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Monday, September 16, 2019

Friends for All Seasons

Can you be creative in a group? Or do you craft alone?

I can do work like coloring or repetitive stamping or background stenciling etc. in a group, but I can't design in a group.

So when I go to retreats, I really don't bring much to work on. I bring Games magazine and do crossword puzzles and talk to people. I used to bring so many supplies, but then I figured out I'm incapable of actually doing anything productive in that setting, so now my suitcase is much lighter on those trips.

At the retreat I go to twice a year, there are tons of people who work really well in this environment, and two of them have a hand in today's card - Gina K and Dawn from Wplus9.

Gina came a few years ago and I was lucky enough to sit next to her and watch her do the amazing things she does with colored pencils. I was telling her about a pencil blend I really like because it's not toxic, and she asked me if I wanted to test out her Artist's Choice cardstock, which is designed for colored pencil.

TESTING IS MY JAM, so I was thrilled to have the chance. I did have my Polychromos pencils with me at that retreat, so I borrowed this adorable stamp set by Dawn (part of a series - this is the winter set) and cut out these little foxes with the matching dies on Gina's paper and set about my testing. They're each a bit different, as I tried my non-toxic pencil blend on the top one, just pencils on the middle one, and on the bottom, a colorless blender pencil.

I LOVE the cardstock, btw. It's a bright white and has enough tooth to grab the pencil, but still smooth enough for crisp stamping.

But that's not the point.

The point is, I tucked these little guys into my luggage, and when I got home put them in my UFO bin (unfinished objects) and all these many years later, finally made a card with them. Life is unpredictable, and so am I.

But I love them so. Big enough to color, but not so big that they take hours to color - I'm super slow anyway.

Dawn has such a wide range in her stamps. Cute to elegant and everything in between. Plus she's a great human.

The sentiment is this one, and that lovely lavender background paper is from this soothing pastel plaid stack. Perfect complement to the warm oranges and bright green in my foxes.

What's in that one little guy's basket? Cookies maybe. 

Or maybe I just want a cookie. Hard to say. Stay tuned below for an interview with Dawn, in case you missed it! She's a gem. 



Friends For All Seasons: Winter -...
[ WPL ]
Friends For All Seasons: Winter Die -...
[ WPL ]
Fancy Greetings Stamp Set — Altenew
[ ALTN ]
gotta have gingham petite paper pack...
[ LWN ]
Artist's Choice 110lb White Card Stock
[ GNK ]
Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils and...
[ BLIC | SSS ]
Chelsea Classical Studio Lavender...
[ BLIC | UTR ]
Prismacolor Blender - BLICK art...
[ BLIC ]
Coloring Glove - Anti-Smudge
[ AMZUS ]
Derwent Battery-Operated Eraser
[ BLIC | AMZUS ]
Ipoint Orbit Pencil Sharpener, Turquoise
[ AMZUS | BLIC ]
Global Art Classic Leather Pencil Cases
[ BLIC | AMZUS ]
Staedtler Mars Plastic Erasers
[ BLIC | JGG | AMZUS ]
Sizzix BIG SHOT EXPRESS Gray and...
[ SSS | ELH | BMS ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC | AMZUS ]
Mermaid tidy towel case and glue...
[ ETS ]
Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05...
[ SSS ]
Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473
[ SSS ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring...
[ SSS ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding...
[ AMZUS ]
Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675
[ SSS | ART | AMZUS ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Crafter's Companion GEMINI...
[ SSS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets...
[ CHC ]
XL Stamp Storage Pockets
[ ELH ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]



Loveyameanitbye.

2 comments:

  1. Ha! What a timely question. We just had that discussion at a retreat on Saturday. I am most creative at home, quiet, and with all my "stuff" around me. I love going to retreats to be with like people and to learn/share, so I usually just take pre-stamped images and coloring/painting supplies. I can still color/paint better at home, but manage okay at retreats. But, for this past Saturday, I ran out of time to pre-stamp some particular images at home, so I took the stamp sets and MISTI with me. I was stamping multiple times in my MISTI for a good image, got distracted talking, and instead of putting the ink pad to the stamp, I put it directly on the image I was trying to darken. Ugh. Turn cardstock over and start again. I did enjoy the interview with Dawn, and also your pencil coloring comparisons. I need to try that Lavender Spike Oil.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Such a sweet card, I really enjoy the Crafty Chat videos.

    ReplyDelete

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