Sand Dollar Card 2017

Hand delivery only 

I'm a bubble thinker, meaning I solve problems by putting together different ideas. Most people in the creative process are like this. I had a box full of sand dollars I collected years ago on a crafting retreat at the beach. I walked along the beach for hours picking up sand dollars. I thought I would make a wreath at some point. Well fast forward to today and I turned them into a card for my card making group the "Cornflakes" after seeing this definition of thalassophile on Pinterest. All the bubbles came together and made a card that is truly in my style - clean and simple. 

Monoprinting Sample Card 2017

Getting ready for my Faux mono-printing workshop at FabMo on July 16, 2017.
YouTube is a wonderful thing! I've been working with twinkling H2O water colors for years and never knew there were other ways to work with them. I mainly make backgrounds, but I gave this mono-printing technique a try and surprisingly it turned out pretty well. The demo person said she could get 30 prints out of one round of painting on the stamp but I was only able to get 10, which still isn't bad.  

Faux Mono Printing Workshop July 26, 2017

FabMo Faux Mono Printing Card Workshop

Finally getting around to posting my next workshop at FabMo. Made the samples and poster but forgot to take a picture. Took a few weeks to get back down to FabMo to take a photo of the poster. 
Everyone is welcome to attend the workshop, just let me know your coming. We will be using Twinkling H2O watercolors the way they were intended to be use.  You just paint your stamp once and you can get several image by just misting with a little more water. If there's time we'll also make some backgrounds, my personal favorite with these watercolors. All supplies are provide and a $10.00 donation to FabMo is requested. 

Compass Card

To help with the creative process when I'm in a slump, I make backgrounds. I'm not sure what it is about just slapping color down on paper but it works for me. The back ground will sit around for months until my creative light bulb goes on. I had made some of the cards last month when I came across these mini compasses in a junk pile. The compass is really too thick to mail but it's just fit the theme of the card so I just went with it. 

HB card 2017

What happens when you take photo after midnight, just a little off.

It's great when you have other crafty friends who have all the lastest good stuff! I borrowed the HB die (Poppy Stamps) to make this card for a buddy's birthday. I'm on a inlay kick right now and using my water colors. This die really has too many tiny pieces for the inlay technique but it was made for a special friend. I won't be making to many of these in future but I think it turned out well!

My Happy Place

Carmel City Beach

Sometimes just knowing where your happy place is makes all the difference. As all crafters do, I took down a ton of projects to work on. Really didn't get to any of them but it doesn't stop me from packing as if I will. :) 

Share Handmade Kindness

I've joined the movement Jennifer Mcguire's "share handmade kindness" project. Making cards to pass out randomly to people to spread more happiness and positive thoughts. For the last few weeks I've made master watercolor sheets to use on my cards, making each card unique. 
This one (can't tell from the photo) uses the inlay technique and mini brads that I've had for years. Finally breaking into my old scrapbooking stash of embellishments. Amazing how much stuff I still have from years ago!

Those who inspire others - Susan Eckert - Adventure Women Travels

Susan Eckert - Adventure Women

There are a few people who have had a great impact on my life. Susan Eckert was one of those people. She helped me (and thousands of other women) to go outside my comfort zone and travel to see the world. She was one of the first adventure travel companies just for women. At the time of my first trip with Adventure Women, I was married to someone who didn't like international travel. I either had to live with the regret of never getting to see the world or do it on my own. Since that very first trip many years ago, I've now flown half way around the world by myself, been in a tropical storm that stranded us on a remote island, capsized in a boat in Nepal, come face to face with a wild orangutan, been only a few feet way from a wild lioness eating a fresh kill, had a baby seal born on my foot while hiking the Galapagos Island and taken a picture with a llama while hiking Machu Picchu. There are many more special memories that Susan made possible for me and many other women. It was sad to get the news Susan past away this week. Her legacy to encourage women to travel alone will continue but she will still be sorely missed. 

In Honor of Susan Eckert

Inlay Card Technique

A little closer look at one of the cards I made with all the watercolor backgrounds I made this past weekend. You can't really tell that the many thanks is inlayed into the card but it is a cool effect and make the card very flat - great for mailing. 
Thinking I may turn this into a class. It's so fun just to spend time splashing color onto paper with no really goal in mind. 

Water Color Backgrounds 2017

I had this weekend off so after getting all the weeding done in my garden and around the property, I spent time making watercolor backgrounds. I tried Color Burst Crystals (like Brusho) but I still like Twinkling H2O as my go to watercolors. It took me awhile to figure out how to get a consistent but random background look without everything turning into a muddy mess.  

I finally figure out if I painted the watercolor onto my block, mist lightly (key here) and let the block sit on the watercolor paper for awhile (another key step), I avoided the running muddy mess.  Now with a stack of backgrounds made I decided to try the inlay technique for the cards I'm making for the "share handmade kindness" project. 

Water Color Backgrounds

When ever I lose my creative mojo, I turn to my twinkling H2O watercolors. Splashing color on to paper with no goal in mind is helpful. On some of my favorite card making blogs, they all talk about how "easy" it is to  make interesting backgrounds - NOT true at all. My best guess they had to make a ton before getting the one that's shown on camera. Of course they may be more loose about what's good and what's not. :)  Still I love the blogs and videos which inspire me to keep trying. I plan to turn these backgrounds into "share the kindness" cards to hand out.  I also hope to do a workshop, so others like me spend the day splatter paint and see what we get. 

Time in the garden 2017

Since I have the whole weekend off from work (happy dance) Annie and I spent all morning working out in the garden and outlining property. Having to deal with deer and gophers, I'm very limited into what type of landscaping plants I can use. I find it relaxing to pull weeds even if I'm having to climb up and down the hill. Annie of course only cares about chasing her ball. :)