Saturday, August 30, 2008

News, Reviews and Thanks (Right from the Chica's Mouth)

I know a lot of you are awaiting the next installment of my reviews of the Crafty Chica product line, but please be assured that I have not forgotten you. As a matter of fact, I have MORE to tell you about! I picked up a set of the DIY Appliqués and will be adding those to my list of reviews soon, but I'm waiting for one particular product to arrive first (hint: I use these in my fabric art a LOT and the Chica just came out with a set!).

Scary CRAFT will also have a mucho-Chica-relevant announcement soon, but you'll just have to wait for that too! [ insert evil laughter here ] In the meantime, I've collected some goodies to tide you over, including two videos! Click, watch, get linky with it.

  • Enter to WIN A FREE CRAFTY CHICA CRUISE! Deadline to enter is October 10th (winner announced 11/1, cruise is in March 2009) - even if you're already registered for the cruise, you're eligible to win!


More soon!

xoxoxo

Krissi (and Skelekitty)
Read more ...

Free Skelekitty postcard!

Read more ...

Getting Smaller and Stronger!

Here's my first-ever video installment chronicling my shrinking body / increasing strength. Appropriately, it shows my first-ever Turkish get up with a barbell (15#), with a windmill at the top for added fun.

Thank you (again and again and...) to my trainer Allyson at Body Tribe for all the butt kicking, goal setting and for pointing her Side Kick at me and filming this!

Care to see how far I've come?

Here I am about 3 or 4 years ago, looking like an angry size 20 parakeet (round body, stick legs). I was too out of breath to do what should have been a moderate hike at altitude - I gave up and went to the car to cry. Want to know what's worse? That wasn't the worst shape I've been in (but I'm still searching for that "worser" photo).

Rock on peoples. If I can do it with my space alienism limitations, anyone can do it - you just have to want to.
Read more ...

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Rennaisance Woman, Al Seconds

I go on about my trainer, Allyson, a lot. It's because she's awesome and I figure she deserves some recognition for putting up with the original "grumble bee" (yep, that's me). In the past week, we've had a few gym breakthroughs despite all of my recent health ... err ... "annoyances:"
  1. I look forward to going to the gym, especially if I'm stressed out or on a bummer;
  2. I was able to hold my own bodyweight at the bottom of a chin-up position and then to pull my shoulderblades in and down (pulled me up about an inch or two)
  3. I managed to do a couple glute ham raises (Google it if you need to), with a little help from Al and, yes, my butt is killing me today!
I've been training for 10 years as of this summer and I didn't hit any of these milestones before. A year (and a bit) with Al and I can't believe what she's gotten me to WANT to do.

Not only is she a personal trainer, but she's also an artist (ceramic sculpture), photographer, coffeehouse owner (the True Love) and musician. Here's a little of what the Sac Bee had to say this week about her new endeavor as a singer (not just for backup anymore!):

alseconds.jpgAllyson Seconds is well-known around Sacramento. Over the years, she's been in numerous bands including Go National and Ghetto Moments but it'd been years since she'd performed front and center, with the spotlight of attention shining solely on her.

So, the 39-year-old musician, ready to find her voice, called on longtime friend Anton Barbeau, currently playing music in the U.K., to help her make some music. The resulting songs, which will appear on the upcoming album "Bag of Kittens," are sweet pop gems steeped in melancholy and regret....READ THE REST OF THE POST HERE.

You can watch the video for "I Used To Say Your Name" on the Bag o Kittens MySpace page, and listen to the song along with quite a few others from her upcoming album. My personal favorite is the title track, Bag of Kittens, 'cause it's sweet, cute, a little rockin' and it's just so darn "Al."
Read more ...

My Personal "Plan B"

Hey! You creative types out there! Yeah, YOU! If you aren't already a subscriber, today is THE day to start reading Kathy Cano-Murillo's blog, Diary of a Crafty Chica: Why "Plan B" rocks.

Skelekitty montage
Skelekitty was my Plan B.

I wanted to be a "great" fiber artist, creating stunningly colorful quilts that made you want to cry and laugh at the same time. Occasionally, I'd hit on one, like Hot Flash Rising, but mostly I just heard people crying out, "where's Skelekitty?!" What? I created her with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek! My mind kept telling me that bony cat wasn't 'art' and it felt like a waste of my time and resources to make $200 quilts featuring what amounted to a a cartoon.

First I reacted by instituting a moratorium - no more skele-creatures jumpin' on my quilts! Still, my friends and clients begged for her... After hearing over and over from C!nder, Nik, Yoli, everyone's favorite "Sacred Mama," Virginia, and even my own husband, how marketable that darn kitty cat was, I decided to let her take care of me. Now she's on prints, greeting cards, jewelry (available on Etsy and at Grind n Groove), custom gifts for my friends and this Fall, on rubber stamps! She even has her own blog - dang, that cat's unstoppable.

Plan B truly rocks.
Read more ...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

"I Can't Draw."

I'm tired of being afraid of drawing! Even the thought of sketching Skelekitty has scared me in the recent past (though I could probably render one of her in my sleep by now). After seeing the unbelievable progress that my Sistah in Craftiness, Yoli of Sacred Snatch, made in her online mixed-media class with Suzi Blu, I bit the bullet and joined up.

I'm still waiting for my personality and style to come through in my drawings, but I have faith that it will come. In the meantime, I'm learning some pretty fun and easy techniques that are taking the fear out of faces.

Here's the first time I ever put a freehanded pencil (graphite) to paper without erasing every single stroke:
Homework - eyes, lining up a face, beg. shading

Within two days of exceedingly earnest work, I'd managed shading and color with watercolor pencils, artist pencils and acrylic glazes:
WIP color shading on watercolor paper

And finally, today, a paper doll head for an upcoming project (for Monday):
paper doll head (on watercolor paper)

Now that I think about it, the purple hair does have a bit of my personality to it, huh?

Back to the drawing board - More sketches & then on to birch plywood!
Read more ...

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Scary CRAFT's "Night of the Crafters" is tonight!

Don't forget, my little zombies! Join the ladies of Scary CRAFT -scariness optional- and create along with your pals tonight and on the 4th Tuesday evening of the month (Jan - Oct) from 6pm - 9pm!

The very generous Side Show Studios offers a bright, well lighted place for crafts with plenty of parking.

There's no admission fee and we have a community box o' goodies for you to pull from (or donate to) as well.

Tonight, Dy of DyMa Creations is doing a Make & Take Tutorial that will knock your socks hats off!

Little Black Hats by DyMa Creations!
Originally uploaded by krissi's stitchery & mexiphemera

(kits available for a small fee - must be reserved in advance)


Yoli and I hope to see you at the crafting tables!
Read more ...

Monday, August 25, 2008

New blog toy

At the bottom of each post you'll find "reaction buttons" and ratings!

Have fun, my friends!
Read more ...

Saturday, August 23, 2008

What a Sparkletastic Day!

Whew! I almost can't believe I made it through yesterday, but boy, was it ever fun!

I started off my morning (like almost every morning) by reading a few pages of whatever book I have my nose glued in at the moment. Right now, I'm re-reading A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez for the first time since college (I graduated in '88, so it was a while ago). I'd forgotten everything except that everyone had the same name (Aureliano) and the bit about the piggy tails, but it's all coming back now in a torrent of dark, hysterical, tragic, latin mystical ... umm ... "ness."

While I was loafing about being a bookworm, Yoli was busting her hump making an awesome lunch for La Crafty Chica y familia! I contributed what I consider, if I do say so myself, a yummy "Mexican Fruit Salad with ancho chile powder and a taste of tequila!"

Mexican Fruit Salad!


There was a super tasty menu - each sammie was assembled and grilled by Sharon and Yoli.

menu & art by Yoli Mazo of Sacred Snatch Designs; photo by Kathy Cano-Murillo



Yoli's decorations were awesome! Kathy's books and Yoli's custom Crafty Chica Empowerment Guardian (Angel) helped to make this a truly Crafty Chica luncheon!

Party decorations! Yoli's decorations for Chica pre-party! Whatta table!

There was even an extra "loving" shrine on display!

shrine by Kathy (!) for Rain thru www.swap-bot.com
Shrine!

Yoli even decorated the cuppy cakes!

toppers made by Yoli out of Crafty Chica "Mojito" decorative papers
Tower o' Crafty Cupcakes


Here are the "glitter" cupcakes that Amy of Peptogirl Industries brought with her (after battling and finally winning with Mapquest!)


And there was much merriment to be had by all!

Great minds think alike - Kathy wearing her custom Skelekitty earrings from me and with Rain and the fiesta calavera earrings she made for Kathy.
Cute Kathy in her new Skelekitty earrings! Rain & Kathy


Helped along by the awesome food and Sacred Mama's Magic Sangria!

Yoli with Virginia, her 'Sacred Mama,' as she makes sangria! Kathy deciding on whether to have white or red...
Yoli, Virginia & Kathy

Patrick wonders if he can take two more days of glitter and estrogen... D'Angelo has already checked out with his Sidekick.
El Patrick!

And all of this before 3pm! Whew! Everyone took a little break after that and we met up at the Sacramento (Truxel Road) Michaels store for the official Spread the Sparkle event!

Check back in for Part 2 - The Invasion of Michaels!

Read more ...

Friday, August 22, 2008

Craft Storage (IKEA)

Did you know that fabric and crafting supplies are actually gaseous substances which expand to fit the available space? Of course you did.

I opened my link to one of my new favorite blogs, Craft Critique, earlier this week to find a post on Ikea for Craft Storage. I love this site because the reviews are clear and informative and, once again, they don't disappoint. Lexy Daly gives two great reviews on IKEA's Helmer and Alex workspace storage cabinets with measurements, prices, pros, cons and much more.

It just got me to thinking about my own storage ... umm ... struggles. I've been using the EXPEDIT system from IKEA and really love it, especially now that they have the door and drawer inserts available.

I started off with a 4x4 for my fabrics and light box/projector, etc.:
EXPEDIT cabinet with door & drawers

Fat Quarters Ahoy!
my most-used or recently used prints

added a 2x4 (with KASSETT boxes):
storage boxes from IKEA (KASSETT in red)

and now I have a new 5x5 (!) that I installed:
New storage (July 08)

I actually have the drawers in the 5x5 cabinet, but not the new cabinet doors. Slowly, things are being put AWAY! Once I finish, I'll take a photo for posterity (since it's unlikely it will be in a clean-enough-to-photograph state again).
Read more ...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Sparkle Storm is COMING!

A bunch of us glitter & glue junkies have been telling you for AGES about the Crafty Chica product line by Duncan Crafts, and the Spread the Sparkle Tour Kathy Cano-Murillo is doing to promote the line!

Tonight she wraps up the Southern CA portion of the tour then heads up here for the last three tour dates:
  • Thursday, August 21, 6 – 8 p.m.
    2040 Tully Rd., San Jose CA 95122-1300
    (408) 274-6772

  • Friday, August 22, 6 – 8 p.m.
    3691 Truxel Rd., Sacramento CA 95834-3604
    (916) 928-9777
    I'm so excited, I almost peed a little

  • Saturday, August 23, 3 – 5 p.m.
    7400 N Blackstone Ave
    Fresno CA 93720-4301
Wanna little sneak peekage at what's coming Sacramento-ward on Friday? Sure you do!
Be sure to come out and join me, Yoli of Sacred Snatch Designs, the Sacramento Craft Mafia, several Scary CRAFTers in our joint support of her craftiness!



p.s. Be sure to say hi to Patrick - especially if you're a fan of his art or rasta music!
Read more ...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Two new creations (mixed media)

At long last, here are the new pieces up at Grind & Groove in Midtown Sacramento through the end of the month (along with four quilts, a framed print and a hand painted frame). Since I have a little cold, I figured I might as well catch up on uploading photos in between naps. First,

"Star F*cker"16x11" mixed media on canvas
Star F**ker

Many of us in the art, crafts or music (or late night horror host) scene know one or two of these. The tone on tone writing reads,
"I do nothing ORIGINAL"
"but i know people who do."
"Who I know defines my worth."
newspaper clippings, sharpie markers, glitter, milagros, liquid acrylics, crystal medium and ... ummm... paper towels (Bounty, if you MUST know).

and

"The Catalyst" 16x11 mixed-media on canvas
The Catalyst (mixed media on canvas)
Cohort or alter-ego to the Star F*cker, the Catalyst enjoys creating volatile situations among her "friends" and sitting back to enjoy the explosion. Since she is not, by her very nature, consumed by the process of catalysis, she is able to create many such reactions.
liquid acrylics, digital transfers with gel medium & crystal medium

Both paintings are available at Grind & Groove in Midtown Sacramento until the end of the month (or through me if you're out of town).

Critiques, questions and usolicited advice (on the techniques, not my relationships) are welcome from fellow arteests and crafty fiends.

Read more ...

Bottlecap Jewelry (with You-Know-Who) on Etsy

I finally got off my butt and listed some bottlecap pendants (featuring Skelekitty and other designs from my quilts, acrylics and digital works) in my Etsy shop!

Each pendant comes on an 18 or 20" ball chain with clasp and is only $17 (earrings will soon be available for $20/pair or you can buy the trio/set for ... oh, let's say $32).

The line of jewelry will also be carried at the one and only Grind & Groove in Midtown Sacramento (verrrrrry soon).

Here's one (everyone's favorite):
Welcome Home 1" BOTTLECAP NECKLACE

More choices...
1" BOTTLECAP NECKLACES

and even MORE choices!
More bottlecap choices
Read more ...

A Goth Seamstress's Delight!

My pal and fellow Scary Crafter, Melody of the Sugar Cube Society recently opened a new business called CrimSin Dark Arts, featuring creations from the twisted side of her personality (actually, I think both sides of her personality are twisted, which I why I love her so). Check out her newest creation!

scissors coffin case by Crimsin Dark Arts

There's only ONE of these precious little gems listed on her Etsy shop right now. However, something tells me that she just might have found a money-maker here - and at only $4, you won't be out much of your own green stuff to have a WAY cool (and safe!) way to carry your scissors to your favorite craft night! I bet if you ask nicely, she'll make more.
Read more ...

Friday, August 15, 2008

Random SEVERE Cuteness

Here are a couple of photos (sorry for the cameraphone quality) I took after my workout at Body Tribe today. Allyson is my super-awesome personal trainer who has gotten me to do stuff I never would have thought possible ... while smiling, no less.

Lulu is Al's first dog, and she (Lulu) is very cute, energetic, smart and eager to please. Lu and I have our own routine when I enter the gym and while I workout, but as soon as I'm getting ready to leave, she either takes a nap or goes to the r-i-v-e-r (we have to spell it in front of her). Today, the r... trip was early in the day, so Lu was tired and snuggly after her exhausting hour of warming me up (dog chasing) and then watching me lift.

Al asks Lulu if she needs a hug...
Al asks Lulu if she needs a hug

Awwwww! Dog hug!
DOG HUG!

I warned you about the severe cuteness. Here's a little more, if you can stand it.

Right after C!nder's little girl, Lily, started walking, she saw Lulu doing this to me at a Body Tribe art show. As soon as Lu left, Lily came over, put one leg over mine and leaned in for a "dog hug." I dig that kid.
Read more ...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Another Side of "Krissi"

I know most of the art up on my site is colorful to the point of garishness, and on top of that, it features a lot of anatomical pieces (hearts, bones, etc.). Hey, it's my thing. However, I thought several of my readers might be interested in seeing some of the "tamer" stuff (pun intended) I've done.

Case in point - "Bear and Valentino"

I created these two custom quilts from photographs (which I hope is obvious) for my friend Donna's wedding this summer. Since Donna doesn't splay her life out on the interwebs like some of us (how inconsiderate, huh?), the photos were obtained with a lot of spy work done by one of her friends, her sister and son working as a team.

Handpainted quilt of "Valentino"photo of Valentino
Handpainted quilt of "Bear"photo of Bear

I like the way these turned out a lot, and I like the technique even more. Oddly enough, I'd been rolling just such an idea around in my brain for about 8 or so months when I saw a how-to article in Cloth Paper Scissors (Issue 18, May 2008) by Jane Lafazio. Well then I just HAD to do it right there and then - I mean I had a dog-nut getting married in a month, anyway. Photos of the quilts' processes (say that 3 times fast), are available on my Flickr account.

I'm hoping to do quite a few more of these, but in colors that are less sedate AND all together at once, all Krissi-like and stuff:

So there you go - garish at last (like it wasn't going to happen or something).

p.s. Oh, and yes, I take requests, though not until the end of August. E-mail me to have a size/price/detail conversation.
Read more ...

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Crafty Chica Products REVIEW PART 2

Yesterday, I reviewed several of the new Crafty Chica craft products (by Duncan) which are now available to us, the crafting rabble including her glitters, loteria game and decorative papers.

Today, as I promised, MORE product reviews! WOO HOO!


Glossy Gloss Varnish



overview:
It's a clear, non-yellowing brush-on high gloss varnish with just a touch of iridescence.

why I like it: Sure there are a million varnishes out there, so I'm sure you're asking what's so great about this one, right? With sealants, like adhesives, each has its own 'special purpose.' In the case of the Chica varnish, I love the sheerness, extremely fast drying time (not just to tacky-dry, I mean D-R-Y) and the VERY LOW ODOR of this product. The product has a non-viscous consistency that is great for projects calling for thin layer of finish (versus the thicker 'dimensional' glazes like Aleene's Paper Glaze). I've varnished just about everything that didn't move out of my way with this and I still have my first bottle (from March). I've used this on papers (without excessive wrinkling or cracking!), plaster sculptures, mixed media on canvas and wood, all with excellent results. Want more shine? Just layer on a few coats (remember? I told you it was fast drying!)

what I wish for:
a big-ass vat of the stuff


Inspiration Cards

overview:

There are three collections (uno, dos and tres, of course) and each pack contains 24 double-sided 4.5" x 6" cards. The fronts depict full-color reproductions of original Kathy Cano-Murillo and Patrick Murillo paintings featuring Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), collage work and Crafty Chica personalities ("What kind of Crafty Chica are you?"). The reverse side of the cards are loaded with crafty tips, inspiration, anecdotes and more.

why I like 'em:
They're fun. They're silly. They're inspiring. They're bilingual.

I purchased all three collections and have already gone through them once or twice, putting my favorites aside, reshuffling, picking new ones, reshuffling, etc. Since I've been a fan of Patrick's work as long as I have of Kathy's, it's just plain ol' fun to think about painting a bunch of wooden frames, sticking about 10 of his DdlM drawings in them and hanging them around my studio. Then again, I might NEED to put a few of Kathy's inspirational drawings and collages on my work table to keep me going.

Check out what our friend Miss Belen did with some of her inspiration cards - just paste some white paper on the back & insta-awesome-snail-mail-surprise!


postcards
Originally uploaded by TiaBel


Other ideas:
  • make a notebook for art journaling or jotting down ideas for future projects - get some paper cut to size, use a card for the front and back of the notebook and have it bound at your local print/copy center - or just decorate a composition book!
  • use them as love notes or leave them for your roommates/friends to find in their stuff during the day
  • use various transfer techniques to incorporate them into collage work or even textiles
  • decorate your coffee table (or serving tray or ...) with cards and some self-leveling super-thick varnish (check out Kathy's books for projects)
  • ____________________________ (you tell me).
what I wish for: umm... nothin' that I can think of - except maybe more ideas of what to do with the cards!



Chica Paints

overview: The official Crafty Chica color palette is now at your fingertips! This pack includes seven water-based acrylic paints work on wood, fabric, canvas art, paper, murals, jewelry and leather, and can even be thinned down to act as watercolors and fabric dye. Colors include black, white and Kathy's versions of green, purple, yellow, red and blue

what I like: OK, I have a huge selection of artist fluid acrylics already, so I didn't spend part of my budget on these little babies. HOWEVER, I will say that I used these paints on the cruise for every single project and was thrilled with the coverage and brightness of the colors. The texture is a creamier than artist fluid acrylics while maintaining the high level of pigment found in those "professional" paints, but not as thick as soft or heavy body acrylics.

The colors in this pack contain bright primaries and secondaries and mix together perfectly without becoming muddy. We even mixed various "flesh" colors on the cruise out of yellow, red and a little black (each in varying amounts depending on how far north or south our 'people' came from). I found I was able to do multiple coats, blend and work the paints without them getting gloppy or too thick. Pretty dangded awesome for less than $2 a tube!

what I wish for: metallics and iridescents! Maybe next year, huh?



That's all for today, but be sure to stay tuned for the next installment: BOOK & PROJECT REVIEWS!
  • The Crafty Chica Collection (also available at the Crafty Chica display at select Michaels)
  • Collage Journal - Workshop in a Box
  • Empowerment Shrine - Workshop in a Box
  • Empowerment Guardian - Workshop in a Box
  • Market Tote
Read more ...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Crafty Chica Products REVIEW PART 1



As you all MUST know by now, my pal, partner in Crayola-like hair color, awesome chick and creator of the Crafty Chica "brand," Kathy Cano-Murillo is out on the road pimpin' her brand spankin' new craft supply line (created by her at Duncan)! If this is news to you, check out the schedule for the Spread the Sparkle Tour going on NOW in select Arizona Michaels stores - soon to come to CA!

And, of course, if you don't live out here in the wild west where the live appearances are happening, there are still about 150 Michaels stores in quite a few states that are also part of Michaels "Crafty Chica pilot program." This testing-the-waters program runs until the end of October so Michaels can see if their customers want these glittery supplies enough for the store to carry them as part of their regular stock! Therefore, if you CAN get to a Michaels for your stuff, please do, so that ALL of us can run down to our neighborhood craft supply store soon whenever we need a Chica supply fix.

Anyway, I headed out to my "local" Michaels (cough cough!! about 30 miles away - luckily I added it to another trip), and gleefully found a colorful end cap loaded with all kinds of goodies:
Crafty Chica - Sactown!
As my pal Michele put it (and even with my bad camera-phone pic), stuff around the Crafty Chica displays looks drab by comparison! Wondering why, exactly? It's not just the wild colors and the pretty products themselves, it's the PACKAGING too. Instead of just using plastic clamshells (I hate those, by the way), Kathy and Patrick researched and designed something that you'd expect to find wrapped around some high-end face care products or pretty eye shadows. As much attention to detail and creativity went into designing those boxes as the supplies and kits themselves (so don't throw 'em out - they're "ephemera!").

Once I finished my happy-craft-store dance (and called Yoli to share), I got to work deciding what I wanted most. Like everyone else hit by the economy, I'm on a strict budget for art & craft items at the moment. However, I still managed to come home with quite an armload and without feeling deprived, since everything is really, REALLY reasonably priced.

Here are my thoughts on the products I either purchased today, have from other "sources" and/or got to play with or make on the Crafty Chica Cruise in March:

TODAY'S PURCHASES

Glitter
overview: These glitters are uniquely vibrant because they were painstakingly hand-blended by Kathy, and they're super-high quality because they're manufactured by Duncan. By using slight hue & shade variations in each color, Kathy has achieved glitters with a richness and depth that others just can't match. I like that they are ultra fine so that you get a lot of sparkly surface area while only using a small amount of glitter. Oh, and did I mention that they're washable? Yeah, the color won't come off in the wash leaving you with what looks like foil shavings stuck to your clothes! At around $3 each, you'd be loco to pass these by.

why I like 'em: After eschewing the chunky, fading kid-stuff I find all over the garage from the Christmas stockings, I became a glitter convert on the cruise thanks to Yoli (of Sacred Snatch Designs), Kathy and my pal Alisa. Though you still won't find as much shiny-ness in my work as in Yoli or Kathy's, I never thought I'd have another jar of loose glitter ... EVER AGAIN. I was clearly mistaken.


I purchased 5 colors (pictured left to right): Bollywood Blue, Glamor Queen Green, Goddess Gold, Sunset Pink and Frida's Fuschia. I already had Popstar Purple, Be-Bop Black and Sci-Fi Silver (not shown) at home, which is the ONLY reason I didn't greedily stuff those into my basket those too. My personal favorites are the purple and silver because they're holographic (how awesome is that?), then Bollywood Blue because it's the first glitter of that AMAZING shade I've ever seen. I can't wait to do something with that blue and the fuschia together (ooh, and some green too)! Why I walked out without the Nova Blue (not shown) is beyond me, but I'll rectify that soon enough.

tip:
The Rockabilly Ruby (not shown) mixed with the gold makes an AWESOME flamey color!

what I wish for: a pretty snowy-sugary white (for sugar skulls).


and now on to the paper goods...

My Crafty Chica ephemera "haul" from Michaels

Lotería Game

overview: The cards are high quality with a nice semi-gloss finish so they'll hold up better for longer than most of these games -- should you actually play with it instead of cutting it up and gluing it to stuff (with glitter, of course). Each game comes with 18 player cards ("tablas") featuring 16 pictures in a 4x4 arrangement, and one deck of cards featuring one of each image for the caller. The game is played pretty much like Bingo - just with pictures instead of numbers and cards instead of ping-pong balls in a basket.

why I like it: I'm a collector of these quirky Mexican picture-bingo games which are traditionally played with bottlecaps or dried pinto beans. I have about 6 versions so far, and I LOVE Kathy and Patrick's. Not only have they offered us their version of Lotería standards like La Dama, La Calavera, La Sirena, El Cotorro and El Corazon, we get new figures and items like La Super-Estrella, La Artista, La Bolsa, La Margarita and lots more - making 52 different images in total (personally, I love El Gato, 'cause he looks a bit like my orange kitty). Oh, and the reverse of the player cards have a beautiful rose in red on a white background.

what I wish for: online purchasability or time to move forward so I could stock up


Mojito Papers:

overview: Affordable papers with bright, colorful and 'Mexified' designs (2 each of 10 designs). Each sheet is 5” x 8.5” (about a 1/2 sheet of printer paper).

why I like 'em:
For a mere $5 (or a penny less if you want to get technical), you can get 20 awesome sheets of paper, with totally custom/unique designs for mixed media, collage or whatever. The papers have a nice heft without being heavy, and also have a satin coating which is great for folks like me who like to layer and layer and layer the gel medium - these are not going to fall apart! And let's face it - it ain't easy finding Dia de los Muertos and similarly themed papers in your corner scrapbooking store!

what I wish for: more, More, MORE (and bigger)



READ PART 2 OF THE CRAFTY CHICA REVIEWS NOW, for reviews on:
  • Glossy Gloss Varnish
  • Inspriation Cards
  • Crafty Chica paints!

THEN, STAY TUNED FOR ...


Chica Workshops (now available "in a box!"):
  • The Crafty Chica Collection (book, also available at the Crafty Chica display at select Michaels)
  • Market Tote (now in canvas!)
  • Collage Journal
  • Empowerment Shrine
  • Empowerment Guardian
Read more ...