simple dreams

Butterfly Garden Stakes

Do you ever get an idea that you can hardly wait to try? This was one of those for me. I think I may have mentioned that one of my hobbies is gardening (well... it was one before hurting my hip - now it is mostly watching my family garden - LOL). Anyways - I love to add little things to discover amongst the beauty that nature provides. When I first saw the Lockhart butterflies I knew that at some point these would end up being a garden "prop". It all came together for me when the reality that Copics were indeed an alcohol based ink and therefore would work beautifully on metal, and glass, and vellum, and... the excitement level for these awesome little tools has shot me right up to Mars - maybe even Jupiter :D

So here you have my first little experiment - it certainly can use some finessing (notice the lack of antennae - way too excited to even remember such subtle details :D), but at least I hope it inspires you to start thinking outside the box with these gorgeous little creatures.

First I stamped on this awesome metal (I used the copper sheeting) using Brilliance black ink. I heat set it before continuing (be certain to use your tweezers to hold the metal because it gets HOT! - hmmm - how do you think I know the answer to that little problem? :D) Using simple little scissors I then cut out the butterfly - it is surprising how easily this metal cuts. I then took my small point embossing stylus and outlined the image. This was followed up by turning the image over and using the different sized ball ends to finish adding detail to the image. I really like these little stylus, first because they are ergonomic and therefore my fingers don't get as tired while holding these and using them. Secondly because there are six different sized ball tips starting with a VERY fine point.

The next step is the one that I was SO curious as to whether it would work. I was tickled pink with the results! The Copic Markers work beautifully to color the metal!!! I certainly need a little more practice to get it down, but woohoo - it's a start ladies! If you do not have any alcohol ink markers I am thinking that Sharpies would work as well and they come in a lot of delightful colors now as well.

To attach the butterfly to the 20-gauge copper wire I used Glossy Accents from Ranger. It took about a minute of holding it in place and then I could let it stand upright in a jar to complete the drying process over night. I curled the wire a few times around a pencil to get the curl and then voila it was ready to be planted :D

So tell me - genius, or what!?! LOL!!! Have fun making your own little garden stakes. Wouldn't they be darling to give to your mom's for Mother's Day? She could even put them into an indoor houseplant :D Have fun and please share your versions with me when you make some!

Fun Flock and Glue Pads are

on there way. The glue pads are here and I hope to have them up on the store in the next couple of days and I'm hoping that the Fun Flock arrives soon as well. I have so many ideas I would like to try and share with you all. I apologize for not getting this done immediately when I posted the Faux Velvet Ribbon project, but I have been training the newest addition to our team in the fine art of pulling orders, updating inventory, packaging your goodies and much, much more. It is so important to me that your orders and questions get answered ASAP and I was beginning to have a difficult time doing it all by myself. Well, I guess I shouldn't say beginning being that I have been burning the candle at both ends for months now. I am SO excited to have someone who I can count on to help me out with the important tasks each day while our kiddos are in school allowing me more time to create and think up new things :D So watch for updates soon on the arrival of these funky little jars of candy-colored goodies.

Pearls and Piercing Templates

Great news ladies!!! FINALLY the piercing templates and pearls (including white - jumping up and down here) are arriving - YEAH! I am expecting them on my doorstep tomorrow or at the latest on Monday. So for those of you who got in on purchasing Preorder items at the end of my sale I can happily say that they are FINALLY going to be here and your orders will be completed and sent ASAP. I truly apologize for the delay and I can assure you that I have done everything in my power to get these goodies here. In fact I can tell you that some of these goodies were hand carried back from Europe just for you!

So if you have been waiting on these the inventory information has been updated to reflect the numbers that are arriving and you can place your orders now. I truly thank you for your patience and we are working towards a solution of getting more of these here so that we don't end up with the delays that have been arising.

Funky Friendship Fun

TGIF! It's 8:45 on Friday morning here in the Seattle area and my eyelids are still droopy - I've got my cuppa joe and am just finishing up the card I started last night, but was just too tired to finish up before falling in to bed.

These cute little shopper girls are from My Favorite Things. They have been sitting here begging me to be inked for some time. I just needed to do something creative last night, it has been far too many days since I posted something inspirational here on my blog. It's not that I haven't been working, but unfortunately I have been working on projects that can not yet be shared.

My mission with this card was to share the sewing technique I may have hinted towards in previous posts, where I use the piercing templates in a different way. These little shopping bags were begging to be embellished turning them into their own little boutique-like style. The inspiration for the colors I selected was the Romani paper - I wanted something colorful and bold to go with these snazzy ladies. I am finding that the Basic Grey papers are so incredible together with the Memory Box colors. (I have some awesome news to share - soon you will be able to purchase all the Memory Box 8 1/2"x11" cardstock colors at my webstore!!!) I absolutely LOVE the crisp, clean feeling that they provide - having a white interior just rocks!

Using the Copic markers (yes, more information will be coming - I just need more of me to go around - we'll perhaps not more body - in fact that would be disastrous, but more of a mind and time - LOL!). I am loving using several different colors to create an individual color. The beauty of the alcohol ink is that it blends so wonderfully. Each colored area was done using at least two colors to create the depth shown. The shadowing was done by using the C-1 (Cool Gray) - this marker is PERFECT for adding a shadow that is just the right color depth.

I then pierced the designs as shown and used a very small needle with regular red thread to backstitch the design. To balance the stitched texture in the bags I added a couple lines of stitching to the Romani paper to bring the stitching to the top. I had thought about creating texture with stitching on the green dress, but I was just too tired :D

The background was created using the three little accessory stamps included in the set. It is SO easy to create backgrounds using acrylic stamps being that you can just line them up, or space them randomly on your acrylic block and then stamp your paper.  Inside reads: "Whether we are shopping, grabbing lunch, yapping on the phone or just hanging out. Whenever I need to have a little fun, you are the first person I think of!" Isn't this just the bestest sentiment! It is also from MFT. So head on over and place your order and tell Kim that Ellen was enabling again - LOL!

Lastly I finished it up with one of my fav little Cheeky Clips from Making Memories and some Romani Ribbon.

So spend some time with your girlfriends when you get the chance or at least just give them a quick call and let them know how important they are to you! Have a wonderful weekend and the next time you stamp don't forget to pull out your piercing templates and do a little backstitching with "real" thread :D! Hugs, Ellen

Blog Tagging

Thank you to all the wonderful ladies who have tagged me once again. This time I will try and do better about following through - so here goes. Debbie, Taylor, Beate, Catherine and Joan - I consider it a true honor that you find my little spot here in the blog world inspirational. Right back at you girls - YOU inspire me!!! I apologize if there are others of you who have tagged me and I have missed it - please post below if I'm just cruising on through life with my blinders on :D

As you all can see there is a wonderful list posted on the left side of my blog - I admire each of these individuals! You will not be disappointed when you enter their blogosphere. My guess is that most have been tagged over and over again :D So I'm going to do something a little different to hopefully expand your blog universe just a little.

Being that I haven't had nearly enough time to blog hop (which is something I truly love to do) I will share some "old" places as well as "new, undiscovered" territory that I once lurked or hope to lurk soon. These people do not know who I am - LOL! but I admire what it is that they do to inspire those of us out here in cyberville :D I am also sharing some of these with you in that you will see some of the other creative hobbies that intrigue me.

The Studio Garden - Christine Adolph has always inspired me. The artwork she creates is SO beautifully colorful - it just makes me happy!

The Possibilities are Endless... scattered through my brain - Wendy Smedley has connected me to some of the most inspirational sites on the internet. Her thorough coverage of what is happening in this creative industry truly intrigues me beyond measure. Do not go here unless you want to be sucked into the enormity of the blogging universe - ha, ha!

Design Sponge - I just like the whimsy, unusual, totally odd, marvelous, texture, color, wild mix this blog projects. It gets me thinking outside the box.

Allison Kreft - This is a blog I have just recently discovered and can hardly wait to delve in to. I ADORE glass art and can hardly wait to spend some time in Allison's world.

(me) Tara Whitney Photoblog - Many of you know of my new camera - my Nikon D80. It is because of women like this that I truly want to spend more time playing with this awesome creative tool! Photography is a hobby that excites me! I love how Tara Whitney composes her photos - she truly captures "life".

Mission accomplished - I hope I introduced you to some new places to explore and expand your creativity! Let me know what you think - have you discovered these previously? Have fun ladies and don't blame me when you are sucked in to the never ending hole of the blog universe :D

I'd follow you...

to the ends of the earth! This is the sentiment that was going through my  mind as I created this card. Who knew butterflies could create a romantic card so easily.

One of the things I like to do when I get a new stamp is to think of all the different occasions I could use it for. One of the thoughts I had this week while observing the butterflies at the Pacific Science Center was how they all flitted through the air, appearing to be darting after one another. My thoughts as usual turned to a project that would then recreate this idea using the Lockhart butterflies. I selected my color scheme as I thought about the ribbon (May Arts) that was in my collection, colored the butterflies with Prismacolor color pencils, and added some micro twinkle stickers to highlight the butterfly spots (Linda, if you are reading this we need MORE COLORS :D - I want clear, purple, limey green,... I need more, more, more. Just call me and I'll give you my list - LOL!). The paper used is Memory Box (Granny Smith and Wisteria) - I truly adore the white interior of these cards - they give such a clean, crisp feel to my work. I have more colors to upload that are just scrumptious (yes, scrumptious). Every time I gaze at these colors for some odd reason they make me salivate - LOL! Yet another project on my "to do" list.

The background was created using the "elegant" piercing stencil. I have been wanting to play with these stencils for ages now - in fact it was this desire that started the project. I was SO curious as to how it would look after piercing all four corners and so I set out and completed the project below.

Needless to say I think it is absolutely exquisite, but realized that the butterflies just got lost against the purple background and that for this application it was just too busy IMO. So I used my pierced artwork as a guide to create the background used on my card face. By using stick pins to hold it down on my ornare piercing mat. (Yes, I still need to upload these in to the store too - I have them, but just haven't had the time. I truly apologize - I hope to get to this soon.) I then just followed the inside holes to create a more simple version of this design. The flexibility of these piercing guides is enormous. By using only portions of it you can achieve so many different looks! This is the reason I adore tools of this nature - once again they are only limited by my own imagination. I have used them as butterfly trails, corner "place holders" for greetings, and the list goes on.

In analyzing this piece upon completion I would do one thing differently. I think that there is too much white space on the white background - if time were not a constraint I would pull the whole thing apart and stamp a VERY light viney background for the butterflies to flit through :D

So let's think outside the box girls - what other occasions can you celebrate using these adorable little butterflies. I know I can think of using the IB Butterfly with some type of baby concept, add the tails to turn it into a balloon for a birthday greeting, turn them into kites - the list goes on and on and on. Share your thoughts below to get this creative universe thinking :D

I hope this post gets your artistic juices flowing and your stamps inked and colored. For me it was therapeutic coloring and stamping last night and this morning - I LOVE it when I have the opportunity to create :D Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder to your weekend!

Velvet Ribbon

When I first laid eyes on the Faux Ribbon from Papertrey Ink my mind started to think about all the possibilities. I LOVE velvet ribbon! What could I use to achieve this wonderful texture? It hit me square between the eyes when I opened my drawer of goodies - flock - Fun Flock! I have five different colors and my mind jumped from the flock to the Primas and I grasped the pink. I really would have loved to have done a whole set of flocked velvet ribbons in complimenting colors - they would look so scrumptious together, but my time was limited and therefore I settled for the one pink. AND wouldn't you know it, but I had just recently acquired a new Tsukineko Glue Pad that I was dying to experiment with. If you have been looking for a way to make adhering fine glitter, gold leaf, chalk, powdered pigments and now flock :D this glue pad is fabulous! It is SO stick and is so easy to use.

So here are my tips:

• start with the center strip of ribbon. Ink your stamp with the glue pad, stamp and cover with flock. Lightly press flock down over "glued" surface. Tap off excess flock (do not use a brush to remove - it will leave "bald" spots - LOL. How do you think I figured that one out? :D)
• add each new segment of ribbon by working out from the center. This makes it easier to get your spacing even between ribbon segments.

This is a closeup of the ribbon strip - hopefully it will make it easier for you to see the texture.

This project was finished with a Prima flower from the April jar, a SEI rhinestone brad, and an A Muse micro twinkle sticker. I hope this encourages you to try all sorts of textures with these Faux Ribbon stamps. I can totally see some gold leaf, distressed embossing powders, chalk combinations - you name it - give it a try!

Gratitude Journal Winner Selected

Juanita you are number (42) - you are the winner of the Karen Lockhart Gratitude Journal!!! I already know your mailing address my dear friend - I am so thrilled that you will be receiving this beautiful journal. I thank you for coming to my blog each day and sharing yourself with me.

If I were writing in that journal today it would have a number of entries:

• first entry would be that I was a lucky lady today - I got to spend the day with my little first grader and her classmates at the Pacific Science Center. What a treat to have these eager, shiny little bright-eyed cuties exploring the magic of science. Currently on display was the "grossology" exhibit - we got a lot of laughs and ewws from them in regards to the gross bodily functions - LOL! In the butterfly house I had two incredible beauties find my shirt just the perfect color to land on and we saw some pretty giant beastly looking bugs :D
• second - and this one brings me much glee - my taxes are finished and out the door!!! Hallelujah!

I'm hoping to be back later tonight with my little velvet ribbon technique. I am still awaiting the arrival of a couple of the preorder items and will keep you posted as to when they will arrive. You can always check the preorder category to see what has arrived as well. If you ordered an item that was preorder and it is no longer in that category there is a strong possibility that your order will be packed and shipped tomorrow :D

Where in the world is Ellen?

Good morning ladies - I truly apologize for not being here to "play" but I wanted to let you know that all is fine. In fact all is very well. We made a HUGE dent in the orders you ladies showered us with. We TRULY appreciate your support and I felt that rather then hearing more silly stories from me you would really like to see your goodies ASAP. We have blitzed through and packed and shipped all orders that have the product here. The preorders are still awaiting some of the goodies, but I will keep you up to date as to the whereabouts of those items as I get my updated tracking information.

So - now where am I disappearing to again. Well... I am NOT a procrastinator, but this year my taxes have taken a back seat - and, well... they can NO LONGER be in the back seat. They are at the steering wheel today and part of tomorrow. Thank goodness for that obscure holiday in Washington D.C. is all I can say - LOL!

Hugs to you all and I will be back. I have so much to share and we have our final drawing, and... I also want to show you how I made the velvet ribbon using Papertrey Ink's new Faux Ribbon set.

So stay tuned - hopefully you will see me surface on Wednesday :D Have a wonderful and productive work (ET say - see work is so much on my mind that I couldn't spell week - LOL) and if anyone has any secrets to filing taxes in a super efficient way - please leave me your posts of encouragement - LOL!

Goodnight Ladies!

Thank you SOOO much for partying with me today! My reinforcement arrived tonight - sweet Miss Mona how can I thank you enough!!! So we've been watercoloring away and yes, I asked her to initial her cards too, so the thank you notes going out will have a little MH for Maddi and a little LS for Lis and mine will just be plain :D. I can't thank you enough for all being here today - HUGS to you all! But now I am done for - you all completely wore me out - LOL! So I'm signing off with one last little card - it's my little Butterfly Balloon. Boy, did Lisa and I get a giggle out of this poor little thing! Yep the perfectionist in me just wasn't coming through tonight, but I powered on through ignoring that little tidbit just so I would have a thank you note to share. This psychadelic little guy is here to tell you how much I appreciate you and wishing you all the happiest of celebrations in everyday life!

See you tomorrow for the last drawing and YES, one last surprise!

The Pair of Pears, along with all the fixin's...

OUTPUT Copy down or cut and paste into your application

257

goes too...

after a lot of scrolling and counting, and scrolling and recounting (I'm a little googley eyed here :D)

I am from Arvada Coloradowhich is just outside of Denver. I am a native Coloradan and I stamp whenever I can fit it in. I try to stamp at least a few days each week....but the three boys keep my hands full and I don't always get to stamp. I love that you send thank you notes with your orders. I loved that I got a pretty little ribbon present with my thank you card and that it matched the scrapbook page I made with the punches I could only get from you...perfectly. In a nutshell....I think you are super swell and I visit your site everyday. Thanks for sharing all your pretty creations and inspiration. BTW your daughter is mega talented and I wish she could ship some creativity this way. Maybe some out of her pinky? =)

Posted by: Alisa | April 11, 2007 at 12:51 PM

Thank you to all of you for sharing a bit about yourselves with me!!! Alisa - please email me your snail mail address so that I can send the following goodies your way!

• pears
• itty bitty pear
• watercolor brush
• buttercream note cards and envelopes
• reinkers - caramel, red pepper and lettuce (not shown in store - just yet)

BUT the party is still not over - I'll be posting my final farewell for the day close to midnight :D

Gratitude Journal

BTT so that you will all see this :D

Now I'm going to get a little "sappy" and if you know me, you know that I get in these little ponderings where I sit back and think. I get quiet and perhaps even get watery eyes - that is an OK thing, because they are happy, watery eyes.

Well, my thoughts today are filled with gratitude! I feel like the absolute luckiest lady today to be surrounded by ALL OF YOU! What a day! I truly feel blessed and would like to thank each of you for coming to hang with me, with us - Karen and myself!

I asked Karen if there was anything that she would like me to add to this post and this is what we came up with - we both feel this way.

"We would like to celebrate you and your support of our fledgling stamp business. Your creativity, your support shines through and makes this a relationship that is truly a pleasure to be a part of. It has been OUR good luck to have YOU in our lives. We thank you for joining our wacky, Friday the 13th party!"

In honor of you we would like to do another giveaway. This is a special piece that was made by Karen Lockhart (and I'm going to make her sign it - LOL!) You can use it in any way that you would like, but we envisioned it as a journal in which you can express your gratitude for the things that happen in your life; a place where you can write about your little or big celebrations.

I don't know who came up with this quote, but I loved it - "Never miss the chance to celebrate in life." So please join in once again and tell us - how on earth you came across this little site of mine and you will be entered in the random number selection that will close tonight at 11:59pm PDT. BUT don't go away there will be more to come at 8:00pm :D

aaaack

it truly is Friday the 13th!!! I just got a message that my store is undergoing maintenance!!!! I'll be back shortly!!

ETA: Maybe it is only on my end that it's not working. I just went to the site and it shows up, but... I'll update you as soon as I'm off hold - LOL!

Editted yet again - :D  I'm back up - so keep those questions coming if you need answers, I'm here :D in fact I'm going to start a brand new post here shortly with another fabulous giveaway :D :D

313 - more odd numbers - ha, ha!

ETA: You guys are TOOOO funny!!! and our winner is - drum roll please....

just trying for the goodies lol

bobbie

Posted by: bobbie | April 13, 2007 at 03:27 PM

Bobbie - persistence pays off - you are now the proud owner of the mutant punch :D :D :D Please email me your address Bobbie - THANK YOU all for playing! I REALLY was going to stamp something today to share - I guess I'd better hop to it if I can get it done before midnight!

It is now precisely 3:13! Did any of you figure out that this would be the time for the next little playdate!!!

SO here goes - I got an email from a customer who had ordered the Giga Scalloped Circle from me and she tells me that it isn't really a circle. So upon the return of the punch to me I was thinking I would send it back to Marvy, but I just didn't have the time. It turned out to be the perfect opportunity for this Friday the 13th party. I started to laugh when this one hit me :D

We all LOVE our Scalloped Oval punches and this one is a collector's item ladies!!! A picture is worth a thousand words they say:

but in this case we need two pictures :D

So once again be the 13th person to post to this post and you can be the proud owner of this collector's edition Giga Scalloped Oval punch! Have fun and good luck!!!

Yet another 13/13/13/13 :D

ETA: CONGRATULATIONS Pegg - I jumped in the shower and wouldn't you know it, time flew :D If you could please email me Pegg and tell me what your favorite colors are I will work on gathering your ribbon assortment :D Stay tuned ladies - you never know when the next surprise will hit! Thank you for participating in this little celebration today!!!

13 hours/Friday the 13th/13th person to comment = 13 yards of ribbon

Who's out there? Who is playing along today? Are we having fun yet???

I don't know if you realize, but it is now precisely 13 hours after midnight on Friday the 13th - SO - leave your comment/comments below. The 13th person to comment on the happenings of today will be the lucky recipient of a variety of styles of ribbon/twill totalling 13 yards. You never know what will be in the mix being that I didn't have time to cut it and photograph it like I had intended, but I tell you it's going to be good!!!

You ladies are keeping me hopping with your questions, responses, etc. I hope that you are having fun checking in on the party today, so play along and see if you will be the lucky 13th person to comment on this thread.

Baker's Dozen

WE HAVE OUR WINNER!!!!

please be 13
please be 13
please be 13

life in general is spectacular!

Posted by: Pat S. | April 13, 2007 at 11:10 AM

You ladies are so much quicker then I am!! LOL! I was answering questions and couldn't get back here quickly enough. THANK YOU ALL FOR PLAYING! There is more to come - definitely more to come, so stay tuned - you never know when the next game will start :D

ETA: Please feel free to post more then one comment. If no one else is paying attention you deserve to win :D :D :D

OK - let's play again. It is now 10:45 PDT and I haven't had breakfast yet - LOL! So I'm off to eat some toast being that I don't have any bagels, muffins or CUPCAKES - tee hee. SO for those playing along here on the blog post your comments about life in general and lucky #13 will receive that free baker's dozen cupcake, the one of itty bitty variety!!! BTW - the line drawing looks huge, but in all actuality it is a cute little thing. You can see the actual dimension of each item in my store by double clicking on the image. A description then pops up for each item.

Thanks for playing along and I'll be back soon! My tummy is growling and I need another cuppa joe!

We have our first lucky the 13th winner!

Okay, here it goes - again!! :)

1. Butterflies and Itty Bittys are the new stamp categories.
2. IB Apples, IB Cherries, IB Radishes, Teabag, Klaire's Heart, Butterfly Checkered, Butterfly Striped, and Butterfly Chintz stamps were not used by you this week
3. Wizard Tag Die, Orange Pearls, and Ribbon-Black & White are three new products
4. 13 Vegetable Coture
All this new stuff is awesome by the way.
Laura S

Posted by: Laura | April 13, 2007 at 09:03 AM

YEAH LAURA!!! Three cheers - I know this was a tricky little scavenger hunt - please send me an email with your snail mail addy as well as the colors of Arturo's you would like! WOOHOO!

Off to answer emails and then I'll be back with more :D

131313 - it's up

The switch was flipped at 7:00am PDT - for those having trouble before that time it was because I was still in bed sleeping. I didn't get to bed until around 2:00a - LOL! So I might be asleep at the keyboard this morning :D

So let's get this party started! I'm going to try ad finish reading and responding to the load of emails in my box, head over and see if any midnight stalkers have figured out my silly quiz and then I'll be back.

Wish me luck that my kiddos feel good today - we're on spring break and I have stuff planned for them, but...

I'll be back - in my best Arnold voice (very sleepy and sweet version though - ha, ha!)

Midnight Stalkers (I mean stampers - LOL) - Friday the 13th is here!

ETA: You ladies are getting close - but not quite there yet. It's the eight stamps I didn't use that are tripping you up - just look back through my posts and make a comparison to the new category. Hope this little hint helps :D

... so head on over to my webstore to check out the goodies! I have been uploading images all day long and for those who are early birds or late night stalkers (oh yes, I did mean stampers) I thought we'd start with a little game. The first to post the correct answers to the following questions will win the first prize:

• name the two new stamp categories listed in my webstore,
• name the eight new stamp images that I did not get a chance to make in to cards this past week,
• list three new products that have been listed in the store other then stamps,
• how many vegetable couture stamps are now in the Lockhart Stamp Company line of stamps?

Your reward for playing my silly little midnight stalker game will be 13 Arturo Note Cards and coordinating Envelopes (color/colors of your choice).

I will be back promptly at 7:00am to flip that switch. Remember to enter your order and then put the Promotional Code 131313 in the space provided on the check out page.

I will be posting the winner of the "Peared" drawing tomorrow evening. Thank you to all who have left comments - I have truly enjoyed learning more about you and seeing that so many of you truly do love to spend time stamping each and every day!

Let's hope today is a lucky day for each and every one of you!!! Have fun and I look forward to seeing you in the morning.

More Giga Scalloped Ovals

are on their way - 24 to be precise! You can find more information and place your orders here. Thanks and I'll be back later today with more information regarding tomorrow's party :D

(3) Egg Salad

This little dress just cracks me up - ha, ha - maybe it just makes me boil. Oh jeepers - I'd better quit now!!! Look what happens when I'm tired and creating, or perhaps writing - LOL! BAD JOKES! REALLY BAD!

I just love the vegetable couture line from Lockhart Stamp Company. Karen was a personal chef for some time and I always love the little food creations she pens for us! This little Cobb Salad dress is so much fun to color. So this evening when I sat down to create, I pulled out my Prismacolor pencils once again because I just needed to relax. I should have been snapping pictures while I colored, so that you could see the layers of color that went in to this creation. Shoot anyways - that will have to follow at another time. But I hope that you can pick up the little subtle color changes within the leaves because I was thinking of Mesclun when I was coloring it. Also when I'm a little more ambitious I will color two of these images so that I can cut out some of the lettuce leaves and give it added dimension :D

Then it was time to design the layout. The egg shape was just popping out at me and I thought why not just play with that element and emphasize it. I LOVE the end result and will probably use this layout again with other images just to test drive it to see how effective it is without the egg. For a little texture I pierced the circle only on the white - it's all about the assymetrical design I have going here. I wish my brain weren't so fried - then I'd be able to try and give you a logical explanation, but there is no hope for that tonight (especially considering the sappy joke at the beginning of this post - LOL!)

So let's continue to celebrate! The invitation has been sent, the goodies are stashed, and now it's only a couple more days until the party begins. I can hardly wait to have fun with you girls this Friday!

(4) Peas and Carrots

Little creations are so much fun. Tonight I used two "Itty Bitty" stamps to create the background. I love how simple and quick it was to add some depth to this little creation. I've always loved these little clothes in the Lockhart Stamp Company baby collection and now I have the peas and carrots to go with them :D Oh what fun it is to make baby cards! Now I need to find a recipient - I think I know a few wonderful ladies with babies on the way - at least now I'm ready!

Once again I used a Memory Box note card and decorative paper, and an Arturo single reply card (these are patiently waiting on the shelf, just waiting for me to get them photographed and up on my site). I used two different sized corner rounders to soften the edges and create a little distinction to the shape. The velvet rick rack is Basic Grey (another addition needing to be uploaded to my store), teeny tiny little Hero Arts buttons with DMC floss dressing them up and a little piercing completed this project.

Just two more days and the big day will be here - phew - it's tough keeping up with this daily posting. But has been SO MUCH FUN reading your responses and sharing my excitement with you all!

131313

Hey sweet ladies I am SO excited to share with you the fun little promotion that I will be holding at my webstore!!! On Friday the 13th, for 13 hours you will have the opportunity to place your order with a 13% discount. This is for your entire order!

Starting at 7:00am and ending at 8:00pm PDT (Pacific Daylight Time) a little "switch" will be flipped behind the scenes to offer you my very first promotion. I know that I'm not able to do this very often, but I am so thrilled to be able to offer this to you. It is my way of saying a HUGE thank you for all the support and loyalty you have shown my little business.

All the new Lockhart Stamp Company images will be up on the site promptly at midnight or if I can get it all done before that magical time it might pop up just a little sooner. These will be available for purchase during the promotion as well!

SO let me repeat this one more time - on the 13th, for 13 hours you will receive a 13% discount on your entire order of products purchased at my webstore!!! All you have to do is upon checkout enter this code in to the promotion code area: 131313!!! (as shown below)

Also don't forget to enter your name for the drawing by leaving your comment on this thread telling me what state/province/country you live in, approximately how many hours you stamp in a day/week/month and whether you stamp most often by yourself or with friends.

Last, but certainly NOT least - you WILL WANT TO keep checking back here at my blog constantly throughout the day on Friday the 13th. Randomly throughout the day you will find little surprises that you are going to want to participate in! I'm not giving those secrets away - my lips are sealed!!!

I must tell you right now that I sincerely hope that I have this all figured out, so that there will be no glitches!!! I have been on the phone with the tech support people and I'm praying that this "not so tech savvy" brain of mine has done it all correctly. So keep your fingers crossed and spread the word ladies because we are having a party on Friday, April 13th.

Come join in the fun and play along with me!

Strawberry Delight (5)

Creating this card this evening made me hungry!!! I was so thrilled that nestled in my fridge were some red ripe strawberries. So I quickly snapped the picture before savoring these delightful berries :D

Once again I created a simple, quick card with just little hints of character. This time I used the white Arturo cards being that I wanted a crisp red and white design. Watercoloring and color pencils are quick ways to color in this marvelous little image. I created three layers - the card front, the bowl cut out and then an additional layer of the two strawberries. The bowl was glazed to look like porcelain using the clear glaze pen and the strawberries were given a slight shimmer with the glitter pen. Bumping these out on dimensionals, adding a hint of red and white gingham, a little piercing and the design was complete.

Tomorrow I plan on sharing some of Friday's plans. I can hardly wait - Friday the 13th may just be your lucky day, so don't forget to leave a comment on this thread.

Happy Easter (6)

I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you all to have a wonderful day! This is the thank you note that I created to take with me to give to my Aunt and Uncle who we are joining to celebrate Easter. The tulips are in full bloom outside and it is turning into another beautiful day here in Seattle. Have a wonderful time with your family and friends and celebrate the precious moments of life!

I'm such a goof. I took this picture and after uploading realized that oops - I forgot to show you the pretty little butterfly stamped on the back of the envelope - LOL! So just use your imagination being that I need to run :D I also wanted to show you that I love to use coordinating colors with the envys - mixing and matching makes it fun and interesting.

Happy Easter! (and I do think that it may be Passover as well. I am embarrassed that I don't truly know, but if it is please accept my apologies and enjoy your very special celebration too!)

(7) We asked for it and Karen listened :D

"Itty bitty surprises" - Karen has listened and has put together a line of "Itty Bitty" stamps that are so incredibly cute!!! and THE perfect size for envelope decorating. I was bouncing in my chair when I first laid eyes on them (insert big enormous grin on bouncing figure here).

It only took seconds to add this little cupcake to the front of a pink Arturo envelope. I took a couple of my new Copic markers to color them in, frosted it with the Souffle pen, glazed the cherry and added a little sparkle. This provides so much more character to an envelope and takes so little time.

The "Itty Bitty" stamps also look insanely cute grouped with one another and framed in the center of a large mat. So let Karen know what you think of these little cuties by leaving your comments here. There are eight adorable images and a few of you actually spotted the little pear two days ago. So there you have your "pair of pears" - the large pear grouping and the itty bitty pear :D I thought I had given such a clever clue - LOL! Don't forget to enter your comment on THIS thread to enter yourself in the drawing on April 13th.

There are MORE good things to come and they will slowly be revealed over the next six days. I'm so excited to share what I have up my sleeve for Friday, but anticipation is half the fun!!! So keep anticipating because I think you will enjoy the little celebration I have planned for you - at least I hope you will - LOL!

Off to create one more treat to share for tomorrow. I must get it created and try and put the post on a timer so that it will be set to wish you a happy Easter as I am off with my family enjoying our day together with more family members.

(8) The countdown continues...

and I have nothing to share - LOL! Well I should say I have nothing stamping related to share, but I do have some very interesting pictures for your viewing pleasure :D

Today I had the good fortune of meeting Marianne (who has amazing talents when it comes to working with the Copic Markers) at none other then an Anime convention here in Seattle. For those who know little about this genre let me tell you that these kids (well most were kids - I was one of the old ladies there) save up for this trip for a LONG time, coming from all over the Pacific Northwest and other regions to mingle together at these conventions. The costuming was unbelievable and VERY creative - below are just a few snippets of some of the characters I captured on film.

I saw many colorful people

some with wings,

some characters I recognized, but most I had no clue - LOL.

I truly enjoyed seeing the amazing creativity that this group of individuals had on display. I thank you Marianne, so much for the time you spent with me this afternoon and evening! I bet you want to see what Marianne looked like - don't you :D

Hey - she made me feel much more normal. Funny how you can feel so out of place when you are dressed "normally" - LOL! I have learned a ton about Copic and I look forward to sharing this information with you all! I kid you not when I tell you that my mind is spinning with the possibilities that these markers provide. These are a top-notch fine art product. The textures, color combinations and effects that can be created on so many different surfaces just has my brain going WOW, WOW, WOW! Expect to hear more in the future as I continue to work at perfecting my skills. I will be putting together some awesome reference materials for you - comparisons to colors that you already know well, inks that work with the markers, surfaces these work on and effects you can create. Can you please clone me and give me a little more time in my days?!?

Now on to that itty bitty surprise! I can't believe that not one mention or guess has been made. So I'm not saying anything else until sometime tomorrow. OK girls - don't disappointment me - what do you think the itty bitty surprise is? See you tomorrow when I'm not so tired :D

Itty Bitty Surprises... "Peared" with Watercolor Tutorial (9)

ETA: I'm bumping this message to the top so that you all will remember to enter your comments before midnight on April 12th to enter in our "Friday the 13th is Your Lucky Day!" drawing. Please be certain to leave your comment on this thread! Good luck to EVERYONE!

"Never miss a chance to celebrate!" Life brings all kinds of things and when the opportunity to celebrate presents itself we should truly take advantage of those occasions and have a wonderful time! SO with that the countdown continues! Be certain to read to the very end of this post to find out why Friday the 13th might just be YOUR LUCKY DAY!!!

I would like to start this post off with a huge THANK YOU to those who support my little business. You have no idea how much your support means to me and my family. I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Many of you have requested information as to how it is that I do my thank you notes that are included in with the orders you receive. I started by hand coloring each note with color pencils, but then realized I needed to step-it-up a notch when it comes to speed. So following are my little secrets :D I guess they won't be secrets much longer - LOL!

Products used: Palette Noir Ink (sometimes I use Burnt Umber - depending on whether or not I think that brown would be better then black), Stamp, Adirondack Reinkers, Lyra or Stampin' Up! Watercolor Crayon, Stardust Glitter Pen, Arturo Note Card (Buttercream shown), Watercolor Brush with fine tip, tray. (items noted in blue are in stock, but not yet added to my webstore - sorry - I wish I had more time in the day and night :D. If perchance you do not want to wait any longer for these items just pop me an email when you place an order and I will add them in to your current order).

For this project I decided to use a colored Arturo note card so that you could see what it looks like to lay color on top of an already colored card. As you will see - it can create an AWESOME look!

Begin by dropping one little drop of each color in to your palette. I kid you not when I tell you that one drop can last for between 50-100 thank you notes! Depending on area colored in and intensity of color. I do not clean this palette between sittings. You can easily rehydrate the color with a droplet of water from your waterbrush if it happens to dissipate on you.

Lay down a wash of the color Carmel to all of your pears - it will appear uniform as shown in the pear on the left. Make certain that the depth of the color on your waterbrush is not too intense. This is the reason for all the little scribbles all over my scrap paper - LOL. I typically will "test" the brush before placing it on my image to see what the intensity of the color is. If the color is too intense I will add a droplet of water to the little "bowl" to lighten the color. I work quickly, so that when I lay down the second layer of color the first is still quite wet. This allows the more intense color to bleed into the first layer. You will see a little more pooling in these pictures then is typical just because I was snapping pictures and therefore not working quite as quickly. So if you like this look just allow your image to dry slightly. I also added a tiny hint of watered down Red Pepper to this image.

Next I colored the bowl celery, and added a hint of celery to the right side of a few pears. As you can see from this picture I usually have my dark side on the left (and no I'm not referring to my Star Wars dark side - ha, ha). It is just easier for me to color my "dark side" on the left at all times. With the bowl you will see the color darken some on the right as well, just to try and create a somewhat rounded shape to the bowl. I have no technical watercolor training, in fact a lot of what I do is by the seat of my pants - LOL! I keep falling back on to my interior design training and thinking in terms of overall balance, focal point, interest, etc. You will see a watercolor crayon now laying in the picture. I take the tip of my watercolor brush and just touch it to the crayon to add highlights to my green. Being that I typically only use three reinker colors I sometimes add in watercolor crayons for that little added umph.

Last but by no means least I use the glitter pen to add little hints of color to the image - just to make it shimmer. I use a VERY light hand to add this detail so that I don't end up with a streak down my work. It is odd how when I captured these pictures my lighting and the camera lens REALLY picked it up. It is not nearly as noticeable IRL - go figure.

SO - if you read all the way here to the bottom I'd like to share how you can participate in the little celebration that I will be holding on Friday, April 13th. There will be a drawing for a pair of pears, and a few other fun items that I carry in my store. I'll tell you a little more about this itty bitty surprise tomorrow. Many of you are so observant that I think you will spot one of the little surprises that will be unveiled over the next few days, but I guess we'll see now won't we? I know I'm such a tease - just ask my kids - LOL!

To participate in this fun little drawing all you have to do is leave me a message in this post telling me:

• what state or province you are from (and if you are some place else in the world you are welcome to leave me a message as well),
• how much time you spend stamping each week (or month, or year for those of you who spend too much time reading blogs and not enough time stamping - LOL!)
• and if you usually stamp with a group or by yourself.

That's it - do it all before midnight on April 12th and on April 13th a random number will be drawn and the announcement made. So start your engines ladies and post away. I hope to share more goodies and snippets in each of the upcoming days, so stop in whenever you get a minute.

Friday the 13th... let the countdown begin (10)

Ten days and counting ladies! Ten days until you will get to see all the new images Karen has drawn for us to play with. I am going to add that they are not all butterflies, but I just can't help myself yet and continue to be enamoured with them! I LOVE the butterflies.

Yesterday was a simple, quick design. Today I went all out and went for complexity :D I thought I'd share the whole creative process with you being that I'm starting my write-up at a reasonable time - LOL! (That time being before midnight :D)

It all started with the Basic Grey Perhaps paper as inspiration. I wanted to share a more elaborate version of what these butterflies could be. I went in search of a small, overall paper design that was an appropriate scale, to be my inspiration when I spotted two large random designs. A lightbulb went off! Why not perch the butterfly on a large blossom, or hide it amidst an array of blossoms. So I stamped my butterfly in Palette Noir black and began my coloring process. I must say that I am VERY pleased at how the Palette ink held up to my coloring with the Colorless Blender as well as the color markers.

As you can see I selected markers that were reminiscent of the colors in the Basic Grey paper. With the yellows and browns I layered colors to arrive at the correct end color, first laying down the lightest color and then coming back over the top with the darker or complimenting color, if one was available. I colored little swatches below the image so that you could see the original colors I started with. I have a total of 32 markers I am currently working with; Sketch, Original and Ciao. I hope to give you a total breakdown as to what I like about each so that you will be able to determine better what would work for you. Being that I only had one red/violet color I used the colorless blender to add dimension to the shapes I colored with that marker. The Perhaps paper has variation within the colors, so I tried to emulate that look in the butterfly.

I then selected some darker toned Prismacolor pencils to add another layer to the colors in the butterfly and bring them closer to the colors in the paper. I felt that this worked really well to pull the two together and gave me courage that I don't need all 330 Copic Markers to create with - LOL!

Here is my finished butterfly just as I was ready to cut it out. After coloring with the pencils I added a hint of the Sakura glitter pen - I wish I could capture the shimmer this adds to this little creature.

Now is where you are really going to laugh - I got ambitious - yes, me - LOL! I pulled out my sewing machine!!! The Perhaps paper was just begging to be "quilted" - ha! ha! I ran my sewing machine around the exterior edge of the flowers that I wanted to draw attention too and add texture too as well. Julie Stainton has done a WONDERFUL tutorial on using your sewing machine - it is a must read IMO!!! Next, I made little wire antennae, added some Basic Grey ribbon and a Karen Foster brad, layering this all on top of a Memory Box note card. The big finale was approaching - I decided to add a Basic Grey rub-on being that the swirl just felt right. Well darn girls - I thought I had it all rubbed down nicely, but when I pulled up - drat it - the "birthday" portion pulled up and was wonky. Yep, I like the word wonky - it's the only word I can use to describe that sucker. In hind sight I wish I had just left it off - oh well, what's a girl to do?!?

So there you have it another butterfly to inspire you in your future creations.

Sneak Peak - Butterfly Bliss...

I am in the midst of butterfly bliss :D There are a lot of butterflies available to rubber stamping fans and many of them that I love, but there are none like the ones that will be released soon from Lockhart Stamp Company. I am thrilled to give you a sneak peak of one of the new butterfly images tonight. Think chintz and plaids, stripes and checkers - these little goodies are going to flutter to many new homes I do believe :D

I have had SO MANY new toys to play with and NO TIME!!! Talk about frustrating - well tonight when JJ and I finished up packing the last of the boxes from today's orders I was determined to finish at least ONE card before heading to bed. So here I sit - pleased as punch with my little effort for the night. Awww - it feels good to stamp! Even if it is simple stamping.

If you haven't seen the Arturo note cards yet, you are truly missing out. This is the soft blue - I may try and retake the picture during daylight hours tomorrow so that you can see the soft blue a little better. To complete this card I stamped the butterfly image with Palette Noir ink. I then used my brand spankin' new COPIC MARKERS to color the image in. (OK - can you tell I am excited?!?) I can hardly wait to share all the amazing information I am compiling about these AWESOME markers with you. I will share coordinating colors to the Stampin' Up! ink colors, along with a step by step tutorial on completing some of these little projects. These markers ROCK!

As with everything, I do believe that practice makes perfect, but holy cow ladies - this is the first image I have colored!!!! Being that I don't have a ton of colors I highlighted and added "drama" with a little color pencil work. WHAT A COMBO! I truly wish that this card could jump through the screen to you so that you could see the beauty; the intensity of the colors! Friday I am attending a convention where the Copic markers will be demonstrated. I can hardly wait to share with you girls - I think you are going to get a giggle out of some of the "artwork" I'm going to share. It is only in my imagination right now, but... it's going to be GOOD! :D :D :D

So without further ado...

The little trail was pierced using one of my fav little tools - a piercing stencil. When using these stencils you don't have to use the entire stencil! I love to just choose a little segment of the design to add additional texture to my project. I could have added some pearls or twinkles, but the simplicity of this design screamed at me to just "leave it alone".

I am going to try and share new images each day with you - the upcoming Lockhart Stamp Company release has such fun new designs!!! I can hardly wait to share them all with you. Giddy - yep, that's me - new stamps, new tools, new toys - they truly make me happy :D :D :D