Pumpkin Video Fun with Crafty Chica

by Leave a Comment

I recently got to visit the Youtube Space LA studios for my work iLoveToCreate!  We filmed several videos there on their Make Lab set that they had set up for part of August and almost all of September.

My friend Kathy a.k.a. The Crafty Chica asked me to come on and talk about my passion for all things pumpkin and of course I said yes!  Check out the video and hear some great tips for taking your Halloween pumpkins to the next level.  I also do a little “magic” in the video that you are not going to wanna miss 🙂

There’s another hilarious video I can’t wait to share with you that  I did with Kathy as well, so stay tuned for that one as well!  We had such a blast filming that day.

Please check out the videos I helped work on for iLoveToCreate as well featuring my friend Pattiewack. You can see them below!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pin It

The girl who threw up at Blogher ’12

by 9 Comments

Yes, you read it right.  That girl is me. I decided to do a personal vlog telling you about my very disgusting experience.  I don’t go into great detail (come on, I’m already admitting online that this happened to me, I don’t need to give you all the gross embellishments).

My friend Kathy a.k.a. Crafty Chica said I must share this story with my readers and fellow Blogher ’12 attendees!  So here is the incredibly play by play of my hurl/spew/barf/puke/throw up moment.  And if it makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit, I take that as a total compliment.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pin It

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

Swell Girl Gone Wild!

by 2 Comments

swell-gone-wild

Do NOT adjust your computer screens my friends!  It is a well known fact, that I’m pretty plain jane when it comes to my hair. I’m not much for coloring or changing up my look.  Last week; however, that all changed when I got a rainbow dyed streak in my hair.

Well, kinda.  It’s a temporary hair extension you can pin into your hair. Haha, you didn’t think I was THAT wild, now did you?

My friend Kathy (a.k.a. Crafty Chica) came to visit in our studios last week and made a bonanza or colorful hair extensions that she gave away.  Of course, it wouldn’t be a Crafty Chica project if there wasn’t a tutorial!  She made this cute video showing how to make them!  They are so easy and affordable to make using the Tulip One-Step Dyes!

And doesn’t her daughter Maya look beautiful.  I love that girl! She does the music in Kathy’s tutorial!

MAya

Thought I’d share my life altering change. Things will never be the same!  LOL!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pin It

Moves like Swelldesigner

by 8 Comments

I’m assuming you can kinda get my goofy humor through some of my postings.  But to really know me is to see this video.  I don’t really have any shame when it comes to making a public spectacle of myself. Eh, I was challenged to “dance like no one was watching”, so I did it and I’m never going to see those people again.  Well, I might see about 10 (my coworkers were there during the filming at Downtown Disney).

Special shout out to video creator Maya of Maya in the Moment (go like her FB page) and her mom Kathy (a.k.a. Crafty Chica who encouraged me to act so darn silly. Oh, and thanks to my co-worker Sam who provided the nice donation at the end.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Pin It

Sugar Skull Pumpkin & Crafts for Dia De Los Muertos

by 3 Comments

Every once in a while, I’m asked to create projects for my work. It’s not too, too often, but usually it is in association with my favorite holiday…you guessed it Halloween! Anyway, here’s one of the cute projects I created using Puffy Paint that’s a hybrid Day of the Dead/Halloween creation I wanted to share. We make TONS of projects for everything from packaging, tradeshows, presentations, and more and not everything moves forward. This was one such project, but it was too adorable not to share!

It blends together my love for Halloween and the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos as it is known in Mexico. It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd and honors family members who have died, while celebrating their life in a fun, colorful way! Here’s a video by my friend Kathy Cano-Murillo, a.k.a. The Crafty Chica, explaining the celebration.

She also shows a lot of fun Sugar Skull Ideas! I love how crafty Dia De Los Muertos is.

Here’s some of my fave Sugar skulls I’ve seen!!!

Sugar Skull Cookies from Children Playing with Fire

Sugar Skull Face Paint from Anna Marie

Sugar Skull Chair from RainbowNSkulls on Craftsy

Soft Sculpture Sugar Skull from Crafty Chica

Do you celebrate Dia De Los Muertos each year? Last year was the first time that I participated in any festivities (at a local coffee shop here in Fresno) . It was really cool!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Crafty Chica Photo Shoot

by Leave a Comment

kathy

Tonight I went out with my friend Kathy (a.k.a. Crafty Chica) for a fun photo shoot and dinner at the Olive Garden. The was lots of hair, laughs, and glitter! We shot all these outside of Yoshi Now in downtown Fresno. I got a lot more cool ones with the graffiti background too! I just haven’t had a chance to process them all.

blowing glitter

extreme

cover girl

sprinkling glitter

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

I’m a craft book junkie

by 2 Comments

Craft Book Junkie 1

I like to read and collect craft books…can you tell? I’m into anything and everything. In my stash I have a wide mix…from sewing and quirky crafts to craft business and jewelry books!

Craft book junkie 3

I’m drawn to the wild and funky stuff! The bolder the craft (and easier), the more likely I’m to pick it up!

I even love crafty novels (if you haven’t already gotten a copy, you have to check out my friend Kathy’s (a.k.a. Crafty Chica) new novel Miss Scarlet’s School of Patternless Sewing. It’s a really fun and cute read!

Craft Book Junkie 2

Here’s a few more of the titles on my shelf. Actually this isn’t all of my selection. I have quite a few more that I didn’t show.

My faves?

– Any book by Crafty Chica, always something innovative and colorful! I followed her books and blog long before I knew her as friend.

– Amy Sedaris books…I love the campiness and photography!

– Margot Potter’s books are always so fun and the step by steps are fab. She is always so thorough and gives pointers for success!

– Love Megan Nicolay’s Generation T books. Such easy to follow illustrations and so many ideas!

Craft Book Junkie 4

And you haven’t even seen my magazine stash. That’s another story!

What’s your favorite craft book?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Fun times at the California Gift Show

by 1 Comment

crafty chica shrine

On Saturday, I attended the California Gift Show. I went to visit my friend Kathy a.k.a. Crafty Chica who was demoing love shrines as well as selling her original art in a booth at the show. In a nutshell, I mainly just hung out, got to see some cool giftwares (couldn’t take pictures though…that’s a no no) and made some cool new friends. Some of the ladies (Sylvia, Lizzy, and Lisa) that went on the Crafty Chica cruise were there and they were a hoot! We had such a great time. Meeting them alone made the trip.

Above is a love shrine that I made in Kathy’s demo make and take booth. Below are some of her wonderful new prints! I love this new empowerment style that she’s taken on. I think a lot of people can relate to them and they are just fun and whimsical!

kathy's art

Oh, and I’m going to be attending CHA at the LA Convention Center (the same place where the gift show was held), so I just want to let you know I prob. won’t be blogging as much this week, but I’ll be back on my game in a week or so. 🙂

And I’m writing this like super early in the morning. Yesterday when I went to bed I had a scratchy throat. I didn’t feel bad, but I was coughing. Tonight I’m feeling a little more icky. I took some Zicam so I better lick this thing. The last thing I want to be is sick at CHA!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

My new nameplate at work and other fun stuff

by Leave a Comment

my-new-nameplate-at-work

Hey guys! Just checking in. Wanted to share with you my funny new chalkboard nameplate that is above my desk at work! Haha. People walking down the hallway see me yelling my name all day! I figure I’m the one that talks the most so it is only appropriate that I have the talk bubble above my head! I did my name in florescent orange Tulip 3D Fashion Paint.

Also, I’m now a member of “Team Create”. It’s for bloggers who blog for iLoveToCreate and use iLoveToCreate products. Admittedly, I also created the little header above for all the team members to use. I think it turned out pretty cute.

In other random news, I made shrinky dinks at Silvia’s house the other night. Kathy went with me. We had a lot of fun! We also watched Glee and were entertained by Joshua.

Here’s two of my creations pre-shrunk…
rainbow shrink

in-one-ear-out-the-other

The earrings totally turned out 2 different sizes. I must have cut them differently. That’s the bummer thing. I spent like an hour just making this one pair!

Here’s Kathy frantically finishing one of her shrinky dink earring sets with commentary by Joshua.

Hope you’ve had a great week!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa