Just in time...

My copies of "studios" arrived yesterday. Just in time...I'll read it cover to cover on my flight to South Carolina this morning. It's absolutely loaded with eye candy.

The folks @ Cloth Paper Scissors did an excellent job. I was thrilled to see 4 full pages of photos. I had no clue what would be included on the inside...YIPPEE!

THANK YOU...Cate, John, Pokey & Larissa. It was a pleasure to work with you.

Special thanks to Jake Krancic...the photographer. This guy is totally amazing. He's responsible for the cover photo.

Here's a little look...inside...






A few inks...........



A simple floor plan......


And...the cover again...



Ok...time to shower & head to O'Hare.

South Carolina or bust...

SC Girls ...I hope you're ready for a fun inky weekend!
Get ready to...
MAKE ART!
wendy

tim + QVC = FUN SHOPPING!... and "studios" update

Enabler warning...

Just incase you missed tim's blog update...he'll be on QVC tomorrow @ 3pm eastern time. It's a special segment called...PAPERCRAFTING WITH THE PROS.

Did I read something about a new limited grungeboard book? I wonder how many I'll NEED........


I'm wondering what surprises he has instore for us...

While you're on his blog, leave a comment & get a chance to win one of his very cool T SHIRTS. Lucky me...he gave me one @ CHA!



And...on the home front...

I guess some stores already have the new issue of "studios" from CLOTH PAPER SCISSORS.



I stole this photo from Candi's blog...I'll be out by the mailbox waiting for my copies to arrive. The suspense is killing me!

So...start looking for this issue in your stores...

Ok...I got my seat reserved...and my credit card is within reach.
Who says you have to buy groceries every week??

PRIORITIES!!

Tuesday...3pm EASTERN... QVC...
Be there!
Happy shopping!!
wendy

Another guest artist...

Todays art is from the very talented Lynne Forsythe. Lynne is the Store Manager for Generations of Memories, in New Hampshire. I met her @ the first Ranger U I attended & we have stayed in contact since then. She's a sweetie!

I got to see her several times @ CHA in July and each time we met, we laughed about something...she's a hoot.

Lynne said she's addicted to studio490 leaves... I have to admit...that's my favorite too...(oh and a few more). They can be used on anything!

SO...without further ado...take a look @ Lynne's art, made with studio490 stamps.



I see 6 different stamps used here. I LOVE THIS!!!

And...here's another beauty......using those leaves and the background script stamp on the flowers.



Was I right?? Isn't she TALENTED???

THANKS for sharing your art LYNNE! It's really fun for me to see how each person uses the stamps.

Next stop is Stamper's Cottage, in St. Charles Illinois, for 3 classes this Saturday.

We're making a grungeboard wreathe in one class & the holiday hanging class is really popular, so we're doing that class twice.

Mr & Mrs Stampers Anonymous will be there with a TRUCKLOAD of Stampers Anonymous/studio490 stamps.

A TRUCKLOAD of stamps??

YES!! They actually drive a HUGE semi to the store & park it right there. You shop in the semi & the whole thing is nothing but...RUBBER!!

That MUST be what HEAVEN is like...

Hope to see you there!!
wendy

Welcome...GUEST ARTIST...JUDY HAYES!

I met Judy Hayes @ CHA. She's the postmistress somewhere in Minnesota. She's a real cutie...

Look what she sent me yeseterday!!





This beauty is made from the "Art by the Number" set, from studio490. Judy said she challenged herself to use every stamp in the set. Looks wonderful...doesn't it??

I LOVED the idea of using the corner stamp as a flowerpot! I've used it as a roof for a mini house and also as wings. I thought this was really a GREAT idea.

Thanks so much JUDY, for sharing!!
Keep up the good work!!

If anyone has some art to share...we'd love to see it.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember...
MAKE ART!
wendy
ps...the "art by the number" set is in the 8.3 supplement, page 13.
I guess all the Stampers Anonymous links I posted before just took you to the main site. SORRY! I'll try to be more specific with exact page numbers. ANYTHING...to make your shopping easier!

FINALLY...I can spill some beans...

I'm a COVER GIRL...

Well...not exactly, but my STUDIO & Ranger the cat are!!!

This is the secret that couldn't be told...BUT...today I got the word that I could finally share this exciting news.

Take a look!!! Click on the photo for a really big look!




I was thrilled when I got word that some photos of my studio would be included inside this special issue of Cloth Paper Scissors. It's called...STUDIOS. Hmmm...that makes sense...


Then...the story got better when it was considered for the cover. And the worse part??? KEEPING MY LIPS SEALED...geez...it about killed me!


So...we had a conference call...then a professional photographer came...and above is the result.


The process was very cool. He took photos, we emailed them to Larissa @ CPS.

..she made suggestions.

..we bribed the cat.

..and ended up with this shot. The photos were tricky because the room has 5 windows & 4 skylights. The lighting for me, as an artist, is perfect, but from a photography point of view...not fun to deal with. The shadows changed by the minute. But he did a great job & I'm beyond thrilled with the photo.
***

The photographer is Jake Krancic. He's an amazing photographer & all around GREAT GUY!!
THANK YOU JAKE!
***

The first issue of STUDIOS was such a huge success that they were bombarded with requests for a second issue. It is loaded with great photos and TONS of tips for organizing. If you haven't seen it...it's a must have.
***

I have to tell you that dealing with these folks was THE BEST experience. I've had many emails from Cate Prato...threatening to come steal my drawers...


she was kidding...I THINK??


She wanted a photo of me...I declined...she threatened to "photoshop" the cat's head on a body & say it was me...


she was kidding...I THINK???


I guess we'll see when this gets released on October 7th.

So...preordering info is here. It will be on newsstands on October 7th...


I'm anxious to see what's on the inside. I sent several room photos & some closeups.

I'm expecting LOTS of great photos from other studios & more organizing tips too. Floorplans, inspiration & MORE!!!


That's my story & I'm sticking to it!
The end!
wendy

Flowers, FATE and friends...

Here's the story for today...

By now I'm sure you know that I'm addicted to flowers.

So, I designed this poinsettia for studio 490. Now keep in mind, I told no one about this & didn't show the stamp to anyone.



Take a look at the Trinket jewel flowers Maya Road made...a PERFECT fit. And believe me...they give NO sneak peeks to the design team...EVER.



But wait...there's more...

Look @ these felt flowers they made. Could they possibly fit the poinsettia too??


YES...it's fate & another option for using the stamp and the flowers.

TOTALLY...unplanned... FATE @ it's best.

I LOVE it when things are a perfect fit!


Now on to the friends part of the story...

Somedays it's hard to take the time to post & get very few comments. It's NOT fun to talk to yourself...(hint...post comments!)

ANYWAY...this makes it all worth it.

I got this email from Sarah today...she's a blog friend from Australia.


Your fabulous work inspired me to create a card for my monthly Inkurable Stampers challenge example, so I thought you might like to check it out! :)

Thanks for all your inspiration - I love checking out your blog regularly! :)

Kindest regards,

Sarah Schwerin


So...it IS worth it!!! Check out Sarah's art...flowers, distress inks & grungeboard. It's outstanding!!

Thanks Sarah...you made my day!
wendy

5 photos on Friday...

Thanks again to all those who sent photos. I appreciate it a LOT!

Ann sent this shot showing a portion of the Stampers Anonymous booth. Tim now has 50 sets of stamps. How cool is that! I'm wayyyyyyyyy behind with only 7 sets! But...the next series is on the drawing board! YIPPEE!



Here's a demoing photo from Sharon. That's Patti Behan (second from the left). She works for Ranger. On the far right is Cecile, my friend.




Another demo shot...Linda ( Scrapbook Friend'z) is straight ahead in the blue.

YIKES!! When did I get soooooooo old?? Wouldn't you think SOMEONE would "photoshop" out the wrinkles?? Nice friends, I have...NOT!



Now on to the art...

This was fun. I was wondering how I could combine Ranger's new Snow Cap white pigment ink with other products.


The stamping was done with Snow Cap white & then I used Ranger's distress inks over it. I like the look of the pastels.

The flower is worn lipstick, the petals are peeled paint & the background is faded jeans.

And the stamps you ask??? studio 490, of course! "Journey" is tim's, the background, flowers & leaves are studio 490.

And I almost forgot this. I got several emails telling me that the links on the left @ the Stampers Anonymous site all lead back to page 12. I forwarded this info to Jackie. Give her a bit to get this fixed.

Until then, just use the arrows on the bottom of each page. they are working just fine.

And for the questions about the acrylic covers for studio490 stamp storage...I've asked Ted & Michelle to let me know the prices & when they will be available on the site. I'll update here when I hear back from them.

Here's one of the demo tags I made using Perfect Pearls and Ranger's new Picket Fence (white) crackle paint.

The flowers is by Maya Road.

The flower center is tim's Idea-ology philosophy tag & the stem is a studio490 stamp.


I rubbed frayed burlap distress ink over the flower to accentuate the cracks. It's hard to see, but I used the Perfect Medium pad on the petal edges & added some Perfect Pearls. Magically, the pearls only stick to the Perfect Medium, so you have total control of the shimmer. FUN stuff!

Perfect Pearls were mixed in a mini mister with some faded jeans reinker & water to make the background. I'll show you how in a blog posting soon.

That's it for today!
Have a GREAT ARTY weekend!
wendy

Meet Mr and Mrs Stampers Anonymous and Rick too...

THANKS so much to everyone for sending all the photos. I'll post more later...

OK...as promised...FINALLY...meet Ted & Michelle. Isn't she adorable?



And here's my sweet hubby...I'm thrilled that he could come & see the enormity of CHA. It's hard to describe it to someone who has not seen it before.



These are my friends from my LSS....Scrapbook Friend'z in Bloomington, Illinois. Well...not the guy on the left, but I think you'll recognize him. Linda Cain is next to me...



Margie sent better booth photos. Here's one...



And around the corner...




Here's another studio490 stamp project using grungeboard and my favorite Distress inks. I think this would make a fun class.

Anyone interested? I'll be in St. Louis, Boston, Madison & Texas soon...Do you want this as one of our classes?? TALK TO ME!

EDITED! SORRY for not giving enough info about class locations...Here are the specifics...

Bloomington, Illinois @ Scrapbook Friend'z August 9
St. Louis @ For Keeps Sake September 6 & 7
Waxahachie, Texas @ the crafty Scrapper October 10-12
Bloomington, Illinois @ Scrapbook Friend'z October 18
Topsfield, Mass @ Absolutely Everything Nov 1 & 2
Madison, Wi @ the convention @ the Alliant Energy center
classes are Friday November 21 and I'll be demoing for Stampers Anonymous on Saturday & Sunday the 22 & 23.




And a special request...PLEASE...

For those of you who emailed me & have already ordered studio490 stamps(THANKS)...I'll be waiting here patiently (NOT) to see what you created.

SHOW ME!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!

THANKS!
Make ART!
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

Guess what?? MORE flowers!

These are really fun. This is NOT my idea...I got it from Jessica Seppa. Sorry no blog for her, but if you call Maya Road to place an order...you'll talk to Jess. Tell her that I said "HI". She's a SWEETHEART!

***

So...these are wire flowers made by Maya Road.

I've painted them before and alcohol inked them to color and I've used them as is. But Jess said to fill them with Glossy Accents & you get this. Just place them on a scrap of paper & fill with Glossy Accents, then set aside to dry. When they are totally dry, cut off the excess paper. DONE!

***

It's a great tip, because they can be customized to coordinate with any card or layout, using just a scrap of paper. Try it!

***

And speaking of flowers...did you see the new Maya Road flowers coming out @ CHA? I'm sure they were made just for me!! The felt & the ones with the stitching had me drooling. Totally cool...check it out on their blog. Don't forget to leave a comment there...you just might win!

***

Hmmm...I wonder who makes that cool screen stamp in the photo?? Could it possibly be studio 490??

***

Here's the studio 490 stamp info for yesterdays card...

***

* The stamp on the kraft colored background is one HUGE stamp. Everything you see on there is on the stamp. I did the stitching to save you time. However, you can easily trace over the stitching to accent it or add dots from a glaze pen...This stamp is another favorite. You can also stamp it & EASILY use just a portion of it to make a number border...

***

* The lines on the circle...not perfect lines...vintage looking...LOVE IT! You can also stamp it, then turn it 90 degrees and stamp it again to make a plaid background.

***

* The roof is actually a corner stamp. Once again...look @ the potential...don't just look @ the stamp for what it's SUPPOSED to be. It looked like a roof to me & was a perfect fit for the chipboard house from Maya Road.

***

* Saying

***

* Flower border...it's fun to add rhinestones or pearls to the flower centers...

***

* Grungeboard flower...and on the right, you'll see that I needed a tiny accent, so I used just a portion of the flower...

***

* and last...the dots on the Maya Road Microchip arrow...those are from another stamp...I used just a portion of it... as a background.

********

Happy Thursday to you!

I'm headed to the studio...I still have TON to get done before CHA!

Take care!

wendy

ps...sorry for the look of this post. Mr Blogger would not let me change the spacing...grrrrrrrrrr...

From the "my collections" book...

the page opposite the other face page I posted earlier.

If you look @ the flower on her face...notice that you can cut a few petals off the chipboard flowers, for a different look. I liked the flower, but didn't want to cover her eyes.

No time for chit-chat today...

Off to studio490...the TO-DO list is still really LONGGGGGGGG...

Enjoy your weekend! Get inky!

wendy

I'm soooooooo excited to tell you...

that @ CHA, in July...

Stampers Anonymous will be introducing...

RUBBER STAMPS......................

with my name on them!!!!!!!!!!!!

studio490, by wendy vecchi

I should have them in my hot little hands in a week or so. I'm having a very hard time NOT parking myself out by the mailbox, so that I'm ready to rip that box right out of the hands of the PO man. If you think I'm kidding... BELIEVE ME...I'm NOT! Maybe I should warn the poor guy...

On to the juicy details...

They will ALL be available cling mounted. Remember a few months back??? I asked what you all preferred?? Cling mounted received the most votes, by a landslide. Since rubber makes a great image and lasts forever...we decided rubber. Since storage is an issue, cling is the perfect solution.

Some will also be available wood mounted.

There will be 7 sets total...6 everyday sets...one Christmas set.

SETS???

YES...

I've had lots of people ask where to start on a collage... How do you design it?? How can you make it quicker & easy???

SO.........

ALL the stamps you NEED to create a collage, will be in these sets.

ART PARTS...all the parts you need to make art.

A special THANK YOU to Ted & Michelle
(Mr & Mrs Stampers Anonymous) for this wonderful opportunity and for making this adventure so much fun. YOU are the best!!

Now...
Ready for a peek???

NO WAY.........It's WAYYYYYYY too soon for that!

HA! HA!

I'll be waiting to hear what you think...
wendy
ps..woohoo & yippee!!!!!!!!!