Prima in STAMPtember!!

It's STAMPtember® over on the Simon Says Stamp blog! They have tons of exclusive new products just for this special event! I was so excited to try a few of them out! (Thank you, Stephanie!) You can also try them out with a special discount just for YOU! Use the code above for 20% all Prima products!

It's not too early to start getting Christmas card ideas ready, right? Good, I didn't think so! Besides, you'll want to start early with these so you can make them for everyone "special" on your list! Who wouldn't love to receive a little bit of Christmas magic in the mail? (Click "read more" below to see all the steps!)

It's a Simon Says Stamp Birthday!

Okay...that sounds a bit confusing! Lets' clarify things a wee bit. First off I just have to say THANK YOU to SSS for inviting me to be featured on their blog again! It is always a huge honor, but this time it's extra special because TODAY is my birthday! Woohoo! Okay, on to the project! I sure hope you like it! Here's a teensy-weensy sneak peek!

Planners and journals are all the rage right now and while I LOVE those out on the market I always like to make something unique for myself! When I received a sampling of Prima's new summer releases I instantly fell in love with the Memory Hardware Tall Journal Book. It is the PERFECT size (about 5"x7") for a journal or planner...and for slipping into my purse! You can check out the whole project, including step-by-steps right here on the SSS blog! xoxo

Love DIY Projects!

My family is crazy big...which means we always have a lot going on! This year is no exception. My oldest son, Billy, is getting married in June to his sweetheart, Bethany! Our whole family has been busy crafting away for it. (Imagine that!)

So, today I have a super fast and easy DIY wedding project up on the Simon Says Stamp blog! Come on over and check it out! It is easy to customize to fit your colors, and your style! Seriously...it would take less than an hour for all three pieces! (Even if you do not have a wedding in your future this would make a gorgeous table-scape, or mini wall gallery! I now need to make one for myself...I'm thinking blush pink, sparkling gold, and a touch of mint!

Romantic Mixed-Media Tags & Simon Says Stamp!

I'm a nerd, but I get so excited when I see an email from someone I LOVE hearing from! Simon Says Stamp recently emailed and asked me if I'd like to create a NEW project featuring fresh-from-CHA products. That's like asking me if I want a bowl of ice cream!

So I mixed a few of my favorite NEW Prima products together (Finnabair, Bloom Girl, Julie Nutting, Gold Foil Icons, etc!) to see how they would look and was so excited with the results! These tags could be PERFECT for Valentine's Day!!! Hop on over to see the three tags right here on SSS's blog! Pssstt: here's a peek of one of them.

Products:

• 911195 Julie Nutting Armoire Tag Pad
• 580070 Mixed-Media Cling Stamp
• 580124 Mixed-Media Cling Stamp
• 980399 Bloom Collection 6x6 Stencil- Spark
• 980429 Bloom Collection 6x12 Circles Stencil
• 980405 Bloom Collection 6x12 Ricket Stencil
• 990473Memory Hardware - Parisian Ruffle Trim
• 579746 Wood Icons with Foil
• 578930 Bella Rouge Journaling Card
• 961800 Finnabair Art Ingredients-Art Sugar- White
• 962593 Finnabair Art Ingredients-Micro Beads - Blush
• 961381 Finnabair Art Basics-3D Gloss Gel
• 580304 Farfalla Vellum Butterflies
• 582647 Aquarelle Watercolor Flowers
• 580667 Butterfly Flowers- Bette
• 580636 Butterfly Flowers- Pupa
• 581701 Isabella Roses-Dani
• 581954 Valentina Flowers & Hearts-Roma
• 577032 Lace Trim-Frosted
• 547424 Precious Metals Leaves-Gilded
• Archival Ink-Jet Black, Coffee Brown
• Other: tulle, ribbon

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Every time I receive an email from Stephanie at Simon Says Stamp it puts a HUGE smile on my face! My goal was to create  a shabby-chic piece filled with fall touches. I dug out some of my new favorite Prima products that shouted "FALL" to me and went to work. In the back of my mind I had a dual purpose for this altered birdhouse...my house really needed something seasonal on the entry table. So that is where this sparkly, texture-filled baby is going now!

Make sure you check out ALL the photos, plus the step-by-step instructions, over on the SSS blog! You can find almost ALL of the products there too. I also linked them below for easy-peasey shopping. (Just keep in mind that I scrap LATE at night, when the kids are asleep, and I can chill... so some of my step-by-step pics are not the best! It's a decent trade-off though!)

Prima Products:

Finnabair Altered Metal Birdhouse

Providence Vine

3 inch Canvas Flower

Doily Die

Leaf Die Set

Weave Trim- Camel

Lace Trim- Cloud

Forever Green Stick Pins

Hillsboro Pumpkin Leaves

Epiphany Cork Stickers

Ingvild Bolme Junkyard Findings Door Signs

Ingvild Bolme Victorian Lamp

Ingvild Bolme Junkyard Findings Clock Parts

Finnabair Resist Canvas Sheet

Elementals Harlequin Stencil

Color Bloom Sprays: Tea Stain, Gold Foil, Worn Leather, Antique Gold, Lime Wedge, Gilded

Art Ingredients: Glass Glitter-Copper, Glass Glitter-Gold Rush
Art Ingredients: Mica Flakes-Gold Leaf

Art Ingredients: Glass Beads-Plum

Art Basics: Soft Matte Gel

Art Extravagance: Copper Crackle Paint

Other: Tiny Attacher, Gold Paper, Fabri-Tac Glue, Craft Acorns, Pine Cones, Gold Branches, 3 inch Ceramic Pumpkin (I found this at Michael's for $2.99!)

Celebrating STAMPtember!

Guess who was asked to be a guest for Simon Says Stamp's amazing STAMPtember® month-long party!?! I was so honored...and humbled...again! I knew I wanted to work with a VERY special stamp by my sweet and mega-talented friend, Jamie Dougherty, created just for Prima!

This Bloom Girl is named "Sharon" and I think she is just LOVELY with curly hair and butterflies all over! The stamp is a bit larger than you think, so it is PERFECT for home decor and other FUN pieces. Here's a little peek at what I created. You can catch the whole project, step-by-steps, and full product list all over at the SSS blog...so go check it out!!!!!

Simon Says Stamp  was founded in 2002 with an interest in exclusively selling rubber stamps. It didn’t take long until we realized we couldn’t stop there. For more than 10 years we have celebrated rubber stamping and its glory. We work to bring companies from around the world together in a one stop shopping environment. Rubber stamps still remain the heart of our business and we are celebrating by hosting a “STAMPtember®" event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the delight of rubber stamping. Part of the enticement of rubber stamping is that stamps can be used in creating or complementing ANYTHING! From stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, scrapbooking, mixed media and many forms of altering and expressing art.

Featured on Simon Says Stamp!

I always LOVE getting asked by Stephanie at Simon Says Stamp to make a special project for them! This time I chose a very sparkly, summery Magical Mermaid Layout! You can see the full project, plus step-outs, on their blog right here! But, here are a few peeks just for you!

Come create your own magical vacation layout with sand & water effects, a sparkling custom-colored mermaid, and shimmery golden seashells! I combined a few fabulous Prima products on my summer-filled page, perfectly framing one of my favorite summer vacation photos of my granddaughter, Amariah!

Prima's new paper collection, Sea Shore, makes me feel like I'm on a tropical beach! I wanted to add that same beachy texture to the paper. You'll have to check out SSS for the how-to!

BONUS: I will also be teaching this page, from start to finish, on Live With Prima, April 29th, at 11:00 PT right here! Thanks for letting me hang out with you today! :) Sharon

Prima Products:
813635 Sea Shore Paper-Under The Sea
574987 Sea Shore Flowers
573140 Sea Shore Cling Stamp
573270 Sea Shore Tag Me
573201 Sea Shore SIIC
910655 Julie Nutting Wood Doll Set-Ashley
573300 Resins-In-A-Box
573454 Lace Trim
572952 Wood ATC
573850, 573867, 573829, 573805, 573843 Color Bloom Sprays-Lime Wedge, Summer Sky, Worn Leather, Gold Foil, Antique Gold

891954 Gold Metallic Chalk Edger

Other: Gesso, Gold Sequins, Inka Gold, Glass Bead Gel, Sponge, Foam Squares

Packing. Packing. Packing.

This isn't my first time to teach. And it isn't my first time to teach in Paris. BUT, I swear I have more stuff to bring this time than ever before. And I've gone through my suitcase twice already. (I am now invading Bill's suitcase with artsy stuff. HAHA. He doesn't need that many clothes, right?) So, you lucky duck students are going to have a blast with everything I bring over!!

I am REALLY looking forward to teaching this week-end! It's one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. I love sharing my love for the hobby. I love meeting people and seeing their amazing creativity. I love experiencing new cultures. And I love French food! Version Scrap is a wonderful event to experience it all! (Isn't that Paris print gorgeous? You can find it on Etsy! I just might have to buy myself one!)

So here is a run-down for those who signed up for my classes and what to bring!

Custom Art Journal:

Photos are optional. You can add them easily later. If you want to include some in your art journal.  (About 6-8 2x3 and 4x6 photos in both orientations will work for the pages we will go over. There are lots of additional pages to finish at home.)

Supplies to bring:

Heat Gun (if possible)
Paper Trimmer
Fancy-Edged Scissors or Edge Punch
Adhesive for sequins, paper, and flowers (I use fabric liquid adhesive- Helmar or Fabri-Tac)
Crop-a-dile or small hole punch
Small paint brush for details
Gold Ink
Wet Wipes
Paper Towel or Towel
Class sponsors include Faber Castell, PanPastel, Prima

Family Mixed-Media Journal

You may bring 3x4 and 4x6 landscape photos, or add them at home. This book holds a lot of photos, but we will be concentrating on the page backgrounds.

Supplies Needed:

Heat Gun (if possible!)
Apron
Paper Trimmer or Scissors/ruler
Adhesive for fabric, flowers, paper, ribbon
Decorative scissors or paper edge punch
1 inch foam paintbrush
Water spray bottle
Wet wipes/paper towel
Black or Brown Permanent Ink (Ranger Archival or Staz On)

Class Sponsors: PanPastels, Faber Castell, Stampendous

Blush Project Life Album

Supplies to Bring:
Black Pen
Scissors
Paper Trimmer
Adhesive for paper
Photos (not required, but you can bring a variety of 4x6 inch (horizontal) & 3x4 inch (vertical) shots. Each page holds two-three photos. There are 40 pages in this album. We will go through 4-5 spreads.)
Sponsors Include: American Crafts, Becky Higgins, Simon Says Stamp

Life at Full Speed Ahead

That's how I feel right now...I've been running to and fro and have just been BUSY! (As you can tell by my poor blog!) First there was the CHA trade show in January held in sunny California. I love creating with new products! Here are a just a few of my projects. (Both feature my daughter Brittany's wedding pics...cause Miss Breanna's were not ready yet!)

This layout uses the new Free Spirit collection by Prima. It's bright and cheery and totally perfect for Britt's wedding pics.

Something Blue is another new collection by Prima and is made for wedding photos! (Like this gorgeous shot by Honey Heart Photography!)

Shortly after CHA Tami and I hopped over to Germany to work another trade show there. I wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest, as I had never been there before, but I LOVED Germany! CreativeWorld was fabulous. I love our distributors there. The people I met were just so amazing. And I LOVED the gals I was working with. 

Did I mention the weather? It was SO much warmer than I thought it would be (that's always a win-win in my book!) And the food???? Tami and I found a little restaurant right by our hotel that served authentic German food and we sort of PIGGED out a bit! Haha. We actually ate there three times in one week. Yeah. THAT good! One day after the show the train skipped our stop so we made friends with two other gals, while trying to figure out what to do, and then threw caution to the wind and ended up going shopping downtown with them! They were so fun...and we were quite lost, but it was a grand adventure!

I even found a Starbucks (behind us in the pic) and got my German mug...you know how important that is, Cari & Rommel!

After the show we went sightseeing. It was so hard narrowing down where to go and what to see! Seriously, Germany has SO MANY cool things. Being the girly girls that we are we decided Neuschwanstein Castle was a MUST SEE. In America we have the famous Disney castle fashioned after this very castle...thus us poor girls, who cannot pronounce Neuschwanstein to save our lives, just called it Cinderella's castle the whole day. ha.

 Now getting UP to the castle is a whole 'nother story. pant. pant. You think you've paid for drop-at-the-door service and then the carriage actually drops you off WAY far away. With a steep mountain climb in front of you. So we run to make our ticket time. pant. pant, cough. run faster still.

 And we're there and they open the front door with 2 minutes to spare! (Still coughing, but we rocked it!) No pics were allowed INSIDE the castle, so I can't post those. (And I finally stopped coughing near the end of the tour!)  :)

But, isn't it gorgeous? It's so regal and HIGH up in the mountains. (The other side looks more like the Disney castle, but I couldn't GET a good pic of that.)

A few other highlights of the day: Buying Schneeballens

Visiting old cities...

Going down the autobahn at a break-neck speed (146 mph/234 kmh.) Go, Sharon! I videoed it just to show my guys at home, cause I knew they would never believe me. (Secretly I LOVED going that fast! The video proof is on Facebook!)

And, this might rank right up there with one of my most favorite surprises on a trip, our driver took us into Austria! 

I knew we were right on the border, but thought it would be too much to ask him to go off the route. Austria (and Bavaria) were so beautiful...snow-capped mountains and little villages in the valleys. I swear I heard the Sound of Music playing...

SEE?????

So jump forward. Every time I get home from a trip it's mass chaos catching up on everything work-related and family-related! This time my guys did such a fantastic job of cleaning the house. You couldn't REALLY tell they had been living in a man cave for over a week. My hubby & boys did a great job getting rid of the evidence! And I missed them so much! Homecomings are always so sweet.

Being back home meant focusing on the next adventure! All of February...and I mean almost every spare evening and week-end...has been spent working on my Version Scrap classes. 

Blush Project Life Class Peek

(I LOVED putting this colorful book together with the gorgeous kit! We also have some cool dies, sequins, and so many other embellies to add to the pages!)

Family Mixed-Media Journal Peek

(This class has the BIGGEST kit of all...and has many Mixed-Media pages and photo pages all mixed into one FUN journal! If you love playing with art supplies you will love this class! I even got a few NEW Color Bloom sprays & Nathalie Kalbach's new stamps for ya!)

Custom Art Journal Peek

(I love the colors of this kit, the wonderful selection of pages in the book, and the custom touches each technique will let you add to your art journal. Eeek...it's gonna be an artsy adventure!)

Whew. I am ALMOST done with everything! Hopefully all kits will ship out next week...and they are very FULL! The box weights this year have gone up from last year, so that means more goodies for those of you signed up for my classes! If you have not signed up HURRY UP!!!! Some dates are sold out already.

These are just some of my amazing sponsors. You are going to LOVE playing with their products!!!

American Crafts, Becky Higgin's Project Life, Faber Castell, PanPastel, Prima Marketing, Simon Says Stamp, and Stampendous!

Guess Who's Going To Paris?!?

Version Scrap is a fabulous event held each year in Paris...and I got invited to teach there again! It is a FABULOUS opportunity to take classes with a mix of so many talented teachers from all over.

I have three brand-new classes created just for this event! You can check them out right here!

Here are a few peeks of each of my classes!

Family Mixed Media Journal

Family Mixed Media Journal
by Sharon Laakkonen

Even if you have never played with Prima's NEW Color Bloom sprays, or other art mediums, you will LOVE this class. We will start by coloring our resist canvas covers (8 x 5 inches) with the newest art mediums on the market in your favorite colors. You'll love decorating the front with gorgeous embellishments including Prima flowers, crystals, banners, cheesecloth, and more! Inside the album is a FULL mixed media kit that includes tabbed pages, plastic sleeves, kraft pages, resist canvas sheets, watercolor papers, stickers, and more. Come prepared to learn new art techniques as we play with stencils, stamps, glitter PanPastels, Viva Inka Gold, watercolor paints, and more!

Instructions (translated in French), color photos, and tips and techniques will be included with each kit. You may bring 3x4 and 4x6 landscape photos or add them at home.

Supplies Needed:
Apron
Paper Trimmer or Scissors/ruler
Adhesive for fabric, flowers, paper, ribbon
Decorative scissors or paper edge punch
1 inch foam paintbrush
Water spray bottle
Wet wipes/paper towel
Black or Brown Permanent Ink (Ranger Archival or Staz On)

Class Sponsors: Prima Marketing, PanPastels, Faber Castell, Stampendous



 Custom Art Journal

  

Category : ART JOURNAL

Custom Art Journal
by Sharon Laakkonen

Come decorate an art journal/mini-album that you will love to play in all year long! In this class we will play with a Finnabair 7x9 inch art journal to make it your very own. The very full kit includes a gorgeous journal, beautiful Delight papers by Prima, watercolor & kraft pages, pockets, a full set of Paintable cards, gold & crocheted doilies, sequins, wood letters, pearl arrows, flowers, bark shapes, custom accents by Blue Fern Studios, and die-cuts to customize your journal to fit your style! We will be playing with the latest and greatest art mediums which include Faber-Castell pencils and PanPastel’s new metallics!

Instructions (translated to French), color photos, extra page layout sketches, and other ideas will be included. Personalize this album to fit ANY subject you want. The kit includes a gorgeous color palette of peaches, soft blues, creams, browns, greens, but can be colored to fit what you love.

Supplies to bring:
Paper Trimmer
Fancy-Edged Scissors or Edge Punch
Adhesive for sequins, paper, and flowers (I use fabric liquid adhesive- Helmar or Fabri-Tac)
Crop-a-dile or small hole punch
Small paint brush for details
Gold Ink
Wet Wipes
Paper Towel or Towel

Class sponsors include Faber Castell, PanPastels



Blush Project Life

  


















Category : MINI ALBUM

Come create a gorgeous Project Life mini-album in this FUN class. Now’s your chance to find out how quick and easy this popular system by Becky Higgins really is! My very FULL kit includes a blush-colored Project Life mini-album (27 x 23 cm) with 20 pages, a Polka Dot Party Project Life Edition mini-kit (100 Dear Lizzy cards), along with an assortment of trendy embellishments to add that special touch to personalize your album! We will go over the Project Life concept, how to organize photos & cards, quickly put together pages, and add a few finishing touches to your pages if desired!

Instructions color photos, extra page layout sketches, and other ideas will be included. Personalize this album to fit ANY subject you want. The kit includes a gorgeous color palette of turquoise, blush, yellow, grey, white, mint, fuchsia, blue, etc.

Supplies to Bring:
Black Pen
Scissors
Paper Trimmer
Photos (not required)

Sponsors Include: American Crafts, Becky Higgins, Simon Says Stamp