Good Tuesday morning!  I hope you had a great weekend and your week has started off good!  I spent Saturday with my mom, aunt and sister.  We went to Hodgenville to visit my uncle and check on things there.  After lunch we were going back through the town square and there was a little shop that I had never been in before.  We stopped and oh my gosh . . . what a great place.  No, I don’t remember the name BUT we are planning on going back this coming Saturday and I’ll find out then.  I might even remember to take my camera and get some pictures!

My project today is a sample for the class I’ll be teaching next month and is a work in progress.  We’ll be seeing this change over the next few days and I thought it would be fun to watch the transformation.

I’m not too sure about the round flower on the bottom and that’s probably going to be the first thing that goes.  I’m still looking at it trying to decide.  I’m also not too sure about the colors, but they do happen to be my favorite combination.   What do you think . . . is this something you would like to make in a class?

Hey y’all!  I just now realized that is was Wednesday, so . I thought I would have this post up earlier today, but we’ve been having some computer issues. I spent the morning working on the network and organizing the mess of wires upstairs. Thank goodness it is finally done and Mr. Stodgy will leave me alone about the Ethernet cord running along the kitchen floor, down the basement stairs, into my studio.   You’d think he could see that the cord was there and would walk step over it . . .

I remember when I was a child (well now, under 10 okay?) and we would have more snow than we get now.  I lived in the south end of Louisville at the foot of a hill.  All the streets started at the top of the hill and ran down to our street.  These hills were great for go-carts, bikes, skates and most importantly sleds.  You know I never remember school being cancelled for snow.  I just knew we had snow and we played outside all day making snow people and sledding.  I was always hoping to share those memories with my own children, but it seemed that the more the years went bye, the fewer snowfalls we’ve had.  I had a Flexible Flyer and couldn’t wait to purchase one for my girls (it’s hanging in the shed waiting for my grandchildren to come along one day).

When I saw the stamp I’ve used today, The Back Door by Just for Fun Rubber Stamps, I KNEW I had to have it.  This looks more like our own back door when my girls were little than when I was a little girls (we had a covered porch then).  I even painted the house that god awful red stain color that we have on our house now.   The backside even has the same type of siding!

I colored the image with Ranger Distress Re-Inkers, die cut and embossed with Spellbinders™  Oval Nesties and then distressed the edges.  While I was putting this card together, the image seemed too bright for the paper and I wanted it to look more aged.  I grabbed my Hot Wax Stylus and some natural beeswax and applied a light layer over the image.  Now here’s the neat part . . .  even though I didn’t need to fuse the wax because I had used the stylus, I decided to take the heat gun to it anyway.  The watercolor paper soaked up the wax and now the image is duller but there is no shiny coat.  I LOVE it!  I make an additional background layer, I took a mini manila tag and worked with the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique.

• Stamps:  H2298 The Back Door and D2615 All Good Cheer from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps
• Paper:  Arches Watercolor; Mini Manila Tags; Memory Box Spiceberry; Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme
• Ink:  Ranger Distress Embossing, Shabby Shutters, Pine Needles, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Weathered Wood, Broken China, Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Faded Jeans, More Mustard, Spiced Marmalade; and Ranger Archival Black and Coffee
• Accessories:  Spellbinders™ S5-015 Deckled Mega Rectangles – Large, S4-140 Petite Ovals – Small, S4-138 Petite Ovals – Large, and S4-141 Petite Scalloped Ovals – Small; Ranger Non-Stick Craft Mat, Mini Mister, Gold Adirondack Paint Dabber, White Inkssentials Gel Pen and Rock Candy Distress Stickles; Tim Holtz Tonic Distress Tool; 7 Gypsies Paper Fasteners; Tsukineko Sponge Daubers; May Arts Ribbon; Foam Mounting Tape; Sewing Machine; Vintage Button; Papertrey Rustic Cream Button Twine; Gold Spica Pen

Well that’s all folks!  I hope you’ve had a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Tuesday!  I meant to have this post ready for early this morning, BUT last night I wasn’t happy with the photo and decided to redo everything.  I had worked on this card all day yesterday (and the day before), and decided I needed to wait until this morning after my pot of coffee to finish it. 

I have so many snowman images and last year wasn’t able to find the time to work with them.  I’ve decided this year, that I will make the time and color each and every one.  It’s been a long time since I worked with some of these images and for the fun of it all, want to revisit them.

I just went rooting through my gallery on Splitcoaststampers and found the last card I made with today’s image and it was on November 21, 2006.  Wow that’s been a few years!

I water colored the image with Ranger Distress Re-Inkers, and had paper all picked out for the image.  The only problem was I couldn’t find the right ribbon, etc., to go with it so I spent most of the day trying to come up with a layout and paper.  I finally decided to hang it up and try the Wrinkle Free Distress technique for the background.  Using the three dominate colors (blue, purple and green) and watercolor paper, I made my background.  To add some glitter to the background, I covered the entire piece of paper with Ranger Rock Candy Distress Stickles.  I’ve tried to get a close-up so that you can see how it looks  . . . and don’t you dare look at my out of the line coloring! 

I ended up adding the snowflake as an embellishment.  To color the watercolor paper, I misted some extra ink with more water and while the paper was still in the die, I ran it through the inky water.  It was a nice effect but it was just a little too light, so I added more ink to the edges and covered the snowflakes with Rock Candy Stickles.

All said and done, not bad for taking so much time.

• Stamps:  Snowman and Friends from Penny Black; Believe from Papertrey 
• Paper:  Arches Watercolor; Papertrey Plum Pudding and Ripe Avocado
• Ink:  Ranger Mustard Seed, Broken China, Fired Brick, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, Tattered Rose, Black Soot and Dusty Concord Distress
• Accessories:  Spellbinders™ S4-222 Create A Flake 1 and S3-030 Tag Shape 3; Papertrey Buttons and Ripe Avocado Ribbon; Watercolor Brushes; Gold Cord; Ranger Rock Candy Stickles, Non-Stick Craft Sheet and Mini Mister

I hope you have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

Good Monday morning!  I think I might be back on track and will be able to post more often than I have the last couple of weeks.  I have a special announcement today! 

A few years ago at Stampfest Orlando, I met the owner of Just For Fun Rubber Stamps, Debby.  She is the organizer of Stampfest Orlando and I’ve had the opportunity to talk with her both times I was there.  She also travels the show circuit, and Just For Fun is always at Stampaway in Cincinnati, giving me another opportunity to chat with Debby and her husband Rick.  Debby and I have talked over the past year and a half about how she wanted to start a design team, blog, etc., and where she needed to start.  Needless to say, with each of us having busy schedules, etc., the discussions never went any further.  This year after chatting very briefly with Debby at CHA and Stampaway Cincinnati, Debby asked if I would put together a design team for her and be the Coordinator.  This time, I said yes and here we are . . . Announcing the very first Just For Fun Design Team!

I am so excited to be working with this group of ladies, some new to the design team world, and a few you’ll immediately recognize as designers I’ve worked with before.  So without further adieu, and in no particular order, I give you the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps Design Team:

Broni Holcombe – Splashes of Watercolor

Heidi Blankenship – Embellished Dreams

Linda Duke – Linda’s Works for Heart

Sandy Sandrus – CleverIdeas

Starla Nelson – Exploring Creativity

Be sure to visit their blogs today, as each of them will be posting with images from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps.  I for one can’t wait to see what they’ve created for us today!

Here’s what I’ve created for today . . . a little Thanksgiving nostalgia.

The image was colored with Distress Re-Inkers and then the edges were sponged with Antique Linen.  When working with a cornucopia image, I always think of the song “Over the river and through the woods.”  If you are at least my age, you’ve got to remember it too!  It was one of those standards we always sung in grade school.  I found a copy of the words on the internet, printed them out, and gave them a little distressing with the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique.  It was then tucked in behind the image.  I made some frames using Spellbinders™ Oval and Square Nesties, and tucked them around the image as well.   I always forget to tell you this, but after I sew the background paper to another panel, I go back and sponge the edges with distress ink.  It tones down the white thread I use so that it appears more aged.

• Stamps:  G1624 Cornucopia from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps
• Paper:  Arches Watercolor; Prism Suede Brown Dark and Papaya Puree Medium; 7 Gypsies Market
• Ink:  Ranger Archival Coffee, Old Paper, Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, Walnut Stain, Dusty Concord, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Mustard Seed, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Distress
• Accessories:  Spellbinders™ S4-128 Classic Squares- Small, S4-126 Classic Squares – Large, S4-Petite Ovals – Small, and S4-139 Petite Scalloped Ovals – Large; Watercolor Brushes; 7 Gypsies Paper Fasteners; Papertrey Vintage Button and Jute; Computer; Sewing Machine; Tsukineko Sponge Daubers; Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic day!

I can’t believe it’s Friday already!  I don’t have any big plans for the weekend and if the weather is still blechy here I’m hoping to be in the studio!  So far it looks pretty promising  . . . but I am a little tired of the rain.

Yesterday when I was writing my post I told you I got a little sidetracked.  I found the most awesome site for Edgar Allan Poe . . . PoeStories.com.  If you are a fan like I am, this is the site for you.  I’ve been able to re-read stories I read as a child and refresh my memory on a lot of his works. 

The reason I was searching yesterday was because I wanted a copy of The Black Cat.  Of course, I needed it for a card  . . .

I printed it off after I changed up some fonts and then distressed it with Old Paper Distress Ink.  The tag was made with the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique using Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade.  The grunge board flourishes were covered with Spiced Marmalade Distress Stickles and the numbers with Rock Candy.  The cat was embossed with Black Soot Distress embossing powder.

• Stamps:  Tim Holtz Collection – Spooky Stuff and Nature’s Discovery from Stampers Anonymous
• Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; River Rock and Basic Black; Mini Manila Tag; Memory Box Twilight
• Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black and Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Weathered Wood, Old Paper, Black Soot Distress
• Accessories:  Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet, Mini Mister, Matte Accents, Spiced Marmalade and Rock Candy Distress Stickles, Black Soot Distress Embossing Powder; Tim Holtz idea-ology Swirls/Elements Grunge Board; May Arts Ribbon; Foam Tape; Sponge Dauber; Computer; Candle Lighter; Vintage Button; Scalloped Border Punch

That’s it for today!  I hope you have a good one and thanks for stopping by!