Summertime

There is still a chill in the air here . ..but I am so ready for SUMMER!! We do have long days of light but where is the warmth?? In the meantime I will succumb to making a few summertime craft projects.



This summertime pin is made with grungeboard elements, crackle paint, distress ink and dabber paint. There is a U tube video about making such pieces but I sorry I seem to have lost the address.

This week's Hero Art's challenge is circles.

I enjoyed playing with the Big and Juicy Ink Pad and of course a little bling!

More cruisin'...

GLACIER BAY!

The beauty of glaciers caving is at special as I had dreamed...and then some! Only wish I could have captured their moment and a few of whale tails we said in pictures to share with you.

















We altered this mirror frame in class today. Yes, I covered the mirror with paper to photograph. We cut pieces of grungeboard and colored them with Dabber paint and then distressed them and added black dabber paint to accent. To make it my own I used some Prima flowers from our first kit and swirls from the new grungeboard smaller alpha set.

Cruisin’ to Alaska!

Since Monday was our full day at sea, we had our first and longest class with Tim. We made a 4x4.5 album to use on our trip. What fun to experiment with lots of new products!

I really like using grungeboard for covers of albums! It is flexible and can be embossed in the cuttlebug! I was surprise to learn you can sew grunge and even laundered it. We slathered on the crackle paint and after drying added distress ink. As I worked to make it my own I added dabbler sail blue paint. It was amazing to have all the pages precut with some with pockets and others with flaps. It gave us plenty of opportunity to learn how to use the ink blending applicator as we distress all the edges with ink and the distress tonic tool as well as a hands on try with the bind-it-all.

Tuesday-Juneau, Alaska!
We only had the morning for classes so this one was short, easy and fun. These products are just now being shipped to stores, so we were the first to play with Tim’s new hardware. We each receive a wonderful sacks full of sprockets, spinners, tokens, chains, latch hooks, clips…etc. We had such fun putting together combinations to wear as jewelry or to add to our crafting projects. Here I made a book spine hanger for my friend Lesley.

We were in Juneau, Alaska's capital and 3rd largest city (pop. approx 30,000) for the afternoon and evening. When I directed the Girl Scouts in northern Alaska, I had a wonderful colleague and friend, Lesley, who directed the Girl Scouts in southeast Alaska. She still lives in Juneau and enthusiastically gave us a personal tour of the area. We enjoyed hearing the stories of our state's government as we travelled through downtown and the senic ride to Medenhall Glacier where we got to touch the glacier ice (pic on left).

We made a stop along the coast to visit St Theresa’s retreat center where we enjoyed the peaceful walk among these tall trees along the water. What beautiful stone work!

Lesley saved the best treat for last! We met her husband for a lovely private dinner at the inn on top of the mountain that is gotten to by tram. While I am uncomfortable with heights I decided to be a "traveler" and try the new things of the trip. To my surprise I felt very secure in the tram and the views were spectacular. A quick special thanks to Lesley (red jacket) and Don (not in picture) from me (black jacket) and Peggy (blue jacket) for sharing the sites of Juneau.

A FANTASTIC CRUISE!

May 11-18 2008 ... life doesn't get much better than enjoying a week of leisurerly crafting with Tim Holtz and cruising the beautiful waters of southeast ALASKA!






The view from my balcony in Seattle was fantastic particuliarly since I had never seen the space needle before this trip. The fast pace of the city provided a sharp contrast to what we would see in the days ahead.









Tim is one fantastic organizer of training events! It is difficult to simply explain how fantastic crafting with a master teacher and organizer can be. Tim provided EVERYTHING the 200 participants could possibily need for a spectacular crafting time. If you think of a luxurious crafting time...this is it!




At a reception the first evening we recieved the nametag that you see on the far right. It is also a zippered pounch to carry our room key and any other personal essentials. We wore it to all the classes and quickly learned to identify our classmates by "the look" of the tag and a similar designed zippered totebag.

Tim planned for every possible item we could possibly need for our projects. The first day we received a basic kit complete with a sampling of the newest inks, paints and tools. He even provided rubber gloves and a tea towel to be used as a ink rag as needed.


O-o la-la there were always surprises!!! We received an abundance of additional supplies and embellishments so we could personalize our projects. Hm-m I see I still have lots of grungeboard and a wonderful set of Hero Arts travel cling stamps to enjoy but lots of ribbon must still be stashed in a suitcase pocket.

So I best run along to finish up cleaning out the suitcases...see you soon with pics of my projects.