United States of Fiskateers Party

In three weeks, I'm hosting a crafting party for Fiskateers in Boise, ID. I'm excited to spend a day crafting, making new friends, and eating good food. Here is the invite for anyone nearby who wants to register:

CraftsYouPrint

So, its really been one and a half years since I last posted. I guess that shows how busy I've been. Now that I have a "real" job, I don't get to craft as much and I blog even less.

Today, I am posting a card I created from a pattern at http://www.craftsuprint.com/. They have a monthly craft challenge and as I just downloaded a flower themed sheet, I decided to play along. Here is my card created from a pattern called Ochidazia by Jolis DeAngelis. I've always liked Jolis' patterns from when I saw them at http://www.circleofcrafters.com/. I cut out the flower pieces and attached them to the card with foam pads. Then I embellished it with Fiskars raindots and brown ink.

I'm seriously considering selling my patterns on craftsuprint. I think it would be a lot easier way to sell my patterns and getting more exposure. I've had quite a few requests for iris fold patterns and cards lately. Why now when I'm busy and not 2 or 3 months ago when I had time to spare, I don't know. Well, I'm off to find crafty Bob and try to win some money - before I become a designer and can't search for him anymore.

Fisk-a-Teers Fiska-Friendzy ~ Virginia City

When I heard that there would be a regional Fisk-a-teer event close enough to drive to, I signed up immediately. In fact, I was the first one to sign up. Friday November 7th, my hubby joined me on my trip to the Virginia City Fisk-a-Friendzy 2008. After stopping to get some travel food and look for more orange clothing and accessories, we headed down the road. Our trip from Boise, Idaho took us about 7 hours (not including the ½ hour or so that we drove around lost looking for the right highway out of town).

We got into Reno about 7:30 pm and were disappointed to find that the first scrapbook store we stopped at was closed. We decided to try one more and found the girls at Treasured Memories having a private crop. They let us in to say “hi” and a few of them were excited to report that they would be there on Saturday, including the sweet owner Kathy. They gave us suggestions for dinner and we were on our way. Contrary to popular belief, although Reno is a gambling town, not everything stays open all night, including the buffets. We finally ate a wonderful, leisurely dinner at Outback Steakhouse and Dennis enjoyed (and shared) his birthday dessert. We stayed at Circus Circus in a very nice quiet room.
We headed up the mountain to Virginia City early the next morning. When Angela told us it is a winding road she wasn’t kidding. I’m not a fan of heights and the switchbacks and drop offs were a little nerve wracking. The view of the valley was beautiful though. We arrived just in time for everyone to check in. My hubby high-tailed it out of there (too many women, too few men) and I got to work helping Angela set up her prize display. I was shocked at how many prizes Fiskars had donated. I didn’t even try to count them. There was a Rock, Paper, Trimmer; Frankies with ink, Ink by Steph skull scissors, Heidi Grace flower scissors, squeeze punches, paper packs, magazines, swivel craft knife (how do I find one of those cool knives??!!), and so much more. Angela also had tools set out that the ladies could try out. I watched Julie play with Frankie and decided I would love to get one. Wasn’t I surprised when I found out that I won one for my website idea :)

I only created one card the entire day. I was a little jittery from too much caffeine and Fisk-a-friendziness. It was so great to meet every one and I had fun just walking around talking and helping out when I could. The popcorn, hot cocoa, orange licorice, and chocolate were all delicious. Lunch and dinner were wonderful. My hubby joined us for the shredded barbeque sandwiches at lunch and I asked all 100 ladies to join in singing Happy Birthday. He ran out as quickly as he could enjoying his cute birthday cake (thanks Angela!) and he even let me sleep in the same room that night ;)
One of the highlights of the day was the train ride. Angela asked me to be ready to film because our cowboy friends were going to “rob” us. I thought Julie was just the unlucky victim of a silly skit and joined in the chants of “hang her.” It wasn’t until I realized that the large box Suzanne was holding had a pair of very large scissors that I knew we had a third Fisk-a-teer of the Year. I couldn’t scream in delight since I was holding the video camera for Angela but I was very excited for Julie. She is so deserving of the award.

I couldn’t believe how orange everyone was! I had picked up some orange sweatpants to go with my orange shirt but orange is not a flattering color on my behind (they will be going back to Wally World). I loved Donna Jean’s orange wig, Totally Tami and Kathi Jo’s cute embroidered sweatsuits, the Fiskar Floozy and the girls with the Fisk-a-crowns. We were a sea of orange! I even borrowed Ms. Jackie’s camera guide and relearned how to use my PowerShot color accent mode. I have some very orange pictures I’ll have to share.

It was so great to see Stephenie and Suzanne again. I know it was a really long flight for both of them but it was great to have them there. I was really sad to find out that Cheryl was too sick to join us but I know she has her own event next weekend. I loved getting to see five other Nifty Fifties. It was like a mini-reunion. I hope Fiskars lets us do it again next year. If they do, I hope we can do it earlier in the year in hopes of avoiding snow. Coming down off the mountain in snow was even more nerve-wracking than the trip up when I could see the drop offs.
Sunday morning, we headed out early and stopped by Treasured Memories Too on our way out of town. They had really cute gift bags for the Fisk-a-teers and the employee there was really sweet. She helped us look up our driving route on MapQuest and we were on our way.

Once I got home (after another 7 long hours and getting lost trying to find where I95 was in Winnemucca) I happily unpacked my loot and started a thank you card for Fiskars. I used my Leave it to Weaver and Threading Water punches. I stamped it with my new HG Cherrywood Lane stamps; and I embellished it with a flower and button from our make-and-take. I included one of my ATCs that has my Fisk-a-teer picture framed by the Coming Up Roses Border and Corner punch.

Thank you Fiskars for a wonderful weekend full of fun, food, and friends! Can we do it again next year?!

Iris Folding for Kids

Recently I taught my 6 year old's 1st grade class how to iris fold. First of all, I have to say it was crazy! We had 19 children and 3 adults. It was a pretty good ratio although I would recommend another adult if I did it again. I really simplified the folding for the kids. I numbered all of their paper strips beforehand. We had enough tape rolls that each pair of students had a roll. The hardest concept for them to grasp was the "edge" of the paper. I don't know how many times I said line up the "edge" of the paper with the lines while pointing to the "edge" and the lines.

I practiced with my 4 year old Kylie before I attempted it at school. She did a great job. (Of course, she has seen me iris fold for the last 4 years so she had a little bit of an advantage.) Still, I think she did a great job and I loved her drawing on the front afterwards.

I video taped her doing a simplified iris fold but deleted it from my camera after I downloaded it to the computer. I moved the video segments and now I can't open them. Hopefully I can revive them but if not, I will do another video. Kylie loves to iris fold so she won't complain.

The computer I am on won't let me convert my instruction sheet to a PDF file. I am just going to post the instructions here and you can click on the pattern and print it up. I made mine 3 inches and used my Fiskars circle cutter to cut them out.

IRIS FOLD CIRCLE PATTERN
Instructions for younger children.

Material List
Template (3” circle cut from center of 8 ½” x 11” cardstock – save the page with the hole, not the circle)
Single Sided Tape (one roll for every 2 students)
4 Colors of Cardstock (11” x 1” strips)
Holographic or sparkle paper (1” square)
Extra materials in case some get lost.
Several extra sets of hands (1 adult per 4 or 5 children)

Parent’s/Teacher’s Instructions:
Tape template to paper with pattern
Cut each paper strip in 4 - two 3” strips and two 2 ½ ” strips
Number strips following the color pattern, starting with the 2 longer strips of each color first.
Have children tape paper pieces, face down, to template following the number order.
Tape the holographic paper, face down, over the iris.
Child can turn over and decorate the front side of his/her paper when he/she is done folding.
I strongly recommend practicing this technique before teaching it to children.
For a demonstration of iris folding, you can watch this video.

Color Pattern:
Color 1: 1, 5, 9, 13
Color 2: 2, 6, 10, 14
Color 3: 3, 7, 11, 15
Color 4: 4, 8, 12, 16

Child’s Instructions:

Please listen to your teacher give instructions.
You are working on the back side of your picture so your paper strips should face down.
Tape your paper strips in the same order that you count 1 to 16.
Line up the edge of your paper strips along the lines and tape on both sides.
Tape your glitter paper over the “iris” when you are done taping all of your paper strips.

By the way, for those who follow my sporadic blog postings, our daughter Kylie has almost fully recovered from her horse accident. She only has some minor hearing loss.

Tag! I'm it!

My sister Jenna tagged me so I'd better respond this time. (I never got around to it last time.)

3 Current Goals:

• Get caught up on email and clean up my inbox (big goal with snail speed internet)
• Make plans to move our belongings from Utah
• Find my desire to craft (I lost it in the process of moving - I know its here somewhere)

3 Current Obsessions

• Computer card games (they pass the time while the internet takes time to load)
• Reading Harry Potter books
• Moose Tracks or Bunny Tracks ice cream

3 Fears

• Heights
• Lack of money
• Being on time (my son's school is 45 minutes away this year)

3 Random Facts

• We've moved 12 times in the last 11 years and lived in 4 states
• My kids have used my craft tools more than me the past 2 months since I misplaced my desire to craft
• One of my cat's names is Sompalataya (sp?) but we call her Taya (it means "faith" in Tagalog) - my roommate named her

I'm tagging my sister Julie http://bensonsonthebay.blogspot.com/ ; my Fiskafriend Angela http://angeladaniels.squarespace.com/ and my best friend in Utah Niecia http://rlittlepeople.blogspot.com/

Kylie is Home!

Some of you may know, but most of you will not, that Kylie was kicked in the head by a horse last week. Thirty stiches and 5 nights in the hospital later she is home again. She is doing really well although a little wobbly due to fluid and swelling in her ear wrecking havoc with her equilibrium. The left side of her smile isn't cooperating due to swelling by her facial nerves. She is happy to be home though and back to her story telling, singing, drawing self again. We are grateful for the power of prayer and for the wonderful doctors and nurses at St Lukes in Boise. We couldn't have asked for better care.

Welcome home Kylie!!

P.S. Our next art kit donations will be going to St Lukes hospital. There play room staff was just amazing! They would welcome art kits for their patients would can't leave their rooms. We'll include some of Kylie's drawings in our next set of cards along with some of Cameron's. Please let us know if you are interested in purchasing cards.

More Art Kit Donations!

We have made arrangements to donate another dozen art kits this week to South Valley Santuary in Midvale. "South Valley Sanctuary is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing shelter and supportive services, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to men, women and children who have been victimized by domestic violence." Last year they provided shelter to 238 children and their parents. They are excited to receive art kits for the children in their shelter. I really wish we had more than 12 kits though.

We won't get to visit the shelter in person, but I think it will still mean a lot to Cameron to know that his art kits will go to children who often have to flee their abusers with nothing.

Although we have sold all of Cameron's cards (3 dozen sets total), we are excited to continue this project. Cameron has really enjoyed sharing art supplies with children in need. We hope to create more cards to sell in the future and continue to share art kits.

Cameron and Kylie at the zoo last month.