Cool2Craft and The Hive

I am so excited about this new craft community that has opened up. It's called The Hive and it's like Facebook for crafters. I appeared on Cool2Craft today and Melissa Marro, the Queen Bee, was also a guest. She explained her vision for this group and also gave practical tips on how to navigate the site and showed us some of the cool features. So after the show, I started a Sizzix Lovers Anonymous group. If you are a member of the Hive and love your Sizzix, please post some of your projects for us all to see. I am always so inspired to see what people are doing with their die cuts. If you are not a member yet, you should be! It's really easy- click on the link above and sign up today!

Here's the project I demo'd today. It my new ScoreBoard Pro Frame die. There are so many combinations of shapes and ways you can use this. Great for books, frames, puzzles and albums. Cut-outs of this die and the Pro House will be available as a "Get Acquainted" offer on the Cool2Craft Marketplace so order a set today! If you missed the show today, you can listen to the recording here.

I am now hunkered down creating and will not come up for air until Wednesday when we're hitting National's baseball game! Wish me luck!

She said Yes to the Dress!

Hey everyone- here's the link to Cool 2 Craft Pajama Party where I demo'd how to make this cute little dress from the ScoreBoard die I designed for Sizzix- the Cupcake Holder.

This one was created for Marissa- a very special bride-to-be! For written instructions, visit the Sizzix blog. It will be posted soon.

Don't forget to leave comments!

Sneak Peek

Here's a quick look one of my new dies that came out at the CHA Summer show which I recently talked about on Cool2Craft. Click here to see my segment on the show. It's the ScoreBoard Pro House die. This is a new adventure for me- the Pro dies are huge compared to the XL dies so I am liking having some room to work in. You will need the Big Shot Pro to cut the house out. I recently got one and it's my new favorite gadget! I can also use it to cut several of my smaller dies out all in one pass. Great for doing mass production projects for large events like weddings and parties.

I can think of so many fun ways that this might be decorated, especially around the holidays. This picture shows a very simple version that I did right before leaving for CHA. I just added crystal glitter to the roof and made a small button wreath for above the door. A scalloped oval cutout and more glitter tells whose house it is.

It's HOT...

...so the thought of slipping down to my nice cool studio and working on some new projects is especially inviting (yes, this is the same CHILLY studio I am cursing in the winter). While at CHA I was given some products to experiment with... and my brand new ScoreBoards are out! I have to test them for myself and make sure that they really work (I am always SO happy/relieved when they do)... and then there are the projects for the book proposal that have to be done by the end of the month. To sum it up, I am a happy camper!

I'll be sharing some projects with you in the next few weeks. Make sure to tune into Cool2Craft this coming Monday where I'll be showing one of my favorite new designs.

Here's a look at the project I created using the Scalloped Box die and demo'd at the Craft Studio at CHA. See my blog at the Memory Keeping Collection for instructions. 

Home at last...

Hey everyone! It's so good to be back and in my own little house. The past month has flown by...

This photo was taken in the booth of Craftside at CHA. They had a sign that said, "Take your picture with the ugliest sweater in the world." How could I not? Actually I kind of liked it. My friend Stefanie Girard is barely visible on the very right of this photo. She has written a book called Sweater Surgery, which involves projects like the one I am standing behind.

I had a great time at CHA- made some new friends and got to catch up with my peeps (you're not gonna catch me saying "old" friends). Lots of opportunities are ahead, along with some hard work. And I thank God every day that I am able to do what I love.

So here's what I've been up to. I drove with my friend and neighbor Lorine Mason (how lucky am I that we live in the same town?) to Chicago. The drive was not too bad- 13 hours. We ended up staying in this fancy hotel where a bottle of water was $5.50! What the heck! Luckily I had a 12 pack of my diet Mountain Dew to sustain me. Whew.

More later about the show... right now I am doing laundry, answering 700 emails (mostly junk thankfully!), getting ready for a trip to the post office to mail the third installment of Trinity's birthday presents and have lunch with a few friends. You have to stop and smell the flowers, right? I had a great idea for a die and am afraid to test it. If it works it will be VERY cool, if not, I am back to the drawing board. I am enjoying the suspense right now.

Time to post on my other blog over at http://www.memorykeepingcollection.com/ and should also check in at Sizzix since it's been a while since I posted. I miss working on my stuff! Hope you can stop by...