Creative Chaos

Checking in from CHA.....

I'm ready to roll......Although, I was stopped in my tracks at the door to the exhibit hall when trying to deliver my Melissa Frances display samples. Evidently, during set up, only exhibitors are allowed on the floor. I of course assumed there would be an exception for me.....

"I need to get these to Melissa Frances!!' I exclaimed to the disintrested 18-year-old security guard manning the door. 

"I don't care."  he says, clearly not understanding the urgency, nor the life or death situation at hand.

"But, it's Melissa Frances!!" I once again say hoping that the name dropping will help me inch my way to the door.

"Go. Away."  he says, which indicates to me he has no real knowledge of the importance of glitter and paper in our 21st century world.

After realizing that I was shut down for good, I wandered around aimlessly hoping to find a hole in their top notch security system.  I briefly considered dressing as a maintence worker and riding one of the mini fork lifts onto the floor when I recognized someone standing at the door.  Oh my goodness it was Jodi from Fancy Pants.  I approach her as if I was asking her to buy me some beer from in front of the Stop & Go Liquor mart.  Thank goodness she recognized me and said she would go see if Melissa was there.

Phew.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more pictures and stories.  Talk to you soon!  Karin

Let's browse through Paper Tales.......

But first I wanted to share the crown I made for the Melissa Francis booth at CHA.  I don't know if I mentioned it, but I will be going to CHA this weekend. Tomorrow I am subbing for a class of 3rd graders  and then Saturday morning I'm off to Anaheim for three days.  I'm so ready.  I still need to put the finishing touches on that last project I showed you.  But I think I'm almost done.  Anyway, here are a couple more looks at the crown......

   

Also, Melissa is having another giveaway on her blog.  This time it's for the Attic Treasures collection.......

I love this collection.  I have big plans for this collection......

So without any further ado, here was my day at Paper Tales...... 

Ok...off to bed!  Talk to you soon!  Karin

Have you ever......

had to make a bunch of projects for a design team and although you are going along at a good clip you have this idea in your head of a certain design....it involves Melissa Frances paper and birds and glitter and crepe and more glitter.... and even though it isn't traveling from your head to your hands as fast as you would like, you keep going back to it in between all the other projects you have going on even if that means throwing a pizza at your kids and husband for dinner and then sometime soon thereafter forgetting that you even have kids because you are so consumed with bringing this project to completion?  Or, is it just me? 

Yeah...it's probably me.

Although, I do have to say, I did pry myself away from the computer for a moment to help Carlos with a math problem.  I figured it would only take a second as I am pretty darn awesome substitute teacher, if I do say so myself. Plus I know my times tables like the back of my hand.  I knew I would have it covered and be back in glitter in no time.......Ha!  All I have to say is.....Holy mother of 5th grade math.....two college educated parents trying to help an 11 year old with fractions......it was like a circus act.   We whipped out calculators....online math resources....there was much scratching of the collective heads.....Seriously.  If you would have happened to pass through our kitchen at that point you would have thought Cosme and I were attempting to split an atom.  Sigh.... 

Anyway, after getting my butt kicked in elementary mathematics, I went back to where life makes sense...my  glitter.  So, it started with this......

and involves this.....

 

I feel like I'm almost there. I just keep tweaking it to bring it to the image in my head.   In the meantime, I've got this one done for Melissa Frances' new collection of paper.......

and this one.....It's a banner that says "BABY."   I have to get the blue seam binding from Paper Tales tomorrow so that I can hang it up and show you. I'm working at paper Tales tomorrow so I'll take some pictures of the new items in stock.

Also Melissa Francis is having another giveaway of her other new collection Attic Treasures on her blog.  Go check it out!!

Ok.....off to bed....those fraction took everything out of me.....Talk to you soon!  Karin

 

New Melissa Frances.......

So today's the day that I finally get to show off the new Melissa Frances line that will be unveiled at CHA.  I had a chance to play with all the papers and embellishments over the last month or so.  New paper, glitter and glue.....doesn't take much to make me happy!    The name of the first line is C'est la Vie. 

From the Melissa Frances blog.........C’est la Vie - Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. We all face struggles and obstacles. It is how we handle them that defines us. This collection celebrates life in its imperfect, inherent messiness. Like our Thankful collection, these papers will have part proceeds donated to www.breastcancer.org, Melissa's charity of choice.

Hop on over to the Melissa Frances blog where she is having a giveaway of the C’est la Vie collection.  On Thursday she will be showing the other new collection and doing a giveaway of that on as well.  Plus, you can see some of the beautiful work from the other design team members.

 

I'm not sure if I can show you the whole crown so I will show more Thursday........

 

I was thinking there may be a couple tutorials for the blog on the horizon when the new collection come in at Paper Tales.......

So that's it for now.  I need to get my butt to bed.  I subbed for a bunch of 4th graders today.   I had such a great time...but they are exahusting!   I'll talk to you soon...Karin 

Tutorial Tuesday: washi tape anyone?

A while back I bought a roll of painter's tape at Target.  I thought it would be fun to stamp on it and make a hybrid washi tape of sorts.  So, as per usual, I tossed it in my cart next to the laundry detergent, hair dye and bag of chips ready to race home and make washi tape all night long in order to share it on my blog and anyone else who would listen to me.   Of course, the tape has been sitting on my desk for the last couple months just begging to be stamped and turned into fun, hip and trendy washi tape instead of the lowly utilitarian masking tape for which it was intended.  So, despite people in this house that wanted to use it for things other than decorative washi tape, I managed to rescue it from its humble beginnings when I was working on the journal for Lisa's Antiquated stamp set. It was so much fun and sooooo easy I thought I would do a quick tutorial for you.

I checked around the web to see what other versions are out there.  Although, there are a bunch of tutorials  that use score pal tape and tissue paper, I found it a little to cumbersome for me.   It's not to say I won't try it one day. But for now I need easy. I found another tutorial byScrappergirl that uses masking tape and Maya Mist. I love how it turned out.  So anyhow, here are my very basic instructions.......

All you need is this.........

Found it in the paint section of Target.  It's painter's tape, not masking tape........

I put strips of it on some parchment paper.......

and then stamped away......

when I was done, I rolled it up for quick and easy storage.........

Then I got to thinking.  What if I painted the tape?  So I did.......

I experimented a bit with some different paints.......
  

But then I had to go make dinner and that ended that.   I'll have to get back to you how it turned out.  I think I need to work with it a bit.  I used the Martha glitter paint and kind of like where it's going.......

That's it for now!  I'm substitute teaching for 4th graders tomorrow....Wish me luck!  Karin

What I've been working on.......

I've been working on a Valentine journal for Lisa's Antiquated Collection stamps.

First,though, I want to tell you that her new book has arrived!  We had her first book in stock at Paper Tales and it sold out 3 times over.  I was so excited for this one to come out......

I remember when her book was at Paper Tales I would devour every page, every project.  She was not afraid of liberal amounts of glitter and, more importantly, didn't shy away from excessive use crepe paper.   I felt understood with each turn of the page........

sigh....

So like I said I've been busy working on this journal.  I've been having so much fun with it. Here are a couple of the pages......

One of the fun things I did was make my own Washi tape.......

Super simple and fun.......

So I was surfing around for a few moments today and came across this little gem on someone's facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=b5gVYFjfWcU 

So, it's this woman going on and on about how no one has any rights to their own art/jewelry/craft work if they sell a pattern, teach a technique, write an article or write a book on techniques or patterns.  As the consumer you are free to teach, sell or dance the night away with that idea.  Most of the comments were sharing her thinking.  Do people really think this is ok to do?  Doesn't anyone have any ethics anymore?  So here was my response....

Thanks so much for this article!! I'm so glad to know that I can freely steal someone else's design as my own! It's a real time saver to not have to come up with my own ideas when selling items or teaching a class. With all the talent and information out there, I should be set for life!

So, along those lines, I've decide not to waste any more of my precious brain cells to come up with ideas and projects when there is already talent out there to do it for me.  Lisa Pace I'm looking at you.......

I think some people out there should worry less about whats written in the law and more about ethics. 

Ok, rant over.  I'll be back with more soon!  Karin

Finished......

I finally put some words in my frame.  Now it's off to Paper Tales.......

Trying to get back into the groove.......

I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote a post. I have been trying to get myself organized for the new year. The key word being "trying."  However, I have a feeling I'm not alone in the "fantasy of resolutions vs the reality of execution" connundrum.  I'm still climbing out from under piles of paper and embellishments.  The boys are back in school so I thought this would be a good time for clearing things out.  In the meantime, I've been working on some things for Lisa Pace for her stamp line Antiquated as well as some Melissa Francis projects.  Now that I have my computer trauma behind me (one of these days I will tell you all about it),I've been feeling pretty creative and inspired lately.   I have been working on a few projects now that I finally boxed up the Christmas stuff.   Here's a notebook/journal I made for Paper Tales as a sample......

I still need to put some sort of saying in the frame.  I haven't decided what yet.  It's a super easy project made with this cute black and white wallpaper Michelle got for the store. 

Randi made this cute little bag........

I put together a little valentine book as a sample for Paper Tales........

Talk to you soon...Karin

Not ready to say good bye......

to Christmas just yet.  I'm having a really hard time putting things away.  Once again, so many ideas, not enough time.   December was crazy for me with Cosme out of town for work, my computer crashing and burning and then getting sick.   So many projects sat on the back burner.........

All that withstanding, we had a really great Christmas......

Here's my assistant showing off my new laptop........

I almost forgot to share that I was in Artful Blogging this issue........

Also my Christmas Crepe Tree was in Create........

I was so excited that they left the banner on it........

Ok....off to make a birthday cake for a brand spankin' new 7 year old!   Talk to you soon....K

Happy New Year!

I'm still in vacation mode as the boys have another week off this week. I talked to my friend Gail this morning who informed me that the first day of the rest of her life started today.....She got up at 5:00 am to walk five miles. I, in turn, told her that the first day of the rest of my life would have to start next week as I have a lot of leftover Christmas chocolate that still needs to be eaten.

I've been trying to post some pictures on my blog but they won't load....arrrgggg. New camera plus new computer = no pictures loaded.

Hopefully I will be able to figure this out soon......

 

The computer crash of 2011.........

Will not soon be forgotten. December 2011 will always be remembered as the year that "The computer devoured the pictures." It involved tears of despair and then after copious amounts of money tears of joy. I'll be back with a lengthy post of the whole traumatic event. But first I want to share this video with you.

My best friend Gail made it as part of her parents anniversary gift.......

I told her we are going to be having some fun with video this year. Enjoy....

The new camera hype........

is tempered by the fact that I am sick.  Ugg.... The past few weeks of running around finally caught up with me.  Today was a flurry of parties at the boys' school.....

This is what I looked like when I got home.......

The only one getting anything done......

I'm going to eat my chicken posole and go to bed.....Talk to you soon!  Karin

New Camera....phew.....

This is one of the first pictures that I took.  It was an accident while still trying to figure out the settings while at the soccer field.  I have to say, though, the sharpness of the blades of grass is pretty impressive. 

So far so good on the outdoor shots.  It's the indoor shots I'm still working on. They have been turning out grainy and I have to figure out the setting.  It's a Panisonic Lumix ZS10.  If anyone has any experience with that brand, please let me know.  I got it at Costco so I have 90 days to exchange if I don't like it.  Which brings me to my funny story about buying this camera.  In the meantime, I will intersperse with picture to keep you entertained........

Before heading to Costco, I first decide to stop in at Staples to peruse their camera section to possibly take advantage of not only a 20% off coupon, but also their top notch customer service that is promised by more than one commercial.  So with my arms full of bubble wrap, envelopes for Christmas cards that most likely will never be mailed and ink for the printer, I ask the cashier for someone to help me with a few technical questions in the camera department.  She immediately summoned  "Herbie" (names have been changed to Christmas elves to protect the idiots) who slowly sauntered over from the computer area allegedly ready to answer any and all technical questions I had. 

Me:   "My Canon sx110 that I love broke and I need to replace it.  But I really need to know the difference between this Canon Power Shot  that I currently have and this other Canon Power Shot 230. They both appear to have a lot of the same features.   Also, would going with this Sony model (I point to a similarly price camera) be a better bet?  I really need something with a good zoom." 

I then anxiously awaited any and all questions to be answered so that I could walk out of that store a happy woman with a working camera, bubble wrap an a whole new out look on life.

Herbie:  (Takes a long and careful pause before answering)......

Wow.  I thought to myself.  He is going to give me more information than I ever dreamed of.  I briefly considered running to the stationary section to grab a pad of paper and pen to write down everything he tells me. 

But then I reconsider when he does this......

He reaches for the card that has all the specs and info sitting next to my current Canon model.  And, then, he picks up the other spec card for the Canon 230. 

Then he speaks.......

Herbie:  "Well. Hmmmm. Let's see.  This one has 14 megapixils. And this one has 16 megapixils.  This one has 14X zoom.  And this one has 16x zoom."  

He turns both card over to see if there is any more information. There isn't.

Herbie:  "Well, with the 16x zoom you will get closer pictures."

Really.  He said that. Seriously. I can't make this stuff up.

That's when I stopped listening to him and thought to myself "omg.......this is so going to be a blog post...."  I almost burst out laughing but stopped myself.

I stopped him right there and immediately put him out of his misery.

"um....I can read.  Reading isn't my problem.  My problem is I need to know the technical differences of these cameras.  You don't know.... do you?"

Herbie: "Um...well...no"

Who knows.  Maybe the poor guy was meant to be a dentist not a salesman.  All I knew was I had no questions answered and no camera. I left with my bubble wrap, ink and a some peppermint bark I grabbed last minute at the cash register and headed to Costco where any and all camera related questions were answered by a very knowledgeable electronics employee.  I love Costco.  What other store can you walk out the door with a camera, loaf of bread, roasted chicken, a gallon of body wash and a bag of Cutie oranges.  Not Staples, that's for sure.

Off to work at Paper Tales today.....Talk to you soon!  Karin 

Some more Christmas inspiration.......

In between my rant I want to leave you with some beautiful Christmas inspiration.  This is from Tara Anderson of the Pink Couch.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I adore her style......

If you haven't discovered her yet, you are in for a wonderful treat.  This next one is from Melissa Phillips.  I love this.  The paint she used on it is Krylon Catalina Mist.  I'm planning on spray painting everything I own including my children with this color......

So this next one is from Michelle Wooderson.  I am obsessed with the cover of this journal. Obsessed.  It's the colors...the simplicity....I love the fact that she knows when to stop adding things unlike me.

Sigh....these stockings..... Again....the colors...the felt....I love Corey Moortgat's style.  She has inspired me in countless ways.   Just looking at these make me so happy.......

So anyway...my stupid camera......what was at one point an annoyance with my camera this weekend has now turned into a non functioning piece of electronic mess.  ugg.  My camera is broken.  And, really, the timing couldn't be more perfect.  What with Christmas right around the corner and five days into my fantasy December daily that's been at the top of my pretend to -do list since the beginning of November (not actually started, mind you. But just floating around in my head).  It started giving me trouble last Wednesday by intermittingly not opening the lens and powering off in the middle of taking a picture.  Yesterday was the first day I had off from work to run into the camera shop to see if they could magically fix it on the spot.   With the urgency that is usually reserved for only natural disasters and heart attack victims, I start rambling away with nonsense such as ...."Christmas is coming....my December daily....deadline for Melissa Frances.....blog posts that need to be writtem....family memories  that rest on my shoulders.....world peace rests on your shoulders...."  

To which he responded with a blank stare and "I'm sorry, were you saying something?"  He then said "it's going to cost $100 just to open it up and we don't do repairs."  To which I relied, "so what your saying is you can't fix it this minute right now as I'm standing here?"  To which he replied, "I believe I'm speaking english, right? No." To which I replied, "But I just bought all this October Afternoon paper and want to start my December daily tonight!!!" To which he relied, "I'm calling security."

Whatever.  I guess It looks like an early Christmas present for me.  Because I'm certainly not going to spend $100 or more to fix a $200 camera.  ugg.....

Ok...I'm off to Costco to see if I can score big.  Talk to you soon!  Karin

My favorite things Monday......

Source: mydesertcottage.blogspot.com via Karin on Pinterest

 

It was originally to be "Melissa Francis Monday" but I haven't taken the pictures of my project yet.   Then it was going to be "What I did on Sunday, Monday" however, I completely forgot to take pictures of the crepe paper tree class from yesterday.  Then, it was going to be "Makeover Monday" where I was going to show you how to transform a simple object into something amazing.  But I haven't even started the project yet.  Then I thought how about "What I Wore Monday" but I'm still in my pajamas.  So, after all that I decided it's going to be "People on the Web Have so Much Friggin' Talent I Can't Take it Monday."

Let's start with the picture above by Karen Valentine from My Desert Cottage.  Seriously?!  Look how cute that is.  I found it on Pinterest when I was trying to avoid making dinner.  She has a tutorial for it on her blog.  Amazing. 

Then, up popped Amy Power's Inspire Co on my reader this morning with this little tutorial......

Ha!  Love the scarf on the first one. 

So with all these cute things to make, I say we take up a petition to extend December for another 2-3 weeks.  Who's with me?!  It shouldn't be too difficult.  We would need to gather approximately 2 -3 million signatures.  Does anyone want to head that up for me?  Because I have to jump in the shower to get ready to go to Paper Tales right now.  Ok...great...I think we have a plan.   Talk to you later!  Karin