Craft & Hobby Association - CHA

 

 Heading to the CHA Mega trade show tomorrow....  CHA is the Craft & Hobby association and I'm a designer member.  I've been going to these shows since 1991 and love every minute.  It's an opportunity to see new products to create with, to try them and visit with old friends.  If you're planning to be at the show, don't forget to stop by the Smoothfoam booth, #301.  If you're there on Sunday morning, you can make this adorable Decoden Cupcake with Vicki O'Dell.

Katy Sue Designs & Flower Soft will also be at the show featuring new moulds for cake decorating (and paper clay!) and their updated selection of Flower Soft Sprinkles - that makes you think of cupcakes too, right!  Their booth is # 347.

The show has changed a lot over the past 20+ years, but creativity is the nature of our industry, so change is inherent in what we do.  I'll be posting photos to FB  from the show floor (so don't forget to "friend" me if you haven't already) and I'll be posting lots more here after I get back.......  Y'all come back now!  Enjoy your week!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Cake Decorating

My mum loved to bake and decorate cakes!  Me?  Not so much, but we can all learn a lot from the creativity of these amazing cake artists.  I've been seeing the most beautiful creations from Katy Sue Designs on Facebook lately and thought I'd try my hand - I'm just not into fondant, so I picked up some air dry paper clay at the store the other day and their Father Christmas mold to play around with and look what I came up with!

You'll need some air dry paper clay and, of course, a mold.  I like this Father Christmas because he's the one I remember bringing presents when I was a little girl.......  The detail is absolutely amazing.

Following the directions on the package of clay, press just enough into the mold so it comes up to the rim.  Press firmly and flatten the surface, then gently remove from the mold and set aside to dry.  I let mine dry for about 24 hours then, using a small, soft paintbrush I colored his face and hat with chalk.  I then covered the outside area with an even coat of glue and sprinkled it with Flower Soft Glitter Frosting.  Shake off the excess and return to the container.  Brush glue onto the beard, mustache, rim of the hat and pom pom, then cover with Flower Soft Polar White to add a wonderful, furry texture to those areas.  I also glued Christmas braid around the edge of the medallion.

I could've stopped at this point and glued a circle of cardstock to the back of the medallion and added a ribbon hanger to create an ornament for the tree, but decided to take it one step further.  I punched a scalloped edge circle from red metallic paper, glued the medallion to the center then glued that to a rosette I made from gold cardstock.  This would make an excellent embellishment for a gift or place it on top of a dowel for a plant pick.

 

You can order this and other exquisite molds at Katy Sue Designs and Flower Soft Sprinkles from their website @ www.flower-soft.us.com.  Enjoy and y'all come back now...........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!