Friday is Texas Independence Day!

Good morning!  As we approach Texas Independence Day, Texana Designs continues celebrating with another beautiful card made with our Jam'n Barbed Wire Heart Flag.  Libby did a great job creating this card with our stamp and, of course, being a lover of Copic Markers this card put a special smile on my face!  
Libby is from Michigan, lived in Texas for many years, and just recently moved to Georgia.  I believe she still holds a bit of Texas in her "heart".

Thank you Libby!

Libby used the following products for this card:

Texana Designs Stamps:  Jam'n Barbed Wire Heart Flag, Jam'n Somebody in Texas Loves Ya (inside)

Paper: Bazzill cardstock (blue), Recollections cardstock (kraft), Georgia Pacific (white), Pebbles patterned paper

InkL:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers

Other:  Fiskars scallop punch, rick-rack, twine

How do I paint Bluebonnets? Let me count the ways!

   Good Sunday morning!  It's a gorgeous day in Round Rock, TX.  The sun is shining.  The grass is growing.  The flowers are blooming.  The wind chimes are singing.  And my windows are open.  
   Yesterday, I played much of the day with our Jam'n Bluebonnet Framed stamp.  This stamp is one Joyce's first designs back in 2000.  It was a best seller then and continues to be a best seller today.
   Anyone who knows me, knows that I can't draw a stick figure (one of the reasons why I have Joyce in my life!) and that I LOVE to paint!  Always have.  When I was younger, I would sit for hours coloring.  When I had children, I would sit for hours coloring whether they did or not!  Now, I have stamping and painting.
   Below are some of the ways to paint (or paper-piece) this Jam'n Bluebonnet Framed stamp. Of course, nothing compares to seeing them in person to truly appreciate these products.


Products I used:
Texana Designs stamp:  Jam'n Bluebonnet Framed
Inka Gold: Blue, Purple, Green
Copics:  B63, B66, YG 95, YG99
Gamsol
Prisma Colored Pencils:  906 Violet, 932 Copenhagen Blue, 912 Apple Green, 911 Olive Green
Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals:  Ponderosa and Wisteria
Lyra Watercolor Crayons
Pearlescent Watercolors 
Embossing Folder
Versamark
Judikins Rustique Bent Nail embossing powder (my all-time favorite for Texas stamping!)

Pearlescent Watercolors

Paper-pieced

Copics

Prismacolored Pencils and Gamsol

Lyra Aquacolor Crayons

Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals

Copics and Embossing folder

Inka Gold

Joyce-Bleached

Spring is Right Around the Corner!

Doesn't this card, by Jilda Bolton, make you want to go run in a field of Bluebonnets.  Well, as long as you don't disturb the Bluebonnets!  I love the colors in this card.  Jilda did a great job using one of our newest Texana Designs stamps - Jam'n Frame - Bluebonnet with the Everythin' is comin' up BLUEBONNETS!  This card is all about paper-piecing (one of my favorite techniques, I might add!).  
The Jam'n Frame - Bluebonnet is/was the Design Team's stamp for March 1st.  You've already seen Janet Bradshaw and Karen Lambert's beautiful cards using this stamp.  We have a couple more coming in next week.

Thanks, Jilda!  Love it!

Birdies!

I was looking through my card sample folder this morning and couldn't believe all the different cards made with our new "birdie" stamps (artist, Joyce A. Meyer).  I decided to post some of the "Bird 2" cards and tags today.  Tomorrow - another bird!  What a great way to make use of small pieces of scrap paper!  Happy stamping and paper-piecing! 

Card Design:  Janet Bradshaw

Card Design:  Janet Bradshaw

Card Designs: Janet Bradshaw

Tag Design: Janet Bradshaw

Tag Design:  Joyce A. Meyer

Tag Design:  Joyce A. Meyer

Others are practicing!

   My friends, Janet and Jackie, also took the Brayer Workshop.  We are all investigating inks and papers.  
  Jackie sent me this card, via e-mail, yesterday.  Nice!  I was thinking about this Texana Designs Cactus Border stamp and how it would look brayered.  I love the mountains in the background with the little cactus in the distance.  As you can see, Jackie is using some of the more advanced brayer techniques in this card, which include creating mountains and double embossing.  She is much braver than I!  Great job, Jackie, and thanks for sending this to me!

Design:  Jackie Fischer
Texana Designs stamps:  Cactus Border and Cactus mini
SU Inks and Copic Markers

   Janet sent me this card earlier in the week.  It was her first attempt at designing a card to brayer after taking the brayer workshops.  We both agree that design is a very thoughtful process! (what colors to use, placement of stamp and horizon).  I especially love the color of the sky with the little stars.  As Janet indicates on her blog:  smooth papers are not all the same, all dye inks do not give the same effect, and fingerprints show.  Check out Janet's blog for more information and another sample.  Thanks, Janet!

Design:  Janet Bradshaw
Texana Designs stamps:  Jam'n House and Home is Deep in the Heart of Texas!
Adirondack Inks

Well, I best be off to practice!  Happy Stamping!

Practice! Practice! Practice

   As I stated earlier, the Brayer Workshops were awesome!  Now to apply what I learned.  Two challenging areas:  design and inks.  
Michelle Zindorf (the brayer queen) is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator and used Stampin' Up products for this class. 
   Since my customers are mostly scrappin' and stampin' stores and cannot carry Stampin' Up products, I need to find products for these techniques that  they can carry.  Therein lies one of the challenges.  But wait!  I just experimented with Ranger Distress Inks on the "bird" tag and found them to be very compatible.  Yay!  And the Copics work beautifully with the inks.  One challenge solved.  
   The challenge of design and using Texana Designs stamps will be solved with lots of practice.  I hope!
   Anyway.....  Here are the two tags I've been working on.  As you can see, I'm starting off very simple.  The chicken card was inked with Stampin' Up inks and the bird card with Ranger Distress inks.  As I said earlier, I think the Ranger Distress inks will work beautifully with the brayer technique.
   Stay turned tomorrow for more samples of the brayer technique by Janet and Jackie. 

Design:  Jimmye Sue
Stamp Design:  Joyce A. Meyer
Stampin' Up Inks

Design:  Jimmye Sue
Stamp Design: Joyce A. Meyer
Ranger Distress Inks
Copic Markers

Wishing for a Bluebonnet Spring!

I'm absolutely lovin' this rain!  Not just because I love rain, thunderstorms, and what it does to my lawn and plants -- BUT -- it improves the chances of a prolific wildflower season!  Spring 2010 was one of the best ever! Tom and I traveled all over Central Texas photographing and admiring the wildflowers.   I'm wishing for a repeat!
Let the wishful thinking begin with these two awesome and totally different cards using the Texana Designs Jam'n Frame-Bluebonnet.  Janet and Karen you both rock!

Let us begin with Janet's beautiful card.  She duplicated the bluebonnet from the frame and cut out two more to fill in the frame.  The center flower is popped off of the card with popdots and it does "POP"!

Thank you, Janet!

Janet used the following products for this card:
Texana Designs FR004 Jam'n Frame-Bluebonnet and TD039 Everythin' is comin' up BLUEBONNETS
Patterned Paper:  Wright Designs - Bluebonnets - Indian Paint Brushes
Cardstock:  White
Versamark Ink
Embossing Powder:  Silver
Sakura Gelly roll Stardust Pens - Sky, Blue, Marine, Green, Lime and a waterbrush to blend.

Karen and her husband, Mike, love to travel all around Central Texas photographing Texas "stuff".  They are both excellent photographers and Karen loves to combine her photographs with our Texana Designs stamps.  The above card is a great example where Karen used one of her photos with Texana Designs Jam'n Frame-Bluebonnet and on the inside used our Jam'n Bluebonnet #2 with the Everythin' is comin' up BLUEBONNETS sentiment.  This card is so unique and beautifully done.

Thank you, Karen!

Karen used the following products for this card:
Texana Designs Stamps:  Jam'n Frame-Bluebonnet, Jam'n Bluebonnet #2 and Everythin' is comin' up BLUEBONNETS
VersaMark Ink Pad
Black Embossing powder
Prisma Color Pencils
Gamsol
Stock Navy and White Card Cardstock
KALDesign Bluebonnet Frame and Mats Silhouette Cutting File 

Let the "hearts" continue!

Well, it's another "heart-filled" day with Janet's beautiful Heart Flag card using Texana Designs Jam'n Barbed Wire Heart Flag and one of our first stamps "Thank You"!  Look at the Wright Designs - Quilt - Blue Stripes Patterned Paper.  Doesn't it look like a quilt!  Again, I just love Wright Designs Paper.  Contact your LSS to see if they carry it.

Thanks, Janet, for another awesome card!

Janet used the following products for this card:

Texana Designs Stamps:  TX050 BW Heart Flag and 80812L Thank You

Patterned Paper:  Wright Designs - Quilt - Blue Stripes

Cardstock:  Metallic Red, Blue, White and Steel

Versamark  Ink

Embossing Powder:  White and Stampendous Aged Copper

Colorbox Cat's Eye Chalk - Blackbird

From one heart to another.

Good morning!
   Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Now let us Texas lovers move toward Texas Independence Day.  This gorgeous Heart Flag card by Linda McClain (Catered Crop) ,using Texana Designs Jam'n Barbed Wire Heart Flag stamp, is perfect for segueing from Valentine's Day to Texas Independence and I love the colors.  We do love our Texas!  And if you haven't visited Linda's Catered Crop blog, it's a must for any lover of all things creative and beautiful. (you will find the product list for this card on Linda's Catered Crop blog).

Thanks Linda!  So glad you're on my team!  

Two fabulous workshops! - Michelle Zindorf's Beginners and Advanced Brayer Workshops

Good morning!
   Janet and I were fortunate enough to participant in Michelle Zindorf's Brayer Workshops yesterday and they were awesome!  Beautiful projects as you will see and techniques that can be applied to so many of our Texana Designs stamps.  My first project will be using either the Jam'n Cactus Frame or Jam'n Bluebonnet Frame.  I can see the sunrise or sunset now!   
   Michelle has been teaching these workshop for about 5 years.  She travels all over the U.S. about 24 times a years.  I'm so thankful Austin, Texas was one of her stops (she's from Ohio) and rumor has it this will be the last year of traveling.
   The workshop was housed at Scrapology in Lakeway.  Bittersweet.  While participating in the workshops, Karen and Pat were having a "Store is Closing" sale.  I will miss those sweet ladies!

Beginner Brayer Workshop Projects

Advanced Brayer Workshop Projects:

Jilda's CHA Experience and Favorite Products

CHA 2012
I was fortunate enough to be invited to go to the 2012 Winter CHA (The Craft and Hobby Association) Trade Show in January.  What an amazing adventure!  It was 4-1/2 days of roaming the Anaheim Convention Center looking through cleverly decorated booths, watching demos and testing new products, doing some fun make 'n takes, and entering in some really good drawings for new products:


Here are links to videos/product links for some of my favorite new products:

• Tim Holtz Distress Markers
• New Spellbinders m-bossabilities
• A new platform system for our embossing/cutting machines (with a magnetized base)
• New products from Art Bin (my favorite new product is the Magnetic Die Storage Case)
• The Action Wobbles guy moved all over the showroom passing out Wobbles - a fun way to bring action to your cards.
• Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's stencil demo
• Suzi Blu's Letraset Aquamarker demo
• My very favorite demo was at the LaBlanche booth where the owner, Jaqueline, showed us some amazing techniques.  I went back to her booth twice.

To give you a better overview and see the majesty of CHA (2009) check out  Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's review of her first visit to the 2009 CHA.

Jilda Bolton

YeeHaw! This is one "Truly Texas" card!

Karen!  This card makes me want to be a Texan!  Wait!  I am a Texan.  At least a 4th  generation Texan!  No wonder I love this card and all our Texana Designs stamps so much!

Stamping on Denim.  Staining the tag.  Hemp cording.  Flair Red Bandit patterned paper.  And those cute little buttons with the embroidery floss!  Dang!  This is cute.

Thank you!

Karen used the following products:

Texana Designs Stamps:  TX050 Barbed Wire heart Flag and TX014 Somebody in Texas Loves Ya

Craft Cardstock

Flair Red Bandit patterned paper

Denim

VersaMark Stamp Pad

Zing Embossing Powder - Rouge

Buttons

DMC embroidery floss

Shipping tag

Walnut Ink to stain tag

Versafine Onyx Black Stamp Pad

Diamond Stickles

May Arts Ribbon

Hemp Cording

I'm WILD about Texas and Texas flowers!

Jilda!  Jilda!  Jilda!  What a fun card!  Love the wildflowers paper-pieced on Texana Designs Jam's BW Heart Flag.  Truly Texas!  I hear that we should have lots of wildflowers this year!  I think I will put these cards in my workroom and do a flower dance around them!!

Thank you!

From one heart to another!

Valentine's Day will soon be over and Texas Independence Day coming up!  For the Design Team it's "from one heart to another."  The creations are starting to come in!  Janet designed these "Truly Texas" cards with Texana Designs Jam'n Barbed Wire Heart Flag mini and Bless Your Texas Heart! phrase stamp.  What a way to start this "Texas Independence Day" themed cards.
Be sure to stop by Janet's blog to admire more of Janet's beautiful creations!
  

From one Texan to another!  Thanks, Janet

This is a "Truly Texas" Kind of Card!

I absolutely love waking up to viewing another card using our Texana Designs stamps!  Wow!  I love this card with the BW Star and "Truly Texas" sentiment and it is a "Truly Texas" card.  Go to Karen's blog to see step by step instructions.

Design by:  Karen Lambert, Design Team Member
Texana Designs stamps:  Barbed Wire Heart, Truly Texas, thank you
Artist:  Joyce A. Meyer


Starry-Eyed over this card!!

Catered Crop Recipe Swap!

   Good Golly Miss Molly!  Linda McClain's (Design Team Member), Catered Crop Blog and Recipe Swap are the "bomb"!  I could spend an entire day just looking at all the incredible creations she posts on her  blog and then there's her room (where she creates) filled with gorgeous antique items used for storage.
   Texana Designs was fortunate to be the sponsor of the last Catered Crop Recipe Swap with the featured ingredient being "print"!
   The newly created Texana Designs DESIGN TEAM wanted to participate and sent in some absolutely awesome creations.  Just take a gander!

Design by:  Janet Bradshaw
Texana Designs stamps:  BW Heart and Love ya with all my Texas heart.
Artist:  Joyce A. Meyer

Design by:  Jilda Bolton
Texana Designs stamps:  Poppy and Somebody in Texas Loves ya

Design by:  Karen Lambert
Texana Designs stamp:  BW Heart Flag mini
Artist:  Joyce A. Meyer

Design:  Karen Lambert
Texana Designs stamps:  BW Heart and Happy Heart Day!
Artist:  Joyce A. Meyer

Design by:  Libby Harmon Hickson
Texana Designs stamps:  Chicken 3 and Just chickin' in!
Artist:  Joyce A. Meyer

Design by:  Linda McClain
Texana Designs stamp:  Love ya with all my Texas heart.