Another Busy Week

Wow, what a week! I have no idea where the time went. Last week the weather was nice so I spent most of my time outside. This week it rained so I've spent the week catching up on indoor projects which I plan to share with you over the next few days. I'll start with this Father's Day card. I know Father's Day isn't until next month, now is a good time to get your cards made and ready to go. For this one, I used a zebra stamp from Class Act, Inc. and a computer generated sentiment. I also used two tutorials from Technique Junkies: Faux Artisan Tiles (May 2011) and Torn Paper Frames (Dec 2008).

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back soon with another project to share.

Class Act Blog Challenge

It's time for the May Class Act Blog Challenge, and the challenge this month was to use fabric or stitching, either real or faux.

My card uses a real piece of fabric which I backed with adhesive tape and die cut with my Cuttlebug.  The rooster and sentiment (new from Class Act, Inc.) are foiled with variegated green metal leaf.  I used Heat and Stick powder to apply the metal leaf.

Be sure to stop by the Class Act Insider blog and see what the rest of the design team came up with.

Thanks for stopping by my studio!

Rustic Birdhouses

I made this card last week with every intention of posting it as soon as I finished, but you know how it goes.  One thing leads to another and before you know it days have gone by. It's downright scary how fast time flies sometimes!

I used a technique on this card that I've been wanting to try for quite awhile now.  I made a custom stamp pad by stamping my image (from Class Act, Inc.) on some Cut 'n Dry felt pad.  Using the stamped image as a guide, I inked the pad and then stamped it directly into my paper.  Then, I stamped the image over the colors with black ink.  Very cool!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week!

Fooling Around with Watercolors

I bought an inexpensive set of Yasutomo Niji tube watercolors a few weeks back and finally broke them out of the box yesterday.  For the 5 bucks I spent, I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with them.  The colors are fairly intense, and I was able to mix any color I needed from the 12 hues included in the set.  I'm definitely not a watercolorist, but this was awfully fun to do.

The stamp I used on this card is from Class Act, Inc. and the papers are Basic Grey Urban Prairie.

Thanks for stopping by!

Class Act Blog Challenge #3

Our Class Act blog challenge this month is to make anything but a card. Originally, though, it was more specific--make a scrapbook page. Since my brain was already in scrapbook mode, I decided to stay with that idea.

For my layout, I used a couple of the newly released birdhouse stamps and colored them with Copic markers.  The side borders are made using a Technique Junkies tutorial called Ribbon Spiral Strip from the October 2008 newsletter. 

Be sure to visit the Class Act Insider blog to see the beautiful projects from the rest of the design team.  You'll also find details on how you can join in the challenge and maybe even with this month's prize.

Thanks for stopping by my studio today and have a great weekend!

A Card of Many Challenges

I was in the mood to play in some challenges today, and I made a card that fits several.  The Friday Free for All on Splitcoast today is to make a project with a "home" theme, and these stamps from Class Act were sitting on my table just begging to be inked.  My watercolor pencils were also sitting on my table from a project I did yesterday, so I used them for my coloring.  Yesterday's Ways to Use It on SCS was Flower Frenzy, so I picked floral paper (Basic Grey Green at Heart) and embellishments (Hero Arts Art Flowers).  For my layout, I used the current Card Positioning Systems sketch. 

Thanks for stopping by my studio today.  Have a great weekend!

Accidentally Relevant

With all of the excitement surrounding the impending royal nuptials, it's probably very fitting that I made a card with a decidedly British royal theme.  Truth is that I just now made the connection.  So my card is relevant, but only accidentally.  I find that amusing for some reason...I may be the only one who does, but that's OK.

So why did I made this card, you ask?  I'm still working with the March new stamp release from Class Act, which includes this Buckingham Palace guard in the English doll set and it occurred to me the other day that  Basic Grey Boxer would be the perfect paper to use.  So here you have it!  I colored him with colored pencils and used a clear glaze pen to add polish to his boots and buttons.  I also used some black Flower Soft on his helmet (hat?). 

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh, and GO UCONN!!!  (both teams, men and women--ha!)

I'm Back!

It's been a busy couple of weeks here--water in the basement, a trip to Vegas, and then lots of projects to do when I got home.  I've been meaning to post something new here on my blog all week, and I'm finally getting to it now.  It's going to be quick, though, because we have one of the grandkids for the evening and we promised her we'd go bowling.  Life in the fast lane!

While we were in Las Vegas, we took some time to go sight seeing in the Mojave Desert.  These photos are from the Valley of Fire State Park, a truly spectacular place.

And here's a very simple card that I made the other day.  Nothing fancy because sometimes I need a notecard that I can send to a man.  Apparently, they don't appreciate glitter and ribbons as much as we girls do! The stamp is from Class Act, and I used a technique from the new Technique Junkies Emboss or Die CD called Scored Embossing.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Dutch Treat

This card just had to be made.  Sitting on my table right next to each other were my set of Dutch Doll stamps from Class Act, Inc. and my copy of the Technique Junkie Emboss or Die CD which, among 78 other awsome techniques, includes the Faux Delft Tiles technique I used here.  How could I not made a card like this?

To create my center tile, I stamped the windmill image with Versamark ink onto watercolor paper, and then embossed it with white embossing powder.  Next, I spritzed the entire piece with water and watercolored with several different shades of blue.  When I diecut the tile, I also embossed the edge and then watercolored the edge with brown, using the embossing as a guide.  The blue mat is cut and embossed from Core'dinations paper and then sanded.

Thanks for stopping by my studio.  Have a great day!

Class Act Blog Challenge #1

This is my first posting for the Class Act Design Team and the stamps I'm playing with this month are brand new in the Dolls of the World series.  When I was a little girl, I had a set of It's a Small World paper dolls which I loved.  I would spend hours drawing and coloring new outfits for them.  Working with these stamps has brought back so many fond memories!

Today is also the first Class Act Blog challenge, and we were challenged to make a creation that used embossing, three or more layers, and bling.  There wasn't really any challenge here at all.  I knew right from the start what I wanted to use the Hannah, the little Dutch girl, and that I would use the Cuttlebug Highlights technique (Technique Junkies Oct 2008).  I colored Hannah's costume with Copic markers and highlighted my embossing by on rubbing a couple shades of blue die ink directly from the ink pads.  For my bling, I added crystals to my scalloped oval mat.

You are welcome to play along with us and maybe even with a prize.  All the information you need to know about the challenge is posted on the Class Act Insider blog.  You'll also find links to the rest of the Design Team's creations so be sure to pop on over there.

Happy Friday and thanks for stopping by!

Progress

A few weeks ago I told you about my goals for the coming year, and I'm glad to say that I've made some progress.  I'm working on the final project for the Paint and Mix Color Unit in Cindy Wider's Draw and Paint in Your Pyjamas Certificate course.  If all goes well I should be done with it by Monday.  These are the rocks I painted the other day.

On the card-making front, I'm happy to report that I've been chosen for the Class Act Design Team.  My term starts at the end of February, but I'll be adding links to their site and challenge blog before then.  The Class Act image collection strikes just the right balance between cuteness and realism, and they're versatile and very usable; not gimmicky or overly trendy so I'm really looking forward to working with them.

Speaking of things to look forward to, it's almost time for the next edition of the Technique Junkies Newsletter. I've seen all of the beautiful artwork created by Pat the design team so I can tell you that you won't be disappointed!  Pat is also releasing a new CD soon.  We'll be doing a blog hop on February 1st to introduce the CD so be sure to stop by.

I have one more card to share with you from the Dec/Jan newsletter before we move on to February's edition.  I used the Bricks technique with scraps of printed paper in pastel shades and copper patina colored embossing powder.  The butterfly image is from I Brake for Stamps, and it's stamped in Adirondack pesto ink and colored with Prismacolor pencils. 

Thanks for stopping by!