going on here?  We had gone to the Hilton for supper one night around 10pm and the temps were still in the mid 90's.  When Kim and I stepped out the door from the hotel, we got hit with the humidity and this is what happened to our glasses.  We couldn't see 2 inches in front of us.  We're holding hands and stumbling on the walkway laughing our heads off.    This had to be one of the funniest things the entire trip!

Okay, so on to a few sample cards.  I took so many pictures of card samples and was so inspired that I can't wait to get my hands on some new stuff!  These two are some cute boy images from Flower Soft.  They have their own stamp line starting as well.  

Okay , I guess you can tell these dresses are made of paper, specifically Bazzill.  Aren't they clever?

Move over Cricut!!  This is one phenomenal machine put out by eCrafts and is available now in retail stores.  The price point is only $299 and (read this carefully) IT NEEDS NO MAT OR TOOLS to cut and remove your images!!!!  It has an optional tray that you can put an entire roll of vinyl on and the cutting width is 12", but it's as long as the (huge) roll of vinyl (not shown in this picture).  And the best thing is NO CARTRIDGES to buy!  You can download from their website.   These are the same people who make the new eBosser which is basically an electric Cuttlebug (oh, boy!).

No show would be complete without a tease from Spellbinders...

Some new flower dies!  These are actually for the Grand Calibur.

Will you check out these borders?!  They can be used in the Grand Calibur as well as your other die cut machines - you just don't achieve the length that the Grand Calibur allows (8-1/4 x 11), but who cares?  The samples I saw were to die (pardon) for!

I don't want to put you to sleep thru this post, so I'll sign off with a few pics from a few different stamp companies. 

La Blanche Stamps

Believe it or not, the above two samples are from the same company, Kan Ban.   Quite a dichotomy, aren't they?

This is just a tiny sampling of the many pictures I took.  So I'll sign off with a few poses of our crew as we were leaving Chicago.  Such adults, aren't they?

I'll be happy to answer any questions that this post may generate.  Feel free to comment!  Hugs to my traveling companions, Sue, Kim, Nancy and Dee (Terry left a day later than we did).

Ciao for now!

Ciao Bella!