Category: Classes

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes, Gina K Designs, Penny Black

Christmas Holly Twist

Ruth Cooper

Hi Friends!

I’ve managed a wee bit of creating everyday this week. I signed up for Eileen Godwin’s Christmas Creations Class. If you are familiar with Lavinia Stamps & Sweet Poppy Stencils, she creates for them.

I am waiting for my Sweet Poppy Stencils to cross the pond so I can do all 5 cards from class a bit more proper but in the meantime I created with what I had on hand for card #1. It was designed with non-traditional colors.

I didn’t have any holly stencils at all so I took my Penny Black Holly Flourish die, cut it out and used it to stencil my card. The sentiment is from Gina K Designs Seasonal Greetings set. I added Stickles dots to the background for a bit of sparkle.

The Sweet Poppy Holly Wreath stencil is a bit more delicate and will be fun to try when it arrives. In the meantime, I think I’ll try this card in a softer color palette.

We will be going on fall retreat in just a few weeks, I’m planning on taking several Christmas items to work on. I kinda skipped Christmas in July this year.

Are you looking forward to anything crafty this holiday weekend, a weekend trip, a quiet weekend?

Blessings!

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes, Gina K Designs, SCT Let's Stamp Together

Happy Hello

Ruth Cooper

Hi Friends!

We are officially getting snow in central Oklahoma with freezing temps so it’s a perfect time to stay inside. I got some more sorting & organizing done today. Yay!

Tonight we had our first official Scrapbook & Cards Today Let’s Stamp Together class. It’s their new subscription plan and all sets are exclusive to the club. Gina K. Designs designed the first stamp/dies/stencil combo called Happy Hello Floral. We created 3 cards in class.

I only went rogue a little bit. I love the daisy style flower in this set. I used a variety of Distress Oxide inks for my colors and switched them up a wee bit from the originals.

Kits arrived every other month, there is exclusive content, a class, a private group & they are now taking subscriptions for a May start date, yep March is filled already. If you are interested in a reasonably priced coordinated stamp/die/stencil set surprise every couple of months with some of the best stamp companies, head on over to Scrapbook & Cards Today to sign up. This is the same great company that I subscribe to the SCT Sampler every month.

If you are experiencing winter weather this week, stay safe & warm.

Blessings!

Art Inspiration, Classes

2022 Calendar 1st Quarter

Ruth Cooper

Hi Friends!

I have enjoyed designing a calendar class for many years now using Taylored Expressions 6 x 6 downloadable calendar. This will be the last one designed in this style, I may or may not design a new calendar for next year.

I had about 3 ideas for this calendar & they just would come together then someone shared a card with ink blended die cut shapes & it greatly appealed to the desire to just play a bit. So I did several quick blends and added to them as I decided on each calendar page. This was the final grouping all on 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 cardstock.

These were just fast blends with Distress Oxides, not a lot of time spent because they were going to be stamped & die cut. I did 2 sets and recorded the color combo on the back so they could be duplicated for class. I then selected a variety of stamp/die combos from my collection and started creating. Only 2 months had stamps with no dies that were fussy cut.

After decided on the color combos for each month based on the stamp sets I selected, I then did a lighter blend on the calendar page itself, stamped some coordinating background images & dug into my sequin stash for some bling.

They are much more vibrant in person, my lighting wasn’t the greatest today. These months feature all Catherine Pooler Designs sets.

My best advice when ideas don’t come together or your muse had gone on vacation it to just play with background techniques. You are still creating & there’s no pressure or stress when you are just playing & experimenting.

Handmade calendars make great gifts to share some kindness & love. You might want to plan on creating some for next year to give away.

Altenew, Art Inspiration, Cards, Catherine Pooler Designs, Classes, My Favorite Things

Christmas Wreath

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

Allergies continue to sideline me including the dog, who went to the vet unexpectedly this morning for severe allergic dermatitis, so I didn’t work on anything yesterday like I wanted and today was a bit slow but I got a card done & started another project.

I have been wanting to make this card since I saw the video by Verity Biddlecombe from Pretty Little Button during the July Cardmaker Success Summit. I had no leafy wreath stencils, so hunted down the Altenew one she used & ordered it.

I love how this turned out. I probably wouldn’t do a large batch but it would be pretty simple to assembly line about 6 of them in a short period of time.

I switched my colors up a bit from the video but it’s pretty much the same design. I used Altenew’s Wonderful Wreath Stencil, Catherine Pooler Designs Merry Christmas Word Die and sentiment from My Favorite Things Bitty Holiday Wishes.

Hope you’ve found some time to work on your holiday projects. The holidays will be here before we know it.

Altenew, Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes

Amazing Things

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

It’s been a very tiring week with helping the dog recover, allergies & asthma. I worked on a couple of cards but I was just too tired most evenings to work on a post.

Today I participated in the Altenew Craft Your Life Retreat and made it through 4 of the classes with a migraine. I tried to focus on the techniques & tips for each class so have several cards in the works. I completed these 2 from the Magical Masking class.

These cards feature the Watercolor Extravaganza set and I used Amazing Things for the sentiments on the bottom card. My masking material wasn’t working well so I took an extra cardstock die cut mat from Nesting Slim Rectangles die set to use as a mask, then used it to create the top card.

I should be able to get back to regular posting this week, view classes 5 & 6 & work on all the projects to finish up this fun retreat.

Have a Blessed Sunday!

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes, Taylored Expressions

Taylored Expressions Diamond Botanical Class

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

Rough couple of days between a migraine, bad air quality index & my knee injection but with some rest I still powered through todays class with Taylored Expressions Online Crafty Class featuring the Diamond Botanical Stamp & die set along with the Wood Plank background & Diamond Masking Stencil.

Lots of little tips & techniques I either hadn’t tried before or done for a long time helps refresh your creativity & inspiration. I don’t have a big variety of alcohol ink markers & my blending & mixing colors is a bit off but that just helps me get out of my comfort zone a bit.

Going to spend the weekend working in the studio doing some more sorting.

Hope you have a terrific weekend!

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes, Taylored Expressions

Taylored Expressions Gifted Class Part 2

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

I hope your Saturday has been great!

Tonight I have the final 2 cards to share from yesterday’s class which feature watercolor and could be a big hit with the guys.

The sample colors were blue, green & orange but I swapped orange out for a softer bluegreen. This set features using the matching Gifted die cover plate which cuts out the presents giving you many more options for using the background stamp. The cut presents were used both for the stack of presents card and I added a couple to the truck for a birthday delivery. After cutting out the presents, the watercolor background was layered over a plain stamped background of presents for some pop & interest.

I’m glad I signed up for both July classes and will get to play again in 2 weeks. In the meantime I always have lots of projects & ideas in the works.

Have a Blessed Sunday!

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes, Taylored Expressions

Taylored Expressions Gifted Class Part 1

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

I am still enjoying celebrating Gloriously 60 with a variety of online classes & events and have several lined up the next few months. Today I took the 1st of Taylored Expressions Online Crafty Classes featuring the Gifted Background stamp and it was lots of fun.

We did 4 cards basically 2 for the girls & 2 for the guys but easy to make in a variety of colors. Tonight I am sharing the more girly style cards.

These are so bright and colorful and sure to bring lots of smiles. These 2 cards feature ink blending. I don’t own Taylored Inks so I substituted Catherine Pooler Designs inks in similar colors to the class samples. The balloon card is emboss resist and the Yay! card is blended through the matching stencil after stamping.

The really cool thing about the Gifted products is not only is there a large background stamp, but a matching stencil & cutting plate that give you endless options for creating. We also used the Celebrate Big Stamp set and matching Celebrate Big Balloon Shaker die set, Caps Lock YAY! die and Simple Strips Birthday stamp & matching die.

Taking classes helps keep my skills sharp, I get to try new techniques or products or refresh older skills I learned awhile back often with a new twist. Plus there’s more freedom in designing without deadlines.

Hope you have some summer fun planned this weekend with maybe a bit of creating.

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes

Kindness & Cake

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

We had a couple of extra make & take type lessons over the weekend retreat. Here are 2 of my extra creations.

This is an Angie Blom Digital Design. Angie did a lot of design for Unity Stamp Co’s stamp line and then branched out into digital. I have always loved her “girl” designs & have several stamps but this is my first of her digital designs. It is watercolored with Koi Watercolors.

Then Honey Bee Stamps created a special exclusive birthday stamp for SCT’s 15th birthday celebration. For this card I used my small selection of alcohol ink markers. Your next stamp included a Birthday Girl paper pad for one of our classes so I grabbed one design to use for the background.

Today was an errand day so I didn’t get to finish my last 2 cards from the weekend but I did emboss & prep some more Taylored Expressions Sentiment Strips so I have enough variety on hand. Plus one is planned for one of my remaining cards. If you haven’t checked them out, you should. They are handy to have on hand for quick cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

Art Inspiration, Cards, Classes

Roller Coaster Fun

Ruth Cooper

Hi Angels!

Since we were working on the 12 X 12 Spring Frame Class today, I only got 2 more cards from the last Crop & Create class finished up. I’m determined to complete all the projects because I still haven’t finished my mini album from last month’s Brutus Monroe retreat.

Our 3rd class was with Lawn Fawn. I only own a couple of Lawn Fawn items so it was fun to play with the Coaster Critters set.

These are so cute but all the little pieces & critters are a lot of work. I haven’t made an interactive slider card in awhile so it’s always good to refresh your skills. These cards are sure to delight whoever receives them.

Thanks for stopping by.