A little remodeling of my studio

I am trying very hard to simplify my studio, to strip it of any unnecessary clutter. And let me tell you, it is hard. Hopefully will be able to post some photos next week.

Tim Holtz workshop

So we started by covering the canvas with Tim's new cardstock.

Then we covered it with Distress Stain. They are yummy!

Here you have Nina covering hers.

And Marion with her die cuts.

Tim with some ladies, two of which you may recognize as they are Amy Shaw and Lindsay Mason. 

And these are the three canvases that we created on the workshop. They are not mine, mine were not picture worth it.

Stitches

 I am working through all the photos I took at Stitches, but till I do I will leave you with two of the Sizzix stand, where I did demonstrate all three days. I used the fabulous Big Shot Pro.

Here you have Pete Hugues. He is one talented and super nice guy. Sizzix is lucky to have such a great creative ambassador! He was showing off the Vagabond, the eclips and the Big Shot. 

And this is just one of nine display areas. The Sizzix stand always is one of the cutests and better decorated of all the trade show. Yes, I know it sounds biased since I was working there, but that is what every single person said when commenting on the stand.

Click here to see the new dies that Sizzix is releasing in the forthcoming months.

Portraits

Some more photos from the same session as the one I posted on Wednesday. 

And yes, Dawn, I do take commissions!

Day to day

Right now I am all excited about Stitches, the craft trade show that is held annually at the NEC, Birmingham. I demoed at the Kars stand for the last five editions. But this year I will be demonstrating at the Sizzix stand for the first time, it is super exciting for me as I LOVE die cutting - my area of expertise - and in particular Sizzix dies.

I took a photo of my room a few weeks ago. Pretty much all is there albeit be on the floor as I needed the table space. Thing is I am trying to give away any stuff that is nice but that I know I won't use as my taste has either changed or it is something that is not readily available (which means I can't use for articles anymore). And thanks for the lovely comments about missing my cards. I will try to upload more because the funniest thing has happened now: I am actually making cards for fun that I can share immediately! But they are not as many as I used to make before for my demo/workshops, so they will have to be scattered around.

Photography wise, I am still learning. I am taking a few months to learn as much as possible about the skills that I am not so confident, building up. I am taking courses, doing practice shoots and reading as much as I can fit in. 

While in Mallorca I did a photo shoot with one friend of mine from my university days. I had such a fun time with her and her family that confirmed my love for lifestyle photography and specially portraits. I just love capturing people's real beauty which, I think, comes from within and sometimes flourishes in a visible way that the camera captures. That is my aim.

Valentine's day

Yes tomorrow, or today, is valentine's day. Do you like the holiday? Personally I think it's a commercial tacky holiday that it actually is rather sweet and surprisingly uplifting. For years and years I told myself that I hated it. As it turns out, since I have been with Omar I don't hate it anymore. In fact, it has become a little celebration between us. Sweet, cheerful and a small dose of tackiness just because it's Valentines day.




So, happy valentine's day!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A week in Mallorca

Last week I went to spent some days with my family. I was lucky to get a week (almost) of sun and warm days. Spent the days enjoying friends and my family most of which live there, in Mallorca.


And this photo is of my mum and myself in Port de Soller, which alongside with Soller itself, makes a lovely day visit.

Craft Day on QVC

One of my many favorite die cutting machines, the Slice,  is today's TSV, which I used to create the aperture in the bellow card as well as the inside nesting shape.

There are endless hours of crafting, including Marion Emberson's at 4pm. And she has a couple of my stamps sets one with the Filled with Flowers and Simple flowers and another one with Circle Tags, All Year Round and Mix and Match that has already been on air once or twice before. 

More distress cards

This one card I made last year for an article on Cardmaking and Papercraft. I love the look of this clean distress strongly influenced by Jennifer McGuire.  Love her!


Anyway, there is a good reason why I haven't posted often and it is not so simple. I have decided not to be so involved in the craft the industry meaning that I wont be anymore a full time freelance crafter. For those who like my stamps, do not worry. I will keep those coming. For those who enjoy my articles, do not worry either, I will still do them.


However, I am going to reduce drastically the demos that I will do this year. I will only do couple that were booked last year and I plan to do those. But I wont do any workshops for the foreseeable future. Both this decisions were not that easy to make but I feel I have the need to explore other professional possibilities outside the craft industry and workshops specially require too much of my energy and creativity.


I honestly don't know how often I am going to post cards in this blog as I have no fix plans about it. I may post cards daily for a week and then nothing for the following, something that suits me at the moment. I do plan, however, to keep the Crafty Storage posting regular.


My professional future? Well, I just have an enormous desire to have a go at portrait photography, even though I have strong suspicions on how hard and overcrowded the market is, I just have the need to give it a go. I may fail, but I wont know if I don't try, and right know, I don't feel like I have another option but to try it.

Favorite Portraits of 2010

Well, actually, some of my favorites, not all of them as there are too many.