Technique Junkies - Faux Sanding & Simple Whitewash

I haven't been too busy in the studio lately - I have been trying to get caught up on so many different things it seems like I never have time left for fun! I did take some time earlier this week to play around with two techniques from the latest Technique Junkie newsletter.

The card above uses a technique called Faux Sanding. I absolutely love the texture you get from this tech. I added a background stamp from Oxford Impressions and the girl is a wonderful photo stamp from ARTchix Studio.

This card uses a technique called Simple Whitewash. It is true to its name - very simple! I love the Shabby Chic look that it brings to the background. The main image is from Artistic Outpost's new Generation Redux collection.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tag Tuesday - Summer Flowers

This is a bit of an experiment that didn't turn out like I wanted it to. The theme for Tag Tuesday is Summer Flowers. This morning, Michelle Zindorf posted a tutorial where she used Prismacolors on black card stock. It is so stunning - I wanted to try it! No fancy colored pencils tho....I've never been big on coloring. I had a couple lying around (probably cast offs from my kid's old school supplies). I gave it my best shot, but it is absolutely nothing like hers! Guess I need some more practice......and maybe better pencils?

I added some homemade shimmer spray and thought it kinda came out looking like she was in a garden at nighttime. Use your imagination! ;-)

My flower stamp is from Starving Artistamps and the girl is from ARTchix (no longer available).

Wednesday Stamper - Fairy

I tell you, I'm on a roll - two posts in two days! For this week's Wednesday Stamper I created a background using a combination of two different techniques from the latest Technique Junkie newsletter - Scrappy Spots and Stencil Stamping. These are both such cool techs!

My fairy is a photo stamp from ARTchix Studio (no longer available), the text stamps are from Oxford Impressions, and the trim is from RockCandy Studios. Speaking of RockCandy, you need to go check out their new blog. Dianne Adams and I are the featured artists this month!

Wednesday Stamper - Lace

Some of you may notice I haven't been posting as much lately. I felt like I was letting my art get in the way of other things, so I decided to take a little break and try to find some balance. Well, all the other stuff was taking up so much time I never got to stamp! So I decided I am just unbalanced and that is that. No surprise to my friends I'm sure. ;-) Who cares if the laundry ever gets done, right?

The theme over at Wednesday Stamper is lace. I had originally thought I would combine a bunch of challenges again and this would be a Gypsy Gothic Arch Created Byhand Heart Challenge Lace thing. Well, that didn't happen, but I did like the look of all the layers I had pulled out. So I added this fantastic photo stamp from ARTchix (no longer available), melted a little beeswax and sewed on a few buttons. The Faith stamp is from Oxford Impressions. The stick is from my yard.

Technique Junkies - Oil Pastel Chic

I have become totally addicted to the Oil Pastel Chic technique from Technique Junkies! It is such a forgiving and fun tech....it can work with so many different art styles too. I love how it looks with this beautiful woman image from ARTchix Studio. I was very sad to learn today that they are discontinuing their stamp line. It's really a shame because they had some gorgeous stamps that were some of the easiest photo stamps I've ever used. Helga said she will be redesigning them some time in the future - I'm hoping it's soon!

The actual color on the stamped image is a much darker brown in real life. Blech, I hate scans! The lovely trim is from RockCandy Studios and the 'Femme' stamp is from Oxford Impressions' Beloved stamp collection. The bird punch is from Martha Stewart.

ARTchix + Technique Junkies = Ooooooh

My very first post and I have no idea what I'm doing! My buddy Robyn said I must blog, so here I am. Blame her. ;-)

I was playing around with a tech from the latest newsletter and made this card. I love the dreamy look of the background....it seemed to need an equally dreamy, romantic image to go with it. I love this stamp from ARTchix and I think it works just perfectly.