Workin' at home!

Today is Saturday and in a crafter's world.... this is usually another work day.  Whenever inspiration strikes, the brain goes to work.  I have always had a pencil and paper on my night stand, because I would never know when an idea would come and I would have to get up and put it into action.

I don't usually Blog on Saturday, but I got a giggle out of my dog and thought I would share it with you.  I will include some photos to tell the story. The first picture is walking through the doorway into my studio.  On the left...just beyond the bookcase is a room for storage. 

 Kind of scary, right?  (You other crafters/hoarders understand).........

 On the floor, below, is my dog Tucker's day bed..so to speak.  He spends many a splendor ed hours in there...on this paw print blanket.

 Now, did any one know that dogs can build a nest??  He wasn't in his normal spot, so I looked around and this is what I found!  It was my brand new bag of fiberfill, stored inside of a kitchen trash bag.  Those shopping bags in front used to be in the upright position.  Can anyone say OVER SIZED SQUEAKY TOY?  He had a great time taking the guts out of this one and then napping on them!

 I just had to share, because this is a typical scenario for us that work at home.  For some of the things that get by us, we could be out of the house and at that office!  Totally clueless!  Regardless, I do like having my babies around me while I work.  Years ago, it was in the form of my girl child, now it is our animals.  Anyone that doesn't think of us that work at home as actually "working" should check out our digz sometime!  I think we might deserve an award! 

Now I have to go and clean up the "nest".  Hope to do a lot of purging in the next couple of days.  Does anyone have a tip or two about how to do this without suffering physical pain?  If so, I would love to hear about it!

By the way, below are a couple of favorite pics of the guilty party, Tucker.  He always wants to be a part of the class when I have one going on in the studio.  The second photo is after he had a good run around in the yard and he was tired and hot. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great Holiday week-end. 

Keep smiling!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Design Consultant for

CraZy TACKz

www.marilyngossett.com

                    www.crazytackz.com (under construction)



Tip for the Day

I have told people about our "creeper" cat, Terror...and I ran across this picture of him while I was looking for my pictures for the Blog today.  I have to keep it real, and this is what I look at most every day while I am working in my studio.  I have other "helpers" too.   My dog, Tucker loves to sit and whine at me because I am not giving him the attention he thinks he deserves.  Oh, the joys and pains of being a pet owner!  (Or should I say a pet "slave"?  Lol)  Here is a picture of Tucker.  Just because.

This is how he looks at me most of the day. 

My friend and neighbor, Donna and I have started walking again in the mornings.  This has been great for me because sitting at the computer and crafting most of the day doesn't get the blood flowing other than the adrenaline spikes one gets from having lots of fun and loving what they are doing!  Anyway, I am getting off of the real reason I am posting today!

Donna has a cute bench on her porch that she recently painted and gave a little face lift to.  She wanted to attach a vine around the heart cut-out on the bench and wasn't sure how to make it work since glue didn't seem like a good option.  Well, CraZy TACKz to the rescue.  She used the clear tackz and pushed them into the pine wood...around the heart.  Then, wound the vines around the heart, attaching them with the hooks.  Unless you look VERY close, you cannot see the tackz. 

Upon closer inspection, you can see the little clear tackz stopper on the bottom right of the photo.  This would be one of the hardware applications that this tack was originally intended for.  I almost forget to use them for this type of thing because I am always decorating them up for useful wall hangings and themed decorator tackz!  Another of my favorite applications is to hold my sheers back from the window by looping the tie-back over the hook of the tack. 

So, that is my CraZy TACKz Tip of the Day....Thank you Donna for sharing your idea.  For some "crafty" ideas and projects, visit our website at

www.crazytackz.com.  The site is still under construction, but will offer lots of tips and fun ideas and projects as time goes on.  You can download free project sheets on the website.

Make it a great day!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Design Consultant for

CraZy TACKz

www.crazytackz.com

www.marilyngossett.com

Valentine's Project with CraZy TACKz

The project featured today can be found on the attached link and was created using the pink pack of CraZy TACKz.

For our Cupid's Calendar down loadable project sheet, visit the following link!
http://www.crazytackz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/pCupid-sm1.pdf

Happy Crafting,

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.crazytackz.com



Happy Valentine's Day!

Ever notice how some Holidays are much anticipated, and then, before you know it...they are here and gone!  Valentine's Day has always been that way for me.  I have actually made things for people, and then the day came and went and I never got to give it to them!  Or, I would have a great idea for a party, make favors and not get it on the schedule!  Well, this year is really no different, but I still LOVE creating fun things, so decided to share some of them with you.  Maybe some designs will spark your creativity and you will get in the mood for the next opportunity to entertain or make your own gifts.  The following are some cards and gifty items I have created over the last couple of years.  Happy V'Day to you!  Enjoy!

Pictured above is a purse type card that has chocolates and a kind thing to do for yourself listed on each one.

The above pictures are another version of the same type design.  I made the pattern for the purse, then cut it out of card stock.  I used flower paper punches of various sizes to create the dimensional flower.

This is more like a folder.  You can put chocolates or another card inside.

This card has paper heart shaped cookies on the front.  They look good enough to eat, don't you think?

Above is another version of the same card.  Valentine cookie motif...

Here is one more card with chocolates inside.  This one looks more like a flower pot. I used the paper punches again for the flowers.  Notice the dots have a dimensional medium applied to make them stand out?

Well, that is my Valentine's visual for you today.  Hope you get spoiled today by your loved ones.  My daughter will be making us dinner and is hanging up old fashioned decorations that she has made out of paper.  Fun!

Just a reminder!  If you are decorating for a party or just because; remember to "hook it up" with CraZy TACKz....the tack with a hook!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.crazytackz.com



THE CHA DOWNLOAD!

I am home from the Craft & Hobby Show and excited to show you some of the awesome stuff I saw.  My camera did not do the best job under the fluorescent lights of the Anaheim Convention Center, but you will get the idea!  We introduced CraZy TACKz to the craft industry as a basic piece of hardware, but put the emphasis on the many cool ways that craft retailers can incorporate the "Tack with a Hook" into many projects. In the picture below is Gordie, the CraZy Inventor of the amazing tackz!

                                                   INVENTION

Gordie Murphy, Inventor

               Gordie Murphy, Inventor; Don Murphy (uncle), National Sales Director

                                     Gordz, Marz & Digz in the CraZy TACKz booth

                                             Project models in our booth 

The following are some of the sites around the trade show.  Creativity from all over the world comes together in this place. I wish I could do more justice to the sites by the pictures I took, but again, they are what they are!

                                                      FAME

Tim Holtz, the face of Ranger Industries

ART

Body Painting

IMAGINATION

DCWV Papers  (I love them!)

VINTAGE

Cool displays.......

ECLECTIC

WHIMSY

ELEGANCE

Check out the shoe in front of the dress.....ALL BEADS!

Again, ALL BEADS!  Amazing!

The virtual "tip of the iceberg"!  That is about all that I have to share with you today.  There are soooo many awesome people in this industry!  We never have enough time to make all the rounds, never get to see all of the creativity we want to see and experience, but a great time was had by all!

We had a great time introducing CraZy TACKz; they will be making appearances in Moscow, Tokyo, Australia, and more!  I will keep you up on the stores where you can locate our tackz. 

Also!  Exciting newz!  We now have a new website. It is brand spankin' new, so there is still a lot of tweaking going on.  If you would like to take a look, the link will be listed on the bottom of this Blog. It has a lot of improvements going on, so check back later if it is looking a little out of whack. We have some down- loadable free project sheets and will be adding to our offerings in the near future. Stay tuned!

Happy Crafting,

Marilyn

(aka Marz)

Design Consultant

for CraZy TACKz

www.crazytackz.com