Inspiration Alley

Witch Hats

The contest for creepover was to take a paper mache witch hat and decorate it any way you like.

Every hat in the contest was outstanding but here are just a few up close and personal.

First the winner was Kelly's

Then my personal favorite and way to think outside the box ...


And then there was one done in a Wizard of Oz theme ...

And one where the witches hands are opening up the hat itself.

One of the ladies at the crop made a photo montage of all the entries into the contest.  The prize was that you got into the Winter Retreat crop for free, so the competition was stiff.
Now, you might be wondering just exactly which one was mine .... and yes, I did complete one.  Mine is on the far left in the middle.  It's a witch hat with a sign underneath.  The sign reads ... "You say Witch like it's a bad thing".  It's me, what can I say.

Aside from the witch hats, Linda and her crew did an amazing job with the decorations and the food.  In fact, Linda and Elle made 150 cake balls.  Yes ... 150 - I think I figured that it worked out to about 5 or 6 cake balls per person. Let's just say, I ate my share, and they were delicious.  I don't know ... for me, you can't get much better than one of the Hilltop Crops.  I am always in awe of the talent that is in that crop room at any given point in time. 

 

 

 

Recipe Stand

I completed some projects while at the Scrapbooks Etc Crop.

First I completed a recipe board.  I started with a recipe magnet board kit from Adornit/Carolees Creations.  The kit came with the wood base, the metal board and the vinyl rubon that said Recipes.

From there, I used My Minds Eye So Sophie Collection Paper to cover the metal.  The base, I used Ranger Distress Stain to cover - I like the stains better than paint because you can see the grain line in the wood. Put a ribbon around the base and applied the decal.  The little birds are from Michaels and were originally just pop dotted decorative pieces, I added a magnet piece so that they adhered to the metal board.  

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Make-N-Takes from the Crop

Another late night, but I figure I'd just do a quick post here before I go to sleep for a bit.  I did find my card reader so I can post some pics from the Make-N-Takes we did at the crop.

The first one is from Friday.  It is a beachy themed card with vellum we colored and the ultra fine glitter on the sun.  I really love this card.
It's got a "real" straw and one of those umbrellas.

The next project we did Saturday.  It is a wood box with a slide lid that was called a card box, but could be used for other things as well.  We first stamped on it with a versamark then embossed with white embossing powder, then used the Distress Stain daubers to color.  After staining the box, we added some embellishments from Tattered Angels.  I've never worked with Glimmer Glass.  Who knew that you could heat it up and mold it so it's no longer flat.  Amazing stuff.  You may or may not be able to see it but the umbrella and the sun have the glimmer glass that I molded.

I can see me trying this again.  It was fun, and surprisingly quick to do (unless you are an overachiever like some people - no names mentioned).

Oh well, it's off to bed I go.  At least today I'm making it before the sprinklers come on.  I'll have to give a final report tomorrow but I know I completed over 50 cards and a mini album, plus some ATCs.  I don't know what if anything I'll get accomplished tomorrow so we'll just have to see.  The next crop is just a couple of weeks away, so it's all good.

Hilltop Memories ATC Swap - Destination

The next theme we did was destination.  The same group of artists were participating except Sara was having some health issues so she didn't participate in this round.

In order of the ATCs, the artists are Janie, Kathy, Dawn and Diana.  Again, it's hard to see the details.  Janie's had glitter, Kathy's was masked and misted, Mine had bling and raised elements, and Diana's had bling as well. 

I think we are all comfortable working in different mediums and most of our works would be more 3-dimentional rather than flat.  It's quite a bit of fun to come up with a small masterpiece relating to the theme, and to see how each of us has interpreted the given theme. 

I've got one more series that I'll post tomorrow and then you'll have to wait a bit for the next batch.  We're currently working on the theme of  "Time" and they're due at the end of January.  We picked up one additional player - Jules will be joining us.  If anyone else from Hilltop wants to join in just let us know.  It would be fun to get some additional players.

Hilltop Memories ATC Swap - Flowers

This was the first swap a small group of us with Hilltop Memories did.  We completed the swap several months ago, but Winter Retreat was the first time I was able to see this series because my set was lost by the post office -- (my post office is a rant for another day).

There were 5 of us for the first round and the theme was Flowers.

In order of the pictures, the artists were Janie, Kathy, Sara, Dawn and Diana.  The photos don't capture all of the details.  Some of the components were 3-dimentional, and you can't see some of the sparkle and shine in the pictures but you do get the general composition of the pieces.  I love ATC's - they're little works of art.  They can be displayed or put in binders, or enjoyed anyway you wish.

For the Hilltop Memories group, we've swapped 2 more times which I'll post over the next couple of days.  We slowed down a bit with the holidays, but we're starting back with a monthly theme.

Already booking 2011

So the first scheduled appointment for 2011 is already on the books.  It's Winter Retreat with Hilltop Memories which will be January 7,8,9 over in Sarasota.  Now since I'm already starting to schedule stuff, I had to have a place to put the details, so I bought one of those pocket planners (you know ... the ones that are like $1 in Michaels).  

I just slipped the planner out of its plastic case, applied paper over the front and back cover, then applied stickers, paper, and bling to dress it up a bit.  The papers I used are from BoBunny's Petal Pushers Line.  This was a simple project and took less than 20 minutes.  The hardest part for me was getting the letters on straight, but that's just me.

Kaiser Clock Project

This is the clock I made for my mom for her birthday.  It's one of the clocks from Kaiser Crafts Beyond   the Page product line.  This was a really easy project.  The wood doesn't need much sanding.  For this one I used the BoBunny Delilah Line because it was rusts which matched the canvas I gave her at Christmas.  The flowers are Prima.  The 3 section frame could also have pictures, but I left it with some dimentional stickers and told her she could add pictures of her choice.  For the adhesive, I used Martha Stewarts clear glue which comes with a brush in the jar - this glue was fantastic.  It did not overly wet the paper (although BoBunny paper is pretty thick to begin with), it did not ripple, it worked like a charm (I am usually glue challenged).  I was quite surprised how quickly it went together, and that the clock actually worked.  I'm thinking I might make a few more of these ... at least one more with an avaiation theme for my office, and maybe another one or two for Christmas gifts.

Creative Output

First I started playing with a pad from Masterpiece Studio which had cardstock, paper, letters, strips and sayings.   The paper is smooth and slick and very nice to work with. The flowers are brads by Creative Imaginations - they are velour with metal centers.  Very rich looking which I felt went with the richness of the paper. Although I like them all, the Live Laugh Love one is my favorite.

From here, I moved back into my Cosmo Cricket stash and made the bookmark.  I used the Jitterbug line Lil Suzie paper.  The saying is from the paper kit I was using above, which is what triggered me to do a bookmark.  I stamped the brackets from a Studio G stamp set, and then used rubons for the words. I then got hooked on the Cosmo Cricket Be Good line for awhile and used thier Believe paper to make this card.  Since it's not too Christmaslike, I may send it to mom in the near future.  I was still playing with the Be Good line, and altered the card file box.  I'm going to use it to keep track of Christmas gift ideas, and items bought.  I have a huge shopping list, and I think this will help quite a bit.  Since it will be kicking around in my purse, I put mod podge over the whole thing. So that's all I have for right now, but everything is still out ready to be played with.  I have to go grocery shopping tonight, so I might not have time, but if I get anything else accomplished I'll be sure to post it here. 

On A Creative Roll ...

here's some more stuff that I've been working on.  First is an embellished gift bag.  I've used the CosmoCricket Jitterbug papers (Peggy Sue), mounted it on Bazzil Raven paper, I've also used Phrase Cafe stickers and the ScrappyCat Stamps.

Taking the picture was harder than I thought because I couldn't get it to lay flat.  (I ended up sticking it to a wall temporarily in order to snap the shot).  I'm making this for a friend at work who's birthday is the end of this month.

Besides the gift bag, I made her one of the chipboard coaster post it holders also using the Peggy Sue paper  (I see a theme here).  This is just like the ones I did for the class at the Hilltop Memories Winter Retreat.

 I've got some other things to put together for her, and I might even try to get a memo board completed too.  I've still got some time.

I love making these post-it holders.  I could do it all day long.

On A Creative Roll

Here's another fun project I've been working on.  These are chipboard coasters that have been covered.  They hold a post it note (standard 3x3 size).  These little suckers are addicting.  I made these two, then sent a pic to Linda to see if I could teach them in a class at Winter Retreat, then started making more for my mom and sisters -- hell, I might even start to make them for everyone at work.

That's two whole projects I've done so far.  That's pretty good for me.  Just wait till this month is over, who knows ... I may even get some things accomplished while at Winter Retreat. Oh wait a minute, you guys know me better than that.