Coffee and Hairspray

Amen Sister!

Tag created by Beki Ward

Wish Big

What would a birthday party be without handmade cards and presents?!  Tracy received some really wonderful things from our beadie buds on Saturday. She has food allergies similar to mine.  At left are her birthday cupcakes free of gluten, dairy, egg, soy and corn.  We loved them! Yum!

This card came from Kathi H.  She actually constructed the whole scene of the house mice having margaritas at a little straw hut.  Be sure to click on the photo to see more of the details, it’s darling!Kathi also brought this cheery pot of micro beaded flowers.  It made a perfect centerpiece for our birthday party picnic table!

Marianne invented a new technique for this pretty card!  Where you can see the pretty white pleated ribbon she first put a strip of O’So Sticky Tape.  Then she folded the ribbon back and forth down the tape to create this wonderful hand pleated ribbon.  Doesn’t it look like those trims you pay big bucks for as the store?!!   Marianne said that using O’So is the trick!  I think we might need a photo tutorial! 

This little treat jar is decorated with papers, alcohol ink, micro beads and ribbon.  The paper flowers have bubble beads in the middle and lay on a circular background of clear micro beads.  Sweet!

Here’s an elegant card from Michelle.  I really love the composition of this card and those texture folders,…very nice!

Here’s a darling one that Julie made.  The black birds are punched and micro beaded.

Susie made this one and I have to say it’s my favorite!  (The rainbows get me every time.)  She used one embossing folder on the colored rainbow bits and another for the card front.  

And here’s a darling purse that she made to hold a set of matching cards. 

   The cards are held inside by clear sleeves!  Neat!

  And last but not least this is my birthday ”card” that’s not actually a card but a cube covered with happy birthday papers and tied with a bow.  I needed something quick and easy!  Ü

 

I think Tracy had a GREAT birthday!!  Ü

Shoebox Party Fun

 

This past weekend I attended a PWA Shoebox Party at a beautiful farm in Garfield, WA.  It was held to honor my friend Tracy’s birthday.  I love these gatherings of women where we share project ideas, our stories and our hearts.  These connections mean the world to me and are a huge part of why I love Pennywise so much.

This business has given me the opportunity to meet women of all walks of life from all over the world.  On our Yahoo group and at our retreats and local gatherings connections are made and friendships bloom.  It’s truly the best feeling ever to be a part of it. 

If you haven’t had the opportunity to play with us in person yet I hope you’ll consider the possibility.  We host free play days at Friends and Company in Issaquah, WA every other Monday and group members often host free shoebox parties (like the one we had at Tracy’s house).

Our next big annual weekend long shoebox retreat is April 22, 23 & 24, 2011.  Wow!  This will be our 7th year!!  We’ve rented the Big House Lodge in Cle Elum, WA. located just 90 minutes East of Seattle.  It’s a beautiful luxury home with beds to sleep 30 people.  Generally there will be 4 people to a room and each room has it’s own bathroom.  Our meals will be catered and the craft space open around the clock. 

Eat when you’re hungry, craft at your leisure, sleep when you feel like it, take a nature walk, connect with other creative souls…..(just sit and let that idea soak in a minute.)  Reread that last sentence if you need to.  Ahhhhh, bliss.  Oh, and did I mention the hot tub?  Ü

We haven’t had a chance to update our website with the new information or 2011 registration forms yet but if you have questions or concerns there is lots of Q & A info on our retreat webpage that might be of help.

http://www.pennywisearts.com/annualretreat.html

We’re still in the planning stages and the actual price has not been set but we always aim for the $200 to $250 range to keep it “pennywise” and affordable.  If you’re traveling from out of town we’re happy to help arrange a ride from and back to SeaTac Airport. 

Once you’ve made up your mind, drop me an email and let me know!  A $50 deposit will hold your spot.  We’ve already got about 10 reservations made and 30 is the most we can have.  You know you want to be there!  Ü

This fun fan name banner was my project to share at Tracy’s party last weekend.  Its funny how ideas spark and grow in our minds and I was thrilled that this one turned out the way it did.  Each person did their own name so those longer names had to work harder!

I’ll be sharing all of the fantastic projects from Tracy’s party soon.

Hugs, Suzanne

Shaker Cube

On the Pennywise Yahoo group mention was made of another cool class that Yvonne Grimes did – this one was several years ago! 

She created this super fun shaker cube from three coin holders.  It’s one of my all time favorites and the proof is that it still sits on my desk today, all these years later!  Is an addictive little thing that calls to be picked up, handled and yes, shaken!

Something Fishy Here

Funny thing about this post is that it’s not formatting like it normally does….. something is definitely fishy and it’s not just this spotlight card from Yvonne Grimes! 

 

Here’s how she did it:

Alcohol Inked Spotlight Card By Yvonne Grimes

(stamp by Peddler’s Pack)

1. Use Stazon Jet Black ink to stamp your image once on clear acetate, and once on white cardstock.

2. Use alcohol inks to color the back side of the stamped acetate. (Alcohol ink will lift the Stazon ink right off the acetate if you apply over the inked side)

a. Attach a felt pad to the wood handle and apply 5-6 drops of each color next to each other in the center of the felt pad.

b. Use handle to repeatedly “pounce” the alcohol ink onto the acetate. Turn and overlap while pouncing until the entire piece is covered as desired.

c. Apply 1-2 drops of blending solution onto same felt pad and “pounce” all over to lighten color and add spots.

d. Set aside to dry for couple minutes.

3. Cut a piece of O’So Sticky tape sheet to the size of the white cardstock and apply tape to white cardstock over the stamped image. Use the “tape trick” to line up tape before sticking it down.

a. “Tape Trick” – peel and fold back just one corner of the paper backing from the tape. Lay entire piece of tape down letting the turned back corner keep exposed tape off the surface. Get your edges all lined up and then stick down the exposed corner.

b. Remove rest of the paper backing and use your fingers to burnish the tape down good over the entire surface so there are no air bubbles.

4. Take your colored piece of acetate and trim to edge of image. Then cut several sections of whatever size and shape you desire from the colored piece.

5. Use the “tape trick” again to place your acetate over the matching areas on the cardstock.

a. Lift just a corner of the red liner and fold back to make a flap. Lay the acetate over the matching area with the flap holding it off of the exposed tape. Get it lined up and then stick down onto the exposed tape. Pull the red liner off far enough to stick the rest of the acetate piece down.

b. Repeat as desired for each acetate section.

c. Use the red liner to burnish the acetate sections onto the tape.

6. When done applying acetate pieces, remove red liner, dunk entire piece into the Mini Micro Beads to cover the exposed tape, and burnish with the brayer.

7. Use double-stick tape to apply image to mat, and mat to card.

Embellish card as desired and you’re done!

 

At Pennywise Arts we’ve become world famous for our shoebox parties!  Last month we had a mini shoebox party in North Bend and Yvonne shared this fishy project there.  Artist Vicki Chow put her own spin on the technique by cutting out the fish!  Pretty cool!

Here is the same technique used on another card by Yvonne:

Bubbly

PWA designer Becky Ward has added a lot of great texture to this “bubbly” card!

Three layers of cardstock, a Cuttlebugged background, three dimensional popped up flower, ribbon and Pennywise Bubble Beads all come together to create an astonishing card that has to be fondled to be fully appreciated!  Ü

Hello Bubble Beads!

We are pleased to show off this bright and beautiful card by Marianne Colschen!  The pink, yellow and orange colors of this creation are hot, hot, hot!

 

Marianne used our new Iridescent Bubble Beads to accent the centers of her flowers and they add so much texture and shine!  Do you love it as much as I do??