Creative Chaos

Just when I think I can't get any more excited about the crepe paper trees......

I made some with ruffled seam binding......

In other news, I'm working on the floor again.....

Talk to you soon!  Karin

Cyber Monday on a Tuesday......

I'm starting to list things on my Etsy....finally. 

However, let it be known that spraying pepper spray into the crowd will not be tolerated over here at Icing on the Cake Studios.......

I've got extra security on patrol over here to handle the ne'er do wells.....

I'm going to set these up as kits.  I'm having a blast making them. 

Talk to you soon!  Karin

More glitter.......

I love making these frames.....

the color...the mica glitter......

What ever it is I just can't stop making them....

Off to Paper Tales for the day....Talk to you soon!  Karin

Lots of glitter around here......

I've been making these little mini crepe trees with the idea that they could be ornaments........

I really love how this one turned out.....

I've been working on this little "Let it Snow" cupcake box as a kit.......

The only bad thing is the little round boxes are out of stock....

Figures.  Anyway, I did another one while I was at it......

I'm really into soft turquoise this year.....

Talk to you soon!  Karin

I love Snowmen.....

I am transfixed by all the artist out there that create snowmen. I was on Pinterest and up popped all these adorable snowmen creations.  I'm obsessed with the needle felted one I've been seeing around blog town.  So I thought it would be fun to share some that I'm just over the top with.....

Of course, I have to start with these guys who were created by artists that coincidently happen to be related to me....... 

I think Carlos and Andres did a magnificent job of capturing the up's and down's of a snowman's chilly life.    I love the way Andre's did away with the conventional white body for the snowman and painted him green.  I see a lot of potential in that kid..... 

 

Next up is the artist that inspired it all.....Jenny from Polka Dot Pixie.......

 

I adore Jenny's work.....

Here are a couple of things I found on Pinterest.  What I love about that site is I have stumbled upon things I never would found otherwise.  Like this.....

These little guys are by Trieste Prusso.  I adore them.  Love them. Want them..... 

I love the rustic look of this little guy.  It's on the Better Homes & Garden site with instructions on how to make it......

This one by My Lovely Life  just seals my love for all things felted.......

This one below by Carynbay.....again with the felting.  There is just something about this one that makes me so happy..... 

I think it's the little crystal hanging off his arm that sent me over the edge with this little guy by Linda Albrecht......

I'll share some maore when I come back.....Talk to you soon!  Karin

I know it's the time of year to be thankful.....

but I'll get to that tomorrow.  Today I'm feeling a bit cranky.  It was all spurred by this.........

As I was standing in line at the grocery store, out of the corner of my eye, I caught this headline "Inside the Final Days!"   OMG...I had no idea they died! No one told me they were stranded in a coal mine with only a can of green beans to sustain them. I can only wonder what their "final days" were like....stranded in a cold dark mountain fighting for their last breath.  Silently saying good bye to friends, family and the paparazzi....nooooo...Why them!!??  They're so young and beautiful!! And, although, I'm really not sure that they made any sustainable contribution to this world, it really doesn't matter when they are so young and beautiful!  Whaaaaaa....life is so unfair!!  Whaaaaaaa.....Why do the young, rich and beautiful always seem to die first.....Whaaaaaaa..................Oh...... Wait. They're not dead? "Final Days" refers to their divorce?

I seriously thought Demi Moore had died when I glaced at this cover.   If it weren't for the $290 million price tag, this sounds exactly like what happened to my neighbors Bert and Madge Hinglesthorpe that live down the street.  Except, instead of them being on the cover of a magazine, we all thought they were kind of nutso and stayed away from them.

Next up......Why does Costco insist on having food sample stations at the end of a congested aisleway during the week of a major food buying holiday.  As I headed toward the produce and specialty food section hoping to snag a roasted chicken and some bananas, I happened upon a crunch of people standing by their huge carts surrounding the mini quiche sample stand like it was a russian soup kitchen in mid-century Bulgaria.  Seriously people.....I love mini quiches as much as the next person.  And, truth be told, I will eat more than my fair share at a party if I can get away with it.  But come on....it's not like we are all stranded in Costco after an earthquake and it may be our last meal.   Keep the aisleway moving.   I will buy all of you a box of 72 mini quiches if you just promise to move this crowd scene to the parking lot.........

Black Friday.  Sigh.   Remember back when Thanksgiving used to be Thanksgiving?  The family would gather around the table...eat until they couldn't move, roll themselves in front of the tv and then sit there with a plate of pumpkin pie perched on their belly until it was time for bed. 

And, Black Friday was just that.  An event that started on Friday.  Early, early in the morning around 7:00 am....sometimes even 6:00 am for those wild and crazy people looking for $20 televisions and free walkmans.  Those were the days.    

Now it appears Black Friday starts somewhere in the vicinity of the week before Thanksgiving and Fourth of July.  Shoppers are now being encouraged to grab a deli meat turkey sandwich and head for the malls.  Why get up at six in the morning when you can camp out in a cold parking lot on a Tuesday night for really great deals.   Sigh...... To Thanksgiving:  I love you and I will never, ever leave you and your delicious sweet potatoes.  Never.  You can count on me to sit there on the couch eating an entire pumkin pie in your honor.  And, lots of rolls with lots butter.  Oh, and tons of stuffing.  I love stuffing.  And, in your honor, I will sleep in until 10:00 am the next morning just for you. Maybe even 11:00 am. Thant's how much I cherish you.   Love and Kisses with all my heart and stomach, Karin

Talk to you soon!  Karin

I suspect that I won't be asked for photography tips anytime soon......

Exhibit A....

I have absolutely no awareness of what "good lighting" means.

Exhibit B....

The flash isn't your friend...no matter what it tries to tell you on your little camera screen.

Exhibit c....

Staging involves more than a 12 x 12 scrapbook paper and vintage ledger paper.  It most certainly doesn't involve a blue tupperware lid.

Exhibit D.....

 

When doing a close up, a half opened ink pad drawer probably isn't the best use of background space.

I, of course, decided to take the pictures last night in a dark half-lit craft room.  The tree and the bird are from a ornament class I will be teaching at Paper Tales this weekend.

The little tree is one of those ideas that just popped into my head, thereby, forcing me to abandon all hungry children to create a little crepe tree ornament.   Despite all the whining, complaining and cries of starvation coming from the kitchen, I set forth to create this cute little ornament......

I eventually had to interrupt my genius idea to feed my offspring.  Neither one of them was impressed with my cries of...."need to finish....the next big thing.....potentially offered guest spot on Martha Stewart....I love glitter....."  It was all met on deaf ears and hungary stomachs.  Apparently, the 11 and under set is not only unimpressed with any and all attempts to be on Martha Stewart......evidently they don't even know who she is.  Whatever.  After, throwing some hot dogs and macaroni and cheese their way, I was back to work.  I'll show you the rest of them when I have some better lighting.

In the meantime, I did put up some new floral pack on my etsy......

I'm also working on some mini cake kits.  The only problem is the 3" boxes are on backorder.   Hopefully they will get here soon.  Here's a picture of one of them.....

Ok...time for bed.  I'll talk to you soon!  Karin

It's official.....

I can finally show you what I've been working on for Lisa Pace.......

Her new Antiquated stamp set debuted today at Pink Persimmons.  I feel so honored that Lisa chose me to do some projects with them.   It's funny because when I first saw this man I thought there was no way I would figure out how to use a manly kind of stamp since it doesn't involve the color pink.  Turns out this is one of my favorite gift tags.......

I love the perfume bottle.....

The detail is amazing on the stamped images....

On the back of the tags I put this cute little bag to hold a gift card.....

Ok...I'll be back with some crepe paper trees and some other christmas projects. Talk to you soon!  Karin

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

Lisa will be showing the whole stamp line tomorrow at A Cherry on Top along with a live chat at 3:00 pm central.   So I will also show you what I created too!  Plus I will do a little tutorial with one of the tags. 

Alrighty.....I'm heading back to the craft table to make some crepe pape trees.   I just brought the box in from the garage and went down memory lane from last year......I love mica glitter.   It's one of the only things that makes sense in this crazy world right now. 

Oh...and Ghirardelli's Peppermint Bark.....Can't forget the peppermint bark......

I completely forgot about these.....

I right this minute wish it was July....maybe then I could possibly finish all the ideas I have in my head.

Talk to you soon!  Karin

The new Melissa Frances Holiday line.....

First off...I posted the supply list for the Christmas mini album in the post below.   So anyway....  I was working at Paper Tales yesterday when the new Melissa Frances stuff came in......It was like Christmas on November 15th!  After pawing through everything in the boxes, exclaiming "woo hoo" to no one in particular and forgetting that I was even working at that moment, I realized that I didn't have my camera with me so I could share some pictures with you.    Luckily, Melissa did a little video to show off some of the items.    

 

 

I don't know if you remember, but I did some pages for CHA summer in the Christmas mini album......

I'll be back with more soon.  I'm working on some Christmas cakes.  It's that time of year again to have an excuse to use mica glitter....and damn it if I'm not going to use it on everything I make......Talk to you soon!  Karin