SPARK 3: Day two and a giveaway

On the morning of Day two of SPARK 3, we were all moving a bit more slowly than we had the day before!

Our first class was with the very cool Amy Tangerine, a successful fashion designer who has just made the leap into the scrapbook and papercrafting world. She was great! She taught us how to do reverse applique, one of her signature fashion treatments. It was so easy and fun and I loved it! Here's the shirt I made for Maren:

I figured it would be easiest to do a small shirt first. I can't wait to use this technique on more items! I definitely know that I want to make Christmas shirts for both of the kids using reverse applique.

Our second class that morning was stamp carving with April Meeker, who was also one of the SPARK hostesses along with Margie.

I had done some stamp carving a long, LONG time ago but never using lino cutters. I designed a 'thanks' stamp that I can stamp on the bottom of packing slips for my Etsy orders.

No idea why Blogger wants this upside down again. Grr! And hey--there's my felted soap!

I found stamp carving to be really relaxing and I definitely plan to do it more often. I already ordered more supplies!

After another delicious lunch (seriously, I never put a bad thing in my mouth the whole two days), we were treated to a very interesting Blogging panel, and then we attended our final class. This one was taught by Donna Downey, another mixed-media artist

She taught us how to use a very interesting art supply called pan pastels. They're different from stick pastels in that they don't contain any binder, so they are very intensely colored because they're pure pigment. I forgot to take a photo of my finished canvas, perhaps I can add one in later. I'd never even heard of pan pastels before that, so it was fun to try something completely and totally new and out of my comfort zone. I can't say that I see myself ever doing it again, but I really enjoyed it!

That evening we had yet another amazing meal, catered by the same company as last year's final dinner. They even brought back the ENORMOUS rose cupcakes from last year!

I wish there was a regular-sized cuppie in this photo for scale, because these are simply the most enormous cupcakes you've ever laid eye on. They're easily the size of those giant muffins you can buy at Costco, and then there is another 3 1/2" of frosting on the top in the rose and leaves! They are pretty darn spectacular. And because we're women, there was a whole other table absolutely packed with amazing desserts!

After dinner, we were treated to a wonderful, entertaining concert by indie artist Sarah Sample, who in a funny sort of coincidence, was friends with my younger brother in college.

Sarah is a very talented singer-songwriter. Her lyrics are really beautiful and thoughtful, and she can play the heck out of the guitar! I can't wait to download some of her music.

Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I would have changed about SPARK 3! Every detail was perfect, the teachers & classes were inspiring and fun, the decorations beautiful, the food delicious to the eyes and to the taste. I met beautiful, kind, warm, creative women and my cup of creative inspiration was filled to overflowing! Margie has promised that there will be a Spark #4, and as far as I'm concerned--she can take my money now!

One of the messages at the heart of every Spark gathering has been that we must share our *sparks* with those around us, so I have a little bit of Spark to share with you:

If you'd like a chance to win some of the goodies I brought home from SPARK 3, leave a comment on this post telling me something that you do that helps to *spark* your creativity! I'll draw a winner on Thursday morning.