Where did the week go?

I've been so busy since I left my job that I don't know how I ever had time to work!  It's been an entire week since I posted on my blog, and here I was thinking that I would be able to post more often. 

To add to my time management issues, most of the stamping I've done in the past couple of weeks has been of the top-secret variety.  I did do one card that I can share with you, though...

I used a great tutorial from the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter called Splash-n-Stick (Pat has an awesome subscription special on her blog right now), which is a great way to use some of the Magenta Peel-Offs stickers that I can't seem to stop buying.  The papers are from a Basic Grey Boxer 6x6 pad.

Thanks for stopping by my studio today!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge 34

I can't believe it's already time for another Divine Diva challenge!  This time, Lori chose a magazine ad for Lindt chocolate.  I had lots of ideas for this one and ultimately settled on replicating look of the journal.  I loved the colors, and besides, I have LOTS of buttons!

Lindt chocolate magazine ad.

All of the papers I used came out of my scrap pile--Yay!  I just taped the pieces together from the back and then cut my panel so that the seams fell at 30 and 60 degree angles.  The stamps I used are old favorites from Inkadinkado and the cupcake is colored with Copic markers.

Be sure to check out the cards made by all the Divine Divas for this challenge!


Lori
Anne
Chris
Julie
Kerri

Hope you are inspired to come and play along. Just leave a comment on Lori's blog with a link to your card. We can't wait to see what you create! The keyword for uploading on online forums will be DDIC34. Have fun and look for the next challenge on September 2!

More News

I got a note from Pat Huntoon last week asking if I was interested in joining the Technique Junkies Design Team.  Heck yes!  So I'm happy to announce that I'll be contributing to the newsletters starting with the October/November 2010 issue.  I'm so excited--thanks, Pat!

Today happens to be Try That Technique Thursday at Technique Junkies so I thought I'd play along.  The featured technique this week is Gated Tags from the February/March 2008 newsletter.  I don't usually make these special fold cards, but I have to admit, they are fun.

 

All of the stamps I used for this are from Starving Artistamps.  Since there is so much going on with the card itself, I kept the stamping and coloring simple.  The images are stamped in various shades of chalk ink, and the lighthouses are colored with Prismacolor pencils.

Thanks for stopping by!

Smooth Sailing

It's official.  Friday was my last day at work, and I'm retired...nothing but smooth sailing from here on out!  My husband will follow along sometime before the end of the year. 

So many people have asked me lately how I will keep myself busy.  Won't I be bored?  Um, no.  My job was the boring thing that got in the way of all the things I want to do.  No.  I won't be bored.  Yes. I will be busy. 

One of the things I plan to busy myself with is this blog.  More and more I've been feeling like I need to have two blogs--one for my cards and one for my art.  On the card blog, I'd like to start a challenge, do some tutorials, and be much more consistent in the way I present the cards.  My art blog will be a place for me to post my artwork and my thoughts--I envision this blog as an online art journal.

For now though, I'll keep sharing cards here like I always have.  This one uses stamps from Starving Artistamps --my buoy background and the sail boat from the Juniper and Jupiter Go to the Beach set. I stamped the background with Tea Dye Distress Ink onto a piece of paper from the Basic Grey Basics Kraft paper pad.  The sail boat is colored with Copic markers, and I used a few long forgotten white snaps for embellishment.

Enjoy your day!

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge 33

Our inspiration this time comes from Lovely Package.  Would you believe that these are tequila bottles?  They really are lovely!

I was especially taken with the beautiful soft pastel colors so those were my jumping off point.  I decided to mimic the colors on three panels just the way they are on the three bottles.  I stamped my flowers (Inkadinkado) with White Brilliance ink onto the colored cardstock and then added color with Prismacolor pencils.  The dotted borders and the green zigzag border are also drawn with Prismacolors.  To further carry the floral theme, I debossed my background panel with an Impressibilities stencil. 

I have to say...I'm pleased with the way this card came together.  And, I would also like some pretty tequila!

Be sure to stop by the other Diva's blogs to see how they were inspired by the pretty tequila bottles.  There blog links are in my sidebar.  And as always, we welcome you to play along with us (use keyword DDIC33 or DDIC if you upload to SSC or PCP).

Thanks for stopping by the studio!

People, People! Take a Seat!

Take a seat and browse all the wonderful creations from the Starving Artistamps design team using the brand new DoodleFactory People Take a Seat collection. 

I used Lizzie and Casey from the Cutie Kids set, and there's also a Sophisticates set that's perfect for more grown up occasions.  Be sure to check out the other designer's blogs (links are over in my right sidebar) for examples of both sets...as always, they've done themselves proud!

Oh, and did I mention the sale?  To celebrate the release, Starving Artistamps is having a 3-day sale.  The flyer at the bottom of this post has all the details.

Summer Fun

I've never tried water skiing, but people swear that it's fun.  As for me, I'd rather be in the boat than being dragged behind it, lol!

I so think this image from Starving Artistamps is fun, though.  It's from the Juniper and Jupiter Go to the Beach collection, and I used it along with the Weave background and a sentiment from the DoodleFactory Tropics collection.  The image is colored with Copic markers and layered onto a panel I made from scraps of blue paper.  I had originally planned to use a plain red background, but the paper I chose was a bit too bright for my taste and kind of clashed with my ribbon. To fix that, I stamped it with the mesh background in a darker shade of red ink, which toned it down, added some nice texture, and unified all of my various shades of red.  I didn't think to take before and after shots, but trust me...the difference is huge! 

See you tomorrow for the new DoodleFactory release!  In the meantime, go have some summer fun while there's still some summer left.  Where did July go, anyway?