Perfect Pearls With Gratitude

I really am digging these new Perfect Pearls. Here is another card I made using the new Pewter and the Impressabilities Flourish template. The background paper started out as a test, and originally I wasn't all that happy with it all by itself. I had another one that I liked better and saved it for this card, but when I used the one I originally liked, it lacked something that this background had - a darker edge that I brushed on after I misted the original sheet.



This time, I combined the Pewter background with cardstock from the Cha Cha and Amber Grace paper collections, along with ribbon from Amberly Grace and Eyelets from Cha Cha. Normally I wouldn't have thought about combining these two collections, as they are completely different in color and style, but in this case, the solids really went together with the red complimenting the charcoal perfectly.

The sentiment is from the Hostess Level C set Label Lingo lined with the R46 Copic marker.

Here's a close-up of the card:



The background on this really gives the illusion of texture, and has some nice shimmer. If you're in the Chicagoland area, come on out to the Tinley Park Expo tomorrow and/or Sunday and check it out in person.

NEW Perfect Pearls to Love!

I'm not sure how new these colors are, but they're new to me, and my love of Perfect Pearls has deepened! Good thing I have a friend that can feed my addiction at a discount! She surprised me last week with two new colors of Perfect Pearls. The first ones are "Aged Patina". Awesome colors! Heirloom Gold, Blue Patina, Pewter and Green Patina. I played with them late one night and immediately e-mailed my friend to say that the Pewter was absolutely gorgeous!

For this card, I used my pearls in several ways. First I ran the background through the Big Shot with my Flourish Impressabilities template. Then I rubbed the Perfect Medium (that comes with the Perfect Pearls) all over the card. I brushed on the Blue Patina and set with a mist of water. Talk about a perfect match for The Angel Company's Amberly Grace paper collection, which I also admit is my favorite of the bunch!

The stamp set I used is TAC's retired Wedding Wishes. The bride and groom are colored with Copic markers, but highlighted with the Blue Patina and Pewter (separately) mixed with water to form a thin paint. It gives a nice shimmer to the bodice of her dress and tiara, and to the lapels on his tux and band on his hat.



My friend got us some Perfect Pearls for our booth at the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo this weekend in Tinley Park. We should be able to offer them at a deal. So come on out and feed YOUR addiction!

September Stamp of the Month and Vintage Stamps

The September Stamp of the Month and Vintage Stamp Set have been released from TAC. Here are the flyers for each. If you're interested in purchasing one of these sets just contact me.


www.theangelcompany.net


www.theangelcompany.net

Make and Take for Tinley Park Expo

This coming weekend, at the Tinley Park Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo, we will be doing two make and takes. The first one is this great little web book meant to hold your username and password for all the websites you visit.





After just recovering from a computer virus, I felt the worry of my passwords possibly being compromised, but was reassured since I use different ones for every website I visit. (Yes, I was one of those that used to use the same password for everything, but in this age of identity theft and computer hackers, you can never be too careful, and I changed my ways.) I was really happy when someone showed me a little book similar to this so that I had a place to keep all the usernames and passwords to assist my memory.

This book is really easy to make using the Bind-It-All, acrylic covers, paper and tags. We're charging $3, and you'll get some hands-on experience with the Bind-It-All, which is a great tool for making all sorts of personalized books. We'll also have product on hand that you can purchase to make your own little web-books as gifts.

LOVE these Perfect Pearls!

I've always been a fan of Perfect Pearls. A few years ago, I took a class with Julia Andrus and learned all sorts of neat things you can do with them. I've been hooked ever since.

For the past few Expos, I've been demonstrating Perfect Pearls, and people say "I've had those in my drawer and have no idea how to use them". What??? That's so tragic! Perfect Pearls, mica powders that have built in binders and resins (not to be confused with Pearl Ex which are also mica powders but DON'T have the binders)are super versatile, and leave such a nice shimmer on cards. One of my favorite things to do with them is put a little scoop of Perfect Pearls in a Ranger Mini Mister, add a few drops of re-inker (usually used to re-ink my ink pads) and a bit of water. Then I spray the concoction on my paper, sometimes blocking out a portion of the card with a Tim Holtz Mini Mask like you saw in my "Father's Day Inkspiration" post a few months ago.

This time, I played with a Spellbinders Impressabilities template (the Flourish) that I picked up at the St. Charles Scrapbook show. I ran the paper and Flourish template through my Big Shot. Then I left the template on the paper, and sprayed my Perfect Pearls mixture over it. The lighter background on this card is the sprayed template. The bottom is from a pack of K & Company paper. My sentiment came from Stamping Sensations and the silver butterflies are from some punches I picked up when visiting my friend Rita in Ohio.



Next weekend, September 12th and 13th I will be demoing Perfect Pearls (among other things) at the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Tinley Park. If you're in the area, come on out to the Tinley Park Expo Center on 183rd Street, just East of Harlem. You can shop, see my demo and create various make and take projects. Our make and take on Saturday will be web books, so you can remember your username and password on all the websites you visit, and Sunday we will be decorating candy tins. Look for previews of both the make and takes and cards using Perfect Pearls here during the week.

More Sympathy

In follow-up to my last post, this is the other card desgin I worked on. It also uses the S.e.i. "Chocolate" collection, my Spellbinders Nestabilities and the Cuttlebug Butterfly die cut and matching embossing template. The sentiment is another one from With Sympathy and the swirl behind it is from Curls and Swirls.

Inspiration Avenue!

Tha Angel Company's new fall magalogue, Inspiration Avenue has arrived. This publication is full of 42 new stamp sets for all seasons, but with a focus on Halloween, Fall and Christmas. In addition to the new sets, some Christmas favorites that didn't make it into the base book have returned as well. And, like the Serendipity, there are useful tips and easy to do projects with directions throughout the magazine.



What are my favorites? I know I say it every time, but there are so many. I love the Apple Girls, all the sets of Halloween and Christmas Boys and Girls, the sayings for the insides of cards, but my very favorite, is the Vintage Santa on Page 43. I've had my order ready to go since I saw the preview a few weeks ago. The book finally goes live today and I can send my order in. Yay!

Inspiration Avenue is $3. We'll have a slew of them at the Tinley Park Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo, or you can contact me for a copy.