Whimsical Stationery With Gone Wild Stamp Set

          Hello crafty friends

I love cute stationery and have been collecting bits here and there for a while now so it was only a matter of time before i created my own whimsical stationery using the Gone Wild Stamp Set by Susan K Weckesser and Unity Co Stamps.

Product list

Susan K Weckesser Gone Wild Unity Co Branded Stamp Set

Trimcraft First Edition Marker Pens

White pen

Large paper clips

Hot Glue

Sentiment stamps

Note book 

I started off by stamping out my favorite two characters on to thick card stock and coloring them in. I then bought some large paper clips and glued the characters to the back with hot glue. You could put them through a laminator to make them more durable.

The Note book was altered by stamping the main image at the bottom corner and then stamping a boarder around it. I added a few feathers to break the pattern a bit.

I wanted to include something in the center so i choose a few inspiring words.

I colored in the details with a white gel marker

Thank you for visiting

Under The Sea Artist Trading Block

Hello all

Remember when i said i had mermaids swimming in my head? No i am not going mad i just had a lot of craft ideas using mermaids at the time. Well i have an artist trading block to share using  the Spirit Of A Mermaid stamp set designed by Susan K Weckesser

https://www.unitystampco.com/spirit-of-a-mermaid/

This started off as a plastic toy pirate chest. I painted it with Prima Rust Paste and once the first layer had dried, i added heavy  gel medium and sprinkled on blue glass sand and added moss. I then added resin shells and other bits in order to make it look like it had been in the water for awhile.

Before i stuck the block  together i gave it a coat of blue acrylic paint and then once it had dried i used a fish scale stencil over the whole thing using DecoArt  modelling  paste and left it to set. Then i used two different  shades of blue acrylic paint over the top,painting each one half way up the front. I finished off by using the green iridescent  paint for added shimmer.

I stamped  out the mermaid and coloured her in before i cut her out.

I made the tail using a silicone  mould and paper clay and left it to air dry. I then painted it green and covered it in Wow embossing  powder before setting it all with a heat gun. I added a cute little mermaid heat on the fin to finish.

The rest of the pieces are covered in rust paste and moss for that undersea look. I love the mermaid pearls as they look like bubbles.

Thank you for visiting

Gotta Have Friends

                           Friend:a person whom one knows likes & trusts.

It is no secret, the last few years have been one big rollercoaster of ups and downs for me as I have tackled this new world of mine full of Cancer treatments, scans, aches & pains &; my own fears that have developed because, lets face it, when faced with our own mortality it take a lot to put on our super hero cape and face each day ready to tackle each & every bad guy that crosses are path! 

I have gone through phases and they kinda go like this:

5 years ago: Shock, Flight, then Fight - "You're to young, you are the wrong gender & you don't smoke or drink, but I'm sorry but YOU GOT CANCER." I couldn't breathe. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. And then I thought about my children and my husband. I didn't won't to wreck Christmas. As I Mom I wanted to protect them. I wanted to run to my Mom & Dad. I wanted them to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay. But, I couldn't. Cancer had just destroyed their lives a few years before. i wanted to hide. I called my SIL & she convinced that my hubby would want to know. After talking & many tears..... i got ready for the fight of my life. Surgeries and treatment followed.....and followed .....and followed. I also learnt that my Cancer was different because it had a high reoccurrence rate. They couldn't just take it out, treat me and say congratulations you done. I was told that i would have to go in every 2-3 months for an invasive treatment for the rest of my live. I didn't give it a second thought. 44 years old, how bad could that be....I had given birth to 4 children. I could do it. 

4 - 3 years ago: Still determined but a Monster appeared under my bed - I kept driving myself to my appointments which were 2 hours away. A year of this time my husband had to live six hours away because of a new job and the fact the we couldn't sell our house. I thought to myself, No Problem, I can do this. I can be tough. I certainly didn't want to bother anyone because, well, everyone has things happening in their life and i didn't want to be a burden. If you are reading this and you are going through anything....even if you aren't....you just need someone to talk to or a friend, PLEASE BE A BURDEN TO SOMEONE, BECAUSE you AREN'T BEING A BURDEN! I am starting to slowly learn that people, especially your friends really do want to help. I know that I love helping and being there for people when I can. I just had it in my head that I was being a burden. I was raised & told all the time to keep a stiff upper lip and to be independent. Well, there is a time for everything. As I drove those long 2 hour drives, often having to stop on country roads because I felt so sick to my stomach  I felt something else growing inside me. Something that scared me to death. One night, as i tried to fall asleep I suddenly realized the I had let a childhood monster move back in under my bed. I had become scared. I wasn't the same person that a couple years before had flown by myself to New York to have my artwork shown at Surtex just a couple months after being diagnosed & having surgery for Cancer. I had allowed the pain, and all the treatments consume me. I was SO worried about not being able to preform at 100%. I was so worried about pain. I was SO worried about those little tiny Cancer cells moving around my body and not having control. I had raised 4 beautiful children, and gone through all kinds of things of having a family alright....but all of a sudden I felt like I didn't have control. But, when everyone came home on weekends I did what a Mom does....make super, listen to problems & smile. Life goes on. The problem is...when everyone left at the end of the week-end....it was just me and that monster who seemed to like living under my bed. I certainly couldn't tell anyone about that....could I? So I thought.

Present: We all need friends & a little help sometimes - This past fall the physical pain just became too much for me. I needed answers and I needed a better quality of life. I also wanted my family to be happy and healthy. For me my faith and my creative outlets have always beens so super important but i was so weighed down by pain and anxiety from the pain and all the treatments and surgeries. I was getting angry or upset or sad so easy....and I knew it was from my pain, frustration  & fear. However, it was SO hard to communicate that with me those around me. I don't blame them, because I wanted to smile and feel better too. We have no way of truly understanding what another person is feeling or going through but I have found that by simple gestures of a smile, a hug, or even a kind word it can make such a big difference in someone's life. My treatments created nerve damage all over my body which we are trying to unravel right now. Even just talking can cause such pain in my face and headaches. When I felt really sick...I felt scared, lonely: I almost let that monster take my HOPE from me. I was and still am fighting for my life. LIFE IS PRECIOUS. Months before we knew my Dad had Cancer he became grumpy and that man had never been grumpy a day in his life. I was so concerned and thought maybe he was working too much. Now I understand. He wasn't feeling well, he also was scared and he didn't know how to communicate it. When you are in constant pain, you just want someone, anyone...especially someone you care for just to tell you its all going to be ok. But, I know how hard that can be for everyone! I have been now on both sides of the fence. 

I do have to say....that I am blessed to have the family that I do have because I know it has been hard for everyone. I know that I might never be in recession & I think I am finally coming to peace with that. That doesn't mean that i am not going to fight like heck still! It also doesn't mean that sometimes I still get sad....or even kinda mad for a moment. the I say a prayer and try to refocus my energy. I have a long way to go...but, really, don't we all. aren't we all always growing and learning? Thats called life and we make the best out of it! It really can be SO beautiful! 

And WOW am I ever blessed to have such amazing CREATIVE friends. My design team behind the scenes the last couple years have been so incredibly supportive. I really do love those incredibly talented gals! Also all the amazing illustrators through Lilla Rogers and the designers & companies I have met through crafting and art..... I just love them all. Rhonna Farrer, Unity Stamp Co, Tim Holtz, Canvas Corp have been so amazing and I will never be able to thank them enough! You all ROCK! 

ART is SO HEALING!

It is my life and it always will be! Creating and designing lets me be free! It is amazing! It lets my mind escape and heal. It lets me meet amazing people! The colours, the shapes, even the feel of the brush or stamp or pencil in my hand is so therapeutic! plus....all the incredible people I meet and all the stories they tell me and the art I see them create with my designs....It brings me SO MUCH JOY!!!! 

Thank-you ALL for your AMAZING support! Make sure you give someone a great big hug today....

LUV YA!

Susan xo 

Tend To Your Soul

I love writing letters and postcards. Snail mail has always been a big part of my life by keeping me in touch with friends near and far, especially before the days of e-mail. Even now, I don't think e-mail can come close to the feeling of holding a letter in your hands and anticipating what is inside the envelope. 

I have been fortunate to become involved in the Love Notes Postcard Project , started by Jennifer Belthoff. I learned about it through their Love Notes Facebook Page . It is hosted quarterly and each Sunday for 3 weeks, you are sent a prompt. You then write a postcard to your assigned partner. I hope that you will check out the information for this project and join us as we make some amazing connections.

One of the prompts this Round was " I invite you to tend to your soul ". Instead of making or writing out a postcard, I decided to make a set of tags to remind my partners ( I had 2 this Round ) of ways to take care of themselves.  I used my stash of tags from FLOW magazine along with some perfect stamps by Susan K Weckesser. The wooden tags and Butterfly tags were purchased at Michaels on clearance. I tied them together with some colorful twine. The Special Delivery stamp is by Hero Arts and the  Heart Made stamp is by Rubber Moon.

Stamp sets used "

Bunny Hugs & Heart-Full Homes by SKW

I believe it is so important to take care of ourselves, tend to our souls. We work, have families, take care of so many things.Yet, I think that sometimes we forget to take care of ourselves. Read a book, take a nap, meet a friend for coffee. Just do nothing !! Write a letter or postcard to a friend. Hang out at the bookstore. I just that did yesterday and it was a fabulous way to  re-charge my batteries after a long stretch at work. I know that being creative tends to my soul. And sharing in my creativity hopefully tends to yours too !!

Love Notes mail received 1/2017

Debra Davison

Susan K Weckesser Creative Team

Thank you for visiting { My Sweet Earth }

Life's A Picnic

Hello Friends!!  This is Joyce Shaulis with my last post with the 2016 Susan K. Weckesser creative design team.  This month, we're making gifts that we can give away to strangers, neighbors, or friends.  I had these miniature picnic baskets on hand just waiting for creativity to strike!  I thought these would be adorable to fill with candy and given away as little gifts. 

For this crafty project, I used Susan's co-branded stamp set, "Going Wild".  To begin, I used the clearsnap mini POP ink in Mystery to stamp the fox and the owl on white cardstock. 

Next, I used the mini POP ink in Kiss and Fresh on the basket lids.  I just swiped the ink pad right onto the wood lid.  I also used a damp paintbrush to fill in small areas where I couldn't get into with the ink pad. 
I colored in the images with markers and cut them out.

I used Decoart acrylic paints in red, yellow, light and dark green to paint plaid and polka dots on the  lids, on top of the red and green ink. 
After experimenting a bit, I decided to add a border around the images so they would stand out better.  I glued the images on top of cream colored cardstock and cut around them.   I lettered out the words "Be Merry" and "You are loved" with an ultra fine sharpie marker onto white cardstock and cut them out in rectangular shapes. 

 

 

With an old paintbrush, I brushed Decou-page on the back of the cut out images and adhered them to the lids.  When they were dry, I brushed more Decou-page on top of the images.  After completely drying, I outlined all images with a charcoal pencil and gently smudged them with a Q-tip. 

I added dashes, a squiggly line and dots around the lid border with paint and a small paintbrush.  Then I coated the surfaces with the Decou-page.  When dry, I sprayed them with Decoart's acrylic matte sealer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my final 2016 project, as I have enjoyed sharing ideas with you these past months.  I hope you have a beautiful Holiday Season with loved ones and family. 

 

 

Joyce Shaulis                     Susan K. Weckesser Creative Design Team Member

 

 

Susan K. Weckesser products used:

https://www.unitystampco.com/  Going Wild

https://www.clearsnap.com/ mini POP inks in: Mystery, Kiss, Fresh

 

Other products used:

https:decoart.com/ acrylic paints in red, yellow, light green, dark green. Decou-page, Acrylic matte sealer

https://kuretakezig.us markers

miniature picnic baskets from Michaels

charcoal pencil

 ultra-fine Sharpie marker

Q-tip 











Holiday House Tags

Deb here with a fun holiday TAG project.  I must admit that I am absolutely smitten with Susan's houses !! Big ones, little ones, tiny ones, plain ones, decorated ones. I have used them for a bulletin board, cards, tags etc.... And today I wanted to show you how I am getting ready for the holidays with these adorable houses once again !!

For the red bag, I used the Happy Homestead stamp. The blue bag has a house from Heart-Full Homes , which is one of my very favorite stamp sets that I use often in my planner. All images were stamped with Susan's Clearsnap Colorbox Color Pop Mini inks. I stamped on both Kraft and patterned paper. The houses were highlighted using a combination of my favorite markers -- Stampin' Up, Faber Castell PITT Artist pens and Distress markers. The dots on the roof were made with a PITT Big Brush Pen in White 101 ( an absolute must-have pen ) !! The smaller house was placed on a piece of patterned paper that I cut into a tag shape. The sentiment on the tag is from the Very,Very Merry stamp set.

Attached to the bag is a house from the Little Haven stamp set. Again, I used the White PITT Big Brush pen to color in the scallops below the roof. A piece of Susan's Live in Color paper was paper-pieced for the roof itself. I added 3 sequins for some added dimension. The Le Mason stamp set was used for the house at the bottom and I again colored it a bit with a variety of markers. The tags were attached to the bags using Maya Road Twine Cording. 

"Do Not Open Until Dec. 25"

These tags all have space on the back to write TO and FROM. They are just the cutest for hanging from a gift bag or even taping onto a package. And I have so much fun coloring them in.An afternoon at Starbucks with my coffee and a few of these houses is absolute BLISS !! They are fun to fussy-cut too. In this age of new machines that cut out your stamped images, I am just old-school and continue to fussy-cut. I hope that you are inspired by my tags to start ( or finish ) some holiday projects. Thank you for taking the time to check out my tags. 

Debra Davison

Susan K Weckesser Creative Team

Hope & Faith

I have been seeing beautiful Autumn colors everywhere these days -- fall leaves in every hue imaginable, the many colors of  Pumpkin Spice, brightly colored sweaters and my many favorite Fall mugs !! I wanted to do a Fall project but wanted to use something other than the usual leaf theme. Then I remembered a floral stamp set of Susan's and this project was born !! The words I used are from one of my favorite quotes -- "HOPE  is FAITH  holding its hand out in the dark" by George Iles.

• I used the Sizzix HobNail Vase embossing folder on a light brown piece of cardstock. This design reminds me of my home - we had a vase and doilies just like that in the house I grew up in.  
• The Hope & Faith words are from the Painted Sentiments stamp set. I used Clearsnap Colorbox Color Pop ink in Sky to stamp the words on a piece of Live in Color paper. 
• I stamped the flowers from the In My Garden stamp set onto various Fall-colored cardstocks and paper. The images were all then fussy-cut and arranged into a bouquet for the top of the vase. I adhered the flowers to each other using Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Adhesive. 
• The stamped image was placed on the Left side of the card above the doily and also adhered with Tombow. I used Tombow Foam Tabs to adhere the bouquet to the top of the vase. A few large sequins were scattered onto the stamped image. 
• I mounted the embossed/stamped card front to a card base made of Kraft cardstock. The bouquet extends above the top of the card and looks just like a fresh bouquet of flowers in a favorite vase !! I fussy-cut several pages of these flowers so I have them to use again. I am already starting an art journal page with a few of these !! ( I find that if I sit and watch TV while I am fussy-cutting, I don't snack at all. )

I hope you have been enjoying the month of October with Susan's Creative Team. It's hard to believe that it is almost November and the holidays will be here soon. I have even heard Christmas music in a few stores already !! I will be sorry to say good-bye to Autumn and all of the lovely colors.

In My Garden stamp set

Debra Davison

Susan K Weckesser Creative Team

Believe In Yourself Art Journal

Hello all

I am back with another mixed media journal page for the Susan K Weckesser team. The theme on the blog this month is mixed media and one of my favorite themes. 

I started off by applying modeling paste around the page using a stencil and then i spritzed DecoArt Media Misters on top. I spritzed water over to dilute the colors.

Next i added more colors using acrylic paint which i painted on in blocks of color. I then used the In Circle Me stamp to add a textured layer to the background. I used a stencil with black modeling paste for the quote and writing. I let it all dry and then added another layer of stencils.

I used the A Little Grunge Love stamp set and used the Clearsnap Color Pop Mini inks to color them with. I glued them down and once dry i went over the top with a stencil to create a textured effect.

I used the A Little Bit Washi stamps and stamped them on to tissue paper. I learned this trick of Susan and this way you can position the images before gluing them down.

Thank you for visiting 

Grunge Hearts Art Journal Page

Hi all

I have a new Journal page i created using DecoArt products and Susan K Weckesser Inc Stamps. I am still experimenting with textures and layering those textures up.

I wanted to show you haw to create layers using different stencils. So to start with i used a background stencil such as DecoArt  Pixleated and applied DecoArt White Modeling paste over the top which gives a lovely raised pattern when it dries. I then used the Doodle Stencil  and i applied white modeling paste to the number strip.

Next i used DecoArt Black Modeling paste with a Tim Holtz distress stencil and let it dry.

I stamped the In Circle Me  stamp down the center of the page and I then used a black marker pen to doodle on  some circles which i colored in using the Color Pop Mini Inks. I the used DecoArt Fluid Acrylic  Cobalt Teal Blue to pain over the background. I mixed it with water so it covered the pad easier. 

I then took the In Circle Me stamp and partially inked sections of the stamp before stamping it over the page.

I used the Grunge Fun Stamp set and stamped the stitching randomly around the page. 

I used Teal Metallic Lustre and rubbed it over the stenciling to bring out the detail and then i used the A Little Grunge Love and stamped the small arrow around the page and used the two hearts and stamped them onto smooth card. I inked around the edge of the stamp with Black Archival Ink and then colored them in with Color Pop Mini Inks.

I then used glue to stick the hearts down and once dry i added a mini stencil mask over the large ones and stamped the smaller ones with the Grunge Fun background stamp. I then took the little heart stamp and stamped it in between the larger hearts.

I used the Painted Sentiments stamps to add a couple of words 

Thank you for visiting