Sunday, September 27, 2009

Scrap-Cycle Classes at The Hodge Podgery




I am very excited to announce that I am teaching an Upcycled Scrap Book class on Oct. 8th from 6:30 to 8:30 and then again on Oct. 22nd from 1:00-3:00.

We will be doing a "In The Sac" Paper Bag Scrap Book as well as a "Coffee Filter Flipper", we will complete both books and we then work on embellishing the books. We will also make paper bag tags and embellishments to match our first project.

The HOPO, as it is lovingly known is on 3rd St in Mid-Town Harrisburg and has many Upcylced treasures to be had...take a peak in and try to leave without that special something. If you are an upcylce crafter ...contact them to sell your wares.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Blog Tour



If you are a multi-crafter as I think we are all...I suggest you take a little trip over to the Blog Tour with some Stampin' Up ladies. There are about 80 Blogs that are on the list, I hope I can get to them all.

Not only are they offering an incredible amout new design ideas..but some blogs are offering Blog Candy!! And any kind of candy is good candy!!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Adhesives I'm Stuck On

I have been scrapping for well over ten years and for that entire time my heart has belonged to the mounting square. There is just something soothing about peeling off the back and placing it on to the elements of my projects. I am totally someone who can't commit-it takes me an hour to do a page-so the squares were a good way to assure myself that I could always change it into something better then it currently is.

I decided to try a tape runner for a change of pace...get out of my box. Alas, the tape runner and I are not meant to be. I really can get how to use it. It went everywhere and I wasted about half of it and it looked like the tape lost the fight. Other people I scrap with SWEAR by these things but I won't be giving it a try any time soon.

The search is on again. Lured in by the promise of a rebate, I then tried the 3M-Scotch dual sided glue stick. One precision side and the other with a soft bingo-esque dauber. This baby was a little expensive at over 5 bucks at my local JoAnn Fabrics...but with rebate in hand I went through with it. The glue is incredible and can stick a brick to the ceiling. This is both incredible and frustrating. Incredible in that now all my little bits and pieces are safe and secure....but I HAVE TO COMMIT before I can use it. There is no going back with the 3M-Scotch glue stick.

http://solutions.3m.com/3MContentRetrievalAPI/BlobServlet?locale=en_US&lmd=1133994177000&assetId=1114277056591&assetType=MMM_Image&blobAttribute=ImageFile

My Conclusion: I am going to stick with the glue mounts when it comes to my daily scrapping sessions just to keep the panic attacks at bay...but for the moment when I decide its perfect or for tiny embellishments and altered project -I am totally stuck on 3M glue stick. Next time you want to try something outside your comfort zone...try giving new adhesive methods a try, you may find something to make your creative process a little more easy.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Camera Ready?? Things to do in Central PA this Weekend


Since Phil said their would be 6 more weeks of winter check out these outdoor events...



  • Feb 6 & 7 Friday, Noon Ice Carving begins on site in Hufnagle Park.Tons of sparkling ice art will grace downtown Market Street, with a six foot polar bear in Hufnagle Park promoting the Polar Bear Plunge. The award winning First Night Ice Sculptors, who carve the State College First Night, will create the ice art. Beautiful historic homes, tree-lined, lamp lit streets and a distinctive downtown shopping district provide the perfect backdrop to the Heart of Lewisburg Ice Festival.

  • Freezin' for a Reason 2009 Brrr...! Plunge into the Susquehanna River to support the Special Olympics in York County! Not interested in plunging? There are plenty of other activities held throughout the morning and early afternoon to support this great cause.

  • Not exactly cold, but get free candy at the Hershey Bears Hockey game Sat night at 700pm. We play San Antonio.

  • Twin Ponds has great pricing if you want to take to the ice yourself and the choice of regular or hockey skates. A great way to get some exercise and the kids off the couch.

Monday, January 26, 2009

MOMMY MONDAY

Happy Mommy Monday fellow crafters. I have two daughters: Madalynn who is 5 and Ashley who is 3. For any of you moms out there, you know that toddlers are excited to learn new things and experiment with art supplies…paper, markers, scissors. From watching me scrapbook, the girls have become very interested in wanting to document their own fun adventures. I have been buying inexpensive scrapbooking items and putting them in a basket strictly for the girls to use. I have found great items that are $1 each at Target in the dollar section and also at my local Dollar Tree stores.

Finding things for the girls to scrapbook is the easiest part of the whole process. You can choose to scrapbook something that they did or simply a historic event that has been in the news. This is a wonderful keepsake to look back on when they are older.

Last week was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to not only create a scrapbook of their own, but for them to learn about the presidential inauguration. Fortunately, I was off work that day so we did have the TV on all day. As the reporters were speaking, I was writing down pieces of information such as the bible President Obama used was the one from when Lincoln became president. I bought newspapers from Inauguration Day and also the day after.

Allowing your toddler to explore the world of crafting will fuel their brain and trigger their imagination. Here is how to get started. You will need:

Cardstock and scrapbook paper…8x8 will probably work best for littler hands
Hole punch
Ribbon of any kind
Childrens scissors
Embellishments/chipboard letters
Adhesive...Crayola makes a great glue stick that goes on blue (so they know where they are gluing) but dries clear. It also has a wide stand on the bottom of the cap so that it makes it easy for the children to put down when they aren’t using it. Found at A.C. Moore for $1.79
Contact paper
Pictures or newspaper clippings

The first thing is…let your child make all the decisions. There is nothing wrong with offering suggestions, however, your child will be most proud of their finished piece if they know they truly made it themselves.

Use a nice heavy piece of cardstock for the front cover. Select the rest of the pieces of paper you want to use in the project. Punch 3 holes on the left hand side, binder style. Allow your child to pick out a ribbon that will be used to bind the scrapbook together.

Create the cover page which should be like a title page. If your child is too young to write, a good suggestion might be for you to write the title, trace it with glue and then allow your toddler to use glitter to shake over the glue. Allow your page to completely dry, if necessary. Once it is ready, laminate it using contact paper and then re-punch the holes in the side.

Create the inside pages using pictures and captions or newspaper clippings. For our Inauguration pages, we are using all newspaper clippings and some embellishments to jazzy up the pages. Madalynn is writing some pieces of information that we learned while watching TV. Both of them will be using their own scissors to cut

out the newspaper articles. Their glue sticks and regular glue are all ready to go!

Once all of the inside pages are complete, you are ready to create the back page. I like to paint the kids hands using acrylic craft paint and pushing it down onto paper. Once dry, allow the child to sign the bottom. We always put “Creations by Madalynn” followed by the date. Let your child be creative with their “signature”…you could have a Picasa on your hands! After this is complete and the worries of smudging are gone, laminate this with contact paper and re-punch.

Have your child lace the string through the holes and tie it at the bottom. Another thought…you could use a setter to create a small hole punch and then use large enough brads to hold the book together…I guess it all depends on how many pages are in your creation.

Have fun helping your child to create a memory book! We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Have a art-tastic week!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Changing Day.

I have been counting down the minutes until this change of power is complete. What an amazing time to be alive. I know, I know that seems to be the sentiment coming out of every talking head on tv...but its the truth and theres no better way to express it then with these simple, simple words. The best thing about today is that at the core we all need to feel that hope and the promise of a new day that will change not just our lives now but also as this moment resonates into the future.

I hope every one takes the time to write, blog, journal or sing out loud about your feelings about this changing day and use it for your life and our world around us. Happy Changing Day everyone.

Friday, January 16, 2009

abundance.

Since I just moved, I am in the middle of setting up my scraproom. So last night I sat on the couch; surrounded by a white shoebox, a Longaberger basket with a busted handle, 2 ziplock bags and a desk drawer all filled to the brim with various writting implements-crayons, colored pencils, pens, markers (thin, think, smelly and not so smelly), pencils and random gunk left in the bottom. I had a random burst of energy and decided that I should test each and every marker and pen while I organized the mess.

In my lap I balanced a white legal pad and went through each and every one. An hour later I had tested 307 pens and or markers, and ended up with 6 highlighters, 88 crayons and 76 colored pencils and 41 pencils -most unsharpened so I am sure I will throw some in the kids easter baskets.

But the most interesting part of this exercise was that I kept remembering random things that went along with some of the pens......there is a Chimay (my favorite beer) pen that I got at least 6 years ago at a beerfest There are at least 5 from past jobs including Kohls where I went home daily with a new pen and multiple from North East PA-it seems that everytime I visit my sister I steal her pens. One from Boston at Nine-Zero which was the most luxurious hotel I have stayed at and one from a very scary Super 8 outside of D.C. My favorite pen states that "if it isn't done by nappy-its not done right"- this one I have no clue.

Now before you ask, of course I took some pics for some awesome layouts-what kind of scrapper lets that moment go by? Maybe this will be what I need to get this scraproom finally done -a burst of energy and some random lost memories.