Melissa Frances was MY assistant!!!

In April, I went to Terri Brush’s Art Camp. LOVED IT!!!



Super long post…. limited photos because my camera is broken so I didn’t get a chance to photo-record this fantabulous adventure. I’ve included  photos of the jewelry and mini album that I made at camp. One of my new-found friends, Kathy, did a great job of photographing the experience, check out it out here.

Where do I start describing it? The first evening was a time to gather and meet each other. Lots of laughter, some wine, and hors d’oeurves. Campers came from all over! Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, California, and Canada… and lots of locals from Washington and Oregon. A fabulous blend of women.



I met several really great friends that I hope to keep in touch with. They are wonderful, wonderful women.

Experience levels ranged from none, to beginner, intermediate, to advanced and professional. We learned new techniques from each other and as the creativity flowed we bounced ideas back and forth. It was really cool to see all the different creations. These women are amazing!!!



Terri brought a group of five women (love you!), one of whom has been featured in Where Women Cook magazine, to cook and care for us. The meals were full of great comfort food with lots of salads, bowls of fruit, and cheeses on the side. The chicken salad was my absolute FAVORITE!!!!

On Friday and Saturday we had jewelry classes. Terri taught Molten Lava (same class that I took with her mid-March) and Amy Hanna taught us beading and wire wrapping. It was so cool to see everyone start with the same basic kits and come up with such different pieces. Many campers worked into the night making additional pieces or experimenting. Most people brought a collection of beads, vintage jewelry, findings, and such to create with. I didn’t, but I will next time!!!



Terri Brush and Amy Hanna are very genuine and down-to-earth women. Super creative and very open to sharing their gifts and knowledge. It was a pleasure learning from them.



Jenny Doh, Crescendoh, was our speaker. For me, the message was that our lives are beautiful even with (or maybe because of) the imperfections. At first I though Jenny was aloof, but later when I had a chance to converse with her in a small group I realized that she is very well spoken, intense, has a great laugh, is very focused, and strong, inside and out. I hope that our paths cross again.



On Sunday, Carolyn Peeler taught a mini album class. Carolyn is the Senior Creative Director for Melissa Frances. Again, we started with the same kit but each book was so different. Each cover was a masterpiece! I made my book for Charlotte.



Carolyn is a great teacher and will be teaching the same class, among others, in Italy and other parts near and far. Lucky girl! She is really a lovely person. Her work is gorgeous and filled with vintage and vintage-inspired lusciousness. Delightful!!!



So after the class on Sunday, I was sitting around and Melissa Frances came to sit at my table. It was pretty cleared up and the table she had been at was cluttered. She was working on making some samples for an upcoming episode of MyCraftChannel. Well, since I had nothing left to work on, I offered to help. Melissa was under the gun to get samples done and was having a super busy week ahead with not a lot of studio time built in and still need to pack for a 3 a.m. departure. At this point it was about 8:30 p.m. Her creativity mojo was not working in her favor so she said she was happy to do the grunt work, pasting and cutting, while I and another camper did the creating. What a blast that was!!! To work with she gave us a heaping pile of ribbon and embellishments, and paper from her new product line, soon to be released!

Watch the episode here: www.mycraftchannel.com/Shows/Melissa-Frances/Melissa-Frances-A-Treat-for-You/



That was a fabulous end to an amazing weekend. The next morning I was off. I drove up the coast from Lincoln City to Canon Beach.

Thank you for letting me share this fantastic experience with you! I’d love to hear about art retreats or workshops that you’ve been to, please share!

Desiree

May 2013 Tag–take two!

This is the second tag I made for Tim Holtz’s 12 Tags of 2013 - May. Check out the other tag here.

I tried the technique with 7 Gypsies rubbings. While they had some white area around them, it wasn’t as dramatic as the Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs. You can see it a bit in the close up image below around the word “remember” and the doodle  just visible below the ribbon.

This photo shows the little rosettes that I made with My Favorite Things Dienamics. The paper that I used is a calendar photo from a Gustav Klimt calendar. I love the soft colors and little bits of glitter.

The stamp set that I selected is Elements of Style from Stampin’ Up!



The Distress Stains that I used on the tag and crinkle ribbon are Seedless Grape, Broken China, Peeled Paint, Barn Door, and Squeezed Lemonade. The black ink is Archival Ink.

So what do you think? Is it pretty?

Have a fabulous crafty day!
Desiree

12 Tags of 2013 - May

This tag came together really well. I love the Tim Holtz rub-ons. I received two sets (plus a stamp set) when I was picked as a winner for my April tag.

As usual I used watercolor paper for my tag. The Distress Stains that I used are Peeled Paint, Barn Door, Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Seedless Grape, and Bronze.



The rub-ons are called Remnant Rubs – Elements. It’s cool how they have this great white space around and within them. The resist effect really comes through. The images are fun and quirky and very detailed. There is a lot of variety too.

The light bulb is the main embellishment. Isn’t it fabulous? It is a Junkyard Findings from Prima. I added a bit of film strip – finally bought some of that! I attached a knowledge Muse Token with a small brad.

I used two stamp sets, both are Tim Holtz by Stampers Anonymous. The gears are from the Industrial Blueprints set and the text is from the Way With Words set. The ink is black Archival Ink.

You can’t tell from these photos, but the bronze distress paint leaves a faint bronze shimmer.




I used the same distress stains as listed above on white crinkle ribbon. I didn’t realize that I had a package of that stashed away too. Happy discovery!!! (I think I have too much craft crap.)

I made a second tag that you can see here. Check out Tim’s technique post for a how-to.

On a side note, I had no idea how freakin’ hilarious Arrested Development is. I have been laughing so hard I can barely breathe!

What is your favorite sitcom, past or present?

Hope you are having a great day!
Desiree

12 Tags of 2013–April

This was a fun tag to make. Tim Holtz’s techniques were all about creating a patina look using Distress Paints.
I don’t have all of the supplies that he used so I did have to make some substitutions.

I’ve run out of the manila tags so I just cut a piece of watercolor paper. It generally works well for the techniques.

The Distress Paints that I used were: Broken China, Salty Ocean, and Wild Honey. To add a little metallic to it I had to substitute Bronze Distress Stain and for the green I used Peeled Paint Distress Stain.

I do really like the creamy texture of the Distress Paints. Soon I plan on getting the metallics. The colors blend really nicely.

The stamp is from the Tim Holtz Sewing Blueprint by Stampers Anonymous.



The clear surface that Tim stamped on is called Clearly for Art, but I didn’t have that (hadn’t even heard of it) so I grabbed a piece of transparency. Clearly for Art can be heated and shaped. I’m gonna get me some! Don’t try heating a transparency… because it curls up and gets brittle. Yep, tried it…



So after stamping on the transparency, I cut it out and kind of folded it in half to give it a little dimension. Then I used Glossy Accents to glue it in place.



I patina’d some letters and metal embellishments using the same paints and stains. The triangular piece is something I made in the Molten Lava class I took recently.


The ribbon was colored by swiping  Broken China paint and Bronze stain on it.

So this is my tag. Did you make  a tag for April?

Busy time ahead… I won a spot in Jeanne Oliver’s The Journey of Letting Go mixed media class that started today (yay!) and she extended a second spot to each winner to give to a friend. So I picked my daughter, Lilly, who is getting back into sketching and painting. I can’t wait to share art with her! So thankful to Jeanne for her generosity.

Second, I’ll be at Terri Brush’s Spring Art Camp at Lincoln City. So fun. It starts on Thursday evening and runs through Monday morning. My very first art retreat! WooHoo!!!

What are your weekend plans?

Thanks for visiting!
Desiree

Edited to add: This tag was a winner!!! So excited!!! Thank you all for the well wishes.