Edmonton Fun!

While I have been away there has been another great vintage looking release from the Saturday Evening Post line at CHF! Using my copics to customize the colors I was using in the flower, ric rac and yes, even that jewel flourish was air brushed to match!
Here are the card deets:
Stamps:
The Lady's Future (SEP), Newspaper Ads (Scrapblocks), The Shoe Boutique (Rummage Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Slate Adirondack (Ranger),Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Paper:
Pink, Black, Simply Smooth White (Prism)
Accessories:
Copic Markers, Air Brush System (Copic), Flowers, Jewels (Prima), Pearl Brad (Making Memoires), White Ric Rac, Stitching

Here is a close shot of the coloring. I wanted to draw your attention to the areas which fade away to almost white. I LOVE my new light markers and they add beautiful contrast to the lady's dress and wrap!
Do you notice the pebbles in the ground coloring. Simply done with the side of the brush tip of my blender pen.
She was so fun to color!

I loved the sentiment that I paired up with her as I....tend to be a SOLE woman too! I bought the cutest shoes here at West Edmonton Mall and yes, they were comfortable with me standing ALL DAY! Sometimes hard to find in a "cute" shoe!













Here is a shot of the ladies I had the privilege of teaching today at the certification event in Edmonton. I had everything from store owners to instructions and crafting fanatics! Such a diverse group of women and talents....we had a lot of fun!
I just HAD to have a photo with Christine Okken! Her and I overlapped in our time on the Dirty Dozen and it was such a treat to meet her in person.....what a sweetie!

Well, we are on the road heading back for home...it has been a BUSY month! 3 Certification events and 6 card classes.....now I can put my feet up as the kids go back to school! Looking forward to playing in my studio again!

Thanks for all the fun ALBERTA!

Calgary FUN!

Yes, I'm still here....well not really "here". I am still on my "Alberta Run" of copic delight! I have been having a blast meeting so many people and spreading my coloring passion to all in my path. How fun is that?!!!!
Calgary being my old high school stomping grounds was particularly fun. I was able to show my kids around the sites of my childhood.
The weather has been FABULOUS...we had a great time at the Calgary Zoo!
Here are a couple of shots from the certification.....

I was able to meet the extremely talented Amy R. and Julie B! They were so fun to have in the class and filled me in on the big shopping extravaganza event happening in Calgary. They just opened a new "MEGA MALL" out here, yes, calgarians are serious about their shopping...(much to my daughter's delight!). Thanks girls for coming, it was such a treat to meet you!

Another wonderful attendee....the fabulous Laura F! Laura and I both served on the DD together so it was especially wonderful to meet her!

I was so blessed to teach card class at two FABULOUS scrapbook stores. I taught 2 card classes at Scrapbookers Paradise (where the certification was held) and had a fantastic time meeting their staff and customers! Thanks to Leslie and Sandy who made my time so wonderful!

This card is from the great team at Scrapbook Pantry! I had the privilege of teaching 3 classes in their location. Crystal and Shannon were awesome and helped me so much in the setting up and taking down of my classes. Thanks girls! Would you look at the fabulous "FADING AWAY TO WHITE" work done on this card....the gray grounding is wonderful!

I am now sitting in Edmonton. The family taking in the Edmonton mall yesterday. Thunder and Lightning show in the evening....perfect timing as an ACDC concert was being held at Commonwealth stadium. We were LUCKY to find a hotel room! It was a little scary of a hotel but at least it had a bed and we weren't sleeping in the car!
We are hitting the waterpark and more fun as I gear up for Saturday for another certification.

Ahhh, what a ride!

Dirty Dozen August Challenge

I am officially on the road....but I made this post ahead of time for you to enjoy today....I'm sending you a little sunshine!
It has been a while since I have been able to participate in the monthly "Dirty Dozen" challenges so it was a joy to just sit and color as Val only set a few parameters for the challenge.
We were challenged under the theme "THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER", we were required to use a dog image.....I haven't used this set from MFT in a long time and I just go ahhhh when I look at the tranquility that it speaks to me. It is called "by the seashore". It is also celebrate MFT day today too....so I am 2 for 2 today!
The other required element was to use oranges and yellows...I thought this new paper from Cosmo Cricket was perfect! It is called "Earth Love" and this stripe is just plain beautiful!

Here is a close up of the coloring. I colored it all with copic markers and I used a lot of the palette technique. The colors on the hat YR31, YR18 are VERY far apart but blend nicely using this technique.
I used a lot of W grays for shadowing as well.

I hope I bring a little of this gorgeous sunshine along with me to Alberta....it's beautiful and a lovely way to close down the summer.

Alberta here I come!

Monday, Monday

Times are a changin'.....I am sure you have read about all the changes going on with Cornish Heritage Farms. I wanted to let you all know where I fall in that piece of the pie.
For the last few months I have been working with Cornish images more on the publication front rather than the monthly releases front. This has allowed me a little more time to work with the images that I am particularly drawn too....which I love! I will be continuing in this great role for CHF.

So what is changing for me? I am no longer exclusive to Cornish so I am free to work with other stamp designs. I love CHF, and you will still see a TON of that on my blog, but it also allows me the opportunity to work with other stamp designs that I love....
So you will begin to see other companies on my blog too!

I'm also posting today to let you know my blogging may be relatively sparse over the next couple of weeks as I travel to Calgary and Edmonton to do certifications and card classes! Lucky me, my family gets to come along...so it is a bit of a vacation too!

No worries, I will be back in the full swing of things come September when my kiddos return to school.

I just finished a FABULOUS weekend at Clipper Street. The certification on Saturday was so fun...the women were awesome! The card class Sunday was the icing on the cake of my weekend! We had a great time coloring and making projects together! Thank you to Clipper Street for the use of their fabulous facility and a friendly helpful staff that made the weekend a pure joy!

I had the pleasure of meeting Carolyn Peeler on the weekend who works with Melissa Frances. She is so sweet! So I thought I would post some tags that I made using some of their fabulous paper that I have horded for a couple of years! Yup, I admit, sometimes it is hard to use supplies that are so pretty to look at....you ever find that? It was high time I made good use of these awesome tags!
Here are the deets:
Stamps:
Evergreen Holiday (ATC), Night Before Christmas (Rummage Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Distress Inks (Ranger)
Clear Resist Pad (Ranger)
Paper:
Manilla Tag (Office Depot)
Patterned Paper Tags (Melissa Frances)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Vanilla Embossing Powder
This is a close up of my favorite tag.


Whew....thanks for the listen on all my info this morning...I'm looking forward to having my hubby along on the next couple of certifications. He said he would come in and snap a couple of photos for me....I bring my camera but never get a chance to snap pictures! So hopefully I will have some to share with you in the near future!

Have a fantastic week!

Cherry Baby!

I could not wait to order this set! I have a little thing for cherries and couldn't wait to get my colorin' hands on it! Very cute images this is the first one that I gravitated towards (the bowl of cherries). You can find this set at Taylored Expressions. I knew I had the most awesome paper for this project in my stash...this is "early bird" by Cosmo Cricket. I used the cherry background for my main panel and then flipped the paper over and usedthe other side for my strip across the middle. I stamped the fun cherry border on it as well. The pieces of paper with the images stamped on it are intially white....until my markers and airbrush get a hold of em'! I decided to accent the "berry" in the sentiment by just swiping a strip of copic color across the middle using the chisel end of my marker.

Here is a very close shot of my bowl full of cherries. I used Y21 for the centers.
Tip:
When coloring an object...think first of your light source (mine coming from the left). Don't be afraid to leave some parts of your image white. It makes the cherries appear shiny (maybe just recently washed).It also adds a pop of visual interest and gives a watercolor look.

For the cherries I used R24, R29. I also used a little of my clear spica pen in there as well. The bowl is BG10, BG23. I needed to use the tip to tip technique to blend in my line.

I then used my C00, C1, C3 to shade around my cherries and bowl. I completed it by using my airbrush and did an all over swipe of E50 then came back with my E11 to do a darker hit on the right side.

The leaves are YG91, YG93, YG95....a beautiful olive color blending family for greenery.

Here is the sketch so you can play along in TAYLOR'S challenge.
Don't forget to see what the rest of the sketch crew came up with:
Stephanie Hargis: Steph's Stampin' Stuff
Vicki Chrisman: This Art that makes me Happy
Jami Sibley: More is More
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink A Stamp
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
The sketch sampler this week is Julie Lacey. You can find her blog HERE!

Alright...off to blurf! Looking forward to the certification class I'm teaching tomorrow and card class the following day in Langley....gonna be a blast!
Have a great weekend!

Variegated Fall Fun

What a fun challenge Julia presented us today on SCS.....variegate it! My whole card started with my little crocheted flower that I made out of variegated embroidery floss....
I also decided it would be fun to make my jewel flourish variegated..so out came my airbrush system from copic. I took the main colors that I used in my image to spray my jewels. (Y21,Y26,YR65).
My image was colored on white paper, then I sprayed the whole paper (when done coloring) with my E11 marker and added touches of Y26 to the areas of shadow (the right side of my image)
I wanted to show you a close picture of this cute scarecrow's outfit. I colored it and then added texture with my blender pen (giving a little crosshatching look).
Here are all my stamp and supply deets:
Stamps:
Autumn Trees (Kim Hughes Collection) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko)
Paper:
Earth Love (Cosmo Cricket)
White (Neenah)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Air Brush System (Copic)
Jewel Flourish (Prima)
Crocheted Flower (Made by me)
Brad (Basic Grey)

See you tomorrow for Taylor's sketch challenge!

Happy Hump Day....

How about a little tickle to the funny bone?...
This is a really fun trio I created with one of my favorite sets from Kim Hughes "Ocean Friends". I used the scraps I have left from Cosmo Crickets' "Girl Friday" collection. I stamped and colored with my copics DIRECTLY ON THE PATTERNED PAPER. It worked really well...so don't be limited to only one kind of paper when using your copics...make sure you experiment! You can click on the photo for a larger picture....hope you have a fun giggle of a day!

A little disclaimer:
I know the photo is a little fuzzy....oh I HATE that! These cards hit the mail before I took another photo so alas, this photo will have to do.....yuck, sorry bout' that! The "cute" factor of the cards won over my embarrassment of a bad photo...lol!

Thomas Kinkade Farm!

Look what is coming to "the farm" next week (August 18th)...it's a Thomas Kinkade farm! My in-laws have been painting their barns this last month to a pretty red like this one....

I colored it with my copics and then toned the whole image down with my W2 marker.
I even layered this card up on my Thomas Kinkade paper, the trees in the background adding the country feel.
You are even getting a little extra sneak peek at the new TK sentiment set that will be released later in the month!

Here are all my card deets:
Stamps:
Sunset at Riverbend Farm(Thomas Kinkade) Thomas Kinkade Scripture I (Mona Lisa Moments) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Espresso, Snowcap Adirondack (Ranger)
Paper:
Simply Smooth White (Prism)
Thomas Kinkade Patterned Paper (CHF)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Wood Flourish (Kaisercraft)
Crocheted Flower (Made by me)
Velvet Flower (Maya Road)
Microbrad (Creative Impressions)
Stitching
Corner Rounder (Marvy)

Enjoy your day!

Color Demo

I am in the throws of getting ready for copic certifications for the next 3 weekends....here is a little peek at the fabric demo I have prepared for the certifications. This is stamped on a medium sized canvas bag and I will color it in at the certifications and one lucky participant will take the cute bag home!
I used the newest release from the Kim Hughes line at Cornish Heritage Farms. This is called "Autumn Trees". It will be fun to color in that trunk and all those fall leaves. You will be amazed what your markers can do with fabric!

If you want to get in on the certification event there is still space that is open to the public for EDMONTON! That one is August 29th! E-mail me if you would like an application.

See you there!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #77!

Little pats on my back as this week I followed Taylors sketch a little closer...
This is a fun new set that is coming to the farm August 11th! Really neat as typography is smoking hot in the papercrafting world right now. My brother would be so proud...he has a special passion for typography as a graphic artist in Vancouver. I am noticing these worlds collide more and more as a new crafters letterpress machine was introduced at CHA...going to have to get a closer look at that!

I added some fun office elements such as the paperclip and the dymo label gun. Did you know those letter stickers are normally green? I just went over them with my copic markers as I wanted black letters. I also added some extra highlight to my HOT PINK typewriter with my E50 markers. I airbrushed the center to draw your eye in!
The center circle is very sturdy as well. I mounted a piece of cardstock on a piece of maya road chipboard....mimicking all those fun and funky circles in the graphic 45 paper. You can find this line of paper from my friends Joy and Daisy at Eclectic Paperie!

Here are all my card deets:
Stamps:
On the Desk (Rummage Bin) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Cherry Pink Versacraft (Tsukineko)
Antique Linen, Black Soot Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper:
Communique (Graphic 45)
Natural Smooth, Black (Prism)
Accessories:
Air Brush System, Markers (Copic)
Mini Paperclip (Tim Holtz)
Ribbon (Making Memories)
Circle Chipboard (Maya Road)
Letter Stickers (Basic Grey)
Dymo Labeler

Here is the sketch so you can play along in TAYLOR'S challenge.
Don't forget to see what the rest of the sketch crew came up with:
Stephanie Hargis: Steph's Stampin' Stuff
Vicki Chrisman: This Art that makes me Happy
Jami Sibley: More is More
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink A Stamp
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity
The sketch sampler this week is Janet Marks! You can find her gallery HERE.


Off to blog hop! Enjoy your weekend!

My Story

Yes, I can't quite get enough of this little girl! She is one of my new favorites...I thought this fun clear label was perfect for her as she is reading her book! Simple design for this one. I colored and cut out the little girl and placed her over my clear label. The little alphabet border from Cosmo Cricket was a fun accent too!

Busy days lately, trying to get everything just so for the copic certifications. You won't hear a lot from me in the month of August. I am also enjoying a bit of family time in the tail end of summer.....

Here are all my deets:
Stamps:
School Primer (ATC) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Paper:
Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket)
Black, White (Prism)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Rectangle Brad (Karen Foster)
Chipboard, Sticker (Cosmo Cricket)
Clear Label (My Little Yellow Bicycle)
Felt Flower (Making Memories)
Pinking Sheers

See you friday with Taylor's Sketch Challenge!

Simple Gift Packaging

Need something quick and simple for gift packaging? I have a niece with a birthday coming up and needed some cute little wrapping. The little purse is from the $ store so I embellished it with my stamps and copics. Stamping and coloring on fabric is so fun because you can coordinate your items. I used the same markers on the card as I did on the fabric.
Tip: When coloring with your copics on fabric dab the color in. Stay away from the edges as the color will feather out. Just keep dabbing in the center till your color feathers enough to fill the inside of your image.

Here is a close shot of the stamping. For fun I added some doodlebug glitter to my cherries!
Here are all my supplies:
Stamps:
Little Gal, Playful Alphabet (Kim Hughes Collection) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Chocolate, Red Poppy Versacraft (Tsukineko)
Paper:
Pink, Red, Simply Smooth White (Prism)
Accessories:
Copic Markers
Glossy Accents (Ranger)
Red Glitter (Doodlebug)
Ribbon (Offray)
Sewing
Pink bag (Dollar Store)

Enjoy your day!

Fabric Trends

I am seeing more and more fabric showing up on paper creations and I love it! This card has incredible texture IRL....wish a photo could show that all to you!

I started with my sticky back canvas and cut it into a large circle. I also cut out the bird using a Spellbinder die and some of my favorite Michael Miller fabric.
Tip: Run your die through your machine a couple of times when cutting fabric to make sure all the little edges are cut. Don't worry if it frays a little, it adds to the texture and character of the bird.

I positioned my bird on the canvas circle and then stamped the sentiment in embossing ink. Covered both the bird and the circle with embossing powder and heat set. I then removed the bird and used Claudine Hellmuths' Studio paints to paint my canvas (I used the modern red color...perfect with the turquoise of my bird). The embossing resisted the paint. I peeled off the back of the sticky back canvas and adhered it to a vanilla layer of cardstock and then trimmed the cardstock to size. This is a standard sized card.
Add the bird back (lining it up with the sentiment) and the fun felt branch leftovers from yesterday's card.
The button with the single hole worked great for the "eye" as well.
A little bit of decorative stitching and that is it! I loved the bold handmade nature this card gives.
Here are all the product details:
Stamps:
Big Inspiration (Mona Lisa Moments) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
Versamark (Tsukineko)
Paper:
Vanilla, Suede Brown Dark (Prism)
Sticky Back Canvas (Claudine Hellmuth)
Accessories:
Studio Paint (Claudine Hellmuth), Clear Embossing Powder, Fabric (Michael Miller), Button, Felt Branch (Prima), Bird Die (Spellbinders), Sewing