Tag Archives: winter

CHA and Catchin’ Up

Posted on February 20, 2011 | 4 comments

The insanity of CHA is past, but I wanted to share a bit anyway, before it gets way too late!

(I’ve been swamped with a huge project, and hopefully life will calm down once that deadline has passed!)

It is definitely a lot of planning, work, sweat and even a few tears getting to this:

Bare bones, boxes and crates…

To artwork, product, and decor. Everyone has a job and it goes fairly smoothly.

It takes a village, so beyond the efforts of the team on the show floor, we have a team at the office, as well as designers and bloggers.

But while we were working, this was going on at home (see the mailbox??)

And then a whole lotta this:

Cathy Chlebana, DT Coordinator, Kim Hupke, Education Director, Kimberly Crawford, DT Member and I were stuck in Los Angeles! Cathy had the wisdom to book a hotel room by LAX just in case , thank goodness!

Plan S: Shopping!

What’s a bunch of girls to do when we were just a few blocks from the garment district? (I apologize for the fuzzy cell phone pics)

Beads and baubles and charms!

Boxes and boxes of Buttons!

Walls and walls of ribbon!

More fabric than you could imagine!

And lots of laughs!

Plan B: The Beach!

The next day we decided to do the tourist thing and caught an inexpensive trolley to the charming little town of Manhattan Beach.

It was a beautiful day!

Plan C: Cupcakes!

First stop Cupcakes Couture for breakfast! Seriously, how could we not?

And it was worth every calorie! (I had red velvet, YUM!)

Next stop, the beach!

We all took off our shoes, rolled up our jeans and got our feet wet. The sand was warm, the ocean, not so much!

Thanks Spellbinders, for taking care of us while we were suffering miserably! The next day it was back to reality and Chicago weather.

Mother Nature continued to punish us with a cold snap. Yes, that’s -6 F at 8 am!

And we can’t forget Sparky’s birthday! He turned 17 last week. You can see that Cindy loves a good birthday too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Beth

4 Comments

Posted in CHA, Cindy, Spellbinders

Tagged Beach, blizzard, CHA, Cupcakes, LA, Sparky, Spellbinders, winter

A Birthday Card

Posted on January 7, 2011 | 7 comments

I’ve got a post-n-run (or not run) today. Here’s a birthday card I put together in a jiffy for Stacey Caron’s birthday on the Spellbinders Blog today.

The base is from Grand Squares, the distressed flower is newsprint patterned paper spritzed with Glimmer Mists, and the polka dot paper is from Fancy Pants Designs, Delicate Dots cut/embossed with Grand Scalloped Squares. The Fancy Tag is the opposite side of the same paper. The leaves were from leftover paper from my Altered Purse project on SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L™’s Blog, and cut/embossed with On The Vine in my Grand Calibur™.

So when your 9-year-old nephew hassles you to post on the blog, (Sup, dawg?) you know you’ve been a little behind. So I do apologize, Here are my top 10 excuses.

1. Holidays.

2. Crazy-busy CHA Prep with Spellbinders – don’t miss the Sneak Peeks next week!! This is the BEST collection we’ve ever had. Seriously!

3. Crazy-insane-busy big project with Spellbinders.

4. Hour long visits for Chiro/PT so I can get back on the treadmill and faster than 3.6. Who knew I was so messed up? And could someone find my metabolism?

5. Did I mention crazy-busy? Can I get some volunteers to un-deck the halls? Or should I leave the Christmas trees up until February, like last year?

6. Mountains of laundry, organized unions of dust bunnies, and other random distracting items. No photos, too scary!

7. A new website for my blog. Yeah, DH got me all set up and I started fussing and now I’m kinda stuck in decision-making paralysis on a few things. I know, just do it and keep fixing as I go along. When I get a spare moment of sanity, I will. Be gentle on me!

8. I just can’t decide on my OLW. Not that I have made it past a few days, but it seems like a good idea. So far “DUH” is the front-runner.

9. Couponing. Is it worth the 2 hours of time setting up my store card, printing and clipping coupons, to spend another 2 hours in the store making sure I’ve got the right products and sizes, to save $15? I love the thrill of saving $$, just not convinced its worth the effort or time involved.

10. Girlfriend. She’s like 55 in dog years, according to the chart at the vet, but she is still acting like a silly puppy! Such an attention hog! But she’s not as fat as I expected (a round 58 lbs) while remaining significantly happy.

TGIF!

Beth

7 Comments

Posted in Card, Cindy, SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L, Spellbinders

Tagged Birthday Card, Blog Frenzy, excuses, Fancy Pants Designs, Glimmer Mist, Grand Calibur, OLW, Spellbinders, winter

Holiday Hoppin’ with Spellbinders!

Posted on November 19, 2010 | 556 comments

Welcome to the second day of the Spellbinders™ Paper Arts Holiday Hoppin’ Blog Hop! Spellbinders, along with their Cross Promotional Partners are showcasing their newest products just in time for your Holiday crafting and gift giving. Lots of creative ideas are in store, as well as prizes galore! Each participating company has generously donated towards the prize package listed on the Spellbinders Blog. A total of two identical prize packages, one for each day, November 18 and 19 will be given away! To enter, just leave a comment on a participating blog! Comments in the first 48 hours of the post are eligible. One commenter each day will be randomly selected as the winner. Winners will be announced on November 22, on the Spellbinders Blog!

Be sure to see all of yesterday’s Holiday Hoppin’ blogs for inspiring projects and another chance to win!

Beth Pingry – that’s me!

Today I am using Spellbinders S4-297 Nested Crowns and S5-025 Labels Seventeen on this fun and easy mixed media canvas. My inspiration is the “Stay Calm” trend in posters now.

I painted the 5×7″ canvas in this yummy blue-green iridescent paint and set it aside to dry.

Next I cut a piece of gold foil from the Spellbinders new foil assortment, I adhered it to an adhesive sheet, then peeled off the backing to adhere the foil to a piece of scrap cardstock. This gave the foil a bit more stability.

I sanded the embossed areas of the Nested Crown die cut, then added 3D Foam Squares to the back of the crown die cut, and set it aside. (You get 3 gorgeously detailed die templates for $19.99!)

Next I cut Fancy Pants Designs’s Christmas Magic paper to fit the Labels Seventeen #6 die template (#6 is the largest). I die cut and embossed both at the same time in my Grand Calibur. (Labels Seventeen includes 6 die templates for $24.99, which comes to only 4.17 per image, and they all cut, emboss and can be used as a stencil!)

I used a JustRite Stampers font set to spell out my message. The clear blocks are great because you can see exactly where you are stamping, which is perfect for a project like this!

Then I inked the edges first generously with Lime Pastel, then very lightly with Black ink. I also added a bit of Black around the edges of the now dry canvas.

Then I added some Crafty Power Tape to the back of the Label and adhered it to the center of the canvas. I peeled off the backs of the 3D Foam Squares and placed the Crown die cut at the top of the Label.

Yes, that is one of my Christmas trees, I set it up especially for you!

Now Stay Calm, Have a Cookie (even if it’s past breakfast time), and leave a comment, please!

Supplies: Spellbinders Grand Calibur; S4-297 Nested Crowns, S5-025 Labels Seventeen; F-012 Precious Metals Premium Craft Foil Assortment; SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L™ – Adhesive Sheets, 3D Foam Squares, Crafty Power Tape; JustRite Stampers, Times New Roman 50 and 25 point fonts, Fancy Pants Designs, Christmas Magic patterned paper; Clearsnap, Colorbox Black Pigment and Lime Pastel Fluid Chalk Ink, Jacquard Lumiere Halo Blue-Gold paint, 5×7 Canvas.

Simply leave a comment on my blog to be eligible to win the Spellbinders Holiday Hoppin’ Prize Package! One winner will be chosen from all the comments on all the blogs participating today. Comments made in the first 48 hours of this post will be eligible to win. Winner’s names will be published on the Spellbinders Blog on November 22, and they will have 48 hours to reply to Spellbinders to claim the prizes.

Thank you!

Beth