Merry Christmas

 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and hoping everyone is taking time to spend with family and friends. 

I spent the day playing with new crafts toys and finished my December 2012 Tags. The snowman and snowflakes were cut out with my Sizzix eclips and my Stamp-2-Cut cartridges.

I didn't have the large snowman blueprint stamp, so I chose to use the mini snowflake stamp to make my tag. First, I used the distress stains to create the background. Then I stamped the snowflake with chipped sapphire on the tag. I also stamped 3 snowflakes on watercolor paper and used my eclips to cut them out.  I would never have been able to cut them out by hand and still kept the details. The letters were cut from the mirror paper (you can see my tree lights reflected in the letters).

I also made a smaller snowman tag using the mini snowman blueprint stamp. I cut out the snowman and the cut out another hat to layer on top. The eclips even cut out the tiny stick arms for the snowman.

Help with your new Eclips 
If you were lucky enough to receive an eclips for Christmas and need help getting started, I will be at Cafe Crop on Wednesday to assist you. Bring your eclips and laptop (if possible-to update your controller) and I will be glad to help you.

If you didn't get one but would like one, we currently have some in stock. Come by to get one before they are gone.

Eclips and SVG Cuts Projects

Have you been thinking about purchasing a Sizzix eclips? Here is a project I have been working using the eclips and files from svgcuts.com. I made a set of 5 advent trees and was very pleased how well they went together. Since they are made from paper, I wondered how sturdy they would be and if they would hold up sending through the mail. They survived and were a hit.

If you are interested in seeing one in action, stop by Cafe Crop in Crown Point, this Saturday, December 15th between 1pm and 5pm for an informal demo. I will be working on several projects would love to show you some of the features of the eclips.

November's Tag

I love how this tag came out. The fall colors are so warm and inviting. I am asked all the time, "What do you do with the tags?"  My answer is that they are a way try out a technique or style and, sometimes I like the results and turn it into a card.

Here is a made for a couple of friends.

Christmas in November at Prima

Prima Marketing Flowers is offering Christmas in November to it's Facebook fans.

 If you like their page and post the name of your favorite LSS. When the store reaches 100 mentions in the comments, they will send 5 sheets of paper for everyone who commented to the local scrapbook store. One store has already reached 100 and another one is almost there. Last check we were at 39%  -- Spread the word and mention Cafe Crop. Click here for a link to the Prima Facebook page.

November Classes and Activities Part 2

Pumpkins On Parade

Voting for your favorite pumpkin art is taking place this week. Stop by the store to vote. For more information - click here.


4 Page Layout by Quick Quotes
   November 13th 11am-1pm or November 14th 6pm-8pm

Cost: $25.00
Create a 4 page layout ready for your pictures. The browns and  blue would work for both boys and girls.

3D Turkey  November 20th 11am-1pm


Cost: $
Create your own non-edible turkey for Thanksgiving.  This bird will be cooked up to all its glory in just one class!  Your completed turkey will stand about 9 inches tall and 9 - 10 inches wide. This turkey will make a great centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table/buffet --- and it's calorie free!

Christmas Mini Album
November 27th 11am-1pm or November 28th 6pm-8pm

Cost: $ 17.00

Create this fun Christmas Holiday themed mini album that is chock full of different techniques.

November Classes and Activities

November is shaping up to be a busy month with classes and activities!

"Free" Tool Week October 29th  - November 3rd
Come in to Cafe Crop during regular store hours and use our Classroom Tools for FREE this week.
 The Cafe Crop classroom is equipped with a variety of tools.
          Sizzix Big Shot Machines
          Large selection of original Sizzix dies
          Many Sizzlet alphabets
          Purple Cow paper cutters and Freestyle Mouse with 12 different edges
          Quickuts original handle and large selection of QuicKutz dies and alphabets
          Small selection of punches
          Decorative scissors 
          Circle Cutter with multiple shapes (other than circles) that can be cut
          Idea and quote books
          Samples of projects and page layout

Zentangle 101 October 30th 11:00am-1:00pm 

Cost - $35.00
Learn the art of Zentangle^®
Anyone can do this!  No drawing experience or skills needed.   If you can draw a line with a pen (and it doesn't have to be a straight line) you can create a Zentangle drawing!

Pumpkins on Parade  November 1st-3rd 

Show us your best pumpkin art!  Decorated pumpkins/pumpkin art can be dropped off from Thursday, November 1st – Saturday, November 3rd. Voting will take place November 5th-10th. Click here for more information.

Crop Nights November 3rd, 16th, and 30th 
                               5:00pm-11:00pm
Cost - $15.00
Come to Café Crop and work on your projects – scrapbooks, cards, painting, etc.  Six (6) hours of crafting, snacks, dinner, beverages, and socializing with friends.  Bring your friends or come and meet new friends.  Sign up today! Call or stop in to reserve your seat!  Feel free to come before 5 PM.

 

SIzzix eclips Demo November 3rd 11:00-2:00pm 

Come by and see the eclips in action. We will be demonstrating all of the feature of the eclips, including the Sizzix cartrigdes, the Tim Holtz Stamp2Cut cartridge, and the eCal software.


Iris Folding Style Cards 
          November 6th 11:00am-1:00pm or 
          November 7th 6:00pm-8:00pm

Cost - $15.00
Create a set of elegant Christmas Cards! You will receive the patterns for each shape so you can recreate the designs at home.

All Day Crop November 17th 10:00am-11:00pm
Cost - $25 
Over twelve (12) hours of crafting, snacks, lunch, dinner, beverages, and socializing with friends. Bring your friends or come and meet new friends. Sign up today! Call or stop in to reserve your seat!

Oh My!!!Only half way through the month....Too many activities .... I will list the rest in an another post later this week.
 

Pumpkins on Parade

Do you still like to carve and decorate

pumpkins ...

(I know I do)

here is you chance to show us your best pumpkin art!

Use your imagination and be creative. 

Cafe Crop will be sponsoring a pumpkin decorating contest.

(it doesn't have to be an actual pumpkin - just represent a pumpkin)

Decorated pumpkins/pumpkin art can be dropped off Thursday, November 1^st– Saturday, November 3^rd.  

Vote for your favorite pumpkin art during election week .

   Rules:

• One entry per person.
• Entry must be your own work not items made by someone else (i.e., decoration you bought at a craft fair)
• Nothing that will decompose, rot, turn to mush, etc. can be entered.  Please use non-food / vegetable items!
• Only themes deemed appropriate and family-friendly will be accepted as an entry.
• Drop off your entry between Thursday, November 1^st and Saturday, November 3^rd.
• Entries will be on display the week of November 5^th.
• Entries may be picked up after 4 PM on Saturday, November 10^th.

    Voting:

• All entries will be on display at Café Crop the week of November 5^th.  (Monday, November 5^th – Saturday, November 10^th.)
• Voting
• One vote per person per day
• Voters must be 16 years of age or older
• Anyone found violating the voting rules will have all of their votes disqualified.
• Vote in person during business hours each day:
• Voting will end at 3 PM on Saturday, November 10^th. Votes will be counted and the winners announced at 4 PM.

Prizes:

• 1st prize: $50 Cafe Crop Gift Certificate
• 2nd prize: $25 Cafe Crop Gift Certificate
• 3rd prize: $15 Cafe Crop Gift Certificate

AND the answer is

STAMP FEST at Cafe Crop!!

Wish you had a particular stamp, looking for a certain saying, need ideas....

check out Stamp Fest at Cafe Crop this Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27.
We will be setting out all our store stamps for you to use. 

Come any time Friday or Saturday and register at the Front Counter.
You Bring:

• ink to stamp with
• paper
• acrylic blocks (we have a few that will be available to share)

This is a great way to get a collection of different images for your projects and cards.  We recommend cutting your paper into the size you typically use for images/card fronts.

 Cost: Donation to the Harvest Market (a local food pantry). Click here for a list of items needed.

October's Spooky Tag

 My October Tag for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2012.

I used the Pumpkin Jack, Mini Silly Jack-o-Lantern face and the Halloween Shadows die. Connie used the pumpkin for one of our recent Make It Take It projects and I thought it would work perfect for my tag. I used blues and greens for the background with a yellow moon. I used the Ranger's Clear Rock Candy Dry Glitter for the pumpkin's face and the words. 

It still needed something so I added the little bats on the moon. 

Perfect!

I added one extra surprise.

I just happened to have some glow in the dark paint in my stash. Every time I turned the lights out in my craft room the bottle would glow. Finally found a cool way to use it. I know I will be making a few more of these.

October Classes

Exciting Events for October

Quick Quotes Canvas Frame Shadow Box $30
October 16th 11am-1pm or October 17th 6pm-8pm
Only a few spots left. Drop by or call Cafe Crop (219)661-1624 to register.

Fall Card Class $15
October 23rd 11am-1pm or October 24th 6pm-8pm
Come join us as we create 4 fun cards. The cards use some of the Inky Antics fall stamp sets including one with a "pop-up" surprise.

Stamp Fest $Donation to the Harvest Market 
                 (a local food pantry-check the link for more information)
October 26th and 27th

This is your chance to use ANY of the store's stamps!  We will have all of the store's stamps out and available on Friday and Saturday.  Come at any time on Friday or Saturday and register at the Front Counter.
This is a great way to get a collection of different images for your projects and cards.  We recommend cutting your paper into the size you typically use for images/card fronts.

Zentangle Class $35
October 27th 1pm-3pm
Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being. Zentangle is enjoyed by a wide range of skills and ages and is used in many fields of interest.

Distress Ink / Foam Blending Pad Storage

If you are like me, I hate throwing away or washing the foam blending pads. I kept looking for away to store them. Nothing I found worked for me, so I came up with my own storage solution. This is the revised version, the prototype wasn't as pretty. 

Several people have asked me about this, so I decided to turn it into my first tutorial.

I started with an 8 1/2" by 11" white cardstock paper and drew vertical lines for the velcro strips at 7/8", 3 5/8", 7 5/8"  and at 1 3/4", 2 3/4", 4 1/2", 6 3/4" for foam pads. I also drew horizontal line starting from the top every 1 1/4" This created guidelines for the placement of the label stickers and the foam pads. Repeat on the back side. You have some extra space on the back.

Next I downloaded the Distress Ink labels from the Ranger website (click here). Using the guidelines, I placed the stickers on the cardstock chart by color families, adding in the seasonal colors.

Then I laminated the sheet and added rough strips of velcro (I cut the strips in half to less)  on the lines at  7/8", 3 5/8", 7 5/8" .



 
Now the fun part. I added the foam pads to the laminated sheet. I used the pencil guidelines. To protect it when traveling, I placed it inside a plastic paper storage pouch.

September 2012 Tag

 I'm so excited about how my tag turned out this month. I even turned it into cards for the men in my life.

 

I didn't have the small typewriter, so I have had a great idea....

I used the larger die and cut it out of shrink plastic. I inked it with pitch black alcohol ink and the silver metallic additive. After shrinking it I added foil tape to the back.....perfect.

Here is the paper cut of the die and the finished shrink plastic typewriter.

  Then I made cards for both my husband and my dad. It technique was perfect for my dad who was a sheet metal work. I hope he will like it (I can show it because he doesn't use the computer).

Connie's Totally Terrific Chunky Tags

Check out this Totally Terrific Tag. 

Learn some of Tim Holtz's techniques to make this tag.

Connie has pulled out all the stops on these. She will teach some of her favorite techniques and designs in this last Totally Terrific Tags class.

This tag has a new fun technique for making the snow on the branches.

What a fun way to use Authentique Paper's Curiosity line - learning.

 Learn how to use specialty stamping paper.

Connie's Totally Terrific Chunky Tags   September 29 1pm-3pm

Call or stop by Cafe to sign-up

Altered Fall Project

It's beginning to look like fall inside and out. 

Come join us and create this spook-tacular witch's hat just in time for Halloween.

Check out the details of the spider web....

and the ghosts

Altered Fall Project $22

Sept. 25 11am-1pm or Sept. 26 6pm-8pm

Call or stop by Cafe Crop to sign-up.

School Days Mini Album

Believe it or not, back to school time is here. Looking for a way to preserve those school days memories. Check out the mini album Connie designed using the Authenique's Curiosity papers. 

                 It is loaded with tags and pockets.

 School Days Mini Album  $ 45

This is a multi-part class and may run longer than our typical classes.
Please note the dates and times.  You must attend each part of the class to complete the album.
Part 1:

• Tuesday, September 11, 11 AM - 1 PM
• Wednesday, September 12, 6 PM - 8 PM

Part 2:

• Tuesday, September 18, 11 AM - 1 PM
• Wednesday, September 19, 6 PM - 8 PM