Art From The Heart

Simon Says . . .

show your distressed & torn edges.

For this challenge, I decided to make a greeting card so I used  Graphic 45's Once Upon A Springtime 8x8 paper pad.  The designs are exactly the same as the 12x12 paper, in a scaled down version that's perfect for cardmakers and ATC traders. 

 

Using Tonic's Edge Distresser, it's easy to create textured edges. 

  

Wanting more dimension, I propped up one of the background papers with Maya Road classic chipboard. I used Ice Stickles to add some bling to fairy wings and flowers.  These Ice Stickles are perfect for fairies . . . or anything where you want the color to be a bit more demure than other regular Stickle colors.

The inside includes another fairy stamped with Graphic 45's Once Upon a Springtime stamp set. I first stamped with Memento Black Tuxedo ink then colored her in with Prismacolor pencils.  Using the colorless blender, I was able to blend colors, adding shadows and highlights to the wings. 

 
After *grounding* the fairy with a few pencil sketched lines, I added Ice Stickles and dotted her flowers with a cream Viva Pearl Pen.  A single word stamp completes the card.

PS: the dream stamp I used is an oldie.  You may want to use this stamp set from Fiskars.

Hope you can join this week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge blog.  Whether you're trying something new or adding something old, a challenge is always a fun way to begin a crafty week!

You may be the person who wins a $50 gift certificate from our generous sponsor  

or you may be chosen as one of the top 3 designers for the week!

Stop by

&

be inspired

to see what my Team Mates have come up with

as well as inspiring entries

for this week's challenge

on

Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge Blog.

 

 

Alliteration . . .

Talented Tammy Tutterow . . .

been calling her that since I first met her. 

It fits. 

Yesterday, Tammy taught a class at For Keeps Sake.

It was perfect.

You can see more on Tammy's blog here: http://tammytutterow.typepad.com/

I loved it. And the best part is that I always learn something from Tammy.  She is one of the most talented people I know.  Her teaching style makes you feel comfortable in class while learning new techniques and things to do with paper. 

If you missed class yesterday or you are not anywhere near St. Louis or Springfield (where Tammy teaches in person), then you can grab this same class here:

http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/madefromscratch.php

The patterns Tammy includes in her class can be used over and over again in so many applications.

Thanks for a great day Tammy . . . and sharing your talent!

I want to go to Paris!

http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris/

 

Tuesday, June 14 . . . CYI + Stamp Club

This Tuesday, our Create Your Imagination meets up at 6 pm with our *guest instructor*, Mary June Walker. We are working on altered books.  Each month, a guest instructor (someone from our group) will show us a fold or a way to alter a page or two in our books.  BYO book and join us at this free meet-up . . .

2nd Tuesday of each month

6 pm

Mary showed me what she will be teaching and it will blow you away.  Just bring your books as Mary will teach you the folds, then you may return home and decorate it as you wish.  Wait until you see how Mary decorated hers! 

Following CYI (usually around 7:15 pm - 7:30 pm) we will begin Stamp Club with a tag.  This month, we will pearlize our Copics! 

Here's what you'll need to bring:

• the stamp you want to use
• black Memento ink for stamping
• Copic colors suitable for your image
• Craft Mat (this is important!)
• small paint brush
• mini mister filled with water
• If you have them:  Perfect Pearls Perfect Pearl or Pearl Ex Micropearl  (Note: If you bring Pearl Ex Micropearl, please also bring a mixative such as Claudine Hellmuth's Matte Medium.)
• Optional: Copic Multiliner (black)

I will have both my Perfect Pearls and Pearl Ex at Stamp Club so no worries if you don't have these mediums.  Still bring your tiny paint brush if you're using my supplies.

I'll also show you a cool way to color those teeny flowers shown in the Graphic 45 fairy stamp above . . . something we just recently received at For Keeps Sake!

Hope you'll have fun exploring and mixing mediums! Sign up for this mini-class by calling

For Keeps Sake Scrapbook

(314) 487-8131

Amy's post today . . .

You have to see the adorable photos Amy Powers has on her blog today!  It's all about Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Workshops this past weekend.  Eye candy for sure!

http://inspireco.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-all-about-me.html

Stopping by Mary's . . .

Sounds so casual, doesn't it?

I'm playing it cool.  You have no idea what a thrill this is for me.

To step into Mary Engelbreit's studio is astonishing.

It's everything you can imagine and more.

It's vibrant color.

It's energetic.

It's eye candy personified.

 

 

This past weekend, Mary hosted Home Companion Workshops

in HER STUDIO

for a HANDFUL of PEOPLE

and

if you attended you could

GO ANYWHERE IN HER STUDIO THAT YOU WANTED.

Any workroom.

Any office.

Touch and feel.

Look and see.

Can you imagine?

Since I was teaching a class at For Keeps Sake, I wasn't able to attend the Home Companion Classes. Instead, on Sunday, Timi and I made a short jaunt over to Mary's studio to wish her a happy birthday and give out some little treats to the gals who attended.

Home Companion Workshops were held this past Saturday and Sunday

and were taught by talents extraordinaire

Charlotte Lyons

and

Kathy Curotto.

I have been to Mary's studio before.  Timi had not.  Timi is a HUGE Mary fan and I couldn't wait to see her face when she walked in.  It was exactly as I expected.  Total amazement.

Here's Timi with one of her idols.  Mary is so down to earth, warm and welcoming

 

and she created a casual atmosphere in which each person could work on their art.

Charlotte is showing Timi samples of what her students were creating - adorable shadow boxes. Because of the way the Home Companion Workshops are set up, each person's shadow box will be completely unique to them.  I love that!

 

Kathy's class was busy working on their projects

 
with inspiration and help from Kathy:

 

Here's sweet Amy Powers creating in Charlotte's class:

 

By the way, the latest issue of Amy's magazine is gorgeous.  Oh my, the photography will blow you away!

We wandered around the studio (in total amazement - like two goofballs who had never been out of bumpkinland - constantly saying to each other *look at this* and *did you see how cute that is*)

and found this project that someone completed in Saturday's workshop:

 

Back to the party . . . and the party hats!  Since it was Mary's birthday weekend, each person made their own birthday party hat.  Such creative talent!  Here's pics of a few of them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kudos to Barbara Elliott Martin for putting this entire weekend together. I can't imagine a better way to spend a Saturday & Sunday in St. Louis! 

Create A Tag . . .

with Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge Blog.

I'm into monochromatic and so I began with the help of Tattered Angels Embossed Chip Tiles turned tag.  I love these tiles! They are heavy pre-embossed chipboard that you can ink, paint and sand or spray and they always turn out beautiful with very little work.  It's all in their design.  There are several in a pack and Tattered Angels offers various design packs.  In addition to this pack, I have the Traveler pack and love to add those to mini-books. They also have a Halloween pack that is awesome!  These look very plain in the package but once you do just a bit of inking, their beautifully embossed designs are displayed ~ like magic!

You might remember another tile I used for Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge Blog on this post: http://art-from-the-heart.typepad.com/art_from_the_heart/2011/04/simon-says--1.html

 

 
I wanted to stamp the Penny Black Fireworks stamp but did not want to cover the Chip Tile design so I created a little mask to cover the embossed image on the tile.  Then I stamped the image with black Archival ink and added a bit of green to the leaves using a Copic Marker.

Using Pumice Stone Distress Ink, I inked the tile and then added Stickles to the stamp.

 

In order to make the embossing on the tile stand out a bit more, I used metallic rub-ons and gently rubbed a bit on top of the embossing. 

Hope you can play along this week at Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge blog. Create a tag and enter it on the challenge blog.  You could be the lucky recipient of this:

 

or you may be chosen as one of the top 3 designers for the week!

Stop by to see what my Team Mates have come up with

for this week's challenge

on

Simon Says Stamp & Show Challenge Blog.

 

I was just wondering . . .

I found this

here  http://junkgardengirl.tumblr.com/post/6058228549/scrapstudio

That got me thinking about this

 

 

from here:  http://forkeepssake.typepad.com

The cabinet above is on sale at For Keeps Sake - 4530 Lemay Ferry Road - St. Louis 63129.

It has screws holding everything together.  So that means it also comes apart, right?  Therefore, take it apart, take some of those dividers out and voila,

the perfect cubby-hole cabinet. 

Or take all of the dividers out and its a place to store wood mounted stamps. 

Or leave all the dividers in and store unmounteds.

"B i i i l l l l",

she screams softly and lovingly says as she goes running gently stepping through the house

"is there a place for this in Nancyland?"