Time Off

Hello my friends,

Long time no post. I needed some time off. You know how things have a way of piling up on you? Well thats what happened to me. But I'm back!

I've got so many things I want to tell you. This past weekend there was a CK Convention in Manchester, NH. My 2 girlfriends and I always meet there. We had such a fun time. I did very well on my purchases too. I think as the years go by we don't need to buy as much. I enjoy the convention because it lights a fire under me and makes me remember how much fun my craft is.
I think everyone gets stuck at one time or another.

I have been working a lot with the Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers lately. I go back and forth between them and Copics. I love them both. Well Crafter's Companion has put out the Spectrum Noir Color Pencils. OMG! I am loving them. You can use them by themselves or on top of your image that you colored with the alcohol markers. I really like when products compliment each other. So anyway I've been printing stuff of there website like crazy. I also bought a DVD at there booth at the convention. It was great! I could watch it over and over. They even have a resource folder with all the images they use or show on the DVD. I highly recommend the DVD's. They have another coming out in a few weeks. I can't wait for that one either.

Well I think thats good for now. Hopefully I didn't scare you away by being away myself. Take care and until next time. :)

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all are having a good week. It's hump day! Love the camel commercial.
So for the last few days I have been cataloging all my stamps. What a job. I didn't realize how many I had until I started doing it. I finally finished last night around 11.
Now my plan is to photo copy all the pages to be put in a binder. Then take the stamped images which I stamped on card stock. I wanted the paper to be stronger than copy paper so it would hold up coming in and out of the pocket sleeves they are in.

It's really hard for me to get going sometimes, so I'm hoping having a stamped image in front of me will give me a kick start. A lot of the times I buy stamps when I see them used on a websites. I have every intension of making that card but lose focus once I put it away.

The same goes for ink pads and markers. I have so many that I forget what I have. I have ordered several swatch books from Simon Says Stamps just for that purpose. If you go to there site you will see a good example of how to use them. I know they are for ink pads but I'm going to see if I can make it work for my markers too.

Well thats it for now. Until next time :)

Hello Everyone,

Well the week is almost over Yeh! The last photo is a picture of a card I made for a friend who lost a love one. It is probably my new favorite even if it is a sympathy card.

Today starts week 4 in my on line class at My Creative Class room. I have to say I did not do very well in lesson 3. I have been sick for almost a week so nothing got done. So catch-up begins.

So have a nice weekend and I'll be back next week. Until next time.:)

With sympathy...

                               This was made for a very special person who lost a love one.

Hi everyone,

As you can tell I haven't posted anything in a while. I have been sick. My lovely honey brought home whatever was going around at his work and gave it to me. This is the first day I feel good enough to get out of my pj's. When you don't feel good your pj's and my girls (my 3 cats) are the best.

I just wanted to pop in and let you know i'm still here. Hopefully by Thursday I'll feel even better and have more to say. So take care.

Until next time :)

My Creative Classroom

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I know they go by so fast.
Today I wanted to tell you about a new class I signed up for at My Creative Classroom. It's an online class which is nice because I canto at my own pace. I like the fact that there is a workbook with it as well. I don't know about you, but I like things in print. I like being able to go back and use it as a reference. I know a lot of people are trying to cut down on paper. There are just some things a girl has to have.

I love coloring but I struggle with putting everything together after that. The videos are great, they make it look so easy though. I'm sure I'll get it. Some things look so obvious. Thats when you have to say to yourself "less is more". So if you get a chance go to there site www.mycreativeclassroom.com and check it out.

Until next time. :)

Friday!

Hello everyone,

Well we made it to Friday. Some days just fly by faster than others.
I order a planner from Erin Condren.com. It came in the other day. I love it! I am a person who likes to write down all the things I need or want to do. It helps me to see things in print. I am a visual person.Which sometimes conflicts with my OCD. I like everything put away nice and neat, but then if I don't see it I don't use it. Humm?

 It has all kinds of stuff you can have added to it. I chose from there selection what I wanted for my cover. Pink and white of course. I was able to have my name put on it as well. There were so many choices. You should really check it out. They have different planners for different things.

Well I know this is short but the dirty floors are calling me again. I need to get a new number :) So until next time. :)

Hello Everyone

Hi everyone,

So sorry for the delay in my posts. I lost all track of the days and before I knew it, it was Monday.
So on Thursday the 20th I took a Copic class at Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, Ma. I have been going there for years. The people that work there are so nice. They help you any way they can. When I get stuck on a technique or need advise they are they. They are so friendly, after a while they know you by name and vice vest.

The class was taught by Kate the owner. She's awesome. I always have trouble coloring skin. Some people use up to 5 colors. Thats way to complicated for me. She showed me a combination of 2 colors for the skin and 1 for blush. How easy is that! The colors she used are E00, E02 and R20 for blush. Give it a try its so much easier. If you go to there site absolutely everything.com you can see the samples. They are beautiful.

On Saturday the 22nd I went to Nashua, NH. My 2 girlfriends and I try to get together a few times a year. It all depends on there schedules as they work in the school system. We work around the vacations. We had so much fun. I don't know why but I always come home with brain drain. I think its because we try to catch up on everything thats happened since the last time we got together. Who knew there was that much.lol.

We practice techniques ( well I do ). They work on making cards with what ever products I brought.
Our new thing is dies. So I bring a collection of them and they go for it. They cut as much as they can while I'm there.

Its so much fun to share with other people your passion. I would love any feed back.




Until next time. :)

Practice

Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a nice weekend. Here in New England we are getting another storm. Please make it stop!
Anyway, so today I wanted to talk about my class at My Creative Classroom with Jennie Black. I am really enjoying it. I am having trouble with blending purple. Who knew one color could give you such a hard time. Well I keep watching the video Jennie did on palette blending. She makes it looks so easy. I think I like working with lighter purples than dark. They seem to blend a little easier. Is anyone else having trouble with purples?
Tomorrow starts week three of her class. I can't wait to see what we do next. Have a wonderful day and until next time. :)

Next lesson

Hi everyone,
We'll week two has started in my on line class with Jennie Black from My Creative Classroom. I am really enjoying it. It's nice to have someone as good as Jennie to take the time and look at my stuff. I always want to do better.
She gave me a great tip for those colors that don't blend so easily, like purples and green. It's called palette blending. She posted the link to it so anyone can view it. She always makes it look so easy. The link is www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPdTEhSKwEI. Have fun and until next time. Practice, practice, practice. :)

Check out my practice sheet :)

Class

Hi everyone,

I just finished my first lesson in Jennie Black's class at My Creative Classroom. It took me a while but I think it came out ok. Now I just have to figure out how to get it to her for review. I'll try and get it posted here on my blog as well.

Rumor has it we are getting another storm on Thursday. Yeh more time to color, I mean practice. Take care until next time.:)

Jennie Black

Hello everyone,

I just had to tell you how excited I am. Jennie Black use to work for Crafter's Companion. She was the instructor for the Spectrum Noir Accreditation program. When she left I was heartbroken because she was the only person I knew who worked with the Spectrum Noir markers.
I found her online! She's teaching at My Creative Classroom.com. I've signed up for the class. I'm on my way. If I remember right there are 3 weeks of classes with 6 lessons. I can't wait for week 2. So if you get a chance stop by mycreativeclassroom.com. There are lots of classes there.

I love working with alcohol markers so this was perfect for me. Even though I know how to work with them I feel you can never learn enough. Like they say practice, practice, practice. So have fun checking out the site and until next time. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Hi everyone,
I hope all is well your way. Here in Massachusetts we are bracing for more snow (again). I have to say this has been quite a winter.

Well the bikes are finally out of my craft room. They were a bit of a pain. Whenever I wanted to get to my paper I had to move the bikes. To get to my office supplies move the bikes. You know what I mean. So I am very happy to have my space back.
I actually sat down at my desk, which needed to be straighten desperately. I need to be organized and clean to work. I go nuts if I don't. My OCD really kicks in sometimes.

I am reading a book called "Blogging For Creatives" by Robin Houghton. I'm hoping it will help me to be better at my posting. I always have ideas of the things to write about, but when I sit down to write its hard for me to put in words. If anyone has some ideas I would love to hear them.

Well off to do errands. Take care and until next time :)

Just had to have some Bunny Luv :)

Isn't he just the sweetest! I saw this stamp from Stampendous called "Bunny Luv" and I just had to have him. He reminded me of my sweet grandson and his love of hugs. I also used the stamp "Have I told you" also from Stampendous and paired it with the ink colors Memento Tuxedo Black and Distress Ink- Tea Dye.  For my paper choice I went with pieces I already had in my stash, Stampin Up and My Mind's Eye.

For my colors I chose the Copics medium colors - E21,E23,W3,W5,E00,E01,R12,R14
For the from and other pieces on the card I used Spellbinders Long Classic Rectangles and MFT Pierced Square STAX.

Sometimes you look at a card and know that it needs a little extra. I used Mono-Multi glue, some ribbon and gems from my personal collection. 

So there you have it fellow crafters! Now you have all the info and links to make this sweet bunny for yourself.

Questions For All

Hi Everyone,
Today I have some questions to ask you. I'm trying to put together a Copic collection that doesn't require me to bring all 360 something of them when I leave my house. Is there a basic group for each color? I would be very interested to hear your suggestions.

Also how do you organize your blog posts that you've already posted? Do you have a paper copy in a binder or just put them in a folder on your computer. I would like to read my old post sometimes as I hope they will give me more ideas for new ones.

When I post a card that I have made would you like me to include the supplies that I used?  If I see a card on another site and like it I like to see what was used. Your feed back would really help me in all these areas.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to here from you.
Until next time

Hi Everyone,
Well we made it through Monday, so the rest of the week should be much better.

I thought I'd share some of my favorite websites that I go to almost daily. KWERNERDESIGNS is probably one of my top favorite. Another one is prairiepaperandink. They always have videos so when I get stuck I just watch them. Then theres just4funcrafts. I like to follow Jennifer's Color of the Day. She works with Copics and you know there is always some new.

Hopefully you will stop by these sites. If you have any that you would like to share I would love to know about them. Until next time.

Busy Day

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had a nice weekend. Rumor has it that here in Massachusetts we are do for another polar vortex. It's suppose to get real cold. So that's why today was so busy for me. I was out of the house by 9am and got back at 3pm.  My feet are killing me! I hate to wear shoes but when your out in stores you have no choice. Now I can spend the rest of the week playing with my new stuff I got at Big Lots. Oh yea! Laundry too. Put a load in and play till the buzzer goes off.

Anyway I was watching some videos and came across this one where the girl said to go to Big Lots.
She showed all kinds of stuff she got there so I thought I would check it out. Well 2 hours later and 60.00 worth of stuff she was right. I made myself comfortable on the floor and took each peg/hook one at a time. I couldn't believe all the stuff I got. When my girlfriends and I get together we always have little things for each other. I spent less than 10.00 on each of them. They are going to go crazy when I see them next.  If I find the site where I saw the video I will give her credit she was right. Just take your time and you'll be surprised at what you can find.

Until next time, Play and have fun

Lady

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone had a nice week.  Well today is kind of bittersweet, Lady is being picked up by a family member. I've been dog sitting all week for a friend in my building. She fell and was not able to care for Lady so I took her home with me.

She really is not any trouble its just I'm not use to having a dog. I have 3 Siamese cats ( all bigger than her by the way). They are not quite sure what to do with her. She chases them everywhere. She's having a ball, but the girls are not impressed.

My girls are having trouble adjusting to her. They are eating very little and one of them used her puppy pad instead of the cat box. I will miss her terribly, but I know that for my girls I have to let her go. Ugh!  I hope I am doing the right thing.

Thanks for stopping by and see you next time.

Hi Everyone,
Well what a rainy day here in Ma. I did have plans to start posting paper crafting stuff but I am puppy sitting for a friend that lives in my building. She fell and broke her wrist and fractured her pelvis. So I have adopted Lady for a while.
The poor thing was left alone for I don't know how long. She's absolutely adorable. So with my 3 cats and one little puppy my day has been a little hectic. I'm not use to puppies. So hopefully in the next few days I'll get back on track. Until then take care