Studio 5 Trend alert: Cabochons!

**Added Note: Heartfelt Creations in Sandy, UT carries a good selection of the Prima Cabochons.
It was French day at Studio 5.  Amy Richardson did Macarons in the kitchen and I did crafty Cabochons!  It was fun to hear everyone trying to pronounce the words correctly.  What exactly IS a Cabochon?  You can watch the video segment or read on for a full explanation.

Today, on tv, I compared women to Magpies.  Ouch!  I may suffer for that...but truly, if it's small, shiny and detailed, it's almost irresistible!  The latest trend in design, whether it's scrapbooking, card making, jewelry, home decor or fashion is Cabochons and they are HOT! {see below for give-away!}
Before we take a product & project tour, let's define the word.

cab•o•chon

Noun
1. a precious stone of convex hemispherical or oval form, polished but not cut into facets.
2. an ornamental motif resembling this, either concave or convex and often surrounded by ornately carved leaf patterns, used on furniture of the 18th century.
Origin
1570–80; Middle French, equivalent to caboche head ( see cabbage )
Clou à tête décorative. - decorative head

It's important to understand what a Cabochon is because not every manufacturer will call it a cabochon.  Prima calls theirs Flower Sculptures, Making Memories call theirs Baubles, etc...


My definition?  Any small detailed decorative hard embellishment. 

{Reverie Collection from Making Memories}

They can be made of resin, metal, glass or other hard materials.  They are generally flat-bottomed to make it easier to adhere to projects.


Some manufacturers have made them into brads, but if not, they are light and easy to adhere with glue dots, E6000, super glue, hot glue etc...


Even though the domed glass cabochons have been around for a long time, the carved-looking resin flowers are a newer trend that many scrapbooking manufacturers are jumping on...happy for us!


Once you've collected these little treasures, you'll want ot start showing them off in all your crafting projects. 


Let's start with the most obvious application...jewelry and hair accessories.

It couldn't be easier or more fun!  There are so many inexpensive jewelry pieces at craft stores that require just a few simple steps before you're wearing your art.


What I liked best about this application is how I could customize my colors...IF you use glue dots.  That may not seem strong enough, but if you use them in strategic places, they are fine.  I wore those yellow rose cabochons all day (see video) on my earrings and necklace and they are still there.
Cabochons work well on all your home decor pieces and scrapbook pages.

Over all color and design is pleasing to the eye, but it's those little details that bring a person in close...the look lingers, trying to take it all in.


Because I didn't have a lot of time to design for this segment, I looked at projects I already had and almost all of them had a place for a cabochon or two.


I tried to experiment with these, even toyed with the idea of heating them up with a heat gun, but apart from drilling a hole in them or adding glitter, I felt they stood on their own.

Let's not forget my favorite craft...card making!

My students will recognize these cards from past classes...look how easy it was to add a little cabochon for a pop of color and dimension.


Would you like to try these out?  Well, if you watched the video segment you saw all the wonderful product I had on display.


I would love to put together a Cabochon play package together for one lucky WINNER...it's been far too long since I did a give-away.
Simply add yourself as a follower (top RH corner of page), if you haven't already and leave a comment below with some way to contact you or be sure to check back to see if you've won.  I'll pick a winner this Sunday.

Slug Bug Love & Give-away

{a sweet card I whipped up with the Giggle Slug Bug Collection...}

I actually found a moment to visit the vendor fair at Tulsa's CKC last weekend. And as usual, I headed straight for the Paper Loft booth.

There is just something so familiar, appealling and sweet about Sandi's collections.

{...and yes, I hand-cut the flower from paper, curled it and glitter glued the tips. "Sweet" is die-cut from Cricut's Graphically Speaking cartridge.}

Their newest collections include Slug Bug...the adorable polka-dotty, retro, Volkswagen bug paper. As Cath Edvalson (Creative editor of Paper Crafts Magazine) used to say (and maybe she still does), I had an "emotional reaction" to these designs.

Isn't it odd that the iconic American car is German? I grew up slugging my brothers (or was it the other way around?) every time we saw one...and boy did we see ALOT of them!

{isn't this color amazing?}

For all of us in our 40's, how can we see a vw-bug and not think of this Disney movie...HERBIE!!!

Are you with me yet? Are you digging it? Do you just HAVE to have this collection?
Well, I have two good pieces of news for you. One, they are on sale right now at their website...and two, we are throwing some blog candy! (you know, like in a parade?)

In an effort to increase my readers/followers, we're (thanks Paper Loft!) going to give away one of these collections to 3 followers...so sign up today! You'll see the link on the left-hand side of the blog...sign-up or sign-in and follow. It's that simple.

I'm also sending 3 people (who comment on this post) my 'sweet' card...is this beginning to sound like bribery? Hmmmm, yup! I love reading your comments!

I'll pick winners on Sunday, as I'll be sans internet for a few days.

{is this not the cutest thing ever? and really, I try hard not to over-use that word!}

And while I was googling around I found a cool article on different things people have built with vw-bugs...If you've got a few minutes and are curious, check it out here.

P.S. You'll notice a new look for the blog...please bear with me as I figure it all out. Hope you like it!

Box of Colors

Yup, that's what I got in the mail the other day. Scrumptious new Colorbox ink colors from Clearsnap. My dream job: getting to name new ink pad colors! jk.



Surf: Can't you just hear it?
Picante, Mango Tango, Lemon Grass and Razzberry: Makes me hungry!
Citrine and True blue: Let's go jewelry shopping!

...and Wild Hare, MY FAV! Grey, this season's black. Trends are pairing this color with everything from orange, lime, yellow and blue. Here's a little peek at some cards I created with the new colors. Look for them at your local craft store!

In the know

CHA is the Craft & Hobby Association. It's the largest of it's kind and my legs can attest to that. But not this year! After 6 years of attending this show I was a no-show! It feels strange and I'm regretting it, but I just couldn't seem to make it happen.

So, I'm counting on my PC peeps to keep me in the know. There is probably no better place to start then with Cath Edvalson's Moxie Fab World. If you want to see what awesome things Cath saw and loved at CHA, then please visit her blog.