A Beautiful Birthday Card

This card was so much fun to make. Taylored Expressions is one of my favorite companies outside of my Stampin' Up! products. When they came out with these dies earlier this year, I decided to splurge and get them.

This was my daughter Christi's birthday card in April of this year. She has 2 kitty cats (my grandcats, LOL!), so the kitty on the window box was perfect.

I raided my scrap pile to make this card. Producing the number of cards I do for Cards for the Troops, I am literally swimming in scrap cardstock and scrapbook papers. Die cuts and punched shapes are the number one way I use up my scraps.

These flowers are so small and I wanted a selection of them, so I literally ran the die through several colors of scraps and filled a small empty SU! embellishment container with the flowers and leaves. It took just minutes to have a variety of color choices for future cards. The curtains were a scrap of printed vellum. The only current SU! colors on this card are Pacific Point, Certainly Celery and Pink Pirouette. 

TheTaylored Expressions dies used for this card are Picture Window, Flower Box Sprigs & Flowers, Window Accessories and Window Cat. These dies make it a breeze to create an elegant, beautiful card.

How about a challenge this week to make a card or scrapbook page using only scraps? You may of course use a full sheet to create the card or page base but try and see if you can do the rest of your design only with the scraps in your stash. 

Have Fun Creating!

Stamp Club Fun

In no particular time frame order I will be posting a variety of cards from this year over the next few weeks. I hope you find something to spark your creativity.

 

 With a request to use the Festive Flurry Stamp Set and Framelits from my August hostess and dear friend Cathy, the color combo I came across earlier for the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge #167  and finding the instructions for the little tote box at Crafty Hallet, I had a great time designing this set for club.

We made our own patterned designer paper for this project with the Festive Flurry stamps and the Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding color combo. Two fun Christmas cards and a little gift tote and our holiday crafting has begun.

My new Thinlit Card Dies had just arrived off the UPS truck, so I had to use one of them in the design. My first Circle Card Thinlet did not work real well with my Big Shot and was not quite as successful for our club project as I would have liked. True to their good customer service, Stampin' Up! sent out a replacement. There are not too many companies anymore that stand behind their products like SU! does. Their products are wonderful and the service for my customers or myself is fabulous.  I just received my 5 year pin and hope to have many more years as a demo to come.

Products used include, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding inks and cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Festive Flurry Stamp set and matching Framelits, Circle Card Thinlet Die set, Very Merry Tags stamp set, 7/8" & 1 1/4" scallop circle punches & 1/8" silver ribbon.

Busy is an Understatement!

Well I haven't quite fallen off the face of the earth yet, LOL! Been incredibly busy with art, Cards for Troops, Church activities and a bit of physical therapy on the arm.

Speaking of church activities, part of my busyness now includes organizing our 

!1^st Holiday Art and Craft Show

Saturday Nov. 9^th

9 am – 4 pm

2323 S. Classen Blvd.

Norman, OK73071

                                                                                                                      

if you happen to know of anyone who does shows, we can use a few more artists. Just email me for more info.

Artwork coming soon. I have several pretties to share and upload and I'm working on my holiday class schedule and samples.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Margaret's Baby Card

You know I had to make a wonderful baby card for Margaret and I seem to be enamored with doily circles lately so I did another version for this card. Similar but different from the one posted earlier for Natalie.

 

Between my Stampin' Up! and a few other companies, I am amassing a large collection of dies and punches. They are so much fun to work with. And if you stay tuned, Stampin' Up! is coming out with some new ones soon in the new catalog. 

This doily reminds me of a cathedral window. Just beautiful. I used Tempting Turquoise and the retired Lavender lace along with a metallic paper in a softer purple color. Wonderful color combo. Yes, I still have some retired colors hanging around. Great for Cards for the Troops, baby books and matching other paper designs. I also used SU! bling, it's the best because it sparkles like real jewels.

The sentiment is from the Cuddles and Kisses stamp set. 

Hope your week is fabulous!

Baby Shower Fun

 The second weekend in March was Margaret's Baby Shower. Babies are always fun and I love baby shopping so had a blast putting this together with Lori at church. You got to see the owl a few posts back. Here's the rest of the fun.

 

This diaper wreath was so much fun to create.

                                                                                                                                                                            

This banner was made by my friend Laura. She is wonderfully creative and the details on this banner are fabulous. Thanks Laura! Margaret loved it.

                                                                                                                                                                               

This is a close-up of the table decor. I made the diaper cake, owl and diaper flower arrangements. Just in case you are wondering, the wreath, cake, owl and flower arrangements took 4 packages of size 1 diapers. Lori did the centerpiece. I wish I had gotten a close-up of the diaper cake. The base is an adorable tutu Laura's friend creates for babies 

                                                                                             

A wide shot of the decor. Laura also passed down the stroller and carseat for Margaret. My friend Christy gifted us with several decor and party items from her daughter-in-law's shower to help us put this shower together. Such a blessing for a new momma and I am blessed to have such wonderful friends. Thanks!

A New Salon

 

This is what was keeping me away from blogging for almost 2 months. 

Our daughter went into business for herself. 

Introducing Norman Oklahoma's first Eco-friendly, natural and organic salon: 

The Green Grove, an eco-natural Salon by Shyloh. 

The whole family pitched in to help, but since I don't work, I got to help a lot more. It's a good thing I have a big van. We hauled, purchased and transported a myriad of items to get up and running. Dad did handyman work, big sister did the logo and branding, big brother's work helped with printing needs, little brother did electrical, boyfriend painted and when I wasn't running and hauling, I did a lot of cleaning, sewing and painting of smaller projects.

Staying true to the natural theme, a lot of the furnishes, fixtures, and other items that went into the salon were either eco-friendly like the low flow faucet adapter or upcycled instead of purchased new. 

I'll have to see if I can snag a couple of indoor shots so you can see the decor, which we are still working on along with finding a couple more upcycled pieces of furniture. 

Getting a business up and running in about 5 weeks is a lot of work.

We are very proud of our daughter's new venture. She is an award winning stylist as Oklahoma City's RawArtists award winner Hairstylist of the Year 2012 and she has done hair and make-up for film and fashion. 

Stay tuned for more artwork and posts.

 

                                                                                        

Taking Classes

 Let's see if we can get back to blogging again. It's been a very busy 2 months, classes, baby shower and helping my daughter open her new salon. Whew! Barely had time to breathe let alone create.

The first weekend in March I got to take classes with the incredible Donna Downey. This is the 2nd year that I was able to take her classes right here in Oklahoma at My Heart's Fancy. Sometimes you need to step out of the normal routines in your artwork and try new things or switch gears and work in a different medium.

 The first class was working in acrylics with stencil layering and lasted for 5 hours. The bad part for me is the ortho doc decided to put a steroid shot in my right elbow that Friday morning for tendonitis after my test results came back. And I'm right handed so not good, but I still managed to create this beautiful 16 x 20 canvas.

 

This second canvas was created Saturday morning after a not so restful night with a painful elbow. But I love it, the bright colors are definitely me. We worked with Gelato's, stencils, Pitt Big markers, tags, washi tape and ephemera. Lots of fun.

 This final class Saturday afternoon was it for the elbow. We were supposed to create three 12 x 12 pastel boards and I did just one. We were pouncing Pan Pastels and the elbow wasn't too thrilled with that movement. I always struggle with landscape and portrait type pieces. I am much more comfortable with the first 2 classes I took but, again, it is good to stretch outside your comfort zone once in awhile. My daughter says these look like "Lorax" trees.

 This was an early birthday present for me and despite the elbow, I got to spend the whole weekend creating art and chilling out in my hotel room. A little "me" break. 

Stay tuned. More posts are on the way.

Sale-a-bration Equation Card Set 4

Here is the final set of cards from the Sale-a-bration Equation Class. They feature more layers, embossing and Dimensionals for depth and texture. I haven't gotten my Lattice Die out for awhile so thought a card design with it would be great. The triple ribbons are a great backdrop for the Curly Label punched shapes. What's nice about these designs is they can be masculine too.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the cards from our class. Stay tuned, there is more in the works.

Have a Great Week!

 

Sale-a-bration Equation Card Set 3

For the third set in my Sale-a-bration Equation Class, we made 'Z' Fold cards. The ladies were delighted with the different twist on the design. The Razzleberry card is a partial case from Pinterest. I really liked the teacup and Thank-you banner together on the card I saw so moved them to my design. 

Stay tuned. The last set will post shortly.

Enjoy the Weekend!

Sale-a-bration Equation Card Class Set 2

The Sale-a-bration Equation class was wonderfully received. Here is a look at the second set of cards from class. 

I continued the theme of lots of embossing and dimensionals to add texture and depth.  Both cards were fairly simple in design and pretty straight forward.

Stay tuned over the next couple of days for the next sets of cards.

Sale-a-bration Equation Card Class Sneak Peek

I planned a last minute card class for this month just for fun and these are the first 2 cards. Since the Sale-a-bration brochure has so many neat items this year, I decided it was a chance to have an inexpensive card class for my group of ladies. They will be making 8 cards for $10 this Sunday.

The first card is a modification CASE from a card I saw on Pinterest. There was no watermark on the sample I saw. If it was your card let me know so I can credit where I found the idea. I of course had to change it up a bit. 

The second card is my design. I have seen a lot of textured layering so I am incorporating it into the card designs as much as possible for this class.

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek.

A Baby Card

I really enjoyed making this card for baby Gryffyn's baby shower. It came out beautiful and elegant just as planned :0)

I used Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette cardstock, Melon Mambo ink, Paper Doily Sizzlit, 2 1/2 inch circle, large oval and scallop oval punches, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and a butterfly die set from another company. I also used a retired stamp set called Little Angel.

If you have the Paper Doily die and have a bit of trouble with it, I use an extra piece of cardstock in my stack and it helps make the little pieces pop out easier and cleaner. So I use my platform, add a piece of cardstock on top, a cutting plate, my die, the cardstock I am cutting and then the top cutting plate. It might make running through your machine a bit tight, I just go slow and steady.

Hope your day is Blessed!

A Blessing Received

I am fortunate to have a couple of really great friends to hang out with. They help me with Cards for the Troops and I hope over time I have been a great friend to them too. My friend Christy sent me an email a couple weeks ago about a custom built shelving unit in her husband's office they no longer needed. She didn't want it and wondered if it would help me with my organization project. I wasn't sure it would fit but didn't want to turn down such a gift for free. After a bit of measuring I said yes.

It's solid oak and has 45 slots to hold 12 x 12 paper. I am busy filling it up. One side will hold my Stampin' Up! 12 x 12, the other side my other solids and specialty 12 x 12 and the middle matching paper sets and pads. The top will house some of my Cards for Troops supplies. It was pretty grimy and dusty but cleaned up pretty good.

An unexpected and treasured blessing indeed :0) 

How have you been blessed lately?

Enjoy today's blessings!

Helping a Friend

Life has been a bit busy and I picked up a virus and sinus infection so missed posting last week entirely. 

I have been helping my friend Christy with the baby shower for her first grandbaby. She found this adorable Owl Diaper critter online and I helped her re-create 7 of them for the centerpieces on the tables. In this photo the ones behind are waiting for ears, we ran out of washcloths.

We had Stamp Club last week and a Cards for Troops yesterday. I will try and get some pictures of the cards to post in the next couple of days. I hope to be working on some new designs soon. My goal is to post once or twice a week this year. I may even try some blog candy later since I have found a couple duplicates of stamps. Hmm..... must have really liked them.

 I am continuing my purge/clean/organize project so who knows what I may decide needs a new home. My daughter is helping me and we started in the kitchen last week. We cleaned the cabinets with Murphy's Wood Oil Soap, moved the fridge and cleaned and dusted behind and under it and wiped down the exterior of all the appliances and counters. Tomorrow we start on the disaster room. It partially houses the Cards for Troops materials, some other art supplies and the exercise equipment. It is buried as it's become the catch-all the past few months, you can barely walk through it. It will take probably the better part of a week to unearth, sort, purge and organize again.

Blessings come daily in small and big ways. I am thankful my bug wasn't the flu. Hubby installed a new kitchen sink, faucet and water purification system this weekend. The first Cards for the Troops was fabulous and I try to find some way to be kind each day and share.

Hope your week is fabulous!

2013's Word

I have never participated in the One Little Word project before but a few days ago it resonated. I wanted a word that would celebrate giving and receiving, art and life. My word for 2013 is Blessings and I believe it was further confirmed in the pastor's message this morning when he paraphrased Genesis 12:2 "You have been blessed so that you may be a blessing to others." I think that will become my quote for the year too. AngelArtist came about because I love to encourage and surprise others, many have said I've been their "angel" so I paired it with artist for my love of creating and added OK at the end for the state of Oklahoma my residence. So I hope to be a blessing in 2013 as well as discover everyday blessings along the way.

I sat down in the wee hours of Saturday morning and wrote out the following to guide my year.

Blessings in the Word of God and with fellow believers
Blessings in His Creation, the beauty of nature, animals, life
Blessings in sharing His love and care
Blessings in serving, giving and receiving
Blessings of family, friends and furbabies
Blessings even with trials, heartache and pain
Blessings in the gifts and talents of encouragement, art and more
Blessings are everywhere if I remain aware
Open my eyes to Blessings each day

copyright RAC 2013

Instead of resolutions, I have chosen IDEALS for the year:

Inspired
Delivered
Encouragement
And
Love
Shared

So this second week of January begins my BLESSINGS and IDEALS journey through 2013.

I am also doing the 52 Week Challenge of putting money away each week based on the week's number of the year. 1st week = $1 2nd week = $2 and on through the year. If you are successful you will have saved $1378 by the end of the year and in this uncertain economy any savings is better than none. And who knows where it might be a blessing to someone if needed.

Hope your week is fabulous!  
 

 

Classes

I am cooking up ideas for some new classes this year. Starting up Stamp Club again last August was refreshing for me and challenging too and I like challenges. We had a successful Christmas Card Class in October and I had the best time designing the cards. A couple were cased with twists of course. I focused on using the new mini stack Festival Prints DSP in the SU! Holiday Catalog. It was so successful that everyone is asking me to design a new class with the mini stack Print Poetry DSP in the new Spring Catalog. So without further ado, here are the cards from my October Class, look for new designs coming soon.

Of course I had to go back and redo the mitten cards above and add a loop to the string after one of my customers in class did that. It was the last set I designed and I was under a time crunch so I didn't loop them. It's the little details that make a difference sometimes. 

As you can see this was a Big Shot intensive class.

A New Year & Another Shot at Blogging :0)

Well all good intentions of blogging in 2012 ended up at the bottom of my things to do list. Sigh. Sometimes life is quite a ride. However each day is a new beginning and a chance to try again. So to go along with all my New Year organizing, studio time and every day activities comes the chance to blog again. So hopefully you'll get the chance to see some creations from 2012 as well as my new work in this New Year.

This was my New Year card for 2012.....

2013 is the year of the Black Water Snake so my challenge will be to design a new card to celebrate this year's Chinese New Year. 

I am hoping to create lots of cards, mini books and oriental style art, as well as branching out  into more art journaling and canvas work.  

Wishing you a Happy New Year filled with promise and hope!

Many Blessings!