the countdown begins!

happy weekend my friends!

just a quick post to let you know that my new stamps, SiSis and _______

will be announced 

next Friday, September 4th!

I've been having so much fun making samples with these new goodies...

I'm currently working on kits 
for my class at the Collins event...

I've got 40 to get done...

and

50 make & take kits to make too...

I've been sharing tiny peeks of samples over at Instagram, if you'd like to follow me there...

just search my name...

I'm liking Instagram a lot...

it's quick & easy to post,
with no limit on the number of words allowed...

try it out!

search Instagram on Google...
or download the app from the App store...

here's the direct link to me...

https://instagram.com/wendyvecchi/

blogger is giving me fits about posting photos...
A G A I N...

so I'll post my peek over there...

have a GREAT weekend & take time to...

make art!
wendy

looks like I ran out of time...

so no tutorial is ready...

I'm headed to California for the weekend & I spent several frantic days making samples for the new flyer & package insert using my new stamps, SiSi's and new mat minis...

I'm expecting these guys to be ready to ship in September, but I don't have an exact date...

stay tuned...

just as soon as Ted gives me the date, I'll post it here & show you everything...

there are 3 new stamp sets, 

3 new Stamp-it Stencil-its,

2 background stamps

and 2 mat minis...

what makes me super excited is that they all mix & match to make LOTS of cool combinations...

until then...

here's a few tiny peeks...

yes...I DO love flowers and I also LOVE to...

make art!

wendy

postponed...

UGGGGGGG...

my project is done...
photos are edited...

BUT...

Blogger is not allowing me to add photos to my blog post AGAIN...

I've rebooted several times over the last hour...and deleted the history, which has worked with this issue in the past...

SORRY for the delay...
it's A N N O Y I N G!

I'll be back when Blogger cooperates...

on a good note...

"OUT FOR DELIVERY" means that NEW stamps are arriving T O D A Y!!! 

it's a GREAT way to start the week!

I LOVE NEW stamps to...

make art!
wendy
ps...you'll find me sitting on the drive waiting for my fav UPS guy to arrive with the box of FRESH rubber!

in LOVE with...DIY archival pads...

I like products with multiple uses...

if you have archival reinkers...

you know they are for reinking your pads...

that's pretty obvious...

use #2...

use them with rubbing alcohol for awesome arty backgrounds...

I've done many posts about this technique...

it's a fun one with really great results...

if you need a technique refresher, 

here's a video from CHA...

compliments of Scrap-Time...

use #3...

reinkers are really good for 

tinting embossing paste, 

to create custom colors...

reinkers add very little fluid volume, 

so they don't change the consistency of the pastes...

now we have use #4...

custom archival ink pads...

oh yes! 

seriously...

IN LOVE...

here's the first custom pad I made...

you'll see a small stripe of 

the potting soil reinker 

toward the far left...

then some tree branch reinker...

the next is the fern green reinker... 

and on the far right 

is the lighter/brighter

 leaf green reinker...

I had this tree stamp in mind to use 

& it's so easy & adorable...

here's my scrap piece, that I used for the test...

I LOVE the progressive variation in the colors...

blending from one to the next...

I'm sure I'll be using this pad a lot, 

since I use lots of leaves in my projects...

using this pad will be an easy way to add shading/variation to leaves & stamped images...

here's the second pad I made...

I used only 2 colors of reinkers on this one...

to the left is watering can...

and the other half is tree branch...

it's a gorgeous combo!

I also used a third pad & 

added plain old rubbing alcohol...

it may evaporate rather quickly, 

but it's a cheap & easy fix 

to add more alcohol, 

to reactivate it...

I'm anxious to see how long it lasts...

do you want to see how I used that alcohol pad?

I guess you'll have to come back on Monday...

I'll have a tutorial then, 

showing a fun background technique...

have some 

specialty stamping paper 

ready to go...

it works very well......

hmmm...

what other color combos should I try?

red geranium, tiger lily, dandelion?

some blues?

with violet?

or hydrangea?

orange blossom, tiger lily, buttercup?

orange blossom & tea rose?

forget-me-not with leaf green?

so many color possibilities!...

thinking...

thinking...

thinking...

I'll see you on Monday 

with a new technique to use 

when YOU...

make art!

wendy

WAIT...

here's a sale code to use at Funkie Junkie...

when you checkout, just enter 

gettoknowus

for an extra 10% off the prices!

it's good 'til August 31...

congrats to Linda on acquiring eclecticPaperie!

Kim...enjoy your free time!

we fell in LOVE...

with England!

we had an amazing trip with 25 art friends (plus Rick, Jim & myself) on our tour...

THANKS to JIM WEST for a wonderful time!

Jim arranged for lovely very comfy hotel rooms for our workshops...
for this one, we created an 8 inch square canvas using fragments, correspondence papers, remnant rubs, custom flair buttons, & found treasures, that they collected...

here's the sample I made before we went, to give them a starting point & to share my idea...

comfy beautiful classroom...

in this class we created an art parts etched journal to remember our trip...

each guest got a 2 part custom Union Jack stencil to use on their covers...

and another custom stencil with the places we visited & some words that fit our trip...

we used both archival and mini distress inks...

and each customized & personalized their covers...

this is mine...

here's some classroom photos, that Rick took...

this was one of my fav pages...

I die cut tim's Sixxiz tea cup & saucer from black magic mat board & we used 

the faux graniteware technique...

perfect for a visit to England...

the flowers were abundant & so beautiful...

around every corner there were more to see...

apparently, THE QUEEN loves red geraniums too!

she didn't invite us in for tea...

oh well...her loss! haha!

favorite places?
Rick & I both agree we fell in love with Bath & Burton on the Water...
I'd buy a home in either place in a heartbeat!

fabulous scenery...
both are cute quaint towns...

I'll swipe some photos from him & show them another day...

our London class was another highlight of the trip...
I got to meet 40 arty UK friends & spend the day with them...
SO FUN!

I need to find some photos from that class, but I found some links that I think you might like that share the day and our project...

check out...

Brenda Brown's blog post...
I think you'll recognize some faces...

and...

this is Jane's blog post...

Jane too has lots of photos of folks I bet you know!

***EDIT***
 I just got this link from Sarah and Sue...
here's their blog post...
it has more photos...

I find it amazing that art can change 
complete strangers into friends!

ok...

gotta run...
got a long list to accomplish...

the next trip will involve kleenex...
LOTS of kleenex...

we're headed to Iowa to my niece's wedding...
which explains the dress shopping a few weeks ago...

what an adorable couple!

so that's it...

we went to England to...

make art!
wendy
ps...I missed YOU!