Tuesday Created byhand Sprays & Spritzes Challenge

Here is my contribution to this week's Challenge! Unfortunately you can't see the "glitz" from the Iridescent Medium in the scan! Here are the supplies I used to make it:

• Glossy White Cardstock


• Ecoline Inks, Carmine #318 and Turquoise Blue #522


• Ranger Mini Misters


• Windsor & Newton Iridescent Medium


• Shortie Pipettes


• Heat Gun


• Flourishes (larger) Rubber Stamp


• Brilliance Dew Drop Pearlescent Sky Blue


• I Shut My Eyes Rubber Stamp


• Brilliance Dew Drop Mediterranean Blue

For Complete instructions, please visit the Project Page on my website! Happy creating!

Tuesday Created byhand Tyvek Challenge

At last! Here is my Tyvek challenge. Don't ask why it took so long....
For this 4x4, I wet a piece of Tyvek with water, then dropped Magic Color Acrylic Ink (Golden Sand, Earth Brown and Magenta) onto the surface and moved it around with a brush. You can blot some of it up with a paper towel and add more if you don't like it. I let it dry and added some more colour as there wasn't enough "drama" in the background and the fibers in the tyvek weren't showing.

I stamped a wing onto Tyvek with StazOn Ink, coloured the wing with Tattered Rose Stamp pad and allowed it to dry. I held the wing with tweezers and used my Heat Gun to melt the wing slightly till it curled. The angel can be found in my December 2007 byhand Newsletter as a free collage image.

I stamped the Flourish (smaller) onto the Tyvek with Brilliance Coffee Bean as a base for the collage image and stamped more Flourishes as a border using Brilliance Cosmic Copper.

The collage image and wing are glued to the background Tyvek with Aleene's Tacky Glue and the piece is double-sided taped onto a Black Cardstock 4x4 card. Three star brads were added.

An InLinkz Link-up

Birthday Card Creation

Well, I hope she's not peeking, because I don't think the card has arrived yet.... But it's been sitting here on my hard drive and if I don't post it, I'll forget about it! Just like Pooh Bear, I'm an artist of very little brain!

This was very hard to photograph. It's using the same technique as in the Foiled Christmas Tree Project on my website, with double sided tape, transfer foil and Jones Tones Plexi Glue (go to the Project to get all the links and instructions). The lettering was done with an EF66 nib and Schmincke Tro-Col Rich Gold Gouache.

I sure hope she likes it!

A Difficult Job

Well, this shouldn't have been difficult..... But it was epic. I just couldn't find anything that I needed to make this album. Nothing was at my fingertips and I didn't have a clue where other things were. The poor client must think I'm an idiot! Before I moved, this would have taken me a couple of days. It took me a couple of months....

I am pleased with the results, I hope she is!

Tuesday Created byhand Alphabet Stamp Challenge

Well, I tried to do something "fresh" for this challenge! But I'm still having a lot of trouble finding all my supplies. Things that I used to be able to put my fingers on without looking, I can't find!!

For this card, I stamped on glossy cardstock using Brilliance Gold ink and the Dotted Harlequin background. Once that was dry, I smeared (ahem, Direct-to-Paper application) Memories Sand ink over the background stamp. I wiped away any excess ink with a kleenex. When that was dry, I inked up the Italic Letters with the Brilliance Coffee Bean pad and stamped the letters. (I also used Brilliance Coffee Bean for the clock face - Magenta) The final addition was the Alphabet Brads and Earthy Square buttons. The brad prongs with a little stretching will go through the holes in the buttons and through the cardstock. Cool, eh?

Just an Idea

I actually did this last year and just came on it again. I thought it might provide some amusement....

I cut the tree out of green cardstock and intermittantly scattered Eyelet Washers. I think I used the souffle pens to colour inside the washer. Then I filled the washer with 3D Crystal Lacquer (which holds the washer in place, too) creating a shiny filled Christmas "decoration" on the tree.

Just something else to fill your time with!!

Happy Holidays, Suzanne

Tuesday Created byhand Collage Image Challenge

Well, I've got lots of collage images so I shouldn't have had too much trouble with this!

I used a test background from the nine ladies dancing using alcohol inks and the Dotted Harlequin Background, plus the little girl from the Winged Things collage sheet. I added the ghost wings, a clipiola halo, a star brad and a aluminum sticker coloured with alcohol inks. I needed a cloud and oh, look! I actually found some wool roving I had for felting. I can't find a million other things I need to create since we moved, but hey, I can find that roving....

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree....

The 12 Days of Christmas Fat Book Swap by the byhandartists drove me crazy as I was working on it. The carol was going non-stop on my mental turntable whenever I looked at it! Boy, am I glad that's done! I guess you can guess which day I did....

This artwork is also my contribution to the Tuesday Created byhand Challenge! which is Burgundy and Vintage browns. Ahem, nothing like sneaking it in just before the new one is due! I used alcohol inks, mostly Cranberry and Butterscotch, but a bit of Red Pepper and Violet or Purple (can't recall at the moment). You can't go wrong with Alcohol Inks!

Not Slacking Off!

Just to show you I haven't been slacking off.... Here is this year's version of a job I did last year. It's for the Recycle Council of Ontario. They have annual awards for a variety of judged categories. I love the name Dog Bite Steel! so that's the certificate you get to see! I thought the fibred paper looked like something that might be recycled.... My husband works hard in the paper industry to prevent paper that looks like this..... vbg!

The lettering was done and scanned in so the names could be added quickly in type. It was an overnight job. Names in one day, certificates out the next! I'm still working on a few stragglers.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Tuesday Created Byhand Tag Challenge

I confess. This is a tag I did a while ago!

These are the Gang Tags, 4 tags attached, which I can fold into an accordion. I used Distress Inks on the background and a selection on my own rubber! The cotton twill was hand dyed with Procion Dyes and stamped. One of my dead nibs became an embellishment! Oh, and I cut the shape of the first tag on the left into a facial profile. I had fun!

Tuesday Created Byhand Eyelet Challenge

Here is my contribution as a 4x4!!

Everything is from Quietfire Design:

Deer charm

Gold eyelets

Black cardstock

Take the challenge:

http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com

New Created Byhand Challenge

A huge thanks to Kelly Burton for setting up a challenge site for me!

On Tuesdays we will post the challenge of the week using a Quietfire byhand Product! Make sure you join us!


All the information can be found here:
http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/

Wings Challenge

Well, who can resist wings? I haven't grown out of them yet! This guy is from the collage images, Suzanne's Favourites.

Yay, Kelly for starting a weekly theme challenge. Can we do wings every week? vbg, Suzanne

An exciting time!

I'm really excited!

Quietfire Design has a Design Team! If you haven't met them already, I'd like you to meet Deborah, Monica, Wanda and Kelly.

They are very busy creating away, making wonderful things for you to see and make with Quietfire Design products.

We have a very small Yahoo group, so we're always in contact and can bounce ideas around. I get tired just "listening" to them! They have great ideas and are very diverse in styles. And, they're doing a wonderful job exciting me about being creative.


If you haven't visited the webpage yet, you can see them all here and see their galleries. There will be lots more to come!

Thanks so much ladies, for making this such a fun experience!

The New Workshop

Over the weekend I was teaching in Victoria and on Sunday, it was the new workshop, Caught in Canvas.
After teaching years of altered books, I picked up a canvas one day and turned it over and my brain, which is always looking for the fast effective way of doing things (!) screamed "here is a premade niche!!!!". So the book was created and very appropriately named by Monica, from the Quietfire Design Team.

For the workshop, we use a 6" square canvas, held together with leather straps using a split strap binding. Add a bit of paint, collage, 3D elements and hardware et voila!

Here is the outside of the book, opened. It stands up really nicely! And here is the inside front...

The niche doesn't show up well, but there is a Prayer Box hanging and a bottle filled with watch bits near the bottom. On the right, I used a stencil, put Duo Embellishing Adhesive on it, then used Varigated Leaf in blues and gold. I'm going to have to do more of that!

Vickie Enkoff

I was heartbroken last week to hear of the passing of Vickie Enkoff. I never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but I did meet her lovely and talented daughters in Vancouver several years ago.

Vickie was, without doubt, a wonderful person. She encouraged many of us in so many ways. Although she suffered from debilitating illnesses, you would not have known that unless she told you. Vickie accomplished so much and interacted with so many other artists in the online communities, you never knew where she would pop up!

It was Vickie who pressed my rubber stamp line for years (okay, Jennifer, it was probably you doing the physical work! Thanks!) and really encouraged me to continue. It was Vickie who placed the first order when I set up my PayPal shopping cart and needed someone to test drive it.

I will miss hearing her "voice" online. We've lost one of this world's lovely people.

It was my honour to have been able to know her.

Advertising Challenge

I just don't come equiped for this kind of challenge! I am self-taught in Photoshop and Coreldraw - 'cause there just isn't any courses available to me. So it struck fear into my heart when I had to make up a 4 colour ad for a magazine! Not only is it a design challenge, it's a technical challenge, too. By 2 a.m. last night, I had it done and was sure that it would be no good and I'd have to go back to the drawing board (technically, that is). I was so relieved to hear my 10mb file made it to its destination and looks okay for print! It'll be a few months before we know for sure, but you can preview it here. Let's hope lots of people see it and come visit my website! And maybe even place an order..... Smiles, Suzanne

Quietfire Design's new home....

Yes, we're really moving - in 4 weeks we take possession of this BIG, beautiful home in a fabulous neighbourhood in Courtenay BC! I can hardly wait! I can't believe we're going to own this beauty. I keep having to pinch myself!

There is loads of room for the family and the business..... at least there should be loads of room! On a clear day we can see the mainland mountains.

They call this a rancher.... um, but it has 2 floors...

Yippee!

Ecoline Liquid Watercolours

Thomas Hoyer, one of the instructors at Island Magic, asked me if I'd get in the Ecoline Dyes. I had quite a hard time finding them, but managed to order in most of the colours. They'll be here next week (I hope!) - hurry little truck, hurry!

Not knowing much about them, I Googled Ecoline and came across the blog of Stamping Matilda who had used the product for a background with very wonderful results!

Later the same day I was browsing through the recent issue of Rubber Stamp Madness - I advertise with them - and there was an article on blogs. Low and behold, there is Stamping Matilda again. What a coincidence! I guess I was destined to start a blog and have Ecolines!

Hopefully I can show some of Thomas' creations. I'll probably get to see his before I get to create with them myself....

Wow, a new experience!

I love new challenges! Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time right now to explore all blogging has to offer.

I've just accepted a job creating 70 custom photo albums. The timing couldn't be worse as I prepare to create an art store for a week to service 300+ calligraphers at the International Calligraphy Conference. I will be conscripting les enfants - or at least one of them to help. Eeek!

Perhaps blogging can be my fun time. It was really Kelly Burton's fabulous blog that pushed me over the edge. She does such wonderful stuff, I must put a link to her blog..... just as soon as I figure out how to do it!

No pictures today, I'm afraid..... Okay, I did it. My first blog entry!
See ya soon, I hope!!