The Proof is in the Pudding

Last week you saw photos of the studio as it looks quite often, and then you saw photos midway through the cleaning and organizing. Well I managed to clean everything except my 8' farm table, which is my personal workspace. It's still stacked with piles today, and hopefully by the end of the weekend even that will be sorted. The only thing I hid away in the family room next door were 3 chairs we didn't need, so I think I did pretty well all in all.


I have to tell you, our stamp club meeting ran long but it was no surprise. We had a lot of show & tell, including some of the goodies I brought back from my trip to Cleveland. Elmer's Glue has come out with a new adhesive dot gizmo that's simply amazing. That created a lot of buzz. Think glue dots anywhere on your page that you want them, but don't call them glue dots because that's a trademarked name. Hence my reference to adhesive dots. You simply press down the gizmo as you would with a self-inking stamp, and when you lift, the dot of adhesive has been left behind.
I also did several demos with the new Clearsnap Design Adhesives. I'll post photos of those later today. We used embossing powder & glitter on white cardstock, gold & copper leafing on the 5x8 steno pad I was swapping, and Pearl Ex powders on glossy black cardstock. Again, I'll do more and post photos later today, along with a more detailed tutorial.
Several of the gals had been busy making cards and we had some great conversation about all of those. Joyce had covered a composition book to keep and tied on a pen that was covered in the same paper and then rolled in the clear micro beads. My goodness, I haven't done any of those pens in ages, but I'm thinking now might be a good time to try it again. Michele had photos of her new grandson but I was chatting with Sharon's guest Alicia and never saw them. Michele, let's do lunch one day. And when we do, bring pictures!

We swapped our decorated note pads before I could take a single photo, so I'm sorry to say that the ones I'll be posting later will be my own creations. And that's a shame because we had some truly creative works of art. Lyn had done one with striped socks in a photo that I went wild over, only to find it was clipped from a catalog. Now how inventive is that?! If you're not a member of an art club, start your own. I can't begin to tell you how much I've enjoyed my get-togethers over the last 10 years. We can all learn so much from one another, and I hate to think that anyone is missing out on the fun and fulfillment you get from fellow artists. Sharon's note pad had a belly band, meaning a decorative band that slipped on and off to keep the pad closed when not in use. Too, too clever. Too much talent to mention them all, but for any of our members who didn't make it, know that you would've loved them all!
Our project this month was just incredible. Normally we swap something like bookmarks, cards, envelopes, recipe cards, or the 5x8 note pads we did this month. And then we have a separate project for the night which might be playing with texture plates and my Big Kick by Sizzix, or making cards, or learning a new technique, or doing a mini guinea pig class before I travel and teach. So last month I suggested we do a version of a round robin as our project instead. For those of you unfamiliar with that term, I normally play in round robins via the mail. For example, years ago we did a box of ephemera swap. The box left my house filled with lots of things (inks, rubber stamps, buttons, fabric, papers, confetti, costume jewelry, markers, adhesives, luggage tags, etc.) and went to the second person on the list. She took out what she wanted, put in things from her stash that she didn't want, and sent it to person #3. And on it went til it made the rounds and worked it's way back to me. I received beautiful ribbons and fibers, silk leaves & flowers, joss paper, playing cards, game pieces, and so much more. My suggestion last month was that we do our own version of a round robin, but that we do it here in the studio as we decorated the covers of composition books. And that's exactly what we did, with everyone bringing things to add to all those covers.

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