Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Show Photos, Cool New Samples & Challenge

Hi Everyone!
I’m writing this post on our show road trip as we are headed to the Creative Stitches & Craft Show in Edmonton, Alberta. We had so much fun at the Calgary Show last Fri & Sat but I’m only posting a couple of photos from the show today as so many of our DT ladies have just finished fantastic new samples I want to show you!   I have some other really hilarious photos from our trip I will show in my next post.

 
Here’s a fun photo of some nice ladies shopping in our booth at the Calgary show who hammed it up for the camera with me. It was so great to hear all their wonderful comments on the samples our Design Team has created!



I takes so long to set up the booth I wish I could roll all 20’ into the van and ‘pop it up’ at the next show!


Here is a pretty new album DT leader Vicki Chrisman created using a album from Maya Road. I ordered a bunch of Maya Road Albums for our new online store (we plan to open mid October)  but we sold so many at shows I need to order more. Vicki used the Album title image as well as several of the journal card sides on our Vintage Photos Creative Scraps. You can see a bunch more photos HERE on Vicki's Blog and learn how she used our Artsy Banner Clear Art Stamp Set to embellish some of the pages such as the cover frame. 


Look at this cool flower DT member Pam Hooten created using an old tart tin she cut and colored with Copic Markers and embellished with our Halloween Creative Scraps. She made a bouquet of Halloween flowers you can see HERE on Pam's Blog and learn how she did it.


Check out this stunning 3D card DT member Michele Kovack created using our Dahlia Clear Art Stamp Set. You can get all the details HERE on Michele's Blog.


I adore this sweet little wall hanging DT member Marisa Grosson created using an image from our Little Blessings Creative Scraps. You can see the other one she made HERE on Marisa's blog


Look at the way DT member Linda Duke stamped the dress a second time and popped it up on this lovely card she created using our Bonjour Merci stamp set with a Spellbinders die.  The borders and all the floral designs on this stamp set turned out so pretty and work great to embellish with. You can see more photos and get the details HERE on Linda's blog.


DT member Julie Campbell has so many fantastic old family photos and I'm so happy she let us publish a couple of them on our Creative Scraps and she used both photos in this large tag chipboard album she created.  Her page below shows her Grandmother with a giant fake fish taken at a pier in California in 1908 and it's now on our Vintage Photos Creative Scraps. You can read the story HERE on Julie's Blog. See the other photo below.


This page below from Julie's album shows a photo of her grandmother years later with her bestfriend enjoying some homemade pie on a back porch and this photo (as well as the Keepsake of Friendship card and sentiment) are all on our Girlfriends Creative Scraps. If you missed Julies previous 'footsteps' post and her layout using our Girlfriend Scraps you can read the footsteps story HERE. She really is a great writer and I'm amazed at the collection of old family shoes she has!


Lastly, I want to tell you about a fun new 'Just Hanging Around' challenge that Marcy Talbert is hosting over at Splitcoast Stampers to create any hanging project using our products. I love all the inspiring ideas she listed like Christmas ornaments, Halloween decorations, altered letters, shadow boxes, framed art, Victorian cones, banners, mobiles,  pendant necklaces, gift tags, or a card with a hanging element. You can get details HERE and see the Gallery HERE!

Look at this wonderful Autumn wall hanging Marcy created using an image from our Seasonal Booklet and a blank postcard from one of our Postcard Kits.


PS - If you missed my last post with the free printable Halloween image and our DT Halloween Challenge it's HERE.

That's all until next time.
Wishing you joy & creativity
Sandy Redburn
Owner
Visit Our Online Store Here


This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com    


Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4
USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230

Monday, September 20, 2010

Halloween DT Challenge, Printable Image, Fall Décor Ideas, Winner & New Samples!

Halloween DT Challenge
Random Giveaway Winner
Free Printable Halloween Party Image
1893 Fall Décor Ideas
New Blessings and Vintage Photo Samples

Welcome Everyone,
Today is our Design Team Challenge and the theme is Halloween!  I'm just as excited as you to see what everyone has created plus I have some great freebies and samples below.
Please click on each of the DT ladies links below to see what they have created!

Vicki Chrisman Team Leader
Pam Hooten
Heidi Blankenship
Marisa Grosson
Linda Duke
Michele Kovack
Melissa Phillips 
Flo from France
Julie Campbell
Mary Hamer
 
Our talented Design Team ladies have created so many fantastic samples in the past and although our Online Gallery is old and not letting many of them upload new projects, you can see 8 pages of wonderful past Halloween samples HERE   From altered Halloween  ATC's, baskets, candy containers, cards, cones, garlands, gift tags, layouts, ornaments, chipboard postcards and haunted houses! 
 
We had 110 entries for our New Product Giveaway and I wish everyone could win but  Congratulation goes to #94 Connie who said: Beautiful projects! Love the mini albums! The only problem is I can't find an email for Connie and she didn't leave a last name so I hope she reads this!



But I do have a wonderful printable Halloween gift for you!
The image below is from an old Dennison Party book and Cindy van Koll our graphic artist repaired it in Photoshop. Please remember this image is for personal use only.  If you click on it with the left side of your mouse you can save it to a photo file. It's large, so you may want to reduce it if you want to create a card but it would be fun to keep it large and print on fabric for a treat bag, a pillow, to use in a wall hanging or cut out the party couple and table to use on a layout. 
 
Please email any fabulous creations you make to sandy@craftysecrets.com and if I use them you will be rewarded with some free goodies.   
I have so many fantastic old books and I wanted to share a couple of pages I found in a pastime & amusements book from 1893 about using fall foilage to decorate one's home for "evening parties, receptions, afternoon teas or coffees".


I love the description of how a fashinable wedding was decorated with curtains made from wood ferns tied back with pieces of golden rod.  These pages are not full size as I didn't want to max out the space and not have the Halloween image enlarge for you but they should get larger if you left click on them..


I also spotted this adorable card that Gloria Stengal created using the witch and kitty from our SM20 Halloween Fun Clear Art Stamp Set. You can get the details HERE on Gloria's blog.


We just released our Little Blessings and Vintage Photos Creative Scraps last week and I have a couple of new samples to show you. Look at this very sweet card DT member Marisa Grosson created using one of the images from our Blessing Scraps with a oval beaded Spellbinders die. You can see another pretty card Marisa created using the same sheet and get the details on both cards HERE on her blog.


Here is a pretty layout that DT member Mary Hamer created using an inside piece of the Little Blessings Scraps. I love the soft colors on this page and the vintage hankie she used in the background. You can get all the details HERE on Mary's Blog.


How about this wonderful card that DT member Julie Campbell created using the cute grandparent photo from our new Vintage Photo Scraps. I'm so glad we kept many of the sentiments separate so you can mix and match them with the different photos on the sheet. You can get the details HERE on Julies Blog.  Julie also won the contest we ran when creating the Photo Scraps for the photos of her aunt with the giant fish. She really has an amazing collection of old family photos!


I also wanted to share a link to a vinatge challenge Maggie organized over at the Cuttle Bug Blog  HERE that showcased several of our products such as this fantastic card that Bonnie McLain designed using an image from our Summertime Booklet. I really love the white embossed frame she made!



We leave this Wednesday to drive to the Sewing & Craft Shows in Alberta with Calgary Sept 24 &  25 and then will be in Edmonton Show Oct 1 & 2, 2010If you can make it to the show please come by and do the make make & take I will be teaching in the Scrapbook Carnival section Friday 11 - 12 and Sat 12:30 - 1:30.  We are bringing everything    - including some great clearance stuff!  

I will bring my laptop and try and do a blogpost on the road.

Until next time, I wish you joy & creativity
Sandy Redburn
Owner

Crafty Secrets


Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here
This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com


Our Website: www.craftysecrets.com
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817


15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4


USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230

Thursday, September 16, 2010

WOW - New Releases, a Giveaway, Great Samples and News!

Have you heard the news?  Our new Creative Scraps arrived!


Yippee – our new Creative Scraps and Christmas Mail Stamp set have arrived!  They have started shipping to stores so you can ask your favorite retailer to order any new products in. To celebrate we are doing a giveaway for 2 sheets of each of the new Creative Scraps and for our new stamp set, plus 3 Shadow Box 3D Frames because they go so great with our new double sided Fairy Scraps! Just leave a comment here on this blog post to be entered to win.  A random winner will be announced next Monday, Sept 20/10 when we have our DT Challenge.  I also have a lot of great samples to share today!

I hope the picture below gets larger when you click your mouse on it so you can see how fun our Vintage Photo Scraps turned out. You can also see them HERE in our online store and a full description. The photo of the baby with glasses above is from a card DT member Julie Campbell made HERE.  Julie also created a great 'mom card' with fantastic post about 'Things My Mother Taught Me'   HERE on her blog if you missed it.

Look at these adorable hanging frames DT leader Vicki Chrisman emailed me tonight she made using our Vintage Photo Scraps and Fancy Pants Metal Frames!  I'm going to include my last package of these frames with the giveaway!  I'm waiting for an order of them to come as they work so well with our Creative Scraps and each frame includes a little paper template so it's quick & easy to cut out images to fit.



Here are our new Little Blessing Creative Scraps and I'm thrilled with how pretty the colors turned out and what a fabulous job Cindy our graphic designer did on these new sets!  If they don't get bigger when you click on the picture with your mouse  you can also see them HERE in our Shopatron online store and a full description. The little journal cards on the back of the front sheet turned out so sweet!

Here is a pretty card that Beate Johns from Splitcoast created with an image from the Little Blessings Creative Scraps.  It was her first time using the Scraps and she said she is in love with them.  The images are all printed on a mat cardstock, so they work perfect for double sided gift tags. Just punch a hole and add some pretty ribbon and a little charm or beads.
These are the new double sided Altered Fairy Scraps and I'm so happy with how beautiful they turned out.  They have layers of sheet music, script, text, Victorian flowers, ferns, butterflies and more! On the back of the header Cindy added tiny fairy books, a mini sheet music and 2 little fairy wish tickets. We decided to keep the back side of these in a collage style so when you cut out the fairies on the front they will have a mix of pretty colored ephemera on the back rather than being plain white.  You just need to decide what images you love best from the front and back.  There are still some single Fairy Creative Scraps HERE in our online store on sale.

I decided to also include 3 of the Shadow Box 3D frames in this blog giveaway because they they work so great with our Altered Fairy Scraps as you can see in this sample Vicki created below and a sewing one HERE on her blog.  Vicki is the designer of this Portrait style AccuCut Die and the Landscape Die as well.  We have a List of Stores HERE that carry the die(s) as many stores will let you use their dies if you purchase paper from them, or charge a small fee. Please call ahead before making a special trip as I'm not sure if every retailer listed is a brick & mortar store.


Okay, here is our new little Christmas Mail Clear Art Stamp set!  We decided to do this as a small set as we already have our large SL08 Vintage Christmas and 3 medium holiday stamp sets, SM21 Snow Bunnies, SM22 Christmas Joy  and SM27 Seasons Greetings.  This set is shipping to stores now.  Our DT ladies just received this set so I should have cute samples to show soon.


I do have another beautiful sunflower card to show you that DT member Marisa Grosson recently created with our SM34 Sunflower sets and you can see more HERE on her blog



Look at these very cute cards DT member Hedi Blankenship designed using images from our double sided Girlfriend Creative Scraps. I love the way she used the pink tickets from the set and her extra embellishments. You can get more details HERE on Heidi's Blog.


Look at this fabulous album DT member Flo from France created! She used our Photo Studio Clear Art Stamp set on some of the pages (like the oval label stamp) and the detail she puts into all of her projects is amazing! 


Here is a page from the inside of Flo's book with ALBUM stamped and you can see more HERE on her blog

Lacy Igo won a Photo Studio stamp set recently on one of our giveaways and she designed are really pretty album and used some of the stamps like this one on her cover. You can see more pages HERE on Lacey's blog. She also made a really fun Halloween scrapbook page you can see HERE


I love how sweet this Halloween card turned out that DT member Linda Duke created using one of the little witches from our Halloween Image & Journal Notes Booklet with a Spellbinders die and ribbon from Sharon's store. You can get all the details HERE on Linda's blog.


Check out this spooktackular layout DT member Mary Hamer designed using images from our double sided Halloween Creative Scraps!  You can see more photos and get details HERE on Marys Blog.



NEWS! - Our guest designer next month is Sheila Rumney and she is also on the Tattered Angels Design Team has created some fantastic samples with our products and theirs, such as this cool Halloween layout.  You can see more photos and 2 more projects Sheila altered HERE at Tattered Angels using our  Sew Nice and Garden Creative Scraps. 


Lastly, I wanted to tell you about the latest  'Anything Goes' challenge that Darlene Pavlick is hosting HERE over at Splitcoast Stampers, to use any of our products to create a sample. Anyone is invited to join in the fun and you can see the samples people have posted so far in a Gallery HERE.


Wow, this ended up being such a LONG POST but I had so much I wanted to share!  Don't forget to leave a comment here on this blog post to be entered to win our GIVEAWAY for: 2 sheets of our Altered Fairies, 2 Little Blessing, 2 Vintage Photos, a Christmas Mail Stamp set and 3 Shadow Box 3D Frames! 

Tell us what you like best and I will announce the winner next Monday morning, Sept 20/10  when we have our DT Halloween Challenge! 

 PLUS - I have a really awesome and big Halloween party image I will be posting as a free printable gift!

For those asking about our new Down on the Farm set, we are releasing it the first week of October!

PS - Our new website has been a bit delayed until Oct

Wishing you joy & creativity
Sandy Redburn
Owner
Crafty Secrets



Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here
This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com/


Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com/
Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

4 Fab NEW Flower Cards, Kitchen Fun, 3 Layouts and Cut it Up Challenge!

Hi Everyone,

I have some really great samples to show you today and some exciting news farther down!  It's been over a week since I posted and our DT ladies have been creating some incredible samples.  I have 4 fantastic new cards to show you created with our NEW Flower stamps including this beauty that DT member Heidi Blankenship  made using our Dahlia Clear Art Stamp set, Copic Markers and SpellBinder Dies.

Heidi also used the 'Dear Friend' stamp from our Card Sentiments Stamps and she gives step by step tips HERE on her blog on how she created her card with a supply list. If you don't have copics, don't worry, you can take inspiration from any of these cards and color them with chalks, watercolor pencils or other markers.  Also, check out Heidi's cute Halloween tags she just made HERE!



Now check out this 3D wonder DT Member Marisa Grosson designed using the same Dahlia stamp set but she stamped it 5 times and then cut them apart to use different sections to build her layers!  You can see more photos HERE on Marisa's Blog.


Marisa also used the same technique below on this beautiful card she created using  our new Poppy set but only stamped it three times to create the base and then added 2 layers. She raised the petals and leaf with foam tape or pop dots and added Yellow Flower Soft to the flower centers. Wow!  You can see more photos HERE on Marisa's Blog


Okay, now look at this gorgeous card DT member Michele Kovack created using our new Sunflower Clear Art Stamp set!  Michele only stamped and colored the sunflower twice but she used 3 different colors of brown Stickles on the center. She also used Crystal Lacquer on the petals so she could bend them up a bit when dry and a foam circle to raise her top image. The frame and tag are Spellbinder's dies. You can see more photos HERE on Michele's blog  Also, check out the adorable witch card she made HERE


Lastly, in case you missed this fabulous card that DT member Linda Duke designed using our new Rose stamp set for our last DT challenge, I'm posting it again so you can see samples of all 4 new Flower sets in 1 post.  You can get all the details HERE on Linda's Blog. 


Speaking of flowers, I wanted to show you this very pretty card  that  DT member Pam Hooten recently posted HERE on her blog using our Merci Bonjour and Artsy Banner stamp sets  for a Color Challenge DT member Vicki Chrisman hosted.


Speaking of Vicki Chrisman,  look this cute idea she came up with for turning a bunch of her old bottle caps into wonderful retro fridge magnets by using 1 sheet of our Domestic Goddess Scraps!  I love the way the edges look like little vintage tart tins. I think these would make such a cute gift and cheer up any fridge.  You can get all the details and see more photos HERE on Vicki's Blog.  For this project the single sided Domestic Goddess Scraps would work and they are on sale!


Retro ladies are so much fun and the crazy dramatic faces they used back then in advertising always cracks me up. That is exactly why we had to include this image on our revised double sided Girlfriend Scraps. I had Cindy our graphic designer change the caption and turn the bag of flour into: 'Bake Your Own Man.  Home Perfected, Cooks & Cleans'.  This set has 10 different word strips you can mix and match and I love the way DT member Julie Campbell used her's here on her very cute girlfriend card with this image!  You can see another fun card she created using the same Girlfriends sheet HERE on Julie's blog.


I also wanted to show you this great Travel layout Julie also designed by cutting out 2 of the ladies from the double side of the Girlfriend Scraps along with several images and ephemera from our Travel Creative Scraps. The background script is copied from an old journal Julie has from her husband's family documenting a 1910 trip to Europe a mother and daughter took and she has the original journal page posted HERE on her blog and it's so cool to read!


Look at this adorable baby frame DT member Mary Hamer created using a recycled wood frame she painted and dressed up with buttons, flowers, ribbon and our images.  'Our Girl' and words across the front are from our Baby Girl Cotton Scraps and sadly we are getting very low on these. The 'I'm so Cute' is from a page in our Joys of Life Booklet and you can see more photos and get details HERE on Mary's Blog.


Here is the third layout I wanted to show you of this beautiful layout DT member Flo created. Flo lives in France and they don't do Halloween as we do in North America but the bingo cards from our Halloween Creative Scraps work great here to accent her photos on this Fall pumpkin page with her children. I love her idea to create spiders by gluing 2 little 'eye' beads to metal brads and opening up the prongs to make spider legs! You can see more photos HERE on Flo's blog and there is an translator box on the right side.


LoriLynn Washburn is hosting a fun 'Cut it Out' challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers to cut out something in any project using Crafty Secrets products. Look at the way she used paper piecing here on the little dress she re-stamped for the telephone girl from our Couple of Cuties stamp set. The friendship sentiment is also on the set.  The mini flourish stamp is from our small Mini Memories set. You can get the challenge details HERE and see the other samples people have submitted so far HERE in the Gallery!  If you have any of our products, why noy join in the fun?


Okay, now I have some news!

We have 3 sets of Creative Scraps we just got back from the printers today,  they turned out Fantastic and we will be releasing them later next week! There is a new Little Blessings set, one called Vintage Photos and Altered Fairies has sold so well we had it reprinted double sided and Cindy did an amazing job on all these!  I will post photos next week and do a giveaway.

We also have a new small Clear Art Stamp set coming next week called Christmas Mail and it turned out so perfect I can hardly wait to show you!  I will show it also later next week and include it in the giveaway.
I will also be announcing our October Guest Designer.

We will be at 2 Alberta Shows Sept  24 & 25 and Oct 1 & 2/10

I'm so excited we are doing the Creative Stitches & Scrapbook Carnival Show in Calgary and then driving to Edmonton to the next weekend.  We've done these shows in Victoria BC and Langley and this will be our first time doing the Alberta Shows but we will lots of new items and a make & take at the Scrapbook Carnival Booth each day. Please come visit if you are in the area and with any purchase over $10.00 ask for the 'free gift'.  

Wishing you joy & creativity!
Sandy Redburn
Owner

Crafty Secrets


Visit Our Store Locator
Visit Our Online Store Here
This Blog: http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com/
Our Website: http://www.craftysecrets.com/


Toll Free Phone or Fax 1-888 597-8898
Local Phone 604 597-8817

Crafty Secrets Head Office
15430 78 A Ave.,
Surrey, BC V3S 8R4

USA Warehouse
250 H. Street, #436
Blaine, WA 98230