May Arts Plaid Ribbon Challenge - Enter to Win!

Want to win some free ribbon?  Follow this link: http://www.mayarts.com/blog/show-us-your-plaid-challenge-entries to see my complete entry (#10), along with all the others, for the recent May Arts Plaid Challenge. Enter a comment on the May Arts Blog with your favorite project (hopefully mine!) and you will be entered in their drawing.

As an added incentive, if I win, I will also be giving away some free ribbon so keep watching my blog to see what happens!

Thanks for your support!

Holiday Card

Looking for a little last-minute holiday inspiration?  This card is elegant yet simple.  A few quick score lines, a bit of sheer ribbon and a die-cut dove provides the backdrop for the season-appropriate verse.

The verse is embossed using Judikins gold detail embossing powder and the stamp is from Verses Rubber Stamps.

A gift for the holidays

Recently, I made some gifts for friends - a box of handmade monogrammed greeting cards.  Being in the holiday mood, I thought it would be fun to do a twist on the traditional cards and nestled the monogram circle in a "forest" of trees. 

I hope you are on schedule with your holiday plans.  If not, why not whip up a quick batch of notecards?  Some beautiful ribbon, holiday printed paper, a few die cuts and a quick stamped initial and you're ready to go.  Not sure who your recipient will be?  Replace the initial with an appropriate short greeting and you'll have a wonderful surprise at the ready in your gift closet.

The trees and circles are from Accucut; the ribbon is from May Arts and the monogram border and initial are from Just Rite Stamps.

Happy holiday crafting!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm a big fan of Rosie's Roadshow stamps because they are small and very interactive.  You can easily combine the designs to create a custom look for your greeting cards.  The verse on the inside of this card??  "Don't let the turkey get you down."

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank each of you for visiting my blog.  And, I want to say a special "Thank You" to all who have attended my classes this year.  I appreciate your support and the creative spirit you share with me.

Cheaper by the Dozen Contest Winner

This fun birthday card was created by Kathy Walch and won the 3rd quarter CBD contest.  It's a spinner card and the little golf ball on the front rolls across the green by simply tilting the card.  The inside carries the golf them with a message of "Happy Birdie".

If you have attended one of the CBD classes this quarter, don't forget to submit your entry to me by January 1!

USAQ DT Challenge - Studio Cloth

Finally!  I must say that when I started this project I didn't anticipate just how long it would take so I do apologize to all of you and my DT mates for the very long delay in getting the last USAQ DT challenge project completed and posted.  But, I must say it was certainly worth it.  I just the love the results of this awesome tote bag!

While the project was not particularly difficult, I did have a few learnings along the way that I thought I'd share with you before I give you the step-by-step detail.

• First, plan ahead - mostly for the drying time needed between steps and for each side.
• Second, test your background colors against the napkin you plan to use.  I found that while my colors all coordinated beautifully, the thin top layer of the napkin was no match for the purple and green backdrop so I simply used my pigments to enhance the image.
• Third, make sure you have enough of the materials you will need for the project - paint, PPA, etc.
• Finally - have fun!

Now for the instructions:

• Gather your supplies - a tote sewn from Studio Cloth, Perfect Pigments, PPA Matte and Gloss, napkin, foam brush and paint brushes, Crystal Effectz
• Apply the Perfect Pigments to the tote - be careful to let each side dry completely before you lay it down and move on to the next side - to create the background
• Add images from your napkin using PPA matte and a foam brush; let dry 
• If desired, enhance napkin images with Perfect Pigments and a paint brush or Fine Liner; let dry
• Give the tote a final coat of PPA Gloss, sprinkling in Crystal Effectz while wet
• Sign and date your masterpiece with the Fine Liner

Here's the flip side of my fun tote.  I hope you'll try this project and send me photos of your finished piece!

And the Winner Is . . .

At long last, I'm finally getting around to posting the winners from the 2nd quarter "Cheaper By The Dozen" card contest.  If you don't know what the contest is all about, you can find the details here.

The first place winner is . . Barb Voelkel.  Barb's card is a twist on the easel card we did in class.  What you can't tell from this photo is the amount of time Barb invested in making this card - she popped the butterflies and repeated the theme on the inside of the card and envelope.

And, for this contest we also had a 2nd place winner . . . Marlene Leugers.  Marlene's card is a twist on the card we made using a template cut from the Nestabilities scalloped rectangle.  Instead of sponging color inside the "frame" portion of the template, Marlene used the die cut shape and sponged color around it, leaving the center white.

Congratulations to Barb and Marlene and a big thanks to all who played along this quarter.

Don't forget, if you want to play along you need to attend one of this quarter's classes and submit your card(s) directly to me by October 1.