Poppy Paperie

I am having a BLAST here at Winter CHA! there is nothing like the excitement of seeing that new product for the first time and getting to meet online friends both new and old...ok..not old as in age... but been friends for a while old! Heehehe! I had a busy past two days with teaching over 250 people 2 different projects. Tomorrow...well, today I will finish with 6 final hours of teaching. Hoping to get about 200 done ...we shall see!

Dinner last night was FANTASTIC!!! there were some crazy time over at the Anaheim Red Robin! I SO loved hanging with some of my SCS buddies and getting to meet some new friends. I loved ... LOVED seeing Joyce's new Bebe boy! the cook had to come out and scoop me up from the floor with a spatula .... one look at that sweet face made me melt like BUTTAH! Emily (waterpixie on SCS) and I headed over to Downtown Disney afterward so I could get my girls some treats... WHAT FUN! I will post an album tomorrow when I get some down time of some of the neat things at CHA and the amazing people I got to visit with! Meanwhile...here is one of Myself and my Friend Nichole Heady as well as my new friend (Giddy) Taylor VanBruggen! I have loved seeing Taylor's work on her blog but is was so fun to meet her...even though the poor girl had to bend down so I could hug her. LOL! I'm on my Tippy Toes in this photo and they are bending WAaaaaay down! heheee!

Also... Here is a little better photo of that Hardware kit by We R Memory Keepers!

Here is a NEW We R Memory Keepers new products. I have to say........ I just about fainted when I walked into the booth! Can you say METAL BABY!

My Internet is really wonky here, so I will try to upload more if the IPS allows it later! Its an amazing show here at CHA!

Bleach with Pearl-Ex

First I wanted to thank you for the kind words about my new adventure! I'm ecstatic over this opportunity! Bethie (Love ya girl!) is correct that I have a full plate. However, this is such a complementary company to the other Manufactures that I work with that I think it will just add seasoning to the plate!

OK...on to the card! this is a card I submitted to Prism for the DT application.

Most stampers are aware of bleaching....as well as bleaching inside the image after it's been embossed. I took this card a step further and mixed in some Pearl Pearl-ex into my bleach solution. The background is achieved by Dry brushing the mixture, swiping it across the cardstock. (this means no water...an you barely load the brush with the mixture) This card was also published in Paper Trends a while back. Dress Image from Stampin' Up!

So today is crunch packing day for CHA... Heehee...that rhymed! I have an entire suitcase filled with supplies for my M&T's. I am totally stressed that I will forget something. (and I will...thats that sad thing) But I know I can make adjustments....but I am still triple checking everything to make sure! My DH is staying home with the kids while I am gone. Three will be in School all day so he will get some nice one on one with Ella (4). She is a sweetie and I suspect he will throughly enjoy that time. (so hard knowing she is our last and that she is growing SO fast...*sigh*)... Off to pack...SO EXCITED! I am hoping to have internet access so I can share the ongoings while I am at the show!

Stay Tuned!

Shabby Shoes and Good News!

so today has been an interesting day so far. Before I get to far into things I wanted to share with you this fun little card I created for the Hampton Art/ Limited Edition catalog.

I used WeR's Boho Chic line and Clearsnap ink. And, of course...Marvy punches! I think this is a fun girlfriend card! notice how I strategically placed the shoe, with the curve of the paper?

Ok...on to the fun news. So I was sitting here working on Write ups and the phone rang. It was Jamie at Prism Papers inviting me to join their Design Team! I was in shock! I applied last minute when they changed the rules that you could use any cardstock... I think I applied within the last hour of the deadline. I have to be honest and say that I felt that it was a long shot and I didn't even get excited about the possibility. I rarely apply to DT's because I don't see many picking up people like me who rarely scrap. I do scrap...but it's typically for a Manuf. and not for publications. (I have had a handful published though) Needless to say, I am really honored to be invited to participate. Prism's cardstock has really grown on me over the last month as I have experimented with it (its great for tearing and stamping, an all around great paper product!)  and I look forward to working with them as a company as well as getting to know the other DT members. I am excited about this additional adventure. This is a great complementary company to the ones that I already design for. Thanks Prism!

Tagged!

I have to start of by saying I have NEVER been able to pick favorites on many things in my life. (My beverage of choice might be the exception)

Ooops...forgot to mention..AmyR tagged me! Hehee!

A - Available or Taken: Married, going on 15 years

B - Best Friend: Chris

C -Cake or Pie: I love it all!

D - Drink of Choice: Diet Vanilla Coke, May it rest in Peace. since it departed i drink Diet coke.

E - Essential item you use everyday: Heated Rice bag to sooth sore muscles.

F - Favorite Color: red, yellow, blue, green and all the secondary and tertiary colors. Oops.. was I supposed to pick one, cause thats not gonna happen.

G - Gummy Bears or Worms: quit asking me to choose...You can't make me! (gummy bears from Germany would be #1 if I HAD too choose)

H - Hometown: nowhere land Alaska

I - Indulgence: sleeping in!

J - January or February: January! best shopping time of the year!

K - Kids & Names:Alex (or Allie), Hannah, Pepper and Ella

L - Life is incomplete without?: moving past the obvious of my Faith and Family...gonna be a geek and say my Cat. he can miraculously sense when I am having a bad day and he sticks to me like glue. it's so amazing to me.

M - Marriage Date: We try to date every week! heehee

N - Number of Siblings: 1

O - Oranges or Apples: Again with the food choice thing? sheesh...I like them both!

P - Phobias or Fears: Hairy spiders, having my Internet go down when I am trying to meet a deadline...having something horrible happen to my girls.

Q - Fave Quote: this is one I think of often. "A basic cause of murmuring is that too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just in front of our destinations!"- Neal A Maxwell

R - Reason to Smile: seeing my girls play together,Friends who love you in spite of your downfalls, Blue skies, Having a design come together just right.

S - Season: Summertime!

T - Tag 3-4 People: Lisa, Emily and Taylor

U - Unknown fact about me: I have no stretch marks on my tummy. (no, I have no clue how it happened either)

V - Vegetable you don't like: Tomato....but I try every year and grow them for my family. Despise mushrooms too.

W - Worst Habit: being a clutterbug... not to be confused with a cuttlebug! LOL!

X - X-rays: full body...sorta a klutz

Y - Your Fave Food: Sheesh...these Fave questions are killer. I had a killer Mango on St. Lucia..does that count?

Z - Zodiac Sign: I think Capricorn but I don't know for sure.

Spring Marvy Uchida Ad

 

I just wanted to share the final AD for the art work I had shown you before. It will first appear in the March issue of Creating Keepsakes. I love the color that they framed it in! I must admit I was a little nervous when they asked me to doodle on the card using their markers. I say this ALL the time... I don't have much magic in my pen! They liked it though... so I was pleased.They were kind enough to forward a comment that Tracy White had made about my projects too. It was very nice to receive a complement from her and I am tickled that she noticed my work!

OK... Who's going to CHA??? I am really looking forward to meeting up with friends and seeing new products. I will be Teaching at the Marvy Uchida Booth Sunday through Tuesday. I will get to walk the show on Weds a little. I really hope I get to bump into some of you! I can't believe it's next weekend... whew! tons to do still!

Ever Wonder what all the differences are?

I mean...with inks? Well, if you are wanting some in depth information about the different type of inks pick up a copy of the current PaperWorks magazine (feb 07).

You will find a fun article written by....*giggle* ...ME in this issue about inks as well as some art that shows off the differences. There is a scrap Page using Pigment, a card using dye and solvent and a Snow-Man in a can project to I know my kids will flip over when it comes back to me. This was a a neat article to do the research for. it was great to get to know the different manufactures of these different inks!

ATC's

I have to admit, I had never done an ATC before this assignment. I had been wanting to try them but there wasn't any need for it until this assignment.

My Assignment as to create 3 ATC cards, very different from each other but using bright colors. I had a lot of fun creating these little cards!

There is nothing like good markers and stickles glitter to just "MAKE" the card! Notice the outline around her dress how it POPS her out? I used several different types of stickles on this card...but the frosted lace adds the elegance to her dress!

Crayon resist was my very first thought when I saw this image. Another amazing designer created on with purple tones and I am very excited to see them together in the catalog! Hers takes the cake!

Now, this one is actually a shaker! I used an exacto knife to ct out the pallet portion of the image and stamped the sentiment onto Transparency. This was a hard one for me to do.

Overall, I had a blast trying my first ATC cards!

Congrats Lisa Strahl!

I was so great to see on Splitcoastsampers that my good friend Lisa Strahl has jumped into the Dirt Pile! She has done an amazing job in debut month as a member of the Dirty Dozen! Way to go Lisa.

In honor of Lisa's induction to the Dirty Dozen...I wanted to share a card that I created in my first few months as a Dirty Girl.

Congrats again Lisa!

Allie Frame

The assignment for this was to create either a scrap page or 3-d item using this Alphabet. I was a bit stumped at first because I am not a "Scripty" gal. SO I decided to not think about it for a little while and browse some blogs. You know what? Every blog that I visited had a name frame featured. After about three...yes, I am THAT slow, It dawned on me *insert slapping forehead* That I could do a name frame with this Alphabet! The frame is from Ikea, I just painted it white and stamped right onto it with Fluid Chalk ink then added some stardust stickles to the center of a few flowers. I used Chestnut Roan to ink the edges for a shabbylicious effect! I love this color combination and am really please how the whole thing came together.

Still cold here in the Northwest! It's in the single digits here at my house. This stresses me out because they keep canceling school. (this means that our summer gets shorter and we might be in school for the 4th of July!) Growing up in Alaska we never, NOT once, canceled school for weather. (you know that saying walking to school uphill both ways in the snow?...Rings true in Alaska!)The concept of a snow day was one I thought that existed only in the movies. I literally cracked up when we experienced our first snow day. I am starting to understand that Alaskans have refined the ability to function in adverse weather...as I'm sure other snowy regions have. I learned how to drive in the snow before I drove on bare streets. I kinda forgot about the years of learning how to read road conditions. So in my city, people aren't prepared, the City isn't prepared and it's hard to put funding toward snowy conditions when it's not typical more than a few days a year. We are having a blast out in the snow though. It's been really fun for the girls to go sledding with friends...and Hot Cocoa seems to be the smile bringer lately. Nothing like warm chocolaty love to warm chilled fingers!

Vintage

Hampton has so really funny sayings... I might send this card to someone who I am really close to that is having a Birthday. I struggled with these images to be honest because they were tall and the only thing that I wanted to do was watercolor them. I used water color crayons with this image. I like the control you get with them. I also love that black crayon for shading!

off topic... HOLY SNOW BATMAN! we have been dumped on again... such a weird winter. Kids are home and I see out summer vacation melt away with every snow day... it's killing me. Summers in the Northwest are what makes it worth living here to me.... they are just to die for! Don't get me wrong... I love snow. but the city here is not equipped to deal with it nor are the residence.

100% two sweet

This kind of designing is my favorite type... being given parameters and expectations. It streamlines the process so much. My assignment for this page was to use the Limited Edition ribbon and stamps together on a scrap page. Scrapping in B&W is my favorite and comes very naturally. And...being the completely biased Mom that I am... It doesn't hurt to have a Beautiful Daughters to photograph! (BTW...thos eyelashes on Ella are from Chris' side of the family!) I used StaZon for this page...both black and white. I LOVE working with transparency sheets and inking them adds a bit of fun for me on top of the initial thrill!

Hampton Art/ Limited Edition Catalog Samples

Green light baby!! I just got the OK that I can share...so over the next few weeks I am going to share some of the samples I was asked to create for the Hampton Art/ Limited Edition 2007 Catalog. I rally enjoyed working on this and the challenge it brought me in working with images that are not typical for me to use.

This card was created with a Limited Edition Asian clear set. Now...this is the first Asian set I have ever owned and it was kinda neat to play with. I stamped onto patterned paper and used markers to fill in her Kimono and trimmed it out.. this was then layered over the stamped image on white cardstock. SU's markers are my favorite for this! The Faith chipboard is  sponged with black and the Asian symbol is stamped on it to tie it in to the theme. I used the Garden collection Papers by We R Memory Keepers. Note the poppies on her kimono?! *Smirk*  You may also notice the subtle visual triangle that leads your eye to the middle of the Kimono. (her head, the brads and the black ribbon)

Have a lovely day!

Congrats to the 2007 We R Memory Keepers Design Team!

I know that there are several of you who applied to this Design Team call.  Congrats to the new Ladies. It's hard to say goodbye to teammates though. I have a new role too. Don't know all the details yet...I am excited to see what it holds.

Hillary Heidelberg		Michelle Van Etten
Jamie Cottrell		Annie Quintin
Cindy Tobey		Donna Bryant Durand
Lisa Garay		Ruth Akers
Diana Lyn C. McGraw		Liana Suwandi

Kristine McKay: Specialty Projects
Kristy Lee: Specialty Projects
Lisa Johnson: Specialty Projects
Kimber McGray: Design Team Publicity

I can't wait to see what magic will flow from your fingers with We R's amazing products...and upcoming products! ;)

OK.... So Stamp It! Spring 2007 is about to hit newsstands! Trust me when I say...if you love stamping this IS the issue to get! I know several of the designers that had work accepted for this issue and they are all amazing! Here is a little tidbit from last years issue that I created a tutorial for. I love crayon resist!

We R Memory Keepers on HSN

Be sure to tune into HSN and check out Andrew Hiller as he shows of some fun WeR products including a special Crop-a-dile! Andrew is "The MAN" at WeR and the inventor of the magnificent tool.

here are the times that he will be on (EST)!

12am
1am
8am
10am
1pm
5pm
8pm

You will also see some samples of the We R design teams work as he showcases product! good prices, great product, fresh ideas....what could be better!

Also, thanks for the Birthday wishes! I really appreciate it as well as those amazing cards that some of you sent my way! thanks for thinking of me. and my age is....Drumrollllllllll......38! (but if I could pick a year to go back to I wouldn't go that far back. I am loving my 30's!)

25

nope...thats not how old I am. What's so special about this number you ask? Well...that is how many cards I created yesterday for some upcoming publication calls. Coincidently, it was by B-day... Wish I WERE 25.... but alas... these wrinkles ain't gonna run away. Hmmm...do I dare ask if you can guess my new age? (don't ya just wish age was like a car...you could just go buy the year that fits you best!?)

One on the new stamps I worked with was a great image from Stamping Bella. This is a new manufacturer from the Toronto area. Emily (the owner) and I have been chatting for a few months now and it was neat to see her website launch! Way to go Em! Here are just a few of her images that I colored in with Shimmer chalks.

look how fun her hair is in each photo!

Check Stamping Bella out if you have not already. There is a great selection and they even come wrapped with pretty pink ribbon! it's all sorts of girly fun!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Now... It's 3 am here and I am gonna drop...I think I will hibernate... or at least need a nap tomorrow! er...I mean today...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Upcoming Marvy Uchida Ad!

I was excited when I was asked to create a spring project for an upcoming Marvy Uchida ad with their flower punch and the new puffy velvet markers! The punch is one of my favorites and the new markers are really cool! Imagine Liquid Appliqué in a pen form... very cool! easy to control and a little lower fluff. Overall I am impressed with this product on paper, even though it's a fabric based product. it was wonderful for using with faux stitching!

I use We R Memory Keepers paper (from the new Value line) and Limited Edition/Hampton Art stamps. the punches for this project include the Big and med Daisy punch, 1/2 in circle punch and the 1 in. square punch.

I also wanted to share (after a few inquiry's from some of you) what publications are available right now with my work in it. Feel free to check out my publication list to reference all my publications as I update it as items are accepted. Here is the list of what's out right now that you can see my work in

• Paper Trends
• Paper Crafts
• CardMaker
• Paper Made Easy
• Paper Works (including an article I wrote on Ink!)
• Take Ten

also, these books are available

• Ten Minute cards for giving and getting(can be found at Barnes and noble)
• Party Time! The Scrapbooker's Guide to Party Planning! (by Scrapbook trends Magazine)

Ok...so I guess not blogging for a few days has made me want to post a MEGA post..LOL! I just wanted to add...because of the new year... How grateful I am for the many miracles that happened to me and my loved ones last year. it was truly a blessed year. Yes...we had and have difficult times, I have daily physical pain and the world isn't perfect. But when I look back at the path our family had taken this year and how we grew I cannot help but be thankful for our blessings. I had made some professional goals last year and they were tough ones. I met and exceeded all but one of those goals. thats pretty good for me! My goals for this next year differ greatly from the last. they are more personal in nature. I wont go into details, but lets just say balance is a key word in many of this years goals!

Happy New Year everyone... May this year be a joyous one!!