Printworks - Sweet Pea Garden"

Here's a photo of another quick card class I will do for Cranberry Hill later this month. I was asked to do a class that featured just one stamp so people could see the different ways you can use it. I also wanted to keep the class under an hour, so the style is very basic and simple. The stamp will be included in the class fee this time. It's called "sweet peas" but whoever named the stamp must not work out in the garden because none of images look like sweet peas.

I'm not allergic to many things but the smell of sweet peas reminded me of a really large man that hasn't bathed in a long time, just to give you a visual of what the smell reminds me of. I can't been in the same room with the blooming flowers for very long. I think they are pretty but can live with them.

Happy 4th of July!!!

I like to visit the blog "Hooked on Houses" since I love houses with interesting features. One reason I like to collect and sell vintage details from old houses. "Between Naps on the Porch" is another blog featured a lot on Hooked on Houses with her amazing table settings. I've always wanted a house with a wrap around porch. Even as a young girl out on the ranch, there were two houses down the road called "the twins" because two brothers (not twins) build the same house right next to each other and they had wrap around porches. Every time we went in town I would always make sure to sit on the right side so I wouldn't miss seeing the houses. Sure wish I had a photo of those houses.
Here's the link to see more table settings.
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2009/06/welcome-to-43rd-tablescape-thursday.html

Punch Simple Card Class

Another class I will be doing this month at Cranberry Hill. I was asked to do a class using punches (inspired by the Savvy and Impress sample boards) for a quick summertime card class. The class is only an hour long since punches are a great tool to make super fast cards. I was going to make little critters using punched but I wanted to keep the class under an hour so I went with the basic punch images. Maybe for Christmas I will build a Santa and his gang. :)

Bees and Baseball

Some bees hit the big league this week by swarming in the middle of the game. Happy to hear someone knew to call a bee keeper to come remove them. Hope this helps people understand that you can have bees removed and not have to kill them. GO BEES!!!

Here's the link to the full story.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-Padres-buzz-is-back-Wait-it-s-just-a-swa?urn=mlb,174480

Los Molcajetes in Fossil Creek TX

While we were out in Texas we went to a great restaurant in Fossil Creek TX. The ladies at the front desk said "Los Molecajetes" was REALLY good (it wasn't on the hotel's standard list of restaurants) so we gave it a try. First off, it was packed at 8:45 pm and Fossil Creek doesn't look like a nightlife kind of town. The second thing was the manager (she could have been an owner too) was this very strict looking "don't mess with your momma" kind of woman. So you know she runs a really tight ship. The place was clean and the staff were all working hard. The food (which came out in less than five minutes) was great. They had quail on the menu, which my buddy MJ just went wild over. I did try and stick to my no carb diet so I didn't get the tortillas with my meal but I did have some chips and salsa. The food was so good that we went back next night for dinner. MJ and I joked we would come back for another mega workshop at Ten Second studios just so we could have dinner at Los Molecajetes. I was told they also own two other restaurants in the area. The prices were very reasonable, compared to what we would have had to pay out here in California.

Tim Holtz's Texas Project 2009

With all the glass and metal, it wasn't an easy project to take a picture of. Cheryl's part of the workshop was having us make the outside of the picture frame. Since this is going up on my studio wall, I put Flatfishpaperarts, Cheryl Darrow, Tim Holtz and Ten Second Studios on the frame. The collage on the inside was part of Tim's class. We worked on 5 mini canvas which are all covered with embellishments. There is a lot of inking and sanding which doesn't show up to well in the photo but there are many layers to collage. I'm going to add a few more things and do a little airbrushing before putting it up on the wall. This was a great tag team workshop that Cheryl and Tim did. I hope they will be able to take the show on the road soon!

Ten Second Studios Projects 2009

Here are some of the projects I did at the Ten Second Studios workshop this past weekend. (My camera battery died right before my trip so I'm using my hubby's camera and I don't know how to turn off the date stamps) The first part of the all day workshop was how to use the embossing wheels and tools on metal. We practiced embossing and de-embossing and sanding before jumping in and working on the class projects. We made a coffee mug insert and two pages that go into an album. The cover for my album isn't done yet since I changed up the design. It was suppose to be covered with metal but I decided to cut out some metal letter instead. I still have to finish the spine before I can glue down everything. The little cut out heart will have a "puffy" red metal heart when it's finished.

Ten Second Studios & Tim Holtz

Back for my mega workshops with Cheryl Darrow (owner of Ten Second Studios) and Tim Holtz in HOT HOT Richland Hills, Texas. Yes, there was a heat wave going on while we were there.

The workshops were held at the Ten Second Studios which had some amazing art work on the walls. I spent all day Saturday learning all the ways you can emboss on metal with Cheryl. I will post photos of my projects later. It was a great class and the Ten Second Studios team worked really hard to make sure everything ran smoothly.

On Sunday we took a combination class with both Cheryl and Tim. Each taking two hours to do their section of the project. Tim's class was one of the fastest classes I've ever taken. We were moving so fast, you didn't have time to talk or miss a step, otherwise you were toast. Mario and the gang did a great job prepping for the class otherwise we would never have been able to do the project in two hour. Again I will post photos later.

Heading for Texas

I off bright and early in the morning for my certification class at the Ten Second Studios and Tim Holtz workshop in Texas. It's been a long time since I've been on the plane going somewhere fun - can't wait!!!! My camera battery decided to stop recharging today, so I will be without a camera all weekend. Will post when I get back on Monday.

Sumi Cat Card

Tonight is my monthly card making get together with the "Cornflakes". I decided to do a simple card inspired by the art of Sumi painting. The stamp is one that I've had for long time. It's so old the manufacture's name has wore away. I stamped it on Sumi paper which is just a little bit thicker than tissue paper and made to work well with ink. I then stitched it onto the spine of my white card stock base since you would see any adhesive used. You can't really tell that there are two layers to the card in the photo. I thought of adding more to it, but Sumi painting is suppose to be simple a design. The red "chop" is my name in Japanese.

Lydia of Understand Blue fame is working on designing some business cards for me and one of my requirements is that a Sumi cat image be used. I can't wait to see what creative ideas Lydia comes up.

Ten Second Studio Workshops

I'm heading out for the Ten Second Studio workshops in Texas with Cheryl (on the left) and Tim Hotlz (in the middle) this weekend. My buddy MJ can't make the workshops now because of a death in the family. So if you interested in buying her spot let me know. I would be happy to share my hotel room. Both workshops are all day, so you get some real quality time with both artists.

A Muse A Palooza Make N Takes

I will be doing the make-n-takes at Cranberry Hill for the "A Muse A Palooza" celebration. Not sure on the exact dates yet but I will post them on my side bar when it's all confirmed.
Don't go calling the A Muse watch dogs, these are stamp images from last year. I will be doing these along with the new Christmas images being released. We wanted to mix it up a bit because not everyone is a winter type of person.
I think we should start a campaign to get A Muse to release their Halloween line (like they use to) at the same time they do Christmas. I know the store owners would be a lot happier.
In keeping with A Muse's style, the cards are simple and quick to make.