Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Published Again



Imagine my surprise when I picked up the summer issue of Just Cards magazine, was flipping through it in the waiting room at the dermatologists with my 15 yo son and let out a yelp when I saw my Haiku Bunny card. My son promptly informed me that everyone in the waiting room thought I was crazy. That's OK, let 'em think I'm crazy, you don't get published everyday. My card is on page 48 and I happen to have a slightly better picture since it's a clear card. I happen to have a copy of it still because (A) it's the first acetate card I made and (B) the kitty cat decided to teeth on the corner of this one. No longer suitable for a swap card with kitty teethmarks but still nice enough for my portfolio. I created this card for last year's annual OSA Haiku Bunny swap featuring the retired Haiku Bunny stamp from Hero Arts. I saw the video on Prima Marketing about painting in alcohol inks and that's exactly what I did on this card. I stamped the image on the front in Staz-on and painted with alcohol inks on the reverse side. A huge thank-you to our wonderful swap hostesses on OSA who continually submit artwork for publication. It's how both my cards got published in Just Cards magazine. I rarely submit anything myself.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Rescued Love



Here is our newest member of the family, Reilly. The top picture is just after his first grooming and the bottom while he was still scruffy and in foster care, both are cute. We adopted him a couple of months ago and hopefully he's on the road to full recovery. He is about 2 years old and we will probably never know why someone gave him up. We do know he came complete with several different types of worm infestations including heartworms. If you have a dog or even a cat don't ever let them go off their heart worm medicine. Reilly had a really hard time with the treatments given at the vets. They give deep injections of a form of arsenic and who knows what else to kill the adult heartworms, then you have to keep them really quiet for quite awhile. Unfortunately for Reilly his little body tried forcing the dead heartworms out instead of absorbing them, so he formed embollisms in his lungs and spent almost 3 weeks at the vets between his treatment and his recovery time. He's on the mend and goes back in a couple of weeks to get a final check-up from the doc. We are ever so thankful that Second Chance, where we adopted Reilly, paid for his treatments. In the meantime he's become momma's baby boy. I have my own furry escort. Reilly is happiest when I'm in the house and nearby. It took us 5 weeks to move his crate from our bedroom to just outside our bedroom door. Both hubby and I are just in love with the little darling. I'm getting outside regularly now for long walks as I wouldn't go by myself. Reilly is a terrific walking companion. If you have the option, rescue a pet and make sure they are spayed or neutered. There are so many animals that need good loving homes. Be sure to support rescue organizations like Bernie Berlin's A Place to Bark. Bernie does such amazing work rescuing dogs and cats and finding them loving homes. God gave us beautiful animals to love and care for. We are very thankful for Reilly and our two cats Midnight and Shadow, they fill our lives with furry love.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

One Card Two Ways




I have been dabbling in stamping for over 20 years. If you are a fellow Stampin' Up demo, it means I have a lot of "contraband" LOL! I have never been an artist who conforms to any standard. I enjoy all my art supplies and use a variety of companies items. I happen to love Stampin' Up stamps and quality of paper, but I will never use them exclusively in my artwork. So for my clubs and such I decided that when I create a card I like then I would try to duplicate it. So if it's all Stampin' Up, I can use other items to recreate it and vice versa. These cards aren't too far apart on the scale. The top card has a Basic Grey patterned background and Archival Sepia Ink for the brown. The cardstock is Old Olive. The bottom card is all Stampin' Up. With a Tea Party DSP background, basic black and certainly celery cardstock. with basic black, close to cocoa and garden green inks. Since I'm still a relatively new demo, I didn't own a Stampin' Up brown until I ordered one. I'm slowly building up my Stampin' Up products so I can create more all Stampin' Up designs. Both cards use the Forest Friends stamp set, one of my favorites, and the eyelet border punch. Stretch yourself creatively by recreating some of your creations in different papers and inks. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Sneak Peek Kind of Sorta'


Today there is a tiny, tiny peek at one of the new Stampin' Up sets coming out July 1st. This is a wedding card I made Friday night for a wedding yesterday. I love how this card turned out. I specialize in simple elegance and this card has it in spades. I picked up all the paper from Whole Lotta Scrap at Friday night's crop. I'm sure the scan doesn't show the sparkly glitter in the silver swirls or the metallic sheen of the pink and white papers. I used the sentiments in the new Stampin' Up hostess set "Kind & Caring Thoughts". I smuggled in my new order items and kept them under wraps while creating cards. It was like having a delicious secret no one else could share, LOL! I think this is going to be one of my favorite sets from the new catalog. I didn't take a photo of the inside but the verse says "May today be the beginning of a love that lasts forever." Perfect for a wedding card. I picked up a package of Swarovski crystals and the velvet flower is from Prima. I changed out the regular rhinestone on the flower and placed one of the Swarovski crystals there to match the others on the card. Simply beautiful, just the way I like it! Stay tuned for more cards. I'm making lots of samples to display at my Cardmaking for the Troops events.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Late Night Stampers

I feel like I have found one of the greatest groups on the internet! The talent and inspiration is just amazing! I have been inspired to create more, share and give back more and spruce up my blog too!

Check Out the Talent of the LNS Designers:

1.Gretchen Barron
gbarron56@comcast.net http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/
2. Barbara Dondero
barbaradondero@gmail.com http://BarbsStampingSpot.blogspot.com
3. Tammy Fite stampinmama@comcast.net www.stampwithtammy.com
4. Judy Jackson JudyStamper@verizon.net
5. Mary Brown
mary@stampercamper.com http://stampercamper.com/
6.Sarah Wills sarahwills@austin.rr.com http://sarahsinkspot.blogspot.com/
7.Selene Kempton
e.selene@verizon.net http://stampinfunwithselene.blogspot.com/
8.Virginia Killmore vkillmore@gmail.com http://virginias-website.blogspot.com/
9. Elizabeth Sloman sloman4100@bellsouth.net www.mamastamper.com
10.Marisol Gutierrez
atouchof_sol@yahoo.com http://atouchofsol.blogspot.com/
11. Dawn Bullock
Dbullock28@comcast.net www.stampincreations.blogspot.com
12.Sandi MacIver sandi_maciver@comcast.net http://www.sandimaciver.com/sandi_maciver/
13.Stephanie Sullins stephenandsteph@earthlink.net http://owlwhimsy.blogspot.com
14.Susan Shields blestmomof6@cox.net http://createdwithlovebysusan.blogspot.com/
15. Rebekah "Becky" Jens en www.stampthat.com
16. Heidi Michel
heartfeltblessings@gmail.com www.heartfeltblessings.blogspot.com
17. Barb Slaughter stamper0910@yahoo.com
18. Lisa Milliron
uniquedesignsbylisa@windstream.net http://www.uniquedesignsbylisa.typepad.com/
19 Connie Babbert
iluvstamping@columbus.rr.com http://inkspiredtreasures.com/
20 Nancy Dawson nancy@centralva.net http://creativewishes.blogspot.com
21 Bethany Keeney bethanykeeney@hotmail.com http://keeneyfarm.blogspot.com/
22 Kirsten Brown
stampinsilly@gmail.com http://imstampinsilly.blogspot.com/
23. Mary Jo Price-Williams technostamper@roadrunner.com http://technostamper.blogspot.com/



Big Hugs,
Ruth
Angelartistok

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Birthday Greetings


Let's see if I can get to posting more often. It has been whispered to my heart to reach out and touch more lives, something I very much enjoy doing. I am looking forward to the Cards for the Troops events I have scheduled for this summer. As a retired Air Force wife, those who serve in our military and our civilian protection forces will always have a special place in my heart. If you live nearby, please join us for these events. If you don't, make a card and send it to From Our Hearts and help a service member stay in touch with family and friends. Now on to my card share. I had fun making this card. It was for a Whole Lotta Scraps' first birthday bash. I used images from Verve, Prima paper and flowers, Bazzill cardstock rhinestones and a button.



Be Inspired!

Ruth