spotlight artist: melissa blackburn

I'm so excited for all of our artists and I'm going highlight each one here before our event begins.

You guys know April already.

Let me introduce Melissa Blackburn.

Melissa is a phenominal seamstress and designer. Her creations have blown me away for at least 7 years, which is as long as I've known her. She will be teaching a demo for you all at our Show and Tell on Friday.

Here are some photos of her beautiful dresses --

these first two were taken by Kate Benson -







and this one's taken by Lindsey at Green Apple Photography



This dress below is made entirely out of PAPER!! Sorry to yell, I just had to show how cool I think that is. These were for a booth at a Bridal fair in Provo.




Thanks Melissa - Can't wait to see your talents at work.

Spark Chat!

So? Wanna chat with other Spark girls? We have the forum set up & invites have been sent. If you didn't receive the info, please email me & let me know!
This is a great place to get to know each other before the event!
....can't wait!
see you there!
R

Surprise, Rachel!

Spark is proud to partner with Scrapbook Royalty to announce our small part in the cure for Breast Cancer!

As creative women we knew somehow we could do something so all of the Spark women are creating a handmade project to be raffled off during Spark! The money raised will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation in honor of Rachel McCarthy, a breast cancer survivor and Spark attendee...

As women we can all do our part and do it creatively!

If any of you would like to donate a handmade item to the Spark raffle, we would love your support. Please email info@scrapbookroyalty.org for details.


& a special thanks to Elena for the wonderful work she's doing! She'll be hosting the raffle during Spark! We can't wait to Spark it up in a few weeks! mmmm*wah!
R

Creating for Spark

Hi guys,

There's SO much to be done for Spark and every bit of it (well, pretty much) has been fun.

On Friday Rhonna, Margie, Liz and I got together and created and created and created, preparing stuff for Spark.

Now, I just got the Canon 5d Mark2 and it takes some pretty swell video. Friday was the first day we tested it out, so enjoy our video of our PrepParty (and overlook any embarrassing video flaws k?)- and more to come. and SO sorry if you get a little seasick.

Spark Soiree Open Invitation

We are so excited to meet you local Sparkettes and those of you who are interested in Spark before the actual Spark Event! Come to our own private Soiree at our fave place: Dear Lizzie to meet each other, enjoy the amazing ambiance of the Bistro & Boutique & get excited for the Event!
Please RSVP:
rhonna@rhonnadesigns.com

Can't wait to see you there!

Meet Kelly McCaleb!

Kelly is another one of our fabulous teachers who will be teaching the Feel your Spark class. She's an amazing creative woman.
When I first met Kelly she just exuded spark. She's sassy, sparky, funny & lively.

She's a talented seamstress:
She not only created this amazing quilt out of vintage fabrics, but look how she styles her photos! (Love that butterfly wall!) She's just got an eye for how to style her photography! I love it!

She's a talented Etsy store owner: Kelly McCaleb Handmade is filled with her handmade delights.

She's a talented knit-goddess. As well as an amazingly talented crochet-queen! I have this cuff & I adore it! Made with a vintage button...mmm...she's just got that spark!


And...she's a master at blogging. Check out her blog , My Happy Little Life...for daily inspiration!
I love how she writes, adds visuals, recipes, insights..she's just amazing!

But, as she'll tell you: She works at these skills. She's passionate about learning new skills & keeping old arts alive: like knitting!

She has such insights on being passionate about what you create...letting go of fear. You'll LOVE the fantastic fabric journey you'll take with her as she teaches you how to re-purpose tee shirts in creative & unique ways that will surely spark your creative spirit within! We are all so excited! You won't want to miss it!

Show and Tell Artists Announced

Hi everyone!

I want to introduce you to some of our Friday Studio Show & Tell artists (barring any unforeseen catastrophe), we're so so thrilled and excited about each and every one of them. You can see a blinkie-linkie to each of their site over on the sidebar.

So in no particular order here we go....

Laura Jarman designer and owner of "Dear Lizzie",

"Amy Redden" of Vintage Fern, textile artist

Robin Wade , altered jewelry artist and brightsmith

Robyn Werlich, creative stamping

Melissa Blackburn, fine dressmaking

Jen Sorensen, Book Arts, of the Rookery

Maren Ogden, paper artist and stationier (well, i don't know if stationier's a real word but it sounds good...)

Megan Faulkner Brown, baker and owner of Sweet Tooth Fairy Bake Shop

April Meeker stamp carver and jewelry designer

Emily Sparks, crocheter and owner of Emily Sparks Handmade

Sassifras Paper Company

The Pink Chandelier

as well as some bigger companies:

Canon

Quickcutz

Fiskars

&

Yudu
We're so excited about each and every one of these artisans and can't wait for you to see what they've got up their sleeve. We will have a "Meet The Artists" night at the Dear Lizzie Bistro coming up later this month.

and the winner is...

I used the cute random number generator at Tara Frey's blog (Rhonna's graphic!) to find our lucky winner... drum roll... and the Spark winner is:

Mandi Medford said...

Wahoo sounds like fun!

Lets get sparks flying!

- Mandi Medford

Wahoo! Email me your addy at elizabeth.kartchner (at) gmail.com and pack your bags cause your comin' to Spark!

free ticket

Hi ladies! Liz here, reporting to you live from my laptop...

A while ago my sweet friend Stephanie Nielson posted this quote on her blog. It's so powerful and really spoke to me...

There is in every true woman's heart

a spark of heavenly fire,

which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity;

but which kindles up and

beams and blazes

in the dark hour of adversity.

-Washington Irving

Every one of us has a Spark and that's why we're so excited about this event... to be inspired by other creative woman... by you.

Leave a comment with your name to be entered to win a FREE TiCkEt to SPARK!!

Oh Sweet Sadie

ETA: Thanks to those of you who are linking from Nie Nie's site. We are so happy to see you here at Spark. Please, Go here for all the fun information... :)