Something Marvelous

I think this pretty beaded flower card by my friend Evelyn Spikes is pretty marvelous!  The image and verse just pop off the card at me, and if you click the photo you’ll see what a subtle glimmer our Ultra Fine Micro Beads give to the flower. 

Evelyn stamped and colored the image with markers, then she stamped just the blossom part of the flower on O’So Sticky Paperback Tape so she could cut it out to fit exactly over the image.  She peeled off the back liner and applied the cut tape to the colored blossom just like a sticker.  She then removed the top liner and dipped the exposed tape in ultrafine beads for the finish.  And what a finish it is!  Thanks for sharing Evelyn!!

True Confessions

 

 

Okay, now that this blog is rolling merrily along I think it’s true confession time.

Friends have suggested, encouraged, recommended and strongly encouraged me to start blogging for years.  And I resisted,… obviously for a long time. 

I’ve always wanted Pennywise Arts to be about community.  My vision is for PWA to be a hub where creative women find connection to other creative women and then together they create a network of support, inspiration and friendship.  I think we’ve done that.  Very well in fact. 

Over the years this  amazing group of caring women have supported one another through good times and tragic times, celebrations and heartbreaks, births, deaths, and simple acts of kindness.  I’ve watched shy women come out of their shells and wounded women learn to trust other women again.  I’ve even witnessed women who have never travelled alone in their lives get in a car or on a plane and journey great distance to meet face to face with friends they have only ever known online.  So you see, this community touches my soul on a very deep level. 

And  that is why I’ve resisted blogging.

I never want the focus to be on me.  It’s not about me.  It’s not “my” group.  It’s not the “Suzanne Show”.  I’ve spent a lot of time fretting about how to make this clear to the group. I’ve tried stepping back out of the limelight hoping others would step in.  I’ve tried encouraging, instigating and even begging others to show up and be a part.  But those things don’t seem to work. 

And then my grandma came to visit last week. 

Evelyn Brady is just two months shy of being 93 years old.  She is the mother of my father who passed away 9 years ago.  My grandma is an angel, a true and proper lady and I adore her so much.  She is sharp, witty, engaging and fun.  While her body is slow to get her from place to place, she is always willing to go anywhere, anytime especially if there will be a party when she gets there.  I am quite certain that I get my love of people and parties from her.  Ü

Grandma often shares her stories with me, of the people she knows and the lives they have lived.  She belongs to a “Birthday Club” which is a group of neighborhood women that get together for lunch once a month to celebrate the birthdays of other women in their group.  The most amazing thing about her Birthday Club?  They have been doing this without fail since the 1950’s. 

Grandma tells me stories about how the club supported her with love, meals and friendship when my grandpa was hurt in an accident and couldn’t work for a year.  She has shared about how the group cried together when one of the women lost her home. They have been together through over 50 years of births, job promotions, layoffs, divorces and deaths.  And as the time passes by and as the women grow older the group gets smaller and smaller.  Yet they have stayed together and I believe they will until the days of the Birthday Club end only because all of it’s “sisters” have passed away and all that remains are the remnants of stories left behind for their loved ones to tell.

Through her sharing it became clear to me that every successful group, every lasting close knit community has one person somehow silently designated as the  orchestrator, date setter, space creator, time maker and leader.  And that’s when my role in the PWA community crystallized in my mind.  Group activity can’t be corralled or coerced.  It’s something that will ebb and flow and thrive so long as someone is there taking the lead.  As long as someone is orchestrating opportunities, creating the space and setting aside the time the group will flourish and the friendships will bloom. 

I am just a hub of a wheel so big that it’s spokes reach across the globe to countries and friends all over the world.  Just call me the orchestrator.

Hugs,

Suzanne

Happy Birthday Cupcake!

Going through all the amazing card samples that I’ve collected I ran across two more of Julie Imsland’s fantastic designs to share with you. These two cupcake cards look yummy enough to eat, don’t they?

Here’s some “up close” action on the featured sweet treats!

	This one got a little tricky read below how she did it!
This one was a simple matter of masking the icing with O’So Sticky Tape.

The techniques that Julie used to bead the frosting of these using two cards was super simple and use very little O’So Sticky Tape.

On both designs this basic method was used:

1. Just stamp onto white scrap paper with the stamp you wish to use and make a template by cutting out frosting only of cupcake.

2. Trace frosting template onto O’So Sticky Tape sheet and cut out.

3. Peel off one liner of the O’So Sticky Tape and adhere to pre colored cupcake frosting image. Burnish well.

4. Peel off remaining tape liner. Pour micro bead mixture on to the exposed tape. Press the beads firmly onto tape with fingers or small brayer.

To complete the pink cupcake Julie did a little sidestep by putting a circle of O’So Sticky Tape over her colored image and THEN she placed a mask over the icing made of tape liner. This kept the frosting from getting beaded over when she smooshed the whole thing into the clear micro beads. Once that was done, Julie removed the mask and beaded the frosting with a multi colored mixture of micro beads.

P.S. Please let Julie know what you think of her designs by leaving comments below!

Stamp Credits: Lockhart Stamp Co., Impress, Memory Box, Sweet Impressions

Simply Believe

Now that Halloween is over, it’s time to seriously think about getting a start on those Christmas greeting cards. Not to disrespect Thanksgiving at all, but it seems that the mass mailings of cards are sent in December, which means the sooner you get started making them, the better!

This enchanting Christmas card was created by my friend and PWA designer Julie Imsland. It has lots of layers created by foam tape that doesn’t show well in a photo but you can use your 3-D imagination and pretend that the snowflakes are popping off the screen at you right now!

Julie was even kind enough to supply the supplies and instructions here. (Thanks Julie, you’re the best!)

Supplies: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection #CMS 031 Just Believe, Ranger Distress Ink: Fired Brick, Colorbox Pigment Ink: Evergreen, Pennywise Arts: Clear Ultrafine Micro beads, O’So Sticky Powder, Basic Grey Dasher Patterned Cardstock: #DSH-627 Snowbank, #DSH-635 Snowfall Polar Blue, White Cardstock, Textured Brick Cardstock, Carl Punch #CP2, Large Snowflake, Therm O Web Glue Dots, Foam Tape, Adhesive, Uni-Ball Signo White Pen.

Directions:

1. Stamp Framed Santa with fired brick onto Snowbank patterned cardstock.

2. Highlight Santa’s beard and hair with the white pen, highlight border frame if desired.

3. Ink “Believe” with evergreen and stamp overlapping lower right of Santa frame.

4. Immediately sprinkle O’So Sticky Powder over the stamped “Believe”, tap off excess.

5. Heat the powder with a heat tool just until the powder becomes shiny. This will activate the Sticky Powder.

6. Lay the stamped paper into a shallow tray and sprinkle ultrafine micro beads over the entire word.

7. Gently lift the stamped paper from the bead tray, allowing loose beads to fall into tray.

8. Heat the word once more to “set” the micro beads into the Sticky Powder. Allow paper to cool before touching. Once cooled, gently brush any remaining loose beads from the image into the tray.

9. Use detail scissors to trim around word and Framed Santa, leaving a slight border.

10. Mount the stamped Santa frame onto a 5.125” x 4” piece of textured brick cardstock (note “Believe” will hang off the edge of the brick mat).

11. Card base is made by folding a 1” tab across one end of a 4.25” x 7” piece of white cardstock, to make a 4.25” x 6” side fold card base.

12. Adhere a 4.25” x 6” piece of Snowfall Polar Blue patterned paper to the 1” white tab.

13. Use foam tape to mount the matted Santa frame to the front of the card.

14. Punch 4 snowflakes each from the Snowbank patterned cardstock, and white cardstock.

15. Layer each patterned snowflake over a white snowflake with a glue dot.

16. Use foam tape to affix 2 layered snowflakes off the right side of the Santa frame. Use glue dots to add the remaining two layered snowflakes to the left and right side of the frame.

Stamp Credits: Stampers Anonymous

Happy Birthday Yvonne!

Today is my dear friend Yvonne’s birthday and I am so excited to celebrate her birth because without her there would be no “us” and because we have “us” I am blessed to have one of the most amazing friendships ever – so Yay Us and Happy Birthday to Yvonne!

I am so excited to give Yvonne this fun birthday cake kit today!  It’s a school box covered with her favorite Basic Grey papers from the “Color Me Silly” line.  The words were cut from red Vinyl with the Cricut cutter.

Inside the box is a cute little premade cake I got at a fast food place called Carl's Jr.  It came all prepackaged in plastic so the frosting won't even get smooshed!  I've never had this cake (or eaten at Carl's) before so I hope it at least tastes good!  A  micro beaded "Y" glued to the top hides the Carl's label.

Added to the box is a color coordinated box of matches, a tag with a candle attached to it, a bag of sprinkles, a candle holder and a knife, fork and napkin to match! 

 
It was so much fun to watch this spontaneous gift come to life!

What have you made spontaneously in the recent past?  If you can’t think of anything I highly recommend it!  I can’t  believe how much creativity gets a kick start from a simple box covered in colorful paper!