Thriving Art

New challenge is up over at Cheerful Stamp Pad: TAGS !  For the next two weeks the challenge is TAGS!  How fun is that??  Our sponsor is Lunagirl Digital Images  for both weeks.  You don't have to use their images but it would be great if you did.........just saying. I chose this very cool, autumn looking frame for my rather LARGE tag!  I generated the frame 3 times, working with Print Shop.  Then added my letters before printing and cutting them out.  I hand shaded the letters for a little depth.  Then I got inky with the tag, stencils and gesso were used too.  When I added the frames I mounted them with pop dots.  I added some gold embellishments along the edges, and yarn for the tie. There is a lot of time for this challenge so what are YOU waiting for?? Inky Hugs Krisha

Here I am sitting at the PC again, with my mug of coffee and playing along with Elizabeth's T Stands for Tuesday.  ( I mean I JUST took this picture )  I usually link up on Monday night, but it is football season and we have Monday night football AND the game was a good one. LOL   Our weather has dropped a good 10' since last week!  The predicted high for today is 89' (F) Yahoo! I am keeping this short as I have a ton of errands that need to be completed today, and a grocery list as long as my arm......no joke!  All that is left in the fridge is condiments and the cupboard is now down to cans of soup ( which is for DH, I don't like canned soup ) and some crackers!!  We are also heading for the beach this weekend, leaving Friday AM, so it will be a 3 day weekend.  So the Playhouse is sitting out front of the house waiting to be loaded. What are you doing today?  Inky Hugs Krisha

Happy Monday!! Oh come now it isn't THAT bad!! LOL  We start the second week of challenge #69: I Love Your Hat over at The Cheerful Stamp Pad .  Using the same image as last week I made a wall hanging, by printing my digi from Rick St. Dennis, larger than normal.  I used pencil and markers to color her, then she was mounted to a mixed media hardboard.  The words, other than Divas, are PC generated.  She now resides in my craft room. I'm sure you can find a hat, or a person wearing a hat to join the fun of this challenge, I mean I have been seeing a lot of black pointy hats lately.................... Inky Hugs Krisha        

Hello and welcome to my Friday DT post for Rogue Redhead Designs.   This week I decided to do a little resisting with one of the stamps from the Behind the Scenes RRD 012 stamps.  I chose white embossing powder then used Red Barn and Walnut Distressing inks to wipe over the top, then trimmed and added to the card base. I stamped the sentiment YOLO, from the This N That  RRD012  plated, the happy birthday is from the Nature Notes RRD011 plate.  Both were stamped with Timer Distressed ink, trimmed and added to the resist background. A rather simple card, but I need one that could be masculine or feminine, and I love the way it came out! Inky Hugs Krisha

I just love the fall colors and always find myself waiting for the appropriate time of the year to use them, which is ridiculous I know. I had a grand inky time making this card.  The card base was spritzed and sprayed with different inks I mixed myself so there is no name for them.  LOL  I used a maple leaf stamp from Stampassions, colored it with pencil and mounted it on three different colors of cs, then onto the card base at an angle to leave room for the other falling leaves.  The falling leaves are from Gecko Gals  , colored with pencil and cut out.  I just LOVE this digital image.  I also sprayed them with a gold mist, that also gave me some splatters.....ooooooooh loved it!!  This photo looks a little washed out compared to the live card. I am entering this is the Rebel Challenge: autumn colors, Rogue Redhead Designs . Now, I'm off to start a very busy day.  Today is photography class from 2-4 PM, then a back adjustment, then onto little GD, Megan's swim lesson. 

It is always so much fun to do a mixed media piece when it is a labor of love.  This is my DIL's birthday present ( she has already seen a picture of it ).  It is a picture of Taylor our Grandson, isn't he  a doll at 4 months??? I won't go into great detail as to how I made this, as it took me almost two days to make it.  I did start by stacking 3 canvases, making the middle tier off center for some interest.  I covered parts with paper, parts with paint, coat of gesso, inks here and there, modeling paste through a stencil, ink through a stencil and some splattering of ink.  Most of the shapes are grunge board and had to be painted.  There are flowers, sea shells, stamped sport balls, buttons in the shapes of cars and dogs.  The baseball bat on top of the smallest canvas is part of a key chain that was my Mom's (his great grandmother)  It is real wood and had a baseball chained to the end of it, but the baseball was too large for this project. The word LOVE is a wood

Time once again to link up with Elizabeth for T stand for Tuesday !  Sorry this photo is a little dark, the lighting in this room is horrible, and I am just trying to learn what all the knobs and buttons are for on my camera. Todays mail brought an envelope full of dies from Carole  over at Carole's Creative Critters . She MADE all of these.....just incredible!   Standing up in the back are my free stamps I won from Bombshell Stamps.   Propping the stamps up is a mixed media canvas I completed today for my DIL birthday.  That sweet little face is our grandson.  I'll post the canvas a little later. That's about it for this week, as always still Monday night here in SOCAL.  The weather is starting to cool down into the 90's (F) and the evenings cool quickly, making it nice to sit on the patio and have that LAST cup of coffee for the day. I'm off now to see what everyone else is drinking this morning/ afternoon. or evening. Inky Hugs Krisha

Front of journal with her initials on it. Yep! this is the journal I made for my Paper Traders swap partner Cathy. ( It's ok she has received it )  This is made with a large 9 x 12" manila envelope as a cover and a 5 page ( folded to make 10 pages ) signature in it made with Bristol paper.  She had told me she liked white on white, vintage, grunge and most anything BUT purple.  Since I have not met Cathy, her tastes sound  about the same as mine, so I made something I would like.   LOL!! It has been gessoed , inked, stamped with gold leafing and even some modeling paste added to it. Sorry about the poor photos. Hopefully these will be the last of this kind.  I have finally taken the plunge and started a class on how to run all the knobs and buttons on my camera.  So far I have learned what ISO, aperture, shutter speed and F stops mean . ( not how to use them  LOL )  It is a two hour class on Wednesday afternoons at the local Jr. College, last week was week one of  six

A new challenge is up over at The Cheerful Stamp Pad and will run for two weeks.  Our sponsor for the next two weeks is Rick St. Dennis digitals.   The challenge is: "I love your hat" Here is my DT card for this week. I LOVE her and that hat is a riot, does she not belong in the Red Hat Society?  LOL  I printed her and the sentiment right onto the card base then colored her with pencil and OMS.  All the jewels and her coat buttons have Glossy Accents for some dimension and glossiness. The inside reads: "But I do think it is time to dust off that old red hat and wear it!    Happy Birthday" Hope to your entries for this fun challenge Inky Hugs Krisha

Tuesday's post had a sneak peek of this journal I made last week.  You can see by the pencil it isn't a large journal, but a size I can throw in my purse.  I had finished a journal for my Paper Traders Swap  and my book making MOJO was still in full force, so I decided to make a sketch/drawing journal that I could carry with me. I wanted a worn, leathery look for the cover and remembered watching a home designer show, on TV, years ago.  He made a wall with a faux leather look, and I decided to give it a try for a book cover. I finally found a brown paper bag in the garage, they are almost extinct due to all the plastic bags the grocers use now.  There are still a few that offer the paper option, and I try to get a few when I see them ( or when I have waaaaay to many plastic ones stored away....which I do recycle and up-cycle, just not for food items ) Yes, I do take clean ones home empty :-O because I have a microwave popcorn recipe that requires brown paper bags

That's right after taking a three week break I am back for WOYWW !!  It really does not feel like three weeks have passed, this whole year is just slipping by so fast!! So here is Betsy this week, not a lot going on, I had Grandma duty today.  I had my oldest GD, who showed up with a fever, sore throat and bad cough. So there is just a "drop it" zone on poor Betsy.  There is some card board flaps from a box I found in the garage, a small brown journal I made last week, a piece that was going to go on the journal but changed my mind.  Standing in the back is a white washed piece of laminate flooring I've been wanting to play with, my small pot of Gesso, an undecorated tag and to the upper right a witch decoration I did with a paper mache  dress form, down in front is my rag with a stamp I was going to clean, cleaner is just behind it and of course my "other" eyes are laying where I can find them.  The journal and the Halloween decoration I am hoping to ge

It's late Monday night here in SOCAL, but it is still time for T with Elizabeth and Bluebeard and my drink is a caffeine free, sugar free and sodium free orange flavored carbonated water in a Styrofoam cup!  LOL!!  Just something to sip while I post, then it will be off to bed with me.  I'll save my T-Hopping for tomorrow morning with my coffee. As I fired up the PC for this post I stopped by the mail box, as usual, and found a very nice surprise waiting for me.  First I had won 4 digital images from Bugaboo Stamps for a color challenge entry     this past week for this card:      Then a little further up the mail box I discovered an other e-mail that said I had won a $20.00 voucher from Bombshell Stamps for this card:  Cheerful Stamp Pad DT card for August      So I did a little happy dance and then sat down to brag about it! LOL!! I have been taking an on line painting class from Strathmore.  The first lesson is a technique that is a very loose mixed me

Good morning Blogland!  Monday once again and time for the second week of the "Photo Inspiration" challenge over at the Cheerful Stamp Pad .      inspiration photo This week I chose the cherries on top of the cake for my inspiration.  I used a stamp from Stampa Rosa of a single cherry.  Using red ink I stamped the card base at random, then with black ink I stamped the image three times on red cs, and added Glossy Accents to just the cherry and not he stem.  Once they were dry I trimmed them and added to the card.  The sentiment is PC generated and is from the game of Jacks. ( This is an OLD game with two or more players and no electronic device was used ...LOL )  I really had forgotten all about the saying, but I was having coffee, out on the patio the other morning, and thinking about what I was going to do for this weeks DT post, and my brain just kept repeating it.  It took me a few minutes to remember where it came from, first I thought it was a jump rope diddy

I had forgotten about this little trinket box until I read the Unruly Paper Arts RQ1 Make a 3D wood project.  So I dug through my stash until I finally found it.  I need a small box to keep in the "Playhouse" to keep my rings in at night and I thought this would be the "perfect" size for just that.  I didn't like the framed top so I filled it with broken craft sticks. I was planning on covering it anyway! LOL  I removed the hardware and gave it a coat of Antique White acrylic paint, then it was time to get creative,( sorry there are no more pictures of the process, MOJO set in and I forgot all about the camera ) From here I used TH distressed vintage photo stain, letting it dry in spots and lightly wiping it way in others.  I chose the  Rogue Redhead Designs' script background stamp  and black StazOn ink and went around the box and lid.  Then some diamonds made with a stencil and modeling paste , oh ya, that's what I'm talking about!

There is one LARGE slice of cake left on the plate, that I saved just for those that are dropping by for T stands for Tuesday, courtesy of Elizabeth the Altered Book Lover  .  Still late afternoon, here in SOCAL and time for a cup of coffee, tea, or drink of choice and something sweet. This has been a long weekend for those of us in the States as we are winding down the Labor Day holiday.  My OH and both sons are deep sea fishing as I am writing this, they are after blue fin and yellow tail tuna.  They boarded the boat at 10 P.M. last night ( Sunday )and will be back in tonight ( Monday ) and I am really hoping I get a text message later that they caught a bunch! My OH and oldest son drove to San Diego on Saturday to meet up with our youngest son, who put this trip together. AND since I stayed home and spent Saturday night defrosting the deep freezer and making space, I better get that text! LOL  There is nothing like fresh smoked tuna, right off the grill ..... .mmmmmmm!  So sin

It has been a while since I have joined a few of the challenges floating through Blogland..    Going through my blog list and making a list of challenges I thought would be fun to try, I narrowed it down to these three.  All Sorts challenge: All About the Sentiment Less is More challenge: Rubber Stamp and water color Seize the Birthday challenge: Anything Goes Birthday Now I did not think about getting them all on one card, that was just coincidence! I love this sail boat from Rogue Redhead Designs' Beach Babes  , and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.  Just a touch of blue water color around the sail boat and I was finished. Really a quick and simple card but I love the effects of just using two stamped images DTP. Thanks for stopping by Inky Hugs Krisha

Is brought to you by the Bugaboo color challenge !  LOVE this digi and she was colored with pencil and OMS to follow the color challenge. Since my DH is on a deep sea fishing trip with both DS I thought the digi fit perfect for a weekend alone.   The sentiment is one from Rogue Redhead Designs Nature Notes and says it all LOL! I picture the drink as a green apple tini, even though I am an avid wine drinker, with a cold brew on the side.............BUT Only after 5 o'clock, and we all know it is always 5 o'clock somewhere!!! Hope your have a great week and I want to say WELCOME to Denise who has chosen to follow this weird and wacky blog of mine! Inky Hugs Krisha

Today starts a NEW challenge over at The Cheerful Stamp Pad.   The challenge is using an inspiration photo from Classy Cards and Such.   Here is the PHOTO: Looking at this photo the first thing that catches my eye is the diamond background and the colors. So this is my inspirational piece for this week. I chose a diamond stencil and used pink embossing ink and powder for the background, then aged it with distressing ink.  The image is from Frantic Stamper that I have had for ions!  She was colored with pencil, then fussy cut. The sentiment is from Rogue Redhead Designs stamped with StazOn Timber ink.  I added my favorite brown ribbon and a hand made paper flower with a pearl center before adding it all to a cream card base.