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Posted on November 05, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Redux with a makeover? What in the world is that?
As you probably know, redux means to bring back something and of course, we all know about makeovers. I don't know about you, but I LOVE makeovers! It's fun (and inspiring) to see before and after pictures in hair style and fashion magazines, home décor books and television shows. When I look at the after picture, I often think, "How did they DO that?"
Today, I am unveiling a redux with a makeover. The project that I'm bringing back is the summer white book kit called "A Glovely Garden Party"-- and it has been made over into a project which I've called "Winter Wonderland". How exciting is that?
When I was ordering product for the summer white book, I had to order a very large quantity of white gloves in order to get wholesale pricing. I ended up making way more kits than I usually do, and that resulted in a much larger inventory than I usually have.
I thought about putting the summer white kits on sale but since the majority of kit buyers are in the US and we are heading into winter, I'm guessing that most of you aren't thinking about gardens, linen fabrics and pretty white flowers. Instead, you are probably thinking about hot tea and cocoa, pumpkin spiced lattes, fires in the fireplace, warm clothes, and, in some parts of the country, snow shovels! So, bottom line, a summer white book, even at a sale price, probably wouldn't be on the top of the list of purchases you want to make. But, what about a book that features the color white and is all about winter --glittery snowflakes, gloves with fur trims, branches covered with ice, sparkly leaves? What about a book that looks like Winter Wonderland? Ahhh, now we're talking!
It's fascinating to me to read the behind-the-scenes in a room makeover...moving a few pieces around to a different location, repurposing a few things and then adding some new things all contribute to a fresh and new look. This is exactly what I've done with this kit.
I started with the original kit, shifted a couple of papers around, added a brand new paper, changed out the paint color, added some new embellishments and repurposed others, and voila, what you see is a brand new, bright and fresh hand made book, perfect for the winter season. Just as an aside, I built this sample with one of the creatologie kits (which is the first time I've actually used one of my kits...no kidding!). It was GREAT, if I might say so myself. Instead of the normal hunting, gathering and more hunting that I do when I'm building a prototype, everything was right there. I LOVED it and can see why you get excited about the kits.
OK, so what do you get in your kit? You get all of the original parts and pieces (and there are a lot of them), the original instruction manual, PLUS, a make over pack with pictures of the made over cover and inside pages and brief instructions about what's different. Your make over kit includes a silver toned 12x12 paper, a vintage chandelier crystal, a vintage sequin appliqué, chipboard snowflakes, faux lamb's wool fur, some new trinkets for the cover, silver trims (most of which are vintage trims made in France--yummmm), and brand new satin cut out snowflake ribbon--really COOL stuff.
When I taught the summer white book class locally, I had a couple of women asking about why I chose to use a glove on the cover. The glove is a novelty, and it acts as a receptacle to hold things, like a vase to ground and hold flowers in a table setting. In the winter book, the glove is trimmed in faux fur and it holds glittery branches and trims in its opening, as well as a sequined appliqué and vintage chandelier crystal in its palm--definitely a fun accent and great conversation starter!
The flavor of the winter book is a blend between French and Gustavian (Swedish) style, which is becoming quite popular in home décor these days. Swedish rooms are clean and bright, the whiteness almost dazzling because of the light reflected from the snowy outdoors. Accent pieces of furniture are sometimes painted a light dove grey color, which helps to tone down the white, and the result is a beautiful and peaceful setting, perfect to overcome the winter doldrums. The Winter Wonderland book is primarily white, with dove grey paint here and there and silver trims and accents, all tied together with sparkling clear glass glitter. I wish I could convey to you how beautiful the book really is since the pictures just can't capture the reflected light and many layers of the book.
This is an amazing value! You get ideas and instructions for two different books and product to make one of them, with extra product to put toward another, all for the same price as the original kit. For those of us who love to create, this is better than a sale, right? In fact, if you bought an original white book kit, you may love the made over book so much you will want to buy another! Tee hee. What is it about us artists and crafters that we just can't resist?
To order your redux with a makeover Winter Wonderland kit, simply look for the PayPal storefront on the left sidebar of this blog. One the second row, you will see updated images of the white book kit. Simply choose the box that describes where the kit will be shipped, click on that image, and PayPal will walk you through the steps.
The price for all of this inspiration and product is the same as it was in June--$40, plus $9.00 to ship to the US (total of $49), $14 to ship to Canada (total of $54) and $19 to all other international locations (total of $59). What a great deal!
THESE KITS WILL BEGIN SHIPPING OCTOBER 31ST, AND IF YOU ORDERED A HOLIDAY BOOK KIT, I WILL SHIP THIS KIT TOGETHER AND REFUND ANY EXCESS POSTAGE AFTER SHIPPING.
I am seriously thrilled with this makeover and am so excited to share it with you. Quantities are limited, so you don't want to wait to get this "pretty" ordered. Winter Wonderland kits are available for pre-order right now--with a shipping date of October 31st. For those of you who are local, this is an online offer only. There won't be a class for this one.
As always, thanks for your orders, and your enthusiastic referrals to friends and family. I appreciate you...and I can't wait to see what you do with your Winter Wonderland book.
Happy Creating!
From my studio to yours,
P.S. Just like for the summer kit, you will need a hardback book to repurpose into this hand stitched book. Consider thrift stores, garage/yard sales, or your local library clearance section for great buys. The size of my sample is approximately 6 1/4 x 9 1/2".
SOLD OUT
Posted on October 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
The phrase “star studded” conjures up images in my mind of a gathering of celebrities…and that’s why I chose to describe this month’s featured book kit that way. So maybe you don’t have a lot of well known celebrities gathering at your home for the holidays (then again, maybe you do!), but most of us have our families and our friends…definitely stars in our world, right? This hand made book is perfect for showcasing those people in our lives who help make the holiday season so special, those “stars” who make the celebrations so bright, happy and full of life.
The book is a hand made velvet ribbon bound structure, 6”x9” in size, with 30+ interior pages for all the photos and stories that you want to keep alive in your memories. Some of the inside pages are solid cardstock and others are made from patterned paper.
Not only is the book meant to focus on those special people in your life, it is literally studded with stars throughout. From the dimensional star on the cover to the handmade star garland, to the glittery stars which dot various pages, to the special stars which are the focus of a page, you will have so much fun creating and displaying those bright and shiny little pieces of art. One of the techniques that you will learn is what I’m calling “One Star, Three Looks”. You start with one star shape…and from that one shape, you will create three different stars with three different looks. There’s one with old book paper and wire, one made from canvas and finally, one that I’m calling faux French enamel.
Are you intrigued yet? If not, how about this? Vintage looking graphic 45 papers, Creative Imaginations papers that fit right it, tinsel-vintage style, metal buttons, velvet ribbon, feathers, clear glass glitter, stamped images, French and metallic trims, wings, jingle bells, Prima pearls, wire…wow, these are all part of your kit! The styling of the book is fairly generic, with stars and angels dominating the scene. There are Christmas images included in each kit but as always, because these books are personally yours, you can make whatever changes you’d like to suit your style and your holiday celebration.
There isn’t a month that goes by where someone who is looking at the sample in person doesn’t say “your pictures just don’t do this project justice”. I would agree! It’s hard to capture the actual look and feel of these books in photos…the textures, the dimensional aspects, the interactive aspects…so, I will just say that the photos don’t do this project justice either!
As always, the project comes with an instruction manual, complete with color photos and detailed, step by step instructions.
The holiday book kit is available for pre-order right now…and it will begin shipping October 31st, which will give you lots of time to put it together!
This month's kit will be offered at $49.00. HOWEVER FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PRE-ORDER YOUR KIT OR KITS, THERE WILL BE A DISCOUNT AND KITS WILL BE OFFERED AT $45.00, PLUS SHIPPING.
Once kits have shipped out, the price will then become $49.00, plus shipping. Here's why you get the discount for pre-ordering: Pre-ordered kits get readied for shipment in assembly line fashion...boxes are set up and filled at the same time, labeling gets done in large batches and the Postal Service comes and picks up everything at once (given the unpredictability of pickups, someone needs to be around for most of the day). Once those kits go out, each subsequent order is handled individually, which takes a lot more time. YOU DEFINITELY BENEFIT FROM THE TIME SAVINGS BY PRE-ORDERING YOUR KIT.
Shipping charges are as follows: $9.00 within the US, $14.00 to
To pre-order your kit, simply go to the PayPal storefront on the left sidebar. You will see three boxes with pictures of the cover...just look for the one that says where it will be shipped. Then click on the picture and PayPal will walk you through the steps and email me your order.
For those of you in the
Don’t miss out on your very own star studded holiday album…get yours pre-ordered today! It was exciting for me to put this book together and I hope that you get just as excited about adding this one to your collection of creatologie projects.
As always, thanks for your orders, and for your referrals to friends and family. I appreciate you…you are definitely stars in my world!
From my studio to yours,
SOLD OUT
Posted on October 05, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Hello, hello, hello!
It's been an exciting month in the creatologie world and I wanted to say thanks to all of you who pre-ordered kits. The last of them were picked up on Saturday, so you should have them by the middle of the week.
There have been some orders trickling in this weekend and those kits will go out today. Tomorrow, I'll be changing the price to the regular kit price of $49, plus shipping, rather than the pre-order price of $45, plus shipping. So, if you'd like a kit at the pre-order price, you can still do that today.
There are definitely some benefits to teaching a class that is also the online kit...if there is a glitch somewhere, it's bound to come out in class. This month, there was a creative opportunity that showed up in Thursday's class. Each kit has an old piece of music paper in it...I guess I didn't realize just how old. Some of the papers were so old that they were brittle and cracked when they were folded. Thanks to Ernestine, we had a solution to the challenge and that was to build a little stitching spine, either on the outside of the music page, or on the inside. While it probably won't make a lot of sense right now...hopefully it will when you get that point in the project.
Here are a couple of pictures to illustrate:
To make your stitching spine, just cut a piece of kraft or brown cardstock from your kit to 2" x 7". Fold it in half (hot dog fold) and burnish well. Adhere to the music paper, either on the outside as shown in the first photo, or on the inside as shown in the second photo. Stitch the music paper into the fold line through the cardstock spine you created. Hope that helps!!!!!
Also, just wanted to mention that your little hardware goodie bags contain a Maya Road trinket pin so be careful pulling out the elements...and, be careful when removing the glass from the bubble wrap and when working with it since the edges are raw until you wrap them.
OK, hope this helps...the ladies (and gentleman) in class had fun putting their accordions together...hope you enjoy the process as well! Thanks again.
Posted on September 28, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted on September 03, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
...and it's left me speechless. Well, pretty much speechless because I almost always have SOMETHING to say.
The Heirloom Collection kits are sold out...I figured if they sold out in less than a week, then it was a good idea. But, to be sold out in less than 2 hours...well, that's beyond my wildest expectations. I'm on this emotional high right now...wow!
Thanks for your orders! Love you creatologie girlfriends!
BTW, August creatologie kits (the travel journal) are boxed up and labeled, waiting for USPS to come today! Woo Hoo!
Posted on August 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack (0)
OK, let's get to the details...what is the kit all about and what do you get?
Bohemian and vintage style is characterized by rich textures and layering. With this book, which I've called "The Tapestry of Life", you will have both. Vintage tea dyed lace may cover velvet or fringe may be the third layer on a pocket...it's amazingly touchable.Posted on August 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Who in the world are creatologie girlfriends? And, what in the world is a diamond girl?
Watch this clip for a few minutes...I have to give you a fair warning, though...this is my very first attempt at doing a video clip...it'll get better, I promise you!
Thanks for watching! Ella is already fabulous (and she's the protege)...I, on the other hand, am totally and completely an amateur!
Let me be the first to welcome you to creatologie girlfriends!!!!!
If you have ordered a kit from creatologie, you are one of the creatologie girlfriends. You are part of an exclusive community of creative artists...and I really appreciate you. Many of you have spread the word to friends and family who now order kits as well and I wanted to say thank you for doing that. You girlfriends are the best!
What about the whole "Diamond Girl" thing and the apron? What's that about? And, how do you know if you are a "Diamond Girl"?
Well, to become a "Diamond Girl" (and qualify for your free "creatologie girlfriends {diamond girl}" apron) all you need to do is this: buy six consecutive creatologie kits...or, for those of you who are local, you can do six consecutive kits or classes with me at Scrapbooks, Etc. Pretty simple, right? No essays to write, no songs to sing, no projects that need to be judged, no auditions...you get the picture! It's simply a reward from me to you for consistently buying kits...six months in a row.
And, to speed up the reward program, I am actually going back to January of 2009...that means that some of you have already qualified and will be hearing from me by email in the next week. How cool is that?
Some of you are so close...you've got several consecutive months of ordering...but if you miss just one month, you have to start over...and that would be sad. If you haven't gotten your pre-order in yet for August, there are still some kits available...you know, Ella and I really want to see you in one of these fabulous aprons :)).
I wanted you to see this apron up close...so, here's a picture of Ella wearing hers. Isn't it fabulous?
It took a while to find the right one...the one I finally picked is a cotton twill that is a great weight and is fabulous to alter. I can't guarantee that yours will look like this for long...especially when you're painting, inking, misting, etc. But, those are trophies of our achievements, and we wear those spots proudly, right?
Here are a few features: the apron is adjustable on both sides of your neck and there are three pockets at the bottom to stash the stuff you use a lot, plus the words are embroidered rather than screenprinted, which means they will actually survive more than a couple of washings!
Can you just picture yourself wearing this apron at a weekend retreat, a crop, or a get together with scrapping friends?
Your cropping sisters will want to know where you got your apron...and you know what? These aprons can't be bought...they only go to qualified DIAMOND GIRLS!
If you've just gotten started buying kits, welcome to the creatologie girlfriends community. Just keep ordering each month for six months in a row and you will become a brand new "DIAMOND GIRL" with your very own, very special, creatologie girlfriends {diamond girl} apron!
Thanks for being a creatologie girlfriend...you are totally special! Diamond girls, be on the lookout for that email...and your fabulous apron!
Posted on August 06, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)
I've been told by people who took that class that they have used the structure over and over again. When asked why, they said that it had to do with the simplicity and versatility of the structure...and how easy it was to change themes...and colors...and how much "stuff" could fit inside.Posted on August 04, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Posted on July 02, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
