Did you know...

That the distress inks are great for changing the color of ribbons & fabric?? Here's an example of Maya Road's black & white ribbon, that I altered with vintage photo distress ink. I love the look of black & white, but for this project, I NEEDED a vintage looking ribbon. It's a PERFECT match & SIMPLE too. Try it!

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Congrats to my master...LISA PACE! She signed a deal with Memory Makers to publish a technique book. I am beyond thrilled for her. Lisa is the queen of glitter..that vintage looking glass kind, that tarnishes after a bit...Her style is sooooo cool & her attention to detail is what first caught my attention. Now the bad news...we have to wait 'til 2010 to get this in our hands. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait. There's that "P" word again...PATIENCE.........

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And if you have been following the email/HughesNet saga...after 3 days of NO email...they decided the upgrade didn't work & have switched us back to the old email system. I'm no computer genius, but I knew on SUNDAY that it didn't work...AMAZING...

Most, but NOT ALL of the emails have been received. I'm thinking some are lost in space, never to be seen by me. So, if I've missed anything important, please resend it. THANKS!!

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Ok, off to the studio for some work...actually... it's PLAY!

wendy

Now this was fun...

I had one little idea surface last night for another Maya Road card for the NY stationary show. I wanted to make a chipboard key look rusty, but only in certain areas...not the entire key.
So...I used the distress embossing ink reinker, right from the bottle. It was simple to apply the reinker to very small areas & then selectively add the distress embossing powders in several different colors. I like the rusty worn look.

We still have no emails coming thru. I can send, but not receive. The latest update said that they EXPECT the issue to be resolved by 6am EASTERN time. Hmmm...It's 3 1/2 hours AFTER that & still nothing. The "P" word ( patience) is NOT in my vocabulary. I guess EXPECT is the operative word. 10 years ago I never would have thought that I would rely so much on email. Times sure do change.

Special "HEAL QUICK" thoughts are headed east to my friend Robin Beam. Incase you missed the details of her contest, check it out here. And a reminder...if the grand prize winner is one of my blog friends, I'll add something fun to the grand prize!

That's the story for today!
Make your Tuesday...arty!
wendy

Up & running .........plus a few fragment tips...

WOOHOO!

Maya Road's new web site is up & running.

Here's a summary of what you can find there. I stole this info from Deb's blog...

1) Store Locator - If you need to find a LSS who carry Maya Road goods, checkout our new store locator. You can also see all of the online stores who stock Maya Road goodies.

2) Order Maya Road Goodies from the Site - If you cannot find our products are your LSS, you can buy it from our network of LSSs and online stores straight from our site. That's right! Just place an order from our site. Your closest local store will fill the order for you! And then you know just where to go to pick up more goodies.

3) Creative Corner - Our Design Team has outdone themselves with the Creative Corner! You will see great new ideas each week from our awesome team.

4) Templates and Images - Get templates and images for all of our products. We have updated it all for you on our new site. Just print out the outlines from our site and use them for your next project!

Make sure to check out the templates Deb has there for us to download. It's a great service for all to enjoy.

And in other news...

Maya Road is exhibiting @ the New York Stationary show in May, so I've been working on my assignments for them. I've been playing more with fragments & want to pass along these tips. Sorry...can't show photos of the Maya Road/fragments project yet...top secret stuff. I'd be in BIG trouble...

Anyway...a few fragment tips...

1. Fragments can be stamped on with Staz-On. If the image isn't perfect, if can be removed with Ranger's blending solution or rubbing alcohol. Then, just start over...

2. Rub-ons are perfect for fragments. Put some under the fragment & some ON the fragment to create dimension.

3. Glaze pens (Sakura) and Ranger's Inkssentials new opaque white pen are great for adding dots/doodles to the fragments.

4. Glossy Accents is the adhesive of choice for adhering paper, metal, buttons & for adhering the fragment to your project.

5. If you're messy like me and get some of the Glossy Accents on the top of your fragments, it can be removed with blending solution or rubbing alcohol. A Q-Tip works great on the small area.

6. If you aren't happy with the paper you adhered to the fragment, just soak it in some water & dishsoap...they come out like brand new. Guess how I know that...

7. You can stamp on the paper before adhering the fragment.

8. The Crop-a dile does not work. Tim recommends a drill press or the Fiskars hand drill.

9. FRAGMENTS ARE FUN!!

It's actually SNOWING here on our nice green grass.

WHAT??? April 28th? What gives??? Will we ever see spring in Illinois?????

Enjoy your day! I'll be here, with the FURNACE ON........geez....
wendy
ps...one more thing. We are NOT receiving email AGAIN. HUGHESNET, our satellite service did an upgrade over the weekend, which was supposed to be finished @ 7am on April 27th. Yep...YESTERDAY & STILL no email 27 hours later... I called & they SUGGESTED that I be PATIENT. Interesting...I hope they are PATIENT if I don't send them a check.

Please hurry HUGHESNET...I NEED to talk to my friends!

Introducing guest artist...Cindy Borcherding!!

Grab a cup of coffee & take a few minutes to look @ these beauties created by Cindy. She was the winner of the LAYERS book, which was written by my friend Shari Carroll. Cindy took my Ranger distress ink techniques class @ For Keeps Sake, in St. Louis, Missouri last month. You'll see that she used techniques she learned in that class & combined them with the inspiration she got from Shari's book, to created some totally cool tag art.

You're in for a treat...

Here's the cute note that Cindy sent...

I received my book on Saturday and it's WONDERFUL!!!!! I was feelin' a serious urge to CREATE yesterday after lookin' through my new book and I am so, so happy with the tags I made that I wanted to share with you because I used all of the AWESOME techniques that YOU taught me as well as applying the 'layers' concept. The best part? I just had so much FUN playing with the techniques and layering and painting and getting down and dirty!!

This is the first tag that she created for her hubby... to celebrate their 12th anniversary. I LOVE it!



This is really cool too. She used the "weathered wood" technique, developed by t!m.

Here you'll notice my favorite "spritz & flick" technique, also developed by t!m. She combined it with some grungeboard (layering) for 2 tags that look great.


More layering... the tag on the right uses another technique called "distress ink wrinkled'. Spritz & flick is on the left. I think she likes that technique too!



Thanks so much for the inspiration Cindy! Take a bow for a job well done!

Have a wonderful ARTY weekend!!!
wendy

Meet...Guest artist...Sarah Drayton...a winner & a new contest!

Sarah was one of the lucky gals to win a Stampers Anonymous stamp. Here's what she created, using her new stamp & her Maya Road chipboard prize. Don't you just love it? GREAT job Sarah!! THANKS for sharing!!



Here's the info Sarah sent, if you'd like to try something similiar...


I created a piece with my fab new stamp and gorgeous chipboard book. *


I used Gesso and Ranger Acrylic Dabbers in Hazelnut and Snowcap for the background, building up a few layers until I acheived my desired effect.*


I then stamped the flourish stamp into the background using Adirondack Ink in Expresso.*


Then using some more Acrylic paint to soften stamped Image.*


Next I added the PaperWhimsy image and spritzed with Glimmer Mists in Antique Brass.


Hope you like what I have created. I love stopping by to see you on your blog.




Look @ this sweetie...This is Callie, Kate's dog. See how she smiled for the camera? For those who love dogs, she's a shilo shephard.

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Now for the drawing by Rick... I was told to leave the room & he would read the comments & make his choice...He said her blogname got his attention...

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And the winner of the sheer card I created for the Hero Arts blog is...

DRUMROLL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

sherri (Tied Up In Ribbons) said...
Texas in OCtober....I'm thrilled--I wonder if it is too early to sign up?!? I don't even care what you are going to do, but I know I want to be THERE.....I second Lisa's Yippee
April 20, 2008 11:16 PM


CONGRATS Sherri...send me your address & I'll get the card sent off to you.

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Keep reading.............

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Who doesn't like a contest??? This sounds like fun...Check out Robin's blog for all the juicy details. She's giving GREAT INKY prizes...take the time...try her bandanna technique...send her a card... SIMPLE!!

Now here's the twist...if one of MY BLOG friends wins the GRAND PRIZE...I'll send the winner a prize too! Fair enough??? You can do it...

Just SUBMIT...I have faith in all of you!! I'd LOVE to add to the grand prize!!

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Happy Thursday...come back tomorrow to see some tags created by another guest artist. I know you'll love them.
wendy

Phew.....what a weekend!

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING is the perfect name for this store...
It has...absolutely everything!!! I shopped & came home with some VERY fun finds. Stamps, books, papers & WAYYY cool ephemera. I can't wait to take some time to play.

I did 4 classes in 2 days & met lots of fun new arty friends. Kate even took the time to show me how to solder. YIPPEE...that was really a treat!

I took my camera & actually USED it this time. Here's a photo of some of the gals in the fragments class. Each brought their own paper scraps to use and each created a unique masterpiece! At the end of the class we had "show & tell" just to give everyone more inspiration. This class is PURE fun.




Here's shy KATE (and a few friends in the background). She's the store mom! She has THE CUTEST and sweetest dog in the whole world and a GREAT store too.



And, as per TRADITION...I made wall art for Kate's classroom. I wanted my art to stay with my style...and this is my creation. LOTS of grungy stuff, Maya Road chipboard letters & numbers, crackle paint, distress inks and dots. This was fun. The photo is NOT the best...the flowers are broken china...I hope you can get the idea...

Luckily, Robin saved me the perfect spot right next to her.



That's the short version of the story... This old art chick is TIRED!

THANKS KATE & staff for a wonderful weekend. Thanks to ALL who attended my classes. You guys are sooooooooo fun, sweet & talented. Once again...THANKS so much!

Hmmmm......I got invited to teach again in November. Tell me what kind of classes you'd like. I aim to please.

I'll be back tomorrow & we'll draw the winner we talked about last week. Leave a comment here & we'll add your name to the hat.

AND..make sure you come back....we'll have more guest artists this week. Now that email is working (for the moment) I got some scans from the gals who won the Stampers Anonymous drawing & Shari's Layers book.

You'll like what you see.............that's a promise!
wendy

Email issues

I haven't forgotten about all of you. We have MAJOR email issues...AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 hours on the phone to INDIA with NO resolution. We can send emails, but not receive thru our regular email address.

Our temporary email is... (if you want me to get it in this lifetime...)

wbv1214@hughes.net

I'll be back as soon as I can. I haven't forgotten about the giveaway...

THANKS for understanding...
wendy