I made myself a little space on Facebook to share my stamp designs, past and upcoming... it will be a fun place to share new releases, and who knows, maybe a giveaway or 2? No big hype or hoopla - just compartmentalizing a bit.
Here is the link in case you want to visit!
Thanks!
It's my turn to share a project for Impression Obsession's DT Thursday! On the weeks we don't have a challenge to share, the IO designers take turns sharing a personal project. We hope you're inspired!
I have to compensate for missing the turn of the season by stamping, since there are no changing leaves in the Tropics! There are pumpkins, though... and though they're dark green, they still make a pretty decent pumpkin pie. This image is called Pumpkins, and in typical Gary Robertson style, the image provides lots of hints for coloring and shading. I watercolored the scene using Derwent watercolor pencils and a waterbrush. 
The pumpkin embellishment was in my Fall stash, and after several years of hording the silly little package, I decided to see if I could cut one in half. They're actually made of styrofoam, so that was easy to do. It's just glued on top of my bow.
Thanks for stopping by today!
P.S. I'm entering my card over at the Dolce Stamps and Cards site too - their Thursday Challenge is to make a card using Fall colors, and there's a bonus entry if you use Impression Obsession stamps! And....... I found another Fall themed challenge at Our Craft Lounge!
It's time again for the Heartfelt Creations Design Team Alumni monthly blog hop... We've chosen the 4th Tuesday of each month to get together and share a project featuring Heartfelt Creations' stamps. If you're following along the hop and you've arrived here from Olga's blog, you're doing just fine. If you'd like to view the entire hop, you can just start here - the hop doesn't have a starting or ending point - just continue on from here, and keep going until you come back. Be sure to leave a comment on every post if you're interested in winning a prize!! A random winner will be selected from all our commenters to win a Posy Patch Garden Delights Pre Cut stamp set. You will have until Sept. 29th (midnight EST) to participate. Our winner will be announced on Saturday, October 1st.
I love this image (Maxwell House) so much - almost all my flower pots out front are repurposed containers or broken appliances, so I love the idea of a coffee can birdhouse. I colored the image with Touch Twin Markers (colors are listed below...wow, I almost never use these blues, but I had fun shading this image!). I only used a part of the sentiment to fit it on the tag - the full sentiment is HERE.
From here you'll be hopping on to Angelica's Blog...... Thanks for stopping by!
There's a new challenge up at the Touch Twin Markers & More Challenge blog - this time we're presenting a color combo challenge. We hope you'll join the fun! These are the Touch Twin colors we're using - if you don't have Touch markers, just try to match these colors as best as you can.
This is Party Mouse, a House Mouse design (my stamp is an older Stampa Rosa collectible). The colors I used are listed below, with the challenge combo colors outlined in black. The sentiment I used is from a clear set by Impression Obsession called Greeting Card Sentiments. I also used my markers to color the rayon seam binding ribbon, spritzing it with rubbing alcohol for a unique blend.
These are the markers I used:
You can visit the Touch Twin Markers & More Challenge blog for all the details if you'd like to play! Don't have a blog? That's OK. Just post to any online gallery with the keywords TTC02 and touchtwin. Don't have Touch markers? That's OK too for now. Starting in January we will require using our markers, but for now you can use any coloring medium. Have fun!
I've just finished up writing a tutorial for using rubber stamps to create borderless watercolor paintings like this one. It is a nine-page, photo-rich, step-by-step tutorial with lots of information, observations, and tips along the way. It's really too long to post on my blog, and for all the work that went into it, I'd like to offer it as a pdf download for purchase. We are in the process of applying for permanent residence visas and I would love to be able to help chip away at those enormous costs in this way. 
The image on the card shown here is the one I used for the tutorial. Stamps are from Sheena Douglass' Paint Fusion Line, colored with Touch Twin Markers and Derwent Watercolor Pencils.
You can purchase the pdf for $5.00 USD by clicking the Paypal button below, and the file will be sent to you via email within 24 hours. (BTW... this Paypal account is my Asian account, so the decimal is written as a comma ($5,00 USD).)
The Impression Obsession team is hosting a blog hop today to share a new line of stamps with you called Zenspirations - these are fun clear sets by artist Joanne Fink (you may have seen her artwork on Hallmark cards or elsewhere - she has a very recognizable style - you can see more of her artwork HERE).
This is the set I've used, called Espresso Yourself...
...and my card! I created a shaker card using one of I.O.'s Shake-It Pouches (this is the large circle). The image inside is colored with Prismacolor pencils, and I used Earth Ultrafine Flower Soft and some coffee grounds for my filler. I used a brown Blo-Pen for a quick spritz of speckles across the card.
Here's how I created the word border around my circle opening - one fun thing about clear stamps is that they are flexible, and can be bent around a shape. The two long word borders fit perfectly around the circle I had cut. I used a Coluzzle circle template to align the borders the way I wanted them before stamping.
Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration -
Daniela @ For the First Time
Jenny @ One Krafty Kat
Julie @ Out to Impress
Laura @ Laura's Stamp Art Journal
Thanks for joining us on our hop today!
P.S. This week's Sprinkle challenge over at the Flower Soft Forum (FSC36) is to use Flower Soft on your cards that feature circles. If you'd like to join in on the Sprinkle challenge, pull out the Flower Soft - you might even win a prize! Post your project in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keywords flowersoft (one word) and FSC36. We'd love to have you join us!
Ready for a Shinhan Touch Twin marker GIVEAWAY?Starting today (through the end of September!) Touch Twin will be giving away 2 markers to FIVE people every single day!
Each day there will be a question on the Touch Twin & More blog. Winners will be chosen randomly among all the responses to the questions. Winners must claim their prize within 48 hours of being announced by sending their mailing address & phone number. Please allow 3 to 4 weeks for prize delivery.
Have you seen our challenges? The first challenge (TTC01) is “Playing With Our Peeps” and you can find it on the Touch Twin & More Challenges blog.
There is still plenty of time to enter for a chance to win 12 Touch Twin markers!
Tell your friends! When we get to 1000 followers on our Facebook page we’ll be giving away 24 markers to a lucky follower!!!
Follow the Shinhan Touch Twin blogs:
Touch Twin Markers & More Challenges
Find us on Facebook
(tell 'em I sent you!)
Visit our website: Shinhan Art Materials
Hope you'll join us!
Thought I'd share a little about what's been keeping me busy these days...
Part of my responsibilities here at the campus where we serve include health education. In the past there has been a health class offered as part of the 3rd year curriculum for our students. Another co-worker and I have taught that class for the last 3 years. The last time we taught we were only given 3 weeks, and that was just not enough time - it really felt like "too little, too fast, and too late." We suggested that the class be given more time, and be offered to the first semester students so that eventually all the students would be given information that would not only help them in future life/ ministry but also be directly applicable here on campus - with their families, dormmates, etc. So this semester we've begun that program. We have 12 students, and a 5 week block to discuss health, germ theory, prevention, cleanliness, over-the-counter medicine, and some simple first aid. Most of these students are from tribal areas, so their understanding of any of these concepts is minimal at best and sometimes flawed, but we've been able to take things at a slower pace and they seem to be grasping everything well so far.
This last week we talked about what causes sickness and how our body fights it, and also took a couple of days to discuss some simple ways to prevent sickness and infection using sunlight, clean water, and soap, plus some tips on food safety, cleanliness, etc. We try to keep it simple and very practical. The class is an hour each weekday morning and runs till Oct. 14th... from there I run home and try to collect my thoughts to home school my kids the rest of the morning! It's an additional load for me but so worth the effort, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to help equip these students to live a better, healthier life.
This is one of my CHA samples - In general I'm afraid of lots of white space, but somehow this came together with a sort of back-to-school, change-of-seasons feel to it... and I survived!
The image is colored with Touch Twin Markers. You may be able to see in the photo below that I cut along the bottom of the skirt and shaped it slightly, then raised it with foam tape for dimension. These are the stamps I used: Cover-a-Card Notebook, Girl with Umbrella, & Be Yourself.Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a great weekend!
Just wanted to share a couple of my new designs that are now available at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!! These have been released in time to help you with your Christmas cards and gifting needs. The first set is an interactive tag set with a coordinating die coming soon - many of the sentiments can be used throughout the rest of the year as well, in a variety of combinations.
The second set coordinates with the script background shown below, and also has a coordinating die!
My stamps are still on the way so I don't have any cards to share YET...! I love this candle image - I was thinking of a vintage brass candle holder my Mom used to have when I drew this one. I think the holly berries could be covered with a silk or handmade flower to make this stamp usable year-round as well.
Hope you have a great day!
So hard to believe that 6 months have passed, and this month is my last month as a Dirty Girl... The Fan Club gallery is now open - this month the Dirty Dozen designers are sharing about their "comfort zones"... if you're curious what that means to each of us, take a little visit to SCS and have a peek! If you're not a Fan Club member, here's a teeny peek at what you're missing this month... 
Though I won't be designing for the gallery any longer, I'll be staying on as a theme consultant for the team, in addition to participating in other Dirty Dozen Alumni activities, like the upcoming "Hope You Can Cling To" challenges. Excited about that!
The Impression Obsession team's challenge today is to create a Fall card.
I so miss Fall..... *sigh*
The image I used for my card is called Pumpkin Swing... I colored it with Touch Twin Markers and added some dimension by cutting along some of the leaves and shaping them a little with my finger. The pumpkin is also embossed from behind. I framed the image with some Spellbinders dies. 
For the foreground panel, I used two Cover-a-Card stamps, Medallion and Tree Line... I stamped the Medallion background in Colorbox Peach Pastel then added more ink 'direct to paper,' adding Versamagic Pumpkin Spice along the bottom. I stamped the trees in Versamagic Sahara Sand and Versafine Vintage Sepia. After diecutting, I used an embossing plate to give some texture to the panel. The ribbon is colored with Touch markers as well. The sentiment can be found HERE.
These are the Touch Twin Markers I used:
Be sure to check out these other designers' blogs for inspiration -
If you peek over at the Sweet 'n Sassy blog today you might find links to some "Sweet Peeks" sharing a tag set I designed...! Peek again on Thursday for another set!!
The leaf dies that coordinate with my Season of Change set are in stock now.... (YAY!!)
I also wanted to let you know about a clear stamp set Korin illustrated to help raise money for flood victims in her home town - that can be found HERE.
That's all I know!
I added my hand-colored Touch Twin Marker chart HERE in case you are curious about actual marker colors - sometimes there can be slight differences between marker colors on paper and the digital representations on a computerized chart. Hope you find that resource helpful.
I also have a blank chart that you can download to keep track of your purchases and colors... if you should happen to need something like that! That chart is available HERE at my website, along with a few other resources. Feel free to poke around in there if you'd like! There are other downloads there, and card galleries, too.
Enjoy today!
The first challenge is being posted today at the Touch Twin Markers & More Challenge blog - so exciting!! For our first challenge, we're using our markers to color people. The team will be sharing 'color maps' of what colors we used in our posts throughout the week, so you can get an idea of combinations, etc. We hope you'll join the fun!
This image is from Inky Antics and it's called "Already Packed" - for all the traveling and moving we do, it was a "must have" for me. The marker colors I used are listed below. The background panel is stamped with a newer Cover-a-Card stamp (Passport Stamps) from Impression Obsession, and the sentiment is from smARTworks.
For the blue background coloring around the image I used rubbing alcohol in a waterbrush to blend the Touch ink, almost like watercoloring. I scribbled a little ink on a plastic palette and picked it up with the brush - it takes a little practice, but I like the softness of the edges this way.
Here are the colors I used:
You can visit the Touch Twin Markers & More Challenge blog for all the details if you'd like to play! Don't have a blog? That's OK. Just post to any online gallery with the keywords TTC01 and touchtwin. Don't have Touch markers? That's OK too for now. Starting in January we will require using our markers, but for now you can use any coloring medium. Have fun!
