I hopped off the Jersey train from Newark (STRONGLY recommend this as a way of getting from Newark/Jersey > NYC) at Penn Station (aka Madison Square Garden) and grabbed a taxi that would take me up to the west side of Central Park, and to my first stop.

Now, my plane had been a bit late, I ended up with a gate-checked bag (BOO), and had to wait in a line to get into a bathroom to freshen up and change clothes after my red eye flight… so instead of starting my morning walking tour of Manhattan at 7am, it was more like 830. BOO! Which meant a lot of stops got cancelled, but I also found quite a few treasures. I will tell you RIGHT NOW that I made a huge judgement error in not realizing I was cruising right through the Garment district and passing up all kinds of vintage focused shops (Tim Holtz told me about a great one… 3 days later! GAH!) and trims and (sigh) buttons. Oh well! NEXT TIME! With only the morning, I didn’t want to spend it at a museum and feel rushed or something so I went for a 4-5mile or so walk.

Let’s start at my first destination where the cab dropped me:

Levain Bakery

You have to know where Levain is, or you’d never notice it. When I walked up and saw that it was so tiny, like 4 people at a time could be inside, and that you have to go down a steep few stairs to get to it… I couldn’t help but smile. I knew if this tiny spot had generated mad love from fabulous NYC resident Kelly Purkey and others – it must be great.

I know they’re famous for… well really everything they’ve got. With about a dozen options available I very nearly asked for one of each. But I refrained from a bread coma and instead got 2 different cookies, and the Valrhona chocolate roll. In other words, I went for the things I most desired!

side note: I brought along a few freezer bags with me on this trip. The two cookies went into one, then into my hotel freezer that afternoon so that when I brought them home to share with Mr. Flaum, they were still day 1 fresh. It worked PERFECTLY!!

Armed with my precious, I walked around the corner to Jacques Torres and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie, then on to Central Park West where I walked a bit before heading into the park…

Oh Central Park in spring - it was SO green, and the morning was cloudy (which I liked) and cool, utterly perfect to stroll. I could have stayed there all day!!

It was the perfect spot to have my Valrhona roll. Let me explain that now actually. See, it’s like a crusty french bread roll… split… and with rich, not really sweet, dark, beautiful, chocolate. Warm and melty… oh. just… OH.

Tearing into it while being in Central Park? Oh… just… wow. The roll itself is perhaps the most favorite thing I’ve ever eaten. You see, I’m a HUGE fan of melting some semi-sweet chocolate onto a piece of warm fresh french bread. It’s a personal concoction that I’ve never seen for sale. SO a roll? Made with even better bread and chocolate and perfect for a light breakfast?

I’m sorry. I could talk about the perfection of that roll + Central Park for the next hour or two. Don’t get me started.

After walking for an hour or so in the park I exited on the 5th ave (East side) to continue my quest of gathering sweet treats only found in Manhattan, and just soaking in the magic and energy that is NYC.

Being that I only had a few short hours, and that this was a layover type visit vs purpose of my vacation, my goals were few and I was VERY happy with what I ended up doing. The only real problem is that I now NEED to return as soon as possible… so much more still to do and see…

I never understood the appeal. I guess this was one of those things where I knew what it did, but it just never felt relevant to what I do. While at Ranger U there were some things that while cool, I knew wouldn’t translate to my “real life” crafting. That’s ok. Then there were other things that felt like absolute lightbulb moments.

The brayer was one of them.

Why? Here’s a video introducing what I love about it – and how it works with all my distress stains, inks, mists, etc… note this was a “one take” very informal video… “like” is over used and yikes. anyhow! here you go:

[youtube link]

I can’t wait to explore all of the things I can do with this new little tool. So simple – and it’s stretching my existing stash of color mediums. LOVE that!

Simon Says Stamp carries all three sizes (I believe mine is the small one) here are links:

InLinkz.com

So what to post? Here’s a list of 10 random things…

1. Desk view right now. I’m prepping for my Stamper’s Corner (Elk Grove, CA) classes this Saturday. Gonna be big creative fun!! Hope to see some friendly faces…

2. Fierce is my word for this new year of my life. As in, I need to be more, get more out of my exercise, push myself more, etc… watch out world. May 33.0 is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

3. Being grateful for all I have. Life isn’t ever perfect, things aren’t always grand… but I choose to focus and hold onto the good. I’m grateful.

4. Stephanie Plum movie (One for the Money) comes out today, Netflix is having it delivered (just for my birthday, I’m sure). Epic fail? Craptastic? Unworthy men playing leads? probably. But it might be fun too.

5. We can’t wait for the Disney-Pixar movie Brave. It looks fantastic (fierce?) and we are excited. Me more than anyone. Cool heroine who rides a horse? I’m all in.

6.  SO many wonderful creative events coming and things happening. I’m finalizing some give-aways and plans for Camp Scrap. WOW. Going to be a great event I think. Can’t wait to share more with you.

7.  There are only 15 days of school left. SERIOUSLY. SERIOUSLY. Make that 7 days of preschool left. Excuse me while I run and scream.

8.  My arms have stains of dylusions ink sprays. Mostly pink. Oh I am loving these. (stay tuned…)

9. I found “Liquitex Basics” molding paste at Michael’s – I’ve never seen this it’s in a tube like paint – and it was on CLEARANCE for $3.50. True story. Off to try it out because dang. what a deal!!

10. Thank you for being you. For reading my blog, being a friend, for just being you. I feel blessed to know so many wonderful people. Truly.

London Market by Pink Paislee was love at first sight for me – and I’m excited to share two new projects over at Simon Says stamp today (link).

Honestly I love every. single. piece. of this line. True story! I’ve used it a lot in my spring local scrapbook store classes, and I love how it manages to be so detailed… and yet filled with a lot of great neutrals at the same time. The chipboard buttons are one of my very favorite things in the line.

Happy Monday everyone!

http://simonsaysstampblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/mondays-in-may-with-may_14.html

I’m using my Simon Says Stamp card kit for some secret projects… but I do have this one card to share – that features 2 of the flowers I die cut from my previous post/tutorial for transfers.

The small flower I dipped into UTEE (we’ll talk about that some other day – but you could get similar effect with glossy accents) and I used the banner stamp in the kit – just stamped onto the back of my paper to use as a template for my sentiment!

I’m ready to replace a lot of my misting with something else: color that has been applied with a brayer. Oh, I’m REALLY into this. (thank you Tim + Ranger U!) I will explain more next week – you can see it here on my card. I’m totally obsessed. Oh yeah, I went for contrast with Dylusions spray in bubblegum pink.

Given this lovely kit, I surprised myself even…

Isn’t it a beauty? Stickles, doilies, pins, two stamp sets… and one of my fave paper lines too. You can order your kit here.

Oh, but guess what? the AMAZING people at Simon said I could give one away! But quick: I will be drawing a winner on Sunday so enter now! Leave a comment here on this post to be included in the draw. Good luck!

It takes time. It doesn’t always work. I can never figure out why I’d not just use the direct image.

that is, until I took a class from Claudine Hellmuth! For the first time EVER I had successful transfers and she taught us a way to do it instantly too. This is my favorite of the methods because I don’t have to wait. I can just GO! Here are the steps [adapted from RangerU curriculum]:

Supplies:

 Steps:

1. Cut a piece of sticky-back canvas + paper to same size

2. Remove paper backing from sticky back canvas, take patterned paper and press printed side to sticky side of sticky back canvas (note: if double sided paper use the side you WANT down).

3. Burnish the paper. [rub it in a lot of directions, firmly. You're sticking the image here!]

4. Spray the paper with water (saturate!) – or use a small tub/bucket and do this in it. Whatever you do: don’t dump paper pulp down a sink!!! It will clog and be a hot mess. Rub until the paper is gone. use pads of your fingers, the paper will ball up and roll away.

5. Use a little gloss multi medium over the surface- rub it in (like you were applying lotion to skin). This will get rid of any remaining bits of paper particles and seal it up.

NOTE: You will see that I used 2 different papers in the photos below. I’m working on a few things here in the studio, and I took some pics of the process with my book paper, some with my scrapbook paper.

Now what? Well you could use it onto a project as you would any bit of paper! Perhaps you would like to die cut it as I have -

I really like that I can have patterned paper on canvas texture. YES, I could also just print a digital paper pattern onto my canvas. Similar result just less faded. Where are my crown accented flowers headed? Well I’m working on that, and I’ll be back to share the results very soon!

It was a phenomenal event put on by all of the wonderful people of Ranger. From the Ranger employees who kept things running so smoothly to Mario who was busy working and keeping us all well fed to the instructors and more. Incredible.

I went in not too sure what it’d be learning exactly, or how it would work precisely. It was NONSTOP create. learn. ask questions. eat. learn more. go. go. go. Most importantly, it was incredibly positive.

I couldn’t help having a donut each morning (we don’t have Dunkin’ donuts here, nor do I eat donuts at home EVER!) You’ll see some of my donuts in the video below. I thought sharing a video would be the best way to share the photos I took of the event. I didn’t take NEARLY as many as I thought, nor did I catch everyone I wanted to. I even forgot to take a photo with Tim!

Here’s a video of my photos…

[link to youtube]

Some random Ranger U notes:

> Walking over to Ranger U from the hotel, I never knew who was going to pick me up! Some days it was Mr. Tim Holtz himself. Or Mario, or Alain (owner of Ranger) – seriously awesome how hard these guys worked!

> the Men in Black donuts (seen in video and above) with secret chocolate filling were fabulous.

> Everyone picks the seats in the back! I didn’t want to be the girl who ran up and sat in the front… but that’s the seat nobody seemed to want and so I finally took it. I consider it a score! It was great.

> I had a great time getting to know people I’d never met before. I spent most of the weekend with people I’d never been in the same room with, very few whom I even knew of prior to this event.

> Taking a class from Dyan Reaveley is all I hoped it would be. The woman is known for her bright color – and her personality matches that. She’s such an inspiration – I’m glad to know her a bit better now.

> Alcohol Ink use is about commitment. I haven’t been aggressive enough. I will explain later.

> Claudine Hellmuth is adorable + I love her products and have a few new tricks for them now. yay!

> Walking around THE Ranger facility and seeing where all my favorite beloved products are made… serious crafty wonka-land. We got to pluck a stickles bottle right off the line, and as we were ending our tour got to do the same with the NEW distress ink set. Oh my… that was a moment. Of course I wanted to grab the distress ink stickers (lid labels) and slap them on myself. I had to hold my own hands to prevent myself from touching everything. Also hard to resist not fondling product on warehouse shelves and running around like a giddy kid. I’m proud of my self control.

> I wrote 30 pages worth of possible sketches, ideas, and more on my flight home. Ideas to share with all of you.

My final note is that I’ve concluded that I need a Tim Holtz app (like Siri, but SO much better) on my phone. After 3 solid days of creating with Mr. Holtz right over my shoulder, I missed him tremendously yesterday! Not just his great personality – but his deep understanding of the products + techniques of Ranger products. I kept having questions yesterday as I tried some things here in real life… and I kept looking up to ask only to remember I’m HOME NOW. No Tim in the room. Darn! I’ve worked out my own answers of course, but Ranger U was an experience that I won’t forget.

80+ techniques and possibilities and very dirty hands and a full brain later… wow. Thank you to everyone who helped make it an incredible event – and a shout out to the bloggers I met (and have blog addys for)!

Kaz, Kate, Neil, Charlie, and Chelle were all in class with me and are totally awesome. I know other Ranger U-ers have blogs but I don’t have the addys! I need to look into finding them. Ok, so other Ranger U related blogs to check out – Dyan, Tim, Claudine, and Ranger. In fact right now featured on the Ranger site there’s a video [youtube link] to Distress Markers with Tim that is a lesson he taught us in class.

I will share about my NYC day, some of my other notes, and of course you can expect some MAJOR technique explorations and teachings from me for many months (years?) to come.

It’s good to be home – and it’s time to figure out how to put what I learned into use with what I do…

This is the final project I have to share from the things I created for Tim Holtz (seen at CHA). It was an idea that I’d had in my mind for quite a while, to do something with one of Tim’s canvases…

The great news is that it worked! The 12×12 burlap panel worked great – as it was a nice background already done for me I just added some paint, ink, paper, metal bits… and played!

Some distress stickles, embossing, some stenciling with die cuts…

I created this in one sitting. Because I was able to just use some paint and inks to do a bit of background (vs starting from scratch) it made this possible in a number of hours – vs the usual which is days.

In fact- I’m going to teach a class based off of the ideas I used here (students will have freedom to create ANY look/scene they choose) and teach it at Stamper’s Corner in Elk Grove on the 19th. Assuming I get the thumbs up from students – I may bring it to other stores and/or repeat it.

Here’s some insider info: I’m currently working on another one (with different product and look) that I will share next month during camp scrap.

image links to supplies used:

I knew when I first got the Tim Holtz Destinations paper pad that I wanted to cut out this “traveler” sign and use it in some way. I ended up layering all kinds of little stickers under it, and adding glossy accents to the sign to help it pop. There is also a generous misting of Biscotti perfect pearls mist going on too. It really sparkles in person.

If you couldn’t tell – I had a LOT of fun adding bits & pieces and layering things on this one.

The hearts are actually a scrap of paper left over after I die cut hearts… love using up scraps! That camera die is one I don’t have (I was sent the camera die cut out…) but I am thinking I need to get it asap! LOVE it.

mixing old  + new, re-coloring stuff, neutrals + bright colors… overall a totally “may” page. Good times.

links to supplies used:

images link to simon says stamp – a favorite on-line store for Tim Holtz goodies