Stampfest Orlando Specimen Box Collage Class

Four days in Orlando in June...I say it every year, ... hot, humid & wet.  I think it rains multiple times per day in Florida whether I'm there or not, so I know I'm not singled out, yet that's how it feels.

The sponsor of Stampfest is Just For Fun, and once again Debby pulled out all the stops for everyone.  Shirts this year were tie-dyed and fabulous, in my colors!

My Specimen Box Stencil Collage Class was a huge hit, and the end results were all unique and fabulous.  But of course the best part is always seeing the smiling faces and knowing that everyone enjoyed themselves.

I asked my students to bring their own palette of dye based ink pads, in colors of their choosing, so it was interesting to see the combinations.

The making of each background piece is always fun, watching them follow my directives, trying to decide what I'm up to and why I ask them to do certain things.  But when the assembly begins, they get it and they love it.

Here are a couple of perfect examples of what I notice in my classes.  We're all drawn to specific colors and the ones we choose for our art are often the ones we choose for our wardrobes.

If you love purple, you love it in all aspects of your life.

Just look at that stack of Ranger Adirondack ink pads.  Warms the heart, doesn't it?

As with all my classes I brought along supplies for everyone to play with such as drywall tape, punchinella, and my favorite of all, Clearsnap's Magic Stamp, formerly known as Penscore.  I'd impressed a tapestry image rubber stamp into each rectangle, and it was a great addition.  And of course each participant got to keep all those stamping tools.

Just look at this blouse and the color palette on her pieces.  I tell you, we know what we like!

Here was a mother/son duo that were quiet and hardworking and then wowed us with their finished masterpieces. 

Below are photos snapped throughout the class, while they were busy inking and stamping, creating those different pieces that would become the end results showcased proudly in their specimen boxes.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended this class and had fun with me.  I enjoyed your company and enthusiasm immensely.

STARS are busy girls too

Big changes are taking place in my studio.   There are new lights, a new shelving unit to hold that oversized paper & chipboard I bought months ago, and furniture has been rearranged yet again.  In addition to all that, I'm working on my kits for the 3 upcoming classes at Stampfest in Orlando.  I host STARS, my stamp club on Thursday, the 16th and then fly out on Thursday, the 23rd. 

And that made me realize I didn't post photos from May's meeting to show you what a creative group of girls attend each month.  The first photo above was made by Sharon.  Don't you love those flowers?  And this photo was a mini book Michele made to fit an altoid tin for her mother.  You know how much I love teeny books.  Just check out those backgrounds.

Joyce had shown her mother-in-law how to make the never-ending cards, so of course she brought one for show & tell.

This was our project one month when Joyce
was hostess, though we didn't use glitter.  You know that's strictly forbidden in the studio.

Ophelia, who doesn't make it to meetings anymore, has been doing demos at Jerry's Art-O-Rama for some time now.  Michele has been to watch and brought her own art journal, with pages she'd decorated, inspired by Ophelia.

So even though you're not here with us, you're still part of the club!

I handed out chipboard row houses at the April meeting, challenging the girls to make something with them.  And then of course I forgot about it completely and didn't even do one myself.

But Joyce remembered and made this fabulous little vessel with houses all around, backed by yellow cardstock to add light in the windows.

Laurie had stumbled upon a fabulous deal on scrapbook paper at Michael's (a penny a sheet!!), so she'd made this little bag and added the row houses as an embellishment.

And Michele created a masterpiece that isn't complete, but the imagination this required was astounding!

Here's the back view showing the stripes of the paper on the inset houses.
And if that weren't creative enough, take a look at the art made with Clearsnap's Penscore/Magic Stamp and the lid of a Downey bottle.

There's nothing like gathering once a month with a group of talented girls to make you want to be creative.  If you're not already in a club, and can't find one nearby, you should start one of your own.  The fun can't start until you do.


Stampaway Art House Sample

When I'm designing classes I try to use old & new products, but I also want to offer a unique project that hasn't been done before.  I designed a similar house to this for a CHA project, but needed to expand on that idea for a full length class and this is a sample of the first house I designed for the upcoming Stampaway convention in August.

Of course this isn't finished, but at least it gives you an idea of what we'll be doing in the class.  Inking & painting, spritzing & staining, and so many fun things.

Years ago at an antique festival I found an entire box of old movie theatre tickets and raffle tickets for a bike.  They were certainly aged, but again, I tend to look at potential rather than dirt.  Once I decided to add Tim's Tissue Tape the old tickets were an obvious choice for roof shingles.  Don't you agree?

And of course I had the chance to play around with the new Eco Board, which inks beautifully and stamps even better.  Just check out those faces!  Divine.

I'll be back with another totally different house later.  Thanks for visiting.

Cigar Box Storage

As many of you know, I collect wooden cigar boxes.  A year ago I found 4 oversized boxes that measure 22x7x5, and though I wasn't sure at the time what I'd do with them, I knew potential when I saw it.   Recently I had 3 ladies in the studio on a Saturday and it seemed the perfect opportunity to pull these boxes out of storage.  Ophelia didn't stay for the play date, taking hers home instead, but Sharon & Lynda stayed, and what a time we had.  If you think I'm not serious about my art I should tell you we began work on these around 2:00 and they didn't leave for home until 8:45pm!!

Each box is  divided inside so that 5 varieties of individually wrapped cigars could be showcased in each section.  So of course that spoke to me as a new home for my Ranger Distress Stains, Dabbers, & Dimensional Pearls, plus my Clearsnap Smooch and Smooch Spritz.  Of course the box isn't anywhere near large enough to hold my entire stash of those products, but you get the idea.  Attractive storage!

Mine isn't finished of course.  It was one of those days when I was so busy scrambling to find the perfect embellishment for their boxes that I couldn't even slow down to think of my own.  Mind you I have oodles of ideas, and one of these days it will be finished, but better to show you photos now of my work in progress than to wait for the end result.

The top is hinged and can be left open or closed, depending on the height of the products I store inside.

I chose decorative scrapbook paper by K&Company that would coordinate with the yellow lacquered finish on the box, allowing me to leave the edges unfinished and still have a lovely result.  On Sharon's box she used Tim's Tissue Tape on all exposed edges, and Lynda used ribbon.

Lynda brought hers as part of her show & tell at this month's stamp club meeting, so below are photos of hers, already filled with goodies.

Pretty fabulous, right?

Today my plan is to showcase my house class I'm teaching at this year's Stampaway convention, but I wanted to show you these first.

Do come back, won't you?

Busy girls are happy girls

I have a rubber stamp that says "time flies whether you're having fun or not", and I tell you, I'm having fun.  I know I've been away a very long time, but I'm back now like a woman on a mission.  Let's start with a few photos of recent endeavors.

My local stamp club had a challenge to make a mini book with no theme or guidelines, but plenty of time to think & plan, and then create.  But if you know me at all, you know I don't work that way.  Instead I carry on with life until the deadline arrives.  So the day before the meeting I went to work. 

I'd gotten new papers from 7 Gypsies after January's CHA Show, so I wanted to include those.  And Tim had given me a set of the new Ranger Distress Stains to try on my wooden bangles & beads, so I knew those had to be used.  And then I went for my stash of saved toilet tissue rolls!

First, I flattened them with my hand, then brayered the edges with a wooden brayer sold at Home Depot for wallpaper seams.  Worked beautifully on the cardboard tubes!

I used the Stains to color the ends of the tubes that I planned to leave exposed, and they took the colors beautifully.  Next I cut my papers, wrapped them around the tubes and creased them, removed them to add adhesive, and then adhered them.

The tags are a combination of inked and collaged mini works of art.  I used my Bind-It-All to create the book, added my ribbons to the tags and collaged the wrapped tubes. 

The final step was to add wired ribbon as my closure.  Best of all, because it has the wire to hold the shape, I can slip it off to open the book and then slide it right back on without ever untying the bow. 

I'll be back later to show you a few more things I'm working on these days.  I'm teaching 3 classes at Stampfest-Orlando in June so guinea pig classes are about to take place in the studio.

But this week I'm working on samples for my Stampaway classes in August.  I designed an 8" house with a frame on the front to display small works of art.  But because its 3D, I have all those sides & the roof screaming for creativity.    I've got 3 of them that are all totally different but totally fabulous.  Check back on Friday to see those!