Distinctive Touches

I'm a Doodl'in Fool!

Okay...  Call me crazy!  Come on... do it, I deserve it! 

I just can't seem to stop myself! 

I just keep adding and adding and adding stuff to my "plate" ...it's a disease!

• Not only am I pounding out 6 brand spanking new classes for the fall
• I'm re-organizing and re-posting 9 others
• I'm working a bit "behind the scenes" to help Jeri and the new instructors
• I'm teaching my water fitness class
• I'm TRYING to keep up with blogging (yeah, I'm not real successful with this one...)
• I'm organizing my stamps to sell (I own over 600 sets and haven't even seen some in YEARS!)
• I'm working on a technique article that I REALLY want to get published
• I need to clean up and remove some class video files from my computer - SPACE... I need SPACE!
• I have 12 boxes of "books and resources" from when I taught English... they've moved with us and never been opened - it's probably time to start tossing!
• I have some home maintenance that has been left undone for WAY too long!

• And Now... I've signed up for an 8 week class on DOODLING!

That's right... DOODLING! 

I know what you are saying... "But Colleen, You already know how to doodle... you doodle all the time!"  And of course, you'd be right.  But it's been ages since I've doodled and this class just caught my eye. 

I have to say... I'm really enjoying it!  

Here is my first assignment...  Stephanie wrote out the words and we just had to put pen to paper and doodle away!  It was SO much fun to just let go and forget about coloring for realism and trying to be perfect.  I will say that I had to force myself to STOP before I got too out of control! LOL

Stephanie will be re-running this class again in August.  You can find more details on her blog Homegrown Hospitality. 

Well...  I've doodlee-doodlee-dooed enough for one day!  I've got work to do.

Thanks for stopping in - See you later!

Happy July!

I LOVE July...  hot summer days, warm summer nights, BBQ's and cookouts, fireworks and friends.  Ahhhh, life couldn't get any better. 

I'm happy to say that we finally got our flower beds all weeded and looking spiffy again.  All that hot weather after all that rain really did a number on them...  WEEDS EVERYWHERE!  But... with the help of my wonderful hubby, we got all 4 areas done in just three days.  Weeded, new plants planted, and about 40 bags of red mulch spread.  Phew... all that's left is a few hundred pounds of stones and we are set! 

I haven't been stamping as much as I would like, but I do have a cute card to share today.  This is the card that I made for my dad for Father's Day.  I know... I know... it says thank you... but inside it says "for always being there and for being a great dad"  so really, it's a Father's Day card.  LOL 

One of my fondest memories of childhood is waking up EARLY...to go fishing with my dad.  It was always the highlight of my week.  I LOVED every moment that I spent with him...and wish I would still be able to spend time fishing with him now. 

So anyway... this Whipper Snapper stamp is one of my favorites... it is so fun to color!!!  I started with my Copics and then added some extra punch with highlights and shadows with my Koh-I-Noor pencils. 

I wanted to keep the primary color scheme going, so I used some polka-dot paper and layered that with Green Galore, Real Red, and YoYo Yellow.  Bright, sunny and fun!  I used my large label Nestability and cut the image out and then mounted it on the side of the card and trimmed the extra... it gives it sort of a different look.

Hope you like it! 
Happy July -
colleen

Weeding Woes! (Gross Alert!)

Hope you all had a rockin' weekend.  I got some artwork done on Saturday (I shouldn't say done... it's still in progress and I'll share soon) and it finally cooled off a bit yesterday so I could get some yard work done... yippie!

I dead-headed all my roses and my hibiscus plants (we have a few hummingbirds who visit those daily), and I weeded out the flowerbed in the back yard.  Now mind you...I really wasn't planning on doing any yard work... I was just outside throwing the ball for our dogs when I absently started pulling weeds.  One thing led to another and suddenly I was knee deep in mulch and dirt. LOL

Well, because of my lack of planning, I didn't really have the proper "gardening" attire on and that eventually caused a problem.  I painful, throbbing, bleeding problem!  

 

Yup...  somewhere during the pulling of the weeds I developed a blister that promptly broke open.  I didn't even realize I was getting a blister until I gave a hard yank on one resisting weed and the skin tore off!  Yeeeeoooowwwwwww! 

This is what it looks like today.  NOT PRETTY!  I guess I have to leave off weeding the front yard until this heals.  Good thing it is my right hand...  I'm not completely out of commission. 

Craft Room.... here I come!

Have a good Monday!

You Rock!

Man... summer seems to be flying by!  I can't believe that we are nearing the end of June already... where has the time gone? 

During the last two weeks we drove over 2,000 miles to see friends and family.  Phew... I sure don't want to go on another road trip again any time soon... my rear end is permanently shaped like the car seat!  LOL 

But... we had a blast!  The reunion was amazing, my parent's party was a success, and our visit with Nate's family in Iowa was a blast!  It was so nice to see all of our friends and family. 

During our vacation, we also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!  WOW...  13 years - the very best of my life! 

Of course, I had to whip up a card before we left...  and here it is!  I just think it is sooooo friggin' cute!  The hugging couple is from Eat Cake Graphics and the heart and the sentiment are both from Verve.  Now, Nate isn't really that tall... and I'm not quite that "stout"... so don't be thinking it's supposed to be us!  LOL

I've got a few more cards to share and a few other tidbits from our trip... but I'll save those for another posting. 

For now, I'm going to go out and enjoy the sun. 

Hugs!

Summer Fun

I can't believe that I've been out of school for 20 years!  20 YEARS!!!  Yeeesh.

Part of the reason for our trip to Wisconsin was so that I could attend my 20 year high school class reunion.  I have to say, it was a blast!  We had a huge turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  It was so nice to reconnect with friends of old and to make new connections with people I didn't really know all that well in school.  It's amazing how everyone seemed so different yet so much the same.  It made me feel both very young and very old at the same time!  LOL

The rest of our visit was spent chatting it up and partying with family and friends at my parent's retirement party.  That also was a big success and while the weather didn't cooperate at first, it turned out to be a beautiful day. 

I was able to get in a little bit of stamping before I left, and this is the card I made for my mom and dad.  I figured now that they weren't working, they could head to the beach and relax (yeah, right!!!)

The image is from Eat Cake Graphics and is colored with Copic Markers. 

After spending a few days in Wisconsin, we headed back towards home and have stopped in Iowa to spend a few days with Nate's family.  He is happy to have the chance to play some golf with his father and I'm happy to rest and relax with his mom and the girls. 

I'll be back to post again in a few days... thanks for stopping in!

Headed North...

I'm HEADED North! 

We just passed the border into Wisconsin...  whoopie!  So far the trip has been pretty good with light traffic and not TOO much road construction (although I'm sure we are in for some here in Wisconsin.)

I've got internet access here in the car, so I decided to update my blog and make a quick post. 

We are headed to Green Bay for my 20 year class reunion and I'm really looking forward to seeing all of my long lost friends.   I'll post later with details of how it went and possibly some pics.

To give you something fun to look at today, I'm going to give you a SNEAKY quick peek at one of the projects I just finished for one of my new fall classes over at My Creative Classroom.  It's obviously only part of the image... I don't want to give too much away yet! 

Can you guess what it is?  (There is a hint in this post actually!!!)

I'll pop back in when I get the chance... thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

colleen

For the LOVE of COLOR!

You know how when you find some cool new product and you want to tell your friends all about it?  Or you see a totally cool new technique and you can't wait to share it with others? 

That's how I feel about a class that I just took.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!  I'm SOOOOO geeked that I can't hardly sit still! 

You all know that I am a fiend for color; that my world is filled with aquamarines and fuchsias and periwinkles, a few drops of crimson and a dab of chartreuse, a touch of lavender and a hint of tangerine... but did you know that I'm not alone in this obsession? 

I mentioned in a previous post that I was taking a class with Teri Martin over at My Creative Classroom.  Teri is a tremendous artist who is known for her watercolor and text/calligraphy combinations.  Well, Teri is almost as crazy for color as me... and her class was all about color... and how to achieve a color pallet that worked together using just three basic colors!  

I don't typically work in watercolor, but I figured I would give it a go in her class because... well, because I wanted to learn something totally new and push myself to use a medium that I wasn't as familiar with (although she told me I could do the same thing with my acrylics). 

I learned how to make some wonderful and stunning color pallets... with all of the colors working together PERFECTLY!  It was amazing.  We also were prompted to make some mini-painting "studies" and while I was very nervous about those, I jumped right in.  This was one of my favorites that I did.  I really like the blue and purple background... and the text... well, let's just say that I'm going to be a VERY attentive student in Teri's future calligraphy classes.  LOL

I know a lot of my readers are color crazy like me... and I TOTALLY recommend Teri's class Understanding Color (I'm told she is going to be offering it again in the fall).

That's it for now...

Have a colorful day!

colleen

 

Sweet Greetings

I'm busy, busy, busy...

Now that I am starting to feel a bit more like myself, I've been getting back into the swing of life - and enjoying every moment. 

I started swimming laps on Monday.  I'm slow; I'm winded, but I'm SWIMMING...  Yippie!

I've also spent some time in my studio making a few cards to share.  I was on such a "coloring kick" that I sort of neglected some of my other materials... and I wanted to get back to some sweet but simple styles. This is one of my favorite "go to" layouts!  I've done zillions of cards like this... and love making them each and every time.

Here's the same layout... just skewed a bit.  These cards are also another great way to use up some scraps of your patterned paper.  (This is from one of my Basic Grey collections.)  These cards are super simple... super quick... and a SUPER way to showcase some of your sentiment stamps. 

Add a quick embellishment or two - a clear button with a blue bow and some faux stitching for the first one and some dots of liquid pearls and a velvety ribbon for the second one - and you have a great greeting to send to a friend.

Now to go find some friends to send these to...  LOL

Hugs to you!
colleen

What's Up?

Here's a springy little card to brighten up your day!  It was a card that I got published in Ready, Set, Create a while back... but forgot to post for you here.  The adorable chick tower stamp and matching sentiment are from Hambo... some of my favorite spring time images to use.  (They have their new summer stamps out too... check out the Hammock Pig!  Bwwwaaahaaahaaaaa!)  The layout is super simple... and a great way to use up some of those smaller scraps of patterned paper.

Speaking of spring...  it's FINALLY here!  Our record breaking rainfall has ceased and the sun has come out to grace us with FAN-TAB-U-LOUS temps.  Our lawn is growing like it's full of weeds... (maybe that's because it IS full of weeds...LOL)  and our flowers are glorious.  I can't resist leaning in and giving them a good sniff as I walk by.  (Good thing I'm JUST tall enough to not have to stand on anyone's shoulders to smell the flowers like those cute little chicks on the card...that bottom chick sort of got a raw deal - don'tcha think?)

And speaking of sniffing...(okay - that's a really poor transition... but I'm TRYING to tie this all in together...), I FINALLY got in to see the specialist and was fitted with a CPAP machine yesterday.  I can't tell you how THRILLED I am to have a solution to my mysterious illness!  It's been 6 months of pure HECK trying to get it all figured out... and I can honestly say that I don't know if I could have taken another day of it. 

The machine is going to be a bit difficult to get used to - it's a mix between a sexy scuba style and a disastrous Darth Vader sound...

(Whoooooo-Phshhhhhhhh... LUKE....I AM YOUR FATHER... Whooooooo-Phshhhhhhh)

but I'm willing to stick with it as I already see results! 

Hope you are having sunny skies and terrific temps... enjoy the long weekend!

Golden Oldies!

Just a quick post today as I am trying to put the finishing touches on the Ark my husband and I are building. 

(Just Kidding!)  Seriously, it is STILL raining here... and with all the rain our backyard has become a stream...  I'm waiting for the salmon to start spawning!  LOL

Actually, I've been busy painting color wheels for a class that I am actually TAKING (not teaching) at My Creative Classroom from Teri Martin...it's awesome!  You all know how much I love color... and that is the focus of the class... so I'm in a Heaven of Hues! 

 Speaking of color and classes... my current Everything Copic class is winding down and the students have blown me away with their awesome samples.  In fact, one of the fine ladies put some images in the class gallery that blew me away.  Besides being colored expertly, they were the funniest images!!  I had to ask where they were from... and of course, I bought one!!!  (The images are from the Golden Oldies collection by Art Impressions.)

Since my hubby is a golf fanatic (and until I can play again, I'm a golf widow...), I knew I needed this stamp. 

Here's a card I made with it for a friend's birthday...  It's not the best coloring job I've ever done, but I wanted to try for a bit of pizazz with the stripes and plaid.  Guess I still need to work on those huh? 

Anyway... I thought it was a stitch... and the sentiment (also from the same collection) just made me laugh. 

I've got to get back to turning out that Ark... who knows when the animals will start coming two-by-two!  LOL

Hope you have a "happenin' day!"