Hi everyone! I thought I’d start travel week off with someplace I wanted to go to for ages and ages: Renegade Handmade in Chicago! Have you heard of the Renegade Craft Fairs? Well, the shop is an extension of the fairs and features over 300 artists — it’s a permanent location for people to buy and sell unique handmade items year ’round.  Kind of like a fair that doesn’t move!

Oh my, how I squealed when I stepped inside!  (I think I startled everyone in the shop, ha ha!)  Here are just a few things that I had to have. (I could easily have bought the whole store, but then J probably would have squealed when he saw the credit card, ha!)

From top to bottom:

A cute Happy Woodlands pin from Custommade UK. I know I’ll be happy wearing it!  And, I happen to have that fabric already — I got it from Torendi a few months back. Maybe I should get some more…!  It’s by Shinzi Katoh, one of my all-time favorite designers.

An iron-on transfer book from Sukie — I just love their super fun style.  I can’t wait to use these iron-ons — I’m thinking of putting them on tote bags and little drawstring travel bags, and maybe even a wall hanging.  Love their blog, too.

Then there’s the Renegade Craft Fair posters — I got the one for the first ever Austin fair in the top left.  Somehow I missed it when I was at the fair. I plan to frame it and hang it next to a prairie print that I have, it will go perfectly.

And then I let out a major squeal when I saw this belt by souldier.us. It was handmade in Chicago out of a seatbelt!  And it’s orange and brown. And owl-icious. How could I resist?

And then. Then there was this sweet little donut by my paper crane. The funniest thing was that I’d just drooled over them as I read Handmade Nation. So of course I had to have one!

I also got J a cute card that he loved — it had a library pocket and a card that pulled out that said “I’ve been checking you out all day.” — hee hee :)

Check out the Renegade Handmade online shop for more goodies, or their blog for lotsa crafty inspiration.  You may not want to look until you are in a squeal-proof location, tho!  And! If you’re in Chicago September 11-12 you can go to a Renegade Craft Fair! Lucky you.

Back tomorrow with some sewing goodness,

Hi everyone! How has your summer been? Can you believe it’s almost September? I sure can’t.

I feel like I’ve been on-the-go since early July — in fact, last weekend was the first weekend J and I were in Austin for 3 weekends in a row!  Whew.

(photo taken at the visitor’s center in Cedar Falls, Iowa)

It’s so good to be back home in ole Austin, Texas — even if it is 106 F and our air conditioner died, ha ha!

I’ve got so many things that I want to share with you from my travels — especially crafty things!  Can’t wait.  But first I gotta get the million billion photos that I took organized.

See you tomorrow,

Hope you have a wonderful day — full of love and laughter — and Taco Deli!

Supplies:  All stamps by Hero Arts. To make the background, I used a technique that I learned from my friend Sally where you ink an acrylic block and then stamp it on cardstock.  I think I used pool, lavender, soft leaf and daliaha Memories dye inks.  The friendship definition background was stamped on an acetate notecard using white Staz-on ink.

Libby was actually here when I started the card, and I made her not look at my desk, hee hee!  What a friend I am, eh?

Happy happy,

When my friend Kelly Marie from Lawn Fawn asked me if I wanted to play in the “Lawn Fawn Hearts Cards for Kids Blog Hop” I said sure thing right away!  It’s such a good cause, and I have always wanted to do it but never made the time.

If you haven’t heard about it already, Cards for Kids collects cards for sick kids and their families. I knew I wanted to make a card that was happy.  And I wanted to make it something that kids could touch and feel.  And of course it had to be fit for a girl or a boy, so not too much pink. :)

So I started off by stamping the sweet Lawn Fawn pup on felt, like so:

Then I cut him out, and colored a bit with markers (all supplies at the end of the post).

Next I embossed a kraft notecard with a cool herringbone pattern — I thought it really went well with the felt pup! Then I went to town with something I love to touch — Japanese washi tape. I just love how it feels and how it softens the layers below it.

Finally, I finished it off with some sparkly heart gems! Yay!

Supplies: Pup from Critters in the ‘Burbs set by Lawn Fawn. Notebook paper background by Hero Arts. Tiny heart gem by A Muse, and big heart gem by Hero Arts. I stamped the pup on felt with Stewart Superior’s black dye ink and colored it with Momento markers by Tsukineko — being careful not to color over the lines because I was impatient and didn’t want to wait for it to dry, ha ha! Lotsa Japanese masking tape from my stash. Felt heart and the border punch from EK Success. Herringbone embossing folder by Cuttlebug.  Font for the message is American Typewriter.

Now, on with the hop! You should have come here via the super sweet Vera, and next on the list is the mega talented Laurel — click on over to Paper Crafts by Laurel to see the clever cards she’s made.  And guess what?  There are lotsa great prizes that you can win just by leaving comments on the blogs in the hop! The whole list is at Lawn Fawn if you’d like to start from the beginning or you get lost.

Happy hopping!

And!  You don’t have to be part of the hop to make cards for kids.  Find out more.

Hugs,

Why yes, those are gingerbread men.

And yep, it’s still August.

Are you confused?

Well, you’re not going crazy — although sometimes I think I am, especially when I’m making Christmas cards in June and it’s over 100 F out and my snowflakes melt just as soon as I stamp ‘em — ha ha!  It’s all because today is The BIG Day: the Hero Arts 2010 winter and fall catalog, Jingle All the Way, has finally been released!  Yay!

Now you can see what all I and everyone at Hero Arts have been up to.  And I gotta say, I think it’s one of our best releases ever!  There’s truly something for everyone, from traditional stamps to super cute ones.  Check ‘em all out and let me know what you think!

AND!  I’m doing the happy dance because those little gingerbread men made it on the cover!  Hee hee.

Oh and!  That super cool frame is from Kitschy Digitals — they are having a big sale right now, woo hoo!  Love their stuff.

Have a merry day,

See you next time!

Sally and Lisa :)

Where has the week gone?

The CHA Chicago show seemed to just zoom by!  Sure was good to visit everyone and all of the new products, but it will be great to get back home and see my J. :)

How do you like Hero Art’s new Baby Reindeer? I had so much fun coloring him — and adding some ornaments to his horns!

I’ve got more to share with you later, but for now it’s dinner at Carlucci’s. YUM.

One of the things I love about coming to shows is seeing all of the creative booth displays, like these beautiful butterflies fluttering over at Making Memories!

As soon as I go home I want to make some to hang in my office. Did you get any ideas from this? I’d love to hear!

Stay tuned for more from the show…