Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Preparing for Distress Inks Workshops

The past couple of days I have been busy planning for a Distress Inks workshop I'm going to be teaching at the Tall Mouse next month. So, I thought I'd share some cards I made using Distress inks.


Kindred Spirit
Can you believe this card started with a piece of ivory colored cardstock? These inks are so cool to work with. I created the background with a blending and distress technique. I also used Distress Inks to tint the photo and to dye the ribbon.


Celebrate
Another card created with Distress Inks.


Believe
This card doesn't show up really well in this photo, but it has a pearlized background. Very sparkly! I cut the butterfly from a piece of old sheet music using the Beautiful Butterflies die from Stampin'Up! and my Big Shot. Then I treated it with the "cracked glass" technique.

If you would like to learn how to use Distress Inks to create these techniques - join me for my Distress Inks Workshop. The dates and location are listed in the column at the right.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Getting Excited About Convention!

I'm headed for the annual Stampin'Up convention next month and I just read on the demonstrator website this morning that Tonic Sol Fa will be performing. I'M SO EXCITED! They performed at last year's convention and were FAB! If you aren't familiar with their music, they are an a cappella group. Here's a promotional video. The second one is just a part of the fun from last year's convention.





I look forward to the annual SU! party.... ah, er convention every year. It is one of the best perks about being a SU! demonstrator. If you're interested in learning more, check out my SU! website here. Just click on "Start Your Own Business" for all the details.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Tuyet's Candles


My friend Tuyet sent me a photo of some candles she made for a birthday gift. Didn't they turn out great? Thanks for sending a photo Tuyet. If you'd like to try "Stamping on Candles" here is a link to a video tutorial.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sharing Some Leftovers

I was archiving photos on my computer and came across photos of the projects I submitted last year (2008) for Stampin'Up!'s Artisian Awards contest. Since I don't have any recent projects to post right now I thought I'd share these "leftovers" with you all. (Click on any of them for a closer view.)

I can't recall now all the ink and paper colors I used on this card, but I think most of them are now retired. The stamp sets I used are Always and Tres Chic, which are both still in the current Stampin'Up! catalog.

This is a 3D project I created using matchboxes attached to a house shape I constructed from chipboard and covered with scrapbook paper. The paper, stickers, and other embelishments were from a Simply Scrappin' kit called Home Again from the 2008 SU! catalog.

Here is a scrapbook page I made for the contest. The letter stamp sets are called Big Deal Alphabet and Short Order Alphabet (both retired) and the patterned paper was from a 2008 catalog and was called Jersey Shore. As I recall, the inks I used were Brilliant Blue and Only Orange.

And another card. I didn't take a very good photo of this one. I should have another photo of the inside so you can see how it opens, but the gray textured card stock is the back panel of the card. I used two stamp sets, To Have and To Hold which is now retired and Wanted which is still current. I used textured cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Sky (retired), and Basic Gray. For ink I used Basic Black and Blue Bayou (retired.) I also added a little color to the couple using some Stampin'Write markers. The taffeta ribbon is Basic Gray (current.)

Well, hope you enjoyed. It's back to archiving for me.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I've Returned


Hello Everyone. Well, I'm back from my trip. I had a wonderful time. I saw so many beautiful sites, met some really interesting people, and had some amazing experiences. The name of the tour was Danube River and Habsburg Empire. We visited Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Melk, Český Krumlov, Prague, and Kraków.

If you are interested in seeing some of my photos I've posted them on my Facebook page. Below is a list of the public links. I took well over 1000 photos on my trip, but don't worry I didn't post them all. Just a few from each of our stops.

Things have been really busy since I got back, what with school getting out and other summer activities, but I'm planning to get back in the swing of things very soon (posting projects and tutorials) so stay tuned.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025372&id=1337863977&l=454273d5f7

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Hi Everyone. I'm busy packing today for a trip to Eastern Europe with my Mom. We leave tomorrow. I will be gone for a couple of weeks, so you won't be seeing any new posts from me for a while. But I did make something today.... a couple of luggage tags for my bags. Aren't they cute? I made them with some designer series paper (Urban Garden) and the Lovely Letters stamp set from Stampin'Up! Looking forward to sharing some photos with you when I return. Take care.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Magic Cards

Last night I got together with a few of my stamping buddies and we made magic cards. Here is a quick peek at the two cards we made.

video
If you want to make your own magic cards you can find instructions over in the resources section on splitcoaststampers.com (link here.) They are a little challenging to make the first time, but they are so fun to share. The stamp sets we used are both retired Stampin'Up! sets: Knobbly Gnomes and Classic Pickups.

Have a creative day!