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A small group of us had fun at my house last Saturday, using World Card Making Day as an excuse to get together and make greeting cards. I offered designs, materials, and instruction to make seven different cards this year. One sample is shown below - made from inspriration in the Stampin' UP! catalog. Click here to see all the rest of the designs.
Save the date for next year: the first Saturday in October!
Every week, for the twelve weeks leading up to Christmas, I send out a newsletter that contains detailed, step-by-step instructions for cards, home decor, gifts, and wraps. This year, there will be Halloween projects in October, Thanksgiving projects in November, and ideas for Christmas and Hannukah sprinkled throughout right up until December 22.
These projects are exclusive only to those who sign up for my newsletter. So don't delay!
Below are some examples of projects from the last few years:
If you like what you see, sign up now in teh upper right hand corner!! And we'll have some fun this fall!
The Craft and Hobby Association wrapped up its summer convention in late July - this year's locale was Orlando, Florida. (And I'll bet it was a "hot" event!!! Pun intended!!)
My fellow reporters from Craft Critique visited the show, as they always do, and have a lot of great peaks into the newest products that our favorite vendors will be coming out with over the next few months. You can see those reports starting on July 27, and then every day through August 6.
One of my personal favorite posts, though, is the editor's post on the Best of CHA, and the upcoming (and continuing!) crafting trends. You can see that post in it's entirety (ie with pictures) by clicking here.
But if you are in a hurry, in a nutshell, this is what she shared as the Best of Summer CHA:
Best New Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Earth Love Best Embellishments: Websters Pages Whimsy Threads and Cameos Best Rub Ons: Hambly Screen Prints (doily rub ons) Best in Cute: My Little Shoebox Best New Scrapbooking: Kiki Art. Best in Inks: Clearsnap's Smooch line Best in Electronics: eCraft by Craftwell Best in Table Top Tools: Letterpress by L/QuicKutz Best in Hand held Tools: I-Top Brad Maker Best in Jewelry: Bead n' Spin Bead Loader by Beadalon Best in Stamps: Papertrey Ink Best in Notions: Protect and Grip Thimbles by Clover Best in Photography: Jill e. Camera Bags
We may not agree, but it's still fun to check everything out before it's on the shelves! And be sure to check out the rest of the Craft Critique post for the view into crafting trends.
Keep creating!
Here is how Sara Jane's Studio is going to be celebrating National Scrapbooking Month this May:
If you haven't already, sign up for my newsletter using the box at the top left of this page.
To be entered for each drawing, all you have to do is forward the email newsletter to as many of your scrappy friends as you can. Who ever forwards the most times in a given week will win! (You can only win once during the Month of May.)
PS For my card-making buddies, never fear, there will be fun stuff for you too, in each newsletter!
Last Sunday we held a card-making event for Cards for Heroes. If you've not seen my earlier posts about this group, they are a wonderful organization that sends greeting cards to our troops overseas. Basically, card-makers at home serve as their "Hallmark Card Store" since the soldiers have no opportunity to shop for greeting cards that they can send back stateside to their own family and friends. So far, the organization has sent over 100,000 cards for our overseas troops to use.
About a month ago, I was contacted by the New England coordinator, Fabre, and we set up this initial event. The Lutheran Church in Holliston was gracious in allowing us to use their sunny facilities, rent-free. Fabre, my upline, (Rebecca B) and I all provided supplies free-of-charge for folks to come and make cards.
We ended up with 12 crafters who were prolific! Some folks even brought their own supplies. And Rebecca and I cleaned out our own stashes of older samples to donate to the cause. Altogether we had a fun afternoon, and felt like we were making a difference, too.
People busy cardmaking!
Funny, this workspace looks just like mine at home?
Donated cards on display (left) and a full bin of new contributions (right)!!
If you would like to know more, or want to donate some cards, you can check out their FAQ's page , or contact one of the shippers. They can always use cards, but cash donations also help defray the expense of shipping cards overseas.
Check it out- you'll be happy that you did!!
Hurry on over to Craft Critique- TODAY March 9!! They are in the final stages of some great giveaways - Specifically today:
The prize includes 3 full collections (Lime Rickey, Wassail, and Porcelain) and some embellishments from Basic Grey, American Crafts thickers and ribbon, Stampin’ Up! mini book, paper and stamps, A Muse notecards, Pearls and rhinestones from Kaiser Craft, glitter and sparkle decoupage from Duncan, scalloped chipboard book from Maya Road, photo splits from Scotch 3M, the books; Creepy Cute Crochet: Zombies, Ninjas, Robots, and More!
Go NOW!!!
This past weekend, Feb 27-March 1, was the annual Croptopia Winter Getaway, held at the Mystic Marriott Resort and Spa, in Mystic, CT.
If you are not familiar with Croptopia, and you live on the east coast, I highly recommend that you check it out. The organizer puts on a great event every time. She offers great goody bags to everyone full of brand new, cool scrapping stuff. There are raffles throughout each day for lots of wonderful prizes. And the locations and accommodations are first rate. Check it out!
This was my third time with Croptopia as a vendor and an instructor. I generally teach stamping classes, so the scrapbookers can expand their repertoire of techniques to use in their scrapbooks. I also take orders for Stampin Up! product while I am there.
The class that I taught this time was to make 6 cards, and a coordinating stationery box for them. They were inspired by another SU demo, and I added a little of my own twist, too.
Set of 6 cards, and matching stationery box. Calls taught at Croptopia.
The organizer also usually supports a charity cause during her events. In the fall event, she coordinates with ScrapPink, in support of the "Susan G. Komen for the Cure" charity for breast cancer. This time, she supported Camp Starfish. This is a summer camp for kids with special needs, located west of Boston, MA. Attendees and vendors, alike, were asked in advance to donate gift baskets. Then, everyone bought raffle tickets and chose which basket they hoped to win. I am KICKING myself for not getting photos of all of the great baskets- I think there were about 20 of them. And altogether, the raffle contributed $2,000 to support grants to help kids attend Camp Starfish. It was truly wonderful.
There were also layout contests- and AGAIN, I can't believe I did not get there in time to take pictures. But there were lots of participants, and the winners got great prizes.
Click on any images below to enlarge them.
My "booth" (above, left) with the Make 'n Take area (right). The scrappers tried their handing rubber stamping cards, and many donated them to Cards for Heroes.
The MarketPlace was open to the public on Saturday (above, left). My new friend, Kyle, a Creative Memories consultant (above, right).
A computer station for computer journaling (above, left) and the Cricut Expressions station for digital die-cutting (above, right).
A full house of 225 scrappers, and everyone gets an end seat. The ballroom was full!!
Overall, and as usual, a great time was had by all. And Old Man Winter even held off on this latest snow storm so we all were able to drive home safely!!
