Home Improvement Card

Like many American's I've got a relative (or friend) deployed in the desert. Along with a care package of snacks and things to give to the kids over there I sent him this card. Why send a Home Improvement card to a guy deployed? Well for one I don't have a lot of "guy" cards hanging around and I wanted to send this to him sooner than later. Also, I figure he'll have a lot of honey-do projects when he comes back after his tour.

Until my next post,
Diane

My First Zentangles

This year at Art and Soul I took a class on beginning Zentangle with Suzanne McNeill. Along with being a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher) she is the owner of Design Originals a craft book publishing company. Take a look at her apron and you can get an idea of her ability to make Zentangles.

We stared with a small one (the one on the upper left and made five patterns. After that we did a bit of shading (I need to work on mine in the future). Then we tried white gel pen on black paper, luckily no shading is necessary).

After lunch, we all chose a stencil and used both a .01 and a .05 Micron Pen and learned a few more patterns. I improvised in the top part of my pumpkin stencil with what I filled in on the stem and leaf. I also did a bit of highlighting with the white pen.

Our last exercise was to decorate the outer edge of the very small stamped image in the center. I got a bit out of control and was accused of being an over achiever.

My two tips for doing Zentangles are 1) use your reading glasses if you have them. By the end of the day my eyes were very tired. 2) work in an area with good lighting. The convention center lighting was also a contributing factor to my tired eyes.

All in all a very enjoyable class, Suzanne's personality is suited to teaching this type of class. We left with a great journal to do more tangles in. We also got two Micron pens, a white gel pen and a bunch of handouts from Suzanne to use in future exercises.

WARNING: Zentangles can be addictive. Look for more by me in the future. Don't say you never got got the word.

Until my next post,

Diane

Art and Soul 2011 Project teaser

This year for the Hampton Art and Soul I took all three classes with Ingrid Dijkers. This was her first time teaching at Art and Soul and I hope she comes back. Her work has a great whimsical quality to it but still on the edge. As a matter of fact the first class I took with her was called An Instructional Guide for Going over the Edge.

Before I go into more detail let me first say that there is no way you'll accomplish an entire journal in a one day class of hers BUT don't let that dissuade you at all.

The first class was filled with loads of tutorials on her techniques for painting and all the different ways she has to make a boring rectangular journal page into something very special. She uses all sorts of templates and we traced them so we could have them for later use. We also got a great explanation of how to jazz up the edges of papers by sewing yarns, beads or buttons on the edge. Some of the sewing is with thread but some with wire.

Our kits included the covers in the form of a binder for day one and three or wood for day two. We also got loads of journal prompts and a nice selection of the same imagery she used in her three journals.

I got more done on day two which was called Through the Rabbit Hole. All my pages (front and back) have been painted and I've applied Ingrid's double-sided imagery to three pages.

I concur with a classmate that said she didn't feel that bad about not finishing because we didn't have complicated stitching to try to remember after the fact and it is easy to add pages because of the three ring binding concept.

The last day was the Octopus's Garden a Steampunk inspired journal. Again all my pages are prepared front and back and one image applied - the Bunny Man. I also cut my binder down to size.

I encourage you to take a class with Ingrid your journal pages will never look the same again.

Until my next post,
Diane

Calendar Card

Here's another card I made with the Technique Junkies Waxed Cuttlebug technique. This one is a bit different since I didn't stamp on it before I ironed the embossed waxed paper. I used stamps from Inque for the outside and Fiskars for the inside. The inside says "Happy Birthday" "may all your wishes come true".

Until my next post,
Diane

Happy Anniversary Card

This was a pretty easy technique and looks more involved than it was. This technique is called Waxed Cuttlebug resist and it was from their April 2008 issue. Basically you emboss a piece of wax paper. Stamp your words or images on glossy cardstock. Now iron the wax paper (don't forget to put a piece of scratch paper on top of the wax paper) on to the glossy cardstock. You might not see much but the next step will reveal your background. I used a brayer and a multi colored ink pad. You'll see a bit of the background coming though. After you have the color to your liking, rub off the excess and you'll reveal the resisted Cuttlebug design.

Until my next post,
Diane

Hugs and Kisses Card

Yet another card I made using the versatile template that I learned from Boxer Scrapbooks at a make and take. It uses coordinating papers a white gel pen and silver peel offs that are colored in with a Sakura gel pen.

Until my next post,
Diane

Simply the Best...Ever card

Sometimes when I've attended classes you don't get to finish everything in the allotted time period. Some classes are actually built that way. I've been in some where you work on 4-5 cards and then get materials to complete 2-3 more on your own (with instructions or at least pictures) at a later date. This card is one of those. I took a class last year sponsored by Technique Tuesday. This is one of the cards I made later. The background is actually a really small stamp repeated. I took a couple of classes with them and liked them all. Most of their stamps are pretty small but with repeated stamping you can create great background paper of your own.....why do I still buy printed paper then?!?!

I made this card for Mother's Day and hopefully my mother-in-law will have a great day.

Until my next post,
Diane

Happy Birthday card

This card has a few different elements to tell you about. It is based on the Sep/Oct 08 Designer Tiles design by Technique Junkies. I used stamps by 7 Gypsies and the paper is by Echo Park. This is a great design for extra paper you have hanging around.

Until my next post,
Diane

Art and Soul 2010 Day Four - Last day

Today is my last day for Art & Soul. There are classes tomorrow but nothing caught my fancy so I finish a day before it is officially over. I'm taking a class by Sandra Batholomew called Zentangle 101. Here's the description: Learn the basics of Zentangle - a relaxing form of meditation that uses pattern-making to focus your mind. No drawing experience necessary (Really!)   Zentangle can be used for meditation, for art journaling, to learn to draw ... it is a great confidence booster too. There is no way to “mess up”!
In this workshop youʼll learn lots of tangles, or patterns, and get some great ideas on how to incorporate Zentangle into your other artwork.

This will be a great class for my last day. The supply list was minimal and it will be a nice way to wind down after four days of creativity.

Until my next post,
Diane