Thriving Art

First of April, can you believe it??  At  cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/  we are strating the month off with a "Work is Good" challenge.  I'm not sure I really agree that work is good , but hey! The digital  images from Kenny K Downloads are just to cute to say no to!  I went with an invitation to dinner, yes I do cook on occasion, rare occasion.....LOL  My family and friends know that I watch the Food Network when I'm not on You Tube of Pinterest :o!! This card was  printed through Printshop.  I then colored areas with Tombow markers, added the flowers and the rhinestone centers.  I know, I know this is not a hand stamped card....BUT I am going to make a number of these and need them to easy to finish. So here is the indide of the invitation.  I mean how cute is she??? So there are two weeks to join this challenge, so put on your thinking caps and let's see what work you think is good.  Don't forget to link up your work!       http://cheerful

It is still early Easter morning here.  Here? Where am I? Oh yes I drove home yesterday for the Easter festivities this afternoon!  What a blur the last two weeks have been.  Taylor Ogle decided to wait an extra 6 days before making an appearance to the world.  So on March 26 at 11:01A.M. he arrived in our family, weighing 6lbs. 9 oz. and measuring 19 3/4" long and looking just like his Daddy!!  Here are a couple of pictures, just a few hours old, well he is, Grandma is .......well much older! LOL I did make Easter cards and worked in my art journals, but those pictures are on my lap top and in San Diego, so I don't have any art creativity to share.  Just what God created for this post.  We are just so blessed with our children and grandchildren.  Older son and family joined us for three days so I had the whole family together...Yeah!!  While Mommy made the trip home form the hospital and got situated with Taylor we kept Danica busy, she LOVES her cousins Hannah and M

We are still "dancing" over at The Cheerful Stamp Pad as we start the second week of the "Let's Dance" challenge.  This week I paired the digital image from our sponsor "A Day for Daises" with a stamp from the Stubby Stampers to make this card.  The images were trimmed, leaving a thin white edge to they would show on the red background.  The background paper has flecks of gold ( just love this paper and this is the last piece of it :(( ) I used a music stamp over the background paper, mounted it on black then mounted my images.  A rhinestone for the middle of the flower and gold glitter around the edge of her dress are the finishing touches. Still a week to join this challenge, so put on your dancing shoes and boogie over to:   http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/ Inky Hugs Krisha

Yes I am!! I got accepted as a Design Team Member of the Rouge Redhead Designs!! YEAH! ( doing the HAPPY DANCE )  It wasn't hard for me to apply for the position, I LOVE their stamps, and Shar is a great person whom I have dealt with in the past with swaps of all kinds.          So here is my introduction piece.  LOVE, LOVE working with black and white.  The main image is from the Rouge Redhead's Nature's Notes, stamped in black StazOn on a Spellbinder's die cut then mounted on a glossy black paper.  The printed background is from the Rouge Redhead's  Background Scenes: music.  The sentiment and curly cues are from Inkadinkado.  The Black background paper is a thick hand made paper a friend sent me years ago with a rich texture to it.  A few rhinestones for embellishment. The Rouge Redhead Designs blog has all kinds of wonderful challenge to join and the design team is always eager to strut their stuff, with great inspirations.  I am so honored to be part of thi

 Here is Betsy's temporary home for a couple of weeks.  We are in San Diego, still waiting for a baby to be born.  This is a shot looking into the garage part of the trailer, with sliding glass doors to close it off. (pretty cool, as I am the only one here)  The bottom bed folds into a dinette with a nice long table and two benches, not much storage here, but enough space to spread it out. LOL The left bench is holding containers of stamps and a few file folders. The right bench has my Paris suit case, still half full, the red and blue box is full of paint brushes I decided to bring along, and a stack of art journals.  Right in front is the Iris cart full of patterned paper and my Big Shot right on top. Here is a closer shot of what is on my work space.  A folder with stencils in it, to the right is a book about me I have decided to start, my paper trimmer, pens and pencils in the turning storage , stamp cleaner, glue a stack of Rouge Redhead background stamps, an ink pad,

For the new challenge at http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/  is Let's Dance and the sponsor for this challenge is A Day For Daises.  A great spot for digis about dancing, after pondering awhile I chose this pretty little dancer.  I printed her out with each image slightly smaller than the one before, then trimmed them out  They are mounted on an ATC with a music background.  The back of their dresses are raised with pop dots to give them some definition. So there are two weeks for this challenge, hope to you there. Inky Hugs Krisha

Well, more of the reverse, what's not in the above picture? ( besides me ) If you've been here on WOYWW you should be able to spot a few things, I mean I packed, and packed and packed stuff for the trip!!  Does this mean I REALLY do have TOO MUCH ?? I mean there is still enough to sit and play for hours!! Here is the other wall, and those cabinets are full!!  Me thinks I really do need to cut back some. BUT this is an accumulation of 20 years of stamping and scrapping and crafting, shouldn't it really look like this with a lot missing?? Well I'm not stopping NOW!! LOL Last scheduled post form home except for a DT post tomorrow, don't miss it, it is one of my favorite DT piece for cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/ Inky Hugs Krisha

For each one of my grandchildren I have bought the wooden letters for their name and painted them.  I am now working on set 4 for Taylor, who has hopefully joined us by now.  Hannah has had her repainted once and now it is Dani's turn for a re-paint, since she has gotten her "big sister" room.  I waited around until almost the last minute to re-paint these, cause I just loved the fact that the D has her birth date and stats on it.  I finally decided NOT to re-paint the D but make it blend in with the other letters.  The large flowers on the other letters are the same flower that is on her quilt and what I painted on her wall last month. Here are some close ups of the letters.  Mom is going shabby Chic so we HAD to add the "BLING" Can't wait to see these up on her wall, hanging from the tree I painted. As before this is a scheduled post, should be in San Diego or on the road when it hits the blog. I'll check back in as soon as we get the P

Hello everybody, and Happy Friday!  Here is a vintage style card I made using some flowers I cut out of a large sheet.  I stamped the image on an oval with brown ink and nestled it under the flowers at the top and around the bottom, some antique lace across the bottom with some brown pearls.  I aged the edges of the image and card with TH distressed inks.  The scan kinda washed out the colors of this card, my apologies there. As I said in my last post this is a scheduled post as I'm not sure if I am going to be home or on the road, but I'll check in as soon as possible and respond to your comments. Have a great day Inky Hugs Krisha

Well, I am still at home ( no baby call yet, but she is dialated to 2 cm so it will be soon ) and Betsy is nearly emptied.  Before packing really began I took an evening and made a few cards to schedule for posts until I get to San Diego. This is a stamped image from Rouge Redhead Designs' Relish Reading plate , that just has so many possibilities.  I colored her with markers then trimmed her out.  The sky and clouds are an actual photograph I trimmed down to fit the stamped image. ( This is an older technique that I haven't used in a long time. Thus I have photos of the sky...LOL) I then mounted it on brown cs.  The background is a piece of designer paper that's been floating around here for awhile.  The sentiment is from TH,  My favorite brown ribbon and some little brass charms to finish it.  You can find the RRD stamp here: http://www.rogueredheaddesigns.com/RRD001.html So, now I am off to finish my packing, there are still a few things on Betsy that have to go,

 Yep! I'm taking Betsy on the road!! Well, actually we're heading to San Diego for a 4 week stay, and I HAVE to have my STUFF with me...LOL   We are leaving Friday night or early Saturday morning, depending on how DH feels. I might take off early if my son calls and says they are the way to the hospital to have a baby! Yeah!  So I'm in the packing stage.  Real cool suit case on the right is my art journals and tangle stuff, to the right is a crop roll-a-bout I use for craft traveling,  Here is a closer view of what REALLY is ON Betsy.  A container I have been dropping stuff into as I think of it to take, in the middle is my brand new Lenovo laptop ( yes I have been a very good girl ) to the right is a stack of background stamps from Rouge Redhead Designs that will probably make the trip too. A closer view of this papermache suit case I just had to have for my journal stuff and a couple good books to read. Of course my hand lotions....... Closer view of the roll-

It really started with the winter storm that rolled through on Friday and the rain pouring down.  It was also cold and windy so I had time to just mess around on Betsy. I also spent some time watching journaling videos on You  Tube, found some great ones and I'll try to list the links at the bottom of this post if I can find them again. So for this page I did a textured background with tissue paper.( HINT: If you're going to try this and want to use stamped images keep a smooth spot or stamp your images on the tissue paper. I did not do this ) I glued down some TH Tattered flowers, the right ones are cut from a dictionary page.  The ones on the right I doodled on the leaves, but the spacers and stems are melted, flattened spoons...LOL  then I placed a smaller flower over the middle. The flower in the upper right corner became the sun. There is lace up the left side, ribbon scraps at the bottom, painted stems and leaves, a couple stamped butterflies, sticker letters and a cu

Now, ya have to agree she does look like she is having fun!!  A great Digi from A and T Digital Designs, the sponsor for The Cheerful Stamp Pad's current challenge: Land of Enchantment. Check out their great digital images then hop over to: http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/  and join the fun, still one more week!!! Inky Hugs Krisha

......well that is the name of the challenge over at A Muse Studio.  They wanted to see some grunge so I whipped up this card, and it only took me about 20 minutes!! I knew just what I wanted to use and it all came together so fast I still can't believe I finished it!!  I tore a page out of the dictionary and tore it to size and glued it down.  Then some Terra Cotta and Walnut spritzing.  The main image is a stamp I won about 4 years ago and I can not find my info on her so I can't give the credits (if you know leave me a comment I really like to have the info on hand)  I got out my NEW Recollections stamps for the black images and the sentiment.  I strip of my favorite brown ribbon and rhinestones finished it off.  You can find the challenge here:   http://amusestudiochallengeblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/get-down-and-dirty.html Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my down and dirty card LOL

 From Debi:   http://mybirdflyingfree.blogspot.co.nz/ From Shar http://illtemperedink.blogspot.com/   Good Sunday morning to everybody, yep it is still morning HERE, but an hour later due to daylight savings time. Needless to say, I forgot to turn the clocks forward an hour until this morning, so my day will feel an hour shorter......LOL Welcome to the new followers of my blog, makes one feel very special to see that number climb.  I hope Betsy ( my workdesk's name ) and I can inspire you and even make you smile with some of our antics. So this morning I want to share what I received late yesterday in the mail.  They are the swap pieces form the coast swap I participated in through the Unruly PaperArts yahoo group.  On the left are two I received from Shar, such a talented lady, monitor of the Yahoo group and the blogzine Unruly PaperArts.  Links to both are below. On the right are two coasters from Debi, totally awesome work

Real quick post to show the wedding card I have made for a real gem of a young lady.  It is an Inkadinkado image and sentiment stamped on a silver cs then used a Spellbinder die for the frame.  It's mounted on a dry embossed white then onto the same silver as the image.  I re-stamped the couple on white vellum and trimmed out the brides dress.  I used a touch of vellum tape at the top and a THIN skinny piece of a pop dot to hold the bottom of the dress out just a wee bit.  Inked around the sentiment and called it done.  Now to wrap the gift and attach this card. Hope your weekend is productive, dry and warm. Thanks for stopping by. Inky Hugs Krisha

Friday it poured down rain, here, all day so there was plenty of play-time.  I have had a full set of Prisma colored pencils for years and have always enjoyed them and the quality of of the colors are just great.  They are soft and very blendable.  For years I have used the dry blender for these pencil and have been so-so satisfied with the out come.  Once you have used that dry blender, which just mixes the pigment and smooths out the wax, there is no "tooth" left on the paper and adding any more color is next to impossible.  I have tried the blender pens, they are okay, I have used coordinating markers over the top of the pencil and found that to be better.  I was on You Tube ( yes AGAIN!! LOL ) and happened to watch a couple of videos on these pencils and found them to be VERY good and full of information.  Just go to You Tube and type in Prisma color pencils and your there.  So what is the new trick I learned?? ( I know your wanting to know ) Well, one video was showing

ATCs are usually something I do for a swap or an addition to a card or tag, but this one is the exception.  No card or tag, just the ATC, and it came about while laying in bed one night, yea I take my crafting to bed with me....LOL So i got to playing around to see if I could accomplish my idea. I stamped her and just colored the face and hair, then trimmed her out.  The designer paper I chose to mount her on had a shadow in just the right spot to become her body. ( Sometimes things just work out that way :) )  I have this lace trim that is scalloped and those scallops became the hat and the collar.  I added a feather and some tiny silk flowers to her hat and made it an Easter Bonnet. Rhinestones for the earrings and the centers of the flowers.  All stamps are Rouge Redhead Designs and you can find them here: http://www.rogueredheaddesigns.com/RRD007.html Thanks for stopping by Inky Hugs Krisha

This week Betsy is looking in better shape,  from left to right my new Graphic 45 paper, couple oval frames I drug out of my oil painting stast, the last card I posted, some small Easter stamps I'm thinking about using, Un mounted stamps in a CD case.  There is the little saying that has been hanging on the shelf the past couple of weeks.  It kept falling down so I Deoc Podged it to a plaque then did some Multi Media around it.  I don't like it, the plaque was too small for all the multi media stuff, but it is what it is....no big loss.  There in the center are my Tangle pens and the beginning of a DT project (under the acrylic mount) and of course my extra set of eyes. So why the description of what's on Betsy?  Well it's WOYWW time, and Julia likes a short explanation and a picture before linking up to her blog : http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/  then you get to go around the world through your PC and see what all your friends are up to. So keeping it short (

First off I'd like to welcome my new followers, always a great feeling to see new members.  Thanks for following my blog. Being of Irish descent I thought a St. Patrick's Day card would be appropriate, but then there's a lot of Blarney in this family ...LOL.  A local craft store FINALLY brought in some Graphic 45 papers and I happened onto them yesterday, ( while looking for something completely different ) and two of the pads and 4 single sheets just jumped into my cart!!  Since they want to come home with me THAT bad, I thought "Why not?" ( I do not  NEED one more sheet of paper )  One of the loose sheets was all about the Irish, and this image was on that page, isn't she just great? I mounted her  on a solid green then a plaid designer background, and added TH Tattered Floral and a soft green pearl to the center. CAS and a quick card. Thanks for stopping by Inky Hugs Krisha

Here is my DT card for The Cheerful Stamp Pad's challenge #55: Land of Enchantment, sponsored by A and T Digital Designs.  He is such a cute fella i decided to do some paper piecing, love the mushrooms (they were they were the inspiration for the PP) So there are TWO weeks to join this challenge, just go over A and T Digital Designs and check out their digies, there really are some great ones there.  Then hop over to: http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/  and link up.  See ya there!!! Inky Hugs Krisha

Took some time this afternoon to start a new art journal page.  I had picked up TH Idea-ology grunge letters and block from Michael's yesterday only $3.99 (  so I bought 2 packets .) and wanted to put them on a journal page some how.  But first you need a background, and I did take the time to take photos of each step ( kinda ) so if your interested is how this one came about keep reading.  If not then I want to thank you for stopping by and taking a look and hopefully leave a comment OKAY, on to how I made this page: NOTE: I always Gesso my journal pages way ahead, even though this journal has heavy duty pages it keeps inks and paints from soaking in too fast, also gives the paper a good tooth to hold acrylic paint. My first step was to use Lumiers Light Body Acrylic Paint Metallic Bronze paint.   I had to thin it down as it is a rather old bottle and a little on the thick side...( like me LOL )  While the paint was still wet and looking a little to washed I dipped my bru

With all the frills upon it!  That is what the Milliner Misses have done on this card.  This is such a great image from Rogue Redhead Designs, and I really enjoyed making this card.  They were colored with markers then I added the "frills" with some fibers, feather and pearls, mounted it on a dotted lavender paper.  The white background is a frosted Vellum my GD had embossed for me (Thank you Hannah) I mounted it with lavender brads onto a pale green card.  I used a Martha Stewart deco punch along the edge and mount a lavender strip under it.  So how do my girls look in their Easter bonnets? Will enter this in the "For a Lady" challenge at: http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2013/03/week-196-for-lady.html

I finally have gotten around to making some Easter cards, and this is my first one.  The image is from Stampa Rosa, but I did some altering to it (just the stamped image)  I took off one of the tulips and the frame around it.  It was colored with markers and trimmed out.  The background paper is a printed Vellum that I just love and only have a few pieces of it left.  I mounted it with pink and lavender brads, then added the white trim with the same colored brads.  The sentiment is on of those from Michael's dollar bin.  With the daffodils blooming, and all the almond trees in bloom it is beginning to feel like spring here.  Weather has turned warmer, but it is temporary (I HOPE)  We don't get much spring and that would mean an early summer, so it will cool back off cause March always comes in like a lion with wind and rain. Thanks for stopping by Inky Hugs Krisha