Vintage Heaven

Hi everyone!
So glad to be back to "normal" life after the whirlwind of December, Christmas and the preparations for CHA show.  The date of this years show was so close to Christmas that many of us in the industry sacrificed much (including blogging) to make everything happen in the time frame.  I am looking forward to 2017 when the show will be moved to Phoenix and the date will be more conducive to spending holiday time with family instead of making samples.  So let me jump off my soapbox and let you in on some of the behind the scenes work that took place this last month. 

Today I'm talking about one of the walls that was created for the idea-ology booth.  Tim and I usually start talking about the booth 6 months prior to show.  It's always better to have a plan to work from than throw something together at the last moment.  Even with the advance planning, the right side of the booth seemed lackluster so I looked back through some ideas I has saved and ran across a picture of a backdrop with vintage wallpaper.  I did some research on vintage wallpaper and found a site on Etsy called Hanna's Treasures that sells hundreds of rolls of it.  I put together a virtual inspiration board with the idea, samples and cost and sent it off to Tim to see what he thought.  He sent back an email that said, "go for it!" (that is the kind of guy he is...super positive, always supportive, and is 'all in' when it comes to a crazy idea!). 

Every December, Richele comes to stay for a week and we work on CHA projects together.  This time it included helping me create the walls for the booth.  She is a great partner in crime because she is a hard worker, not afraid of power tools and is willing to try.  Can't ask for more than that!

To prepare, I placed an order for 4 vintage wallpapers and within a week they were delivered.  Jay went to Home Depot and bought 2 wood "skins" (as I like to call them) for $9.97each.  They are super thin wood sheets 48 x 96" (Home Depot calls them a Utility Panel).  Jay had them cut to fit the booth walls (and the back of the Jeep - because if they do not fit in the car, we're in trouble).

Jay painted the skins with some leftover house paint so the surface would be sealed.  Richele as I worked on one panel at a time on my kitchen table.  First we added dictionary pages with Mod Podge since we wanted to break up the wallpaper.  Jay helpd in the drying stage (thank goodness for Heat It tools).

We started laying out the wallpaper (had to plan since we had a limited amount of the vintage wallpaper).  We used Post-it note tape to tape down the pieces where we could (the paper just wants to curl up). 

 Once we had a plan and we had made the proper rips, we got to work adding the paste to the back.

 One by one, we added each paper to the board.

 lol, notice it's now night time?

Lucky for me, I had the pink wallpaper that I had picked up many years previous.  I was digging for something in the craft room and found the rolled up piece.  Talk about serendipity!!

 We moved on to the second board where things got a bit trickier since the paper was running low.

 But we made it work!

The next day, we decided the dictionary paper was a bit too bold so we watered down some white paint and white-washed it.  Much better!
We added a few of the smaller pieces that were left, to the bottom of the boards.

Hard to take of picture of the boards together but we knew we loved the different prints, the text that was purposefully left on, and just the overall look it would bring to the booth.

 The last step was to glaze the entire piece, to knock back the "new" and make it look very vintage.  I did this step so I didn't get any pictures but you can see in these close ups that the glaze makes it complete.  I had the Ralph Lauren glaze in my garage from a previous project.  I do not believe RL sells it anymore but I'm sure others do in the faux finishing section of HD.

I hope you liked reading about the Vintage Wallpaper adventure.  The walls are now at home with me...currently in my living room waiting for a home to live.  I am sure you will be seeing them used as backdrops for future photos! 

Both Tim and Richele have done great posts about the idea-ology booth.  I sure hope you will stop by their blogs to see some great pictures!

 

carry on,

paula

Idea-ology Samples

Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a wonderful weekend (and holiday for those of us in the US).  I'm back today sharing a samples from each of the designers that contributed to the idea-ology booth (I will talk about our Sizzix and Stamper Anonymous sample designers in another post).  I picked one sample from each designer just to show you a broad view of what we had in the idea-ology booth.  Prepare to be inspired!

Jan Hobbins - I love the way Jan can layer product on a 12 x 12 layout.  She easily mixes idea-ology paper, ephemera and trinkets, uses a Stamper Anonymous Layering Stencil for texture and can still fit in die cuts from Tim's Sizzix line.  What I like about Jan's work is that she always surprises me with what she comes up with...it's never the same and never ordinary!

Karen Knight- Karen comes to us by way of Australia!  We loved Karen's tag collages so much that we asked her to add them to a Collection Folio.  You can see that she cut the spine so that it fits along the top of the folio and the pages flip up.  You know you want to see more of this one, right?  Lets hope she shares the rest on her blog.

Cheiron Brandon -  Cheiron created this great 6 x 8" Configurations box for the Correspondence side of the booth, using the new Trophy Cup, Foundry Frame (can't wait for those to come in) and vintage flair buttons.  Cheiron did a great job pulling everything together to create a military spin using a basic Configurations box. 

Vicki Boutin - Dear sweet Vicki...we have worked together many times over the years and she never ceases to amaze me...seriously, what comes out of that brain of hers!  Using an idea-ology Elastic to hold the Trophy Cup in place on the front of the Flip Frame mini book is genius.  I think she is going to be teaching this as a class this year so be on the lookout for that!

Cathie Parreco - Cathie is someone I have followed for a a while now.  Her work with tags is amazing and I always learned something from techniques she uses.  I asked Cathie to go outside her comfort zone (just a bit) and create in 3-D for the booth.  She did not disappoint.  This piece is quite amazing...I have never seen anyone who can cut paper so very delicately.  We had many a discussion in the booth starting with, "how do you think she did it?".  Again, I hope Cathie will show some of her up close work on her blog, just so you can get the full beauty of the many layers of this piece.

Yvonne Blair - Yvonne created this Assemblage Clock with a great coppery patina finish.  She used a picture of her grandfather from his first year in the Coast Guard as her inspiration.  What a great way to showcase such a special memory.  The new Typed Tokens are a new favorite - simple typed words on a lightweight coin (really, the most perfect size).  I found myself using them over and over again in recent projects.

Richele Christensen - My dear friend Richele made so many samples across our 4 booths that it was hard to even pick which one to show here.  I chose this 5 x 5" Configurations box because the use of vintage mixed with idea-ology just makes me happy.  The Pulley Wheels are a favorite (seriously, more things should have wheels!) as well as the Mini Lantern (always a lantern).  Thank you Richele for saying yes to every single thing we asked of you!

Tammy Tutterow - Tammy created some great pieces for the idea-ology booth.  Love when Tammy gets one of her crazy ideas - this time it involved hinging two burlap panels together to create a layered mixed media piece.  From the tiny flowers to the quilted heart, it's classic Tammy.  And I love that.

Aida Haron - Many of you may be familiar with Aida's work, which is layered and super creative.  We asked Aida to work with a Large Collection Folio which she did, creating this fun journal for a 2015 adventure.  Don't you love the man (from one of the Ephemera Packs) peeking out from the Sizzix die cut window? Love the way Aida can layer everything and make it come together seamlessly.
We'll see more of Aida's work when I blog about the Sizzix booth on Friday.

Cathe Holden - We asked Cathe to create a special vintage piece just for us.   Cathe married old and new, bringing together a vintage frame and book, with pieces from the new idea-ology release.  We love it.  Cathe has even posted on her blog, "Just Something I Made" how she created this piece, right down to how she put together faux pocket-frame daguerreotype, using of all things... foam core!  Never would have guessed it!  Just click on her blog name and the link will take you right on over to check it out!

Andrea Ockey Parr - Andrea created this medium Collection Folio using many of our classic papers.  From there she switched it up by adding her signature color scheme.  You may notice that the spine of the folio is only attached by a Swivel Clasp at the top.  Super fun, totally different and unique...just what we were looking for from Andrea!  If you are up for more of Andrea's bright colored art, pop by her blog to see what she's done with Tim's Assembly Snowman die (let's just say, it's not a snowman anymore).

Wanda Guess - Wanda created some fun cards using classic idea-ology product, mixed with a bit of new, like "Photobooth".  These super fun strips come in a pack of 30.  There are 3 photos on each strip, so you get 90 distinct photos per package (and I should mention that they are only $3.99 per pack).  I'm glad Wanda showcased one such photo here, so you can see how easy it is to add to a card along with some ephemera and Wallflower Velum.

Mona Pendleton - Mona created a couple projects for us, one of which was this stunning large Collection Folio.  She based the folio around a trip to Venice, adding in lots of the new Correspondence papers and Pocket Cards.  I have added two photos here just so you could see some of the layers.  Super fun and a great way to document a trip.  This is one of those projects you just want to turn the pages!!

Wendy Vecchi - I have to give a shout out to our friend Wendy.  She created a few pieces for the booth, just because she wanted to.  This was my favorite, using the new Deco Sheets mounted on Clearly for Art, so the flowers could be molded and appear lifelike.  One of my favorite samples using Deco Sheets.  Stunning in it's simplicity.  Please click on the picture so you can see it larger!

And lastly, I'll share my favorite piece.  The new Clip Carousel was the foundation - two tiers, a metal base and a split ring at the top.  Found Relatives were my inspiration and then I just added a bunch of junk.  Pretty darn fun to make, when anything and everything is on the table.  I will write a separate blog post about this piece and show you some close ups, but for today, it's here as my choice for my favorite sample I made.

Well, that's it for today.  Like I said at the top of today's post...total inspiration in the idea-ology booth.  We don't take our jobs lightly...when we say we want to inspire shop owners with our products, our booth and our samples...we mean it.  It takes work and dedication from many people, starting right at the top with Tim.  Absolutely the most inspiring person I have ever worked with.  I'm glad to be on board...because this train shows no sign of stopping.  #lovemyjob

Don't forget, I will be back at the end of the week with the designers that did work for us using Sizzix and Stampers Anonymous product.  You won't want to miss that!

now carry on,
paula

CHA 2015

After a long hiatus from blogging during CHA prep, I'm back today to share our CHA story.  We started the CHA samples way back around Thanksgiving.  Lucky for me, Richele came to visit and ended up staying a week working on samples.  Just something about having a friend across the table to bring out the best in your work.
And yes, we really did have all that stuff out on the desk as one time! I can spot 4 different projects being worked on or thought about, right on that desk.

We don't usually take pictures while we are working since so much is new that cannot be shared before the show.  But I did have this one where we were trying to make a decision about whether or not to add a vintage handle onto a Configurations box?  You will have to wait for the post on samples to know what we decided!

And off we go to CHA - it was beautiful and sunny for the first few days, then we enjoyed some rain for a couple.  Either way, it was great to be in Southern California in Jan!

On the second day of set up - we have Tim's class for Ranger.  We all met up in the lobby of the hotel at 6:15 for our walk to the convention center.  Something weird about going to work in the dark!!

A huge group of us set up the classroom.  So many products to put out! 

 

During Tim's class on Friday morning, the announcement was made about the new Distress Colors that will be released this year.  Super excited about this (although you know about my space problems!)
If you haven't heard - Ranger is releasing 12 new colors of Distress this year.  One color per month throughout 2015.  The first color, Cracked Pistachio is ready for shipping, but the other 11 colors are a mystery.  Each month the color will be revealed and then you can choose to add it to your collection or not.  All products (pictured) will be released in the new color each month. 
For those of us that are huge fans of the Distress Ink Minis, they will released in sets of 4 colors (Jan - April, May - Aug and Sept - Dec) so by the end of the year you can have all the minis too.  2015 proves to be super exciting for the Ranger Distress line!!

 Also something new I don't want to forget to mention...the Minis will now be sold in open stock!

And now on to the booth itself.  Lots of stuff to work with...even more than before since we added a lot of postal props to go with the Correspondence theme.

 Thanks to Mario for a little help getting the cart into place before the lights are hung.

Would you believe this the getting towards the end?  Richele is sorting piles of faux greenery to add to the wall vignettes.  You can see the big crates are still on the show floor waiting to be picked up for storage.

Deb came to help us set up and teach the make and take (which is a lot of work!)  We are so glad she joined us for the show!  I think her make and take ladies would miss her if she didn't come!
You might notice the wall behind Deb with the drawer, boxes and paintbrushes...when you look at the final pictures of the booth, pay close attention as that wall has a major change up once we decide to hang a big hand painted sign (another treasure from Junk Bonanza).  Always in flux right down to the wire!

This year we changed it up and had papers from the new Paper Stash - Correspondence blown up and wallpapered to the sides of the booth.  One of the best decisions we made because it looked amazing! So many people on Facebook thought it was real wallpaper they could purchase.  Not a bad idea, but a dream, since it was made just for the booth. 

And the finished result!

I love the back wall with the old letter wallpaper.  It is of course also one of the papers from Correspondence. 
And seriously are the two black striped suitcases (with an original tag) not to die for?  I'd like to find another set of those in a shop!

 Our center cart with all the stacked suitcases and hanging cage lights.

 The Correspondence side of the booth with our pallet shelf that Art, Tim's neighbor, made for us.

 

Correspondence samples by Jan, Mona and Karen (all be back another day with more about the booth samples and who made them).

May Flaum stopped by the booth to photograph it before the show one day.  So happy she does this since they are the best photos of the booth taken.  Thank you May for letting me share them here.

Please click on any of the photos to see them larger!

 via May Flaum

  via May Flaum

  via May Flaum

  via May Flaum

  via May Flaum

  via May Flaum

  via May Flaum

I thought I would share some up close photos of the vignettes that I took.  I like these spots where the booth props come together to make a magical little spot.

 the wood box is full of old prescriptions

one of my favorites - the letterpress woodblocks stuck to a wood tray Tim and I found a Junk Bonanza

If you haven't read Tim's show recap yet - he has links to video tours of the booth that show a lot of the new product.  You can check that out here.

As I said previously, I will be back soon with closeups of booth samples.  You won't want to miss that!
now carry on,
paula