Mini Distress Ink Winner!!!!

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments. I wish you all could win. 

The winner of the NEW Mini Distress Inks is…….

Rea'April 16, 2014 at 11:20 AM

Oh these are so fun... gonna try this ( oh no I only have set #3) guess I'll be shopping for more very soon. I love the combination of colors ... got my storage case all picked out!!! They are just such a cool size ... now I can carry more colors with me without feeling like I'm taking the "house" ... LOL !! Light bulb moment... I'm gonna go make that card ... I've got those colors in large pad with little blending tools :) !!!

Please email your address to californiaartgirl@me.com and I will get your Minis in the mail. You're going to love them!

Have a great weekend and a Happy Easter! 

Richele

Seaside Cards with Faded Layers

Hello friends…. Hope your week is going well! 

I'm very excited to be over on the Simon Says Stamp blog today with this awesome technique from the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 102 class called Faded Layers. The Creative Chemistry Class series is a great way to learn lots of techniques for all your Tim Holtz products. 

Here is a peek at the background I made for my cards. 

Head ove for the full tutorial on Simon Says Stamp Blog! 

Don't for get to leave a comment on yesterdays post for a chance to WIN a set of the new Mini Distress Inks! 

Have the best day ever. Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Richele

Mini Distress Ink and a GIVEAWAY!!

Hi friends…I'm sure you've heard about the new MINIS!! Right! 

There is now 12 more to LOVE!! I know what you're saying. I already have the bigger ink pads. Well I'm here to tell you that there are many things that are great about these little gems. They're great for carrying to a crop or to a friends house for play time. So compact! Easy to handle for inking your favorite project. The Minis are the perfect fit with the Mini Ink Blending Tool. They are great for the technique I'm going to show you… and they're also awesome to GIVEAWAY!!! So don't forget to leave a comment at the end of the post for a chance to win your very own set.. 

Here are all the available colors. Which is your favorite? 

It was so hard for me to choose so I got them ALL.

Our project for today features mono printing with a Layering Stencil using the Mini Distress Inks. 
This technique is in Tim's "A Compendium of Curiosities" Volume III. The book is filled with tons of techniques and inspiration!! 

Choose your colors of Distress Minis and Layering Stencil.

Apply ink directly to the BACK of the Schoolhouse Layering Stencil. Start with the lightest color so not to contaminate your ink pads. These Mini Distress Inks are perfect for this technique. 

Generously mist the ink with water.  

Gentle press the stencil onto a piece of watercolor cardstock or Manilla works great too. With the stencil still in place blot off the excess ink with a paper towel. 

Slowly remove stencil, blot with towel if necessary and let dry. 

Here are a couple background combinations. 

Sand and ink the edges with a Gathered Twigs Distress Ink on a Mini Ink Blending tool. 

Cut a small oval to fit the Industrious frame. Stamp a little background text with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. 

Add a few Botanical Remnant Rubs to the oval. It's easiest to cut the Rubs out, position them and then rub them into place. 

Wrap the Jute Twine around, tie with a bow, add the flowers and layer it all together

I love this background to showcase my little birds. 

With the softer background I made an Easter Card. All the steps are the same, just add the bunny after you apply the Distress Glitter. 

Use chipboard to die cut the Mini Bunny and Bow from the Movers & Shapers Magnetic die set. Apply Glossy to the Bunny and Bow, poor Distress Glitter over them, shake off the excess and let dry.

Isn't this the cutest bunny every! 

Here are the Mini Distress Inks! 

You know you want them so leave a comment by April 17th at midnight PST and I will announce the lucky winner Friday morning for these little gems! 

Thanks for stopping in!

Richele

Here are all the color sets.

InLinkz.com

Craft Storage Ideas Guest blogger!

I'm so honored to be a guest over on the Craft Storage Ideas blog today! The blog has some fantastic ideas and tips for organizing and storage for your craft room. Here's a little peak of my favorite wall in the studio! 

Click here to see more photos of my craft room.  

Thanks for stopping in! Have a great week. 

Richele

Baja Mexico Vacation!!

Hi friends! I can't remember the last time Del and I had a vacation together! Yes, we had little getaways for the weekend but a whole week….so excited! The trip started with a 350 mile drive by car to Los Angeles. 

This is highway 5 it looks the same all the way to LA. In LA we meet up with our friends Mark and Louanna. Now I'm not gonna lie, I was a little freaked out about going to Mexico for many reasons. The border, the checkpoints, riding a motorcycle, the federalies, the water, just to name a few. Nonetheless I was excited to get away! Our final destination is San Ignacio, Baja to see the whales. 

First stop Ensenada, Baja. Here we are at dinner! Yum... 

Here's one of the checkpoints. No big deal…they pretty much waved us through most of the time. Nothing to be scared about!! That's me in the back. 

And no trip is complete unless you stay in a hot pink hotel, a little different then the Double Tree. The little towns in Baja don't have power from a power company they run on generators. So we only had power from about 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. 

After a few days of riding we make it to San Ignacio. BEAUTIFUL!! SUNNY!! WARM!! Feeling so very blessed. 

We check into our "yurt", our canvas sided room. It was huge inside. Very fun!

Now for a little dip in the laguna to cool off after the days ride. 

The little town of San Ignacio has this beautiful church. 

The detail was amazing! 

Loved this doorway looking through the church to the outside gardens. 

Now off to see the whales. A van picks us up in the morning for a 60 minute ride, mostly dirt, to the coast. Then 6 of us pile into a little boat to see the whales. 

Off in the near distance we see our first whale.

Here is a baby coming out of the water. 

It's simple amazing that these enormous animals will come right up to the boat! Louanna was able to touch the mother here. Then the mother dove under the boat but did bump us before her dive. 

And here I am touching the baby. What makes them come so close? Unbelievable! This area in San Ignacio is a protected reserve for the grey whales. They have their babies here and the way the currents are the food source is plentiful for them. This time of year the males have already started their migration north and the mothers and babies stay for a while longer. 

This is the boat. Not so big!! 

The driver of the boat has been a fishermen here for over 25 years and has lived in this village his whole life. 

Relaxing under the palm trees! 

Packing up for our journey home! 

Next stop Bay of Los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez. The water is a beautiful deep blue! Breathtaking! 

Love the cactus against the blue sky.

This is a gas stop, not a station…they have 1 gallon and 5 gallon jugs of gas for sale. 

A quick stop in La Bufadora. 

Of corse we had to see the Blowhole. 

The coast at La Bufadora. 

An AMAZING journey! We rode 200-250 miles each day for a total of 1650 mile on that little seat! Yes my bum was soar for a few days. The trip was well worth it!!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Richele