A Good Time Was Had By All!

And what an event it was! Three days full of crafting and fellowship with Griffinites across the globe. It was a crafter's convention in virtual reality. There were so many beautiful things made and friends made along the way. My favorite class was the ornaments. I loved making these!

The creative juices were flowing. We got to learn not only how to make better crafts but a little peek into each other's lives and guess what? We're all alike! It doesn't matter what your background or where you come from, we all share the same loves, hobbies, heartaches and trials.

I did have my first Create forever marked for me and I know I'll never forget it. My twenty year old cat Smokey passed away at 5:00 Saturday, November 12th, before the start of the second day of Create 8. He was my Russian Blue, my 'little old man' and he loved me too. Even toward the end he would purr when I stroked his head. He couldn't see very good but he recognized me. 

He had the loudest purr. He was actually the sweetest, most loving cat I've ever had. He loved boiled chicken (he was a foodie) and he could eat his share even with no teeth. I will miss him every day. 

I think I would still be on an ugly cry and would have done that all weekend had it not been for Anna Griffin's Create 8 event to keep me very busy so I really didn't give myself time to grieve, but I know my little old man is in kitty heaven now. He was a good boy.

So I dove into the crafts, and the meeting rooms. I couldn't participate much in the craft rooms online because my connection on my phone kept kicking me out of them. My computer doesn't have a camera and microphone but maybe it will next year.

Yes, I'm going to do my best to make sure I attend next year. It is the best thing I've done for myself in quite a while. It is an extravagant  'indulgence' and I usually am more practical than that. Yes, it does cost money to attend but you get to stock your craft room and have a lot of fun. It's totally worth it!

That being said, it's cheaper than a cruise. I will have to save up every year to make sure I'm able to attend.

Who would want to miss making stuff like this? It is the most beautiful stuff I've ever seen. It's like looking at glitter for the first time! So pretty!

And it just kept getting better and better each day. There were prize drawings. I didn't win anything but a lot of stuff was given away! A lot of stuff!!!

Everyone was nice and friendly, sweet and genuinely caring and kind. I loved every minute of it! I got my box of supplies three weeks before the event and you are suppose to prep by cutting out things for every class and then make stuff along with Anna giving you tips and showing you how to put them together BUT -

I couldn't wait. I knew I didn't want to rush around and miss watching the class so I made at least one of everything before it even started. How did I do that? There's plenty of stuff so you have a lot of extra materials. So I used that. You don't have to follow along exactly, you can do your own thing and all the dies come with basic instructions and examples. 

I just had to wait until the week before for Anna to post the actual items we would be making and then just make them up from looking at a photo. Easy peazy. I already know how to put stuff together so I really didn't need the classes but I did appreciate all the tips and tricks, even though I had a few of my own. I just wanted all that stuff in the boxes - and I took it from there. I made so much stuff beforehand that I did enjoy watching, chatting and posting to social media along the way. I was a social butterfly! I can craft anytime but I can't interact on this level very often. 

If you were trying to keep up with Anna - forget it! Her team preps everything in advance and you are in real time. You will never be able to keep up unless you have a team and know in advance what you will be making. So many people get frustrated trying and they feel like a failure because they can't keep up. I just avoided all that and had a blast with it. I did make stuff on my time but I was all in watching the classes, participating in the chat and uploading my projects on social media platforms. I couldn't have done that if I were cutting and gluing and trying to make stuff in a frenzy. And yes, she does go fast. Faster than you can sitting at home. 

I did make a few things with Anna in the classes like the double diorama... I did that in real time and finished it later. And I made a few birthday cards in real time and I didn't like feeling rushed. Glad I made some in advance. I have all 12 birthday cards done now though.

Look at how much stuff I made!!!

Making memories at the #annagriffincreate8 event! 

Create 8 SPOILER - (part 2)

This is the crafting event of the year for every paper crafter and I'm sure it will not disappoint. Just being with a creative bunch of like-minded individuals is the thrill of a lifetime. To be surrounded by people who "get" you will be amazing. It's so hard to wait so I made some decorations for my stash from papers I already had and a few more things while I was trying to be patient but I finally gave in. You just can't put a box of stuff like this in front of me for 3 weeks and expect me to just not touch it... that's never going to happen!

I made so much wonderful, beautiful stuff. I didn't wait until the event started to dig into my boxes of crafty goodness. I had at least two of everything made before the event started, except for the folding screen and the feather charger. I made up my mind early that I wanted to participate and actually watch the videos and not spend my time feeling rushed, looking for stuff and cutting and putting it together. I made the ornaments for class and added my own bits to make them my own. I love these ornaments and as you can see, I love glitter and bling!

I'd heard from previous event goers that they found it hard to keep up. So I decided to get ahead of the game. I took it a step further than just cutting stuff out and letting it sit there for long. Really I just wanted the big boxes of goodies to play with. The classes were a bonus but I already had it figured out how to put most stuff together. They come with instructions and most of the class projects you can figure out how to do them once they're shown. I was off and running from the day I got that box!

As soon as the class prep videos were available and I could see what we were going to actually make - all except for the class charger and feather dies - I got busy. I was surprised that the dies I didn't like much turned out to be the ones that made the most beautiful cards. Once I figured out how to cut and layer those edge border dies I was hooked on them. There are little tricks you can use to cut and line up the edge. If you play with them enough, you can figure it out on your own. And I even figured out how to make my inner papers match the edges perfectly. A lot of the things I used were from other kits and items I already had.

Tip: I put the inner paper inside the card and traced the edge with a pencil so I could line it up perfectly when cutting the die out. It worked! When the card is closed it lines up perfectly. And to keep the shadow die from cutting the inner card edge I had to let it hang over the magnetic mat when I ran it through. Hey, that's two tips!

I made 8 ornaments, 2 dioramas, 2 albums, 8 tags plus the 4 class tags, 4 kirigami cards, 6 birthday cards, the 3 edge border class cards plus 1 more, 1 feathered charger and 1 folding screen before the classes even started. Couldn't wait! I'm an old retired crafter and I've been making stuff all my life so the classes weren't necessary for me but I intend to enjoy every minute of them anyways. My boxes were re-organized and most of my stuff was moved out to my other storage. I left some things out in case I want to make more stuff but one box is already mostly filled up with all the stuff I made.

I think I can make this keep going until Christmas or beyond. I hope to learn some new tricks and tips at Create 8! It starts in only 5 days! I am so excited!

SPOILER ALERT! for Create 8

This year everyone knows exactly what's in it. There are no surprises. Everything was pretty much previewed on Anna's site and HSN leading up to the sale. Things made in the classes might be a little different than the examples that were shown. This is the first year there was absolutely nothing hidden. You saw every single thing in each class during the previews. So I don't think I have to guard any secrets here - - -  you might as well show it all anyway now. I've made several of these tags so far. They are all gorgeous! So I forged ahead!

In fact if you do a little search on YouTube you can find Create 8 box openings and see it all! If you get your box it really doesn't take away the thrill of opening and going through your own stuff. I love to look at what's in the box every year so I appreciate the previews that are done by a few gals beforehand. 

How I plan to stay organized is to stand all my packets upright in one box and put things I make into the other box. As the packets get used up, I will move everything out to my drawers and storage that I've already got organized. After Create 8 my dies will get moved out into my die storage bins and so on. The boxes store all my finished projects. I do not shrine it off and try to keep the memory pristine. I use it up! I will strip the tags off the 12" x 12" see-through folders and reuse them too. 

Classes I will love the most: I loved those tags. I didn't think I would use them on presents to just let people throw them away after they opened their presents but... I changed my mind. I'm going to make them reusable and tell everyone not to throw them away.

I knew I would love making the album dies and I did! I've made several types of albums over the years and these are really quick to put together.

I also loved the diorama pack. Didn't think I would like it as much as I do but I love the way the boxes come together. You could even put some little things in there if you wanted to make a present and card all rolled into one.

And I loved the ornaments. They are so much fun to make and decorate. I can see me making a dozen or so of these and wouldn't they make cute little gifts too?:

The Class I liked the least: I could not see making those huge chargers to let people drip food on them AND I just can't use up all that beautiful gold paper on something like those. I'm not crazy about the printed paper in the pack (paisley is my least favorite print) or the feather dies either. I just think they are too big to be pretty. My least favorite pack was the large feather dies. I did make one charger but I'm going to use it for a centerpiece and save the massive gold paper pack for other uses. I used a prettier blue paper for the background feather layer and metallic paint on my single feathers. 

These dies are impression dies. They can be inked and imprinted. But pigment ink does not work well on metallic paper. It puddles and splotches so I used acrylic metallic paint like a rub n buff on my single gold feathers after I cut them out. I did not put paint on my dies. It's your stuff, you can do what you want with it.

And I never warmed up to the decorative edge dies. I just don't care for them. I don't have any decorative edge dies because I've never liked them enough to buy them. I don't know why I don't like them. I tried to love them, really I did - but I just don't. And that's O.K.  Maybe I will like them better in the class.

The class packets that were also good.. - The birthday cards are pretty but honestly there are prettier die sets and I have one prettier than this one. But it didn't keep me from making several cards before the class ever rolled around. They are pretty but not sure I want 12 of these anyway.

I was a member of the finishing school for a while and she showed how to cut out cards to make several at once by mixing and matching the pieces and cutting every other die from the centers of the pieces that would have been covered up anyway - and do it in one pass so it's quicker. So you got more out of your paper. 

She did it with the Oblong 3D Layer Concentric Dies and it can be applied to other dies like the Birthday dies. I was paying attention in those classes. That's how you can make 12 cards in 90 minutes I'm guessing. It will be fun to find out if I'm right about that class. But at any rate, you can't have too many Birthday cards on hand and these were very pretty so I went ahead. I saved some for the class. 

I liked the rectangle kirigami dies but I ruined a few papers because my die would not cut all the way through with the metal shim and magnet mat alone. I finally figured out that I had to add a piece of card. Once through, if it doesn't cut, you cannot easily match it up for a second pass so you need to test first to get it right. I loved making these but they practically shredded my magnetic mat and it was almost new. I didn't like the big stickers going through the cuts to the paper underneath so I cut mine into strips and put them around the edge. The smaller kirigami dies give you enough room around the edges. These don't. You're suppose to stick them into the cuts.

Folding Screens. I liked the looks of these but I do not care for the black printed noir paper. It's just too dark for my taste and it reminds me of the 80's print dresses. Nuh Uh... I can't think that I'll ever use all that paper up. I will use other paper for the screens and may make a few more some day. I wasn't really into them all that much although I did enjoy working with the vellum see through for the middle screen and I think they are gorgeous with pastel papers. Maybe the class can turn me around on those. We'll see.

The instructions are pretty clear and they were not hard to figure out.

The Swag Bag was off the hook. Everything else was in that bag. Bows, envelope liners, tape and sticky foam, extra cutouts, extra flowers, stickers and metallic papers. BUT... I needed just a few more little things. I cut out some birds, butterflies, cats and dogs, corners and anything else I thought my cards would like on them to personalize them. I also made a bunch of large bows.

You don't have to do all that unless you want to. You have everything you need to make a big bunch of beautiful stuff right out of the box. I got my boxes about three weeks before Create 8 and I'm going to make it last until Christmas if I can. Can't wait for the classes to start! Literally - I can't wait so - I didn't wait! I have at least one of everything made before Create 8 even starts!