Adventures in Cycling

No artwork to post today. Today I chose to enjoy this beautiful fall Nebraska day outside. I am lucky enough to live near a fantastic bike trail and the trees are changing colors, there was no wind and temperature was perfect! How could I not cycle? Besides I just put a better seat on the bike to better protect my lady bits on longer rides. My bike computer was acting hincky so not sure of exact mileage but I estimate around 16 miles. Did some hill work and then explored the trail for the longer ride. It felt like being 12 again without a care in the world. Loving my new Trek! I have a 25 miler in 2 weeks so need to work on longer distances. Would have gone further today but not taking any chances with a new saddle.....why push my luck? Lol

Oh Happy Day card

Ok, so here is the final card. It needed some love so I gave it some bling:  grey pearl opaques, grey bakers twine and a little liquid glass with prisma glitter in the medallion. The liquid glass is hard to see in the photo but I did like the dimension it added. All products used are Close To My Heart. thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy the card!  On another note, I bit the bullet and registered for the Goats & Gobblers 10 mile run Nov. 17th. It is exciting and terrifying all at the same time!

Using New Mini Pigment Ink Pads

I got the chance to play around with the new CTMH mini pigment ink pads this week. I feel that I have just touched the tip of the iceberg with what these little babies can do. I used both the dye and pigment based pads to create some cards so I could compare the two.  The colors I used: Smokey Plum and Olive. The 4 x 4 card is a base of Desert Sand, using the Avonlea bulk paper and bamboo pennants. All stamping with pigment inks was done on white daisy, as recommended for best color intensity. I used the dye based s. plum to stamp the background script on the white daisy using the second generation technique. I then stamped another dye based s. plum medallion over the script. I stamped the same medallion with the pigment ink, cut it out and popped it up with foam tape over the first image. I did the the same script on the text piece but used olive pigment for the text. I shaded all pieces in smokey plum. The card is not quite done in this photo- it looked a bit plain so I added pearl opaques and am trying to decide if I should use some liquid glass over the top medallion- I am leaning that way. I wanted to use clear embossing powder on the pigment ink but it dried too quickly on this piece for some reason. I will post a final photo when I decide.

Card Design by De Bahr; using new CTMH pigment ink

Supplies used:
Smokey Plum & Olive Pigment ink pads and dye based ink Exclusive ink pads
Desert Sand card stock
Bamboo card stock
White Daisy card stock
Avonlea Bulk Paper
Stamp Set: Avonlea Card Workshop stamp set

What I discovered while playing with the new inks:

• I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new stamp scrubber- who knew? I must have another.
• I like the smaller pad- easy to mask images by ink placement.
• My images dried faster than anticipated so I would recommend having that embossing powder and heat gun at the ready to use immediately.
• The colors of the pigment ink ARE the same just richer and they do cover text you stamp over, where the dye based does not.
• You need to stamp with a lighter touch and not press too hard or your stamp will slide with the pigments and blur your image.
• The black pigment is great for stamping images to be colored in with alcohol markers- no bleeding as long as your make sure the black is DRY.

General impression of the new Pigment inks: GREAT product and I like the fact they are more sun resistant so you can use them for your home decor projects with fading! I am in love with new inks!

I would LOVE to see what you all have created using the new inks and hear your comments on your experiences with them; the good, the bad and the ugly. Email me your artwork and I will post some of it showing how you used the new inks on the board.

Have a wonderful week.

  

Clearance sale!

New "while supplies last"  clearance items on my website! Click HERE to grab up bargains.

Adventures in Fitness

This post has absolutely NOTHING to do with scrapping, stamping or crafting BUT  it does have much to do with my other love: triathlon training. This was my first season and I have completed 3 sprint triathlons, Warrior Dash, Color Me Rad, and will do the Dirty Girl mud run and Corporate Cup run this weekend. This season has been peppered with one injury after another: chronic back pain, shin splints, having glass cut out my foot, biceps tendinitis and recently a herniated disc.   

I have not let these stop my training, I just modify my training and keep moving forward, although not at a fast speed! Tonight, just one week after a herniated disc I returned to running  on the track with my running group. I ran 1.75 miles. This was a big hurdle and I am so happy that it went well. Did I mention I am 59 and 40 lbs overweight.....yeah, I am. But I see women out there heavier and older than me that inspire me to keep going. I will never give up. I just wanted to share that piece of my life with you all. Trying to balance my full time job, family, scrapbooking, friends, training and racing is a huge balancing act. Somedays I do better at balancing it all than others. Feel free to share a little of yourself if you like. Happy scrapping !   

Harvest Banner

At our Gotta Stamp Crew Unit Meeting last night we made the Harvest Banner on page 86 of the Fall/Winter Idea Book. The banner, letters and zig zag pieces were cut using Cricut Artiste cartridge and the stamps were stamped in cocoa on colonial white cardstock then colored in with our new alcohol markers (honey, autumn terracotta, cranberry and you could use any fall colors you prefer). We tied it together with hemp and used a burlap ribbon knotted accent on the ends. I have to say it is GORGEOUS. The photo does not do it justice. I had so much fun coloring the stamped images with the new markers and using our alcohol blending pen to soften edges and remove color for some cool shaing effects. This would make an EASY class. Contact me if you are interested and we can set it up. I have the stamp set so the cost will just be that of the cardstock and your markers, hemp and burlap. we can probably all split cost of the hemp and burlap since not that much is needed. Thansk to Shari Froemming for cutting all the pieces for us ahead of time which made assembly a SNAP!

 You can also make this on your own by folowing the instructions in the video link on page 86. Need an Idea Book? contact me and I will get one to you!

Never forget

Taking a moment to recall the tragic events of 9/11 and remembering the bravery and selflessness of those who sacrificed themselves so others may live. A truly remarkable event in our history in which we witnessed the entire country stand together. My respects to all suffering losses that day and those continuing to suffer as a result of the events that day. Never forget. I am so proud to be an American and blessed to live in this great country.

Clearly the Best

FUN FRIDAY!!!!!

I always get jazzed up when I watch Kristine and Monica in a tutorial.....their energy is infectious! This is a great video that illustrates fun and CREATIVE stamping ideas using CTMH clear stamps. I have never used anything but these clear stamps and cannot even IMAGINE using a wood stamp or rubber stamp- how on earth would I know where I was stamping? Yikes! Check out these girls doing what they're are so good at!

15 Card Workshop

I am offereing a 15 card workshop using the Avonlea paper. Please refer to the EVENTS tab for details. Contact me if you would like me to teach a workshop for you and your friends/family in October or November. There is no charge for the workshop, only the supplies. If you cannot attend a workshop, I can send the kit and all instructions to you.

I think this my favorite paper kit I have ever used. I love the muted colors. It will be hard for me to give these cards away because they are so gorgeous!

Hey Girl

I could not resist posting this. I am crazy for the "Hey Girl" posters with Ryan Gosling and this one is perfect for us CTMH girls! It's Friday and I am looking forward to the weekend.
Enjoy........you know he really IS talking directly to YOU.

Scroll Album

Finally I have had time to post some creations. It has been so busy with work, training, famiy and friends. I love the new wooden spool album! I have antique wooden spools on my mantle so this will compliment the look. Putting this together was relatively easy- I just followed the directions in the kit and voila! I love that everything was in the kit- I just needed adhesive. I STRONGLY recommend using the CTMH Bonding Memories glue stick to adhere photos. You will roll the album up sometime and when you unroll it you want your photos to remain in place.  I also used dabs of liquid glass to adhere some of the canvas stickers that worked loose after rolling up for transport. I made mine and let it sit flat for several hours before I rolled it up again. When I unrolled it, it wanted to curve to much for my liking so I spread it out and placed heavy books on it for a day to reflatten so it would display better. Very cute! I stampled a border on the blank side because it looked too plain. Here are pics of it rolled up and open.

If you woud like attend a workshop in Omaha and make your own- contact me for details. This is a project that could easily be done on your own also and I would happy to order you the supplies or you can purchase it direct from my shopping cart. Stinkin' CUTE! Hope you get some crafting and scrapping in this weekend!

As a footnote- I have got feedback from some customers who have taken this to the next level....Instead of displaying it as shown, they are hanging it on the wall on a rod so the photos hang vertically instead of horizontally. Clever- I had not thought of that!