Embossing Challenge

A couple of weeks ago, I was attending the Dallas Crafters Marathon weekend and participated in their monthly card challenge.  The theme was "Embossing", and we could use any kind of embossing we liked.  I was very happy that I won, and very surprised, too, because there were some very cute cards.

My card features the D'vine Swirls embossing folder from Cuttlebug.  I just love how the Pistachio Pudding cardstock looks with the Baked Brown Sugar cardstock and ink from Stampin' Up.  The stamps I used were also Stampin Up: Bliss, Gorgeous Grunge, Best Friends Forever, and Perfect Pennants.

I love competing in challenges.  It forces me to think outside my normal creative patterns and put my skills to the test.  By stretching my creative muscle, I become a better, faster, stronger crafter.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Crafty Neighbor!  I hope you had a GREAT holiday season!  Now that we’re getting settled into the new year, it’s time to take a look at a few of the Crafty Neighbor events coming up for 2014 plus a few others we thought you wouldn’t want to miss.  Please check out the event websites for details.

January:

11-12        Grapevine Stamp Show*

25 - 26      Stamp Scrap Art Tour*

February:

1       Layout a Day:  LOAD214*†

20-22        Scrapbook Expo*

27-3/1       Busy Chicks Blog Hop

March

22     3^rd Annual RLTurner Community Crop Party

May

3       National Scrapbook Day*

9       Busy Chicks Blog Hop

June:

1       Busy Chicks Passport Tour BEGINS

12-14        Great American Scrapbook Convention*

July:

12     Garage Sale (tentative)

19-20        Grapevine Stamp Show*

August

3-10         7^th Annual Scrapbooking Cruise

8-10         Busy Chicks Blog Hop

September

13     ?????

October

24-26        DCM Croptoberfest*

November

8-10        Busy Chicks Blog Hop

December

5-7         Busy Chicks Passport Tour ENDS

Monthly events:

Team LI Blog Hop
Hop on over to the Crafty Neighbor blog for our monthly TEAM LI Blog Hop.  We’ll have a different theme each month, and an assortment of projects on display from our participating bloggers.

3^rd Wednesday Stamp Club
Join us at Crafty Neighbor Studios (aka Cindy’s house) for our monthly Stamp Club gathering presented by Sharon Armstrong.  Sharon will lead us in some great stamping projects each month.  Your first visit is FREE!

Dallas Crafters Marathon*
Spend an entire weekend with other crafters doing whatever kind of craft you like!  All crafters are welcome at this fabulous monthly event in Plano.  Bring your crochet, quilting, scrapbooking, beading or just about anything else you can work on.

Looking for a location:

The following is a listing of tentative events for which we are trying to secure a location.  If you know of any potential locations that are cheap (free!), please let us know – we just might offer you a finder’s fee!  We will post updates on these events just as soon as we have set a date and location:

Scrapbook Garage Sale (Spring)

Think Pink Crop for the Cure

National Scrapbook Day

Many of our local stores and organizations are hosting National Scrapbook Day events.  I will post more details in future newsletters.

*Denotes events presented or sponsored by others

†Crafty Neighbor is an affiliate of Layout A Day

News and Events June 30, 2013

Here’s a bit of news and information for North Texas and the surrounding areas:

LinkedIn Blog Hop

http://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-blog-hop.html

Don’t forget!  Today is your last day to stop by the Crafty Neighbor blog to check out our June Blog Hop!  Each blog in the hop will be giving away a prize to one random person who comments on the blog and offers a suggestion for next month’s hop.  Here’s a little peek of my entry:

Registrations are now open for the following events:

Scrapbooking Garage Sale

http://www.craftyneighbor.com/events/garagesale2013.html

Join us Saturday, August 3^rd from 9AM- 3PM for a scrapbooking garage sale at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, Joann Fogg Service Center, 6001 Summerside Drive, Dallas, Texas 75252. 

Dallas Crafters Marathon

http://www.dallascraftersmarathon.com/

Crop for the day, or crop for the weekend.  This event is open to Paper Crafts, Needle & Yarn Crafts, Fiber Artist, Altered Arts, Art Journaling & Book Arts, Jewelry Making, Stamping, Quilting, etc!  Most crafts are welcome!  Friday, July 26 through Sunday, July 28th.  See website for more information.

Here’s a few events outside the DFW area:

Creating Keepsakes Conventions

http://www.ckscrapbookevents.com/CKScrapbookConventions.aspx

Work on projects, catch up with friends, and have tons of fun at one of the many CK conventions throughout the country.  Here’s a few within an easy drive of DFW:

CKC-Tulsa

Tulsa, OK

August 23-24

•

CKC-Shreveport

Shreveport, LA

September 13-14

•

CKC-San Marcos

San Marcos, TX

September 20-21

6^th Annual Scrapbooking Cruise

http://www.craftyneighbor.com/retreats/2013/cruise13/cruise2013.html

Join us on our 6^th annual cruise of the Caribbean departing Galveston, Texas on December 1, 2013 aboard the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas!  We’ll have 7 days of cropping, crafting, cardmaking, and cruising while we visit the ports of Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico.  Pricing starts at about $100 per day and includes all food, cruise fare, and crafting fees.  Payment plans available.  See our website for more details.

Watch for these events, coming soon:

Think Pink Crop for the Cure

http://www.craftyneighbor.com/retreats/pamspals.html

That’s right!  Our annual breast cancer fundraiser is back with a new name!  Our annual event will now be called Think Pink Crop for the Cure!  Mark your calendars now for October 5, 2013, and let’s kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a bang!  More details to be announced!

2014 Cruise!

Boy do we have some great news for you!  Royal Caribbean is coming to Gavleston Year-ROUND!  We’re cruising again in 2014 so look for a date announcement very soon!  We are tentatively looking at September or October with a destination of Jamaica and Grand Cayman.  We can’t wait!

  

Kits and Layouts:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/craftyneighbor

Coming soon to Etsy.com!  We are in the process of transitioning some of our online shop to an ETSY shop for easier maintenance!  As we do this, we will be adding new items, including kits and ready-made layouts.  Watch here and on our Facebook  page for the announcement!

That's it for now!  For all the latest information, please be sure to "Like" our facebook page at 

http://www.facebook.com/craftyneighbor

May the Fourth Be with You!

You have to forgive me for being a little late posting today.  I spent my evening at the Dallas Crafters Marathon, celebrating National Scrapbook Day, and because there was so much going on and so many old friends that I haven’t seen in a very long time, I didn’t get much done.  I had to complete my LOAD project, and what should have taken one hour wound up taking four.  I really like the end result, though.  What do you think?

The theme this year is “May the Fourth Be with You”, and when we went to dinner last night, we saw this wonderful Yoda drawing on the menu board.

I’m super excited about this National Scrapbook Day crop.  There are so many good friends here and we are having a great time.  One of these days I might actually manage to attend one as a participant instead of a worker!

News and Events

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a happy Easter.  Here at the Murray house, we celebrated our first ever Easter with no children.  All the young ones have grown up, and my youngest son is away at college and couldn't make it home this weekend.  It was going to be a sad kind of day.  Fortunately, Mr. Murray came up with a brilliant idea to liven things up -- an adult Easter egg hunt!  He filled an assortment of eggs with fortune cookie fortunes, coupons for some prizes adults would like, and some grown up candies.  It was a lot of fun to watch the grown-ups being silly chasing after each other and fighting over Easter eggs!  We took lots of pictures, so I'm glad there will be lots of opportunities to crop them!  

Yes, we are all a little nutty, but we have a lot of fun!

Here's whats going on around the metroplex!

R. L. Turner Community Crop Party

We still have plenty of space in our R. L. Turner Community Crop Party for you and all your friends!  Join us for a day of scrapbooking, prizes, and fun!  A free beginner scrapbooking class is being offered for anyone interested.  The early registration deadline has been extended through April 3, so hurry on over to our website and get in on all the fun!  Registration is just $25 and includes lunch and dinner.

ELS Garage Sale

Don’t have time to crop? Head up to McKinney and visit Every Last Scrap during their first-ever scrapbook garage sale!  While you’re there, look for the Crafty Neighbor table!  All our items will be marked with a pink breast cancer ribbon on the tag, and the proceeds from our sales will be donated to our Susan G. Komen 3-Day team, “Walkers, Texas Rangers”.  The hours of the sale are:

Friday, April 5 from 12pm to 5pm

Saturday, April 6 from 10pm to 6pm

Sunday, April 7 from 12pm to 4pm

National Scrapbook Day Crop Party

May the Fourth Be with You for National Scrapbook Day!  Join us all weekend May 3-6 at the Dallas Crafters Marathon for scrapbooking, crochet, sewing, and more!  All crafters are welcome!  Registration is $50 to craft for the entire weekend.  Prizes and meals are included on Saturday only.  See the Dallas Crafters Marathon website for details.

Royal Caribbean Scrapbooking Cruise

Join us December 1-8 for this all-inclusive scrapbooking cruise of the Western Caribbean.  We’ll visit the beautiful ports of Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel Mexico aboard the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas.  While onboard, you will have 24/7 access to our private scrapbooking area, plus you’ll receive kits for every class we offer, make-n-takes, prizes, and fun little surprises every day!  Rates start around $100/per day per person and include all taxes, classes, and fees.  Non-scrapbookers are welcome.  Visit our website for more detail