It was a great weekend FULL of Heart in all shapes and sizes. I am always amazed at the different pieces that evolve even though we all use the same tools, colors and materials. Here are a few...
so unique, creative, inspiring and FULL of Heart...HEart with Stephanie Ackerman was wonderful and working with this crew was wonderful too!
Feeling very blessed, thankful and full of heart!
I am blessed to live in Huntingdon, PA...the {Heart}
of Central Pennsylvania. Blessed to call it home everyday. Blessed to have special friends and wonderful people like Stephanie Ackerman
visit us to create art, share stories, travel to the valley, create more art and inspire! I am blessed to have a business which "requires" me to host events, teach classes and vend at events, where I get to spend long weekends creating with wonderful people like this...
and like this...
all in my hometown!
VERY BLESSED!
It is the season of EGGS!!!! (It's really the season for much more important things but...at the moment it's all about the EGGS!) We do eat eggs at our house...some of us that is...others of us just make eggs or cook with them. On occasion we color them, hide them and fill them. No matter what we do with them we always seem to attract bandits! You know...those ghosts who dip into the eggs, no matter what kind, snatch'em while we're not looking and then say..."where did all the eggs go????" I thought this year might be different, or I should say I had HOPE that it would be different, but alas, the "Pickled Egg Bandit" is among us. He (we know who it is) has struck multiple times! He's slowing down in his old age though as this year he's been caught in the act! That hasn't stopped him though....The trail begins at the refrigerator and looks something like this...
It, (the drippage), continues across 5 feet of kitchen floor until it reaches the salt shaker on the countertop...then the drops disappear!!! Down the hatch they must go in a big old purple gulp! The drippage picks up on the bandits chin(not sharing that picture) and then "he" disappears!!!!
Who knew that these little purple eggs and beets could cause such a mess and a speckled floor!
And yes, there are only 5 eggs left of the original 30. The bandit has been pretty busy in the last 24 hours! Here's hoping the "bandit" doesn't strike at your house and that you have plenty of Pickled Eggs with your Easter Dinner! It's a good think we are going OUT for dinner!!!!!
Happy Easter!
Staci
Yep...I'm hard at it...little bits and pieces but getting things accomplished! Things are still piled high but...not quite as high as they were! On top of the pile were a few sheets of Jenni Bowlin's new embossed cardstocks. I'm enjoying working with them and since they were on the top of the stack...I had no choice....had to work with them! Here are some snippets of the pages I completed...
It's glorious...I tell you...just glorious...to work with! Sand it and the color shows through...add Jenni Bowlin inks to it and the color changes...sand it again and the color changes again! Sooooo many options! Played a little more with embossing...this time with the Cricut and FULL 12" pages of cardstock. Did this yellow border but will save the rest for later.
Loads of fun using my stash...even if it made just a little dent in the piles! More later!
Happy Scrappin'!
Staci
The last 2 weeks have been a blurrrr but a reeeeeeallly fun blurrrrr with lots of craftiness, creativity, classes and crops! Did I mention they've been filled with wonderful people, old friends and new!!! Wonderfully lucky to be a part of it all! Very thankful and excited and my little brain is whirling with ideas!!!!! Woohooo!!!!!! Let's start with the craftiness...
Some classes at Grove's....Don't Miss them....Register HERE NOW!!!! Stephanie arrives in a few short weeks and we'll be doing a little of this....
and a little of this....
YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS IT! SPREAD THE WORD TOOO!!!!!!!!
Finally some crop goodness! I finished my "whirlwind tour" at Mahaffey Camp a wonderful church camp nestled in the northern mountains of Pennsylvania. I am so fortunate to get to attend this crop twice a year. Love the people, the place and the comraderie! Not to mention all the creativity! This trip was no exception...Thank you Mahaffey Campers!!!! See you in the Fall!!!!
Have a great week! More progress on the "Spring Clean-Up" to share in the coming days! Yep! I AM finishing projects and cleaning out!
Happy Scrappin'!
Staci
It's mid March and the weather is unbelieveable. I'm not sure what that means for us but I want to enjoy it a bit. Only problem is that I promised myself that before Spring arrived I would have control over my Vintage, Stitchy, Artsy, Crafty, Scrappi-ness (mess)! Sooo...today is the day (actually yesterday was the day) for the Spring Cleaning Craft Room Madness to begin!
With that I got to work and you will be happy to know that I emptied this...
yes, that is the inside of an EMPTY bag...and a rather large bag at that! One down....MANY to go! In that bag were many things, one of them was a mini album kit that was from a Creating Keepsakes Convention Class....maybe 8 years ago???? Surely, it hasn't been that long! It looked like this...
when I pulled it out of the bag. I got to work quickly and this is what I ended up with!
Very happy to be Spring Cleaning and getting things done! More goodness on the way! Stay tuned and Happy Cleaning! There are great things in store for Monday Madness!
Have a great week!
Hugs,
Staci
It was reeally an Inky Good Weekend! I was really disappointed that product had been delayed for the Inky Tag Crop class at Grove's that I had scheduled for this past Saturday. The delay meant a rescheduling of the class and sudden free time for me! Usually I love that but it wasn't to be and I'm kinda glad now or I would not have had the chance to attend classes with John from Tsukeniko.....
I learned alot about alot more inks! So now the rescheduled class will be even better! John is a hoot...as if you can't tell from the photo above! He's relatively new with Tsukineko, he has lots of Inks and he knows how to use 'em!!! Everyone will love them! Here are a few samples from some of the classes! We played with inks on metal, created a journal cover and created backgrounds with all kinds of "goosebumps" and "fireworks"! AWESOME! I can hardly wait to play with the new techniques on my TSS metals, manilla, fabrics, acrylics, canvases...oh so many options!
Sometimes I know things happen for a reason. This weekend was just one of those times!
Hope you're doing some inky things this week!
Happy Tuesday!
Staci
Inks, Inks and more Inks! There are so many and I am enjoying them all - so wanted to share! Thanks to a class rescheduling this past weekend (silly Ranger didn't get all my ink goodness delivered in time) I had some free time on my hands! Friends were attending a nearby event and it was going to be "inky" so I decided to give it a try! Let's just say I was NOT disappointed!
Stampendous and Tsukineko were in town! Great fun to learn from Tammie Wilson at Stampendous who showed us how versatile the Tsukineko VersaCraft inks and re-inkers are to use with here Stampendous Stamps. These stamps are only Stampendous...they are Stupendous!!! We PAINTED with these inks and they are AWESOME!!!! We started with this...
to color these....
and they turned into this...
I'm pretty excited! I loved learning how to use these inks and stamps to create this project. Completely different from ink techniques I've used before! And...all of you who were to be in my Inky Crop class on Saturday...you WILL be seeing this in the rescheduled class!!! Just sayin'!!!!
So how are you going to use your Inks? Which are your favorite? Don't be afraid to share!!!!
Have a few more projects that I'll share later this week! Tsukineko is awesome!!!!
Hugs and Happy Monday Madness!
Staci
Going through photos for a project and ran across this... and this...
Hmmm....some might say we have multiple personalities???? Who knows...I call it retirement!!!
They made me laugh so I thought I'd share. I am "in transit"...tis' the Spring Crop and Art Retreat Season...so I'm off and running and doing some creating to share soon too! Stay tuned and have a great weekend!
Staci
Happy Ides of March!!! Doesn't seem like it should be March yet...haven't had enough snow, ice or even a good old fashion deep freeze! You know...the kind where you nostrils stick together!!! Haven't had much of it and I'm afraid to say that I'm kinda missing it! There's still plenty of time though so I'll not get to dramatic about it! The plus side of the calm weather is that we've been able to hold more classes and gatherings at Grove's! That means loads of fun and lots of playing with all kinds of goodies! I had great plans for the crop this weekend but a migraine brought a change in creative plans and the hubby had to step in for a few hours while I napped in dark solitude! I really, really, really don't like when this happens and I know it's a sign that I'm doing to much, not watching what I'm eating and so on and so forth...(I haven't had as many since I retired...so that's a good thing at least) but at least when it happens I know I have to step back before it's gets worse! That I did and I am glad to say that I am on the mend and felt well enough to play a little bit today. I had a neat little project (which I'm not going to disclose)planned for Monday Madness and it involved Die Cutting Machines. I can't say to much or it will give it away so let's just say that in planning for the project I had a difficult time deciding "which" diecut machine to use!
I was working at the store so heaven knows I had enough to choose from...the vintage Sizzix, a Quickutz Squeeze, Quickutz Revolution, AccuCut Go Machine, an old Silhouette, small Cricuts, Cricut Expression and so on! I'm pretty sure there are a few others in there too! Hard to believe that over the years we've had so many options in diecut machines to choose from. I think I bought my first Sizzix machine 10 years ago??? Along with a few alphabet and shape dies. I moved to the Silhouette when I finally acquired a laptop and I really enjoyed it. Then I switched from a PC to a MAC before there was MAC version and that was the last I used it.
So that brings me to Monday Madness...which diecut machine is your "Go To" machine for projects? Do you use one at all? If so what do you use them for? Traditionally, at our crops and classes, croppers use them for cutting papers for cards, embellishments and titles for scrapbooking layouts. Is that your use?
Lately, I've been learning and teaching with the Cricut Expression 2...
an upgraded verion of the long standing Cricut Expression Die Cut Machine! I enjoy using it and do enjoy the upgrades on this machine. It comes loaded with a few cartridges and all your tools are on an LCD touch screen. That is nice, until someone taps the touch screen a bit to hard and then, well, it's a little more time consuming! It's safe to say that I am not a"Cricut-holic"! I enjoy using them, love to learn how to use them, have great fun creating projects and teaching Cricut classes at the store and at crops with them and I have used them to cut metal (a favorite of mine...just in case you didn't already know that!), vinyl, fabric, magnet material, canvas, chipboard and a few other things when there is not a line waiting to use one of the 3 we have at the store...but....that usually only happens if I don't have a letter sticker or embellishment already for the project I'm working on. Still, I enjoy them for certain projects like cutting multiples of objects and even basic shapes that are difficult to cut by hand or that require a larger size than I can cut on this machine...the Sizzix BIGKick manual die cut machine! The BIGKick has been my "Go To" machine for years! I'm not even sure they make this white and red version anymore. Notice I have Spellbinders cutting pads in it...to emboss my Ten Seconds Studio's metals of course!!! I do cut things with this machine but the embossing of metal is the primary use! (I can emboss with the cricut...even a full 12 x 12 sheet thanks to some new tools) but...this is my favorite! So much so that I decided...deep breath...to go for my very own personal 12 x 24 version!!! Introducing...the Big Shot Pro...
the big daddy to the original Sizzix and hubby to my BIGKick!!! It's awesome and I'm having lots of fun cutting out bunches of these....with great ease!!!! (Pardon the rhyming!!!!!) I do love the machine and I'm embracing the many used it has for the projects I'm working on. It doesn't talk back to me and my biceps are getting work out with each cut I make! More on the fun things I'm cutting later! For now...let me know how you reeeeally feel about diecut machines!
Happy Monday Madness and Happy March!!!!
Hugs!
Staci
