and the winner is...

this bundle of goodness is going to...

 Lynn Hardy said...

The Violet is such a pretty shade.

April 28, 2015 at 8:47 PM

 

CONGRATS Lynn...

please email me your shipping info & Rick will get these off to you!

psst...

be watching my FACEBOOK PAGE...

I have another set of the 3 new archival inks and the coordinating embossing powders...

today...

to enter, just leave a comment on 

the FACEBOOK post...

THANKS RANGER for your

generosity...

I LOVE giveaways!

new inks and new embossing powders...

just what we need to 

make art!

wendy

G I V E A W A Y time!

I'm back from an A W E S O M E weekend

at Adventures in Stamping, which was held in Akron, Ohio...

THANKS SO MUCH 

to all the lovely ladies who spent the weekend with me!

what a blast to share & talk about inks & stamping...

it's so cool to return each year & 

to see friends again...

when I got home,

 I had a box waiting for me from Ranger...

it contained these NEW archival inks and the coordinating embossing powders...

and guess what?

thanks to their generosity...

I have a set to give away here...

just tell me which is 

YOUR favorite 

of these 3 new colors...

is it pink peony?

or

maybe violet?

or is it tiger lily?

it's simple to enter...

just leave a comment...

Rick will choose a random winner,

who will get all 3 of the new archival inks and

 the 3 embossing powders too...

I'll also be doing the same GIVEAWAY

(all 3 inks & 3 embossing powders)

 on my FACEBOOK PAGE 

sometime this week...

so be watching...

you can sign up to follow me 

so you don't miss it...

now it's time to unpack &

make art!

wendy

even more Q & A's...

it seems like every time I do a Q & A post, the questions start coming again...

keep in mind that if there isn't an email associated with your blog comment, I can't answer...

so those questions get put in a file until I do another Q & A post...

if you need a quick answer, email is best...

here's more Q's...

#1...On your recommendationI bought jet black. it fits my needs well. thanks. I'll see you in Akron on Saturday & I'm hoping you won't be bombarded with people. I'd like you to have time to help me  and suggest 6 colors of your archival that go together and I could use them a lot.  I'd like them all, but I need to start with 6 inks and maybe 3-4 embossing powders.

ok...this is a very common question that I get mostly at conventions...

so...here's how I tell people to approach it...

I'll put an * by the ones that have a coordinating embossing powder...

that might be helpful when deciding on your colors...

there are 2 greens...choose 1...

leaf green 

*fern green

there are 2 reds...choose 1... 

carnation red 

 *red geranium

there are 3 blues...choose 1...

*cornflower blue

forget-me-not

*sky blue

there are 2 yellows...choose 1...

*buttercup

dandelion

here's the neutrals...choose 1...

hydrangea

*watering can

*tree branch

potting soil

choose your favorite one from this group...

*pink peony...NEW

*lilac...NEW

*tiger lily...NEW

*orange blossom

*tea rose

the green is great for leaves/flowers & Christmas, as is the red choice...

 starting with 6 gives you lots of color combos to choose from for all year round...

once you choose your colors, the coordinating embossing powders will be easy...

or maybe they will help you choose the ink colors

happy shopping!
see you Saturday!

#2. I enjoyed & learned a ton from your post about the different inks. I have referenced it multiple times. You said that distress inks keep their original color when wet. When I clean my craft sheet with a paper towel and water, I see unique colors that are definitely not distress colors. Any idea why?

ok...here's my thought on this...

REMEMBER...

I'm not a chemist, but I'm thinking that paper towels must have some chemical or maybe bleach in them that interacts with the inks & changes the color...

 again...just my guess...

adding water to distress 

(or any water based product) 

to your art will not alter the distress ink colors...

they stay true...

#3. what a great tag. where did you find the ticking stamp?

this was a question about an old post...

all the way back to 2010...

the ticking background stamp is on this set...

LCS040 titled art fit for a queen...

your local store or fav on-line store can order any older sets for you...just ask!

which reminds me...

did you know that

the Stampers Anonymous web site has had a MAJOR re*do?

it's a great resource for hunting down older stamps...
the search feature is really nice now!

since our stamps are made in Cleveland, 
Ted & his crew can make us any of the oldies...
they never need to be discontinued...

#4. I'm hoping that you'll come up with paints to match your ink colors. PLEASE???

And I hope you'll keep the beautiful archival colors coming!

sorry...no plans for paints...

more archival inks?

I AGREE!

YES PLEASE!

never enough inks!

#5. I wanted to say thanks for getting us 
Glue & Seal back. 
Combined with your clearly for art 
and newsprint I've found my mojo again.
Do you use the clear more than the black & white with newsprint?

COOL!!! that make me HAPPY!
I think I do use the clear more with newsprint, but the black or white will work the exact same, if that's what you have...

the white clearly for art is
really awesome with alcohol inks...

the blackout is awesome with 
the silver or gold metallic embossing pastes...
the translucent paste is cool too...

here's an example of the difference between using newsprint & vintage dictionary text on clearly for art...

here's the coneflower SiSi
with the vintage dictionary page...
and the cute mat mini flower pot...

same coneflower with my plain newsprint...

I like that the polka dots I stamped

 don't get lost in the text...

#6. My friend said you showed a tip to keep glossy accents from plugging up. 

I have had EXCELLENT results using 

the new fine tip applicator...

I'm using it on the mini glossy accents bottles and on the mini multi medium bottles too...

I've been using them since I got them...

maybe a month or 6 weeks ago?

just pull the tip off & toss it & add the fine tip applicator...

LOVE LOVE LOVE...

NO CLOGS!

LOVE LOVE LOVE...

LOVE LOVE LOVE...

LOVE LOVE LOVE...

LOVE LOVE LOVE...

that's it for today...

time to pack demo stuff & sandals for 

the Adventures in Stamping convention 

this weekend in Akron, Ohio...

click the colored link to get the show scoop...

hours, location etc...

hope to see you there!

if you're coming, 

TELL ME that you're a BLOG FRIEND
& 

I'll have a little something for YOU!

our Stampers Anonymous booth will be 

LOADED with tons of COOL SUPPLIES to...

make art!

wendy
ps...NEW inks & embossing powders start shipping this coming MONDAY!
CAN  NOT  WAIT!

more Q & A's...

hello & HAPPY weekend!

finally...

it's a bright beautiful sunny day here!

I have a few Q & A's to catch up on, 

so let's get started...

#1.  Yes, 9 embossing powder colors are grand...but when do we get the original 6 colors?!? :) 

hmmm...so happy you want more!

 I do too!

hey...we just got 3 new ones!

did I answer your question?

oopsie!

#2. What a great idea! Your jeans look fantastic! This might be a dumb question, but, was it Tim's round pouncer thing you used to apply the ink through the stencil? 

yes! I like the round mini blending tool best for stenciling...since it's smaller, it doesn't block your whole field of vision...this is especially helpful when stenciling small areas...

I use the round almost 100% of the time for stenciling...

and the original for creating blended backgrounds...

if stenciling or stamping on clothing, make sure you use archival ink, since it's a permanent ink...

#3. Ok, so I bought the round tool, what can I do with the old rectangle ones? Any ideas?

I don't want to toss them...

I still use the rectangle blending tool all the time...it covers large areas quickly...

the mini takes much longer...

I think both are very useful...

and both have a purpose...

NEVER toss out a blending tool!

the art cops will get you!

#4. One question, Wendy. 

What the Hades did you do with your creative mind all those years you were a surgical nurse??! What was your outlet?? Ok, that's two questions actually...

somedays I think back & wonder how I survived without making art...

SERIOUSLY...

if several days go by,

I get crabby if I can't make something!

I feel like a big part of me is missing...

crabby? poor Rick...

because I was the nurse manager 

& "on call" 24/7, 

I had to sneak in small amounts of time to play...

and do things that I could drop in a second...

I did the cross stitch thing...

it was ok, but it didn't thrill me...

I did the crocheting thing...

again, fun, but I could live without it...

I did the pen/ink sketching thing...

eh...

when I discovered stamping, 

actually it was heat embossing, 

I knew immediately THAT

 was for me & it was

exactly what I was looking for...

so, I'd sneak in 15 minutes here & there...

to keep me relatively sane!

ps...

surgery is actually very creative, 

but in a whole different way...

#5. I got the new clear empty jars for storing embossing powders I mix  & I'd like to ask how you're marking them to identify them. Will Ranger post labels?

thanks for that question...

I forgot to mention this in previous posts...

you can add a sample of the actual embossing powder to the top of the fillable jars lid...

tap archival ink, in the coordinating color, 

onto the top of the lid, 

sprinkle on the powder &

 heat to melt the powder...

***make sure to use archival ink***

embossing ink or distress ink will not hold the powder securely to the lid...

***make sure to use archival ink***

here's the sky blue embossing powder lid and below that is my custom brick embossing powder mix...

super easy to spot the one you need...

the lids are pretty heavy plastic, so they work well & can be embossed without melting...

the jars are a great price & I really like them for storage of small things like mini die cuts, new mini star fasteners etc...

here's how to create

 the custom brick embossing powder mix...

one scoop of 

orange blossom embossing powder...

one scoop of 

red geranium...

2 scoops of 

frosted crystal embossing powder 

and then mix in a small amount of 

watering can embossing powder...

you can vary how much red geranium & orange blossom you use...

so it's easy to customize it to the color you like...

it can be more orange-ish or more red-ish and you can darken it with a little more watering can...

keep in mind that you can mix 

frosted crystal embossing powder in equal amounts with colored embossing powder to create a more matte/textured finish...

and you get yummy frosted colors...

#6...I see that you covered tim's clock with embossing powders. My question is how many jars did that take for a large piece?

I want to do that.

I was actually quite surprised...

after I finished the clock & returned the powder to the jar, I'd say I used only about 1/10 of the jar...

yes...it was still almost full...

I actually thought it would take lots more...

there must be 10 billion little powder bits in those jars...

go for it!

I found a photo of mine...

and since we're talking about embossing powders, here's some examples of the many surfaces you can use them on...

here's violet on 

wood

magic mat board

and art parts...

here's pink peony on

clearly for art 

metal and

glass...

and here's tiger lily on 

Ranger's texture paste...

it works on my embossing pastes too...

used with a stencil

and over the mat mini vase...

REMEMBER...

if it can take the heat...

YOU CAN emboss it!

here's a quickie little art...

and another way to use the new tree stamp...

when you put the tree in a mat mini flower pot & cover up the tree trunk,

it looks like a plant...

I LOVE the mini butterfly die...

I cut it from black magic mat board...

it has about 3 layers of embossing powder on it, because I couldn't make up my mind what color I wanted...

duh@!

remnant rubs work well over embossing powders...

in case you were wondering...

I'm addicted to the

 faux graniteware technique...

LOVE it with orange blossom on 

the black mat mini flower pot...

those mini punched embossing powder flowers are the new violet embossing powder...

that's it for today...

I don't want to be crabby, 

so I think I'll go

make art!

wendy

stenciled jeans...

WARNING...

this blog post may cause 

an ADDICTION...

seriously my friends...

this is a 5 minute transformation...

I bought these jeans because I thought those 2 blank rectangles were screaming to be stamped or stenciled...

I  grabbed jet black archival ink...

because...

archival inks are permanent when dry,

 so these jeans can be washed 

with no problem...

I had a hard time deciding

 which stencil to use...

I felt that with the design already on the jeans, it needed to be a more graphic pattern...

the hardest part of this little project was deciding which stencil to use...

checkmate?

add a stencil?

polka dotty?

or...

the alphabets?

here's the area on the left leg...

and now it's stenciled...

the alphabets won...

here's the blank canvas on the right leg...

and stenciled with jet black, using 

the large portion of 

the alphabet stencil...

I have this art "thing" about 3...

I'm sure you understand...

so the cuff looked like a perfect spot to add stenciled area #3...

since this area was smaller...

 I used the smaller section

 of the same alphabet stencil...

exactly what I wanted...

I thought about that bad 4 letter word...

IRON...

but I decided to blast the stenciled areas with the embossing gun to make sure the ink was 100% dry...

quick & E A S Y...

seriously this took me 5 full minutes!

Rick just snapped this...

remember the WARNING at the top of the post?

this is like the faux graniteware technique...

I REALLY

WANT to do more...

I just opened my closet & 

spied the cuffs on some jeans...

they're blank...

I am seriously thinking of stenciling polka dots or the checkmate just on the cuffs...

or maybe I'll use

 the ornate dots overlay stencil?

or maybe add a row of small hearts?

something subtle...

but they'll be customized & unique...

more ideas...

sew patches onto plain jeans, 

then stencil them...

I think adding some stitching with the stenciling would be cool...

but I've got a million things on the TO*DO list...

maybe some day...

have a spot on something?

it's most likely ink in this household...

just stencil or stamp right over it!

make sure to use archival ink, so that the stamping/stenciling is permanent...

THANKS SO MUCH

 for the awesome comments/emails

 about my 3 new archival inks...

and embossing powders...

I got to show them to the ladies 

at my class on Saturday...

they liked them too!

they begin shipping the week of April 27th

 from Ranger, in New Jersey...

so they will be available SOON!

your local stores can order them...

just let them know what you would like...

the colored links will transport you to online shopping...

I hope you'll try stenciling on your jeans...

it's really super simple & fun...

and it's another way to...

make art!

wendy