OK, I’m back! Had to discipline myself this week to keep off the computer so I could concentrate on getting my next collection finished and off to Sizzix. And now on to the next deadline…

I never realized how much I need to create. How much I look forward to studio time. Sometimes right before I go to sleep, ideas of projects I want to try come to me and I have to write them down. Please tell me there are others of my kind out there?

Here’s a simple bookmark I made with a piece of pretty embossed matboard. Head over to my blog for instructions.

My husband is away for the weekend so I figured it would be a good time to clean up my workspace. Upon surveying the area, I see it’s going to take longer than a weekend. I have recently had the good fortune to receive a Sizzix Big Shot Pro and the new eclips. I told my husband we need to add on a Sizzix wing! These machines take up a lot of space. So out with the old and in with the new!  I am off to a good start.

Hope you can tune in to Cool2Craft tomorrow. It’s always fun to connect with other crafters. Speaking of other crafters, there’s a new site out there called The Hive. It’s a community of creative people who share their projects, tips, blogs and great info. I call it the Facebook for crafters… Click here if you want to join.

Have a great week!

Hey everyone- here’s the link to Cool 2 Craft Pajama Party where I demo’d how to make this cute little dress from the ScoreBoard die I designed for Sizzix- the Cupcake Holder.

This one was created for Marissa- a very special bride-to-be! For written instructions, visit the Sizzix blog. It will be posted soon.

Don’t forget to leave comments!

Hey everyone! It’s so good to be back and in my own little house. The past month has flown by…

This photo was taken in the booth of Craftside at CHA. They had a sign that said, “Take your picture with the ugliest sweater in the world.” How could I not? Actually I kind of liked it. My friend Stefanie Girard is barely visible on the very right of this photo. She has written a book called Sweater Surgery, which involves projects like the one I am standing behind.

I had a great time at CHA- made some new friends and got to catch up with my peeps (you’re not gonna catch me saying “old” friends). Lots of opportunities are ahead, along with some hard work. And I thank God every day that I am able to do what I love.

So here’s what I’ve been up to. I drove with my friend and neighbor Lorine Mason (how lucky am I that we live in the same town?) to Chicago. The drive was not too bad- 13 hours. We ended up staying in this fancy hotel where a bottle of water was $5.50! What the heck! Luckily I had a 12 pack of my diet Mountain Dew to sustain me. Whew.

More later about the show… right now I am doing laundry, answering 700 emails (mostly junk thankfully!), getting ready for a trip to the post office to mail the third installment of Trinity’s birthday presents and have lunch with a few friends. You have to stop and smell the flowers, right? I had a great idea for a die and am afraid to test it. If it works it will be VERY cool, if not, I am back to the drawing board. I am enjoying the suspense right now.

Time to post on my other blog over at http://www.memorykeepingcollection.com/ and should also check in at Sizzix since it’s been a while since I posted. I miss working on my stuff! Hope you can stop by…

Just a reminder for those attending the CHA Supershow, don’t forget to stop by the Westcott booth #612 on Friday, July 30 to see the competition for America’s Next Top Crafter! I will be one of the judges and think this will just be so much fun. I can’t wait to see what the contestants have up their crafty sleeves! Check out Marisa Pawelko’s blog for more details. Also just to correct something I said the other day… Marisa did not win this contest- she won the CHA Indie Craft Contest. She is the host of ANTC and also came up with the concept and trademarked it. ANTC debuted for the first time at the first consumer show in Orlando last summer.

More designer news… my friend Kathy Peterson has come out with a new line of outdoor furniture and is holding a blog hop. Every week a different designer works with one of her Adirondack chairs and a different chair is shown! Pat Sloan did the first one and it is beautiful. Congrats, Kathy!

This was a bottle of expensive liquor that was too pretty to throw away when it was all gone. I decided to give it the paint drizzle treatment. About 10 years ago, I went though a phase of making clear Christmas ornaments like this. All you do is take different color acrylic paints and drip it down the lip of the bottle, ornament or whatever glass container you’d like. The colors run into each other and make cool swirls and all kinds of pretty effects. Here I used pastel colors, but I usually like to add in a metallic color too. The hardest part is letting it dry. Check to make sure that all areas of the glass are covered. If you see open areas, tilt the vessel until paint fills it in. I used Plaid’s Folk Art paint for this project because it gives good coverage.

I am back from my adventure driving with my daughter Jess from Kansas to Miami. One observation I noted was that Florida is an extremely LONG state! It’s also hot. After moving what turned out to be 5700 pounds of furniture, we were roasting and ready for a dip in her pool. Let me tell you, that was the highlight of my day!

So I am back safe and sound and surprisingly, not sore. Another thought I had while schlepping all the stuff up to the fourth floor was, “God bless whoever invented the dolly.”

While I was gone, the emails, phone calls, house stuff and piles of stuff to do before CHA has mounted and I am slowly digging my way out. One way or another we leave on Sunday! Yes, I get in the car again for another 860 miles. Luckily, I am driving with my friend Lorine and we usually talk the whole way there and back. So wish me luck, my friends!

A few weeks ago, you might remember me mentioning a visit to some of my favorite discount stores. While there, I picked up a few of these cool burlap bags. I thought they would be the perfect shape and size to hold a bottle of wine. But they were a little plain. So I took one of my Sizzix flower dies and ran a piece of pink mat board through my Big Shot. I inked the edges of the petals and bent them up. I tied a piece of wired ribbon around the top of the bag and anchored the flower to it. We are set for our next dinner invitation with a nice bag to bring the wine in!