Hello, heads up! Susan has restructured the smARTworks catalog! The old sets and groupings are no more, and the old catalog is no more. All the same images still remain, just grouped together in larger collections.
If you act now you can still purchase remaining single sets at 50% off while supplies last.
Here is a link to the home page for more complete information. Be sure to read the "news" section as well. Hmmm......
For whatever it's worth... I added a few labels to my posts, so now cards can also be sorted by their coloring medium. Maybe that thrills someone besides me. Anyone else just love sorting things? hehehe
Had to snag up this adorable kitty from Motivet, which is offered right now as a free digistamp - you can see the original post here and get one too...... Soooooo cute!
Some of you noticed my glasses in my new profile pic...here is the color version. They're similar in shape to my old ones, with a couple small differences... one difference is that the lenses are a little thicker, which was my choice because I didn't think it would make a difference...wrong! If I hold my head at certain angles I can see a reflection of light in the bit of lens that overlaps the frame (it's only like 1mm, but it still is noticeable, especially when I'm scrolling through blogs and such...). So...I have that to get used to. BUT....
This is what I have been looking through for the last several months - almost all the anti-glare coating peeled off one lens, and the other lens is full of scratches. Blech.
So I am not at all complaining.
Just a quick photo explanation of the background technique I just posted......
1. Stamp background stamp on glossy cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
One of the backgrounds I made the other day fit perfectly with this image I wanted to work with...I love daisies, and I love working with large floral images....this is Impression Obsession's Daisies - the image measures 3-1/2" x 5", so it's a good big one.
The background first - this is the Tapestry 2 Cover-a-Card. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto glossy cardstock. I colored in a few of the flowers and leaves with Neopiko markers, then did a Polished Stone technique over the entire image with Pastel Olive and Butterscotch reinkers. After it was all dry, I sanded the cardstock horizontally and vertically to remove some of the glossy finish. (BTW, if you're looking for a Polished Stone tutorial, GinaK's video is very well done - I used a cotton ball instead of the pouncing tool, and didn't use anything metallic, though hers looks so cool - and I bet that would add a neat dimension to my background here! And her fingers are much much cleaner than mine are right now...hmmm...I see a Ranger order in my future....!) I have a photo tutorial on making my background that will post later in the day.
The daisy image is watercolored using Adirondack reinkers mixed with a drop of Shimmerz - I love the little shimmery sparkle that adds to my work! Can't remember if I mentioned before that I don't clean my palette anymore - the reinkers and Shimmerz are waterbased, and since I frequently use the same colors when I watercolor, they're easily revived with the water from my brush. Actually, they don't seem to dry fully ever here. And that little bit of sparkle goes a long way.
While I had the stamp and reinkers out, I painted this little coaster blank (Thanks, Trish! I *still* have these.....) ... this is as far as I got with it, but I couldn't wait to show it... one day it will end up as a box top or a wall hanging. I love how it turned out.
So happy today to be wearing my new glasses.....I'll show them to you later!
Yesterday was such a special day - one of our older itinerant coworker couples is in town for a few days, having just returned from a trip around the country and several weeks on another island... so all of the ladies that were available (5 of us) got together just to sit and visit and share and fellowship. All of our communication here is done in Indonesian, so it was so absolutely refreshing to read and share with these sisters in ENGLISH. Neat too to see how our conversation flowed, and how lessons learned in one life dovetailed with lessons learned in another. 
Quick and simple card today -this is the Double Dogwood image, which I stamped, masked and stamped again to have 4 blossoms in a row. I cut my long retangular panel into 3 squares, and colored with Neopiko markers (background) and Prismacolor pencils (flowers), blending with OMS. I need more cards like this, that are left blank for multi-purpose use. This one looks like it would work well for a friendship card, or a 'please come soon, Spring' card......hm?
On with life this morning...we have small group with the students which means a short homeschool day (yeah!), then, later on, a soccer game I think?? In between, all kinds of life stuff to face with joy.
Take care of you!!
I forgot to ever show you the card I made for the smART-Word challenge this month. The challenge word was "glitter," and I chose to use glittery embossing powder on my card. If you know me, you know that HATE to emboss, and why I even have glittery embossing powder is sort of a mystery...but it works. This is the Geraniums image, which is from the Angi-B line - I watercolored the image using Marvy LePlume markers and a waterbrush. I added a pattern below the pots with a white gel pen. The sentiment is from the set called Scatter Delight Bloom, and is stamped on a diecut label that I purchased at a cute little antique shop in CA. The double bow was tied with my Bow-Easy. Love that little thing.
I love this textured pink cardstock - it was a recent local find. Always nice to find nice things here at a nice price...I think a pack of 20 sheets was just around $2!
If you have a glittery or glitter-inspired card, why not link it up and join our challenge? You can click here to link to the post for this month. A prize of stamps is up for grabs - but hurry - you only have until the 25th!
Next month's challenge is based on a word I chose...can't wait for that one!
P.S. This EP, by the way, is from Sparkle-n-Sprinkle - and if you are a lover and collector of embossing powders, you will love their line.
OK - if you were interested in new/used unmounted stamps for sale, I have them all posted now. Just trying to simplify and organize...nice to have a little more room for stamps I truly love, and clear out some duplicates. You can click here to see them......email me if you see something you're interested in.
Here's another of Mo Manning's designs, "End of the Summer" - I love the carefree feel of this image ...and the flip-flops, of course...!
I used the sketch provided by Mo's Dream Team, but put my own little spin on it, using the oval element for my sentiment instead of a focal image. (The sentiment is from Impression Obsession). I colored the focal image with Neopiko markers and shaded with Prismacolor pencils. The edges are sponged with Versafine ink.
Hope your weekend is restful! (hope mine is too...!!)
I keep forgetting to mention that I have some used stamps for sale - you can click here to see what I have posted so far. I have them divided into themed lots, and they are already wrapped and ready to mail as is...each used lot is just $2 + shipping, new stamps will be a little more, but prices will be marked. I have more than this...it's a work in progress...I still have some new stamps to list as well. Email me if there's anything you're interested in!
Also...........I have some digital stamps for sale too - you can click here to see those. They are reworked vintage images with accompanying quotes...it's a fun hobby but not a huge priority in my life right now, so that's why there are just a few, and I haven't even worked with them yet on cards....but I love them! Let me know what you think!
We hope you'll join us for this week's challenge to use your background or Cover-a-Card stamps! I have been having lots of fun with mine, and it will probably be very obvious that at this point I have just 3 of them, and I can't wait for my next batch to come!
Cover-a-Card stamps are 5-3/4" square, so they make a perfect full background for a square or standard-size card. The Mega Mount, with it's slightly curved surface, makes them super easy to stamp. Man, I love that thing.
More green here...on my first card I used glossy cardstock and chalk inks to create a background panel with several layered colors. I swiped the cardstock with a light olive chalk ink first, stamped over it with CAC Tapestry 2, then stamped over it again with CAC Dots. After all the layers were dry, I sanded lightly across the card, horizontally and vertically..... I've seen this called a 'faux linen' technique. My focal piece is called Lemon Tea Cup. It has 3 layers, colored with Prismacolor pencils. The cup is popped with foam tape, and I painted in the 'tea' with Twinkling H2Os. The sentiment is called Sweet Things.
Card Number 2 - The same Tapestry background, but this time stamped in white on vellum. Confession time....... I didn't clean my stamp very thoroughly so my white ink has a slight green tint... hence... another green card. Not sure why my vellum layer warped either... I guess that's life in a tropical country. I grabbed a few scraps from my stash, and this double-layered butterfly which I watercolored ages ago. The quote is Live Your Days, and the butterfly can be found in the Lucky Ladybugs clear set.
Did you know that you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps? See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! Be sure to check out the rest of the team's cards for inspiration....links are over to the left!
Here are a few more backgrounds I made that haven't made their way onto cards yet - so at some point you'll see them again - either on a card or in a tutorial. These are all done on glossy cardstock, which has some interesting properties and is fun to play with.
OK - that's all I know today! Thanks for stopping by ---
Each of the smARTworks design team members was sent the "Swimmin'" set to work with as our team challenge this time around. These challenges are always fun - and it's neat to see each member put their own spin on a particular set.
I used a Shake-It shaker pouch (self adhesive) to create the shaker element, and filled it with Dew Drops - they sort of look like bubbles....right?Just so you know.........I've made the decision to step down from the Heartfelt Creations design team. Nothing personal or troubling, just some changes being made all around - so you'll still be seeing their fun and beautiful stamps here, but I'm back to just being a happy and satisfied customer with a little more time for 'me' stamping. That's all!
Had a little 'just for fun' stamping time the other day and put this card together for a friend. With design team work I have usually had to limit my
self to stamps from one particular company, so it felt a little wild to use images from 3 different sources on this one. Goodness, I am sheltered. Ha!
The focal image on this card is one of Maurie Manning's digital illustrations. If you're not familiar with her work, she's a brilliant children's illustrator who also sells her illustrations as digital 'stamps'. You can find more of her artwork at Mo's Digital Pencil Shop. This image is called Soaking up the Joy.
The background panel is made with one of Impression Obsession's Cover-a-Card background stamps, called Tapestry 2. I stamped the full background in black ink, then colored in the floral elements with Neopiko markers. I was going to save this piece for Thursday's Impression Obsession DT challenge, but it went so perfectly with this image...so...I'll think of something else, I guess! The sentiment I used is from The Angel Company (TAC).
Hope you have a great weekend!
Here's something a bit romantic and valentine-y for the weekend... also a preview of an upcoming challenge - next week's Impression Obsession challenge is to use background stamps. If you have some, get ready to play along with us!
This base panel uses two of the Cover-a-Card stamps - Thick and Thin, stamped in Espresso ink, and Tapestry 2, stamped over the stripes in Brilliance Copper ink. I love those two colors with the burgundy base!
I used a portion of a doily as a layer on this card...the focal panel is watercolored with pencils, and then brushed over with some pearlescent watercolors. This stamp is called Victorian Roses.
I made these cards a while back, but didn't get to share them previously (I have a lot of those, for some reason...!) For this card I stamped the fence first, then masked it with a liquid frisket (I use Grumbacher's Miskit Frisket, because it's fun to say. No, actually Donna told me about it.). Once the frisket was dry, I stamped the tree image, painted in the sky, and added leaves to the tree using chalk inks. Misting the stamp after it's inked makes the image blend easily for a watercolored look. I used the same technique to fill in the grass.
I added some apples to the tree with the end of a paintbrush. After the panel was totally dry I could remove the frisket (it rubs off just like rubber cement, unless it's not totally dry, in which case it rubs off parts of your paper with it. Ask me how I know. Wait for it to dry!). My oval frames were cut with a Coluzzle template, and scalloped edge was cut with a Fiskars rotary cutter.
Now for all the places I have oval frames cut, I have ovals... and when I don't clean my desk between projects, sometimes pieces from one project get used in another, which can be a good thing. 
You can see that's what happened here -the ovals from my frames became the mats of my focal piece on this second card. My focal piece here is actually a piece of canvas, colored with Neopiko markers - I found a pad of canvas sheets here... fun to work with and it adds a little texture too. This is a gate-fold card, but it opens horizontally... which makes it hard to photograph!
All stamps on these cards are from Heartfelt Creations:
Four Seasons Tree
Split Rail Fence
Grass
Rose Cup
Mini Message Cursive Set
Enjoy your day!
I got on a sage green kick last week after that 'shades of green' challenge... here is one of the resulting cards! This is a faux watercolor technique done with chalk inks... I've mentioned before, but I'll mention again that I use Versamagic chalk inks because of their blendability - they are perfect for this type of technique. Dye inks would also work, of course, but might bleed a little more.
I inked the stamp (Lilac Blessings from smARTworks) with two colors of chalk ink, then misted my stamp with Pearl Glimmer Mist. I stamped the image on watercolor paper, let it dry and trimmed out the oval, then misted the whole panel with Glimmer Mist to give it all a pearly shine. You can see that more clearly below.
Soooooooo thankful to have a big project done and out of the way...... finally finished last night! I've been making a conscious effort with the Lord's help to simplify my obligations this year and not put so much pressure on myself - that's a hard one for a perfectionist-people-pleaser! I think even harder for me will be to not try to re-fill my time
with busy-ness when obligations drop away. Pray on that one.
I still have some organizing to do in my corner, and cataloging more stamps that are stored away... my next project should probably be passing on some unused supplies and never-going-to-use paper scraps to my kiddos. Hmmm....
While that picture is shimmering at me I will remember to remind you about the smART-word challenge - if you make a glittery or glitter-inspired card, be sure to link it up over at the challenge blog!
I found another one of those baking powder tins stashed away when I was cleaning the other day, and decided to alter it.... am I the only one who starts new projects in the middle of cleaning? Anyway, this is the smaller baking po
wder tin - it's maybe 3" tall or so. My flower (from a set of Heartfelt Creations stamps that coordinate with Nestabilities Blossoms dies) is colored with Neopiko markers... it's just 2 layers this time.
There's a peek at the center down below - for this look I dripped a few drops of yellow acrylic paint into the center of the flower, and then sprinkled Diamond Dust over it pretty generously. Takes a while to dry, but it's nice and sparkly! I painted the petals with Shimmerz after I took this picture.
I made this tin upside down rather than putting the flower into the lid - I made the first ones with the flowers in the lid, then wondered about how they would fare when someone tried to open them... so this one's lid is in the bottom.
The sentiment is just partial (I think it might have been "Easter Greetings" or something like that, but I needed something small to fit in my tag punch. Loving the way it curves down onto the tin, and also loving my hot glue gun lately.
I got in a reorganizing mood, and rearranged my desk yesterday... made more room for supplies within reach rather than stamps. Liking that. Next...purging my paper scraps. Right, in my free time........!!
Enjoy the weekend........................
I'm still playing with these flower sets from Heartfelt Creations... here are more paper roses made with the Blossoms Nestabilities and coordinating stamps. For these I used the second smallest flower.
Instead of stamping each flower and die-cutting out one at a time, I folded a piece of mulberry paper so one pass through the diecutter would cut out six flowers at once. After they were cut, I then laid each piece over the inked stamp to ink the edges. I used Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid on these (well, 2 of them - the one in the middle was left plain). For dimension I followed Tim Holtz's paper rose tutorial again. Each flower uses 4 diecuts. The leaves were stamped with waterbased dye ink and blended with a waterbrush.
This sentiment is actually all on one line, but I cut mine in half...bad habit, I know...but it makes it more versatile for cards like this, or if I just want to say "God Bless You" or "on Your Birthday". You know...I have my reasons!
Here's a close-up on those roses... they are so fun to make!
Enjoy your weekend............
I do love green...so the hardest part of this challenge, set out by the Impression Obsession team, was to decide which cards to share with you! I've settled on these two, which both use new stamps from Alesa Baker.
