Sally Lynn MacDonald

Spelunking in the Studio - Stamp Organization KEYWORDS

My friend, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer hosted an Organization Week on her blog last week to which I contributed a few articles.  One of which was on how I organize my stamp collection.  The specific post is here: http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2012/01/organization-week-specific-solutions-part-1.html.

To whit, I've created a keywords categorization system for my stamp collection for which I've been receiving numerous e-mails.  I figured I should share it here.

This document is in Microsoft Word.  You could use it for reference in creating your own system.

Download Keyword Tags.doc

This document is an XML file.  You can import it into a blank catalog to start your own keywords categories based on mine.

Download Keyword Tags.xml in a zip file

If you see that little green plus sign in the figure above, if you click on the little down triangle next to it, you'll see:

and that is how you select the file you've downloaded and get a jump start on organizing your stamp collection!

Happy Monday.

What's Your Word?

Last year was the first time I took the time to select a word to reflect my goals and intentions about the coming year. My word for 2011 was 'Focus'. That post is here: http://www.sallylynnmacdonald.com/weblog/2011/01/whats-your-word.html.

I feel like I accomplished the essence of what that word meant to me in different parts of my life throughout the year. Sometimes just really looking closely helps you make decisions.

To our great misfortune, I had some time to myself during an impromptu trip to Kansas and the unexpected passing of my sister, Carole. Every time I pause upon those words, a feeling of disbelief engulfs me. When I was alone in that hotel room, I reflected on so many things. Family and relationships. Connections. The future.

When I got home, I focused on business to my mind occupied. I spent some time reviewing business paperwork and realized (oh that's not the right word...)! Let's face it. A truth hit me upside the head like a ton of bricks! When I focused on how much I had been traveling over the last several years several things came to mind:

Why so much traveling? I want to go to a lot of locations, but frankly I hear more often than not, that many people don't have a local store to go to. They don't want to travel to a store. Many cannot afford to go to a weekend retreat or a cruise.

I spend an inordinate amount of time and expense traveling, and I'm not reaching more people. I don't charge the stores for my travel expenses, but the number of people who take classes is still dwindling, because folks who have a local store have a wealth of class choices and the fact that I traveled to get there just doesn't matter to them. What's the value add?

How can I be more effective? I love to teach. But my kids have tons of activities that I want to be a part of. And more often than not - these activities occur on the weekends. I want to be here for them and not travel as much.

Why is my studio so disorganized? If you follow my blog, you know that I decided to organize in February, 2011. I started with little areas, but I knew the truth of the matter was that 15 years of schtuff lie in wait in my studio. It was time to attack the problem head-on. So I threw up my hands and decided to simply empty it out and start fresh in August, 2011.

The number one reason that it was so messy was the 'piles of shipment' (as my husband refers to them). In comes a box of supplies. Out goes a box to a store. Here comes the return of the unused supplies. Nothing ever really gets emptied. The studio became more of a warehouse than a place to create.

I also have multiples of things, some things approaching an episode of hoarders. When I buy something, I usually buy 24-30 of that item for a workshop. Try to store that!

The 'workshop mentality' takes over my ability to create freely. When I'm creating, an internal, subconcious dialogue runs through my head that says, 'Do you have enough of that for a workshop?' Is it cost-effective? Is it new/current. blah blah blah. How can I possibly create anything good with all that noise?

Conclusions

• I need to clip my wings and travel less.
• I need to reach more people when I teach.
• I need to spend more weekend time with my family.
• I need to stop being a warehouse and start creating more.
• I need to create for the joy of teaching techniques, not projects (at least I need to shift focus).
• I need a way to bring in a small income to support my endeavors.

And thus my word for 2012 became clear to me.

The word, 'nest', means so many things to me. It means starting fresh from what you can gather, creating an environment that will shelter and support, nuturing its occupants, teaching them to fly and eventually letting them go.

I made this assemblage piece to reflect upon throughout the year.  Please click for a larger image if you want to see it.

I used a Vintaj metal canvas blank, which I stamped little bird scratch foot prints on and embossed some leaves and branches.  I attached a piece of metallic punchinella to the top of it which I had used for many projects and had a feeling of painting and sanding and much-loved use.  I bent and attached some Vintaj hinges to the top of the piece with the protuding hinge portion used for the hanger clips to grab onto.  If I could have found my pin drill, I would have riveted them into place as well - but I can save that for later.  I made a nest out of tied ribbons on a coppy wire.  I attached wings to the base and placed the nest on top.  I took an acrylic bird and used an awl to make a hole in the center, through which I attached two varying size spinners to the top of a vintage watch face.  I selected various different styles of letters to spell nest.  I tied an envelope to the hanger faceplate with thin gold wire.  It can be opened and a tiny message placed inside!

As I said last year...Do you have a word that drives your intentions in 2012? It's so much more liberating than a resolution and so much more encompassing. Give it a try.

My first step to start off 2012 was to take a beginning sewing class with Courtney yesterday.

Tomorrow I'm starting a new job for a few hours a day, working at my local bead shop, A Bead of Roses.

This year is starting off just great.  I hope yours is too!

 

A Merry Mélange

This year, while I was organizing away the hours in my studio, I began tossing all things Christmas into a bin.  Little bits of fruitcake (the paper collection, not the edible kind!), a snowflake here or there -- all into a bin.  Then one day my friend, Laura called and invited me over to make cards.  I was ready!  Woo Hoo!

So here are a few of my holiday creations - thankfully mailed them all out... Phew!

Above started off as an ATC.  I have a few of these left to swap if anyone is interested, e-mail me.

Above is such a fun sentiment, once you see that the inside says, "can you make the voices stop?".  I bought the stamps when I was at Stampers Ink in Shawnee, KS.  Love it!

Only days left to make merry and bright!  I hope you are having as much fun as I am.  And now I'm off to grab a couple of secret Santa presents for the kids.

Speaking of the short people - I opted to use a summery photo of them for the Christmas card insert this year.  Nothing else seemed to capture them as well as this picture does:

P.S.  How do you like the new blog design?  I'm tweaking the navigation bar still - more things to come!

Joy Canvas Collage

I love taking the Christmas decorations out of the boxes and decorating the house for the season.  As the years have gone by, more and more of those decorations have meaning to them, whether it's an ornament that signifies an important date or place, or the increasing amount of handmade decorations I've made through the years. 

The mantel and shelves of my family room are overflowing with handmade love.  More than ever before, I appreciate this aspect of warmth and love in my home.  That hodge podge of colors and textures means so much more to me than some perfectly decorated, magazine-ready collection of store-bought schtuff.

In between the little Christmas Tree shadow-box the kids bought at the second-hand sale at the elementary school and the pottery that looks like a tiny egyptian sarcophagus that Brianna made in art class, a couple of random pine cones, a glass angel that I bought for my sister, Carole, a little wooden giraffe from our trip to South Africa...this whole scene including the handmade pieces signify LOVE.  Love of family, love of art, love of my life.  Pretty nice to look around and feel that here in the family room. 

Even that painting of the colorful dogs is ok. Neil bought it at a fundraiser for the local dog pound.  At least they aren't playing poker.  It's his contribution to the mantel.

Finally, the stockings that my Mom embroidered with the kids' names hang below the scene to complete it.

The feeling that this scene gives me makes this little addition to the mantel all the more meaningful - and I kid you not - it just hit me now as I was typing this...but the title of my new creation is JOY.  Wow, could it be more fitting?

This piece came together really quickly.  So I'll go through those steps with you now.

First, I die cut a scalloped edge onto a piece of metal embossing foil and roughly painted it with gesso and a bit of Titan Buff.  They are actually Christmas Lights - but I just wanted the rough scallop shape to frame my piece.  The paint goes on unevenly, as expected on a metal surface.  But it adds to the shabby chic, weathered look.

Next, I die-cut some rectangle shapes out of a pretty, patterned cardstock.  This is something I found in my stash.  I think it's Fleuriste by Cosmo Cricket.  I attached it to the canvas with a matte gel medium, and then put a layer of gel medium over the top to seal it and protect its surface from the process that's coming next.

Once this is dry, I drew a star shape onto the surface with some willow charcoal.  This is the area that I'm going to paint with a contrasting color - and because I'm using transparent fluid acrylics, I want to avoid coloring in this area with my background colors.

Now I took two colors of fluid acrylic paints, Da Vinci's Green Gold and Golden's Iridescent Gold Deep, and run over them with my small brayer, covering it completely with the two color on either side.

I put just a smidgeon of Acrylic Glazing liquid onto the craft sheet as well, and give it a quick roll through.  The glaze will allow me to remove layers of paint easily with a baby wipe, allowing me to reveal bits of the paper underneath.  Note, this is why I seal the cardstock with gel medium - it needs to withstand the manipulation of these WET mediums on its surface.

I carefully avoided getting the green/gold paint in the area of the star.  I painted in this area with a 50/50 mix of Da Vinci's Quinacridone Crimson / Quinacridone Gold.  Here and then I dabbed on some Titan Buff with a wet baby wipe, to add more contrast to the background.

I drew a scallop design around the star with a small, detail paintbrush and Titanium White paint.  Once it was dry, I outlined it with my medium FC Pitt Pen in black.

I used some Beacon's 3-in-1 adhesive to attach the metal foil and bent it in around the edges of the painted collage.  A few letter stickers, metal footings and a knob are the final touches. 

I'm not 100% about the edges of the piece.  I used some cardstock to cover up where I had attached the gold foil on the sides -- and I'm pretty sure some pretty embossed metal is going to go there instead.  In fact, I was itching to do that now -- but, let's face it, it is after 2 a.m.  I've got better things to do right now, namely SLEEP.

So good night, loves!  Here's to dreams filled with dancing canvases and lots of painty fingers in your futures.

Holiday Hostess Gift using US Art Quest

Today I'm featuring products from US Art Quest.

If you've attended rubber stamp and mixed media expos and retreats, you've probably seen Susan Pickering-Rothamel demonstrating the products there.  She is passionate about these products, product safety and product quality.  I've been a big fan of their products for a long time.  Just browsing their website I see so many items that are in my studio and regular residents of my worktable. So when I heard they were having a design team call, it made perfect sense to feature them in a post in support of this company.

Being a technique freak, I like to call out the many uses of a product and show you how to use it to its fullest potential.  I also like to take something that looks one way, and make it into something else entirely to hopefully inspire you to see things differently.

So today I am taking this mulberry, sewn paper and turning it into a holiday hostess gift.  I see circles - but don't they have the potential to look like holiday ornaments?  With a little technique and fun products they will!  Make sure to click on pictures for a closer look if you'd like.

Mulberry paper and most handmade papers are very absorbent.  This can be excellent when you want to control the flow of a product, such as watercolors.  I'm going to paint the paper using this interference mica and pigment watercolor palette.

I'm going to start with the Interference colors and color in the centers of the circles on my paper.  I'm using the coordinating interference color, to make it pop on top of the darker backgrounds.  In the sample below, I've colored the center of the red circles with Interference Red, using a paintbrush and a little bit of water to mix the paint on the palette.

Don't you love how that color just pops?  Also, the mulberry paper (or handmade, or watercolor will do as well), controls the flow so nicely.

I've continued on now, to all the circle centers, using coordinating colors of Interference paints.  Now they are beginning to have a holiday glow about them.

Next, I'm going to color the outer ring of each cirle, with a coordinating duo color from the palette.

And because I want to add a little wintry mix to my project, I'm going to apply the pearl pigment to my acrylic stamp, mixing it to the consistency of heavy whipping cream (not drippy) and stamp it onto the background in a few places.

It's coated up good, and unevenly applied - but that will give me texture as well.  I'm not expecting the perfect impression from the stamp -- just the snowflake feel and texture.

Now to embellish the circular shapes further, I want to add a dash of glitter.  This is where one of my favorite adhesives on the planet comes into play.  It's called DUO Embellishing Adhesive.  And yes, I own a big, honking 32 ounce jar of it.

Duo is a multi-surface, dual-purpose glue.  When wet, it is a traditional glue, doing what you expect glue to do.  But it works on metal, paper, glass, mica, wood....LOTS of surfaces.  But it has another power as well.  When you let duo dry, it becomes a clear tacky, film like surface that you can easily apply glitter, powdered pigments and foil flakes to.  That's what I'm going to use it for.

Here is a hint about absorbent papers though.  Sometimes they are TOO absorbent, and so I applied DUO twice.   

The first time, I brushed it on to seal the paper and stop the absorbing of the product.

After a few minutes, I applied it again.

The second time it was ready to stay on top of the surface and do its thing.

You want to let it dry completely.  You will see the Duo reflecting back at you and crystal clear.  See these halos of light?

Now it is ready for the dry application of glitter (or pigment powders, or foil, etc.).

I pour a little bit of glitter in the center of a circle.  Just a smidge.  I'm doing a multi-color glitter project, so I don't want to have a lot of leftover glitter wasted, since I won't be saving the 'party mix' of colors when I tap off the excess.

And then I take my finger and gently work it onto the tacky Duo adhesive.

Do this for the middle ring on all of the circles, using coordinating glitter, powdered pigments, etc.

And as you can see, I've drawn, with a waterproof ink pen, a little rounded rectangle shape on the top of each of my circles to create an ornament 'cap'.  These I filled with Duo, and applied foil leaf flakes to each for a different texture.

I used the black pen to draw ornamental S-hooks to hang my ornaments along the horizontal sewn stripes of the paper.  As a final step, I randomly stamped words onto the paper, such as 'peace', 'joy', 'rejoice', 'hope' and 'love' in a lighter gray ink. 

I mounted the mulberry paper to a wood canvas using Perfect Paper Adhesive.

I'm looking forward to presenting this to our hostess on Saturday.  She always keeps the handmade cards that I give her, so I hoped a handmade decor piece would be well received for the festivities.

If you love making handmade art, make sure to check out US Art Quest.  Their blog is http://usartquestblog.com/ and the website is http://www.usartquest.com/.

A peek at: Viva Decor Marbling Ink

I never met a medium I didn't like. 

Well, except for that weird chick on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  All I can see in my head now is a lady puffing on a fake cigarette and saying, 'Your husband will never fulfill you completely'. 

But really looks more like this in my opinion.

Ok, let's get rid of that image and conjur up some other colorful inspiration.

I've been spelunking in the studio like a madwoman since noon yesterday, and kept coming across things that I wanted to play with instead of organizing.  Right?  So I told myself I could play with ONE THING before bedtime.  Seriously, I need that kind of work/incentive system.  The proverbial carrot on a stick.  Or perhaps I should just ask Jen or Laura to stand in the corner wielding a ruler until I get this done...

So the first evening's incentive plaything was my stash of Viva Decor Marbling Inks.  Although I cannot decipher the German product label on my inks, I'm pretty sure from how they work that these are an alcohol-based ink.  And I've worked extensively with this type of product from Ranger and Copic, so I'm just going to focus on the difference.  Dare I say...

Viva la difference!

This ink system has more vibrance and opacity than the other inks.  It takes less product to cover an area completely.  The metallic and white ink have even more opacity so you can get a real contrast going with them, as with the little bit of gold that I sponged on top of the topmost trio of hearts.  The white ink allows you to tint the other inks (lighten the colors) to achieve a more pastel color.  I did this on the blue heart in the foreground, dabbling a little on with my sponge while the blue ink was still wet.

It also has more working time.  Although it dries within several seconds, you can manipulate the inks with more control.  For example, let's look at the pink heart in the foreground.  Once the pink ink had dried I dripped a bit of white ink onto the surface and manipulated it with a brush to create the interior heart shape.  Then I took a bit of gold ink onto a palette and brushed around the edges of the heart with a small fan brush.  If you use a light touch and minimal rework it retains brushstrokes too.

The surface I used for the hearts is a simple coated chipboard. You can use this ink on more surfaces than you expect, including clay and plaster.

This ink has several advantages over its competitors.  The only disadvantage is that it only has 13 colors.  But then again, it's nice to be able to get an entire color spectrum and do your own color blending.  Sometimes less is more!

Recipe: Pumpkin Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping

I found this recipe on the cover of Gourmet magazine in 1990 and have been making it ever since.  It's the perfect finish to an Autumn menu or Thanksgiving meal and always gets rave reviews.

I've even carried it on the plane, rather than trying to work my way into the kitchen at my in-law's house.  A few years ago, we were interviewed by a reporter at New York's La Guardia airport, when they spied my big cake taker along with our luggage.  The story was picked up by the Associated Press, which makes me smile every time I make it.  http://www.cnycentral.com/News/news_story.aspx?id=68368 -- if you'd like to read the article.

Ingredients for the crust...
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, the pecans, and the sugars, stir in the butter, and press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.  I've cheated and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, if you are pinched for time.

The crust is AMAZING.  These wonderful dry ingredients create a crust that is heavenly for your cheesecake.

I think the finely chopped pecans are the key.  I have this tool called a Mix n Chop that I bought from Pampered Chef that is perfect for getting them chopped finely.  I just put them in a glass measuring cup and attack.

Ingredients for the filling...

1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, cut into bits and softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon Jack Daniels, if desired

In a bowl whisk together the pumpkin, the egg, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the ginger, the salt, and the brown sugar.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and the granulated sugar, beat in the cream, the cornstarch, the vanilla, the Jack Daniels, and the pumpkin mixture, and beat the filling until it is smooth.

I have a big Kitchenaid mixer, and I scrape the sides of the bowl down a couple of times, but there always seems to be a bit at the bottom that doesn't quite get mixed in.  I use that to my advantage and swirl in the last bits into the pan to make it pretty.

Pour the filling into the crust, bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.

It will have these big craters in the cheesecake.  Let it sit on a cake rack for 5 minutes and you will see even more form.  It's all good - this will be covered by the next step.  It's a sure sign that your cheesecake is going to be delicious, trust me!

Ingredients for the topping...

2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Jack Daniels, or to taste
16 pecan halves for garnish

Make the topping:

In a bowl whisk together the sour cream, the sugar, and the Jack Daniels.

Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake and bake the cheesecake for 5 minutes more. Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack and chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the side of the pan and circle the top of the cheesecake with the pecan halves. 

Enjoy!

modified from original recipe from Gourmet Magazine | November 1990

Four Birthdays and a Power Outage

Autumn in Connecticut is typically warm and as colorful as you would expect it to be.  The trees are brightly dressed and showing off in nature's glory.  It is a beautiful time of year to be in New England.

Back on October 22nd Courtney was playing with pine needles at the park.  Only the evergreens were shedding their foliage at this point with the leaves still firmly on the other trees.  The sun was shining brightly and she was wearing a short-sleeve shirt and making 'pine angels' in the soft needles.

Moving forward to 7 days later...

The next weekeend, Cameron celebrated his birthday party, going to The Headless Horseman Haunted Houses and Hayride with Neil and 5 other boys.  It had rained the night before, but the weather cleared up and was perfect for the occasion.  And my boys ain't afraid of no ghost.

And then on Saturday... IT SNOWED.  On Halloween weekend no less.  This was just the beginning, but the grumpy pumpkin kind of sums up how we feel about snow in October.

Much less THIS MUCH SNOW.  On October 29th 11 inches of really wet, heavy snow fell on trees still full of leaves from Autumn is not a good thing. 

My poor River Birch was opened up like four petals of a flower.  The large branch on the right, blocking the driveway was a loss.  It bent to 90 degrees and broke.  Thankfully two of the branches rested against the house and the left hand side rested on a table on my front walkway.  It miraculously has made its way back into position. 

My cherry didn't fare as well.  Pretty much the entire top split and the rest is spread out.  I may have a tree expert look at it to see if there is anything to be done for it.

We didn't lose too much in the front yard.  And in perspective, it's just landscaping.

The back deck, had a tree 'deck'-oration, however.  This big bad boy came down hard around 3 in the morning. 

It felt like the deck was going to snap off like a matchstick, but lucky for us, the hot tub (hiding under that tree), also means that the deck is very well constructed and reinforced along the side where it impacted.  So we didn't lose the deck.  It even graciously forked at the barbeque and smoker - which we desperately needed while the power was out for the next whole week.  Neil was able to get all the smaller branches off so we could access the grill.  The rest we left for the contractors sent by the insurance company.  We didn't want to risk pushing off the heavy limbs and having it take out one of the columns supporting the deck, or we'd lose the whole thing.

After being without power for 6+ days during Hurricane Irene, we had invested in a generator since the former owners had installed the necessary electrical for one already.  It took some hunting, but Neil didn't come home empty handed.  The buyers' remorse we'd felt about making that purchase was quickly overcome when just a little over 8 weeks later we had ANOTHER week long power outage with this early snowstorm. 

This time we were able to offer hot showers, coffee and simple light and warmth to friends, family and neighbors.  And because of the generator we managed to salvage Brianna's birthday party, postponed to Sunday due to the storm.  Those who braved the downed trees and somewhat plowed roads were greeted by lots of treats and the trick of getting a chocolate fountain, a karoake machine and some disco lights to work off the generator.  We did manage to have a breaker trip on us once - but the party went on with flashlights until it was back on.

The next day was my birthday.  Still no power and the kids were home from school.  But we had a nice day, and went out to dinner down on the coast since Orange had power.  After dinner I browsed an art supply store with Neil watching the kids and giving me freedom to pile the shopping cart with Fredrix 'floating' canvas, the current Somerset publications and some General Pencil charcoal.  Woo Hoo!

The weather was surprisingly cold all week and the power continued to be out, with some businesses starting to get power around Wednesday on the main thoroughfares through town.  I had amassed WAY too much laundry and scouted a coin-op about 25 minutes away that was in an out-of-the-way shopping plaza.  It was the great undiscovered laundromat -- and I got six machines going, at once!  So at least it was quick work.

A week had elapsed since the snow fell and the next Saturday evening we held Courtney's birthday party at The Bead of Roses jewelry-supply shop, which had power restored a few days prior.  So another birthday party was held with only a minor time adjustment for the any rescheduled Halloween festivities.  Here is the final birthday girl, waiting for her guests to arrive.

And at last when we got home from Courtney's party, we noticed that our cul-de-sac was showing signs of life and light.  Yes, finally the power and cable were back on! 

These are four birthday celebrations that won't be forgotten!

I'm thankful for neighbors that let me use their gas cooktop to melt chocolate.  I'm so glad that I baked the cake and cupcakes the night before it all went nuts.  I'm grateful to have a generator this time (that we wondered why we'd bought) and that through its use I was able to give the simple comfort of a hot shower or a cup of coffee to friends and family while things got back to normal.  I'm blessed to have a friend that was willing to help others with his chain saw.  He made quick work of a HUMUNGOUS tree for people he doesn't even know.

And with NINE snow days already racked up before we've even hit Winter yet -- I'm praying that it is a mild one this year.  But if we get another bad storm...I've made sure my neighbors know to come over without hesitation and we'll keep cozy again and let friendship light the way.

Tattered TV Webshow Project Details

Tonight's *LIVE* webshow was recorded if you would like to follow along to make the featured project(s).

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17984051

  

Here is a picture of each of the two project ideas that I displayed:

This project uses the Walnut Hollow Bass Wood Canvas, flipped to the backside to make a frame.

and this one uses the Wood Frame from Pink Paislee:

The supplies used for the projects are listed below:

Substrate:
Either a Pink Paislee #00519 Wood Shadowbox frame *OR*
the Walnut Hollow Bass Board Canvas (12x12)

Tattered Angels:
Copper Kettle Glimmer Glam
Evergreen and Concord Chalkboard Glimmer Mist
Glimmer Mists in the following colors:
Butternut Squash
Pumpkin Spice
Timberline
Mallard
Blitzen
Nougat
Ironworks Glimmer Screens

Pink Paislee:
PP #00512 Journal Tags
PP #00517 Chipboard Alphabet
PP #00515 Fabric Ribbons
PP #00511 12x12 Resist Paper Pack

Prima:
Misc self-adhesive felt, such as de Vines #812898 or #812881
Misc leaves, such as #534202 Pillar of Leaves, White Rose or #530273 Rose Leaf Mix, Fall

Ranger:
Distress Ink in Walnut or similar
Ink applicator tool

Misc:
Black detail ink pen (I used Faber Castell PITT pen, Fine)
Spray adhesive, such as Elmer's Craft Bond
Beacon 3-in-1 adhesive

I hope you enjoyed the live webshow.  And if you missed it, please enjoy the recorded version linked above.

Announcing Mixed Media Boot Camp - Local Connecticut / Week Day Workshops

I've gotten a lot of requests for local workshops lately.  I hear you... and I've put out e-mails to a couple of stores within driving distance of my home for the near future.  Hopefully I will have a smattering of Saturday workshops to offer to you very soon!

This just in: Saturday, November 12th at The Inspiration Station in Stafford Springs, CT! details will be posted shortly!

And in the meanwhile, I started thinking about the second kind of request I'm getting... from folks for whom a Saturday is NOT an option.  And for whom the school bus tolls too.  So an idea was born:

So in addition to the store settings on weekends, I'm setting up a schedule for boot camp-style, technique-focused workshops here at my home in Newtown, Connecticut.

These will be on a Tuesday or a Thursday, from 10:00am to 1:30pm.  Just enough time to get up and going in the morning, or travel a short distance to get here.  Enough time to get home to meet the bus, or have just a smidgeon of babysitter time.

Limited to SIX people only per session.  Keep it small and focused so everybody gets the MOST out of the sessions. 

Only $25.00, pre-paid to secure your spot.

So you get 3 1/2 hours of IMMERSION into a medium.  No, not the crystal ball kind!  Works for me. I hope it works for you too!

Here is a preliminary list of topics, by medium:

• Copic Boot Camp: includes 'What? How? and Wow!' and Intermediate Coloring Challenges
• Acrylic Paints: Mixed, Tinted, Shady and Washed Up.  Paint techniques demystified.
• Paint like a Mermaid: Let's start the waterworks! Including dye-based mediums like Glimmer Mist, watercolor crayons and gelatos.
• Encaustic Wax: All Hot and No Bother! We'll melt and paint and embed schtuff.

And here are my available dates:

• Tuesday, October 18th
• Tuesday, October 25th
• Thursday, October 27th

So let's talk!  inkyheart@earthlink.net... get a group of friends together.  Come by yourself.  I'll give you quick results in a fast-paced training session that will get you pumped up and past any barriers that have kept you from feeling confident with these mediums.