SuzeBlogz

8416 steps

well...today, amazingly, I walked another 4 miles at CHA. I'm so dizzy from everything that it's a good thing I take pictures to help me recall what I did !

Here are some of the exciting displays around the show floor

this is made entirely of paper !!

Advantus booth

body painting...no..I didn't !!

Using Tims gears !!

some of Dyan Reaveley's new stamps with Ranger

Dyans Designer Challenge for Ranger

Graphic 45 always has such incredible displays

Donna Kato does the most magnifient work with polymer clay

Yes...its polymer clay !!!

and from the adorable Donna Downey

and, as always, I'm a big fan of Claudines whimsical style

Using Fabric Markers from Yasutomo (which I loved..thought they wrote beautifully)..remember before I ever rubber stamped or melted I was a calligrapher !! Did this sampler on a T-shirt

more paper dresses

when you're walking...walking...walking all day you bump into friends...wonderful friends..

Heidi Borchers showing off her tin necklace

my darling friend Judith, owner of Woodware UK. We're laughing over who has possesion of Tims clean up rag     !!

a little love fest with Donna Downey who has just become a fabulous redhead !!!

Barbara Trombley, Art Institute Glitter, who sprinkled gold glitter in my hair so I sparkled the entire day !!

Karen Thomas, Yasutomo  and Michael Strong

Suede...from Project Runway

When I see Jenny Doh I always say OMG...and the totally wonderful Margie Romney-Aslett (The Girls Paperie)

Ten Seconds Studio...Cheryl & Megan Darrow

My very good friend Julia Andrus of Eco Green Crafts fame

The vivacious Marissa Pawelko

and we'll conclude todays blog with TV's famous Vanna White

will there be more tomorrow...oh, you betcha !!!

still gotta tell you all about dinner tonight !

 

overload...overload

Oh Lordy...according to my FitBit pedometer I walked 8,003 steps today...picture that !!! I'm gonna need a walker soon.

and.....waaaaay too much to post in one sitting...plus...the time change has me majorly screwed up & I am really tired tonight....but...here goes anyway

so...while the people back east face this

we are walking around this !!

and the folks who stopped at the Advantus booth...

got to make this

at the Ranger booth Wendy was very busy

demonstrating her new Clearly for Art using alcohol inks and pigments inks...together no less !

and displaying some of her wonderful work

and someone new...The UK's Dyan Reavley has a stamp line with Ranger...her work is very edgy but also very fun and features really terrific bright colors

and of course Tim was demoimg

and Claudine popped up as well...    !!

to show us her fun stamps and ink techniques

Ranger always has its very unique Ranger Designer Challenge. Here are a few of the displays....I'll save more for another day

from Patti Behan

running into friends...best part of any show...ever !

The Lovely UTEE Princess

Lisa Pace

Joe Morgan and Joe Rotella..the BEST guys

The clay Goddess Lisa Pavelka

The jewelry queen & impatient crafter Miss Margot Potter herself and Design Originals pure original Suzanne MacNeil

The Crafty Chica herself Kathy Cano-Murillo

the always happy master of clay Marie Segal

my yummy bunny Lisa Kettel

and more yummies...Bonnie, Patti, Kimberly and Julianna

and then...ta da....my gorgeous delicious waxy girlfriends from WaxWorksWest

plus...Miss Creative 365 days a year herself Carmi Cimicata (l) behind me , shy girl Wendy Aikin, in red Daniella Woolf and Judy Stabile.

ok..there'll be more coming tomorrow....hopefully...after our Ranger big dinner..but for now...well folks..I'm dead & I'm going to sleep !!! !

Bye Snow...Hello LA

I'm not missing you AT ALL

Hopped the plane for CHA and, with even MORE snow predicted, we TOOK OFF ! Yea!!!

Checked into the coolest, funkiest hotel in LA..the Figueroa

The "Fig", as it is known, was built in 1925. It is a former YWCA residence that has been transformed into a sort of Moroccan, sort of Indonesian style hotel. My kind-a-place ! The hotel has a colorful, romantic feel to it with a laid back ambiance.

I stayed here about 20 years ago when I was doing some work for Rubber Stampede. I'd forgotten how wonderful it was.

here's something so fun about The Fig...

There isn't a specifically identified spirit, but a number of strange things happen at this hotel. It is said that eerie sounds emanate though the hallways and rooms. Televisions turn themselves on and refuse to turn off. The elevators move up and down on its own, stopping on certain floors. When the elevator doors open, no one is there.

are we humming the twilight zone theme yet ???

but, you know, based on the stuff in MY house, this is right up my alley. I wanna take it all home 'cept The Lenster would be asking "Where are we gonna put it" !!! DUH...is that important ???!!!

The twelve story hotel sits among the skyscrapers & billboards of downtown Los Angeles.

The lobby looks romantic, with high beamed ceilings and tall columns. Furnishings are called medievalist, with big floor pillows made of Kurdish grain sacks, Persian kilims and exotic fabrics hanging from the ceiling.

I keep wanting to ask...DO YOU SHIP !!!!???

In keeping with the Moroccan theme, the public areas and special venues of the hotel have names like Rabat, Rick's Place, Club Fes, Nomad Lounge, Room Tangier, and Blue Door. The guest rooms have romantic names too such as Casablanca, Badia, Medina, Marrakesh and Maroc.

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and...who is the first person I run into???

the always gorgeous, effervescent Julia Andrus !! Eco Green Crafts! She and her team are staying here too

the rooms here are fun too

well...now I need to adjust to the 3 hour time change...tomorrow is gonna be a busy fun filled day !

Expect Pictures !

The baby

today was a beautiful day...they said snow...but it hasn't happened yet, so that made the 2 hour drive to Scarsdale, New York worth the trip. Plus..Scarsdale is SUCH a yummy area.

and why did we go there?

Well...today was the Bris (actually called a Brit Milah)  of our friend Pams first grandbaby, a little boy named Morgan Grant.

We adore Pam. Her husband Mike was one of our best friends too and he passed way just a few years ago from complication of diabetes. The fact that this baby was a boy being named for him made todays event even more teary and more special at the same time.

Pams daughter Heather is Morgans mommy and, fortunately for him, she's also a pediatrican !!

now...not to gross anyone out or have anyone going YUCK or think its barbaric..... but a Brit Milah is...the "covenant of circumcision". It is a Jewish religious ceremony performed on an 8-day old male infant by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal. You can learn more HERE.

lots of people gathered but few actually 'watch'...!!

 
Grandpa gets to hold the baby as an honor while the procedure takes place. I know..I know..it sounds much worse than it is....believe me...the baby cried once and it was done !!!

Heather and Marc explained how they arrived at the name Morgan Grant which had every single one of us crying.  In Judaism we name for the dead and when Heather talked about her dad....well....you can imagine. This was a very personal thing for us because our tight knit group were with Mike in the hospital room the night he passed away.

Grandma Pam (l), new aunt (Heathers sister)  Lauren and great grandma Sue. A real blessing for them.

and for all of us too !

Mazel Tov

Elephants !

when our group from temple gets together for a function you can count on it being hysterical. And, so it was last night when we held a white elephant dinner for about 40 people.....

Everyone who came brought some type of wrapped gift. The point is, you're never supposed to find out who brought what.

now, some people take this whole white elephant thing very seriously and brought some really awful items..!

a plastic crab and fish....hmmm

Poor Jodi !! Not even Boxer Briefs at that !!

items you KNOW no one will steal away from you and you're stuck with them forever !

But, we usually try to run our white elephant with somewhat decent but fun gifts cause we want everyone to steal them away.

so, first we pick our numbers

Rabbi gets to go

alas..he gets a chocolate Fondue maker and he's praying someone will steal it...no such luck !

Barbara fought long and hard to keep that silly SNUGGIE..it came with a book....the book got passed around...

I get to go up...I was #10. I get a cake tray...not bad

it lasted 2 minutes and the next person up stole it, so I had to go again

dont even remember what I got but someone stole it....back and forth...

when I got to go again I wanted the bowl that Judi got

so I stole it from her

but then....someone stole it from me (not Esther here who fancied it as a hat)

and I was back up again..this time it was a scanner...

which Bernie (who we also went to Israel with ) wanted it and stole it from me !!! It was total hysterics

meanwhile...The Lenster who got 2 great bottles of wine as his 'prize' has a lot of steals too...he was practically crying with laughter...

and had repeated tries for something worthwhile

like this jeweled ice bucket

which got stolen within minutes !!! and what did we eventually wind up with....Oy Vey

scented stuff....

and a wonderful buffet dinner

and Connies magnetic clasp bracelet picking up anything metal she came in touch with...making eating just a tad difficult !!!

 

and a zillion laughs with my fabulous friends

OH...just one more thing.....as I was leaving the restaurant I caught a glimpse of myself in the glass door. There was a decorated mirror behind me...

well...I'll let it speak for itself.....LOL

 

so much to do

all in one day....

in the morning...rush, rush..off to the bead show about 60 minutes from home

catch up with Priscilla Marban who hand makes these amazing beads, some from sawdust. I am fascinated by her stuff.

she also carries other beads & pendants from the Phillipines

 
then it was great to run into FaceBook friend Meg Fillmore (and her mom Moggie) who own Bead My Love. Bead My Love sells gorgeous seed beads and beautiful hand embroidery. And they also sell some terrific KITS.

Talk about an exciting collaboration....Meg and Priscilla have collaborated on a kit featuring Priscillas Bird pendant and Megs seed beads. Available thru Bead My Love .

Here is one that Meg has made

and some of the kits..just $25

and of course it comes in different colors.

Here's more of Megs own work, including the image

whats even more amazing is that she has beaded the chain

Meg also has her own kits: The Cab & Caboodle Cabochon kits. Here are some of those

so...you get the idea, I'm sure
Meg holds retreats so, If you'd prefer to call and ask questions (tell her I sent you !) she's at 302-542-7422

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I always look forward to running into Beth Botak from Kabela Designs

Kabela has lots of vintage looking items that are so popular today, but she has a little different spin on it

her things are all unusual and there's always room in the world for lots of different vintage type designs !!!

then The Lenster and I zoomed around the room picking up some other goodies from

some 'button mushrooms' at Eureka Crystal Beads

and we continued to fill up a nice big bag with goodies after about 2 hours of "shopping" !!

as we left I got a fast glimpse of blackbirds on the electrical cables..and you know how popular birds are today

I wonder if THEY know how popular they are ???

and then, just as quickly they flew across the street for something better to eat !!!

tomorrow I'll tell you all about the fun we had tonight after we rushed home to change clothes.....

...promise

in with the new

 and the award goes to:

it will be coming out at CHA and it's really faaaahbulous. I got to play with these colors for my CHA Designer Project for Ranger.

Here's a little glimpse into portions of that piece

These new colors were applied over parts of the overall piece (thats a UTEE butterfly BTW) , but it's the application of Perfect Pearls Mists over the total finished piece that really excites me.

I have discovered that PP Mists can be spritzed over beeswax. They form droplets.... but then...they dry like that. Shimmery. It's my new favorite thing.

see that gorgeous purple and those sunny cheeks...the new Perfect Pearls ! YES !!

guess what else is coming...new STICKLES color

and some other very exciting things...

Foil Tape in sheets. Whats great about that...?

well...they are sticky back, can be colored with lots of Ranger products, including alcohol inks & Claudines Studio Paints and put through your Cuttlebug or similar system.

and then there is the new addition of one of my OLD favorites...

Ta Dah

years and years ago I showed how to put shrink plastic in the melting pot...remember??? well...you'll have to give that a try. Stamp on it using Ranger Archival or StaZon. Melt some clear UTEE. Add some To Dye For into melted UTEE. Then drop in your Shrink Plastic.

and lets not forget Claudines newest...

Hand-drawn by Claudine, these images are based on her illustrative artwork and are ideal for using with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints and Mediums, as well as Ranger Inks.

Yes...there are lots more new things...but I can't give you everything at once, can I ??

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CHECK IT OUT : I've been enjoying a photography website I recently discovered...Kent Weakley. He does some interesting e-classes. His latest will be on Night Photography plus he's got some interesting mini video How Tos

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dont forget that the SKETCHBOOK Project 2011 is just about wrapping up. The tour starts in February

and HERE ARE THE DATES its coming to YOU

see ya in Brooklyn !!!

helper bee

A visit today from an old friend, Donna Bayne, who lives in the Poconos...as in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Donnas dad was the first original chemist at Ranger...then he retired. Donna is the owner of the RangerInkLink list on Yahoo and keeps us all informed as to whats happening over at Ranger.

When Donna stops by we go through my garage...aka the Disaster area...because I love to unload my stuff on her !

she's even more amazed than the last time she came by ! The Lenster loves when Donna visits cause he knows she's gonna help put a big dent into the...Disaster area !

Donna has a heart of gold and likes to give to her local schools that dont always have the funding for craft supplies. I'm thrilled to oblige

then we went for lunch

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I gotta say Thank You to the lovely readers who sent me comments and emails telling me how much they loved the necklaces I've been posting....I am thinking about an ETSY store...should I? I only have one neck...what am I gonna do with all these things I've been making ???!!!

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well....Its American Idol season again and I am already in looooove. I was sure that things would be boring without Simon and they were anything BUT. This is gonna be a great season..love the judges..love the vibe !

 

you???

the rewards of playtime

I think I've mentioned a few times before that I am in love with the Industrial Chic line from Susan Lenart Lazmer that sells at Michaels.

it makes my little heart go pitter-pat. I have single handedly paid Michaels mortgage every time I go in there and scoop up a few more of her wonderful edgy, artsy trinkets.

Tonight I finally put them all together and made a choker

now, truthfully..there is nothing brilliant about doing this. You don't need any great imagination...this isn't like doing lovely beadwork...you just string them on as you see fit

and, after a few hours of moving, removing, adding, taking away, centering and glancing in the mirror eight hundred times...VOILA...you have your choker !!! Of course I can't exactly hold my head up too well...it's a tiny bit weighty...but do I care??!!

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then I moved on to making some presents...

(you know who you are..tee hee)

I love the altered blanks from Vintaj...I stamped on it. with Ranger archival.

look...sushi!!

more sushi..

on to the next one....

this one involved UTEE, a Ranger Memory Frame and a rubber stamp

I actually took one of the 2X2 Memory Frames and twisted it into this diamond shape. That leaves the attached jump ring off center, which is very cool.

You simply lay the frame on your rubber stamp and pour UTEE over it. When it hardens it will take on the design. Then brush Perfect Pearls over it to bring out the raised design.

last project of the day, using a real bone center piece

Boy, I had such a great time today....I accomplished a lot and I find it incredibly relaxing.

and you? what did YOU do today ?? Please dont tell me you cleaned your craft room.

Commemoration

I'm pretty lucky that I'm NOT a football wife!

While 99% of America stayed in tonight to watch the JETS win (yes..I AM happy they won) The Lenster went on a business trip and I went to a wonderful commemerative service in honor of Martin Luther King.

This is a yearly commemorative.

All of the local clergy...Christian, Muslim & Jewish take part in this service. Each year it is held in a different place of worship. This year the gorgeous Catholic church right near my house, Church of St. Robert Bellarmine, Freehold, NJ hosted.

The clergy marches in

a choir of mixed church voices sang..it was fabulous

nothing like a rousing organ to sing to.

there were readings from The Quran, and Jewish & Christian scriptures, all of which were really wonderful. Then we watched the original "I Have a Dream" speech on multiple large screens in the sanctuary

the service wasn't as crowded as in past years because they unfortunately picked the same night as both the football game and the Golden Globe awards  ...

well, the people who missed it really missed being in a beautiful church and being part of a very moving service.

the service concluded with three clergy, Christian, Jewish & Muslim doing the same prayer in Arabic, Hebrew & English. The Arabic and Hebrew were chanted.

then...we joined together in singing "We Shall Overcome"

Martin Luther King would have been 82 yesterday

R.I.P