AngelArtistDesigns

Create Daily Day 1

2012-01-01T23:06:00.000-06:00

OK I am in an 2012 Online Challenge Class to create something everyday in January. It's to help encourage us to make time to create everyday. Making it more of a priority. I don't promise to post everyday but I'll post a couple of updates each week for sure. It will help keep me accountable. So today's card is made from bits & pieces left over from other projects. I dug through some of them and made this card. Very quick and simple. Stamp is from Sincere Salutations.

An update on the organization project. I started on the main art room. Got all the 11 x 8 1/2 paper back in it's proper places. Got one shelving unit tidied up, finished up and sent off the last 2 boxes for Cards for the Troops for 2011, starting gathering up stamps to re-sort and put in their proper places. My calendars are up to date, took care of some art administrative stuff and worked on a surprise for my boss Leslie. If you happen to wander into a Whole Lotta Scrap, check out the new decor in the ladies room. My co-worker Jamie came up with the idea and I executed it. Leslie loved it. The bathroom is sporting a new paint job and pretty new decor. Not bad for a weeks work.

I challenge you to get in as much creative time as possible this new year too.

Happy New Year!

Getting Ready for the New Year

2011-12-26T22:08:00.000-06:00

Nothing like disappearing for months at a time from my blog. Actually it's always last on my things to do list and my things to do list has been pretty long lately. Toss in my daughter's emergency gall bladder surgery last month and well....life takes a left turn real quick. Plans always seem to get shifted lately but I am looking forward to a new year. Always like the fresh start it represents.

So since this week looks to be relatively quiet, I am trying to get reorganized. Hosting Cards for the Troops events means stamps and supplies are constantly being shifted and don't always get put away in a timely manner. To get me back on track and gear up for next years events, I am organizing and prepping this week.

Today was a pretty decent day. With hubby's help I got 3 cases of card stock sorted. My son works for OU Printing Services and all my card bases for the troops are donated to me from what they would send off to be recycled. I was able to sort some out for a teacher friend to use in her classroom, hubby got the remaining paper divided into sets of ten sheets for my professional Carl Cutter and I got 4 bins of card bases cut today for a bit more than 4000 cards. Yes you are reading that correctly, 4000 cards. Not quite through counting 2011 totals but looks like a little more than 7100 cards were made at all my events this year.

The reorganizing effort also has gotten my living room desk area tidy and sorted. I am blessed to have 2 work spaces. My personal art room and a smaller area in the living room so I can work and be near hubby when he's home. I also got some more prep work for the Cards for Troops events done and a bit of misc. cleaning and sorting. Not bad for day one. Tomorrow I will tackle my main art room.

Now for a bit of artwork. This was my daughter's birthday card. I love the Creative Elements stamp set. I also used the Cheerful Treat Hostess paper along with Concord Crush and Melon Mambo card stock. The flower and Happy Birthday sentiment are non-SU! The butterfly is actually detail cut on the corner with a strip of matching paper on the inside backside of the card. When closed it looks like a seamless design, when open the butterfly's wings are free.

Christmas Inspiration

2011-09-03T03:00:00.002-05:00

My part time job is at our local scrapbook store. The only small private one in our neck of the woods. I enjoy my job a lot and am fortunate enough to occasionally pick up outside orders for my Stampin' Up business and when my normal meeting place for my SU Club was unavailable, the owner was kind enough to let me use the store classroom. I teach about twice a month in the store using store products. This was the layout I did for August. Full size 12 x 12 scrapbook layouts are an interesting challenge for me since I much prefer cards and mini books. I can do them, I just prefer to work smaller. This design was fun to create. The flowers are embossed with embossing folders to add some texture and interest. It would be easy to add the word "JOY" to the ornaments with plenty of room for journaling and pictures.

I'm Back! Creative Sketches 45 a Week Later

2011-09-01T03:00:00.005-05:00

Well I think I've been away from my blog way too long. Busy, resting, working, designing, teaching, whew! Still tired, still have a lot to do but making more time to design and create. And the good news is I finally have access to all my work tables. Still have organizing to do but I have made huge progress.

Jumping back into designing for Creative Sketches . And apparently I liked last's weeks sketch so much I created a card for that sketch instead of this weeks, LOL! Oh well. I enjoyed the process of creating and that's what matters the most. I decided to browse through my newest stamps and choose Kindness Matters along with the Flirtatious Specialty Designer Paper. You know me, I like to flip the sketches for a twist and this card is no exception. I used the butterflies to mimic one of the borders and stamped them in Wisteria Wonder ink along the top of my card. The new Pretty in Pink 1/2" Scallop Dots ribbon is perfect to add in the second border of the sketch. The extra large oval punch provides the back shape for the butterfly punch image. The patterned paper is the reverse side of the yellow on the background of the card. The designer papers make it easy to coordinate patterns and colors. The scallop oval and large oval provide the base for the sentiment. Basic pearls and pop dots add the finishing touches. A truly elegant card.

I'll see if I can't create this week's sketch too. May take a couple of days but I'll work on it.

Here is the original inspiration sketch. Be sure to check out what the other designers did at the main Creative Sketches site.

Creative Sketches Week 39 Anything Goes

2011-06-30T12:16:00.001-05:00

Now that the wedding is over, perhaps I can get back to some regular posts,challenges and art sharing :0)

However, since it's anything goes week on Creative Sketches, let's visit aparticular item I made for the wedding. I've been missing my oriental creatinglately and when I designed this guest book for the wedding, I chose JapaneseStab Binding to put it together. A small wedding didn't need a very big book sothis album is perfect. The inside pages match the invitations. Our beautifulbride loved this swirl paper so it became the cover. I bound the book withmatching silk ribbon tied in a bow. After designing the label, I cut it outwith a die, then used the framing technique we use with our Stampin' Up!punches to create the frame. Add in some pretty flowers, leaves and rhinestonecenters and a lovely book was complete and ready for wedding day.

Wedding Day

2011-06-29T15:38:00.000-05:00

Bet you thought I'd disappeared off the face of the earth, LOL! Nothing so dramatic but last minute prep for my son's wedding kept me pretty busy. Add in a storm with roof damage and well I've been running at full speed. Here are a couple of pictures to enjoy of our happy day welcoming our new DIL to the family.

Wild Artist Birthday

2011-05-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

I am celebrating turning 50 this month. Since I am pretty conservative most of the time, my daughter suggested a tattoo for my birthday this year. I of course had to choose a butterfly :0) And here she is. The tattoo is on my lower calf area of my leg. I think the artist did a fabulous job. My husband isn't too keen but I don't think after 33 years of marriage, we are heading to divorce court over a tattoo, LOL! I told him my "bad girl artist" had to come out to play for my 50th. And no that's not a rash on my leg after the tattoo, I've got enough freckles for several people. The price of being a red haired fair skinned beauty :0) If you look at the scroll work, it looks like 2 A's are incorporated into the design. Perfect since my handle is "AngelArtistok" My one and only tattoo.

Creative Sketches Week 32 Color

2011-05-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

Nothing like blogger going down and a busy weekend to make this sketch challenge late. Sigh. But hey at least I can post now. One picture at a time apparently.

With this week's color challenge I also did a One Sheet Wonder base. It was the easiest way to incorporate 4 colors. I used the Fabulous Florets stamp set in the new Summer Mini and the colors
Peach Parfait, Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist And Rich Razzleberry. I randomly stamped the images all over a sheet of Whisper White cardstock and then cut a piece for my card, leaving more stamped background to make additional cards. You don't have to use a pattern to create your own one sheet wonders but it's nice when someone else does the measurements for you. But true to form I will create my own cards from this sheet in whatever style strikes my fancy.

The card base is Rich Razzleberry with Wild Wasabi and Peach Parfait matting. I stamped the flower and leaf again on a separate sheet of paper and cut out to pop over the Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment on the small oval and Marina Mist scallop oval piece. I resisted the urge to use glitter this week.

Don't forget to check out the other designs on the Creative Sketches site.

Creative Sketches Week 31 - A Sketch in Pink

2011-05-05T03:00:00.005-05:00

Hey it's my birthday month and I'm turning to my favorite color pink for most of my designs. I designed 2 cards this week for club in pink and since the supplies were already out, I made this 3rd card a combination of parts of the first 2 designs. It more less follows the design for this week's Creative Sketches sketch.

The card base is Pretty in Pink and I ran it through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. Nice, easy and a beautiful background. I did just the corners of my Melon Mambo mat and Pink Pirouette focal layer with the Scallop Trim Corner Punch to give my card a bit more elegance. I used Melon Mambo ink for my stamping to keep my design all pink. The sentiment is from the new Happy Greetings set in the new Summer Mini catalog. The flowers are from Fabulous Florets, also in the new mini, and were stamped on Pink Pirouette, detail cut and covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter and popped with a Dimensional. Beautiful, classy and elegant and fairly easy to create. What can you do this week with your favorite color?

Be sure to hop on over to the Creative Sketches site and see what the other designers have been creating. You're sure to be inspired.

Creative Sketches Week 30 Holiday/Celebration

2011-04-28T03:00:00.000-05:00

Whew! Made it to post this week. Life has been nothing if not crazy lately.

This week we have a sketch and holiday/celebration theme. Since I am still so tired I went with easy. I used the Paisley Petals DSP only available this month as a special preview order for the new catalog coming in July. I used the Sizzix Circles #2 die to cut my circles. Which means I have more circles to play with to make another card or two since that die cuts 4 circles in various sizes. The Sincere Salutations sentiment "Best Wishes" gave me some options for this card. I can use it for several different occasions. Cardstock is Old Olive and Very Vanilla and the ink is Old Olive. The Butterfly Punch provided my accent, ran through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and embellished with Basic Pearls.

Don't forget to pop by Creative Sketches and see what other wonderful creations have been designed this week.

Creative Sketches Week 28 Color and a Sneak Peek

2011-04-14T03:00:00.013-05:00

Running in for a quick post for this week's challenge. What a calming restful color combination. I wasn't kidding when I said quick. I made this card in about 15 minutes. This week has been hectic to say the least.

I used the new Sail Away stamp and The Open Sea stamp set along with Teeny Tiny Wishes. The new stamp sets will be available May 1st in the new Summer Mini catalog. The ink is Elegant Eggplant. I "ooo booed" the sentiment when I first stamped it so I used the Word Window punch to create a new custom sentiment label to cover the oopsie :0) I used the Photo Corners punch to create the notches for the bakers twine. Quick and simple with a little twist. This is going to be the perfect card for grandpa after his surgery and will be off in the mail soon.

Jog on over to the Creative Sketches site and see what the other designers have been up to this week. Lots of great cards to enjoy.

Creative Sketches Week 27 Sketch - A Tribute

2011-04-07T03:00:00.005-05:00

This week's card is a tribute for a special friend whose husband has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Sending much love, prayers and encouragement their way as they walk the road ahead.

I used the new Strength and Hope stamp set available in the Summer Mini May 1st for the background, the swirl from Elements of Style to stamp on the Baja Breeze Seam Binding, the Paisley Petals Designer paper available this month as a special preview order before the new big catalog comes out in July, Marina Mist cardstock and ink, Whisper White cardstock and Basic Pearls. The sentiment is from Verve's Breast Cancer Awareness set.

Encouragement cards are my favorite to make and often are tailored specifically for the family member or friend who needs a pick me up. However it would be relatively easy to create a set to keep on hand when you receive word someone is ill or going through a rough spot. In today's electronic wizardry, it's a nice touch to be able to gift someone with a hand made card and not just an email or text.

So here is a dual challenge for you this week: Create a card specifically for someone who could use a pick me up and then make a few extra cards to keep on hand to pop in the mail when the need arises. This week's sketch will give you a design to start with.

Be sure to visit the Creative Sketches site and see the other wonderful creations this week. You're in for a treat.

Creative Sketches Week 26 Anything Goes

2011-03-31T03:00:00.011-05:00

Well my card sort of matches the sketch flipped, LOL! It is Anything Goes week. There is a special story behind this week's creation. I have been a member of the Oriental Stamp Art list for about 10 years. You get to know some of the ladies online really well and become friends. And once in a great while you get to meet one of your online friends in person. Such was the case about a week ago on March 22nd. My friend Nancy put a call out to our list earlier this month that she was coming to Dallas and would anyone like to meet up? Nancy is one of my favorite OSA ladies so of course I made arrangements to drive down and spend the day.

She lives in Nova Scotia so this was indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity. The bonus - it was her birthday! I took her a present of a couple of oriental style stamps from a local stamp artist and made this card for her. Sorry, hardly any SU! supplies this week. The card base is Concord Crush cardstock. The humming bird is embossed, I used a border ribbon punch to create the lattice effect and added beautiful Washi paper. Not too shabby, Eh? LOL!

We had a wonderful day shopping the local art stores and had lunch together. We totally forgot about pictures all day so we nabbed a cabbie back at her hotel to snap a couple of pics of us together. I'm on the left, Nancy's on the right.

We sure had fun and who knows? Maybe one day I'll make it to Nova Scotia for a visit.

Don't forget to see what the other ladies have been designing on the Creative Sketches site.

Creative Sketches Week 25 Holidays and Celebrations

2011-03-24T03:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to another installment of our Creative Sketches challenges. The 4th week is traditionally holiday or any day you celebrate and we have a sketch to up the ante on the challenge.

This weeks card is perfect for a birthday, promotion, retirement or any other celebration you wish to acknowledge. I chose bright happy colors. Daffodil Yellow, Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo cardstocks and inks, Brights Stack designer paper in Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo pom-pom trim, Basic Rhinestones, Scallop Circles #2 Big Shot Die, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, small scallop is a non-SU punch, En Francais background stamp, swirl is from Elements of Style, sentiments from On Your Birthday and Fabulous Phrases.

Don't forget to check out the other designers great cards
on the Creative Sketches site.

Creative Sketches Week 24 Fancy Folds, Cuts, Punches and Another Sneak Preview

2011-03-17T03:00:00.003-05:00

Back for another week of creative goodness. I was under the weather for a few days after the wild fires triggered my asthma so I grabbed one of my cards from club on Monday. I knew the minute my upline Connie shared this video that we had to learn how to do this. You can find the video tutorial from Cristena Bagne by clicking here rosette tutorial What I really like about this tutorial is you don't have to own a fancy die, just use the scallop punches you already own, fabulous! Or order them and you have even more creative versatility then a specialized die.
For this card I showcased a stamp from the new Strength and Hope set coming soon in the new Summer Mini. Now before you get all excited, you still have to wait until May 1st before you can order it. I am a huge, huge supporter of Breast Cancer Awareness. When you purchase this stamp set, Stampin' Up! will donate $2 of each purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I don't know of many of us who haven't had a loved one or friend affected by breast cancer. So I am hoping to design a lot of cards with this set.

The supplies for this card were: Pretty in Pink and Whisper White cardstock, Sweet Stitches Designer Paper and Pretty in Pink patterned paper from the Brights DSP Stack, retired Bashful Blue 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Strength and Hope and Word Play stamp sets, Decorative Label and 1 3/8" Circle and 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punches, Melon Mambo ink and Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

The ladies really enjoyed making this card and I know for sure one is winging it's way to a special friend to brighten her survivor journey.

Don't forget to pop over to the Creative Sketches site and see more inspiration for this week's challenge.

Stay tuned for the other cards from club.

Creative Sketches Week 23 Color and a Sneak Peek

2011-03-10T03:00:00.001-06:00

Back for another week of Creative Sketches. Wish blogger wasn't being crabby as this is my 4th attempt at this post and as you can see the pictures did their own thing, but at least they are present. This week's challenge was the colors of Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Old Olive and Basic Gray. I would have been happy with just 3 of those colors but hey, it's a challenge :0) I decided to use the soon to be released Paisley Petals DSP and Four Frames Stamp set along with the hostess set Fast and Fabulous and Teeny Tiny Wishes and the Decorative Label punch. Simple layering makes up the base of the card in Baja Breeze, Basic Gray and Bashful Blue. I stamped the flower with Basic Gray ink onto the Bashful Blue background and used the same ink to stamp the label and sentiment. A bit of Old Olive frames the punched image. I chose a flower image from the designer paper and detail cut it, then popped it over the card with dimensionals.

Don't forget to check out the Creative Sketches site for more creative ideas.

Creative Sketches Week 22 Sketch Design

2011-03-03T03:00:00.008-06:00

Back for another week of creative design. Our challenge this week was this sketch. Fairly basic and easy to work with but the possibilities are endless. And of course I had to flip it. I just grabbed the papers that caught my eye and were easy to reach and played with the design for my card. If you are looking for a challenge, just reach for what you might already have out or the first thing that you come across in your supplies. This sketch is perfect for using up a variety of scraps from previous projects. Start playing and you might just surprise yourself.

This card worked up fast. I grabbed the Melon Mambo card base from a stack I had cut for a class that never got used. Some Basic Black and Pretty in Pink scraps and a leftover piece of pink designer paper from the Ice Cream Parlor set in the Sale-a-bration catalog. A retired piece of Melon Mambo ribbon, Basic Pearls, Butterfly and Scallop Trim punches and the Cottage Garden stamp set. Easy peasy.

Hope to be back soon with some new inspiration. Still finishing up the samples for the Stamp a Stack this weekend. Busy, busy week.

Creative Sketches Week 21 Holiday Card

2011-02-24T03:00:00.001-06:00

It's time for another Creative Sketch challenge. The 4th week of the month is always a holiday card so I did an Easter card. This week we had a sketch design to follow. I of course had to switch it up, it's what I do best, take a concept and somehow change it to reflect my current creative whim. Like the last couple of weeks I'm still using my Springtime Vintage designer paper. Also used to create this card, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla and River Rock cardstock, sentiment from All Holidays stamp set, Not Quite Navy ink, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon (only because there is no Baja available), Basic Pearls, the 2 3/8" and 1 3/4" scallop circle punches. Very quick and very elegant.

Stay tuned for more creative ideas and don't forget to check out the Creative Sketches site for more inspiration from this weeks design.

Stamp A Stack Sneak Peek

2011-02-23T17:14:00.000-06:00

I'm busy being creative and planning a class here and there. This is a sneak peek for my Stamp a Stack Class Mar. 6th. It's my twist on the 16 card OSW - one sheet wonder. I have a few favorite blogs I follow and when I saw this post on Flowerbug's Inkspot, I thought what a perfect starter class for the year with my new hostess club. A great way to create a nice variety of cards for all occassions and it's been a while since I've made a OSW set myself. When I checked out the link to Pretty Paper Parfait, I realized I had already saved that link too. So Thank-you LeeAnn Greff and Isis Pinero for the tutorials and templates for making 16 wonderful cards :0)

Of course I'm using one of their templates and tutorials but that's about where it ends. I love taking the designs and tweaking them a bit so some of my cards will be similar and some won't. I end up altering the placement of pieces, flip them another direction, adjusting the sizes or whatever works and strikes my fancy. Everyone who uses these templates can do the same and then your set of cards has your unique flavor. My ladies have the choice between 2 designer paper sets for their cards, Sunny Garden and Elegant Soiree. So this sneak peek is just of the first couple of cards in the Sunny Garden set. I will be creating 2 sample sets in both designs.

It's going to be a fun, fun class and some beautiful cards. Check back later for more pictures. I hope you are inspired to visit the above sites and make a set of fabulous cards.

Another Peek at Feb. Club

2011-02-19T03:00:00.007-06:00

Hi Again! I'm back with our remaining 2 cards from club this month. These were so much fun to design and create.
Our hostess this month liked blues as her favorite color and she likes fairly simple card designs so that was my challenge in designing for club. We gave our punches and Big Shot a good workout on this months designs.

Another favorite set of mine from the Occasions Mini Catalog is Thanks for Caring. I have already used this set for several Cards for Troops designs. For this card we used Pear Pizazz, Baja Breeze and Very Vanilla cardstocks, Springtime Vintage designer paper, Very Vanilla Taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Two Step Bird and Designer Label punches, Dimensionals and the Sale-a-bration free set Sweet Summer.

We learned the Inlaid Embossing technique. Everyone loved it! It's definitely magical how the card transforms. We used Baja Breeze and Very Vanilla cardstocks, Springtime Vintage designer paper, Bring on the Cake stamp set, Top Note die, Finial Press Embossing Folder, 5 Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms and Decorative Label punches, Dimensionals and Not Quite Navy Ink.

Beautiful and Elegant card designs suitable for any occasion.

Hope you enjoyed a peek into this months club designs.

Creative Sketches Week 20 Watercolor Bluebird

2011-02-17T03:00:00.003-06:00

Anybody ready for a bit of spring? Sure feels like it with temps in the 70's this week. Certainly beats last weeks sub zero freezing temps. Only in OK can you be freezing to death one day and sunbathing the next. This little birdie looks like he's ready for spring too. I just love the Nature Walk set and this card was actually part of my hostess club this week. We were playing with Water color pencils and crayons. Watercolors are so versatile to use. A bit of water or even a blender pen, pencil or marker and you've got endless possibilities. He's a fairly simple birdie. I colored him all over with the lighter blue, more of the turquoise in the pencil set and then added the darker blue mainly on his top half. Blended a bit and he was done. I did add just a bit of white to his tummy. He's layered on a Marina Mist background stamped in Marina Mist ink with the birdcage and no. 147 stamps. The background and images are framed with Night of Navy, layered on a whisper white card. I used the large and small tag punches and stamped the sentiment from You're a Gem. A wee bit of baker's twine and dimensionals added the final touch.

I hope you enjoy this week's offering. Be sure to check out the Creative Sketches site for more inspiration.

Check back in a couple of days for the other cards we did in club. The ladies are having lots of fun!

Creative Sketches Week 19 Navy, White, Cherry Cobbler

2011-02-10T03:00:00.003-06:00

Back with another Creative Sketch. This week we are featuring the colors Navy, White and Cherry Cobbler. It's also my "baby's" birthday this week, he is turning 17, so I needed a birthday card for him. And in typical guy fashion, he told me he didn't need a card, just his present. Tough dude, mom still made a card. I have the added advantage of being able to up-cycle it into a new card for From Our Hearts and rescue it from the trash bin where most of my guys send their cards.

Since Sno-klahoma has had yet another mini blizzard of snow timed perfectly for his birthday, I chose the Extreme Snowboard and Extreme Elements stamp sets for my card. The sentiment is from the new Bring On The Cake set in the Occasions Mini catalog. Quick and simple for the guys. They really do appreciate the thought but don't care how fancy it is. I used Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Whisper White cardstocks, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red and Cherry Cobbler inks. True Red, White and Blue.

Hoping this next week provides for some creative time since I'm on mini break from designing Cards for the Troops. I can use the time to get more organized and catch up on my card stash.

Be sure to visit the Creative Sketches site for more inspiration.

Creative Sketches Week 18 February Sketch

2011-02-03T03:00:00.003-06:00

It's time for another Creative Sketch Challenge. A small distraction after this weeks fun with the snow. I used my new Nature Walk stamp set from the Occasions Mini catalog, Botanical Gazette DSP, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist cardstock and Cherry Cobbler 1/2' seam binding and ink, Stampin' Dimensionals and Basic Pearls. A tip if you are not doing it already, save the border of your Stampin' Dimensionals once you've used them all. For the eggs I was able to cut small pieces from this leftover border to pop them for added interest.

Hopefully I'll have more posts shortly including some pictures of cards I recently did with The Ripple Group from my younger son's church, including pictures of the Juniors, Seniors and their Shepherds making the cards for From Our Hearts. But first I'm busy prepping more kits for this Saturday's event. Then I get about a 6 week break before the next Cards for Troops event. Just enough time to work on some of the wedding samples for my oldest son's wedding in June. It is going to be one busy year for me.

Be sure to stop by the Creative Sketches blog and check out the cards the other designers and participants have done.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Creative Sketches Week 17 A Valentine Card

2011-01-27T03:00:00.006-06:00

Of course I am chasing myself this week and got my challenge card done in the nick of time, just barely. The 4th week of the month is always a holiday card and that may become a stretch for me or it may not since I am designing holiday cards for the troops all the time. I quickly looked through my newest stamp sets (some of them haven't seen ink yet, gasp!) and decided on my Valentine Defined set. Then I remembered that I had the matching Love Impressions rub-ons and went "hmmmm, what can I create with those?" I don't use rub-ons very often, so I challenged myself and this is what I came up with. Not too shabby. I used Real Red, Pretty in Pink and a hint of Wild Wasabi on this card. The patterned paper is from our Patterns Designer Series Paper Stacks and I added some Real Red 5/8 ribbon for a finishing touch. Back to the grindstone. I have an event with 20-25 Junior and Senior High School students this weekend making more cards for From Our Hearts. Got to keep cranking out kits.

Four Things to Share and Happy Anniversary

2011-01-24T13:40:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite blogs to subscribe to Understand Blue posted a list of Four Things on Sunday so I thought I'd pass it along. Might give you a wee glimpse into me, might not :0) No one believes half the stuff I like anyway. They all think I should be a died in the wool country girl. Not me. Especially if it involves lots of country music.

1. Four shows that you watch:

Biggest Loser
Extreme Home Makeover
Any house show on HGTV like Property Virgins, My First Place, Income Property
So You Think You Can Dance

2. Four things you are passionate about:

Pink Ribbon Awareness
Rescued furbabies
Music and Dance
Helping others whenever I can

3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:

Dude
Really????
Are you kidding me????
Have a wonderful/fabulous/terrific day!

4. Four things you've learned from the past:

Never hook the jumper cables where you think your husband told you to hook them.
Murphy's law really does interrupt your plans.
Trust your gut feeling.
Do not cook in your best clothes.

5. Four places you would like to go:

Canada
Scotland
Australia
Caribbean

6. Four things you did yesterday:

Slept for 13 hours
Counted the Cards for the Troops made on Saturday = 253 :0)
Took Reilly on a longer than usual walk since we missed Saturdays
Had my first quiet day home in a week of running

7. Four things you are looking forward to:

Matthew and Stephanie's Wedding
My 50th birthday party
Our Anniversary trip
Warmer weather

8. Four things you love about winter?

Brisk and crisp air not frigid
A wee bit of snow from time to time here in Oklahoma
Snuggling
Pets that keep my feet warm

What are your favorite four?

Here's a quick card post too. It's the anniversary card I made for my daughter and son-in-law. I used the sentiment from the Hostess Level 3 set Occasional Quotes, real red and black cardstock and this paper I fell in love with at our local scrapstore. Quick and easy but elegant too.

Creative Sketches Week 16 Punches

2011-01-20T03:00:00.002-06:00

My Creative Sketches card gets to serve 2 roles as the sketch challenge and is a card for my new hostess club. This card showcases the new Ice Cream Parlor designer paper, ribbon and buttons from the soon to be released Sale-a-Bration catalog available next Tuesday Jan. 25th. The Build a Cupcake Punch and Create a Cupcake stamp set are from the new Occassions Mini Catalog. And there is just a hint of the new red Glimmer Paper in the cherry on top of the cupcake. This was a really fun card to design and create.

My second card also qualifies for the sketch challenge and is a design for my new club. It features the current Filled With Love promotion bundle. Love the paper in this bundle and I'm thinking I might just need to order myself a second package before it's gone. This card features the Full Heart Extra Large Punch and the Scallop Trim Border :Punch. A simple and quick card with lots of WOW factor. Pink and black is one of my favorite color combos. The Melon Mambo, Basic Black and Pretty in Pink go so well together.

Hopefully I'll be back next week with another sketch challenge. I'm starting a new round of Cards for the Troops events for From Our Hearts and with a wedding to prep for in just 5 short months, life is definitely going to be busy.

Creative Sketches Week 15 Black, White, & Silver

2011-01-13T03:00:00.005-06:00

Whew, just under the wire again. It's been a crazy week so far. It was wonderful to sit down and focus on creating a card. I had an idea then of course went a whole other direction for this challenge card. Our Creative Sketches challenge this week was the colors Basic Black, Whisper White and Brushed Silver. I chose quite a mix of old and new with this card. I'm working on a series of cards to showcase the new Occasions Mini Catalog for my new club so I chose the Build a Blossom stamp set and matching punch and the sentiment from the new Thanks for Caring set. In the background is the Baroque Motifs swirl and I used the Eyelet Border and Curly Label punches.

It's a bit hard to tell from the picture but I stamped the flower petal with black ink on the brushed silver cardstock. then punched out the petals. I didn't like the bulk the ends created in the center where they are layered so I trimmed them a bit. After I was happy with the placement I taped them down. I used a 3/4 " and 1/2 " circle punches for the center with a large basic rhinestone. The only thing not SU! on my card was the ink used for the Baroque Motifs swirl. I used Brilliance Moonlight White but you could just as easily use Whisper White Craft ink and heat set it.

Hope you enjoy this weeks offering. The goal is to get some more cards done and posted sooner rather than later. Especially my new club designs.

A Whole Lot of Pink Going On

2011-01-11T00:35:00.000-06:00

While I have been on break from Cards for the Troops events and in between holiday happenings, I have been working on getting my art space back in working order. Not quite there yet, but I have placed some inspiration on the walls. And yep, true to form, there's a lot of pink in my room :0)

This butterfly is what you see as you enter the door. On the other side of this very short wall is a 7 ft long closet to treasure for storage. The wall hanging below it was a giftie from the ByHand list's 12 days of Christmas swap. Wendy made this piece and it was too lovely to relegate to the Christmas box after Christmas.

This is the wall opposite the entry so it's the 2nd thing you see after you enter the room. New display shelves in hot pink to match the hot pink curtains peeking through on the right. As soon as I unearth some of my art treasures, they will be displayed here. The pink ornament was my giftie for the 12 days of Christmas and a few friends. It's a pink ribbon inspired ornament that says "Hope" on one side and "Believe" on the other. The angel was a gift from my friend Christy and also too pretty to hide in a Christmas box.

This is one of my message/inspiration centers. The upper canvas is a personal art piece and the memo board at the bottom matches the butterfly from the entry way. Just waiting for notes and cards from friends to inspire.
This center is just to the left of the above display wall and below the display wall my work table sits with Cricut, Big Shot, Sewing Machine, large Carl Cutter and Scor-it board. Have to have a place to start processing all the Cards for the Troops.

Here's a close up of the "Words to Live By" canvas. I took a class at A Whole Lotta Scrap where I hold some of my Cards for Troops events and of course had to tweak it to match my room since the original had red instead of pink. I added my own words of inspiration and now I have a nice little art piece for my room.

I wanted a dress form of some type in my room and when I found this hanging one thought it was the perfect place for my ribbon rings. This piece sits on a narrow bit of wall next to the closet doors. You have to be leaving the room to see it or turn around after you enter. The remainder of my walls are lined with shelving to house a huge collection of art supplies and of course true to any artist that's been creating for more years than I like to count, does not all fit in one room. However, this is my main art space and maybe after a wee bit more organizing, I'll have some more pictures to share.

Hopefully I can get my challenge done this week and posted. I am sooo far behind. But things certainly start to look brighter as I get more organized.

Christmas Card Fun

2010-12-24T02:03:00.000-06:00

This card was so much fun to create for our groomer, Lisa. She has taken very good care of our rescue baby, Reilly, since we adopted him from Second Chance. He's a black and white Springer Spaniel and this doggy looks like a miniature Reilly. The dog stamp is from Penny Black, I used the Candy Cane DSP from Stampin' Up and Real Red cardstock with a touch of silver. I used my Stampin' Up markers to color the image and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Merry Christmas sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Another miniature "Reilly" on the inside of the card, makes it fun.

Every once in awhile you need to take a class just for fun to keep the creativity flowing. This class at our local stamp store was just that, fun and good for creativity. It's a side step card and it sure was a lot of fun to work on. Guaranteed to bring a smile.

My first love will always be oriental style art. This card is my gift to some of my Oriental Stamp Art friends this year. It has received a host of compliments already. I like being able to mix and match my art supplies together. Stampin' Up's paper, inks and markers give me a quality base for all my card making. I used Real Red, Brushed Silver and Whisper White cardstocks, Real Red marker, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The kitty was color with a Copic marker. Stamps from Stampavie and the former Inka Stamps now Scroll Works.

This was my main Christmas card for family this year. I used the Come to Bethlehem stamp set, Night of Navy card stock and ink, Cherry Cobbler ink, the Top Note die cut in Whisper White, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. All SU except the silver paper.

Creative Sketches Week 12 Holiday Card

2010-12-23T03:00:00.001-06:00

Wow, what a busy 6 or so weeks it's been. We made about 2300 cards last month for the troops and then I started running for the holidays. Whew! I am going to slowly back track and get caught up with the previous sketches for the Creative Sketches and I have a few new items to share. Plus I get to design for a whole new stamp club in January. I am still getting organized and sorted back out to gear up for a new round of events for From Our Hearts after the New Year and slowly getting my room organized enough to actually sit down and work in.

This weeks card is a sneak peek at the new Occasions Mini Catalog arriving Jan. 4th. I used the new Love Impressions DSP and the a' la carte stamp Be My Valentine. I popped and layered the heart for dimension. I stamped it in black on the gray layer, stamped in red on the pink and cut it out in full, then cut a banner out in the same red on pink and popped it on top. I also used Real Red, Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette cardstock and Real Red 1/8" ribbon.

I hope everyone has a really fabulous Christmas and great New Year! Enjoy your celebrations with family and friends!

Lots of Cards for From Our Hearts

2010-11-17T15:32:00.001-06:00

This is what has kept me busy for the past couple of weeks. I have been prepping for and having workdays at the Cleveland County Christmas Store program. Our Christmas Store helps low income families provide presents for their families for Christmas. When they sign-up, they are required to put in 2 hours of work in order to be able to "shop". I signed up for 14 two hour sessions with Cards for the Troops to represent From Our Hearts. After 5 days/10 sessions and one day at OU for a short 40 minute session at a work retreat, I am working on the 7th box of cards to mail to From Our Hearts
I mailed 5 of the boxes off on Monday a total of 1466 cards. After 11 more kits were finished at yesterday's workday I am looking at nearly 1800 cards completed in just over a week's time! I have 2 more days the week after Thanksgiving and then this year is a wrap and time for a much needed break.

And speaking of breaks, my first treat comes tonight, Thursday and Friday. I signed up for classes with Cheryl Mezzetti at our local scrapstore where I hold From Our Hearts events. I get to make 3 cool mini books and learn a ton of techniques to help keep my creativity fresh and inspiring. On that note, I am off to pack for class.

Remember just one gift of kindness can make a big difference in someone's life. Do something nice for someone today.

Creative Sketches Week 5 Challenge

2010-11-04T03:00:00.002-05:00

Squeaking by just under the wire this week. Irritated my shoulder last week and the steroids just are no fun at all. This week's sketch gets to do double duty as my youngest daughter's birthday card. She turns 22 today. I hope she doesn't peek at my blog because she doesn't receive her card until the family birthday dinner tomorrow ;0) She has requested Olive Garden and German chocolate cake, yum!

This was a quick and easy card to make. I spend some time working on 3-D flowers from time to time so the flower was already done and ready to go. I just added a rhinestone to the center to give it some sparkle. Because I make my flowers from scraps of cardstock, I had to pull a couple of retired colors for this card. I used the 1 3/4" scallop circle punch for the flowers. I used the Finial Press embossing folder for the background. I cut the pieces to size first and then ran them through the Big Shot together at the same time. I debated punches for the verse and picked the new Decorative label punch again,

framed it and used Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Curvy Verses.

While my daughter may have to wait for the family birthday dinner for her card, she still gets pampered a bit today. We are off for lunch, manicures and pedicures. Everyone can use a bit of pampering.

Almost forgot, to view more exciting creations using this sketch, be sure to visit the Creative Sketches blog.

Creative Sketches Week 4 Holiday

2010-10-28T03:00:00.007-05:00

Right on time with this week's Creative Sketch challenge. I had fun creating this card earlier this week and getting my challenges all caught up so far. As you can see from my design, I flipped the sketch. I actually had put the stamps together on my acrylic block a little over a month ago for an idea when I was designing my swap card for the Texas Regionals. That idea didn't happen but I kept coming across these images still on the block waiting to be stamped. When I saw this week's sketch, I knew I had the perfect set up for using my design.

I used Candy Cane Christmas DSP and the Merry Crittermas stamp set from the Holiday Mini, Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Garden Green cardstock, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and a retired Baja Breeze corduroy button. I colored my images with Stampin' Up! watercolor pencils and used a blender pencil to blend.

Be sure to visit Creative Sketches to view more designs using this week's sketch.

Creative Sketches 1st Sketch Caught Up

2010-10-26T21:00:00.001-05:00

There is nothing like being several weeks behind, LOL! I actually have taken some time to get back on track this week and have found it refreshing to just create and work on my challenges. Kind of the calm before the storm as I have 7 events during Nov. for From Our Hearts. I am estimating these events will produce around 2100 cards!
That's a lot of work but oh, so worth it.

I took some time to create this weeks card (check back Thursday) and finally create the first sketch that I missed.

I actually had something in pink in mind for this sketch originally but the idea didn't quite gel. Worked perfectly for last weeks sketch so sometimes you have to go with the flow. This card kind of meandered it's way into the creation you see. I just pulled out a bit of this and that and started to tweek it. I used the Just Believe and Sincere Salutations stamp sets, Pear Pizzaz cardstock, Concord Crush DSP from the Level 1 hostess paper pack, the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (love how this punches out), Basic Pearls, a retired flower from the Pretties kit (which I believe is available in the Paper Daisies pack), Pear Pizzaz, Concord Crush and Blushing Bride markers.

I used the Blushing Bride brush tip on the marker to color the edges of my flower and the tiniest pearls down the center of the punched ribbon strip.

Be sure to check out the designs on Creative Sketches.

A Bit Of Oriental

2010-10-24T23:26:00.001-05:00

Well this weekend saw the death of my laptop. Fortunately I was able to rescue all my files before it's final swan song. And these are a couple of the pictures saved. I recently participated in a moongate mingle on OSA
and created 2 versions of my card. One for my partner and one for our hostess. The background is hand painted with shimmer paints. When I have a couple of hours and my muse is stuck, I will often make backgrounds with no particular goal in mind and tuck them away for future use. You can the shimmer in the second card. The image itself is enhanced with Smooch inks.

It's always amazing how holding the camera at different angles and distances changes the light on a card. Both of these were taken in the same photo booth and have an entirely different look. But the 2nd one captured the shimmer and shows the true colors better, while the first shows more details.

Creative Sketches Technique & Sketch Wk 3

2010-10-21T01:45:00.005-05:00

Wow, it's late but I got my week 3 card done. Woohoo! Still have to backtrack to week 1 but hopefully in this next week. Life keeps throwing me curve balls. This weeks challenge was to use a dry embossing technique with a sketch. I took liberties with the sketch design. Here is the sketch:

Pretty sweet sketch design. I opted to make a pink card this week honoring Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am really tickled how it turned out.

I used 3 pinks but it looks like 2. The card base is Pink Pirouette, the frame is Regal Rose and both ribbons are Pretty in Pink. I used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, the Ribbon of Hope stamp and the sentiment is from the Hope Happens set. I love the variety of sizes in the Basic Pearls, using the medium ones for the flowers. I love using embossing folders and running them through my Big Shot. The make very quick, elegant backgrounds for cards without a lot of work. They are also great for adding texture to punched shapes. I use them a lot when designing for From Our Hearts.

If you are fighting breast cancer,
I wish you much strength and hope,
if you are a survivor,
I honor your victory
and if you have lost a loved one,
I wish you beautiful memories
and offer prayers for a cure
so the future is indeed brighter
for all women everywhere.

Visit the Creative Sketches Blog to view more great works of art.

Creative Sketches Color Challenge Week 2

2010-10-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Creative Sketches Week 2.

As usual I am trying to play catch-up.. I will backtrack later and post a sketch for Week 1 as soon as I can. This week's challenge was all about color. I decided these colors lent themselves well to a masculine card so I opted for a birthday card.

I like simple layered cards so I used a Soft Suede base, a layer of Marina Mist with a layer of Always Artichoke. I used the leaves from my Day of Gratitude set for the Always Artichoke background design. I realized afterwards that I accidentally grabbed Old Olive for the leaves, then decided I liked it that way. So I added a color not on the list. I used the pine trees from Plant Hope and used my Soft Suede and Always Artichoke markers to color the image and stamp. I then used Birthday Wishes from the hostess set Occasional Quotes for my sentiment stamped in Soft Suede and punched with the Modern Label Extra Large punch. I popped it with some SU! Dimensionals and added a bit of Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon for the bow. Simple, elegant and done.

Cards for the Troops and Regional Swap Card

2010-09-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Well I have properly neglected my blog haven't I? I have been hosting almost non-stop events to benefit From Our Hearts, 4 in the last 6 weeks alone. With the help of my event participants we have boxed up and sent off over 1700 cards! We have been busy, busy around here. I have 8 more events scheduled this year before I am finished. When you view the thank-you letters on the From Our Hearts blog, you realize how very small this act of kindness is and what a wonderful impact it has on the lives of our service members and their families. I have included a picture of the new display board. The old one lasted a year but was looking a bit ragged around the edges from being toted about. I think the new board came out really spiffy and has received many compliments. Plus I designed this one so I can change the cards out more frequently by turning the clear plastic sleeves into pockets. The next picture shows 3 priority boxes ready to mail to From Our Hearts. They know my boxes have arrived when they see the angels.

I was able to attend my very first Stampin' Up! event on Sept 10th, Regionals in Ft Worth, Tx. I had lots of fun and learned some new tips and techniques. This was my swap card. If you look very closely at the display board above, you will see another version of this card that I designed for the troops with donated paper. I used the new Designer series paper from the Holiday Mini, Candy Cane Christmas, the Tags til Christmas stamp set, the Petals-a-plenty embossing folder, basic rhinestones, 1/8" taffeta ribbon in Real Red and Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green and Blushing Bride cardstock to create this card. A classy fun card for sure.

More news soon. I am still organizing my new art room. Hard to do with all the events. I'll share more pictures soon including the new room and some of the cards I design or case for the troop events.

My Stampin' Up! Story and update

2010-08-02T23:54:00.001-05:00

I was totally busy last week and frustrated because I couldn't find the PC cord for the camera to download new pictures to post. I found it under the recliner of all places after I ordered a replacement of course :0) That's how life works. Since I just found it, pictures will have to wait another day or so, but I do have something to share.

I am participating in the Stampin' Up! recruit crew. Part of our assignment is sharing our story as it relates to being a demo. So here is my story:

My Stampin’ Up! Story

I could not tell you exactly when I attended my first SU event. It was kind of hit and miss for several years. Always a onetime event here and there, rarely a round of workshops. Stampin’ Up! was OK but because I have been stamping for around 25 years didn’t seem that significant with such a wide variety available from several companies, which I still enjoy greatly in my personal creating. However a few years ago a friend got really interested in Stampin’ Up! and we started attending Stamp a Stacks together. I was doing quite a few swaps and was getting frustrated trying to find affordable matching elements. At the Stamp a Stacks I was seeing a classic elegant design I liked, excellent quality materials, fell in love with how everything coordinated so nicely and the variety offered to appeal to many different styles and tastes. The price point was good especially on packages of cardstock to make my many swaps, offering consistency to my designs. My friend signed up as a demo and started a club. She had a club for the social aspect and friendships and I was her designer. She was unable to continue being a demo and a few months after she lost her demonstrator status, asked me to sign on to continue our club. It didn’t exactly work out as planned but I have had 2 successful clubs in the nearly 2 years I have been a demo. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others and teaching them techniques, tips and tricks and to inspire their creativity and confidence. I enjoy being a hobby demo with a small customer base with the occasional larger event.

My demonstrator outlook changed dramatically when I began the Cards for the Troops events for From Our Hearts. I have been blessed with the gift of encouragement and the talent to create. Using those gifts in service is important to me so my focus is more as a card ministry than as a business builder. I still gain customers at a small rate but using my Stampin’ Up! products to bless other lives is my priority and I am fortunate enough to be able to budget to support that ministry at this time. I am my own best customer and my gift and blessing is touching others lives with love, support and encouragement. The blessing is multifold. I create designs and inspire so I am blessed, those who assemble the cards are blessed by sharing in the creating for a worthy cause, the service members are blessed with our gift of thoughtfulness to them and their families are blessed to receive a connection with their loved one. These blessings will grow and abound and come back to me in ways I never expected. There is joy in the giving of one’s time, talent and energy to improve and brighten up our world, one life at a time.

Working on Birthday cards

2010-07-19T15:03:00.009-05:00

We celebrate 2 birthdays this month in our family. I did this card for a Stamp-A-Stack in April. I am thinking of doing an updated version for one of the birthdays this month. I think I found this design on SplitCoast to case for my SAS. Sometimes when time is in short supply and I have a specific request for a certain set or technique, I will go surfing for ideas. I just love the embossing folders and use them a lot for quick backgrounds especially when I am doing Card for the Troops. The Crazy for Cupcakes set is a fun set to play with. Hopefully there will be lots of creating time this week. I do know I need some new pictures of cards for posting, my photo file is just a little thin at the moment. On a personal note, I am 3lbs lighter, only 37 more pounds to go. Having cranky joints makes it difficult to work out but not impossible and adjusting portions isn't hard to do. I was even able to enjoy ice cream in this heat a couple of times last week. Here's to good health! Materials used: Cardstock - Tempting Turquoise and Orchid Opulence (retired), Stamps- Crazy for Cupcakes, Tempting Turquoise ribbon and rhinestone brad, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Geisha Tea

2010-07-13T18:49:00.006-05:00

My blog is not always 100% Stampin' Up, however I usually use something Stampin' Up in all my creations. A lot of paper for sure. I just love how all the cardstock colors stay consistent and coordinate. Unfortunately several of the purples just retired and I did this card back in May. This stamp was a special gift sent all the way from Australia from my friend Mary W. I spend a great majority of my art time on the Oriental Stamp Art list. I just love oriental style art. The image is hand colored with watercolor pencils. I made a set of these and sent them out as RAKs.
I am looking forward to playing with my new sets from Stampin' Up that have an oriental flavor from the new catalog, Kimono Kids and Plant Hope. I am always excited to find oriental style items in my Stampin' Up catalog. There will be some new RAKs made soon. Sharing a card to brighten up a day is such a fun way to surprise someone. I challenge you to make a card and send it along to a friend today!

Birthday card and Cards for the Troops News

2010-07-11T17:13:00.008-05:00

I really like this set "Elements of Style". I created this card for my oldest daughter's birthday. Outlining the flowers with glitter gave it just the right touch. In other news I had another successful event yesterday at a Whole Lotta Scrap. I have yet to do a final count but somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 cards with about another 75 or so out for creating in kits. Almost a whole box full for From Our Hearts. And I may have another contact for a couple of more events. I will start posting more card ideas soon. Since I will use anything donated or on hand for the Cards for the Troops events you will see a mixture of retired stamps and other products on my blog. I certainly hope it will inspire you in your own creations. Perhaps to use some of the stash you already have.

Let's Get This Party Started

2010-07-01T00:24:00.005-05:00

Well after a 2 month break from all my Cards For The Troops activities, it's time to get to creative again. Not that I haven't been working hard and creating, but on a short sabbatical. I'm still sorting a tremendous amount of the house and my art supplies and gearing up for the next round of Cards For The Troops events. While on break I celebrated my 32nd wedding anniversary with hubby in Hot Springs. This was the view that greeted us when we opened the door to our condo, Fabulous! It felt like we could walk right out onto the water. A very relaxing week. When we got home, I cleared out enough of the house to have a great yard sale. There's a bit more breathing space around here now and hopefully there will be more soon. I got so used to the military moving us every 3 years that now that we are retired, I have to clean out from time to time. 22 years of habit. My youngest daughter is moving out August 1st and I'll move my art space into her room. A bit more room to spread out and get organized in, yippee! She asked me what happened if she had to move back home, if she'd get her old room back. Nope, not happening sweetheart. You move out, you get what mom and dad give you when you move back. Somehow I don't think she'll be moving back in anytime soon. In the meantime, my muse thinks I've forgotten what creating is like. Itching to get back on track here. So Fridays are officially art day for the time being. With so much going on including painting as well as organizing, I had to decide on a day that was sacred for art until the house projects are done. I'm sure I'll be snatching time here and there with 5 events coming up. But hey, now I have something to look forward to. More posting coming your way soon with artwork included :0)

Rockin' Card For The Troops

2010-04-13T02:01:00.005-05:00

Saturday's event was another huge success. About 227 cards were made (some are still being processed) and we were able to get 620 cards total matched to envelopes and placed in clear sleeves into two priority boxes ready to mail. It is not unusual for me to have several card kits out being made by participants, donors who make and drop cards off they designed and I even had a few kits from my last event that didn't fit in the 2 boxes sent last month. Busy? You bet! But it's a labor of love. That makes the total cards sent so far this year to 1761! In about 8 months last year the events and individual card donations produced 1749 cards. We have already exceeded that in less than half that time. Woohoo!!! And I have approximately 200 cards still being processed or in kits being finished by friends and volunteers. A HUGE thank-you to everyone who attends one of my events. Every card brightens up a service member's day when they can pick that card out, write a personal note inside and send it to a loved one eagerly awaiting news here at home. For more information on how you can support our troops click on the From Our Hearts logo on my sidebar or here in this post.

Fabulous New Colors and Long Time No Post

2010-04-08T12:23:00.012-05:00

With all the Cards for the Troops events I have been doing lately my blog gets placed at the bottom of my things to do list. I will have hosted 5 events in 2 months as of April 24th and expect that the final total of cards will be in the neighborhood of about 1700. That's about the same amount as was done in 6 months last year. Everyone is stepping up for our service members serving overseas and that's FANTASTIC!!!! It's also tiring because even though I have some help, it basically turns into a full time job on it's own. So I have great artwork to share it's just buried at the moment :0)
Have you heard the buzz???

Stampin' Up is launching a brand new color line with this year's new catalog release on July 1st. It's a fresh new breeze of inspiration! Fabulous! We will have 4 new Color Collections to choose from. They will include 25 of our old favorites, 5 brand new colors and 10 returning In Colors from recent years. Plus we will have 5 new In Colors this year that will be available for 2 years instead of one. Cool! We will have plenty of time to enjoy the In Colors with 5 new ones being introduced each year.

If you want to stock up on your favorites that are retiring, here's the chart:

You should be able to click on the chart to bring up a bigger version. I think the only one I'll seriously miss is Orchid Opulence. I loved using it with Tempting Turquoise.

For a peek at the new colors here they are:
Aren't they yummy! They will be fun, fun, fun to create and play with. I hope you like fresh new inspiration as much as I do. It keeps life changing and full of interest!

Big Hugs,
Ruth C
Angelartistok

MemoBoard

2010-01-31T21:15:00.005-06:00

I love creating in a variety of materials. When my local scrapbook store offered this class, I was immediately on board. It started off as a solid write on/wipe off surface but we changed it to this design. Now I can post my 6 week goals to the cork board and write an inspirational saying or quote on the write on part. This looks fabulous on the wall beside my desk. The picture doesn't show it off but the paper is highlighted with Stickles glitter. I enjoy playing with the metal work. I haven't tried it yet but I'll bet the Stampin' Up embossing folders would be great with the metal. You have to step outside of your comfort zone and try new things and different techniques occasionally. It inspires fresh creativity.

One Card 2 ways

2010-01-31T19:48:00.005-06:00

Well let's see, exactly one month since my last post. Not exactly on my New Year's goal list. I was trying for twice a week minimum and then I got the flu. After that the rest of the month was toast.
I have made some progress on my organization and sorting. The paper shelf unit is in my art room now and receiving it's final coat of paint. I figure about 8 more hours of painting as it's not easy to paint 80 small shelves inside. I had to take a break as my wrist was complaining. Last thing I need is to see the orthopedic doctor for carpal tunnel. I've cleared out a few more items. Started to keep my desk and cutting table clean every night and got my Cards for the Troops items ready for making kits for my Feb. 13th event.
These 2 cards were quick and easy. A simple sketch shown two different ways. I made the red one for a local demo swap and the pink one for my January club. I used 100% Stampin' Up products on them. Stamp sets: Whimsical Words (Sale*a*bration) and Well Scripted. Sending Love Specialty DSP. Cardstock: Real Red and Pretty in Pink. Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Scallop Trim Border Punch (Sale*a*bration), Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslits Die, Full Heart punch and paper crimper.

Art Room Part 3

2009-12-30T00:33:00.007-06:00

This is the back of the entrance door. I placed least used tools and items here. The door is rarely closed. Usually up against the wall behind the door is where I tuck the display board for the Cards for Troops events.

Here is the very narrow space in front of the desk. 2 of the iris drawer units sit here. You can see the one in front of the desk and the edge of the one by the door. My trolley cart is also sitting there. It will move closer to my desk as I get more organized. It houses most reached for items.

This is the wall opposite the desk next to the entry door. The cart you see will be leaving the room and most likely end up on craigs list for sale. There is a second one in the garage. This is the space where the paper organizer will go. Everything has been measured and remeasured to make sure it will fit.
This is the floor and corner by the closet across from the desk. There is a book shelf hiding behind all this stuff under the window with art books and magazines on it. The 3rd metal shelving unit here houses most of my 20+ year collection of rubber stamps. The unmounteds and my Stampin' Up stamps are in other units outside of this room. All the junk on the floor is awaiting shorting and either a new location or out the door for good.
This is the junk on the floor in front of the rolling cart that's leaving. The cart and this stuff is more items that need sorted and either given a new home or it's out the door.

More pictures in a day or two. This has been a lot of work so far. But I am seeing great progress to making this a room to hide out and create in.

Art Room Part 2

2009-12-30T00:15:00.007-06:00

This is the current view of the desk piled high with stuff that needs a home. I couldn't resist the fluffy ribbon board from a craft vendor. The blue wall unit I got on clearance at the BX for $10 and houses some of my favorite oriental stamps. The small 2ft wide bookcase is perfect for often reached for items. It is just so much fun to live in semi organized, completely disarrayed chaos. LOL!

This is the shelving unit you saw in the first post. It was flipped to the opposite wall from it's original position. The items on the third shelf down will be moved to make space for more often reached for items. One of the iris drawer units sits behind my chair and a stack of hat boxes that hold the majority of my ribbons.
Here is how I utilized the closet. I already owned all these drawers and figured this was the best new location for them and best use of the closet space.
Here you can see that I have sorted all the drawers and labeled them and there are 12 empty ones now awaiting new supplies. All 3 iris drawer units have been sorted and labeled too and 2 of those drawers are empty also. I labeled a lot of things previously but as interests change it was necessary to re-evaluate and resort some items. I have one big box of unloved supplies ready for a new home and a thrift shop bag started so far. Slow and steady.

Art Room Part 1

2009-12-30T00:00:00.005-06:00

This is the beginnings of my new art room after my oldest son moved out nearly a year ago. You will see as the photos progress that hubby is not a patient man and most of my stuff got shoved in the room. Although you will see piles all over the house awaiting sorting. This room is 11 x11, it is the smallest bedroom in the house. It received a fresh coat of paint and then I started to add shelving about 8 months ago, one payday at a time.

Picture one shows the fresh paint and the first set of shelves by the closet door.
Remember the paper organizer? Here it is in the garage half painted. A lot of work but it's looking a whole lot better.
Here is the entrance to the room today. My big desk has been moved in, along with a whole lot of art supplies that need sorting. There are now 3 big steel shelving units, a taller skinny shelving unit, 2 smaller bookcases, my triple set of black iris drawers, my rolling trolley and a couple of other assorted pieces. All overflowing. The sorting has begun in earnest.
This is the view as you turn right upon entering. The big shelving unit is nearly organized. The middle 2 shelves need a bit of clean-up from moving everything around for about the 3rd time but house the supplies and materials for the Cards for the Troops events I host. It was essential to create a spot just for these supplies.

Back up and running

2009-11-17T02:16:00.004-06:00

Well I would like to say I have some awesome things to post but unfortunately right after my last entry my computer took ill with a virus or two. My son the computer wizard was able to save my pictures and files but the rest of the computer had to be wiped. I am now trying to get used to several newer programs and reorganize my computer. It's amazing how convoluted these companies can make a perfectly good program by upgrading it, LOL! They just couldn't leave all the "buttons" in the same place now I have to hunt for them. Also after much consideration and since I have a new paper shelf, I am reorganizing the art room. It's getting a major purge. If I don't think it's useful or beneficial, it will need to find a new home. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon of the remodel. My goal is to be able to go in, shut the door and create undisturbed for short periods of time. This picture is the before shot of the paper shelf. It is in the middle of being repainted. My daughter found this on Craigslist for $50. It's solid wood, almost 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide and has 80 paper slots for 8 1/2 by 11 paper. Just perfect for all 48 Stampin' Up cardstock color families plus a few more.

Serene Snowflake case

2009-11-08T22:33:00.004-06:00

I am sometimes pressed for time when designing for club. Last month at our local demo meeting card samples were shared from Wichita Regionals. The card on the bottom is from that regional event (if this is your swap card, let me know so I can add proper credit). The card on the top is my version for club. Since I had my Christmas cocoa Specialty paper bulk pack handy, I turned the card red for club. I also wanted to show off the flocked paper. Supplies: Whisper white cardstock, Real red cardstock, ribbon and ink, Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP, Serene Snowflakes and A Cardinal Christmas stamp sets. All supplies Stampin' Up except rhinestone center. A big thank-you to the original designer for an elegant, quick and easy card.

A New Direction

2009-11-07T23:50:00.004-06:00

"Sometimes life happens while making other plans." Or in my case life's twists and turns are directed by studying God's Word and listening to the Spirit. I usually quietly share my faith. No blaring bells, whistles and buzzers, tons of scripture verses or other spiritual language. Just a quiet sharing of life. But I have been searching this year for service projects. I am greatly enjoying setting up events for From Our Hearts
and wouldn't mind a few other service type projects. So after much prayer and consideration, I'm talking with hubby and he says make what you love to do a complete ministry. View any art I do as a ministry and he's right. I have been blessed with the gift of encouragement. My greatest joy is bringing a smile to someone's day to brighten their life a bit. So I'm refocusing, redirecting and reviewing my art in light of this new direction. All the resources God has blessed me with should be used to bless others. He gave me the gifts and talents and they should be used for His Glory. So the next time you receive a card from me or see a project posted here, it will have been prayed over during it's construction. My prayer is that my gift will touch your life in some small way to brighten up your day. One small kindness can make a difference.

Cardmaking for the Troops First Event

2009-07-11T21:49:00.002-05:00

I had my first official event for From Our Hearts on Thursday. We had a steady stream of moms and children show up to help make cards for the troops. As you can see from the photos we made a lot of reindeer cards. We had a sweet little girl about 23 months sit on mom's lap and handle a stamp for a card. We also had a couple of 3 year olds make cards with mom's help. Everyone had a great time from toddler, to teen, to parent making cards. A special thank-you to Margaret and Stephanie for their help at the event, it was greatly appreciated. These pictures show the display board I made for the events I'm hosting, thanks so much to Susan for the pictures and letters and Leslie at a Whole Lotta Scrap for donated materials for the board. The second picture shows the card that Drake, a 3 year old, made with mom's help and the last picture is all the cards from the library event plus a few from my stamp club members. These cards will be off to From Our Hearts this week to be sorted and readied to head overseas to our military members. If you have the opportunity to make even just one card for the troops please do and send it in. It will make a world of difference in a military family's life.

Published Again

2009-06-30T21:10:00.004-05:00

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.

Rescued Love

2009-06-29T16:43:00.005-05:00

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.

One Card Two Ways

2009-06-21T17:55:00.006-05:00

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.

Sneak Peek Kind of Sorta'

2009-06-14T20:39:00.006-05:00

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.

Late Night Stampers

2009-06-13T15:18:00.003-05:00

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/

24. Elizabeth Hurst stampwithelizabeth@gmail.com www.animalscraps.blogspot.com
25. Vivian Swain florida_scrapper@earthlink.net http://floridastampinwithvivian.blogspot.com/

Big Hugs,
Ruth
Angelartistok

Birthday Greetings

2009-06-09T22:55:00.004-05:00

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

Published and other news

2009-05-11T13:02:00.006-05:00

Okay. Three months and no posts is pitiful. My mojo ran away with my muse. Partly because I had a major asthmatic episode, something that hasn't happened in some time. I forgot how much time it takes to recover and how much my energy gets zapped. I have decided that 1. I need to publish on my blog more frequently 2. I need to save $$ for a blog makeover. One of the great artist's who can do the design so much better than me. 3. I need to develop a habit of scanning and resizing everytime I create something instead of telling myself I'll get to it because I never do. I am greatly enjoying being a Stampin Up demo. My little monthly club is great inspiration. The ladies love the projects and I enjoy creating them for them. Plus it's like a breath of fresh air because I've moved out of my "oriental" bubble. I t hink I got tunnel vision for awhile because I was immersed in one basic style of creating. Now it's fun to take an oriental card and try duplicating it in Stampin Up and vice versa. My fantastic news is I was published in the Spring 2009 issue of Just Cards Magazine, yippee! The surprise was it wasn't the card they queried me on. Our dear list mom Annette on OSA sent in the birthday card I had sent her a couple of years ago. It uses a retired Stampin Up stamp and Commotion stamp. Anyway I can't find my original scan since it's been so long so this copy is from the magazine, sorry if it's fuzzy. You can find the card on page 59.

His Holy Name Challenge -- Sovereign

2009-02-12T17:53:00.004-06:00

Boy time flies when you are busy. I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've posted. I'll see if I can get a few posts of cards caught up on in the next few days. I loved the pattern in this paper and didn't want to cover it all up. So I got the idea to layer a transparency sheet over the paper. Works great in theory, not so much when I went to put it into the album. I ended up "unpopping" the transparency sheet. I put the patterned paper into the album sleeve and then layered the transparency over the top of the sleeve. Presto, all the dimension I could possibly ask for. I also went back to my Holy page and cut a small slit in the protector to pop the red and black flower through. Guess I'll do the same to my attribute page. Blame it on the class I took with SEI last year at a CK convention. Materials used: DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies paper, Me and My Big Ideas for the butterflies, transparency, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Prima flowers, purple rhinestones and sharpie.

His Holy Name Challenge -- Holy

2009-01-16T00:16:00.003-06:00

Here is my page for Holy the first challenge/study word for this year. On Monday morning after Sunday's post I woke up with the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy playing in my mind. I am very musically inclined, I would much rather have the radio on than the TV. It's not unusual to have music playing in my mind all the time. So since I haven't heard or sung this hymn in ages, I figured it was meant for this page. I found several scriptures in my study but this one spoke to me the most. I also knew I wanted to use this paper once the song manifested itself. I fell in love with it when Leslie got it into the store and bought a few sheets. It's the new Melody Collection by Christine Adolph for Creative Imaginations. The hymn is printed on vellum and attached with musical note brads. I used a journaling tag from the set to write the verse on and added a layered flower embellishment.

His Holy Name Challenge God's Attributes

2009-01-16T00:04:00.005-06:00

Yeah, finally a minute to upload. I finished my Attributes of God page and my Holy page last Friday night but haven't had a chance to get them scanned and uploaded. I'm really tickled that these came out so well and I'm off to a good start with the His Holy Name Challenge. For the attribute page I used some pretty paper I bought years ago and unearthed while sorting out my papers better. These attributes were posted by Patter at the beginning of our challenge so I printed them off for the first page of my album. I've chosen to do the 6 x 6 album pages for my challenge pages. Hopefully I'll find some time to decorate my cover soon.

Jazzed

2009-01-11T21:30:00.015-06:00

How cool! I found out today that I won 2 new release stamp sets in Verve's sneak peek preview. I took the opportunity to order a couple of sets from them to send with my win. I can't wait to play with my new stamps when they arrive! In other news I finished a few things this past week, finally. The first card showcases the card challenge from OSA's first card challenge of the year along with my second Friday challenge posting on cherry blossoms. Stamp is from Stonehouse Stamps, background paper is Stemma and cherry blossom circles are EK Success stickers. The second card is from my first Friday challenge on Zen. Stamp is from Post Modern Design, the background paper is hand sprayed with Radiant Rains and the stickers are from my stash.

Winter Birthday

2009-01-04T21:00:00.004-06:00

Well I'm not posting everyday but I'm posting. I've been busy getting the painting finished in the bedroom my oldest son moved out of and starting to move some of my stash in. I have a lot of sorting to do but maybe I can clear more of the clutter that you see in a previous post. I'm actually considering having a lot of it walk out the door. I'm seriously am out of space and there's stuff I'm never going to use. The bedroom will still host guests so I can't completely take it over and it still has some of Matthew's stuff in it but it's a great start. A small bit of space to truly call my own and get away from the guys in. Speaking of Matthew, he has a winter birthday and this is his card. I don't have a lot of stamps that can be used for masculine cards so I decided on snowy trees. The tree stamp is Hero Arts, birthday wishes CC Rubber stamps. The trees were stamped in Ultramarine Staz-on and covered in Frosted Lace stickles.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T23:10:00.009-06:00

I'm excited about the fresh start a new year offers. The past 2 years have been filled with a lot of medical challenges for me and I'm hoping the majority of that is behind me. I'm also excited to be designing more this year. Yipee! I love to design, it's like a puzzle that needs to be solved and I LOVE puzzles so the more creative the better. I signed up a couple of months ago to be a Stampin' Up demo. No you won't find endless banners, blinkies and ads here but hopefully you'll find some inspiration. We have a small stamp club here that meets monthly, likes Stampin' Up products and the chance to visit and create together. I'm also participating in a couple of challenges. His Holy Name Challenge is an awesome idea to combine studying the scriptures with my artwork. I'm the kid who used rainbow colored markers all through high school on my study notes and then could visualize those notes at test time based on the colors I used. I live and breath color and it will be wonderful to combine it with my Bible study. Then I'm designing challenges for OSA's 10th anniversary year. My home on the web is OSA. I love the beauty of oriental style artwork. And since I "blog without obligation" LOL, I won't promise to post everyday but I will try to post more frequently. Here's is today's piece. I saw a piece that was similar while blog surfing, (sorry I don't remember where), and this became my daughter and SIL's anniversary card celebrating their 7th year together. The patterned paper is from Me and My Big Ideas, I used Prima flowers, a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Stampin' Up's Baroque Motifs and Stampabilities Amour stamps.

New Art finally and shhhh maybe being published again

2008-11-09T20:58:00.007-06:00

Well two surgeries this year and other assorted events kind of zapped my time and energy. But hopefully I'm getting back in the swing of things.

And I've been contacted by a magazine about one of my cards so maybe in a new publication soon. I don't submit my cards so this was submitted for me by one of the swaps I was in. Hmmm...exciting stuff.

Here's my first Christmas card creation of the year and a quick ATC. And look I finally took the time to make signature blocks to add to my artwork.

It's time to go Pink!

2008-09-14T22:51:00.002-05:00

Thanks to a friend, I've got lots of "Pink" tags on my sidebar now. She really shouldn't have introduced me to them. But it's a passion of mine and not only is the Race for the Cure coming up Oct. 4th but so is "Scrap Pink" 20 hours of artwork dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness with proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I'm hosting our 3rd annual Pink Ribbon swap over on the OSA list and will be making books to hold Pink ATCs this year. I've got a lot of catching up to do but I do love "blogging without obligation" but even I went too long this time. More soon.

Creative Lettering

2008-08-14T00:57:00.004-05:00

I'm taking one of Nicolettes Creative Lettering classes. Since I've been doing mail art envelopes and trying to doodle more, I thought I'd brush up on my lettering. I've never had the patience to sit through the precision of calligraphy so I developed my own style. I'm looking forward to expanding my lettering techniques again. This should be fun and enjoyable. And the best thing about class is I can work at my own pace in my own timing, no deadlines. If you are looking to expand your doodling techniques you might consider a class. Nicolette is listed in my favorite links and favorite blogs. I encourage everyone to try something new this week. Have fun and experiment you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Still sorting

2008-08-13T22:29:00.004-05:00

I'm still not up to the point where I can publish after pictures but I'm still sorting. The doctor was kind enough to give me a steroid shot to the knee Monday but I've still been able to do a little bit everyday this week and it feels so good to keep making progress. I think I pretty much have my organizer bags sorted out the way I'd like. I'm keeping 2 rolling totes packed and ready to travel to the scrapbook store to create cards and artwork on crop nights. I packed a basic supply kit of assorted cardstock, stamps and mini inkpads so I'm ready to roll. I also have a Krafter's purse on a carousel on my desk I work from all the time and a shoulder tote packed to travel also. I arranged my totes so I can work out of them at home without unpacking them all the time. What has to be my most favorite new organizational tool is the rolling beauty supply cart. I wanted an art taboret for beside my desk to keep the clutter to a minimum while I worked but keep several things handy. An art taboret can be pricey. Since I have a daughter in cosmetology school and saw that the beauty carts are similar to what I wanted, I waited until our local beauty supply had a sale and picked one up. It's a bit easier to keep the top of my desk clean now. Baby steps work as long as I keep seeing progress. It was really important to get my totes sorted out this week. Excitement builds as the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Tulsa draws closer next week. I'm going with 2 friends and we are taking 3 classes on Friday and plan to lay around the hotel room and veg on Saturday and play in our art supplies. I'm really looking forward to a creative weekend.

Playing with new paper

2008-08-13T22:24:00.005-05:00

This is paper I picked up at the scrap store not quite knowing what I was going to do with it but it look like fun. So far these are the 2 creations I've made with it. A birthday card for my son's friend and a mingle page for another group. I really like how both came out.

Document 31 or Help I'm drowning in my art supplies

2008-08-09T23:03:00.004-05:00

Well, I made a valiant effort at my Doc-u-ment 31 but missed the last half of July. It's rough to do anything with 3 hour PT sessions 3 days a week. But I did document most of my month and this is part of it. These are the before pictures of part of my art space. As you can guess from the photos I don't have a room to call my own. This is actually the dining area of my home. Hubby calls it command central but as you can see it's seriously unorganized at the moment. It's going to take some time but I'm slowly working it into shape. The goal for this area is to get it straightened out again, thinned out, and work on a better layout for most used supplies. I'm motivated in the next couple of weeks to get the thinning done as our local scrapbook store is having another "Trade Days" event or basically an art garage sale. I have dibs on a table already and determined to let some more stuff find a new home. I made almost enough at the last Trade Days to pay for a new rolling tote. Mine had blown out a zipper. I now have 2 nice new rolling totes thanks to a couple of good sale finds. Much easier to travel with and almost packed nicely too. Anyway, I'm going to keep on Documenting the odd day here and there. I'm finding it helps clear the mind a bit and flesh out goals and art ideas. Now to get my journal finished.

Superhero Anyone?

2008-08-09T22:53:00.003-05:00

Let's get this blog shook up and rolling a bit more. Spending another 6 weeks in physical therapy just zaps my energy and creativity. But I'm finally getting caught up with some artwork. I created this envelope from scratch to compliment the postage stamps and then made a matching ATC.

July 2nd

2008-07-07T22:01:00.000-05:00

Here's my Doc-u-ment 31 for July 2nd:

Don't know how well you can see the peacock image in this wrought iron fence but I thought it was so cool. Art in unexpected places, should look for it more often. This wrought iron fence is surrounding a large tree in our new pediatrician's office. The tree is filled with butterflies, birds, stuffed monkeys and snakes. Surrounding the tree is "water" with stuffed rainbow fishy poking out along with river rock and the like. But since I like peacock's so much, that's what caught my attention the most.

My Document 31

2008-07-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

Well let's see how well I can keep up blogging and journaling this month. I decided to take up this challenge:

http://lostnfound.typepad.com/thestudio/2008/07/doc-u-ment-31.html

So far I have a picture for each day and most of my journaling but I haven'e made my book yet. Started but not there.

So here's a snippet of July 1st:

I decided I needed a break from regular household duties and declared it "me" week. With the Document 31 challenge I decided to declare it "me" month. Unfortunately some home duties can't be avoided but I will be spending more time chillin' just for me. So I'm moseying along at my pace. So today I'm poking about the house, got some extra rest and cleaned off my art desk. The picture of the day is Shadow one of my fur babies. She's laying next to my desk chair and just luxuriated in a round of pets from mom. Here's to a luxuriating month of "me".

Envelope Catch-up

2008-05-20T15:56:00.003-05:00

These are my envelope creations for the past couple of months. I'm enjoying the challenge of trying to come up with ideas to decorate the envelope with and try and match the stamps. I always duplicate my envelopes in case I really mess one up and you get to see the no address ones. March and April I didn't have enough stamps to match the envelopes thanks to the PO not getting in new stamps because of the price increase. Now to come up with May's design.

Graduation and Prom

2008-05-13T23:34:00.002-05:00

We never do things conventionally around here.
My daughter Shyloh is celebrating her Senior year and graduation this month.
She designed her photo for her graduation invitation and mom matted it and added some bling. Here is her prom picture. Mom wasn't the best with the camera considering it was a week after my shoulder surgery but it will have to do. This weekend I'm heading to our new scrapbook store to make her a graduation book. We are absolutely the proud parents. She went to the Oklahoma Scholastic Media awards recently and took 1st and 2nd place in sports photography, 2nd place in sports journalism and the big award....Oklahoma Photographer of the Year at the high school level. Then she received a $2000 scholarship to the prestigious Oklahoma Art Institute's summer program where she will get to spend 2 weeks with a master photographer learning more about her favorite passion. She also attends technical school and took gold at the local level of Skills USA and took 2nd at state competition in business. This gives her a 600 hour scholarship in her program. She is graduating high school with art and journalism honors. Awesome!

Black and White

2008-05-05T21:43:00.007-05:00

I started working on a series of black and white designs after seeing several great examples on the web. A couple of these are card "lifted" and changed a hair to suit my stamps and what I envisioned for the card. Not showing well on the scan is the rhinestones in the center of the dandelions and that I used black Stickles on the dots of the second card. I couldn't resist adding the bird from my quickcuts die. A friend had given me the Formal Affair paper collection by Scrapworks for Christmas and it has some wonderful black and white and black and cream patterns in it, so I've been working with some of these papers for my cards. I have a few more ideas to work on but I've made a good start here I think.

Back on the Creative Track

2008-04-29T22:34:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm finally feeling better and looking forward to updating my blog a bit more regularly now that my shoulder is fixed. Yeah! It's amazing how much pain a simple bone spur can cause. I'm thankful that I have a good doctor and he scheduled surgery to take care of it before it caused tearing of the rotator cuff. It will be another 4 weeks before I'm more active but I'm already doing short bits of creating. So my goal this week is to start posting new pics on Thursday this week. Today and tomorrow are filled with check-ups and PT and grocery shopping with help of course. Another project I'm debating is weeding out and reorganizing my supplies again. Seems to be a yearly bug but when you've got limited space, it's either work with it or it becomes a disaster quick. Hubby wants the breakfast nook back for a small table and chairs. We haven't had a dining room table in a little over 6 years now but with the kids getting older, I think he feels we can sit and chat sometimes over a meal or snack. He's preferred his meals in front of the TV since we married after working 12 and 14 hour days so he could zone out. It's kind of sweet that we are planning more ways to spend time on us. And we did the requisite family meals when the kiddos were younger, then he went and turned on the TV :0) Family meals now are usually reserved for holidays and birthdays. Until the shoulder is stronger, organizing is limited to the planning stages. Since our retreat had to be canceled due to my shoulder and being short a couple of participants for the retreat center, I can't wait until Saturday! We have a brand new scrap store in town and I'm going to the all day crop for National Scrapbooking Day. Love the new store and the owner Leslie is so friendly and wonderful! I like shopping where I feel welcome. And since May is my birthday month, what better way to celebrate then signing up for a couple of new classes. So I've already treated myself to my birthday presents. :o) Plus I got in a handful of new stamps to do some new design work. Designing is half the fun. So after I update some of my work for the past couple of months, there will be some fresh work arriving soon.

Cool Backgrounds

2008-03-27T15:03:00.003-05:00

While perusing blogs of favorite artists, I came across a cheesecloth background technique. I thought cool and tried it but wasn't thrilled. Not wanting to give up on the cheesecloth background entirely, I got out my trusty color sprays, in this case Radiant Rains. The top half of the picture shows the first spray through the cheescloth. The bottom half shows a fresh sheet of card stock that's been brayered with the wet cheesecloth after the first spray. Both are equally intriguing but the bottom is my favorite.

The Behinder I get

2008-03-27T14:57:00.002-05:00

Well I have to apologize for being slow, or maybe I don't. I blew out my left shoulder and have been living with all kinds of pain. So I'm slower than I'd like getting retreat samples made and posted. I get to have surgery 4 days after the retreat, so I'm thankful I get to do the retreat first. So my blog updates will continue to be sporadic at best. So I'm going to post several items over the next week or two starting with a background technique that's not part of the retreat.

Oklahoma Artist Retreat 2008

2008-02-11T01:20:00.000-06:00

Live in or near Oklahoma? Like to spend an affordable weekend making art? Then OAR 2008 may be just the thing for you.

Oklahoma Artist Retreat 2008 presents:
"Create the Song in Your Heart"
April 11-13
An affordable weekend getaway of fun, fellowship and art.
Cost $130 includes 2 nights lodging, 6 meals and project supplies
Most supplies will be included in the kits for each project. You will still need to bring a basic tool kit consisting of scissors, ruler, paper trimmer, stylus, bone folder, pencil, pen, Sharpie, hole punch, exacto knife and an adhesive assortment to include your favorite, tape, glue, foam or glue dots.
All participants will receive a goody bag just for fun.

Projects include the following:
Birdsong and Flowers - Creating an assortment of greeting cards, portfolio and gift project.
Clear Singing - Playing with clear cards and shapes and perhaps a small clear book.
Tag Notes - Based on Julia Andrus' Book "Paper Transformed" we will be experimenting with different paper techniques to enhance your artwork and creating a sample tag book.
Travel Music - Travel to exotic locations while creating a book suitable for a travel scrapbook or an altered theme book.
Board Tunes - A bit of play with stamp board.

Saturday evening will include some "me" time to work on a project of your choice, just chill and relax or go shopping.

Retreat is limited to 10 people. So grab a friend and join us for a weekend of fun!

Lunar New Year Mail Art

2008-02-11T01:14:00.000-06:00

This was a fun design to do with the new Chinese New Year stamps from the PO.
Fortunately I received an actual canceled stamp in the mail for the ATC.

Little Angel Puppy

2008-02-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

Well life jumped up and bit us again. I'm just getting over being sick with bronchitis and Sasha contracted Parvo and passed away on Thursday Jan. 24th. She was such a sweet baby right up until she went to sleep and never woke up again, she just was just too tiny to fight off such a horrible disease. So our lives are dogless again, we are going to wait a couple of more months before we try again. I cannot tell you how much it means to have such a terrific vet during times like this. Dr. Eskew is just wonderful.

So for a few months I'll turn my energy to practicing bellydance routines for the grand opening of the new studio in April, this year's Oklahoma Artist's Retreat and our 30th wedding anniversary.

We are incredibly blessed and life does go on.

Introducing our Newest Family Member

2008-01-20T16:00:00.000-06:00

Meet Sasha the newest member of our family. We brought her home from the shelter yesterday and as is their tradition, they didn't exactly get her breed correct on the first try. They had her labeled as a Border Collie when we picked her out last week, well she's not, she's part black German Shepherd. She's a cutie for sure. She's 9-10 weeks old and already very much a mommy's girl. Now if we can just get her trained proper we'll be doing OK.

Bamboo ATC

2008-01-12T23:37:00.000-06:00

Here is the ATC I originally created the background for that I used on the middle eastern style card below. I was really please how this turned out because I created the haiku before I new what design I was using on the card. The moon is watercolored in gold and I embossed the bamboo image in topiary which is a green/gold mix. I would give credit for the image except I can't remember who I bought it from. I can tell you it was at a convention about 6 years ago. I have since learned to label my UMs when I get them.

Middle Eastern Beauty

2008-01-09T02:02:00.001-06:00

I had fun making this card for my bellydance instructor. Because of the ice storms I missed giving her the Christmas present I got her. So since Christmas has come and gone I made her this card as a thank-you for being such a great instructor and tucking her gift card inside. And speaking of inside, I decided to carry the design theme into the inside of the card so you see the front and the inside here. I used Radiant Rains to create the background that I stamped on. A combination of Irish Mist and Solar Gold. I often brush out the colors after I spray them to blend them more. I had actually designed the background for a set of ATCs and since I made extra, I decided to use it here also.

Decorating Envelopes

2008-01-07T21:32:00.001-06:00

I'm in a new swap this year where we make mail art envelopes hopefully to match the stamp that we've picked out to mail it with. I've only decorated a couple of mail art envelopes before this so I was really tickled when this one came out so good. The background is made with Twinkling H2O's and since a little edged over onto the back, I figured, what the heck, lets do both sides of the envelope. The lighthouse stamp is from Prickley Pear rubber stamps, the rocks in the foreground and the water on the reverse are from Stampscapes, the clouds are from All Night Media and the birds are a Penny Black stamp. The saying is my own. It's a little hard to see on the scan but there are light "rays" coming from the lighthouse. I used my favorite glitter pens by Uniball Signo in gold to make the rays. The whole envelope was sealed with workable fixative to protect the watercolors. I'll be making an envelope each month and it's definitely a challenge to come up with a design to match the stamp but it should be lots of fun!

Japanese Stab Bound Books

2008-01-07T20:58:00.001-06:00

This book was so much fun to make. I just love this peacock stamp from Prickley Pear rubber stamps.The peacock is gold embossed and studded with black rhinestones. The red book came out great also. I used the peek-a-boo geisha from About Art Accents and the diamond stamp is from Above the Mark and is actually a larger background stamp that I just inked and stamped a row of and then added more black rhinestones to.
I hosted a book swap on the Oriental Stamp Art list in 2007 and these books are quick to put together and are just beautiful when done. Can't wait to come up with an idea for this years swap.

ATC Extravaganza

2008-01-07T20:29:00.000-06:00

These are some of the ATC's I've created the past couple of months for swaps and RAKs.
I often use just bits and pieces left over from previous projects and will often grab whatever stamps are handy at the time. Other times they are carefully planned by theme or color. They are always fun to put together.

The orange butterfly was done on a hand colored paper done with Easter egg dyes. Lots of fun. The turquoise fans were done with a new stamp and scraps. The glittery flower used DCWV Far East paper and diecut. The 3 red flowers are made with the remaining negative after punching flowers and a scrap of yuzen paper behind.
The geisha collage looks similar to the butterfly paper above but was created with Zia's color wash jewel sprays.

The "B" is for butterfly and bamboo ATC was made using pieces left over from previous projects. The cat in the bamboo was made from stamps that I had out at the moment. The "C"
is for Cat ATC was made from pieces but I specifically looked for papers with the colors used.

My handpainted scraps make excellent bits for ATCs. For the "D" is for dragonfly ATC, I used a piece of the "patchwork" paper I made from yuzen scraps. Too pretty and sometimes costly to throw out the smallest piece, I took a sheet of cardstock, applied xyron adhesive to one side and then started layering scraps on top to fill the whole sheet. It's really beautiful when done. I had the dickens of a time coming up with something for "E" in my stamps so the kanji for eternity was printed off the net and I stamped the word underneath.

ATCs are lots of fun and so quick to make.

With Loving Memories

2007-12-05T00:15:00.001-06:00

Okay, I've avoided this for awhile now. I certainly hope 2008 is a better year. On Nov. 1st we had to say goodbye to Patches our momma kitty. She started grieving for the dog and then old age took over. She was 18 years old and we had her for 14 of those years as a rescue. My youngest son was very upset because she has watched over him since his birth. Fortunately we have 3 more kitties and his other baby Shadow has been of great comfort to him. Then on Nov. 7th we lost my Aunt Mo (Mona). She has been grandmother to my children for the past 10 years since my mom passed away and she's always been a second mom to me since I was a little girl. Again just devastating since it had only been a week since we had lost Patches and was totally unexpected. Aunt Mo was 78 and was independent right up until the end. I hope I'm that tough in my old age. It's been a rough month but I'm reminded constantly of life's blessings and how wonderful it is to give and share and strive to brighten up other's lives with a ray of sunshine. I believe that's why I create art, to share and bring a smile to someone's day. Life goes on and we have loving memories of those we've lost.

Club Project

2007-10-21T19:00:00.001-05:00

What do you do with the 12 plus composition books you unearthed while sorting and organizing? You design a project for stamp club so you don't have to find space for said 12 comp books, LOL. With the holidays just around the corner, I designed this Christmas Planner for our club members to make. Everyone had their own ideas for the tabs: recipes, card list, gift list, party list, etc. It would be really easy to make this personalized for any occasion. I know my BF will be helping her girls make them for teacher gifts for the holidays.

Published Again

2007-10-20T14:10:00.001-05:00

Here she is. I just found out this card is on the cover of Vamp Stamp News for November, WooHoo! It's been ages since I purposely submitted something for publication. Now if I can just keep up with my blog. I have several art pics to load. I should try for once or twice a week. I need about 4 more hands or to be cloned a couple of times, LOL!

Cards, Contests and Magazines

2007-09-22T03:19:00.001-05:00

Here's the first new art post in awhile. On the Brag group I'm on we had a card challenge contest. Lois sent us all out matching kits with the same items and we were to create a card and send it back for voting. Well they all voted me the winner so I got all the cards created and let me tell you there was an amazing variety of designs from the same materials. This is my winning card entry. I painted the stamped image with twinkling H2O's, I was trying to match the color of the ribbon in the kit that you see on the side of the card. Also Nancie from Vamp Stamp News liked my tip of making mini clipboards from gift cards and published my tip in the Sept issue of Vamp Stamp News with a picture of the geisha clipboard shown in an earlier post. My name was also drawn to win 8 back issues of VSN. See I told you things were looking brighter around here. Great artwork does that.

Life Happens

2007-09-22T02:10:00.000-05:00

Best Friends Matthew and Bandit
In Loving Memory of Bandit 1997-2007
We miss you lots.

Well it's been an interesting several weeks to say the least. I think we are on our way up again. When you are without power for nearly 14 hours, scratch an eye on the same day the power goes out, find out your 18yo daughter has an ovarian tumor, the dog passes over the rainbow bridge, car troubles, a wee bit of flooding, an irate ex friend threatening the 18 yo, husband's company gets sold, is reorganizing and his job is changing and he's majorly stressed, well the only place you can go is up. The good Lord said He'd never give us more than we can handle, but there are times I wonder. Now to wait and see if DD needs surgery is the big thing looming on the horizon.

On a brighter note, I have some artwork to start uploading. I've been playing catch up all month on my swaps and commitments. Desperately need to start on Christmas gifts and cards. I'm heading off for a mini art retreat with friends next weekend, yippee. It's fun to get away for a breather and some artwork. Actually I won't be home the majority of the upcoming weekends. First the retreat, then off to Dallas with my daughter for National Portfolio Day, a middle ages event and then the Race For the Cure. I'll be designing Christmas cards for a 4 hour workshop on Oct. 11th. I'll probably be running from now until after Christmas.

Mini Clip Boards

2007-08-04T20:56:00.001-05:00

These are so much fun, a lot like working on ATCs. I can see using these for refrigerator magnets as gifts for friends. So grab a handful of gift cards from your favorite variety store, usually they are free but asking never hurts, no one has told me no yet.

2007-08-04T20:52:00.001-05:00

Deciding on a theme for July was easy. I picked National Parks and picked near my childhood home, Mt. Rainier National Park.

New Class was a Hit!

2007-07-18T00:52:00.000-05:00

I have been designing now for a couple of weeks after mulling around ideas in my head. I can thank my muse for some of the inspiration and a couple of fellow artists and the class I took earlier this year and the lovely artist's who share their templates on the web. The flower ATC is my favorite! And a 2am just crawling into bed gift from my muse. You can view the complete class here: http://www.orientalstampart1.com/ TechniqueClasses/atctwist.html And while you're at Oriental Stamp Art, be sure to fix a nice drink and a snack and have fun checking out all the wonderful oriental artwork. It's my home away from home and I enjoy being a member.

Pagoda ATC

2007-07-18T00:35:00.000-05:00

Iactually wanted the pagoda to be a diecut attached to the half circle to begin with until I realized I didn't have a stamp that would create a decent pagoda shape for an ATC. So I went web surfing and discovered that Dee offered 3 sizes of pagodas from her popular card pattern, the smallest perfect for an ATC. You can view her website here:
http://www.hardcastle.net/crafts/projects/