Happy Halloween!

Last month, one of our most loyal workshop attendees, Brenda, shared with us this amazing haunted house paper project! She created it at a Ben Franklin workshop, and it took her hours to complete.  I love all the details incorporated into this 3D house, from the chalking around the doorstep/porch to the windows/shutters! And yes, you can remove the top piece, lending itself to a surprise box.  The back of the house also opens up, so you can insert a light source to illuminate it.  So cool!  I love that our monthly workshops can be a time of sharing and a source for new inspriation.  Thank you, Brenda!

 

 

 

Stampin Up! Inspiration

On Saturday, I attended Shereen's card workshop using Stampin Up! products. We did 4 cards and repeated them 3 times. I don't consider myself a good stamper (I get so nervous!), but I always enjoy learning new craft techniques.  Here's a shot of the 4 cards we created.  Can't wait to add them to my collection...

February Workshop: Glorious Girlfriends

"Glorious Girlfriends"

Sunday, February 24

Nishida residence in Aiea

Kit Cost: $15
RSVP by February 15

bring your tape runner!

During our crafting time this month, we'll be pulling out the Enchanted Papers and embellishments to create cards and little gifts with a feminine flair.  Bliss has some projects in mind, including a CD holder and tea favors.  Recently, I've found inspiration on Pinterest, which is a crafter's dream!  All of my card designs/projects this month were patterned after something I've found on Pinterest. 

Card set

Post it holder

Gift card "wallet"

Open up the wallet for a surprise inside!

Another gift card holder with a belly band.

 You could also slip a note inside the pocket instead of a gift card.

Hope you can join us later this month to create these fun projects. Happy Valentines Day!

Happy New Year!

Many blessings to you and your family as you welcomed in 2013... May the new year be filled with blessings, adventures, and new ways to inspire you! 

I was recently inspired by a Christmas gift from a friend.  She and I both love stationery items; she had shared how she recently explored products on Paper-Source.com. On the site, they have a tutorial for making your own envelopes in various sizes with liners.  This allows you to create an envelope from any paper you may have on hand, including printed, vellum, or even washi paper.  On Christmas, I was so excited when I received the templates for creating custom envelopes, along with some gorgeous paper!  This would be the perfect New Year's Eve project...

My auntie and I got to work right away after dinner.  We started by choosing our envelope size (A2 = 5.5"x4.25") and paper.  We decided to go with Creative Memories' 12x12 platinum shimmer paper.  Lovely!  CM's tool kit came in handy for this project as the precision scissors were sharp and easy to maneuver around our outline.  The embossing tool also worked out perfectly to help us score the folds for the envelope flaps.

 

After we cut out the liner from beautiful piece of vellum, we used our favorite tape runner with frosted segments to adhere the liner in the envelope.  Then after carefully folding at the creases, it was time to adhere the envelope's flaps together... our envelope started to take shape!

 

 

 

Overall, I was quite pleased with our handiwork, even though we had to do the cuts by free hand.  It was great to combine the templates from another company with the paper and tools of Creative Memories.  I can't wait to make more! 

 

 

 



June Workshop Update

We enjoyed a productive afternoon of crafting our favors and "little gifts." Part of the fun of our workshop sessions is sharing ideas and learning from each other... Today we had a guest demonstrator, Brenda! She showed us how to make this adorable little scrapbook wallet using cardstock and the new "Color Vibe" stack pack.

Brenda is our super resourceful librarian. 
She learned this project from Ben Franklin's "Joy of Crafting" and adapted it.

You can add photos or journaling to each section. 
The middle block can also be utilized as a pocket... a gift card will fit perfectly inside of it!

Round out the corners and tie it up with some ribbon to hold the wallet closed. 
So lovely!

Customer Corner: Candice's Christmas Gifts

I was recently inspired to feature one of my customers, Candice, in my blog.  Candice is a busy wife and mom of three adorable kids.  She attended our Santa's Workshop session back in November, as she was hoping to get some ideas for homemade Christmas gifts for her daughters' teachers.  Instead of shopping at a craft fair to pick up similar items, she was ambitious and decided to create her own!  I am soooo proud of her end result.  Take a peek...

I love the vibrant colors of the coordinating sets she created.  Her stationery set includes a mini composition book (one of my favorites), clipboard and pad, jumbo clip, and recipe holder.  She said she made 15 of these sets!  I am thrilled that she gleaned ideas from our workshop and was inspired to make her very own unique products.  In her words, "if someone like me can do it, ANYONE can."  But I know from experience that it does take quite an effort to pull together a project like this!  I hope Bliss and I can continue to inspire crafting beyond our workshop sessions... Thanks so much for sharing, Candice!

Not that Inspired

Ahhh!  I've been struggling with motivation to design May's "Rough and Rugged" cards/projects these past few weeks... I'm having major creative block as I catch up in other areas of life.  When life is busy, I tend to avoid these "harder" creative tasks, such as designing cards.  But I've been making major progress on my Holy Land digital album.  Woohoo!
Some ideas I will employ to hopefully help me get out of this funk (soon, I hope!):

• Take a step away.  I hate sitting with all my papers and tools a'clutter with no end product that I'm pleased with.  Sometimes it's part of the creative process, but most times I know myself well enough to just put the project on hold.
• Back to the drawing board.  I look through old magazines, crafting websites, and the CM project center to hopefully get that new burst of inspiration.  You never know what will catch your eye as you browse these resources multiple times.  Old projects can also be given new life with a simple twist!
• Pray.  Since God is the source of inspiration and all things creative, why not offer Him a prayer?  I find He will pop amazing ideas into my mind at the most random times!