the creative closet by cindy lawrence

CHA Recap

Hello Stampers~

I thought I'd share a few photos from last week's trip to CHA in Chicago with the Flourishes girls.  I always enjoy CHA; but this trip was an extra-special blessing for me. 

Here's a picture of all of the Flourishes gals that were in attendance.  I stole this one from Stacy, since I didn't get a whole group shot with my camera.  I know it's small; but you get the idea!  This was a wonderful restaurant where we celebrated sweet Ms Sharon's birthday. :)

From left to right standing are: Stacy, myself, Julie, Christine, and Barb.  Sitting are Sharon & Jan Marie.

Next up are the ladies I spent the bulk of my time with, Julie, Christine, and Stacy.  It was the first time I had met Christine, and what a sweetheart she is!  She was my roomie for the week, and we had such a wonderful time of sharing and bonding.   We all had a terrific time together, and I feel like I have three new sisters! :)

I met up with lots of friends along the way...

Sweet Lori Craig, whom I always say should live next door to me...love that girl!

The beautiful Beate...always a treat to spend some time with her!

Sweetest girl EVER, Taylor, who is counting down the weeks until she welcomes her first baby into the world. :)

The amazing Lydia, who is yet another one that I wish lived next door.  She is just a beautiful soul...

Sankari...gorgeous on the inside as well as on the outside...

Lori McAree...SO wish I had more time with her.  She has the most infectious laugh you have ever heard...such a joyful, kind, and wonderful person.

The lovely Karen Giron...  This girl has enabled me to buy more photography equipment than I care to admit! LOL  Love her!

I saw so many others that I neglected to get a photo with.  So much going on to distract me, you know? ;)

The one meal that I must have while in Chi-town...Giordanno's stuffed pizza...oh. my. word.

While we're on the subject of food...check out my dessert at the Rosewood!  It was White Chocolate Mousse Cake, and was absolutely deLISH!  It was also big enough to feed three people! 

Here are a few of the awesome products we saw...and some that we purchased for Flourishes store... ;)

 
I could honestly share a bazillion more; but I think you get the idea...gorgeous stuff on the horizon, peeps!!!

The final photo I'd like to share is of myself and the dear, sweet lady who made this whole adventure possible...Jan Marie Caruso, owner of Flourishes.  Thank you SO MUCH, Jan Marie!  I puffy heart love you!

Have yourselves a fantastic day, friends!

Hugs,
~Cindy

Artisan Award Dinner and August Challenge

Hey everyone~

Today I thought I'd share my samples for this month's SU Artisan Challenge.  Each month, the Artisan Award winners get to participate in a different challenge for Stampin' Up.  The projects are then posted on the SU demonstrator site.  It's fun to see what the other winners have come up with.  This month we were each assigned to use either Pony Party or Greetings, Earthling to make a "kid-themed" project.

I was assigned Pony Party (which my daughter was thrilled with!).

This first photo shows the party favor I made.  The box shape is patterned after a popcorn box.  I filled the box up with sparkly paper shred, test tubes full of candy, lip balm, kids jewelry, pencils, and a simply-decorated mini-notebook.  I watercolored the pony on watercolor paper using the Melon Mambo re-inker and an Aqua Painter.  I added a bit of Orchid Opulence to the horse's main, and of course sparkled up the wings with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  

I also made a sweet and simple little birthday card to go with the party favor.

The card size is 5-1/2" x 3-1/4".  I've been using this size quite a bit lately.  It's the piece you have left over from an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of cardstock when you make a 5-1/4" square card.  I make a lot of square cards; so I have a lot of these strips left over. :)

Here's the recipe for the above projects:

Stamps: Pony Party

Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper, Watercolor Paper

Ink: Melon Mambo, Orchid Opulence, White Craft, Black Staz-On

Accessories: On Board Lots of Letters Chipboard, White Gel Pen, Melon Mambo 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Aqua Painter, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Dimensionals, Piercing tool, Eyelet Border Punch, Mini Composition Notebook, Sparkly Pink Pencils, Lip Balm, Children's Jewelry, Sparkly Paper Shred, Test Tubes

We had a fabulous time at the Artisan Award dinner!  It was sooo much fun to get to know the other winners a bit, as well as Shelli, her hubby Sterling, Brent Steele, his wife Angela, and two of SU's eight concept artists (the amazing ladies who design all of SU's catalog and publication samples).

Here's a photo of the ten Artisan winners with Shelli, outside of Em's, the quaint restaurant where we enjoyed our delicious dinner.  Each one of these ladies is a treasure in her own right.  What a joy it was to spend an evening with them! :)

Finally, here's a photo of me with Shelli & Brent Steele.  I look a bit goofy in this photo...but, seriously, when you're standing next to royalty...how can you not look a little goofy?! :)

Hope you enjoy your Tuesday!  I have a busy day planned.  The "to-do" list is made...now to execute it!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!  See you tomorrow!

Hugs~
Cindy

What a wonderful weekend!

Hey everyone~

I had an amazing time with my girlfriends at Stamp New England this weekend!  The picture above shows the six of us at dinner.  From left to right is me, Meg, Avril, Kylah, Kirsten, and Ann.  We ate at a rustic little Italian restaurant called Bella Luna, at the suggestion of Meg who had eaten there before.  Not only was the food deLISH, but we laughed so hard I nearly PIMPED (that's pee'd in my pants for those of you scratching your heads right now...).  I {heart} each one of these wonderful women...couldn't have asked for a more perfect group of friends! :)

I got to meet and spend more time with some of my cyber buddies as well...or PSF's ("pretend stamping friends") as Lauren likes to call them.

Above is a shot of the event organizers and instructors (minus Kim Schofield).  From left to right is Karen Motz, Lauren Meader, Julie Masse, me, and Joanne Basile.  What an awesome group of ladies they are!  I know that Julie, Joanne, and Kim put a LOT of time into the behind-the-scenes of making this event such a huge success!  THANK YOU SO MUCH, ladies!  You pulled it off FABULOUSLY!!!!!!

That's me with my fabulous friend, Jodi Collins (aka Kharmagirl).  She is completely adorable and a HOOT!  I had so much fun with her, as well as her friend, Ann Kranitz.  I am soooo glad they made the trek to NH for this weekend.  What a thrill and a privilege to get to hang with them!  Oh, and Jodi....I win the double-chin contest in this photo! haha

Here's one with just Lauren and I.  She is super-sweet, and incredibly talented (as you all well know!).  Lauren had a terrible gall bladder attack just before the trip; so we were very fortunate that she was able to make it!  We made the CUTEST little box in her class, which I will share with you on another day....along with all of the other awesome projects.

Those are all the pictures I have.  Several of the other girls have have promised to share their photos with me; so if there's anything else that I think you might be interested in, I will be happy to share it with you.  I am sure you can get your fill of photos from the retreat just by clicking on all of those blog links up there in my post!  If you haven't already, you will surely discover some fabulous blogs as well. :)

Now on to some stamping samples!

The above photos are of the card set I had the ladies make in my class.  The top two photos are the cards, and the bottom photo is the clear box they decorated to put the cards in.  The images are from Whipper Snapper and drawn by the fabulous Anna Wight.  I love, love, LOVE the flowers in the Blossoms and Butterflies stamp set, as well as the sentiments in the Friendly Expressions set.  The awesome clear boxes are from Gina K Designs.  I have a couple of other projects to share with you using those clear boxes...later this week.

Here's the full recipe:

Stamps:  Blossoms and Butterflies, Friendly Expressions from Whipper Snapper Designs

Papers:  Pure Luxury White Card Stock, Pink Pirouette Textured, Tangerine Tango Textured, Watercolor Paper, Mimosa Patterned Papers from SEI

Inks:  Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Kiwi Kiss, Soft Sky, Black Staz-On, Copic Markers (RV00 &/or YR09)

Accessories:  White Organza Ribbon, White Brads from Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts, Fleur de Lis Border Punch from EK Success, H2O Water Brush, Gold Glimmer Shimmerz, Petite Oval Nestabilities, Pretties Kit from SU (large & medium flowers and white large flat-backed pearl), Medium Clear Box from Gina K Designs, Medium White Envelopes from SU, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

You'll notice that the smaller fabric flower and the organza ribbon have been dyed Tangerine.  Those were both dyed with the YR09 Copic Sketch Marker...easy and fabulous!  I also could have dyed the ribbon on my pink card using the RV00 Copic Sketch Marker, which is a perfect match to Pink Pirouette.  Copic markers are the perfect way to dye ribbons, fabric flowers, buttons...you name it...just another reason why we all need those markers!

Before I go, I want to personally thank each of the companies who sponsored Stamp New England!  There were MANY generous donors, and we are sooo grateful!  The girls who attended the event all said it felt like they were on Oprah's "My Favorite Things" show.  You can check out the list of sponsors on the Stamp NE blog.  I was the lucky recipient of some yummy Unity stamps, which I can't wait to get inky this week!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!!!

Have a super-fabulous Monday, everyone!

See you tomorrow!

Hugs~
C

 

Cupcakes and CHA

Happy Thursday, folks!

Here's another sample I made for SU's Leadership displays.  I love this stamp set, and the sweet Delicate Dots designer papers seemed to work just perfecty with it.  I used the SAB set, Yummy, for the words...just a fun, easy card. :)

Here are some more photos from CHA:

Check out these new punches from EK Success!  They are flat-ish (is that a word) and can stack on top of each other.  Don't they look like staplers?!  Pretty cool, huh?

Here is a close-up of one of the punches:

Here's the 7gypsies booth...yummmm:

Here's the Prima booth.  It was so neat to see how everyone decorated their booths.

Here I am with the girls from Hanna Stamps, Kristi Ferro (owner) and Vicki Garrett (dt coordinator).  They are so sweet, and so much fun!

Here I am with the Unity girls.  They are all so little and adorable, and just as sweet as can be!

Here I am with Joy Kennedy and Kimberly from Our Craft Lounge.  Yesterday, I showed you a picture of Cambria; so today I thought I'd show you the other two "big cheeses" from OCL.  I ADORE these girls AND their product!  Wait until you see the YUMMMMMMY new stuff they are coming out with!

Here is Jeanne Streiff demonstrating at the Copic booth.  It was really fun to watch her in action!

Okay, that's all from me for now.  Today, I'm flying home...to arrive in the driveway at about midnight.  Back to the cold and snow and reality; but it sure has been a fun week in sunny CA! :)

See y'all tomorrow!

Hugs~
C

New SU Colored Rub-Ons and CHA!

Hey everyone~

First, let me tell ya about that card up there.  It was made with Stampin' Up's brand-new Bright Delights rub-ons.  I love that they have colored rub-ons now...so cute!  I colored the flower brads in with Crystal Effects and some Old Olive re-inker.

Here's the full supply list:

Stamps:  Congrats (SAB)

Papers:  Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series Papers

Inks:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive Re-Inker, Brown Sharpie (center of flower brads)

Accessories:  Flower Designer Brads, Large Oval Punch, Sponge Dauber, Bright Delights Rub-Ons, Dimensionals

Now...about my adventures at CHA...

I am having such a FABULOUS time!  I have met so many wonderful SCS friends, and drooled over some seriously yummmmmy new products!

I did not get many pictures today that are worth sharing; but I do have a few for you.

This one's Jenn Balcer drooling over some seriously gorgeous designer paper at the Graphic 45 booth.  You just had to touch this paper to be sure it wasn't actually fabric...absolutely fantastic stuff!

Here's the Doodlebug booth.  How flippin' cute is this?!  It was set up like an old-fashioned ice cream shop.

Here's one of the window boxes at the front of the Doodlebug booth.  It had faux cupcakes and ice cream cones in it...just darling!

Here's a great shot of the whole group from the Dirty Dozen and Alumni dinner:

 

So, I am having a great time, and scoping out lots of great new products.  There is so much more to see.  You just can't even imagine how big this thing is!!!

Have a lovely Monday, everyone!

I'll be back tomorrow with another update!

Hugs~
C

Ann's Envelope Demo

My fabulous friend Ann Walker did a very cool demo at Spring Fling on different ways to use envelopes.

The photo at left shows an oldie-but-goodie that is a real workshop wow.  You seal the envelope, cut off the top, stamp & embellish as desired, & crimp the bottom.  That's it!  Crimping the bottom allows it to fit inside the top...so ingenious, isn't it?!

I love this idea!  It's a #10 envelope folded to make a tri-fold card!  How cool is that?

This one is my fave!  It's just a clear envelope folded in half to make a little purse!  She used a Velcro dot for the closure.  What a fabulous idea! :)

Ann had a whole bunch more ideas, which I will most likely show you someday...:))  Alas, that is all for today!  Have a fantastic weekend everyone!  ~C

DIVA Night!

Well, another DIVA Night has come & gone...sigh.  You see, the girls in my downline think I do this event for them...but the truth is, I get every bit as much enjoyment out of it as they do...maybe even more! :)

I forgot to take a picture of everyone at the table...again....so sorry.  I'll try to remember to do that next time.

The picture at left shows the favors I made for all of them...just simple Dove chocolate bars wrapped in some of my favorite designer papers & tied with a white taffeta riboon...oh, & each one bears a special "diva" tag as well.  It took me very little time to whip these up, and I thought they were so pretty when they were all done.

Okay, okay....you wanna see what the projects were???  Well, I don't want to overload you all in one day...haha....so I'm gonna show you one today....one tomorrow...and the last one on Friday...  What a brat, huh?! :)

This one is incredibly simple...just a 12" x 4" piece of designer paper folded matchbook style with a ribbon woven through to hold it all together....so EASY!  This was modeled after one of the projects we did on the cruise, and is a terrific way to use up all that designer paper you're all hoarding out there...you know who you are! :)

Here's a view of the inside...easy, huh?!  I had a TON of the apple papers left over from the Summer Picnic designer paper pack because we used almost all of the other patterns on Spring Fling projects.  It worked out quite nicely I think! :)

I hope you've enjoyed todays peek!

Have a fabulous day!
~Cindy

Fun in Bermuda

One of the things we did when we were in Bermuda in 2002 was ride scooters all over the island with our friends Keith & Karen and Jim & Tina.  We loved it so much that we made sure to do it again this time around.  Unfortunately Keith was super sick the morning we were supposed to all ride; so we had to go without them. :( 

It was still a lot of fun though!  Here are a few photos of our adventure....don't we look COOL?! :)))

   Here's Tina & her Jim.  She's trying to look tough in this photo...did it work?  haha  Oh, and NO Tina did not drive...this was just for the photo op.  In fact, for some odd reason the guys wouldn't even let us get in the front unless they turned the bikes off & took out the keys....WHATEVER!  You'd think we crashed or something...

Oh wait, that's a whole other story!  We did actually get to drive for a couple of minutes...in a back alley where no one could see us or be injured...

This first photo should give you a pretty good idea of what an excellent driver I am.  See?  I can even do it with my EYES CLOSED!!  Amazing!

and here's how Tina drives...with her legs straight out laughing hysterically all the way....  She lost her shoe along the way, and some lady picked it up & handed it to me & said, "She's having an awful lot of fun up there!"  Only Tina can have an awful lot of fun all by herself....hahaha

This final shot is me right before I hit the wall....no, seriously, I hit that stone wall!  I scraped my leg along the wall for a good while before I could get my hand to stop pushing on the gas...  AND YES, I was braking with the other hand; but apparently when you are hitting the brakes & the gas at the same time, gas wins!  Honestly, though, it really explains why guys have no trouble driving them....they can only DO ONE THING AT A TIME! :)  I did bring home a souvenir from that day in the form of ripped pants, a couple of leg bruises & a scraped up knee.  I'm sooooo proud of me!