365 Days A Year............

Just found out that there are a few seats left for class next weekend at Paper Vineyard.  Call the store to sign up so you don't miss out!!!

More photos of this project on the Class Projects tab!

Paper Vineyard Copic Class

Hi all!!  Just wanted to pop in super fast to post that the class projects are up for the Paper Vineyard Copic class.  All the samples and info are on the Class Projects tab.  Samples will be in the store next week.  Hope to see you in class!!

Happy Day After Christmas to you!!

Whew!  I made it though the holiday.  And am so looking forward to the upcoming classes that are in the works!

So many good changes happening at stores in the Valley.  If you haven't checked out the new Paper Vineyard, make the time to do so.  And The Occasional Artist is just amazing!!  Grand Opening for it is slated for January 7.  Check with the store to confirm this as things are changing nearly daily over there!!  Scrapbook Barn has lots of newness as well with new owners and Paper & Metal in Payson has had a new infusion with Melissa joining Barbara in owning the store.

I've got the Copic Projects for Payson up on the Class Projects tab.  Here's one of them to peak your interest.  :)

Click here to see all the details.

WOW!!

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged.  I didn't forget about it and even had several posts planned but as often happens, life got busy.

A few highlights from the past month:
- Mel & I celebrated our 20th anniversary on November 9.  Dinner out at On The Border & a movie.  Sadly, I'd recommend waiting for Tower Heist to come out on DVD.  I had high expectations with the cast it had and it was ok, but it didn't live up to my high hopes.  *sigh*

- I passed my skills test in November to move up to the next level in derby.  I'm officially a member of the Smasher Squad.  The best part about that is that I can scrimmage now!!  Who'd ever have thought that I'd be happy to get hit!?  Here's the picture Mel took when I got home and told him I'd made it.









-  AZRD was able to decorate a tree at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  This was especially meaningful for me since a friend of mine takes her daughter there on a regular basis.  And I was so delighted to hear they were able to find it.  Here's a picture of Julie & Brooke next to it.

- I created salt dough ornaments to decorate cookie gifts for the neighbor's this year.  I made one of them for the tree.  Brooke & Julie picked it out immediately!  Look for a post soon about this project!  I'm thinking these would be super fun for a class!

- If you're looking for something to do that doesn't cost a fortune I've got 2 ideas for you.  Come to the next home bout for AZRD on Jan 14 at Castle Sports Club.  Doors open at 6 pm.  Tickets $12 adults/$6 kids at the door or get them early for $10/$5.  Or buy tickets from me for the Coyotes game Feb 28.  Normally $36 each, tickets from me are only $20 each.  Section 205, rows H & I.  I'd love to win free dues for a month by selling the most tickets so please spread the word.

- Between the holiday craziness I'm hard at work on new classes starting in January.  Look for me at The Occasional Artist (formerly The Creative Quest), Scrapbook Barn, Frenzy Stamper, Paper Vineyard & Paper & Metal Scrappers. 

- I will be adding project pictures & info to the Class Projects tab as quickly as I can.  Check out the cards for the Colorful Copic Valentines at The Occasional Artist Jan 14 9 - 10:30 am.

- I've suspended the DIEnomite! class.  I'll be revamping it and expect to make it available in several stores in the Spring.  I'd love to hear any suggestions or ideas for it.

I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season and are all caught up on your shopping and projects.  We'll be creating our cards tonight.  Check off one thing from my To Do list.  :)

Great deal on Coyotes tickets

If you love hockey I've got a GREAT deal for you!!  

Cheer the Coyotes on against the Vancouver Canucks Tues Feb 28 at 7 pm. 

Tickets are ONLY $20, normally $36.  Seats are in section 205, rows H & I.

Here's a map of the arena (NOT for this game) so you can see how great a view you'll have.

Tickets are available from me - just let me know when & where to meet you with them!  These don't even go on sale until Nov 25th!!  I can take cash or a check, made out to AZ Roller Derby.

I'm trying to win free dues for a month by selling the most tickets so please re-post and tell anyone you know about this great deal.

PTI MM #40 Reverse Applique

This week Heather Nichols shared a video about reverse applique for Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday series.  Since I'm a die-aholic this was one I had to participate in.

I've had these cute little cloud dies for a while now but haven't used them.  For some reason they were crying out to be used for this challenge.  I paired them with the Enjoy The Ride die to create a charming scene perfect for a congrats card.  This one will go with a few car care goodies I want to get for my niece who just got her first car.

Other PTI goodies used include: Think Big Favs #5, Love Lives Here, Enjoy The Ride stamps, bitty dot and distress dot paper.

365 Days a Year

As many cards as I create each month, I still manage to be late getting birthday and special event cards out in a timely manner.  With this perpetual calendar I hope to change that.  I've created 3 different versions of it and am delighted with all of them.

My plan is check the following month at the end of the current month and start creating cards for those upcoming events.

I hope you'll join me in one of these classes to create one for yourself or maybe as a gift for someone you know that's like me.  :)  The first kit is $40 with each additional kit discounted $10.

This is my first one created for Paper Vineyard.  It was so much fun playing with the Simple Stories "100 Days of Summer" collection.

Paper & Metal Scrappers edition.  This one features Simple Stories "Life Documented" line and plenty of Purple Monster goodies.














I almost drooled when I got my hands on Crate Paper's Farmhouse Collection!  You'll find this one at Scrapbook Barn.  This one will be going on the calendar soon!

For complete class information and more photos, please click on the Class Projects tab.

Papertrey Ink MIM - Brayered Impressions

Papertrey Ink's latest Make It Monday challenge, presented by Betsy Veldman, was to brayer ink over an embossed panel.  My brayer is in pretty bad shape so I just went old school and did direct to paper with my ink pad.  I played with several different impression plates and inks and this is the one that became a card.

 





I used the Animal Prints Impression Plate which I haven't played with yet.  I also elected to use several other die cuts - the Heart #7 by Accucut & the Zelda alpha from Quickutz (another rarely used item) - to keep it simple and show off the embossing.  The inside has the remainder of the sentiment.















The sentiment is from Wonderful Words Additions and Tiny Treats: Valentines.
This was a really fun technique and one I want to remember to use more in the future.

One more creation from last night finally put a favorite colored image onto a card.  I wanted to really highlight the colored image, after all she's the rock star.  One thing I really liked is the paper on the bottom of the card - the design really reminds me of bearings. 

Paper Vineyard "Joy of the Journey" Challenge

I had fun creating this card.  Sometimes it's nice to just let the products speak and see what they say and where we go.  This one was telling me that I don't always have to leave products just as they come.  Here's what I mean.

This journaling card was included in the DT package.  It was very nice just as it was.  And there's lot's that could be done with it.  What I chose to do with it was to die cut it and use it in pieces.

Using a one of the Ribbon Tags Trio 3 dies from Spellbinders I singled out the large "JOY" to be my sentiment focus.  I trimmed out "bring" from the rest of the sentiment to create a new phrase, one that fit my style and creative idea better.

A few other things to note about this particular card: 
- the little brown bag that some of the smaller pieces of the DT kit came in just seemed to cry out to be used.  It was a typical kraft color but had a waxy type surface. I die cut it with more Spellbinders dies. Sooooo perfect for scrunching!  Love the shabby, vintage-y, messy look of them. 
-  there was a little bit of tulle in our package too.  I thought it would look really pretty and soften the paper flowers sticking out of the top of my flower pot.
- I stitched the dark brown Core'dinations to my Reminesce patterned paper.  And I added a little more stitching in the upper right corner for more texture.

I've been working on building my stash of cards that I can just grab and write a note in when I need one on short notice.  Because of the non-specific sentiment this one will be a great addition to my stash.

Speaking of adding to my stash - Paper Vineyard has everything in the store on sale for 25% off!! That's a great deal to help you add to your stash and make it easier for the store to make the move next door.

And speaking of moving - if you're on the West side, another one of my favorite stores, The Creative Quest, and where I often teach, is closing.  Get 30% off everything in the store.  Look for a new incarnation of this store in Dec in the little house right next door.

Sneaking in Under the Wire....

Recovering today from the big 4 yr old birthday bash yesterday and Paste Eater's Night right after.  Football, sadly, wasn't all that exciting.  I managed to get a card created that incorporated 4 different challenges.

Challenge #1 - MIM with Papertrey Ink was to do a card with multiple mats & framing. 
                      This one ends in just an hour or so.
Challenge #2 - Papertrey Playhouse challenge to use stamps that haven't seen ink
                      This one was from September 14 that I didn't get to play along with.
Challenge #3 - Papertrey Playhouse challenge to use dies that haven't cut paper 
                       This one was from September 28 and I didn't get to play along with it either.
Challenge #4 - Papertrey Playhouse Season of Change photo inspiration
                       This challenge is still up if you'd like to play along.  You should see the photo - so pretty but makes me happy to be in the southwest without snow!

I pulled out my Mat Stack Collection stamp sets & dies.  I've got several of them but just haven't used them all that much.  I figured they were perfect for Dawn's multi-mat & frame challenge and also fit perfectly with Dana's September challenges.  Then all I needed to do was to incorporate Victoria's challenge. The first thing that stood out to me from the photo Victoria posted as inspiration were the colors.  So I kept it simple with red, orange & white.

Supply list: all items PTI unless noted otherwise - Mat Stack 4 collection stamp & die (orange herringbone), Mat Stack 2 collection stamp (red flourish), Mat Stack 1 collection stamp (leaf & acorn), Falling Leaves (sentiment),  Linen/Canvas impression plate, seam binding - United Ribbons, orange cardstock - Core'dinations, card base & ink - The Paper Company

Paper Vineyard Authentique & Favorite Tool Challenge

I've been hearing a lot about Authentique but hadn't been able to see it or play with it.  So I was really delighted when I saw this challenge.  I was even happier when I saw the paper.  So very pretty.  Paper Vineyard has 4 of their collections in the store.  I'll be grabbing up more from the Blissful line as well as lots of papers from the Uncommon line.  They've also got Journey & Glowing.  And if those papers aren't enough to entice you into the store - EVERYTHING is 25% off thru the end of the month!

In addition to using the Authentique papers we were to highlight our favorite tool.  I'm so bad at following directions. *sigh* I couldn't choose just one tool.  I'm a total tool geek & believe that tools should make your crafting time faster & easier.  I NEVER seem to create anything without my Fiskars 6" trimmer, Zip Dry adhesive & Tweezer Bee tweezers.  And more often than not you'll also find Spellbinders Dies on my projects.  All of these tools do just that for me.

Here's the card I created for the challenge.  I had a Core'dinations card base (love those too!) that perfectly matched the Blissful line.  I distressed the edge of my patterned paper and stitched a strip of matching patterned paper near the top.  Some dark grey grosgrain (love how the stitching around the card is mimicked with the saddle stitch on it) under a die cut, embossed and sanded Picot Edge Circle.   I added a few more Spellbinder die cut & embossed circles on top of it with a stamped message.  I kept this one non-theme specific so I can use it for any number of occasions.  

A little more coloring recently..

Still trying to get myself caught up on class projects (look for posts on them and updates in the Class Projects tab) but took a little time last night to just color.  Felt really good.  I pulled out the Roxy roller girl stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie I got from 7 Kids College Fund recently.  (For my favorite stamps from KK check out the images in Moonlight Whispers)

I wanted to send a thank you card to my soul sister for a thoroughly awesome & unexpected gift and for helping talk me down off the ledge recently.  Since she's a derby girl, and a large part of the reason I went for it, Roxy just seemed like the perfect choice.

Here's my colored image

If you checked Roxy out (go on, it's a live link) you'll see that my roller girl doesn't look the same.  I'm starting to branch out a little bit and have begun "altering" an image once it's stamped to make it personal.  Super easy to do, even if you can't draw a straight line.  Just make sure you're drawing with a Copic Multiliner.  You'll be able to color over it with your Copics with no issue.

I'll be creating a card to put Roxy on soon so she can get airborne to Utah.  And if you're curious about the colors I choose, I wanted her to look like #57 Miss Business Das and mimic the colors for Wasatch Roller Derby.

And one additional item I colored last night.  After my PVDT post, I grabbed a scrap of shrink plastic to try to make a wine charm.  I sanded the shrink plastic and stamped the image using Memento ink.  I didn't dry so I just set it aside on my desk and forgot about it.  Last night it was plenty dry to color. 

I used: V95, BV23, V99, RV69, YG93, YG95, YG99 

The colors will deepen, darken and become more intense as the plastic shrinks.  That meant the leaves were much darker than I liked.  Easy solution.  A little Colorless Blender on terry cloth dabbed onto the colored area lightened them right up.  To make a set of wine charms I'd likely color each charm using a  monochromatic color scheme with each charm being a specific color of the rainbow.  Hmm.  Maybe I've got an idea for some Christmas gifts this year.

One last image for you.  I colored the grapes one more time.  This time I changed up the leaves a little.  Much happier with them.  I used all of the same colors as the original I just changed what I colored with them.  What do you think of the difference?

Paper Vineyard Stampendous Challenge

Just a quick, partial post to share a Stampendous image I colored last night.  I haven't made the card part yet. 

One thing that has been such a help when I color is to find a real life image similar to my stamped image and use it as a reference.  I was very lucky to have just such a photo in my photo album.  On a visit to California in 2009, Mel & I stayed with some friends that took us to some wine tastings.  I handed my camera over to Sammy, their 9 year old daughter, and she got some AMAZING shots.  I love handing the camera to a kid.  You really do get images you would never have thought of.  Here's Sammy's photo.  Pretty awesome right??!

I love how strongly & clearly you can see the sunlight.  I love the colors that you see in the grapes.  However, with the light showing on the right side it wasn't perfect for the image I needed to color.


This is the Grape Vines image from Stampendous.

The artist is telling me that this image is darker on the right side.  How do I know this?  It's the lines that the artist has added on the grapes, all on the right side.  So what to do?

I flipped the image on the computer.  :)    Viola! Now I have the perfect image to help me color.












       Here's my colored image.








This image was a challenge because of the deeper tones in the grapes.  How to get that beautiful dark color with out just having dark blobs?  My answer was layering.  This is where Copics really outperform any other marker.

                                                   

              Here are the colors I used

I really am looking forward to coloring this a couple more times.  And can you imagine this done on shrink plastic to create a wine charm??  Put that on my to do list!

October Classes

If you're looking for my Paper Vineyard Design Team post, please scroll down.  :)

Whew!!  I don't post for a month and then WHAM!! a whole bunch all at once.  Isn't that kind of how life seems to come at us though? 

With the addition of roller derby to my schedule I haven't restructured my time management.  After the first two days this week, that HAS to change.  So, in my new effort to get myself back on track, I've updated the Class Projects Tab with all the photos and information on the classes I'm offering in October.  My goal is to have the November projects up no later than next week.  (See if I put it out there I'll have to be accountable.  Sad I have to trick myself like that isn't it??!)

I've got something really amazing and awesome in the works to begin in January.  Once I've got dates and pics I'll post them. 

And in case I haven't told you, Thank you.  I really appreciate that you choose to take a class with me.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

50% OFF!!!

If you're looking for my Paper Vineyard Design Team post, please scroll down.

But maybe read about the great deal you can get and help out me and my derby sisters first.  :)

Yep.  You saw that correctly.  

Who doesn't love to get something fabulous for HALF price??  

And support a fabulous group at the same time?!!

 

Get 50% off the AZ State Fair when you buy your tickets online and support Arizona Roller Derby at the same time!!! Just enter "azderby11" at check out.  This deal is available thru Oct 13. If you're buying tickets after the 13th, you won't get the half off but you will still be helping out AZ Roller Derby.

And hey, I made it easy by giving you a live link!!  PLEASE, PLEASE re-post this to your blogs, pages, twitter or anywhere else to get the word out.  And ask your friends to spread the word as well.  You'll have my undying love & devotion and maybe even a signed derby photo if I ever get one.  :D

Deep in the heart of Texas

I've long wanted to participate in design teams but felt it would be a conflict when I was a sales rep.  So I'm very happy to have been able to join the design team at Paper Vineyard recently.  Each week Adriana asks that the DT create with a specific theme and/or product.  Today I'm showcasing the really cool custom chipboard state names offered through Grapevine Designs.  (If you haven't seen the stuff they're doing, you are so totally missing out!!)


When deciding what size/style of project to do, I pulled out a 6x10 album I started a while back.  The pages in it are just for me & just about me.  Some are serious, some are silly.  But this is an album for no one else but myself.  So I thought it was fitting to add a page to it about my thoughts and feelings about my favorite state.

I chose Texas for my state.  When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for my project I was thinking about all the things about Texas that I liked.  And I thought about how those things have impacted me throughout life.

This is a 6 x 8 3/4 piece of chipboard (I actually cut down an old Bisquick box to use.  Reduce.  Reuse. Recycle. at it's best as art materials)  I'll punch holes in the top (the blue side in this case) to add it to the album.  I like the unusual size and orientation - makes it a little more interesting when creating.  I recreated the Texas flag with patterned papers and then added a stitched heart and the lyrical reference to Texas.  The "Texas" is the intricately laser cut chipboard from Grapevine Designs.  I added a little acrylic paint to it and cut down some foam squares to pop it up.  This allows the state name to stand out against the background but not compete with it or be overwhelmed by it.  

I added my thoughts about Texas and how I've incorporated it's lessons into my life on the back.
Be sure to check out the Paper Vineyard blog on Tuesday to see what the other DT members have come up with!!

PTI MIM #31 - Create a background with non-background stamps

It's not very often that I'm able to play along with the Make It Monday challenges featured on Nichol Heady's blog.  With today being a holiday I was able to play along.  This week's challenge was to create a background with a non-background stamp.  I chose to use the Tag It's #3 for my background.

I really like that circle frame and need to use it more.  I stamped it in Olive green and added the tiny flower in Blossom Pink between each of the circular frames.

I also used the picket fence die cut and embossed it with the woodgrain impression plate.  The flowers peeking out from behind the fence are from Flower Fusion #3 with stems from Flower Fusion #4.  The "birthday" portion of the sentiment is from Wonderful Words Additions and the "happy" is die cut with Quickutz dies. A little seam binding, a tiny jewelry tag and some copper colored mini brads complete the focal image.

And as luck would have it, I have someone to send this to with tomorrow's mail.  It'll be late since today was my mom's birthday but she's like me, and happy to get cards even if they're after my day.  Let's me celebrate a little longer.  :)

PTI August Blog Hop

I should know better.  But it seems I don't.  *sigh*  I wanted to try to participate in the August Blog Hop from PTI since I hadn't been able to in a while.  I had a few ideas rolling around and checked out what's already been posted.  That's where I should have known better.  Seems like I either didn't like my ideas anymore or saw several cards already posted that had a similar theme.  Back to the drawing board.  With limited time.  I must like working under pressure.

photo credit

So this is what I came up with.  I elected to take a more literal interpretation of this photo.  I'm not totally happy with it but it is what it is.

I used a lot of PTI goodness on this.  Pacific Vineyard paper to mimic the inside pattern and colors of the trunk.  Tea for Two label die, lots of items from the new Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers set, the original Friendship Jar jar & die, Text Style background on the tag that I did in place of the books in the photo, Birthday Bash Sentiments and Sending You to create the design on the napkin.

I can see several things that I'd like to play around with some more for a card with this kind of fold.  There's lots of potential for interactivity with the pocket on the bottom.  I need to play with this a little more.  I'm thinking it could be a neat way to present multiple gift cards for the holidays or a birthday.  What do you think?

Check out the card I created below for the Papertrey Playhouse Challenge just posted.  I hadn't seen the photo for the Aug Blog Hop and managed to still create a card that would work for the Blog Hop too.  :)

Papertrey Playhouse Same Tag Challenge

So often I have great ideas.  But they seem to be just a little too late to put into action.  I was so happy that this wasn't one of those instances.  Signing up for the next round of challenges on the Papertrey Playhouse challenge blog I tried to actually start thinking about what I wanted to do rather than waiting until the last minute.

For some reason I got to thinking about how one of my favorite magazine columns or articles is always where the same products are sent to multiple designers.  Between the ideas that never fail to make me think "why didn't I do that??" to seeing a variety of craft styles make a product work with their approach.

So I elected to use that concept for my challenge.  My twist on it was that I embellished a tag and sent it to everyone rather than them just having the "plain" product to start with.  I managed to not take any pictures or scans of the tags before I sent them out.  *sigh*  But each group member received a manilla tag with stitching around the edges.  I stamped the original Friendship Jar jar image off the edge and layered different PTI papers in a banner shape and circle.  I added some fabric tape over that and a little bit of lace tape near the top.

This is my creation using the "base" tag.  I didn't have anything in mind when I was creating these tags and hadn't even been able to work with  it until the Sunday night prior to posting the challenge for the group.  Once I did have a chance to play I knew I wanted to use the new Summer Fillers set.  I die cut and stamped the new pint jar on a scrap of grid patterned paper.  Since there were items already in place I did a good bit of creative masking to add to my images.  I did a little bit of coloring with my Copics on the single strawberry and straws.  I stamped a single word from 2 different sentiment stamps in this series to create the text in the Tiny Label.  I added some seam binding scraps and layered the tag over a doily.  The background paper is a sweet blue gingham from October Afternoon with stitching to match the tag.  This card feels summery to me.  Just a sweet something to send to a friend and recall summer memories.

I hope you'll consider playing along with those of us in the Playhouse.  Make sure to link your creation here or on the challenge blog so I can see it.

365 Days a Year

I'm a card maker.  I make lots of cards every single month.  But I NEVER seem to be able to get them mailed out in time for birthdays, anniversaries or special events.  It's embarrassing. But hopefully that's going to change going forward.  I'm really delighted with this project and so happy to be offering it as a class at Paper Vineyard.

Here are just 2 pictures of this perpetual calendar.  No more rewriting events from one year to the next!!

This is a 7 x 9, coil bound project that has 12 pages.  One page for each month of the year.  Each page also includes a pocket to tuck in all those cards you've made and have ready (unlike myself).

We'll be using the Zutter Bind-It-All and the Purple Monster as well as a little stitching if you like for this.

I'm super happy to be sharing Simple Stories products in this project as well.  Adriana will be bringing this in because of this project.  I know you'll love it when you see the designs  and the amazing versatility of it!!







Here's a look at the January page.  There's a tab on the outside edge for you to quickly and easily go to the correct month.  The pocket is large enough to fit a 5 x 7 card easily.

You'll like this so much you'll want to order extra kits to create them for gifts

PTPH Fall Project

I'm barely squeaking in under the wire on this one!!  The most recent challenge over at the Playhouse challenged us to create something for the fall or one of the upcoming fall holidays.  I was originally thinking of something for Halloween but ended up with a general Happy Fall card.

I really like starting with colored card bases sometimes.  It just makes everything easier and faster.  That was certainly the case for this little gem.  A smidge of PTI patterned paper with stitching on the bottom with the notebook die on top.  The notebook die was cut out of a manilla folder (one of my favorite things lately).  I inked all the edges I could find with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  The pumpkins are from the Friendship Jar Fall Fillers as is the sentiment.  I added a little interest to them with one of the background stamps from Bitty Basics.  So fun to do that and really change the feel of an image - the dots make them seem more casual, happy.  (How do you know if a pumpkin isn't happy??)  The label die is from the Tea for Two series.  I inked up the image that coordinates with it and then just wiped off the ink from the text inside it.  Lots of possibilities when you think of how you can selectively un-ink an image.

The next challenge, hosted by yours truly, goes live in the morning.  Stop by to check it out and play along!

Bunches of new classes added!

Just a quick update.  I've added a TON of new classes to my schedule.  I'm very happy to be expanding the classes I offer all over the Valley.  Projects have been posted - will add the remaining photos as quickly as possible - in the Class Projects tab.  I'm really delighted with all of them and looking forward to sharing them with you.  So make sure to sign up at the store nearest you!!

Also, with the addition of roller derby to my schedule, a few classes have changed dates or times.  I've tried to minimize these changes but please double check when you call the store to sign up.

And if you've got a favorite image you'd like to see featured in an upcoming coloring class, please bring it with you.  I'm always on the look out for interesting, new & different images to use in class.

New Spellbinders catalogs will be available in stores or classes starting after the 19th.  Soooooo many wonderful new products from them.  I can't wait to get my hands on the Edgebilities.  You can guarantee those will be showing up in classes as soon as I do!

The Amazing Technicolor Bruise

This happened Monday evening when I wiped out at my 2nd on skates Derby practice.  I think the colors are very pretty.  Wish I could figure out what Copic colors these would be!

My first on skate practice was last Thursday.  And to say I was exhausted is a huge understatement.  I don't think I've ever been so soaking wet outside of the shower or a pool in my life!!  And if my face wasn't at least fire engine red I'd be surprised!

Had 3 good wipe outs that night.  Was actually glad when the first one happened.  It was over and done with and I could stop worrying about it.  The other 2 came when I was trying to execute the rolling back stop.  Nothing like I used to do in my skating heyday.  Hence the multiple falls.  :)  Despite the heat, incredibly sore muscles and difficulty I'm loving it.  Really want to get past thinking about the skating part so I can concentrate on the techniques for the falls and stuff.  Trying to do both at once is too much even for a master multi-tasker like myself.

Tonight will be another practice and I'm actually looking forward to it.  I just want to go skate and get better and participate.  And am still contemplating my derby name.  The one I wanted is taken so it's onto plan B.  Am thinking of using "Scrappy" but not sure I wanted to combine my two hobbies.  Any thoughts?

Here's a layout I did several years ago when I tried to roller skate for exercise.  It's amazing how much of it still applies.  Have a great  day!!

click to enlarge

DERBY!!!!

Ok.  I'm trying not to let myself get to excited or start hyperventilating or anything.  But tonight will be the first time I'll be able to get geared up and skate at derby practice.  Just got word that my RED helmet is in!!  So happy.  I'm off to go pick it up, then some prep for classes this weekend.

Curious about derby??  Go check it out!

Catching up.....

What a week!!  Lots going on.  And looking forward to the coming week.

First I'd like to share the card I've created for the current Papertrey Playhouse challenge.  Thankfully Lou was able to jump in on short notice when I wasn't able to post.  I was out of town - more on that later.

PTI had a whole series of stamps they came out with last year - Year of Flowers - that culminated with the Dec images.  Poinsettia's have always been a favorite of mine and when I saw the images, and especially when I saw the DT projects, I HAD to have the set.  I'm finally getting a chance to play with it thanks to Lou's challenge.  I went back to the original projects that I'd loved to create this card.  Dawn's card was a favorite with the music background and Nikki's simple design and beautiful coloring wouldn't leave my mind.  Here's my version.

This coloring was especially fun.  I looked up images of poinsettia's to use and found a great shot of a beautiful mixed color plant here.  It was hard to pick just one!  But I used the first image for my inspiration.  Lots of colorless blender, a few reds, Music Impression Plate and some fussy cutting and it was practically done.

Mel really liked it.  Asked if it was our Christmas card for this year.  Only if I manage to color 2 or more a week for the next few months!  I just can't be ok with coloring one and copying it.  I just don't think they look the same.  *sigh*

The other stuff that's been going on:
- A fast trip to Vegas to hang with Sara Mayes - one of the coolest, most interesting people I've been lucky to know.  She was there for RollerCon.
- I'm looking into joining roller derby.  Just being around it so briefly was nearly electrifying!  I'm going to expect everyone to come out to my matches once I start!
- I'm so glad that I met Officer Perea on Thursday rather than Wednesday this past week.  As I mentioned before, when you don't think about something it doesn't happen but when you do, you're doomed to have it occur.
- Additional proof: Wed on my way to Vegas was done top down and generally at speeds over 90 with a top of 120.  (That was when I was passing only.  I swear!!)  I made it in record time - only 4 hours.  Thursday's return trip had the top up (I decided that more sun on my sunburn from the day prior was a bad idea) and the cruise set just under 85.  I was driving much more sedately than my stupidity of Wednesday.  Lost in thought and not paying attention, outside of Kingman he was hiding in some bushes.  Sure enough he pulled out and shortly thereafter hit the lights behind me.  *sigh*  Somehow, miraculously, he just gave me a warning.  If Mel hadn't been mentioning getting a ticket every single time I talked to him on Thurs I'm sure it would have happened.
- Besides the close call with Officer Perea, the colors in the sky as I was approaching Wickenberg were just AMAZING!!  I wish I'd had my camera so I could have tried to capture them.  And I saw two of them most interesting & unusual rainbows in my life.  One was almost like there was a hole torn in the clouds and the rainbow was just peeking thru.

PTI Stamp a faire Challenges #9

I just had to do the last challenge for the Stamp-A-Faire.  This one is so super simple but I really like it.  Even made Mel grin.  I looked at this card of Debbie Olson's for coloring tips. 

Challenge 9 asked us to turn our stamps in a new direction.  Again, this isn't ground breaking but it is different.  I used one of the frame images from Button Bits horizontally rather than the traditional vertical orientation.  I also combined Wonderful Words Additions, Friendship Jar: Spring Fillers & Enjoy the Ride with Fiskars Script Alphabet.  Some Bitty Box Basic paper to add a little more color and it was done.

PTI Stamp a faire Challenges #1, 4 & 7

3 in 1!!  Fitting since I'm watching an episode of Bones that dealt with basketball players.  :)

This isn't the mos innovative take on these challenges but nothing ever said they had to be right?!

Challenge 1 was to create patterned strips, challenge 4 was all about creating with Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartruese, Hawaiian Shores and Enchanted Evening and challenge 7 was to layer images from 2 or 3 sets.

PTI products used for this card: Rhythm & Soul, Background Basics: Sheet Music, wood grain impression plate

PTI Stamp a faire Challenges #5

Right now this means I have 3 more of the 9 challenges to do & I'll have played in all of them.  Even if I'm to late to enter Nichole's contest I may just do them.  I'm enjoying the creative stretching this is providing today.

This one is for challenge 5 that had us creating a border using a non-border style stamp.  I used the Fillable Frame 6 stamp to create the swirly border that houses the apples.  Fruit Fusion: Apple and it's matching die.  I also did a bunch of selective inking to get the various colors on the stamped apple.  The red dot paper is from Bitty Dot Basics.

I'm not sure this is my favorite creation from today but there are things I like about it.  And I'm starting to find some things I like about the photo light box.  It seems that if I have the kitchen & dining room lights on the photos are less shadowed.  And this time I used the macro setting on my camera.  Slowly but surely I'll get it figured out.

I'd also like to share the first card I created today.  Friends of ours unexpectedly and abruptly had to put their dog to sleep.  Even though it's been a number of years since we dealt with this, I know how much this hurts.  It sounds trite, but it really is true that she's still with you and always will be.

This one used the Sending You stamp set & die as well as paper from My Mind's Eye and K & Co with dark brown twine.

PTI Stamp a faire Challenges #6 & 8

I was able to do 2 challenges in one on this card.  And I'd better hurry up production because the challenges close at 10 pm my time!

Challenge 8 had us trimming an inch off of the side of our card.  I wanted to do this with a twist.  Most cards with this design feature usually open on the side across from the short edge.  I choose to have mine open from the top instead.  I've also included challenge 6 that had us use notches to hold twine, ribbon or what not.  This is something I really like and need to make sure to use again.

This card features PTI Distressed Dots paper, Spiral notebook die, Mat Stack 1 stamp and one of the butterfly dies. 

I've left all of the cards I've created today blank, with out sentiment.  So many times I find I need a card quickly but don't have anything ready made or enough time to create something.  Having a stash of blank cards that just need a sentiment stamped on them should help me solve that little problem.  Why didn't I think of this earlier??!

PTI Stamp a faire Challenge 2

Challenge #2 was to create with bright pink & grey.  This is my version.  PTI Bitty Box Basics, Larger than Life stamps & die.  Something else to note - I liked the Half & Half dies from the July release but choose to forgo them for a variety of reasons.  But I did get to wondering if I could use my Spellbinders dies to create a similar effect.  Happily, I can.  This will show up in a future class I'm sure.

Second time taking photos in the light box.  This time it was plenty dark in  kitchen/dining room and I definitely got a different result than the first time.  I took 4 photos all together.  This was the first where the flash popped.  I don't really like the washed out look but the other 3 I liked even less.  One more thing to spend some time playing with.  :)

PTI Stamp a faire Challenge 3

After making home made pancake puppies for breakfast (super yummy!) I've decided to while away the day creating.  And to challenge myself (no pun intended) I've decided to play along with the challenges that Nichole is putting on her blog each hour.  Sometimes I need to be creative that's not related to classes.  These challenges are perfect for getting creativity flowing.

I saw this card on Heather Nichols blog a little while ago and liked the design so much I used it for the most recent DIEnomite! class.  It's just so versatile & classic.  She created another card utilizing the same design and it's the basis of Nichole's third challenge for today.  Here's my take on it.

Plenty of PTI goodies here.  Happy Trails stamp set and die, Picket Fence die & wood grain impression plate, Botanical Silhouettes & Mat Stack 5 die.  One thing I did to keep the continuity between the outside and the inside is that I stamped the butterfly inside the card as well as having it die cut & dimensional on the front.  This made the "trail" make sense whether the card is open or closed.


This is also the first time I've been able to use my new photo light box kit.  Took just a minute to set up.  I'll need to iron the backings so I can get rid of the creases.  Hopefully you'll over look them until I get the chance.  :)  Look for more challenge entries as the day goes on.

August DIEnomite!!

Ok.  I admit it.  I REALLY, REALLY like the technique that I'm featuring in August.  It was hard to choose only 3 variations of it to use to create the projects with. 

Embossing has always been one of my favorite techniques.  But so often I don't have or can't find just exactly the design I want for a project.  Not any more!!  We'll be learning how to create our own embossing "plates" using a wide variety of tools - most of which you've already got!!

Join me in class and we'll talk about tons of options using this technique.  You can see the other 2 projects on the Class Projects tab.  And my complete class schedule can always be found on the left side of the blog.

Hope to see you in class!