Hi everyone! I am so excited to report that Copic Camp weekend was a success! It's Sunday night and I'm taking a moment to sit down and let it all sink in. I'm re-acquainting myself with my boys who have been inundated by women all weekend! We had a great time of stamping, laughing, eating and learning together at Copic Camp. I taught two 5 hour classes on the techniques, tips and tricks to Copic Markers. There were 6 people on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. I know I had a great time! I'm pretty sure I got everyone hooked on Copics. Thank you to everyone who came! Your enthusiasm is contagious and I enjoyed spending time with all of you – and making some new stamping friends along the way. Stamping chicks rock! Okay, here are some pix to share…

Saturday's group:

This was Shauna's first card EVER! Good job girlfriend!

Caroline brought this beautiful cake to share with everyone. She is a fantastic baker/cake decorator. Um, only thing is, I forgot to take a before picture! Here's the after! It was delicious and didn't last long.

Shauna brought these gorgeous roses from her garden. Look how she put that pretty doily underneath the flowers to make a sweet bouquet. I am enjoying these flowers so much!

Here is Sunday's group!

This looks pretty serious… Markers everywhere and deep concentration…

Here's to a great week ahead – cheers! 

FRIDAY! GLORIOUS FRIDAY! We made it! Whew…had to get that off my chest. Lots going on with me this week and here it is FRIDAY! Today's card is my entry to The Shabby Tea Room blog contest #7 titled The Comforts of Home. They had a lovely soft image to work from that I fell in love with instantly. Can I just say that I adore this color pallette? MMMMMM. It was easy to get the old creative juices flowing for this challenge.

Here is the beautiful image! Could you just die? That stack of pretty quilts all piled up like that contrasted with the weathered wood. Go-jus. Really. It sets a mood for sure.

Here is my entry for the challenge combining the image with the sentiment "Comforts of Home." I incorporated most of the colors with the patterned paper and gave the feel of the stack of quilts via using different patterned papers.

I stamped my images in brown ink. Then I grunged up the edges of the paper with my distresser and some light brown ink. I took the image of the house and the sentiment and crumpled the paper a bit to make it less "perfect." I mounted the house with foam tape. The little flowers were part of a giant hydrangea silk flower….then I put some soft pink brads in the center. 

I am in love with this new edge punch from EK Success!!! Giant scallop – perfection.

Before I sign off for today – I want to let you know that I probably won't be blogging this weekend. I am holding my first ever Copic Camp weekend at my house! Classes from 10-3 both days talking about Copic Marker techniques, tricks and tips. I have 14 people coming and I am really excited about it. I love to share my, um, obsession about Copics! I'm making a nice lunch and we're doing two card projects too. I taught classes for four years at one of my local stamp stores, but it's been quite some time ago. I forgot how much fun it is to get ready and teach/share with other cool, crafty women. I will take pictures and post all about it on Monday!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Today's card is my entry for Taylored Expressions #110 sketch challenge. You can find her blog by clicking here. Seems as though everyone is into squares lately! Good thing I have a square punch so I didn't have to try to get all those squares perfect!

Here is the sketch layout:

Here is my card! I tried to make it sort of country and fun at the same time.

Something I have been wanting to try for a long time is using my Copic markers on kraft paper. This is my first attempt at that! I had thought I would use darker colors to make up for the darker paper…but the opposite turned out to be true. I used lighter colors! For the birdhouse I used two shades of mustard yellow and then made hatch marks with my blender pen to make it look weathered. Lastly, I got out the white gel pen to add some highlights.

For the inside I just stamped the front image again and didn't color it…added a happy hello!

Here's another quick and simple card I made - thought I would throw it in too! Love those stamps from Cats Pajamas! How cute is that little cowboy??

Gotta run…too much good tv on tonight. Lost and DWTS results show…and Biggest Loser… Ack! And I still have some chores to do…and eat dinner…bye!

Hi everybody! For the past two days we have been cleaning and doing yard work non-stop. Whew. I'm about done with all the chores for a bit. It's beautiful outside and it was time for a good old fashioned Spring cleaning at our house. We even did the windows. How great does that feel? I love it – afterwards! haha. Everything is in tip top shape and sparkly.

Given that we have been cleaning and doing chores…I have not had time to stamp anything this weekend to post on the old bloggy blog. However – I thought it would be a good time to share pictures of my craft studio! What the heck, it might not be this clean again for a while!

This is the view from the door as you walk in. The table on the right is a new addition and I like it for extra stamping room and for when someone comes over to stamp with me! The bins right in front on the main table hold all of my necessities: scissors, adhesives, glue, bone folder, exacto knife, etc.

The shelves were all here when we moved in. The people who owned the house before us worked from home and this was their office. The only drawback of my room is that there is no window in here. I have track lighting above and some flourescents under the cabinet.

My 'office' area with my laptop and my printer.

The main stamping table area up close. Love the pink phone from Pottery Barn kids! Gotta have tv to watch movies while stamping! My colored pencils, brads, and embellishments are right above.

This was the closet for this room! Now it is stamp, paper and photo storage. On the bottom rack are all of our family photograps by year and event. The next shelf up has all of my Stampin' Up sets from the last 16 years. I don't really get rid of them. You never know when you might want an oldie!

My craft studio is actually two rooms combined into one big room. Again, this was like this when we moved in. Love that long counter and also there is a sink! The door leads out to the backyard. This was a porch and the former owners enclosed it to make their office larger. The opening is for a sliding glass door. On the right in the clear bins is all of my 12 x 12 paper stored by category. My friend JRR made the beautiful Welcome sign that hangs in the doorway!! Love that!!

That's a LOT of paper!!

P.S. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE the Container Store???

This is my die cutting and paper cutting area. I have my Cricut and my Cuttlebug out where I can use them often. The dies and such are stored right there too. I love my giant steel edged paper cutter!

When we moved into our house every room had shag carpet! EVEN THE KITCHEN! No, I'm not kidding! Cootie factor was high. Needless to say, we replaced all the carpet before we moved in. I picked out this patterned carpet for my craft studio to make it pretty and feminine. I didn't realize it at the time, but it also hides the dirt very well!

Stampin' Up sets and photo storage:

I keep all of my ink together here. That way I can always find what I need. Each drawer has a different brand of ink. Top drawer is for Memento and Brilliance. Next drawer is for Versamagic, etc.. On the top are the ink pads I use all the time.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my craft studio! I spend a lot of time in here. In fact, if Mark isn't home I have been known to spend the entire day in here – lunch and all! There is a 1/2 bath right outside the door, so technically I don't have to leave! I just need a mini fridge and I'd be all set! I am so lucky to have such a great place to stamp. I remember back to when ALL of my stamping supplies fit into this little red toolbox I bought at Target. Those days are over!

I would love to see what your stamping/crafting space looks like! If you leave a comment, link me back to a picture of your room!   

Hi there! It's a beautiful sunny Saturday here at the ranch. Went stamping last night at Jilli's stamp group and made some super cute cards and had wonderful, necessary girl time (thank you Jilli!) Slept in really late this morning – darn allergies.

I have a thank you card to share with you today – kind of a Mary Engelbreit feel to it. Hope you likey! the stamp is from Penny Black.

Here is a close up of the coloring/shading:

From the side you can see that I popped up the entire image on foam tape. I colored a second set of the top flowers and put them on the bottom near the bee hive – I go through A LOT of foam tape in my stamp room!

My Copic color pallete for this project:

This afternoon/evening we are heading out the the park for a big BBQ for my brother's 30th birthday party. I made a Mediterranean pasta salad to bring to share. It is yummmmy! I use cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, cucumber and feta. The dressing is Bernsteins Cheese/Garlic Italian. I let the veggies soak by themselves in the dressing first so they get the flavor. That way the pasta doesn't get too soggy. The feta goes on at the end.

Some wise advice today from Buddy the Cat….He says if you only put HALF your body on the scale, you will only weigh HALF as much! Good advice! Hahahaha.

I finally made a card I like this weekend! This card is for Taylored Expressions Challenge #108. It is a sketch challenge. Perhaps my no mojo phase is over? We'll see what else happens. I do like this card. Probably because I am crazy for this new paper from My Mind's Eye – It's called Quite Contrary. Do you love these colors? Yummy.

Here is my card entry for the challenge:

The sketch layout:

Buddy is patiently waiting for someone to email him!

Hi everybody! Now I'm not a Summer person…I love all things Fall. However, right at this moment, as my eyes are watering and I have a constant urge to sneeze my brains out, I am ready for Summer to arrive with the Xtreme heat to kill off all that icky pollen. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. However, today I have a card with a hint of Summer. I do love all the bright popsicle colors of Summer time.

Remember this post about Friends Rain or Shine – with the umbrella image? Click here to see. My friend Reba (gurl!) saw that card and came up with a fun idea – why not color the umbrellas to look like beach umbrellas!? I never would have thought of that!! GREAT idea. So…you know I had to do it and then I had to give her the card!

The Inside of the card. Don't you love that Fiskars wave punch??

The beach chair is from Annette Watkins (Printworks). I cut it out with an exacto knife and then mounted it to the card with some foam tape. The saying is also from Printworks.

Close up of the coloring/shading. Notice I put grey and blue in the "white" area to give it some definition. Start with your dark color first then go to the lighter colors.

Tonight at my stamp club meeting (shout out to the girls!!) I am doing a demo/discussion about Copic Markers! Yay! My fourth favorite thing in the world…after DH, Kitty, Iphone…then comes Copics!

This is my stamp room… My "Calgon take me away" happy place. On the side (behind me) where I'm taking the photo from is my computer/printer work station. To the left is my stamping table and tv.

I think he looks guilty….what do you think??