Inspiration . . . do something fun!

It's the first day of August (or was, as I look at the clock!). I think our summer has finally arrived and the mornings are so beautiful. The energy of the sun's rays encourage me to create something with my many rubber stamps, art tools, and various mediums. I hope you are feeling energized to 'play', too!

Look for new products to arrive in another week or so . . . sooo exciting! Everyone has been busy collating all of the pink sheet orders that have been flying around for Judikins, Magenta, Hero Arts, Memory Box, etc. Keep watching for the blog updates as the products arrive at the store.

Outlines Rubber Stamp posted this sample card under their Christmas in July section. I just had to share it with you . . . I think it's quite nice!

by Sandy Hulsart
for Outlines Rubber Stamp Co.

 And these are the instructions provided on the Outlines website:

• I began with this fabulous Cathedral Lace Frame from Cheery Lynn Designs; die cutting it from a piece of gold Stardreams Metallic card stock.
• I backed it with some luscious paper from SEI.
• Next came the poinsettia created with Wavy Poinsettia Med. and Wavy Poinsettia Sm. I stamped them with Versafine black ink onto red card stock, then trimmed them out.
• I added dimensional foam between each layer, curling the ends of the petals.
• I used my gold Viva Decor Pearl Pen for the center of the poinsettia.
• Next came the saying, Warmest Holiday Wishes stamped with Memento Tuxedo black onto the gold metallic paper.
• I added some Red Pearl Pen accents to the border around the sentiment.
• The background paper is from the same SEI Corrine paper pack
• Finished size is 5 x 7 inches

I'm embarrassed to admit that I still haven't found the safe and secret spot that I placed the names from the last Journal Club meeting so I could indicate who was working on what journal. So I'm just going to post the pics because I don't want you to miss out on their creativity because of my CRS! I'll remember what I can and fill in the missing pieces later!

Don't you love Kathy's 'bucket' list in her journal?
She even managed to mark off an item while I was taking the photos.

I love her watercolored images and beautiful colors,
and I was very impressed with the layered pages.

I'm thinking that this is Carla's journal work . . .
she is a dedicated and artistic journalist!

Gloria's journals feature quite a bit of her free-hand art.

Unlike a lot of us, she doesn't need to rely on a rubber-stamped image

to make a beautiful image come to life.

by Gloria Lynn Walker
I couldn't even begin to imagine how to draw the nymph with the bird resting on her arm.

And here Gloria made a gift box for Father's Day . . .

she hand-drew the images on the lid!

by Gloria Lynn Walker

This is Judy working on her 3-D art again.

I actually found a couple of the 3-D sticker sheets to try out. I'm also
working on finding out where we can find these for the store.

by Judy Daugherty

by Judy Daugherty

Sam Lee has really taken off with journaling. Here she shows

how she is making pages that flip up, flip out, flip down, and making

pockets for emphemera and items she picks up along the way that

help Sam tell her story.

Don't you love this journal featuring the 'cheshire' cat?

by Sam Lee

Sam found this tablet of postcards from Strathmore

that will allow her to make her own postcards on an upcoming

trip. She hasn't decided whether the postcard will be

made to send to a friend OR if she'll mail it home to herself

to keep as a souvenir. I vote for the latter!

I want to thank everyone for allowing me to interrupt their work so I could take the photos and admire their work. It's a new month and Journal Club meets again on Friday, August 11, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Art 'n Soul. Please come to be inspired and to play . . . I bet you'll have the best two hours of your entire week if you join in.



These are pics of the cards we made in Marj's Layers of Summer class last month. I had promised someone I would post these pics on the blog.

by Marj Marion

by Marj Marion

by Marj Marion

by Marj Marion

That's it for tonight . . . Recycled Rubber is this Saturday. And tomorrow is Dianne's first 'solo' day at the store . . . we're very excited that Dianne has joined the Art 'n Soul family as a member of the staff, in addition to her previous status as a great customer and friend. Stop in and say 'hi' if you have the chance tomorrow. As you may or may not know, Sue has resigned her staff member status as of July 31 so she can work on eliminating the pain from the spinal stenosis in her lower back. She remains a part of our Art'n Soul family and we'll be seeing her as often as possible.

I hope to share pics from Susie's Star Book class in the next posting.

"Artistic creativity is a whirlpool of imagination that swirls

in the depths of the mind."

Robert Toth