Just Breathe is more than a song title............

Time flies when you're, um, uh having fun???  Is that what the last few weeks have been?  Someone pinch me.  Please.  Maybe I'll wake up. That sounds terribly doom & gloom & unhappy and I don't really mean for it to.  It just feels like I can't catch my breath or catch up with all that's been going on.  Well, unexpectedly and more importantly, unplanned!  I took the day yesterday to just completely veg out.  Or more accurately - read out.

I started reading Insomnia by Stephen King - my favorite author EVER - Thursday night.  And finished it up around 8 o'clock Saturday night.  :)  Bawling like a baby.  Yes, bawling from an SK book.  Try it.  You just might like it.

Here's a run down of what's kept me away from the blog and all my invisible friends - you know who you are!

2 very special by request projects with short time frames for completion.

The first was 60 baby shower invites in about a week and a half.  As soon as I was asked and started talking about design I knew just what was needed.  The adorable Wise Owl & Falling Leaves stamp sets from Papertrey Ink.  The only problem was, I didn't own these sets yet.  I placed my order, made sure to put a note on it that I needed the items as quickly as possible because of the short time I had to create these baby shower invitations and hoped for the best.  PTI came thru in stunning fashion by getting them out to me with in only a few days & that included the shipping!!  Spent a few days playing around with ideas and coloring.  Ended up with all kinds of variations on this theme.

All the cards used the same design but none of them were alike.  One of my favorite things about them I think.  Since time was short I had to use items around me that were easily available - or so I thought - and make it work.  I ended up making trips to 3 different Joann's Etc. stores to find 3 boxes of the DCWV colored A2 card bases I needed.  While I was there I looked around at some of the DCWV paper packs and decided I like the Citrus patterned papers & a stack of colored cardstock.  I colored 6 different Wise Owls with my Copics and scanned them into the computer; stamped 6 of the Falling Leaves and scanned them too.  A little computer foolery and I was able to print out 60 owls and the "branches" to put them on.  Some fancy knife work with my trusty Fiskars Craft Knife (really, the only one I ever use it's so comfortable), a little Spellbinders magic and all 60 branches & owls were ready for assembly.  Final touches for the design included little doilies airbrushed with 6 different Copic markers, stitching to hold the sentiment strip down - again, 5 different colors used on the various card fronts and some "glue time" with Mel & Tricia for final assembly.
If you're curious about the color scheme I keep referencing and the inspiration for the whole thing this is it.  Aubrei is decorating the baby's room with this theme and ordered this wall decal (sorry, I'd give credit but I have no idea where it's from) with a plum colored trunk and teal leaves in place of the light pink ones pictured here.  Kinda cute, huh?  I think the shower invites did a good job of mimicking this theme.  And I'm brewing ideas for her gift that continues the same thing.....



The other custom project was a bit more unusual.  :)  A friend of ours had been asked to create a bar area in a local bike shop/club that he belongs to.  And he asked me if I'd be willing to do some of my "artsy-fartsy, paste eating stuff" to it to add the logo.  No restrictions other than the name and logo needed to be included.  I KNEW my Copics were the only way to go with this and let it start percolating in the back of my head.

The whole thing probably only took me 2 - 3 hours max.  Cutting out the paper stencils took longer than anything else.  Here are a few pics during the creation  :)

Anti-Hero Cycles w/ logo - Gothic 32 font used

close up with some of the color added

flame stencils

coloring the flames - I really liked these flames since there were both positive & negative parts to them - much more interesting looking once they were colored

Here's the finished project, just waiting for a clear coat and 2 layers of poly.  I managed to totally surprise our friend with it.  He had no idea it was done.  I'd left a frazzeled message and a couple of emails saying I needed help.  Had him come over to help me, got him sidetracked trying to figure out my new ecraft - ostensibly what I wanted to use to cut out the stencils.  When it wasn't working I suggested picking out colors and then we'd just hand cut the stencils.  After removing all of the papers and markers and other window dressing from the top of the table all he could say was "You already colored it!"  The look of shock, followed quickly by delight was well worth it!!  And the text he got back from the bike shop owner was priceless!!

Colors used: YR24, YR 14, YR18, YR15, 0, N5, N7, N8, T5, R24, R46, R59, Y19, Y38, E19, E49

I'll fill in the rest of what's been so nutty around these parts in another post.  In the meantime, if you know anything about working the ecraft LET ME KNOW!!!