What will you Cre8time for?

Last week, at the Craft and Hobby Association Tradeshow, we had a super fun time meeting with bloggers and designers and having them personalize their hands with our Tulip Body Art to help celebrate the launch of the Cre8time movement! Our friend Margot Potter (above) obliged and is going to Cre8time for making the world a craftier place. Don't you just love that?

What's Cre8time? Cre8time is a creative movement for positive social change that let's people reclaim their creativity!  It's designed to help people recover eight hours a month and devote it to their particular craft, and to create a place for them to share their experiences - the joys, lessons, and results – with the creative community at large!

We could tell you more, but we think this video below does a nice job of explaining what the movement is all about!

Now back to the fun we had with our craft and blogger friends!

  Our friend Angie from the Country Chic Cottage is going to add more creativity to her life!

Crafty Chica Kathy Cano-Murillo is going to Cre8time more time for her motto "Peace, Love, & Glitter"

 Jeshua, the Boi from Ipanema, is going to Cre8time for following his dreams in the year ahead!

 The Zen of Making's Haley Pierson-Cox is going to sew for the Cre8time movement.  We've seen her amazing projects and think this is a great idea!

 Blogger Heather Mann of Dollar Store Crafts is going to Cre8time for...you guessed it, DOLLAR STORE CRAFTS!

 Louisiana gal Jade Harrington of the Jaderbomb blog is going to work on developing her brand this year!

 We love Jen Hadfield's site, Tatertots and Jello, so it's great to see she's going to Cre8time for even more creativity in the upcoming year.

Blogger and designer Jennifer Priest of Hydrangea Hippo is a paper maven, so crafting with paper is the perfect project for her to Cre8time for.

Blogger and author Marisa Lynch of New Dress a Day is spending more time to promoting her site and new book New Dress a Day.

 Denise of PearMama is giving back to others with her creativity by making it a point to inspire others!

Beckie Farrant of Infarrantly Creative made the goal to build creativity into her children! So cool that she's instilling creativity in her kids. It's so important.

Tanner Bell of Tanner Bell Designs is going to work on more craft tutorials.  We wanna take his advice on our own blog too.

Designer and author Sonya Nimri is making more time for feathers and rhinestones.  Sounds like fun to us!

 And Tauni Everett of the Snap Conference will Cre8time 4 her love. What's better than that goal?

Let's give all our friends "a hand" (pun intended) for helping us out with this fun project.  Now, go check out their sites and get insanely inspired to Cre8time for your own personal artistic passion.

Now here's some fun ways for you to spread the word about the Cre8time movement!

 1. Make the Cre8time declaration on your hands and have someone snap a pic!  Post your pic on the Cre8time Facebook page and on your own Facebook page wall.  Instagram or blog it as well.  And be sure to share the Cre8time.org web page with your friends when you show it off.

2. Cre8te a project and upload it to the Cre8time gallery.

3.  Tell your friends and family about the movement and organize a family craft night.  We can learn so much more about each other through creativity! It's super powerful.

Quote for the Week: Creativity sets me free

Do you get into a happy place when you craft? Tell us about how crafts soothe your soul and get you in your zone below in the comments.

Meet Madison...a new www.ilovetocreate.com blogger!

We have a wide range of bloggers here on the www.ilovetocreate.com team and we'd like to introduce a new blogger to our family...Creativity Confessions!

Creativity Confessions is the blog of Madison Gellar, one of our new team members in our Duncan Ceramics division. Madi is super friendly, smart, and enthusiastic and her energy can be felt throughout the entire building. Her blog definitely shares that same energy!

So, we thought we would ask Madi a few questions to get to better know her, her inspiration, and her style!

What do you hope to achieve with your new blog?
By detailing my adventures into the world of ceramics, I hope to inspire and encourage others who, like me, doubt their artistic abilities and are too intimidated to give ceramics a try!

What's the most exciting thing you've learned about the world of ceramic arts thus far? Is there anything that has surprised you?
I've been surprised by how easy and fun it is! Obviously we have tons of projects for highly talented ceramicists at www.ilovetocreate.com , but there's also plenty of fun and easy projects for those of us just starting out. Duncan really does make it easy to experience creativity and the excitement of personal accomplishment.

Do you have a favorite product within the Duncan Ceramics line? What is it and why?
So far the Crystals Glazes are my favorite product line. They're super easy to use, and the finished, fired product is so unpredictable and awesome! Each result is different, so you can't really "mess up" with crystals. As a beginner, I like that :)
We hear you are a fashionable gal, what kind of styles and trends are you totally addicted to right now?
I'm totally into "bohemian chic". I love anything from Anthropogie. I would live in their store if I could :) I'm super into tie-dye and ombre tees, especially in this summers' pretty pastel hues.
Are there any ceramic projects on the I love to create web site that you totally love and best represent your personal style -or-- you want to try yourself?
I love the "A Plateful of Peace" project. I think the marbleizing technique is super cool. I think that will be the next one I try. I also love the "Contemporary Cool" collection from the latest bisque brochure, but I'll be awhile before I try that one!

What do you do exactly in your job? Give us a little scoop as to what you do on a day to day basis.
In a nutshell, I do whatever I need to to support and promote the Ceramic side of Duncan Enterprises. That includes helping to develop new products, supporting regional account managers, Duncan Ambassadors, and distributors, helping to develop advertising, pricing, and packaging, and attending various trade shows to promote our awesome Duncan product!

We see that you were really inspired by your first ceramic experience, why do you think you didn't think you were creative and how did it feel to complete a project and have creative success with it?
My "art" growing up was ballet. My few attempts at drawing, painting, and crafting were horrible failures, so I just assumed that meant I wasn't creative. It feels awesome to have completed my first few projects, and it has definitely boosted my confidence. This kind of creativity might not come as naturally to me as it does to others, but Duncan has helped me to see it's a talent you can learn, and I'm definitely invested in learning as much as I can!

Be sure to add Madi to your RSS feed or follow her here on Blogger as she rediscovers her creativity and shows you how you can to!

www.ilovetocreate.com at Maker Faire 2009

We had a blast in our booth at Maker Fair SF Bay Area 2009! There was a LOT of creativity spreading in our booth! There was definitely an element of inspiration surrounding us that could be felt by all in attendance!

The booth itself was packed all day long. Many times, people had to be put on a waiting list in order to do one of the glittery Crafty Chica™ canvases, time capsule tins, or memory journals. No one wants to see a glitter fight break out! Hee hee. Everyone seemed really enthusiastic with their creations and to be working with our fab products. It was so cool to see a 75 year old woman sitting next to a 3 year old working on the same project! We love to see people create and unite in their creativity!

Check out some of our pics from the day!


We were non-stop busy! It was crazy!


Mandy, Maya, and Kathy were hard at work preparing for the crafters!


Our products filled the tables!


Crafty Chica™ created 300 of these canvases for people to do! The cupcake and chihuahuas ran out first.


Maya did tie-dye demos and was totally rockin' it!


What a mess! It just means people were inspired and in the words of Martha, "It's a good thing!".

It was a super busy, inspiring 2 days and we are so glad we were able to connect with makers of all kinds. As we were closing down on Saturday, one lady said, "What a nice way to end our day at the Faire!" We are so appreciative to all those who attended and crafted with us!

If you want to see more of our Maker Faire pics, click here to see our Flickr Photostream.

Multi-Tasking Mama inspired by Crafty Chica!

Check out these super cute shirts and hat that Multi-Tasking Mama made with the kids! It's such an easy craft project and it looks like the kids had a blast making their creations! We love to see families crafting together and sharing their finished projects that they make with our products!
Love these awesome photos of the kids in action! Looks like they are in serious concentration mode!



They created these projects using Crafty Chica™ DIY Appliques™ Value Pack. They didn't use our paint, but we totally recommend Tulip® Soft Fabric Paint™ for your fabric projects, because it is machine-washable and covers beautifully. It is highly opaque yet extremely soft to the touch, making it the perfect choice!

If you have a craft project using Duncan, Aleene's®, Crafty Chica™, or Tulip® products, please share it with us. Send your submission to ilovetocreateblog@yahoo.com and you may be featured on our blog or in one of our future Crafty Roundups!