Card Bag and Fun Foam Stamps

I have finally had some time to get to some of the "What If's" on my 2013 list, I know, down to the wire, lol. I posted one of the card bags earlier, it is an idea I found on Jennifer McGuire Ink site, but I had envisioned a craft bag with a swirl for the card holder on the front.  My wonderful Silhouette Cameo assisted me in getting this done, definitely one of my "I will never regret this purchase items", my Cameo is awesome.

 This card was done with another set of the fun foam stamps, colors are Tim Holtz "Wild Honey" and "Vintage Photo".  "2014" are some old "Making Memories" rub-ons.  The bar background stamp was done with a "StampingUp" punch.

Here are the two new stamps done with punches and fun foam.  By the way the tree is mounted to a champagne cork, so later tonight when you pop those corks, remember not to throw them away.  The circle is 1 1/4".

So this is my last post for 2013, how quickly this year has passed, it has been filled with new ideas, supporting friends, good books and wonderful kitty snuggles.  I look forward to a New Year of more ideas and time in my studio.  Happy New Year, hugs

stamp made with punches

I love word blocks and tags but sometimes get bored with them, as I was deciding how to do my thanks on this card I was also going through some scraps and tucked between some were some of my fun foam sheets, so I took them out and placed them at the end of my table.  Then I had the idea to do a fun foam stamp for my word block.  I took my "StampingUp" punch and punched it into the foam, then took a standard hand star punch and punched stars over the top of the word bar.  I ran a strip of double sided adhesive on the back and attached it to an acrylic block.  Then used Tim Holtz "Wild Honey" and "Peacock Feather" distress inks to ink it up and stamped.  I used a micron .005 pen to do the double border and thanks and then added some faux gems.

Here is the stamp, did not even take 5mins to do this.

Hope everyone has a fine Monday as we slide into 2014, another year, another opportunity to get it right, and more days to love love love what you are doing, hugs

Hopeful

I have been wanting to do an egg for this little blue bird for so long and finally this weekend, I got one done. All colors are Copic markers and the background is a gelli pull.  My life is definitely easier the last couple of days.  I put everyone on notice that until the first of the year, if I don't want to do it, it will not get done, LOL.  Hope everyone is moving stress free into the new year. Hugs

Deedra - Guardian Angel of Love

I think I love her most tattered, I do have a thing for tattered angels.

Guardian Angels have my attention at present.  Colors are Copic Markers, Micron Pens, and Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  I have just finished "The Signature of All Things" by Elizabeth Gilbert, what a read.  It was evident to me that in the "Signature of All the Things", the key is Love.  It is the ultimate book for anyone who is fascinated, in love with and care giver to the flora and fauna of this earth.  I was moved to tears in the story of Roger the dog.  I truly hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and as we move into 2014 may all of you be blessed.  Hugs

colored bobby pins as accents

I am doing my last minute gift wrapping and ran into the Dollar Store yesterday, have you seen the colored bobby pins? See below.  They had them in neon colors and pastels so I picked one of each up, I was inspired.  What cute little clips they make and will work on journal pages too, they are pretty low profile. This tag was done with just scraps on my table and I used the green neon clip for it.  Carry on!

I am sure there are some other fun uses for these, I will share as I play.  Hugs, hugs, hugs

May Our Days Be Blessed

Good Morning, as we approach the Christmas Day, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, may it be filled with love, friendship, hope and blessings.

This time of the year I am checking my lists, once, twice, making assessments, and scooping up loose ends. This is also the time of the year I start moving over things that I did not do in this year that I will put on the list for next year.  I have a project in 2014 that is going to require some welded words.  I know how to weld words with my Cameo but do not feel at all proficient in the process.  I don't know about you but I find that when I have a tool that will accomplish multiple functions, I tend to use it for the functions I have become familiar with, especially if I am under a time crunch, lol, which is more often than I am some times comfortable with.  But this week I had a few spare moments and decided to do some word welding.  I love words with images, always have and probably always will.  So, I think my 2014 will have a lot of words.

I did this word block using a Cameo Font "Painter's Hand LD, and cut it out on a scrap piece.  My calligraphy pen and nibs were on my table as well as some sepia ink, so I started playing, did some grunging and added a couple of my poinsettia's.  I recently read "The Book of Days" the story of Benjamin Franklin's baby sister Jane.  This piece reminds me of that time. It is not an easy read but it made me so grateful for being born in this time in space.  I love visiting the times of yore in books and movies but I would not have fared well in those ages of male dominance and control.   Be warm and safe my friends, in body and soul as we approach this Holiday of Blessings, hugs

Talents - A Digi Page

As we continue our visit to Scandinavia over at the Art Journal Caravan, I share a quote from Henry Van Dyke - Minister from the United States to the Netherlands in 1913. Other than the birds and photo corners, I used Tangies Dec AJC2013 kit from Scrapbook Graphics.

"Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best."  Have a wonderful week, hugs

Gift Bags

What a fun idea for a gift bag from Jennifer McGuire Ink, it is your gift bag and card showcased on the front. I loved it so much I had to try one.  I created the block and slit with the Cameo, it will be fun to enhance it with some swirls or scallops when I get some more time.  I used just a plain white gift bag and some pattern paper for the block, see below.  They are quick and soo so easy.  I enhanced this one with an embossed snowflake using a Sizzix 2 1/4" X 3" embossing folder.

This is my test bag to see if the dimensions worked, be sure an adhere the block under the handle loops.

Here is just the block and slit designed and cut with my Cameo

Mount the block to the bag and then cut the center of the slit out with an x-acto knife, also for those of you that use an electronic cutter, don't throw away your used mats, they are perfect for cutting up when you need and odd shaped cutting mat.  Hugs and hope your week is full of Christmas Cheer. Hugs

Santa's Break - A Digi Page

Almost a week without posting, having withdrawls, lol.  Since I am cleaning up after my close out of the storage unit, with occasional times out for achy back re-coups, working on my Christmas stuff and just life in general, I have been a little out of the loop.  Our last destination for the 2013 Art Journal Caravan is Scandinavia, and I wanted to do a fun, quirky page.  The background is a collage of cropped photos taken on my trip down south and a gelli pull, it is one of my favorite backgrounds right now.  The other elements used are from Tangies - December 2013 Port of Call Kit.  I am sure Santa needs a wee break, so I gave him one.

Hope everyone is doing fine and that you are on track and taking time to breath deep, hugs

Dobby was a good Elf

This last weekend, I watched the last two Harry Potter Movies "Deathly Hallows".  This series captured my imagination from the first words and I have read and watched all of them with anticipation and wonder.  My son was around 10 when the first one was released and watching Harry age and mature has been magical. Dobby was one of my favorites as with everyone.  As I watched the scene where he dies I could not help but wonder, did Rowling cry when she killed him off?  I don't know that I could have done it.
So as with all things that completely capture my imagination, Dobby has continued to be on my mind and I decided to do an Elf Stocking in tribute to this favorite character.  The stocking was hand drawn, then colored with Copics, I used some of my snowflakes and the banner was computer generated using Accent Dot font.  Rest in peace Dobby.  May all your House Elf's be Dobbies., Hugs

Nurture

Happy Monday everyone.  Over the last 4 or 5 months I have been taking pictures of rusty things and creating rusty backgrounds and elements, just cause I love that entire rusty process.  I love the colors and patterns of rust.  This weekend I did my first alphabet using some of my rusty background.  The watering can is a Silhouette image from the Beatrix Potter series, I just did a rusty recolor of it using Copic markers. Photo corners are from an EKSuccess punch.
I thought "Nurture" was a good way to start off the month of December.  With all the hustle and bustle, the stress of the season preparations and weather, in order to get through it all we have to remember to Nurture ourselves first so that we can then share it with our loved ones.  So my friends Nurture yourselves lavishly this week and then share it. Hugs

Sing Me A Love Song

Another little bird card this morning.  I have had so much fun playing with this lil birdie, the background is a Silhouette Library background, the word block is handwritten and then a few hearts punched out and they are falling down the card.  Simple, simple, fun fun.  Hope your weekend is spent relaxing and getting over all that wonderful TD Food.  Hugs

He Loves Me

I was in my SketchBook Pro this morning and this little bird morphed into a Valentine, I am completely bored with Christmas right now, lol.  Tags are also calling to me.  So created the black and white and the red and black backgrounds for the little bird and scattered some hearts.  I think I will cut off the points on the ribbon.
I fixed a turkey yesterday, first one in quite a while, it was sooooo good, gobble gobble.  Hope everyone had a great day of sharing and gluttony, hugs

grateful

Our day to be grateful, Happy Thanksgiving everyone.  Working with some faux finishes, there is something about combining hard and rough with light and delicate that has alway appealed to me.  Maybe it is balance or symmetry, not sure, just like it.  Stay safe, happy and full. Hugs

Give Thanks

Wow, Thanks Giving week and you know what follows that! LOL  How many times a day are you thankful? I mean actually say "thanks", not only to another person but to the Universe, to your creator?  It is one of my most used words, said with purpose and sincerity.  Sometimes I believe I am the most blessed person  that has ever been, and I so want the Universe to know how grateful I truly am to be here.  Here is a quote from Einstein that pretty much sums up how I feel. "The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."  "Imagination is everything".

My little owl tag, I gave owl a hat for Thanksgiving and it just suits him fine.  All colors are Copic markers. The tag comes with a little tip from my studio, a small thanks to all of you who, visit here, comment and make my mornings with coffee bright and inspirational with your blogs and creations.  Happy Thanksgiving!

 Is that a tissue box?  It is, it is.  What is it doing on my table?  As the weather becomes cooler and wetter, I begin to retreat from outside and bring my spraying of color inside, I begin digging out my spray boxes from corners and crannies.  However, after cleaning out my storage unit all last week, my corners and crannies are crammed full and could not find my spray box this morning when I went to spray my tag, but there was a tissue box in garbage can, so I retrieved it, cut off the top but left the side and bottom flaps.  I put a piece of repositionable tape on the bottom so my airbrush would not blow it around and inside I use a repo-glue stick to hold the tag in place.

Perfect size for tags and/or word blocks.  So have a wonderful Thanksgiving, hope it is spent, sharing your warmth, food and thanks with those you love.  Hugs

Cherish

Cream on cream for a simple anniversary card.  The embossed background block is from some thank you notes I found on a huge discount at my paper supplier, they were such a fab price I bought all they had left. It is mounted to an ivory card stock blank. "Cherish" is stamped onto a word block created using my Sketchbook Pro and Cameo, the rose was done a while back.  Pink bow for some added texture.
As we head into Thanksgiving week, just a reminder to Cherish and Give Thanks, hugs

Snail Mail

We have had a short fall of rain in N CA this year, but maybe we are catching up a little.  It rained a little yesterday and continues this morning.  Earlier this morning I was sitting on the front porch with the outside cat Cass, watching him the rain and the snails, Cass hates snails, he walks around them like he is avoiding little land mines.  Just to give you an idea of how crazy this mind works, LOL, I thought of this card and when I went inside, decided to do my hour with Sketchbook Pro. The background is one of my favorite gelli pulls, the snail was first sketched out with SBP and then to my ever faithful Cameo to cut out, I then hand colored with Copic markers, scanned in and again to the Cameo to cut.  Then did the simple word block with the Cameo also.  I have been clearing out our storage locker and found a couple of boxes with some really old cards, etc., and realized that all of my stamped images on them were hand-cut, I feel so blessed to live in this incredible period of time, the progress for our little habit has developed some amazing time saving tools.  Hope your week is amazing, send someone a little snail-mail this week. Hugs

Snow

It is so easy to love snow when you do not live in it, lol.  I can be up in Tahoe in about 1 1/2 hours and when it gets overwhelming, come home, so I love it.  One of my goals for the rest of the year is to work with Sketchbook Pro for at least an hour a day, whenever possible.  Skier was done this morning and holly and snow flakes are from a previous work out.  All images were hand colored using Copic markers and Inktense Pencils, I love how the two work together, I first lay in my copic color and then Inktense and blend with my watercolor brush.  Snow is an old old old rub-on, another of my goals to use up some of the rub-ons, there are a bizillion in my stash.  Hope everyone stays warm and cozy this beautiful Monday, hugs

Your Basic Chalkboard Dress

 While I was in SO CA, my friend and I were looking through the latest issue of Somerset Studio, her eyes lite up on page 60 "Whimsical Dress Pendant", we oood and ahhhhd, and she says, oh I want one for my great granddaughter and I said okay, I can do that.  Lol.  As I was flying home, I pulled out the magazine and started reading and really looking at the article.  The amazing artist Cat Kerr is a mixed media artist and does a lot of work with cloth and on this project some soldering.  Since sewing is not in my repetoire at this time and it would take a miracle to do a search and rescue on my soldering iron, I needed to come up with a medium that would work for me.  Then I had an idea, why  not do a chalkboard dress of my design and a blank one she will be able to do with chalk, over and over and over again.  I went to work when I got home and here is the dress pendant I did, I did it with the "Marvy" Bistro Markers so it would not smudge.  The ends of the necklace are lobster claw closures so she will be able to remove my dress and attach hers, whenever she wants.

 It had to have it's own special put away box, so I used a wonderful soap box I have been saving, it smells yummy too.  The charm is from Hobby Lobby, is that not precious?

here is a closeup of the box, it will have her name on it, before I send it out.

 This is the dress blank for her design work.

Here is everything in the dress box, hope it brings her hours of fun and good memories. Hope your weekend is filled with inspiration, hugs

When Angels Pray

When angels pray, we are all Blessed.  This is my morning exercise, angel was sketched with SketchBook Pro and then hand colored with Copic markers.  I then took her to PS6 and used one of my cloud photos and doodled her in a cloud, and added my star.  2014 will be my year to refine and add to my PS6 knowledge.  My each of you go into the weekend, watched over by angels, hugs

Dance

A digi page to share this morning.  I am so excited to be doing some digital art again, it is almost a meditation as it comes together.  I brought back some sheet music to scan into my collection from Southern CA and since we are visiting Germany this month at the Art Journal Caravan, I thought I would play with Beethoven a little this morning.  All other images are from "Tangie's" AJC2013-November Kit.  Beethoven's "Moon Light Sonata" has been a favorite of mine since childhood, as a little girl I would have my mother put it on the record player, lay on the floor and travel to grand balls with a gorgeous dress and dance and dance, I have always had my imagination, lol.  Hope your week is a dance, hugs

money money money

My son and wife are busy busy and they are always changing what they are busy at, so as Christmas rolls around I simply cannot keep up with what is in and what is out, so other than a little of this and that, they get money.  I am always trying to figure out a new and creative way to present the monies.  This year for me blackboards are in, I love them and love that they present themselves to so many things, so when my friend and neighbor presented me with a bin of old craft supplies, included were A LOT of the snap barrettes you can find at Michael's to decorate.  I took a couple of them out and placed them on my table so I could figure out what I could do with them.  I had a receipt and $5.00 on the table also and omg I had an idea, why not use one of my mini chalkboard blanks and create a money clip.

There were an assortment of sizes, I used the large one, perfect fit.  I used Bistro Markers by Marvy on the blackboard blank, they are permanent in so much as they don't wipe off with a cloth as chalk does.  I also discovered that the skinny Bistro's will work in my Copic Airbrush, that is how I did the snow, oh boy oh boy.

when the bill is snapped into the clip it is a snug fit, so it will not fall out.

I adhered the chalkboard to the clip with my trusty glue gun.

look at that!  If you do not have mini chalkboards, you can use a couple of layers of chipboard and then decorate cardstock for the top.  It would be fun to clip these to the Christmas Tree too.  Happy Sunday, Hugs

Juiced

While on my visit south, my hosts have this magical rooftop oasis, I spent many hours up there and one of the things that tweaked my inspiration were the above ground electrical wires.  It is not normally a daily visual for me as most of our electrical in N CA is underground.  I did some morning meditations up there, when the sun had not yet arrived, the sounds and sights were mostly mother nature, the stars, the moon, the waves lapping and tumbling to shore, but there is a low rumbling hum emitted from these giants and they became my focus during the daylight hours with my camera.  Do the birds sit atop because they deliver warmth or do they meditate to the hum? I don't know, maybe a little of both.  I love how they criss and cross, going to this house and that one. A sort of organized chaos.  Hope your weekend is juiced with inspiration and relaxation, hugs

Big Box Tag

A friend asked me to do some big box Christmas Tags for her, this week when I saw the free image in the Silhouette Library I was pretty sure what I wanted to do.  I took a very old Sizzix Die "Index Card" approx. 3 3/4"X 4 3/4" and pulled it on chipboard.  I then cut with my Cameo the "Merry Christmas" from red card stock, added some snowflakes by Marvy and one of mine.  Then with a fine nib pen and white ink wrote the "2013" and added dots to the "C", added an eyelet and ribbon.  On the back I used some rub-ons "to:, from:" that I had left over from last year.  I love using the index card as a tag and with the Silhouette, I can also adjust the size.
Hugs

Gravitation is not responsible

For the month of November the Art Journal Caravan is visiting Germany.  My first page for November is highlighting a quote from Einstein (one of my favorite quotes from him).  The background is a gelli pull done with Gesso, acrylic and Golden Gel Liquid.  The Sea Stars are from a photo I took while in Seal Beach last weekend.  This is a digi page created with PhotoShop6.  Happy Wednesday

Leave Your Mark - Inspired

I am home, inspired, renewed and re-energized by the oceans pulse. Four days and five nights at one of the Southern Beach Communities of  Los Angeles, I believe "Leave Your Mark" embodies the essence of this area, I left Sacramento with these words and I return with them written boldly in my imagination.  The lost art of walking is as alive as breathing in the beach communities and as you meander from this and that the eye is drawn to feast on man made images, building and creations.  Four mornings in a row, I communed with the Ocean, the sky and the stars, I swear "Venus" is 5 times bigger as it hovers over the Pacific Ocean at 5AM than it is here in the North.  Palm trees tower on spindley trunks, they dance and nod with the sea breezes and crows caw, whirl and twist to the fronds to dine from the cluster of nuts dangling from the tops.  The salty sea air encases the aromas of grilled fish and creamy spiced sauces so that your mouth waters as your eyes dart to drink in the wine and treasures that swirl in every direction.  The sense of color is magnified and there are colors there that exist no where else in the world.  My heart beats this morning with gratitude and wonder.
I woke this morning and could not move fast enough to get my pictures downloaded and to begin play.  My share this morning is a photo I took of tire tracks in the sand on Seal Beach.  I printed it out on tissue paper, then printed the words out on tissue paper as well and adhered with gel medium to the tissue background, it will be my thank you card to my amazing hosts in paradise at the Ocean.  Hope everyone had a fun Halloween and are well into a fabulous week, hugs

Little Details

When I do a craft fair or teach a class I always ask people who visit to sign my book, since the majority of my work for the boutique I am attending the end of this week is centered around chalkboards, I wanted my sign in book to reflect that.  So using chipboard and acetate as my substrate for the chalkboard, I made one.  I have used Pan Pastels to create the rose and butterfly and just plain chalk to write the words.  I also enhanced the edges of the book with metal photo corners.

This is the book standing, I did a small plate for the spine.  

The ruled pages slip into the book and can be removed when the craft boutique is completed, the cover and spine may be erased and repurposed. fun fun fun.  Hugs

Simply Pears

This morning as I was cleaning some in the kitchen after my coffee, my eye was caught by 3 pears I have in a basket on the counter.  I love the shape of pears and the rhym of them together, as if they are nodding and bending in greeting to each other. I grabbed my "Inktense" pencils, my fingers and imagination setting in those luscious yellows, greens and blushes and then my common sense told me that I do not have time to play with color today, so next week maybe.  I took a photo of them, turned them into elements with my Cameo and did a fab damask fill from a Silhouette Library background.  There are also some blanks waiting for color on my table.  The word "Thanksgiving" is also from the SL, added some lining to the letters with a 005 micron pen.  I distressed the pears with Tim Holtz "Brushed Sage" and added some ribbon to my black back ground and tied some raffia on the center pear.  I have so much to be Thankful for this week, hope you do also, hugs

Raven - Spirit Guide

Oh what a wonderful few days I have had, I have caught up on my sleep, I backed up my computer, sent all of my images for the Craft Boutique to my external hard drive - it took 3.5 hours, lol, I was a busy girl.  I have played, done some reading.  I have researched some classes online that I am looking at for 2014, cleared off my studio table, did some laundry.  Today, I will go find my suit cases and start packing for my departure on Thursday.  Yesterday I was in SketchBook Pro and not sure what I was doing, just getting more familiar with it, testing some of the brushes and playing with the Copic Colors.  I was not sure what this face was as I was in the midst of drawing it and then suddenly I realized it was a Spirit Guide for the Raven. Let me explain a little about my Spirit Guides, for many years I have created one or another as they come to me.  I am always amazed at the appropriateness of their arrival.  The Raven caught me totally by surprise and I have been joyous with its arrival, it is definitely something I will embrace.  The Raven really has a bad wrap, a lot of it due to one of my favorite authors Edgar Allen Poe, dark, ominous, evil but there are other sides that have light and merriment attached.  In American Indian Folk Lore, the Raven is know as a trickster, the bearer of light (he is credited with releasing the sun from imprisonment in a wonderful story), I will always choose the positive side of my Spirit Guides to embrace because I have the choice and because I believe that we are all energy and that we get back what we give out and I so much enjoy living in the positive spectrum.

I wanted to color with the Copic Markers by hand on this piece.  I wanted the background to be a gessoed book page and the gesso will not take the Copic Ink, so I took my book page, gessoed it and then distressed with Tim Holtz "Wild Honey" and "Vintage Photo" and scanned that in and printed it out, I then took my drawing and printed it on my background and then hand colored with the Copic Markers.  The feather is from the Silhouette Store, I did an under base if purple and lavendars and then did the feathering with a .001 micron pen, I did the highlights with gesso and tiny tiny water color brush.  The Raven is from my Halloween images.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday and go safely and happily into the new week, hugs

Morning Exercise

Since the moment I downloaded this "Music Sheet" sketch from the Silhouette Store it has called to me for an angel, so this morning during my Exercise time I made it my goal to get one done.  SketchBook Pro was my primary tool, you may check it out by clicking on SketchBook Pro.  You may also download a free trail if you would like to play around with it for a while, but you will not receive access to the Copic Colors unless you purchase the software.

I am so in love with the Copic Color panel in this software and I must admit it was a determining factor in my purchasing it.  So what is so great about it?  I am a hands on person, I love what I have been learning in the "Digi World" but I would never be able to convert 100% to digi, I need my hands in the mud so to speak.  But I realized right off what a great tool the Copic Palette could be.  I am using my own line drawings but if you do not draw, you can load your digi stamps to the Sketchbook Pro.

I begin with my cut image, at my table I did a light fill of color with my Copic Markers, I then scanned that in and opened my partial colored image in SP and began to blend with my Copic Palette, the magic begins when you make a mistake or do not like the color you are using, you just erase it and begin again, even if you do not like your hand colored portion that too can be erased.  When I am satisfied with the color, I save it in PSD format, take it to PhotoShop and turn the image into a "PNG" image (you can save the image directly in SP as a PNG, (I am so used to doing my crop and clean up in PhotoShop it is just automatic for me)so that my Silhouette Cameo can cut it as a Print and Cut.  At this time you can refine with your markers if need be, I added highlights to the angels halo with gesso, just to pop it out a bit.  Although it seems like there are many steps, this process knocks a lot of time from start to finish.