Last night, I started watching "Homeland" from the very beginning. I had to color something during some of the tense scenes that I couldn't just sit and watch. I quickly stamped this floral bouquet from Magenta and colored it with watercolor markers. Today, I figured out how I wanted to finish the card design. Magenta: Beautiful Bouquet 14.598.N May Life Always Allow You to Fly High 14.598.N Peel-off's in black (0751) Spellbinders' "Fleur de Elegance" Nestabilities S4-475 Mem

I hope all of you enjoyed the Fourth of July Celebration with your family and friends. We were fairly low-key since we'd hosted a birthday dinner party of 15 for my husband the night before. The view from our deck took in many, many fireworks displays all over the skies, nearby and afar. It was awesome! My stepson's birthday is today; he celebrates his 44th birthday. The number "44" is a favorite number in the family. His sister's first boyfriend was on the football team and

The weather has been absolutely scorching. Yesterday it was in the 90's and today it hit 90 again! I am ever so thankful that we have air conditioning in our home. This will be a very short post because this heat has just worn me out, and I've had quite a day. You're probably very tired of hearing me rave about the Pen and Ink stamps by Josephine Kimberling. But I'm not tired of using the stamps, over and over and over again. I needed to make a birthday card very quickly; of

I'm loving the five new colors in the Nuance watercolor powders from Magenta. I've posted a card previously using the new colors, and I've made another card using only the new colors and one of the new Magenta stamp designs. My cousin, who is like a sister to me, celebrated her birthday the other day; unfortunately, she was quite under the weather and is just coming back to life. I hope this will brighten her day. Stamped with VersaMark and embossed with gold embossing powder

It's been a busy two days. I hosted a home jewelry dinner party last night. I reluctantly signed up for this duty at a friend's party last fall; it was a weak emotional moment I'm sure. And then I was going to prepare a birthday lunch for my sister-in-law today but the number attending kept growing, so we met at a restaurant instead. All I had to do was bring the cake . . . Costco cheesecake with huge fresh blackberries. Ta dah! We leave for Las Vegas at o'dark thirty Saturda

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the women I know, even some "mom" dads. You're a mother, even if you haven't given birth to or adopted a child. It's the family, friends and paw'd loved ones that you nurture each and every day. I made this card for my granddaughter. She is enjoying her second year of motherhood and she's one of the most loving mommies I'm proud to say. To top off my joy, her little one is the spitting image and character that she was at two. Inked with Distress Ink

In my reorganizing, I came across this stamp set from Impression Obsession. I had never used it yet because I needed to brush up on using a stamp positioner (the old-fashion ones). Along comes the MISTI stamp positioner and I want to immediately work with it. On white card stock, stamped each peony stamp in the set with Distress Inks. After it was dry, I made a watercolor palette with 3 of the green Distress inks. With a small watercolor brush, I colored around the peony. The

It's a Magenta kind of day. After Dianne Johnson's Nuance class yesterday at Art 'n Soul, I couldn't resist purchasing Magenta stamps from their latest summer 2016 release. Mixing it up, I made this card as a result of looking at the "Freshly Made Sketches 232" challenge. On linen cardstock, lightly applied Bright Yellow & Turquoise Nuance watercolors. Once dry, stamped flower image over it with VersaFine. Colored with Copic alcohol markers. Fussy cut image and applied to a s

Another quickie card in the works today. Just found out some wonderful news from a family I know out-of-state and I wanted to send a note off immediately. What quicker way is there than to pull out my Nuance watercolors, embossing powder and die cutting machine! Inked with VersaMark; embossed with white embossing powder onto watercolor card stock. Misted with water and shook Nuance in several places. With a wet watercolor brush, moved the colors around. Blotted with a paper t

I was prepared to post from Anaheim and discovered, to my chagrin, that I was unable to use my iPad for editing purposes. Something new to research and learn. The Scrapbook Show in Anaheim, CA was a busy time for Local King Rubber Stamps where I worked. It was such fun to watch people, who had no idea about stamping, discover the "magic" of Lisa's stamp designs and coloring techniques. We flew back to Seattle yesterday afternoon. Naturally, I had to run to my stash of Local K

Wow! March is a blink in the rearview mirror and it's already April. This month is so busy I don't think it will vanish with a complete blink. Yikes! And 15 years has gone by in less than 2 full blinks! Today is our sweet Hannah's 15th birthday. This little Bichon Frise has been the petite princess in our household since she flew to Seattle from Oklahoma 15 years ago. Everything revolves around those 4 paws of hers. We've enjoyed every single moment. Both of us think that she

UPDATED COMMENT: This post was to have posted early Saturday morning and it didn't. So here it is. The day didn't go quite as planned. I lost track of time after lunch and squeezed in too many errands before returning to Puyallup. That meant I had to cancel, AGAIN, my Italian tutoring lesson. Dang! Before dinner, I sorted through my stash of embossing folders; I hope I found them all! Inevitably, I came across a few duplicates. Then the Gonzaga U v. Syracuse basketball tourn

Yesterday was another day of not a lot of time in the studio for anything. So, I spent a good deal of time last night into the wee hours continuing to undo what is visible in the main area of the house from my organization and purging project. My dear husband is getting somewhat anxious because we have a St. Paddy's dinner party for 12 on Thursday. In between clearing away, I had to do something in the studio. I had come across these mixed media boards we had worked on at a M

It's only a short day because daylight savings time begins at 2 a.m. tomorrow morning, meaning we "spring" forward and lose one hour in our 24-hour day. The good news is that means the real days of spring, summer and hours of daylight are around the corner. Yay! It's been a full day. It started with an Awards Breakfast for a family-owned business that we know quite well. It may be family-owned and spread throughout western Washington, but it's certainly not a small company as

Another slow day. My back is better but has little twinges now and then, especially if I lean over to pick something up. What to do? Clean out some paper piles (i.e., receipts, statements, etc.) and find a little play time in the studio. In the same British magazine that I discovered how to make yesterday's card with washi tape, I also came upon a technique to use powdered watercolors with clear plastic wrap. Coincidentally, Dianne Johnson also used a similar technique in the

I was moving several of the boxes to the garage for temporary storage while I sort through them. Luckily, the cleaning lady helped me. We had a common mission . . . free up the floor space in the living room and hallway so she could clean the floor! As we finished up, my back gave out. So, my progress was stifled while I iced and laid on the sofa with sweet Hannah. There was an article in a British stamping magazine that really caught my eye. Washi tape was partially applied

For another Irish friend, I've made this card. I hope it's "green" enough that the lack of a shamrock or a leprechaun doesn't make them turn green! I used various green tones and shades from my Copic marker set. I've been so immersed in cleaning out, organizing and purging my art supplies that my body is starting to scream at me. Thus, the quick and simple card. Magenta Stamp: Bohemian Flower 85.008.O Rosie's Roadshow Stamp (sentiment) Copic Markers: YG06; G14; G43; YG17; G

While undertaking the major cleaning of my studio, I came across a catalog from Gump's; it's a fabulous store in downtown San Francisco that brings the terms yummy and luscious to the home decor conversation. Several items were decorated in such rich color combinations. I was inspired. A friend of mine is about two-thirds of the way through a major medical ordeal with her husband; he's been a fighter and so has she. I've wanted to send a card to recognize her brave and tirele

It's the first day of March. Based on the stormy weather, probably one of the worst of this winter, this might prove to be quite a month. Instead of being tucked away in my studio, I was out in it. At one point, I was drenched to the skin from the sudden downpour that immediately followed the loudest clap of thunder I heard inside the noisy restaurant. Not surprisingly, Hannah was sound asleep inside the the car, snuggled in her pet bed. Returning home, I just had to do somet

At the suggestion of a friend, I ordered Caran d'Ache Luminance colored pencils; they're made in Switzerland. I only ordered a set of 20 because they're a little spendy. They're a permanent pencil with a smooth lead and exceptional lightfastness, according to their literature. I had purchased 11 of them earleir but I think I left them in LaQuinta; of course, the resort cannot find anything left behind in our room. I'm so glad I re-ordered because I like the smoothness. The co