Wowzers!

It has been a long time since I shared some interesting links


Wyanne Art
Linda Cain's bird house
Melissa Phillips' cute bikini card
Inspiration from Anna Maria Horner

Enjoy!

About Face

It's the end of the week already? Here it is, the end of the week, and what do I have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing! I finally found my mojo yesterday, and had to drag her into the studio kicking and screaming because I had a card to get done for Double-Take Thursday. Mojo stayed quite tight lipped when I asked her where the heck she has been all week. Perhaps she was with one of you. Ummm, was she?

Something strange happened when my mojo came back. Can you tell what it has been? My style of cards seems to be changing. Can you see how different yesterday's and today's cards are from my norm? Where's the bright, loud and vibrant? I guess change is good. I'll find out if you like the change or not. If I get a run of "unsubscribers" I know I disappointed.

Hope you have a great weekend. Any big plans? Any exciting projects you care to share with me? Drop me a note as I just love to interact with my readers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Double Take Thursday

This is the last week of the Double Take Challenge. I accepted a new position at
work, which entails, of all things, shift work. Coming from 9-5 all my life,
I think this will take some getting used to. My routine will change dramatically
so I have to make a few small changes. Sadly, in the fall I will no longer be
running the Cuttlebug Club at Lasting Impressions, but I will still have my one
card class a month.

This week Kim challenged me to use a stamp that I have never used before.
Well, if I didn't get my huge Stampin' Up order in yesterday! (insert happy dance)
I was the hostess
this past month and had a very successful party. Thank's Sue, for hosting
such a successful party for me.

This week I wanted to try and duplicate Kim's elegance
that she seems to be able to pound out without any difficulty.
While I do love this card, I think I'll add some bling to it afterall.

Kim, thank you for playing Double Take Thursday with me for the
past several months. It was so much fun.
I'm anxious to go and peak at Kim's card. Are you?

Kim Prince - Creative Diversions

Thank you for stopping by my friends,

How Odd

Pssssst, did you hear the news? justjohanna is changing its name to justjohanna Odd Bird Planet. How cool is that? A new website will be revealed on June 1st.

I'm on the Team!!

Just Announced

justjohanna Odd Bird Planet Design Team
* * * * * * * * *

Beth Norman
Celine Parcaroli
Emi Matsuoka
Meng-Ying (Moon) Lee
Miho Miyagawa
Noel Huang
Sarah Schwerin
Tania Emmerechts
Thanh Vo


Continuing Members
Cathrine St. Clair
Debbie Scheunemann
Dianne McInrue
Eleanor Abril
Emilia Hsu
Emily Gunnell
Godelieve Tijskens
Heather Grow
Kathi Rerek
Kerry Urbatch
Kim Schofield
Mandy Cheshire
Marnie Bushmole
Phillipa Barr
Rina
Teresa Abajo
Tracy Durcan

Tutorial Tuesday - Small File Box and Gift Box

Welcome to Sunflowers and Dragonflies Tutorial Tuesday. Today's box was inspired by Claudia Rosa. What a talented lady she is. This little box is perfect for a small filing box, such as birthday reminders; and even gift boxes. Possibilities are endless.


SUPPLIES:

Scor-Pal or score blade
Scissors
8 1/2" cardstock
designer paper
scotch tape
double sided tape (optional)
ink
ribbon (for note cards inside the box)




With your paper horizontal score at 2", 5 1/2" and 7 1/2"














With your paper vertical, score at 1 1/2", 3 1/2", 7"








Clip score lines from outside left edge to the 1 1/2" score line. Clip score lines from outside right edge to the 3 1/2" score line.










With the 1 1/2" score line on the left, cut the right side pieces off. Your paper will look like this.






Bend box in half. The bottom flaps on all three panels will be folded up into the box, and the left panel will fold over to the right.









If you look very closely you will see that the adjoining side edges is taped with scotch tape, as is the bottom. Your piece is now ready to decorate.


Stamps: All Night Media
Paper: SU Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, White, Black
Watercoloured with Tombow markers
White paper was run through the Cuttlebug
Brads added to top

For the tutorial on the post-it note holder, click here.

Watercolour Your World

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to use watercolour pencils? Let me tell you a little bit about them.

Before I continue, it is most important to tell you about the ink pad you should use to stamp out your image. You probably guessed, it is Stazon. If you think you have a permanent black ink, please test it on a scrap piece of paper prior to diving into your good image. If you do not use a proper ink, your image will be all smeared.

Watercolour pencils look rich, and vibrant, when you hold them in your hand, and look soft, and subtle, when you are done. Do not confuse them for regular pencil crayons. These coloured pencils are water-soluable. What does that mean? It means that you use a brush and water to blend the colour.

Many of you are familiar with the plastic pens that hold water, with a brush at the tip. This is what is used by many artists, but because stampers work with images that have small areas, the best product to use is simply a professional brush and water (to the side).

Colour your image like you would with a regular coloured pencil. Being neat is not necessary. Next, dip your brush into the water, tap it lightly onto a paper towel to remove excess water, and blend your colour. If you really want to get creative, add colours opposite to each other on the colour wheel. You will be amazed with the results; they help to make your image really pop. When you do this, add just a small dot of the second colour into areas here and there.

Do you have to use watercolour paper? Not necessarily, but recommended. If I am doing a small image, I will use regular white cardstock, and I will make sure that my brush is almost dry because the paper will buckle if there is too much water. Watercolour paper is made specifically for watercolour paint and pencils. It prevents your colours from blending together and getting muddy.

There are many different grades of paper. Play around with the various grades and see what works best for you. I use both heavy and light grades, depending on what size image I am using. Small images work well with light grades, while heavier grades are best for large images.

Watercolour paper comes in large sheets, and in booklet form. Buy what best suits you.

Remember, above all, have fun. Don't stress. Practice, experiment, play!

You Cheer Me Up Award

Ila presented me with the You Cheer Me Up Award. Thank you, Ila. You certainly cheer me up too! Ila does beautiful work with Magnolia images, and I encourage you to take a peak here.

I will present these awards to these two inspiring bloggers:

Kim H
Kim P

Double Take Thursday

Hey, it's Thursday--my favourite day of the week. Kim and I have another double take for you. Can you guess what it is? The challenge I threw out to Kim was to create a card using five layers. While I made this, I was surprised at how easy a five layer card is, and wished I could add even more. By sticking with just five layers, I was not able to add my sentiment on the outside.

Kim said she is excited to pull out her Nestabilities for this challenge. Let's go peak at her gorgeous card shall we? Click here.

Thanks for playing Kim. I look forward to our challenge next week.

Polymar Clay RAK

Look was I received from my dear friend, Kim. I fell in love with this card the minute she posted it on her blog, and wasn't I surprised to discover it in my mailbox. Tucked neatly inside was this hand made polymar clay necklace, wrapped in pink tissue and cloth ribbon. The background is just a sampling of the wonderful papers she included. She sure knows how to make someone feel special. Thanks Kim!

Tutorial Tuesday - PearlEx

Welcome to Sunflowers and Dragonflies Tutorial Tuesday. Ever wonder where I get ideas for my tutorials? I get my ideas from reading a lot of blogs--and I mean a lot. I also purchase numerous books, and borrow books from my girlfriend, Sharon, who can outdo any Barnes & Noble with her endless supplies of books. Today's inspiration came from the blog, Pearlesq. The neat thing about this technique is that your finished piece does not have to be sprayed with a sealer. In this technique, the PearlEx is mixed with ink, and therefore is "set." You will see that the stamp I used is an image of a violin. I purchased this because I played the violin from grade 4 through to 12, and was in the highschool orchestra. I used my grandfather's violin, and passed it onto my daughter, who started lessons last year. Okay, pull out your PearlEx and let's get started.

Supplies:

PearlEx
Embossing powder (dark)
brush and water
VersaMark
Variety of ink pads
Heat embosser
Stamp
Non stick craft sheet





Place your stamp on the VersaMark pad, and ink it up well. Sprinkle embossing powder over the image and heat emboss.









Smoosh your ink pad onto the non stick craft sheet. Do this with a nice variety of colour.









Place your brush into water.















Place your wet brush into one of the PearlEx jars.












Mix your brush into the coordinating colour of ink and mix PearlEx well into the ink.







This photo shows that I used circular motion to blend the PearlEx into the ink








Paint your image.












Continue to paint, using different colours.










Here you see a variety of colours using this technique.














My card is now finished.

Odd One Out

Green and pink cows? You bettcha! I'm a girly girl and I like these colours. The neat thing about justjohanna images is that one can be outrageous with them.

Images were coloured with Prismacolor Pencil crayons and OMS.


I'm getting closer to getting my new website and blog posted. Matt is working hard with me--he's my creative designer and is doing a great job designing my new website.

Thanks for stopping by. Remember to come back for tomorrow's tutorial.

Snappy Birthday

Howdy folks! Are you having a nice long weekend? This is supposed to be the weekend to plant gardens, but the temperatures are still too cool at night for that.

Stepping away from the cold for a minute, let's look at the warm temperatures of Africa. Mr. Rhino is grazing on the green grass while shaded under the palm tree.

Nearby are his friends in the shell.




The flap on the right, with the crab and shells, opens up to reveal a Snappy Birthday greeting. Crab & Co, from SU, is such a fun set to use.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Made With Love

These gift cards, and goodie holder, were made with love for special people in my family.

Cake is from Sunshine Designs, and Cupcakes are from Hero Arts. Images are watercoloured with Tombow markers.

Paper: SU - Taken With Teal, Pixie Pink, Certainly Celery, Ballet Blue, Pumpkin, white

Thanks for stopping by!

Tutorial Tuesday - Distress Ink Technique

Welcome to Sunflowers and Dragonflies Tutorial Tuesday. Today's technique was inspired by PearlEsq's written tutorial, which is based on Tim Holtz' Wrinkle Free Distress Technique.



Supplies:

Watercolour paper
Non Stick Craft Sheet
Tim Holtz Distress Inks in a variety of colours
Water mister
Heat Gun





Blot Distress Ink directly onto Non Stick Craft Sheet. Space colour blocks apart so colours do not get muddy.





Spray ink with water. Saturate the colour blocks very well so that the ink beads.














Lay watercolour paper over top of beaded ink.











Swipe the watercolour paper with the back of your card. This will smoosh the colour over the paper.











Dry coloured watercolour paper with heat gun.









Place your dried watercolour paper back onto the leftover ink blots. Do not smoosh. You want to have a beaded, or spotted, look over top of the smooshed background.










Dry blots with a heat gun.











This is the finished background.










This card is finished with a Tombow marker watercolour. Stamp is from the Stamp Barn, Sunshine Design-House on the Hill line.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

Inspiration for this card came from Zindorf

justjohanna May Special

Kim Hutchinson created these lovely cards using this month's justjohanna special.
To order your set, click here