Let the Sparks FLY!

yup.....its time. Spark registration opens today. sooo excited!

& in celebRation....how about some close ups of the flowers I made the other night on the craftshow.  And, next week,  I'll have step by steps & tips & tricks to go along with the video so you can ramp up for Mother's Day!

Here's a little flower garden to get you excited....happy weekend, happy Spark Registration day, happy May Day, happy National Scrapbooking Day!

psssttt.....

shhh. Heidi's out of town for her birthday, but don't you think she'll LOVE this flower as a gift? :)

Spark info...

and....the countdown is on & we just announced a little bit more info about some of our teachers for Spark No. 2....
can you say...giddy? yea...we are!
remember: registration is this Saturday....more info HERE!
we'll be adding more info in the next day...so be watching!
p.s. just added all the detes....go ch*check it!

Blog Hoppin': Silhouette Style

so fun...today is a day for you to blog hop all over the place to super talented blogs that will be sure to uplift & inspire you in using your Silhouette!



So, w/o further ado: my Silhouette came in awfully handy when I needed to spruce up my House of 3 Graduation kit party! Check out the vinyl '10 on my bottles of blue gatorade. mmmm! cut it out on my Silhouette & added with the House of 3 Grads kit for a fun theme party!

blog love starts here & I'll link to Karla Dudley. um...can I just *say*? everyone is sooo amazing using their Silhouette.
check it out:
Starting with the Silhouette blog, they link to HowDoesShe.com:


HowDoesShe.com links to Jennifer McGuire:


Jennifer McGuire links to Janet Hopkins:


Janet Hopkins links to Wendy Sue Anderson:


Wendy Sue Anderson links to Nichol Magouirk:


Nichol Magouirk links to Jen Gallacher:


Jen Gallacher links to Robyn Werlich:


Robyn Werlich links to Kerri Bradford:


Kerri Bradford links to Shari Carroll:


Shari Carroll links to Erin Lincoln:


Erin Lincoln links to moi:


Rhonna Farrer links to Karla Dudley:


Karla Dudley links to Vicki Boutin:


Vicki Boutin links to to Elizabeth Kartchner:


Elizabeth Kartchner links Kelly Purkey:


Kelly Purkey links back to Silhouette:

& there you have it...plenty of fun for your Thursday to get you all revved up for our special #2 in the series of our LIVE Webshows....May 19th!

*ahem* and did I mention a sale on shapes (.75 per shape this week) and 10% off subscriptions as well as a "buy two get one free" on products in the store???? uh. yea. it's a goood Silhouette day!

DIY fabric flowers for Mother's Day

Thanks so much, everyone! It was so much fun tonight showing you the FAB*ric flowers & grad stuff for CELEBRATIONS!!!!
Here's the video & as promised, I'll have up close shots & step by steps so you can see a little bit better!




& the winners of the flowers were:

headband: Tracy Loring
Traci Severson got the bracelet!
Jenny got the flower pin
& Edith got the fab big flower!
congrats!

mmm*wah! good night!

Get ready....

for a few upcoming COOL things at House of 3.
1. Our Monthly Design House Projects...prepare to be inspired!

2. Wed. April 28, A time to Celebrate. I'll be hosting our LIVE Webshow at 7:00 pm MDT & share some ideas & inspiration on Mother's Day flowers, gifts, & cards, as well as Graduate celebrations with new & existing House of 3 kits!

Some days....you just need to hang on.

Just a quick blog post to my friends...you know who you are. Don't give up on ....hope.
Yesterday was such a sun*shiny day. Blue skies. blossoms everywhere. so glad I had my camera!
Today: grey skies & rain.
hmmm...isn't that how life is sometimes?
The great thing is: there's hope that tomorrow will be sunny! I've seen it before. I know it will come again.

So...to my lovies....hang in there! ....I'm thinkin' about you....

And, congrats to: Alicia! I'll be sending you one of my FAVE things to cheer up any space:
A House of 3 Wall art LAMP! woohoo!

Tonight: same time (7:00 pm MDT) & place,
join House of 3 for another LIVE Webshow. Heidi will be working her magic with Glimmer Mist again...mmmm! so excited! And, for next week, gear up: I'll be doing a whole show on gift giving for upcoming events in our lives: Mother's Day & Graduation!

see you soon!

Studio 5: Digital Design banners

Coupon code can be used once. After you try THIS free download & you decide you LOVE House of 3 designs...go have some fun with the fabulous $5 off coupon! Enjoy & I'll put up the link to the show as soon as it's available!
Happy Tuesday!

P.S.
Thanks so much to Studio 5 for a fun morning! Here's the clip!

a few things I talked about:
my favorite canvas printable fabric is found here.
my mini & larger banners are printed on heavy weight presentation paper.
FREE *happy* printable banner download

***&...a friendly reminder about copyright: Please remember that no matter what: free or purchased at House of 3...the copyright remains that of House of 3. This means, IF you are printing out for projects, classes, photography, cards, or on your blogs, scrapbook pages...whatever...PLEASE remember to always give proper credit so others can come to House of 3 to purchase art of their own.
PLEASE READ YOUR LICENSE AGREEMENT SO YOU ARE NOT IN COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!
Thanks!

digital designs & at home printing

I have loved answering questions on formspring lately. I do get a lot of the same questions, so if you don't see your question answered, hopefully I've answered it in another person's question.

But, sometimes a question just needs more of an answer than on the formspring forum. Like some of the biggest questions I get about using House of 3 digital designs:

How do you print?
What kind of printer do you use?
How much ink does it use?
What kinds of papers do you print on?

How do I print? I print at home usually. Part of the creative process I enjoy so much is actually seeing it come out of my printer. I seriously get giddy & do a happy dance when I see it! So, you better believe I've done my fair share of finding the best papers, inks, printers, & experimented with it all!

What kind of printer do I use? My love: my Epson stylus printers! I've had several, but the one I've been using for the past 3 years is the R1800. It's been a dream. I have loved the rich, vibrant colors I get & when I want to print large format I want to sing its praises. When I print regular format, I still sing its praises.
But, alas, I have printed the life out of that baby! It's seen its last days. *mourn* Thankfully, Epson is having a FABULOUS rebate sale on their R1900. yeeehaw! So, yea, I will continue to print with my fave printer: Epson!!!!

How much ink do I use? Well, for those of you that have purchased my 100 Creativity Exercises & watched the bonus video...you saw how many ink cartridges I had stacked up. That's a common site in my studio! *wink* I was NOT exaggerating! I do a LOT of printing, troubleshooting, experimenting & so I use a LOT of ink! So, for typical use I would say I go through about a new set of cartridges every couple of months. But, to me, it's well worth it!

What kinds of paper do you print on? This is one thing I love about printing at home: the various mediums I can use in my printer with the House of 3 digital designs! From clear sticker paper to transparencies to white sticker paper to heavyweight matte photo paper to fabric papersfine art papers!

Printing at home & House of 3 digital designs go hand in hand. & for my hybrid craftiness, I adore the endless possibilities for printing the digital designs on just about anything that my printer can handle!

What are YOUR favorites about at home printing & House of 3? You might just find someone will *win* some House of 3 wall art! *wink* talk to me, girls! Leave a comment here!

*a*hem....wow! It's already Friday????

Ok. Did you think I had checked out?
Oy!
I've been a little MIA this week. please forgive me, bloggers! So many things are going down, let me tell you.
& every. single. thing is just so exciting. Can't wait to share each little tidbit as things begin to 'bloom'.

Had so much fun on Wednesday for the 1st in a series of 3 Live Webshows about Silhouette & House of 3. Check out the recorded show HERE to see what we made & will be showing for the other shows!





Sparkin it up with Margie & Liz!

Lots going on & we'll be opening the registration in 2 short weeks! Get ready!

and..speaking of Margie....LOOK at her interview at Moxie Fab World! *wow* so humbled by her mention of lil ol' me! *blush* thanks, love! You know you inspire ME, too!

And...I wanted to share this fab rebate deal going on over at Epson! check it out! It's for the R1900 large format printer! I have LOVED my R1800 printer & highly recommend Epsons! I've been using them for years & am so happy with them!

happy shopping! & happy weekend!

Where have I been?

I can't believe it's already Wednesday...I've been playin 'catch up' since our week break last week! love it!
so, tonight is the 1st in a series of 3: Get Silhouette Savvy: our House of 3 + Silhouette webshows: 'out of the box'.

Come & join Janet (in TX) & me, Heidi & Kerri in UT for a night filled with eye opening tips & tricks on how YOU can pull your Silhouette out of the box & get started...without making all the mistakes we made! LOL!

We'll be showing you some fun projects that will be inspire! Like look at the NEW Spring Junque print & cut designs over at the Silhouette store....like this cute birdcage? oh my!
love it!
ok...see you tonight!

House of Cards....

so, last night looked like a great show...so sorry I missed it! We were busy *spring breaking* enjoy the recorded show..Heidi & Janet did a great job once again! love it! Be sure to check out the fab new card sets that are featured on House of 3.

one day might be today!

My mom is a dream at the sewing machine. I remember late nights hearing the whir of the machine going while she was stitching away creating something magical for us. ..and I thought: one day I'll do that!

My sister followed in her shoes & sews up pillows, costumes, & all sorts of wonderful snippets!
again...hmm...one day I might be able to do that.

My youngest sister is just plain a*mazing in everything she does...she's our stylist. So she calls the shots & tells us what fabric, textures, colors, clothes, home accessories, etc. will look best & we just do what she says...she has SUCH an 'eye'. and, yet again: one day, I want to do that.

Well, I've discovered that every person has their own recipe of becoming who we are...but, we need to try. And as we try new things, we discover the special ingredients to our own recipe.

Lately, I've discovered a new ingredient in my own recipe...not in the same ways as my mom & sisters, but in my own lil' way. I'm not a typical seamstress, and that's OK>

This new ingredient is: Printable Fabric. It enables me to play with fabric in my own way.... & my love for printing out my designs on printable fabric & playing with it is exciting to me. I've dabbled in making rolled fabric flowers & my latest love: these House of 3 Spring Junque Fabric banners!

*gasp*


I printed them off on a really cool canvas printable fabric & then cut them out with pinking shears...sewed them onto this bias tape & voila! I'm a happy girl who feels like this is the day that fabric & I are friends! LOL!....
so, don't judge me.

...just let me be happy with my small accomplishments in my adventures in fabric! Today is the day! for YOU! Try something NEW. Something that might be a different spin on they typical way of doing it. Create your own recipe for becoming who you are doing something different!
and...enjoy your pRocess!

Spring Chalkboard Wall fun....

I painted this little wall in my house about a year ago...it is just a small slice in the entry way that we see when we come in & out of the house...& it was nothing special. But, for the past year it has been a happy spot.

Painted with black chalkboard paint, we draw murals, love notes, to do lists, & have artsy fun all over it. It's become a favorite little something special now!


So, this year, I played with chalking, drawing, putting branches, birds, eggs & butterflies all over.
think: 3d meets 2d. & the other day when we were Sparking, Margie & Liz asked: "Why haven't you taken pix of this?" I told them the lighting is tricky & I haven't taken the time...but, I think it's time to share!
I have the little House of 3 mini banners in the Spring Junque Borders Printable all hung on the branches. so cute.
flowers just tacked right to the wall, & birds perched on branches & in nests. So fun & springy...it makes us smile!

So? What are YOU doing around your home to welcome in Spring? I'd love to see & hear! :)

We are enjoying a week in the Springy*sunshine...I'll do my best to keep up, but hope you have a great week & don't miss the Live Webshow! Most likely I'll be moderating from my vacation spot! *wink*

DIY coloRed Coffee Filter Flowers

I've had lots of questions about the coffee filter flowers I did with Glimmer Mist & crepe paper ruffles. So...even though the pix are bad...just had my cell phone handy while I was doing it..I thought I'd give you some info:

step No. one> Create the Coffee Filter flowers following my video OR whatever way is easiest for YOU!

step No. two> With your favorite colors of Glimmer Mist, spritz a few squirts all over the flower. Be careful, because if you get it too wet, it will get too soggy! Let dry a bit...then sop up your excess spray with your flower....come on...sop it up! You'll get a lot of mileage from your GM! :) and...give your flowers more color!

step No. three> Take a roll of crepe paper streamers & get your sewing machine out....Simply slide in the streamer as you work it through the sewing machine with a simple straight stitch. This is so great because you can make them as long as you need them.

Below, I have them hanging down from a very high ceiling, & I did 3 different lengths for variety.
step No. four> Staple your colored flowers onto the ruffle & swag, hang, wrap, adorn!

He Lives!

Happy Easter!

celebRate Easter!

He is Risen. He Lives!

So many feelings at this time of year. I'm a Christian & have such deep feelings at Easter time...
gratitude
happiness
hope
renewal
all stemming from Jesus Christ & the miracle of His Resurrection that we celebrate on Easter!

This weekend is not only the celebration for Easter, but also our church's World Wide General Conference.

I love it. It fills me up. inspires me. helps me want to be my best & do all I can for my family & others!
Here's a little something to get us excited for General Conference! Watch this & enjoy: