Well I certainly didn’t plan on taking 3 days off from posting but my back had an agenda of it’s own this past weekend. I was able to sit for a short period of time & do some sorting in the studio but that was about it. Thankfully it’s much better today.
When you are busy catching up after a small setback you head to the infamous Bits & Pieces box for a quick card.
Classic pink & black for the win everytime. I love being able to grab a marbled background from my background box & use it for a quick card. The heart filmstrip die is an old Fun Stampers Journey die, the love die is My Favorite Things Lots of Love and is current. The little foam pink heart was on my desk and it completed a trio for my card.
I have several projects I will be working on this week that can’t be posted until they are received by the recipient but I’ll do my best to post something everyday.
I am having so much fun painting my calendar pages and the Angels are too.
Part of my sabbatical was studio play days with a couple of classes here & there. The calendar class was Dec. 30th but scheduling conflicts occurred so make-up time become relaxed play days with a little extra guidance here & there. It’s nice to sit down & create with the Angels.
Today is the half-way point in the year, May & June.
This set was the most challenging to photograph so far. Both stamps have heavy/multiple lines meaning the silver/gold embossing reflects a lot. So this shot muted the shine better allowing the colors to show a bit more.
May is Simon Says Stamp Daisy Bouquet set. The flowers are painted in a white shimmer H2O first then I added pink tips. May is my birthday month & daisies are my favorite flower. I can’t actually have daisies around because my hubby is very allergic so pretty stamped ones are the next best thing.
June features Fun Stampers Journey Bloom Burst. Hydrangeas are so beautiful.
When taking photographs remember that natural light or being outdoors can sometime be your friend with difficult pictures. I took today’s picture near a window with some sunlight coming in but not enough to make the metallic embossing glare in the camera. I am by no means a photo expert and use what works from what I have learned. Sometimes the simplest tips are easier to remember than more technical ones.
It’s time to debut the 2021 Calendar. I have been offering this calendar class I think for 7 years now. Could be 8 years but somewhere around that time frame. This year features watercolored florals.
I did every other month alternating silver & gold embossing for a touch of elegance. I brought out my Twinkling H2O’s for shimmer. I used Taylored Expressions Seasonal Sprig for January and an old Fun Stampers Journey set Sweet You.
Like a lot of artists this year, I am planning to use what I have on hand as much as possible. While I am puttering in my studio during my Glorious 60th year, I hope to create with a lot of things that haven’t been used yet as well as revisit some unfinished projects & see about the finishing touches on them. As you can imagine with well over 35+ years of paper art supplies, I have a small treasure trove here. I also plan to purge some more. When I do purchase I am planning to support local & small business shops as much as possible.
I have been working on cards for our class Monday featuring Pretty Poppies. It started with one of the cards featured today that was posted a month or so ago on Facebook. A couple of the Angels just love poppies. So I decided a class was in order especially since there are so many wonderful poppy stamps available currently.
Today’s cards feature the Impression Obsession Poppy Collage stamp. I took a class up at My Hearts Fancy in OKC and we made this card:
Now this card is beautiful but all the cards in class were 5 x 7 inches and I don’t usually work that large. Plus I am pretty sure this one would cost extra to mail. So I created this card for tomorrow’s class:
Although smaller in scale at the traditional 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches, this small card is just as stunning and I like the watercoloring on it better.
So let’s take a quick comparision between the two:
One is larger, one is smaller but both include the same great design.
Both images were stamped & embossed on watercolor paper.
The larger card uses Hero Arts Liquid Watercolor. It was harder to get a richer color to the poppies with it but by taking class, I got to try it out. I take classes for my own enjoyment. Plus since I design all the time, it’s nice to take a class that someone else designed & I stay fresh on techniques & products.
The smaller uses FSJ Liquid Color which isn’t quite a watercolor but has richer pigment to it and works just like watercolor. I believe the top card has a Liquidtex Gold Metallic on the frame portion of the stamp. I dug out my old Twinkling H2O’s Egyptian Gold for the bottom card. Again both are stunning.
I am not sure the brand of foil used in the top card but the bottom is FSJ Mirror Gold. Both were embossed with Tim Holtz’s Elegant 3D Texture Fades. The top one is a bit less shiny but just as lovely.
If you study a card design, it is usually fairly easy to recreate the card with what you may already have in your craft room. Do not be afraid to change sizes to suit your project needs.
Summer is a great time to find inspiration in the bright sunny outdoors & activities. Use that inspiration to get crafty this week.
I hope everyone is having a fabulous week so far. I am having fun working on my Wild & Wonderful Summer projects. A lot of going with the flow creating happening here.
I decided to pop in & share the final card from the Tonic Studios Kit 21 class this week. I decided to mix up my class a bit and add in other stamps & products this time. I have been getting the kits because A. they are a fabulous value and B. so I am familiar with the Tonic Studios & Nuvo products. When you have done direct sales for over 10 years representing certain products, it’s time to play and learn what wonderful things are available when you go independent. That includes mixing companies & products into the creative process.
This card has a mixture of elements on it. Let’s take a look.
Card Basics:
Cut a card base from Catalina Splash 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″
Cut a Turbo Teal layer 4″ x 5 1/2″
Cut a Lemon Drop Layer 3 3/4″ x 5 1/2″
On the Lemon Drop Layer I used the Distress Stencil in the kit and the Nuvo Embellishment Mousse that was included to add the hearts.
After the hearts were dry, it needed a bit more interest so I took my Romantic Script background stamp from My Favorite Things and stamped it over the Lemon Drop Layer in Lemon Drop ink.
Cut Spellbinders Shapeabilities Live Laugh Love dies out of scraps of Cool Pool, Turbo Teal & Catalina Splash and adhered to the card.
I used Nuvo Glitter Gloss to highlight everything with a bit of sparkle.
Take a look at the products you have on hand & see how you can mix them up while you are creating.
Recently I held a foiling class using the Spellbinders Glimmer Machine. After class I needed to make my dear friend Margaret a birthday card, so since the machine was out I did a “Happy Birthday” sentiment. After I designed the card, I liked it so much, that I decided to make it our club card too for this week except I changed it from pink & red to red & silver.
Margaret loves red & this came out so elegant.
The club version is even more classy.
These cards are so beautiful & easy to make.
Cut a Cranberry Bliss card base 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ and fold in half.
Take a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ Black Licorice cardstock mat & die cut with the FSJ Artful Burst die and adhere to card base. (Pro tip: cut your cardbase & decorative mat while waiting for the Glimmer machine to heat up.)
I used the Happy Birthday from Becca Feeken’s Elegant Occasion Sentiments Hot Foil Plates to create the foiled sentiment. I like this set because it has matching outline dies to cut the sentiment out when done. The Glimmer machine is very easy to use.
Pop sentiment up on card with foam squares & add rhinestone accents.
Thanks for stopping by. More shares coming soon. I am working harder to make my art & posting a priority with this year’s schedule.
Sometimes trying to figure out my schedule timing is a bit of work depending on if the week has a lot of out of the house appts & errands like last week or is middle of the road like this week. Since my schedule flexes quite a bit, choosing a time to post & do videos consistently just doesn’t work. So I am trying to go back to a weekly goal of regular posting & videos & then I’ll see where the time allows each week to meet that goal. So I may post at midnight tonight & 9 am in a couple of days. Going with the flow.
I had lots of fun creating this card with the January My Favorite Things release. I have lots of new MFT product to play with, now I need lots of time to do the creating. I absolutely love the Lots of Heart stencil. I used it on my Love canvas that I posted recently. Let’s take a look:
We made this card for Angel Club last month and the bonus was everyone got to take home the extra trees they cut out in the other colors to create more cards with.
Card Basics:
Cut a card base from Grape Fusion Cardstock 4 1/4″ x 11″ & fold in half.
Using a 4″ x 5 1/4″ Whip Cream mat, position your stencil over the mat & secure with some washi tape or magnets. Apply Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink about 2/3rds down the mat from the top. Apply Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink about 2/3rds up from the bottom of the mat to create the deeper purple center on the mat when the 2 inks combine. Adhere to card base.
Cut a stitched oval mat from Turbo Teal cardstock using Journey Ovals.
Cut Heart Tree 3 times from Grape Fusion, Electric Lime & Cosmic Grape cardstocks & piece together as desired. (Note: Cosmic Grape cardstock is no longer available,) Adhere to oval. Highlight some areas on the tree with Sparkle Dust.
Cut Penny Black love sentiment from Black Licorice cardstock & attach over tree.
Pop oval up onto card base.
Have a Fabulous Week & I’ll pop back in soon with another great project.
I hope you are enjoying a fabulous weekend! Ours is a bit cold, so there is a stew in the crockpot & I am playing in artwork all day inside snug & warm.
If you got the chance to see my last video on Facebook, I showed the projects we created in the Key to My Heart Class featuring the new FSJ Stamp of the Month. I said I would post a few pictures so you could see the projects better & here they are.
The wings box was showcased on the project sheet that arrived with the stamp set. When I saw it previewed, I knew it was the perfect class project & yes I changed it up some.
My colors are fairly true to the original sample except I custom mixed the outside color with my acrylic paints to match.
The outside of the box was pretty plain so I took one of the key stamps & added some interest to the back & sides.
I removed the little hanger at the top & replaced it with a key. The key represents the one that unlocks your wings so you can fly.
How fun it was to get all glittery making the box & the Angels customized their colors in class.
Here is a look at the card I demoed on the video. I have been watching technique videos while I have been walking on the treadmill. I saw this card design on a My Favorite Things Stamps video with stamped trees & switched it to hearts with the Heart Wall Stencil. This makes a great no layer card.
This last card is a Pinterest CASE. I loved the clean white with a pop of color so I redid it for class. The colored background is made with Color Burst colors on the Gel Press. Easy & fun. Maybe I’ll pop in next week with a technique video.
I hope you enjoyed this class close-up. It’s lots of fun to design & create for class & there is so much inspiration available to inspire your creativity. When I see a technique or share online that I like, I start thinking “Oh, that would make a great class!” or “I like the concept but I’d change it up this way.” So thanks to those artists that share their artwork to spark more ideas for other artists.
Sorry, was planning to post this yesterday & was in the studio creating for today’s class & lost track of time. Technically it’s after midnight so 2 nights ago, but it’s not the next day until I get to bed & get some sleep.
Let’s take a look at the last 4 months of calendar pages.
September’s page was created with another Clarity Stencil I found on Simon Says Stamp. Just love it. Since it doesn’t cover the whole page, I added in one of the greens to the bottom of the page. This one ties a close 2nd to my favorite April page.
October had the Create-A-Palette Swirl Technique on the base & then the leaf stencil in 2 colors over top to create more depth in the background.
November had a liquid color background, which actually came out lighter than I had hope for, but looks great with the woodland stencil over the top in Oatmeal Cookie ink. Reminds you of the fiery changes of fall some trees showcase. One of the drawbacks of many of my stencils is that some manufacturers don’t mark their stencils. So once I open it & start creating with it unless I know the brand well, I can’t tell you where November’s stencil came from.
December’s page is pretty classic Christmas with the poinsettia stencil from Tim Holtz in reds & greens. And, yep, that’s a bit of blue in the center. Sometimes class samples get exposed to other colors during class use. I wasn’t redoing the whole page over a bit of blue. As Bob Ross says “It’s just a happy little accident.”
I hope you have enjoyed this look at my 2019 Calendar designs. Really truly pure fun to create.
Stay tuned for more creative inspiration, I have plenty to share. Rumor is there may be a video on Facebook in the next day or two.
I’m back with part 2 of the calendar pages. I figured I’d better get them posted one after the other so you didn’t have to wait so long to see them.
Lets take a look at May & June:
May’s background was created with Liquid Colors on the Gel Press. Then lightly stenciled over in Watermelon Fusion ink.June was created with 2 different stencils & 3 different blue Distress Oxides.July was created with Color Bursts in 2 colors on the Gel Press. I then stenciled over the background with Whip Cream ink through the stencil.August was easy peasy. I streaked a Create A Palette ink pad over the Gel Press, placed the stencil on top & rubbed the pattern onto the calendar page.I think I’ll design a few more “messy fun” art classes for 2019, it was lots of fun playing with these. Stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow.
