File under FYI, this one is for the analog scrappers I know:
New website: Scrapblog.
My friend Cindy Li is now illustrating for Scrapblog and has gotten several folks involved in it.
If you are a scrapbooker who has yet to take to any of the online services, might want to try out Scrapblog and let us know what you think.
Stop It. Stop being so damn adorable. It makes me crazy. It makes me want to kiss you on the mouth. That's how I feel about these insanely cute rubber stamps from The Small Object.
Yes, rubber stamps in the shape of an acorn, a squirrel, and holy crap, a hedgehog. The Small Object is the cottage industry of Sarah Neuburger who makes "artwork, limited editions and handmade goods for everyday that are fun and quirky." Chances are, Sarah's not trapped in a cubicle somewhere, wincing under the flourescent lights. Or maybe she is.
When I get stressed, I imagine stamping these little fellows on my staff reports, time sheets, and performance measurements. And life gets better. And so much cuter.
Jenny Hart over at Sublime Stitching (who is my craft Idol) has made embroidering hip again, with her amazing art and must-have patterns.
I've been embroidering since I was a little girl, so I'm no stranger to the medium. In fact, this is the one craft that really relaxes me and mellows me out - with each pull of the needle I can feel my heart rate slowing.
So everytime Jenny comes out with new patterns, I collect them unabashedly, sometimes buying in sets of two (one to store, one to use). Her new collection is one of the cutest: Bon Voyage (Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal), Word Balloons, and Camping Images, but all the sets are adorable - precious chihuahuas, Olde English letters, fierce roller derby babes, luchadores. There are more patterns than there is time to embroider!
As a special treat, Jenny is featuring Kurt Halsey as a guest designer. Kurt's designs are "twee and sad" (to paraphrase Jenny) and I can't wait to embroider them!
Should I be surprised that a Huntington Beach company has finally come out with Punk Rock scrapbook supplies? I've been waiting for a while for paper crafting to get really cool, because really cool means really cool products. And it's been happening slowly... slowly... with more really gorgeous papers and more fun embellishments.
So it stands to reason that I'm delighted with Creative Imaginations new lines: Marah Joneson's Lovestruck and CI's Caution Girl. As I sift through the fabulous photos from 2007 Punk Rock Bowling, I'm excited about using these products to create something truly unique, something that can be shared at next year's PRB.
Creative Imaginations can be purchased online through their webstore and at better scrapbooking stores.
Kindly Jess got me a subscription to Craft Magazine for my birthday, and I've been patiently waiting and waiting for it to arrive. Based on the arrival time of my other magazine subscriptions, I seriously think the mail lady steals my magazines, reads them, and then delivers them. They all arrive 3 weeks after the magazines hit the newstands.
But behold my delight when my first Craft magazine arrived in the mail today (for some reason I got Craft: 02 and Craft: 03 at the same time - thanks mail lady!), and the cover story featured these tiny kitties you can stitch from felt!
I'm not lying, I almost started crying. That's how cute these damn kitties are. I'm going to try to make them, as well as the punk rock reconstructed t-shirt and let you know how it goes. Thanks, Jess!
This coming Friday marks the start of a weekend long event - April, 6, 7 & 8th. Many of you crafters may want to check out this large and amazing event at the Ontario Convention Center. I have never been to a gem faire and hope to get out to one soon! http://www.gemfaire.com/
As a side note, Lone Star Gems out of Texas has an official cut for the state called the Lone Star Cut. Check this beauty out. It's a blue topaz.
