aqua atc

well not the best picture but my camera is in the shop to be cleaned so hopefully it will be done tomorrow. did this atc for a aqua atc swap. I love that stamped image in the middle one of my favorites.

December calendar page

YEAHHHH I am done with these calendars. needless to say my coworkers next year are only getting the inserts to these. making 8 of these a month is to much.

I really liked how this turned out. I used glossy paper then stamped the pointsettia by Stamp in the Hand using marvy red. then stamped the holly by stamp in the hand in green but colored in the red berries with a marker. then added the blue snowflake by inkadinkado I think (It was the costco stamps)

the stamp in the hand stamps are so awesome I love that company.

I added a little glitter to the centers of the pointsettia as well but its hard to see.

Hmmm now I have to think up a gift for them for Christmas that will NOT be calendars.

oh by the way for those that haven't seen the other months each one of these fits on a mini clipboard and is 1/2 sheet of paper.

tim holtz blog alert

you have to check out tim Holtz's 12 days of christmas blog starting December 1st He will be doing a tag for each day and he will be having some give aways. CHECK it out you will love his work.

christmas candle

I had a hard time photographing this because of the shinny paper I used behind it but I think i finally got it.

Unknown image it was for a point of view challenge. I colored with sparkle copics. Cut out around the edges and added a little color to the edges. pop dotted onto this thin shinny paper that I ran through my cuttlebug. then added some punched holly and used the shinny paper again for the berries.



Tried to get a picture of how the sparkle copics make it look but wasn't very successful. They really add to the whole image.

Happy Thanksgiving

An old part of a calendar I did no new stamping today.

I want to give thanks to everyone that visits my blog. On this day we have so many things to be thankful for. I hope you take a moment to remember the things you are thankful for as well.

Gel medium

Savanna

these are two samples of a new technique that I played with. No real stamping in there but used my stamping supplies. First you use a gel medium (i used a friends) not really sure what else you use this for but its like modge podge I think. I spread over some old file folders pretty think. then I added Lumiere paints, yarn, beads, charms and ribbon whatever. Oh added a bit of pearl x too. then heat set it with your embossing gun.
this first one I used the giraffe charm as my focal point. the beads in the sky are clouds, and the fibers are grass.


this next one I call Fire.
a layer of gel, then gold Lumiere and then a layer of russet. added some pearl ex and silver stuff then the ribbon.
the silver represents the sparks and the ribbon the flames. the heat gun melted some of the ribbon so this was perfect for it.

VERY messy technique but pretty fun. It was a challenge for me and I am glad it was on our technique list.

InspirationTuesday

The last of the quilts I am afraid, well the last I will share. I took many pictures and they are inspiring me and teaching me about color and about the little details they have and how I can use them with my cards.


Most of these show you all the details that make up a beautiful piece of work. this little bird for instance you see they have details in the feathers bringing them to life. the pine tree on this is done with embroidery but it makes each little piece of the branch stand out giving it life.


One of my favorites was this African quilt. besides the obvious color and elements there are so many details.

As seen in this close up of the elephants and a tree. look at the tree there is a little bird in it. now she could have just put a tree there and that might have been enough but she added the bird and it was just that added touch that bring this quilt to have more meaning and attractiveness to it.

Aah turtles floating in a pond of water. See the ripples? they make it look like they are really swimming. yet another detail that brings the work to life.



What shall I do next for inspiration?? hmm we will see. I hope you have gotten a little inspiration from each of these quilts so far. If all you get out of it is the fact that little details can really add to your art then that was enough. I know for me I will try to learn from what I have seen and create more detailed cards.

travel tag

the last of the challenges I did for the split coast stampers virtual stamp night. this was embossed and colored with copics. then made a pocket card out of it. Made a luggage tag to come out of the pocket.

cuttlebug christmas

done as a geometric challenge for a virtual stamp night. there is very little stamping here except the saying. that saying is so old it is a stampin up stamp that is on foam. lol

the background is cuttlebugged on vellum. I love this look by the way. then did a sheet of red shinny paper with the cuttlebug and cut out the little shapes added some brads and mounted.

tree thumping

this is my favorite card from the virtual stamp night at split coast stampers. I love the thumping technique on this tree by stamp in the hand. This happens to be my all time favorite stamp as well. for a while it was lost I swear someone hid it on me. but months later I found it again. the words are by print works.

inspiration

I first found Nicole Johnson's video called invisible woman on my friend Kerri's blog


so then I went to nicoles website and just had to pass her on.

well worth checking out her blog fresh brewed life.

cheers!!!

Another split coast stamper virtual stamp night challenge. the challenge to use the same image at least 3 times on a card.

This set is from Penguin Pants Rubber stamps and I love it. I wished I would have stamped a few more lemons on it but still like how it came out. the colors are not ones I would normally use but looked in my stash for a tart and tangy kind of color.


I loved this first card so much I had to do another with martinis. I actually like the second one much better then the first.

pretty in pink

everyone knows pink is not my thing so this was a tough challenge. another card from the virtual stamp night this one had to be pink floral.

I stamped the stampin up stamps on the background paper. Added a clear sheet of acetate that was embossed with the cuttlebug. This is hard to see because of the photo but in person it looks cool. then stamped a few more flowers and colored them then added them to the top of the acetate. it gives it a good dimensional look.

Hun can you lace me up???

this is a fun card I made for a split coast stamper virtual stamp night challenge. First stamped onto paper using I think a rubber necker unmounted stamp I bought a million years ago at a convention. then colored it. Placed in eyelets using my crop o dial. then the hard part. lacing it up. grrrr took me almost all the time and I only had 45 min to finish the challenge. Had to pop dot it up because the back looks terrible and is bulky.

note to self next time use bigger eyelets. I didn't have time to do anything on the background or add a saying oh well. its a fun card

inspiration tuesday

nearing the end of my inspiration Tuesday quilt showing but this is a fun one. shapes and art.

The first is my favorite. the focal point is a face with some small embroidered old fashioned Ladies around it. Then the dancing ladies abound around it. Finished it off with an architectural swirl sets this quilt into a perfect picture.

I could see this as a perfect ATC.




My personal favorite new design in quilts. I love the way the colors intermingle . the design draws your eye and intrigues you.
Music always inspires turn up the music and let the sound move your heart.

lastly the romance of it all. from the strong red we get fierce desire and thoughts of the heart. Combine it with a little bit of flowers to soften that desire and you have romance.

Crane

This shows a little dark here the bottom paper is a dark purple that has a glossy sheen to it. might be star dream paper but not positive. the black strip is a scrap of embossed black paper which you can see better in the close up. then some patterned paper and a stamped crane.


I was going to add some color to him but changed my mind I thought with this type of card it didn't need it I do wish I would have added some words to the bottom and maybe emboss the crane instead.

the stamp was bought many many years ago on a road trip to the puyallup rubber stamp convention at one of my favorite stores. make an impression. if you ever get that direction stop in they have a ton of cool stuff and local pacific northwest stuff.

blog candy alert

Melanie has some candy up for grabs on her blog
Check it out and you too could win her t-shirt set.

and don't forget Cammie's too

a little bird

YEAH the computer is up and running properly now. I have a bunch of cards to show you through out the week. Many from the split coast stampers virtual stamp night. I loved the cabaret theme this time. I so wished I could have done them all but time said no.

Today's card is a little bird from the penguin pants rubber stamps company. I am using this image for a point of view swap so had to emboss 24 of them. I did a couple extra and made this for a friend that is getting ready to head south for the winter.

wasn't happy with the color at first used my copics and they don't go well with ep I think made it a bit muddy so went over it with another color. did some water coloring in the background. popped it on a cuttlebug background and added some ribbon (gads I don't normally use ribbon) and some flowers.

Have a safe trip Jeanie if you read this.


lots more to come

computer problems

having problems with my home computer so haven't posted anything in a few days. Hope to have this problem fixed this weekend. sorry about that everyone. grrrrr can't live with them can't live without them.

inspiration tuesday

nature can inspire so many things as in these quilts cards can come alive with color and a little imagination.

This first quilt reminds me of a flower in water with the ripples blurring it a bit.




the use of mixed materials can make for a soft and more complete look


Nature is all around us and using different fabrics to create trees and landscapes shows you to open to your mind to different mediums.

let's celebrate and a give away

the last card and my favorite from my stampin up demo Sharon's stamp a stack class. I changed it up a bit by adding some sponging around the sides with brown. love that kiwi color.

Last time I will remind you about her blog and the november prize give away.

fall cards

a couple more cards I did at a stamp a stack class at my demo sharons house. watercolor crayons are so much I love them. the tree was done with pastels.
remember to check out her blog for how you can win a set this month.

cupcakes

My stampin up demo Sharon had us make this card. tooo dang cute, well except my bow I suck at ribbon I swear. the cupcakes were colored with markers and the frosting was done with the water color brush
here is a close up of the cupcakes and their chunky glitter and a bit of crystal effects on them. she shows us the best ideas. going to have to get that big shot die I think.

Check out her blog for information on how you can win a couple of sets in November.
http://sharonburkert.typepad.com/as_the_ink_dries/2008/11/thank-you.html

scrapbooking day

went scrapbooking over the weekend as I normally do once a month at my ctmh demo's house. we do 8 pages out of one paper pack.
Now I just need to get pictures on them. someday. well actually going to do a retreat in january and hope to do it then.


one of these days I just need to teach myself how to photograph only one 12 x 12 and then stitch the two together. one of these days.

time for more scraps

These are the other two cards I did at a CTMH class. These are my least favorites. I think it might be the colors I am not much on the light colors and especially pink and light green.

The layouts are from the ctmh card layout book which is really awesome then just used lots of scraps.

november calendar

well when this started out I really liked it but now I don't like it as much. It needs more color. I did add some sponging around the edges but ahh still only so so for me. stamps are by stampin up except the tree which is by penguin pants rubber stamps. used markers and pencils to color the images.

Inspiration Tuesday DID YOU VOTE??

Just one inspiration piece for today. again from the quilt show here in Spokane in September. If you look close at the border you can see the capitals of different cities like Seattle, New York and Washington dc.

I thought this fitting for Election day. I hope everyone exercised their right to vote here in the United States. remember you can't complain about the outcome unless you voted

scraps are fun

I went to a class my CTMH demo had. We bought their book on card layouts which is really awesome if you are stumped for an idea or just trying to get out of the same old slump of card layouts. And we brought along our scraps. She supplied the base paper and stamps.

These two are my favorite of the four I made that day.

blog candy alert

Melanie told me about this new paper crafter community you will have to check out at:

paper craft planet

check it out and check out melanies blog always entertaining and currently some blog candy

punch book

My stampin up demo has a great ongoing class. We usually make 5 or 6 different punched animals or whatever out of punches and then put them into a book that we bought at the beginning of the class. now when I need an idea I just open the book. I not only have the sample but I also have each piece punched out so I know what pieces made up that punched idea.

So I have had this book about an year now and haven't decorated it. I was determined tonight to do that. added some decorative paper. then added some chipboard colored with taken with teal and chocolate. Lastly I added ribbon. Now normally I am not a ribbon fan. Well shouldn't say fan just I don't use it much. Well as you can see I used a lot of it. it really made it look cool.


Here are two of the many ideas she has given us. I didn't want to show them all to be fair to her.