Sheltering Trees/ Green

I love this Quotemarks stamp from Quietfire. So i chose Sheltering Trees, as this weeks theme. I had a hankering to do some coloring {Shout Out to BFF Chris DeGrado for sending me a new set of Plume markers} and drew overlapping lines with the brush end and sprayed the whole thing with a mist made of pearl-ex, gum arabic, dye ink and water. Let it drey really well, wipe with an anti-static pad and stamped and empossed the message and some trees. Added some stardust pens and punched out the corners with the branches of a small tree punch.
This is the third in a series of doldrums cards- I'm creatively in a stuck place and figure on just keep on making till I snap out of it. Maybe my brain has frozen from too much air conditioning.
Thanks to the trees for being the genuine air conditioners.

Looking In...Looking Out / Use Dies

A society in which material development co-exists with spiritual progress is one where true happiness is really possible. The Dalai Lama

What does this have to do with CBTC theme? nothing and everything. I like it so much I want to paste it everywhere.

Continuing in a space of not being happy with my own work and still enjoying doing it. Shout Out to Yogi Gunwald for my new fave background technique with crinkled wax paper. She calls it faux batik, I call it addicting.. I die cut the windows with a sizzix die, satmped with quitefire flourished heart and Joy, embossed, startdust penned,made a mess etc. the dragonfly is also a Quietfire stamp done with perfect medium and senelier iridescent pastels-Shout Out to BSIL Diana Montgomery who needs to start her own blog!

Freedom ....Stars

I've made a bunch of cards this week I didn't like. here is one of them that never the less is my entry for the Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge.
I used an old fiscars embossing plate- i have a hugh pile of them and even tho I don't like them I can't get rid of them.. Then over stamped with stars, and corner flourishes.
I cut out and embossed some stars and used my stamp positioner and the frendship stamp and turned the word 'tree' into 'free'. I used a lot of white pen
and stardust pens and ink and fussed and messed with it till I said STOP. this is how it is. Everyone should make art and stop being so judgmental- including me.
Check out my current post on Stillwaters Refuge.
Please inspire me by posting your entry in this weeks challenge. There are more Links there for Quietfire products.

Hot Hot Hot

I don't know where y'all are, and here in Montreat, near Asheville, NC it has been hot(for us).
I got my dermatological pathology back-and basically it said I have freckles. To reward myself-oh yes -I also got my tax refund(with interest) I stopped at the LSS-Shout Out to the Stamp Artist Place and got some new toys. I wanted to use them all in one card as I guess my brain has melted in this heat.
So for this weeks theme of Hot Hot Hot in the Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge, I thank the sheltering trees of Montreat for refuge from all of the elements.

The background is pigment ink stamped on the craft sheet and sprayed with water. Press the paper in, drying between presses till it looks good. I stamped with the Quietfire Friendship is stamp. I thought the floursh on that stamp looked like clouds. the lettering is embossed with Ranger Pearls embossing powder(new toy, I mean tool)-it's interference, so you need to stamp it on dark ink or paper. I used part of one of the flourishes for the bottom an used a lot of stardust glitter pen to highlight and make it hotter. The tree is punched out of a foil candy wrapper- Shout out to Elaine of Black Mountain Farmers Market for saving me foil candy wrappers- someone has to do it!

Red-The New Black

Here is this weeks entry in the Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge. You can post at the above link as usual and/or

Please feel free to add your artwork link in our new group on Quietfire Creations http://quietfire.ning.com/group/createdbyhandchallenge.

It is a challenge in itself to come up with a new theme each week. I'm always trying to come up with something catchy and edgy;Yogi likes me to include a color to get more participation;I overheard someone say this in a dress shop and i was wanting to use this paper scrap. Hence the theme.

Please go to the CBTC blog for the product links.

Stamps are Quitefire Art is.. and the flourished heart. I stamped in red and clear embossed and inked up the paper to make it blend in better with the background. I stamped the flourished heart in white and used glaze pens for some more red and shine. Stardust pens make the dots on the collage and also some Inkssential white pen.

Please enter the challenge and leave a comment.

Songs We Sing

This weeks entry in the
Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge is going out to my dear friend Jean, BFF , lover of Sensevieria, and fighter extraordinaire.
The background is embossed with a cuttlebug folder and inked up a bit. The label is a Spellbinders label 8 die. I heat embossed the lettering by quietfire
and the flourished heart. I stamped over with Versa Magic white, and drystamped over that to get the tree shadows. I wiped the embossing when dry to get off the ink.
I love to sing, and sometimes it is best to sing less and listen more. there is a difference between singing with people and singing together. Thanks to all my friends who are there to sing to me.

Gratitude

Here is this weeks entry in the Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge
There is so much to be grateful for. All the creativity that flows through and around me is an expressions of gratitude.
I've been extremely grateful f or this online arts community that supports me in a time of separation from long time family and friends and studio space.
I used my new Position-it stamp positioner-grateful thanks to Sunray-and the Quietfire stamp for the message, also Quitefire corner flourishes- can't get enough of them.
I'm still trying to use up this crummy black embossing powder. I'd be grateful if someone would encourage me to toss it.
Most of all I am grateful for mother earth and her animals, vegetables and minerals that continue to give us life and unconditional love regardless of what we give back to her.
Pray for our earth, our water, our air and our fire.