Happy St. Patrick's Day!

You don't have to be Irish to celebrate the wearing of the green. After all, you celebrate Halloween and you're not a pumpkin. (Sigh) I can't take any credit for that line; I saw it on the Gingerwood Bulletin Board a few weeks ago.

Whipped this card up yesterday-nothing like the last minute. The white layer features the Wisped Frames technique from the latest Technique Junkies newlsetter. The dancers and sentiment are by Art Impressions. The green layer has one of Wendy's new background stamps (love that plaid!) stamped in gold. A few brads and gold photo corners and I'm done...and satisfied with the square (a first for me!) card.

I've donned my green and am awaiting the smells of my corned beef to waft back to my stamp room. Can't wait for dinner!!!

Thespian flowers

I don't like to give flowers to thespians as they are standing in receiving lines after a performance. Where do they put them or how can they hold them while accepting words of praise, hugs, etc.? And they don't last long once they're home, providing they make it home, etc.

One of my nieces is performing the role of 'Ursula' in 'Bye, Bye Birdie' this weekend and she's also the student director. Great performance last night to a full house! There's another show tonight and a matinee tomorrow.

The flowers and 3" circle - chipboard; gears - Sizzix Sizzlits die; leaf punch - Martha Stewart; fragment - Tim Holtz; sentiment - Another Stamp Company; background stamps (flowers and circle) - Wendy Vecchi. Glossy Accents (Ranger) cover the flowers. All inks - Ranger.

fe, fi, FAUX, fum

This faux card is maxed out! Faux leather, faux tortoise shell, faux rust, faux fabric and faux wear & tear...compliments of Ranger (distress & alcohol inks, acrylic dabbers; distress embossing powder), stamps by Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi, a Fiskars leather embossing folder, Tim Holtz sanding block and a Tim Holtz copper D-ring by Junkitz (no longer in business). 'Art' chipboard letters (mixed fonts) are from Maya Road.

Some days...

Some days you just have to be ornery. Actually, this is for an ATC swap with the theme of being a smart aleck. I wasn't going to participate but found the sentiment stamp on clearance not too long ago. (Don't you find yourself buying a stamp here & there *just because* then later thinking to yourself, 'Why?') At the time I thought it would be perfect for 'The Thinker' statue. Never dreamed I'd be able to use it until someone was having a particularly crummy day. Hey, can you see the poo?

Speaking of 'just because' stamps, any one else own a tiny electrical plug? How about a roll of toilet tissue...with an extra piece of a single tissue???

Think I'll use the tissues to wipe away some rain drops from my window today.

A smattering of sample colors

Whenever I get new inks I like to get the cases labeled on their sides so I can find them easier when they're in stacks. Then it's time to play with the colors to see what works and how. I'd saved a list of some nice distress ink color combos but had never taken the time to try them myself. I added in a few colors from the new release (just LOVE these colors!). Fortunately I wrote the colors on the back of the tags. I know I'll never be able to recreate the color exactly but I now have more ideas in my head for combos I might not have tried otherwise.

When you find yourself at a loss in the state of creativity, pull out some inks and just play! You never know what will come of it.

New stamps, new card

Finally got a chance to play with my new Wendy stamps. They are all so cool and complement the earlier sets. I'm so in love with her images I've been seriously considering selling off much of my 15 year collection - gasp!

I was looking for something in one of my stashed storage bins (my own little store!) and ran across some coffee filters. I'd made a baby book a long time ago with them but nothing since. Hmmmm...let's take them out and play with them. I tried some faux batiking on them but wasn't really keen on my results. The washes needed to be a lot darker for the image to appear but then it became too difficult to stamp a darker image on top. We'll try that again another day.

Using Ranger Archival Inks I stamped the images on the filter. I added distress stickles to the green leaves and regular stickles to the flourishes. A black gem for the bird's eye, a button tied with hemp and I'm happy! But now I needed a card to go in the 'envelope'. More new stamps, a few flourishes, distress ink around the edges - cool. Both items still needed something else...aha, black glaze pen to the rescue! Went all around both pieces to finish off the look I was wanting.

Hope you can let your creativity soar today!

Mini art fat book - all the rage!

Just took another class with Wendy Vecchi at Scrapbook Friend'z in Bloomington, IL. I got to meet up with 2 others from the EWV group - always fun to meet like-minded folks in your groups! Lori and I had met before but Debby was 'new' to us. She knew who I was because I was wearing my Funky Flower Art (Wendy's stamps) sweatshirt*.

I got there early so I could put out place cards so no one would take our seats cuz we wanted to make sure we sat together. Wendy demo'd the hour prior to the class...pigment ink, mini misters, Perfect Pearls, new stamps, etc. Getting there early meant a chance to shop - and did I shop! Got some new Tim Holtz stamps, more Ranger Archival ink pads and re-inkers, Maya Road goodies and much, much more.

We spent 4 hours coloring Maya Road chipboard elements, cutting out and coloring grungeboard & paper images (that Wendy's husband stamped for us!) and adhering them all to Maya Road's Mini Scroll Layer Book. Our class was the first to use Wendy's newest stamps and the new distress ink colors. Yum yum! You can see how fat my book is; I used grungepaper scraps to lift the various elements on the pages. I prefer it to pop dots or foam tape because I can make the elevations more subtle.

If you've ever taken Wendy's classes you know she gives fab door prizes. I was one of the lucky winners and got a Maya Road House Album and a little suitcase of mini houses. We all got Maya Road keychains with the words 'art, read, create, simplify and imagine'. How cool is that!??!?!

Don't know about you but my eyes keep going all funny when I read the entry title today - I see 'fart book'. Oops - think I better drink some more coffee!

* I've been asked to teach a class on making this sweatshirt or making them to sell. Having been in the 'handcrafted items for sale' business once before I don't think it would be worth my while. Then again, maybe it would. Hmmmm...

Off to play with my new toys!