A Thank You Gift

Shirley an I wanted to say a big, HUGE, thank you to everyone who filled out our survey.  Your feedback is vital as we put the finishing touches on then new blog.

In 2015 we will have additional ways for you to share your input and participate in our new blog.  Until then, we have a small thank you gift.

Dec.5th: Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

Hey Crafter's, Shirley Pando here. Did you join me this week for the 4 Product Challenge? This week it is all about buttons. We've got to use up all those products we have hoarded collected throughout the years, right??

Check out the projects, below, I made using buttons.

Dec 1st 4 Product Challenge: Buttons

Hey Crafters! Shirley, here!

Button, button...who's got the button? Ever play that game when you were younger? It was one of my favorites to play with my three sisters while my mom was busy sewing. Grab the biggest button from the button box and hide it! When they come looking for it you lead them to it by saying, "Warmer" or "Colder" as they walked toward or away from it's hiding place. We could play it for hours, and probably did! Oh such wonderful memories!

I do have a "few" buttons...how about you? Let's get those buttons out and create with them this week. They are one of the products we will use in our 4 Product Challenge.

Check out the short video, below, to see what other products I'll be using.

Nov 3rd 4 Product Challenge: Embossing Folders

Hi Crafters, Shirley Pando here! 

It's Monday and time for another challenge.  It's time to FALL BACK in love with your embossing folders. Get it?...Fall back? (For those of you viewing this at a later date, this past weekend was Daylight Savings.)

For the love of all that is good…..how do I find the right ink pad when I need it?

If you are like me….you probably have a lot of ink pads….in a lot of colors.  There are so many different kinds of ink and each performs a different job.  So you end up with multiple colors in different types of ink.

So how do you find the perfect color when you need it?  For example, I probably have 15 different colors of green inks.  Some are chalk ink, some are dye ink, while still others are pigment ink. The list goes on and on.  In the past I would get out several inks I ‘thought’ might work and then test each one.  For each project I would repeat the process.

Which watercolor paper is right for you?

Watercolor paper can be confusing and expensive.....so you want to make sure you purchase the right product for the job.  I am often asked about watercolor paper in my workshops.  When using a medium like Gelatos ore Twinkling H2Os I often turn to watercolor paper as my surface of choice.  It makes the color bold and vibrant.  But which weight is best?  What type of watercolor paper do I want to use for stamping? Collage? Backgrounds?

Sept. 22nd Topic: Cricut - Getting the Best Use From Your Die Cut Machine

Hello! Shirley Pando here! I'd like to welcome you back to the My Creative Life 2014 challenge blog, the official blog of Craft Classes Online. We've taken a little hiatus to change gears and reorganize but we are now ready to bring you the best in crafting and creativity. We have a new website, new projects, new workshops, and, of course, new blog posts! :-)



Jeri's original mission for this blog is pretty simple:

1. To inspire you to make creativity a daily priority...or weekly or monthly...whatever works best for you.
2. To motivate you to use all of the supplies you have collected over the years. (Oh, goodness, I have so much it's embarrassing!!)
3. To explore the concept of creativity and practical ways for adding more creativity to our lives.
4. To find ways to lose the perfectionism, comparison, and pressure that are creativity killers. (I resemble that remark and I feel a new blog post coming on!)
5. Oh, yes, we will also offer a few online workshops along the way.

Now, let's get on with the show!

Cricut: Getting the Best Use From Your Die Cut Machine

So you made that big purchase of a die cutting machine. It can do some amazing things. And you are a crafter, so you tell yourself that it will make your life much easier, right? You may have purchased it many years ago or just a few months ago. You bought (most all of) your favorite cartridges with the adorable little characters and/or lovely fonts. Life is sweet!