A Marvelous May :D

Good evening all! I hope everyone's week has gotten off to a good start. I am just back from my 5 day girls weekend in Gulfport and Biloxi, MS at Croppin' on the Coast 2012 'Crop-o-De-Mayo ( full of cropping, girl talk, swaps, contests, casino-ing, pool time and spa time too) AND Hangout Fest 2012 in Gulf Shores, AL. All in all, May has been the best month so far this year!!! A GREAT kickoff to a busy, fun summer! It was so great and just the break from my retail life that I needed. So this post is going to be all about the great projects I worked on while I was there as well as some of my friends work...always love to share some inspiration for others- so be forewarned- 

PHOTO HEAVY POST AHEAD!!!

One of my favorite things about going to weekend crops is all the inspiration you get while you're there. Whether it's learning a new technique, or just trying a new tool or product. I was able to get 7 pages done on my sister's wedding album and also complete 10 tags, and 10 cards for the swaps! I loved being able to help out with the swaps!!! So much fun! First off, we'll start off with the tag swap, my fav and I will show y'all the tags that I made and some of my friends too...they are all really cute. Forgive me for not giving credit to all the artists here...but they are all just so cute! Take a look: 

This was my 'name tag' for the weekend, made with supplies from my stash:

These are the tags I made for the tag swap. I used a template for a tag that I already had from another set to cut them out. I used paper from Tim Holtz' "Lost and Found collection as well as Tim Holtz distress ink in tea dye. I roughed up the edges first, and glued my stamped sentiment to the center. Off to one side I put 2 Prima paper flowers from the 'winter wonderland' collection, also to the cluster I added a paper ticket that had been inked and a stamped grungeboard butterfly. I used Tim Holtz' grungeboard and stamped the mini butterfly with distress ink in 'vintage photo'. On top of that I squirted Tim Holtz distress stickles in 'peeled paint' and kinda smudged them around with my finger. To the other end of the tag I tied some black and brown fibers and a fabric button to top it off! I really like how they turned out and I was hoping for something really edgy and different with these :) Here are a few closies:

 And here are a few of the other tags I was able to 'SWAP' for. All of them unique and different and fun, just like the ladies who made them:) I think these first ones are by Melissa Wendt:

 And her mom, who I also had the pleasure of meeting, Heidi Wendt:

 And these, my scrappin' gal pal Carmen Johnson made! Love the stamps she used!!!

These are by my other scrappin' gal pal, Mary Leanne Northan:

 And these last three, by the lovely Gintner ladies, Ashley Gintner Davis, Audrey Leigh Gintner, and Sharon Gintner, wow!! Loads of talent in that family I'm telling ya!!

Next up are the cards I did for the card SWAP. I was trying to do another technique on this one, something I kind of made up on my own, by making my coffee cup on the card look like real 'pottery'. I  made 12 of these so I would have extras to give to friends :) Here are the pics:

 For the 'pottery' technique for the coffee cup, I did a few steps. First, I stamped my cardstock with a coffee cup stamp that Carmen let me borrow. Then I outlined it with a brown Zig marker. After that, I used some old school colored pencils in royal blue, light blue, kelly green, and purple and colored in each stamp making sure to overlap the colors a bit when I was adding new colors. On top of that I sprayed a little glimmer mist in 'Lily Pad' and kind of rubbed it in with my finger. Then to top it off I added a thick coat of Glossy Accents. I also made sure when I was outlining to do the bottom part of the stamp pretty good. After that I added some hand drawn swirlys, lots of tea dye ink to the edges, a handwritten saying at the bottom, and a vellium sticker that I swiped with Adirondack Ink in Watermelon and stickles in fruit punch, then hit it with the heat tool. I am really happy with how the turned out!!

 Before the Glossy Accents was all the way dry:

And the back of the card:

 
Last, I will share a couple of the completed burlap earring holder frames that we did in our first 'class'. They turned out really cute! I have stuff left over from the kits so I am thinking about advertising them on facebook for a discounted price if anyone didn't get a chance to buy one at the crop:) I will have to see how much I have left!!! Again, the 2 'A' frames were made by some A+ students, Ashley Gintner Davis and Audrey Leigh Gintner:) I loved how different they both were and how they both seemed to match their style and personalities perfectly;)

Okay everyone, that's all I have to share for now. I have to take photos still of the mini album I submitted for Scrappin' Frenzy DT and put it up here...also have to get going on DT assignments for  June and unpack/reorganize my scrap room!!! Looks like it will be a long night but hopefully I will have another creative share for y'all tomorrow to keep that MOJO going!!  Until next time my scrappy friends ;) ~VV

Supplies List:

(Tags)

Tim Holtz 'Lost and Found' paper stash

Tim Holtz distress ink in 'vintage photo'

Tim Holtz paper distressing tool

Tim Holtz grungeboard

Tim Holtz distress stickles- 'peeled paint'

cream colored cardstock-Bazzil

fibers,tickets,and fabric covered buttons- from my stash

mini butterfly stamp and sentiment stamp-borrowed from Carmen J. ;)

Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels in 'Lilypad'

Smooch Spritz by Clearsnap in 'Caramel Mocha'

Prima paper flowers- 'winter wonderland' collection

(Cards)

red/dark red cardstock-Bazzil

white filler paper from page protectors!

Tim Holtz distress ink in 'tea dye'

fine tipped/brush tipped brown marker- Zig

"GI Brown' Wink of Stella marker-Zig

heart vellium stickers, smooch stickers- from stash

Adirondack brights acrylic paint dauber in 'watermelon'

Stickles in 'tropical tangerine'

Tim Holtz paper distressing tool

Tim Holtz distress stickles 'tattered rose'

Martha Stewart crafts cat's eye ink-tan

Glossy Accents

Crayola colored pencils-kelly green, light green, royal blue, purple, light blue

coffee cup stamp-borrowed from Carmen J.

Class Project for COTC {Burlap & Frame Earring Holder}

Good evening all, I am here tonite to share with y'all some  scrappy good news! In my scrappy life this week, I was able to get the mojo' goin and put together 24+ embellishment kits and finish a mock-up frame for the class project that Leanne and I are teaching at Croppin' on the Coast starting May 4th,5th, and 6th. I am so excited about it all! The only thing left to do is get more frames and just make sure we have enough supplies, better to have more than enough in case! I am hoping we are able to teach the class 2 times, with 12 participants in each class! If we don't sell it out we can always teach it again next year or possibly pursue teaching it at another convention. This was really my first time putting into focus what I think I would like to do with this little 'business' of mine and I think a large part of it will be original embellishments. The other exciting news is that Leanne and I have been asked to be the 'Swap Coordinators' for COTC which is super fun! I can't wait for this little mini-vacay/  fun scrappy girls weekend to get here! May 3rd hurry up!!! The other news is that I was able to complete another project for the Scrappin' Frenzy Design team call and get everything turned in right on time... I did I mini album about the day that Jimmy proposed to me while we were on vacation in Portland! I was in such a hurry though that I didn't take any pictures of it, but it turned out super super cute!!!! I can't wait to share it on here when I get it back. They are supposed to make announcements about the new 2012 by May 1st so I will know something before vacay begins. Okay, well I will go ahead and share with you a few pictures of the mock up frame and some others of the kits!!! So excited it feels like it's all coming together:)

 the frame before I distressed it and added goodies.

 another idea for the middle of the frame

 pink zebra!!!

 the frame, finished, hanging on the wall!

 close up of the goodies!!

 "the creative process is NEVER tidy".

 My $4 steal from the antique store today!!

 Some completed embellishment kits:

 red/black/white kit with zipper flowers and cameo

 Pink/yellow/green butterfly kit with felt and pearl applique

 pink/yellow/tan kit with fabric adornment and 2 resin flowers

 pink/blue/brown kit with felt layered flower and buttons

 Red/black/white kit with musical acrylic jewel and handmade 'musical' layered flower

 pink/white/black zebra kit with vintage resin buttons 

 orange/yellow/red/tan kit with vintage fabric covered buttons and large layered flower

 excuse the bad photo! (LOL Jimmy took these) teal/aqua/black kit with animal print layered flower and feathers

 hippy girl kit with tye-dye shell embellishment and felt layered flower

 brown/mixed kit with ecru distressed paper tags and metal embellished flower

 yellow/white/tan kit with gold accented layered flower and fabric accent, yellow resin flowers

 orange/black/grey kit with vintage metal buttons and shimmery large button flower

All of the completed kits layed out  together! Aren't they cute?! More to come, more to come...I plan on making about 6-8 more before the retreat, just to have extras. In the meantime, I've got a long 9 day stretch ahead of me in my retail life, including a bridal show Sunday! At least they're not all closing shifts. Gotta get back into a more normal sleeping pattern though, been staying up till 2am the past 2 nights just cause I'm so pumped about all this stuff! LOL okay seriously, it's bedtime. Until next time, peace y'all~ VV

busy busy bee.

good afternoon y'all! I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday. I got to sleep in today and am heading back to work in a bit...but I wanted to do a quick update. I have been working SO SO much that my scrappy/crafty life has really been neglected as of late, I guess that's just what happens though during prom season when you work in tuxedos. I am happy to say though that I only really have another week of the craziness and it will be pretty much back to normal- no more six day work weeks, so more me time! I have been so busy working that when I come home I'm too tired to do anything really. Too tired to buy groceries or plan meals for the week, to tired to clean, just mentally exhausted at the end of everyday. Well yesterday I was able to leave on time, and I decided to go treat myself to a spa mani and pedi at the place right by my house. It was soo nice and relaxing and worth the money. If you're getting paid 10 or so hours of overtime then you might as well treat yourself, right?! The only good thing I can say about the past 2 months of madness  is that my creative mojo has really been building up during that time. I know that is a good thing. The first weekend of May (Cinco de Mayo) my friend Leanne, Carmen and I (my best scrappin' buddies) are going to a scrap retreat in Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi. (  http://www.croppinonthecoast.webs.com) It starts Friday night and goes until Sunday night, and instead of staying at the hotel that they always have it at, this year we are staying at one of the casinos instead! It will be alot of fun, I can't wait to have a 4 day break from work and get some fun time in!! The other thing is, the lady that puts this retreat together has asked Leanne and I to help her announce the swaps and help her during the weekend, so that will be fun. She has also asked us to teach a class of some kind, so that the 200 ladies there can pay us and take the class, and she of course gets a portion of what we'll charge. I'm super excited about that, I have never actually taught a class  before, but it will be fun and I think we have some really good ideas about what project we are making. Still have to narrow it down a bit and get the supplies and make some examples, I will of course be sharing it all here on my blog, but this is all really, really good news for my scrappy life! The other news I wanted to share is that I will be setting up a fb page soon for Vintage Vixen Crafts, to showcase my work to others and see what kind of response I get as far as consulting/etc. So I am really excited!! My friend Leanne has a fb page for her children's clothing boutique, it's called Southern Staples: https://www.facebook.com/SouthernStaples

So that's all for now...back soon with something creative to share, I promise! And hopefully a link to the new page on fb. Everyone enjoy their weekend and happy Easter!!! :) until next time, Peace Y'all~ VV
I leave you with a photo of all that is on my mind right now....the beach! Can't  wait till Hangout Music Fest starting on May 17th!!!