It is exciting week 2 of the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop featuring Karen Burniston's Twist Cube Die. The Twist Cube Die twists and pops up. I have been travelling and am not primarily a paper artist so I opted for using the cube a little differently to save myself some time with logistics. My favorite part is always the decorating well unless it is edible and then the eating is an important part of course!

After seeing what sixty talented designers did in week 1 of the hop with the 3D House, the sky is the limit! I took the cube and used decorative papers to cover all sides leaving one end open as in a gift box. I filled it with decorative vines, berries, added a needle felted bird. Set on a gold plate with more ribbon, pinecones, greenery it makes an ideal centerpiece for my table in my new place.

Last weekend I got to spend the time with both my Darling Daughters together! It has been five months since we all moved and have been together the three of us. My oldest and I drove over to PEI. I wanted to not let go hugging my youngest! She and her sister had been making plans so there was a surprise cake for us, our birthdays are close and gifts for me from the girls.

We hung out talking, laughing, eating and shopping. A trip to Old Navy found us in matching tops. While cutting the cake Kate snapped several pics, I almost dropped the first piece! It was yummy!

More travelling coming up!

Tomorrow we remember all of those lost, those who serve & protect us. To my friends and their families who have served and serve a wish of deepest gratitude. From my heart, Debra.

Last week I had the great pleasure of seeing and meeting Karim Rashid here in Saint John. He is one of the most prolific designers with over 3000 designs in production including the famous Oh chair for Umbra.

He arrived on stage, very tall, dressed in a white suit and pink shoes. He was both inspiring and entertaining with an easy going confident style. The theatre was packed with the enthusiastic audience ranging from students to seniors.

Karim spoke of how good design should be accessible to everyone, items that are inexpensive should be equally aesthetically pleasing. Our homes should be filled with objects that are both beautiful and useful. Our sensibilities are as refined as any "celebrities" and we should decide for ourselves what is beautiful independent of what others endorse.

He spoke of how he approaches design by not living in the world but seeing it with the continual fresh eyes of a "visitor" always questioning. Change is constant and the past is irrelevant in his design world. He made the comment that fashion looks to the past constantly chasing itself in a continual circle.

He answered questions from the audience and stayed around in the lobby following to speak to people expressing a genuine appreciation and sincerity. One of the questions asked of him regarded how he chose his clients to work with. He remarked his office is quite wild so if they are uncomfortable in his office it probably won't work out as a potential client. He also said he made his decisions now if there is a connection with the eyes that is the deciding factor. He is a remarkable talent and amazing human being.

Here he is in the lobby with one of many admiring groups of young people. Thank you Karim for sharing your refreshing vision! Follow the JOY! always Debra, CEO!

Today is the day, at noon EST the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop goes live with sixty plus designers participating! We all received die cuts from new dies designed by the talented Eileen Hull, Brenda Pinnick and Karen Burniston.

The first week, today is the House, 3D designed by Eileen. I had so much fun playing with this die. It fit together easily and there are step by step instructions to follow. Since I am a winter gal I turned mine into a snowy scene and made the fence into a chimney. I covered the pieces with decorative papers before assembling. I also used crystal glitter to cover the whole house after assembly. Since needle felting is one of my favorite techniques I added a wee snowman.

Supplies:
#65279 Sizzix Scoreboards Pro Die, House 3D
2 yards pink ribbon
Sizzix 12 x 12 Matboard
Crystal Glitter
Sizzix Big Shot Pro Die
3- 8 x 8 Decorative Papers
Natural Wool National Nonwovens
1 yard Holiday Ribbon
6" Disc, 1" Ball, Mini Egg,  STYROFOAM TM
Snowflake Brads
Modge Podge
Crystal Branches
3 Pink Birds
6" Cookie Tin

The first snow fell on Halloween, it did not last as most first snowfalls don't.  Seeing the rooftop a snowy white and the trees sprinkled with snowy crystals still brings that initial excited feeling I remember as a child. I am taking a creativity coaching course on Monday evenings, last night we talked about our inner child inviting them out to play. In our busy responsible adult lives we often lose the inner child, a sense of spontaneity and time to just play.

When we play and do something just for the fun of it our minds are set free and often flooded with new ideas that get us excited. It can give you a fresh outlook on your own life. Even just taking a few minutes for "playtime" can completely change the day ahead bringing a new energy and excitement to your day!

Who is your inner child, maybe you have forgotten or not sure where to find him/her. You can start by making a short quick list of some of the things you loved to do as a child. Remember what it felt like to jump in mud puddles or skip rope. What about the excitement of a new box of crayons, the smell, the colors when you opened the box. Whatever you created with them you loved for it was just the sheer joy of coloring that brought happiness. Last weekend when I spent a couple of hours coloring with an adorable six year old making paper dolls and fancy dresses I remembered how much I loved doing that as a child. It was such fun!

Keeping a box just for play filled with items like crayons, small toys, candy treats that you can take a few minutes to visit. Perhaps instead of or along with a coffee break take a play break and have hot chocolate with marshmallows and just play! Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!

'Tis the day after Halloween, was a very fun weekend spent in a home decorated in grand Halloweeny style! Visual and sound effects had hundreds of kids delighted all week!

and NOW it is on with the November! and the hard core holiday crafting begins! This week also begins the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop, cute button on right will magically change this week as 60 designers use new Sizzix dies to create in their own unique style!

FaveCrafts newsletter today features all kinds of great Holiday Santas and Snowmen to make. Several of them I designed for STYROFOAM TM, in the past ten years I have brought quite a few cheeky cheery holiday guys to life! Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!

It's Fowl Friday with Fran & Freda!!! and it is almost Halloween! Around here Halloween is definitely for the birds and our peeps are definitely getting excited! A stray feline did sneak in but... apparently as it is only the head it doesn't seem to dangerous. Freda & I put last minute touches on the table, of course due to Debra's tra la la nature the pumpkin is smiling and the mini quilt piece says "inspire"!

A new baby has joined the peeps so everything has to be explained, like why is this pumpkin white and not orange. Why do the leaves sparkle? Well the real answer is that is what you get when you reside with a designer, nothing is ever the color it is supposed to be and glitter is a fact of life!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Have a safe & spooktacular weekend! Follow the Fowl, Fran & Freda!

Even though Halloween is right around the corner I am surrounded by piles of sparkly holiday fabrics and snowy characters! I am taking time out to paint cheetah spots on some fleece for a costume but mainly I am working on new design ideas and preparing for two upcoming shows. One of my favourite snowman projects was designed for Homearts, a needle felted snowman with reindeer and trees using the easy technique with STYROFOAM TM brand foam as the base. Other foam products do not work as well as they crumble and the wool will not adhere.

I like to decorate more seasonally that way I can keep decor changes in harmony with the natural world outside and enjoy them longer. My snow characters and winter greenery hung with snowflakes remain in place until the end of February. It is also a great time saver and spring cleaning coincides with removing all the winter garb! Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!

I was born in the same decade as the Barbie doll although she has definitely aged better and kept that impossible to achieve figure! I remember having my first Barbie doll at age eleven along with a wonderful wardrobe of dresses, shoes and sportwear many handmade by my mother and great aunt. I kept many of the outfits and dolls passing them on to my daughters. They are almost ten years apart in age so Barbies were a big part of the household for many years.

Now I am very blessed to have two adorable little girls become part of my life and they love their Barbies just as much as my own darling daughters did. This weekend I designed Barbie witch outfits from KUNIN glitter felt so their Barbies could go trick or treating. The tiny treat bags hold those miniature foil wrapped chocolate pumpkins, not that the pumpkins lasted very long!

What is most wonderful about the longevity of Barbie and her popularity still with girls is that no matter what changes with each generation there is so much that remains the same. Even with all the sophistication of technology little girls everywhere still want to get down on the floor and "play" Barbies. Life changes but much remains the same. So from this former girl who played Barbies so long ago to my girls and now the "little" girls, thank you Barbie! Follow the JOY! Debra, CEO!

It's Fowl Friday with Fran & Freda! Fran here, Freda is not up yet, she is apparently reading a new book and was "reading" late. It has a lot of pictures so not sure how much reading she has to do but it is a book and she has it open turning pages. She fell asleep with the book on top of her and it wrinkled her feathers so a long steamy shower for her when she gets up!

So Halloween is coming up and Debra is planning her costume for a party, I think she has forgotten about our costumes. We sneaked into the fabric stash the other night along with Oliver. We found a bin of fabric to choose from with bright colors especially an orange piece for Freda. I want to be a witch and Freda wants to be a pumpkin. Oliver wants to be a lion but may have to settle with the cheetah print we found, maybe a Tarzan look? We wait for date night while Debra is out. Then the scissors and fabric will be in action, add a little fabri-tac glue, glitter and the costumes will ready for party time!

Have a fun fowlicious weekend! Follow the Fowl! Fran & Freda