Saturday, January 30, 2010

Extra Long Post from CHA

So here it goes, a really long post that is in no particular order...

I should try harder to get it organized, but there is just so much that I am going to use pictures as my cues.
First picture is Sharon Laakonen in the Prima booth. This was a fun booth, the favorites for me were the canvas line. Very alterable and fun. There were also loads of new flowers that I would love to get my hands on!
















And how cute is Maren Benedict? She has a fabulous laugh that makes your heart happy and we got to spend a little time together in the Pink Paislee booth!
















Speaking of Pink Paislee, here is a fun group pic, we are missing a few people as this was the last hour of Tuesday, and things were winding down.
Rebecca and Barry are such wonderful people and the product release for this show was amazing!! They have some beautiful paper that made its way home with me and the embellishments were so clever! Three of my show favorites came from this booth alone! The Artisan Elements are so incredible, cork buttons that coordinate with each line and pleated twill in beautiful colors, all are must haves for me!

















While I was there I had the opportunity to catch up with a few friends, but hadn't had my camera handy. It was fortune that when Laura Vegas and Lynn Ghahary came by I happened to have it out and we had the chance to snap a couple.

















It was so fun to get caught up with Summer Fullerton, Rachel Carlson and Kimber McGray. Summer and Kimber were in the Jillibean booth which had some darling new products, one of which was kraft cards and envelopes that look super cute when used with their stamps.
















Of course I can never get enough of my Kimmer-kins! I was lucky enough to grab a few hugs from her each day as she walked the halls with the delightful Kim Kesti.
















The new Melody Ross release with GCD was delicious! I got the grand tour from Lori Roop and was given a hug from Heidi Sonboul and Sherry Steveson.

















Dinner Tuesday evening with a few of my favorite crafty girls was the perfect evening! Ellen Hutson and Carmi Cimicata were introduced to each other but hit it right off!
















Claudine is always such a joy to visit with, but sitting next to her at dinner is a little disconcerting! She is petite with a very picky vegetarian palette, and then there is me...

none of the above.
















And Carmi shared dear Audrey Prinzbach with us and she is amazing! Talented in so many
ways, and funny too!


















And how about finishing the perfect evening with the perfect dessert? Dark chocolate fondue, yumm-O!


















This is Caroline from Zva Creative, it was so fun to pop by, check out my booth samples and give her a hug! She and John do a fantastic job of running their business and are a delight to work with.
















Some of the other people that I loved catching up with were April Foster from Studio Calico, the release from that shop is wonderful and their cute booth in the new exhibitors section was wonderfully done, another of my faves!

I had a few minutes to visit with Lisa Johnson in the Marvy Uchida booth, she is so funny and had no problem making fun of me when I walked by with that tired blank look on my face, a girl after my heart for sure! ;o)

Angie Hagist and Charity Hassel were in the October Afternoon booth, it was so fun to meet Angie in real life! She and I have a very similar sense of humor and I love her design style, always witty and clever! And speaking of clever, I got to spend a little time with Teri Anderson and she is about as clever as they come! She was walking the show with Ashley Harris, and it was nice to keep seeing them as well!

Another line that was a real stand out in my mind was the new Basic Grey Basics, so up my alley! Nikki Sivils had some fun releases, but the one that really hit home here was a line called "Dan the Record Man" Laurel has gotten excited about collecting "vinyl" and has an old school record player that her sweet boyfriend has given her. This line is right on trend with that crowd! I forgot to mention the release that October Afternoon had, which is ridiculous because it is wonderful!! Two lines that have a wonderful vintage feel and beautiful colors!! I can't wait to start playing with it!

I spent Sunday in the Teresa Collins booth with some outstanding women, and Teresa's new releases are sure to be a hit! The two baby lines are darling and the others are elegant and have beautiful neutral color palettes that will make them easy to use in any project.

There is so much more, but I am having a hard time remembering without more pictures to cue me. I did better this time, but it just shows me how much room I have for improvement!

I have a funny airport story that I will share later, thanks for popping in for a visit, hope I didn't bore you!!

B-

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Domestic Love Winner Announced and Another Zva Sneak

Domestic Love is my favorite set of all the stamp sets I had the opportunity to design. I have a tutorial using it over in the CLASS room at Ellen's creating this fun tag. Loads of techniques using Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Line, and a cheeky poke at domestic bliss.

The winner of the stamp set was selected randomly....


Charlene Austin said...

Hi Becky....Congrats on the cover!! Woot Woot!! It's a total honour to be part of it with you and Tanis. That pinwheel is amazing!!! I love ALL of your work!

5:00 PM


Congrats Charlene! Please email me with your shipping details if you don't mind.

And a sneak peek of another delish Zva Creative swirly flourish that will be releasing at this show, I am really excited to get more of these hot numbers in my studio to play with!



I leave in just 36 hours to head to Anaheim for the CHAW - 10, finishing up some laundry and get the baggage prepped and packed. Really excited to catch up with treasured friends and see the latest and greatest in the crafting world! It will give me some lead time on how to plan the emptying of my wallet for the next few months, LOL!

I won't be updating for a few days, so please forgive me!

Best!
B-

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Winner for the Zva Creative Blog Hop!

Zva winners have been chosen and their name will be announced sometime today on the following blogs:

Becky Olsen


Lori Roop

Angelica Franssen

Ingrid Danvers

Lisa Johnson

Each of the 5 winners will receive a Zva prize pack worth $30.00. Congrats winners!

So the winner from the comments left on my blog was randomly selected and big
congratulations to: IrishEyezDesigns

And to thank everyone who stopped by and left such sweet comments, I am sharing another Zva sneak peek!

B-

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

How about another Zva and Teresa Collins sneak peak?


This is a fun sneak because it has a little of both on it!
The flourish is one of the new Zva designs and is a beautiful combination of darling little pink and small bluish gray pearls. The paper, stamp and chipboard are from Teresa Collins new Chic Bebe line.
There are still a few hours to leave a comment on my Paper Crafts post to be entered to win my Domestic Love stamp set if you are interested. I did a really fun tutorial over at the CLASS room blog using it, if you have a minute, check it out!

B-

Monday, January 18, 2010

Zva Creative Blog Hop!

Yay, another Zva Creative DT Blog Hop!

We are joining together today to share a project that we have created using the latest Zva Creative products that are releasing at winter CHA craft show. I am hoping that you will take some time to join us for a little bit of fun! Zva is introducing 100+ brand new crystal and pearl embellishment designs at the show. All designs have a fresh new look and are available in various popular color choices. If you are attending, please stop by the Zva at Booth # 2991.

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She is linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. There are 12 design team members, so be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on 5 of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Those blogs will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way. Our team is so wonderfully diverse, so we are hoping that you will be inspired when you reach the end.

This Blog Hop runs through midnight on Tuesday, January 19th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 20th. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

Now onto what it is that I am sharing today!
























The products that I have used are
FL-01CB-114 (Felt flowers pastel)
FL-01CB-115 (Felt flowers bright)
PE-02CB-102 (Multi-colored pearls)
EM-02CB-101 (pink Butterfly)
And the beautiful pink flourish is a brand new release for the show!

Your next stop on our exciting blog hop is...
Lynn Ghahary!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us!
B-

Friday, January 15, 2010

Sneak Peaks!



I have had a little time to play with some new Teresa Collins paper, and it is so cute! Easy to use too! This little card came together in no time and the layout was something that Laurel really liked, and she NEVER likes anything in pink, especially projects for her! Pop on over to Teresa's blog to see the rest of the line and the blue that goes right along with it, so adorable! There is a

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Have You Seen It?

Card Creations Start to Finish is so beautiful and packed with inspiration for the outside and inside of you cards! I was lucky to have one of my projects that I contributed to this fabulous publication make it to the cover, along with the other fantastic projects that were created by Tanis Giesbrecht and Charlene Austin. I was so thrilled when P. Kelly told me that my pinwheel card would be on the cover. This project is so fun, easy to make and the pinwheel really spins!

You can receive free shipping on this gorgeous special issue through January 15th by visiting this link: http://www.shopscrapandpapercorner.com/productdetail/PC21209S42.htm

And make sure to leave a comment at the Paper Crafts Connection blog. Cosmo Cricket has donated 3 sets of the Early Bird collection for 3 of their lucky visitors! I adore this collection and it goes so beautifully with the Domestic Love stamp set I designed. Given that it is the perfect time of year to be using it, I want to give a set away, so leave a comment on this post by Midnight of Tuesday the 19th and I will pick a lucky winner to send it to!

Happy Crafting friends!

Wish I Was...


Skiing!!!
I love to ski, and the opportunities for me to get up into the mountains and enjoy this fabulous sport just haven't presented themselves (yet!) this year. But that can't stop me from doing a little dreaming in my studio can it? This fun little image is new in the Every Thing Creative shop, and has friends for the tennis court and golf course as well! (Can you tell I enjoy the outdoors?)
Details for the project are on the ETC blog if you are interested.
And be sure to come back tomorrow, I have something fun up my sleeve!

Ski ya later!!
B-

Monday, January 11, 2010

Yay!

After being separated from my computer for the last few days while it was visiting the dr. I realized just how attached to it I am! Should probably find a way to deal with my addiction, but for now I am doing a big ol' happy dance that it is back in the house and feeling so much better! Now just to avoid those ugly little buggies that manage to crawl in from the outside.
I did take a little time to slow down and enjoy my kids while this was all going on. We played some rock band, watched some movies and enjoyed the new season of Chuck!
In between all that fun, I did spend a little time in my studio and came out with a few new projects. I will be doing so new product sneaks over the next few weeks for Zva Creative and Teresa Collins, some really fun stuff! All of the new product out just makes my heart melt, I just love it all and can't wait until it ends up on my desk ready to be played with!
B-

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Fun Times

A little sarcasm there, but my poor little 'puter is just not happy with the copious amount of work that I am making it deal with. It has been complaining for a few months and we have been masking the symptoms with quick fixes, but today it became very apparent that the upgrade to Win 7 is a must. Being compelled isn't my favorite way to handle a large task, but that is usually how it works.


Maybe it is appropriate to start the new year with a cleaned up 'puter anyway ;o)

Working on lots of fun stuff, new Zva Creative is in the house, and there will be a blog hop again in the very near future, so keep your eyes open for that. There is also new gorgeous new Teresa Collins products that are gracing my work table, and they are so fun and easy to use. She has really kicked some boo-tay with this release!

Ellen and I are working on a game plan for the must see manufacturers at CHA, if you have any suggestions for what your favies are, please leave a comment so we can check them out. There are some terrific sneaky peeks going on, so the excitement is really building for us.

And can you feel it? There is love in the air, so many beautiful Valentine projects starting to pop up everywhere! The colors of this holiday are so sweet and perky that it is hard to get grumpy with all the love is swirling around, such a good thing!

B-

p.s. Yeah, I originally put in a pic that I had already shared! I am such a doofus! Changed it to be the one I originally meant to put in, thanks for being patient with me!

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Twenty-Ten

It sounds good, a fun number to say for what I believe will be year full of fun and adventure!

With an eye looking forward my heart needs to express gratitude to 2009, a year that was difficult, pushy and made me grow. Not necessarily in the ways that I would have chosen, but worthwhile none the less.

Thank you 2009 for:

1. Providing me with a job that was challenging and fulfilling.
2. Taking that job away so that I could learn humility and find the strength to overcome that loss.
3. Showing me how to let a son leave for two years to go to another country to serve our Heavenly Father.
4. Letting me watch a daughter transition from a spunky high school student to a mature college student.
5. Watching with pride as a daughter develops her learning skills and becomes an exceptional student and having enough wisdom to support but not push her.
6. Taking the time to visit a beautiful island nation with the man that I have been married to for 22 years.
7. Friends that have blessed my life and the opportunity to help them through troubled times when they needed it.
8. Loads of professional growth in the crafting industry, learning how to design stamps and then use them with loads of fun products.
9. A large improvement in my organizational and follow through skills.
10. Improved patience and appreciation.
11. Learning the difference between wants and needs.

The list could go on, but this is the highlight reel. 2009, don't take this wrong way, but I am happy to have you in the rear view mirror, you were quite the challenge for me!

Welcome 2010, I am ready for you!
B-