I've got a long list of random stuff today: 1. Epson Artisan 800 A day or two ago, I got an e-mail from Epson, asking if I wanted to try out their new Epson Artisan all-in-one. That's like a no brainer, right? Well, a big box showed up at my door today and inside was this bad boy... It faxes, it copies, it prints (letter and two sizes of photos), it duplexes, the ink is waterproof...and on and on. I haven't done much more than set it up, but I plan on writing a long review after playing with it... Read more →

I'm really excited about a class that I'm going to be teaching January-April 2009 at The City Quilter here in New York City. It's called "The Journal Quilt Project," after the world-wide phenomenon by the same name. Essentially, a journal quilt is a small 8.5x11 quilts that you create every week or every month based on events, emotions, ideas, and moments from your daily life. The perfect mix of scrapbooking and quilting for me! I've made a few journal quilts over the last year, but I wanted to create something for The City Quilter newsletter advertising the class that would... Read more →

In case you didn't know, the fabulous Christine Geisler, aka Miss Crow, loves Halloween. She's giving away lots of digital freebies on her blog. And they are glittery and wonderful creations! For October, I used her Geist kit: for these two layouts: And then Miss Crow did two collaborative kits with Tangie Baxter, Happy Little Fright: and Merry Little Night: And I've got three layouts to share, using those kits: Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

This is a review I wrote for Craft Critique. It appeared on that website a few weeks ago. I first became acquainted with Avalon Fix about a year ago when I took a class with Jan Beaney. Jan is a fiber artist from the U.K. and you should check out her wonderfully textural embroidery if you get a chance. Avalon Fix is a water-soluble stabilizer. In case you don’t know what stabilizers are, here’s a great article from Threads Magazine. Essentially, a water-soluble stabilizer allows you to stitch into it like fabric and then it disappears or melts away in... Read more →

This is a review that I wrote for Craft Critique. It appeared on that blog last month. I first stuck my toe in the digital waters about two years ago. I was largely resistant to digital scrapbooking at that time, because I love the touch and feel of paper pages way too much to ever give them up! But, Photoshop Elements had been touted to me as the greatest tool a digital photographer can have. I had become frustrated with iphoto’s range of choices and was looking for a more advanced way to edit my photos. So, I started fooling... Read more →

I spent the weekend at The City Quilter, my local quilt shop. Friday night I was a student in "Mixed Media Play Date," taught by a woman after my own heart, Teresa Vega. Teresa is an art quilter who loves supplies and playing with the possibilities. We played with metal - first by doing some foiling on fabric and then by stitching through very thin craft metal sheets. Here's a quick look at my metal stitching: I cut a piece of metal into a spiral and then stitched it down. And then I played catch up, because I had missed... Read more →

I am a bad scrapbooker. Seriously. They should drum me out of the corps. I spent all day on the set of Scrapbook Memories and I didn’t take almost any photos! I think I was trying to be “professional” and I figured it would be geeky to be snapping away and asking people to pose for photos with me. Although, on second thought, who would be more understanding than Scrapbook Memories?! Not to mention the fact that these were some of the nicest, most encouraging folks! Regardless, I got some photos of the set up, but almost none with human... Read more →

Wow. The Label Tulip reveal was Wednesday night and they're already sold out completely! This kit went super fast. I like to think it was the amazing work by the design team, but it's probably because the kits are way cool! Here's the main kit: And here's my work with the kit: Details and Tips: Adhere your transparency by pushing it into the wet paint. When the paint dries, your transparency will be permanently adhered to your layout! If you don't have the right letter or number stickers, make your own! I like to paint or write my title and... Read more →

I'm in Cleveland. I'm here to shoot seven segments for Scrapbook Memories (PBS) on behalf of Sakura. I have spent the past month or so making samples and coming up with projects and typing up instructions and experimenting with Sakura's outstanding line of products. It has been really fun, but really time consuming too (I apologize to everyone whose e-mails didn't get returned)! And now it's time to let it go out into the universe.... I'm excited. I'm nervous. I have my seven outfits with coordinating jewelry. (I even wrote down the combinations in my notebook, so I'd remember "the... Read more →

The new Label Tulip kit will be revealed tomorrow (Wednesday, October 15). So in the meantime, here are some drool worthy sneak peeks of my layouts using the kit... I have to admit that this kit is not in my usual color way, so I felt a little uncomfortable at first. But, after spending a few days playing with it, I absolutely fell in love with the autumnal feeling. If you have a chance, check out the Label Tulip blog. There's a Halloween card tutorial and a really fun one on using the Jenni Bowlin crepe paper (in this month's... Read more →