Month: October 2010

Halloween Card {and give-away}

If you think that so far I’m having a good time being on the Tim Holtz design team, you’d be right.

Tim Holtz product used: texture fade, spiced marmalade, pumice stone, and walnut stickles, peeled paint and dusty concord distress ink, metal clip

other: Jenni Bowlin vintage Halloween kit goodies, Martha Stewart candy sticker, cardstock, PPA by USArtQuest (adhesive), ribbon

I made another of my ‘glue faux fruit rolls’ and attached to the front of a folded piece of cardstock to make a card. Then I inked, stickled, and otherwise decorated. SO easy!!

What could be more fun than getting a bit of crazy Halloween goodness in the mail? How about getting a texture fade of your own?

Tim sent me these last week, and he said I could share them with my lovely blog readers. I already have (and LOVE and USE) these texture fades and I can tell you they’re LOADS of fun!! Would you like to get one of these in the mail? Leave a comment here and I’ll pick two winners (and send them each one of the texture fade sets shown above) in a few days. Share your favorite October treat in a comment here, and maybe I’ll treat you!! Good luck.

Blades of the Rose: AWESOME book series

Rarely do I yell out “this is a winner! READ it! I LOVE IT!!” Well this is one of those situations. I’ve already had friends tell me they love it too. Yes, I have found a fantastic new series (and new to me author) and I must share.

Author: Zoe Archer

Books: A series of 4 historical set (late 1800’s) action/adventure with a magical twist. The good guys are protecting magical sources (ancient strong magic) from the baddies, falling in love, kicking butt, and it’s all around FANTASTIC.

Why I love: BOTH the leading man and ladies of these books are heroic. They have skills, they’re good at heart, and they’re equally awesome. There’s no “he’s a rock star, she’s along for the ride”. NO! Everyone is pulling their weight. I also ADORE the way the author really sets the tone (you feel that desert sand and heat, smell the salty air and see blue skies in Greece…) without slowing down the story. She kept me 100% interested and engaged.  She also has a ton going on without being overwhelming. Action, adventure, romance, intrigue… wow. I’ve read the first two, and so far they are both entirely satisfying as stand-alone novels. The main characters are different in each book, but there are some plot lines that arc throughout the stories so I’d start at the beginning.

Have I said I LOVE these books?! So well written and with such great balance of many things I love. I kind of describe them as Indiana Jones-esque (meaning adventure + romance + great characters + a bit of magic/myth/mystical), and if that appeals to you I’d recommend these strongly.  Another thing I really appreciate is that they’re being released one after another. No waiting six months or a year! No, they’re coming out every month. LOVE that! Warrior is the first and Scoundrel is the second. They’re both available now!

Rebel will be coming out November 2 and Stranger is coming December 7. I have it marked in my calendar, and I’m counting days until I can take off on another wild adventure…

{thinking ahead to Christmas? This would make a GREAT gift!!}

SBT class info: 3 hours…

If you’re around Berkeley, CA on November 6th I hope you’ll come see me! I am teaching a (paper) gingerbread house class and a second workshop in the afternoon. I’m SO excited!! This post is about the second class:  3 hours to holiday cheer. I will be working with a TON of new fantastic product including lots of Tim Holtz (dies, stickles, crackle paints, etc), The Girls’ Paperie (Tinsel & Twig line), and Pink Paislee (Parisian Anthology AND their new Christmas line not yet in stores!)

Tattered Angels glams, Studio Calico mister huey sprays, stamps, punches, even Margie’s famous pumpkin chocolate chip (mini) muffins and some delish cookies will be served. Oh, this is going to be BIG FUN. We’re going to make two (or maybe 3, time permitting) small projects as well as a scrapbook layout and students will go home with stickers, papers, and goodies to keep on creating.

In other words, at the end of the three hour class you’re going to be totally ready to be in the gift making, scrapbooking, creative mood. Did I mention you’ll get a total of a baker’s dozen ideas for scrapbook layouts, tags, gifts, and more in the color handouts?! {I like my classes packed full, can you tell?}

Above you can see the gift-card holder (SO fun!) that we’re making. Stay tuned for more details (and potentially I might have kits for sale if you can’t make it). In the meantime – feel free to ask me questions or if you want to go ahead and sign up you can contact the store at 510-559-9929.

Saturday November 6
130pm – 430pm
$37
Bring: adhesive, scissors, paper trimmer, black pen, black or brown ink pad

Celebrate October with Scarlet Lime! {prize inside}

www.scarletlime.com is celebrating October in big ways – with new designers + a blog hop! I can’t wait to get my hands on this kit and create… and yes, I’ll definitely be sharing what I come up with!! 🙂

Today I have an October main kit to give away (pictured below). Simply leave a comment on this post to be entered. (winner to be drawn October 1oth)

A lot of those papers are exclusive – and just look at the awesome embellishments!! *sigh* looks like fall creative fun to me. To see some more fun blogs + chances to win check out the other team members participating. That’s right – all the ladies listed below are also giving away kits from Scarlet Lime!

Dena Coe: www.onmydesksomewhere.blogspot.com
Lori Jolley- www.weedbouquet.blogspot.com
Melanie Jarocki- www.mjarphotos.blogspot.com
Mimi Leinbach- www.mycharmingblog-scrappermimi.blogspot.com
Savitri Wilder- www.scrapbit.com
Valerie Salmon- www.gotsketch.blogspot.com

Have a happy weekend…

10/1: Birds Eye view

Something new I’m going to try… taping (with iphone) me going about my crafty business… taped from a shelf above my workspace… a birds eye view if you will. First up – what happens when you mix Distress Ink + wet = blur. This is a VERY handy trick and one I use often. In fact you saw it on Wednesday in the canvas project I shared. It does work with water – on a sticky back canvas sheet I don’t want that though, so I use my trusty PPA. Normally? No words going to be in these weekly blog posts. Just a ‘video glimpse’ into what I’ve been up to.  Hope you like it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkHlgZMBdd4]