Happy birthday x2!

Today is my teammate (from the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge) Rachel's birthday and the other team members and I wanted to do something special for her. If you haven't visited her blog, you should check it out, she is very talented!  She makes a lot of cards---and let me tell you, even though sometimes cards look easy to make, they are so, so hard for me to do, so I admire all cardmakers!

Tomorrow is also a special day for someone close to me...my mom! So I made her a card, too :) She is a wonderful mom and has always been so very supportive of me and my art, even driving me down to a workshop in North Carolina recently!

Here are my birthday cards:

 

Credit for the top card actually goes to my friend Chris, a Stampin' Up demonstrator who gives wonderful workshops where we create a mix of cards that she has pre-designed for us. I just love the ombre fringe effect.

And of course the mixed-media one is mine. I tried to keep it simple, which is the hardest part for me, I just want to keep layering things on.

You probably came here from Donna's blog, but if not, feel free to head over there and/or the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog for more projects and links.

If you want to continue the birthday blog hop, then hop on over to the other Lynn--Lynn K's blog for another project.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

My Dream Workshop

Well, the summer just flew by! (like it usually does...) I haven't had as much time to art as I would like, but I did have an amazing opportunity to take a workshop with the incomparable Finnabair!

I meant to post this awhile ago, but I have been quite busy. Here's my review of the wonderful weekend:

This was my second workshop with Finnabair, but this time I got to spend the whole weekend creating. And as a bonus, it was at Donna Downey's studio--and she is my other favorite mixed media inspiration! Seriously, if I had to pick my top two, they would be it. So it was just perfect.

I arrived Friday night with my parents, and I wanted to show them Donna's studio, so luckily Bill was there with Finnabair getting ready for the weekend. My parents were really impressed. They said that they could definitely see Donna's influence in my art.

It was so fun to see all of the canvases I'd seen on her blog and in videos, up close and personal. The biggest surprise--how big they were! I hadn't realized that most of her canvases were that big!

This set of gorgeous Prima stuff was just for the first workshop. I wasn't afraid to dig in and use the supplies provided because I knew she'd be giving us more than enough. (I took home a lot of extras for use later!)

Saturday, we started by making this journal cover:

This was the second cover I've made with Anna and I think I love this one even more. I came prepared to the workshop this time, because I brought all sorts of "rubbish" as she would call it!  I have been saving those chipboard letters, and that winged key for just the right use!


Then we made a couple journal pages. Previously, I had made a page with Asmodean so I needed to  make one of Semi, too. (I made another one

I showed my pages to Jay and he asked why I didn't scrapbook him. I told him that I have made dozens of digital pages with him in the past. Here's one of my favorites, for proof:

Sunday, we made two collaged canvases. This first one, I do like, but there are some things I'm not happy with. Anna says to pretend we love it though, and have confidence in our work, so I'll say "This was exactly what I envisioned!"

And finally we ended the weekend with the collage I was most looking forward to, this steampunk style one (although Anna says that she actually didn't know about steampunk until her friends starting saying they liked her "steampunk" work!)

I had so much fun, made some new friends, and learned a lot. I am very glad I went, and I am already looking at Donna's calendar to find a time when I can come back and learn from her, too!

September Mixed Media Challenge

A new month means a new challenge! This month's challenge was chosen by.......me! I absolutely love color and I love flowers, and I was so inspired by a certain image I found, I wanted to share it will everyone:

 

Since it's my month to host, that means you get a whole step-by-step tutorial, but you do have to go to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge  blog to see it!

Here's the end result:

I really hope that you will join us with your own take on this inspiration image!

Our sponsor this month is Ellen Hutson, so you can win a $25 gift certificate.

 Check out the blog for more details on how to enter and win, I'd love to see you there.