Art Class and WOYWW #156

My workspace is full of watercolor experiments inspired by Marah Johnson's art classes.

Last Friday I attended 2 fantastic art classes led by guest artist Marah Johnson at  The Inspiration Station scrapbook store in Connecticut.  This was my first visit there,  so I was excited to see the shop and take part in a classes that were all about watercolor techniques.  The first class, A Compendium of ATC's,  was a lesson in making several different types of Artists Trading Cards, and the second class, The Art of Whimsical Drawing,  focused on using doodling in artwork.  These are a few of the ATC's that I started last night, using water color paper and Twinkling H2O's, and adding doodling with a white gel pen. The one in the top right corner is the finished one I made in class.  She explained how to make the flowers, and then gave us random book pages to look through and find some interesting quotes to add to the ATCs.

Our second project was all about doodling.  We used old book pages again,  and drew a fish, a bird and a face, adding lots of patterns and details with pens and watercolors.  After looking at Marah's art journal, I was inspired to start my own, and this is my first page.   I've seen so many interesting art journals on the WOYWW desks, and decided to take the leap!  Marah is a great teacher, and travels all over the US leading workshops.  If she is ever in your area, take her class.  Your can read more about her on her blog, and you can see lots of other workspaces over at the Stamping Ground.  I'm trading ATC's, so let me know if you'd like to trade.

I love to read your comments, and always love new followers!
Thanks for stopping by!

Tulip Tag and WOYWW #155

WOYWW #155
I've missed being part of all the fun over at The Stamping Ground.  That is where we all show a little peek of our workspaces.  Computer problems put a crimp in my blogging, and I got behind on everything, but now I am back! 

You can see a tag that I just finished for Tag Tuesday (a week late).  The theme over there last week was gardening, which should have been quick for me, since I have a big garden, but I just didn't get it done until today.  Now I will have to wait to post it until I get this week's done!  Behind that is a card I am making for a bicycle themed challenge, and my rolls of washi tape that I am trying to get inspired to use. 

Here is a close up of my tag, I took that photo in my garden a few weeks ago, I love the way the light was hitting the tulip petals.  I am going to try to utilize more of my photos in projects in the next few months.

Have fun visiting all the desks at WOYWW, you will see lots of interesting things.

Thanks for stopping by!

Old Fashioned Hello

The  Play Date Cafe's latest challenge PDC #132 is to use black and white and a splash of mustard yellow on a card, and this is the inspiration photo-

As soon as I saw it, I wanted to use my pencil set from RedLead that I had bought awhile ago.  I stamped it on some bright paper from Bo Bunny, and colored over the pencil with a darker yellow marker to make it more mustard colored.  I thought it fit well with the "old fashioned hello' sentiment from Hero Arts. 

I've been posting alot today because I was without my computer for 3 days, and got a little behind on my blogging.  This is it for tonight!   

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Bird Love

I like making these 1 layer cards, sometimes they are easier for me than ones with lots of layers.  Over at One Layer Wednesday #88 the challenge is to make a mini-masterpiece, keeping the central image 2 inches or under.  Since I have birds on my mind due to all the action in my yard, I took out my pretty Memory Box Batik Bird stamp and used my Stampin Spots to color it in.  I added "love" at the bottom as a tribute to all the love songs that the birds are singing outdoors.

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Key to Happiness

There are some great springtime colors over at the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Bright Bite. 

Those cookies look delicious and the colors remind me of one of my favorite candies, wintergreen patties.  I always buy some pink and orange mints when we go to a fantastic candy shop in Ogunquit, Maine.  I wanted to recreate the colors in paint so I used my Twinkling H2'0s, and spread swatches of colors across the stamped area of this large Unity stamp.  It's from the same set as the stamps on my last post, called "Key to Joy".

I finished it off by adding a small key with some beautiful pink ribbon.  Don't you love that sentiment?
I am also entering this in the Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge 128.

It was a gorgeous day here in Massachusetts, and the birds in our yard were very busy.  It looks like we have at least 4 different types of birds nesting in and around the yard.  I will give you a cardinal update the next time I post, I want to take a picture of the nest.  You can read more about them in my previous post.
Thanks for stopping by!

Key to My Joy

I've been playing with some new stamps from Unity, and trying out some spatter techniques with some spray inks.  It's a little challenging, because you never know how the spatters are going to turn out, but I love using the spray inks.  For this card, I did all the stamping first, and then sprayed lightly over it.  I was using the color palette here from Lily Pad's Kathy's Challenge.  Since there was not alot of images to color in, I thought the spray inks would add just the right touch of orange.  I highlighted the key with some glossy accents.

The colors make a bright and cheery card.  I kept it simple for the Less is More Week 67 Challenge of making a 1 layer card using 3 stamps.  I am also going to enter in Simon Says Stamp Clean and Simple and Unity Friends with Flair, and The Moxie Fab World Spatter Technique Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nest

I had some  inspiration for making this card today from a pair of cardinals right outside my window.  They are setting up housekeeping in the beauty bush  beside the house, and all afternoon the female has been pulling twigs off of the shrub and forming them into a nest.  The male has been perched in a tree near by, overseeing the construction, and each time she flies out of the shrub he sounds like he is scolding her, "Get back to work".  I'm worried, though, because the nest is fairly low to the ground, and my big black cat can probably climb right up to it.  I'm hoping I can get some photos of all this activity, and post them here.  I would love to be able to watch this pair raise a family!

This sweet little stamp of two birds in their nest is from Red Lead, and I made a CAS card with it.  I am joining in with Crazy for Challenges #136, because the inpiration photo here actually made me think of eggs in a nest.  I went with the blues and greens, with a tiny bit of yellow on the patterned paper.

I am also playing along with CAS-ual Friday's CFC 52, Feathered Friends.  If you have been following my blog for a while, then you know that I have a "thing" for bird stamps!  A perfect challenge for me.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Shine Brightly

This lantern set is such a cute one from Lawn Fawn, and it makes an unusual Graduation or encouragement card.  I used markers to color in the lanterns, and gave them a little sparkle with some Stickles.  This clean and simple card is going in the Lawnscaping Challenge #33.

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Eat Cake Tag

Just wanted to make a quick post to share a tag that I made for Tag Tuesday.  The theme was "Baking", and I thought these retro style stamps from Unity would be a good inspiration for a tag.  To make the enthusiastic woman's polka dot dress, I stamped on some patterned paper that had tiny dots on it, perfect proportion for the size of the stamp, and cut on the dress shape and glued it on her.  The cake has stickles and pearls on it to glam it up.  You can see more fun tags over at Tag Tuesday's blog.

Winnings and WOYWW #153

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday

I attended the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention a few weeks ago, and took 7 classses over the two days I was there.  I had a great time learning new techniques and checking out  all the great merchandise the vendors had to offer.  An instructor in one of the cardmaking classes I attended, sponsored by Simply Scrapbooking,  had a little contest at the end of class.  She told us to use our leftover die cut pieces to make an original card design.  She was giving away 2 packages of the new Twinking H2O colors, and a bottle of Radiant Rain Shimmer mist.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I use those Twinks on almost every card I make, and I did not have those sets.  So I kicked into high gear and knocked out the best design I could in the few minutes she gave us, and she selected my card!  This picture shows the 2 packs of colors.  Can't wait to use them!   Sorry for the reflection on the photo, took this in the evening with my ott light, and couldn't get an angle without glare.

Here's the rest of my desk with some cards I am finishing up for Graduations, and some necklaces that I am making to sell at a few local craft stores.

I have not had the chance to play along with Julia and the gang over at the Stamping Ground in the last few weeks, so I am excited to be able to be a part of all the fun today.  Be sure to check it out, and play along.

Thanks for stopping by,  I love to read your comments, and would love some new followers.  I am trying to get up to 50 by the end of May.

Be the Change

I have Graduation on my mind, as my son is graduating from his 4 year Doctor of Chiropractic program this coming Sunday, and we are very excited about it.    I was working on designing some Graduation cards, and came across this nice sentiment from Unity Stamp Company.  I thought this would make unique Graduation card, or it could be sent to someone who is ready to make a change in their life.  I stayed with a bright yellow, with a black mat to highlight the circles and words. 

I am entering this in the Less is More Color Challenge-Yellow.

Thanks for taking a look!

You Make Me Happy

Here's a simple card with a classic country canning jar image.  This looks like a bouquet I would have on my kitchen counter.  I love the blue color of those Atlas canning jars, and I tried to capture that with some light blue Twinking H2O's.
I made this CAS card following the "Less is More" week #65 sketch with stamps from Unity.  I am also posting this in the Mojo's Monthly Floral Frenzy over at La De Dah.

Thanks for stopping by!