Birthday Cards

I signed up for a Masculine Birthday swap at Convention, and had to come up with 25 cards.  What was I thinking?!?  I only had one non-retiring birthday stamp at the time, and nothing that was anymore masculine than this cake! So I ended up with these, figuring the colors were relatively non-feminine!  Actually the same layout can be used for any birthday, depending on the printed paper and colors used.  This particular paper pack is retiring tomorrow, but there are always MORE! I colored the cakes with Copics and/or water-based markers, just depending on what I could find to match the colors in the printed paper, and added a bit of Journey glaze to the candle flame and the berries/dots/whatever.  Simple, fast, and fun - I suspect this design will show up in class one of these days, updated with fun new paper.

   


To You (SS-0083)
Going Places Paper Pack - Retired (PP-0009)

Pan-Pastel Dahlias

Happy Monday, everyone!  I had such a nice weekend - I shared Saturday with a lovely group of ladies (and one young gentleman) at my monthly card class, and met a new crafter when she happened to hear one of us mention "VersaMark" and came in to see what was going on.  On Sunday, friend and fellow-Coach Denise W. and I drove up to Colorado Springs to my up-line's team meeting where we shared ideas and learned lots of new things.  I'll be sharing the make-it projects and a swap from that meeting later this week.

I finally finished this card after my first experiments with Pan Pastels.  

I tried using a stencil for the background, but discovered the pastels didn't blend into the card stock, and there was a LOT of excess color dust that smeared when I tried to remove it. The color was vibrant, but as you can see, it looked pretty messy!


So I scrubbed away at the surface with a paper towel and succeeded in removing the excess color, creating a softer look but also smearing the white areas.
We were told at convention that the pastels would erase with any eraser, so I grabbed a pencil with a relatively clean eraser and started cleaning up the white areas.  It WORKED!!  But since I really don't want to work that hard on every card, next time I'll try daubing the color onto the surface instead of rubbing - or else start with gesso or modeling paste through the stencil to create the design, then pastels on that surface.

The dahlias were a bit easier - I just rubbed the color on.  The pastels blended very nicely, and I didn't need to worry about going outside the lines since I was cutting them out anyway.


I really like working with the pastels, but know I need more practice!  These will be available on July 1st on my website:  www.funstampersjourney.com/WILMAPAYNE.

Materials:
Dahlia Burst (SS-0203)
Rich Sorbets Pan Pastels (JM-0082)
Happy Sentiments (SS-0304)
Artful Wall Stencil (JM-0088)

From the Heart June Challenge

It's taken me a little longer than usual to post a card with this month's free digital stamp set from From the Heart Stamps. It's a cute set featuring ice cream, but for some reason I had a really hard time figuring out how to color it!  There are some awesome samples on the blog and the challenge page, but mine just wasn't coming together.  I did end up with a couple I like enough to post, but I'm going to continue trying different ways to color these images.  Maybe colored pencils...

If you're interested in joining the Digital Stamp of the Month Challenge (and getting a FREE digital stamp set each month), or it you just want to check out what the talented participants have posted with this image, click here.  There's also a weekly sketch challenge.

Convention Give-aways and Saturday Class

Just one last Convention post.  For some reason this morning I woke up thinking - it's over. (Yes, I'm kind of slow realizing that!!) But the experience lives on.  I had a blast, I learned new things, I have loads of great ideas from the cards and ATCs I swapped, and I met so many wonderful people.  AND I have a bunch of STUFF!  Here's a picture of all the items I received at the convention.  I didn't include gifts from my uplines and roommate, or the items I purchased to bring home.

There are SIX stamp sets in there!

Now I'm getting ready for Saturday's class and Sunday's team meeting.  I haven't even started my swaps for Sunday, but I know I want to use one of my new sets that will be coming out in the new catalog, Delightful Light (SS-0344).  I had to figure out the class cards fast and on the fly, as I needed to get notices out ASAP when I got home.  Here are the ones we'll be doing.

If you're in the Pueblo, CO area, class will be 2:00 at the Barkman Library!  Comment here if you'd like more information.

June Hop - Anything Goes!

 The Fun Stampers Journey coaches have some great things to show you in this month's blog hop, so if you have arrived here from Rosemary Roca's blog, My Crazy Craft Corner, you're at the right spot. If not, check the list below or go back to the beginning and hop along with us.


The view of the Greenhorn Mountains from my front porch changes every hour, every season. This month I was inspired to create a simple card with a new set called "Climbing Mountains" (SS-0322) that will be coming out on July 1st.


After stamping the images on Whip Cream card stock with Black Licorice ink, I colored them with another one of our new products - Pan Pastels. The pastels blend easily to create a lovely soft look without water or blender solution. To hint at the way the mountains fade into ever lighter colors as they recede into the distance, I used a light touch of Huckleberry Fusion on the farthest peaks, a more intense shade on the ones in the mid-range, and blended Huckleberry Fusion with Pretty Pansy to indicate the closer hills. After adding a touch of silver on the bottom of the clouds, I cut them out and popped them up at different levels on a River Stone card. The sentiment is from another new set available on July 1st from the new catalog: "Spirit Animals"(SS-0355).



Thank you so much for looking in on my blog today. Please stop in again someday! Your next stop is Crafting with Sandra, hosted by Sandra Kay Tate.


I Heart Scraps - Crissy Salima Rivas
My Crazy Craft Corner - Rosemary Roca  
Stampin' to the Oldies - Wilma Payne  (You're here!) 
Crafting with Sandra - Sandra Kay Tate  
Pink Zebra Paper Creations - Kim Lamos  
Stampin Carol - Carol Moffett Norby  
Made to Create - Janice Aileen Whiting  
Suse a Doodle Do - Susan Berg  
Sassy Angels Studio - Ruth Cooper  
Heavens to Betsye - Betsye Rose Cimino Erazo 

The Rest of Convention

I've just gotta share some of these pictures! Then I'll stop and get back to normal...  Seriously, Convention was absolutely amazing.  SO MUCH FUN, and lots of giveaways too.  I'm glad I joined Fun Stampers Journey for many reasons - great price on the sign up bundle, quality products (including stamps that stick to the blocks!!!), affordable quarterly minimums, friendly people - and the chance to go to this 4-day event.

Denise, Nanette and I receiving one of the many giveaways.

Up-line Nanette and her team at award dinner.  Nanette won the Make-Live-Share Award.

Trading "swaps" was one of the best things.  I met so many friendly people and received beautiful cards and plenty of ideas. 

SaveSave

Day 1 Convention and my AWESOME team!

Wednesday evening we were treated to a carnival-style patio party.  Lots of great food (of course!), creative games, prizes, music, and friends.  Here my upline Nanette Mueller and my roommate Denise Wieger are playing giant Jenga.  Lots of fun, and just the first taste of all that was still to come.

Wednesday morning we toured the Fun Stampers Journey office - got to see where all the creative work takes place.

(Goodie boxes - did I mention all the FOOD?)

And I have the most awesome upline team!  These ladies are so sweet and helpful.  I really picked a great team to join.  (Sign up at www.funstampersjourney.com/wilmapayne and come to convention with us NEXT year.  I'm looking forward to it already, and would love to share the experience.)

 Gloria Baca, MaryLou Hennington, Candie Atkins, Lana Meisinger
Nanette Mueller, Wilma Payne

I promise I'll be posting more about new products and projects in the days to come.  Had a wonderful time, but of course it's good to be home!  Thanks for stopping in.

ATC Swaps

Just thought I'd share a couple of the ATC's (2-½" x 3-½" mini cards) that I took to the Convention to swap.  I received many beautiful samples in return.

I'm Back - and I'm a lot heavier!

Just got back from four days of AWESOME in Scottsdale, Arizona.  The Fun Stampers Journey Convention 2016 was amazing.  I've never experienced so much fun packed into such a short time.  Everyone I met was friendly, the sessions were informative and VERY entertaining, and the food was completely out of this world!  If you're not an FSJ Coach, I encourage you to sign up immediately  (with me, of course) and start saving for next year!!  I'm starting my 2017 savings account (and my DIET) right now.  The experience was way beyond my expectations, and worth every penny I spent and much more.

So - what made the experience so wonderful?  Gotta start with the food - WOW!  I was fed eight full meals during the three and a half days, and every one of those meals was perfectly cooked and beautifully served.  Every buffet meal included 4 or 5 entrees, 4 or 5 salads and/or fruits, several rolls and breads, soup, side dishes, and MULTIPLE desserts.  And then there was the Awards Dinner.  I had a perfect sirloin:

New Stamps

 I'm having a blast here at the FSJ Convention. This is a card we made yesterday with a cute new stamp set that will be available July 1. The mountains are PERFECT for us Coloradoans. 

On the Road

We left early this morning, heading for Arizona and the Fun Stampers Journey CONVENTION!!!  Made it to Albuquerque where we'll spend the night and enjoy a visit with sisters-in-law MJ and Genice. We haven't hit the hot weather yet - only about 86 here.

I've never tried blogging from my phone before, but I made a couple of small gifts for my roommates and upline so had to learn how to post a picture!