Christmas in July

And how 'bout I get a good start on my xmas cards this year and start posting a xmas card a week to get our creative juices flowing! What do ya think? Are you ready yet? I know I'm not, I'm still hoping for SEVERAL more weekends of pina colada float time in the pool! But that holiday season will be on us before you know it so why not at least just start thinking about it now.

It is usually the first weekend in September when I begin thinking about my cards but this year I know I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands so I really gotta get going earlier. With that in mind I thought if I start posting a card a week starting now I JUST MIGHT know by September what I'm gonna make. I need about 50 of them and all the ones I post between now and the beginning of December get mailed and the ones that are easier I might make several of. Not to mention I make about 35 for my mom. So I'm a busy girl come September! I need to mentally prepare myself now for less journaling and canvas time! {sniff}!

Now I give you my first xmas card of the season, a 'new to me' stamp that I just got last weekend named King of the Candy Canes and I KNOW exactly who this one is going to. One down, 49 to go!

You might think the colours are a little 'off' and that is because they ARE 'off'!. I started with a selection of paper and knew I wanted a soft blue and red with a hint of green. Everything was going well for me until I pulled out my Versamagic inks to shade around the edge. DO YOU BELIEVE I DO NOT HAVE A SOFT BLUE! Well, I can believe it because I'm not really fond of blue. So I used an aqua colour and softened it off with wheat hoping it would turn blue. Well, it did lighten it, but it still remained an aqua tone! So I had to then start rummaging thru my paper stash to find something to match and this was the closest I could get. Not bad, but NOT what I envisioned! I'm just glad I salvaged my hour of colouring because I was NOT prepared to start over.

Our challenge next week is all about heavy metal...not in the musical way, thank goodness! I'm NOT into heavy metal...just in the embellie type of way, use something metal on your card...do you know brads are made of metal? It's as simple as that so get going! And while you are at it, why not get out that journal that you have been thinking about and play along in Em's Monday journal post  or if that isn't enough, head on over to the forum if that is your thing and see what is going on there...SO MUCH TO DO there is no excuse for boredom.

Little Moments

I'm home from my bella visit and OMG, my head is JUST SWIMMING with creative ideas. Emily's love of art and product is totally infectious and her knowledge on how to use those products is amazing. It's not enough that I came home with some good laughs, I also came home with a head that is overflowing with things I'd never known and dreams of how to put those things to use.

Saturday night was a free for all in Em's studio (aka basement) with Em, myself, Isabelle (ya, THAT Isabelle who designs those Eclectic wonders), Paula, Laura Evans, Lori 'Pinky' Brown, 2 kidlets (Tyler and Jayden), 2 cats and a dog (that is IF you can call Frankie a dog...that thing is SO adorable I could have stuffed it in my pocket on more than one occassion). While some worked on canvas, others painted in their journal (that would be me), others got lessons on pan pastels from Paula while Paula was getting lessons on how to use bleeding art tissue from Jayden. Creativity was just OOZING out of that room!

Before I get to showing you any of my art journal creations I thought I'd throw out a canvas I started when Paula was here a couple weeks ago.

I began with a blank 6x6 canvas and glued on a piece of patterned paper for no other reason except that I would be no longer looking at a blank canvas. I slapped some blue and green paint on there and added some leaves with a stencil. The sun, flower petals, leaves, stems and flower centers were all cut free hand out of patterned paper and glued on. Then I added some texture with a stencil and heavy body acrylic paint for the flowers in the upper left corner and when dry, added MORE texture with some light weight molding paste and another stencil.

Now for some detail! I stamped one of Isabelle's birds on the wrong side of a small piece of patterened paper and cut it out, then stamped a smaller bird on the right side of another piece of paper and after cutting it out I got two birds facing in different directions. The little moments quote was stamped onto a piece of tissue with stazon ink and I cut out just the 'little moments' portion and glued it down with PPA. The tissue dissapears and the sentiment remains!

Another canvas to hang at my desk at work! And another something that makes me happy!

I hope you create something that makes you happy today!

Linda.

circle? or square?...maybe a little tutorial!

What did you do? I played it safe and went for the square card, and I did the sketch from memory and that is why my sentiment is hanging off the wrong side. Clearly, my memory is not so good anymore.

I pulled out one of Stamping Bella's pixies because I've had some questions on how I do that hair so I thought I'd show you! Grab a coffee, pull out those copics and give it a try.

Step 1:

Start with E21 on the left side and add loose dots as pictured in the right side all over the hair. Then go back again starting at the left side and add a second layer of dots. You want to create some texture and it is okay, even desireable to leave some white.



Step 2:

Now take your E33 and add more dots. You don’t want your dots too big, actually as you add darker colours to the hair you want to decrease the size of your dots. Keep some open space to let the E21 show through

Step 3:

Still with your E33, and still using dots, darken up some of the areas to begin creating shadows  and darken around the outside edges. Use the squiggles in the stamped image that come ‘into’ the hair as a guide and darken above those lines. If her hair is just an outline with no obvious shaded areas, then just darken around the edges, keeping  it lighter in the middle

Step 4:

Now Take your E35 and darken up those shadows a bit as well as the outside edges

Step 5:

Add some E37 in small amounts and using VERY TINY DOTS deepen up those shadows and edges again.



Step 6:

Now soften off the dark E37 dots with the E21 and/or E33. You can repeat steps 3 thru 6 again to get a softer look.

As a final step take your dark umber pencil and add a SMALL amount in those shaded areas and blend it out with your stump and gamsol. It will soften the dots and add more depth. And don't be stingy with those dots! The more layers you add the better it will look.

Our challenge for the final Friday in July will be that old tradition (or maybe new?)...CHRISTMAS IN JULY! Pull out those holiday stamps that have been collecting dust and get a head start on the busiest holiday season of the year!

I'm off to Toronto this weekend to bond with my sistah's....chic time! Inky chic time! Ya, I'm excited!

Linda.

Art Journal Hearts

Did you all read Emily's intro to Art Journaling post? Well, after a year, I am finally getting my feet wet. Last summer I was in Toronto and made a stop at the boo-tique and only Dena was there with her art journal. If you think it looked yummy on Em's blog, you should see the inside! Like OMG! On the way home I said to Mark, I wanna do this. So I went out and bought some stuff (NOT like I needed anything) and pulled out some magazines and tried to get started. I loved Dena's, it was very collagey (if that's a word) and she used a lot of magazine clippings and wrote a lot of words.

I plopped myself on the floor with my stuff and got looking thru magazines, but you know what, I am NOT good at collage. I really need a paintbrush or marker or stamps in hand so I put the stuff away UNTIL recently when I took Christy Tomlinson's 3 Hearts Workshop. She uses the STUFF I love, fun stuff....paints, markers, inks, stencils, stamps....the kind of stuff that makes me happy and so I began this journey. A friend of mine mentioned the other day that she wants to journal because all the cards, or scrapbook pages she does are given away to someone, and this would be for her. And you know what...I think THAT is what I love about it the most, I never have to give it away. It's MINE!

So after reading Emily's post the other day I thought I'd show a couple pages I did last weekend. This page is how I thought (maybe still think!) about the whole process. I spend too much time thinking, planning and wondering and then I decide to jump right in fearing the unknown outcome and start to play! I've learned that it's REALLY all about playing. These words are all stamped from Julie's words to live by.

The background was done with pan pastels and stencils. The hearts were cut free form out of an old book. Shading on the hearts was done with PITT pens.

This second page was a double experiment. I applied gesso to the page, painted loosely with fluid acrylics then attempted image transfer with Mod Podge. Apply Mod Podge to the printed side of a piece of patterned paper and glue it down. When it's good and dry spritz it with water and rub off the paper and you are magically left with the image! AMAZING....there are several ways to do this and just google 'image transfer' to find a wealth of info on it. Then I stenciled some scrolls, stamped some of Isabelle's crackle in the corners (GORJUS!) and applied a few hearts that were all glossed up with clear UTEE.

Done and DONE! I don't have any words on this page yet, but I will as soon as I come across something that inspires me.

Back to Emily...her journal challenge is for us to use crayons! OMG....my boys are 21 years old so there was not a single crayon to be found in the house so I went out and bought a small pack. Now I'm off to get waxy!

For those who came to see a card, not to worry....I'll have one of those on Friday!

Something masculine today

I taught a class at Pickle on Saturday and we used Stamping Bella's Isa's Eclectic Stamps and oh what fun we had! Now I will say that our second card did give us some grief, and I still do not know what went wrong but I will remind you to NOT tap off UTEE or you'll tap it all off. Let the excess just roll off your paper, then heat from underneath and you should have success. I was also pretty excited because I had Paulabella and Paulineabella in my class so you can imagine my horrified state in front of these two talents when no one could get their UTEE to stick. Oh well...get over it and move on!

After class we came back to my place and all took to something different, Paula messing in her journal, Pauline colouring some Bella's and me on canvas. Still feeling creative on Sunday I pulled out those Isa stamps again and created this.

No patterned paper here. Starting with a piece of bella's bestest cardstock in cream I sponged various distress inks for the background piece using some stencils to get more interest. Then I stamped eclectic #8 ticket and some mesh. Then I stamped the ticket background again on a separate piece and rubbed distress inks over it. MAKING SURE IT WAS GOOD AND DRY I stamped the eclectic elements grid with burlap distress ink and embossed it with black distress embossing powder. LOVE the texture of that stuff.

Then I inked up sections of the grid again with distress ink and pressed an inchie into it. I did it that way so I knew where I was placing the inchie. Embossed with the distress powder, and rubbed some distress inks over it. I think I even stamped a bit of crackle on there too.

Finally, I melted some gold UTEE in my melting pot and dipped the edges of the inchies into it to give it a soldered look. We did this YEARS ago at Pickle and I had completely forgotten about it until I saw it again on one of the 3 Hearts videos. Very cool! Must do this more often. Here is a side shot...I glued the inchie squares down with Helmar Scrap dots to accomodate the uneven surface on the back.

Whew! That's it! Seems like a lot of typing for a card that really didn't take me all that long to make! Now off to read Emily's blog...a little birdie told me she has posted something about art journaling on there that has got my curiosity heightened.

Don't forget about our sketch challenge this week, it's a winner and mine is already done! YAY!!!!

She Art and Three Hearts

I think I mentioned a while ago that I was taking the second running of the She Art Workshop by Christy Tomlinson. I think I have also mentioned how much I LOVE it. I am currently taking the 3 Hearts workshop and that is where the inspiration for my recent art journaling posts have come from.

I've ALWAYS loved mixed media art, ALWAYS, even before I knew what mixed media was! I remember when I was young kid going to my godparent's house in Toronto and they had this really funky very large abstract work of art on the wall that just mesmerized me, I was drawn to it. If I recall I think it had pieces of random gears or machinery imbedded into plaster then it was painted with an abstract wash of color and I loved it. My godmother has sadly been gone for about 20 years now and I wonder if my godfather still has that piece of art, but I doubt it. And I don't even know if I'd still like it now, but it sure caught my eye many MANY years ago.

My journal is a place where I can relax and experiment and just play in whatever type of creative mood I am in. I can share if I want, but I don't have to. However I find my she art canvases to be a way to express who I am and what I want people to know about me...I WANT to display them and I WANT to express who I am. I have completed 4 girls, two are hanging at my desk at work, one is in my kitchen and one I ended up giving one to Kim at Pickle because she gushed over it so much I just knew in my heart I HAD to give it to her, maybe it was meant for her. So, just sayin'....if you want to see one up close and personal it may still be at the store unless she has whisked it away somewhere.

Enough deepness...this is my first she art girl and I used one of the phrases that Christy gave us in the class. I thought it was 'fitting' for my inaugural girl.

This is my second 'gal', the one that found her way into Kim's arms. Another Christy supplied phrase that expresses my love of working with colour. Note the Picasso quote that is partially stamped on there: Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. (stamp is Inkadinkado) Doesn't that just say it all!

There you have it, my first she art girls. You may like them, love them, or neither...but I LOVE them...the process, the outcome, the phrase, EVERYTHING.

I still have a couple more, and if I find time, I'll blog them this week, shorter post I promise! No deep thoughts...hmmmm...I thought I've said I don't have deep thoughts but maybe I do.

Linda

Where it all began

Back in January of 2008 I placed an order with Stamping Bella that got lost in the mail. I rec'd my shipping notice, but after 3 weeks still no rubber. So I emailed emily and happened to attach a pic of one of the bella's I had coloured...Cosmobella to be exact, because I was on a Cosmo kick back then.

Well, not only did I get my rubber, but I got an invite down to the bella headquarters, which weren't even 'official' headquarters yet, to show her how I colour with my markers. Maybe it was more than an invite, I think she begged a bit...LOL!!!! And I didn't even colour all that well back then, I only had my copics for a short time and was still getting my feet wet.

Finally three months later I dragged Paulineabella along with me for company on the three hour drive and we spent the day with Emily. Pauline didn't even have being a bella in her radar back then, nor did I for that matter! We spent hours just chatting, colouring, trying out ALL kinds of different papers with markers, talking about stamps we like, ones we don't, instructing classes (pauline and I both teach) and munching on food. I'm not shy, I told her before I even met her that I would eat anything as long as it was cooked...aka, no raw fish sushi for me! We talked about blogging, being on DT's, why I didn't have a blog, why she didn't have a DT. We were both happy in our skin.

Then I came home and got thinking "maybe I should start a blog"...so about a month later I did and 11 months later Emily started up a DT and I have been there since the beginning along with Paula and Dana. I've made great friends along the way, spent more money that I probably needed to, and have enjoyed EVERY minute of it.

Now that I'm done gushing and reminiscing I couldn't resist colouring up Cosmobella again and one thing I will say is that my colouring skills have GREATLY improved over the last couple years.

As always, she was stamped on bella's BESTEST paper and coloured with the following markers

E000, 00, 11, YG0000, 01, Y00
YR30, E30, 33, 95, 97, 99
R30, 32, 46, BG10, 11, 72, W00

Shading was done with prismacolor pencils and gamsol.

Finally, I hope you can join us next week because we have one of your FAV challenges...A SKETCH, and an Ebruabella sketch, AND you get to choose whether you want to do a circle or a square!

Hmmmm....what to choose, what to choose? I guess you'll have to wait till next week to find out! Either way, it's a great sketch.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Later, Linda.

Going to the Chapel

...but I'm not the one who is getting married.

You know that bridal shower card I made the other day, well I had a wedding card that needed making too so I thought what better time than now. For ONCE I am not making a card the night before I need it!

I have used Stamping Bella's wedding gown circle several times in the past and it remains one of my fav's. You can make it really simple, or fuss it up like I did here. I'll admit though...this layout was TOTALLY inspired by this card on Yvonne's blog. Her cards are ALWAYS so pretty....even when they are fussy they still look clean and classic.

I stamped the image twice on bella's BESTEST paper. Once in black, and again in a soft grey. That is because I wanted the little squiggles to fade into the background. On the grey piece I outlined the circle in black, and on the black piece, after colouring it, I cut it out and mounted it on the grey piece. Pretty clever eh? The patterned paper is Basic Grey, from Wisteria I think.

I used very few copic markers, some greys and BG70. The background colour over the squiggles was done with pencil. Then of course LOTS of glitter! I should have maybe used this for the shower, and a stamp with a couple in it for the wedding, but heck...we all know that weddings are all about the bride!

Don't forget about our challenge this week a Bella or a Stella and I'll be back on Friday with a Bella!