Trick or Treaters

I'm working on this blog in between the "Trick or Treaters" coming to our door tonight.  Such a cold, wet night for them.  I had a little Arielle at the door a few minutes ago and she looked frozen, but smiled and said thank you when I commented on her costume.   There have been 27 so far and we usually get between 70 and 100.

We completed our last Christmas Card class today.  With some absent due to broken bones, others because circumstances changed at the last minute.  It meant that Linda was busy stamping and cutting their pieces so the missing folk could complete them at home later. 

Everyone had a great time though with much laughter and so many positive comments on what they learned.  I tried to get a feel over all the classes for the most favourite card, but it was very difficult to zero in on any particular one because we all like different styles.  I think the top four in no particular order would be the Woodsman Santa, Nativity Scene, Winter House and the Triple Winter Tree.

Here are the ten cards that 62 busy ladies have created.  That's some 620 cards!  There was also a bonus of three very quick tags to embellish their gifts with this Christmas too, I'll show you these later as I don't have a photo yet.

  

So you can see there were quite a variety of card styles and techniques too.   Some of the ladies learned how to stretch their Cuttlebug dies to make a longer embossed shape.  Also to use their Nestability dies in a different way to create a new shape.

One request we had was to post a list of inks and how they are best used.  There was a wide variety of inks used on these cards such as Stazon, Memento, Distress, Memories, Versamark and Colorbox Chalk Ink.  I'll get a listing together soon that will hopefully "de-mystify" the use of inks.

Don't forget that the weekly special starts tomorrow.  The Scrapbook album which you can go on to use later as a Smash Book is worth picking up for yourself or a gift for someone, so don't delay and miss out.

Also the classes that Linda posted in the newsletter are beginning to be registered for, so make sure you move on those too. 

Don't pass over the Advent Calendar because you don't have children. It isn't only for children.  It would be a great gift for an adult or shut-in with the promise of tasks you may do for them in the winter months to come, shopping trips you may make for them or take them on,  favourite recipes, the list is only limited by your imagination.  Just think of  the fun opening a new little surprise every day from December 1st to 24th.  Christmas isn't only for children, adults are allowed to have fun too and you could have that fun in not only making the Advent Calendar, but in giving it to someone unexpectedly.

Every year we make a different calendar and this year the perpetual one doesn't need you to keep supplying a new calendar to the recipient each year.

And of course the Gift Class always holds an idea or two for a fast Hostess, Teacher, Sunday School Teacher, Guide Leader, Co-Worker, Dance Teacher gift.  The list goes on for those people that you want to acknowledge with a little something at Christmas and these are the classes to take for that.

Well it's been a busy night, but with less than normal "Trick or Treaters" perhaps due to the weather.  I only counted 64 this year....that means we are going to have to eat the rest of the candy!!!!

Until later, Happy Crafting

Lilian

Another Busy Month Coming Up

We have one more Christmas Card Class to complete, with people coming from as far away as Ottawa and Montreal we have been very pleased with the response.  We heard over and over again, not only from the ladies who signed up for class but their husbands too, how pleased they were with the variety of style.

Did you see in your newsletter the upcoming Christmas Classes?  Don't delay with registration and be one of the people we have to say..."sorry it's full" to.  Clear your calendar and mark the dates, you won't be disappointed in what is being offered here either.  An Advent Calendar, a Perpetual Calendar, and a number of small gifts for the people in your life.

Were you motivated to pick up your photos and create a page or two from the samples I showed you last week? 

I have Linda's sample of the Embellishment Challenge to show you tonight.  The ladies really loved this sketch and there were approximately 30 entries into this challenge.  

Our winner was Jennifer.  She had walked around the room chatting and discussing with other scrappers their creative pages.  Lisa generously taught Jennifer how to make the lovely fall leaves on her page.  Using Glossy Accents and a punch she made some lovely embellishments on her page.

Don't forget to left click on any of the photos if you want a close up look of them

I thought you'd like to see a photo of the lovely kitchen staff who worked so well to serve us all on the weekend.  Sandra headed up the team with Brian (who was in and out due to his Minor Hockey responsibilites), Kara (our High School student volunteering her time toward her Community Hours), Rachel and Emily (Linda's two daughters) and Jonathan (Sandra's son who was in and out as well as he played the hockey games with his team).

And a view of the busy Scrapping Room and some of the creative people who enjoyed the weekend.  I wonder what I was laughing about there.

They say.......

but only if you remember to journal it at the time...LOL!

Did you take advantage of last week's special?  A number of people did and were really happy with the quantity of flowers in the pack.  There are a couple left, so if you mention that you saw this on the blog, we will honour the same price for you.  Look back at the last posting to see the pricing and special  too.

This week from Thursday through to Monday you can snag a bargain with this terrific Scrapbooking Kit.   If you're in the Christmas shopping mode, there's likely a scrapper on your list that would fall in love with this.  Then once they've used most of the merchandise inside the book, leaving a few papers they can make a gorgeous Smash Book with a great protective cover too.  At just $7.99 this is too good to miss.

I'm pleased that the power didn't go off while I was blogging.  I've been hearing on the news about all the flooding and damage due to Hurricane Sandy and sadly a number of deaths too.  We have so much to be thankful for living here in Muskoka. 

I leave you hoping you've been inspired by some of the pages posted and perhaps if you haven't started scrapping not knowing where to start, call or drop into the store to register for our bi-weekly crop nights.  We'd be happy to help you get all of your lovely photos memorialised. 

Until later......Happy Crafting

Lilian
PS. the power went out!  Thank goodness for a program that saves automatically  along the way.

A Couple of Pages and Requests

I'm going to start showing you some of the pages that were not only offered as the challenges, but some that won prizes too.  I won't do it all in one blog as you may be overwhelmed and miss the beauty of them all.

So tonight here's a look at what we offered as the "Make and Take" which came together as a page.

All the Mega Crop registrants had the opportunity to participate in the "make and takes", and in doing so would learn, or be reminded of how to make a variety of embellishments for their pages.  Once they had completed all ten make and takes, they could assemble their page, find a photo that suited and a page was complete!

So the 10 embellishments were these:-
 1 - Title using the negative space (throw away) of chipboard letters
 2 - Stamping a journal space using a simple acrylic block
 3 - Hand made flowers from punched or die cut flowers
 4 - An altered paper clip
 5 - Twisted Cord from crochet cotton
 6 - Altered rhinestones (these were clear then coloured orange)
 7 - Polaroid style photo
 8 - Scoring and sanding patterned paper
 9 - Hand cut file tab
10 - Covered chipboard piece.

Many people not only participated in the "make and takes" but they also went on to complete the page by adding their own photo.  One page that particularly caught our eye was this one by Angela.   She not only completed the one page, but matched it up to make a two page layout.   By simply adding some patterned paper to her one page and taking that paper and the banner style across to the left hand page she easily changed a one page layout into a stunning two page that accomodated a number of photos.  (left click on the page for a larger image)

Having learned these techniques they were then applied to the embellishment challenge which I will show you the next time.  To enter the embellishment challenge, each scrapper came up with their own layout but had to use certain elements from the make and take page.  Some were required elements, some were chosen by them from the remaining list.  An amazing display of artistic talent was laid out to be judged at the end of the day, with every one a winner as new techniques or twists on techniques were learned.

Watch for later blogs as I share with you some of the other challenges and winners.

In the meantime, we were asked for a number of recipes from the menus that all the ladies enjoyed.

Here's the recipe for Dump Cake that was served on Saturday night and made by Kara and Emily two of our lovely kitchen staff.  Rachel and Jonathan among other things,cleaned, cut and diced many, many vegetables for dinners and salads.  All four were amazing young people catering to our needs and wants.

 Peach Dump Cake

• 1  29 ounce can sliced peaches with the juice (drained and save juice)
• 1 yellow cake mix
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)

Place drained peaches in a 9×13 pan.

Sprinkle dry cake mix over peaches.

Carefully spoon melted butter and juice over cake mix. Sprinkle with nuts if using them.

Bake at 325 for about 45-50 minutes.

Serve warm or cold with ice cream

Bean Salad

1 14oz can Kidney Beans - washed and drained

1 14oz can Green Straight Cut Beans - drained

1 14oz can Wax Yellow Beans - drained

1 onion chopped

1/2 cup Salad Oil

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

3/4 cup White Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Measure and mix the oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.  Pour over the washed and drained beans and onion.  Allow to marinate for approximately 24hours.  Will keep for 7-10 days in the regrigerator

Chicken with a Chinese Accent 

(I've used this favourite recipe since I was a teacher in 4H 30 years ago)

6 - 7 boned chicken breasts

1/4 cup Soya Sauce

1/4 cup Cider Vinegar

1/8 cup Brown Sugar

1 10oz can Mushroom Soup

1 onion chopped

Place chicken breasts into medium casserole dish.  Mix Soya Sauce, Mushroom Soup, Vinegar and Brown Sugar together.  Pour over chicken breasts and bake in 350 oven for approximately 45 mins. 

I also cook this on top of the stove in a saucepan. Pouring sauce over chicken and simmering for about the same time.

Carrot Salad

2lbs Carrots peeled, sliced and cooked until just tender

1 Onion sliced into rings

1 cup White Sugar

1/2 cup Salad Oil

1/2 cup White Vinegar   (note: I used Cider Vinegar by mistake for the Mega Crop, but it still tasted great)

1 10oz can Tomato Soup

1 tsp of dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Mix Oil, Vinegar, Soup, Sugar and Mustard with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the onion rings to the cooked and drained Carrots.  Pour sauce over carrots and onions.   Allow to marinade for 4-6 hours.  Keeps well in refrigerator.

Jut an update on the Hallowe'en costumes that Linda and I are working on.  The sceptre (a wooden ball knob on wooden dowel painted black and blinged up with rhinestones) has been made, along with the Queens crown (jewellery wire twisted with beads interlaced through it). The Borrowers paper clips ( electrical wire), needle/sword (dowel painted silver and drilled), shoe covers and tunic sewn.  We'll show you the finished costumes after they've been worn on Friday night.

For now though that's all, so happy crafting until next time.

Lilian

A Quick Update Post

I had planned on showing you some photos from both the first Christmas Card Class as well as the fabulouse Mega Crop weekend we just had, but time as always gets away on me.

Not that I've been idle tonight.  Rachel (my granddaughter) called me to ask if I could help her with her Hallowe'en costume tonight as she has dance each night this week.  She has her Dance Studio Hallowe'en party on friday and her costume needed to be made.  So that's what we were up to together for an hour or so, and now it's under control.  I cut and Rachel sewed up a plaid tunic for the main part of her costume.  We still have some fancy shoe covers to make, but between Linda and I that should be done too.

So here are the photos from the first Christmas Card Class we held on October 13th 2012. 

Of the 21 ladies, we had four mother and daughter groups in this class, plus Linda and myself. 

The morning began with everyone working steadily, but by lunchtime the rush was on as they realised their pace needed to be picked up.  In the end though, everyone had their cards stamped and any other technique accomplished on them, so that there would be simple assembly to complete them at home.
I can't show you the cards right now as we still  have two more classes to work on them, but here's a sneek peek at one of them.

Now before I leave you for the night, here's the weekly special that begins on Thursday of this week.

This was offered first at the crop weekend and a number of the participants took advantage of it, so there's not many left.  It's a great embellishment kit for both the scrapbooker and cardmaker, so don't delay in making sure you pick yours up before they are all gone!

Make sure you check back later this week as we show you some of the amazing work that was created at the Mega Crop Weekend and share some of the activity with you.

Until later, Happy Crafting

Lilian

Promised List

I know I'm behind the eight ball, but I promise I'll be raring to go by Saturday.  I've spent the day going over the cards for Saturday's class, because it's been so long since we made them...LOL.
With some fine tuning, some instructional help on the cards and pictures for the bin we'll be in fine shape.

Here's the updated list though.  I'm including everything, so check to make sure what you have in your stash and if you bring "stuff", make sure you've well labeled it too.

I'll give you the "Must Have" list first.  These are things that we won't have for you, so make sure that you have them in your stash, or drop in to the store to make the purchase.

Must Have List:-

Sakura White Pen                                   Black Permapaque Pen        

Scotch Tape                                             Pencil/Ruler/Eraser

Sakura Stardust Pen                               Trimmer/Guillotine               

Fine Grit Sandpaper                                1/2" Double Sided Tape

Piercing Tool and Soft Mat                     Glue Runner and LOTS of Refill 

Fine Brown Micron or Identipen             Scissors/Craft Knife                      

Glossy Accents or Scotch Quick Dry Glue                      

Both Thick and Thin Dimensional Dots           

The only things I've added since the previous list is the Fine Brown Micron or Identipen, Scissors and a Craft Knife.  With the pens, my preference would be the Micron Pen because it gives a finer line, but an Identipen will work, just be fatter lines.

There may be other things that you like to carry in a cardmaking kit that I've missed.   Look through your stash and see what you would have out if you were making cards at home and bring what you think I may have missed.

If you have the following, you may want to bring them with you to make your work go smoother and faster.

If You Have List 

Distress Inks :-

Walnut                        Frayed Burlap         Forest Moss         

Brushed Corduroy      Fired Brick              Old Paper

Inks :-

Black  Versafine          White                 Black              Green Stazon         

Dark Moss Cats Eye       Olive Pastel Cats Eye        Chestnut Roan Cats Eye     Dark Brown Cats Eye

Stickles:-

Red         Green         Gold         Diamond(Ice)

 

Embossing Folders and Cuttlebug Machine:-

Sizzix Sugar and Starry Night                   Crafts Too Christmas Greetings      

Cuttlebug Swiss Dots                                Crafts Too Pinetree Scene   

NOTE: you can see pictures of these folders if you scroll down on the blog to the September 23rd posting.

 

Nestabilities Dies:-                              Inking Tools:- 

Scalloped Circles Large Set                               Distress Inking Tool

Plain Circles Large and Small Set                       3-4 Foam Attachments

Scalloped Ovals Large Set

Plain Ovals Small Set                                        Marking Pens

Labels 8                                                             Red and Yellow

Large Deckle Edged Rectangles                   Sakura Burgundy and Green

                                                                                Glaze Pens

Punches:-

Threading Waters by Fiskar or                        Ek Success Open Scallop

EK Success Dotted Scallop                             1" Circle Punch

(same cut pattern)                                           Small Hole Punch

NOTE: you can see pictures of these punches if you scroll down on the blog to the September 23rd posting.

You may also want to bring a Craft Mat if you have one, baby wipes to keep your hands and workspace clean, a small cutting mat and I never card make without my Glue Eraser on my desk. 

Well I think that's all for tonight.  For those coming to the class on Saturday, you should have received either a phone call or email to tell you of a change of venue.  Booking dates were mixed up and Independent Grocer had us booked in for last Saturday. 

We will now be at Nipissing University just a block down the street in the opposite direction.  Go to the back parking lot of the University and the entry door is right there. 

We aren't sure which room we are in, but if it's upstairs there is an elevator along the right hallway from the lobby and there will be some kind of signage to direct you.

Dont forget to bring a lunch as there's nowhere there to buy your lunch and no fridge either.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday. 

Until then, Happy Crafting

Lilian