Sketchfest results! Using a bit o' Ranger!

So the Creative Scrappers Sketchfest was this weekend, and I have a few results. I'm still working - we have until the 31st to complete layouts. But let me tell you, the sketches were great, and I think it was just what I needed to get past my fried brains and start creating again. I took the opportunity to play, not to "scrap fast." My friends who I crop with will laugh when they read this. I never scrap fast! I like to play anyway, but this time I did things that take a long time just to do them.

This first layout has a bit of Ranger Distress Crackle Paint as well as Distress Embossing Powder... and some hand stitching helped by my new Tim Holtz Idea-ology Ruler. Love it. The hand stitching did make me wish that I had room to set up my sewing machine, though. Pictures are from our family reunion two weeks ago -- my dad's first cousins on the Haugo side. The brilliant sketch is by Liz Weber.

The next one is another reunion photo, though the cousins in this photo are just a tad younger! The photo is an important one for me, though -- my daughter with my cousin's granddaughter. They see each other about once a year, if we're lucky, but they always look forward to it. You can't tell in the picture, but they were sharing a recliner at the reunion, hanging out downstairs at my dad's cousin's place, watching movies. I crept downstairs to see what they were up to, and this is what I found.

Let's see... not as much Ranger on this one, though the Holtz influence is clear here in the grungeboard, ink, and distressed edges... This sketch was by Cherie Averill.

Sketchfest at Creative Scrappers

Guess where I'll be this weekend? Well, here at home most of the time, but in cyberspace, I'll be here:

Join us!

News from CHA!

Check out the Paper Element "booth babes!" I just returned from CHA and have to share some pictures and news. You're looking at The Paper Element's booth, and from left to right, Lisa, Emily, and Beth. (It's always an advantage to be behind the camera... That way, I don't have to post pictures of myself!) I've got a few close-ups of the new fall/winter collection, and I'll post a few more in a couple of days.

Two of our most popular lines at CHA were Tinsel Town (in red, below) and Blue Flannel. Aren't they gorgeous? The altered items you see on the table were made by the creative powerhouse behind The Paper Element and owner Lisa's brick & mortar store, The Keepsake Element: Jolene Graning, Angie Huonker, and Emily Pipkins.

Some other CHA highlights

Check out the Stampers Anonymous releases. Some amazing new stamps from Tim Holtz, and if you check out the right side there, you'll see the fabulous Wendy Vecchi's new stamps! How exciting is that? Read further for a close-up... ;-)



Wendy's new stamps, below, and the artist herself, doing make n takes at the Ranger booth. On the right in the stamp picture are some projects she made with the stamps. Can't wait to get my hands on these! The Stampers Anonymous online catalog has close-ups. I'll be checking Scrapbook Friendz, where she teaches from time to time, as soon as my pocketbook allows.

The most exciting stamp for me is "Ticket to Art," which has a spatter pattern stamp. Wendy got me hooked on a stamp that she used for aging and distressing the surface of papers, and this stamp modifies that design a bit.


Piggy Tales has some new cute lines. I was excited to see a counterpart to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star that had more "boy" colors in it, since I have a Guitar Hero nut at home who wants to start getting real guitar lessons, too. It's called Old King Cole, on the left in the picture below.

Watch for a few more!