Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

I'll be spending my morning cooking.......that is after I sleep in a bit. We're having a small family group for dinner around 5:30 p.m. That gives me plenty of time to get the pies baked, turkey in the oven & a few other things done.

So much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day..........

....enjoy!

-judy

Mini Board Book

I know you're all wondering.......
.........yes, my new release plate of Artistic Outpost stamps arrived on Friday. I wanted to zip the envelope open right away. But as is my usual style, I set it aside until I finished some household chores. I wanted to be able to savor the moment. Besides, I needed an incentive to get some cleaning done. (I'm having Thanksgiving at my house so I have to clean.) Later, I sat down & opened the package. I mounted the stamps to cling foam right away. Sorry, I can't tell you more right now.

So to give you something to look at, I took photos of a mini board book I made awhile back. I must have had more time then.......

Front cover.........

Pages 1 & 2........

Pages 3 & 4..........

Pages 4 & 5.........

The back cover.........

I won't list all the products........there's a lot. If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment. I'll be sure to reply.

Until next time.......enjoy!

-judy

Still waiting

I'm still waiting for the new Artistic Outpost plate to arrive in the mail.....no package yet.

I taught a class tonight at Fond Memories. We made little paper boxes. The unique thing about the boxes is that the lid & box are all one piece of paper....the lid does not come off, simply lifts & opens. I found the template years ago....don't remember where, probably a magazine. It's a fun box to make out of 2 sided paper. I'll try get some photos taken over the weekend.

Too tired to create tonight......
-judy

Guest Designer for Artistic Outpost!

This is the moment I've been waiting for.......

Today, I was named a Guest Designer for Artistic Outpost for 2009!

Wow! I'm so excited!


I applied at the beginning of November. I found out I made the team about a week ago. I had to keep it a secret.........how hard was that! I wanted to shout it to the world!

I'll be designing several projects for one of the new stamp plates scheduled to be released in mid December. I hope to receive the stamps this week........ Then, let the creativity begin! Once the stamps are released, I'll post projects here. That is once I get the go ahead from Artistic Outpost.



I created this tag with the Artistic Outpost Bluebird plate for my application for Guest Designer.

I used Distress inks......of course, what else is there?

To create the swallows highlight, I stamped them on white paper with black Versafine ink. I used Adirondack markers, Denim & Butterscotch & Caramel, over the swallows to give them color. The background blue is Broken China rubbed on with Cut N Dry foam. I applied Glossy Accents to a Tim Holtz Fragment (clear acrylic shape) & glued it over the swallows. Once it was dry, I trimmed the paper around the edges. I'm super pleased with how it turned out!

I even distressed the ribbon so it would match. I rubbed Broken China over this wonderful new ribbon from May Arts.......I say new because it's new to Fond Memories, my favorite stamp store in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

I'm flyin' high tonight......soo excited!

-judy

Metal Embossing....

.......I'm going to stray from stamping today.

Here's a little sample of my metal embossing. I dressed up the lid of a simple craft pencil box with a piece of embossed foil.


First, I stained & finished the box. Then I cut a piece of chipboard to fit the lid. I traced the chipboard on a piece of aluminum craft foil to define the pattern area. Then I just doodled with my metal tools.......just fun for me. Some of the design is embossed & some is debossed (dented in). That was not by design choice......I wasn't too pleased with myself when I started working on the wrong side of the metal. Rather than start over, I just worked it into the design.

I used acrylic paint rubbed over the design to antique it.....give it an aged metal look. By buffing the metal with paper towel, the paint rubs off the raised areas & remains in the recessed areas. It makes the pattern stand out. I use this box to store some of my metal working tools.

If you're interested in any of the tools, check out Ten Seconds Studio or Mercart. You'll find lots of visual inspiration in their galleries. As always, if you have any questions about my art, please email me.

Create art!

-judy

Bluebirds

Bluebirds to send thoughts to someone special.......


I created this card using an Artistic Outpost set appropriately called "Bluebird". There are 8 stamps in the set including the "thinking of you" verse, bluebirds, & a nest that I used on this card. I colored the image with Distress inks: Scattered Straw, Broken China, Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo & Antique Linen.

Distress inks seem to be my favorite coloring medium right now.......

The pattern on the yellow mat was created by repeatedly stamping the nest using Scattered Straw ink. A gold satin ribbon holds a Spellbinders ribbon slide for the verse.

Enjoy!
-judy

A Little Bird

Thanks for comments on the hummingbird photo. This little gem visited my petunias just outside my kitchen door one late summer day. My daughter spotted it & took several photos with my camera. I was amazed at the incredible clearness of this photo.

A special thank you to my friends who inspire me to create & motivate me to expand my horizons. You keep me smiling!

Here's a glimpse of a card I just posted on the Fond Memories blog.......

This was a fun card I put together with Cloud9Design papers & a coordinating sticker, 4 different Spellbinders dies, a little tag die from Cuttlebug, "Merry Christmas" verse from a tiny Hero Arts set & some needle punching. Amazingly enough......I did not distress it at all! Oh...I did add Stickles glitter glue to the berries.

-judy

Day One.........

....the creation of my very own blog. Exciting! A big step.

This is a place for Creating...my style.

Today, this blog is in it's infant state.....creation day. I hope it grows & becomes a place to inspire others to aspire & venture into new realms of creativity.

I have great dreams. I hope to eventually make some tutorials for a few of my stamping techniques. Maybe even venture to a video. That will be stepping out of the box for me. A challenge for sure. One thing I've learned about myself........I like a challenge.

Besides rubber stamping & paper crafts, I like to work with metal embossing, glass & soldered charms, photography & sewing. A few of those creations may crop up here, too.

I leave you with this photo of summer beauty....

.....as I sit in my warm house with snow falling on an ice covered landscape. Winter has struck in this corner of Minnesota.

Enjoy the journey.....

-judy