and I made this...

long time no blog...

sorry...

we've been busy...

I've making LOTS of custom epoxy memo pins & charm clips for upcoming classes...

with Glossy Accents & Wonder Tape...

if you have my book #3, where I have detailed info on how to make them...

here's an update...

I found that by adding a strip of Wonder Tape under the gluestick line, it holds the pins & clips in place & makes it much easier...

no more wiggling...

and the Wonder Tape, Glossy Accents & glue stick

wash right off the craft sheet...

like MAGIC!

and we shipped 664 + inks to

The Scrapbook Page in Shawnee, Kansas

for my most favorite class that I teach...

Ranger Inks...studio 490 style...

yep...

108 archival inks

156 tim's new distress stains...(still NEED the other 24 colors)

180 distress inks...

140 alcohol inks...

and 80 adirondack pigments...

oh...and tim's color washes too...

I forgot how many of those guys we sent...

thank goodness we have the Ranger craft scrubbies

for the end of the day hand cleanup...

after 6 hours of inking & "making art"...

I have a *feeling* we'll be needing them...

then add in kits & other supplies...

for a total of 250 pounds of art supplies...

should be a very fun weekend...

and...

we've been busy making kits with my art parts...

LOTS of art parts...

and...

I did a *top secret* project especially for____???

stay tuned...

that's coming on April 19th...

which reminds me...

I still need to do the write up & send them photos...

added to the to*do list...

yikes...can't forget...

now for the blog title...

when I went to Carson, Ca for the convention a few weeks ago,

I wanted a new spring-ish piece for my demo table...

so I made the art parts spool that you see @ the top of the post...

I used a combo of grungeboard, grungepaper, art parts, clearly for art...

and lots of my stamps...

below are paper flowers...

here's how they were made...

I used Ranger's new Glue N Seal...

to add a vintage dictionary page to a sheet of Clearly for Art...

I used a brayer to make sure it was well adhered...

lightly dried it with the heat tool...

then stamped my flowers with jet black archival...

cut them out...

then...

here's a cool discovery & another reason

why I LOVE tim's new distress stains...

when I used the stains to ink the flowers...

because the inks are more fluid,

the color saturated the dictionary page & now the backs of the flowers are perfectly colored too...

if I would have applied the distress ink with the blending tool...

the color would not have gone all the way thru the paper...

I would have needed to add alcohol ink to the back of the flowers to color...

but because I used the stain...

it was a simple ONE step QUICK/EASY coloring process...

by using the Clearly for Art under the paper, you end up with a thin flower that looks like vintage paper...

but it's very strong & durable!

both flowers & all the leaves were done with the stains...

here's a look @ the base...

I used the 3 1/2 inch square art parts frame base under the spool for a little different look...

it's stamped with one of my stamps...

the plaid...

evidence of art was a good fit...

when I use the queen face stamps on grungeboard...

I always stamp an extra crown on a grungeboard & glue it over the original to add more texture/dimension...

the funky flower is an older stamp too...

and I still like it lots, especially stamped on grungeboard...

the centers are the cut outs from the spool & they are stamped with the medicine label stamp...

the photo below shows how the peel paint distress stain

went thru the paper & colored the back of the leaves...

the larger flower is weathered wood distress stain with walnut distress ink, applied with the blending tool to add shading...

the smaller is just plain weathered wood stain...

if you look @ the base again...

you can barely see a little something sticking out on the right side...

I forgot a photo, but I used tim's new alpha parts to put my name on the back of the spool...

that little black thingy is the end of the Y...

we'll be making a similar art parts project this weekend...

now about that *top secret* project...

here's a little HINT...

2 peas in a bucket is expanding their stamping section & they are having a special event...

it's called...

30 days of stamping...

you can see it here...

and see tim's post too...

and I'll see you there on the 19th!

hmmm...

guess that was a pretty big hint...

the beans were spilled...

but not the project...

it's brand new...

unseen by human eyes...

ok...Rick did see it...

and it uses LOTS of stamps...

now I'm headed to the studio to...

make art!

wendy