Yay!!!.....and Not Yay.

Layout: "I'll Be in the Garden...where else?"
Yay!: I had super fun playing with re-inkers on this layout for August's STAIN class...

Layer 1: Rub various distress ink colours onto cardstock using blending foam (i used wild honey and crushed olive). Spritz with some water and some stamp cleaner. Dab to blend

Layer 2: While layout is still a little damp, squeeze drops of ink from re-inker bottles (i used vintage photo and forest moss) at the top of the inked area and let it drip down. (This is like what Donna Downey does with paint on her inspiration journals - it's called 'drippage'). Spritz water on ink as it drips down to blend.

Finish off with stamping various images, embossing, adding twine, distress stickles for mud, lettering....oh yeah, and photos!

Yay!: I managed to hide a photo behind the main photo. See?Yay!: All my favourite Purple Onion Stamps....plus my favourite Ali Edwards Technique Tuesdays one
Not so Yay: Would you believe I never got to teach the class at all??!! ('cos of scheduling and other demands, Shirley had to help me teach all the classes - Thanks Shir Shir!)....oh well, hope you guys had fun! Wanted so much to see you drip drip drip the ink and get messy!

Solution: I'll just have to do this again in another class! haha!

Sunday Meditation, Daily Reminder

Layout: "Everywhere there Evidence of Love"

Inspired by This:

It's written in the colours of a thousand Autumn twilights
Painted in the eyes of a child
Spoken as forgiveness by an honest open hand
It's the friend who will walk the extra mile
It's the giving, when there is not enough
There is everywhere the evidence of love

Open your eyes
And look upon the handiwork of God
Open your souls
And feel the breath of glory all around
Everywhere there's evidence of love

It's living in the rich earth, waving in the wind
It's music that moves us to believe
And dying in a small town, knowing where true life begins
It's hope beyond what we can see
It's the mercy, when tears are not enough
There is everywhere the evidence of love

Open your eyes
And look upon the handiwork of God
Open your souls
And feel the breath of glory all around
Everywhere there's evidence of love

A simple crucifix hanging on the wall
There is everywhere the evidence of love

"Evidence of Love" by First Call

Created with these:
1. 7 Gypsies Conservatory Collection - (a closer look below)...love the little sparrow...
2. Purple Onion Design Stamps - Zothique alphabet, antique ledger background, Happiness Is Rouge Et Noir Music clip, drooping flowers,

(yes, the stamps are all there...you just have to look quite hard to spot them....haha)

Something to remember today ya?

Poor Thing....

He's been feeling a little under the weather...

listening to "Alone Again Naturally" by Gilbert o'Sullivan....so emo...

Papa: let's pick a less depressing song...

Something to cheer me up: a layout with my favourite shot of him from our Disney holiday.....definitely not under the weather here....
Layout: "5 Reasons Why I Luv Disneyland"
- Studio Calico's Documentary collection (the papers are for sale at Laine's already by the way)
- Purple Onion Design stamps: Carnival Set, Happiness Is... and Small Number Block Set

Happy Accident:

I started this layout by spattering yellow and blue paint blobs on the background, but as you can see, they are nowhere in sight....'cos they're all hiding under the papers. (didn't like how they looked in the end)

Except for one little yellow spot which happened to be the perfect spot to highlight the word "happiness". Moral of the story - making mistakes is a good way to find out something new!

Hope you and all you love are well....Our little man is on his way to recovery today.

Reasons to Smile

So many reasons to smile today:
1. I am thoroughly known, loved, forgiven, saved and therefore...eternally grateful
2. My sweet Baboo grew sunflowers that are taller than he is

3. The kids studied without (ok, minimal) complaining
4. We all went swimming together
5. I finished off two layouts for September's layout class:

Paint splats inspired by Ronda

Yes, those are pink (ugh!) roses. And yes, they have (gulp!) glitter on them

6. Which means that I finished ALL my September class projects (here are sneaks of the other 2 classes)

Metal cover album using 10 Seconds Studio tools

altered suitcase using Sassafrass Lass paper

7. Because I finished all my class design assignments, it means I get to play with all my new goodies:
- a new batch of yummy Purple Onion stamps
- all the 7 gypsies goodies I got but haven't touched yet
- new products from CHA that Cyn, Mer and Laine brought back for me to play with

Hope all my smiling is contagious..... otherwise, drop by the store tomorrow. I promise to show you the real thing and throw in a hug for good measure.

Girl Stuff

1. Beth turned nine on Sunday...
Happy birthday Sweetie! We love you so much!

2. I've Designed some girly projects for September classes...
Started with one of these (the large one):and made it look like this: (it's not quite finished yet.....needs more lumps)

And I also finished a metal covered album using 10 seconds Studio metal working tools - that'll be the technique class for September. I've sent it down to the store, and in typical Sharon fashion forgot to take pics before I sent it off...will show you soon.

I've been channeling my inner little girl this month.....but even she couldn't take that much fuschia.

I Seldom Make Cards

So these are all the cards you're going to see from me in a long while....haha.

All made with lovely Purple Onion Design stamps!Stamps Used: vintage postcard set , fanciful labels

Stamps Used: Brocante Set (frame) , Fairytale set

Stamps Used: Circle Set II

I've been busy working on class designs for September and will have something to show you soon. Meanwhile, have a great week!

Purple Onion Card

A card for Purple Onion Designs. With 2 of my favourite stamps:
What's the point?
2010 Vintage calendar stamp

Happy National Day my fellow Singaporeans! Enjoy the long weekend!

Stamp Sharing - Day 5 (last day)

I saved the most complex for last - its the technique used to create the background on the cover:I read about this in a book (sorry....can't remember where) and it kind of turned out a bit different from how I remember, but seems to work nonetheless.

Fake Batik:
(Here's a close up so you can see what it looks like)

Materials List: (You can tell it's a real 'technique' when you need a materials list - haha!)
1. Chipboard
2. Patterned crepe paper or tissue (mine is from Tattered Angels and has that ' Las Vegas showgirl fishnet stockings' pattern)
3. Clear UTEE
4. Embossing Ink
5. Black paint
6. Multi-medium / gel medium (Mine is Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Matte Multi-medium)
7. Heat Gun
8. Kitchen Towel / Paper Towel
9. Iron (set to high)
10. and a stamp of course.

Steps:
1. Glue the crepe paper /tissue onto the board with multi-medium. (make sure you seal it in well). Let dry
2. Stamp / Emboss images with clear UTEE (try not to choose a super intricate stamp)
3. Paint over whole thing with black paint (do not dilute). Let dry.
4. Place paper towel over the stamped area and press with iron. The iron will remelt the UTEE which will then be absorbed into the paper towel leaving white areas where you can see the design of your tissue showing through.

(What's cool is that the paper towel you used now actually has a very nice pattern on it too!)

Whew! That was a mouthful! Hope you had fun. Back to regular blogging next week! See ya!

Stamp Sharing - Day 4

Textured Staz On Background:
Ok, this isn't exactly 'real' stamping but its a fun (i.e. messy) thing to try and is open to lots of experimentation.

To make the brown textured background on the transparency,
1. I rubbed Timber Brown Staz On ink all over the transparency directly from the Ink Pad - (this is the messy part)
2. Then I quickly pressed a kitchen towel over it, lifting off the excess ink and also getting the texture of the kitchen towel pressed onto the transparency.

I bet there's lots of other patterns you could make this way....they may not all turn out nice, but I bet you'll have a fun time doing it!

Stamp Sharing - Day 3

Burnished Background:
1. I stamped lots of different images onto the background cardstock with different shades of ink.
2. Then I painted over it with matte medium and left it to dry.
3. Then I rubbed gold accent powder all over it - the accent powder will give a nice sheen to the background 'cos the dry matte medium is slightly tacky. (The photo doesn't quite show it but the shine is really quite nice)
And then of course you can stamp more images on top of it!

(Incidentally, if you are liking the set of stamps that have been featured in this class. Its actually from Crafty Secrets (Art Studio) and its available at Laines.)Another day another way to stamp!

Breaking News!

We interrupt our usual stamp sharing to bring you the latest news you won't want to miss!!!

The August Laines and PaperMarket newsletter is out!

Those of you who have been our regulars will know that every National Day we have super good deals and fun together so I am not exaggerating when I say you absolutely have to be there this weekend to celebrate with us!!!

Because there'll be....
1. three $500 hampers to be won (one at each of our stores)
2. A present if you dress 'patriotically'
3. Super good discounts (that you can use on all the yummy CHA Summer products coming in soon!)
4. Free make and takes (you can bring a friend or two!)

So I'll see you this weekend?

Stamp Sharing-Day 2

Masked Shaped with Gradated Stamping:
1. I stamped a heart shaped stamp onto a thin piece of paper then cut it out. (the design on this doesn't matter. We just want the shape to be used as a mask)

2. I glued the heart shape onto cardstock with a tiny tiny amount of glue.

3. I stamped lots of images in different colours all over the cardstock. (the heart shaped area will be protected)

4. I rubbed a little ink around the heart shape to get the brown 'halo' around it, then removed the mask.

That's it! See ya! Tomorrow's is one of my favourites.

Stamp Sharing - Day 1

Our STAMPING class in July is done (a big thank you to all the ladies who came for class!!!) - we made a little album with lots of pages of stamping ideas to keep and also places for little photos.

So this week I thought I'd share with you five of my favourites from the class - 1 stamping idea each day for the week (weekends excluded, haha), so you can check back here everyday for a little stamping inspiration.

My apologies that I can't quite show you the step by step 'cos I didn't take photos along the way. So let's hope my powers of description are good enough - haha.

DAY 1: Stamp Fade Out
What I did:
1. Stamped the 'merci beaucoup' words repeatedly onto the cardstock without cleaning my stamp in between so the words will slowly fade out. This makes a nice background.

2. Embossed the frame on the black dotted paper in silver.

K. That was a nice easy one. A more complicated one tomorrow K?