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!

Created Byhand Challenge - Circles

Finally got around to doing a challenge card. I read that the theme over at Created Byhand was circles and I thought - ooh, what a perfect way to highlight a new Technique Junkies tech!

This one is from the latest newsletter and is called Scrappy Spots. Another fantastic idea from Nancy Judd!

Stamps are from Oxford Impressions and I Brake for Stamps/Time to Stamp.

We're finally getting caught up with all the activity that's been going on lately (chickens! ahhhh!) so hopefully I will be getting to post more frequently!

Baby Chicks!

Well, I would love to have posted my wonderful Garden Sprite Gothic Arch, but I am totally obsessing over this! One of our hens started setting three weeks ago. We were a bit worried - we'd gotten rid of our roosters about a week prior. I had read that the sperm can live quite awhile in the hen's uh, tract (oh the things you learn when you have chickens!), so we knew there was a chance they could be fertile.

We are very new to this whole chicken thing and didn't do any of the things you're supposed to. We pretty much just left her alone and hoped for the best. We were thrilled when, yesterday evening, we found an empty shell and spotted a little dark chick behind her in the nest box. This morning there was one more! Just now I went to check on them and found this wee baby, fresh out of the shell. She/he was pretty exhausted.

Now we are overrun with chickens! My husband (against my semi-strong protests) ordered another 17 chicks and 3 turkeys that arrived on the 6th. They're in the garage. Oh, and my daughter brought home a little banty chick from the feed store @ Easter. He's living in my studio. In a box - not free ranging w/the ink and stamps. ;-)

Maybe we need a Gothic Arches Chicken theme??? I could totally get into that.

Technique Junkies - Wet Stencil

Yikes! It's been ages since my last post. I've been up to my ears in baby chicks, setting hens, getting our garden in and a host of other Springtime activities. Unfortunately, that means less time inside and even less time for stamping.

I have been wanting to try the Wet Stencil technique from the latest Technique Junkie newsletter. I bought this stencil for another project and ended up not using it. It was lying on my table and I was like, aha! This is a great technique if you're in a hurry - sometimes you just have to squeeze in art when you can. I love how it turned out!

Text stamp and photo stamp are both from Oxford Impressions.

Created ByHand Challenge - Blobs & Spatters

For today's Created Byhand challenge I made a quick skinny. The background is made using the Simple Green Spritz technique from the Apr/May '08 Technique Junkie newsletter. I added stamps from Oxford Impressions and Tim Holtz.

Not sure if I'm loving the new TH clear stamps - they smell funky, I tore one getting it off the sheet (I've never done that, ever. Some of them are connected and I didn't realize that when I was peeling one off!), they stain instantly, and they're weirdly sticky. On the plus side, they're really thick, much thicker than normal acrylic stamps, and the images are fantastic. Maybe I just need to play around with them more. My problem is that I am very much a RUBBER stamp lover, but I couldn't resist all those sets!

We Have a Winner(s)!

The winning number was 17! Then, when I started counting, I realized I'd left a comment. So I was like, do I include mine? Do I skip it? Hmmmm.....then I thought, hey! I will send something to both 17 AND 18! Much easier than trying to decide whether or not to count myself. ;-)

So, the winners are:

Beautiful tag, Shelly! Your work is always awesome. Thanks for the "tip" regarding picking up color from an acrylic block.
Debbie K.

and

Hi Shelly! These pieces are amazing!! I can't believe I never knew about Oxford Impressions! Hope you received your Where Women Create magazine in a timely manner. Thanks so much for all the artistic inspiration!
Hugs,
Natalie

Debbie and Natalie, if you could both send me your addresses I will get your packages in the mail asap! Thanks everyone for your lovely comments.

FYI, the card above uses the fantastic Newsprint Reveal technique from the latest issue of the Technique Junkie newsletter. The stamps are by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous and Oxford Impressions. The fantastic black trim is from RockCandy Studios.