"Kelly Creates"; word stamps for brush lettering from American crafts

Hello my friends!
This is just a short post to let you have a look at the Kelly Creates stamps carried by Michaels. I just wanted to share these, because I love the scripty font and the price is so reasonable! They stamp sets are only $5 each. That is in Canada, so they may be even cheaper in the US. And of course cheaper still if you use a coupon! It is a large set of stamps and there are about 18 to 20 words in each one. Tp give you an idea, the package size is 6" x 10", and as you can see, there isn't a lot of wasted space.  There are some word duplicates, quite a few actually, mostly the smaller words, but at this price I can live with that!  They are not in the regular stamp section. They are in a new section for journaling and brush lettering. There are eight different versions. I got 6 of them the other two are the months of the year and days of the week. I don't think I have much of a used for that, but I may end up getting them anyways as the price is so good. If I use my coupon, I am looking at about $3 a set! These are part of a collection of brush lettering items.  I think the purpose of the stamps is to help learn brush lettering.  There are also workbooks, brush pens and workbook covers etc.  All related to brush lettering. The other items are somewhat pricey, so I was surprised that the stamps were so reasonable! I have to admit, I did get sucked into purchasing some of the other items, LOL. Luckily it was a 55% off coupon weekend. 

The brush lettering is so pretty, I wanted to give it a try. A little bit challenging for someone that is legally blind! But I haven't let that stop me from being creative yet! I would have to say that the metallic brush pens are very soft and it is hard to adjust the pressure to make thick and thin lines. So I was disappointed in them.  I had to search for them at a few different Michaels, too.  Although I have to add, I couldn't find any other metallic brush pens.  But they were not cheap, $40 regular price in Canada. I also found that the black brush pens seem to run out of ink quickly. They were $12 regular price for 3 various sized black brush pens.Just a few observations I thought I would pass it along. So in summary, I wasn't as impressed with the metallic  markers, they were okay but expensive. for the quality. Now, I need to let you know that I AM NOT an experienced brush letterist!  So that could be part of the problem!  I had the best luck with the small black  brush pen.  The set of 3  black pens were a little easier to work with than the metallic, but seemed to start to dry out quickly.   But as for the stamps, I love them! And I love a lot of the words in the sets which would be great for card-making, and art journaling and mixed media art. There is also an alphabet set that you can use to create your own words. I believe these are carried exclusively at Michaels. And Kelly, of Kelly creates has several videos on brush lettering, so if you are interested in that you should definitely check her out.  Cursive lettering is going to become a lost art.  I don't believe they are teaching it in schools any more, which I just don't understand, so this is a good way to keep it alive.

I hope you found this helpful, happy crafting everyone!

Kim  xo

A craft haul from Amazon!

Hello my friends!  I am back with another craft haul video, the one from Amazon that I mentioned in my previous post.  This is another collective haul from a few orders I had placed before and after Christmas. Lots of goodies that I am anxious to use.  I have been busy painting , so I haven't had a chance to use any of my new crafty treasures yet this year.  I am going to do some art journalling this year and I also have the urge to try some ATCs.  So you can look forward to seeing some of these treasures in action soon!

So please have a look at my craft haul from Amazon video.  Let me know what items you would like to see me use.  My intention is to make tutorial videos, tips and techniques videos and to share some of my artwork as well as some of the art shows I participate in.  If you have been enjoying my blog, then please subscribe to my YouTube channel and hopefully you will enjoy that as well.  I am looking forward to feeling even more connected to all of you!
AND, for any of you that are interested (and I realize it has taken me a while to  get on board), I  am now on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mimi.johnson358/
Thanks so much for joining me today and thank you so much for all the support over my first year of blogging.  I have really been enjoying it and I hope you have enjoyed my efforts.  So this will be a new year for some more new things (new for me, anyways!).  I am planning on doing some art journalling and some ATCs along with the other things that I love to do.  I am hoping to share this with some videos.
Have an awesome and creative day!  xo

Stamperia Demo and Haul - I thought it was only available in Europe, but it's available in Toronto!!!

Hello my friends!  

This is a post about another product that I am so excited about!  I had seen a few videos using  Stamperia products on YouTube.  I knew it was a European company (from Italy) and I figured I would never get my hands on any of it.  Some of you that have been following my blog may know that I belong to a few different art groups and associations.  The club I am most closely involved with is Ajax Creative Arts.  It is my job within the club to organize demos and workshops.  One of the other members of the group, Lydja, approached me  a while back and told me that she worked with  someone who would be interested in doing a workshop or demo at our club.  I spoke to Nahla on the phone and as she was describing the product, I discovered it was Stamperia!  I was so excited!  As far as I know, she is the only distributor, at this time, in North America!

So on Wednesday afternoon, Nahla and her lovely daughter came to our club to introduce us to the Stamperia line of products.  The catolouge is quite thick, this company 

offers a multitude of products.  They have paints, sprays, pastes, gorgeous collage and decoupage papers, stamps, stencils, transfers, transfer gels, a wonderful crackle paste, patinas, and the list goes on and on.

These products can be used for mixed media, art journallung, crafting, decorative painting, home Decor, fabric painting etc. etc.  etc!

Nahla brought a few samples of some finished projects and did a great demo for us using a variety of different products.  We only had a couple of hours, so we steered the demo in the direction that we thought would appeal most to our artist members.  but there are so many more things for the creative soul to try.  I have added a couple of links below to videos I saw before I had even spoken to Nahla.  There is a mixed media canvas and an art journalling page, some of the things I was interested in.  But I encourage you to visit the Stamperia website, there is a link above, and search Stamperia on YouTube for many great videos, if you are interested.

Please enjoy some photos from our demo.  I had asked Nahla if she could bring in some product that we could purchase.  What you see in the pictures are just a tiny sampling of what's available.  We had a lot of fun looking through the beautiful papers, stamps, stencils, paints, pastes etc.  I was surprised were reasonable ans comparable  with similar products more widely available here..  I guess I just assumed that because they were imported and shipped from Italy, there would be a higher price point.  Sometimes it's nice to be wrong! 

We will be planning a workshop soon! (which I will also share)

Please excuse all the mess in the background.  Our art club also shares space with a theatre group who uses the space as a prop drop-off ground (please also excuse my annoyance, lol)

We took a little break to allow for some drying time and had some fun looking through the products that Nahla brought.

These are the goodies  that I purchased (to start with!)

This crackle paste is different finish than any of the others I have tried, so I am looking forward to trying it.  It might be fun to combine it with different  crackle mediums throughout a canvas for some different textures

Here is a mixed media canvas video by Nicoletta Zanella using Stamperia products.
Here is an art journal page using Stamperia products by Vicky Papaioannou who's work I just love!

Well, Nahla casually mentioned that she was heading to a trade show in Arizona this weekend.  I'm so jealous, she is off to CHA!!!  That is one show I would love to go to. I hope she has a wonderful time, I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  i hope you have enjoyed hearing about our demo and will check out Stamperia.  Have an awesome and creative day!  xo

Jane Davenport Haul!!! and Happy New Year!!!

Hello my friends and Happy New Year!  Things have been a little crazy around here and I can't believe t's already the middle of January, and this is my first post of the year..  I hope everyone is great, settling into 2017 and anticipating lots of wonderful things this year.  I don't really make "resolutions", but I do have a mental list of some things tat I'd like to try this year.
Last year was a year for several new things for me.  I have to admit, I'm a little "old school" when it comes to technology, but I'm trying!  I started this blog last January, my first and only (so far!).  I still don't really know what I'm doing and have a lot to learn, but I am having so much fun with it.  I love sharing with all of you.  I love seeing that people from all over the world have stopped in to have a peek at what I have been up to.  I think it is so amazing to feel connected to people in so many countries.  My original intent with this blog, was to share my art and cards with my sister, who I haven't seen for several years and who lives 3000 miles away.  I had text Kerry some photos of of cards that Ii had been making and she was interested in trying some as well.  I thought this would be a great way to craft together.  We could speak on the phone and them I could show her what I was talking about in my blog and share different ideas and techniques with her.
I also joined some FB groups for the first time.  The first one i joined was  the One Little Tag Craft Challenge, (which is continuing this year, in case anyone is interested in checking it out)  So I made tags for the first time, which I really love making.  The idea behind the challenge was to try and make on little tag a day, just to stimulate your creativity.  Once a day isn't always possible, but that doesn't matter.  To be honest, I haven't made a tag yet this year.  I started off really well last year but sometimes life gets in the way of art projects, or sometimes other art projects get in the way of tags.  It still didn't matter, you can jump in and out as much as you like.  But I have to tell you, it really kept me inspired.  So you will find many many tags on my blog.  I also joined some great Google communities.  I have found that people are so kind and supportive and it is so motivating.  So thank you to any of you who may be a part of the FB groups and G+ communities I am in.  I will share links at the end to some of those wonderful groups I participate in.
I know I am a little slow with my technology, but I have set up an Instagram account.  I haven't posted anything yet, but once I get going I will share that as well. So that was one thing I wanted to do this year. Another goal this year is to do some crafting videos, so hopefully I will have some of those to share on my YouTube channel as well.  I have never done any art journalling, that is something I'd like to do this year.  There are other little creative challenges I think I will be trying throughout the year as well.
I hope you are inspired to try some new creative endeavors this year.  I would love to hear some of the ideas on your list.  It might spark even more new interests for me, or others that may read this.

NOW, without further adieu, let's get to Jane Davenport!!!  I was so excited to see so many YouTube videos showing that her product was now available.  Then I was disappointed, because there was nothing at my local Michaels (I believe this is exclusive to Michaels) and when I searched Michaels Canada, nothing came up for Jane Davenport.  Alas, I thought, it must only be in the US.  Well, I did not give up my search and I am so happy to report that the Jane Davenport line IS also in Canada, although it is not at every store.  I was also very pleased to discover that they were not a crazy price point, (especially with coupons!) and some items were quite reasonable even without the coupons.
What I am sharing is a collective haul from a couple of different Michaels stores spanning a distance of 4 towns!  I have not tried any of this product yet, and I will be sure to share with you what I think of it when I do.  Most of the reviews (all actually) that I have seen have been good, so I was pretty confident making my purchases  There are many more items in the line, including water colours, pens journals, rub-ons and more.  I will probably get some more things down the line, but I did manage to  get most of what I wanted.

I am excited to try these pencils, they supposedly play very well with paint and other media

I actually have a lot of Gesso and matte and other mediums that I use in my  painting, but I thought I would try these anyways.  They are a handy size to keep with my crafting supplies

All these stamps were a very good price point, in my opinion.  They were $8, or maybe even $8.99 (Cdn), so probably even less in the US.

This stamp set is going to be so fun to play with, creating different faces!

I am also looking forward to giving these a try, especially the white, I am always on the hunt for good white pens for mixed media.

How cool are these!

Funny story, my friend Lynn was with me for the majority of my Jane Davenport hunt.  We were both looking for the stencils but couldn't find them at either store.  Lo and behold, when I got home I discoed that the stencils were in with the paints.  It did say that on the packaging, but we missed it in our excitement.

I am looking forward to giving my new stash some creative love.  However, I am also busy painting as I will be displaying my art at the Ajax Town hall soon, and I am hoping to have some fresh new works, which I will share.  So, now that I have all my Jane Davenport goodies, before they sold out, I will reluctantly have to put them aside for a little while.  But next month, I'm sure I will have someting to share, so make sure to check back.  It would be great to hear what any of you, who have the new products, think of them.

Thanks so much for stopping by, here's to a wonderful creative year together! xo

Here are slinks to some of the different groups and communities I have been enjoying, I hope you can check them out.
One Little Tag Craft Challenge , Facethescraps , Creating and Sharing Mixed Media Art ,All Things Mixed Media Art! , Krafters Kommunity , Card Making Haven

Scrapfest Craft Haul!!!

Hello my friends!  Today was a fun day that I have been looking forward to all year!  SCRAPFEST!  Scrapfest is an event where several vendors from across the country get together in one place and set up shop for a couple of days.  Lots to look at, and lots of make 'n' takes. They also have a 2-day crop which is always busy and always sounds like a lot of fun, but something I don't participate in.  I have to admit, I am a shopper, not a cropper.

So my friend Lynn and I, were up early and on our way to Richmond Hill, with a quick Tim Horton's stop on the way.  Lynn has more restraint than I do when it comes to craft supplies, but she loves to participate in the make 'n' takes, and made some great things today.  We ran into our  friend Mary there as well.  We always make a day of it and end with dinner.  Lots of fun!

I have decided to share my treasures with you.  I did say in one post  that I don't typically do hauls, but since this is my third one, apparently I do!  I will not post every time I buy something crafty or artsy, but it is fun to share the special purchases.  Now, some of you may think this is a little excessive (and I guess some of you won;t), but this is an event that I save for.  It happens in the Fall and in the Spring, at two different locations.  The Spring Scrapfest s in Kitchener, On. and is the larger show but I don't usually make it to that one.  In the Fall, the sale is in Richmond Hill, On, a little closer to home.  I save up for the event because it's an opportunity to find some treasures that aren't usually easily available.  Let's face it, Michaels has a limited selection.  There are not a lot of Scrapbooking and craft stores around and with my vision, I cannot drive, which means sometimes Michaels is my only store

.Anyways, here is my haul, I hope you enjoy!

This store is a little out of the way for me, but if I am out that way, I will definitely visit.  Stephanie, the owner, came out to our club and did an awesome demo on mixed media with a make'n' take.

This stamp set was from Class Act from Oshawa, On.  One store that isn't too much of a hike from home.  I have been there a few times.

I had barely gotten in the door when I hit this booth.  She had Unity stamps, which I have never had an opportunity to get before, which was great.  She also had several LaBlanche stamps and I just loved the vintage images!  She had a lot of other things as well, but I was fixated on these.   There were several that I liked, and all the ones I chose were half-price.!  But I was reluctant to buy too much at the first place I visited.  I bought a few things and the vendor was kind enough to hold the rest for me.  I totally would have understood if she couldn't, but she did, which was super kind.  I did come back and get what she held, plus a few more!  Unfortunately, this store would be a bit of a hike as well, but if I am ever out that way, I will definitely visit here, too..

I just love that "ugly sweater" die!  So you can look forward to seeing it soon.

Another store that I have made it to, once before, and will get to again!

I was excited to find some foil!  It is not impossible to get, but not readily available and I have to purchase it on-line, usually.  So, happy find!

These dies match a stamp set I got last year with Local King Rubber Stamp from Vancouver, BC

I had a lot of fun, but I have to admit, this show seemed smaller than usual and I missed some of the regular vendors.  I'm hoping to make it to Kitchener in the spring.

So after the show, we headed home.  We went to Milo's for a nice Greek dinner and after that, on a whim, we stopped at Value Village (a second -hand store) and I found some vintage books whose pages will make it into some of my creations

(yes, that is vintage Nancy Drew and The Bobsey Twins!)

All in all, a great day!  Thanks, Lynn!

And thank you too,  for sharing in my Scrapfest fun.  You will beseeing some of these items soon in some new creations!  Have an awesome  day!