Exciting News From The Be Yourself Creations Store!!

Good Morning Bloggers!!!

There  is so much that I want to share with you all this morning and there is only so much time in which we can do it in.  Firstly. let me just say Summer CHA was amazing!!! There was serious sensory overload going on and overload on the wallet too!  Some seriously tough choices to make and some delightful finds.  All the product we have ordered should start arriving within the next month so I am super excited to see it all arriving (though I do feel sorry for my UPS guy!)

Now there is also some other fabulous news for me to share.  I had been trying to decide whether I wanted to have a Design Team or not for the store especially considering we are so new to the marketplace. After much discussion with my husband and a few wonderfully amazing women whom I greatly admire, we decided to go with a small hand picked  Design Team.  The team will grow over time but for now there is only the 3 of us.  We will post to the blog Mondays. Wednesdays and Friday hoping to inspire you all with the creations we make utilizing product from the store as well as what we have in our personal stashes.

Without further ado...let me introduce our wonderful Design Team:

Ramona Downing:

My Name is Ramona and I live in South-western Ohio near Cincinnati.
I am not married and have 3 furry children (long haired dachshunds) and take care of my 78 year old mother. I have been scrapping since 2002 and have done arts and crafts my entire life. I have grown up with a very creative mother and Grandmother. I love to scrapbook whether it be Scrapbook pages, Mini Albums or Altered Art. I love to learn new techniques and like to incorporate them in my Scrapbooking. I am so excited to be on Be Yourself Creations and to be able to share my creations with people and hopefully encourage more people to preserve their past for future generations to come.

I hope you enjoy my Creations and  that I inspire you along the way.. Hugs!!

Ramona's Blog can be found HERE

Cris Cunningham:

 


Hi my name is Cris and I live in a sweet little harbor town on the north shore of Long Island with my husband, two teen girls and our cute little Westie fur baby named Cody.

I started crafting in college when my roommate taught me how to crochet and make pretty decor items for our dorm room out of paper. Since then it has become a very big part of my life and I've been fortunate to meet some of my best friends through this fabulous hobby. I love to dabble, so you may notice that my style is all over the place; sometimes I keep things clean and simple, and other times I immerse myself in a project so detailed that it that takes days to complete.

When I'm not crafting I enjoy planning parties, decorating, and scouring the book store for a fabulous read. I'm also hopelessly addicted to Facebook and Pinterest so please be sure to find me at either site so we can become keep in touch!

I am so excited about being apart of the Be Yourself Creations design team!! This is a fabulous place! I hope you will participate along with us and share our love for mixed media and paper crafting.

xoxo,
Cris

Cris' Blog can be found HERE

Terri Cook:

Hi everyone my name is Terri. I am the owner of this wonderful store and it has long been a dream of mine to embark on this adventure.  I have been scrapbooking since 2005 and I love the entire process.  I tend to do more Altered Items these days as opposed to scrapbook pages these days.  I moved (from Australia) to the USA (Ohio to be exact) just over 2 years ago to be with my amazingly wonderful husband.   I love all things creative and I hope that we inspire you to get creative and messy (cos they go hand in hand) as you explore your own creative side.  If there is ever anything you need or want to know if we can source it, please do not hesitate to email me at: beyourselfcreations@gmail.com.

So this was our exciting news...do not forget that as of this coming Monday we will be posting 3 times a week with new and exciting projects.

You can find us on FACEBOOK to catch up with our daily happenings.

Have a fabulous day!

Mixed Media Fun...

So I am alive..just in case any of you wondered LOL!  I have been super busy of late with life and enjoying the whole medically retired thing! I have been trying to get my store up and taking off but we all know that a new business takes time and patience...I have plenty of the first and about zero of the latter.  Aside from that I went to Summer CHA in Chicago with my daughter...more on that later but suffice to say I won't be taking her next year!

Anyway..whilst there in Chicago I met some amazingly wonderful and talented women!  I was lucky enough to be invited to an impromptu art journalling evening where we all spent more time talking then creating but that was just great too!   Rambling again...So I met this incredibly talented woman Catherine and I was in awe of her art journalling that she did while the rest of us all just chatted.  It turns out that she teaches online AND has this wonderful challenge going with some other wonderfully talented artists called The Whatever's.  You can read about it HERE

So today I dusted off my studio (poorly neglected space that it is!) and decided to create...a few attempts later I am happyish with it. It is ok..nothing spectacular but I am hoping as I get back into the swing of creating my mojo will return in full force.

Not much else to share today...I am going to chill for a bit...well after I clean up the mess I made!

New Beginnings!!

Well for those who are not aware I have opened my own online Scrapbook/Mixed Media store.  It has long been a dream of mine and my husband granted the wish for my birthday back in April.  We have been sifting through the thousands of companies for products that I love and believe in or have personal experience using.  The store is slowly being stocked with more products as the weeks pass and I find the things I just have to have LOL!   

So please be patient if I dont post as regularly here...as I will be posting on the store blog more often and the facebook page.  We can be found HERE and our BLOG as well as our FACEBOOK.

Gorgeous Mini Canvas

Evening Bloggers,

I do apologize for being late in my post this week...but life is extremely hectic here at present.  I did manage to find some crafty time to play with a 6x6 canvas using the gorgeous Almanac collection.  I have to say this collection would have to be my all time favourite Prima paper collection!  Broad statement but a very true one!

 Anyway...onto the project.  I used a 6x6 canvas that was in my stash...I darkened the edges of the canvas using one of my Pan Pastels from my stash...I am loving the effect and versatility of these!  I then cut out a mannequin shape using Grungeboard and covered it with one of the papers from the Almanac Collection. I inked the edges with Tattered Rose Distress Ink and set about covering her in strips of the Black Lace from the Almanac Collection.  The gems for the detail work are from my stash.
 

I then had the tough choice of which papers to use as the background and after much debate in my mind I made my final choices and then inked those as well in Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  I set about clustering flowers and leaves from both the Almanac Collection and other various fabulous Prima flowers and leaves (loving the greys and blacks in the felt!!)

The overall effect is very girly with a touch of the dramatic with the mannequin and the greys and blacks.  This will go next to the one I did using the Natures Garden collection last time.

I hope you like my mini canvas...and the gorgeous Prima product that is used on it.  Til next week....

Whimsical Sunday

Good Morning Blogland!

Once again it is Sunday and I am here to share with you a project that I have completed this week.  I wanted to use up some scrap pieces from a mini album from the Sweet Retreat.

I sat down with a small 6x6 canvas and set about layering the papers I wanted to use and cutting them to fit.  After I layered them on the canvas as I wanted them I grabbed my Pan Pastels and used them for the background colouring especially for the edges.
 
I then used Helmar 450 to adhere the papers in place once I had inked the edges using Distress Ink in Peeled Paint.  I have used a piece of the Resist Canvas from the Almanac line and inked it in Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  I have then layered flowers from the Natures Garden range as well as some trusty faves of Prima.

This canvas is a little whimsical and different from my usual styling but I love it all the same...now to find a home for it LOL!

Until next week...

Happy Mother's Day

I hope today finds all the gorgeous Mothers out there enjoying their day surrounded by family and perhaps a little creative time. I spent my day playing with the Almanac range of papers from Prima....LOVE this line!

I made sure I painted this wooden pail with my fave paint Folk Art Warm White.   I cut the papers to fit the ends and sides as well as using one of the journal spots for the label (as such!)

The alphas are the Prima Canvas alphas to match the Almanac line.  I wrapped the handle with Twine and secured it with Decoupage glue as I went (that part took the longest!) 

I added a few of the Almanac flowers from my Collection package and finally ran to the store to grab candy to fill it with haha...it now sits proudly on my desk in the office for when I need that instant pick me up!

I hope you enjoyed my little project.

Sweet Retreat Photos

Afternoon everyone,

We are officially home from the retreat...well I am lol.  It was a wonderful event and Kristina and Cari truly did an amazing job...*Kevin did too*   We had lots of laughs and lots of chocolate and who could forget the oodles of Prima goodies!!!   Cari & Sharon truly outdid themselves on the kits they gave us for the classes. Product overload and everything was amazing!!!   Cari was a blast as she taught us...I swear that woman cracked the whip..no bathroom breaks or anything LOL!!!... Love ya Cari ;)

Here are the make and takes from Friday night.  They were fun to make and got us all a little warmed up for Saturdays 3 classes!

This is the clutch we made using a canvas album page.  I even asked Cari to teach me how to mist effectively as we all know I struggle with that one.

Next was the headband. I LOVE that trim...may have to get me some more of that! 

Last but not least was the cuff.  It doesnt fit around my wrist but it sits happily on my shelf now.

Our first class was a mini album and I have not shown it as we didnt get it finished so I am hoping to have it done next weekend.
The second class was 2 layouts using the Almanac collection.  A truly stunning collection and by far my favourite!!!  I used a photo of my oldest daughter Bek from the fall for this layout. A very special thank you goes to Kristina and the amazingly wonderful Cris for helping me with this layout as I came down with a migraine about 20 minutes into the class....so they helped with alot of the technical folding etc as my head was pounding while I waited for medications to kick in.

Second layout I used a photo of my youngest daughter Jess from a few years ago.

Our evening class consisted of a canvas apron, lots of water and Golden paints.  It was a BLAST!  I love the end result of my apron and everyones was very different.  They truly reflected personalities.

The weekend was wonderful...I laughed lots (we all did!) and I made friends with some amazing women....I truly recommend the next one to everyone!!!