Sweet Pea Stampers - Easel challenge

 Hallo,
   Welcome to another Sweet Pea Stampers challenge!!! Our challenge this time was to create an easel card - it has been a long time since I made one of these ( I even had to look up directions :)
  Make sure to check out all the wonderful creations of my fellow DT members here - http://thesweetpeastampers.blogspot.co.uk/  and if you join in and play with us you could win some sweet Sweet Pea images - use a Sweet Pea stamp or digi in your creation and you will have 2 chances to win :)
  For my card today I used Ching Chou Kuik's 'Black-haired Lady' as a digi (I have this one as a stamp too :). I colored her with Koh-I-Noor pencils and cut her and all the layers with Spellbinders dies.
  I tried something new with one of the flowers - I wanted it on the bottom portion when it was open but wanted it to still fold reasonably flat, so I added a tab to that flower and it flips up to rest on the front when closed and then on the inside when its open.( I was quite please that I thought of it :)
  Its another murky rainy day here in NW Florida - I am hopeful that this is our last cold blast for the year - I really need to get some yard work done and don't want to be so cold doing it :) (after al these years in Florida - I guess I am getting spoiled :)
   All for today - worked the last 2 night so am for some sleep this am and then the weekend off!!!!
      Take Care
          Tera

Purple Quilt

 Hallo,
   A cold and rainy day here again - it was so warm yesterday that the cold and damp is really not welcome today :) My puppy took me for a walk in the rain - which wasn't bad - a soft rain and it was a bit warmer this morning...getting colder as the day goes on....
  After a walk and some hot tea to warm back up I headed for the craft room and finished off a couple cards that I had waiting.
   I did this card for the current challenge over at Impression Obsession which is for 'favorite technique' - which for me is definitely coloring with the blendable pencils - prismacolors this time.
    Check out the challenge over at IO here - www.mitrafriant.typepad.com - play along and you could win some prize money to spend over at IO!!!!
  The stamp I used today is called  'Quilt' #J1081. After coloring I backed the image with some purple handmade paper and a pretty ribbon - this pretty image really doesn't need much to show it off as it does it all by itself :)
   All for today - have an errand to run and some quick things to do on the computer and then its naptime for work tonight...
   Have a great week everyone!!!
        Tera

Sweet Pea stamps - Design Team call

Hallo,
  Sweet Pea Stamps is having a Design Team call so I decided to take the plunge!!! I love Sweet Pea stamps - especially the mermaids and fairies :) Check out their blog here - www.sweetpearubberstamps.blogspot.com and their web site here - www.sweetpeastamps.com

  The gals at Sweet Pea Stamps asked us to show them something that best shows our particular style - and that is the hard part as I really don't have a specific style except maybe just anything colored and the fact that I like to try new things and todays pretty is a bit of both :)

  The stamp I used today is Elaine Cox's 'Kiara' and colored her with koh-i-noor  pencils.
  I love doing decorative pieces when I can and this one is a hanging that is about 12.5 inches wide and 9 inches tall - not including the ribbon to hang it up with.
   I started with my colored image and a piece I did in my last encaustic wax class last fall :) (encaustic wax painting in this case uses wax melted and painted with a hot iron) and I embedded some pieces of old lace into the wax and added a couple seashells and a heart charm.
  Next I layered all the pieces to some black handmade paper and added some pearls, flowers, beads, and some metal corners(the base is a 1/4 inch thick wood plaque).
  All for today - Take Care
    Tera

Polka dots

 Hallo,
   Just a quick post today - trying to get motivated and get a few things done today both around the house and in the craft room. I missed last weeks challenge over at Flourishes so was determined to make this one. I have plenty of images colored up just never had the time to get them put together until this am.
  The challenge this week is to use dots - check it out here www.flourishes.org/blog/.
  I colored the Flourishes image with Koh-I-Noor pencils and found some polka dot paper and ribbon and went to town :)
  All for this morning - guess I should do a bit of house cleaning....well maybe one more card :)
   Take Care
        Tera

Steampunk aviator

Hallo,
  Welcome to another Sweet Pea Stampers challenge - this time we are doing a 'Vintage' Challenge. Check it out here and join us to win some Sweet Pea Digital images.
- http://thesweetpeastampers.blogspot.co.uk/
   Also check out all the inspiration from my fellow Design Team members as there is plenty of eye candy once again!!!

I used a digital image from Charmaine Flannery called 'Clara' and colored her with copics. I used a background paper that looks like lace and used an old lacey ribbon and some purple trim.
  I like the way her eyes turned out on this one - love me some purple  :)
   All for today - I have the weekend off and the Hubster and I are going to Biloxi Sunday night - not sure what he has planned but  it should be fun :)!!
  Take Care
     Tera

Quilt style locker hook

 Hallo,
    I finished off this rug last night - I took a quilt pattern that I have seen and tried to do it in the locker hook. I thought it turned out pretty good - I do need to fine tune just a bit where the points meet in the center but overall I like the pattern.
   The finished size is approximately 28 by 34 inches and this one took me 59 and 1/2 hours to do. The last one this size had a smaller pattern and more switching of colors and took me about 10 hours more work to finish.
  I have 2 rugs that I want to do for Christmas presents that I will be starting next and I plan to use this pattern - I am going to try and cut the fabric in 1 yard increments so I can keep track better of how much fabric goes into one of these rugs.
  I took some time and played with wax again today  - wont have a good block of time again for wax until next week so I will put it all away tonight so I can have a bit of elbow room in my craft space. I am planning on cutting fabric tomorrow for my next 2 rugs (they will use the same pattern and fabrics ...but I will vary which colors are the triangles though)
  All for tonight - Take Care
         Tera

Valentines card

 Hallo,
   Well - I am glad puppy made me go for a walk this morning because by the time I caught a bit of sleep after work this am I have lost the sunshine - clouds have moved in and it looks like its fixin to rain (that's southern for - It looks like it might rain :)
  Well I have another Valentines card to show you today - had the image colored up and just put it together this morning before I crashed for some sleep after working all night.
  The stamps are from Flourishes of course and colored with prismacolor pencils.
   Check out the  current challenge - "love and red" here www.flourishes.org/blog/
     Ok - so now I am going to try and get up the ambition to do a bit of housecleaning....wish me luck!!!
   Take Care
        Tera

Monday, Monday....

 Hallo,
   Well I got to see a bit of sunshine this morning - worked sat/Sunday nights and slept through the beautiful sunny day yesterday so when I got off work this am and it was sunny I was very happy!!! Puppy took me for a walk and then I finished off 2 cards - already had them colored , just put them together.....and now (after this quick post) its time for a bit of sleep :)
  I did this card for the current challenge over at Flourishes - the challenge being a love and red theme :) I needed to get a couple Valentines done anyhow :) Check out the challenge and also a great sale (that is if you call the end of Flourishes as we know it great - sniff, sniff ) here - www.flourishes.org/blog
  The stamps here are from Flourishes of course and I colored the flowers with prismacolor pencils. I kept this very simple  - edged the main panel with fired brick distress ink and used that to stamp the phrase too - 2 little gold sticker corners and the base cardstock in red and all done. I stamped part of the image in memento black and then a second time in memento London fog and colored them darker and lighter to create a bit of depth.
  All for now - if I wake up in time I will show you the second one this afternoon :)
     Take Care
         Tera

Steampunk

Hallo,
  Well I haven't been posting as much the beginning of the year - I am hoping I am over that hump a bit and can get back in the swing of things :). I am hoping to have some encaustic wax creations for you soon but as I work this weekend  - not yet :)
  I have another Sweet Pea card for you today - she is a digital image from Charmaine Flannery called 'Clara' and I colored her with prismacolor pencils.
  The background paper is kinda a purple/gray color so I used a purple layer under the main image and then the base paper is gray. Then I used a gray and a purple ribbon and some purple dots (for some reason they look more bluish here).
  I really love the eyes on this image - they just seem to pop!!!
   Alrighty - its off to work I go again - Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!! The weather here in NW Florida is absolutely beautiful today - If you ever need to know when the weather in NW Florida is going to be great just ask me when I work (work all night, sleep all day, barely get to see the sun at all....)
  If anyone lives near Panama City there is a new store open in downtown on Harrison that is a market for all handmade arts and crafts  - it is defiantly worth checking out sometime soon!!! Yup I do have a booth, but lots of talented people besides me too :)
  All for now - Take Care
    Tera

Valentines - Sweet Pea Style

Hallo,
  Well I managed a bit of crafting time this week mainly on Thursday - I worked sunday and Monday with 4 days off after. I had hoped for more crafting time but didn't quite get there - house work needed to get done and I still had the hanging on of a nasty head cold which had me a bit tired and lazy....I played in the craft room most of the day Thursday though and it was soooo nice!!!!
  I set up another table in my craft room and set up all my stuff to do some encaustic. While my wax was melting in the am I finished off a couple cards. This one will probably be the DH's Valentines card :)
   This is a Sweet Pea digital image from Charity Dauenhauer called "The Vintage Heart"
I colored her with copics and then cut her out with Spellbinders dies.
  I am entering her into the monthly challenge over at 'One Sweet Challenge' - the theme this month is Valentines/Love :) Check out the challenge here - www.onesweetchallenge.blogspot.com
  The last 3 pics are what it looks like in my craft room with the extra table set up and my wax stuff - a bit cramped but still doable (maybe someday I will win the lottery and be able to build myself a really cool studio  - until then I will have fun any way I can!!! :)
       I will show you some wax creations soon - I am hoping to get another day to play with wax this week....
  All for tonight - headed off to work...
    Take Care
         Tera

Harley photoshop 12

Hallo,
  Well I finally squeezed a bit of time to really play with some photos and the new Photoshop Elements 12.
I was using Photoshop 6 and had been thinking of upgrading for a long time and when I found it on sale at Office Depot - combined with a coupon from their rewards program - it was too good to pass up. AND I am taking a class at CLL (Center for Lifelong Learning - an all volunteer organization that sponsors  2 sessions a year with a wide variety of classes from local talented and knowledgeable individuals :)
   So the very first picture is one I took of the hubbys Harley - straight up with no edits and the rest are a wide variety of edits - the second photo being a simple balance fix, and I cant remember which ones are which but I have used black and white, sepia, old photo, vintage photo, sketch, noise....and maybe some I don't remember.
  Basically I just played with all the different filters and effect and saving the ones I liked - the ones I did list above were the ones I used most often. I took a boatload of close-ups of DH's bike and did similar as I did with this one with about 15 of them :) - its pretty easy to get pulled in an lose a few hours time LOL :)
   All for tonight - Take Care
      Tera

Flourishes purple challenge

 Hallo,
  Finally got some time in the craft room the last couple days and I got a couple cards made - I had a few images colored up from Christmas break watching marathons when it was so cold and last week when we were iced in and just had to put them together.
  This stamp is from Flourishes and colored with prismacolor pencils in purple to match this weeks Tuesday challenge.
  I added some purple trim and lacy ribbon and some purple doo dads to the corners and she is ready to go :)
   Check out the challenge here - www.flourishes.org/blog/
And also check out the awesome sale they have going on in the store too!!! Lots of good stuff!!!

  I have been priming some boards with encaustic gesso these last couple days too - I have 4 days off in a row this next week and one of them I have no classes, no appointments and no mandatory classes at work so its high time I had a chance to play with my wax - I am really looking forward to it!!!

 Well about all for tonight - need to finish getting ready for work....
  Have a great night everyone!!!
         Tera