We're BAAAACK!!!!

After a VEEEERY long hiatus, I'm back and beginning to blog again - at least for now! I'm getting back into crafting more again (though I've always been dabbling, even when I wasn't blogging about it) and always making cards for friends and relatives - as well as a few gifts here and there. I've been buying loads of new stamps and dies (I've gotten into the coordinating dies that match stamp sets - and it's way more fun than I initially guessed - and easier than I also thought). There is SOOOO much cute stuff out there- it's downright dangerous! Well on to my recent samples.... (I've even entered a few challenges on Simon Says Stamp's blog - they have Monday and Wednesday challenges). Except for the squirrel in the first example, most of the stamps are from My Favorite Things (the company). You can also see the Tim Holtz spider web in the one (I just love his new spider web set!). I'm getting into coloring with the alcohol markers a bit more, though I still use the Tombow markers quite a lot as well.

Some Moleskine Journaling

Here are two finished pages and a couple backgrounds in a Moleskine journal I've had for a while now. I was working in my Dyan Reaveley black journal last night and then had some excess paint that I rubbed off on background pages in my other journal - and decided to finish a couple of pages! I like how Dyan works on mulitple pages at once - using up paint that way. So I'm trying to do that also. It leaves lots of options when I'm not sure where to go with a certain page.... I just flip to something else and other ideas come (sometimes).

 Background is a mix of Pan Pastels and Dylusions paints with stencils and then stamps added on top - with Colorbox chalk pad. I hand lettered the words with a GelXtreme metallic green pen (the metallic probably doesn't show well in the scan).

 Background is excess Dylusions paint (orange) and then stencils across. The words were hand lettered with Tombow marker and the doodles also with Tombow marker. Pretty simple.

 Background done a while back... I think mostly ink pads direct to paper and stencils over top.

 Pan Pastel background and Dylusion paints through stencils on top.

 Pan Pastels with Dylusions paints through stencils on top. Very vibrant!

 Again Pan Pastel background with stenciling over top.

 An older page - collage from a magazine and hand lettering and doodling over all that. This was a fun page to create.

Another older page - Pan Pastel background, I think this was when I'd recently gotten the Pan Pastels, actually, and was experimenting with them - I REALLY love them and how easy they are to lay down for a background page! There is rubber stamping over top and then hand lettering and a little doodling.

Sunday's Creations

Well Stampaway - and all my fun loot - inspired me to create, create, create on Sunday! Here are the results:

 A first page in my Dyan Reavely black journal - using her Dylusions paints as well as her new white paint pen which I am just loving. Some new stamps (sun and moon) from LostCoastStamps.com - they have some really cool stamps! Stars from Stamps by Judith and a few stencils, some I made myself on my Silhouette Studio machine.

 Another page with Dylusions paints with stencils in the background, quite a few new Judi Kins stamps - circles, scribbles and starbursts. I'm really pleased with this one!

 This was the back of one of the pages that Dyan Reaveley pulled out and did her art on the back page... I layered some paint on this side with stencils - not sure if I will do more with it over time or if I'm going to consider it done at this point... I kind of like it as it is.

And a card I made with some new stamps... the birds and saying from Dare2BArtsy and the frame from Just for Fun (I've been getting their stamps for many, many years! The colored squares were colored with Distress small stamp pads and Tim Holtz's foam dauber tool. I colored the birds and flowers with Tombow markers.

Stampaway Today!

Today I went to the Stampaway convention in Cincinnati. And I got the pleasure of seeing Dyan Reveley demo - and she was demoing in customers' journals if they purchased one of her journals at the Stampers Anonymous booth. I'd been thinking about getting one anyway and so she did a page in mine! She is such fun and I love her artwork. I actually remembered to snap photos as she worked - she said that I could. I think I'm gonna love working in this black paged journal. And I love her Dylusions paints.

 Here she is starting the page by brayering white Dylusions paint using this mini brayer (which I had to go back and buy, of course).

 She layered yellow paint - also brayered it on the page and then put the extra pages that she tore out of the journal face down on the craft sheet and rubbed the excess paint onto the page that way.

 Sometimes she used the edge of the brayer handle to scribble into the excess paint before pressing the page onto it - that was really cool!

 Here was how the pages looked at that stage.

 Then she pulled out a stencil and added more white using the Tim Holtz foam dauber tool.

 Then she used her coloring sheets and trimmed parts of them out and taped and  glued them on the page - using both double stick tape and a glue stick.

 The finished page! So cool!

These were the other two extra pages that she tore out. Lots of juicy layers. Not sure what I will do with them - but it was so cool to see how she did them.

Organizing Tips and Tricks

I have been organizing again - taking stock of all my supplies and making sure I have it all organized. I thought I'd share a tip I came up with for my stacking Distress Ink Pads. The thing that frustrated me with these is that when they are stacked you can't see what colors are what. So I got some file folder labels at the office supply store (see image, bottom left). For some reason they have a little black line at each end that marks the middle - which turns out to be really handy. I cut between the labels - so I only have one - then I ink it - which I initially did with the pad itself, but now am doing using the little foam applicators (upper right of photo) which works better and gives a better idea of the stamp pad color. After applying the color to the label I cut it in half with an x-acto knife then peel and stick to the edge of the stamp pad, wrapping it around the corner. I do the same on the other side with the second half – that way no matter how you pick up the pad you can see color on the side!

Now when they are stacked I can totally see what colors are what! Very handy and very easy to see. I suppose if I wanted to I could write the color names on, but I don't find that necessary.

I used another similar trick with my Distress Paints and Stain bottles. I pile them up in clear shoe boxes but then can't easily tell them apart when I want to grab one. So I paint (or stain) some white card stock, let it dry and then punch it out with the proper sized punch - I think the 3/4" sized one is what worked for this. Then I glue it to the cap. Voilá! Easy to sort them out quickly when I need them. And actually the colors are ever so slightly more accurate because I'm seeing the actual paint or stain color – or at least how it looks on white paper. Handy.

And for my punches - when I'm out shopping I can seldom recall which sizes I already have at home and which size I was wanting to add to my collection, which is always growing. So I cut some card stock (I chose black) in half - 5.5" x 8.5" - and then punched out of lavender paper so it would show up nicely, yet is light enough that I could write notes on it to indicate sizes and companies of the different punches. This is a handy size I can carry with me when out shopping or attending a stamping convention. I think I have a 3-ring binder this size I could put this into, too.


What do you do to organize your craft supplies that you find handy? I'd love to hear!

Back in the Saddle Again (so to speak)

After quite a long hiatus here.... life's been busy and I just haven't taken time out to post the many things I've been working on... I am making a comeback and want to make a greater effort to keep you up on what I'm working on and experimenting with. Lately it's been Gelli plate printing and I'll post some of my samples. THIS time around I'm finding that I'm actually putting some of the prints to use in my card making and I'm quite pleased with the results! I think they give a bit of a different look to my usual cards... and that's great! If you have questions, leave me a comment and I'll try to answer it. Thanks for stopping by!

Trying Something New – DeviantScrap Art

My friend, Sharon, got me into another new thing (I guess it's only fair, we do it to each other all the time) called DeviantScrap which is a web site where you can buy kits for digital collage and art. WARNING!!!!! It is very addictive! At least it is for me. At first I figure this may be like many things I get into... I shop, shop, shop and buy, buy, buy and then do a thing or two and drop it and move on to the next shiny object. Well I have at least gotten off to a good start so far and am really enjoying this. I can see it inspiring many, many fun ideas.

Here are my first couple attempts. The "Walking Our Ducks" was first and then "If It Ain't Baroque Don't Fix It" came next. I spent a LOT more time on that one and had a blast. I like the detail, but really the ones with just a few good elements are just as nice I think. I think I will have a lot of fun with these sets.

I added a couple others that I forgot about. The first was "Time in the Bronze Age" which I made for Sharon. And the other one is "Rhino Reverie" with a circus theme. I have a thing for rhinos which I cannot explain. If you haven't seen the kits or the site do check them out at www.deviantscrap.com

Shout! Shout! Let it all out

The latest journal page - a first finished page in a new Moleskine journal. The background was done with my new PanPastels – which I am just LOVING! Collage pieces and some Sharpie and Bic Markit markers.

Play

Tonight is a two-fer! I got a 2nd page done. A little simpler - a pastel background and hand drawn letters.

 

Feelin' Groovy

A journal page that I did tonight. A bit of collage a bit of stamping and a background using my new PanPastels.