Upcoming Class at Scrappy Chic

G45 Safari Layout

Get ready to scrap your pictures from the zoo, safari or wild family in this fun class at Scrappy Chic.

We’ll create a 12×12, 2-page layout using Graphic 45’s new paper — and you will go home with additional pieces to create a card or add to another project or layout.

As always, most everything will be precut, so this will only take an hour on July 20 at 6 p.m.

Contact the store for details and to register.

See you there!

For My Graphic 45 Students …

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It’s been a rough week around here … my husband’s car died, which means he has my truck and I am stranded at home.

I am prepping for my G45 card class tonight and my printer quit working. Since I normally provide each student with photos of each card so they can replicate them after class, or work ahead of the rest of the class, I am posting the photos here, so they can have some sort of reference. The best I can offer at this point!

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Thanks for understanding!

 

Sign up for Graphic 45 class

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It’s been awhile since my last post … there has not been a lot of crafting going on around here lately … I have been setting up my fall schedule, ordering new products, evaluating new releases and planning classes, but there has not been a lot of actual crafting going on.

So, I thought I would share my latest Graphic 45 card class that will be taught at Scrappy Chic in Livonia on Wednesday, Sept. 2. I do these classes each month using the Time to Flourish paper line from Graphic 45. The company puts together two cards and two tags and sends them to local stores to offer as classes. I use them as inspiration to create four cards. The classes are less than $20 and I try to include several techniques, tips or short cuts in each class, so they are a good value. And there is a great group of ladies who take the classes each month! Contact the store to sign up. I would love to see you there!

IMGP3065I have also been busy with my family … my son, Christopher, is in the process of getting out of the U.S. Navy. He is living in the continental U.S. for the first time in five years! And, he brought home his fiance, Ola, from Hawaii with him. She is a wonderful woman and I am enjoying getting to know her.

Of course, they have virtually nothing, so we are spending a lot of time going through things we have put in storage for hand-me-downs, looking for bargains and shopping yard sales and thrift stores to help them set up their new apartment.

They are also vegan, so I have been searching for vegetarian recipes … that part is easy, but they do not eat any animal product, which means no butter, eggs or cheese and that part takes a little searching to find the right recipes. Fortunately, they enjoyed my first meal — cooked with fresh produce and herbs from my garden.

So now you know why the delays on my end … how has your summer been? Are you ready to get back into the groove? The holidays are just around the corner … get ready by stocking up on adhesive and pick up some new papers, tools and techniques to create holiday decor, gifts, cards and more. Contact me for classes and products. If it isn’t in my store, please ask … I can order from almost every company!

Ready for Summer?

This month’s challenge at Scrap It Girl is to create a project using arrows, numbers and the color blue.

I decided to make this tag …

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I started with a plain office tag. I used a layer of Texture Paste and a stencil to create the background.

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Once dry, I covered it with a few layers of Distress Ink and some water … blotting randomly. Then I edged the tag with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and got to decorating …

The papers are from Graphic 45. The bicycle was a gift from a friend. The numbers are from Tim Holtz and the arrow is a die cut using a Tim Holtz die. I added ribbon to the top, fibers at the bottom (another gift from another friend) and a little bit of bling.

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Now it’s your turn … create a project — in can be a card, tag, ATC, scrapbook page, home-decor project or whatever else you want to do — using numbers, arrows and the color blue. Submit it to the Scrap It Girl website and you could win a great selection of prizes!

Tray by the Sea

By the Sea Tray by Candy SpiegelWhen you have beautiful paper, like the By The Sea collection from Graphic 45, creating an elegant piece of home decor is really quite simple.

001I started with an old tray I had picked up at Goodwill, painted a bright blue, decided I didn’t like it, and stashed it in a closet for a year. For this project, I pulled it out again and covered that blue with white.

003Then, I added a layer of Distress Crackle Paint. Once dry, I used a dauber to add a bit of coffee Archival Ink to help highlight the cracks and crevices.

006Then, I covered the tray with paper. (the gold is some Halloween paper from Reminisce).

007I sanded a bit of the paper off, which also took off various layers of paint. There are even a few spots where some of that blue came through. It created a beautiful finish!

Once all covered in paper, I added a thin layer of Glastique with a paintbrush to the entire tray to seal it. The Reminisce paper bubbled with the liquid, so I would not recommend using it in this application … but I made it work.

035Next, I added some fibers a friend gave me. The burlap ribbon is from Michael’s. The twine is from May Arts. I’m not sure where the other fibers came from.

031I tied lots of them to the ends of the tray. they are so soft and match so well!

By the Sea Tray by Candy SpiegelI love this tray! It matches my living room perfectly and is filled with all of my favorite colors. Thank you, Graphic 45 for the papers and Anna for the fibers!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Special Christmas Dinner

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For Christmas last year, I asked for a Dutch oven.

Matt bought me one, but when he gave it to me, he made an amazing beef roast with a red wine, mushroom and onion gravy to top it. The wine was a gift from my mom — brought back with her from a trip out west.

Matt made mashed potatoes and some of the green beans we grew and froze over the summer to accompany it.

It was such a special meal (we eat very little beef because of the high costs these days), that it deserved its own page!

The papers are from Graphic 45. The utensils from Hobby Lobby and the cork letter stickers from American Crafts.

Linnie Blooms Canvas Journal

Today is my second time as a guest designer for Linnie Blooms.

This time, I created a mixed-media canvas book.

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Here’s a peek at some of the inside pages …

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mixed media book_Candy Spiegel9 mixed media book_Candy Spiegel10 mixed media book_Candy Spiegel11To find out how I created this book, visit Linnie Blooms’ Blog!

 

Merry Christmas Banner


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I fell in love with Graphic 45’s 12 Days of Christmas line. But I couldn’t think of a use for it … outside of making a 12 Days of Christmas album and I knew I didn’t want to do that.

Still, I knew it was too beautiful not to use for something, so I bought a few sheets that featured a beautiful background and birds, ducks and a goose.

Eventually, I settled on a banner.

g45_banner_Candy_SpiegelI enjoy making banners, but they are one of the hardest things to photograph! I hope from the collection of photos I am including, you can sort of see what I created.

g45_banner_Candy_Spiegel3I used the top of Bell Jar w/Pedestal Die from Tim Holtz/Sizzix to cut out both paper and chipboard for the base of the banner.

g45_banner_Candy_Spiegel7I then attached the paper to the chipboard and used my Crop-A-Dial to attach an eyelet to the top of each one.

g45_banner_Candy_Spiegel4I used the Tim Holtz/Sizzix die Word Play to cut the letters out of gold paper.

g45_banner_Candy_Spiegel6Next I fussy cut words, birds, flowers and a nest. I then coated them in UTEE and attached them with pop dots to create a glassy effect.

g45_banner_Candy_Spiegel5Then I added beads, gems, lace, punches and more to finish decorating.

g45_banner_Candy_Spiegel8I tied each one with crinkle ribbon and attached it to a wire to hang.

What do you think?