Missing You... Simply #Cre8time Playtime

Hello friends! I find it hard to believe it's mid-November and it's now dark before dinner here in SoFL. I was rifling through a box of crafty stuff and came across some old collage stuff from way back in the day (or 2012-2013) when I did weekly live-streaming. It was fun and I miss those times and interacting online with all of my creative friends across the globe made through the web. Technology and social media has advanced significantly, some for ease and some making things more complicated. 

Remember Linqto - it was limited but it was the infant of what FB and YT live has become. Why did I stop streaming?? Because the technical issues with the platform became more problematic AND a server failure resulting in loss most everyone's recordings. It was nice to just turn it on and go... they were such FUN times. I had a strenuous job and a lot of DT commitments... then my health started to intervene on my round-the-clock lifestyle, forcing me to change everything. Jobs included.

Recent times have been upside down for all of us. Meanwhile I've taken a LOT of online classes and focused on my love for cooking as I get back in the swing of things. Last month I was a guest designer at Artesprix and I made a few projects for Dia De Los Muertos. It was nice to create just for fun, finish a UFO project and one was a livestream DIY for the annual festival at work. One thing has led to another...

AND... I have some super awesome news

that I have been so excited to share.

It's been so hard to keep a secret.

Check back tomorrow -- 

Monday, November 15th

when I can finally

announce the news!

See you tomorrow! :) Sb

#Cre8time Love for Crochet and Ultra VIOLET... 2018 Pantone Color Collaborative

Hello Friends! Thanks for popping in today for a special celebration of color as I am participating in a collaborative project hosted by Tina Walker with artists from around the world. PLEASE CLICK HERE to jump over to Tina Walker's blog who is our hostess and organizer of this Cre8time adventure and see her gorgeous violet creation. Please take a moment to leave her a comment and give her some love for dreaming up these fun events to inspire and challenge our muses!

PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet

Inventive and imaginative...

Ultra Violet lights the way for what is yet to come!

OH YES!!!

How could I possibly say no to a challenge using the 2018 Pantone color of the year - ULTRA VIOLET??! This is MY color. My living/dining room wall is painted THIS color. I drive my hairstylist crazy trying to get my hair this color. 

I am all about ALL THINGS PURPLE, it just makes me smile! In my creations it's usually the first color I reach for {CLICK HERE to see what these glorious purple gears became}.

To be honest, this is not the purple project I planned or imagined... I have been out of town for a few weeks caring for my 94 year old grandmother since my uncle who cares for her had a stroke and is in hospital indefinitely. Life has been upside-down. I reflect and write this as I sit in the airport waiting to head back home to take care of my own health issues and my next Entyvio infusion. My heart is heavy with what may happen with my uncle {and godfather} in the coming days and weeks.

Last month while attending Creativation, I was in awe at all of the crochet and knit inspiration and was introduced to LOVE knitting and LOVE crochet and returned home with some beautiful yarns to create with for the 2018 Favecrafts Best Blogger Contest. 

Growing up, my mom was always involving me in all things crafty and handmade, including cooking, baking and sewing... but I never learned to knit or crochet. 15 years ago I tried to pick up crochet and my mom helped me get started with a simple chain stitched crochet baby blanket. I finished the project, but being ambidextrous, I had a real hard time holding and working with the yarn. I hope my friend cherishes the wonky baby blanket I made for her.

Even though I had assembled a pile of purple goodness for this project, I threw a bunch of winter clothes and gear into two suitcases and jumped on a one-way flight to the winter tundra up north. I had no time to pack or even think, but I grabbed my beginner crochet/knit kits and threw them in the suitcase. This turn of events would be the perfect opportunity to learn this right of passage from my mother and grandmother.

LOVE crochet {and LOVE knitting} is a global community for makers everywhere. Visit any site in the LoveCrafts family and you’ll see a world designed for makers -- a dedicated place where makers’ projects are celebrated, advice is shared and it’s easy to buy supplies for selected crafts. You can even learn something new! So from my phone I perused LOVE crochet, watched some tutorials, and selected some designs I wanted to try.

I selected this simple heart pattern to try first.

I had hooks, but needed some yarn so my Mom and I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby while having an hour to run errands around getting Grandma to her appointments. I found one skein of this gorgeous purple yarn called "VELVET".

This seemingly simple pattern was a bit of a challenge to a complete NOOB, but my mom stayed the course. We had to refer to more tutorials and my grandmother beamed with smiles, though declined to offer her help LOL. After many frustrating hours of my mom patiently showing me various ways to knit and crochet... and trying umpteen ways to sort out how my ambidextrous self could work the hooks... I settled on crochet. I have to wrap the yarn around my neck to manage the tension. This one heart project uses a variety of crochet stitches, so as we worked together, I learned by best by doing. 

This is my mom's heart, about 2 1/2" across

{as her yarn was a thinner gauge}. Isn't this so CUTE?!

After completing a wonky test square that I immediately unfurled as to not waste my limited PURPLE goodness -- I crocheted it into this finished piece... a glorious purple wonky heart 💜

I'm totally in LOVE with this chunky wonky heart! Once we got going, it didn't take long. I have more stitches in one side, than the other, but I'm OK with that. It's more important that during this trying time in our family, three generations put our hearts and minds together and enjoyed the blessings of being snowed in and our love of creating.

For the love of family and Cre8time heART!

I can't wait to make another and practice my new hobby. My heart is about 6" across since using a chunkier yarn. What do you think should I make with this?! Comment below with your ideas... I'm toying with turning this into a garland, a dreamcatcher, or continuing around it to enlarge into a larger heart to make a pillow.

Thanks for dropping by! I hope you are inspired to go grab something ULTRA VIOLET and CREATE! Please feel free to add your NEW creation to the linkup.

Have a creative day!  :) Sb

Click on the squares below
for more VIOLET inspiration
from the

"2018 Pantone Color Collaborative"

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing Art from the #Cre8time Heart...

Who doesn't love a brand new bottle of paint?!! Except when it bursts all over the place - YIKES! In an effort to clean up a bunch of spilled paint – I quickly grabbed a bunch of stuff to paint red in a hurry. This beautiful tag full of mixed-media LOVE is what became of my crafty accident... READ MORE  

Hello friends! Today I am sharing some TAG-a-licious inspiration filled with mixed-media LOVE. This tag was born from a Cre8time mess created when opening and testing a new RED distress paint dauber. With some quick thinking, I scooped what I could back into the bottle. Then I grabbed some unpainted goodies that were within reach -- a chipboard heart, a pair of grungeboard wings, recycled book paper and blank tags to quickly use and mop up the remaining spilled paint. I think I was painted more than the items, but it was all in good messy fun!

A few things I've used are leftovers from other projects or from artsy friends. The "beauty lies within" came from a supply box purchased from my creative friend Catherine. This corkscrew topped lady head is from a box of very special stamps from a dear friend from my local altered book group who is no longer with us. This stamp will be perfect to take flight as a mini art doll on this tag.

There was a heart already collaged in this bezel, but I tore it out so that I could add a chipboard piece that was part of my red paint frenzy. I brushed the metal frame with some tarnished brass and red distress paint, then lined the inner edge with some mini red sequin trim held in place with Diamond Glaze.

Everything gets a rubbing around the edges with tarnished brass. This chipboard heart gets a red bling heart before it's mounted into the pendant.

The rest of this came together rather organically -- things just layered up so beautifully as I added scraps and leftover bits from my stash. Layered on the painted tag: a torn scrap of an embossed painted paper, some mini rick-rack, sari ribbon, gold trim and painted lace.

I stamped grungeboard wings with script text. The lady is stamped onto gesso painted recycled book paper, with a touch of color from with distress markers. I add tiny piece of embroidered trim for a necklace... even the littlest scrap of the border trim is put to use!

I finished off bodice with some other goodies in my crafty stash: a beaded dangle; some sari ribbon; fun fiber; and green/red raffia. A work of mixed media love!!!

Have you seen her??

 

I participated in the "Sharing the Creative Heart" while at Creativation a week ago. This was a collaborative art abandonment project by the AFCI Designer Section, where we dropped our creations around Creativation in Phoenix, Arizona to be found on January 21st. While I was demonstrating, my friend Tracy and her hubs scoped out and planted my lovely lady to be found in the park area at the show entrance. We are all excited to hear where she has landed!

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoy this Valentine's Inspiration! I would love your help in locating where this lovely tag has ended up in the Cre8time world by sharing. Hope you have a creative day!  :) Sb

#Cre8time Love is in the Air... Valentine's Day Projects with Designer Crafts Connection

Hello friends and Happy February... the month of LOVE! This month the Designer Crafts Connection is feeling the Cre8time "Love in the Air" and sharing Valentine's Day projects. CLICK HERE to hop on over to the Designer Crafts Connection blog and be inspired!

Today I'm sharing a super fun and easy way to dress up your morning coffee for your Valentine with some custom shaped sugar cubes... and this is certainly a project that you can do with the kiddos.

Using some heart-shaped chocolates from the Dollar Tree {my favorite guilty pleasure}, I created a mold with Amazing Mold Putty. I hot glued four of them onto my glass craft mat and pressed the mold putty around them. I didn't even bother unwrapping them. I love the texture of the foil on the chocolates. To view how Amazing Mold Putty works... CLICK HERE.

By the way... did I mention

that my new DIY mold

is FOOD SAFE!!!

Next thing I did was rummage around my pantry for my collection of Wilton colored sugars for cake decorating and grabbed a couple recycled wooden coffee stir sticks and mini silicone mixing cups.

Quick and easy indeed! I poured a little bit of each color into a silicone mixing cup, added just a couple drops of water and stirred until the sugar was the consistency of wet sand at the beach.

Then I poured the mixture into the mold and pressed the sugar making a compact cake. This is just like packing wet sand to make a sand-castle... and just as fun – tastes better, too!

A little *TIP* – if you heat your Amazing Mold Putty mold up in the microwave a minute or two {test this first at 15 second increments to see how hot your device heats it and please use oven mitts} before putting sugar mixture into mold, it will help them dry out faster. Do not cook the sugar in the mold... it will melt or burn giving a completely different result.

**PLEASE NOTE** For your safety - please don't use a mold for food items if you have already used it for resin or other art products.

I didn't have any pink sugar... so I easily whipped some up using my natural cane sugar and one drop of red food coloring and a couple drops of water. This project took about half an hour and I made several of each color - and a couple different shapes from other hearts previously molded. My hubs will be quite surprised when I have some of these on the table for Valentine's Day brunch.

Sweetheart Sugar Cubes

How do you take your sugar...

one heart, or two... red, yellow or blue??

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! CLICK HERE to hop on over to the Designer Crafts Connection blog for more fabulous Valentine's Day projects! :) Sb

#Cre8time and Deflecto Craft Frames make Sweet Baby LOVE!!!

Greetings Friends! It February... the month of all things LOVE and time for another Deflecto USA Ambassador Design Team Challenge. This month's Challenge theme is "Valentine's Day". I have created a special project for the occasion showcasing the new LOVERboy in our family... my new nephew Kalé Nathaniel Harden who is finally home and woo-ing the ladies.

This lil' guy was supposed to be a Christmas/New Year's Baby but he had plans of joining everyone for trick-or-treating by coming into the world on Oct. 23rd. He was a couple months early so he had to stay in the hospital while he got big and strong enough to come home... and of course, he's the BIGGEST LITTLE Seattle Seahawks fan!

For more information on the Deflecto line of products,

please visit: http://www.deflecto.com/craft/

This month the Deflecto USA Ambassador Design Team is sharing a variety of creative and imaginative uses for the Deflecto "Valentine's Day" challenge so you'll want to CLICK HERE to jump over to the Deflecto Craft Facebook Page or Deflecto on Pinterest to see more of the teams creations.

For this project I used the acrylic 8 1/2" x 11" Deflecto Pink Border Craft Frame Item #69771CR - a clear acrylic frame with a slanted design where your photos, scrapbook or literature slides in from the side. An approximate 3/4" wide permanent pink border border on top, left and right edges wraps around the bottom and onto stand is a wonderful POP of color and starting point for embellishing.

You just gotta love the Dollar Tree for seasonal goodies that make crafting fun and easy! I scored some of this lace-like clear glitter tape in red, magenta and black; along with some glittered table scatter hearts, adhesive backed heart gems, and glittered foam heart stickers. I've got more than enough heart embellishments {and conversation heart candy} to last me a lifetime!

I selected the magenta lace glitter tape and added a border to the existing pink border – mitering the edges at the corners.

I sized and printed out the latest photo from my sister for this special project and inserted into the frame. I added some of my adhesive backed heart gems along the top and bottom of the border - smallest where the heart cutouts are in the lace border and medium size flanking the corners. This PINK is really growing on me ;)

Now it's time for the heart table scatter and stickers. I layered them, hand cut some, and inserted gems where they fit to create some fun falling hearts as my peaceful nephew has some sweet dreams.

The finishing touch is a layered laser cut title from my stash-o-scrapbooking stuff by Lil' Davis Designs. I have had this title forever and a day and it is PERFECT for this special gift. I assembled and adhered to the frame with double sided adhesive tape and accented with a couple heart gems... this cutie is ready for Cupid!

Sweet Baby LOVE!!!

How would you decorate with Deflecto Craft Frames?

Thanks for visiting! Please join me each month when the Deflecto USA Ambassador Design Team will have a new Deflecto product challenge to debut.  :) Sb

For more information on the Deflecto line of products,

please visit: http://www.deflecto.com/craft/