here's how I got started...

here's how I got started...
a 20 minute podcast by Crazy BeYOUtiful

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

and the winners ARE...

HOLY COW!!!

I had THE BEST DAY reading all the FACEBOOK comments...

501 of them to be exact! 

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

you made me VERY HAPPY!

MANY THANKS to those who clicked 
LIKE on my FACEBOOK PAGE...
MWAH!

here's a little card I made using some of the archivals...
combined with distress...
I can not make anything without distress...

the sentiment says it all for me today...





I used orange blossom archival to stencil the flower...
dried it, then went over the flower with the Perfect Medium pen & added some embossing powder...
this makes the flower a focal point...


I used potting soil archival for the random background stamping...LOVE my new vintage mesh background stamp LOTS...



the flower stem/leaves were stenciled with fern green archival...



watering can archival was PERFECT for stenciling the stripes at the top & bottom of the card...

I also used it to stamp thru the stencil...with a tiny text stamp...




I always save jet black archival  for my main image or sentiment...
you can see that it really stands out...

the flower center was inked with the brushed corduroy distress marker & I used the rusty hinge marker to add the mini hearts...

a few water drops from the detail water brush added another layer of interest to the background...

and you'll also see some inky dots, flicked on with the detail water brush & brushed corduroy distress stain...

very simple...very fun & you can see how well the 5 archivals work together and they perfectly coordinate with distress...




since there were so many comments...

instead of 1 winner...

this 6 pack of fun will be shipped to 2 people...




Rick (aka head of shipping & receiving) scrolled thru the comments and chose these names...

congrats to...

Nonnie Chervenak love them all, but 

especially the
fern green....



and congrats to...


Kate Christopher Yetter Love the colors you 

chose for 

your inks ,so you!



please email me (wbv1213@me.com) with your shipping info & these will be on their way!

this was so much fun that I will do it again when I return...

Ted gave me NEW stamps & NEW stencils to share with friends...

I'll give some away here, on my blog & 
again on my FACEBOOK PAGE...

ok...gotta pack now...

I'm headed to INK ABOUT IT in Westford Mass...

after that...

I come home for about 20 hours (anything to see my hubby & sleep in my own bed!)

then head to THE QUEEN'S Ink, in Savage Maryland
to take 2 full days of classes with my friend Finn...aka Anna Dabrowska...

I CAN NOT WAIT!

to...

make art!
wendy

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

giveaway #2...and more...

yippee!

THANKS SO MUCH for all the AWESOME comments!
this is so much FUN!!

I've had lots of questions about shipping times for new products...
here goes...

my inks and reinkers started shipping last week & I've already heard that many of you have them & LOVE them too...
THANK YOU so much...

so...check your local stores or favorite ON-line stores...

and for my UK friends...
I know that they have already made it over to you...
so...
NO LONG WAIT...I like that!

THANKS RANGER!

now about my new stamps, art parts, stencils & embossing pastes...

Ted told me at CHA that everything is made & shipping started yesterday...
again...
check your local stores or fav ON-line...
they should be arriving very soon!

if you don't see what you need want...just let your stores know what you are looking for...and I bet they'll order for you...

***************

I wanted to share another quickie project using my new inks & tim's new distress glitter...

this time I wanted a really REALLY vintage...
sort of worn off glitter effect...

so...I applied some Glossy Accents randomly over my art parts...
since art parts are kraft colored, I just let the color show thru...


shabby shutters for the flourish on the left...
peeled paint for the flourish on the right...
tumbled glass for the larger flower and
broken china for the smaller flower...




the art parts rectangle frame was stamped with potting soil archival, using my new ornate dots background...
then I inked over the dry archival with brushed corduroy distress ink...



I used fern green to stencil the flourishes you see in the background...


and watering can archival to stamp the A TO Z background...
and also to stamp the art parts word ART, with my reverse polka dot background...
after the archival was dry, I inked over it with broken china on a blending tool...


here's a better look at how pretty the glitter is & how worn off it looks...

I LOVE the kraft colored art parts showing thru...
it contributes to the vintage look...


GIVEAWAY...#2!

I'm giving away another set of my archivals 

to enter, just leave a comment on the FACEBOOK POST & I'll draw a random winner tomorrow morning @ 7am CHICAGO time...

if you would click "LIKE" on my page, that would make me happy!

thanks!




drumroll...

the winner of all 6 of my new archival inks is...

Blogger Sharon Y said...

So excited for you. It was a blast to see you demo the inks in person at my first ever CHA! Loved watching you work with the tree stencil and Tim's new foil border stickers. Thanks so much. Excited about a chance to win your new inks.
July 29, 2013 at 3:22 PM
 Delete



CONGRATS! please send me an email with your address & we'll get these off to you...
(wbv1213@me.com)

that's it for today...
still working on the TO*DO list...

I hope you'll pop over to my FACEBOOK page, click "LIKE"  & enter the giveaway there...

new inks are ...

PERFECT to use

when YOU...

make art!
wendy


Monday, July 29, 2013

CHA was a blast!

I had so much fun at CHA...

after MONTHS of planning...

it's GREAT to finally share new products & new art samples...

it's GREAT to visit with friends...

it's GREAT to spend time with people who "GET" it...
and want to know every juicy detail on how something was created...

A MILLION thanks to everyone who came to watch demos, ask questions, film videos & share the excitement...

this CHA was really extra special for me...
Ranger signature designer...
I'm still pinching myself...

like the title says...it was a BLAST!

I demoed my new archivals in the Ranger booth and at the Stampers Anonymous booth I showed new stamps, stencils, embossing pastes & art parts...
it's a thrill that everything works well together, exactly as planned...

I always wonder which stamp set or art parts package will be THE favorite...

the individual background stamps definitely generated lots of excitement...
I heard loud & clear that you have been waiting for them!  cool!
makes me happy!

******************
I've had so many people ask how my new archival inks got designed...

here's a quickie funny story...

I told the Ranger chemist what colors I wanted, then patiently waited for them to arrive here for approval...

I lied...
(patient is NOT a word in my vocabulary)...

the day the box was delivered, Rick was grinning from ear to ear when he brought it in...

he grabbed a knife & said...

"I can not wait to see your name on the label"...

when he pulled them out, I saw a huge look of disappointment on his face...

as I was walking over to have a look, I was thinking...
OMG...are they ugly?

but here's what I saw...
lol...




and a closer look...

he now calls me...

EXPERIMENTAL!





the inks turned out FABULOUS and I'm 110% pleased with the colors...

we still laugh about the first label...
and I'll keep the "experimental" pads forever...

************

I have a TO*DO list that's a mile long & it needs to be finished before I head off to INK ABOUT IT in Westford, Mass...

but I HAD to take some time yesterday to make a quickie tag, using tim's new distress glitter...

I was wondering how my clearly for art clicker cutts flowers would look covered with the glitter...

I used the clear flowers for this sample, but I want to try the black flowers with just a random sprinkling of vintage photo glitter...or tarnished brass...I NEED more hours in the day!

anyway...

the tag background was created with wild honey, faded jeans & scattered straw distress inks...

I used my new A to Z background stamp with cornflower blue archival...

then stamped over the whole background with water, using my vintage mesh background... 

you'll see that the water reacts with the distress, but the archival is permanent, crisp & clear & unaffected by the water...

I used fern green archival with my new reverse polkadot background to add borders at the top & bottom of the tag...

I like jet black archival for my sentiment...it pops...

the bird was stenciled with cornflower blue archival...

I covered my new art parts stem/leaves with Glossy Accents, then shabby shutters & peeled paint distress glitter...

I tapped Glossy Accents onto the CFA clicker cutts flowers and sprinkled the smaller flower with vintage photo & the larger with rusty hinge distress glitter...

when the Glossy Accents was dry, I heated the flowers to soften the CFA, then shaped them...

I'm LOVING this...

a very strong/sturdy...sugary glittery vintage pretty flower...
and...
another way to alter clearly for art...




this was fun...
I sewed some coordinating embroidery floss thru the holes
 in the mini gear, to accent the flower center...

the photos don't show how pretty the glitter really is...


its...
GIVEAWAY time!

I SCORED some new archival pads to share...




if you would like a chance to win a set of all 6...

just leave a comment ...

simple!

we'll draw the random winner at 7am Chicago time tomorrow...

remember...
archivals are AWESOME when you...

make art!
wendy



Friday, July 19, 2013

from the bottom of my heart...

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!
I am walking around here with a non stop grin...

Rick's happy too...
now he isn't the only one listening to my archival ideas!

it's quite obvious that you are as excited as I am about these "charming"  colors...

just wait 'til you see them in person...
they are even better than the labels show!
trust me...they REALLY ARE!

I just wanted to do a quickie post to get you thinking about the archival possibilities...

take these...


add them over my DRY gold embossing paste ...


and you get these "charming" metallic paste colors...

I wanted to show 2 options...
so these samples were covered with a thin layer of "Glue N Seal" to tone down the shine...


take the same archival colors...

use them over my DRY silver embossing paste ...


and you get these amazing colors...

no Glue N Seal used here...
so there's a bit more shine...



I mentioned that stenciling with these archival is so much fun...

for the sample below I used my new fancy flower stencil, the new outdoor stencil (leaves), the polka dot/stripes stencil, and some new stamps...

with these archival colors...

fern green for the leaves...

cornflower blue for the largest flower...
and for the random background stamping...

potting soil was stamped over the largest flower...

orange blossom for the smaller lower flower...
and a tiny bit of potting soil over the orange blossom for the one in the top right corner...

you can vary the color intensity by adding more or less of the archival inks...


can you see how the colors coordinate and make the jet black archival pop?

add some distress to the edges & to the background to tie it all together...

this was VERY fun!

here's a little closer look...



ok...I'm down to the wire & still have 88 things on the TO*DO list...

have a GREAT weekend & 
A MILLION THANKS AGAIN...

I hope you have some time to...
think about how you'll use these new colors...

(they're made & shipping any day!)

while YOU...

make art!
wendy

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

I HAD to order new business cards...


to include this...

E X C I T I N G
 NEWS!

I'm a
Ranger Signature Designer...

I am thrilled to be associated with Ranger and to be introducing

my designer archival inks...

INKS!
you know I LOVE inks!

there's no long wait!
they are ready & shipping at the end of JULY!

I have LOVED tim's distress inks since the day I opened my first distress pad...
with each new product added to the distress line, my LOVE for vintage & distress grew...
and my style developed...

for a long time I have been wanting archival inks that are deep rich vintage colors, to use alone or to coordinate with the distress line...

archivals are awesome & they are my go-to ink anytime I want my image to be crisp, permanent & waterproof when dry...
this is what makes archival PERFECT for so many techniques...

I LOVE that archivals work on multiple surfaces...
and can be used with all Ranger products...

they are the perfect choice for mixed media art, altering, art journaling, card making & scrapbooking too...

I really LOVE archivals for background stamping...
a lot...

archivals work well on card stock, chipboard, glossy paper, watercolor paper, art parts, wood, grungeboard, fabric and so much more...even on painted surfaces...

they can be used to alter metal too...

adding archivals over my dry metallic embossing pastes, will create a toned down vintage effect. with just 2 metallic paste colors & archival inks...we have LOTS of metallic paste color possibilities...

and my new favorite use for archivals...
stenciling...

stencil first, then add any water based products over the dry archivals...

oh yes...I'll be posting lots of examples...
tips/hints...

this technique is the bomb!

since I LOVE vintage, flowers and gardens, I chose these archival colors & names to reflect a vintage country garden...

I have dreamed of the perfect vintage archival ink palette and the colors I would like to have...

for 
a
VERY 
LONG 
time...

these 6 archivals are my dream come true...
they work well together 
and they perfectly complement the current archival line...

first up...

think of those old galvanized watering cans...
and this is it!

a beautiful grey archival called...

watering can...

since there is no grey in the current archival line...

it was  #1 on my WANT list...
it's PERFECT & can be used with just about any color combo...

I use it for subtle background stamping & then use jet black archival for stamping the main image... 
watering can makes the jet black archival pop...

I discovered a GREAT technique 
using watering can & my embossing pastes...

hello...faux metal art parts!

simple & effective!

I'll be demoing this at CHA and I will share the technique when I return...





fern green...

is awesome...I could go on & on about how I LOVE it, but awesome says it all...

it really is a beautiful green & makes the most perfect LEAVES...

I can't wait to use fern green for some holiday art...





I wanted a vintage red that would work for every holiday
and for every day stamping too...

this red is EXACTLY what I had in mind...
it's named after my most favorite flower...

this is...

red geranium...



potting soil ...

is a really pretty, very vintage, deep dark brown...
it has no red in it at all...

it's perfect for background stamping & works well with jet black...

and it's...
BROWN...

I LOVE
potting soil...




cornflower blue...

is a super gorgeous country blue...

hello...cornflower blue flowers...
background stamping
and more...

cornflower blue 
over my silver metallic embossing paste...
= WOW...


introducing...

orange blossom...

it's another archival that I've been reaching for on so many projects...

it's a beautiful toned down rusty looking color...
combine it with cornflower blue & it's instant MAGIC...

I LOVE orange blossom
added over my gold metallic embossing paste...
then combined with some potting soil...
it's great effect...





I'm thrilled that all 6 of my archivals 

(oh...my archivals...mades me HAPPY to type that!)

can be used on a single project...
they are a perfectly coordinated palette & really look great together...

I've been saying it for a long time...

archivals are AWESOME...

I have lots more to say...
but I don't want to get too sappy...
so I'll keep it to this...

HUGE thanks to Alain, Justin & Tim for your support, guidance & friendship...

I'm honored to be a part of the Ranger team...

you can read ALL about the new Ranger products 
on the Ranger blog...


now about that new business card...

here's the front...


 I used my studio 490 stamp for the back...


I said this in class one day then later thought...
hmmm...that NEEDS to be a stamp...

the stamp was perfect for my business card...
and pretty much sums up the last 6 years...

it's been awesome...

I LOVE to...

make art!
wendy
ps...with my brand new designer archival inks!