Unique Crafters Challenge

I am delighted to have been chosen as a guest designer for Unique Crafters Challenge. I have recently gotten into challenges since they tend to make you think outside of your comfort zone. Unique Crafters Challenge blog will have a challenge each month and would love for all of you to play along. I will be guest designer for the month of April. Stop by their blog and take a look at the gallery of projects and make sure to check back frequently to see challenge work posted each month. Have a wonderfully creative day!

Paper Flower Wall Hanging

I am teaching a class at Stamp-n-Scrap in Gardiner, ME on March 17th. We will be making this lovely wall hanging. Although it may look difficult and with detail...it is actually very simple. I will be guiding students on filling their pot of flowers to make it easy.

Mini Mason Jar Pies

I saw these little lovelies on Pinterest and HAD to make them for my friends....

Wedding Flowers

A little bouquet for a little flower girl! Two Boutonnieres also!

An ArtRoom to Play In

This is the art room that I play in. It has taken 2 years to get it to the point that I love it! Many of my friends love to come play and are very inspired while working in the room. It is well stocked with supplies, tools, and creativity!

Winter CHA Surprise!

I was shocked when my friend Catherine Scanlon sent me the above photo. It was taken at CHA Winter 2012 in California. This photo of Claudine Hellmuth also includes a little topiary that I made for her last year. The topiary has handmade roses that I made using Claudine's product - Sticky Back Canvas. I also used her awesome Studio Paints to paint the teal colors prior to making the roses. I just love this photo!

Vintage Wall Hanging

I have been enjoying the quiet after the holidays by working on this multiple layer wall hanging. I used Tim Holtz dies along with wood, sticky back canvas, burlap, wax, sheet music, chipboard, ink, paint, and ribbon. The ivy is stamped, colored and hand cut. The buttons are vintage bone buttons.

Day 5 of the 12 Tags of Christmas

I decided to enter this tag into the Dolce Stamps and Cards Thursday Challenge (DSAC07). This is my first entry with this group and it looks like many quality submissions to the challenge.
This was the best tag so far for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas! I had got so much enjoyment from making this tag. All of the work is done on the back side of the acrylic tag with the snowflake embellishments on the front of the tag. Believe it or not...the snowflake background is stamped with black ink! Love it!

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

Day 1 is all I have had time to play with...my mission is to do all 12 tags this year! Here is my first one of the season.

Rosette Snowman

I have had so much fun using my Tim Holtz Rosette Dies for the holidays this year. I started with Pumpkins and have moved on to Snowman. I saw one on the Archiver's website, but I did not like the shape of their snowman. So here is my version! Have a great day!

It's All Wrapped Up!

I have a dear friend that needs a little cheering up...so I wrapped up some crafting goodies and will drop it off to her today. I love the waxed tag with the Cardinal. Most of all, I love the pinecone embellishment that I made using the Sizzix Die (Tim Holtz line). They are tricky to make at first, but with a little practice, they are so cute!

I had a wonderful time making this Christmas Wall Hanging. I love making flowers so this was a labor of love. I can't wait to hang this on the wall the day after Thanksgiving!

Paper Rosette Pumpkin

I enjoyed making a few of these this weekend. They are so sweet - I am using some for place setting cards at the Thanksgiving table this year. Instead of the "FALL" tag, I will have guest names on the tag. Super cute and super simple!

Harry takes a ferry ride to Isleboro, Maine. He loves the ferry ride, but HATES riding in the car!
Rosie at Acadia National Park. She always looks so impressed with life. I love my furry kids and always love taking them on our day trips.

New Classes

Stamp-n-Scrap has just sent out the new class listing for October, November, and December. There are some pretty neat classes and I will be taking one of them also! Check out the classes here.

World Card Making Day!

Every year I look forward to World Card Making Day at Stamp-n-Scrap in Gardiner. Those that attend are so jazzed up for a day of fun. This year will be no exception! I will be doing a demo at 10 AM showing how to use your ink pads to create gorgeous backgrounds (finished sample cards and projects will be on display also). After the demo, I will be teaching a make-n-take for the mummy card (see the next post for the photo of the card). I made a little ATC to match and a Chuckie too! Speaking of Chunkies, Cheri Weston will be doing a demo at 1 PM showing how to make these adorable Halloween Chunkies! You won't want to miss her demo!
After Cheri's demo, Grace Lange Way will be giving a demo on making small boxes and decorating with Rubber Tapestry Stamps. Ruth Ann has lots of door prizes to give away (one of the door prizes will be a free class with me!) as well as refreshments and inspiration. Make sure to attend part of the day if you can't make it for the entire day!

Mummy Card

How cute is this card?? I found the pattern on Splitcoast Stampers and fell in love with it!Super simple to make. Thanks for taking a peek. Have a great week!

Halloween Shadow Box

I made this shadow box for a class that I will be teaching at Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA. I made the box from chipboard and then had plenty of fun stuffing it with lots of cool goodies and techniques. The class is on October 2nd and I can't wait!

Shadow Box Class

I am teaching a class at Stamp-n-Scrap in Gardiner, Maine on August 27th for this adorable Shadow Box which would also make a great frame for photos. The class will teach you how to make the chipboard "box" and "frame" and then how to fill it with great stuff!

First Class at Absolutely Everything

I taught my first class at Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA this past Saturday. It was such a nice experience. The ladies in class were fun and very focused! Here is a photo of the wreath that we made:
I am looking forward to a few more classes that are scheduled for the upcoming months. If you have not been to AE, you are missing out on a great shopping experience!

A Trip Downeast Maine

Mark and I took a day of vacation to visit the Penobscot Narrows Observatory located near Fort Knox in Maine. It is 42 stories high and such an experience! The views are spectacular!
View from the base of the Penebscot Narrows Bridge.
At the base of the Observatory....here we go....up, up, up!
View of the bridge from the Observatory. If you are frightened of hights, then this adventure will probably make you a little dizzy. It took a few minutes for me to feel like I was not going to fall!

Candy Cupcakes

I really got into Valentine's Day this year by making these sweet little treats. I used silicone baking cups and lined them with melted chocolate. Then I made Starbucks coffee truffles and rolled them in chocolate jimmies and crushed pecans. Yum!
If you were ever to dive into a plate of chocolate, the above photo is what the view would be!
Ready for some chocolate???!

Whimsical Loki

I love Claudine Hellmuth's artistic style. Using her product line, I made this 5" x 5" canvas. I used an actual photo and worked it into the painted/stamped theme.Loki has to be one of the cutest puppies I have seen! Of course he is grown and quite large now, but I will always love this photo of him!

Paper Rose Topiary

I recently make this topiary using a topiary form that I purchased from AC Moore. I handmade approx. 125 paper roses to embellish the form. This piece is one that I will hang on too! It is residing in my studio for every time I feel no creativity, I glance over and the juices start flowing!

Giant Pillow Box

Paper Craft Planet has a neat 3D challenge every week. This is the first week I decided to play along. This week's challenge is a GIANT 3D Pillow Box. It was quick and fun to make!

It's Spring in Richmond, Maine!

I had so much fun making this wreath the week after Christmas. I made it as a project to try out for the Spellbinders Design Team. I did not make it onto the team....but I ended up with a pretty wreath to display in my art room! The roses are all made by hand, the other flowers are made using a Spellbinders die. Add some buttons and glue and you have a wreath! Have a great weekend!

MAKE-n-TAKE Holiday Ornament

I will be doing a Make-n-Take on December 11th at Stamp-n-Scrap in Gardiner, Maine. We will be making this easy and beautiful ornament using a new Alterations Die, Spellbinders Die, paper, studio paint, and glitter. It is quick, easy, and adorable! I will also have a wreath on display using these ornaments to decorate it. Other samples showing how many different ways this ornament can be used will also be on display that day. Join us and learn a new technique!

Fall Tag

I have been collecting the Tim Holtz Dies that are manufactured by Sizzix.This fall tag uses the new leaf die, a Stampin' Up! rubber stamp (background) and a Fiskars acorn punch. I absolutely LOVE this tag!

January Class Samples

The 12 Months, 12 Tags, 12 Techniques class that I taught at Stamp-n-Scrap was a huge success. I had so many excited students in the 2 sessions that were offered. The ladies that attended class had never used Studio Paints and by the time they left the class, they were each artists using artist mediums! Here are samples for a class I will be offering at the end of January. These cards and tags can be used for Valentine's Day or to send as a sweet "thank you". I recently purchased a Tim Holtz (Sizzix) die that cuts the tags - it's awesome!

Rosie-O-Rosie-O-Rosie!

Just a short post with some special photos of Rosie. She attended a beeswax class with me in September (above photo with Claudine Hellmuth).
She supervised cooking out on the wood fire (above photo) in October.

And in November she goes into the water treadmill at work twice a week for arthritis (and treats!). She loves going into the tank for her "run". She is up to running over 2mph and goes for 13 minutes!