Did You Hear the Upcoming Temperatures?

Although they continue to predict some snow flurries, they are also saying our temperatures will consistently be on the plus side!  Check it out here

Quite the photo from my sister-in-law of her son's home in England wasn't it! Did you see it in the newsletter?  Unfortunately they don't cope as well with the snow as we do, so all roads were closed around them leaving them stranded.  I meant to ask her if it was "packy" snow for making snowmen, because that could have been fun for my nephew's three girls, but it looked more light and fluffy to me.

We had a great time at the All Day Card Class at the Independent Grocer's on Saturday past.  What a great bunch of ladies we had, so focused on completing their cards yet lots of laughter and fun along the way.

Many of the ladies had traveled some distance to be there and we appreciate their participation.  Everyone went away pleased with their accomplishment and what they had learned, whether is was a new way to tie a bow or how to partial cut with the Spellbinder dies.

I'll be putting the photos of all the cards onto Flickr once the other class is complete on April 6th.  In the meantime, here's another sneak peek of one of the cards made in class.  This card was a great hit because of it's versatility.  It could be used as a Birthday, Sympathy or Wedding card and really fast to make too.


I don't often share four letter words,
 but I have a great one here to share with you.

                           

This was from one of my favourite blogs....Ginger's House.  She's very talented and if you hop on over she has it here as a downloadable file.

Do you like to crochet?

I was looking at a you tube video earlier today and thought I'd share it with you.  It shows a great way of starting your crochet when you want to begin with a circle such as for a blanket/afghan square.  It's sometimes called a magic ring and it allows you to have a circle without that ugly hole in the middle.  Here it is for you to watch.

I also found instructions for this lovely crocheted square, and she not only shows you how to make the square, but tells you during the video the stitch instructions.

Hop on over here to watch the video on her website. 
She begins with the magic ring, making it slightly differently to the you tube video I've linked you to.


Here's another great you tube  video for when you are crocheting and have to chain at the end of a row before turning.  A clever way of replacing that chain two making it look like a double crochet!  Check it out here.






Well  I think that's all I have for you this week.  Maybe one more thing.  
I sent this to Rachel (my granddaughter)  great words to live by...and you can
download them here at Ginger's House.

Wouldn't this look great printed out and framed as a daily reminder?



Until Later...Happy Crafting


Lilian

Are You Ready?

Because ready or not, winter isn't quite finished with us yet, it's a pretty nasty night out there.  Not  to worry though, there's lots to look forward to with the first of the two All Day Card Classes on Saturday of this week, twenty three ladies will be making eleven unique cards.

Then we will repeat the process on April 6th for another twenty two ladies.  Linda and I always wonder if it's best to be in the first class of these repeat classes or the second.  Do we work out the quirks in the first class making the second class better, or do we get bored by the second class making the first class the best choice?


Well according to the ladies we've asked, they've all been very pleased no matter which class they attended, hopefully that will be the case again.

Here's a tease peek at one of the cards we'll be making.

Did you all check the list of supplies that Linda put in the newsletter?  Some are "if you have" some are "MUST HAVES', so please don't come without the "MUST HAVES" at least.


Can you keep a secret?
If you can I'll show you the slippers I knitted to give to my Mother-in-law when we travel to England soon.  I made them slightly different to the pattern inasmuch as I made a little cuff around the ankle.  I think she'll find them cuddly and warm don't you?



I had a customer in the store on Saturday morning who was feeling a little challenged by a project she was to do for her sister. Her sister is becoming a grandmother for the first time and she's asked family members to embroider on a fabric block and all those blocks will be made into a quilt for the new baby.  She's sent the fabric and a variety of floss colours to  be used.  Each family member has to come up with their own design using the fabric and floss that was sent to them.  It's hard to find embroidery patterns nowadays, but I explained how you can use a picture from a magazine, internet, colouring book along with the heat transfer pencil and tracing paper that we regularly keep in stock to make your own embroidery transfers.  We also have a new pen that I haven't tried yet, but according to reviews works extremely well.  It's a Frixion heat erasable gel pen click here to see it. You can draw your own designs on fabric and once you've finished them, a little heat on the reverse side will erase all the lines you drew.  Pretty magic methinks!



I was asked to make a "happy" graphic to go with the mixed up Birthday word I had on the blog last week, so here it is...enjoy.  Don't forget to left click to make it larger and then right click to save it to your computer.
I've also put a little border around it all.


I've been quite intrigued by all the embroidery on felt that I've seen floating around the internet lately and came upon this one that I thought I'd share with you.  Amazing how a few easy embroidery stitches can make the felt look so appealing.  Kerry Tucker is an English lady and it was the cherry blossoms in England's Kensington Gardens that inspired her to make this pin.

You could use the same process for a focal point on a card or an embellishment on a scrapbook page.  Click here to take you to the link and full instructions and patterns.



Did you notice that lovely stamp that Linda had in the newsletter?  I fell in love with it when I first saw it on our Distributors website, but it's even more lovely in real life.  It's called "Going to Seed".
You can't remember it?  Well you're going to have to go back to the newsletter to look at it again, because I'm not putting the picture in here, LOL.

There's some cute little cheapies too for masculine cards.  You'll have to hurry into the store though because they came in during last week and I was selling them on the weekend. If you're out of luck this time though, ask us to order them in for you.  That's a great way of knowing that when whatever you want comes back into the store, we hold it off the shelf for you and give you a call to let you know it's here.

Last but not least I found these inspirational words on Ginger's House blogspot.  Hop on over to see them, they're worth the look and you can download and print them too.


Until later,  Happy Crafting

Lilian

Happy March Break!

Of course if you don't have school age children, then March Break doesn't mean the same thing does it.
We had lots of Mom's and children in today as they tried to keep busy on such a miserable weather day.

However I have to admit that I was pleased to see the rain as it's taken so much snow away.  The not so nice thought is that as March came in like a lamb, it most likely will go out like a lion.  Have you heard that saying before?  In like a lion, out like a lamb ...  or vice versa.  Oh well...nothing we can do about it.

Did you see on the newsletter how my hubby and I celebrated our fiftieth anniversary this past weekend.  Wow, hard to believe that all those years have gone past, but they have.

Not that you can tell by looking at us, we still look like our wedding day photos....LOL!  Reminiscing with my sister was lovely as all of our other attendants still live in England.

Great weekend.  Whenever we've done something momentous in our life, from getting married, having children or moving to Canada, it's always rained/snowed! Saturday was a beautiful day to enjoy.



Remember I mentioned that we would be vacationing in England soon.  The main reason for the visit is to see my dear Mother-in-law who was so excited when we phoned her and told her of the upcoming visit.
She's not very mobile nowadays and finds it difficult to get her shoes on, so loves to wear the knitted slippers I've given her in the past.
I've been looking for a new fancy slipper pattern to make for her and came upon this one here    Now remember if you're family looking at this, you have to keep "mum" for Mum.  Don't spoil the surprise.  Aren't they lovely though.
You can get the knitting pattern from Red Heart Yarn if you go through the link I've given you.  I'll likely knit a second sole to the slipper to give some extra cushion on the bottom of the foot.  That, along with some fancy knitted or crochet flowers will make her feet feel like those of a princess don't you think?





Have you ever been the recipient of a RAK a random act of kindness?

I was last week when Mary came in with these beautiful flowers for me as a thank you for doing something that to me seemed so very small, but for Mary with the task that she had at hand wasn't.   She's completed her project now and I'm happy to have played a very small role in it.

So remember if you've ever been moved to make a RAK, do it!  It's hard to express how special you can make the recipient feel.

My niece showed me a layout just recently that I fell in love with and hope to produce in the next short time.
She's preparing for our upcoming Mega Crop Weekend and collecting ideas for a variety of layouts for herself, a seasoned scrapbooker, and her cousin who is a beginner scrapbooker.

Here it is for you to be inspired too.  Don't you  love the stamping on the layout.  I think I'd have to have some patterned paper as well somewhere other than just the pennants.  I just looooove patterned paper and the layering, but this is a delightful layout isn't it.

My other challenge would be to find a second page to go with it as I'm very much a two page layout scrapbooker.  If you have any suggestions, please leave them below in the comment section, I'd love some help.

Last but not least before I head up the wooden hill (I'm practicing for my visit to England - the wooden hill is the stairs), here's a focal point for a card, or you could use it as a scrapbook title, colouring it in to suit your page.  I made it in my photo editing program with a variety of different fonts, but saved it as a jpeg.  You simply have to left click onto it to make it as large as possible, then right click to save it as an image to your PC.  

 I've also (I hope) made it into a cut file for all of you who have a Silhouette machine.  I can't upload it here, but if you're interested leave me a comment below and I'll send you the file. Again I haven't tested it yet, so you'd have to let me know if it doesn't work.

Now until later....Happy Crafting

Lilian

Did You Do it Today?

Today (yesterday-dependent on when I post and you read this blog) was March 4th, a day when we can all take the opportunity to "march forth".  Linda and I used to work with a lovely gentleman who has since left this world, who would come into work on this day each year and ask everyone are you ready to "march forth" today?  He not only made an impression on us for that reason, but he was a good and kind man too who left behind three lovely young daughters, and on this day we always remember Rob.

Well did you get signed up for the Mega Crop Weekend?  It was a slightly slower sign up on Thursday, but the early bird special still went pretty quickly with people signing up three and four at a time.  We do have some space still so if you're on the fence trying to decide whether or not to come, don't delay, give us a call and get registered.  We have one group of ladies coming from afar who are making a little party of it methinks.  Hoping to stay in a motel unit together and enjoy some girly time.

Linda and I are always telling our scrapbookers to do some prep work before you come to a crop and you'll get the biggest bang for the buck that way.  
Certainly Barb will attest to that as she has come into the store in the past with her file folders/bags, photos, possible embellishments, magazine layout or scrapbook map.  She then chooses the papers for each layout and puts them into the folder/bag and she's good to go to turn out many a page over her weekend.  
I was also talking to my niece who will be bringing her cousin for the first time to our weekend.  Her cousin is a newbie with no clear plan as to where to start, but with a little preparation ahead of time, she too will get some good value from her weekend away.  

I tripped over this article last week and it says exactly the same as what Linda and I have said from the second Mega Crop on, only this is visual and clearly shows a great way to get prepared for your weekend.  Hopefully it will help some of the Mega Crop Weekend registrants.  This is the article as per Elizabeth Wiederspohn.

How to Pack for a Crop 

How do you get ready for a scrapbooking crop? Do you pack your whole car up with supplies? Do you page plan? Do you get frustrated that you don't get as much done at a crop?

We are excited to have 2010 Craft Warehouse Design Team member Elizabeth Wiederspohn, here to share with us how she prepares for a scrapbooking crop. This girl is so organized! We can all learn a tip or two!

Getting ready for a crop is something that took me a really long time to wrap my mind around. The first couple of times I brought two rolling suitcases with a bag over my shoulder which was pretty much my entire scrapbooking supply collection just in case I needed something. This drove me crazy not because of the mass amounts of stuff I had to crawl through to find things but because when I got home, I had to reorganize everything put everything away and much like my filing it never got done. Plus I didn't get much done because I spent most my time trying to figure out what I was doing and where to find things.

So after a few of these times not knowing where anything is and spending most my time organizing my stuff at the crops instead of scrapbooking I created a system. This system allows me to scrapbook mass pages during a crop and have to put away very little when I come home.

First of all I pack my basics bag (see photo above). This bag has the basic pens, cutting board, scissors, adhesive, ribbon, and tons of letter stickers in it.

Then I pack a bag of all my favorite embellishments. My current bag is a Clinique giveaway. (On a long trip I might pack two of these bags.) When finished this bag stays packed on my desk for me to pull from at any time. Pulling embellishments from a small bag saves me tons of time on my layouts

Then I start on my photos. I take my memory cards in once a month to get pictures printed. Immediately after getting them printed I place each event in a 2.5 gallon resealable bag.

Then I place them in a Ikea storage cube until I am ready to make page kits. Sometimes I will have an idea or a piece of paper that really fits these pages right away and I slip those ideas and products in the bags before I even start making page kits.

Next, when I run out of page kits or before a crop I do a mass taking over of my living room and layout all of the bags with photos in them.

I start in one corner and work my way down the lines filling each bag with an idea from a magazine or printed online.

Then after all the bags have ideas I match the ideas and pictures with patterned paper. Making sure to look at the idea I have and determining if I could use scraps or if full sheets of paper are needed.

 Then lastly I add my basic solid paper to all the bags.

  

There is one more step but I rarely get to it and that is journaling. I try to journal on all my pages and journaling is one of the hardest things to do at the crop. So if I am very organized I will look through all my page kits and write down the subject of each kit in a small notebook. I slip the notebook in my purse and while waiting for appointments or during breaks at work I bring out the notebook and pre-journal for the page. Then I bring the notebook with me to the crop and I will have both journaling and titles for the pages ready to go. Like I said rarely does this step get finished but I try and when I have this done, that is when I can complete 10-15 pages in one night.

So in all the only things in my page kits are photos, ideas from magazines or printed online, patterned paper, and solid paper. Now when I am ready to crop I grab a bag, some page kits, and my embellishment bag and I am ready to go.

On a short trip I can get away with just bringing my one bag and a cutting board. That is a big difference from the two rolling totes and and shoulder bags. 

Well if you read this article through, you can see that Elizabeth pretty much covered very visually all that Linda and I have recommended so that you don't have to come with all your "stash".
Not only that, you don't have to spend another day after the weekend putting it all away again, knowing that once again you weren't as productive as you had hoped you'd be.
A really well put together article...kudos to Elizabeth Wiederspohn.


Our family was busy last week booking vacations for later this year, but also my hubby and I are jetting off to Britain to visit with family in a few short weeks.  We have to be the most spontaneous people on this earth, but somehow it comes together with family willing to put us up, or put up with us, not sure which.  My dear mother-in-law will be celebrating her ninetieth birthday later this year and when talking to her yesterday  she sounded really excited to be seeing us soon.  We'll enjoy some touristy stuff with family and a few Pub dinners for my hubby whilst we're there.

        

So crafty wise what are you all up to?  I've been busy again on my cross stitch, spending hours working at it then looking to see how much I've done and it looks minuscule. 
That's when I count the stitches to make myself feel better about it LOL.


I found a great website for embroidery stitches if you like doing that.
We had an impromptu class last week in the store for Mary who was struggling with french knots sliding to the back of her needlework.  She sat and stitched a number of them after I showed her how I do them and went home feeling quite confident that she would be able to do them on her own.

I've been embroidering on some felt the last couple of days and enjoying the change.  Here's some idea of what I've been doing.  I can't show you mine as some will be for hostess gifts when we are visiting Britain.

                 











I came upon this pattern for felt flowers by Lorine Mason.  I couldn't find them on her blog, she had them posted on someone else's blog.  The other examples I Googled images and found them so you would have to do the same and go to the appropriate website/blog for instructions.

I found this example of embroidery stitches through images with no-one to credit.  If you need more instruction we have some excellent embroidery booklets in the store too.


Well I hope it wasn't too long a post, but I also hope that I inspired you to try something new.  If you're not sure on any craft, drop into the store and we'll see if we can help you along with it.

Until Later....Happy Crafting

Lilian

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law on Saturday.