More snow?

Yup... more snow! I can't even keep track of how many big snowstorms the New Jersey coast has had this winter. It's been a very strange year weather-wise. The roads are bad, so I'm home from work for yet another snow day. Haven't had this many since I was in the 4th grade... not that I mind!

Snow Day Play Time...

Last Wednesday... New Jersey was hit by another rather rambunctious snowstorm. On the shore here we got about another 10 inches of white powdery fluff! But no work... so what's a crafty girl to do? Have a FREE DAY to PLAY... Yay! So I did something eye've been wanting to do for a long time... make a paper clay doll with real doll eyes! I am ecstatic about how she came out and my head is spinning (hey, that's funny!) with all the themes, looks and costume possibilities I'm thinking of!
I'll keep you updated as she gets some hair.. a body... and dressed... for goodness sake!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone...

Ahhhh, Love! One of my very favorite intangibles. You can't see it... or box it up... or buy it at the store. But you can give it to someone... and you can receive it... and you can feel it too! Pretty cool... huh? I hope you have lots Love in your life... today and every day...

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow!

Boy, another big snowstorm here on the eastern seaboard this weekend... dumped about a foot here in Ocean Grove. I'll tell you a little secret though... I don't mind one bit! It's Mother Nature's way of making us slow down and reminding us that we are not in control. And there's another 10"-12" on the way for Wednesday! Wheeeeeeee...

Suzi Blu... Where Are You?

OMG... you're at the Ranger Booth! How cool is that?

I was just finishing up an order with a customer at the CHA Show, when one of our Signature Designers, Suze Weinberg, grabbed me and dragged me along, adamantly stating... "I have someone you really, really want to meet!" And I'm thinking, "yeah, yeah". But when I rounded the corner and saw the long pink wig... I just knew it was you Suzi Blu!

After absolutely loving her online Petite Dolls class, it was so nice to meet her in person. I showed her around the Ranger booth and introduced Suzi to her newest favorite product... Stickles! Bling in a bottle... a must have for all you little Petites out there! Later, we met for dinner and shared many, many artistic tales!

So, this CHA turned out to be a little different... it was all about the people. I also got a chance to have dinner with two mixed media artists I really admire... Lisa Kaus and Sally Jean Alexander. And one of the new Exhibitors was another fav of mine... Susan Lenart Kazmer. Love to get the hugs from her! She squeezes me real tight and says I'm the tiniest person she knows! Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her mixed media jewelry is simply delicious.
Add to that time spent with best bud and Ranger Signature Designer Claudine Hellmuth and the "Rangerettes" who also double as my very good friends... and you have one very satisfying trip. Oh, and we took tons and tons of orders too! This is a good economic sign.... CRAFT ON!

© photos by Suze Weinberg, Claudine Hellmuth & Lisa Kettell

Cupcake Apron... Ranger Style...

Nothing like another challenge to get your creative juices flowing! My most recent assignment was to decorate a white apron—using Ranger products—that I'll be wearing at the booth for the CHA Show. And how shall I decorate it? With cupcakes of course! Here's how I did it...

Colorize the entire (pre-washed) apron using Adirondack ColorWash Spray in Cranberry. When it is completely covered, place in about 2" of water and press out about half of the dye...
and you'll get a nice shade of watermelon.Hang to dry overnight and then throw it in the dryer to set.
I knew I was going to silkscreen the cupcakes, so I made a stencil and used the Inkssentials White Pen to draw them in. Once all the sugary treats were properly positioned, I painted them in using Claudine Hellmuth Studio Acrylic Paints (Hint: when painting over a colored background, use white as a base coat to keep these colors true).





I wanted a little pizzaz for the icing, so I mixed Perfect Pearls—in Perfect Pearl—with water and painted all the cupcake tops. It still allows the color to show through, but gives it an awesome sparkly look!

Next, it was time to silkscreen using Studio Paints. How on Earth can you silkscreen using an acrylic paint, you may ask? Combine it with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Extra Time... a brand new product from Ranger! It increases the "open time" of acrylic paints by 20-30 minutes!
So for silkscreening, I added 2 parts Extra Time to 1 part Studio Paint in Charcoal Black. This gave me enough time to silkscreen about 8-10 cupcakes... washing and drying my screen in-between each pass! I even used Ranger's Craft Scraper as my "squeegee".

And voila! Pretty cupcakes! It still needed a little something to fill the space, so I stamped "i love cupcakes"... again, using the Extra Time/Studio Paint combo, only this time at a 1:1 ratio. After mixing, ink up your Brayer with a nice, thin coat and brayer onto your stamp. Spritz lightly with water using a Mini Mister before the final stamping.
I'm so happy with how my apron turned out... that now I'd like to design fabrics! This was a whole lot of fun. And if you're going to the CHA Show... stop by the Ranger booth, say hi... and see it in person!

The Hottest Ticket...

So... here it is... my Melt Art Masterpiece! Created for Ranger's annual CHA Trade Show challenge, we had to utilize the line of Melt Art products to fashion a project using a 10" x 10" wood surface and a giant ticket shape. Right away I thought of making the ticket into an Animal Crackers box... with the buttery sweet cookies spilling out!
I collaged the ticket with papers and ephemera, then added the flap using cardstock. A circus tent was a must for the box... and I highlighted it with Gold Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE)... using an Embossing Pen to draw the outlines... as well as to highlight some additional areas. I double-embossed chipboard letters with Red Poppy UTEE, spelling out "Crackers". The background was painted with a wash of red acrylic paint, then stamped and embossed with the flourish-y pattern using Red Poppy to bring everything together.
And my very favorite Melt Art product—Mold-n-Pour—is what I used to make molds of the checker (for the wheels) and the Animal Crackers! In the Melting Pot, I mixed a combination of Clear UTEE, with a smidge of White UTEE and then added Yellow To Dye For with a little bit of blue and red to make the perfect cookie color!

A LOT of Animal Crackers were eaten during this creative process! I'm going to go work out now!