Rain Puddles Design

Today I'm bringing you a scrapbook page. I'm admitting right up front that these ADORABLE children are not my own. I'm still recuperating from my hard drive crash of 2012 where I lost almost all of my photos, so when I saw a few of these sweet pictures on my friend's FB album I asked if I could use them. They would be perfect with the new On the Farm Perfectly Clear set from Stampendous and now you'll see why. I used different bottles around my workspace to "mask" off the circles one at a time sprinkling Aged Scarlet and Aged Black Embossing Enamels. Before heat setting the enamels I sprinkled some of the new Red Mica Fragments around so they enamel would act like an adhesive to the fragments when heated. Once it was cool I used my Prismacolor pen and drew some free-hand circle circles inside each embossed circle. That was a fun technique! Oh and I also forgot that the top photo slides out of the manilla folder! I thought that was clever...

It's been a happening kind of week around here and I'm just filled with inspiration over the Diva Sistah's projects. I really get a bunch of inspiration from all of them. . So on Friday afternoon I had time to pull out my travel case of acrylic paints and my old watercolor tubes to play in two challenges. There are two awesome components to what I just said, PLAY and TIME.  This is just something fun I made for me! Yay! Today on Splitcoast Stampers Verve is hosting a challenge. It's all about getting back into spring colors using the Verve brand colors + one of either yellow or pink. I'm on the queasy side of pink right now so I went with yellow for my challenge card. Then I used a technique that Dina Kowal (dini on SCS) is challenging us to make our color move with water! Details are  here . One of these days my first supply on a Mixed Media piece will be a camera because I'm not sure you would believe me if I said that my background piece wasn'...

Today is the release! Today is the release!  Today! Today! Today!  (and I'm hosting the Viva La Verve CAS challenge today!) It' s been a great week of inspiring/enabling hops and you have been so kind with all your comments on our projects that you deserve to SHOP! Yay! We have one more Spotlight Hop left in us for this release then the store will be open! Take up a comfy chair and favorite daytime bevvie for a a blast with the Divas. Want to win some shiny new Verve?  We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the  Verve Blog  for all the prize details and deadlines. If you are already hopping through the spotlights then you just came from Christyne's blog and then you'll move on to Jen Shults blog for more! If you are just getting started on the hop the full list is right below. Have fun! ...

Now haven't you enjoyed the sneak peeks so far?  Well it's just about to get even better as we shine the Diva spotlight on Surely Goodness and Happy Anniversary Plain Jane. But wait, there is that fun announcement we've been making about some new Diva's in the house. Whoop-whoop! It's great to have them aboard, isn't it. And that reminds me to mention the hop  you just came from would have been Christyne , and, oh yeah, that other chatter about something shiny... Want to win some shiny new Verve?  We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the  Verve Blog  for all the prize details and deadlines. I'm not showing you what I made for today's signature Verve flowers. I spent some quality time with my markers on those gorgeous stamps and then when I started up at my work surface I eyed th...

Today's hop is all up in the air! As we're shining our Verve spotlights on the new stamps So Fluttery, Shining Star, Beautiful  Plain Jane . Each of the release team Divas below (including 4 brand new talented designers) has posted her first look at these new stamps today. As you hop through the list below, you just might see some super sneaky peeks of new coordinating dies, so keep your eyes peeled! Everything you see previewed along today's hop will be available in  Verve's  online store on Friday, February 22. Want to win some shiny new Verve?  We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the  Verve Blog  for all the prize details and deadlines. I'm a little bit excited about the Spotlight Hop List as I'm sandwiched between two of our new Diva's Extraordinaire! Welcome aboard ladies!   C...

If you walked the floor at Winter CHA 2013 and happened to stop by the Stampendous Impression booth you might have seen a collection of wonderful mirrors. If not you can see them over on Asia's blog post here  (she has THE coolest framed mirror to show you). So here's my entry on the wall. It looks subtle and it is, but the detail is just not as cool in any photo I took. So this will just have to do. :) I embossed Botanical Blooms on tissue paper that I creased around the inner and outer edges of the mirror frame. I needed those creases as guides for stamping. Then I sponged around sections with Spun Sugar and Tea Dye Ranger inks. The last bit of distressing is done with thick cold coffee on a paint brush. I colored Garden Gal with colored pencils and fussy cut her and three butterflies  which were stamped in walnut ink stain distressed ink. I added A Bird Song sentiment by stamping on a tall rectangle and rolling the top and bottom edges to create a scr...

Verve's February Spotlight's have officially started and it's going to be awesome!!!!!! Today we're shining our Verve spotlights on the new stamps  Remember This ,  Calendar Countdown  and  Smile Plain Jane . Each of the release team Divas below (including 4 brand new talented designers) has posted her first look at these new stamps today. As you hop through the list below, you just might see some super sneaky peeks of new coordinating dies, so keep your eyes peeled! Everything you see previewed along today's hop will be available in  Verve's  online store on Friday, February 22. Want to win some shiny new Verve?  We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the  Verve Blog  for all the prize details and deadlines. Woohoo! Let's get started... I'm scared to death of scra...

My first hostess gig is up on Splitcoast Stampers today! I'm challenging us to use text on white paper and then add RED. I'm sure you all have your reds still out after the Valentine's you've been mass producing, right? So leave them out for one more project and join in the  Mix-Ability Challenge forum . The watercolor paper was measured and marked with a pencil and then the ruler became my tearing guide along each side. Here's a tip for tearing. Keep the ruler on the paper you want to keep and tear away from the outside. You will get a "line" tear at the ruler's edge, but then some of the paper will split and leave rugged edges. I love that about watercolor paper the most because it is thicker paper and shows more of the tear. I used a Verve Stamp set, Always on my Mind , that is mostly sentiments and in this great font style to create a collage of text. I placed them onto my Fiskar Stamp Press  as it lay over my paper. I was able to or...

At Christmas time, I decided to take my kids out independently to shop for their gift exchange. While my youngest (son) needed some direction, my oldest (daughter) new exactly what to get for her brother. "BIG BOOTS!", she exclaimed when we turned the corner of the special toy display shelf. A dinosaur helicopter with three characters that had weighted big boots. A newer version of weeble wobbles, but regardless it was new and the most played toy on Christmas Day. She did good. Here is another big boot wearer from Stampendous, Boots Kiddo . Isn't that cute? I really went with muted colors and I'm not sure that this girl in boots should be muted, know what I mean? I suppose I was inspired by something and that just wasn't going to be different. Boots Kiddo is NEW! Look in your local stores and online stores for her and many other Kiddos, too. There is something else new from Stampendous and it's a fabulous array of colored Mica Fragments. I've use...

Good Monday to you all! I've got a tutorial linked up at Paper Craft Planet today. Come see an old favorite children's craft updated yet again! Paper Craft Planet Monday Tutorial

It's Friday and I'm going to be quick in my post today! Two talented and fun ladies are hosting challenges over on Splitcoast Stampers. Jeanne is making it hard not to resist for her challenge and you'll need to hope on over to that challenge thread to get more detail. The always amazing Maureeen has the spotlight in the Verve sketch challenge with a sweet inspiration photo. Come on over and hang out this weekend with us! There are so many wonderful challenges you have a lot to choose from, but I'm making it easy by already pointing you to the two that are near and dear to me! Details: Stamps:   Brighter Days (Verve Stamps) Paper:  Chocolate (Wausau), white (Neenah), Kraft (Hobby Lobby) Ink:  VersaMark Watermark (Tsukineko), Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up),  Accessories:    water soluble  oil pastels (Binney Smith), edge punch (Martha Stewart), Clear embossing powder (Stampin' Up), acrylic paint, white seam binding (Snug Hugs), w...

 ...from me that is! So here is another sample I created for the catalog to use for those who travel and want to stamp about it. Or those who love travel and destination stickers. I created some extra wide homemade washi tape with the  Baggage claim  stamp set and aged with some acrylic paints smudged around on it. The sentiment stamp, Suitcase World, is stamped on white paper. It was too white so I distressed with reconsitituded instant coffee and a paintbrush then let the edges sit in the coffee puddles to darken them up. It's all wrapped up with a lightly colored luggage strap from Baggage Claim. The whole card base is splattered (with a spray bottle filled with coffee spray) and sprinkled for distressing. The finishing touch areound the sentiment is a bit of my favorite glue and NEW BLUE mica fragments. Details: Stamps:    Baggage Claim , Suitcase World (Stampendous) Paper:  Blue and white cardstock Ink:    Jet Blac...