Free Papers for you

Today, I was playing around making a background paper for a wedding card.  It was fun playing with different colors.  I used a free graphic from The Graphics Fairy of an old rose.  I recolored it and filled an 8.5 x 11 page with the image then changed it to different colors.  Please feel free to click on the image to enlarge it, right click and 'save as' to use as your own.    Here is a link to the actual rose.

Enjoy.

Leaving me a message to say that you grabbed it would be nice but is not required...I know I often don't have time to do that myself! 

50th for Lana

My daughter-in-law's mother needed a 50th Wedding anniversary card for her sister.  Since I wanted to play with my Silhouette, I made this card.  I use the Forever & Always file that came with the Silhouette Portrait BUT I do NOT suggest that you try that file.  I used a font that was exactly the same instead.  The portrait file was so slender on parts that it just fell apart.  So.......squishing and squashing the font gave me larger lines and it worked!  On the flip side, the 50 cut effortlessly.  It was hard to get a decent picture since the gold is so mirror like!  I hope that she loves it!  Shocker of all shockers....no stamping on the front of the card!  I did redeem myself though on the inside with an Happy Anniversary sentiment.  ;-)

Copic refills for sale

I found that I had a number of doubles on my copic various refills.  If anyone is interested, they are $5 each plus shipping.  Normally $9 each.

I have the following colors available.

BV0000
RV000
Y000
YG05
B41
B52
B66
B63
E13
E34
E81
E55

Let me know if you are interested.  I can ship in a padded bubble envelope or a priority box, your choice.  I can also take PayPal payment but will have to add the fees since I'm not getting retail for the refills.  I can give you a full quote before you say yes!  Make sure you have your contact information in your comment.

Thanks!

Upcoming Class

I'll be teaching a class over at Tigard Main Street and Stationery for the card below and the flower pot card I did from THIS blog post.

If you are in the local area, check out their schedule and come have fun in class! 

The flower pot card was explained in the post noted above.  The poppy card turned out much different than it started.  I've had the punches available to do this card for a long time (over 2 years) and finally decided that enough was enough!  I love how delicate the flower looks.  The original card idea I saved with the poppy used a much different center than I did.  I used a large pearl with a smaller black pearl on top of it.

Easy and fun! 

Painted rhodies

Here is a card that features the technique of the week for Technique Junkies!  It is the Paint Swatch technique.  I used it as the background for this lovely Blossoms stamp fro Sweet Stamps.  I think the image looks very much like Rhododendrons (which I love).  I stamped the image over the technique and colored in with Copics.  I originally had it colored quite light and it wasn't dark enough to overcome the background.  Then I darkened it and it looked like a blob.....so I lighted it back up with the blender and all was much better!  The sentiment was cut out with a Nestie.  I traced the Nestie I used for the sentiment onto the shadow paper, hand cut, and mounted under.    Hope you like!

I happened to have my fill of rhodies today!  Ray and I volunteered to man the gate and plant sale at the Cecil Smith Garden in Newberg.  It is a private garden that our Rhododendron Society chapter owns and maintains.  It is 2.5 acres of pure bliss.  Several of the rhodies blooming this weekend are fragrant AND many of them are over 20' tall.  The fragrance wafted throughout the whole garden.  It was heavenly!

Distilled Bones

Well........I was diagnosed with osteoporosis.  Sad........I'm sure that it has mostly to do with exercise and my lack of getting what I need in that realm. 

So.......I have a friend, Penny, who recommended a wonderful program called SaveOurBones.com.  I've started to work at things I can change to help myself like my diet, exercise, etc.  One of the items that she talks about is distilled water.  She talks about how that kind of water is easier and more pure for you to absorb. 

I find this very interesting and am hoping that it helps me as well.  Here is a distiller like my friend, Penny, has.  She is very happy with hers.  Penny was working holistically on her osteoporosis as well.  Thank you, Penny, for your recommendations!!

Click HERE for the Purest Water you can Drink! to be linked to the distiller company that she liked. 

I hope that this information helps you as well!

Birdy Bands

This card uses the technique called Inky Bands and happens to be the "Technique of the week" on the Technique Junkie Blog.  I just got the bird stamps in the mail the other day.  It was kind of fun........I was asked to participate in an online survey.....took about 20 minutes.  As a reward, I was given an Amazon $25 gift card.......there was a code that I entered on the Amazon site that credited me with the $25 card.  SWEET!  So.....I went shopping the other day.......got some embossing tools (so I have a few more for my upcoming flower class), some Fiskar scissors and this Fiskars bird stamp set!  I'm really not a fan of the acrylic stamps but with the right stamp pad, they are okay.  I guess I'm just a real red rubber girl! 

Hope you enjoy (Pun....hahahaha) the card!  The inky bands kind of reminded me of branches so the bird were just a natural!

Another Snippet

Here is another Snippet card.  This uses a stamp from a set from Mark's Finest Papers.  I wasn't quite happy with my lines on the flower but ended up using it anyway!  I've used this stamp a number of times and you can always make it look so different.  The set is called Sending Happy Thoughts and also has a wonderful Rose faux stamp which I really love. 

Pansies and violets are some of my favorite flowers.........after Rhododendrons that is!!  I remember with great fondness the wonderful Violet perfume that my grandmother brought back to me from England many years ago.  You can still get it but the cute little violet on the front of the bottle isn't hand painted anymore. 

Cardinal Snippets

This is a card made with a technique called Snippets from the April TJ newsletter.  This sweet stamp is from Sweet N Sassy Stamps.  She has a several bird stamps and I like that this one as it could be a cardinal or maybe even a jay!  I went with Cardinal because of the berries! 

I grew up in Ohio and loved the cardinals.  Unfortunately, they don't live in Oregon.  When we visited my step-mom in Oklahoma it was soooooo beautiful to hear their call again. 

Another Copic Color Double Embossing

Here is another Copic Color Double Embossing card using Sweet Stamps!  BTW......I hear that they are having a DT call and they are really reasonable in their committment requirements and very generous in the perks!  Check it out on their main page!

This card uses a Sweet Stamps stamp that they call blossoms.  The leaves are a little wrong but it looks enough like Rhododendrons to really float my boat!  We are members of the American Rhododendron Society and have hundreds of them on our 5 acres.    What you are seeing on this card is only a portion of the full stamp.

Copic Color Double Embossing

I just love this Butterfly stamp from Sweet Stamps!  It's bold image is really great for coloring in!  The background piece is a technique from the April 2013 Technique Junkie newsletter called Copic Color Double Embossing.  I used fairly pale colors for this and was a great backdrop for the butterfly!

Enjoy! 

Another blackboard technique

Here is another blackboard technique from the new April TJ newsletter.  I'm not as fond of this one but is was fun to make just the same!   The background stamp is brand new for me from Sweet Stamps!  Love that little image!!!

So.....do you like my new Pinterest button?

Blackboard Technique

The April issue of the Technique Junkie newsletter is OUT!  Yeah!!  Here is a card made with the blackboard technique from that issue.  It is really fun to do.  Finding the sentiments I wanted to use was the hardest part. 

I also got a Pinterest button added for your convenience!   It took me a while to understand how to do it but I succeeded!  I just wish I could shrink the image just a little!

It is a Move It, Shape It Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Technique Junkie Design Team Blog Hop Celebration!  We are kicking off two brand new Technique Junkie CDs:

*  Move  It   (25 projects)
and
*  Shape It  (25 projects)

The CD's are ready to be mailed and you can get your own now!!  

The CD's are quite affordable at $9.95 each OR $17.95 if ordered together!!  Click HERE to order!

If you would like to see the projects that are on each CD, click on the links below:

INDEX for the MOVE IT CD

INDEX for the SHAPE IT CD

If you didn't start at the beginning of the hop, you will definitely want to go to the TechniqueJunkie blog first!  Click HERE! 

Here is the order of the hop:

Judy Jackson
Ann Clack - This is where you are now!!
Beth Norman
Holly Brown
Jackie K
Jane Bosi
Nancy Dawson
Shelly Schmidt
Tricia Obin
Pat - Technique Junkie Owner

There are no prizes with this hop but there is a TON of inspiration.

Now.....on to the fun!!  I hope you enjoyed Judy's projects at the beginning of the hop.  She always has the best ideas.

I have two projects for you today....one from each CD......  

My first project is from the Move It CD and it is called the Z Fold Over Card.  I made it as an Easter card for my in-laws.  It uses peel off stickers from Elizabeth Craft along with her Cool Highlight Microfine glitter.  It was colored with copics.  I also used Elizabeth Craft stickers for the corners and borders.  I am truly in love with her products! 

The first picture is the card closed.  To open it you untie the ribbon.

This is how the card looks when it is opened.

Here is a close up of the glitter/colored sticker on the front.  It has some 3-D going on!

The second project is from the Shape It CD.  It called a flower pot card.  It was a blast to make.  I used a number of Spellbinders dies and some Punch Bunch punches for the flowers.  Spellbinders die for the foliage and a little bit of glitter to glitz it up!  You could use stamped flowers instead if you wanted.

Okay......I have a disclaimer for this picture.  I tried at least a dozen times in many different ways to get this picture to be rotated 90 degrees to the right but blogspot just would NOT put it in the right way......so, please tilt your head to the left to see it the right way!  Hahahahaahahaha.



I hope that you enjoyed my two projects!  Leave me a little bit of love in the comment area!

Now you can be off to the next blog on the hop!
Beth Norman

My art class with Megan

I signed up for an art class with Megan Suarez....what FUN!!  If you are interested, see the Whimsy Girl badge to the side.  Here are the girls I drew and colored from the first two lessons.  The next two work with the girls in journals and on canvas.  She taught us how she draws her Whimsey girls and then we put our own spin on them.  enjoy!!