Clean and Simple Birthday Cupcake

Earlier this week I officially completed a Clean & Simple Card Making Class with Jennifer McGuire, Julie Ebersole and Kristina Werner. Totally my style and I LOVED it- the samples and techniques and sketches were amazing. Jennifer McGuire and Julie Ebersole are two of my all time favorites so to have a class with both of them was fantastic.

I made this birthday card on Sunday and it was inspired by some of what I saw in some of the class samples. My style is naturally clean and simple but I keep it too clean sometimes and it now I have some tricks to keep it a little more interesting.

Tall, Dark & Gruesome

This week's Smudgy Antics Challenge theme was: Tall, Dark and Gruesome. I used Puff Boy and some images from Urban Decay for the background. Probably not as dark as the rest of my teammates but instead of over thinking it, I just made it.

I've been pretty busy since the beginning of the month. My manager at work left the company so I have been doing some of his job and hiring a new employee to do some of my old job. Some days are good, some days suck and sometimes I am so tired by the time I get home.

Last week I acquired an airbrush kit and a bunch of design cards for my Slice Elite and some ColorArtz paint. I think the craft stores try to clear out before CHA- it seems like every year I do well about this time. I'm taking a break from design teams for a while- I've been on at least 2 at a time for the past 4 years and I'm recharging my batteries. I just finished an online card class with Jennifer McGuire that I LOVED and in February I'm taking one with Joanne Sharpe.

S&S January blog hop- MESH IT!

Welcome to the Smeared and Smudged member blog hop (the full blog roll is at the end of the post). If you haven't hopped here from Kristy's blog, you can start at the beginning at Tori's blog. Next stop on the hop is Kapree's blog. Thanks for hopping by and if you leave me a comment, I'll leave you one too!

The theme this month is MESH IT! Interpret this how you'd like. Mesh, mesh images together, have a mesh texture...etc.

My card features "Love Li'l Grumpies" from Smeared Ink, drywall mesh tape colored with Sharpies and a computer generated sentiment with a nod to some of my fellow Smeared Ink DT members. (The full blog roll for the hop appears after Randy's thought for today.)

Randy here- As you can tell by the photo, I'm going to talk about driving today (and no I don't actually drive a human car but I can tear it up enjoy a leisurely pace in a Barbie Jeep!) See those 2 signs in the photo? The first says STOP- that means you come to a COMPLETE stop. You do not roll through if you are the only car and do not follow the mantra: "No Cop, No Stop!" The second sign says Yield, which means the other car has the right of way. Hold your water and let the other car through. If you don't follow those signs (even the toy ones that Santa brought) you could cause an injury or wreck a Barbie Jeep by driving it into a playhouse at full speed or damage a vehicle. If you don't want to buy a new Barbie Jeep for the snotty neighborhood kid who says duct tape and drywall mesh tape aren't good enough to fix their vehicle, be sure to drive safely and heed signs (also avoid playing chicken with a playhouse when dared!)

Here's the blog roll for the hop:

JANUARY SMEARED & SMUDGED
MEMBER BLOG HOP
BLOG ROLL

Tori
Black Dragon
Fiona
Monique
Jane
Celina
Sara
Kristy
Heather
Kapree
Helen
Alison
Sugar
Dianne
Lisa
Sharon
Pam
Ike
MaryKay

No Stamps Card with Spray Ink

I've been fascinated lately with Spray Inks. I don't own any of the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists yet but I have made my own with reinkers, distilled water, Powdered Pearls and mister bottles. The one thing I like about mixing my own is I can combine various colors of ink and pearls. I'll show you my recipe cards soon- I write down the exact number of drops of ink and formula on the front of the card and spray a sample on the back. That means I can pick a color easily. All of my bottles are numbered and correspond to numbers on my recipe cards.

The card above was spritzed with an aqua then I sprayed on top of a stencil. It smeared and I was going to throw it away but I liked the imperfection. Thanks Julie for the inspiration! I added some ochre mist to the corners and viola! Really fun backgrounds to make.

Do you use spray mists? What brand(s) do you like or do you make your own?

Thanks for stopping by today and I appreciate every comment too!

Smeared Ink- Recycle something challenge

The theme of this week's Smeared Ink challenge on the Smudgy Antics Challenge is: Recycle something. So I recycled pieces of my husband's old leather belt and some used tin foil. I used images and sentiments from "Lov Li'l Grumpies" digital set and the background uses an image from "Inky Dreams" rubber stamp set. I went very far out of my comfort zone for this challenge.

Randy Here- I'm feeling 100% better- thanks for the get well wishes. I felt so good on Saturday that Heather and her husband took me to the store for some after Christmas bargains and we found those cute Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer scissors. 1 pair for me, 1 pair for Heather! If you are wondering about the blindfold, Heather didn't want me to see her card for today! Thanks for stopping by!

Love Me

School started today! Not that I am excited or anything.

Lots going on at Smeared Ink this week.

• First, Smeared Ink is having a 15% off sale- check out my sidebar for the details.
  
• Secondly, Be sure to check out the Smudgy Antics challenge this week- Wheelie Good Time.
  
• Thirdly, I'm loving the Love Li'l Grumpies digi set from Smeared Ink- the sentiments are as cool as the images. You'll be seeing lots more of this set on my blog.

What do you think of my new photo background? I've decided that a white background works better than my kitchen counter!

Randy Fans- Randy has reindeer bronchitis. He is resting and will be back later this week.

Thanks for stopping by today

Happy NY (Heather & Randy) + Squigglefly sneak peek

Happy New Year! I've spent what was supposed to be a week off from work at the office (long story but it will be worth it) and spending time with my family.

Squigglefly has announced the new design team- and what a talented bunch of ladies they have this term! I'm so excited that the teams each chose a special name. Holley's Hobbyists and Rhonda's Rowdy Rascals are large and in charge this term!

Holley Barnhart

Shawna Sealander

Charlene Mitchell

Theresa Gerber

Tammy Hair

Pat Martin

Rhonda Zmikly

Terri Fleming

Kathy Bradley

Sharon Jones

Debbie Ebat

Linda Weber

Although I am not on the design team this term, I will still be around promoting Squigglefly through Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter (and who knows how else!) Once we get 250 "likes" on the Squigglefy page on Facebook there will be a free exclusive digi for all Facebook fans. There are some other cool ways to win some free digis too.

(cough, cough)
So my card... it features "Mr. Wool" an image by new Squigglefly artist Sandy Somerfeld which will be available for sale next Saturday. I absolutely love this image and yesterday my daughter and I came up with a bunch of great sentiments to use with Mr. Wool.
(cough, cough)



Randy the Reindeer here- (cough, cough) I have developed a cough this week. Today I haven't done much more than lie on the couch watching episodes of Monk and drinking tea with honey. (cough, cough) I am going to the vet tomorrow for some medicine. Heather's husband decided to budge me off the couch hunker down next to me, steal my warm fluffy blanket and then got mad when I coughed so loud that he couldn't hear Mr. Monk. Hope he doesn't get sick. (cough, cough) By the way- HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thanks for reading my blog Heather's blog.

12 Days of Christmas Day 12- Grand Finale

Woo Hoo it is the grand finale for the Smeared and Smudged 12 days of Christmas! (But please, no confetti because it is impossible to clean up!)

Welcome to day 12 of Smeared & Smudged 12 Days of Christmas sponsored by Smeared Ink. Check out the blog roll of participating artists in the right sidebar. Today is a Smeared Ink Day and my project features "Steampunk Sugarplum Fairy". This is definitely one of my favorite Smeared Ink images!

I made the propeller glisten with some Stickles and the Sheer Heaven behind the sentiment was coffee dyed. Normally snowflakes aren't black but considering the audience I think it worked!


Randy here- Happy holidays one and all! I am in a much cheerier mood (in case Santa is watching). I have put the cards on the fireplace mantle even though I do not like heights. The undecorated tree is in Heather's daughter's room and I'm going to bake cookies next. Snickerdoodles and some frosted cutouts I think. Later Milly is coming over for to carol, drink spiked eggnog and help wrap gifts. (I'm all hooves when it comes to wrapping.) I know Santa will think I have been a good reindeer this year. I texted him my list: Hoof covers with skulls on them, a Kindle, a Starbucks gift certificate, a warm blue comforter for my bed and a knit hat that fit over my antlers.

Thanks very much for stopping by today- happy holidays to you and your family (including the 4 legged variety)!

12 Days of Christmas Day 11: More Tree Cards (+ Rebel Randy)

Welcome to day 11 of Smeared & Smudged 12 Days of Christmas sponsored by Smeared Ink. Check out the blog roll of participating artists in the right sidebar. We'll be posting every other day until the "Big" day.

Today's cards feature "I Heart Christmas Trees" by artist Jane Beljo for Squigglefly. I kept them simple and flat because I had to mail them and I didn't want issues with them arriving damaged. The first card has a background of Stardream text weight paper and it is a dream to texturize. The second card features a homemade spray misted background and some polka dot washi tape. I love that washi tape but I am struggling to find cute uses for it. I'll find my way eventually.


Randy here- Well we are almost to the big day. This hasn't been nearly as much fun as Halloween. Not that I am complaining or anything that we don't have a Christmas tree. Seriously, it is my holiday and goodness gracious do you think it would kill Heather or her husband to buy me some Cap'n Crunch's Christmas Cereal or at least carry the artificial Christmas tree up from the basement. I wouldn't even DREAM of asking for a REAL tree.

PS All those crunched up candy canes on the floor- I had NOTHING to do with it. Just because I had some pieces stuck to my HOOF doesn't mean I got mad and stomped on the box. And my socks are on my antlers because I am protesting- not because they got all sticky with candy.

Deck the Halls- with scraps

I had to make just a few more holiday cards so I grabbed some scrap ribbon, an extra image and some Stardream metallic paper and texturized it. One of my favorite holiday cards and probably the quickest for me to put together. The image is from Squigglefly and is called "Deck the Halls" by artist Robin Willis.

Entering into the following challenges:
Weekly Christmas Card Challenges: Week 3- Non Traditional Christmas Colors
CHNC Challenge 51: Anything goes for Christmas
ABC Christmas Challenge: Y is for Yipee (Anything Goes!)

Thanks for stopping by!