Faerie * Dust * Dreams

CHA re-cap 8 of 10 , Meeting my favorite designers!

2012-02-22T09:44:00.000-08:00

One my favorite things to do at CHA is to meet the people that inspire!
Here I am with Eileen Hull, with her new Sizzix designs! I have been blogging for Eileen for a couple of years now, communicating back and forth by email. This was our first face to face meet! I was very happy as she's as nice in person as she is online. :)

Here I am with Dee Gruenig, Molly Walsh, Tiffany De Gough

Cheryl Waters, Eva Koyama, Genevieve Rodriguez

Sandi Genovese, Grace Lauer, Jennifer Priest

Mark Montano, Julie McGuffee, Carmen Shannon

Friends Susan Blakely and Jaime Albano, Trudy Sjolander

Theresa Cifali, Terri Sproul, Wendy Crafts

Thanks for coming by, please visit all the links for amazing inspiration!

CHA re-cap 7 of 10

2012-02-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love those paper birds from Die Cuts with a View? Or the zippered pouches from Basic Grey?
Only 3 more recaps to go, then on to picking someone to get one of my custom Craft aprons!

CHA re-cap 6 of 10

2012-02-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

So here is another smattering of photos from CHA! Only 4 more posting to go...the last being the custom craft apron giveaway! You can see details on how to win here.
Now about these photos....
The boy and girl prom outfits were made entirely of Duct Tape! You should totally check out last years creations here and enter for your chance to win great products this March!
The gelato was free and served in the cutest little cups. I have a dairy intolerance so I had to settle for the decadent chocolate cake while my friend had the coconut. :)
I love the altered bottles and see that purple dress? Made entirely of the ribbing of paper plates and then painted purple. Don't you also just love the matching Mosaic purple shoes?
~ Don't forget to leave a comment and I'll see you again with CHA re-cap #7!

CHA re-cap 5 of 10

2012-02-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

One of most favorite creations to come across at CHA was THIS booth designed by Connie Crystal. Just check out the gorgeous dresses!

SteamPunk Blog Hop Winner

2012-02-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

The winner of this stash is

Fabrizio said...Totally phenom, love the ATCs ! X Fab

Random numbers generated Feb 15 2012 at 7:56:27 by http://www.psychicscience.org/

Congratulations and thanks to all that came to see my cards!

Leslierahye's Very Steampunk Valentine Blog Hop

2012-02-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Leslierahye's Very Steampunk Blog Hop! In this hop we are celebrating Valentines Day - Steampunk style! I used a collection of sizzix dies, vintage clipart, Stickles, back ground stamps and The Robins Nest Dew Drops to make my creations. I made the above card for a card swap and the 3 ATC's below, just for me! * Top Hat Stamp can be found here.

Please click on ATC's for more detail! :)

My giveaway for this hop is what you see below. 10 ATC chipboard blanks and a assortment of Steampunk die cuts for you to play with! I will pick a winner from this post on February 15th.

Please visit the rest of the designers below for more Valentine Steampunk creations!

CHA recap- 4 of 10

2012-02-10T00:17:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I'm on my 2nd year blogging weekly for The Robins Nest!

I really love all their glitter embossed papers,glittered chip boards and dew drops!

I'm in crafting heaven!

This past CHA, I did a demo on the first day, Sunday.

We made Paris luggage tags from their new travel line.

50% of the booth displays were made by myself and the other designers that post on The Robins Nest blog. This beautifully adorned box below was created by Robin-one of the owners. Isn't lovely?

Love these Dew Drops!

Here is Mother/Daughter owners, Robin and Rachel.

I wore a crown I made with The Robins Nest Glittered Chipboards! I received many compliments from it!

Please visit the rest of the CHA post, at the end of this month, I'm having a giveaway! :)

CHA recap 3 of 10

2012-02-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about going to CHA is seeing all the new designers and their amazing creations. This booth was called AluMosaics. All these mosaics were created by Jeff Ivanhoe, from little squares of soda cans! Please click on any photo for close up detail.

He now sells his instructional DVD on his website, showing you the fundamental basics of making your own mosaics from aluminium cans! Don't for get to visit all the posting this month for a chance to win a craft apron!

CHA recap - 2 of 10

2012-02-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

So here's day 2 of my CHA photos to share! When you are done looking at these, please visit post #1 for giveaway information! Here we have a amazing Day of The Dead Skull, decorated with Viva Decor.
Sorry if the photos are little fuzzy, the skull was rotating on a motorized base.

These next photos are from the Graphic 45 booth. I just love their line of vintage anything and Butterfly's!

That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

CHA re-cap 1 of 10

2012-02-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun at CHA last month! I took too many photos but they are all good! I will be spreading them out in 9 more postings through out the rest of this month. I don't want to bombard you with too many photos! :) * See the bottom of the post for giveaway info.

These 3 whimsical photos are from the Melissa Francis booth.

The photos below are from the the Tim Holtz line of sizzix, e-clips and stamps.

I could have spent all day in that booth!

Please visit some of the other designers from CHA to see the things they saw.

1 or more of them are having giveaways!

My giveaway is a custom made craft apron, similiar to the ones I donated to Charity Wings at CHA.

To enter, visit and comment on as many post I do for this month. Make sure I have a way to contact you in case you win, e-mails are always nice or even a link to your blog. Next week I'll post about Charity Wings at CHA along with samples of aprons that you will be able to choose from if you win!

Thanks for coming by, happy blog hopping and see you tomorrow! :)
P.S.- This post marks my 1,000th blog post! :)

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"Italy" Mini- Travel Journal

2012-02-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

This is one of my creations I made for The Robins Nest booth at CHA.

It's a "Italy" mini travel journal. I really love how it turned out.

Please visit The Robins Nest blog to see the inside.

Thanks!

A little bit of CHA

2012-01-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

Today for the Designers Craft Challenge, we were to post about the trends we saw at CHA yesterday. But I taught the make and take in The Robins Nest booth most of the day and was not able to take the photos I wanted. Today I will be at CHA walking around finding those new anad exciting trends to show you and will post everything on my blog Wednsday. See you soon!

Here is alittle bit of CHA from yesterday.

Me with my friends Jaime and Susan.

Joy

2012-01-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

I made a little bit of Joy, you can more of it here.

"Spice" Baked Donuts with Butter Cream Frosting and a "New Blog"!

2012-01-24T11:56:00.000-08:00

I made these delicious baked donuts on Sunday for my Craft Club girls. The house smelled wonderful when they were baking, and they were a tasty hit! I also shared some with the neighbors. I meant to post these on my new baking blog yesterday but decided at the last minute that I wanted the recipe's to look different than my typical postings and wanted a consistent look, to which I hope you'll like. Please visit my new blog,
My Soy Free Life for this recipe and enjoy! :)

I will posting recipes 2-3 times a week, plus musing on living with this allergy and restaurant reviews.

New Years Day at The Beach

2012-01-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

Every year, rain or shine, On the 1st of the year, we spend the day at Aliso Creek Beach, a 10 minute drive from our home. The sun was shining at me so that is why these photos are silhouetted. I love how "impish" Dyllan looks, as he dances in the waves. Almost as if he's in a shakesphere play. :)

- Michelle Frae Cummings

The "Live from CHA" winner is....

2012-01-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Lisa Cox! (Oh, this looks like so much fun! I would love to win. Thanks for the chance.)
Please check your e-mail for details on your kit.

Thanks to the rest of you for comeing by and saying hi! If you'd still like to attend CHA "live", there are a few more kits availible. Please visit here to sign up!

Live from CHA with Charity Wings! Giveaway!

2012-01-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

CHA is the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show, which is held twice a year. This is where you will see all of the new craft products coming out, learn how to use it and where to get it! The Winter Show starts on January 28 and goes till February 1.

Charity Wings is an organization that donates money or supplies to different charities. LIVE from CHA is a live event where you can watch streaming video from the show and complete a progressive 6" x 6" mini book/art journal with amazing manufacturers and designers. When you sign up, a kit will be mailed to you so you can be crafting along with the attendees! How cool is that?

This is one of the make and takes offered by Suzi Blu

You will receive all of the components and learn from Suzi how to make this wonderful little art piece.

Have you ever wondered exactly what happens at a Craft Trade Show? Well, wonder no more! Our friends at Charity Wings will be running a LIVE from CHA event that gives you an inside look at the trade show floor and the ability to interact with Charity Wing's

own Elena Etcheverry along with some fantastic CHA Designers!

You can register for the event HERE.

I am honored to have been invited to be a guest on the show. :)

I have a TICKET to LIVE from CHA that I can giveaway. This includes a goodie bag valued at $50+!!! Plus the chance to win over 45 different raffle prizes throughout the event!! US and Canada only please.

HOW TO ENTER:

Just leave a comment here on this blog post for a chance to win.
You have untill Thursday, January 19th 2012- 11:59pm , CA time to enter.
I will pick a winner on Friday, January 20th 2012. ( make sure I have a way to contact you in case you win!)
*winner need only to pay $10.50 shipping- U.S. & Canada only*

Here are some links to some of the other girls who are also giving a LIVE from CHA kit away so many MORE chances for you to WIN! (designers will be added throughout this week so keep looking for more chances to win!)

Theresa Cifali

Debra Quartermain

Ann Butler

Jennifer Priest

Jen Cushman

Susan Weckesser

Eileen Hull

Liz Hicks
Also, if you have a yearning to put your dance moves to good use, She's Crafty and Charity Wings are sponsoring a Craft Flash Mob! Anyone can participate if you are interested make sure to check it out.

Hello Kitty's...

2012-01-15T12:49:00.001-08:00

~ Michelle Cummings

Christmas Card #1

2012-01-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

Christmas cards in January? Seems odd right? Well not really. Last year I started mid-year with a Festive Friday Blog hop. Card makers from all over the world participated in a twice per month Christmas card blog hop. That would be every 2nd and 4th Friday, all the way to November. Since I post every Friday for The Robins Nest, I went ahead and joined. Then I joined for my own personal blog. That proved to be quite a bit of Christmas card making. So this year, I'm just participating through The Robins Nest blog only.

The card above is #1. Please visit their blog to see how I made it and then you'll see the list of the other participating designers. Have fun, and remember, it's never too early to be thinking of Christmas card inspiration!

Domino Tower

2012-01-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

I love that Dyllan is such a great builder! And he's only 7!

Free Etsy & Blog Banners, part 2

2012-01-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

December 10th, 2008 I posted on this blog a collection of Free Etsy / Blog Banners that I had found across the world wide web, looking for something to spruce up my online shop and blog.
Little did I know just how popular my post would be!
As of today, 4,760 people have viewed that post!

Since then, I've been approached by others designers out there with their own freebies to share.
So I what better way to share them, than with a part 2 post including links for you to visit and freebies for you to enjoy!

Sweetly Scrapped
If you LOVE that vintage look, like I do, you'll love Sweetly Scrapped!
She has everything you need for your blog, etsy shop, free digi's, tags, printable's and plenty of tutorials!

* * *

The Graphics Fairy
Every day is a new Vintage Clip Art freebie! To be used in your mixed media art, paper crafting, and anything else you can dream up!
She also has a sister site called, The Background Fairy, where you can find plenty of free blog backgrounds! Both sites have craft projects to try with her free images, to get your creative juices flowing. :)

* * *

Shabby Blogs So stinkin cute! Shabby Chic images ranging from flowers, bird cages, forest animals and more!
* * *

The Cutest Blog on The Block
This site has some super cute blog backgrounds and matching headers specifically for 2 and 3 column templates. You might recognize some of their designs on some of your favorite blogs.

* * *

Everything Etsy
Everything etsy has "everything" you need to make your shop successful. Free banners, tutorials, inspiration and business tips and tricks!

* * *

Star Sunflower Studio
From Free Blog buttons, headers, backgrounds and patterns...Star Sunflower Studio might be right up your alley! You can also find free fonts etsy banners and tutorials.

* * *

Above is a creation made by Janet's Glass.
Follow her link to over 50 simple yet pretty etsy banners, all free for you to use and even alter to make your own!

* * *

Life in The Craft Lane with Mandie
Visit her "category" list, left side bar and view a collection of freebies for your etsy shop, blog back grounds, business card templates and printable. Her design style is mainly Country Prim.

~
So that's all I have for you to share. I know there are 100's of sites out there and if you are one of those sites not listed here, but would like to be, please let me know in comments and I'll happily add you to this popular post!

Designers Crafts Blog Hop- Journaling*

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Journaling is this months theme over at The Designers Crafts site. So instead of the traditional Scrapbook journaling, I thought I'd show you a page inside my personal journal, it's one I draw, doodle, paint or just write about the things that frustrate me. In my case this page is about having to cope with having a food allergy.

I covered this entire paper in shades of blue & green watercolor pencils, then painted till I had my back ground. I cut a cluster of fishes to represent how I feel society reacts to food allergens and in the lower corner is Me and (at times) how I just feel.

This page is not meant to depress you in any way, just to show you how I like to journal.
Journaling does not have to limited to just scrapbooking. You can journal in a book, on fabric, on your wall and even on cookies with edible markers.
Thanks for coming by and please visit the rest of the designers by hopping forward or back.

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Rusty, old and Beautiful

2012-01-07T21:57:00.001-08:00

Just something I found while I wandering the colorful streets in Cabot San Lucas this last December.
~ Michelle Frae Cummings

The best of The Robins Nest from all of 2011. Scrapbooking and Paper Craft goodness!

2012-01-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! Here's to another year of working with The Robins Nest amazing paper line! As some of you know by now, I blog for The Robins Nest every Friday on their blog. I absolutely love their "glittered" paper and Dew Drops. So fun to play with! My first post of the year is a little tribute to 2011 and all the wonderful creations made by myself, the owners and design team. Please visit their blog here to join the fun!

A Holiday MNO

2012-01-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

Just before Christmas I went on a MNO (Mom's Night Out) with my two crafty friends, Jaime and Susan.

We started the evening with dinner at Wahoo's and then browsed South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Ca.

I found a few last minute gifts and marveled at the beautiful Holiday decorations.

I love the stained glass above the tree...I'm sure it looks just as pretty with daylight streaming through!

This pointsetta tree was so hard to take a photo of as it was the brightest red I've ever seen! :)