missing you.......

I'm finally getting around to working with this stack of sets that I designed... the latest dkdesigns batch from smARTworks. I have the hardest time working with my own stuff, for some reason. Not that I don't love them! Maybe it's from working with it in black and white for so long on the computer... maybe because there are so many possibilities... not sure! But... here is my first card. These stamps are from the Wistful Thinking set... I stamped the image in Vintage Sepia and watercolored using a waterbrush and Derwent watercolor pencils. It's a simple card really - I resisted the urges to embellish, so it's extremely mailable as well. :) Love that kid's face - he really does look despondent, huh!

Poor thing.

The set comes with a verse, one of my good 'reminder' verses ("Why are you downcast, oh my soul?...Put your hope in God..!") and also a split sentiment that I remember being on a card my Dad sent to me when I was 6 (we were in CA and he was on a job in TX - that was really special to me!) - "If I'm here and you're there...one of us is in the wrong place!" There are several other sets on the full sheet as well - the artwork and some of the text stamps are my designs as well.
Funny, just musing on what things I miss at 'home' when we're here... not what you'd think really, though there is stuff, you know... like craft stores and Spring and parks and In'n'Out Burger and fresh mushrooms... for me, it's not so much foods or conveniences -- mostly things like anonymity and independence. Shopping or going to the library by myself to unwind, just enjoying being anonymous and ignored. I miss that!

OK... enough for today (sigh)...!

the Heart of a Home

This card is a bit more scrappy than my usual style, but occasionally I push myself out of my box... All stamps are from smARTworks.

The house is colored wtih Neopiko markers, and I framed it in a diecut made with 2 Nestabilities flowers. I stamped the sentiment then chopped it up, then positioned the pieces under the edge.... I made sure to tack them in as I sewed the frame randomly onto the plaid panel. The little heart is just a handcut piece of chipboard, covered with designer paper and sanded around the edges. The plaid panel is sewed to the corner of a large square doily. That gives another home-y touch, I think!

Remember to check out smARTworks' single sets which are still at 50% off - still lots to choose from!

Busy week...gotta run!

Irises

I'm still working on cleaning out my "not posted" file of card pictures - one of these days I will catch up with myself! Too many ideas, not enough time..........

A package of stamps was sent to me from Heartfelt Creations the day before they revised their design team contract, so it was already on its way to me when I stepped down from the team. They generously said, "Be blessed, have fun with them!" ........and I am! Thanks, you guys....... Love these stamps - gorgeous artwork, and so fun to watercolor.

The stamps I used on this card are:
Iris
Message #2

The main panel is watercolored with reinkers... there's a square panel there that was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder - other papers are from my scrap stash, which it seems will never be used up in my lifetime.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend - we are getting some needed rain at the moment!

perfect package

This is a fun little image from Amber Ink.... you might recognize the artwork from another company, but this is straight from the artist, Amber Alvarez, in a digital set... for free!!! There are a bunch of other gift wrapping accessories in the set, which could be used for accents or even some custom background paper... fun stuff.

I colored the image with Neopiko markers and shaded with Prismacolor pencils. Coloring hair is not my speciality.... I did most of my shading with browns, except for the skin tones. Just a little thing I do! Gloria asked about shading with greys - I'll have to work with that a little bit for ya... Browns or deeper tones of the same color area are more my norm. The sentiment is part of the set as well. Down below there's a close-up so you can see the little bit of glitter on the ribbon...

Check out the Amber Ink store - there are a few other sets available for free at this time, others for sale, plus digital paper, and more to come!

I'm impatiently waiting for friends to arrive... one of our classes has been away for 9 weeks on a language/ culture learning practicum, and they are on their way home now.... Some of my best friends are in that class, and I have missed them so much...!

Hoppy.........

For about 6 years I've dealt with anxiety and panic attacks, and physical symptoms of stress... I'm preparing to teach a health class for the next 4 weeks, and the stress of that manifested itself today in nerve pain through my hand and forearm. Great! It's happened before, but it's still unsettling... Best way to get through it is to do something calming... so my de-stress activity was to play some challenges. That usually works! Sooooooo.......

This card is for:
Our Creative Corner - Spring card
Everybody-ArtChallenge - Easter card
Peachy Keen Stamps - sketch challenge
Colour Create Challenge - pastels and Easter card

Now I'm not normally an Easter Bunny card person. Spring Bunny, yes... but... I wanted to be able to submit this card to the Heartfelt Creations gallery as well, and I don't have a "Happy Spring" stamp from them, so in the interest of the sketch and the sentiment that turned out to be the right size... sigh...

Bathing Bunny is the name of this image - I used to collect rabbits growing up (figurines, stuffed, etc.) and I love them still. I watercolored my image, and added a few popped leaves, then cut around the image with a Coluzzle template, skipping the areas I wanted to leave outside the circle. My card is 4-1/4" x 6", folded the long way, and I cut the scalloped edge with a corner rounder (corner guide removed).

Thanks for stopping by!

answering questions

Thought I'd answer a few questions that have come up over the last couple weeks....here we go!

I love how you add the score lines around the edges of your DP. Do you add them after you cut the paper to size or do you add the score lines and then cut the paper??

I score the edges of my panels using my Score-Pal, cutting the panel to size first, and then scoring just inside the edge. Sometimes I score from the back, and sometimes right on the front - depends on when it hits me to do the scoring... if I have too much dimension involved to flip the panel over, I just score the panel right side up.

Great coloring! Do you think you would line up the colored pencils you use and share the colors you like to add shadows with?

It's a thought! But usually I tuck my pencils right back into their slots as soon as I'm done using them. Otherwise I might not get them back in the right order, and as OCRD as I am (thanks Sue for that acronym...Obsessive Compulsive Rainbow Disorder! ha!)... well... If it would be helpful, though, maybe I'll try to take note of which colors I use, and include a little chart. When I have some more time I'll try to figure out a way to make that easy to do.

I've never used Gamsol or OMS to blend colored pencils...do you have to be careful, any safefty concerns with the product?

I've noticed that my OMS is increasingly odorous as time goes by. I use just a generic (Walmart paint section) OMS, not artist grade, but here is a link to the MSDS for Gamsol, which is an artist grade solvent. Always best to use it in a ventilated area - I keep mine in a glass jar and close it when I'm not using it.

I would love to see your family blog and facebook. Would you share the addys for your sites?

Our family blog is at http://kowals.blogspot.com/ and you can find me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mamadini !

You should be selling your work!!

I do! The bummer is having to charge international postage... but occasionally I'm able to send packets Stateside with a friend. You can see the cards I have for sale here! <-------------

Thanks for the questions - I am happy to answer them, so ask away!

Cheers,

Birthday Tulips & Pencil Resource

We have a lot of family birthdays in March - my sister-in-law, mother, brother, husband, and one son... in honor of them all and because I miss Spring flowers and I hear they are trying to pop up now, here's another birthday card this week. I paired a sentiment from a Penny Black clear set with Tulip Vase from Serendipity Stamps. The image is colored with Prismacolor pencils.


Speaking of my pencils... I spent some time over the last couple of days making a chart of my colored pencils, then scanning the chart and trying to 'pick' the colors to create a digital chart. Didn't work as perfectly as I would have liked, but it's sort of cool, anyway, and it helped me get my pencils in an order I'm happy with. For those that care about this kind of stuff, I keep my pencils in these Global Classic leather cases from Dick Blick - somehow my pencils fill 2 of these 120-pencil cases (*blush*).



Anyway, in case anyone is interested in the chart I made, I have it posted on my website - the pencils are not in "Prismacolor" order, and I have some other brands of pencils thrown in the mix, but they are in an order that makes sense to me and makes me happy when I look at it... me who has been putting my crayons and everything else in rainbow order since Kindergarten. There is a pdf version for those who just want to see the pretty colors (hehe), and a Word .doc version for those who might want to adjust the chart to their own collection.


If you have questions feel free to ask!

daffodils and birthdays

Here's another older card, but I'm feeling spring-ish today! Actually I've been in the kitchen all day... cooking is one of my love languages and today is my husband's birthday so I wanted to prepare him a special meal. Almost everything that I wanted to make could be done ahead of time, so with macaroni salad in the fridge, chocolate cream pie cooling, chicken marinating... I'm just taking a break before I have to go and face the piles of dishes!

This is Butterfly with Daffodils, an Impression Obsession stamp... the image is watercolored, and cut out with a Coluzzle template. This background paper is something I designed just messing around in PhotoImpact with a wallpaper image from the Graphics Fairy... not sure what process I went through on it, and I could probably never do it again!

There was a question about scoring edges the other day - I score the edges of my panels using my Score-Pal, cutting the panel to size first, and then scoring just inside the edge. (BTW, on the oval panel - I just eyeballed the distance from the edge and scored that edge with a stylus). Sometimes I score from the back, and sometimes right on the front - depends on when it hits me to do the scoring... if I have too much dimension involved to flip the panel over, I just score the panel right side up.

Speaking of daffodils, I picked up this little Lindsay's Stamp Stuff digital set from mygrafico.com the other day... one of these days I will use all these digital stamps I am amassing... good thing they don't take up any space!


Happy weekend!

Hummingbird Easel card

Thought I'd explore a little different color palette with this card - I love this deep coral, but don't often use it. I looked up these trumpet flowers on a google image search, and their color was my inspiration.

This is an image from Heartfelt Creations called Trumpet Bouquet - beautiful, isn't it? My mom's love of hummingbirds rubbed off on me. The main focal panel is watercolored with reinkers. I added some deeper shadows with Derwent pencils, and put a layer of Shimmerz over the flowers and birds... because I like sparkly things.

The embossed grid was scored with my Scor-Pal and the other embossing was done using a Fiskars texture plate. Diecuts are from Cuttlebug.

I decided to make this an easel card - if you're not familiar with these cards, their base is a modified Z-fold (a regular half sheet of cardstock, folded in half, and then one side folded back on itself, to the center fold). The card front, then is only adhered along the bottom half, so that when it is opened, the middle of the 'Z' acts as an easel. There is usually something raised on the inside to hold the card front upright. I added some layers underneath my inside sentiment, and that served to hold my front panel up.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: It's a ME day!

The Impression Obsession team challenged each other to create a card that represents what we would indulge in on a "ME day" - I could use one of those right about now, after this busy week with DH away! There are so many images I could have used... beach scenes and quiet gardens come to mind, not to even mention the Truffle Tree....... but I know truly if the house were quiet and my to-do list were under control (OK, we're dreaming, but anyway...), I would be sitting at my 'other desk' with my mug of paintbrushes and tools out, stamping and coloring. My mug isn't as dainty and delicate as this one, and it's chipped...but I love it because it's so me.


I was thinking "one layer card" when I started out, but as usual this card 'evolved' as I went along. The frame is from the Journaling clear set, stamped in Memories Soft Wheat ink. I stamped the Artist Mug image over that, and colored it all in with Prismacolor pencils. The sentiment was stamped in chalk ink.


Check out my mug - it even says "Mama" on the handle. How perfect is that? Favorite tools in there to keep in reach - waterbrush (Niji), Xacto knives, Coluzzle swivel knife, long reverse tweezers, gel and glue pens, piercing tool, stipple brush, file... and what is the plural form of stylus? styluses? styli?


Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!

What would you do on a "me" day?

a cup of tea

Yesterday one of my student friends and I threw a little ladies' tea... so many times we get together for the purpose of teaching or sports, but not so often just to "BE" and to enjoy each other's company. Since we had a holiday and a free afternoon, it seemed like a good time.


In honor of tea - a tea card. This uses several stamp sets (sorry, I'm a bit at a loss as to how to label them since they are not available in sets as such anymore......) from smARTworks but features a set that I designed, called Teapot Trio. I didn't use all 3 layers to create the teapot - instead I used the 3rd stamp in the set to create the outline and detail of the image, then shaded in the rest with pencils...yet another way the Trio stamps can be used. I like the subtle monochromatic look here.


Not really a lot to explain here, though if you have questions about anything, please feel free to ask. :) By the way, the Teapot Trio set is still available as a single set while supplies last, at 50% off. Here is a link to the sets that are still available at this deep discount - the teapots are on the bottom row, third from the right. Also, remember our smARTword challenge to create a monochromatic card - if you do, link it up over at the challenge blog!

Happy thoughts.

Another older card, but I needed to post something cheerful to get my mind off all the worms, grubs, spiders, and rats that I've seen this morning! Blaaaaaaaaahhh...... if you want details, they're on our family blog, pics are on Facebook. NOT posting them here...!

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.

This is one of last year's summer releases from Impression Obsession - when I first saw the image (and before it was named "Sweet Lemonade") I right away thought 'watermelon' - so I made sure to color it appropriately on this one. I sewed some seed beads on to the little garnish there. (I did that on another project last night that turned out really cute - can't wait to share that one with you!)

Monday. Working on surviving day 3 without DH, halfway through. Today I lead the staff ladies' meeting; tomorrow is a holiday (seriously have no clue why), so one of the students and I are throwing a little 'ladies' tea' just for fun, totally informal, no agenda, just food and good company; Wednesday I have some things to share in our small group; Thursday DH will be home; Friday I lead ladies' chapel! Busy busy week. (Then Sunday is DH's birthday, Tuesday is Benny's....health class starts the 29th...) Lots of things to do in the in-between times, too. Guess that's a good thing. Bring it on.

Thanks for checking in on me today! Encourage one another --------

Quick card

Here's a quickie I forgot to blog... it was for a challenge Firecracker Designs by Pamela had over on Facebook. Random drawing, didn't win, but I finally got to ink up these elephants. I love the artwork in this set! My father-in-law loves elephants, so that has endeared them to me too. You can see the full set by clicking here.

The scene is all done with inks and a prismacolor pencil for shading. The mountain line was sponged, using a torn strip of paper as a mask. My background is a modified scrap-strip background, just with larger chunks of scraps, and sponged and scored edges. That's a button from my hoard, and the woven mat was a local find. The dark brown layer was embossed with a Fiskars texture plate.

Heavy sigh...DH is gone for most of the week, and of course his first day away I was down with an all-day allergy attack. Today I feel a bit like I got hit by a truck... achy all over, headache (I think I clenched my teeth last night), knots in my back. Nice! Still, life goes on - this is a busy week. So thankful to live in a team-community with people checking on me and willing to help. Thankful for strength beyond my own, made perfect in my weakness - 2 Cor. 12:9.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

bright birdcages

This is an older card but it never did get posted before... thought I'd post it now and let you know that this Impression Obsession birdcage trio is available in rubber, and is now also available as part of a clear set called "Tweet Life," along with some other great bird and cage stamps designed by Leigh Hannan. (BTW...the cages in the clear set are 3 separate stamps, while the rubber stamp has them all together.)

These colors are not in my regular color palette, and especially not in this combination... not sure what inspired their brightness at the time! I used LePlume markers and a waterbrush to fill in the scene. The dot oval helps to ground the image, and each little cage is embellished with a matching jewel. The sentiment, Enjoy your Day, was cut at wonky angles, and matted. I punched a hole through it to accomodate the ribbon.

That sentiment reminds me... our upcoming challenge is to create a card that depicts what you would do on a "me" day... hope you can join us!

I'll take the bright colors today - trying to steel myself for the next 6 days when DH will be traveling to another island to visit friends, encourage coworkers, and evaluate his language progress. Sigh.....................................

lilac tag card

At some point in the time before we moved overseas I needed some shipping tags for a project, and being the thrifty person that I am, decided that it made sense to buy the box of 500 because it was a better value. I feel pretty confident that I will not run out of tags for the rest of my LIFE now. Ha! Anyway, I've had fun making these little tag cards lately - they're great for a quick card, or to leave as a thank you, attach to a gift, etc. I used smARTworks stamps to create the one below. The flowers are stamped with chalk inks and then overstamped with Brilliance inks, and I sponged around the edges... pretty straightforward.

Here's the tag at an angle so you can see how that Brilliance ink jumps off the card.

Remember you can still purchase remaining in-stock single sets from smARTworks for 50% off. You can read Susan's recent blog posts for other recent changes affecting ordering, pricing, shipping, specials, and the design team. Whew! Lots going on.

Take care --------

something new......

Not sure what it is about these Pure Innocence images, but some of them have found their way into my digital stamp files.....! I learned that these little cuties are available not only as clear stamps but also direct from the artist as digital images - then I went to her site and found a bunch on sale! Even better. Looks like her site is being updated right now - so if it's still the same when you go there, her images are also available for purchase from her Etsy store, and the link is right there.

I printed the images on watercolor paper and watercolored with reinkers. I was delighted to find that on these open line images the ink did not bleed with the watercolors. (I worked with another more detailed image that didn't do so well - so if you're wanting to try this, consider your image, and play around a little first.) I cut freehand around my watercolored scene. The rest of the layout is made up of scraps from my stash.


On both cards, the sentiments are from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co. If you've never visited that site, well... I'll just say that it's one of my favorites, and the price is right. So many verses and encouraging and 'perfect' sayings for every occasion.


The background panel on my second card is another of the panels I made the other day when I couldn't stop playing with my I.O. Cover-a-Card stamps...this one is stamped on sponged glossy cardstock. (Tapestry 2 again... sponged and stamped with Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink - Bisque )

NOTE: When you stamp with Fluid Chalk ink on glossy cardstock, after the ink is dry you can buff off the chalk finish to restore the glossy finish.

That's it for today! Blessings ---------

my world

A trip to town always helps me clear my head and usually yields a few interesting things to share... yesterday's trip was just really needed after a humbling and hormonal week - definitely needed a fresh perspective on things!

<---------- This was the first thing that made me laugh on the way into town. It would have been funnier (and yet, not surprising...) to see someone carrying it on the back of a motorcycle... but it looks pretty out of place in a truck bed too. OK, it would look out of place anywhere over here. Funny.

Driving along the ocean we saw this ship, the Clipper Odyssey - I googled it when we got home, and found out that this ship is on its way to Bali. How interesting! Also found out that passenger fares begin at $10,000+ per person... so... I guess I'll just be happy that I saw it, and that I get to live in one of their stop points...

Here's a peek at part of my lunch - I thought this little fried wonton wrapper holder for my fries was clever... In one of the malls there are some new restaurants serving local food, Chinese, and "western" - they are side-by-side, apparently owned by the same person, and share a kitchen, so when you order they bring you all 3 menus. Sort of cool...especially if the kids are along (last time they had sandwiches and I had Kung Pao...!).

My exciting purchase of the day was this craft knife/tool kit - I had seen it before and told myself, "Nice, but don't need..." but since I was at the hardware store with DH, thought I'd look for it again, couldn't find it... then when DH found it he thought it was such a great price (about $13) he couldn't believe I had passed it up before! Check out all the extra blades too...now I can take up woodcarving in my spare time! *snort* I found some gardening tools too, which will be nice, rather than pulling up weeds by hand. My flower beds are a mess...

Spent the day cooking today - sticky buns for breakfast, big batch of from-scratch spaghetti/ pizza sauce, and pizza for dinner tonight. Hope you have a great weekend!