Summer Hydrangeas - Bloom Forever!

Ah, the beauty of summer hydrangea! Love the billowing blossoms and the abundance of colour, even the annabelle/pee gee white snowballs! Hydrangeas are a very popular flower in wedding bouquets and arrangements, but sadly they have a very short life before they wilt.

There are many hydrangea bushes in our neigbourhood and I have been experimenting with a couple of bushes that I have had for a few years. One disappointment in my garden this year is a 3 year old hydrangea that has bloomed in the past, but after moving it, there were no flowers last year and only one, lonely cluster of a vibrant, almost irridescent blue/purple this summer! I photographed it right away and admired it for a couple of days...then couldn't resist snipping it and bringing it inside to enjoy. I know the proper care for stems and water temp, however this beauty started to fade a day later.

I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to do a floral comparison with real flowers and clay flowers made with ClayCraft by DECO. I snipped a couple of blossoms for comparison (see photo) and I was able to match and emulate the shading of this cluster through careful mixing of clay pigments. When I went to shoot it in the light of day, well...you can see what it looks like today. No one can match the beauty of Mother Nature, but with so many brides who desire hydrangeas on their wedding day, the qualities of clay flowers provide an eco-chic alternative!

One Square Arrangement - Three Ways

Well...two blogs in one day...still raining!

I wanted to share some more of the beautiful characteristics of working with ClayCraft by DECO. You can clearly see how different each arrangement looks simply by using different hues and shades of roses. The chocolate brown container is very charming with the spicy shade roses, yet similar coloured roses in a white vase are also very sharp! I think the monochromatic palette of the third photo is also very elegant and will look lovely in any room.

As classic as a beautiful rose is, it can look modern using a square container - just love how all three of these turned out. Enjoy, Ladies! These three arrangements are spoken for, but you are welcome to contact me for custom orders. www.invitemecreative.ca

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to All!

I hope the bunny found its way to your house today! We all had plenty of egg hunting, paper crafting with the kids, good food with the family this weekend...and maybe a few chocolates...now back to chicken, fish and veggies this week! LOL - How many weeks to swimsuit season??!!!

Looking forward to ScrapFest and finish kitting my class this week - lots of goodies in store! Can't wait to meet the enthusiastic students and create some cool papercrafting embellishments with clay!If you haven't registered...

Only a few spots left...

(This was written by Lisa Furtney of ScrapFest)

ONLY 11 MORE SLEEPS...... to ScrapFest in Kitchener 2009
Your Ultimate Scrapbooking and Paper Crafting Destination!

Wait until you see all of the newly released products that ScrapFest's exhibitors are bringing to the event. New products that have not yet been seen in the stores!! They have been saving them just for ScrapFest and for YOU!!! Please join us on Saturday to shop the day away and enjoy make 'n takes, demonstrations and more. Tickets are available on line or at the door on Saturday, April 18th for $10. Friday passes are sold out!!
Don't skip these classes!! There are only a FEW spots left!!

You do not want to miss out on these incredible classes and the opportunity to LEARN and CREATE from the industry's best from all over Canada. Take a look at what Vicki Boutin, Trisha Ladouceur, and Kathy Thompson Laffoley have planned for YOU! For more information on the classes being offered at ScrapFest in Kitchener please visit this link.

Beautiful NEW embellishments! Are you looking for something fun and exciting to add to your layouts, cards and other crafting projects?
Then you will not want to miss out on the opportunity to take Tracey Paul's class, "Cool Embellishments with Clay." Yes, CLAY. But this isn't the kind of clay you are thinking of. This Deco Clay is so nice to play with and it feels like marshmallows but it isn't sticky! I had the opportunity to play with it a couple of weekends ago and I didn't even want to wash my hands afterwards - not messy at all! Come see what I mean.

Let's get this party started right NOW with another contest!!
If you post your answer on the ScrapFest Forum under the topic "Do Tell!!" your name will go into a draw and the winner will receive a prize package which will be available for pick up at the ScrapFest registration table at the AUD on Friday, April 17th or Saturday, April 18th.

Here is the question: How did you heard about ScrapFest? Do tell!!

The draw will take place on Monday, April 13th, 2009 at 9:00pm ET.

We are looking forward to another fun filled couple of days with many of you at ScrapFest in Kitchener 2009. We can't wait!! See you real soon! OK, time to get back to work!
http://www.scrapfest.ca/

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Where have I been??

Hello - I know I have been very quiet on the blogging-front...only because I have been busy behind the scenes! I was fortunate to spend a week working with my DecoClay Craft Academy Instructor in San Jose, California in early March. Along with 2 other students, we worked day and night on projects to refine our flower making, accent painting and floral arrangement skills. I am very thankful for that opportunity and thrilled with my progress to date!

With a very quick turn-around (home for a day and a half) our family flew off for a warm-weather, beach vacation in beautiful Cuba! Laughs and good times, combined with a lot of pool-side lounging and walking the beach! I wore sunscreen :) and I snapped lots of photos of beautiful tropical flowers that I will try to re-create in clay. Stay tuned.

Also, the countdown to ScrapFest is on! April 17, 18th in Kitchener, Ontario. Visit http://www.scrapfest.ca/ for more details - hope you can make it!

A Gerbera Daisy

I made this gerbera daisy a couple of days ago out of DecoClay and looking over the photos, it is one that makes me happy! No special reason for posting, just thought you might enjoy it. Looking for Spring (even though it is mid-Feb).

I also thought with the tiffany blue background that this is a lovely colour combination for a spring/summer wedding....maybe a hairclip? or part of a cake topper?

There are so many uses for DecoClay flowers...in arrangements, home decor, scrapbooking and hair flowers! Enjoy.

ScrapFest - Registration is OPEN

I am very excited to announce that the registration is now OPEN for ScrapFest! Visit http://www.scrapfest.ca/ for details. Look under registration, classes, teachers (then my photo) to see my workshop details - I hope you can join me on Sat April 18th in Kitchener, Ontario!

We'll learn the basics about custom-tinting DecoClay and creating fabulous embellishments for greeting cards and scrapbook pages. While the pieces air-dry we will make greeting cards and tags with some of the prettiest patterned paper and embellishments by Melissa Frances. Imagine these everlasting embellishments on greeting cards & layouts to showcase the ultimate in tactile embellishments! DecoClay is a product that can enhance the hand-designed elements of your card making techniques and scrapbook pages.