November 30, 2012

Scrapalicious New Magazines!

We've got some great new magazines in the store this week! 

This month's Magnolia Ink magazine is full of wonderful holiday projects: beautiful ornaments, spell binding home decor projects, an AMAZING advent calendar, and, of course, fabulous cards.  There's even an apron project with step by step instructions on how to stamp and paint on cotton fabric.




 And as if that weren't enough, it comes with and adorable free Magnolia Christmas stamp - Christmas Tilda with Puppy!



This month's Scrap365 hits it out of the park again with fun and informative articles that are guarenteed to inspire!  There's an uplifting article on how to really capture the story of your photos on your page - I got three new ideas from that article alone!  Have you ever heard of a scrapbook cocktail recipe?  See what it's all about on page 25. 



There's also a technique article on creating a tree from Washi tape and a beautiful advent calender created using an altered library drawer - truly fabulous stuff in the magazine!  If you haven't tried it yet you really need to take a look...

November 29, 2012

This Just In!!

We've got some fabulous new product in this week - a little something for everyone! 

First, a new line from Petaloo - Vintage Dazzlers!!!  Vintage Dazzlers are awesome little vintage images that are layered and glittered for all kinds of creative uses:






These make amazing embellishments on scrapbook pages, altered art, and card fronts  - they're just beautiful!

Last week we got in the newly released colors of Tim Holtz's Distress stains - they're so bright and vibrant:


Well, THIS week we got in Wendy Vecchi's new embossing pastes:




And guess what?  They happen to work BEAUTIFULLY with the Tim Holtz Distress Stains!!!  Check out Wendy's blog post here for full details, but look at this gorgeous sample:



See how she applied the stencil paste in the background, added a little texture with some stamps, and then colored it using the distress stains?  Gorgeous!!! 

But wait - there's MORE from Tim Holtz!  The newest Stamper's Anonymous Blue Print stamps are here and waiting for you!





Of course, you know how it goes wth these stamps - by the time I can get this posted they'll probably be close to sold out, so you better come pick up your favorites ASAP!



November 28, 2012

Upcoming Classes...

Whew - hold on to your hats... SO much to do here at ESS this week!!!!

Starting on Thursday the 29th from 6-8pm we will have the next installment of Michelle's A2Z of Me Art Journaling class.  **PLEASE NOTE** If you normally take the A2Z of Me Art Journaling Class on the weekend you will need to take the Thursday class instead as we have special guest teacher Nathalie Kalbach here this weekend.  Normal schedule will resume next month.  The letter this time will be "T", so make sure to gather your T images.  Here's a sneak of Michelle's page:


There's a ton of fun techniques involved in the "T" page so make sure not to miss out!

Last time we focused on the letter "Q" - here's Michelle's awesome "Q" layout:


If you're following along on-line and want to share your work you can upload your Q page using the link tool at the end of this post. 

On Friday Tamara is teaching her Girls Gone Wild fall canvas class.  This is a great technique class using a Suzi Blu stamp which you will learn to alter.  You will also get to use resist paper, stencils, stamps, inks, paints, and glitter.  Lots and lots of fun stuff here:



Then this weekend the big days have FINALLY arrived - Nathalie Kalbach will be here!!!  Nathalie Kalbach is an European Mixed Media Artist. Her layered work is an explosion of texture, dimension and jewel tone colors. In her workshops she shares her secrets for using paint and ink products to reveal texture, tips and tricks for embedding found objects and embellishments and how to unlock your personal creativity. Nathalie is teaching workshops all over the world as in Europe, Israel Australia, Canada and the United States and has been published in numerous idea books and magazines including for many years with her own column "Nathalie’s Studio" in Somerset Memories. Nathalie works with several manufacturers such as Prima Marketing, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L and Derwent. You can read more about Nathalie and find her work on the n*Studio blog:

http://nathaliesstudio.com/

We are so excited she will be teaching four amazing classes at ESS - read on below for details on each class... and now you can even sign up on line!  Just click the pay now button and you'll be directed to PayPal to reserve your spot!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YAWP Pan Pastel Art Journal with Nathalie Kalbach

Saturday December 1st 11:00-2:00pm




Are you ready to dive into art journaling? Let's sound a barbaric YAWP over the roof tops of the world and get ready for a lot of creative freedom. Nathalie Kalbach will teach you how to create your own easy to create art journal using wonderful PanPastels. Learn mixing, blending, painting and drawing with those soft pastels. Learn how to get stunning results with different resist techniques and fun stamping tricks using embossing powders and other paint media. You can easily apply all of the learned techniques to later projects whether it be art journals, mixed media and even scrapbooking projects. Looking forward to yawp along with you in this 3 hour long class.

Supplies to bring to class:

• Bonefolder
• Foam Stamps if you have
• Background Stamps
or/and stamps with text if you have
• Craft Scraper
• Heating Tool
• Versamark
• Sewing needle - bigger to poke holes
• Eraser -­‐ just simple one
•Water Mister
• Colored Markers





YAWP Pan Pastel Art Journal




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Season Canvas - Nathalie Kalbach





Saturday December 1st
4:00-8:00pm

In this Workshop with Nathalie Kalbach, you will create a stunning unique canvas that will be a wonderful home décor item. Learn how to create dimension and texture with tissue paper, items of daily life, acrylic paint, lace, burlap and gesso. Learn how to reveal the interesting and eye catching texture with acrylic paints and acrylic inks and add some fun stamping techniques on top. We will be adding lots of layers and dimension to make this a spring, summer, fall or winter canvas…just as you like. All the techniques can easily be applied to future projects.

Supplies to bring to class:

• 3--‐4 acrylic paints; colors that you like and that you think would
Fit the season you want to dedicate the canvas to
• black acrylic paint
• Brushes of all kinds; bristle and round
• water container
• water sprayer/mister
• Scissors; small ones that can cut detailed paper items and some
For rougher materials such as the Tim Holtz Scissors
• Craft Scraper and/or Palette Knife
• Heat tool
• Toilet Paper Roll or a Jar Lid
• cosmetic sponges – the super cheap ones (2 to 3)
• Pencil
• Apron/old t--‐shirt to protect your clothes




Season Canvas





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nathalie Kalbach - Portrait of a Lady





December 2nd, 2012
11:00am to 2:00pm

Always wanted to learn how to draw a portrait? Join Nathalie Kalbach in this fun DIN A4/Lettersized Canvas Workshop and learn how to draw a portrait in a short period of time. You create a Portrait in your favorite colors and make it a one of a kind home decor item either for yourself or as a beautiful gift. Furthermore you will learn heaps of Mixed Media techniques with gesso like: how to create a background, add texture, stamp, paint and use it for altering. Learn how to use fun fine art paint media like the Derwent Artbars, how to layer and tie elements together and explore how to change up embellishments and make them fit your unique piece of art. And the best? All the techniques can be used easily in future Mixed Media and in Scrapbooking Projects. Come and join Nathalie in this 3 hour long workshop.

Supplies to bring to class:

Black & White print out portrait style photo
– it can be so big that it covers most of an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.
either Ink or Laser copy. (Laser is better) must be on Copy paper not photo paper
• Scissors
• Craft Scraper and/or Palette Knife
• Paper trimmer
• Heat Tool
• Brushes-­‐ Small one for detail work, Medium flat one and also a water barrel brush such as the one by EK Success or Tim Holtz
• Black Journaling Pens; 0.7 and/or 0.5
• Pencil
• Apron/old t-­‐shirt to protect your clothes








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be Awesome Be a Book Nut





Sunday December 2nd
4:00-7:00pm


Dr. Seuss knew it: there is something magic about books. Each book is a beauty in and of itself – a story that leads you into a new world of fantasy. Books also have a feeling of importance to them, such as with a fabric coated hard cover or just the paper itself.
But sometimes a book loses its fascination and ends up at a flea market or at the back of your bookshelf never be opened again. Why not breathe life back into those books again and fill them with your own stories? You can alter them in a way that these treasures bring unique joy back.
Nathalie Kalbach will show you how to create either a funky or a simple style altered book. You will learn beautiful folding techniques, such as ways to create pockets for treasures or hidden messages that go along with your story. You will learn how to use adhesive in unexpected ways and learn fun embossing techniques. Accompanied by beautiful Prima paper, flowers and stamps, this book will be a personal keepsake or a special present to a loved one. What’s more, it can function not only as a mini album but also as a home decor item.
Come and join Nat in this three-and-a-half-hour long workshop. Be awesome and be a book nut!

Supplies to bring to class:

• Ranger Heat Tool
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Crafter’s Knife – the blade should be still quite sharp!
• Cutting mat
• Papertrimmer
• Sicssors
• Non Stick Craft Sheet
Old book**
**Don’t get taunted by the thought of finding on old book that is suitable for
altering. Let me help you, Here is where you can find cheap old books – check out Library book sales, secondhand stores, flea markets, yard sales or garage sales, or….check
which books in our own household you might be ok with parting. This is not
about abusing a wonderful valuable book –it is about upcycling recycling
books that might be not read anymore anyway. It can be a novel; it can be an
old school book or atlas that is actually content wise totally obsolete.
The book should be a in a good condition –meaning the binding should be
still strong. We will be hard on this book and do all kinds of stuff to it, so we
need it to hold. Best are hardcover books that have a stitched binding –
meaning stitched signature. Hold the book by the covers and see if the pages tend to fall out of the
book…if so …do not use this book. I love if it has a fabric covered cover, but go with what speaks to you. Try finding a book that is also not too thick for the beginning- it is easier to
start altering books with a small book say 100 pages or 200 pages most. If
you’d rather have a bigger book- then that is fine of course- you can make it
an ongoing project


Be Awesome Be a Book Nut






And now here is the link for sharing your "Q" pages - we can't wait to see your Qs!!!




November 27, 2012

Tuesday Tutorial Time #4

Yay!  Time for another Tuesday Tutorial!!!  This week ESS Design Team member Melinda Miller shows us how to make a fantastic gift tag:

Supplies Used:
Chipboard
Patterned papers: Pebbles Inc. "Welcome Christmas"
Border Punch
Scraps of cardstock
Scraps of tissue paper
Radiant Rain Sprays: Mallard green and Persimmon
Golden Paints: Iridescent Copper Light, Iridescent Gold Deep
Distress inks
Black archival ink
Various holiday/flourish stamps
Golden Matte Gel Medium
Modeling Paste
Various rhinestones, charms, ribbons, and fibers

1. Cut tag shape out of chipboard (There is a wine bottle template here if you'd like a wine bottle tag, but you can make any shape).  Cut two wine bottle shapes out of coordinating paper.  Adhere the cut papers to the chipboard shape.  Sand edges to smooth. 
 
 

 
2. Using spray ink, spray front and back of tag.



3. Distress edges with distress ink.  Using your fingers, wipe various paints onto tag.  Modge podge small scraps of thin papers onto the tag.  Stamp various images on the tag using black archival ink.  Using border punch, punch a border out of scrap paper.  Hold the border on the side of the tag and spread modeling paste over the paper border.  Remove paper border and allow modeling paste to dry.  When dry, use various distress inks and paints to color modeling paste and add more colors to the tag face. 
 
 

4.  Create hang tag using stamps and scrap paper.  Distress.   Embellish tag as desired - we've included some close ups of Melinda's embellishments:








 
 
And here is the finished tag - beautiful job!



 





















































































































































































November 26, 2012

The Kids are Back in School...

Now that you're over the initial relief of having the kids back in school (Whew!  We made it through another summer, right??), it's about time to get back to doing what we love most - scrapbooking our kids!  The Hall Pass line from We R Memory Keepers is the perfect product to get your juices going:













There's no denying it - those little bottle caps are just plain stinkin' cute!  The colors in this line are so great and work well for boys and girls... the perfect school paper.  It'll be easy for you to make the grade on your favorite school photos with the Hall Pass line!