It was a fabulous Halloween Tea Party!

Early in the month Teresa Stoa and Nancy Y. played hostesses to a horrific Halloween themed Tea Party that awakened the living dead and had impish ne'r-do-wells pushing up gravestones to get to the shop. They clamored down city streets and staggered through the doors to enjoy gruesome goodies and vexatious libations. It's difficult to make the living dead sit still for a project, but Teresa managed to maintain control of the raucous crowd and show them how to make a wicked little witch hat complete with black rose and toile. They grunted and moaned their appreciation and it was apparent that a good time was had by all!

Happy Halloween from your friends at China Phoenix 2!!!!

Class: The Leaves of Fall w/ Kathy Rosecrans

Kathy works her magic yet again to create two stunning cards layered with Fall elements and dripping with Autumnal grace. She uses simple, yet classic materials such as burlap, buttons, doilies, and stamped leaves, and comes up with two creations that are nothing short of fabulous. Fall sometimes seems to get overlooked as it is sandwiched in between 2 huge card making holidays...Halloween and Christmas, yet it represents the changing of the seasons, brings vibrant colors to the leaves, dapples the days with cool brisk breezes, and reminds us to be thankful for the bounty that fills our lives. Fall is to be celebrated and what a wonderful way to share it with family and friends by making them a card that expresses just that.

October 30th, Saturday: 1:00pm - 3:00pm (class fee $25.00)

Class: Punkin' Head with Kathy Rosecrans (repeat)

Did you miss Kathy's fabulous Punkin' Head class? Never fear, she is graciously offering it again this Wednesday at 1:00pm.

Kathy will share her techniques for creating 2 gorgeous cards that embrace the warm colors and sentiments of Halloween and Autumn. Punkin' Head features a sweet, yet whimsical image by Mad Rat Rubber, that she has used on a delightful easel card. The next card uses fun images by Hero Arts and employs a crackle technique to give the pumpkins a bit of vintage personality. Share these cards with your friends or family to convey a wish for a Happy Halloween, a bountiful Thanksgiving, or an Autumn themed "thinking of you".

October 27th, Wednesday: 1:00pm - 3:00pm (class fee $25.00)

Lost Coast Designs Weekend!

Yes! You read that right! Tomorrow marks the start of a long weekend with Lost Coast Designs owner and artist extraordinaire, Linda Malcolm. Linda will start the weekend off right by offering a Trunk Show in the shop featuring new stamps, and lots of skulls and skeletons, just in time for the Halloween and Day of the Dead holidays. Stop in and check it out! The Trunk Show will continue through Monday.

Wild Women

Saturday, Linda is offering a fabulous 3-diminsional art class. You'll build your art piece on a canvas and use paint, alphabet stamps, and vintage images to bring it to life. Nancy recommends making this an homage to the wild women in your family history, which would make for a fantastic keepsake! Feel free to bring family photos and ephemera along to really personalize this piece.

October 23rd, Saturday: 10:00am - 3:00pm (class fee $40.00)

Two-fer

In this class, Linda will introduce you to 2 card techniques and explore the vast possibilities of each. Take your cardmaking to a whole new artistic level by adding these techniques to your arsenal of things to "wow" your lucky card recipients. I don't have a photo to share with you on the blog, but visit the China Phoenix 2 website for a list of class supplies needed and a great photo depicting the sample.

Please call the shop at 884-8217 for details regarding the date and time of this class. The class fee is $25.00.

Originally Linda was going to teach each of these classes twice, however, early enrollment has been scant. Each of these classes will be offered only once, so be sure to reserve a slot immediately.

Class: Halloween Wonderland with Caroline Lawson

Join Caroline Thursday morning to learn the intricate art of collage. She'll show you how to select gorgeous images from the Hallowe'en in Wonderland paper collection by Graphic 45 and layer them together to create fantastical and surreal scenes that would make Lewis Carroll sit up and applause. The interiors of these cards are just as wonderful as the exteriors!

Thursday, October 21st: 10:00am - 12:00pm (class fee $25.00)

Class: Hydrangea Marathon with Kathy Rosecrans (repeat)

Did you miss Kathy's fabulous Saturday class featuring the lovely hydrangea image from Hero Arts? No need to fret! She is graciously teaching it again this Wednesday at 1:00pm.

Kathy will show you how to take one image and create a beautiful card set featuring different techniques and inspiring embellishments. She begins her card making journey with the Hero Arts Hydrangea and works magic by adding a sprinkling of color with Copics, visual interest with a variety of collage images, and just the right amount of over-the-top fabulous embellishments. She'll show you how to take something as a simple as a paper doily and add lacy, feminine personality to your project. She'll also show you how to create a one-of-a-kind flower using half of a zipper. This flower not only looks amazing on a card, but would give added pizzaz to the lapel of a jacket, the cleavage of a shoe, or the strap of a handbag. The possibilities are endless.

You'll make 3 cards. I only have 2 pictured, however the third one is just as beautiful and fabulous as these.

October 20th, Wednesday: 1:00pm - 3:30pm ($25.00)

Class: Hydrangea Marathon with Kathy Rosecrans

Saturday afternoon Kathy will show you how to take one image and create a beautiful card set featuring different techniques and inspiring embellishments. She begins her card making journey with the Hero Arts Hydrangea and works magic by adding a sprinkling of color with Copics, visual interest with a variety of collage images, and just the right amount of over-the-top fabulous embellishments. She'll show you how to take something as a simple as a paper doily and add lacy, feminine personality to your project. She'll also show you how to create a one-of-a-kind flower using half of a zipper. This flower not only looks amazing on a card, but would give added pizzaz to the lapel of a jacket, the cleavage of a shoe, or the strap of a handbag. The possibilities are endless.

You'll make 3 cards. I only have 2 pictured, however the third one is just as beautiful and fabulous as these.

October 16th, Saturday: 1:30pm - 3:30pm (class fee $25.00)

Class: Punkin' Head with Kathy Rosecrans

Join Kathy this Saturday for 2 wonderful classes. In the morning she will be teaching 2 cards that embrace the warm colors and sentiments of Halloween and Autumn. Punkin' Head features a sweet, yet whimsical image by Mad Rat Rubber, that she has used on a delightful easel card. The next card uses fun images by Hero Arts and employs a crackle technique to give the pumpkins a bit of vintage personality. Share these cards with your friends or family to convey a wish for a Happy Halloween, a bountiful Thanksgiving, or an Autumn themed "thinking of you".

October 16th, Saturday: 10:00am - 12:00pm (class fee $25.00)

Happenings...an update of the latest and greatest!

Update on Wonderland Halloween class with Caroline Lawson. Tomorrow's class has been rescheduled due to a delay in receiving the paper from Graphic 45. Instead, the class will take place next Thursday, October 21st, from 10:00am - 12:00pm.

Happenings...an update of the latest and greatest!

CP2 Website...the webmaster who maintains the official CP2 website is out of commission for a few days following surgery. The site may not be updated while he is recuperating. Dates and times for October classes have been added to the calendar located at the top of this blog and I will add descriptions and more details over the next few days. Thanks for your patience :)

A fine Fall class assortment! Lots of wonderful classes are on the schedule for this month, including 3 amazing classes by Kathy Rosecrans and a fabulous collage class by Caroline Lawson. You won't want to miss any of these and now is the time to start making cards to have on hand "just in case".

Lost Coast Designs Classes and Trunk Show. Linda Malcolm will be here teaching 2 incredible mixed media classes. She will teach each class twice and have some of her images available for sale during her Trunk Show. Lost Coast Designs has lots of gorgeous images, so put it on your calendar to pay a visit to Linda, either in one of her classes or during her Trunk Show, while she's in town.

Coming Up! Kathi Anderson will be BACK the weekend of November 5th! Her classes are always artful and educational, plus they fill up quickly. I'll post more details and pics as they become available.

Congratulations to all of the ribbon winners at this year's State Fair! All of the entries were absolutely wonderful! A big "thank you" to everyone who participated! I know it's early, but start thinking about next year's entries and get a head start ;D

Class: Haunted High School w/ Cheryl Valadez

Welcome to the halls of Haunted High where there's a ghoulish surprise around every corner and there's no such thing as a stranger. Mainly because they don't come any "stranger" than the attendees of this special institution for higher learning. Here you can hone your skills as a Master of the Macabre, focus your studies on General Mayhem, or dabble in the fine art of Catastrophic Destruction. The choice is yours.

A firm believer in the No Ghoul Left Behind policy, the administration of Haunted High extends it's welcome to all manner of ghosts, gobblins, monsters, and various other Menace to Society types. Previous elite graduates include John Revolta, Christian Slaughter, Amy Grindhouse, Katy Scary, and George Gooney. Don't wait...join the student body today!

I'll be teaching this class this Saturday from 10:00am - 4:00pm. Unfortunately, it is full at this time, but if you are interested in taking this class at a later date, please contact the store. Nancy and I might be able to arrange a second class if there is enough interest.

If you are signed up to take this class with me this Saturday, be sure to bring the following supplies in addition to your regular class kit:

• glue stick
• craft knife (absolutely a must)
• cutting mat
• Copics (if you have them)

If you are bringing Copics to class, please mark them so they are easily identifiable. Thanks so much!

October 9th, Saturday: 10:00am - 4:00pm (class fee is $40.00 and includes your Haunted High chipboard book. This class is FULL at this time. Please contact the store if you are interested in the possibility of taking it at a later date.)

Class: All Hallow's Eve w/ Cheryl Valadez (repeat)

Nancy is kindly allowing me to repeat my All Hallow's Eve class this Sunday at CP2 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. We'll create 2 Halloween inspired cards using images by Impression Obsession.

October 3rd, Sunday: 1:00pm - 4:00pm (class fee is $25.00)