Stampers Corner On the Road ATC Mingle

This ATC for the Stampers Corner ATC Mingle had the theme of "On the Road". I had some paper from the DCWV Travel Stack which fit the theme. I added an old fashioned car stamp from Stampers Anonymous designed by Tim Holtz. This collection is exclusive to Michael's. The little embellishment is from the Michael's bargain bin.

Until my next post,

Diane

Finally a bit of crafting....

Between yesterday and today I finally accomplished some creating since my operation. I patterened these after a Sheetload layout using paper from the Hanna Scrap Pad collection by K&Co. The paper is double sided so I was able to get four cards from one 12x12" piece of paper. The typewriter stamp is from 100 Proof Press and the sentiment is from my somewhat new Just Rite stamp.

Until my next post,

Diane

Phone Book Page ATC

This week at the Altered Designs Yahoo group the TGIF theme was "Phone Book Page" The first one (the one on the left in blue) didn't come out dark enough...so I did it again changing inks and embossing to further darken the image. I really like the results of the second one. Hopefully those of you in cyberspace don't prefer the first one because it is already trash. I moved the ribbon to the new one. The stamp is from Artistic Outpost and is part of a great set called Hair is Important.

Until my next post,

Diane

Carving from the right side of the brain with Traci Bunkers

This was my second evening class with Traci Bunkers. In just a few short hours she had us thinking in a different manner about carving our own stamps. We did some drawing exercises, got to see some of her stamps and got demos on what to use as a stamp and how to carve it. WOW...all that and we made our own stamps too! I made two small ones and started a third. It was a fun class and way to really personalize your ATC's, cards, journals or art pieces with a stamp you carved yourself.

Until my next post,
Diane

Letting the cat out of the bag...so to speak

Here's a literal interpretation of that phrase...

but here's what's really going on...

I had surgery last Tuesday to remove a nagging bunion that I inherited and grew into with age. The pain meds aren't really all they are cracked up to be. I had just about every one of the "less serious" side effects to Percocet (blurred vision, mild nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, constipation, dry mouth and dizziness). For some it just took a bit longer. Now mind you I wasn't popping these babies like they were M&M's. I tried to stay with one-two every 4-6 hrs as prescribed. Mostly I took one, sometimes two and more like 5 hours. I only took them until Thursday afternoon at 3pm so only about 2 days worth. Thursday evening was the worst even though the nurse said it would be Wednesday after the nerve block wore off. The nerve block that I had for the surgery itself was much better and I had no side effects. Now I'm taking an occasional Ibuprofen but am still unable to put any weight on it. My follow up appointment isn't until Monday, June 1st when I hope to transition to another "boot" which will enable me to heel walk. I don't have a cast on this is a splint type boot covered with an ace wrap.

I guess there are about as many ways to treat bunions as there are podiatrists and surgeons that perform the surgery and I've heard goods and bads about both. My doc is an orthopedic surgeon (I'm on Tricare so I've got no choice unless I pay) but has had extensive foot and ankle training.

I'll give all of you out there in cyberland another update after my follow-up appointment. Right now I'm not actively crafting but have a bunch of posts scheduled so there shouldn't be any gaps. I'm trying to keep my foot elevated as much as possible so crafting now is a bit difficult. I'll try some tomorrow. Thank goodness for my iTouch and wireless network that allowed me keep up on mail and do a little surfing.

Until my next post,

Diane

The Frayed Edge with Claudine Hellmuth

On the 9th I gave you a teaser of "The Frayed Edge" with Claudine Hellmuth. Only thing is the Sticky Back canvas photos weren't frayed.

I played with the colors today as you can see from the other six canvas pieces I did in this class. I made a collage piece in shades of green using Claudines gel medium as my "glue". I did a gel medium transfer with the pink/red canvas using an image that Claudine provided from her extensive supplies. The tan canvas has a gesso transfer (note the gesso remains white unlike the clear look of the gel medium transfer). The blue and purple/pink canvas pieces aren't finished yet. The yellow one has some gesso stamped leaves and some gel stamped flowers (they are very faint).

It was a great class to play with her paints and learn just how great they are.

Until my next post,

Diane

Screen printing on the fly -- with Traci Bunkers

With just a few simple supplies that don't cost very much you too can be on your way to making custom, hand-made screen prints. That's what I learned from Traci Bunkers in one evening at Art & Soul.

The paper I'm holding is my result. We did two different screen printing techniques.

Want to learn? You can take her class at the Portland Art and Soul this fall.

Until my next post,

Diane

Wonderful things

In 1922 when Howard Carter first peeked into the recently discovered tomb of King Tut, his benifactor Lord Carnarvon asked what do you see? Carter replied "wonderful things". That's how I felt when my prize package from Ranger arrived yesterday. Here's what I got from the $50 Claudine Hellmuth Studio product giveaway:

The 7 brushes, a package of 8 1/2 x 11" sticky back canvas (it can go through your printer), gesso, multi-medium matte and four of Claudine's paints: yellow pastel, sky blue, blank canvas and landscape green. I had the opportunity to take two classes with Claudine at Art and Soul and used the paint so I know how great they are. I can't wait to create.

Until my next post,

Diane

TGIF Asian ATC

The theme for the TGIF ATC at Altered Designs this week was "Asian". I stamped a Stamp Out Cute stamp for the background and embossed with gold detailed embossing powder. I then used a portion of a stamp by Inkadinkado. I outlined both pieces of paper with a Krylon 18K gold marker and added the embellishment by SkyBluePink.

Until my next post,

Diane

The Altered Tin with Lesley Vanable

This was a fun project. I have been saving a few (well more than a "few") tins for a while knowing someday I'd figure out what to do with them. Lesley Venable had us buy a few supplies and bring some things to decorate our tins. She supplied the tins the "pages" to go inside along with the mini ball chain to hold them together. She brought some great collage images and supplies too. Oh yeah, her husband made the greatest cookies all packaged in bundles --- yummy!! If you look at the picture on the far left my tin is finished but I wasn't crazy about how the key was adhered to the top. I hadn't intended it to be used as the way to open and close the tin but I wanted it more secure and flush with the top. I came home and showed it to Hubby who had a great idea. He inserted a molly spacer into the bottom of the key. This is the same thing you'd use on drywall with a heavy wall hanging. Then he drilled a bigger hole in the tin and used a screw to hold the key to the top of the lid. The last two photos show the new and improved tin with a bit more detail on the front and back. I love the rusty patina look.

Until my next post,

Diane

I won, I won, I won!!!!

Remember the post a few days ago where I showed my first creations with Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Back canvas? What, you don't remember, or didn't see the post? Well anyway, everyone at Art & Soul got a piece of the canvas at registration to use anyway we wanted. Ranger Industries, the distributor, ran a little contest for us to post our creations on our blog and include a link back to them. It was a quick turn around since Art and Soul finished on the 4th and you had to have your link posted by the 11th. They drew three winners at random on the 15th and I found out I'm one of the winners. I'm going to get $50 worth of products from the Claudine Hellmuth Studio line. WOW, I can't wait for the good old Wells Fargo wagon to bring thump'n thpethyul for me.

Until my next post,
Diane

Stampers Corner Paris ATC Mingle

This ATC mingle from Stampers Corner had the theme of --- you guess it, Paris. I got the background paper from Elizabeth's blog at The last door...down the hall. It is actually a two part that you'd print on cardstock and put together to make a 3D of the Eiffel Tower. The overprinting is done with a Stampers Anonymous stamp by Tim Holtz exclusive to Michael's. The remainder was a bit of aging with Ranger Distress Inks.

Until my next post,

Diane

Eyelets Mingle ATC

The theme for this ATC Mingle by Stampers Corner was "Eyelets". I used some Mary Metallic Markers on black paper with a spritz of water and then dried the paper. I stamped with VersaMark and then added detail white embossing paper that didn't exactly come clean after tapping the paper, huffing on it and using a spot paint brush.



Until my next post,

Diane

A tribute to my Dad for two Yahoo Groups

I've mentioned previously that I belong to a LOT of Yahoo Groups. I'm active in some and lurk in others. I may have already mentioned that I like to make unique ATC's -- in other words edition 1 of 1. But in this case it was too easy to pass up. What were the chances that two of my groups would have the same theme in the same month? Altered Designs called it "Old Photo" and Stampers Corner called it "Photos from the Attic". Well this design worked for both. The stamps are from Artistic Outpost and the photo -- is my Dad. I used some scrap paper and Ranger Distress Inks.

Until my next post,

Diane

Hidden Message Card ala Inky Antics

I think I mentioned this before but I'm lucky enough to live VERY close to where the StampScrapArt tour does an annual show. I took a class last year from Inky Antics. When finished the card looks like the one on the left. When you pull the ribbon you get the hidden message like the image on the right. I like taking their classes. You get ALL the cards done in the time allowed and great instructions so you can reproduce the cards later. I used a dimensional sticker on the front from K&Co and the words we stamped with Studio G $1 stamps. The inside message is from Inque.

Until my next post,

Diane

Tanda Stamps ATC swap

Here's the latest ATC's I did with Sid in the UK. This month I got to pick the theme and I chose that we do the three ATC's with Tanda Stamps. I had seen something he had done on his blog and he used their stamps. I took a look and really liked the product -- BUT -- at the time the dollar/pound ratio was really bad. I was patient and waited until things got better - much better. I was also able to take advantage of free shipping and now I'm the proud owner of Advert Plates 1-4. The first on the left was made with a stamp from Advert Plate #3. The background paper is from the Travel Stack by DCWV. The one in the middle is done with stamps from Advert Plate #1. I can't remember where I got the big digital image from but I printed that our as the focal point. The "Sunny Dorset" stamp is from Advert Plate #4. I colored in the image using Prismacolor markers. They are alcohol based like the Copics which are the rage but can't be refilled.

Until my next post,

Diane

Photography mingle ATC

I like the topics that have been picked lately for ATC mingles on the Stampers Corner Yahoo group. This one was Photography. The base layer is just semi-gloss paper colored with Brilliance Galaxy Gold. The next layer is a print out of free clip art from Tack-O-Rama, a great resource for some recent retro/vintage photography, clip art and fonts. They focus on the 20th century when men wore hats and women wore gloves and casual Fridays meant Dad wore a sweater and a tie instead of his suit. I first discovered this site when I saw some pictures being used by 1stFloorFlat blog. I used a Sizzix Sizzlet die with my Cuttlebug to make the photo corners. The camera stamp is from 100 Proof Press. After stamping and cutting out I added another layer for support and then got some dimension by adding pop dots. I colored in the camera using chalks.

Until my next post,

Diane

TGIF Masking ATC

I started making an ATC for my Altered Designs Yahoo group with the theme of Flowers (last weeks theme). As I was making it I didn't want to have this flower with just a blank background. I wanted to put the words in but I had already stamped the flower so I made a mask using Eclipse Tape. It is sort of like a big roll of post its with just the sticky stuff. It became obvious to me that this was going to be my masking ATC and I'd just have to come up with another on Flowers. I distressed the edges and then dabbed some of the Distress Inks on my acrylic block and spritzed with water and then dragged the edges through for a bit of dimension. The words are from the Inque French Fancy set and the flower is from Impressions of Faith.

Until my next post,

Diane

Happy Mothers Day 2009

Today is Mother's Day in the USA and here's the card I made for my Mom and Mother-in-law. I don't want to play favorites so they both get the same thing. It's a bit on the weird funny side with the double sided patterned paper by Rusty Pickle. The stamp is from Inkadinkado and the pattern is another...you guessed it Sheetload.

Until my next post,
Diane

Using Claudines Sticky-Back Canvas at Art and Soul

I took two classes from Claudine Hellmuth at Art and Soul this year. In the first class "The Frayed Edge" we got a chance to play a bit with her Sticky-Back canvas.

In the photo on the left I painted the canvas with Smidge of Blue. I then stamped with a watermark pad. After that I painted with Traditional Tan to get a great weathered denim look. The tan puddles in places to look like an old pair of jeans that got stained.

In the yellow photo on the right I used various yellows of Portfolio water soluble oil pastels and some of Claudia's Yellow Pastel and Dab of Yellow paints. When it was dry I ran it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The simmer/bling look was achieved with Perfect Pearls. A spritz of water and it was set.

Until my next post,

Diane

Art and Soul really rocked this year!!

I had seven classes at Art & Soul this year. Two on Thursday and Friday and one each Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I met a lot of wonderfully talented and fun people. The staff of Glenny and Bee were the best. Maria, Richard and Jen set up the best store in the state for those five days. Here's some photos of me and the instructors I had. Later I'll show you my finished pieces.








My Thursday day class was altering a band-aid tin with Lesley Venable.








Thursday and Friday evening I had Traci Bunkers as my instructor. Thursday evening we made our own "silk" screens and Friday was spent making our own stamps.








Friday and Sunday I had classes with Claudine Hellumth. Friday was The Frayed Edge and Sunday was Adventures in Color.











Saturday I had the class Five Books in One Day with Jill Berry.









Monday I ended with Longstitch Variations taught by Chrissie Hines.





Until my next post,
Diane

Another Card for Sid

This is card I sent to Sid in the UK this month. Tomorrow you get to see the ATC's. I selected the theme for our monthly ATC swap this month and I chose Tanda Stamps. Now this card only has Studio G stamps on it. I just love those $1 stamps. I made my own background and then highlighted each stamp. A pretty simple card but I think it looks OK.

Until my next post,

Diane

Stampers Corner ATCOTM Babies

This month our theme for the ATC of the month at Stampers Corner was "babies". I don't have any stamps for that so I got a download of an image from the Graphics Fairy. There are some great images there and they are free. That is tied for my favorite four letter word -- the other being "sale". Anyway I used some scrap papers and Ranger Distress Inks to make them look old. The stamp is from Tanda Stamps a UK company that makes some nice images. I waited and waited until the dollar was competitive with the pound then was able to take advantage of free shipping AND a sale. What more can you ask for? I used an image the seemed to combine with the clip art, tonic and pills. Hope the recipient likes it.

Until my next post,
Diane

TGIF Flowers ATC

The theme for this weeks TGIF ATC at the Altered Designs Yahoo group is Flowers. The stamps I used are from Inkadinkado. I stamped them with VersaMark ink then embossed with clear embossing powder. I used Ranger Distress Inks with the pen nibs to color in the flowers. The little embellishment was from the bargain bin at Michael's.

Until my next post,

Diane

My attempt to recreate Albie's papers

After taking two classes from Albie Smith and really liking the results of what I had created I tried to replicate my work at Art & Soul in 2008. Early last summer I purchased some of the materials that Albie listed on her work sheet. I played and played and played. I've actually got about five sets of papers to create more books for friends and family members. I think I did a good job...now I need to assemble these papers and make them into books.

Until my next post,

Diane

Day 4 at Art and Soul last year

Art and Soul is a five day event running Thursday-Monday but I didn’t take a class on Monday so this was my last event of last year.

This class was taught by Chrissie Hines (not the singer from the Pretenders) but a paper crafter. This little sturdy book was made by using Omni Gel and a really ordinary household item along with some thin paper. You could use decorator napkins, tissue paper or other very thin paper. We stamped the front and back covers and colored them in with metallic paints. The pages are just half of an 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper. Chrissie brings loads of stamps, inks and paints so it was great to stamp quotes on the pages that go in the book. The neat thing about this is that you can replace the pages when you fill them up. Think of this as a book you put in your purse to make notes to yourself and then replace with new pages when you’ve filled up the book.

Until my next post,

Diane

Art & Soul half over - vendor night tonite

Day 3 at Art and Soul last year

While I’m at Art and Soul for the next few days I’ll show what I made last year at this time. Hopefully it won’t take me another year to photo what I am currently making!

The class I had last year today was taught by Daniel Essig. I had made signature books before BUT I had never done the Coptic stitch. This little book had a lot to it. It is two books in one with three covers, one that is shared. You can see in the photo that it opens one way from one view and another when you turn it over. One side was a two needle stitch and the other was a four needle stitch. I’m really glad I took the class but I don’t think I’ll make this type of book again. It was confusing and a wonder I didn’t stitch myself to the book – wait I did -- and had to undo it – how embarrassing. This book has mica covers over some pretty paper bugs on one side and dragonflies on the other.

Until my next post,
Diane

Day 2 at Art and Soul last year

While I’m at Art and Soul for the next few days I’ll show what I made last year at this time. Hopefully it won’t take me another year to photo what I am currently making!

Here’s the photos from my second class with Albie Smith. This class was a two-fer, we made two art books for the price of one. The first was similar to yesterdays but without the paste paper. We decorated both sides of the paper with the watered down gesso with other art paints. When that dried we picked one side to decorate with stencils or stamps using the gesso and paints at full strength. After that dried we made a fold and the secured the pages one to another with a very strong tape.

The second book used black paper as the background along with the full strength gesso and art paints. We then “made” the book by trimming the full sheet and attaching sections. Again, to preserve original design I won’t go into more detail but if you take one of her classes you’ll get all the secrets.

Until my next post,
Diane