CLOSING DOWN THIS BLOG AND A SIGNIFICANT UPDATE

Hello!

Well, quite a lot has happened since my last blog post, not the least of which is that this will be the last post on this blog.  

If you follow me on Instagram, you may be aware that I have recently taken some time off from my full-time job to focus on my own stamp business, Three Room Studio.  Over the past couple months, I have been working on new stamp designs, and I have also moved my shop from Etsy to another platform on a new domain at www.threeroomstudio.com.  That is also the site of my new blog, and any new updates will be posted there.

New Designs!

I've also been doodling away for weeks, and as a result, three new stamp sets will be released on August 25th! I am really excited about these ones, and more are on the way for winter.  

My Etsy Shop

I have chosen to leave the Etsy store open for the time being, as I'm not allowed to direct customers to the new shop from there, and I didn't want to completely abandon the Etsy customers who have supported me and left me such lovely feedback over the past few years; however, my focus is now on the new site, and I will not be adding any of the new stamp designs on Etsy.  Among a number of other features, I am able to offer better shipping options in the new store.  


Three Room Studio Stamps

In other news, I am excited to report that Three Room Studio stamps are available at Simon Says Stamp!  I have been a Simon Says Stamp! customer for a number of years myself, and I love this company, so I am thrilled to now be a vendor (also still a customer,   because they have great stuff!).  


YouTube Channel

I posted an update video on YouTube (yes, I do still have a channel, and will be showing it some more love soon!), with a rare face-in-camera appearance...oh my...which you can view below, or by visiting my channel on YouTube 


So, I guess that's a wrap for this blog.  I do hope you'll visit me over on the new site.  It's still a work in progress, but I really love the new format, and I think it's a better shopping and blog experience.  

-- Sandy

Stamping Bella Top 10

How is 2018 nearly over already?!  I feel like this year went by SO fast, and I was constantly trying to keep up, but here we are just days before the start of a new year, and new possibilities.    

Today, each member of the Stamping Bella design team is looking back on the year that was, and choosing their top 10 favourite cards from the year. 

I'll be honest, choosing my favourite 10 was not easy, because there are so many beautiful Stamping Bella images to choose from (and even a new release just on Boxing Day!). Not to mention, December 1st marked my first anniversary of being on the Stamping Bella design team, so I've made 60+ cards using Stamping Bella images this year.

But I did select 10, and so here we go...starting the countdown:

  

10.  Uptown Girls Snapshots Minis

I love these images of girlfriends sharing secrets, supporting each other, and just being silly.  They also come individually in a larger size, but here I used the set of all four in mini versions all on one card.  I coloured all the images with Copic markers and popped them up on some craft foam over strips of cardstock in black and gold foil.    

9.  Uptown Girl Faith the Fairy

Here I masked the image and used Distress Oxide Inks to create a dreamy background for Faith the Fairy.  The sentiment embossed on vellum, and is so perfect for so many different occasions, or just for a bit of encouragement.  

  

8.  Uptown Girl Nancy Reads the Newspaper

There's something about images with furniture that I just can't resist.  I have a hard time committing to wall colours, and I'm not brave enough to select bold furniture for our home, so when I colour a chair, I like to choose fun patterns and colours I would never be brave enough to own.  I thought this lady might like a leopard print chair to offset the pops of red in her mug and shoes.  Animal prints are some of my favourite go-to patterns to colour, as you can see in the video I've made here.   For the background, I just stamped the sentiment over and over and covered it with a sheet of vellum to make it blend into the back a bit more and resemble newsprint.

7.  Little Bits Fairy Set

I fell in love with these little fairies as soon as I saw them.  So simple and fun to colour, they can be paired with any number of images.  Here again I used Distress Oxide Inks and a white Gelly Roll pen to create a nighttime background, because of course everyone knows fairies fly at night.  

6.  Tiny Townie Lacey Has a Letter

This image is so versatile, and the sentiment is perfect for sending a card for no reason.  Who doesn't love happy mail?  Lacey and her envelope are both coloured with Copic marker, and just a bit of soft Distress Ink for the background.  

5.  Tiny Townie Jenny Feels Joyful

This image just makes me smile, and I love how the green and warm white go together.  The card was all coloured in Copic markers, and instead of the usual yellow chicks, I coloured them white as well, but couldn't resist giving them light pink little bellies.  

4.  Tiny Townie Daphne and Her Dogs

Dogs.  What more is there to say?  Dogs ARE my favourite people, and this image just looks like a natural antidepressant.  I kept the focus on the image here, and used Copic markers for the colouring.  

3.  Tiny Townie Patricia Loves Pumpkins

This fall, I started to dabble in no-line colouring, and did I ever start to love it.  And hate it.  Always, part way through, I wonder what I was thinking, choosing such small and detailed images to colour in this technique (and usually when trying to meet a deadline).  But I find if I just power through and work in small areas, the result is always soooooooo worth it!  This one was all done in Copic markers, using a light grey ink to stamp the image.

2.  Hearty Chicks

I just can't get enough of the Stamping Bella chickies!  And that one in the middle...oh my goodness.  Again, these were coloured with Copic markers, and I fussy cut the top half (twice! -- once for the outside of the card, and once to finish the inside) to place on a clear note card.  

1.  Tiny Townie Rita and the Reindeer

And here is the last one.  This was one of my first projects for Stamping Bella.  Again, it was coloured in Copic markers, with a Distress Ink background.  This is still one of my favourite images of all time, and the background colours were chosen from a photo inspiration prompt.  The result was a combination of colours I would never have chosen on my own, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out.  

And that's my top 10 of the year. I'm very proud to be part of the Stamping Bella design team, with so many talented members, and to get work with such a great company and play with such beautiful images!

Please be sure to visit the Stamping Bella blog, as well as the blogs of the other design team members for more inspiration!

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope the new year brings you good health, many blessings, and lots of time to relax and recharge and be inspired to create!  

-- Sandy

Paru's Cardmaking Challenges - Anything Goes!

Hello!

I am honoured to tell you today that I am the August Guest Designer at Paru's Cardmaking Challenges!  This month's theme is “Anything Goes”.

The possibilities are endless with a prompt like that, but when I thought of the word GO, I immediately thought of the open road. I really enjoyed creating my card and tag, and I hope they make you smile, too.  

To make the card and tag, I used my “Wind in Your Fur” stamp set, stamped with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink, and coloured the images and background with Copic markers. 

I fussy-cut the goggles and car mirrors and embossed them with Hero Arts fine detail clear embossing powder and Versamark embossing ink to give them some shine and interest. 

The goggles I adhered with Ranger Multi Medium Matte, and the mirrors are popped up on some foam adhesive to create some depth.  

I used Simon Says Stamp “Stitched Rectangle” dies to create the frame, and also popped that up on foam adhesive to create a frame around the entire image.  

The sentiments were stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink and clear embossing powder to deepen the black colour and stand out from the busy background.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Simon Says Create and New Stamps!

Helloooooo! 

It's time for my sporadic semi-occasional bi-annual blog entry!  :)  Poor little blog.  It needs some attention.

I hope you're enjoying some lovely spring weather.  It's hit and miss here where I am, but right now the sun is shining, and it feels like spring even though snow is in the forecast.  We will not be dissuaded, though; I've already busted out the short pants and sandals.  It's not that unusual to see people in parkas and shorts in Saskatchewan, pasty white legs and all.  You have to soak up the Vitamin D when you can!  


I'll have good use for the springtime attire, though, next week in Columbus, where I am fortunate enough to be attending the Simon Says Create event.  I am positively giddy with excitement!  Like many others, I have ogled over the photos posted on Instagram by participants of years past and longed to be there.  So, when the announcement was made this time, I set an alarm and was sitting at the computer (refresh...refresh...refresh...) and ready the second the tickets went on sale.  I had no idea they sold out that fast, and I  still can't believe I was able to get one.  

I'll be sure to take and post lots of photos, provided I'm not too star-struck by the likes of Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner.  (Squee!!)

In other news, at long last I've added three new stamp sets to the shop.  I've been testing and playing with these designs for a while now, and I'm excited to finally be able to share!  

Here they are:

The first one is "Loads of Love".  There are quite a few pieces to this one, some of which may require some explanation.  Like, what is the thing that looks like a "B" in the upper right hand corner?  That is a set of goggles that is meant to fit over the forklift lady's face.  The hard hat fits on her head, and two of the barrels fit side-by-side on the palette, which fits on the fork(?) of the forklift.  And the "goodies" fit either on the top of the barrel or the boxes.  

"Retail Therapy" also pairs well with "Loads of Love".  Those goodies fit in the top of the box in her cart as well.   

The "Wind in Your Fur" set is my favourite.  Those dogs are meant to look as if they've got their heads sticking out a car window.  Those weird shapes are car mirrors.  I polled a number of people in my life, and no one knew what those were; however, I suspect my cardmaking friends will know at a glance, because I think our brains work a bit different. :)  There are mirror images of the doggies, too, because some stampers drive on the other side of the road! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I'm hoping to post a few videos in the near future, so watch this space (and YouTube and Instagram).   And if you happen to find yourself in Columbus next week for the big event, I'm in Group B and would love to meet you!  

Have a wonderful day, friends!

-- Sandy

A Blog Hop, a Challenge, a Card, and a Giveaway!

Hello, friends, and welcome to Day 2 of "The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge"! Today is the FIRST day of a THREE DAY blog hop to jumpstart your creativity.

If you're new to the colouring challenge or have any questions about the colouring challenge, you can refer to this post at Kathy's blog.

If you are coming from Olga's blog, you are in the right place! To start at the beginning of the hop, go to The Daily Marker's blog here.

I have been participating in Kathy's colouring challenges since the very first one. It appealed to me because it was a no-stress challenge -- colour as little or as much as you have time for. Give yourself that permission to make doing something you enjoy doing a priority! And Kathy herself is so likeable, I just can't help doing anything she says is a good idea.

It was thanks to this challenge that I met so many remarkable, inspiring, and encouraging people on Instagram. I sure hope you will join us in the challenge, and be sure to reach out and show each other a bit of love and encouragement in the comments. You will be so glad you did!

Did you know that Kathy is also a stamp designer? Last year she designed a stamp set for Hero Arts for the My Monthly Hero kit. This was a limited edition kit, and I was lucky enough to snag one before the site temporarily crashed from all the people trying to purchase it!

I wanted to make a Christmas card (really, is there time to make anything else this time of year??), and I wanted to use Kathy's stamp set for this blog hop. This is a great set, with a gnome and a gnome house, and lots of plants for a garden -- clearly meant for a season other than winter. It also came with coordinating dies for many of the images, including the ornament stamps. So, I thought I'd use the gnome with his gnome home, but that I'd also give him a winter-loving friend. After all, a gnome on his own in the winter could use someone to do some of the heavy lifting!

I found his friend in my new My Favorite Things "Beast Friends" stamp set, using the Yeti with the string of Christmas lights, and the trees included in the set. I liked the idea of the two of them hanging out and getting ready to decorate a Christmas tree in the front garden. 

I used silver embossing powder for the outline of the ornament which was the background, and the coordinating die to create the opening in the card front, which I popped up on a regular piece of craft foam, adhering it with Glossy Accents because I lost my bottle of Ranger Multi Medium Matte somewhere on the walk between the craft room and the table I was working on. It happens. :) 

All the colouring was done using Copic markers, with clear Wink of Stella highlighting a few areas in the snow and the face of the Yeti (he's frosty), and Glossy Accents on the lights and the windows of the gnome home. I also used a white Gelly Roll pen to dot the scene with some snow, and a silver metallic Gelly Roll pen for the silver stitching on the outside of the die cut opening.

The card base is made from 120 lb Neenah white cardstock, the scene is stamped and coloured on 80 lb Neenah white cardstock (my favourite to use for Copics), and the front is made from 130 lb Neenah Classic Crest, which I received as happy mail from my friend, Meghan, who I met from one of the first colouring challenges! I've been hanging on to this precious cardstock, and this seemed like an appropriate time to bust it out. 

So that's my card!

GIVEAWAY TIME! 12 GOODIE BAGS! That's TWELVE CHANCES TO WIN during the three-day hop. the more you comment on beach hopper's blog or Instagram, the more chances you have of winning. Winners will be chosen randomly FROM THE BLOGS and INSTAGRAM hop comments. The full list of winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 16th at 9:00 am at www.thedailymarker.com (contest closes November 13th at 11:00 EST). 

Now it’s time to hop to my friend Sarah's blog!

Thank you so much for your visit today, and I can't wait to see your posts during the colouring challenge. Be sure to use the hashtag #thedailymarker30day so we can find your work, or you can join the Facebook group here.

The full list of blog hop participants, in case you get lost:

Kathy Racoosin Barb Smith-Walker Sarah Jay Kim Kimmel Becker Jessica Frost-Ballas Lisa Tilson Kymona Tracey Dana Kersey Joy Barb Summers Engler Sonja Kerkhoffs Olga Pershina Sandy Boone Sarah Nottingham Marika Gewalli Monica Pineda Birka Reinitz Steph L Mayra Duran-Hernandez Jenny Lee Yamasaki Liz Sarkisyan Julia Altermann

An Update, New Stamps, and the Return of the Colouring Challenge!

Hello!  And welcome to what is becoming the quarterly blog update!  

I hope you are all well and enjoying the "fall" weather.  Here in Saskatchewan, we've already had a significant snowfall, and although it has melted now, it did stick around for a couple weeks.  We usually get at least one snowfall before Halloween, but this snow was starting to look like it wanted to stick around for the winter, and I was NOT ready for that!

Five days until Halloween, and most years I would be feverishly working away in the sewing room, stepping on pins and making Halloween costumes, but not this year.  I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I've been dealing with significant chronic back pain for a couple years now, and for about the past year I've not been able to sit at the sewing machine or craft table for very long at a time.  I still continue to work full time, and it's very difficult, and so there's not much of me left at the end of the day for my beloved crafty pursuits.  

HOWEVER, I am still able to dream and sketch and work on stamp designs, and the shop is slowly filling up!  I'm so blown away by all your kindness, support, and creativity, and I absolutely LOVE IT when someone tags me when they show off what they've done with a Three Room Studio stamp set.    

A *new* design will be available for purchase on Monday, October 31st.  (A hint: If you already own the "I Heart Books" stamp set, this one will coordinate well.)  

Some of the sentiments in this set are quite large, because in addition to cards, I designed this one to use for bookmarks, gift card holders, and to mark the inside of my books.  

In other news, it's nearly time again for The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge!  Are you ready?  November 1st is the kick-off, and rest assured once again Kathy will have lots of inspiration to share -- and prizes, too!  

That's all for tonight, folks.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Take care and speak to you soon!

New Stamps, Colouring Challenge, and a Giveaway!

Hello!  Whether you're a repeat visitor or arriving here from The Daily Marker for the giveaway, welcome to my little blog! 

I haven't given this site much love the past few months; I'm much more active on Instagram, so this is a bit like when you spontaneously invite friends over after a dinner out and you feel like you need to apologize for the state of the house.  There have already been quite a few visitors leaving comments, and just like the very closest of friends, no one has even mentioned the mess (like the fact that my last post was in February!). :)

Oh my goodness, I was so thrilled to wake up this morning and see Kathy Racoosin's video using my two stamp sets!  As usual, she completely blew my mind with what she did.  She used her coffee to watercolour paint?!  And the end result was so gorgeous, I can't stop looking at it!  And I also really want coffee!  :)

If you're looking for the stamp sets Kathy used, first of all, thank you so much!  I'm so happy people like them, and I have so many more designs to come.  I've been doing one set at a time so as not to bring financial ruin to the family, but I will certainly have more made if there is an interest.  ;)   

The "Moving Sentiments" set (which has the boxes, lamp, tape gun, etc.) is available now in my shop.  The "I Heart Books" set will be available there on August 3rd.

If you do follow me on Instagram, you may know that today is our 9th wedding anniversary, and I'm spending the day with my wonderful husband.  So, please consider this post a placeholder for a bit later.  I know you all understand. xo

Thank you so much for stopping by, and thank YOU, Kathy!  <3

Sandy