Expiramenting ........

Hi everyone! Yup- it's been a while since I posted here- just haven't made the time to get it done.....it really can be time consuming with all the photographing and trying to fight with my hubby and son for some actual computer time.....I guess that's why I post so infrequently lately....sorry. 

This past week I played a bit with making some of my own background paper. I just sat down one day and got out my watercolor paper and some distress inks and other metallic inks I have and thought I would goof around and see what I could create.       
                             
                                                   I ended up making these funky and fun papers!
                           One of these is alcohol inks too (the yellow greenish bluish one in the middle) 
I started out soaking the paper well with water, then just dropped some ink here and there  and moved it around a bit with a paintbrush.....lots of trial an error here. 

Today I finally sat down and got busy creating something with them. There is a color challenge over at Hero Arts hosted by one of the newest hostess's Sally ......and I grabbed one of the papers to make some flowers with.  (Sorry- I forgot to take a picture of that particular paper I used before stamping on it and cutting it up).


                                                  This is what I came up with!



The paper was rather orangey red with a few splotches of brownish yellow here and there. I think I used Scattered Straw, Barn door, Worn Lipstick, and Vintage photo distress inks on this paper. I stamped the Hero Arts small striped flower in white, embossed and cut out, and I added a bit of gold paint to the centers. The stem for the flowers is a Hero Arts stamp "Real Daisy"-stamped and embossed as well. The background is another Hero Arts stamp " Old letter writing" and the "dream" stamp is from Inkadinkadoo.I just love the great multicolored flowers this made!

Next up I made this card using a favorite Penny Black stamp and one of the greenish-blue papers I created.



This just made me think of a rainy Springtime day......hence the sentiment (which was made on the computer). It's hard to see but the paper has a nice splotchy metallic sheen to it that reminds me so much of raindrops.

                                                Here is a much better view.




I sure had fun playing with making my own background papers- I hope you will try it too! I simply cut up some Hero Arts white watercolor paper.....soaked it really well with water....then dropped some distress ink refill ink onto the paper....then moved it around a bit with a wet paintbrush. Then I flicked on some watered down metallic paints I have with another paint brush and let it all dry. I had to try to flatten out the papers using a stack of heavy books and letting it sit  for a few days as the paper gets all warped and funky.....and they still seem a bit warped........thank god for heavy duty adhesive so they actually lay flat!

Thanks for stopping by everyone and hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Inky Hugs, 
Anne

Love you.......

I finally found some inspiration and time to make a card for the current Hero Arts monthly challenge. I happened to come across this cute "love you" stamp by Stampin Up while rummaging through my assorted Valentines stamps and decided to only stamp the sentiment portion and use a  much bigger butterfly from Hero Arts Antique Engraving set.

I just happened to have some turquoise paper laying on my desk and thought I'll just use that as a starting color......then found the lime green ribbon in my stash.I stamped the Hero Arts classic fabric BG using tumbled glass distress ink, and colored the butterfly using Prismacolor markers and added some glittery shine on the lime green sections of the butterfly using my Spica glitter pen. Stamped the old letter writing in just black......and assembled the card using some Spellbinders die cut shapes.

 It kind of seems as though the card needs a little something else......maybe a few turquoise pearls or a little heart somewhere......what do you think? I'll be giving this to my hubby for Valentine's Day- I hope it's not to girly looking.

 

I don't know about you but I'll be watching a bit of the Superbowl later tonight- I'm not much of  a football fan but I better cheer on the GREEN BAY "PACKERS"  seeing I'm a cheesehead!! 

Thanks for stopping by, love getting back in the groove and get creating again. 


Inky Hugs, Anne 

It's been too long!

Hi everyone! If you have been wondering where the heck I am......I have not been on a month long vacation (I wish), I haven't been sick or away for other reasons, I've just been incredibly BUSY!!

Work is going well, in fact I had to work out of town 2-3 days a week for most of January- and my social calendar has been filled with fun things to do every weekend. Been to many MN Wild hockey games, saw a play last weekend, played in a Scrabble tournament (and got totally whooped), been getting together with many friends (that has been way overdue) , even had to go help my brother move at the last minute one weekend! I have also been making a real effort to get to the gym 3-4 times a week and shed some of this extra winter weight that has appeared out of nowhere. So this is my poor excuse for not blogging or getting any cards made- I just simply haven't had the time.

Sorry I have not visited all of your blogs much either......feel really bad about that.

I did force myself to take some time and sit down and participate in one of the Hero Arts 90 minute scrambles a few weekends ago, and this is the kind of fun and silly card I made for that.



I pulled out my Hero Arts woodgrain BG stamp, grabbed a Stampin Up heart stamp and randomly stamped all over that, then thought I would try to color this silly looking Cupid quickly! Got out the Copics and colored that image as best as I could feeling the time crunch. The card had to include a frame so I used my white gel pen to make a simple dotted border. I had this whipped up in 30 minutes!! I LOVE these quick scrambles.....really gets the heart rate going and the creative juices flowing.

I hope to find the time and energy to get some more cards made in February- looking over my calendar it's going to be another busy month......have to get those dreaded taxes ready quickly ( ughh!) and have more fun things scheduled to go do on the weekends! Miss you all and hope to be back in the next week or so with some more creations!

Oh yeah, I had my own birthday this month (I turned 43) and I must admit really I don't like getting another year older- EEEK!!

Inky Hugs, Anne

Goodbye 2010- hello 2011

Well it's time for another year to come to an end.......I'm always a bit sad and kind of glad at the same time. I'm not much for going out on New Year's eve and celebrating- we are real home bodies and just stay put. We like to either play cards/games with friends or just lay low and watch a movie. If the weather is warm enough we might go blow up a few fireworks.......either way but I'm usually falling asleep by 11:00 anyways and miss all the midnight fun!

 I do want to look back and reflect on 2010 a little bit. Overall it was a rather good year! It started out rather tough......I was still searching for work and life was a bit stressful as money was extremely tight. Then out of the blue one day in April I got called about a job...... and a few weeks later I was back to work! This was a huge adjustment for me as I had been home for 5 years raising my son. It took a quite a bit of getting used to (my confidence level was very low and getting daycare set up was awfully stressful) but my boss was very understanding and and so was my dear husband. I've been working part time since May and  I absolutely LOVE- love- love my new job! This has been the biggest highlight of 2010 for me and my family!

I think 2010 was a wonderful year for me for learning new and different card making techniques. I have learned so much from Jennifer McGuire and all of her wonderful videos, and have also learned so much from my wonderful Flicker friends. Jennifer's thinking inking series were amazing and I made several cards using the techniques learned.

Here are a few of my favorite cards from 2010- using some new favorite techniques!





Both of these use the technique to stamp your image on watercolor paper- color with distress inks, and then spray Perfect Pearls on generously!

This next card uses the technique of inking up your acrylic block with distress inks and spraying with water before stamping.



Here are a few more favorite cards from 2010 created by me!









And here are a few more favorite cards from other incredible talented stampers that I admire so much..........and wish I had one tenth of their talent!

The AMAZING Carole!


Ultra talented Jenn B (I got to meet her at Scrapfest.....and she is such a  sweetheart)



Kathy's fabulous creations!



Jill- who is the queen of distress inks and amazing color combinations!


I wish you all good health and many blessings in 2011. I hope to get more stamping and crafting done and can't wait to see all of your creations in the coming year! Have fun celebrating the new year and stay safe my friends!

Throughout the rest of this year and all of 2011......

May you always make the right moves.
May your cup runneth over with love.
May you always find shelter from any storm.
May you remain good looking and looking good!


Inky Hugs, Anne

New Stamps and a new technique

Hi all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa was good to you. We had a wonderful time with family yesterday and we are just relaxing and trying to recover today.  My son is playing with all of his new toys and I'm playing with some new Hero Arts stamps I picked up at Archivers just before Christmas.

I got these yummy stamps and had to make at least one quick card with them.

I just love this beautiful flower bird garden stamp and happened to see a video by Jennifer McGuire where she shows a new technique of painting in the image using distress inks and Liquid Pearls.

Here is her card that inspired me to ink up this stamp right away- isn't it a beauty!

I basically cased her card ( so little time and not much mojo either) but I used my new background stamp and changed up the colors to be a bit more cheerful (I was thinking bright and happy spring colors).

I stamped the image using Versamark- then heat embossed it using detail white embossing powder. I used my distress inks in the colors wild honey, spiced marmalade, and barn door to watercolorcolor the flowers. I don't have Liquid Pearls so I just added a bit of pearl white paint to the mix. The flowers and stems have a really nice shine and shimmer now- it was fun and easy to add the paint right into the mix of ink and water.

                                 You can see a little bit of the shimmer here in a close up shot.

Make sure you check out Jennifer's's video to see the technique I used-  it is so easy and quick to paint the image like this....plus you get amazing results!

Now I'm off to go eat some more Christmas cookies( still have dozens left)  and then go play a game of bowling or tennis on the new Wii with my son....maybe I can talk him into just watching a movie instead.  Thanks for stopping by and hope you get to relax today after your Christmas celebration....I don't know about you but I'm wore out from running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the last week.

Inky Hugs, Anne