There's going to be a House Party Blog Hop this weekend and you're invited! Maria at Gallo Organico offered several of us a challenge last month. We would create a house from materials that she so generously provided. On Saturday evening at midnight(EST) several of us are going to reveal our house creations and link our blogs for some rockin' house party fun! You'll see artists from all over the world creating these row houses. I'm sure there will be some fun give-away prizes along the way. I was involved in a row house swap earlier this year and these photos are the houses I created for that swap...but they are nothing like the one I made for this party.

I'm a 'Technique Junkie' and used one of their techniques to create the background for this card. I find it difficult to create masculine pieces, but am pleased with how this one turned out. Notice that he has a magnifying pebble over his right eye. The stamps are from Club Scrap and Paper Bag Studios. You can become a 'Technique Junkie' too. Go here for more information, tell Pat that Julie sent you.

This boxed card set was made to donate to a silent auction benefit. It will be part of a basket of gifts. I just need to figure out what else to include in the basket. It seems that this year there have been many needs, and more projects donated than any other year I can remember. This boxed set was made using Club Scrap paper and stamps. I really love the texture and colors of this paper. I did finish the gift set, here it is complete with a note pad and altered photo frame. I hope this week finds all of your loved ones happy and healthy.

Just a couple more cards today using an ink resist technique. I used Club Scrap and Stampin' Up stamps along with Ranger Adirondack inks. I'm enjoying the daffodil, hyacinths and tulips in my yard right now. It seems that each spring I reach for this tulip stamp depicting the 'blossoming' of the tulip. Spring has officially arrived in northern Michigan...Happy Spring to you!

I've never taken an online course, but found myself quite interested in this one. As I'm involved in an on going art journal project, I thought that binding my signatures in this manner would be ideal. The course started this week at My Creative Classroom, and the first assignment was to make 27 pages to be incorporated into the journal. The adventure started yesterday and these pages are a sampling of my first efforts. We will use a variety of techniques to create the inner pages, which will then be bound into a book and serve as a canvas for our journals. It's a 4 weeks course, I'll let you know how it goes. Hope you're having a very creative week...

It's not very often that I have the opportunity to make a baby card. My niece in Idaho had a baby last week so this card is welcoming him to the world. The stamps are all Club Scrap and images are water colored using Tombow markers. It's a boy! You can double-click on the image if you would like to read the poem.

In 2008, a group of online friends decided we would collectively work on a large collage piece. The piece would be a full size sheet of watercolor paper, approximately 16x24. We would set the theme of our own piece and make the initial background. The piece would then be sent on to 8 additional participants for them to add to each collage. Likewise, I worked on each of their collage pieces. This is a photo of my original background. A technique found in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine in 2008. I used a variety of scrapbooks papers and created a 'paper quilt'. You then cover the entire piece with several acrylic paint glazes, with the final glaze being a very sheer gold mica color. Kind of rub on...rub off. I chose to go with a Christmas theme. I'm excited to say that after almost 2 years of traveling...my piece came home. I couldn't be more delighted with the final results. I want to thank everyone that participated in this adventure...it has truly been a collaborative effort. The actual texture of this feels like a beautiful aged book. Please double-click on the photo to get a more realistic view.

Card Positioning Systems offers a card sketch challenge each week. I decided to make an entry using this card. Paper is from Club Scrap (my favorite paper) and stamps are Club Scrap and Stampin' Up. I love the rust and turquoise combination. I've never used a card sketch before, but some of theirs are pretty inspirational. Thanks for looking.

Today I'm sharing a 'scenic stamped' card similar to this previous post. The stamping has been colorized using Adirondack inks and a sponge. This is a birthday card for a friend that loves wildlife, so I thought this would be suitable for him.

This is a sympathy card using a Stamp Zia stamp and a 'kissed' technique to create the unique design on the crane. This crane seems so peaceful to me, as do the colors of the card. The card itself is 5"x7" as the image is quite large. Do you recognize the image? I've used it a few times in the past couple of weeks. It's funny how something ends up on my desk and just stays there for awhile...

These are my final art journal pages for this swap round. We have another round starting in May. I used another watercolor background and several stamps to create this piece. I would say I was heavily influenced by my recent scenic stamping binge. Stamps are from Tim Holtz, Stamp Zia, Hero Arts and Inkadinkadoo.

I'm participating in a one for one altered project swap. We are altering microscope slide mailers. I actually made this microscope slide mailer to accommodate a 2" square glass frame so there would be a larger 'playground'. The whole project is coated in beeswax with pieces of gold and red leafing. I hope the recipient enjoys it, she should receive it this week.

The digital image is by an amazing artist, Haruyo Morita, and you can find more of her art work at http://www.haruyomorita.com.au/ Maybe take the time to read her biography, very interesting story. Simple art journal spread using a watercolor background. The owner of this journal labeled it 'Pleasure' on the cover...so I just went with it.

My daughter was married to the man of her dreams a couple of weeks ago, after an 8 year courtship. The wedding was in Florida and was just beautiful. We're still waiting for professional photographs, but I snapped this while all of the girls were getting ready. She's so lovely...

I started into paper arts as a stamper, it's my first love. Since, I've gotten involved in many areas of paper arts as you can tell from my postings. Today, I got to spend some time just stamping...pure and simple. Scenic stamping is something that requires time and by the time you drag all of the stamps out it ends up looking like this. Using a wide variety of stamps, I am able to create 'scenes'. If you double-click on the image you can get a larger view. I made a few multiples of these and obviously they aren't colorized yet, but they will be and turned into cards...stay tuned. If you click here you will see another sample of some of my scenic cards.

While making a few watercolor backgrounds to use in an art journal, I had a piece left over to use in this card. The collage sheet with Asian ladies was laying next to my art table and I had an aha moment. The background was made using distress inks and mica watercolors. I used a glaze on the image of the woman that crackled a bit. Isn't she lovely?

Sometimes I just revert totally to being a child and want to get out my colors and play. I know Copic markers are all the rage and they are beautiful, but I like to color with my Tombow watercolor markers and feel that they work just fine. So here's a couple of pots of spring flowers...

Easter came so quickly this year. Right on the tail of my daughter's wedding last week. I wasn't able to finish any Easter cards this year but did a few Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) which I turned into magnets. ATC's are 2.5" x 3.5" miniature pieces of art that are normally traded with other artists. I hope you have a blessed Easter this year in whatever manner you choose to celebrate.

This is a tri-fold card that I made for my daughter's wedding. I cut out images from some designer paper and used glossy accents on the pieces to give a dimensional look. When I was finished I had to make a box to put the card into, because the card was so thick. I forgot to take a photo of the box though. It was a beautiful wedding.