My Create Canvas

Wasn't able to capture the colors but you get the idea

Yes! My Inspiration Showcase Class project is complete! I finished it yesterday and am very pleased with the results. I really enjoyed working on the canvas, so many different techniques in one 12x12 package. I will admit some of the techniques I was familiar with but had never tried. The videos were filled with techniques and fun to watch. Jennifer is an excellent teacher and I also was introduced to additional instructors who are also very talented and I have added to my list of artist to follow on Google Reader.
Of course if you follow my blog you know I am a BIG Tim Holtz fan and have been following him every since I found his blog. He was my original inspiration to start blogging. While I have been a little sporadic, I intend on being much more active in the future. Speaking of Tim, he is on a cruise right now and of course he is teaching classes while on the cruise. When he gets back, he'll post a video. I can't wait to watch it but I guess I'll have to.
Now that my canvas is complete I can use it as a source of inspiration. I will always have access to the class videos and can read the pdf files when I need to remember the specifics. There is much more to the class than the canvas. There were a lot of cards along with instructions so I have even more inspiration at my finger tips now. If you didn't get a chance to sign up for the live class don't worry. You can still sign up for the class at Inspiration Showcase. You just won't be able to post to the boards. You can also see Jennifer's canvas. Her photography is excellent and the colors really shine!

Catching Up is Fun to do!

Rock Candy Crackle and Distress Stains

I have been away on a trip with my daughter and we had a wonderful time but now we are back and NOW it is time to play with my inks! I didn't take any supplies with me but I checked in via the internet every morning to find out what was going on with my Online Card Classes class "Inspiration Showcase" by Jennifer McGuire.

Every morning I saw beautiful techniques and beautiful cards. So today is my day to play in my studio and have fun putting all those new ideas to paper.

Jennifer posted the most beautiful card today and Kristina Werner posted the cutest card and 3 more wonderful sketches. They both use the same sketch but came up with dramatically different results. Excellent!

I originally found out about the class from Tim Holtz's blog. I was very excited when the day came for Tim's guest instructor spot. The photo you see here is from day 6 when Tim Holtz was the guest instructor. I love this technique. You coat grunge board with Rock Candy Distress Crackle and let it dry completely. Then dab on the distress stains and the color just wants to puddle up on top. That's fine because all you do is heat it with a heat tool and "bake" it into the crackle. Of course once you heat set it you can layer on more stain and heat some more. Glossy, beautiful, cracked up color. I love it! I even used the white picket fence stain on the little skull and crossbones with a little weathered wood and bundled sage.

I am sad because today is the last day of class. I am happy because I have so many things to try out now in my studio. There is just so many ideas, tips and techniques that Jennifer shared with us in this class.

Jennifer also had a wonderful selection of guest instructors in addition to Tim Holtz. She listed them as follows:

• Jill Foster – http://stampinginspiredby.blogspot.com/
• Kristina Werner – http://www.kwernerdesign.com/
• Nichol Magouirk – http://www.nicholmagouirk.typepad.com/
• Nicole Heady – http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/
• Shari Carroll – http://www.shari-design.blogspot.com/
• Tim Holtz – http://timholtz.typepad.com/

Jennifer also said that tomorrow she will announce winners of drawings for the fantastic prize give aways. She will also be sharing information about the next online card class, a Christmas Boot Camp! Guess who will be signing up...

On the Road

I'm on a road trip with my daughter, Valerie, to help her in her quest for information about our families to aid her in her genealogy quest. She is looking for documentation to support of some her findings and searching for additional information on the Witt, Leaphart and Hyler lines We went to the Thompkins Library, home o the Old Edgefield District Genealogy Society in  Edgefield SC today and are staying overnight in Columbia and will visit the state archives tomorrow.
In the process she is teaching me about genealogy and timelines and that family names that may be uncommon where I live may be very common in areas that we are researching in. She's also teaching me how to tweet and helping me learn some of the features of my new phone. She is doing all the driving, I'm handling maps and gps systems on the phone and taking an occasional picture out the car window of the sights. We are having a grand time.
I was up last night working on some of the techniques from the class and have some more hearts finished, just did not get a chance to post. Day 3 hearts are finished but not day 5. I did have way too much fun with the rock candy crackle and distress stains and had to make a trip to show the pieces off to my friends at work. They were amazed. When I get home Wednesday night, I will probably get a chance to post some pictures.
In the mean time, I am following my online card class through my phone by tweeting. I am blogging with my daughter's netbook while in the motel with our wireless internet access. I will be able to check out tomorrow's class in the morning before we set out for the day.
 If you love rubber stamping or card making I highly recommend classes by Jennifer Mcguire at Online Card Classes. She is an amazingly talented artist. The cards and techniques are beautiful, the videos filled with techniques, tips and clear instructions. Well organized website makes it easy to post comments and has a gallery for student's projects. Great clear documents in pdf format and great prizes!
 Things have really come a long way since I was a kid and we thought it was cool to have a new coloring book and box of crayons for a road trip.

Heart Shapes

Today is the second day of the "Inspiration Showcase" online class by Jennifer McGuire. This morning I have been working on cutting out my shapes. Once I cut out the heart shapes it made a big difference. Here's a picture of the hearts for the 1st row of my canvas.
For the second day of class Jennifer has two cards for us that use the kissing stamp resist technique and one card from the guest teacher Nichol Magourik who uses embossed resist on patterned paper. Two videos and 3 excellent cards. We also learn how to make paper flowers using border punches. Even more fun. Who knows, maybe I'll post some more cards later.
Just visited Tim Holtz's blog and he has something EXCITING for us he will be posting tomorrow at 12 noon EST that we won't want to miss. I've set my alarm!

Waiting to Dry

Resist Techniques

Today is the first day of an online class I am signed up for called "Inspiration Showcase" by Jennifer McGuire. I have decided it is just what I needed to get me back to stamping. I am really enjoying the class. I watched the video twice this morning and printed out the pdf that has all the instructions. I also checked out the comments from the other classmates.
Then I had some errands to run, friends to meet and a movie date with my daughters. Of course I had to get a few supplies. After coming home doing some chores around the house I was able to get into the studio for some creative time. I was just getting started good when Kenny started calling me.
My show "The Closer" was coming on in 15 minutes. Summer season finale! I couldn't miss it. Once the show was over it was back to the studio.
Unfortunately I was having some problem with my acrylic paint. It was a little old and not performing as it should. I check and found another unopened bottle of white paint and while it was still a little old worked much better. I was back in business. I finally finished the inking. Now I am waiting for all the pieces to dry. I will still need to cut out the shapes but wanted to go ahead and post. I know I will be redoing the piece with the two hearts but for the most part I am happy with the results.
There is an online gallery and while the other ladies are mostly posting finished cards (which are all gorgeous by the way) I just wanted to concentrate on the techniques today. We were doing 5 different pieces that all use resist techniques, from traditional with VersaMark on glossy paper to paint and even embossing powder. The piece I had the most success with was one that used a kiss technique.
More about the class tomorrow!

I am a big Tim Holtz fan. I love his blog and his products. I recently won one of his new journals from his District Market line and I love it. (thanks tim and mario!) It has a fabric wrapped cover with gorgeous embossed metal corners. It is a spiral notebook and has kraft paper pages. I have great plans to decorate the cover and use it as a handy reference for techniques, ideas and my stash list. I also won 3 of his distress stains and plan on using them inside the journal. You'll probably see a picture of the decorated cover here soon.

Tim will also be one of the guest teachers in the Jennifer McGuire's Inspiration Showcase Class I signed up for yesterday. Of course I heard about it from Tim's blog. I have only taken one online class before but enjoyed it. Usually they are more than my budget can withstand but this one was very reasonably priced, and I have most of the supplies on hand. This class looks like it will be very interactive and fun. Jennifer is also a Hero Arts artist and has her own blog, Jennifer McGuire Ink, so you can check here out there. She does beautiful work. Registration is closed for the class now but Tim will be having a random drawing for 3 spots. Just just post a comment on his blog by Tuesday 9/6 at 12:00PM MST. He is in Holland teaching but when he gets back he'll have the drawing so Good Luck!

Speaking of Tim (again) I was checking out some other blogs and found that there is a weekly challenge called GrungyMondays that I think I may just have to start participating in. It is a Tim Holtz technique challenge that is on the Studio L3 blog. Being a big Tim Holtz fan I really enjoyed looking at all the challenge entries so far to see how other artist are using his techniques and products.  I'm adding the blinkie to the sidebar because it just looks so cool and if you're interested in the challenge you can find it easily. When I post my challenge project, I'll post it here too.

One other blog I found today was Creations By Christie She has a great video where she is making charms with Tim Holtz Fragments and his paper and I love the way she finishes off the backs of her charms. If you have thought about using the fragments to make charms, you'll probably want to check it out.