2010 CHA Summer Release Tour - Prima Marketing.

Yes! It's that time of year again! It's the Craft and Hobby Association-or CHA as its more commonly called- Summer release trade show in Rosemont Illinois. This is where all of the great companies and industustry leaders in the art and crafting world gather to show off the new products they will be releasing. Vendors fly in from all over the country and the world for that matter to display their new product lines.

One of the companies that I am always interested to see there is Prima Marketing. They are the makers of those gorgeous paper flowers and beautiful art and scrapbooking papers that you see in many artist's creations.

Scott, from BlueMoonScrapbooking.com an industry leader in scrapbooking and art supplies visited the Prima Marketing booth at this summer's session of CHA. Take a peek at his video to see some of the new products slated to hit the stores soon.

*Please pause music below before watching the video.

One Happy Camper!

Yay! For the first time in a very long time I am floored by the quality of an online purchase. Please watch the video below where I tell you all about it and then visit the links below to check them out for yourself.

Crafta.com
32NorthSupplies.etsy.com

A Few Finished Projects.

I finally found some time to complete a few vintage projects that I've been working on. I've had these ideas floating around in my head for sometime so it was nice to finally get them completed so that I can move right along to the next project obsession that is no doubt lurking around the corner...lol :)

*Please pause the music at the bottom of the page before watching the video.

Need A Laugh?

*Pause music below before watching.

A New Addition.

Please meet the newest member of my family...her name is "Boy, Boy". A little weird I know since she is a girl but I'll explain that in a minute. If you remember my post back in August you will remember that I lost my precious Shayla Mae to a terrible accident that took her life. If you wish you can read the story here. I was devastated when it happened because she was my kitty of 13 years. It will be a year next month since she has been gone and I have been wanting another kitty but just could not bring myself to get another as it was too painful to think about.

Then a few weeks ago my mother called and said that a "stray" had shown up at their door. I could tell by the tone in her voice what was coming next. She was going to want me to take this cat. I wasn't willing to take on another pet until I was over the loss of my Shayla. Reluctantly I decided to take a look at this cat. It turned out that she was the sweetest little thing and her personality and temperament was identical to that of my precious Shayla Mae. I couldn't resist and I took her home a few weeks ago. She has made me so happy and I am reminded of my Shayla everyday because of her.

As I said in the beginning her name is "Boy, Boy". This is because for the short time she was with my parents they thought she was a boy and they had begun calling her that. She was already used to the name so I decided to keep it. If you are not a pet lover then this post may be hard to understand. I love my pets with all my heart and now I am finally able to move on from the loss of my Shayla and remember her always in my heart while giving my love to someone new.

I was recently criticized for loving my beloved pets like children and to that I say "how sad for you". "How sad that your heart is closed and or not able to know the love that God created in the heart of man for his animals." The scriptures are filled with accounts of faithful men of old who showed love and concern for their creatures. I am grateful that I am able to feel this love as not all people can. I am grateful that he created these sweet little beings simply for our enjoyment as an expression of his benevolent love for mankind and for that I am thankful.

Vintage Inspired Lace.

Lace, Lace, and more Lace! I just love it and can't get enough of it. I recently purchased a beautiful lace bundle from a gal over on Youtube and when it arrived my tongue almost fell out...lol. Each piece was so beautiful and vintage that I couldn't wait to get started on using them. Take a peek below and please remember to pause the music below first.

Heartbreaking.

Sometimes in life the terrible misfortunes of others makes us screech to a halt in our own lives and slam on the brakes of the trivial stuff that we waste our precious time and energy on. This happened to me just yesterday when I learned of a terrible situation that one of our fellow Youtubers and Scrap sisters was experiencing.

Claudia or 66msclaudia as her Youtube channel name is called, had the tragic experience of suddenly and unexpectedly losing her husband in death last week. She is the stay at home mother of 6 children and her husband was the sole provider for the family. You can imagine how devastated she and her children are. I am amazed at her courage to persevere and try her best to take care of things despite her own pain. Claudia is in the process of selling off all of her art and scrapbooking supplies to raise money to take care of things.

She is selling a variety of scrapbook and mixed media art supplies in great condition that you may be able to make use of but more importantly you may be able to help her and her family in their time of need with your purchases. She has asked her Youtube family and fellow scrappers to get the word out and if you are unable to purchase please let your friends know or post on your blog if possible. This woman is amazing and strong and I only hope we can offer her comfort and assistance in her time of need.

Please visit her Youtube Channel at the link above to see her items for sale and listen as she explains the situation in her own words.

Putting Them To Use.

So I finally found a neat project to use the gorgeous satin ribbon flowers from my last post below. I created a 6x6 mini album that showcased their beauty much to my delight. I started with a 6x12 piece of card stock and scored it using my Martha Stewart Scoreboard to make a book shape.


Then i used my BELOVED Mariposa paper stack! I had been avoiding cutting into this gorgeous paper long enough so I just went for it. I decorated the cover using the ribbon flowers, Prima Marketing Say it in pearls and a few sprigs of pretty feathers. The cover and all pages were trimmed in gold Paint Dabber.


Below I used a Tim Holtz Hitch Fastener and an elastic hair band for the closure. I love this technique especially for bulky minis because it keeps everything all together and in place.

The inside cover was lined with glittered and gold card stock from the coordinating Mariposa Card stock Stack.

This was a paper bag album so every other page opened up on the end for the addition of tags, trinkets or additional photos.

I had initially planned for this page to be the front cover but after gluing everything in place I realized that I had adhered it to the back cover....bah! It made for a beautiful back cover anyhow.

Using the original stand from my dear friend NatalieBramasole as a template I traced onto card stock and cut and folded it to make a coordinating chipboard stand to hold the mini. It too was covered in the gold and glittered paper from the Mariposa Stack.

I am more than pleased with the way it turned out and it is now ready for some personalizing and embellishment and that is truly the fun part!