Simple Thoughts

Happy Weekend Peoples!  I'm still trying to get back into the groove of things after CHA.  It is amazing how life continues to move on without "mom" when she takes a day or so away, but how quickly she is expected to get back into the groove of reality!!

Played around some yesterday and this morning with one of the new molds that were just released from TenSecond Studios.  I also tried my first attempt at writing on metal.

Let's just say, that I cannot write in a straight line to save my life.  Kiss me a gonner if I'm ever asked to do so!!

I also learned a few important things on this project. 

1)  Always make sure that the surface you are working with the metal on is fairly smooth.  In other words, don't be lazy and use your dinged up glass table top instead of your acrylic mat.  The table top dings may add extra "texture" to your piece. 

Or maybe that is just "home made" character!

2)  When one pieces the Humungo Sticky tape only the back of the metal, one should NEVER then try to smooth out the metal.  The Tape will act as a cushion, giving a edge that is not wanted, right down the middle of your image.

3)  One should also make sure that all the bumps and such are removed from the metal BEFORE one adheres it to the front of a card.  The camera doesn't lie.

And after all that jibber jabber, here is the piece.



The base is a 5 1/2" square piece of SU's Chocolate Chip.  Very Vanilla is the next layer with the edges rounded.  The metal is Dark Chocolate that was traced from a decorative chip board piece that I had originally thought to cover with the metal for another project.  I used the new Kabuka mold for the flower. I used one of my decorative wheels for my border and flattened the inside to make a frame. After sanding all the raised edges,  I filled in the flat areas of the flower with Glossy Accents and sprinkled with Doodle Bug glitter. 

To be perfectly honest, all the bumps and grooves rather annoy me.  I'm thinking this one may get filed in Folder 13. 

I'm now off to clean up the mess from this so that the youngest kiddo and I can start his California History project.  It would seem there is NO room on this desk for the kid to work. 

Thanks for dropping by again today!!  I've got the other side of this mold staring at me as I type and the wheels are turning.....'Till then..........................remember that exploring something new might not render the results you were hoping for, but there is always a lesson to be learned from it!

Just a Mess...............

edited to add:  I am a total dork.  Seriously, I never looked at my post after I wrote it up and never realized that I forgot to post the picture!!  A couple of comments finally clued me in to the fact!! DOI!

Sooo, here is the long awaited picture! LOL

..................that is all that is on my desk for WOYWW87.  I still haven't cleaned up the mess from last week as I was finishing up my my frame up until the time I needed to pack for CHA.  In the meantime, youngest kiddo has done the beginning research for a paper on California history and there is my googled map directions to the LA convention center.

Gloves would be from being thrown on the desk after this morning's walk with the dog.  The invitation is for a newly married couple's open house that I need to RSVP too.

No fun projects in the works.  Sigh.

 Can someone explain to me how it is that I did all the laundry before leaving on Friday and upon my return on Sunday, there is MOUNDS of the stuff?  Not to mention the disaster area aka the kitchen (ok.  I will take some responsibility for SOME of that mess.  I actually made homemade roasted tomato soup on Monday for dinner. Then I got hit with the "I need help with my homework" wall.  Still need to finish cleaning up that mess)

So, I'm off to get some cleaning done.  And to do some visiting of other desks.  I like snooping into spaces and see what others have in the works, not to mention, I like looking at the work spaces!

Till then....................

CHA

OH MY!!  It's Monday!!  My weekend is a blur with all the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) hustle and bustle!  For a newbie, it is rather overwhelming.  So much to see (and not see, as I don't think I made it down every isle).  When going through my pictures I realized a couple of things

Trying to take pics with the natural light resulted in a lot of blurry pictures.

One must not get so enthralled by what she is seeing and experiencing, that she forgets to actually take pictures.

But with those thoughts in mind, I did manage to get some photos.  Grab your cup of your favorite beverage and get comfy.  This is gonna be a bit long!!

Everybody waiting for the doors to open



First up...I FINALLY got to meet Bad Sherry and Daisy.  I have "known" Sherry for 5-6 years now from our cyber conversations, but now I have finally gotten a meet her in person.  Daisy is as sweet and genuine as they come and loved hanging out with her, her oldest daughter (and her good friend!) and Sherry all weekend.

Where to begin from here?  Friday night I got to take a class from Jenni Bowlin.  She is a doll and I love her colors in her line.  I think I could put the Chili Pepper color on almost all my work.



 Next...some eye candy.  I have to say that I was probably more enthralled with the amazing samples than the new product coming out! LOL!  There are some AMAZING artists out there!

Art parts by Wendy Vecchi..........can't wait to play with these!!

O.M.G.   Having a brain freeze as to which booth this was at, but, seriously!! Look at the incredible DETAIL and work that went into this sample!!

Check out the door knob!! New embellishment from Graphic 45.  OH yeah!!  They will be fun to alter with!!

These incredibly beautiful and detailed stamps are from a company in Germany called LaBlanche.   GORGEOUS!!  They are made of a  type silicone and are mounted on a hard foam.  Personally, I think they are just gorgeous pieces of art in themselves!!  I did stamp with them and was surprised at how easy it was to get a good image.  These would look lovely stamped tone on tone with just a hint of a color wash or copic accent.  Or, just plain.

Check this out.  Made from a configuration box.  OH MY!! The incredible details!  The whole concept of it! Amazing.

Steampunk jewelry using Idea-ology pieces.  Too cool



WAIT!! Next up is a total "newbie, geek, starstruck" story.  While I was checking out the works from the designer competition at the Ranger booth, I happen to glance up. OMG!  There is Cheryl Darrow from TenSecond Studios walking around with a camera crew (RUMOR ALERT!!  Whisperings that the camera crew was NOT just recording for Taco Tuesdays....can't wait to see what THAT is about!! With Cheryl and Megan...it could be anything!!)

ANYHOOS!!  So there I am looking at the designer samples, glance up and see Cheryl.  I seriously DO NOT know what into my noggin'!  I let out this scream "OMG! IT'S CHERYL" and run up to her, gushing how big of a fan I am (I am SUCH a dork!).  I am willing to bet that the look on her face was "who the HECK is this?!" 

But guess what?

I got my picture with her! LOL! 

So of course, I then made my way over to the TenSecond booth....Can't wait to play with the new molds

Just check out these wonderful samples!

Love the cross.  I have a collection of crosses over my couch. 

What a darling idea to use one of the new Big Daddy molds as a frame for the picture.  Notice the new Alphabet stamp set too?  It looks WONDERFUL on the metal

 Again, just incredible samples

And one of my personal favorites!! Love the glitter skull!! You can bet you'll be seeing a copy of this from me!!

I did take another  photo with both Cheryl and Megan when I got to their booth.  But is is sooo blurry! sniff, sniff.  

Other highlights:  Meeting Dawn Lusk, another SCSer that I've "known" forever (that picture was also blurry).  Dawn is mom to Amber, aka Bambi64, who I cyber chat with almost daily.  Met Lori Craig (SCS) who is just beautiful and TALL!! LOL!  I got to meet Deb Felts and her friend Connie (sorry, another brain freeze on the last name), Taylor, Jamie, Val............you know....all the SCS royality. 

Saw Claudine Hellmuth, Wendi Vecchi, Tim Holtz, Jennifer McGuire.....met Kim Kesti and Jessica Witty.

Well.........that is pretty much my weekend in a nutshell!  I'm now back to reality and the laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning that did not magically get done while I was gone! Hopefully, I'll find some creative play time in the next day or so!

Till then....................

Moments

Well, here it is.  The final project. 

Daisy, if by chance you are looking....GO AWAY.  You'll get to see it in person on Friday!!

Is she gone?  Ok. Good.  Here is the completed project:

Please allow me to insert a VERY large sigh here__________________.  I will be the first to admit that my photography skills are at the beginner level.  But, seriously!! I attempted to get a decent picture in a larger amount of time that completing this project took!! Either I am going to have to figure out how to photograph metal or you are just going to have to take my word on how cool my metal projects look IRL!! May I strongly suggest that you just take my word on how awesome this looks IRL?  Trust me, it will save you a lot of time waiting!!

Enough whining!  A few details.  This started out as a dollar frame from Michael's. I first painted the edges and the back side of the frame with some Clover acrylic paint.   I then traced the frame onto a piece of TSS (TenSecond Studios)  Poison Ivy metal.  I placed a Tattered Angels glimmer screen from the set Fanciful Stencils along one side and traced around it.  Using paper stumps, a refiner and my thin mat, I puffed out the flourish image.  I then filled in the backside of the flourish with some embossing paste.  You could use good ol' Spackle too.  Which, in hindsight, I would use for such a large area.  My hands were killing me trying to squeeze out that much paste!!

After the backing paste had dried, I used a sharp refiner to make all the squiggly lines over the rest of the metal.  The Toad says it makes it look like it is leather IRL.  Again, just take his word on it.  I am soooo not going to try and get another picture of this!!  The squiggles do not make the rest of the frame that much lighter.  They just add a texture.  Sigh.....I really need to figure out how to photograph metal....

The metal was then carefully adhered to the frame with Hummungo Killer adhesive. This stuff is STICKY!! I was sweating bullets in fear that I would adhere it crooked!! 

The daisies were cut using Spellbinders Daisy Head dies and I used a paper stump to emboss them.   I cut them from TenSecond Studios Kiss Me Pink metal.  I then snipped between each petal so that I could bend the petals to my liking.  I spritzed all the layers with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in S.W.A.K.  (pink).  Again, IRL, these flowers are NOT this bright pink!! The Kiss Me Pink metal is more of a pale, blush pink. The S.W.A.K. glimmer mist added a "spritzed" texture (or droplets, if you want to get down to basics) to the petals that I thought added some depth.  I then used my copics to add the yellow centers.  I used my hot glue gun to layer the flowers to each other and to adhere them to the frame.

The chipboard letters are from Maya Road (I believe they are the Noah mini alphabet).  Initially, I attempted to color the letters with a chocolate chip marker.  Then decided that I didn't like that look.  Of course, this was discovered after I had already colored one of my two "M's".  Soooo, the "W's" were called in for replacement duty!!  I decided, that I liked the letters just plain against the metal. 

Ok...I tried again.  Here is another picture that may show some of the detail a bit better.

hmmmm......maybe the key to photographing metal is to take all pictures at night, with no flash, in a poorly lit craft room....now if I could just figure out how to get the framing correct!

ANYHOOS!! 

Just a heads up that my posting will be pretty scarce over the weekend.  Did I mention that I get to go to CHA?!!  Excitement is oooozing right now!!  Since I am one of the last remaining dinosaurs, who does not have a laptop or an iPad.....I won't promise pictures until I get back.  Unless I can take something decent with my camera phone and figure out how to post from my phone.  Yeah......you should probably plan on pics early next week! LOL!!

Till then....................enjoy the creative journey................



WOYWW 86

I love having a peek into blogger's spaces.  It just gives a little more insight as to "who" they are. 

I've been haphazardly following WOYWW on Stamping Ground for a bit.  Usually, Wednesday's means I'm at work.  I really don't think you care to see a stack of patient files next to my computer every Wednesday. 

Or maybe you would, I shouldn't assume.

Anyhoos!! The paying job is slow this week, so I get to stay home.  And work stuff that does not pay in dollars, but creative satisfaction. 

I had to cover part of the projects I'm working on as it is for Daisy.  I left the wording on the frame as I'm still not sure that is what it will actually be.  Obviously some metal is involved.  And some Glimmer Mist.  

  Did I tell you that I get to meet Daisy and BadSherry (aka Yoda to me) in exactly TWO DAYS?!!  Yep!! I'm meeting up with them at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) in L.A.!! I'm soooo excited to be able to see all the new crafting goodies that are going to be released and to meet all my crafting "idols" (or at least spot them!) 

 Off to the side is my Bamboo tablet covered with a rough sketch that I was working on for a previous idea. Yep. I like skulls. I am rather fascinated by them. And not in a "dark" way. I think it might have started with anatomy class. Or maybe it was when I was pregnant with oldest kiddo and when he was born, I was just enthralled that his ultrasound picture of his little skull looked just like him.

 

More of the mess off to the side.  My high tech spider man paint palatte (ha!) and paper stumps, mask, metal, cutter, all used in the current project.

 

Ok!! I need to quit gabbin' and finish up this project!!  I'll be back tomorrow with the final version!!

Till then..................create a mess!!

The Future

How's the weekend going for you all?  While cruising through blog land yesterday, I came across Moxie Fab World's Grey is the New Black challenge.  And no, this will not be entered in that challenge!!

Why is it, that I own multiple ink pads in various shades of blue, red, brown, yet lack any grey ink pads?!! Actually, after I had stamped the main image of this card, I remembered that I did own ONE grey ink pad....Adirondack's Slate.  So I used that on the sentiment.  Which I stamped crooked despite using my stampamajig. 

Sigh. 

The base is a 5x5 piece of Pure Luxury card stock from Gina K.  The stamp is from PaperArtsy.  I stamped the image using Encore Silver metallic ink and embossed with silver embossing powder. There is light shading using my copic marker along one side of the cage and bottom to "ground" the image, which does not show up in this photo at all.  

 I then stamped the image again on a scrap piece of SU's Riding Hood Red and cut out the little birds and clear embossed them. I used a Quickie Glue pen to attach them over the first bird layers.  I then inked the sentiment (from the same set....Hot Pick 1004EZ) with Adirondack Slate and then used my SU Ruby Red marker over the word "one" to make it stand out. 

In all honesty, this card did not meet the expectations of the design idea in my head. I think it is the silver embossed cage. I don't know. Somehow, it just lacks the look I was going for. I may just have to redo it again since I have now found my grey ink. BUT! I made it, I posted it. I'm moving on from it!

Till then................remember, not all creative journeys are winners, but you will have a better idea as to which road needs some work if you are willing to travel.

Effects

I still haven't gotten up the energy to mess up my neat desk.  Instead, I went out on a limb and messed around with some effects in PSE9 (photoshop elements 9).

I have NO idea what I'm doing!  But I had fun!! 

I think I'll use this for my 3rd picture for my Focus 52 challenge. 

Actually, this gives me an idea.  I just might have to start messing up that desk after all. 

Till then................go out on a limb and try something new....you never know what ideas it will inspire!!