it's CHRISTMAS EVE!

YIPPEE!
FINALLY! I LOVE this day!

First on the agenda...
Let's go back to the new distress colors...
several asked (BEGGED) about the new distress color...
rusty hinge.
Sounds like you guys have been waiting for a color like this...you'll LOVE it for sure!

Here's my attempt @ showing the colors...
you can see they are 3 distinct colors...
So for Jill who asked if it matched the U of Texas color...
I hope this helps you decide...

Oh...and look...Wild Honey is so YUMMY TOO~!



Now about the surprise from my brother & nephew...
PHEW...I was totally blown away...sniff sniff...

Rick drove me to his mother's home, where Paul & Brian were waiting...
They opened the garage door & inside was a BEAUTIFUL antique cabinet...

When they found it...I guess it was totally black with old varnish, but in perfect condition...
not a crack or ding anywhere...

they saw a tiny spot where the varnish was rubbed off & knew it was walnut.

They bought it...and had it refinished by our friend who is a master @ refinishing furniture.
He said it was 150 to 175 years old and was shocked @ the great condition...

I don't have a photo...but I will when we get it here.

It's GIANT...about 7 feet tall, so I need to make a place for it, first of all...

PLUS...we had major rain & sleet yesterday, so not a good day for transporting it.

PLUS...it's so large it has to come here in Rick's horse trailer...

I can't wait...hopefully the weather will clear a bit & I'll get it here in the next week or so...
I'll show you then...

so...picture me...sniff sniff...trying not to loose it...PHEW!!!

NOW...
as promised...
a studio 490 4th release PEEK...

look closely...
there are LOTS of peeks in the photo...



The blue on the lower right is the new tumbled glass...
you'll also see rusty hinge & a hint of wild honey in the top right corner...

I'm anxious for you to tell me what you see...
how many new stamps can you spot?

That's it for today...gotta run... (I still have more to wrap YIKES!)

from Rick & I to ALL OF YOU...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS...

I hope it's THE BEST EVER!

Safe travels...enjoy your family & friends...

Remember that desserts have NO CALORIES on holidays...trust me! ENJOY!

I hope Santa brings you lots of goodies to...

make art!

wendy

ps..HAPPY BIRTHDAY (tomorrow) to my bestest friend & sweet hubby...he's a Christmas baby!

after 47 tries...

this is the best I can do...

BECAUSE...

#1...my photos skills suck
#2...there is NO SUN again today in cloudy UGLY dark & DREARY Illinois
#3...I think computer monitors don't show true colors...

So...keep that in mind...
Here's my combo of the NEW tumbled glass distress ink & pumice stone...

It IS much prettier in person...trust me!
It REALLY looks great with vintage silver...


Yes...that tim's new SIZZIX ALTERATIONS flower die...
OMG!!
I'm seriously...in LOVE!

The other dies are serious drool material too...another TRUST ME! I NEEEEEEED ---MUST HAVE them ALL!

Hey...I haven't lead you astray so far...have I?

Continuing with color...

I got emails asking to do a color comparison chart to show the difference in distress colors...

Please refer to #1, 2 & 3 above...

Here's one...that's fairly decent...

the others got trashed...

I'm NOT good at describing colors...
but trust me...
they are even better in person than they look on a screen...

The most frequent question yesterday was about rusty hinge...
NO...It's NOT marmalade...
it's more of a beautiful RUSTY color...
bet that's why tim chose that name...

it's AWESOME...
I used it yesterday...& LOVED IT!

I might use that as the sneak peek for tomorrow...or again...maybe not!

Guess we'll just wait & see what photo is acceptable...

And for those of you who think I'm showing you everything tomorrow ...

WRONG!

A peek means a peek...not the whole shebang...
we still got a month 'til CHA!
SHEESH.....

And speaking of teasing...
my brother called yesterday...
the conversation went like this...
his name is Paul...

Paul...hey Wen...what are you doing @ 4pm on Wednesday?
Me...working in the studio, making samples for CHA.

Paul...well you'll just have to take a break...Brian (his son) & I got you a combined BD & Christmas gift & you get to see it tomorrow @ 4pm...
Me...WHERE?

Paul...just get in the car @ 3:55 & Rick will drive you to the location...
Me...your house?
Paul...NOPE & NO HINTS...
the end...

So I texted him a few hours later asking if he or they made me something...
he's an AWESOME carpenter...
His response...no hints...
I used to like him a lot...

So think of me @ 4pm...
I have no clue what's going on...
rick does & has for 6 weeks...
he's really ROTTEN...
I used to like him too...
I'll deal with him later...

More tomorrow, as promised...

Now...
I'm off to...
make art!
and (starting to)wrap gifts might be a good idea too...
YIKES!
wendy

after 47 tries...

no photos...so I'm not jailbird...

Ok...sad to say, I was a good girl & didn't sneak any photos @ Anthropologie...
I almost did...I REALLY wanted to...
but there were too many witnesses..
and I doubt rubber & ink are allowed in a cell...

Their decor ideas amaze me...
take for instance a HUGE display...
maybe 12 feet by 8...
hanging high above the checkout counter...
it kind of looked like a cloud & it was all the bottoms of wine glasses...edged in blue ...paint?... a huge wow...

then there was a framed quilt...sticking out of a huge frame...looked really cool too...

I made a vintage ruler frame ages ago, but their displays were made from new unfinished rulers...
dimensional flower pots...loaded with stuff for sale...very interesting indeed...

what a fun job that must be...making art on a giant scale...

NEXT...

YIPPEE...tim showed his new inks yesterday ...then the emails started here...
I got this one from Nonnie...
Happy Birthdays!!! Happy Shopping!! OK, on to inkie things....now that Tim has released the 12 new Distress colours on his blog, curious minds want to know which 2 you kept reaching for at the holiday happening!! merry christmas to all....nonnie

I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with these 2...
They are great alone, but when combined...you get an awesome smokey blue...I LOVE IT!!!

Pumice stone will coordinate with EVERYTHING!



But then Rick pointed out that I must be IN LOVE with the new red (barn door)...really?

I didn't realize it, but I used it on 3 book projects already...
it is a very cool red!!!!!!

So are these greens shown below...


And I have these 3 colors all ready for another project that's in the works...



So, the moral of the story?
You'll want them all...I'm just sayin' it like it is...

There was also this email...

as you say, tim SPILLED the beans...you should follow his lead & show us your stamps...pleeeeeeez? hey, we are your friends & won't tell a soul...

YIKES...I'm drumming my fingers and thinking...

how about a PEEK on Christmas Eve morning?

I LOVE Christmas eve as much as or possibly MORE than Christmas day...

and the last email for today...

will your new book be like the last?
will you show us how to use the new inks?
My fingers are crossed...I want MORE ideas & examples how to use the colours too! daria

Ah...the book...THANKS for asking!
it's the same format as the first...
but for this one we'll take it up a notch...
more collage...more artsy...a little more funky...
more Stampers Anonymous---ISH...

YES...I'm using the new inks for some of the projects. Some projects were done BNCA...(before new colors arrived)

I hope you're enjoying the season!

I'm headed to the studio to...
make art (with the new inks!)
wendy

Woodfield or BUST!

Woodfield Mall
Holiday Hours 7am-11pm -Monday December 21st...

We decided to celebrate our BD's & head to the Schaumburg area, spend the night & be there when the mall opens @ 7am!
YIPPEE!
Hopefully most folks will still be in bed for a few hours...

Priceline got us a great price for a GREAT hotel...YIPPEE!

Remember all those days when I was a cheap date?
This may NOT be the case.

They have Anthropology...an amazing store...
the decor is so very inspiring...
I might be in trouble...

I'll see if I can sneak a photo or 2 with the Blackberry...
I've heard they don't allow them anymore...
so...
if I don't post on Tuesday...
I may be in jail!
I'll plead insanity...

See you on Tuesday...
until then...
shop &
make art!
wendy

it's like the twilight zone around here...

first...
someone STOLE some December days...
HOW did that happen?
It's the 18th already????

SERIOUSLY???

That makes Christmas NEXT Friday...
Is my shopping done?
well...NOT EXACTLY...
YIKES...

Then I look outside & see this...
I couldn't open the patio door...
it's too frigid...
it looks like these guys escaped from Alfred...

or possibly a twilight zone episode...



I took this one from the office...
they're EVERYWHERE!!!
MILLIONS of them...

Better stop before we all have nightmares...

On to real business...

I have a guest artist for you!

Her name is Eileen Bellomo & she resides in NYC.

Eileen was the grand prize winner here of EVERY Ranger product that I used in my first book...

remember that giveaway?

Then I got to meet her in real life on the Mexico cruise...

She was wearing an AWESOME bracelet, adorned with grunge roses...

OMG...

Serious drool material!

So Eileen has been playing along with tim's 12 days of Christmas tags...

and...

she uses my stamp to make her roses...

First...her art...

then below, you'll find a great tip from Eileen...

She said...
Since I mostly make roses for bracelets, I came up with an idea for attaching them, and I used this trick here. Before adding the additional layers, poke a brad through the first (the largest) layer, then glue all the other layers as per the directions on Tim's blog. When it is time to assemble your tag, all you have to do is put a little hole where you want the rose, push the brad through, and it is attached....no glue, no waiting for glue to dry!
After my roses were fully assembled I did give them a quick spritz of spray....I used gold perfect pearls and water; no reinker because I only wanted to add sparkle to the paper, not change the colors.

I did add an additional layer (using part of the large flower from Wendy's Flower Art set) to the red rose. I also added a third rose. I use Wendy's flower from the Rose Art set to make my roses, and it is smaller than the flower that Tim uses. So I thought I'd need to either beef up my roses or add another. I guess I wound up doing both, though I don't love that added layer on the red rose. However, you can't really see the petals, and it does make the rose a bit larger, so it's OK.
I continued my Wendy theme by using the leaf from Rose Art and one of the flourishes from Flower Art; both are stamped on grungepaper, inked and cut out.
The tag is finished off with some bling as Tim did, and done!

Pretty cool huh???
THANKS Eileen for sharing your art!

And speaking of roses...
bigger IS better...

I'm just sayin'...I've been playin'...

I've been working on book projects...

I got some new ideas...

some different stamping surfaces for us...

FUN STUFF...

But...
I can't spill the beans just yet...and it's KILLING ME!

Happy weekend...
I need to get going and...

make art!
wendy

where do I begin...

to tell you all about Holiday Hideaway?

I remember leaving there last year & telling Tim that he couldn't possibly out do himself the next time...
let me say...

I was TOTALLY wrong.

It was really an absolutely ink-redible weekend.

I felt very @ HOME...
I LOVED seeing my friends...
I LOVED the gifts...a MILLION of them...
I LOVED Mario's food...
I LOVED our projects...really LOVED them...
I LOVED the SHOPPING...

It's like an art family...just a really special group.

The only room for improvement would be to control the weather...30 degrees????? SNOW??? GEEZ!
I like 80 better...maybe we could do HH in July???

And speaking of ink...
here's what the new distress pads look like...

ha!!!
They're so new the labels aren't even ready yet...
We got them HOT OFF THE PRESS...

As for actual colors, I can't say until Ranger gives us the OK...

But I will say, I LOVED them all...
they are the perfect compliment for the 24 we have...
and these are colors we have NEEDED for a VERY long time...

I think I discovered a new favorite or 3...
I kept reaching for the same 2 colors over & over...

They're all ready, except the labels...
they'll ship right after CHA...
so the wait won't be horrible...

THANKS AGAIN to Alain for the extra effort he made to get them to tim for us to play with...

We got a TON of stuff...
I can't even begin to list them all...

Our final gift was the Big Shot express...
each person got one...

Thank YOU Ellison/SIZZIX!!!!!!!!!!
And best of all...
they gave each of us a new TIM DIE...
from his new line, called Alterations...

Can you imagine???
That baby got shipped along with 50 pounds of other gifts...
The boxes are scheduled to arrive on Friday.

It will be like Christmas all over again...
when I dig in...

One other HUGE surprise was this Ott light...
I didn't realized that I NEEDED one...
but now that I tried it...
I DID!!!
I LOVE IT...

We got more products from Ranger,
the I-top brad maker (COOL) from imaginesce...
cool stuff from...
Jenni Bowlin
Cosmo cricket
Hero Arts
Basic Grey
graphic45
a cool trimmer from Fiskars
Melissa Frances
Advantus
MARTHA STEWART...
a GIANT tote bag FULL of every glue Arts product...
it is HUGE!
NEW STAMPS FROM STAMPERS ANONYMOUS!!!
NEW RUBBER........makes me so happy!

There's a ton more...but my little brain can't think of them...
more when the boxes arrive.

Another highlight...

when we went to tim's, we got to see his new idea-ology stuff...OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALL his dies for his NEW die cutting machine...

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

his new book...OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't sleep that night.....dreaming of the possibilities...

I'll share my projects later...

some I shipped...

some need more finishing touches.

And in other breaking news...

MY NEW STAMPS ARE HERE!!!

YIPPEE!!!!!!!

I made my first project (for the new book) yesterday.

I'm pleased!

I also came home to a box of new MAYA ROAD CHA products...

Let me just say...WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's FATE that one of my stamp sets is perfectly coordinated with one of their new releases.

They didn't say what they had planned & I didn't share my stamp set with them...

it's amazing that they will work together so very well!

OK...
now there are 2 million things to get done here before CHA...

I spoke with Bonnie from Ranger yesterday...
I got a BRAND NEW RANGER product in the mail...

now I get to make some samples...
I think you'll LIKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas party tonight...

SHOPPING all day tomorrow...

Happy Holidays...

make art!

wendy