take 10 on tuesday for...

some..."perfect" stamping...

That's what I'm calling this technique, because Ranger's Perfect Pearls are the key ingredient.

This is a take off of tim's "wrinkle free distress" technique.
One of the MANY I got to learn @ Ranger U.

You may remember this post, where I HAD to get up @ 2am to try an idea...
I couldn't wait to see if it would work.

By adding just one more step...to the above post
you get another look...

Here's the supplies you'll need to play along...

*manilla tag
*Inkssentials non stick craft sheet
*heat it tool
*mini mister with water
*distress inks…faded jeans, black soot, walnut
*blending tool with foam pad
*sunflower sparkle Perfect Pearls
*gold paint dabber

* the background stamp is from the studio 490 set “forever art”

READY... SET...

Let's make art...

* Working on the craft sheet, ink the entire tag using faded jeans distress ink & the blending tool. Always work from the craft sheet, onto the tag in a circular motion to get perfectly blended backgrounds.

*It should look like this...





*Take an empty Mini Mister, dip the tip of a craft stick into the sunflower sparkle Perfect Pearls to pick up a small amount of powder.

*Drop the PP into the Mini Mister & add water up the last “R” in Ranger.
Shake to mix. Now you have a shimmer mist.

*Swipe the walnut distress ink pad and the black soot pad onto the craft sheet & mist with enough Perfect Pearls/water mixture to create beads of ink.
The inky area should be larger than the background stamp and should look like this...




* Using the background stamp, stamp into the mixture & then stamp onto the tag.
Repeat until the tag is covered with the background stamp.

*Dry with the heat it tool.

* Here's the result...you may want to click for a larger photo.
It's much cooler in person...
I had a hard time getting a decent photo, because of the shimmer.



* I hope you can see that the Perfect Pearls are only where the stamping is. So, instead of misting the whole tag with Perfect Pearls, you can control exactly where the pearls are placed.

* I like it!

*Another plus...once mixed with water, Perfect Pearls are set...no special fixative is needed & you won't be "wearing" glitter!

* Try this too...oops...
I'll save that for another day...

*I'm off to add an edge with the gold paint dabber...and then maybe a...???

grungepaper flower...(the grungepaper is in stock as of this morning!)

It's your turn to try "perfect" stamping...
let me know how you did!

I'd LOVE to see your results!

Remember...
It's really fun to...

make art!
wendy

take one of these and 4 of these....

add few more ingredients, pictured below...

you'll also need some scraps of grungeboard & grungePAPER & peeled paint distress ink...


Now you can make this...



here's how...............

Stamp 4 studio 490 leaves onto grungeboard, cut out & ink the fronts & backs with dusty concord.

Using Jet black archival ink, stamp a studio 490 background stamp on all the backs...

Punch one tab from grungePAPER...
ink with dusty concord...& stamp with a background stamp...

Edge each piece, using Ranger's gold paint dabber...

I LOVE that it's so simple...and it dries quickly...
I like that since I have zero patience...

The finishing touch is a few squirts of Perfect Pearls.
I used sunflower sparkle...

It's mixed with water in a mini mister...just mist, then dry it with the heat tool...

Once mixed with water...the sparkly Perfect Pearls are set...no special fixative is needed...

no mess like glitter...I like that a lot...

Sunflower sparkle is my favorite...
but then so are turquoise...perfect gold...and I can't leave our heirloom gold...

HEY...
this is MY BLOG!

I can have as many favorites as I want! ha!

Here's a closer look...



Once again...

a reminder...

Look past the obvious...the leaf...

and see the potential...it's FUN!!

And speaking of fun...

Here's a little teaser for the art chicks attending Scrap St. Louis...

A box FULL of Ranger goodness...it just arrived yesterday...




Want to see what's inside???

Hmmm........too bad..

I guess the photo doesn't show everything.

You'll just have to come to St. Louis to see it all...

I hear that there are some openings...

I hope you can join us...

I'm expecting a GREAT weekend!

There will be...

Lots of workshops...lots of SHOPPING, lots of friends & laughs...

lots of good food...YEA!! NO COOKING!!!

Did I mention LOTS of SHOPPING?????????

And one more thing...

I'm certain we'll all....

Make ART!

wendy

A Ranger video for you...

ROADTRIP...

Rick & I are out the door..(SPRING FEVER!)....so today, for your viewing pleasure, here's a NEW Ranger video, made by Alain.

You'll be impressed...

He uses grungeboard, the aqua dabber paint...VINTAGE PHOTO distress ink ...and some Perfect Pearls....all combined to make a fun wearable piece of art...

Take time to watch it...you'll learn a lot &

you'll love his accent!

After that...take time to...

Make ART!

wendy

ps...there are more videos on the Ranger site

and lots on You-Tube too. ENJOY!

What a weekend...and a video to watch...

I carried the camera for the 500 mile round trip & didn't even take it out of my purse...It seems that I get to visiting & it never enters my mind to take a photo. Maybe next time? Hmmm...I think I've said that before..

***

So...I HAD to yank the photo from Linda's blog.

ANYWAY..................

THANK YOU "FOR KEEPS SAKE". It's so much fun to visit new places & meet new art friends...but there's NOTHING like seeing our old friends again. It's kind of like going home...

***

This is a VERY special group of art chicks. It's quite obvious that they are all friends, they all take tons of classes together & they really care for each other. Like I said...special!

But then...so are the store employees and the owners.

***

It's GREAT to see that each of you ended up with wonderful projects & it makes me sooooooo happy that you were pleased with them...That makes it all worth it!

***

HEY gals..if anyone has photos of all the fragments books or the metal books, I'd love to post them here. My email is on the right. We need to "show off" the ART YOU MADE!

***

Here's a little teaser...

We got the inside scoop from Nancy W...We heard all the juicy details about Scrap St. Louis 09. We heard loud & clear that you all LOVED '08...wait 'til to see what they have planned for '09!

Hey...guess what?? We'll be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE!

***

And in other breaking news...

***

I got an email right before we left about "qualifying for an academy award". I was totally brain dead & I had no clue what she was talking about. Yesterday I got the rest of the story.

At CHA this summer, Ranger made a video of me demoing Perfect Pearls. I completely forgot about this.

***

Obviously, this was not scripted by Ranger, as you'll find out...just me talking.

***

I just watched it, I had to laugh out loud......

"metally".

What kind of word is that???

GEEZ... next time maybe I'll say metallic...(there goes my academy award).

***

Rick just watched & LOVED my "vintage photo" fingers. NOT!! HA~!

***

So, if you want more Perfect Pearls info, watch the video on Ranger's site...Check it out here.

***

I'll be back tomorrow with a new "guest artist" and HOPEFULLY some photos of the books we made.

***

REMEMBER.......

Take time...

MAKE ART!!

wendy

Perfect Pearls...continued...

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad that you enjoyed the info I shared yesterday.

A few questions came up...so I decided to continue with Perfect Pearls talk today...

Can the distress reinkers be used in the mini mister without Perfect Pearls...YES! The color does not break down. It makes a GREAT simple background. Any color works well.

Can the Perfect Pearls be used in the mini mister without the reinkers? YES...take a look...


I wanted a light background for this stamp, since I knew I'd be using black ink and a dark background would not show off the stamp.

So...this background is Perfect Red Perfect Pearls mixed with water only...no additional color from the reinkers.

After I stamped Santa...I thought he needed a little green.

You can touch your finger to the Perfect Medium pad & apply it whereever you want to add more Perfect Pearls.

See the green around the top? That's how that happened. Apply the Perfect Medium with your finger & brush the Perfect Pearls directly over that area & MAGICALLY...the pearls only stick where you added the Perfect Medium.

Here's a little tip for applying Perfect Pearls to a tiny area...Use the Cut & Dry nibs! Touch the tip of the nib to the Perfect Medium pad & you can add a tiny spot of shimmer anywhere you choose....Easy!

Here's another use for Perfect Pearls in water. Sorry...this photo doesn't look good...I had to delete it...so you'll have to trust me here. HA!

Put Perfect Pearls in water in the mini mister & mist dark cardstock. Try Sunflower Sparkle...turquoise...heirloom gold...for a quick shimmery background. It totally changes the look of the cardstock. It's a total WOW!

There was a question @ CHA about using Krylon spray to set the pearls. It's not necessary. Just a very light misting with plain water from the mini mister, sets the Perfect Pearls. No smelly sprays are needed.

My new BFF Jessica sent me an email yesterday. She played with Perfect Pearls and used them over embossed paper for a fun background. Check it out! Thanks for being brave Jessica & sharing your art!

Anything I forgot??
Ask away!!
wendy

As promised...PERFECT PEARLS play

and a little ink...stamping and grungeboard too.

Let's get started...

1. Using frayed burlap distress ink on a blending tool, cover the tag. Always apply the inks from the craft sheet into the tag for a blended look.


2. I learned @ Ranger U, that the distress reinkers can be combined with water & Perfect Pearls in a mini mister, to make a color shimmer solution.

I used one dropper full of Broken China reinker & a bit of perfect green Perfect Pearls. Fill with water to the "R" in Ranger, to leave enough room to get the solution mixed.

Mist this onto the tag & dry with the heat tool.


3. This mister has tea dye reinker with water & heirloom gold Perfect Pearls.

Mist this onto the tag & dry.

4. Adding layers adds interest.


5. Stamp over the tag with Coffee Archival ink & the cool studio 490 stamp.

Try using 2 colors of ink for backgrounds. Again...this adds more layers & thus more interest.

Always use archival (or the new pigment ink) for stamping. If you decide to add more pearls or water later, your image won't be ruined, since the archival ink is waterproof.

Now...this looks like pitted old metal.


6. Using Jet Black Archival ink, stamp these flowers onto a sheet of plain grungeboard and cut out. Tim's Tonic scissors are great for cutting grungeboard.


7. When using grungeboard to make dimensional art, always stamp & color the back for a professional look.


8. Save your bits of leftover grungeboard for layering. I always color the edges of the grungeboard with black. Any light areas in a vintage piece immediately draw your eye there & detract from the vintage look.

The flowers are colored with Vintage Photo distress ink. Another favorite...

Curl the grungeboard & it MAGICALLY stays in place.

Glossy Accents works great with grungeboard.


9. Mask the poinsettia & use just the scrolls.


10. Ink the edges with black soot and pen stitch around the edge of the tag.

Stamp a saying.


11. This shows the Perfect Pearls shimmer a little better.

12. TADA!!!!!!!!!! Done.

Pretty easy & oh sooooooo much fun.



So there you have it. Perfect Pearls vintage looking backgrounds.

Try other combinations of Pearls and reinkers. Tea dye reinker is a favorite. So is faded Jeans...and then Peeled Paint and burlap...try fired brick for Christmas projects.........mix them with any color of Perfect Pearls. The possibilities are endless.

My favorite Perfect pearls colors?? Heirloom gold, perfect gold, turquoise, sunflower sparkle, perfect green...and blue smoke.

Here's another tip...
Make these backgrounds, then stamp flowers or leaves on them & cut them out for custom embellishments. they're great for cards or layouts.

I hope you enjoyed this.
Take the time for some Perfect Pearls play...you'll like it!
wendy

What an AWESOME experience!

Where do I start?????????


I wanted to post yesterday, but since I took NO PHOTOS, I had to rely on friends sending me some. Let's get started..........


FIRST...

This was a TOTAL thrill...seeing my stamps debut in the Stampers Anonymous booth.

ALL the images are up on the site now, but later this week there will be projects posted with each stamp. Click on a stamp...get an idea for free........ I LIKE that!

One thing that I forgot to mention before is that each studio 490 set comes with a color copy of 20 projects to jump start your creativity.

This isn't a good photo, but I hope you get the idea.

Here's what the Stampers Anonymous/studio 490 display looked like........Sales were beyond my wildest dreams. After the first day Ted & Michelle said..."get going on set 2"! YIPPEE!!!!

I did have a photo taken with Ted & Michelle. I thought it would be fun for you to see Mr & Mrs Stampers Anonymous. All I need now is for some kind soul to send me that photo.

Here are the RANGER booth GIRLS. Sorry...I have no photos of the BOYS.



This was taken @ Gino's East after our "girls night out" dinner.
I LOVE ALL these girls...oh...and ALL the boys ( Justin, Alain, Tim & Joel) too.

The Ranger demoing was a TOTAL blast. I thought I might NEED the paramedics right before the show opened, but once I got started I calmed down & had a ton of fun.

I got to meet so many new friends & I FINALLY got to meet some of my blog friends. FUN!!

Perfect Pearls were a hit. I also showed some fun techniques with Ranger's new pigment inks. Both are MUST HAVES!

Another thrill...I got to see my Maya Road friends again. Talk about an amazing booth. The samples there were incredible.

Here are some closeups of a few of my favorite new products...




I LOVE the colors & the quality of these flowers. I'll be ordering a boatload........The felt are so cool. Each bead is sewn on individually. I'm glad that's not my job...Look @ the suede ones...double stitched...YUM!

These trims are even cuter than I expected. I knew they were mini, but when I saw them in person........WOW!! TOO CUTE!


This shows the size as compared to a dime. I LOVE the muted colors. Yep...add those babies to my order!

I got a sample of the new Maya Mists...wait 'til you see these. I tried charcoal on a chipboard flower. You get FULL coverage and it was dry before I put the lid back on. I WILL be getting ALL the colors. Next, I tried it on grungeboard. PERFECT! It took about a minute to dry...again...I LOVED the coverage. Talk about making things quick and easy.

Ok...that's the update so far. I'll be back soon with more photos...(if I get some).

Thanks so much for all your kind comments.
wendy

Here's my garden journal...

How many favorites can a girl have?? This one is for sure a favorite... I showed a peek weeks ago, now I can FINALLY give you a better look.


This is Maya Road's suitcase binder. Click on the photo & you'll see tons of new Maya Road products and some studio 490 stamps too!



I LOVE the dimension that the grungeboard creates. Don't you just want to pick it up & inspect all the details?


Notice the new MR chipboard trim? There is one on the seam and I used another portion for the flower stem.

Naked trim is good...you have tons of options for painting...stamping...inking...sewing..etc.


Now the back cover. The grungeboard butterfly is a Maya Road stamp. It's one of my favorites...It fits on tons of projects.





Hmmm...what do we have here?? Some studio 490 stamps...
and MR chipboard letters on the cover.







It was fun to use just portions of the stamps (Maya Road and studio 490) on the individual letters for a collage effect. I like the look of random letters too...can't stay with just one font!




And the binder fits in this MR suitcase...well...it should...but I added 10 pounds of embellishments...so the binder needs to be displayed alone. It's too fat to fit...





This was TOTAL fun. I challenged myself to see how many Maya Road stamps I could fit on the suitcase top...tim's Fragments add dimension & they were a perfect fit.


How many stamps do you see??


If you inspect the trim...you'll see a cool new ruler stamp from MR. Cool...huh?


The flyspeck stamp on the top is studio 490. YIPPEE!





I'm using my suitcase for storage. These plastic containers are from Hobby Lobby.



There you have it...2 of my Maya Road CHA assignments.

Stop by & see all the wonderful things the design team has made for you. I GUARANTEE that you'll be amazed and inspired. It's booth # 3507!



Now about those Perfect Pearl tags...yes, I will show those better when I get back & I promise to do a little tutorial here.
Thanks for asking!



And that studio 490 stamp storage photo...tomorrow FOR SURE!!!!


I'll get it up before I head out the door!



Happy Tuesday to you.


MAKE IT COUNT!
wendy
ps...YIKES...this photo is on here twice & I don't know how to delete it...SORRY!

CHA demoing...........

YIKES!! It's THIS WEEK!!

My assignment from Ranger is to demo Perfect Pearls and the Adirondack line of products.

Hmmm...very interesting.

I had very little experience (ok...none) with Perfect Pearls until the last few days. So I spent 3 FULL days doing nothing but making technique tags and let me tell you...

I LOVE them.

I'll show you how to combine Perfect Pearls with Distress inks to make very cool vintage looking backgrounds. Add a stamp (maybe studio 490) or 2 and you have a very quick... fun ...EASY card.

I even used Perfect Pearls with tim's distress crackle paint...VERY interesting effect!

And...if you combine Ranger's new pigment inks with the distress inks... you get another totally different look.

Use Snow Cap White and a distress color to make wonderful pastels. NOT your normal pastels... It's a MUST have....but so is the Juniper...Cloudy Blue...Pitch Black... oh...and Butterscotch.

And an added plus, besides creating a matte finish...this pigment ink does NOT smell bad...

It works great on metal...I'll show you that too...and all of these!!




So, stop by the Ranger booth (#2935). I'd love to meet my blog friends and show you some fun PERFECT & INKY techniques.

Now about that studio 490 stamp storage system...if I talk to Michelle today, I'll ask her if I can show you...

It's really cool.......

I promise!!

Take Care!
wendy

Happy Monday!

FINALLY...we have some decent weather here. We had the furnace on Tuesday and yesterday it was 85. Only in Illinois can things change so quickly. So I took 2 hours of "vacation time" & parked out on the deck yesterday. This winter has been soooooo long...


The Rick report...

No laser treatment is needed right now. Things looked better on Friday. But...the pressure is up in his eye, which may be attributed to his eyedrops...WE HOPE. So, he's got a new med & we'll go back on Friday for another visit. Still no fun activity for him.

Return to Ranger U??? This is a recent development...

Yep...since I'll be demoing in the Ranger booth @ CHA, I'll be going back to NJ for a refresher course. (Or...is it remedial & they are just being kind??)

I'll also get info on Perfect Pearls, melt art & Claudine's new products too....Don't ask...I have NO CLUE what they are!! ha!!
3 full days in NJ with 28 other arty friends. The group is international again and that really adds to the fun. I'm leaving on the 19th & believe me...I'm counting the days.


I'll leave you with this thought for today...



This stamp is made by Postmodern Designs. Fun HUH??
Sorry...they don't have a web site.

Thanks for stopping by...
wendy