It's Wednesday....

And you know what that means! Yeap, half way through the work week.

It's been almost 2 weeks since I have posted! What am I thinking? Oh yeah, I am getting ready for the next VSN at SCS! There is a Mini coming up on March 8 and then the big event on April 4th and 5th.

Now you may ask yourself why I am getting ready for an event that is so far off in the future? That is because I have been selected to host one of the challenges! What day and what is the challenge you ask? Well, you will have to stay tuned, I can't say when I will be hosting the challenge quite yet...and you will have to wait for the day and time of my challenge to see what it is!

What is VSN you ask? Virtual Stamp Night is a series of challenges. You have usually have 45 minutes to complete the stamping challenge, then 15 minutes to clean up, take a picture of your project and upload your picture. Challenges are posted every hour! It is great fun...click here for more information. I hope you will be able to join me!

Happy Heart Day!

Boy, did I get a good surprise this afternoon when I got home from work! Let me start the story from the beginning so you can fully appreciate it.


Last night, when I was getting ready to go to bed I noticed a small bud vase on the table by the door (already filled with water) I picked it up and walked over to my husband and said "what is this for?" He just smiled told me I would find out. Well, this morning there was a single, long stem rose in it. I was happy with that, kissed him good-bye and left for work.

When I got home this afternoon, the vase had grown, and there were a dozen roses in it! What a sweet guy and a good surprise! He really is a sweet guy.


Today's Project - Sneak Peak!



I got my Occasions Mini catalog pre-order the other day. One of the sets I ordered was "For Father" Here is my first card with the set:

I got the inspiriation for the colors from a co-worker's sweater the other day. When I say the colors together I knew that I wanted to make this card.

I used blender pens and classic ink pads to color the picture. It is a technique that I have really enjoyed lately, so I thought I would share it with you.

What you want to do is take a closed Stampin' Up! Classic Ink pad and squeeze it right in the middle. You will feel the 2 sided pushing together. When you open up the case the bottom side will look like this:

You can now use your blender pen to pick up the color. Here are a few tips for blender pens and coloring:

• You can use the same tip with several different colors, just scribble on a scrap piece of paper until all the ink is out of the pen.
• There are many way to shade, my favorite way is to use the same color, but add or remove ink as needed. To remove the ink I just pick a clear spot on my lid and rub the blender pen on it until some, but not all of the ink is gone
• When you are coloring your picture, visualize where the sun or other light source is in your picture. The color will be lighter on the side where the light is hitting the picture, and darker on the side that is away from the light. You can see this in the apples on the picture above.
• Don't worry about cleaning the lid of your ink pad. You can just close it and store as usual. The ink on the lid will be there for next time you want to do some coloring with it.
• You can also try this technique with the Aqua Painters or a small watercolor paint brush and a small amount of water. Depending on how wet you get the ink on the lid, you may want to use a paper towel to blot up the excess water before closing the lid.
  

Pre-Challenge for April VSN

OK, I LOVE challenges! I love being given a little nugget of information and then allowed to do with it what I please. In January I particiapted in a VSN (Virtual Stamp Night) on SCS. Challenges are posted every hour, on the hour. You have 45 minutes to complete your project and then 15 minutes to clean up and up load your project. It is so much fun! The next one will be April 4th and 5th. There will be a mini VSN on March 8. Check out the link above to learn more.


The dates and theme for this next VSN were just announced over the weekend - and they gave us a pre-challenge - make a card using something a baby would wear. Here is my entry:

I used the new Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper for the background. I didn't mean for it, but it so happened that I was able to line up the eyelets with the circle pattern on the paper. I used my Crop-o-Dile to set the eyelets, I love that you are able to see where you are going to punch a hole.

As you can see I have found a photography solution that I am happy with at the moment. The only problem is that it has to be daylight out for me to take pictures. I took several today and will be posting more in the days to come.

Photography

Well, I would have some projects to post, but I am having the darnest time photographing them! I even bought a fancy clip lamp, but it really isn't producing the right light. I am going to try to put a florescent bulb in it later and see if that helps.

If all else fails I can wait until tomorrow afternoon when I am home during the daylight hours and use the light of the window. It is really just a matter of experimenting to find out what I like the best!

Hey, a special thanks to all my SCS/SU! Demo sisters who have replied to my previous post saying welcome to the world of blogging. I didn't even realize that aspect of blogging would be so fun! Thanks Ladies.

Hello!

Ok, no pictures for today, just wanted to get on and say hi to everyone! I just started this blog today and am still playing with the layout and all - so don't be suprised if next time you visit things look a little different.

I also wanted to say I had a great time with my club ladies yesterday, what a great group! I know that we will have a great time over the course of the year getting together, sharing ideas and learning new things.