Pressure, what Pressure!?

Wowee kazowee!!! What a difference a day and some stamps make! I'm so pleased about the new visitors to the blog...now what the heck do I do? Oh, yeah, that's right! Show some more, fun stuff!

I had a great day...one of my good friends and former co-workers, Danielle and her husband, Dan just added to their 3 dog family with a 2 legged wonderful, baby boy! Kieran Lorien-cute as a button, just like his parents! I got to hold him and we had quite the talk...not even a day old and he was pipping and squeaking along. It makes you truly appreciate how precious life is and to appreciate what you have. Which is something I try to do everyday, in one way or another. Coming home to all of these wonderful comments makes me appreciate what I do more everyday.

Just a reminder, for the contest: Just have all of your friends check the site and COMMENT everyday and make sure they tell me who sent them! I'm tallying the points, and the lucky winner will receive this stash of stamps. I've got tons more to give away, so this is the start of what will likely be some fun contests in the future.

Miss Wendy, my new buddy, whom I cannot wait to meet in, as she has noted on her countdown, (10 days until Ranger U), has asked me to show some of my recent soldered jewelry. It's funny how things come around again. About 10 years ago a very talented woman by the name of Kristen Powers taught a class called, "The Glass Myth", where she cut glass and put art underneath it and soldered around it. I took the class and she gave me permission to be able to teach it. As is no surprise, I just loved it and actually took an "official" stained glass class and made some fun pieces, including a glass box, a frame and a window hanging. It was such a blast. Now, years later, with Ranger's Memory Glass, (which at the moment Ranger is not shipping due to overseas issues, but it'll be back soon!), I got back into the soldering groove. With some guidance on what updated equipment to buy (Thanks, Kate!), I was off to the races again. There are some very talented people out there. Check out Josie Cirincione's site and her classes if you're in the AZ area. I've also been starting to teach again and can be contacted regarding same. Here's some of my newest pieces, which one of these days I'm going sell on Etsy.

This is just a simple 1" square with Crackle Paint and my Bandanna Technique. The stamps are from Maya Road and the "remember decades" are Tim's Distressables. Of course, nothing's better than adding Swarovksi Crystals! Since this is hanging from a chain, it can flip to the opposite side, so the trick is to have a design on the other side-then you don't have to worry about it being on the "wrong" side!

Here's another one. Again with the Crackle Bandanna Technique, but I used the wavy tape. I love the Distress Faded Jeans color...just like jeans, it goes with just about anything! I soldered these on a diagonal with two chains...these won't "spin"!

What counts is to have fun in what you create. I can never say that enough. My favorite thing to say is that if you make something for someone and they say something about it, such as "that's crooked", well, then they just don't get another one! :-) It's all about the journey-"The Journey is the reward" (Chinese Proverb).

Well, ladies and gentlemen (I know there are some out there reading, I hope!), thanks for the thoughtful comments. I'll do my best to keep you laughing or at least smiling!

Journey on!

Robin

A Potpourri Monday

Hello, everyone! Here's a bunch of fun and different things today.

1. THE CONTEST: I think I may have freaked out some people with my collection of stamps, so I'm going to offer a choice of two collections-I call one (that I posted yesterday) the non-traditional set, and the one I put together tonight, traditional. You'll see I've got some fun Holiday ones as well as some fun images that have an "open" space which is perfect to include a picture or photo. Some of the companies are Effie Glitzfinger's (an oldie but a goodie), Magenta, Impression Obsession. SO, the winner will have the CHOICE! I've only had a few comments posted! No one wants stamps!?

2. Here is a great sample Caroline Lau shared with me. She's one of the owners of one of my favorite companies, Maya Road. She made a pumpkin by using one of her foundation circles and a chipboard comma from Heidi Swapp. clever or what!? See how much fun this looks with the Tim Holtz(tm) Distress Crackle Paint? She then added a bit of matching Distress Ink over it. This helps make the cracks become more prevalent and "pop"! I love, love, love their chipboard. I'm going to continue you through the journey of the Cat Book through the week. I've also not forgotten about the Ink Techniques with the roses in vase stamp!

3. Last, but not least, I was psyched to get an email from Joan Miller today. My knotted necklace with her bead is posted on one of her pages. She also has an awesome bunch of birds that I MUST HAVE. The Robin, of course...duh!

Well, off to do more soldering. I'm on a bit of a roll. Enjoy the evening!

Inkingly,

Robin

Bonus Post and Contest! Stampy Self-Promotion!

Well, here it is! I've got tons of stamps...and tons of information I want to share. So why not work on promotion of the site and give out some coolio, vintage-y stamps!? Here it goes:

1. Contest starts today, and ends next Saturday, October 13, 2007.
2. Tell those that may be interested to take a look at my site (take a shot at those that may not even be interested...who knows!?)
3. Have them post to my blog and say who referred you. I will be sure to post EVERY DAY this coming week, so if they come back each day and post, that will be a point each day for you!
4. If the person you referred wants to get in on the action, go for it!
5. I will then post the winner on Sunday (Monday the latest) and they will get this lovely assortment of fun (and in some cases from companies no longer around!) stamps:

Some of these stamps are from: Rubber Stamps of America, The Great American Stamp Store, Ducks in a Row, Silver Fox Stamps, Emerald City Stamps (the Posterior Post), 100 Proof Press (Book, "True Confessions of a Celery Stalker"), Stampinks, and much more! 18 stamps in all. Note: The one of the person with the boobs is NOT a man...to tell you the truth, I think it's of Julie Andrews from Victor Victoria!

I hope this will be a fun contest and your friends will enjoy the blog!

Stampingly yours, Robin

Hesitation, and not the good kind

hesitation:
1. indecision in speech or action
2. a certain degree of unwillingness; "a reluctance to commit himself"; "his hesitancy revealed his basic indisposition"; "after some hesitation he agreed" [syn: reluctance]
3. the act of pausing uncertainly; "there was a hesitation in is "speech."

This can be a good thing if you have to make a decision as to spending a lot of money for a frivolous item, or whether to wear that certain pair of jeans that may be a little too tight...but hesitation in a car? Not a good thing. I drove almost 300 miles yesterday I my lovely POS car, which has done well for me over the years, but I know deep down that it's probably "time." Ugh. Another car payment, higher insurance, blah, blah, blah. You know the deal.

So this morning, bright and early, I was on my way to see Moxie (oh, yeah, and Nadine, too!) to finish our project, but every stop light...hesitation. Did it want to stall out, or not? I'm not going to drive 1-1/2 hours away to stall. So, hesitantly, I had to cancel. :-(...but again, that's the "okay" kind of hesitation. So off to the car doctor tomorrow to see how much longer I can keep my Honda going...

But, on a positive note, I had a blast at Rubberbuggy. Kris had a steady, busy day! I had fun demoing the Distress Crackle Paint and creating a frame for Kris at the same time (she's going to send me pictures!) I also helped with some fun MITIs. The day was topped off by the very talented MaryJo McGraw. I've known MaryJo from when I first started stamping and teaching; I've not seen her in a few years, so it was a blast to catch up. Little did I realize how much of Ranger product she used! She used the Non-Stick Craft Sheet like no one I've ever seen...a mixed medium paint palette of extraordinary proportions as well as Color Wash and Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers and Reinkers. And all with no apron! I was extremely impressed.

I also got two pumpkins on my way home...if you're in the Lancaster, PA, you've got to get at least something there. So, being it's fall, pumpkins!

So, it's going to be a day home to work on my projects and to keep my fingers crossed that the car is not going to be too much!

Happy Sunday to all!

R.

TOTW #5-"Dab it, Dab it Good!" (Think DEVO)

Hello, my painty friends! Onward and upward with the world of Ranger Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers and some fun ways to work with them. Here's a picture of Minnie...I've not yet shown a picture of her, but doesn't she look like a Holstein? The background is painted Watermelon (Brights), and what is better to do with a dabber shaped in a circle? Make circles!!! "Load" the dabber with paint and then just press...don't worry if the circles are not exact...they're not supposed to be! Again, I've used Maya Road Chipboard Book and Letters. They've been painted with Pitch Black and the spots were from Teresa Collin's foam stamps from Junkitz loaded with Snow Cap White. See how great it works and pops? I absolutely love using the Black and White dabbers because of the contrast it provides. I also like to cut out the detail of at least one image, as the background really allows the image to stand out!


This next page is really one of my favorites, as it shows how great the paint dabbers are with any type of stamps, whether clear, foam or rubber! I worked with Stream as the background, highlighted with

Brights Pool and edged with Lights Aqua...can't beat it. The "window" is created with Maya Road's Foundations chipboard and the flowers from Technique Tuesday. When working with a detailed stamp, dab on the paint, then just lightly swipe to evenly distribute the paint on the stamp so it's not blobby...some images have been loaded with one color and edged with darker tones...it all works!

Last, but not least for the evening are the cats...the best! These are FUN stamps from Movable Parts...there's a head, body, tail, legs...you use them in different ways and can have the front or back of a cat in unlimited numbers of positions. I loaded the "Minnie" cat with White, then created her moo-ey splotches in Pitch Black. Don't worry about messing up the dabber...it's okay! You can just dab or wipe it off. For the "Oliver" cat, I used Pebble, then swiped with the matching tones of Mushroom and Lake Mist. I love this one so much because not a picture was used, but it's still a "picture" of two of the cats!

This weekend is going to be busy. I'm have fun with my friend Kris Hoffer at her store Rubberbuggy and help her with demos to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of her store. She's also going to have the wonderfully talented MaryJo McGraw there! I also have a bunch of stained glass frames to do! So much to do, not enough time, but still aways fun!

Have a wonderful Friday! Robin

TOTW #4: A little Dab'll do ya!

Okay, so now I'm doing acronyms...going to hell in a handbasket...TOTW= Technique of the Week!

As you can tell, there's a lot of animal themes in my work at times...when you don't have kids, this is the closest thing, I guess. I'm going to do a few posts on Ranger's Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers. They are truly the bomb. I've never really been a great painter with the bottles, brushes, the dreaded water jar of brushes, etc., so this is a dream for me.

The paint is similar, but not the same as other Acrylic Paints...there's something special with the formulation that allows it to go through the dabber. Now...what's a dabber? If you push down on a new dabber, you'll feel there's a button thingie...this is the valve that, when depressed, allows the paint to flow, but when not depressed, stops the paint from dripping out all over the place. Coooool, huh!? When using them for the first time, prime the dabbers (a.k.a. get the paint going). Don't hammer....no hammers allowed! When you turn the bottle over, give it a little squeeze and PRESS down...no hammering...think about it-when "hammering" away, all you're doing is making it "open/close/open/close/open/close"...if the dabber had a voice it would be saying, "Make up your mind!?!?!? Do you want the paint to come out or not!?" Since we want the paint to come out, a constant press...and voila!-it'll be on the Craft Sheet in no time and you'll be good to go.

Now, if you've not used the dabbers in a while, do not despair. Sometimes people think they are "dry", but they're not...the paint on the dabber just has to "rewet" again so the foamwill let more paint from the bottle to come through. There are a few ways to do this: keep the dabbers stored upside down, or spritz some water on the Craft Sheet and rub the dabber across the water. As the paint "rejuvenates", when the valve is depressed it will again allow for paint to flow! Be patient, it works! Well, enough of that...check out Ranger's website for more info...there's lotsa good stuff on it!

As for my "Meowy" book, I made this at a Simply Cropping weekend in Absecon last year with Jen Starr and her friends. I had never been to one and she talked me into it. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to bring, so I decided to JUST concentrate on the book and to learn what to do with the dabbers. The chipboard book is from an awesome company, Maya Road. Because I had so much lumpy stuff on each page, I cut off the binding and punched holes into it and used binder rings to keep it together. I made the cover to look like my cat Minnie, my "Holstein" cat. I first dabbed the whole thing with Snow Cap White, then used a paint brush and painted the detail with Pitch Black. The chipboard letters are also from Maya Road. I dabbed them with Brights Raspberry, Sunshine Yellow, Pool and Sunset Orange (for those that don't know the Coordinating Colors, click here!) The diamond pattern is one of Teresa Collins' Foam Stamps she did with Junkitz, but any stamp will work. I stamped in the corresponding Lights colors (Pink Sherbet, Lemonade, Aqua and Peach Bellini). I love the look of this, simple but effective. The color does the talkin'!

The first page of the book was of my Pearly girl. I used Lettuce for the background then did a dry swipe with the coordinating colors (Willow and Citrus), creating a sanded or worn effect.

The dotted circle stamps are from Art Gone Wild and the alphabet from Club Scrap. These are rubber stamps, but look how great they stamped!!! I dab first, then just lightly "swipe" across the stamp to evenly distribute the paint. I don't want to much or it will "mush" the detail of the stamp image.

The nested flowers are again from Maya Road and were painted with various colors of the dabbers (for the teeny weeny flower centers, I held the chipboard with tweezers). When dry, I nested the pieces together and used Glossy Accents as an adhesive...it's the BEST! My trick: use your finger to evenly place a light coat on the back, so when you place it down, it won't squish out from underneath...I guarantee you'll be happy with the results!

I know I'm giving lots of info, but I always think knowledge is power. I want everyone to have a great result with these paints, as I do every time. I love this book and everyone enjoys looking at it (or at least that's what they tell me!). I'll post some more pages tomorrow with additional tips and techniques.

Enjoy the Day...Paint Away!

R.

Foofy Toes...are you smiling yet?

Isn't this just the funniest and cutest picture? This is the pawsitude of Miss Moxie...well, really, Moxie, the puppy upper of my friend Nadine. I finally got to meet Moxie yesterday. We had a play date! Nadine wanted to learn soldering and I had to make some new frames for gifts , so she drove the 1-1/2 hours down from NY to NJ with her furry friend. I went to Petsmart ahead of time to get toys (hey, I know how to be a suck up with kids and animals).

She was the happiest and smiliest of Golden Retrievers (or any other dog). I think she actually has dimples! She loved all the new toys, but the cats' as well...go figure. When Moxie first came bounding in, Minnie was under the end table and froze, making me think of Jurassic Park (if you don't move the T-Rex won't see you!) Who knows where Oliver went, but Moxie kept sniffing under my couch, knowing there was something there. Needless to say, between the fun of teaching on Saturday and the Creative Fun on Sunday, I'm a happy girl today. How can you not be every time you see those foofy toes???? It looks like Nadine foiled and highlighted the "tween" toe fur. (okay, Nadine...what IS the deal with that?) Brian got a chance to also meet Moxie and Nadine in the fur and flesh and of course we went to All Seasons and had a nice dinner. As we got home, Nadine could see through the front bay window that Moxie was on the couch, probably with the cats underneath whispering, "when is this big furry thing going to leave??" (no fear, they're fine!).

Brian teases me about my constant reference to Cuteoverload and little does he know, I also now check out "I can has Cheezburger?" (please, it's supposed to be grammatically horrendous, but it's worth the pictures!). But it has become such solace for me...whenever I'm having a crazy day, I go to those sites and just feel better....they say there's therapy with animals? I truly believe it...Enjoy...oh, by the way, here's Miss Moxie:My plan for the next few days is to post some painterly techniques, Kitty style!

Foofy Hugs, Robin