inkybruSTUDIO

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

FridgeArt for Susan

This is the magnet that I made for Susan for our Diva & Her Friends art group swaps. I used Jenni Bowlin's 4X4 "Red Line" papers. I stamped the focal image with red ink on scrap cardstock and cut out an of oval piece to fit under the ornate frame (Tim Holtz). I adhered this to the black/white floral paper and layered it onto the red ledger paper. Then I glued this to the red polka dot paper. I backed this piece with a medium weight piece of card board for stability. I used a tag from Graphic45....cutting out the alphabet only, sliding it partially under the frame when attaching it. I added the epoxy flower to the upper right corner of the piece. I stamped the bird on the red and white text page from the paper collection and cut it out. I attached this to the lower right corner of the piece. Next I attached the small pins to the bottom of the card with brads and layered the sentiment to black cardstock and glued it to the pins. I added clear rhinestones, red rhinestones and black jewels to the piece to finish it off.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Cat practice sheet

This is something I talked Mary into doing with me just before I left. There were so many other things I wanted to learn from her, but my time there was so short. I love cats and wanted to learn this easy one......well, she made it look easy! As you can see, my lines are way too think, but I was just getting the strokes down and brought this one home as a visual to use for practice.

If you ever have the opportunity to work with Mary at least once in your life, take that opportunity! She is a great teacher and can say so much in a very few words and strokes. I thoroughly enjoyed her and making art with her. We had a great day Saturday at her apartment and enjoyed a light lunch together, too, before getting back to the brush and ink. Mary has a website: http://www.bamboosumie.com/

I had never been to San Antonio before, so this was a great trip for me. I was also able to stop halfway on my trip to stay the night with another cousin and catch up on all the family news.
So, all in all, this was a very successful, enjoyable trip for me and my cousin that traveled with me. Riverwalk was very pleasureable and our accommodations were great.

Hen and Rooster practice sheet

I love the hen and rooster.............I think I made my hen just a little too fat. I'm definitely going to be practicing this for cards. I just fell in love with this pair!

Cattail and grass practice sheet

A picture is worth a thousand words.............
practice!!!

Snail and waterlily practice sheet

Wow! wide open on those snails! PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

Dragonfly card #2

I practiced a few lily pads and flowers before making this card and decided to make my dragonflies look as though they were about to alight on a flower.

Dragonfly card

Mary told me to make a card after only making four dragonflies on my practice sheet. I was really happy with this card.........just wish I had put the eyes on them, but I really do need to practice that some more.

Practice sheet for dragonflies

This is my practice sheet for my dragonflies and my grasses. I turned my paper and worked on grasses on all sides so it makes my dragonflies look a little confused! ") I had trouble making the eyes concentric and not far enough out front.....I tended to put them on the sides.

Bamboo done with large Japanese brush

This is my practice sheet for the large Japanese brush. I loved working with the large brush. I can see how much better my joints look in this photo. I can also see where I had too much water in my brush. ")

This is my first attempt at putting leaves on the bamboo. I would post Mary's card she was working on while I did this one, but I want my to look fairly good. LOL

Practicing bamboo leaves

This is one of my practice sheets for the bamboo leaves. Mary also had me practicing my signature block.

The upside down pod is actually the base for a spider chrysanthamum.

Bamboo card

After I had practiced on several sheets, Mary would have me make a card. We used rice paper for the paintings that went on the cards. This one is not yet attached to the cardstock.

Practicing bamboo

This is one of my practice sheets for the bamboo. I still have lots of practice to do on my joints. I'm not as thin as I need to be in the joint caps. I loved learning this technique!

SAN ANTONIO RIVERWALK

This was the site across the river from our hotel as we walked out onto the riverwalk. It was very cool on the river. Lots of people for early April.

Japanese Brush Painting Lessons

I traveled to San Antonio this past week to take some Japanese brush painting lessons from Mary Bowman, who has traveled to Japan and taken lessons from several masters. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with her. She was a joy! We had six hours on Saturday and two and a half hours on Sunday. The card on the left was made after 4 hours of practicing the strokes and placement. Still much work to be done and hours of practice ahead of me. ")

My cousin traveled with me and we stayed at Drury Plaza Hotel right on the San Antonio Riverwalk. It was so convenient for her while I was at Mary's taking my lessons. She is definitely a Shopaholic!! She walked about 5 blocks to the mall and shopped all day. She came back with a bag large enough for my 3 year old grandson to hide in! LOL The weather was absolutely beautiful.................74-78 daytime temps. It was the beginning of Fiesta! Sunday. We walked to the Mexican Market and had lunch on the patio of Mi Tierre.....listened to some wonderful Inca musicians. The flutist could play absolutely anything. After several traditional tunes, they played several romantic American tunes. What a master he was!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Miss Witchy from Catherine Moore

I think this is absolutely the most adorable stamp image that I have. This stamp is also from Catherine's Bee & Bird Paperie collection. I once again used grey paper with white swirls to give the windy, eerie look of a Halloween night. I attached a paper spider web in the upper left corner of the card. I cut the top row of the Bingo card copy and attached it to the lower left corner. I stamped the image twice: once on grey paper and once on orange paper. I cut out the orange dress and glued it over the cut out image from the grey paper. I stamped the arms on orange paper and cut them out and attached them to the cape with brass brads. I used a petal from a silk poppy for the skirt and attached it to the back of the witch. I used black and white striped paper for the legs and folded them accordian style. I cut the black shoes free hand from a black cardstock scrap and glued them to the end of the legs. I attached the legs to the back of the witch with glue dots. I used orange dotted ribbon at her neck for the cape and attached it with a black brad. Next I edged a Bingo paper button with orange ink and tied a bit of embroidery floss through it. I attached it to the image with a glue dot slightly under her arm. I drew the scroll and wrote the message with a Zig black pen, cut it out and glued it to the card as though it is in her hand. To finish, I added the decorative orange brad at the Bingo card corner.

Catherine Moore's Bird & Bee Paperie images

I love Character Construction images by Catherine Moore. This is Miss Pumpkin Head (not Catherine's name for her, but mine <**>). I really should have done a taller card and put a pumpkin skirt on her, but alas, she is gone from me now. ") I used a grey cardstock with white swirls to give the feel of a windy night. I first stamped the spider webs and bat with black ink on the card. Next I adhered gold-leafing flakes in a swirl so it would appear behind her. I stamped Miss Pumpkin on orange paper and used markers to accent her bow at the neck. I computer generated the text (my little diddie ) and printed it off. I sponged on some orange and ochre inks and cut out and layered on black scrap cardstock. I glued one partially covering the spider web at the upper left corner. The other text I glued to Miss Pumpkin's "hands" so she would be holding it. I drew the little pumpkins, colored them in and cut them out. I glued them in front of the lower spider web. I used a black Zig Micro pen to draw the spider on the web. I attached Miss Pumpkin to the card with dimensional tape. I sponged orange ink around the edges of a paper button and added the orange embroidery thread and attached it to the card. I then added the gold moon to the card with glue dots. I lightly edged the card with brown ink.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

March Inchie

I did an image transfer using packaging tape. The cirlces I transfered were on some BG Christmas paper. The circles made me think of a cathederal window. I adhere that to a green inchie and layered a punched-out bird (in white/green paper). I then used Glossy Accents to glaze over the entire inchie and edged it with a green inkpad. I entitled it "St. Patty".

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

This is my January Inchie for my local swap. I used watercolor paper to do some "ribbon painting". I used a 1/2" wide brush to swirl back and forth all down the sheet of paper. I used Studio's turquoise paint. I punched the birds from an old library book page and used Glimmer Mist Candy Apple to color the bird. I then used a tiny rhinestone gem for the eye and edged the inchie with a gold leafing pen.

Inchies

This is the inchie I made for my February inchie swap. I had made some antiqued-misted background papers......for this color I used Tea Dye and Fired Brick Distress Inkpad, Blush Pearl X and reinker for Distress Ink Worn Lipstick mixed in a Mister. For the paper, I used white glossy cardstock. I swiped the left side of the inchie with Distress Crackle Paint Clear Rock Candy. When dry, I printed the message with my micro pen and added the heart brad. I edged the inchie with a red inkpad.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Exciting News!!!

I received an email from Roberta Sperling of RubberStampMadness this morning. They are going to use my artwork for the cover of their Summer 2010 issue "Alphabets"!!! It seems like one of those surreal
situations where you think you're going to walk out of the mist and when everything clears.......it was just a dream................... Can't wait to see it! (RubberStampMadness was the first to publish my artwork in 2002 - Fuji Goddess).

Monday, January 4, 2010

10th card

When I first saw the paper on the panel, my thoughts were how great this would look with fish.......those brown lines just speak motion. But when I got to this card, I reached for my butterfly stamps and my German scrap....and thus this is the way it came together. ") I lightly stamped the butterfly image on and off the panel. Then I sponged the same brown ink all around the edges of the panel and the green card. I attached the scrap butterflies to the card and added the cloth covered brads to the card. I purchased those brads at Croppinsville in Collinsville.

9th card

I love the way this card came together! First of all, I loved this blue/green plaid. (blue and green being two of my favorite colors....esp. when combined to make turquoise!) I cut the sun and rays from another piece of cardstock in the same paper collection as the plaid. All this paper is double sided, so I alternated the rays from one side to the other. (Kendall Johns from Sparksflystudio used this technique in a book she made for me......I loved it so much, I lifted it to use here. "). Once again, I have used the swirls from Rhonna Ferrar to add dimension to this card. The image is another stamp from the Butterfly Girl stamp set from Clearly Impressed from Stampington & Co. (available at stampdiva.com). Notice that I zigzagged the image onto the card. I then edged the card with a green inkpad.

8th card

I love this paper in the graduated color theme. I stamped the birdhouse (Magenta - available at stampdiva.com) in black at the top of the sheet and cut it out . I cut the card from the remaining sheet of cardstock. I cut out the birdhouse and edged it with a dark pink inkpad and attached it to the center of the card. I added the green vine ribbon to the left of the card. I then stamped the dictionary birds stamp (Clearly Impressed, Anna Corba Series, French Dictionary from Stampington & Co - also available at stampdiva.com) in black on light green paper and cut it out. I attached it to the lower right side of the card with dimensional tape. Lastly, I added the black gems.

7th card

This card just made itself. I love letting the paper do the work for me. This sheet of cardstock from Scenic Route is called Scrap Strips. They are great for cards and tags. This sheet had the phrases on it. After I cut it to the size card I wanted, I cut duplicate phrases from the remainder of the sheet and edged them with a gold leafing pen. I attached them directly over like phrases on the card using dimensional tape. The rubberstamp of the pens is from A Stamp in the Hand, the ink bottle is from Anita's and the hand is from Stampin' Up!. I finished the card off by edging it with a gold leafing pen.

6th card

I love this image of the little girl. It is a Stampington & Co rubberstamp (available at stampdiva.com) which comes in the Butterfly Girl stamp set. I stamped her on a coordinating blue paper for this card and cut out the image. I used a teal distressed paper and edged it with a gold leafing pen. I stamped the swirls (Autumn Leaves by Rhonna Ferrar) with a brown fluid chalk inkpad. The torn paper layered across the card is stamped with script (Stampin' Up!). I sponged brown ink on the torn edges. I then layered a pale coral flower with a printed text flower and then a small coral flower and attached it to the card with a brad.

5th card

This image is a Tim Holtz ATC rubberstamp. He has several of these stamps on the market now. (Croppinsville in Collinsville has several of them.) I laid out several small tags onto a piece of white cardboard (like the front of paper tablets....the back of the front cover is always a good piece to recycle) and misted them with Glimmer Mist Denim Blue.
The white spaces left from the tags was a marvelous space to rubberstamp images. I placed the bird on this stamp in the white area. I stamped it once with black and a second time with red. I cut out the red bird and attached it over the bird in the black image. After I added the clear micro gem for an eye and the tiny red gems to the foliage, I attached the ATC to the dotted blue/white panel. I used a ruler and a gold pen to draw the lines at the edge of the panel and then attached it to a black panel. I attach these to a craft cardstock card. I edged the craft card with a gold leafing pen.

4th card

I love this background paper. I collect postcards of all kinds and this paper is just such a neat collage of postal text. I stamped the advertisement (B-Line Designs) and the script (Stampin' Up!) on contrasting paper....I attached the strip to the right side of the card
and attached the advertisement to the postal paper. I also cut a small strip of the postal paper and added it to the bottom left of the card for a more layered look. To finish off the card, I added the paper copper metallic trim to the left side of the card and the cogs (Tim Holtz). (Just a note: Croppinsville in Collinsville carries the most fantastic amount of Tim Holtz products.)

3rd card

I stamped the alphabet from Stampsmith onto the card. Then I stamped the pens (The Queen's Dresser Drawers - available at stampdiva.com) and the postoid (Stampin' Up!) onto chartreuse paper. I tore out the pens and cut out the postoid and added them to the card. Next I added some of those neat metal floral embellishments that Tim Holtz has on the market. I edged the card with a gold leafing pen.......one of my favorite ways to finish off a card.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

2nd card

I just had to use my new sewing machine to sew on paper! I stamped these sweet bird images onto squares of coordinating papers. I first placed them all diagonally across the strip of paper but actually needed another quarter of an inch to have them evenly spaced. So, I turned the lead image into a square and added the tiny tag. (These images are also B-Line Designs - available at stampdiva.com)

Card Order

I used to sell my greeting cards at a very nice shop until the lady, sadly, went out of business and moved on to OKCity. One of my regular buyers has contacted my sil and requested more cards. She said she had eeked out her few remaining cards and was now needing more. So, I have spent a few days working up some cards for her.

I love this rubberstamp from B-Line Designs (owner: Beverly Seymour of Mustang, OK....stamps can be purchased at: stampdiva.com) and stamped it with brown ink onto some "glitter mist paper"....a technique Tim Holtz uses often and one that has been in the Technique Junkie newsletter. Swipe some
distress inkpads (Tim Holtz) onto a craft sheet and then mist with a mixture of Perfect Pearls and Distress ink refills in a mister (or use one of the already mixed products on the market).
Lay paper on craft sheet and move around; lift and look at paper.
You might want to lay on another area and repeat or even add more mist until you get the desired look you want. Lay aside to dry. I love doing several (actually dozens!) of sheets in one setting. These are great to use for background papers and really add dimension when layering. Rubberstamping on these papers always yields spectacular results.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

snow pics

The pics of the snow is the first blizzard we have ever had here in my lifetime. I got out and trudged through the snowdrifts to photograph this phenomanon. I love the pic of our bench by the river!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Experimenting

I started experimenting with Tim Holtz's Distress Reinkers, Pearl-Ex powders and Glimmer Mist. I misted this page with Tiger Lily Glimmer Mist and let dry. Then I mixed in a small mister, Tim's reinker for Spiced Marmalade, Copper Pearl-Ex powder and water. I misted it over the top of the Glimmer Mist. You'll notice that this mixture tended to bead up quite a bit. I think I may have sprayed it on too thickly................I like the way it looks anyway and will be using it. The Spiced Marmalade is one of my new favorites. ")

Antiqued Glimmer Paper #5

Antiqued Glimmer Paper #4

Antiqued Glimmer Paper #3

Antiqued Glimmer Paper #2

Antiqued Glimmer Paper

I have had such fun this week trying out this new technique (to me, anyway) that was in the Dec 2009 TJNewsletter. As soon as I read about it, I knew I just had to try it out. My studio is now littered with dozens of sheets of paper lying around drying. ") This technique is now my new favorite. Go to: patstamps.blogspot.com to see some of her work and get the info for signing up for the newletter.