Monday, September 28, 2009

Provo Craft/Costco Road Shows

Ok everyone, I have a new gig! I am going to be doing Costco Road Shows representing Provo Craft! I am pumped, excited, thrilled, and can hardly wait to do my demo at the end of October. These are Costco stores in the mid-west and they are going to have deals on the Cricut original machine, Cricut Expression, cartridges, essential tools pack like you have never seen before! I actually atteneded training down in Chicago last week and the Provo Craft folks are simply fantastic! I was so impressed by their knowledge and professionalism! I am so excited to be working with them!

So stay tuned for more details about my new Provo Craft adventures! I am not the only one doing these either and they are being held at several locations. If you want to know if a Costco/Provo Craft Road Show event is happening in your area of the mid-west (Wisconsin, Indiana, or Illinois) please send me an e-mail and I am happy to give you dates and locations close to you! lfalduto@charter.net

Friday, September 25, 2009

Giveaway from Scrap Fest!!!


Ok, as promised here is the giveaway! I have 2 kits exactly as shown that include the Cosmo Cricket Ready Set Chip, Class kit with full step by step instructions, and frame all from the Early Bird collection! Want to win?

Leave a comment on this post by Wednesday September 30 telling me why you want to win this kit and what you will do with the frame once it is made? Will you place it in a certain room? Give it as a gift? Another creative use? Let me know!

If you want additional entries send your friends over to my blog, have them add themselves as a follower and post a comment that they added themselves and that you sent them over. For each friend you send to do this that is not already a follower you get an extra entry!

I will draw the two winners on Thursday October 1st!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Scrap Fest photo and giveaway!!!


Ok, above you see a photo of the Cosmo Cricket booth at the Mall of America during Scrap Fest. The Archiver's folks said that they had sold 12,000 badges for the event. That is a lot of Scrappers in one place!

Stay tuned to my blog for a Scrap Fest related giveaway this week! Maybe I will even do more than one so check back often!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Scrap Fest Recap

I am home from Scrap Fest and what a fantastic event it was! I have to admit I am pretty tired! Long days, lots of talking, lots of fun, lots of energy, and just plain lots of time involved in paper crafting! So let me give you a little recap of my time at the Mall of America and Scrap Fest!

I arrived on Thursday and did a bit of shopping first. Later that day it was off to dinner with Michelle (Paper Crafting friend) and we had the nicest time catching up. It had been 2 years since we met at CHA Summer in Chicago and I was so excited Michelle had contacted me since she lives in the area! We had a wonderful dinner and a good amount of time finding out what each other has been up to!

Next it was off to meet up with Julie and Lindsay from Cosmo Cricket. They had just finished the vendor meeting and we were meeting to check into the hotel followed by booth set up later that evening. We didn't get to bed until 1:00 am and then it was up again Friday morning at 6:00 am to begin make and takes and teaching classes.

I taught the Happy Days Frame class and Julie taught a layout class. We both love teaching and Lindsay loves coming along to help. Now if I could just find a way to keep that microphone in my hands instead of his!

Make and takes at the event go from 9:00-5:00 and then after that we were off to the crop around town at the Eden Prairie Archiver's location. Each year Cosmo Cricket sponsors a Crop at the event and it is always a blast! Was a great group again this year and I always enjoy going around and talking to everyone and seeing what they are working on. Julie had a class planned for the crop and I assisted with that while Lindsay handled the fun, games, and prizes.

Saturday brought more make and takes, and we actually did not have a crop on Saturday night. Originally we planned to have dinner and play board games in our room that night but after dinner we were all beat and went back to the room to sleep!

Sunday starts at 11:00 so we were able to relax a bit before beginning classes and make and takes again.

I have to say that it is so much fun going to this event each year. Although I am in touch with Julie and Lindsay year round, this is the one chance I have to actually spend time with them and it is always so much fun! I have also met so many people at this event that return year after year and always stop to say hello. I also meet new people each round and hope that I will see them again the following year.

Special thanks to Sandra who dropped off a bag of very healthy treats on Friday. They were great to have in the booth to keep our energy levels up. Tami also deserves a thanks for the great goodie bag she dropped off on Sunday. It is so sweet of those folks to think of the manufacturers at Scrap Fest and know how many hours are put in to the event and how little time we have to eat along the way. Knowing so many care is wonderful and heartwarming. We also had others who dropped off fortunes or pieces of candy, or just stopped to chat and say hello.

I must admit I am really dragging today. But for me it is all worth it because for an entire 3 days I am involved with fellow crafters doing what we all love and are passionate about. So for the many of you I met and got a minute or two to chat with, thanks so much for taking the time to connect. I loved meeting and talking to each person along the way and I hope to see all of you again next year!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Where will I be?

It is that time of year again for me....the annual Archiver's Scrap Fest event at the Mall of America in Minnesota! I love Scrap Fest! I have been fortunatate enough to attend as a participant and then the last 3 years I have gone to teach, work the crops, and the make and take booth with Cosmo Cricket. So this year is no exception.......a total Cosmo Cricket weekend for me and I love it. Julie and Lindsay will be there and they are so much fun to hang out with.

If any of you plan on coming please make sure you stop by the Cosmo Cricket booth and say hello while you are there! Just ask for Lisa if you don't know what I look like and someone will find me!

This is my last post until next Monday the 21st. Then I will be back to tell all of you about Scrap Fest. If you have specific questions post them below and I will answer them as part of my follow up post!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Donna Downey classes!!!



Ok, as promised I am going to share a couple of images of things I did in the Donna Downey classes that I took this past weekend!

Both pictures are sample pages from a couple of the album projects we worked on in class and obviously they are not complete. the smaller samples are done using watercolor crayons. I've not used these before and I really enjoyed coloring first and then watching the water pool and swirl the colors. This was really fun and I love the swirly look of each color melting into the other.

So anyone want to place bets on when I will finish these? LOL

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

My weekend

Watch my blog, I will be posting pictures sometime this week!

Last weekend I was able to attend 3 classes by Donna Downey in Waukesha, WI. I came away very inspired and with so many new techiques. Mind you, the projects are not completed yet but I will take some pics of parts of each class so you can see. I tried modeling paste, watercolors, watercolor crayons, working on canvas, and so much more! It was a great experience and if you are ever able to take any classes by Donna, you will learn a great deal and come away with new inspiration!

Stay tuned for those photos coming soon!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Project freebies!!!



As some of you know, I do two projects each month for Wausau Paper Creative collection. These are step by step instructions along with a supply list so you can recreate the project yourself. One is more of a beginner project and the other is a more advanced project. Above are a couple of peeks for the projects that just went up for September. Below is a link to the September projects plus the past months I have done as well. So head over to get your free projects today!

http://mywpcreativecollection.com/BeCreative/Project-of-the-Month/archive.aspx

To be added to their newsletter e-mail list for reminders about projects of the month and other great news about happenings at Wausau Paper Creative Collection follow the link below-

http://mywpcreativecollection.com/KnowCreative/Newletter.aspx

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Jolly by Golly project and chance to win!


Alrighty, I had some creative time this afternoon and this evening and finished the Jolly By Golly project as promised! As you can see from the photo I altered a Noel Christmas stocking hanger. I actually found this at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $1.00 a few months ago and have been waiting to alter it. So do you want a chance to win?

Here is what I am going to do...

This stocking hanger would be perfect for a Christmas stocking that measures 5" wide by 10" in length. So I want you to create a stocking that will coordinate with this Noel Hanger. You don't have to use Jolly By Golly (unless you have it and then I'd love to see what you create with it) but you do have to coordinate the colors. So use cardstock or other papers you have laying around. Or if you have been dying to pick up Jolly By Golly, now would be a good time!

1. Create your stocking
2. Post a link to the photo of your stocking on this blog post comment thread no later than Wed Sept 9th (that gives you one week)
3. On Thursday September 10th I will randomly draw a winner from all those that entered the create a Christmas stocking challenge!

The winner will get a nice little mini collection of Earth Love by Cosmo Cricket!

So what are you waiting for? Get creating!

It was a tie!

Ok, I have 6 for Earth Love and 6 for Jolly By Golly. So time for a coin flip! Heads is Jolly By Golly and tails is Earth Love. Ok, have a quarter, flipping, letting it land on the floor, and it is....

HEADS!

Ok, Jolly By Golly it is! So I will create something fun using that line and have it up today or tomorrow. So make sure to come back to see! For you Earth Love lovers, please do come back as well because I will create something fun with that line next, ok? I can't leave you guys out!