Yay! It’s PWA Blog Hop Day!

I love blog hops!  The energy that swirls around this annual event is incredible!  I have to admit that the response really took me by surprise last year – in a huge and wonderful way!

This weekend you’ll have the opportunity to hippety-hop through some amazing creativity.  The artists have all worked hard to bring you their best and some are even awarding it as blog candy.  COOL BEANS!

WIN!

I’ll be cruising through the blogs each day and selecting at least one winner per day from the comments to receive an extra special handmade gift from one of our designers.  If you want to win here’s a tip – leave a comment that is thoughtful and personal in some way.  ;0)

But wait there’s more!

In ADDITION to the prize drawings EVERY SINGLE order placed on the PWA website over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) will receive a piece of FREE blog candy created by one of our design team members!  WOWEE!!  Just look through our archives to see what you might receive!  Ü

Let’s kick this thing off! 

PWA designer Jean Sunderman brings some western influenced artwork to the party in honor of the Pennywise Arts annual crafting retreat that is taking place the end of this month in Cle Elum, Washington.

Jean’s first card has a handsome fellow on the cover with three silver micro beaded stars for embellishment.  Inside the card says “Save a horse, ride a cowboy” oh my!  ;0)

I love Jean’s atc “I always get my man”.  It’s a sweet little shaker card that used one of the free PWA templates: 

  Also from our shaker card files, Jean’s finale is a sassy lassie who’s good with a rope!   

Thanks for stopping by Pardner!  Now it’s time to mosey on over to my friend Jennifer’s blog.  She’s bursting with creativity and so excited to share with ya’ll!  I heard tell she may be giving away some goodies too!  Ü

Oh, and Yey!  If you’re interested in joining up with a fun group of wild women at the PWA retreat there are still a few spots left and we’d love to have ya!

It’s Coming!! PWA Blog Hop 2011!!

I am really excited about our 2011 blog hop lineup!  There are so many talented artists in our midst and I love showing off their fabulous creations – especially the ones that have micro beads on them!  Ü

 

The hop starts THIS Saturday and there will be gobs of prizes and random drawings (aka blog candy) along the trail – some from me and some from the participating bloggers – O’so much FUN!!

In ADDITION to the daily prize drawings EVERY SINGLE order placed on the PWA website over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) will receive a piece of blog candy created by one of our design team members!  WOWEE!!  Just look back through our archives to see what possibilities could land in YOUR mailbox!!

See you Saturday!!

Hugs,  Suzanne

 

 

More Than A Tag

 

Our featured designer for April is Evelyn Spikes Evelyn is “a happily retired high school English teacher in NE Oregon.”  She says, “I am fortunate to be able to spend as much time as I want crafting with paper and taking photographs. Married for more than 30 years, my husband and I have two grown sons....one in western Oregon and one in New York.”

We are excited to share some of the art that Evelyn has created in her spare time for the Pennywise Arts Design Team!  This is her first project, “More Than a Tag”. In this post Evelyn shows and tells us how she made this unique tag design, if you want to follow along just gather up these supplies:

*  Medium-sized tag (2 5/8 x 5 ¼”) and  an additional tag for cutting (manila file folder or cardstock can be used)

*  Collage stamp with distinct geometric images

*  Dye ink color of choice

*  Paperback O’So Sticky

*  Foam squares

*  Clear ultrafine micro beads

*  Choice of coordinating embellishments, including ribbon

How To Do This Technique

Step 1. Use dye ink to stamp tag with collage stamp.

Step 2. Stamp a second time on extra tag.

Step 3. Cut out desired geometric images in collage.

Step 4. Using cut-out images, trace shapes on paperback O’So, cut out and apply to images.

Step 5. Bead images with clear beads. Set aside.

Step 6. Apply ink to edges of stamped tag.

Step 7. Using foam squares, apply beaded collage shapes to matching locations on tag.

8. Apply embellishments and coordinating ribbon.

 

Stamp Credit: Inkadinkado

Evelyn has her own art blog where she shares her creations.  It’s updated regularly and is a great source of inspiration.   Be sure to check it out!

Blog Hop Prize Winner!!

Thanks to all of the hoppers who joined us on the Pennywise Arts Beadie Buddy Blog Hop trail!!  It was a total blast and we’ll have to do it again!

The winner of the Pennywise Arts Blog Hop prize is……….

Brooke Bassett!  Congratulations Brooke!  You have won a $50 gift certificate from Pennywise Arts!!  Have fun shopping!

Hugs, Suzanne

The Hop’s End

It’s Sunday, March 28, 2010 and tonight at midnight our first ever Beadie Buddy Blog Hop will officially come to an end and our grand prize will be awarded.   I must admit that the whole event really took me by surprise.  Oh, I knew that the hop was happening but what I didn’t know was what to expect or how it would feel or what response we would get.  That has been the surprising part of it for me. 

I was awed by the amazing projects shared by each designer that participated.  I am energized by the excitement generated around this weekend event.  I was touched by the words that  each blogger wrote and touched again by the comments left by the hoppers.  And I was totally inspired by the shared creativity and thrilled to see so many people connecting over the weekend. 

If you’ve been around the hop circle once, don’t forget to hop again to Stamper’s Quest, where Bea Rosenleaf has posted a second dose of NEW projects for our event with a wonderful surprise ending!

http://stampersquest.com

Even though this official hop is ending, the true beauty of it all is that the kindness and friendships we share will endure.   We have living proof of it on our Pennywise Arts Yahoo Community and we welcome you to join us!

The other thing that endures are the posts and projects that were created for this hop.  They will live on in blogland for as long as the blogs exist which means if you saw something this weekend that you really liked or would like to see again, just make note of the blog and revisit it any time!  (or come back here to the blog roll and find it that way).   And if you met a blogger this weekend that really inspired you, fan them, follow them and bookmark them to return for more!   I know I did - and I will!

If you are just getting started on the hop, you can catch the whole lineup in the post below this one.  There is definitely still time to take it all in and win a prize!

Be sure to visit the Pennywise Arts blog often, because we feature all of our newest design team projects here and try to update several times a week to keep your creative juices flowing!

Our Pennywise Arts featured designer coming up in the month of April is Evelyn Spikes.   Evelyn is a very talented artist and dear friend.  I know you will enjoy the projects she has created to share with you here next month!

This is one of my favorite cards, made by Evelyn:

The technique used for this card element is simple.  A piece of clear acetate is stamped in black Staz On with the flourish design and a piece of O’So Sticky Tape is adhered on the back of the acetate.  Expose the adhesive on the back and sprinkle micro beads around the edges (here Evelyn used purple opaque) and then fill in the rest of the exposed tape with opal flakes (we call it Fru Fru) and clear micro beads for a very dramatic effect.  The piece is then layered onto colored cardstock to complete the design.

Click on photo for a larger view.   The acetate, beads and flakes are very reflective and difficult to photograph!

Stamp Credits:  Stampers Anonymous

Thanks for joining us this weekend!  I hope you had as much fun taking it all in as I did! 

Hugs, Suzanne

P.S.  As soon as we can verify the winner of the $50 Pennywise Arts gift certificate, we will make the announcement here!

 

More words……..

Hum,….. The original post for the blog hop that I put up on Friday has evaporated!  It looks like this one over wrote it some how.  Ooops!  I’m not an expert at these things yet, sorry!

Here is the blog roll again – in case you still need it!

Suzanne

Bea

Rita Ann

Jen

Linda

Marianne

Jennifer W

Kathi

Jennifer T

Bea (yes, back to see Bea again)

Stephanie

Michele

Beki

Bridget

Lisa

Evelyn

Suzanne (yes, you will start and end with Suzanne)

Welcome To Our Blog!

It's been a long time coming but it's here - a blog featuring projects, articles, photos and content by, for and from our very own community of "Beadie Buds"!

(def. bee dee bud: 1 a member of the Pennywise Arts Yahoo group community; 2 anyone who is crafty, creative, fun and friendly).

Blog Mission Statement: This blog is an extention of the Yahoo group and has the sole purpose of featuring artwork from our members in an easy to view format. It is not a redirection or a replacement of our Yahoo group forum which works fabulously for so many of our requirements. This blog is simply another viewing format to meet the needs of more members. Blogging is a very simple and visual way of quickly sharing group highlights, featured artists and community events. A blog will also help us achieve our group mission to reach more unfound Beadie Buds around the globe and to "Bead The World!"

A Confession From Suzanne: I've struggled the last few years to define myself as an artist apart from micro beads. There. I said it. I've been looking at that "thing" more and more because it really has held me back from being me. I've really missed the endorphine high that comes from creating art for art sake. I've found myself so business minded that I sort of lost sight of why I do what I do in the first place. People who own their own business should definitely have a business mind but we also need to be able to give ourselves permission to change brains on a regular basis and just get back in touch with the joy of making art. So that is something I want to do with this blog. I want to feel free to share things I've created whether they have micro beads on them or not. I want to feel your love and acceptance and not fear the gasp of "how could she post that without micro beads!?" (I am pretty sure I already know that the love and acceptance has been there all along and that the fear of judgement was a story I made up in my head.) So here I am, right up front and off the blog bat outing myself so that this elephant won't need to sit here in the living room of our beautiful new blog, or comfy old Yahoo group any longer! And you know what? I'd love to see what you've been making that you've been afraid to post to the group because "it didn't have micro beads..." Whadda ya think? Lemme know!


Hugs!
Suzanne