Absolutely Everything....truly has Absolutely Everything!!!

Hello, Everyone in Blogger Land! Boy, it was a busy week or so away, but a blast, as usual. The classes went well at Sue Gilman's Show. Thank you to all that were patient with my "gimpyness"...and to all of those that wished me the Happy Birthday Wishes. Sue was sweet enough to have birthday cake for me on Saturday evening when we were doing the Make and Takes. But wouldn't you know it, the only time I got up to go to the ladies room, THAT'S when they they brought the cake out. Murphy's Law, as usual!

By the end of Monday, I packed up my car and followed Kate to her house, where we crashed! I took the next day off, relaxing and vegging out in front of the television. I almost felt guilty...almost! The rest of the week was a blast. I've known Kate from over the years with CHA, Sue Gilman's Show, as well as from attending Tim's Retreats. We have such fun laughing! She had always been asking me to come and teach, but the schedules did not always work out. This time it did. I was there to help her with her Bus Tour. 4-5 stores each had a bus that went all across Massachusetts. It was a chance to cross-promote one another's businesses and to see what everyone else had. While Kate has just about Absolutely Everything, there's still a few different things in some of the other stores....There were make and takes and demos at each store as well as snacks and fun.

As for the Make and Take, we had a good one with a Maya Road chipboard house coated with the new Adirondack(r) Pigment Ink, stamped with a Hero Arts stamp and pigment ink, then bandannaed with the new Inkssentials(tm) White Opaque Pen(a real shocker, huh!?). (As an

aside, check out

Roni Johnson's side-by-side comparison of some of the most popular pens....pictures tell a thousand words!). Everyone had fun with it, and once everyone got set up with the Make and Take, I headed over to another table where I had Melt Art(r) set up and proceeded to show what you can do with UTEE(tm) and Memory Frames(tm) and Amate Pendants...it was exciting to show "newbies" the world of Melt Art and now we'll be looking at when I can come back to teach again! I will be headed back to Massachusetts in about three weeks, teaching with Melt Art Jewelry, the Bandanna Technique and Pigment Inks (3 different classes, not one!) at Scrapbook Cupboard, which will also be a lot of fun!

I also taught classes...Bandanna Memory Glass, Chipboard and Background Techniques Calendar and "Birds of a Feather", which was different types of birds and tons of techniques. Kate has a great customer base and a fabulous staff. And lots of laughs, jokes and goofiness abounding. LOVE YA, KATE!

I had also come to learn that Kate has the various visiting teachers put a little of their art on her wall...and I had to come up with something! How can I compete with Laura Mika, Tim Holtz, Artgirlz, etc.? Well, with my usual silly slant on things, and since I was doing so much with chipboard, I created...tah dah!!!!!: Kate's Neighborhood. I painted the little world of sky, grass and sun with the Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers (which worked wonderfully on the walls, by the way!) and then pigmented, stamped and bandannaed a bunch of Maya Road houses, letters, bugs, flowers, tag and a crown (of course!). I also had a blast with a newer stamp line, Paper Relics...thanks HRH Patti Euler! I also adorned the skies with Julie Van Oosten's absolutely awesome Owls. They were part of one of my classes, but I'll share those in depth in a future blog and show off the many different owly looks that were created!

Enjoy the wall! Robin

Spinning Straw into Gold...or Inky Paper!

Happy Wednesday (uhm, okay, almost Thursday!)! A quick email and some updates! Tim and I have been spinning straw into gold, as Miss Margot would say, but in this case, into class kits! It's tough having to reach out to so many vendors for product. I have to say that I am extremely lucky to have such a great relationship with so many in the industry, but with everyone located all over the place, it's never enough time, even though I started to source this weeks and weeks ago, to get all the product in and orchestrated. It's finally all coming together nicely, though, with one day to spare! (Photo: Rapunzel)

Check out Absolutely Everything for their latest Email Updates...Kate's posted some tidbits and samples of the classes I'm teaching at her store Thursday, April 3-6th. If you're in the Topsfield, MA area, come by!

I was also thrilled to see that my friends at Amate Studio's Site is UP! I was pleasantly surprised to see my samples of UTEE marbleized pendants as the first photo! My friend Diana Kovacs' got her bracelet there, as well. She is so talented! And she blames me (for no reason...hee hee) for her Webkinz addiction!

I'll probably be MIA for the next week or so because I'll be in MA, but I'll be back with many stories, I am sure! I'm also thinking of a Bandanna Backgrounds Card Contest. I'll give a few more weeks of the pens getting "out there" and will come up with something...this could be a LOT of fun! I really need to do a "formal" instruction of the bandanna technique for everyone. I'll get on that, but one thing at a time!

For those that will be at the Sue Gilman event this weekend! I'm looking forward to seeing you...be ready to get inky!!!

Inky Hugs, Robin

P.S. March 29, 1962. Do the Math. Ugh!

Nothing beats the smell of a new Craft Store!

Happy Saturday...as usual, where does the day go? I was just not in a super motivated mood, although I should be with all that I need (and want) to play with amongst my stamps and other inky accoutrement at home. I was curious to find out if the new Michaels near my house (within 2 miles, mind you) was open. Alas, it was.

Anymore, when I go to these stores, it's not as much as a shopper but as one that is "in" the industry. I look with such a different eye. How are our products displayed? Does it make any sense? What stamps do they have? What new stuff do they have? What other companies' stuff do they have? What are shoppers looking at? Does the staff have a clue, or more importantly, are they TRYING to get a clue (I'll take anyone that is trying over someone that doesn't give a rat's you know what).

My overall impression was that I was pleased with the display of our products and was thrilled to see they had Tim's Distressables 2 Book there and even more psyched to see the "Ink Essentials" book, right in front of the stamp pad aisle! Regarding stamps, I still think they need to update what they've got, but I totally understand the immense undertaking of trying to bring in a "basic" offering of stamps. Lots of alphabets, though, which is always good for the cross-over with scrapbooking.

I was pleased that a sales associate did come up to me and asked me if I needed any assistance. My brain couldn't help but think to itself "I could probably help you more than you can help me." In the jewelry aisle I did actually help a young male associate try to understand from a customer where the earring back thingies were...he was so happy when I was able to help point out what they were (I had just scanned that portion of the bead aisle!).

My most favorite part of the trip was walking down the widest aisle in the store (this used to be a Rag Shop, and it's a long space rather than wide, so it's different than from what you see at other stores; There in the "main" bead aisle were Margot Potter's, a.k.a. Miss Impatient Beader & Blogger's 3 BOOKS! All them, sticking out on a display thing from the pegboard, 1, 2, 3. I had to call Miss Beady on the stop and let her know... she was so excited! How cool is that?

All in all, I really think that if a "new" crafter has a good experience in a "big box" store, that will send them to search out the independents. I really believe that's another reason why I'm so vigilant about education. The more information out there, the more any level of crafter can learn and (hopefully) will want to learn more. So, I may just volunteer to do a few demos at what I can term as "my" (geographically speaking") Michaels store. I also met the manager of the papercraft area of the store; of course her first question was, "Have you met Tim Holtz?" When I said that we worked together, she almost plotzed...always fun!

My other adventure of the day was getting a new phone. Today in NJ it is now a primary offense to talk on the phone with the phone...you must be hands-free. I, of course, am a bad girl on that front, and my phone is over 2 years old and beat to sh*$. So, off to the AT&T store and I ended up with a Blackberry Pearl. I have to say that the sales associate was super. She gave me the straight scoop on what there is to offer and I came in on a good day, as I got their Bluetooth Bundle with all the other stuff so that I won't get stopped...now I just have to figure this new monstrosity out!

Please also check out the wonderful BeadBlogger Links of the week!

About.com Jewelry Making Tammy has news about a unique jewelry design contest going on at a relatively new site for designers of all types.

Art Bead Scene A Fit to Print Review that Sparkles!

Jewelry & Beading Cyndi takes a little trip into macrame land in an attempt to find something new to do with a V pendant!

Katie's Beading Blog The Triple Take projects for April are online for free download now! Read Katie's post for previews and links. And, don't forget to scroll back and visit this week's Ornament Thursday post.

Naughty Secretary Club Shame on Jen for spreading Cyber Gossip!

PearlEsq. Robin shares a fun technique with Ranger's new Adirondack Pigment Pens and Maya Road's new Sheer Sheets-it's sheerly colorific.

Snap out of it Jean! There's beading to be done! Aardvark art glass repost: with my hand-made sterling 3 in 3 necklace, I teamed up with Cathy Lybarger, an amazing glass artist, as she experimented with painting on the insides of her hot glass beads, using enamel! This is now in my Links chain maille gallery on my site!

The Impatient Blogger The Crafty Chica and The Impatient Beader share their craftastrophies in a no holds barred conversation. Yes, even the pros make crap sometimes. Leave your own True Craft Confessions in the comments!

Well, off now to do some more fun inky stuff! Enjoy the day, everyone!

Robin

It's Clearly Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas is around the corner, and for us in the industry, that just gets us closer to the CHA Show in Anaheim. Another of the projects that we made at the Holiday Hideaway was a clear book...I've been so wanting to make one of those, so I was psyched!

Tim made covers out of the largest Fragments from Tim's Idea-ology(tm) line. You have to drill the covers; a Cropadile will give you "real" fragments! Tim had shown us this neat spray that when it dried, looked just like frost on a window. I had the brainstorm if the fragment covers could be sprayed...and they could! They looked just like frost and were able to take rub ons.

The pages were from Hambly's Studio; I love their new Clearly Heavy Overlays and the regular printed overlays. They were all cut to size and we rounded all the corners with Tonic's Boot Punch. I had never used their punch, but I liked how it worked...my hands were not cramped up after all those corners!

We then played with Hambly's Christmas Decor Rub ons...they work awesome as well and we also were able to "bling 'em up" with Heidi Swapp's Bling Accents. They worked great in conjunction with the rub on Christmas Trees and ornaments.

The book was finished up by punching out holes and adding binder rings and ribbon! Today I actually printed out a punch of small pictures of my tree and from the retreat and added them throughout the book, double facing the photos on either side of the page so there was no blank spot. I'll probably add in some journaling here and there...but I will definitely be making more.

I also had fun today decorating my Mini Mister(tm) holder that Kim DeRonde made us. I painted it black with a few coats of the Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabber in Pitch Black and then took my bazillion different Bandanna Backgrounds that I had finished and made tiles with the Fragments, gluing on the paper with Glossy Accents(tm). I then glued them on, one side at a time. I'm so psyched how it turned out! I'll be all ready to go with all of my Mini Mister/Perfect Pearl(tm)/Distress Ink(tm) reinker combinations...

I'm really enjoying decorating the living room with my Holiday Hideaway decorations! I hope you're enjoying them, too!

Enjoy the weekend!

Robin

Holiday Hideaway Hangover!

Hello, Everyone! I'm back from my flurry of art, friends and fun in AZ! I took today off to get my bearings back. I feel like I'm hungover from all the travel and fun. I've got lots to share. Every bit of it was memorable and just such a blast. If Tim didn't think I was stalking him, I could see myself living in Prescott. I think it's my 4th trip there and I just love its small town coziness, antique stores, neat galleries and the art. Weather wise, we had everything-sun, snow, hail and rain. All we needed was some lightning and thunder and we would have been complete.

I feel so lucky and blessed when I am at an event such as this. I'm lucky in that I get to work and spend time with Tim through the year. What an event such as this does for me is to get a chance to catch up with so many others that I've not seen in a while. Many of the attendees I first met through Club Scrap-demoing and teaching at the first 4+ years of their retreats I've become friends with so many people from around the country. There's also the many store owners that I've met through Tim and Ranger that I've become friendly with. Boy did we laugh this weekend. No matter what happens in your life, the ability to spend time with people like this is what makes it all worth while.

I thought I'd "report" on my trip in a few posts, but the first one is all about friends. I made some new ones and got to reconnect. We were all assigned to a table, and we had fun! I was lucky to spend the weekend with my roomies, Dawn and Nadine, here we are together... as well as the crazy and wonderfully talented Kate and new friends Kathy and Michelle.

Don't tell Brian, but I have a new "boyfriend"; Michelle's son, Kelvin and her husband brought Michelle to the retreat. It turns out Kelvin, who is 5, loves Webkinz, too! Every time he came into the room I would holler out in my shy way, "Hi, Kelvin!" He didn't know what to do at first and would whisper answers to his mom. After we got into our Webkinz discussions, though, that was a different story. Now I have a new Webkinz buddy! Near the end of the weekend Kelvin asked for my snail mail info and number and I gave it to him, but said not to tell my boyfriend. He was so cute because he said, "why not?" Brian thought it was a riot...here's my new Webkinz buddy. Isn't he cute?

There's so many pictures people took and I've already ordered Sharon's photos! Thanks, Sharon! My buddy Terri, or Zwick or Zwickie. She mentioned before the retreat that you know those friends that you've not seen in a while, but when you do see them, it was like yesterday that you last saw them!? That's Zwickie. Super-talented designer for Club Scrap and all around funny-as-hell gal. She and I tend to get into trouble. Of course, in a good way. Then there's Lia, Keychain, Cindy, Monica, and on and on. And of course-Tim. What can I say about a friend and co-worker like Tim? Thanks. Also, to Sharon, Michelle and the incomparable Mario for the prepping, organizing and cooking...Yikes! I was almost scared to step on the scale today. But it was so worth it.

I've got lots more to share, but I wanted to start out with what I treasure so much-my friends. Not just the ones that I got to catch up with at the Hideaway, but for all the rest of you...you know who you are!

It's good to be home! Enjoy the day! Holly Hugs, Robin

Just a "Quickie"-bit of Info!

Okay, everyone...get your minds out of the gutter. I'm running in all directions trying to finish things up, get ready for the second half of the soldering class from last week (soldering tonight!) and then tomorrow I'm home to pack and bright and early Thursday, on my way to AZ!

I wanted to give anyone that reads this that are store owners, teachers, designers, etc. the heads up-the new Ranger U 2008 schedule is out! I've been running Ranger U for going on 6 years...I can't believe it! This will be a new format, with 3 FULL days of education covering ALL of the lines: Perfect Pearls(tm), Melt Art(R) and everything Ink/Embossing/Paint, taught by myself, Suze Weinberg and Tim Holtz. Everything you need to know is in the information provided on the web with the cut off dates for receipt of applications, etc.

I'm really proud of this program and if you have any questions, just reach out to all of the Ranger U graduates and they'll tell you what they think! Or email me, of course.

Don't be shy about giving it a try. I'm looking for those that teach and want to teach more or have a store and want to educate themselves and their employees on what the product lines have to offer!

Okay, enough of the Ranger commercial. This is my blog, but this is also my program which I feel is important, so that's why I'm talking about it!

Inky Hugs to all!

Robin

Closeup: Crackle!

I survived the "'round the county" dessert run and have been having fun with my buddy Jen Starr sending me "Elf Yourself" which is freaking hysterical! In the course of 20 minutes I had made one of my nieces, nephew and the new pup, Charlie, and there is also a "Scrooge Yourself" where I put Brian's picture in it...initially he didn't know who it was...! Here's another one, with Pearl, Oliver, Minnie and Foofie Toes, a.k.a. Moxie. It's off the charts!

Tim and I finally caught up on a new Tips and Techniques Sheet on the Distress Crackle Paint(tm). I am having so much fun playing with this paint. I know we've only scratched the surface on this so far...I get crazy imagining the possibilities. Here's some examples of some freshly painted tags. You'll note that the paint is initially quite shiny. It is self-leveling, minimizing the look of the paint strokes. I also like to paint in different directions or in a wavy pattern, such as here:

When the wavy paint dried, it created such a neat look, with the cracks "wavy"! How cool is the crackle? One thing that many people think is that the crackle they will achieve is such as that seen with other crackle products that are out there. Those pull away the paint to reveal what is underneath. This just cracks! Remember that the thicker is it applied, the bigger the cracks. Remember, though, that we're not talking the Mojave Desert-type of cracked earth-but crackled. It's a tactile, textural look and experience. Here's some closeups of crackle..they almost look like those things you see in magazines and on kids' shows: "Guess what this is?" Isn't it just neat to see hot it looks closeup? How I love my camera!

This is just too much fun! For some references to finished projects I've made with the Crackle Paint, look here, here and here on my blog! Have fun with family this weekend and hopefully have time to play and enjoy the time...

Crackly Hugs,

Robin

TOTW #6 Last of the Flowers...or not?!

Hello and Happy Monday! I had a good weekend. I was making Bandanna Backgrounds until the cows come home, but that's because I've got a lot of soldered sign thingies that I want to make...I'm determined, though, to finish up some of the "series" of things that I've been showing...so here goes!

Monoprint Background with Adirondack(r) Alcohol Inks: I have so much fun with this technique because you never know what you're going to get. No surprise, this is a Tim Holtz technique, but "Robin-ized". I tend to like the bolder colors and use less Blending Solution. On the infamous Non-Stick Craft Sheet, squiggle or shake out various colors (don't go crazy with the shaking, it can be permanent on your clothes if you don't get it after with the Blending Solution!). Add JUST a dot of Metallic Mixatives-this is the step that people many times do overkill on. This is a very, very (did I say very!?) concentrated pigmented alcohol ink and a little goes a lonnnnnng way! Then do the squiggle of Blending Solution, which will help to blend and even lighten colors to get different gradations of color. Take Gloss Paper and with Gloss side down, place onto your "mixture" and spin or swipe and lift. It's okay if every area of the paper doesn't get covered...This sample was done on a postcard size piece of paper (1/4 of 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper, or 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"), so I used the part that had the most ink coverage. Then just stamp with Archival(tm) Jet Black Ink Stamp Pad. Let air dry or speed drying with Craft Tool. you get the best backgrounds and can create wonderfully easy backgrounds for cards, scrapbook embellishments (great for die cuts).

Okay, a small aside....using a waterproof dye ink pad versus a solvent-based ink pad, such as Staz-on or even Ranger's Decor-it ink. The latter is overkill, and remember that solvent can remove solvent, so your stamped solvent based image may become blurry or "bleed" slightly because it is reacting with the solvent in the Alcohol Inks. Use the solvent-based inks for your non-porous surfaces where you need the permanency. and are not mixing it with another solvent based ink. Archival Ink or a competitor's waterproof dye ink is great for Gloss Paper!

Adirondack(r) Embossing Powders: These embossing powders are so much fun. They are different from other embossing powders in that they have a white resin core, and are coated in color. What that means is that when you emboss them, sometimes the "white" core comes out and you get a neat effect. When you mix different colors together and emboss, each granule retains its shape, so you get a true speckled effect! For Christmas, it's fun to mix even amounts of Red Pepper or Cranberry and Bottle or Lettuce (or all 4!) and use that new Holiday "Party Mix" to emboss an image. What I did here was to "color" the image stamped with Embossing Ink and then with my fingers, just sprinkled where I wanted color. it's really not that hard. I then just gently tapped off the excess and embossed. What a neat way to color in and create some dimension!

Adirondack(r) Color Wash Encaustic Resist: Last, but not least, another Tim technique-stamp image with Embossing Ink and use Clear Embossing Powder (use regular, not UTEE or Super Fine Detail) and emboss with Craft Tool on GLOSS PAPER...this is a must! Carefully spray various Color Wash onto the Non-Stick Craft Sheet; again, make sure you're wearing protective clothing! Then turn over and press (don't do the smoosh technique like with the Monoprint!). Turn over and "fill in" the blank areas by pressing down again. Sometimes I use a little mist of water from the Mini Mister(tm) to "cajole" the ink to the blank areas! Use the Craft Tool to dry the Color Wash, but don't overdo it because you don't want to

reheat the embossing powder. The Color Wash seems to "matte" the paper, creating the Encaustic effect that is made with wax.

Feel free to give these a try. It's a good idea to just play with one stamp and create a reference book of sorts so that you know what you get when you want to use a certain product. That's the whole idea behind Ranger U!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the various samples created with this stamp. I've still got some more pages of the "Meow" book and Ranger U frames!

Have a great evening!

Technique of the Week #3

Well, I'm pretty much back on track and want to get some more techniques out there. These are some of my most favorite that I love to use in a lot of my work. Enjoy and try 'em!

Distress Bandanna Technique: I absolutely, absolutely love this technique. What I love about this is that this started with Tim Holtz'(tm) http://timholtz.com Wrinkle Free Distress Technique. This is what my take on it is. My rule is, and I stress this when I teach, is to give credit where credit is due. If you take it from there, give yourself credit piggybacked onto what someone else came up with. Thus, here it is. I like to use watercolor paper; refer to my Technique of the Week (TOTW #2) for the paper I love! On the Non-Stick Craft Sheet (Ranger of course http://rangerink.com), "smoosh" various colors of Distress Ink(tm) Dye Stamp Pads next to, but not on top of one another. I most likely used the following colors in this sample: Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Shabby Shutters and Worn Lipstick. Generously spritz with water...I cannot stress this enough-if you don't use enough water, you'll just create blocks-not so hot! Press the paper down and "squeegee" your hand across the paper-don't move the paper, otherwise you will just muddy it up! Turn over and immediately dry with Heatit(tm) Craft Tool. You want to "freeze" the colors in place. When dry, start "hitting" or "tapping" the paper on the remaining ink and dry again. See the cool splotches of color? When you get the to the desired look, STOP! Ink image with Pitch Black Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabber stamp and speed drying with the Craft Tool. Option: make a paint of Perfect Pearls(tm) Perfect Pearl color and splatter pearly highlights on the paper...it really pops!

Now the fun part....get a nice, white, opaque pen and have fun doodling! Add dots, fill in areas, jot lines, highlights...have fun. I have a whole zippered bag of papers I've made, stamped and doodled that I then use for my jewelry or other projects...it's fun to have a bunch made up and just doodle when traveling. Can you tell I absolutely LOVE this technique!?!?


Painted Perfect Pearls(tm): Another of my favorites. It's sooooo simple and so elegant! This also works with any type of image-surprise yourself. Simply emboss the image with Clear Perfect Medium(tm) Stamp Pad and Clear Embossing Powder and the Craft Tool. Okay...here's my most favorite non-Ranger product...Yasutomo's Niji Waterbrush http://yasutomo.com. It is the best by far! You have such control using it-I use either the small or medium nib. Just fill it with water and make sure the nib is damp. Just dip the nib into the chosen color of Perfect Pearls and mix onto the Non-Stick Craft Sheet. You now have paint-because of the binders mixed into the Perfect Pearls, when it's dry, it is still set. You can create wonderful shades of color by mixing it with like colors (Forever Red-Blush-Interference Red) and to lighten up any color, mix with Perfect Pearl. Have fun painting! I like to emboss a bunch of images and just paint. When you need to use something for a card or other project, you've already spend the time painting, so now you are ready to go! To "fill" in the blank area, splatter with a paint of Perfect Pearl or other chosen color. I ideally like to use Black Linen cardstock-it is great for painting or dusting with Perfect Pearls!

Watercolor with Adirondack(r) Dye Stamp Pads: This is a fun contrast of using the same type of techniques as noted above with Perfect Pearls, but with dye ink! Stamp and emboss the image with Clear Perfect Medium and Clear Embossing Ink or stamp with Jet Black Archival(tm) Stamp Pad. To create your paint palette, there's two different options. You can either push the top of the closed stamp pad lid into the ink pad. when you lift it off, there is ink there-just dip the Waterbrush in and paint! Or, just hit a corner of the ink pad onto the Non-Stick Craft Sheet. Whatever works for you! I ideally like to use the Brights and Earthtones for painting, but with certain images, I use Lights-especially for skin tone-I will use a combo of Shell Pink and Sandal...but that's for another day! Again, I finish up with the splotching, using the colors used when painting the image.

This is the simplest of images, but is so wonderfully versatile with the many different ways that a stamp can be used. Don't limit yourself. Try something you wouldn't "think" would work-you may surprise yourself.

For those that have been sticking to my blog-thanks. I'm learning a lot-have had some wonderful help from my friend Margot Potter (Thanks Miss Margot!) and have been enjoying the fun of sharing!

Have a great weekend!

Robin