I'm pleased to announce that we're bringing Sherry Mendoza to Tucson, Az on December 1-2, 2012 at The Little House.
Please go to this post for further information regarding the class workshops.
Sherry Mendoza Workshop
Sherry is an Educator for Prima Marketing Inc. You can find out more about her by going to her blog .
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Blues Cigar Box
Ok... I can finally post this since the recipient received it today!
I've been working on this for a little while and finally got a chance to finish this at my recent scrapbook retreat. I made it for a very good friend of mine and have been teasing her about making one in Green ... a color that is not a favorite for her. Since her Soro colors are Blue and White, this was as close as I could get to those colors using papers that I thought were oh so pretty. I hope she treasures this as much as I enjoyed creating it. We had a side joke about my altering a cigar box for her using the color green (which she isn't too keen on). I managed to add a little green surpise in the box. I hope she got the significance.
First off, I want to say thank you to my dear friend Karen Atkinson who had her SO (Robert) get me a boatload of cigar boxes for me to alter. So thank you for helping me keep my creativity going.
While shopping at Hobby Lobby, I found this gorgeous paper stack and knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I mod podged the paper to the box and added some Tim Holtz feet to make it stand up. I used some lace to cover the bottom of it. Bling and flowers on the outside added just the right touch that I wanted. I didn't want to distract too much from the pattern paper, so I decided that enough was enough.
On the inside , I used some of the plain blue cardstock that came from the stack. I could not find any blue cardstock to match this paper like I wanted to. I added some string rhinestones and some Recollections flourishes.
The mini, ah....the mini. I wanted it to be unique and able to add lots of pictures and journaling. I measured the inside so that the mini would sit perfectly inside of the box.
So I chose to do a mini in which the pages alternated from left to right.
The cigar box also had a piece of wood inside, so I altered it by painting it blue on the edges and the bottom and adding the patterned paper to the top. I added the lace under it so you can pull the entire piece out along with the mini at one time.
The closure from the mini is made with a button I picked up at Joann's and secured with ribbon. I embellished the top with some Recollections rhinestones.
I've been working on this for a little while and finally got a chance to finish this at my recent scrapbook retreat. I made it for a very good friend of mine and have been teasing her about making one in Green ... a color that is not a favorite for her. Since her Soro colors are Blue and White, this was as close as I could get to those colors using papers that I thought were oh so pretty. I hope she treasures this as much as I enjoyed creating it. We had a side joke about my altering a cigar box for her using the color green (which she isn't too keen on). I managed to add a little green surpise in the box. I hope she got the significance.
First off, I want to say thank you to my dear friend Karen Atkinson who had her SO (Robert) get me a boatload of cigar boxes for me to alter. So thank you for helping me keep my creativity going.
While shopping at Hobby Lobby, I found this gorgeous paper stack and knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I mod podged the paper to the box and added some Tim Holtz feet to make it stand up. I used some lace to cover the bottom of it. Bling and flowers on the outside added just the right touch that I wanted. I didn't want to distract too much from the pattern paper, so I decided that enough was enough.
On the inside , I used some of the plain blue cardstock that came from the stack. I could not find any blue cardstock to match this paper like I wanted to. I added some string rhinestones and some Recollections flourishes.
The mini, ah....the mini. I wanted it to be unique and able to add lots of pictures and journaling. I measured the inside so that the mini would sit perfectly inside of the box.
This is the mini all wrapped up.
Here are a few photos of the mini and the tags that were created to go inside of the album.
Recipe:
Cigar Box
My Minds Eye Paper Stack
Tim Holtz Feet
Chipboard
Recollections Flowers
Recollections Flourishes/bling
Ribbon from my stash
Button closure from Joanns
White Coredinations cardstock
Saturday, July 21, 2012
A Scrapbook Retreat
Today, July 20th, marks my 27th birthday (x2) and to celebrate it, I was looking for a local scrapbook retreat to attend. I had found one, but it did not include hotel accomodations, so I decided not to do that one. This is a long story, so get your chips, dip and drink of choice.
Then, I found out about another group that was having one and it was the weekend before my birthday. Boy, was I excited. The price was right, but there was one draw back... it started on a Thursday and I was going to have to take some additional time off and rearrange my work schedule. Piece of cake... everything worked out and I was granted the 2 days off of work.
I invited some friends to go along with me, but they couldn't make it happen. I then asked some other scrapbookers if they were interested since they'd never attended one before and got excited when they agreed. I contacted the organizer and she sent me the information. I was told that for 4 in a room, the price was one thing. But if you only wanted 2 in a room, then it was an additional $20/day. We decided on doing 2 in a room. I stopped past her store and paid my deposit. Then the fun began. I started getting emails outlining the event, but things kept changing. A week before the event, an email went out to most requesting information such as your request for lunch. The email was a bit discombobulated to say the least, and I thought I read it right and responded to it. The next day I get a response of "the email clearly stated" ... hmmmm, ok. I see how business is done. I'll deal with it.
So, the event is to start at noon on July 12 and the day before, an email is sent to all with " I also wanted to emphasize that lunch on Thursday will be served from noon to 1pm in the Copper Canyon room. Lunch will be over at 1pm. Please understand that we cannot extend lunch beyond 1pm. Thanks for your understanding." I'm thinking, what kind of ish is that. Ok... we'll deal with it. Alas, what was I in store for.
The scrapbook retreat day arrives. I get there just about noon to check in and the drama... I mean ... fun begins. SMH!
I was soon to find out that one of the ladies that was supposed to attend, had not paid her money in full, nor had she returned any calls to the organizers or responded in any way to them. So instead of there being 4 of us, there were 3 of us. The person that she was sharing a room with was left hanging and that person was not informed prior to the retreat date that there was an issue. When she arrived at the event, she was told that they were unable to get in contact with "M" and they needed to discuss the hotel room with her. Since we arrived prior to check-in, it was stated when the rooms were ready, the keys would then be passed out.
We were the first table at the door. A couple on the far side of the room leave out with their bags and state they are going to their room, they just received their keys. I look at my soon to be roommate and we're wondering why we were bypassed given they had to pass by us to get to the others. All of the others receive the keys to their rooms and we are finally approached. "G" and I are given our keys. "S" is told "we need to speak to you about your room" and is pulled away from us. And it continues to go downhill from there. "G" had left to get her bag from the car and take it to the room. I continued to work. "S" leaves, comes back and starts packing her belongings. "G" comes back and says what are you doing.. to "S". She says, I'm leaving. Because "M" was a no-show, they want "S" to pay additional fees for the hotel room. She breaks out in tears and thats when I got involved.
I leave the room to find the organizer, and confront her in the hallway outside of the room. I ask to speak to her privately and this other person stands there. I said I'd like to speak to you alone, and the other person says "we're a team".... to which I respond "Oh, I didn't know because I've only dealt with her". I then say "S" is in tears and packing her belongings because you're not giving her a key to the room and requesting more money from her. She's paid the stated fees and she should be allowed to attend this crop as paid for. They then tell me that "M" has not responded to their emails/calls and in order for "S" to stay, she must pay the additional money. I said I don't think that is right seeing that she is only responsible for herself and not another cropper that didn't show up. I then ask, if she leaves are you refunding her money... to which they responded "No, the money has already been spent". More was stated and they agreed to go speak to her.
Into the crop room we go. "S" is still packing her belongings and the conversation continues. She was asked what can we do to make this right... to which she responds "nothing". After further conversation, "G" and I agreed to share the room with "S" so that she didn't have to leave. I then stated if we do that, then you owe us money for having 3 in the room vs 2. They at first said no, and I said yes... if we were charged an additional $20 each per night for 2 in a room, then it should be less for 3 in a room ... so it should be @$30 that all of us should be refunded. The organizer says Oh no, its not that much... I have the calculations over there and walks to get the figures. She returns and says it will be a refund of $26.75 each, but I can't pay you until next week because I don't have my checkbook. "G" jokingly states, but I want my money now. (you can sing kumbaya at this point). Things are worked out, hugs all around .. sort of. "S" makes a note to herself in her phone of the amount.
Now, here is where I have issue. If you are organizing an event and you have a deadline of when the final payment is due and someone doesn't pay it, they don't respond to your phone calls or emails and they are rooming with another person, in my opinion, the organizer should have contacted the other person to let them know there is an issue and these are the options. They did not do this , and this is where I find fault with the entire fiasco that shouldn't have been.
The point that I attempted to bring to them is this. You're having an event. I'm a single person that wants to attend. You tell me the cost and I say ok. I send you the money and pay it in full. If I didn't have anyone to attend the event with, would you have placed me in a room with others? Would you have told me that I would have to find my own roommates for the event? Would you have given me a price for a single person in a room? My thinking is this... you gave me the cost for the event and you should honor it and if you can't then you need to reimburse me my money.
Well, we decided to make the best of it.
Now, on to the retreat events. We were given 3 tickets for prizes, one of which is the grand prize of $100. You put one ticket into 3 different baskets. Both "G" and I's numbers were called, but "S" numbers were never called .... coincidence... you decide..... but she was allowed to pick out 2 prizes at the end.
Lunch ... the lunch choice that we were asked to send to them for Friday....... was lost by Subway. About 1130, the organizer comes running in the room and states to each table, they lost our order. Please write down what you ordered so we can resubmit it right now. I'm thinking, didn't you keep a copy of what we requested so that you could make sure we all got our correct orders when it was delivered. Nonetheless, we wrote down our selections so we could eat.
Dinner .. hmmm... dinner. Ok... it was tasty, but ... lol.... if you wanted something to drink with your dinner, you had to bring it into the restaurant with you. We were reminded of this as we headed out the door to the restaurant. Is there something wrong with that picture? Could you not have had the hotel to put out pictures of water, or iced tea at the tables???
On the table were goodie bags....... uhhhhh, if you can call them that.
I received my refund on Thursday as well as "G".... although I probably should have received mine before "G" did given the phone calls and email exchange that she had with the organizer.
Then, I found out about another group that was having one and it was the weekend before my birthday. Boy, was I excited. The price was right, but there was one draw back... it started on a Thursday and I was going to have to take some additional time off and rearrange my work schedule. Piece of cake... everything worked out and I was granted the 2 days off of work.
I invited some friends to go along with me, but they couldn't make it happen. I then asked some other scrapbookers if they were interested since they'd never attended one before and got excited when they agreed. I contacted the organizer and she sent me the information. I was told that for 4 in a room, the price was one thing. But if you only wanted 2 in a room, then it was an additional $20/day. We decided on doing 2 in a room. I stopped past her store and paid my deposit. Then the fun began. I started getting emails outlining the event, but things kept changing. A week before the event, an email went out to most requesting information such as your request for lunch. The email was a bit discombobulated to say the least, and I thought I read it right and responded to it. The next day I get a response of "the email clearly stated" ... hmmmm, ok. I see how business is done. I'll deal with it.
So, the event is to start at noon on July 12 and the day before, an email is sent to all with " I also wanted to emphasize that lunch on Thursday will be served from noon to 1pm in the Copper Canyon room. Lunch will be over at 1pm. Please understand that we cannot extend lunch beyond 1pm. Thanks for your understanding." I'm thinking, what kind of ish is that. Ok... we'll deal with it. Alas, what was I in store for.
The scrapbook retreat day arrives. I get there just about noon to check in and the drama... I mean ... fun begins. SMH!
I was soon to find out that one of the ladies that was supposed to attend, had not paid her money in full, nor had she returned any calls to the organizers or responded in any way to them. So instead of there being 4 of us, there were 3 of us. The person that she was sharing a room with was left hanging and that person was not informed prior to the retreat date that there was an issue. When she arrived at the event, she was told that they were unable to get in contact with "M" and they needed to discuss the hotel room with her. Since we arrived prior to check-in, it was stated when the rooms were ready, the keys would then be passed out.
We were the first table at the door. A couple on the far side of the room leave out with their bags and state they are going to their room, they just received their keys. I look at my soon to be roommate and we're wondering why we were bypassed given they had to pass by us to get to the others. All of the others receive the keys to their rooms and we are finally approached. "G" and I are given our keys. "S" is told "we need to speak to you about your room" and is pulled away from us. And it continues to go downhill from there. "G" had left to get her bag from the car and take it to the room. I continued to work. "S" leaves, comes back and starts packing her belongings. "G" comes back and says what are you doing.. to "S". She says, I'm leaving. Because "M" was a no-show, they want "S" to pay additional fees for the hotel room. She breaks out in tears and thats when I got involved.
I leave the room to find the organizer, and confront her in the hallway outside of the room. I ask to speak to her privately and this other person stands there. I said I'd like to speak to you alone, and the other person says "we're a team".... to which I respond "Oh, I didn't know because I've only dealt with her". I then say "S" is in tears and packing her belongings because you're not giving her a key to the room and requesting more money from her. She's paid the stated fees and she should be allowed to attend this crop as paid for. They then tell me that "M" has not responded to their emails/calls and in order for "S" to stay, she must pay the additional money. I said I don't think that is right seeing that she is only responsible for herself and not another cropper that didn't show up. I then ask, if she leaves are you refunding her money... to which they responded "No, the money has already been spent". More was stated and they agreed to go speak to her.
Into the crop room we go. "S" is still packing her belongings and the conversation continues. She was asked what can we do to make this right... to which she responds "nothing". After further conversation, "G" and I agreed to share the room with "S" so that she didn't have to leave. I then stated if we do that, then you owe us money for having 3 in the room vs 2. They at first said no, and I said yes... if we were charged an additional $20 each per night for 2 in a room, then it should be less for 3 in a room ... so it should be @$30 that all of us should be refunded. The organizer says Oh no, its not that much... I have the calculations over there and walks to get the figures. She returns and says it will be a refund of $26.75 each, but I can't pay you until next week because I don't have my checkbook. "G" jokingly states, but I want my money now. (you can sing kumbaya at this point). Things are worked out, hugs all around .. sort of. "S" makes a note to herself in her phone of the amount.
Now, here is where I have issue. If you are organizing an event and you have a deadline of when the final payment is due and someone doesn't pay it, they don't respond to your phone calls or emails and they are rooming with another person, in my opinion, the organizer should have contacted the other person to let them know there is an issue and these are the options. They did not do this , and this is where I find fault with the entire fiasco that shouldn't have been.
The point that I attempted to bring to them is this. You're having an event. I'm a single person that wants to attend. You tell me the cost and I say ok. I send you the money and pay it in full. If I didn't have anyone to attend the event with, would you have placed me in a room with others? Would you have told me that I would have to find my own roommates for the event? Would you have given me a price for a single person in a room? My thinking is this... you gave me the cost for the event and you should honor it and if you can't then you need to reimburse me my money.
Well, we decided to make the best of it.
Now, on to the retreat events. We were given 3 tickets for prizes, one of which is the grand prize of $100. You put one ticket into 3 different baskets. Both "G" and I's numbers were called, but "S" numbers were never called .... coincidence... you decide..... but she was allowed to pick out 2 prizes at the end.
Lunch ... the lunch choice that we were asked to send to them for Friday....... was lost by Subway. About 1130, the organizer comes running in the room and states to each table, they lost our order. Please write down what you ordered so we can resubmit it right now. I'm thinking, didn't you keep a copy of what we requested so that you could make sure we all got our correct orders when it was delivered. Nonetheless, we wrote down our selections so we could eat.
Dinner .. hmmm... dinner. Ok... it was tasty, but ... lol.... if you wanted something to drink with your dinner, you had to bring it into the restaurant with you. We were reminded of this as we headed out the door to the restaurant. Is there something wrong with that picture? Could you not have had the hotel to put out pictures of water, or iced tea at the tables???
On the table were goodie bags....... uhhhhh, if you can call them that.
What does AVON, Professional photography advertisement and
Pampered Chef have to do with scrapbooking??
These are the only items in there that were scrapbook related, along with 4 sheets of alphabet stickers that I forgot to pull out. LOL! I dunno why I pulled out the nail file.
There were supposed to be 5 challenges, but one was pulled because there were only 2 of us submitting something for that challenge. I won 2 of the 4 challenges. "G" took my picture showing what I created during those 2+ days.
Don't say nothing about my hair. LOL! It was hot, and musty in the room. A really bad moldy smell that no one seems to know where it came from.
On the final day, with all of the issues that were occuring at the hotel, we were allowed to stay to 9 pm on Saturday night. At dinner , the grand prize drawing was being selected. Just prior to this happening, I had stated that I was winning it because it was my birthday week and I deserved to win it. Well... guess what??
What a way to end a drama filled weekend retreat!!
On Wednesday, July 18, we had not received our refunds that were due to us. "G" calls the organizer to find out if it had been sent. She was informed that she would only be receiving $6 back because the hotel was charging them $20 for getting chalk on the 'white' tablecloth that were put on the tables. Yes, I said "WHITE" tableclothes at a scrapbooking event. She calls the hotel to find out if this was true to which she was informed no, it was not. She then calls the organizer back and states you have lied to me. I called the hotel and they stated they were not charging for the table cloth. To be fair, other conversation and hang ups occured. Long story short, "G" had called me with the scoop about the refund and I stated that I would called the organizer and let her know that I would just stop by to pick mine up. In one of her conversations with this person, she was informed that she had already sent my check to me. An email was sent to the organizer to state that if she didn't receive all of her money, she would be filing a small claims suit against her. "G" received an email response with other verbiage and this to state that "Any invitations for monthly and annual events are withdrawn effective August
2012."
I received my refund on Thursday as well as "G".... although I probably should have received mine before "G" did given the phone calls and email exchange that she had with the organizer.
Needless to say, I will not attend another event sponsored by this group. It was not worth it by no means given the way that we were treated.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
An All Occasion Mini
I attended a scrapbooking retreat this past week and got a few things completed that I wanted to get done. Out of the 4 projects that I wanted to do, 2 of them were completed and one of them was half-way completed. I even did a last minute card that was entered into one of the competitions.
Of the projects that I wanted to get done, was the All Occasion Mini that was done from a tutorial by Kathy Orta . I used the Bella Amoire DCWV stack and I think it came out quite well. Now to decide if I will keep this for myself or gift it. I don't show the tags that were created for this mini, but in total, there are potentially 45 places for pictures and/or journaling. I added a pocket on the inside and back covers, and included 6 small tags for journaling and pictures.
Of the projects that I wanted to get done, was the All Occasion Mini that was done from a tutorial by Kathy Orta . I used the Bella Amoire DCWV stack and I think it came out quite well. Now to decide if I will keep this for myself or gift it. I don't show the tags that were created for this mini, but in total, there are potentially 45 places for pictures and/or journaling. I added a pocket on the inside and back covers, and included 6 small tags for journaling and pictures.
For the cover, I used some Recollections Flowers and bling. The larger flower was Prima. The Ribbon is from my stash which I purchase from a local fabric store called "SAS". I love it.
Mini Standing Open
1st Page
2nd Page
3rd Page
4th Page
5th page
6th Page
7th Page
Recipe:
All Occasion Tutorial (Kathy Orta)
DCWV Bella Armoire Stack
Coredinations Black Cardstock
Recollection Bling/Flowers
Prima Flowers
Ribbon/Lace from Stash
TH Old Paper Distress Ink
Friday, June 22, 2012
A Vintage Telephone
I'm not even ceasing to amaze myself. LOL! I got to do something with my spare time. It keeps me out of trouble.
This next project was done and inspired by the tutorial from Laura Dennison of The Paper Trail. She created a Vintage Telephone for CHA 2012 and when I saw she had posted a tutorial, it was on my to-do list. I love it. It now sits on my desk at work for me to look at.
This next project was done and inspired by the tutorial from Laura Dennison of The Paper Trail. She created a Vintage Telephone for CHA 2012 and when I saw she had posted a tutorial, it was on my to-do list. I love it. It now sits on my desk at work for me to look at.
Isn't this purty... as my Tennesse friend would say.
A Sideview
The Album
Side view of the mini album
Mini Album Open
Mini album page inserts
Recipe:
Vintage Telephone Tutorial : The Paper Trail
PVC Pipe
Telephone cord
G45 Metal Door Plate and Knob
G45 Metal Tags
G45 Metal Brads
Tim Holtz Ideaology Type charms
Metal Flower
Recollections Stack - Union Square
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A Vintage Gas Pump
I have really been in a mini album, altered book, altered art project mode for a while. I've been having lots of fun creating all sorts of nice art to display at work and in my craft room. My latest project is Kathy Orta's Vintage Gas Pump.
I loved it when she debuted it for CHA 2012 and couldn't wait to make it. So when the time came, I set out to make sure that I could get this done.
Work does get in the way , lol, but it does allow me to be able to afford the little necessities that I need to be creative.
So without further ado, here is my version of the Vintage Gas pump. Yes, I know the dial on top is crooked... but I think it adds to the charm of it. Haha... who am I kidding. But its mine and I love every little oops about it.
I loved it when she debuted it for CHA 2012 and couldn't wait to make it. So when the time came, I set out to make sure that I could get this done.
Work does get in the way , lol, but it does allow me to be able to afford the little necessities that I need to be creative.
So without further ado, here is my version of the Vintage Gas pump. Yes, I know the dial on top is crooked... but I think it adds to the charm of it. Haha... who am I kidding. But its mine and I love every little oops about it.
Vintage Gas Pump Front
Back side with Drawer out and Matchbooks
Drawer side
Gas Pumps
Matchbooks closed
Photo/journaling tags
Recipe:
All by Tim Holtz:
Lost and Found Stack
Destination Stack
Brads
Ball Chain
Faucet Knobs
Pocket Watch
Spinners
Clock face
Tissue Tape
Label Pulls
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Glossy Accents
Chipboard
Kraft Paper
Wire pins (Beadlanding)
Black hose (leather cording)
Eyelets
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Mariah's Graduation 2012
When I moved back to Tucson permanently in January1998, my next door neighbors , John and Maria, were the best. They had 2 little girls, Jade and Mariah. They were 3 and 4 at the time. The cutest round cheeks you just love to pinch. On Friday nights, Maria would knock on my door with a pitcher of Margaritas stating "Its Margarita Fridays, come on over". And the friendship began. They took me in as one of the family... and so the story began.
On Wednesday, Mariah, the youngest , graduated from Empire High School with High Honors and a member of the National Honor Society. You would think she was my child. LOL! But I am oh so proud of her.
I have created a Mini Graduation album for her memories using the Kathy Orta Graduation Mini tutorial. I think it has turned out really nice. The graduation party is today and here is the card that I created for her.
On Wednesday, Mariah, the youngest , graduated from Empire High School with High Honors and a member of the National Honor Society. You would think she was my child. LOL! But I am oh so proud of her.
I have created a Mini Graduation album for her memories using the Kathy Orta Graduation Mini tutorial. I think it has turned out really nice. The graduation party is today and here is the card that I created for her.
Recipe:
Sassy Studio Image
Recollections Cardstock (Black and Red)
Diploma and Cap (Jolee's)
Red Ribbon (from my stash)
Patterned Paper - DCWV High School Stack
Copic Coloring
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