Too Busy...

It has been a very busy week. I have been in a creative mode - using a variety of materials that I really do not use enough. My Sizzix Big Shot and various scissors have been used quite a bit. I should be photographing and posting starting tomorrow!

Tuesday's Tip

I have been using my dies a lot lately - die cutting for class samples, but also for fun. With many dies you can position them anywhere onto your paper to create a window. I found a great way to hold the die into place is using an appropriate size Post-It note. It works great - and is easy to remove from the card stock or paper.

Squirrely Challenge

The current Squirrely Challenge from Nancy is from the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter. The technique she chose is cascading images:

I chose one of the images as a starting point, masking and stamping the other images. I made this second card as a sample for my upcoming Stencils class:

The little square opens to a little image of a flower and mini butterfly. You can find more examples of this technique at Squirrely Art.

Real Life

 Many things have been going on around here - some good and some not so good. I have several things in the process, but have not had time to get into the studio. I am sure I am not the only one who gets side tracked by "real life". I am re-working a couple of classes,working on the art journal exchange, and have been furiously compiling ideas for when things settle a bit. (Plus, I am 3-0 when going to the Giants game so far this year. We share season tickets!) Those are the good things...

One of the things that has me side tracked is the death of a friend. Our children went to school together and our sons played baseball for years. It was such a shock that it took the wind out of my creative sails earlier this week. She was a wonderful person, so positive,cheerful, and always ready to lend a hand. She will be greatly missed.

Jazzy Crafts

is a store located in Castro Valley. They have a variety of crafting products (paper and otherwise) as well as classes in stamping, scrapbooking, Copic markers, and others. I am happy to announce that I will be teaching classes at Jazzy Crafts (as well as A Work of Heart). My first class in Saturday,May 5th from 3-5pm. The project:

This gift box will be filled with 4 handmade cards with envelopes. I will show a sample of the cards when we get closer to the date. Information about Jazzy Crafts can be found here.

Tip Follow Up

I mentioned using plastic wrap for texture in Tuesday's Tip this week. I thought I would show a little of what it looks like. I used this technique in the art journal I am working on. After laying down a thin layer of gesso, I scribbled on the pages with a deep blue Gelato watercolor. I sprayed it liberally with water, moving the book pages around, wetting my finger and smudging, etc. I scrunched up some plastic wrap and let it dry for a day:

This is how it looked as it was drying. I took the plastic wrap off the pages:

You can see the areas of pooled colors. The photo below is a close-up of the left page:

I will be adding to this page, but you could easily use it "as is" or a card background.

Tuesday's Tip

Last Tuesday, I mentioned checking out/reading the labels of your products to determine what they can and cannot do. Now, start trying your ideas! One of my "go to" techniques is using a variety of household items for background texture. Scrunched up plastic wrap and scrunched up paper towels are two of my favorites. To use them with wet mediums (watercolors, paints, re-inkers), scrunch them up and set them onto the wet(painted/water colored) card stock or journal page. Then let it dry. I tend to check on the paper towels and remove them before it is too dry, otherwise it may stick -which is sometimes a good thing and provides more texture. You should have no problem with the plastic wrap.

Now, go play!

Basic Card Making with Die Cuts

Just a friendly reminder, I list all my upcoming classes on the right side of my blog. Tomorrow's class at A Work of Heart Studio is simple card making with die cuts (and stamps, of course!). These basic 101 classes are similar to make and takes - you will complete 2 cards for $10. Click on the link  /houses for A Work of Heart's website.

Hope to see you then!

Squirrely Challenge

For those who have not heard about this: A group of friends and I try different techniques for cards, tags, ATC's, etc. It was started by my friend Nancy (Squirrely Art) and has slowly grown.

Since many of us took an on-line class (Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry), Nancy pulled the "blended spritz and flick" technique with Distress Inks as our challenge. Since most of the art I have seen made with Ranger/Tim Holtz projects has been grungy, I thought I would use a more traditional, somewhat cute (at least for me!) stamp set.

I used several green and blue shades of Distress ink and splattered water drops. The stamp set is from Stephanie Barnard's Stamps Of Life line. I stamped the sentiment in Distress Faded Jeans and black, a little off set. You can see other interpretations of this technique by clicking on the Squirrely Art link in parenthesis above.

Boxed Sets

Last month, I made a group of cards for a friend's charity event in Alabama. I was thinking it would nice to box the 4 cards with envelopes - in hopes of bringing in a bit more money for the charity (children's cancer treatment).
A while ago, my friend,Linda, shared a package of die cut boxes with several of us. I decided to use it as a template and make my own out of card stock.

This is the box I used as a template. I just traced around the edge onto a 12 x 12 sheet of card stock. Below is one of the boxes with the card that goes inside:

This is the closed box, with the cards and envelopes inside:

For the box below, I decided to use a black band to tuck the top flap into it as a closure. The cream lace is self adhesive paper lace. This was my favorite (especially since red is my favorite color!)

Such a simple trace and cut activity and it looks great!

Tuesday's Tip

Some of us were taking an on-line class recently. Most of the information was not new to me, but a little refresher course is never a bad idea. What I found most interesting in reading peoples questions and comments, most had no idea of the properties of their media - inks, stains, paints etc. As a (very) long time stamper, it was a bit surprising. So, my tip for you is to get to know your supplies. Actually read your ink pads (many have instructions/information on that tiny label) as well as your other media. I think it will enlighten you!

Stencils 101

Tuesday, April 3rd is my first basic class at A Work of Heart: Stencils 101. We will be using a couple of stencils and creating 2 cards to take home.

Here's a sneak at one of the cards. So, come on by and try your hand at stenciling and stamping!