Draygonfly Dreams

Goodbye Draygonfly Dreams

2010-09-14T13:06:00.000-04:00

This is it guys! All the posts have been moved to the new blog, I've dusted the corners and am now walking along the empty halls of my familiar blogging home for the last time.

We have not lost anything with the move. Everything is packed and nobody should be left behind. If you have not bookmarked the new site, hope on in the last box and let's get going!

Even if you miss this last box, this old site is not going away and I've left directions on how to get you to the new blog. You'll automatically be redirected after a few seconds on the site.

Look forward to seeing you at the new place! We have blogging tutorials, computer and photoshop tips, paper crafting, quilting, phototgraphy, letterboxing, stamp carving and even links to my blog designs.

See you there!

Le Jardin de Papiers - Blog Design

2010-09-09T09:01:00.002-04:00

Here's a snapshot of a new design I did. Click on the image below to get the full details.

Digi Quick Page Freebie - Photo Cluster 20100907

2010-09-07T18:42:00.003-04:00

Did you every try something and then just decide you kind of were not that good at it?

For years now, I've been trying (in vain?) to recreate in paper what I can easily do in digital.. be it cards or scrapbook pages or whatever.

It's just so hard for me to use the paper supplies and when I do, nothing comes out like this. So, I'm jumping back into what I love --- playing on the computer and I thought I'd share some of my quick pages with you guys. I'm positive that others are doing this too and probably already have a name for this kind of thing.

Basically, you bring your paper into your photo editing **software and clip it to the shapes. Then embellish with goodies and text and finally insert your images (also clipped in).

With a quick page file like this, you can have a digi scrapbook page finished in minutes. The sample above was finished in 6 minutes with a free digi kit called Counting Sheep from Carrie Stephens.

This download is available for a limited time... so get it before it's gone!

Get it HERE!

**Your software must handle layers - PS, PSE, Paint.net and GIMP all do this. This file was created in CS5 with maximum backward compatibility.

You Rock - Digi LO

2010-09-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

I've been playing digital lately. It's so easy to create a design and then print it for my 8 x8 album. This layout is done in Joey's favorite colors. It's for the Unscripted Sketches Challenge.

2010-09-02T11:15:00.000-04:00

This 8x8 page was made for the Digi Scrapping Challenge Masking 102 . I used elements from the Natural Breeze kit.

Laura has a great tutorial available at the link above, but I do this a bit differently. Here's a little how to on doing this break out.

Bring photo into photoshop

Drag in and size a frame (can also do a stroked selection)

Click photo layer and use lasso tool to do a rough selection the part of the image that will be the break out. Be sure to include the image inside the frame.

Copy selection to a new layer and name it Break Out

Hide the photo layer

Remove background from the break out layer (selection tools, eraser, masking - whatever you are comfortable with)

Unhide photo layer

Click on the frame layer

Use magic wand selector and click outside the frame

Expand selection (Select/Modify/Expand) if needed so that it is at the edge is right at or just inside the outer edge of the frame.

Click the photo layer and press delete

Move the break out layer above the frame

Create a new layer under the break out layer and name it Shadow

Use a soft brush to paint in a shadow behind the breakout.

Finish with digital papers and embellishments

Custom Storage Solution for Embossing Folders and Dies

2010-08-30T19:34:00.000-04:00

ttodd on the Florida Stampers group asked us for ideas for inexpensive storage for embossing folders and dies. This was my suggestion: If you are looking for inexpensive -- and have a little time -- why not consider custom?

Office supply stores are going to be marking down binders In the next week or two. I got a bunch of them last year for a penny each from Office Depot. Watch for sales and pick up a few more than you think you'll need. That way you have room to grow and they will match. Consider the insert type of binder so you can put labels into the spine to indicate what's inside.

Then get a package of the heavy duty sheet protectors. look for 3 mil or higher. We are going to modify these to hold your dies. You can do basic sizes like these

Or you can do custom sizes for the pieces you have. Just measure and add an inch or so; this lets your die sits inside the pocket and gives it room to move on all sides. You need to be able to slip it in and out without needing to pull the pocket apart.

Overview:
You are going to cut through the top layer of the sheet protector to create additional openings. Then you'll be sealing the bottom edges of any pockets that require it.

Supplies:

Binder
Sheet protectors
Scotch tape
Craft knife
Cutting mat
Ruler
Sewing Machine or Sticky Strip
1.5" Circle Punch (optional)

Process:

1. Cutting the Pockets

Use the item to be stored to measure and mark your cut lines with a strip of scotch or masking tape. You are going to need to add a little space around the edges so that the item can be removed easily. You'll need a good half an inch at the bottom for things the thickness of this embossing folder.
Insert a cutting mat, double layer of chipboard or a clip board into the sheet protector. You can use anything you have. This is just to stop the blade from going through the back.
Put a ruler along the tape edge and use a craft knife to cut through the sheet protector. Do not cut through the edges.
Move the ruler 1/4 inch and cut again. Remove this strip entirely.

2. Sewing the Pockets

Set your machine to a long stitch length

Use a teflon foot, walking foot, or reduce your presser foot pressure. I have a teflon foot for my machine and it's a breeze to stitch over the plastic.

Put the folder in the pocket to check the setup. Move the needle closer to the cut edge, if needed.
Sew the bottom edge of the pocket

If you are dividing pockets, sew from the bottom to the top. This will help to prevent a buckle at the end of the stitch. Start with the needle in the stitching line.

If you don't have a sewing machine, you can do this with Sticky Strip too. The hold is not as strong, but it will work.

3. Finishing the Pockets

Use a 1.5" circle punch (which ever you have) to make the notches at the top of the pocket.

If your punch doesn't make a nice cut, try inserting a piece of paper to give it more stability. If it's still gimpy, you'll need to sharpen the punch.

Fill with goodies and put it in your binder/binders.

Notes:

Adhere examples of dies to the inside (front) of the pocket. If you put them onto colored CS first, it works great and doesn't get damaged with repeated removal of the die.
You can store your spellbinders this way too, on CS with a strip of magnetic tape attached.
If you have thicker dies, you can create a pocket for them as well, but it takes a bit more work, let me know if you need those instructions.
Yes, I know you can do the cutting without the tape, but the ruler can easily slip. The tape helps to prevent that and is an added ridge that could stop your knife from slipping with the ruler.

Tased Pants Blog Banner

2010-07-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

A couple of kooky kids in Florida have decided to do a web show. They needed a banner and with a name like Tased Pants, how could it not be a funky banner?

I should tell you that these are my kooky kids! So I had complete creative freedom. I created this text effect using photoshop filters and zapped the pants with some static to be their logo.

They love it and have already got ideas written out for a couple months worth of shows.

Internet Explorer 8 - Got Problems?

2010-07-24T17:10:00.000-04:00

If you have a Windows machine and you've been a good doobie and downloaded the updates then you've been given the opportunity to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8. Were we good doobies? Sure sure. Personally, I'm a Firefox and Chrome girl, but we used IE where I used to work. Anyway, it was a slug and in the words of a wonderful girl I used to know in Texas, "That dog won't hunt!"

This fix does work for some people. *nodding* Although it really shouldn't. See what this does is correct registry entries for a core library for IE... something that should never ever be a problem in the first place. Still it worked for the Doc's computer over a year ago and I just had to apply it to a computer I was working on for a friend.

So, I thought that you guys might be having some issues as well.

WINDOWS XP

click Start, then Run
type cmd and press Enter
enter this command and press Enter:
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll
restart

WINDOWS VISTA/WINDOWS 7

click Start, then All Programs, then Accessories
right click Command Prompt
click Run As Administrator.
enter this command and press Enter:
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll
restart

You should get a confirmation window and then you can close it as well as the command prompt window.

Let me know if this helps or if you have other issues you need help with.

Tintype Photo Restoration

2010-07-19T12:13:00.000-04:00

Original 2" x 3"

It's faded with time and has many discolored spots

Fine cracks cover the surface and the images is worn away in several places

Rust at the edges made the image chip away on all sides

This is a scan of the tintype. The original is 2 x 3" and as you can see it's a little worse for wear. Sad, but not hopeless. This client contacted a company in Ft. Worth to ensure that the image is saved for future generations with digital restoration. I was called in as this image needed a little of a hands on approach. My process is a combination of filters and digital processing along with hand painting with a digital brush.

Preservation of the original is highly recommended as well. I'll give references at the bottom of this post if you are the lucky owner of images like that and would like to preserve them.

Do you want to see the result? *grin* It was so fun to do!

Sepia

Not only did I correct the things mentioned above, but also painted in the corners that had been cut off. I am all about choices though, so I also sent it back as a black and white image.

Black and White

These images can be printed easily at 8 x 10" (or any size below that). Saving this piece of history is an amazing feeling!

Now, back to the original. You should know that original tintypes are very light sensitive and should be handled with gloves to prevent oil from your fingers from causing further damage. Please consider consulting a professional conservator about preservation of these treasures. A conservator can consult on matters of preservation, display and storage. In addition, many offer expertise in safely cleaning and restoring damaged photographs. Not all conservators offer the same services, but most will make referrals to other specialists in the field.

If you live near a museum with a large collection of photographs, that's a great place to start your search for help. Also consider the professional group, The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. (AIC). They offer a referral service to help you find someone.

The AIC web site is part of the Conservation On-Line (COOL).

The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) and FAIC Conservation Services Referral System, 1717 K Street N.W. Suite 301, Washington, D.C. 20006; Telephone: (202) 452-9545; Fax: (202) 452-9328

4th of July

2010-07-07T19:54:00.003-04:00

This card started out as a way to play with the vibrant colored scraps that my friend Sharon gave me. These are retired card stocks from Stampin Up and we can't just let them go in the trash can we??? No!

Here's the inside ---- I gave this one to my landlords with the rent check. They are such a sweet couple and I adore Jennifer to pieces - so it's fun to make them a little something every now and then.

We spent the fourth enjoying the beach and fireworks. It can get pretty crowded - but this year the crowd didn't fill the sand until right about dark. So, evening at the beach was pretty nice.

Morgan waited anxiously for the sun to set. For a moment - we had a beautiful orange sky.

Bob had a hard time capturing the show because there were kids setting off their own fountain fireworks right in front of us. He did get some really good shots though. I just love how the fireworks reflect on the wet sand!

How'd you spend your day?

Post Modern Expression in Journaling

2010-06-21T01:00:00.001-04:00

Or at least that's what Bob calls 'em~ This one is stitched differently. Rather than have the long exposed stitches in the center of the spine, here there are two sets of stitches visible near each end of the spine. It's not more secure, but purely for effect.

Due to the nature of this material, I reinforced stress points on all three of the books that I made. The red felt triangle gives strength where the tie (or wrap) is attached. Inside, the spine has a second layer of the foiled foam.

Red felt, stitching, bookmark and strap make it fun and fabulous!

Oops! Dixie told me it sold on the first day!

Size - 5.5 x 4.25 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

Red Leather Journal - reclaimed

2010-06-20T01:00:00.000-04:00

Red Leather. So vibrant and pretty - plus you can find it in your backpack soooooo much easier! *chuckle*

This leather is reclaimed from a garment that I painstakingly took apart - stitch by stitch. It was headed to the landfill - can you believe it? Not anymore. Now it'll be enjoyed in a whole new way for years to come.

There are more coming for you to see out of this leather!

Size - 5.5 x 4.25 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

Fused Plastic Journal, Tan with Brghtly Colored Stitching

2010-06-19T01:00:00.001-04:00

This fused plastic journal uses four shopping bags from two different stores. The printing on the bags can be seen through all the layers. Looks like shadows and things -- I think it looks cool. The closure and the spine are reinforced with the scrap from the fused plastic process. Nothing wasted!

The bags had orange and green printing on them so who was I to argue with the color scheme? heh In reality, Joey and I couldn't decide which color would look best, so I used both. heh. The perk is that it has two bookmarks now, one in each color.

Here's a shot with the tie or wrap removed so you can see the stitches better. Definately a book to feel good about using!

Size - 5.5 x 4.25 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

Embossed Leather Journal with a "fluffy" cord

2010-06-18T01:00:00.000-04:00

I love this embossed leather! I was making this book with it when Morgan asked why I didn't have one with a thick "fluffy" cord. (I make these cords for handles on bags and things and she just loves 'em) So of course, this one had to have a fluffy cord to close it~

Size - 7 x 5 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

Sapphire Blue Leather Journal

2010-06-17T01:00:00.002-04:00

Here it is! The same delicious leather that I told you about on my sketchbook. This book has black cord stitching and black suede lacing as a tie. There's a silver bead on the bookmark and the tie that holds the book closed.

I used the natural edge of the leather - cause I just love doing that - on the flap. THIS is the book that I almost kept for myself!

Size - 5.5 x 4 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

Bright and Shiny Journal

2010-06-16T01:00:00.000-04:00

How fun is this? Bob calls it a "Post Modern Expression in Journaling"! LOL Whatever you call it, it's darn cool. I made three of 'em so far - Joey nabbed one, Dixie got one and this one it going on Etsy. What? Yes, of course! They are all different~

Red felt, stitching, bookmark and strap make it fun and fabulous!

Oops! Dixie told me hers sold on the first day! Don't miss out --- not sure I can get more of this material.

Size - 5.5" (14 cm) x 4.25" (10.8 cm) and 1.18" (3 cm) thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

White Fused Plastic Journal - Recycle Reuse

2010-06-15T01:00:00.003-04:00

Another book in my journey to make something beautiful from the bin (waste bin that is). Vibrant and tactile, this journal is a keeper. Fused plastic takes time and patience but knowing that I'm keeping these pieces from the landfill, or worse, destroying our already suffering marine wildlife makes the work so fulfilling!

I've designed a unique closure for this book and made the tie or wrap out of the handles of the bags. Again, nothing wasted! Maybe that'll be my new moto. *wnk*

It just begged for brightly colored stitching, so out came Joey's favorite - Lime Green - cord. Matching bookmark.

The process creates unique pieces. Even with the same materials, this book can NEVER be duplicated exactly.

OHHH! This journal was featured in the Etsy Treasury Color me Joyful! Sweet!

Size - 7" (17.8 cm) x 5" (12.7 cm) and 1.18" (3 cm) thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

Tan Leather Journal - Felt Lined with Original Art

2010-06-14T01:00:00.007-04:00

This piece of leather is so soft that I decided to line it with black felt to give it more body. It's machine stitched at 1/4 " from the edge.

The design on the front is a freehand doodle. I used a strip of this leather for the bookmark. This image makes it appear that there's a flaw in the leather, but it's only a place where the nap is laying down. You can brush your hand across this leather and see the marks. Great for finger doodling!

I stitched the signatures to the cover with a bright blue cord and wanted something special for the closure. It just begged for silver beads and a metal star button. Don't you think?

Inside, I used the last of some 24 lb acid free resume paper that I had. It has a smooth surface and is marbled in gray. Each signature has a piece of blue marbled paper around it. They are so inviting that I think I'm going to do something to the pages of some of the future books as well. hmm? Yes, I do mean inviting. You just want to start writing your story as soon as you open this book!

Size - 5.5" (14 cm) x 4" (10.2 cm) and 1.18" (3 cm) thick
Paper - 192 pages (both sides) of 24 lb resume paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketching - Yes
Washes- very light
Stamping -Yes

Sapphire Blue Leather Sketchbook

2010-06-13T05:00:00.006-04:00

Oh yeah! Can I just say how rich and wonderful this leather is? How it's a treat to the eyes and the hands? How it's soft and supple and such an awesomely cool color that I can't even describe it to you? Would it be ok to say that about this leather? Even if I told you this book is claimed already? *wink*

I was making a book for Dixie out of this leather and almost didn't send it to her cause I just fell in love. Luckily there was enough left for me to make this sketchbook for myself, so I was good and sent the book out to go in Dixie's store.

My book has 320 pages of 50 lb canson sketch paper and I LOVE drawing in it.

Tribble Trouble -- errrrr Rabbit Fur Journal

2010-06-12T05:00:00.001-04:00

How's that for unique? You can have your very own rabbit journal and you can pet it and brush it. Go ahead, just try to not stroke the fur! *wink*

The book closes with a button that goes through a hole that was already in the skin.

With a lay flat binding and a cord bookmark, this is one journal that you won't see everyday -- unless you are the one that takes it home that is!

Size - 5.5 x 4 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

A puffin shall lead them - Hiking Stick

2010-06-11T09:55:00.000-04:00

Hiking Staff in this case, it's 6' 4" tall. This is an example of what some of our hiking sticks are like. Bob made this one for me in 2001. He finished the cleaning and smoothing stage and went to work. I loved holding it and kept looking at it. The little stem that he's left near the top just looked like a bird to me --- so I grabbed my wood burning stuff and started to play. An hour or so later, I had this design and was attaching fibers and tassels. What? You don't have tassels on your hiking staff? huh? Really?

There have been several feathers, shells and bits attached to the fibers over the years. This staff never, ever, fails to get comments when we are out on the trail --- so it was the start of Bob and I doing hiking sticks.

All coloration of the beak is natural! When I finished the thing, I was worried about Bob being upset that I'd taken over his project. Silly me: he wasn't!

Bob is working on getting some finished to sell. Stay tuned!

Fused Plastic Journal

2010-06-11T08:34:00.002-04:00

Ok, have I told you that I hate to throw things away? Well I do! We, as a society, get so much stuff! All that stuff we buy comes in packaging and is nicely put into bags for us. Packaging and bags are a real problem for the environment --- so here's how I'm repurposing the plastic bags that I (and my friends and neighbors) get while shopping.

This book is made from three shopping bags. It's completely unique. Even if I use the same bags again, the finished result will be different! Isn't that awesome!

Ok, the outer cover is a deep purple with the tan webbing over it. There are copper bands that wrap around the piece. The tie is also from the fused plastic and secured with a button. The stitching and bookmark are a luscious purple thread. Yummo!

The inside of the cover is a rich copper and features a flysheet (decorative and protective page) made from a booklet that Teavana dropped into the bag. Nothing wasted!

The pages are hand torn and they lay flat so it's really easy to write, sketch or stamp in this type of book!

Size - 7 x 5 inches and is 1.18 inches thick
Paper - 240 pages (both sides) of 24 lb recycled writing paper

Recommended Uses

Writing - Yes
Sketch - Yes
Washes- light
Stamping -Yes

This journal is available at Whistlin Dixie - Dillsboro, NC.

Play Date!

2010-05-24T23:23:00.000-04:00

I went over to my good friend Sharon's house the other day for some play time. You never know when you go over there what you'll be doing, but you can be assured that it's going to be FUN!

Sharon had a plan though! She wanted to try out mixed media canvas art. Cool. I'm up for anything! So she got to digging into her stash of left over bits and pieces, buttons, fibers and stuff. We worked together and the energy was high, High, HIGH!

Here's the resulting panel! Now I want to do some with more acrylic paints and get my hands on more texture mediums.

We started with some text stamps and then a piece of DSP. I used gesso to seal it down to the canvas and then faded out one edge of the paper with more gesso. Don't you love how it mutes out the patterned paper? It's easy to do and you are absolutely guaranteed that every one will be unique.

Sharon's studio is jam packed with stamps, fibers, papers and art supplies of all sorts. Oh and did I mention that she holds classes?? She's going to be playing more with this idea and then scheduling classes for Mixed Media Canvas Art. Don't miss out!

Free Bowling! Morgan and Joey are going to LOVE this!

2010-05-20T10:02:00.001-04:00

You have to all check this out!!!! What a DEAL!!!!

Feel free to pass on to your friends too.

My Family Is Registered For Kids Bowl Free...Why Don't You Join Us?
Kids Bowl Free allows your family to bowl 2 Games FREE everyday all
summer. Plus, there is a family pass option where parents,
grandparents, older children that don't qualify for the Kids Bowl Free
passes and babysitters can join in the fun and get the same great 2
FREE Game offer every day.

Visit www.KidsBowlFree.com for all the details.

Plus, when you register please enter my email address shadohart@gmail.com

so that our family gets a chance to win an all expense paid trip
to Disney World. I would recommend copy and pasting it rather than
just retyping it. Any emails entered incorrect at the time of
registration will not be added to my total and I really want to win!

As soon as you register you'll receive an email to confirm your email
address and also receive information on how you can let other families
know about Kids Bowl Free...and have a chance to win the Disney Trip
too.

Enjoy,

Tee

New Things are in the Works!

2010-05-13T16:56:00.001-04:00

Draygonfly Dreams is becoming Green Isles Crafts. Please change your bookmarks and follow me on the new blog. We are still transitioning, so you have time, but all our letterboxing adventures, crafts and tutorials are going to be hosted at this new site.

www.greenislescrafts.com

See you there!

"Wistful" Painting

2010-01-24T01:00:00.004-05:00

"Wistful"

Acrylic on paper

9 x 12 inches

2010

I did this one on a primed piece of heavy acrylic paper so I'd have one someone could hang on the wall. I had it on the easel when my daughter got home and she stopped in front of it and dropped her book bag and let her jaw hang open for a while. Yeah.... she's a little drama queenish.

Thanks for looking!

"Yellow Rose" Practice piece

2010-01-22T01:00:00.006-05:00

"Yellow Rose"

Acrylic on paper

10 x 12 inches

2010

First attempt at doing the flowers (besides the mural). Bob walked up and pointed out three mistakes right off the bat. *chuckle* Yeah... I'd already seen them, but thanks hon. It's on one of my "practice boards". A nice thing to call a piece of corrugated cardboard. It gives me a way to practice strokes and paintings without using my HDF or canvas. Once I'd primed it with several coats of gesso, it works fine though.

I'll keep this painting for a while then gesso over it and use the board again. Of course my kids freak out every time I talk about painting over my practice boards.

It's not for sale because it would only last five or six years.. and well.. there are the errors and all. *wink* Still I love the colors so I'll be doing this one again.

Thanks for looking!

Traditional Flower Study

2010-01-20T01:00:00.005-05:00

"Untitled"

Acrylic on paper

5 inches square

2010

Ok, I have a confession to make.... *looks around to see if anyone is eavesdropping, then leans closer to you and whispers* I'm not a flower person. I think I've told you this before. I've only painted a couple of flowers before. Still I needed to do 'em for the mural. So I played around with traditional style painting... layering of colors and washes and stuff. It works... and here's my proof that I did try it. I even sketched an outline to give me an idea of where I was putting the flowers.

Well that was too much for me. Too slow, too... controlled. So when I got out there I just loaded multiple colors on the brush and put it on the wall in flowerish shapes. It worked and I liked that a LOT better! Oh yeah and it was fun!! I looked it up and someone has a name for what I'm doing and it's called One Stroke painting. Huh... there goes my million dollar idea... turns out someone else had it first.

Anyway... I'll share some of my one stroke attempts with you in the next few weeks, if you promise not to laugh! Well, ok, you can laugh if you want to.

Thanks for looking!

Sweet Light

2010-01-17T18:00:00.004-05:00

"Sweet Light"
Watercolor on archival hot press
8 x 10 inches
2010

I'm playing around with watercolor too. Robert spoiled me some time ago with a Cotman half pan field box. It's amazing and I just love this paint. There's just something about watercolor.... I can get light into my paintings that I have not been able to do with acrylic. This image glows and it pleases me to no end.

I saw something like this in a book at Costco this weekend and pulled out my paint as soon as I got home. I was reading online that a lot of people work from photos like I did with the birds. I usually don't but am going to start giving that a serious try. Bob takes amazing nature photography and I'm going to start doing images from his birds, landscapes and seascapes. Wish me luck!

Thanks for looking!

"African Gray" Painting

2010-01-16T01:00:00.006-05:00

"African Gray"

Acrylic on Canvas

5 x 7 inches

1988

This is the third and final bird that I did in 1988. (It was November and a lot of things changed shortly after that) This guy just looks ready to step off onto my hand.

Don't let the small size fool you... this painting will draw people from across a room! I've seen it happen.

Thanks for looking!

"Green Parrot" Painting

2010-01-14T01:00:00.003-05:00

"Green Parrot"

Acrylic on Canvas

9 x 12 inches

1988

This was the second bird painted on that cold November day. In another issue of Bird Talk they had a painting of a bird. This is my rendition of that painting and I wish I could find the original to show you... even my ex says it looked just like this... even down to the feet being placed oddly.

Thanks for looking!

"Sun Conure" Painting

2010-01-12T19:32:00.007-05:00

"Sun Conure"

Acrylic on Canvas

9 x 12 inches

1988

My first attempt at painting birds. I loved his eye so much that I went on to paint three more that day. Here's a close up of the eye so you can see it. Now, I'm sure this type of bird has a name besides "rainbow parrot" but I don't know what it is! LOL

Update: My very good friend tells me this is a Sun Conure, which is a smaller parrot with a great personality! Thanks for the info dear!

This is from a photo in an issue of Bird Talk magazine. He had such bright colors that I just had to see if I could paint him. They had him on a perch in a store, but through the magic of painting we were able to change that setting. Plus I wanted to do a black background like my Sister does on some of her paintings.

Thanks for looking!

Mural Project Finished

2010-01-11T10:50:00.001-05:00

We had a final day of painting out at Melissa's house. The mural is finished and wouldn't you know it... I forgot my camera. I snapped these with my phone so I'd have something to show you.

There are five lady bugs hidden in the foliage and several butterflies that are a little easier to find. Eva asked how I was making the small yellow flowers on the left side and didn't really believe me when I told her. So when I did the blue flowers, I showed her how you load the brush with lots of paint and color to create the flower petals.

Melissa and her family are simply delightful! Her baby was born in December and I got to meet her on this last trip out. A beautiful, healthy girl! I'm ever so grateful to all of them for letting me splash, sponge, finger paint, dab, smoosh, roll and brush paint on their walls.

Melissa said she'd take photo's and email them to me... or I'll take better shots when I go back out to do her older daughter's room. That one is going to be a LOT of fun, but I'm only going to give you one hint on the subject: Think baby sea turtles!

Mural Update - Work in Progress

2009-12-31T13:36:00.000-05:00

We made it out for another painting day and got more detail on the fence and a start on the flora for the front of the scene. I'm thinking one more trip out and it'll be finished.

I snapped a few that were closer. These images should be used to help me plan what I'll do next time.. but I don't paint that way. I don't plan every detail and placement out. Even if I did, it would change as the image developed. So... flowers are next. Bring on the color explosion~

Anyway... here are the two sides in better detail.

The baby has come! I don't know any more than she was born on the 22nd. Congrats to the whole family. I'll have more details on the next and final update on this mural project.

Then I'll be looking to start another.... anybody else need something painted?? *wink*

Mural Project - Work In Progress

2009-11-25T09:10:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine called and asked me where she could get her daughter some stencils for a picket fence. She wanted to paint one on the wall in her nursery. Well the conversation continued and I volunteered to do a mural for them instead of stencils.

She lives an hour and a half away so we have short painting windows of a 2 to 4 hours per painting day. That includes set up and clean up. I'm not complaining... no way. I'm loving doing this project... just wanted to explain why we are only this far on painting day 4. We have two to three more days of painting to go.

I'll have pics of each painting day when it's finished - but I brought my camera this time and snapped a few shots of the work in progress and wanted to share them today.

Scrubby grass and weeds were added to the field and the fence was blocked in,. Shading and texture on the fence, crossbars and the gate come on the next painting day. As well as the wild flowers in the field

Here's a closeup of the tree. I love painting trees. The rope will have a tire swing at the end of it. this may or may not have more detail added. It all depends on how it fits with the flowers and bushes in front of and climbing over the fence.

Hope she likes it!

Joanne's Boo

2009-10-19T20:46:00.002-04:00

Joanne started out as a blog design customer and turned into one of my good friends. She's funny and off the wall and just the type of person you love talking (or emailing) with. I knew she was turning into a good friend when I realized I was doodling while talking to her. Do you do this? Do you doodle when you are on the phone? Well I do ... but only when I'm on the phone with people I enjoy talking to. See, it's sort of like I just let go with people I like. That's when the doodles come.. at least the one's that are weird and wild and cool.

So.. here's today's doodle.. Why a sea monster eating a spider? I don't know. These things just happen...

The content of the doodle is in no way a reflection on the person with whom I was speaking.

What? Oh the title... well I did start this post with something in mind and got sidetracked. Ok, well Joanne, my friend that I mentioned before... she sent me a card. It's a very cool card and I wanted to share it with you. (BTW I have several other cards that came in the mail TODAY!!! for my birthday and I'll be sharing these too. Such talented people out there!)

So before you stone me... here's Joanne's card.

Isn't it so cool... and the tiny tag says "Friend". Awwww oh and did you see all the needle piercing? Whew. Then, I opened it up and BOOM!

Nope, this is NOT another card. It's the INSIDE of the card. Whoa! Yeah! Sweet! The black CS is a pocket that could hold a gift card or something.. but look at this detail. Textured card stock, two nestabilities, ribbons, eyelets, ticket corner punches, another wild die cut border, embossing and needle piercing. And that is on the INSIDE of the card. Whew.

Did you notice the watermark on the images? Yeah.. it's hers. I just finished making it so I could post her card. How cool is that??

Ok, now I have to rethink my cards. They are ok on the outside but for the most part I woefully neglect the inside.

Spooky Tags!

2009-10-07T11:15:00.008-04:00

Do you have a lot of Halloween stamps? Well I don't. *pout* So I pulled out a skull that I'd carved for a skull LTC swap and decided to not use. He's supposed to be laughing (as in "Dead Men Tell no Tales" Bwahahahahah) He's pretty spooky right?

The tiny little black edge you see is from a 1.75" circle punch that I adhered to the back. Why? Well... just cause I could and I like the look of the little black edge.

I stamped him on green to coordinate with the card I was working on. The green lent itself very well to creating shadows when I was painting.

I used a water brush and the china white from my watercolor pencils for the skull and an olive green and black for the shadows behind him. I pick up the color directly from the pencils onto the brush and mix on an acrylic stamping block (when needed). Keep in mind that the card stock is going to darken with the water and your finished color will be lighter when everything dries. If it's too light, go back and add more color.The tag on the card is cut out of DSP so it needed the black to make it stronger. I cut that one with the circle scissor plus so I could get a bigger border on it. The tag is tied onto the ribbon and loose otherwise. I think it's cool when stuff on the card moves, or flaps or something. You too?

I liked the way it turned out so much that I did six more!! (tags not cards) The one at the top is part of those six. They are on Stampin Up Kiwi Kiss (retired) card stock cause it's the stiffest stuff I have. Seriously nice thick paper... anyway you need that with the tag clearlits die by Sizzix. It was gifted to me and I really like it. It's clear in the center so you can see what you are going to cut out. So cool.

Oh! Did I tell you I got a cuttlebug from a friend for my birthday? *squeal* It's like the most amazing gift EVER! Another wonderful friend came and took me out to lunch - risking life and limb to do so since it was my first day I was allowed to go out without a mask. Yeah.. swine flu hit our house and it was NOT fun. Wash your hands boys and girls!

Now to figure out what to do with the six spooky tags that I made... Joey says I can give 'em to the teachers. I was thinking of making some banners with punch pal bats... these might work really well with that theme. What would you do with 'em?

Thanks for looking!

Embossed Glitter Technique

2009-09-27T04:00:00.001-04:00

The glitter is so hard to see on photos. *sigh* Ok let's talk glitter for a minute. My favorite cards when I was a kid were the ones that shimmered. Now I know that people hate to work with glitter because it gets everywhere. This technique is one way to use it without it getting all over the place.

Simply mix your glitter with embossing powder. My formula is one part glitter to three parts embossing powder. You just have to use really fine glitter for this to work.

Yes, you can buy embossing powder with glitter in it, but I tend to skip buying things that have a single purpose. I like to use the clear embossing powder over colored ink or mixed with other things to get the effect without investing in a huge variety of colors and types.

Thanks for looking!

Simply Fabulous - Use Your Scraps

2009-09-24T04:00:00.001-04:00

I love the little flower brads and the combination of the ticket corner punch and then rounding the corners on the mat. I'm not a real flower kind of girl. No really. *huff* You can stop laughing now.

Ok, a boy brought me flowers the summer when I was 17. The poor guy thought it was going to win me over and I'd finally say yes to going out with him. Cut flowers are dead, useless and therefore a waste of money. I told him so while I was rubbing down my iron gray mare's flanks. He learned though because he came back the next week with a new red halter. We had a great time on our date and he was a sweet guy.

Definately not a flower kind of girl. However, some of the people I give cards to... are.
*smile* So this is for one of them. The point here is that you can still design with your style, but take your audience into consideration. It's no different than taking the time to purchase a card that is right for the person or occasion.

Think about it, get your scraps out and play!

The Gnome Knows - Use Your Scraps

2009-09-21T04:00:00.000-04:00

Yes. The Gnome knows who made a stamp in his image. Oh, yeah and I do too now! Sharon confirmed that it is a Stampin Up stamp - probably retired now.

Ok, we have reached the end..... of the gnomes! The scrap bins are still HUGE.

Thanks for looking!

Pocket Card - Use Your Scraps

2009-09-18T04:00:00.001-04:00

A pocket card is a lot of fun. It's more like a postcard but you make a pocket for it. It's just like the sleeve or pocket that I made for Morgan's one of a kind ATC/LTC. In this case, it's quite a bit larger than the obligatory 2.5 x 3 inches of an ATC. For a card sized project, you seal and envelope and then trim an end to open it.

Mine? All scraps... again. LOL Even the envelope. It was even crimped like this and tossed in the box. So I pulled other decorative paper, card stock, rub ons and stickers from the boxes and this just sort of happened.

When you pull the card out it looks like this:

Go ahead. Say it. Say it out loud!! "Will she ever finish using those scraps?" LOL

Sticker Fun - Use Your Scraps

2009-09-15T04:00:00.004-04:00

I am a collector. I tend to collect things, bits baubles.... scraps. You never know when that little bottle cap is going to be the perfect thing for your project. So it's hard for me to throw things out. Really hard. For you too?

In my quest to use some of my own scraps and those that were given to me... I submit to you another card. Yes, it's all scrap. All of it. Left over bits. Scraps can be more than just paper. Stickers that were left on the sheet after you'd used what you needed or a few of those cool wire shapes left over from another project. This card is a coming together of a lot of those elements.

No stamping here. Really. It's stickers, so there's no coloring either. I did draw the lines of glue in the big flower for the glitter. *nodding* Ahhh glitter. That's the stuff of controversy but we'll talk about that hot topic another time.

Thanks for looking!

Morgan's Mini Book

2009-09-12T04:00:00.000-04:00

Morgan has discovered the art of writing. Reading is coming along, but she prefers to write a story. So I make her special little books to record her thoughts and feelings. She fills 'em with short stories sometimes and that's just fine with us.

Would you guys like to read one of her short stories? I could post one for you.

Anyway, this little book is embellished on the outside and a bit of color and stamping on the inside cover as well. I gave it to her on Sunday and instead of writing in it, she asked if she could give it to her teacher as a gift. So sweet! So she packed it up and gave it to Ms Cassell on Tuesday.

Hope she likes it!

Something to Crow About - Punch Pal

2009-09-10T04:00:00.001-04:00

OMGosh! Isn't this little crow the cutest ever? I saw it on a Ellen's blog and just had to make him. I had to do it from memory too because I was at a friends house. We punched out the pieces and constructed the crow together. However, i didn't finish the card till today. I wanted to use some of the ... um... yeah.. scraps that I had here at home to finish it off.

He's just too adorable though?

Fibers and Stitching and Charms, Oh My!

2009-09-09T23:57:00.005-04:00

It's Stamping 411 Challenge time again. I wanted to play with some of the scraps for this card and I'm so excited about how it turned out.

The stitching is by machine - the fibers were in a bag full of yarn. I stitched them down to keep them in place, then tied on the stamped medallion and the charm. The stamp is one of those clear gel stamps, colored in with a Souffle marker and shaded with watercoloring.

There's a Gnome in my Garden - Use your Scraps

2009-09-09T02:00:00.000-04:00

3-D Elements and scanners... just don't mix!

Another of the little gnomes! I'll have to ask her where the stamp came from! Morgan picked the papers for this card. All of it comes from the scrap bin. I know the card stock is SU but I'm not sure about the DSPs or ribbon.

August Swap - Sharing Again

2009-09-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

This card is by Joy. I love the colors and this stamp set is awesome!

Here's Gina's Card. She did some spotlighting and that's something I've never tried. It's fun!

Bowl of Blooms - Use your Scraps

2009-09-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

The flowers on the card are paper pieced embellishments from the box my friend gave me. There were five of these little flower sets, so I made that many of these cards. Do you think they are too girly to give the Junior Scouts as a welcome back? Maybe they could give them to their Mom's instead. Hmmm...

The card bases are Rich Razzleberry from my own stash but the rest came from the boxes. I used Circle Circus on white scraps with Rich Razzleberry ink for the light colored background. The DSP is double sided so it could be Stampin Up but I don't know for sure.

I love how sponging the edges adds depth and drama -- this was the first card made from the scraps btw. I just had to play with the little bowl of flowers.

August Swap - Share

2009-09-01T02:00:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of the cards from the August Team Meeting Swap. The scanner can't do these cards justice. So an updated pic will have to come in later when I can do a photo shoot again.

This first one is by Tammy. I just love this stamp set! The polar bear stamps are in a shimmery white. Isn't it a fun card? Tammy always has such great ideas and she's great to have on your team in the Stampin Feud Game!

This one is by Eva. The same Eva that swears she can't create, who thinks she's just mediocre at stamping. HA! The little dove nestled in the origami frame is adorable. She's so much better than she thinks she is... don't you agree?

Team Challenge

2009-08-31T10:28:00.008-04:00

UPDATE: This card got selected for the Stamper's Showcase! Thank you so much!

At our Stampin Up Team Meetings - we have challenges for our monthly swaps. For the August Meeting, the challenge was to use the sketch for the current Stamping 411 Challenge.

Everyone puts their cards on a table and we vote on the favorite card for the swap. I don't know if I've ever even gotten a vote... but this time... my card won! I was shocked and excited and so thankful that others liked it enough to vote for it! Thanks guys!

Ok, so... without making you wait any longer..... Here's my card:

I started with Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango and Basic Black card stock. After adding texture and tearing the strips, I inked the Dusty Durango with the same ink color and that's ok, but I wanted even more umph on the textured Bermuda Bay piece. Notice how the paper seems to change color as it nears the edge? That's the effect of the Certainly Celery I used to ink the edges.

The star is from the Fun and Fast Notes stamp set. It was one of the sets I selected with my demo kit. What? Oh yes, you can customize your kit. Isn't that cool? Anyway... It's stamped onto Whisper White in Dusty Durango and then cut out and inked. The colored stars are stamped in black and colored in with markers. Finally, the star in front has Crystal Effect over the yellow and white. It's got texture and shine and really enhances the colors.

Last but not least, I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to position the phrase from the Wings of Friendship stamp set... oh yeah then a little piercing.

Use Your Scraps - Groovy Gnome

2009-08-31T09:02:00.005-04:00

A friend of mine sent out a call for help this weekend. She was cleaning out her stamping room and needed someone to come and take away the things she decided to let go of. I was the first on the scene and she filled my car with goodies. I worried that there wouldn't be any for the others and if you were called upon to help and were left empty handed, please call me!

I spent the weekend going through things, sorting and organizing. There were two full boxes of paper scraps. There was more than just scraps though, it also had a few stamped images that someone had started and tossed in the scrap bin when something else seemed to work better. This is always the way with me, so I fully understand why these images were in there. You too?

This little gnome was one of three, fully colored images in the boxes and... well... I just couldn't NOT do something with them. They are so cute!

The entire card is made with scraps! I don't know the names of the DSP, stamp image or ribbon. I think the card base is Groovy Guava. The buttons came from my button jars and the colors just seemed to work with the DSP. Behind the image is a paper that looked like balsa wood. It's not double sided, so I know it was not Stampin Up.

Non-Traditional Christmas Color Challenge

2009-08-18T21:22:00.006-04:00

I went over to Sharon Field's house to today for a play date. Sharon's stamping room is jam packed with stamping goodness! It was like walking into a candy store. Papers in every color you can imagine, ribbons to match. Stamp sets stacked up high. Markers and reinkers and glitter... oh my!

We had fun playing with some of the new things in the catalog. Here's the card I made for her color challenge. We were to use specific non-traditional colors to create a Christmas Card. It was originally taller, but I was not all that thrilled with the stuff I did on the Bermuda Bay paper. So... when I got home, I took it apart and reworked it.

Thank you Sharon, it was a blast!

Nitrocat wins a Blog Banner!

2009-08-15T11:51:00.003-04:00

I pulled a second number from the Royal Blog Tour and the winner was # 23~!

Nitrocat said:

I've been following you through AQ for quite awhile already. Can't wait for the Faux Etching tutorial!
S

You can read more about her and see her new banner on my Design Blog!

Stampin Up Color Codes - and an easier way to use them!

2009-08-01T09:23:00.008-04:00

Go to my design site to get the Stampin Up Color Codes. You can enter them into your photo editing program each time you use them. That works. However, I was entering them over and over.

So, I spent a couple of hours putting together a Photoshop Color Swatch of Stampin Up Colors and it's VERY useful! You can have a categorized list of the Stampin Up! Color Families that you can select with the eyedropper tool. Easy peasy!

No need to open a web page or other document; The colors are available on your sidebar anytime. It's even easy to install!

You can get your own here!

The Envelope Please!

2009-07-29T22:14:00.002-04:00

Random.org did our independent prize drawing.... and the winner is: Post 57!

Jasmina said... 57

What a neat ideas. Love it, especially the one with a candle.

Your giveaway is just the thing i need :)
I'm a follower on both of your blogs.

Jasmina

Congrats to Jasmina!

Ok, Ok, I can see you guys throwing down your tickets like you see people do at races on the movies. Hold on now.... another winner will be announced at the beginning of next week, so stay tuned!

Stampin' Lizbess Gets a Bloglift

2009-07-29T18:44:00.006-04:00

This is quite possibly the happiest blog I've seen! Which is fitting because as I've gotten to know her, she is so very kind and genuinely a happy person.

Head on over to my design blog and see her new page!

Royal Blog Tour

2009-07-25T19:00:00.009-04:00

The Tour is now closed! Thank you for visiting. Blog Candy Winner will be announced soon!

Welcome to the Dusty Durango Tour. If thou art just beginning the tour, thee will be better served by beginning thy travels at the home Castle. Thee may reach it from here simply by clicking on my CROWN!

Welcome to the Dusty Durango Path of the Royal Blog Tour.

Ye are currently at Castle Number 7.

****** Blog Candy ******

I'm offering blog candy too! Scroll to the bottom to find out how to register for your chance to win something sweet!

My featured stamp set is a new hostess only stamp set called - Wings of Friendship. It lends itself well to a new technique that I'll be sharing with you today. Now, I know you don't want to read a bunch of stuff so I promise to keep it short! Now on to the projects.

Color Rocks!

This is a solid image stamp, so coloring directly onto the stamp with markers gives you a lot of room to play with the colors and shading. This is Rich Razzleberry(bird), Crushed Curry, Summer Sun and Dusty Durango on the flowers with certainly celery on the leaves and vines. His wings have some Dazzling Diamonds. The swirls on the background are a direct transfer techniqe using Crushed Curry on So Saffron card stock.

Grunge is Grand

I just love this new In Color Soft Suede! It's delish! The image is stamped in Whisper White Craft Ink on the Soft Suede Card stock. Ripped and roughed up, wadded up a few times and stepped on for good measure. Did I mention this is a project to get out allllllll your frustrations? *smirk* Then the edges and creases were inked with the Soft Suede.

The background paper is faux handmade paper. I used tissue paper to dab on several ink colors from the reinkers. Isn't it just fun?

Pop Ups Make Me Happy!

Ok, this is a stamped image that I made for a project that didn't make the cut for the tour. After I'd finished the other three, I just couldn't throw this guy away. so I made a very quick popup card. The background behind the bird really makes it look like he's welcoming the morning sun! It's just all the shades of yellow sponged onto Whisper White card stock. (darker as it goes toward the edges) Give this a try and you'll love how it looks around your images.

Faux Etching All-Aglow

Faux Etching Tutorial

I know, I know... what IS that? I developed it a long time ago and recently shared it with my local Jacksonville Starz group. Stay tuned for more info and a tutorial that I'll post in the days following the tour. It's so simple, you'll wonder why you didn't try it sooner!

Get your supplies ready and join me next week for a project you'll love to give as gifts for any occasion. You'll need a glass container with a smooth side, solid image stamp(s), versamark ink and marker, embossing heat tool, clear embossing powder and an embossing buddy.

****** Blog Candy ******

I'm offering a custom blog banner to at least one lucky winner! Here's what you have to do:

Sign up as a follower on my design blog: Design ByTee
Sign up as a follower here
Leave a comment on this post

That's it! This candy is open to anyone and everyone who meets this criteria by July 28th at midnight! Good luck to you!

Once this path hath reached its end, thy royal coach will travel back to the Royal Blog Tour - Home Castle where more paths await thee!

The tour is now closed! Blog candy will be announced soon!

Royal Blog Tour ---- Tomorrow!

2009-07-25T09:15:00.003-04:00

Start The Royal Blog Tour at the home page tomorrow and you'll get to enter for a chance to win a Big Shot Die Cut Machine! Woohoo!

The Royal Blog Tour is three days long, and you'll be happy it is! There are four tours - a total of 80 fabulous blogs!

But wait - there's more!

Blog Candy, Blog Candy, and more Blog Candy. Over 50% of the blogs on this tour are offering Blog Candy.

Check the Princess list on launch day. Every name with an asterisk next to it is offering blog candy.

That's not all! The Royal Blog Tour Home Page is offering their own Blog Candy. And it is -- a Big Shot Die Cut Machine!!!!

You'll have to work a bit for it as there are 20 clues that will be scattered among the 80 blogs. But won't it be worth it if you come away with a brand new Big Shot?

* This drawing is open to all countries represented by Princesses in this tour, including Canada and Australia!

For the Love of Ink

2009-07-22T19:44:00.005-04:00

For the Love of Ink gets a bloglift!

Latisha is a delightful lady from California who asked for just a little help with her blog. I had a great time getting to know her while I pulled her design together.

She got a new animated banner, signature, watermark, two buttons for her sidebar and background.

Don't forget that I'm giving away a custom blog banner as blog candy! You can register for that this weekend, right here!

My Princess Interview

2009-07-20T15:39:00.003-04:00

I did an interview for the Royal Blog Tour and they've posted it. I feel famous! Go check it out.

Did you notice my new look? Someone special wanted to know how to do something fun with text in photoshop. She ended up making the text that is in my new banner. Cute huh? So then I made this background while walking her through the steps. From there, a signature, Feedburner brand and finished banner were just ... needed!

Blog Candy!

2009-07-18T23:39:00.002-04:00

Mmmmm Who doesn't love sweet delicous candy? Ok, besides that guy? Exactly!

See the tour info to the right? Well if you visit me during the tour next weekend, you can sign up for a chance to win some yummy candy that is custom made just for you!

See you then and Good Luck!

Sticky Note Experiment

2009-07-18T11:14:00.001-04:00

You have GOT to see this! If you have not seen it, you are in for a treat. If you have, then you know it's amazing!

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird

My Princess Interview

2009-07-15T23:28:00.002-04:00

Posted on The Royal Tour's Blog on Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Meet Teressa Thompson, Featured Princess

I would like to introduce Tee one of our wonderful princesses for the royal blog tour. Tee is multi talented and very proficient in Photo shop I recently had the opportunity to visit her blog and she has several great tutorials for Photo Shop! I asked her several questions and here are her answers.

How long have you been stamping?

I've been stamping for about 30 years. As a kid, I stamped images with everything that looked like it would leave a good impression. With rubber stamps? Probably about 15 years. With stamps that didn't belong to someone else? Just 4 years. Letter boxing got me started creating my own stamps and collecting stamp images. It wasn't long before I was using them in journals, on stationary and for kids projects and that sort of thing. You know how it is, Stamps have a way of working their way into our every day lives.

Where are you from?
I have lived in a lot of places on the map, but Jacksonville Beach, Florida is home. No other place is like it really. It's not a small town, but it feels like the best parts of one. You know the guy at the bank (Josh) and the gal at the grocery store (Mel). Things are a little slower, drivers are more courteous (the local drivers - that is) and everyone seems ready to exchange a hello or a smile. Flip flops are a valid part of any wardrobe. Oh, and as my oldest son says, "The beach is just right over there -->!!"

Do you have any other hobbies besides stamping?
OH my! I think it would be easier to say what I don't do! Right now, I'm doing computer graphics and playing around with photo editing. We also throw pottery on the wheel, Letterbox, Geocache, hike, bike (new one - as little one just learned to ride), sew, read, write and play in the sand on a fairly regular basis.

How long have you been with SU?
Stampin Up hooked me in December '08. I saw a you tube video using a word window punch and wanted one. Let me tell you, it's not easy to find at all. I must have gone to every craft store looking for it. Nada. Of course. Then I saw the coolest stamp pads on the planet. Dude, she squeezed the lid and it didn't break. Then she opened it and the ink was on the lid and she used it to color in her stamped image. Huh. Now I wanted that more than I wanted the punch. Luckily, I was able to snag the video off you tube and then edit it to get a blurry name off of ONE frozen image. Stampin Up!, a company I'd never heard of.A google later and I emailed Janet White. We talked about the discounts involved with signing up and here I am! Oh and yes... I do have my Word Window Punch now! *wink*

Do you want to share anything about your family with us?
I'm blessed with a wonderful family! We are a blended group with five kids. Three of our boys are grown and that leaves Joey (13) and Morgan (9) at home.

What is your favorite SU color?
Chocolate Chip. Wait.. um.. Brocade Blue. OH.. Rich Razzleberry. Ummm I could go on all day. Do I really have to choose? LOL

What is your favorite stamping technique?
The current favorite changes constantly. Learning new stuff is what I crave. However, I do love trying to replicate some of the things I can do on the screen on paper. My all time standby is watercolor painting; I love getting things out of classic ink that others swear you can only get from Copics. Classic ink is wonderful for Sumi-E by the way!

Is there any part of stamping or creating that you wish you knew more about?
There's always something to learn. My personal motto is, "Learning is a way of life." If we approach everything this way, we are open to the ideas that surround us. So, everything I don't know is what I am looking forward to learning. Relearning things is fun too!

What inspires you? or Where do you find inspiration?
Teaching inspires me. There's nothing like seeing people learn something new, or a new way to look at something they are already doing. I find inspiration there, in the souls of others, in the lines of a building, in the tangle of overgrown brush on the trail and in the whispering surf.

Are there other designers whose work you admire?
Dawn Griffith - love her videos, Sharon Field, Becky Roberts, Lee Conrey, Carrie Gaskin, Mel of Mel Stampz, Liz or SHH - Stamp Carver, Blogger and Friend Mama Cache - Stamp Carver and Friend. This list is in no particular order and certainly incomplete!

Do you have any stampin secrets you would like to share with us?OH gosh no! I will die with these secrets! Bwahhahahah! Just kidding. I share everything. Although there's a lot that I've done over the years and it just doesn't occur to me that others don't know about it. There's this one project that I'll be doing for the tour that I developed many many years ago. I did it for the Jacksonville Starz team and was surprised that nobody else had heard of it. I won't tell you a lot about it, other than it's called Faux Etching and I will post a tutorial on it after the tour!

Wow isn't she amazing! Tee along with all our other Blog princesses will take part in the royal blog tour July 27th and 28th. Tee promises to show case some wonderful things so be sure to sign up as a follower so you can get all the details! If you would like to more of her work before the tour and get some great tips.

Interview Submitted by Virginia Killmore, Royal Blog Tour PR Coordinator

My New Blog!

2009-07-15T20:49:00.007-04:00

Wanted to show you a peek at my new blog. It's over at Design ByTee if you want to go check it out. There's still new stuff to go up, but the basics are in place so that's cool.

It's all custom, from the light show background, to the brick texture, to the menu bar and web style interface. There's no blog archive and no older or newer post links either. The menu takes you to the "pages". Some of them link to other posts that are not on the menu. For example, if you click on the portfolio, it will show you images of blogs I've done (like the image above). Each image is a link to additional information about the job.

I'd love for you guys to go check it out and let me know what you think!

Pssst - check out the upper right hand corner too!

OH... I just finished a matching Twitter background as well.

How to Paint Text in Photoshop

2009-07-10T10:37:00.009-04:00

This isn't part of the class I'm taking. It's just me playing around. First I'll tell you the steps I took to get this image and then explain how to do painted text on your own.

Just a note, I use Photoshop, but if you don't have it, many of the photo editing programs support layers and can do these things.

Here are the layers that created this image:

Layer 1 - Fill layer, tan
Layer 2 - Watercolor brushes, various colors, opacity 50%
Layer 3 - Text, Planet Benson 2 Font, Arced, tilted
Layer 4 - Two colors painted over the text in mottled pattern,
then clipped to text layer*
Layer 5 - Mesh texture layer
Layer 6 - Joey, cut away from the background, splatters
painted with layer 2 colors
Layer 7 - Mesh texture layer (copy), opacity 55%

*Clipping layers together applies the shape of the bottom layer to the pattern or color of the top layer.

In this image, I've added a new layer on top of the text and painted over the lettering. I like to use multiple colors to get more depth. Leave some areas open and the original color of the text will show through there.

Here, the painted layer was clipped to the text. Doesn't it look awesome?.

It's easy to do. In CS4 you select either layer, hold the alt key and hover your mouse between the two layers. The icon will change to a double circle. Click there and it's done. In Photoshop 7, you select the top layer and press CTRL+G to group or clip the selected layer with the one below it. If you don't have either of these, google how to do it in your software.

You can use this technique to clip photos to a shape, paint or texture to text and a world of other possibilities. Go play!

Better Days

2009-07-09T13:26:00.004-04:00

Katrina affected people who were many many miles from the devastation of the gulf coast. We did a mini photo journal of the storm damage that largely went un-noticed in rural Mississippi.

This is one of those images. I am drawn to architecture where Robert is drawn to nature photography. So our portfolios are drastically different. Yet each shows something that we all understand. Loss. For me, this journey showed the loss of historical buildings that residents hardly even see anymore. Many of the places in my shots were torn down in the cleanup days and they are gone forever.

We did clipping masks in class today. The same as I did on the Make it Last post earlier this week. She showed us a different way of clipping the layers together (CS4 is different than Photoshop 7). There are many ways to accomplish the same thing in Photoshop. Sometimes the way other people do it can save us some time.

Flesh Tones with Classic Ink

2009-07-09T09:34:00.001-04:00

I got this stamp in a dollar bin somewhere. It's labels had been removed so I don't know who made it. It's red rubber mounted on wood and the rubber stains badly. I also had to condition it to get a good stamp impression out of it. All that aside, the girl is cute! Plus, it's a perfect way to show you one hue of flesh tone that you can get out of the Stampin Up Classic ink (pads or reinkers).

I used the pads because a drop of the reinker would be way to much. Squeeze the lids to transfer some ink from the pad to the lid before you open them. For this light skin tone we are using Creamy Caramel and Cameo Coral. Yes, you can mix them to get the shade you want!

Using your water brush, pick up some of the Cameo Coral color and bring it over to the Creamy Caramel lid and mix the colors there. Squeeze the brush a little to add water and thin down the intensity of the ink. Test on a scrap of the paper you will be using. You want a fairly large pool of color to finish your project without having to remix. Mine was the size of a half dollar (spread thinly over the surface of the ink pad lid).

Watercolor as usual, remembering to let it dry before moving on to other colors. You can add additional layers for shadows and straight coral for rosy cheeks. When you finish, use a tissue to clean the remaining mixed color out of your lid to keep pure color in the ink pad.

Paper makes a difference. The first example was on Whisper White and this one is on Watercolor paper. Biggest difference, stamped image and the watercolor paper seemed to absorb more of the color than the Whisper White. Which makes sense.

Her hair uses Summer Sun, Crushed Curry (perfect mid tone) and More Mustard. The deepest shadows were added with Really Rust and I blended the yellow and red with Creamy Caramel.

Finally I added shadows to the white with Brocade Blue.

Ok, it's your turn. Show me your water colored images!

Precious Girl

2009-07-08T22:43:00.002-04:00

This was taken at the Jacksonville Beach Summer Jazz Series. Morgan and I tend to shelter from the sun under umbrellas. The light blew out the black of her umbrella and nearly washed this picture out completely.

Photoshop can color correct with no problems but in the class I'm taking I did something new today. We created a vintage hand tinted image. First I cropped the pic and reduced the saturation. A sepia tone was added and finally I colored her cheeks, lips, eyes and shirt on separate layers.

Then I added a frame from the class and used brush stamps to put the flourish under my title.

The text effect is not part of the class... or at least not that I know of. It's a pillow emboss after a white stroke was put on the text. (These are layer styles.) It makes it look like it's enameled. Fun fun.

Make it Last

2009-07-06T16:26:00.003-04:00

Another shot from Joey's trip. This one featured a near silhouette of Joey with the setting sun sparkling over the water. It's a great shot. Perfect for a scrapbooking title too. So that's just what I did. All of this is digital, but you could do this as a hybrid as well. I'm printing it to use on my page as the title.

I used a grunge mat to rough up the edges and added text that I'd cut from a fiery piece of digital paper. The paper was made just for this shot and was recolored using the hue and saturation adjustments before being put in the background.

If you guys would like information on how to do this type of thing in photoshop or your own photo software, let me know in a comment and I'll post the info or email it to you.

Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Joey's Dream Weekend

2009-07-06T11:14:00.004-04:00

Joey goes to Texas for the summer every year. They do all kinds of things while he is there. This year was something special though. They joined his uncle at the lake for the holiday weekend. Joey spent a lot of time on the boat or pier fishing. His dream weekend realized!

Wes just sent me some pics and I had to share this one with you guys. The frame and text are added in photoshop, along with a little edge darkening.

I'm taking the Jessica Sprague Frame-ups and Special Effects class. So far, nothing new for me, but I welcome the opportunity to learn. You never know where ideas and tips will come from.

One Door Closes... and another opens

2009-07-05T15:00:00.009-04:00

Well being out of work may turn out to be a good thing. A friend asked me to help her with her blog last week. If you have not met Sharon, she's a vibrant lady and fun person to be around. Now, Sharon has been maintaining her own blog and helping with a couple of other people's too. She is just very busy this month and wanted to convert to a three column layout. At the same time, we decided to do an update to her theme as well.

Here are the things I designed for Sharon:

BannerMenu BarSignature and Divider Bar Combo
Her blog is also sporting a custom background and she'll have a new watermark to match. Check it out! Be sure to leave her a note to let her know what you think of her new look!

Thank you Sharon for this opportunity and for generally just being there!

I'll be offering blog services at very reasonable rates. If you need a custom banner or a total blog setup, I would love to help you out.

Shadohart

2009-07-05T14:38:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'm changing my profile to have a real picture of me. *GASP* I know I know... the camera didn't break or anything. So, wanted to keep am image of Shadohart on of the blog.

I carved this stamp a couple of years ago for the very first LTC swap. (That's Letterbox Trading Card for you non - letterboxers). It was one of my first carves and it's done from a sketch I did almost 23 years ago.

It's not farewell since I still have the stamp, but a little bit of goodbye since she's leaving your follower lists.

Faux Handmade Paper

2009-07-02T10:46:00.002-04:00

I have something really fun to share today. It's a technique I did a something like 20 years ago and then abandoned because I started making my own paper and didn't need it anymore. Well, with the new and fun reinkers I have now, I thought I'd give it another go. You may have seen this before and that's ok. I'm going to push the envelope a bit and see what we get.

This technique calls for craft or pigment ink reinkers. I don't have a lot of these on hand... ok.. I have white and gold. But I did it with acrylic paint before so I know I'm not limited to what people today say to do.

Supplies:

Classic Ink Reinkers in two coordinating colors*
White Craft Ink Reinker
Gold Craft Ink Reinker
CHEAP Toilet Paper (TP). It's got to fall apart when it gets damp. (think: dollar store)
Gloves, if you are squeamish about inky fingers
Glossy Card Stock - mine is a 2 x 4" piece
Plastic lid for a palate

*Coordinating means they are next to each other on the color wheel. Contrasting colors will work but you'll have brown real fast if you are not careful. I used blue and green.

Step by Step:

Ball up several squares of TP
Put a few drops of white ink in two different places on the palate
Put one or more drops of classic ink down over the white*
Use TP to mix one color and pounce onto card stock – leave spaces
Use another ball of TP to mix and pounce the other color in the spaces
Use third ball of TP to pounce gold ink sporadically over the whole project
Let it dry! This is a very wet technique on a resistant paper. It’s going to take time to dry. Patience is good grasshopper.

During each step the TP should be falling apart and leaving small bits behind. This is good! When it happens, pounce over that area again to flatten the bits and cover it in ink

* The more ink you use the darker your color will be – I used one drop for a soft look

Troubleshooting:

TP is not falling apart – mist it with alcohol and rub it on scrap paper before you ink up to tear it up first
Colors too dark – you can go over it again with white to soften the look

Here’s the project I did with mine. The stamps are from Eastern Blooms, Circle Circus and a hand carved phrase. The scalloped circle motif was created using three of the Circle Circus stamps, punched and layered. Then I punched a scalloped circle through the card front and mounted the motif through the hole for perfect alignment.

The background circle, flower and doodles are done in Dusty Durango (another of the new colors) and the phrase and two of the stamps for the motif are in Rich Razzleberry. Yep, the doodle is done in the new color too. They come in markers and if you have not tried these: They leave Marvy’s in the dust and they are… *insert glorious angelic choir here* … refillable! *doing the happy dance

Ok, enough of my silliness. Come play with me and I’ll be happy to show you this and a billion other things floating around in the old noodle.

Yum on a Stick!

2009-07-01T17:54:00.004-04:00

Don't you just love this vibrant color? I'm so excited about these new In-Colors from Stampin Up. This one is called Melon Mambo and so far, I think it's my favorite. The stamp is from the Circle Circus set. I cut it out with the circle scissor plus at 1.5 inches and then a 1.75 inch black mat.

The Stampin Up card stock is colored through and through. This means, you are never going to get those white edges when you cut it. This is a good thing, but it also means that sanding it isn't going to do anything. So, I embossed the Melon Mambo card stock with an embossing folder and my pasta machine. (need a big shot one of these days -- Santa, you taking requests?) But I still wanted the look of sanding on DSP. So I got out my Whisper White craft ink. A little dry sponging and voila~ Faux sanding.

A left over matted DSP and a little Sigmo Gel Pen later and Morgan declared it "Yum on a Stick!"

Stars of Hope

2009-06-30T14:43:00.003-04:00

Trash to Treasure. The manilla colored stars are punched from an old ledger card and inked with Creamy Carmel. The blue star is a piece of watercolor paper where I'd stamped the Jeep from Hit The Road onto and it wasn't clean enough for my tastes. (the rear tire was splotcy). I brushed Royal Blue reinker over it and LOVE that you can still see the stamp under it.

The rest of the paper was in the scrap bin. I love taking pieces of "trash" and making something cool out of it. Morgan named it "Stars of Hope" because we picked up pieces to make it and that's what we are doing at home too: Picking up the pieces.

Lots of changes going on for us right now. As of today, I am unemployed and I'm ok with that. We'll figure out all the stuff that goes along with losing half of a two income household. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the time with my family.

We went out and scouted hiding places for a lovely fairy letterbox sent to me for planting. It's going to be paired with my Hobbit door stamp. Hopefully it'll be a magical mini-series.

CD Case

2009-06-27T08:05:00.004-04:00

Here's a little CD case that I made for my step-son Peter. We attended his Graduation at the end of May and he's been visiting with us since then. Bob wanted to send him home with all the pics of the event and his trip.

Below the little tree it says: life growth change new

The Graduate

2009-06-05T09:10:00.000-04:00

This is a page Morgan made for Peter's Grad photo - she used embellishments we'd found on the clearance isle at M's. Now Dad just needs to print the picture/pictures to go on it.

Good Job Moo!

Summer Time - Clearwater FL

2009-06-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

Joey's page. He picked everything and the layout himself. Sweet!

The photo was in '99 at Clearwater Florida. Amazing beaches. That green water behind me is not a photoshop thing. That's what it really looked like!

Not sure about sharing this - but nobody else knows and if something happened to me, Joey would never know the other significance of this photo. A copy of it went into my Mother's casket. She never got to see Joey on the beach in the bathing suit she bought for him.

Morgan Goes to New York

2009-06-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Morgan, AKA Moon Fairy, is starting a mini album of her own. I helped her with this cover page but the rest is going to be her own work. The doll is cut on the Cricut using the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. I hand cut and colored the hair for her and she colored in everything but the vest. It should be a fun album when she's finished with it.

The paper and tag are some that I've had for 10 years. The font I've had since I learned to write. *wink* She's still not happy with her writing when it comes to something like this. I told her to just stop and draw the letters... she just looked at me. heh

Time Square

2009-06-02T09:06:00.001-04:00

We have a ton of pics from our day trip to New York, but these are the only two Bob has printed for me so far. Not sure why I did the pink doodles, but what the heck right? LOL

Morgan and Joey were fascinated by the living statue guy. I have to admit that he was pretty cool and even better than the one on Monk! heh

Digital Thanks

2009-06-01T15:21:00.003-04:00

*insert robot sounds here*

No no no! LOL I'm not talking about Optimus Prime thanking the humans of Earth, I'm talking about digital designing for scrapbooking and card making.

A lady in one of my groups asked for help designing a thank you card for a baby shower. She needed a turtle and didn't have one. On top of that, she has recently suffered a tragedy and just couldn't access her usually very creative side. So I put this together for her as inspiration.

She'll be making these cards using Chocolate Chip and Baha Breeze cards stocks - along with designer series papers and things.

Using your photo software is a great way to plan your layout. Especially when you are stumped for what you should create. You can easily switch out designs or colors when you get to your paper stash.

Works for greeting cards, ATCs, LTCs and layouts as well!

Don't Ever Grow Up

2009-06-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Morgan had a Survivor themed birthday party in 2008. We had about 15 kids and I think everyone had a good time. Activities included painting a totum pole, obstacle course race (look out for the aligators), scavenger hunt to set up the camp, King of the hill and some other stuff. I've blurred her friends faces in any of the pics online to protect their identities. (dont' have parental permission and all that jazz)

Scraps. We all have 'em. Sometimes I throw 'em out and sometimes I don't. This layout is all scrap paper. Embellishments chosen by the Moon Fairy herself... again. She really likes to help when she's in the picture. heh

Joey's Camping Adventure

2009-05-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

I don't usually buy school pictures. I know, I know.. kids growing up and all that, but the packages don't have enough of what you want and too much of what you don't. So we skip it and do our own. However... I got sucked in. Last year Joey's school sent home proofs of this pic. Now, I know I can do all this in photoshop, but dang it was cute.

So we bought it. And now I have a LOT of these pics sitting around. Two fridge magnets, a billion odd sized little things and I just can't bring myself to throw 'em out. I've mailed some to everyone I thought would want 'em.. and still... they are there. Mocking me.

So I grabbed a 5x7 and headed to the dining room. AKA Disaster zone, craft space, Mom's area, Don't TOUCH that - she knows where everything is-room.

Again with the lack of Alpha stamps loomed it's head: I go to the computer. This time I printed directly on the yellow card stock. I like this font.. it looks like stamps, right? *hopeful look*

Anyway... it was at this point that I decided I didn't like my scrapbook with different facing pages. So I made another to go on the other side. Still need to add the photo.

That same year Joey went camping with the Boyscouts. (that's a four letter word in our house - so other than his uniform in the picture there will be NO reference to them in my book!) I'll post the pic of him with his giant backpack on later.

Let's see... the trees were die cut with a machine back when I was in Arizona. The clouds too. There was a store by our house that would let you use their system and dies anytime you liked. The clouds are vellum and were put on with vellum adhesive, but it's showing though. Grrr. The title is printed on Stampin Up Vellum Cardstock and it's much thicker and nicer. I like it a lot better. Also.. no adhesive showing through. Wooohooo.

My Girl

2009-05-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

My girl is the sweetest daughter anyone could ask for. She made me breakfast this morning!

The first picture was taken at Disney the day after Christmas. Joey was the camera man this time because Robert was in Nebraska.

The second pic was taken while we were scouting locations for her Survivor Birthday Party the following weekend. Can you just see her really thinking hard about whether or not the site would work?

The flowers are from my stash of embellishments. I don't know who make 'em or where I got them... but the Moon Fairy liked 'em.

Snow Trip

2009-05-29T07:00:00.005-04:00

Flagstaff was a three hour drive from our house. Not too far to go have a snowball fight! Joey bundled up in his coat and a couple pairs of socks over his hands. (gloves were hard to find in Phoenix). He had a blast getting cold and wet. We didn't get to stay more than half an hour though. Tim called, he was sick and needed a ride home from work.

This page started with the "Joey" embellishment. I know it's backwards, but I was playing with a stencil that I found in my stuff. I used sponged daubers to put the letters on and then doodled around 'em. I liked it so I used the ticket corner punch and matted it then added the brads and wire. A little more doodling with the Sigmo gel pen and I couldn't stop. So I use the same papers again and made the page. Finally, I looked through Joey's photos to find a couple that worked with the page.

Before you ask... "Why on earth would you drive three hours to let the kids play for 30 minutes?" Let me explain.

Phoenix is hot. Everybody knows this, but if you have never experienced 114° (or higher on some days) in a desert then let me try to help you imagine it. "It's a Dry heat." everyone says. Which is supposed to mean that it's not so bad. Yeah, don't fall for it. It's true, to a point of about 105°. After that it just doesn't matter anymore. Every breath is hot air going in and it feels like you are in an oven, or a blast furnace as Robert puts it. Sweat is sucked away as soon as it emits from your pores. I saw it raining one summer. The clouds were there, the dark haze underneath it proved the rain was falling. It never reached the ground though. Not a drop of it fell on my head.

In Winter it cools down to about 70°. Some days it got down to around 50° to 60°, but it would warm up again by noon. You could tell the newbies who had not adjusted yet. They swam in the winter or went without coats. That was us when we arrived there in December 1999. We were swimming that very night and every day that winter. No jackets needed. It was awesome. The heat of summer blasted that from us though. By the winter of 2002 we needed something to wash away the heat of two blasting summers.

To answer that question of who would drive three hours to play in the snow... Phoenicians would.. even if it was cut short they'd tell you the trip was worth it. I know Joey would!

Till next time,

Daisy Blue

2009-05-28T07:00:00.006-04:00

I have been playing with watercoloring to develop a tutorial for an upcoming event. It’s a super fast way to create dimension and texture on a stamped image. This image is not a stamp. I don’t have an outline stamp like this so I did a fast sketch on scrap Whisper White card stock.

Water coloring is one of my favorite things to do. It's very versatile and can give you different looks depending on the paper that you use and the watercolor medium. Wait. Isn't all watercolor the same? I'm glad you asked that. It's not really. There are various ways to achieve a watercolor effect. Watercolor pencils and crayons are applied directly to the paper then the color is moved with water and a brush. The look achieved is different than when you apply wet pigments to paper.

Today I am showing you wet on dry. (wet pigment on dry paper). Stamp or sketch your image onto white card stock with permanent ink. Then set up a palette. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can use the Classic Stampin Up ink pads and squeeze the closed pad to put some ink on the lids. I use an acrylic block or recycle a plastic lid from a food container. (when we are finished it can go back to it’s original purpose with no waste) and drop some ink from the re-inkers. This gives me deep rich color.

Aqua brushes make this easy and fast because they are self cleaning. Get the bristles wet, but don’t add water to the palate. Pick up the color you are using and sweep it across the image. I used Bashful Blue, Summer Sun and Certainly Celery.

I tilted my image so the color would run to the bottom of the petals and settle there - making it darker. Then I did a second sweep on each petal to deepen the color more. The leaves and the center of the flower were done the same way. After I brushed on the Summer Sun (yellow), I swept the brush over the inside edges of the petals. I love it when colors blend and run together. The results are always a surprise.

I honestly intended to throw this away when I finished, but the colors called to me and I couldn't do it. So I cut it out and popped it up on a card. The base and second mat are Bashful Blue card stock. Don't you just love how the colors match so well? The tab is a punch (yummo) and is inked with Summer Sun on the edges. Ribbon and other papers used are scraps from the bin.

Tee's Tip
Everybody is always blending blending blending. Color in life is not always blended so well. We have harsh edges and softer ones. So try including some harsh edges in your watercolor pieces.

Jazz At the Beach

2009-05-28T07:00:00.005-04:00

Jacksonville Beach Sea Walk Pavillion is home to the Summer Jazz Concert Series. The music is awesome. Our good firend is the stage manager and he does a wonderful job of it!

This layout repeats shapes. The scalloped circles on the paper, the punched one behind the two step stamped motiff and the metal embellishment follow the rule of three.

The title block was a bookmark prototype that I'd made a while ago. I repeated it's matting on the photo and used the ribbon from a bow that was on a gift - because it used colors from the title block and some from the photo. This tied the two together better. The ribbon was wired, so I pulled out the sweetest little copper wire and used it to wrap both the title and the embellishment; bringing the color from the photo subtly into the rest of the page.

Till next time,

Smile for the camera

2009-05-27T07:00:00.005-04:00

Say hello to my niece Jessie. You may not see many pics of her. She's camera shy: she's georgous but you can't convince her of that. She'd just gotten her new Sony camera and loved to show everyone how cool it was. She can take pics with it that come out crisp and sharp --- even when the camera is shaking. She literally twisted her wrist back and forth while clicking the shutter. Perfect shot. I jumped up and down and flung my hair around. Perfect head banger type shot. Amazing. She convinced me and Bob got me one too!

This page goes opposite the one from yesterday (the blues match - as does the time and setting). The ribbon at the top is attached to a journalling tag. I may or may not doodle on it.

Till next time,

Sisters

2009-05-26T07:00:00.007-04:00

This is my sister, Dianna, and I at our sister Jackie's house. We were all sharing pictures and swapping stories for hours on end. We'd not been together like that since my Mom's funeral. It was a wonderful weekend to be in New Orleans.

I had something else scheduled to go up today... but I was so excited about my doodles on this page that it's all been rearranged to let this one go first. A while back I said I was going to start turning my doodles into stamps. I have only done a few of them and none seemed to fit the feeling on this page. So I got out my Chocolate Chip Stampin Write marker and just started playing. Doodles start as one shape and then just keep growing. I colored these in with other Stampin Write markers and then used the Sigmo pen for white outlines and accents.

If you have not tried these markers, you owe it to yourself to do so. They are juicy and rich in color --- and can be REFILLED! I'll just say this... Morgan now has a huge set of Marvey markers to play with.

Till next time,

Be Happy

2009-05-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

This is Tim. Tim has a way of making you smile, even when you really don't want to. He's just funny in a random kind of way. He's my oldest. Mine by marriage and by heart. For me, the last is all that matters.

The pic was taken in the court house in New Haven CT. We were exploring the campus and the green and ducked in there to check it out. That's Joey and Bumble Bee peeking out on the left and yours truly peeking out on the right. Tim looks oh so happy doesn't he? LOL He didn't know what we were doing behind him but he knew we were up to something cause we couldn't' stop giggling. So you see... that's his "you guys are doing something to make me look weird in this photo" face!

This layout makes use of punches. Gotta love punches! There's a tag, scalloped circle and two sizes of circles. OH oh and the ticket corner punch. Love this one. The ribbon just seemed to work for me. It's 8x8 like all that I've posted on the blog so far.

Honor Roll

2009-05-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

This layout is so fun. It's got a lot going on for an 8 x 8 page. Did I mention that before? I was gifted with an 8 x 8 album and I really like the size.

The picture is from a couple of years ago, but Morgan just loved the hat and wanted to use this picture. We played with it in photoshop and both agreed that with so many elements and colors on the page, the picture should be black and white. She's not competing with everything else... she stands out this way.

Then we scanned and shrunk Morgan's report card and included the ribbon given at the Honors Assembly. (I have a LOT of these ribbons in my Mementos box!) The embellishments are cute little things that I've had for ages.

Did you notice the wood grain on the left. That was made by scoring the card stock then sweeping the stamp pads over to roughly transfer color. I used More Mustard, Close to Cocoa and Really Rust Classic ink. It's a super fast technique and you can get a lot of different looks with different colored card stock for a base and different inks. Give it a try!

It happened in 1950

2009-05-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

What happened you ask? Why - Bob did of course! LOL A couple years ago he found this sticker sheet with all the things that happened in the year of his birth. He didn't know what to do with it though, which means it became mine to scrapbook.

OHHH this is my first attempt at fonts with an artist tip on a fountain pen. What do you think?

The picture was snapped while we were out letterboxing and I'm just glad to still have it. He hates to be in front of a camera. So he told me that he'd sorted out all the pictures with him in it and deleted them. ***GASP***

I was prepared to not talk to him for days. Then he comes out with this one printed out for me. That stinker!

On this second page is more of the stickers and space for something else. I just don't know what to put there yet. More pics of the elusive camera man? Embellishments? Pics of him as a kid if I can get his Mom to send me some??? Maybe Pam (his sister) would have a few! *rubbing hands together*

Sheba Layout

2009-05-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

My puppy. Isn't she just the cutest? Bob snapped this photo on our first hike with her. She's a natural letterboxer! Noxers came down the trail and she alerted us before we could hear them - much less be seen by them. What a good girl! She's a Border Collie - Newfie mix, if you are wondering, that we got from the Springfield Animal Rescue.

This too is sort of a hybrid project. The title was printed onto plastic and put onto the page like a rub-on. Can you say--- "Tee really needs alphabet stamps?" Very good! I knew you could!

The transfer was a little washed out, so I went around it with my white Sigmo gel pen. Then I stamped the little bones from a set of dollar bin stamps. I had to stamp off with the stamps to get them the same color as the transfer. Pretty close huh? They too got the gel pen treatment to make 'em stand out.

Color came in with the funky ribbon that was in my stash. OH.. that ribbon was a penny. I kid you not. It was in the clearance isle for 50 cents but rang up as a penny. The cashier said I was getting a bargain! LOL No kidding.

Joey's Quest for Better Hair

2009-05-21T15:51:00.004-04:00

I have been scrapbooking a LOT lately. Probably because Bob keeps printing pics for me! heh. Joey was growing his hair out.. and had been since he came back from Texas last summer. We've trimmed it a couple of times, but he didn't want it cut "off" at all. He saw this picture of himself in April and decided it was time for the hair to go!

This is a hybrid project - The really cool text is Bleeding Cowboys. You can get it by clicking the picture above. I want THAT in a stamp set. Hmmm I did promise SHH that I'd try text again. Maybe one letter at a time would be easier.

Joey's Mini Book WIP

2009-05-19T10:42:00.010-04:00

I was gifted with a rather large stack of 4" beer coasters the other day. Bob looked at me like I was silly. "The kids can't use that - it has BEER on it!" *giggle* Well look at my beer coasters now! Do YOU see any beer? Nope, I don't either!!

Joey is making this little mini book for his Dad. I helped him cover the coasters and bind in the pages last night.

He picked the papers from the huge batch that I got from Costco ages ago. It's about the same weight as the Stampin Up Designer Series Paper, so it's sturdy enough to be used for the interior pages as well.

You can use any DSP you have on hand. Our pages are scraps by the way, cut at 3.5 x 7.5. Score and fold in half for perfect fit.

Each page is sealed at the bottom with Sticky Tape so that it becomes a pocket for card stock "tags". He is going to put journaling and pictures on the tags and is still making different shaped tabs to pull them out with.

He got started on the this page with a picture from Arizona. The guy was his diver for six months. We moved out of district, so they hired a bonded courier service to transport Joey to and from school every day. He was the most patient and wonderful man!

<---- THIS was his standard pose at that age. Anytime a camera appeared.. he did this cocked head and pointing finger thing. heh.

So anyway - Joey will work on it a little here and some in Texas with his Dad this summer.

Cute huh?

iPhone Fun

2009-05-18T08:53:00.002-04:00

Some of you know that I got an iPhone as a wedding present. It's been a blast. I love it love it love it. The little commercials they have where anything you want to do ... there's an app for that. Well it's just about true.

This image is from an app called Spawn Illuminati. It's a free app right now and a lot of fun. The points of light dance around the screen and respond to your touch.

You can capture the image and if you are quick you can get some interesting things. I used one image to put a border on "From the Desk of..." notes for the kids teachers.

Morgan, Joey and I just love to play with this little toy.

Chalkboard Technique

2009-05-15T09:28:00.003-04:00

Ok boys and girls. This one is fun and will work for hand carved or store bought stamps! You are going to need a few supplies, but you probably have most of them on hand.

First you stamp the image in white pigment ink (or another color for a funky effect) and then while it's wet, you dab on chalks or artists pastels with a cotton ball or sponge daubbers. The stamps I used are a two step process so you lay down the background and then stamp the outline on top of that.

Tee Tip

If you are doing this on something that is meant to last (like and LTC/ATC) then you need to seal the chalk before you stamp the outline or send off the project. Artist fixative is a convenient way to do this. Dick Blick has a wide range available, but you can find it at your local craft store as well.

So get out your chalks and pastels and play!

Here's the project I did for Easter.

Pop ups are the bomb!

2009-05-15T08:42:00.003-04:00

I saw Dawn do what she called a "windshield wiper" card. Ok, how can I put this... it was AWESOME! I adore pop ups and this one is not to be missed! So.... I made this one just to see how it works. Nothing stampin up here.. but you can bet your boots that there's going to be an LTC like this soon! heh

It's ok, right.. but kind of boring till you grasp the dotted side and it's hidden mate on the other side of the card and pull them apart. Then THIS happens:

Whooowho~ I'm so easily amused!

Card Share

2009-05-14T09:37:00.002-04:00

This card was one that I received from Lee. She generously gave some of her sample cards to the new demos in her downline. Thank you Lee!

While I'm throwing out the thanks you's. Notice the background of the photo? During our last meeting Sharon told us how to make a photo booth from foam board (among other great tips and info) and I demoed a new technique that I'll be showing you all very soon. Sharon and I traded samples and I went home the proud owner of a very cool tool! Thank you Sharon!

We're Watching You

2009-05-13T10:24:00.005-04:00

LTC/ATC made for the Skulls Swap. I only made enough for the swap. If I owe you a card, let me know and I'll make you a special version of this one.

I found the image online and did a sketch of it on paper then transferred with the pencil method. It's carved into white PZKut. This stamp will be planted as part of the Pirate Treasure series.