And the Winner IS. . .

Well, there weren't very many posts, so that meant you at least had more of a chance to win. I literally threw numbers into a bowl, shook it numerous times, and drew the number 3. The third post was from Michi in California. Congratulations, Michi. I will get your shiny new Technique Junkie CD in the mail to you.

Cathy Y

Ooh Ooh - How about a free Technique Junkie CD?

OK, kids, the brand new 2010 Edition CD8 containing a whopping 100 Technique Junkie techniques is now available. The CD contains ALL the techniques for 12 months, plus 10 bonus techniques that can only be found on the CD. The CDs are fantastic; all the techniques are set up to print out on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and show each step with a photo of that step. In addition, there is a ton of completed artwork for each technique. AND - this year's CD comes in lovely shades of blue with green and white lettering. (Good to know if you're a "blue" fan like me!)

I have one 2010 CD available for a Give-Away! Leave a response on this post for your chance to win it. One week from today, I will do a random drawing. Be sure to leave your e-mail address so I can contact you for your snail-mail address.

In case you aren't fortunate enough to win the freebie, never fear. The CDs are now available to order, and you can also subscribe to the Technique Junkie Newsletter. It comes every other month and contains 10 to 16 techniques, plus access to the on-line printable step-by-step version with photos and lots of additional finished samples.

Go here for a printable sample with artwork so you can see what the CD contains. The CD is $19.95 for non-subscribers or $14.95 for subscribers.

If you'd like to subscribe to the newsletter, a one-year subscription is $16.95, or $29.95 with the new CD. These prices are for US only, and are valid through 12-1-10. To subscribe, send an e-mail to Pat Huntoon at phuntoon@optonline.net

Good luck! Post away & we'll see who wins next week!


Cathy Y

Steampunk Bandwagon

And now. . . for something completely different! I've been doing digital stuff for a couple of years using Paint Shop Pro - always the current version available. It is a fantastic, powerful program.

One of my favorite digital scrapbook stores is Scrapbookgraphics Studio Girls, and one of my very favorite designers is Tangie Baxter. She just came out with the most fantastic, bizarre, wonderful, shades of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" kit called Steampunk Bandwagon. You can buy individual parts of the kit, but what the heck, just get the entire Mega Bundle. It's a huge savings if you buy the bundle, anyway.

I was so excited that immediately after downloading the kit, I plopped right down in front of my laptop and designed the following layout. This one took me about 5 hours to choose elements, reduce, enlarge, crop, enhance and shade. I'm actually using this for my live, local card swap group for this month's theme of things that fly. It's a stamp club, but hopefully they won't shoot me for sharing a digital creation.

This was so much fun! You can click on the picture to see a much larger version. Notice that Mona Lisa is holding a souvenier sized Statue of Liberty, minus the shades and bling I adorned her with in the larger version.

This kit just has so many possibilites. I know I'll be playing with this one for a long time!

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Cathy Y

Technique Junkie - Technique By Design Challenge - June Edition

Happy June, TJ fans! Time for another Technique By Design Challenge with a chance to win a great prize. Did you love the artwork by Judy and Vada? Oh, if you didn't see it, start here first:

Design Junkies Blog

Then come back here and find out where to go next! When you make your last stop (at Pat's blog, The Technique Trail), you will find directions on posting a link to your entry.

Here is the sketch for this month.

And here is my interpretation of the sketch. I used the "Double Duty Melted Wax" techniqe from the June 2010 issue of Technique Junkie Newsletter, and "Sanded Core'dinations" from the April/May 2010 issue. The sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo and the dotted swirls are from Limited Edition. I'm sorry I don't know the maker of the birdcage & bird stamps. I received those images in an image swap.

The next stop on your Blog Hop journey is Jane's blog. Jane always has some fabulous eye candy for your viewing pleasure!

So, go hop around and see great art using techniques from the new issue combined with some from past issues. The submit your creation - show us your stuff!

Happy hopping.

Cathy Y

Sunflowers and Dragonflies Challenge #38

Hello out there. Well, I forgot to post my Sunflowers and Dragonflies challenge this morning - so sorry about that!

The challenge this week is to make a card with "No Layers". You can see my example below. It is actually two layers, as I mounted the white piece with all the images onto a navy base card. But all the images were added to a single layer of white card stock by masking and stamping. Makes you look twice, doesn't it! The face is the S & D Cheyenne, and the background stamp is the S&D Cheyenne Flourish. By the way, if you have trouble finding ethnic stamps, take a look at the whole "Ladies" series of stamps. They are fantastic and look good with any ethnic coloring you choose.

You can go to the Sunflowers and Dragonflies Blog to see the other lovely entries by Design Team Members.

Have a sunny week!

Cathy Y

Sunflowers and Dragonflies Challenge #37

Today, Sunflowers and Dragonflies has a great sketch challenge for you, as you can see below. Here is my interpretation of the sketch. I chose to use a piece of ribbon trimmed to a diamond shape. The stamp is a center from the JustRite Favorite Occasions Borders and Centers set. Cuttlebug folders were used on the background and on the rose red strip.

Now you can hop on over to the Sunflowers and Dragonflies blog to see all the creations the Design Team came up with for you today!

Cathy Y

Sunflowers and Dragonflies Challenge #36

Good morning, fellow stampers! Today's challenge is to use the colors blue, orange, and yellow. As soon as I got the assignment, I knew just what I wanted to do. I used the Sunflowers and Dragonflies New York Door stamp. The stamped image is colored with Copic markers and is cut out and popped up on a piece of paper from the Basic Grey Sultry collection. I colored a shadow on the yellow Basic Grey paper with a W3 Copic marker. I also colored the cut edge all the way around the cut out image with a black Copic marker. The yellow is mounted on navy blue cardstock (which looks black in the picture), and then on tan cardstock. The lock & key are held in place with a black square brad.
Be sure to pop over to the Sunflowers and Dragonflies Blog to see all the creations by the Design Team.

Have a wonderful Easter!

Cathy Y