Splitcoast tutorial: Embossed Marble Background

This week's tutorial over on Splitcoast is called Embossed Marble Background - instead of ink, several colors of embossing powder are applied over spray adhesive. Fun technique! 
I used gold, copper and verdigris powders from Ranger for my background... and because it was cold and I didn't want to spray Pixie Spray in the house, I used a pump spray glue instead. It worked ok... but there were a few areas where the glue ran because the spray was too heavy and wet. Not a terrible problem, but it did affect the coverage of the powder in a couple of areas. Rather than reapplying glue, I just inked over the embossing with brown ink - you can see it a bit in the lower right corner. It adds to the overall distressed look of my background so I'm not mad about it, but there it is. 😀

I got this Stampscapes set on ebay with some other background stamps - it was a deal I was pret-ty proud of, I'll tell you! Finally got to ink it up and learn a thing or two. It's sure not perfect, but it was fun! That panel is watercolor paper, so I used Versafine Clair for my stamping and watercolors to color in, along with a paint pen and a dark colored pencil.

That is all I know today! My brain is full of bead and stamp designs and art show details. Hope you are having a great week!

Impression Obsession DT Theme - Hearts

The Impression Obsession team has some projects to share today featuring hearts! Maybe you'll find some inspiration for a Valentine project - who knows?? 

I wanted to be sure to include a quote stamp on my card, because ALL quote stamps are on sale in our featured category this week! You'll find a bunch of my designs in there as well. 

This is a quote from one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, Much Ado About Nothing - if you haven't seen Kenneth Branagh's movie version of this play, PLEASE please promise me you'll watch it while it's free on Prime Video! I love it so much.

I stamped this floral heart image (H20897 Wildflower Heart Wreath) in Mist hybrid ink - this is a great ink for a no-line look, and with lighter coloring it takes the color of whatever goes over it. I misted the image with water first and dropped in some watercolor with a large brush, then dried that layer and went in with more detail. Definitely a less-is-more process! I love how the misted water carries the colors out in unexpected ways.

Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration. See the I.O. blog for all the details!

Impression Obsession - January release hop favorites!

Have you enjoyed the projects using this month's new release from IO? We've got another round of cards to share today, showing off our favorites! If you're already hopping and you came from Anna's blog you are in the correct place. If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop so you don't miss anything!

The perspective of this stamp is so fun and unique - I love it! I paired it up with some IO dies as the focal panel for a Vertical Easel Card (check out this week's tutorial on Splitcoast HERE). The layering panels on my card front were embossed with this new stencil from A Colorful Life Designs (it's a 2 step stencil but I only used the hearts).

The focal panel is popped up on these 2 folded die cuts, which allows the whole panel to come forward when the card is displayed. A small die cut panel inside the card acts as a stop for the folded front piece.

Isn't that sweet?

IO products used:

E20910 Hand Bouquet

DIE930-Z Mid-Size Frame

DIE135-F Heart Set

WP961 Seasonal Palette clear set

We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession Grab Bags this week! Each comment you leave along the hop will give you a chance to win. Comments will be open until Monday January 18th at midnight CT. All winners will be announced on Tuesday January 19th on the Impression Obsession Blog.

Your next stop on the hop is Giovana's blog- thank you for visiting me today!

Sunday Sunset Drive ........ at the movies!

My favorite die sets from Spellbinders are transportation related - there's the amazing 'Truckin' Through the Seasons' truck set, the 'Enjoy the Ride' scooter set... I have even purchased a full card kit just for the car dies! Last year's set was called Sunday Drive, and it's another delightful classic car. There have been a couple of add-on sets in recent months, and I received the Sunday Sunset Drive set to play with - it's Valentine themed with characters and additional license plates. So cute! But you know me..............
Inspired loosely by Mystery Science Theater, I turned one of the dies into theater seats, and sent two couples to the movies! They're even social distancing. I used all black cardstock for my die cuts (you should recognize the stage curtains from last month's large die kit) and just added a few pale grey highlights with a pencil. 

The background was stenciled with the Cloud Edger stencil from A Colorful Life Designs - it was a watercolored panel that I had experimented with and tucked away for later. Sentiment is from my line, and it's HERE.

Here's the Sunday Drive car in case you might not have seen it... these couples would certainly be adorable in there as well!

Hopefully you're inspired to look at your dies a little differently!

I was offered the opportunity to display my artwork  at City Hall in Sedalia, MO, which is a larger town in the next county - my son helped me hang it all yesterday - 15 pieces plus a few smaller painted plaques (he actually did all the hard work! Love that guy).

It's been quite a week. Be well, stay true. Tell me something good!

Splitcoast Tutorial: Kaleidoscope Squares

I have a new tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers today - it's called Kaleidoscope Squares! I hope you'll check it out. It's a fun and easy technique with lots of possible outcomes.
This is the image I used - it's one that I drew after a trip with my mom to a farmer's market in Spokane. I wanted to make sure I got that curved line in, because I knew it would repeat in an interesting way, no matter which position I chose for my squares.

L13617 Cosmo Corner

The way the magenta flowers line up this way was completely serendipitous - and I love the way those orange petals in the center make a cross! Just a small shift in the stamp's position and the outcome will be completely different - so fun.

If you try this technique out, let me know! I love knowing that I helped you try something new or look at your supplies in a different way.

I'm working on some new art this week - I have added this new piece to my store (prints and cards) and have a few more birds I want to draw as well as a pair of tigers I'm very excited about. Click through on the cardinal for a 10% discount in my store, especially for my blog readers!

Have a wonderful week!

Impression Obsession January release hop Day 2

Welcome back for another day of projects using brand new Impression Obsession stamps! All new stamps are available HERE! We will kick off each month with a 2-day hop, showing off the new releases - today is day 2! If you're already hopping and you came from Anna's blog you are in the correct place. If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop so you don't miss anything!

I I just love this sad-but-relevant sentiment...! I thought it would be cute on a cellphone card. The card is about 4" x 6", and I used my trusty corner rounder to shape the corners. I used this die for the camera hole and cutout - it worked perfectly!

The Stitched Speech Border die was just right for my little text bubble - and that set comes with left and right pieces so you could even pop a conversation in!

Keep hopping for more inspiration! Each day (Jan 1st & Jan 2nd) you can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog. We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession $25 gift certificates for the event - so the more you comment through our Release Celebration the more chances to win!

All comments for each of the event days will be open until Monday January 4th at midnight CT, so if you missed any posts from yesterday you can still go back to comment. All winners will be announced on Tuesday January 5th on the Impression Obsession Blog!

Your next stop on the hop is Giovana's blog- thank you for visiting me today!

Impression Obsession January release hop Day 1

Long before I was a part of the IO team, the releases were such a thrill for me - I couldn't wait to see what each one would bring! NOW, you'll be able to experience that excitement every month! IO is moving to a monthly release, featuring designs by 2-3 artists each time. We hope you like this new model - we are excited about the changes beginning right now! The new stamps are available HERE!

We will kick off each month with a 2-day hop, showing off the new releases. If you're already hopping and you came from Anna's blog you are in the correct place. If not, head over to the Impression Obsession Blog for the start of the hop so you don't miss anything!

I had to start off with something different - I used one of Lindsay's new stamps to create some polymer clay jewelry! This one is called Heart Medallion. (It would make a beautiful focal image or repeated background image too!) I started by pressing the stamp into conditioned white polymer clay: 

Next I cut as many shapes as I could, taking advantage of the symmetry of the design.

The pieces were cured, then colored with alcohol inks and acrylic paint. I did a little light sanding for a distressed look, and sealed all the pieces front and back with a matte varnish. 

These jewelry pieces were very simple pieces to make, incorporating some of my paper beads with copper wire and findings.

Keep hopping for more inspiration! Each day (Jan 1st & Jan 2nd) you can find a list of participants on the Impression Obsession Blog. We will be giving away THREE Impression Obsession $25 gift certificates for the event - so the more you comment through our Release Celebration the more chances to win!

All comments for each of the event days will be open until Monday January 4th at midnight CT. All winners will be announced on Tuesday January 5th on the Impression Obsession Blog.

Your next stop on the hop is Giovana's blog- thank you for visiting me today!

2020 in Review

It's a tradition on my blog to look back at the end of the year and pick out a few creative highlights! Hope you enjoy... this year was a massive, endless blur, and some things seem like they happened wayyyyyy longer than months ago! It's good to know that despite all that happened, there are some highlights to remember too!

JANUARY

I made a few tweaks to my stamper-themed charm - this remains my best seller over in my Etsy store! 

January also brought a new stamp release for the 2020 Spring season - this release was full of farmhouse-trendy images and some fun snarky stamps for moms!

FEBRUARY

At the end of February I was on our local TV station! You can imagine how far from my comfort zone this was. I worked with a team this year to start promoting the arts in our county, and we used this opportunity to talk about the art show we were planning. I'm looking forward to more and bigger events in the coming year and beyond!

MARCH

Commissioned portraits continued - here are two adorable beagles I drew in March!

I began creating cut files for paper beads in March - those have been a popular seller as well, especially this one, which cuts 40 different triangle sizes!

APRIL

Another stamp collection was released for Summer 2020 - you can view my entire stamp line HERE.

MAY

I was honored to post a guest article on the Color Magazine blog - that article is HERE. I shared a bit of the heart behind creating commissioned portraits.

JUNE

My work was in a virtual exhibit on the University of Central Missouri website - it's still available to view HERE! I finished this colored pencil piece just in time for the show!

JULY

In July I started messing around with polymer clay - a medium I had been avoiding because I knew I would love it and get obsessed. Right as usual. 😀 I have really enjoyed the process, and it's refreshing to be a learner instead of an educator in this medium. I love incorporating these new skills and products into projects that incorporate paper beads and stamps as well.

Fall/Winter 2020 stamps were released in July - as usual the designs (which had been submitted in February) were strangely appropriate for the cultural climate we found ourselves in. I hope these stamps have been a blessing.

AUGUST

My Bel Air Reflections drawing was published in Color Magazine - this is a back cover feature.

SEPTEMBER

September was full of art show prep - the show we began to plan in January was rescheduled twice and finally moved online! I took the task of coordinating the setup of the show behind the scenes, setting up a website and the show itself. I was honored to have 3 ribbon winners in the show as well! You can still view the show HERE.

OCTOBER

I completed my 100th portrait commission in October! Here are the first 100, in order! It's fun to see the progress in my work.

NOVEMBER

Our annual Falliday Fest event over at Splitcoaststampers was a hit, a much needed community event and a good time to prepare for the holidays. I coordinated the tutorial entries and provided a challenge and tutorial for the event. Here's one of my challenge samples!

DECEMBER

I treated myself to an online beading retreat and fully enjoyed it - it provided me lots of skills and ideas for taking off in my own direction with jewelry designs! Still working to either build or settle into one style, and so many things I still want to try! Here are the beads I made during the retreat, and a few I made with the techniques I learned.

Upcoming changes:

--I decided to step down from the Spellbinders club kit team, though I'll still showcase occasional releases. 

--Impression Obsession is moving to a monthly release model, which means some structural changes behind the scenes - 2 art deadlines for me instead of 4, and more focused collections. I have submitted 3 smaller collections for this 6 month period, so you won't see artwork from me every month, but when you do, I hope you'll love it! February is my next release and it is some of my favorite artwork ever. 

Plans are beginning to stir for 2021 art events, and I'm excited and hesitant at the same time, not knowing how things will unfold in the new year... I know we're all collectively moving ahead with great and hopeful uncertainty. I hope my creative efforts have brought a little comfort and light into your world - I know that I have appreciated your visits and kind words here in this little space of mine!

All the best to you in 2021. Thank you for looking back with me!