My Crafty Couture Dress at the CHA show

by Leave a Comment

My CHA Dress

I went to the Craft and Hobby Association Summer 2012 show last week and I had a blast getting to hang and meet lots of new crafty friends!

CHA Crafty Couture detail

The weeks leading up to the show was crazy.  I took on a task that I don’t normally do, I challenged myself to design a dress for the CHA Designer Crafty Couture Challenge. Crafty Chica encouraged me to take the project on and though I was a bit nervous, the end design really paid off! My friend Aunt Peaches was kind enough to send me photos she took at the show of my dress.  She recapped the show and her time in the iLoveToCreate booth on her blog!

alexa-dress-trim

I along with 5 other designers were chosen to have our dresses featured in an upcoming issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. I was so excited and totally didn’t expect it.

318756_10150954381173235_1523687640_n

My two crafty besties, Kathy (The Crafty Chica) and Pattiewack also are going to have their dress published in the magazine! We were all tickled pink for each other!

Winners of Crafty Couture at CHA

Here’s a pic of all the winners on display.  Candy had the fan favorite dress! It was a steampunk dream! As soon as I saw it, I knew it would win!

To see some of the other fun and amazing dress design, see Craft Test Dummies recap of the CHA Crafty Couture dresses.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pin It

Getting my artsy photography on at #CHAShow

by 4 Comments

New Tulip® Sparkle paints

For the past 8 days, I’ve been away at the Craft and Hobby Association doing social media for iLoveToCreate! The week involved setting up, working the booth (taking photos, doing interviews, tweeting, etc.), and then tearing down the booth. I’m finally home and all the days feel like one big blur! I love going to CHA cause I get to meet so many cool people and all my online friends as well as get to see the excitement people have creating with iLoveToCreate products and other crafts! I swear, one of my favorite moments was watching a little boy jump up and down upon being handed a hobby kit by the booth next to us. The smile on his face and the excitement that he had in his heart is why I love this industry so much. In the end, that’s what it is supposed to be about!

Outside and inside our booth, I was drawn to the abounding artfulness in the booths and pretty products (like the new Tulip® Fashion Glitter paints and transfer sheet project above)! Many of which were photo worthing, so I thought I’d share them with you! These are some of the projects and colorful creations that made me drool!

yarnopalooza
Yarn wall at Lion Brand.

Tulip Body Art Glitter in our booth
New Tulip® Body Art Glitter in our booth!

pop o' color
Paper flowers on black and white wall at Savvy Stamps

cute as a cupcake
Cute glitter cupcake from Doodlebug Designs

Amazing display at Midwest Design Imports #CHAShow
Feather mannequin heads by Midwest Design Imports.

paper and felt dresses
Felt dresses by Suede for Craftwell.

Cool Xyron Art #CHAshow
Cool Xyron booth art!

bird on a wire
Bird on a Wire Lanterns by Hambly Studio

Amazing yarn sculpture
Amazing yarn sculpture at Lion Brand.

Now it’s time to get back to work and to sleep! Haha!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Recap and the week ahead

by Leave a Comment

finished earrings

The weekend is over, sorry to say. I need just one more day. Oh, man, I rhyme. Anyway, I got my sunglass earring project up on www.venuszine.com. I think it turned out pretty cool. It’s a good way to recycle some old shades into something totally cool…check out the link here

I went on the search for shoes this weekend for CHA. I wanted to get a pair of black flats that could be dressed up or down (ones of the everyday wear variety). I went with my friend Jessica yesterday and picked out a pair with a little peep toe, but after I purchased them and really thought about it, I was disapppointed with them and decided I wanted something else. So, I went on the hunt again today at this place called G.B.’s Shoe Warehouse. They had so many shoes! I didn’t find the perfect pair I had envisioned in my head, but I did walk away with some cute ones that are going to be very comfortable. The insole has contoured padding and little bubbles, so they are very cushy.

I also went today to this 1/2 price books place. It bought and sold new and used books. It was a really cool store and I found several craft titles that they don’t carry anywhere else in Lexington. I was impressed by that. I also picked up the Amy Sedaris craft book for a steal and a book to read on the plane to LA.

I completed all my projects and articles for Creative Techniques and I’m glad to have that off my shoulders. I personally find the step by steps to be very tedious, cause you have to tell them exactly how to use the program (I was teaching them how to do techniques in Photoshop Elements 4). Anyway, it is so easy for me to whip through it and do it, but telling it is so time consuming. One set of detailed instructions takes me 2-3 hours. I work hard for the money.

Gotta finalize some stuff this week…finish up some jewelry, pack, clean my place, take care of financial stuff, etc. before I go. I know I’ll get it together. I’m not too stressed like I was last week. Work, friend stuff, and getting stuff in by deadline was kicking my butt. I seriously think I was suffering from exhaustion. Hopefully this week will be better smooth sailing.

Ho hum

by Leave a Comment

recoil

I’m in a little bit of a mood. I wasted another perfectly good night. I would be really hard on myself for the lack of accomplishment, but someone told me that yesterday was the day that people were most likely to commit suicide…so there just has to be something with moods and sadness with this time of year. Don’t worry about me in the least…I’m not that bad off. I just have been in your typical rut. Don’t want to create…don’t want to be productive on anything else for that matter. Just want to sit around, watch the tube (unfortunately, as you know, there’s nothing good on – though I did catch American Idol tonight), and take a photo or two.

I did attempt to look for shoes tonight for CHA at Kohls. I never find anything I like at Kohls. They have some cute accessories (love me some Relic brand and Candie’s Jewelry), but I get really frustrated with the clothing choices. It’s not just Kohls…I struggle with finding clothing places that reflect my style and body type. I’m not a junior, but I’m not a miss either. I feel like most of the Misses clothes are too conservative…I prefer the junior styles but they don’t fit me. There’s no one store that I really like that carries my sensibilities (bright and basic with a twist). Is this too much to ask for? This is another thing I am really bummed out about…I can’t find two of my most favorite pairs of black shoes, inparticular a pair of flats that I got at Target last year that I love. They are really comfortable and cute and I would like to wear them to the show, but for the life of me, I have no clue where they are. Actually, I questioned their whereabouts a couple of months back (thought I left them at a friends house), but he says they aren’t there and I have no other clue where they could be other than some nook and cranny in my house that I haven’t surveyed. I really don’t want to have to spend $40 or so bucks on another pair of mildly comfortable shoes. The other pair is a basic pair of pointy-toed dress pumps, and I love wearing them with jeans. What is a girl to do?

Also, something I am bummed out about is the fact that I ordered Photoshop Elements for my Mac and it hasn’t come in. I got highly suspicious and called Amazon about it…turns out I entered the wrong address. I had been hoping to have it to get a jumpstart on my CT projects, but I guess it is Murphy’s Law, huh? I just can’t seem to get it together. The reason I have to have this version is because I have to write step by step instructions using that program. The more advance Photoshop version that I normally use isn’t complicated to me, but it doesn’t use the same menu or functions that the Elements version does…it has caused me a headache in the past, so I just gave in and purchased it. Nothing can be easy.

I am going tomorrow night to my friend Retta’s house for Mexican. I’m looking forward to it. I have a group of friends, here in Lex, that I hang out and take photos with. They are my Flickr friends. I have made 5-7 friends locally through Flickr and it has lately been to blame for my photo obsession. I just need to come up with some really cool projects to do with them.

And on a final note, I was looking through a CHA magazine today, and there was a photo of Suze Ormen inside and she looked a little possessed. I don’t know. I’ve never been to CHA, but I would have no interest in seeing her speak. I guess she can give her insight on the business end of crafting, but eh, seems kinda boring to me. Maybe I might be proven wrong, I don’t know.