The Chicks are getting grungy!

We wanted to show you a few sneak peeks of what we are working on for our February Workshop Weekend. But first, some back story.

Last year Kathy and I (Kerry) went to a CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) show recap at one of the local scrapbook stores. We were both thrilled to see all of the new stuff that was coming to our area-I mean new scrapbooking supplies-who wouldn't be totally excited! Then, they pulled out some paper from this company that I had only heard of a few times,

Graphic 45

Okay, I hated it. I think I actually made the sticking my finger down my throat motion to demonstrate my disgust- I am so very, very mature. It reminded me of all of the junk we had cleaned out of my Grandma B's house after she died. I was not a fan. I am all about bright colors and fun designs, Graphic 45 is vintage and dark and grungy.

Fast forward a few months and I start seeing all sorts of fun projects- hmmmm made with that horrible paper Graphic 45. It was beginning to grow on me.

So when we decided for our Winter Workshop that we wanted to do a travel book-we were inspired by Maya Road's Suitcase Box and coordinating Album- what paper line popped into our heads? Graphic 45 Transatlantique. It is amazing how much better it looks now-tee hee.

Our idea was to make a series of tags for the book, each with different techniques, (Yes, we heart you Tim Holtz and your fantastic 12 tags of Christmas ideas). Here are some of the tags that we have been working on so far.

We are using alcohol inks, paint daubers, metal tape-that stuff is so stinkin cool, crackle medium, distress ink, crackle paint, and LOTS of metal clips, pins, brads, etc. We promise that we will have plenty of time to get all of them done- we are being careful to pace our classes a bit better. We think you will have a ton of fun with these-they are definitely outside of our comfort zone-but we had a blast learning how to really grunge up some plain ole' shipping tags.

The project is titled "Enjoy the Journey" and we are going to explore lots of different techniques as we decorate the outside of the suitcase, and create the tags to go on the album pages.

We'll keep posting the progress with our project. We are waiting for a few more pieces before we can put it all together.

Note-when we got to CHA in a few weeks Graphic 45 is definitely on my list of vendors to check out and see what is new. See how much more mature I have become in the last year?

Have a great evening!

-Kerry