Stay tuned...

Hello Kept Women!  Donna here just to let you know I may have some pics to put on the blog tomorrow.  Way too tired tonite - gotta start getting Craft-Dee BowZ orders out.  Chris and I had a JAM packed frenetic weekend of classes and selling on the trade show floor and I have a wee bit of jet lag right now.

I did some different classes than Chris as well as some of the same such as Ranger, Impression Obsession, Susan's Garden, and Maya Road.  I may have forgotten one in there.  Some of our projects are being shipped with the Craft-Dee BowZ trade show set-up and should arrive within the week.  If there's something in there, I'll pop a picture up for you to see.

Just as an aside, for those of you who actually read the Blog here, we'd love to get some feedback from you.  We sometimes feel like we are just talking to Cyberspace.  So drop us a line will ya?  We're trying our darndest to keep you up to date and informed. 

Susan's Garden by Sizzix

This was a class Donna and I took this evening. Susan's Garden is a Sizzix line of thin dies that are sculpted together to make gorgeous flowers. The line features a nifty toolkit that helps you put some life into your blossoms. I fell in love with these last spring and begged Kim to order me the kit, along with the die sets for the dogwood and lily. Next month, the winter line of flowers are being released and tonight we got a preview of the Pointsettia and dahlia. To my surprise, tonight's class was taught by Susan herself- the designer. She was really nice and a fantastic teacher! So, check out the picture below. I will be begging Kim to order these dies for me just as soon as they are released. And may be we should have a drop in class at the art bar?

                                                

More pretty techniques from WOW

                                     

Lolly Stick Whacking

Yeah, I knew that title would get your attention! This is a technique taught to us by Marion in our Wow class today. As many of you know, Wow is the brand of those yummy embossing powders that we melt and pour into the molds. After today's classes, I can tell you there are lots more fun things to do with this stuff ( and 6 Devine New Colors!). Anyway, lolly stick whacking was a happy accident that Marion has refined into a technique. As these folks are Brits, we had to have them translate a few of their expressions. The lolly stick is a Popsicle stick. Hessian is burlap. Pegs are clothes pins. Etc. so, you start by melting a layer of powder and extender on your project, follow it up with two more layers to make it nice and thick. Then while it is still hot, you whack it. With a lolly stick. Check out the background on the canvas below! Cool, huh? Good. Now everyone needs to email, call, or Facebook Kim and tell her we want a Lolly Stick Whacking class!!! Do it! I dare you to!

                                 

Hold in' out for a Hero...

Hero Arts, that is. A wonderful, sweet, bouncy gal named Lisa taught us the Hero Arts workshop yesterday. We were given a nifty book (craft board, so you can stamp and paint all over it, inside pagers were tab and pockets- very cool). Lisa gave us a ton of ideas for using the Hero daubers. Some of these techniques have been done in our own classes at Kept, but a few were refreshingly new. By the way, Hero has a new white pigment dauber. Kim. Oh, Kim. HEY KIM!!! Want, want, want, want, want that new white dauber. Must have it. Don't make me whine!

                                             

Maritime Book Tray

Am just about to start this class!!!!

Copics on Fabric

Just made coasters with a cute stamped muslin gift back in the Copics class. Got lots of tips for working with fabric.

Salivating at The Collins Show

Okay, so I've been emailing pics to Kim and I think she got hysterical when I sent pics of some of the sample stencils from TCW.  I actually think I heard her whimper thru my iPad.  This may be a wild guess, but I think you should be looking for some VERY cool stencils coming in to the store.  Chris and I have signed up for a bunch of classes and hope to be able to bring some new and innovative projects, tools and ideas home to you all.  "You-all". That's a phrase we've been hearing down here in the Lone Star state except it's "y-all, y-all". What does that mean exactly?

See y-all, y-all real soon!
Donba

Want, want, want....!

You all know what a Sizzix fan I am. I own that cute little Texture Boutique machine ( you folks that took my drop in class on Vintaj charms at the art bar last week, saw me demo it). Well, Sizzix just released a companion machine- the Sophisticut, which does die cuts. Small, portable and cute as a button.  KIMMMMMMMM! I want one!

Donna doing vendor presentation

Wow! Who knew Donna had such presence! Such on-stage charisma! Such savoir affaire! ( did I spell that right?) whatever! Donna did awesome!

And from the hotel-

Ok, well... there was a teeny weeny itsy bitsy bit of more drama. It involved the hotel elevator and there is a big brawny dude with a Texan accent who, I believe, is still laughing about it. Sorry, girls. I am just not ready to talk about it.

Chris and Donna Do Houston

Well, folks. We are finally off to the much anticipated Collins Show in Houston, Texas. As the show does not begin until tomorrow, I have no fun new crafty stuff to post. Thus, I shall have to entertain you with dialogue from our journey.

From the Logan Express bus-

"Ummmmm....did we just miss our stop?"

From the sidewalk in front of the (wrong) bus stop-

"Donna.....that doesn't look like your bag. I think someone took yours."

"HOLY CRAP!!!!"

From Johnny Rockets in the airport-

"Yes, I AM getting fries AND onion rings! I am just so upset about your bag that I need comfort food. (That's my story and I am sticking to it.)

From the plane-

"Oh, my gosh...MAYDAY MAYDAY pass me those napkins!!! Quick!!"

"Eeeeewwww. Do you think the air pressure caused that?"

" I dunno, but I am never bringing my Wink of Stella black marker on an airplane again!"

From our flight attendant-

"Yes. That's what happens to liquid pens at this altitude." (And she was gracious enough to not end that sentence with "you foolish airhead".)

All this drama.....and to think the plane hasn't even landed yet.  For sure, this will not be a dull weekend. So, my crafty peeps- stay tuned for pictures and inside info on the Collins Show. I know we will learn a lot of great info we can share with you. And what have we learned already, Grasshopper???   Wink of Stella pens prefer to take the bus!

Deconstructed visual journal page

Deconstructed Visual Journal page

Deconstructed Visual Journal page

Wild and wacky weekend

For those of you who were able to come to the store this weekend, you know it was a great time for all! On Friday eve, several of us attended the Mixed Media social with Catherine Scanlon. Lots of laughs ( and meatballs made in June's special recipe).  Saturday brought us an all- day mixed media blitz workshop with Catherine, in which we put our Gelliplates to good use. If you were there, I invite you to post a pic of your favorite page!

Sunday's Altered Arts Workshop artists began their 2-month altered book project....and the preliminary work was amazing! Chris did a drop-in class on working with Vintaj brass charms at the Art bar. Busy, busy, busy...and wonderful! 

Many thanks to our guest instructor, Catherine Scanlon for a memorable weekend!

Fun with Vintaj!

Join Chris at the Craft Bar this coming Sunday for a mini class on techniques with Vintaj brass charms. Fun to alter, fun to embellish and Steampunk cool! Drop in any time between 12 and 3pm- no advance sign up necessary.

Attention Altered Arts Artists!!!

Just a quick reminder that the Altered Arts workshop will be one week early this month. Mark your calendars! Sunday September 22 at noon, and we will be be altering books. See you there!

White pens accents

This is the final post regarding white pens. I wanted to showcase how these pens work on an actual design with the different mediums from the previous post. It's nothing fancy but this should give you and idea how these will work when you use them in your creations.

I used the same six pens from the previous post each one is on a separate part of the design that is seen in the photos.

Tombow markers...

Faber-Castell india ink...

Faber-Castell color pencils...

Gelly Roll metallic...

Faber-Castell watercolor pencils...

Faber-Castell gelatos...

Winston-Newton watercolor paints...

I think the pens look best on the Faber-Castell PITT pens with the india ink. I hope these posts have helped you see the differences in these pens. I hope you enjoy using the white pen in your projects.

Susan C.

White Pens on different mediums

Back again for part 2 of 3 on white pens. Today, you'll see what these pens look like on different art mediums and surfaces.

The samples are on a mixed media paper. One is the surface as is and the other is coated with gesso. I used the top six white pens with tombow markers, gelly roll metallic, water color paints, and an array of faber-castell products (india ink, color pencils, water color pencils and gelatos).

First up is plain surface...

Now gesso...

Yet again not all surfaces or mediums are the same.  The white pens don't seem to work at all with the Tombow markers on either surface. Except for the Faber-Castell watercolor pencils on the plain surface the white pens perform about the same. I think the gesso coated samples look the best but that's just me.

Call the store KEPT Creations 781-447-4010 and let Kim know you one these products.

This is the second of three posts, so check back tomorrow to see how these pens look when used to accent a design colored with the different mediums you saw in this post.

Susan C.

Pearl Pens and Metal- Faux Soldering

These are the covers of my next art journal. In my mind's eye, I pictured pieces of embossed metal that fit perfectly together....! Well, we know that didn't happen. No matter how carefully I measured and cut, the pieces were not precise as the embossing changed the size of each. So, I had to find a little something to fill the gaps. And voila.....a silver VivaDecor pearl pen filled the gaps nicely and the end result looks like soldering! 

Quest for the Perfect White Pen

Not sure if anyone else is searching for the perfect white pen but I am and it's been a long journey. I've tried so many over the years and haven't found the perfect one yet. As I get more into art journaling I find that a white pen is a good alternative to the regular black to switch it up a little. 

Recently, I went on the quest again. I cut up several sheets of black cardstock and wrote the name of each pen along with a little squiggle and few doodles to see how the pen would work for writing and doodling. You might be wondering why there are two of each sample, well as many of you know not all cardstock is equal. I wrote on two different pieces, one is a little slick almost has a a mottled look to it and the other if more like regular smooth cardstock.

They appear in the order I think from best to worst....

As you can see there are many white pen out there and they are not equal. Hands down the Uniball Signo broad wins. I've had this pen several years and it does seem to be the best out there. Depending on how you use the pen will determine which one you choose.

I will warn you that some of these pens don't give instant gratification. What I mean by that is the Sakura Glaze and soufflé pens come out clear and as they dry they turn white so don't crumple up your paper or throw away the pen because you don't see what you wrote, just give it a minute or two and it should show up. Others are good if you want that white-washed look too. Most of these pens are gel or water based, I included the Sharpie oil based pen so you could see the difference and not pick up the wrong one at the store. Water-based is good for paper and oil based is good for wood, metal, pottery, rubber, glass, plastic, stone and more but not paper.

If you do pick up one of these pens be sure to use it often, maybe once a week or so, even if it's just to doodle a little. This will keep the pen from drying up or getting clogged which seems to happen to a lot of my white pens.

Call the store KEPT Creations 781-447-4010 and let Kim know you one these white pens.

This is the first of three posts, so check back tomorrow to see how these pens look on different mediums.

Susan C.

Leafing Mini Class

It's October....time to enjoy the beautiful colors of the leaves, and the beautiful colors of leafing!  Come play with Chris at the Art Bar for a drop-in mini class featuring leafing. We will be making bottle cap pins using leafing to create faux dichromatic glass. You will love this technique!!!

Sunday October 13, any time between 12 and 3pm

PS....The amazing and talented Susan C will be hosting the Inchie swap at noon and teaching a quilted paper piercing class at 1pm. Trifecta, anyone??? :-)

                                            

Just arrived.....!

Kept Creations has copies of Just Steampunk Magazine. Not only is it gorgeous and inspiring, but this is the issue that our very own Donna Maligno is published in!!! Hurry in- limited number of copies!

1 year Anniversary Slideshow

Thank you to all you wonderful people who came out to celebrate our one year anniversary with us.  We had a fabulous time and we hope you did too!

We took a few digital photos of the weekend and our photo booth.  Would you like to see?  Here's a little slideshow of the fun! 

FYI...  I believe this takes Flash player and may not be available to see on your Ipads.  Sorry.

Who is driving that bus???

Quick! Get off the road!!!

Mackenzie's 60's pic!

Altered Arts Workshop

Here are just a few of our altered items from the August workshop. The theme was flip flops. From left to right: nancy did a very kitzy beach-themed book using flip flops as the covers. Chris made a wall hanging holder from her flip flop, which holds her reminder notebook. Stacy found some wooden flip flop die cuts which she altered into a book that contains a history of flip flops (which was very interesting, actually. Who knew that flip flops were so historical???) and Sam also made a wall hanging, but her flip flop holds a potted plant and an artful encouragement.

Gorgeous ATC art

Thanks go out to Jennifer M for allowing us to post her beautiful art. This is a little something that Jennifer whipped up at the ATC/Inchie bar during the Kept Creations birthday bash yesterday. That Jennifer....she has mad crazy skills!

Fun at the birthday bash!

This is Donna, Carol, Jenna and me hamming it up at the birthday bash yesterday. Great day! So much fun stuff going on and I saw soooo many friends! Am looking forward to doing it again today! -Chris