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!