Thoughts on Creativation 2020

Let me start by saying that I am over the moon about having been able to attend CREATIVATION 2020. I first became aware of it by following Melody Lane and Crafts by Two. They drove to Creativation together and made it sound so exciting. I watched people videotaping Tim Holtz and hoped that someday I would get to do the same.
Well, my time finally came, and I attended this year. My daughter accompanied me so that I wouldn't be alone in my journey even though she could not attend herself.
I signed up for classes, but not too many as I hadn't realized that the show floor didn't open for the first three days of the convention. In hindsight, I could have made better use of my time by taking more classes.
I did follow the advice to get and give business cards and was amazed at how many I gave and collected.
So on the positive side, I learned a lot and met so many wonderful people. And even snagged some product on the last day. I got to be one of the people who got to video Tim Holtz , got personal advice on cardstock from Gina K, and a selfie with Donna Dewberry.
On the negative side, Melody Lane was not in attendance this year and there was no Cricut presence. People that I met who had been to Creativation in the past all said that it was much smaller and less well attended than in years past.
So, while I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend and experience the wonderful city of Phoenix, I will probably not attend again.

Reflections on New Years Eve

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!
I have been spending the morning refecting on 2019 and planning for 2020.
Despite my two hospitalizations, I have been well pleased with the past year. I enjoyed card making and teaching as well as teaching Cricut classes at JoAnn's and Micheals. And, just as I was hoping to expand my teaching capacity, I met someone who offered me a perfect teaching venue. I was able to join Creativation and am currently making arrangements to attend the convention in Arizona.
So, all in all, 2019 has been a very good year.
As is the norm, I am thinking about my New Year's resolutions and what I hope to accomplish. My biggest goal is to become confident in my video making and editing skills. I started making videos three years ago, but have not mastered editing. I was excited to join Melody Lane's class on doing live streaming and even tried one. I was so traumatized by that attempt that I was afraid to try again. So my plan and hope is, that this time next year, I will be the proud producer of a weekly Youtube offering.

Here's hoping that all of your New Year's wishes come true.

I Can't Believe I Made the Whole Thing !

Two days ago I posted about my resolution to turn all of my embellishments into cards. Well, I am proud to say that, today, I made 19 cards. Nine 4.25 x 5.5, three 5.5 x 5.5, and seven 5 x 7.

If I have the energy I will start on the notecard size. Otherwise, I will complete that tomorrow.

I kept my vow to complete the layering on the inside of each card except for the stamping, as I want to be able to personalize them when I am ready to use them.

YEAH ME !!!

Review of We R Memory Keepers Foil Pens

I am in love with the We R Memory Keepers foil pens. I must admit I was quite resistant to trying them. Early in my transition from scrapbooking to card making I bought the We R Memory Keepers original foiling pen and found it awkward to use and got inconsistent results. When the foiling machines came out I immediately became enamored and had to have one. I love it when it works well but get frustrated by having to manage the embossing sandwich. In addition, the foil stamps can be expensive, so I had to question why I would need to go back to using a pen. Well, thanks to Tuesday Morning and the half-price deal, I gave in and bought two pens. I watched a youtube on how to connect them to my Cricut and plunged right in. I used my GoPress and Foil gold foil and the results were perfect the first time. I used it again last night with equally great results.

What makes this GREAT is that I don't have to buy more "stuff" because I can use designs that I already have through Cricut Design Space. So, while I have no intention of abandoning my Go Press and Foil machine, the WeRMemory Keepers pens will be the more frequent choice.

New Years Crafting Resolutions

As I spend yet another day cleaning and organizing my craft room I am inspired to make some New Years' resolutions in order to gain control of a very limited area containing far too much STUFF


Although I have made some headway about organizing in the past weeks I keep running into the same problems: Paper scraps from preparing for my monthly card class
                          Embellishments made from Watercolor Wednesday and Kit and Clowder

I actually have a very elegant system for paper handling, thanks to Totally Tiffany, but neglect to use it efficiently as I get so wrapped up in crafting

I  hesitate to make cards out of my premade embellishments for no good reason at all. I think I am under the illusion that I will use them as inspiration pieces. But in the years that I have been crafting, I don't think I have ever actually done that. LOL

So the new deal is: Clean up after each card
                               Make a card out of each successfully completed embellishment

For future consideration: putting together card kits to sell or use as rewards. At this time I have far more cards then I will ever use. Despite being an avid card maker I seldom actually send cards!

I would love to hear your suggestions for clutter control you use in your craft area.

Preparing for CREATIVATION

This will be my first time attending AFCI  and I am so excited. Room reservations have been made. I watched the presentation on preparations for first-time attendees. And so excited at the thought of meeting all the crafters that I have been following for the past several years. I am also hoping to meet crafters from my local area of York, Pennsylvania so that we can pool our resources and perhaps form a local support group that would continue past the conference.
 

New Location For Teaching Cricut

I will be forever grateful to Joann's for giving me the opportunity to teach Cricut in their stores, but the time has come for me to relocate to a site that provides a more flexible schedule and the ability to design my own programs. I was fortunate to be invited to teach Cricut classes at Charmed Again, a new consignment store located in York, PA. The owner has assured me that wifi is readily available and students should have no trouble connecting or staying connected to the internet.