Thank you Tammy Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to a very special surprise blog hop for our fearless Sizzix Design Team Coordinator, Tammy Tutterow!

 

Some of the Sizzix Design Team members and myself want to say “thank you” to Tammy for all that she does for us on a daily basis. So we decided to create a fun tag to celebrate our her and everything she does and put our creative spin on a tag for her. Here's mine.

I created a folding tag that opens like a book and added some traditional elements on the front and doodled some flowers and quote on the inside, following my style. It turned out so pretty! 

I'm one of the new kids on the block to the Sizzix Team, but I've known Tammy for quite a few years now. I've always admired her creativity and sense of color and design and was super excited when she asked me to join the team.

So thank you Tammy for welcoming me into the team and for sharing your patience and creativity (and so many other things) with us.

 

 

If you have a minute, take a trip around some of the rest of the Sizzix Team and see what everyone else created for Tammy: 

• Aida Haron 
• Anna-Karin Evaldsson
• Catherine Scanlon ---------------- You are here
• Jan Hobbins
• Jeanne Streiff
• Leica Forrest
• Mou Saha
• Tiffany Johnson
• Vivian Sung Soon Keh-Hue

Thank you for joining us today, have a great Wednesday! 

Art Gone Wild! and Friends fun Cling Stamps

I'm back again today to share a few more of my favorites from the Art Gone Wild! and Friends stamp release, but I promise I'll share the stencils soon.

These two beauties are little collages that were put together using snippets of some of my drawing. Combined with some words they look fantastic. I can't take credit for the coloring on this one -- Michelle Cutts colored them using Copic Markers. Then scanned them and emailed them to me and I printed them out to create these gorgeous cards with. 

Her color choices and color blending are just amazing.

Cling Stamp AGC3-2700 Your Friendship

 

To create this card I used an x-acto blade and a ruler to cut out around the edge of the stamped imaged and mounted it on black cardstock. To get some texture I stitched it in a few random spots and added one of the larger designs over the top on foam tape. I also Fussy cut around the leaf in the bottom box and added that on 3D Dots to get a little pop. To finish it off I stitched it to a piece of green card stock that was attached to a blank Kraft card base.

Cling Stamp AGC3-2699 Makes You Happy 

I used the same steps to create this card as I did the first one, only no stitching on the blocks. I did add some lavender glitter here and there to make those funky little polka dots stand out some. I love the way the little blocks from my journal pages are highlighted with some text. 

Well, that's it for today -- I'll be sharing some samples of the stencils on Thursday or maybe Friday - so be sure to come back and stay tuned. THANKS for dropping by and enjoy your day! 

 

Art Gone Wild! and Friends Black Eyed Susan Stamp

Good Morning and HAPPY Monday!! Well, maybe I should say Good Afternoon! It's been so rainy and dreary in Maine this summer that I haven't had much time to spend in my gardens -- enjoying the beauty and scents of my flowers -- and I also haven't weeded much! LOL.

Yesterday I decided I had to spend some time because the weeds were taking over. While I was there I really enjoyed seeing the bees buzzing around all the black-eyed susan's that are in abundance. I also cut some and gave them to my Mom since she loves them so.

 Aren't they beautiful??!! You can see where the inspiration for my Black Eyed Susan stamp (Cling Stamp AGC1-2692) from Art Gone Wild! and Friends came from, can't you?

Anyway, since I've got them on my mind I thought I would share some closeups of a few projects I did using that stamp. They both came together so easily, and they do look hand-drawn! Love that.

For the first project I created a card using a single impression of the stamp that I stamped using black StazOn ink on Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I painted the background with watercolor paint and colored the flowers with Caran D'ache Pablo Colored pencils, which I do love. When that was dry I trimmed it and rounded the corners and matted it on black cardstock and then on the kraft card base.

Of course, I did add stitching to add some texture -- no card is complete without stitching you know!  To finish it off I used my new Journal Words Stamp Set (Clear Set SC-2701) to stamp the sentiment. I layered it on the card with foam tape.                                              

For the second project I created a 9x12 Art journal page using my favorite quote "be the flower" I just stamped around the Mixed Media Paper 3 times trying to get a varied look using StazOn black ink. I used a permanent marker to draw in the design where the stems needed to extended to the edge of the image and then added a border.

Then I painted the image with watercolor paints and and colored pencils again. To finish it off I added the quote and journaling.

I am so happy with the quality and way these cling and clear stamps work, I couldn't have asked for a better company to work with!

THANKS for stopping by today, have a WONDERFUL day!

Distress Paint project for Ranger

I don't think there is anyone in the crafting industry that hasn't heard of Tim Holtz or played with and loved his great range of products. In the 13 years I've been in the industry I've used a lot of them -- from his stamps with Stampers Anonymous to his Sizzix dies to the cool Idea-ology embellishments --  and of late my most favorite -- as I have mentioned on a few other occasions -- the Distress Paint from Ranger they are all super creative, well loved and great to work with.

So you can imagine my excitement when he asked me, in the midst of my Art Gone Wild frenzy of product prep; to make a few samples using Distress Paint for the Ranger booth at CHA Summer in Las Vegas.

Today I thought I'd share my two projects for him. Though I haven't seen any pictures of them in the booth, I'm sure they are they because they arrived safe and sound when I shipped them.

The first one is 10 x 10 and used a mix of solid color and washes of layered Distress Paint colors. The lettering is done with a White Sakura Gelli Pen when the paint was completely dry.

The second is 6 x 6 and is made up of washes of layered color using Distress Paint. The lines for the doodling were inked in after the color was dry with a black Faber Castell pen.

I hope you like them, and if you are at CHA and spot them in the Ranger booth, shoot a quick photo and let me know!

THANKS for stopping by and sharing my excitement in creating something for Tim! Have a great day!

Art Gone Wild!! and Friends..........

and guess what....I'm one of the friends! Here's the cover to my product catalog -- I'm so OVER the moon about this -- excited AND nervous. YUP -- that's my exciting and BIG news that I've been holding in for a while now. However -- I do have something else up my sleeve for the 24th :-D Oh wait, that's tomorrow, ha ha. Maybe Friday I'll have a chance to tell you.

Last January I went to the Craft and Hobby Association Meeting in Los Angeles determined to find a licensing agent and show them my work and find out how to get represented. I also stopped and talked to several other manufacturers. It was a little depressing and discouraging. It's hard not to doubt yourself in those instances. Thankfully I had my great and super supportive friend Martha with me to lift my spirits.

It wasn't until the last day that I was there -- and at 4:47 no less with the show was closing at 5 for the day that I approached Stampers Anonymous/Art Gone Wild! and Friends. It was so amazing to see them look at my work -- and then look at me and say they'd been looking for me for THREE years.

 

The ball butt that I am started crying almost immediately, ha ha.  How can one not get that emotional to feel a dream coming true after rejection after rejection after rejection? It was/is an amazing feeling and I've been flying on an artistic high ever since.

Long story short, well -- ha ha. not really -- I thought I'd share a few sneak peaks of some of the samples from the catalog.

This is an art journal I made from one of the flower stamps, it's so versatile you can also make cards and use it for scrapbook pages.  I have some new colored pencils from Caran D'ache (Pablo I think) that I am totally loving -- oh and my standard issue watercolor palette that I used to color this one.

I can't take credit for the Copic Coloring on this card, Michelle Cutts from SA did that because we were pressed for time on making samples -- but I love the format of this stamp -- this one is layered with Foam Tape and a little glitter here and there. I love the way it turned out -- she's got crazy skills with Copic Markers!

 Here's a card I made using one of my stencils, it's colored with a mix of watercolor paints and Sakura Gelli Pens. Love the way it turned out -- so vibrant.

And, last but certainly not least for today -- a twinchie quilt made with a few of the Twinchie sets. These sets have 4 images each and are 2" x 2" blocks with selected images from my doodle art journal pages.

All in all the catalog has 8 pages of stamps and stencils -- and we're already getting started on the Winter release....wooohoo!

Did I mention I'm pretty excited about this?? um, yeah. understatement. So, now that things have calmed down a little -- please StAY tuned -- I'll be sharing some how-to's featuring items from the catalog!

THANKS for stopping by and sharing in my excitement -- have A GREAT DAY!

Art Journal Coloring Book IT'S READY to SHIP!!

I know I've been talking about my art journal coloring books for a while now -- and I'm happy to say they are finally collated and ready to SHIP!

I wanted to share a few other pages, these aren't in the book -- but they are pretty similar and these  I've colored over the last few week to give you an idea of how yours will look when you have them completed. 

You can use Gelli Markers, like I've done in the image above. They come in a huge selection of colors and they are opaque and lovely! I love them.

Or, you can use distress paints and a waterbrush to get a nice watercolor look for your image. I also have a few friends that are experimenting with other mediums -- and the reports back are they are great. One friend used Copics, another used Distress Markers and Metallic Gelli Roll pens, and another friend experimented with the Distress Paints. They are enjoying working on the 80# cover weight card stock and say its a pretty hefty card stock to work on.

Each package contains 12 sheets -- 10 pages are reproductions of my art journal pages -- and are printed in the USA on an Offset Press on 80# Cover Weight Card stock.  One Page is the cover and the last page (shown above) shows an example of a colored page and a mini version of each coloring page inside, both are printed on 60# Text.

It's important to note that these pages are shipped to you unbound. This gives you the flexibility to bind them, frame them or assemble them how you want. However, I do ask that please NOT reproduce them -- that is a violation of copyright.  While you are purchasing the printed pages, you are NOT purchasing the right to reproduce them in any way, shape or form whether they are colored or not. THANK you. 

 

The cost of each coloring book is $19.95/US.  It's a great deal when you consider it takes me about 3 to 5 hours to draw each page -- and you are getting 10 in this pack to color at will! They make great travel companions when you don't have a lot of room as well as when you are in a bit of a funk and just want to color.

 

 

I will ship outside the United States -- shipping costs for 1 book are as follows:

• United States: $4.00
• South America: $8.00
• Canada: $4.50
• Australia, England, Japan: $8.50
• If you are in a country other than the United States I will send you an invoice for the additional postage. 

And finally, here are a few samples colored by some friends that got a sneak peak early release:

Chris Dindy: Chris used Distress Markers from Tim Holtz. It looks so GOOD!

Martha Richardson: Martha used Metallic Gelli Roll Pens on hers. I love how she added her own spin in the centers of the flowers!

Valerie Rankins: My workout partner and great friend Val used Copic Markers to color her first page. She commented that the markers did bleed a little through the card stock, but they do on most card stock that she's worked with.  

Well, sorry for the long post -- make sure to leave a comment if you have any questions! PS -- for those of you that asked me to reserve one and invoice you -- invoices were sent out last night!

THANKS for stopping by today -- stay tuned tomorrow for my other SUPER exciting news!

Sizzix: Thinking of You

Check out my sweet and easy Sympathy card that's posted over on the Sizzix blog today!

THANKS -- and big news coming SOONER rather than later :-D

It's Whatever Time -- or -- the return of the Whatevers

I can't believe it's already July 15th and we are BACK with Round 2 of the Whatevers. I know I left you hanging at the end of Round 1 -- I mean -- Father (or Winston) was MIA and Mother was frantically trying to find him. 

It's not clear exactly how Cordelia found him, but here's another perspective of the story for you. I bet you didn't see THIS coming!! 

 _________________________

Minnie + Oscar, the ring leaders of the Gang of 12 could hardly believe the turn of events that took their father Winston back to his “other” family. Heck, they could hardly believe they had found him and now he was gone.

 

Twins, born 20 years earlier to a woman that died at childbirth, they had grown up in horrible conditions at the Gore Orphanage. Oscar + Minnie were small people with abnormally large heads and small feet.

They had hatched the plan to kidnap their father and take him to Thebes where he had met their Mother, Morning Glory. Their plan had worked until those two nosy, old ladies started snooping around.

If only they had told him why he was there maybe he would have stayed when his hysterical wife had shown up.

Phew, something tell me things might get a little strange this year! 
_________________________

I know there are a few other ladies that are pretty excited to share their stories with you this month.....take a minute and follow these links to see what the rest of the Whatevers are up to:

• Martha Richardson
• Vicki Chrisman 
• Nat Kalbach
• Cuchy Sanchez

_________________________

Wanna play along?? We don't have many rules -- follow along and see how it works:

• Vicki, Cat, Cuchy (Carmen), Martha and I and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.

• Every month – if possible always on the 15th –  each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.

• If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you to download and show us your version of The Whatevers. The photo will be posted at the end of our blogposts- not on Facebook!

• There are no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking- WHATEVER
  There are no rules on the length or the form of the story- it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER

• There are no rules on the artform you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page – WHATEVER

• Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us and show us your story.
   
• These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission.

• If you want to participate we’ll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.

• And -- click on the linky list below and share the link to your page when you have a minute or three!  

•  You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page

Creative Cropping + Instagram LOVE!

I know I'm not the only one that uses their iPhone exclusively for photos these days -- right now I've got 3,249 photos on my camera -- plus what is in the Photo Stream. I take A LOT of them. Today I thought I would share a few of my secrets.

First, I have a love affair with Instagram. There. I said it. Yes. I love Instagram like I love peanut butter and Chocolate. Coffee with Non-Fat Milk. Thai Food and my Dog. I don't think a day goes by where I'm not looking at photos or sharing them.


Yesterday when we were on our way home from the 4th of July BBQ that we went to the clouds in front of us were very puffy at the top and little menacing looking at the bottom. First we started seeing things in them. I see a wolfhound with his ears blown back against his head from the wind.

Anyway, in case you aren't familiar with Instagram -- it's a photo app you use with an iPhone. You can take photos right from the App or import them from your photos. I go both ways on this -- but when I want to take a lot of pictures I use the camera only option on my phone.

Here you can see a NOT so great photo of the clouds. Lots of distraction with the road and cars in front of us.

When I bring it into Instagram and crop it and apply a filter I can crop out all of the distracting stuff and focus on what I want to capture -- the clouds! This is the Kelvin filter -- the one I use most of the time.

When we got to Portland I was happy to see the profile of a mans face at the top of the clouds -- and he's got curly hair. But, look at that awful reflection from the window at the top of the photo.

When I brought it into Instagram I adjusted the contrast and then applied the Nashville filter and it turned out like this.

To me, this looks like a painting. Maybe it will be a painting I'll do in the near future. But look at how much cooler and better it looks after I did a few fancy things to it in Instagram. I love that app!

Hope you had a HAPPY and Patriotic 4th -- it's back to work for me today while the boys go camping! Thanks for stopping by -- hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Take Time...

Take time

to smell

the flowers 

along the 

way.

Enjoy the 

beauty 

in each

one and 

allow it

to calm and

soothe your

heart

and soul.

I've  been trying to find a good balance between blogging, working and enjoying the summer. So far it's been a struggle. But, I have found that adding color to my coloring book pages has been a nice break from "working".

 

I also discovered that I love using a water brush with the Distress Paints! I dip the brush in the paint or take some from the cap, squeeze the brush to release some water and then paint away. It's perfect for traveling and the results are so translucent and realistic you would think they were painted with watercolor paints! This journal page was painted only with distress paints -- and then a little colored pencil here and there. It looks so much better in person!! 

Well, back to work on that HUGE to do list...it's crunch time :-D Thanks for stopping by, have a great day.