MemoBoard

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.

Black and White

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.

Cool Backgrounds

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.

Club Project

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.

Mini Clip Boards

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.

New Class was a Hit!

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

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/

Kimono Under Glass and Companion ATC

The Kimono Under Glass ATC was also inspired by a fellow artist's work and it was a shame to waste the cutout so naturally I create another ATC with it.

Flower and Half Circle ATC's

The half circle design came about after seeing something similar on a fellow artist's gallery. I wanted a variation of it and so my muse dropped the idea into my brain about 2am just as I was snuggling into bed. The flower is my favorite ATC from this class.

Door and Flap Fold ATC's

The door ATC was patterned after the one I did in a class a few months ago.
The Flap Fold ATC was a redesign of a Technique Junkie technique that I miniaturized to ATC size.