A sneak peek...

CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) will be hosting it's conference and trade show on July 19-21st in Rosemont, IL at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center.  It's a perfect time to snatch up the latest and greatest products from your favorite companies before they hit the stores, and to participate in demonstrations and meet and greets.  It's a dream for me to attend someday. 

Most of the popular crafting companies have sneak peeks of their new products before the conference.  A kind of torture for those of us who have a hard time waiting for something we've decided we want...right now.

I have to admit that I'm partial to Prima Marketing, Webster's Pages, and My Mind's Eye, so I'm going to share some of their peeks here, but you can go to the ScrapbookUpdate blog for an entire list of sneak peeks.

Prima Marketing has this new Printery Collection with a Victorian Era feel that I'm just in love with!

The flowers are to die for!  Jeweled centers, vintage accents, ruffled fabrics and gilded paper...who could imagine it better?

I also love their new Pixie Glen Collection with it's pixies, sprites, tiny roses, soft flowers and sparkling vines!

Look at those pearl centers...just beautiful!

Webster's Pages is another one of my favorite companies and their new Let's Celebrate Collection is a perfect example of why.

The papers are soft and sweet with a nice vintage feel.

The coordinating embellishments are like sugar on top...

and the embroidery shapes are a perfect twist to the standard doily! 

I can envision using this collection for birthday invitations and party favors!

Webster's creates a new line every year for the holidays.  This year it's A Botanical Christmas.  Love the freshness of it.

My Mind's Eye has also created a new holiday collection (Lost & Found Christmas) using distressed reds, greens, creams and browns.  Perfectly traditional and timeless.

I can hardly wait to start on my holiday cards!

Every time CHA rolls around, I find myself making a never-ending list of all the products I have to have.  The designers have certainly outdone themselves again. 
I'd be interested to know what's on your 'must have' list?

Thanks for stopping by.

M.

Moxie: an acquired taste we celebrate

I grew up walking down to Kennebec's for an ice cream or a bag of penny candy...back in the day when a penny was actually worth something and you could walk Main Street without a care in the world.  My sister and I knew Frank Anicetti long before he became known as the "Moxie Man", and I remember him as a large dark man with a small smile always playing at the corner of his mouth (until we asked for $1.00 worth of penny candy :). 

Today, Frank has made Moxie a household name and put Lisbon Falls on the map.

Kennebec's no longer sells penny candy but is stocked floor to ceiling with Moxie memorabilia.  You can still get an ice cream though...Moxie flavored.



It's a taste I never acquired no matter how hard I tried.  I figured if I was born and brought up in Lisbon Falls, I should love the taste of Moxie.  It just never happened.  The rest of my family surely makes up for my lack of taste.

This past weekend, Lisbon Falls hosted it's annual Moxie Festival.  An entire weekend filled with parades, pow wows, fireworks, auctions, musters, and street vendors selling everything from Italian sausages to handmade jewelry.  Honestly, I'm always amazed at the number of people who make the trek from far and wide to celebrate a bitter tasting beverage that was once used for medicinal purposes.  To each his own, right?

The parade is the highlight of the festival and usually lasts an hour or more.  Full of themed floats, member groups, politicians, and everything in between. 

 

Our Governor, Paul LePage, even walked the parade route in his festive colored polo.

My oldest marched in the parade with the area Girl Scouts of America.

The weather was beautiful, the music in the park was fantastic, and the variety of foods to savor abundant.  There's also plenty of Moxie to go around.  I can't wait for next year.  If you've never visited our little town of Lisbon Falls, you should make an effort to during next year's Moxie Festival...and if you don't like the beverage, that's okay.  Just don't tell anyone.

M.

I bet you didn't know....

I thought I'd get a little personal with this post and tell you 10 things that maybe you don't know about me.  I'm not exactly top blog material, but I thought it would be a fun change and a way for my followers to connect with me ( all 7 of them! LOL).

1.  My favorite color is light blue.  I also love to wear white shirts, but I can't manage any longer than an hour before I've dribbled coffee all over the front (one of the nine cups I have every day...and I'm aware that this could be considered an addiction).

2.  I was an EMT-I and Firefighter for the town of West Bath.  I have been caught in a back draft and it's nothing like the movies....

3.  I love crossword puzzles and only do them in ink.  I'm obsessed with finishing without a single mistake.

4.  I'm afraid of horses...yes, even the cute little ones.

5.  I attended the Maine College of Art on a scholarship during my sophomore year of High School.  One of my drawings was on display in the Portland Museum of Art.

6.  I'm legally blind without corrective lenses.

7.  My favorite scent is vanilla....clean babies come in a close second.

8.  I love the water but hate boats.

9.  I use one pen until it runs out of ink.  It's almost pathetic to watch when I've misplaced it or someone has borrowed it.

10.  I collect antique teddy bears.

So, that's me ... or at least some of me.

Have a wonderful day, my friends!

M.

Almost red, white and blue.

I have a few birthdays in July that I create cards for, and I always try to stay away from being too patriotic, but I love using the standard colors.  Of course, you can only do so much when combining red, white and blue; especially when you're trying to do a birthday card.

This first card was created for my nephew, Kolby.  I was inspired by a card in the new Paper Crafts magazine.

I stuck with the red, white and blue...almost.  I actually used a red, white print and teal.  I thought it all came together nicely.

Materials used:  card stock, Cosmo Cricket, DCWV and Sassafras papers, Ki Memories brads, hand cut stars from 7Gypsies, Bella Blvd., My Minds Eye, Studio Calico papers and a vintage book page, baker's string, sentiment stamp from my stash, Joann's rectangle alpha clip and Tim Holtz distress ink in Weathered Wood.  The journaling tag was also hand cut and the black line was added.

This next card is for my cousin's daughter, Miss Lydia.  She's such a peach.

Again, I went with variations of red, white and blue.  I love how this one is so carefree with all the machine stitching...and simple.

Materials used:  card stock, Crafty Secrets, DCWV and SEI papers, corner rounder punch, white twill tape and an SEI title sticker.

So, red, white and blue doesn't need to feel patriotic.  You can use variations of these colors together for a non-traditional result.

Thanks for spending some time with me!

M.