Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Stamping with Susan

Oh, to have time with Susan -- I arrived at 10:15, and when we looked at the clock, it was 4 pm. I mean, really! We need DAYS together. I barely _touched_ what I hoped I would do, but it was soooooooo much fun playing with this lady!

First off, she is kind, gentle and generous. She bought me a book of art stamping by Suze Weinberg -- Totally cool! Susan and I share a passion for trying out new techniques and experimenting... and I was floored to receive such a lovely book. Susan is working on a grand scale as she has created an amazing haven in her stamping room... the recent organizational move that she accomplished makes color a focal point, and the paper and inks take center stage. I had so much fun playing with older sets that I hadn't seen before, and some of the just released non-SU sets that I have seen on other blogs.

I am totally impressed with the Lizzie Anne Designs sets that I got to play with -- Jolies Fleurs stamped in a burnt sienna pallete hybrid ink looked so much like henna (and you might notice that I like that look ;^)* I am really going to have to find a way to get some of those stamps and some of that yummy ink!

I was less impressed with the acrylic stamps that I got to play with -- and I won't dis the company whose stamps I was using, because I don't think it was their fault -- I just didn't like the way the images looked when I stamped them... didn't feel as crisp. But... I want to experiment with different paper and different inks before I decide for sure. Any of you addicted to acrylics and want to talk to me about getting great, crisp images? I have a few sets from CTMH and I have yet to ink them up (well, one quickie image because I was so curious barely counts ). I LOVE the way you can see through them to line things up without a stamp-a-ma-jig, but the image is everything in the end (at least it is for me) so I am still "out to lunch" on acrylics.

And speaking of lunch! Susan is an amazing cook -- who knows her ingredients and prepares food with love. Simple things become special. I _had_ to bring something to contribute because she just showers me with so much when I visit (I cannot tell you how grateful I am in her support of my SU business... and of ME -- she is so kind...) so I brought some of the caramelized onion and mushroom pastries that my DH whipped up as part of our little soirée last night. She served them with ripened cheese and this amazing plate with the most incredible tomatoes... sigh. I _still_ feel nourished over 12 hours later.

No photos. Sorry -- just didn't finish even ONE card! I did make a lot of "elements" -- anyone else do that? Make part of a card or embellishment and then put things together at a later time... I just didn't want to stop trying out different images... and I got to playing with bling and color and punches...

So thank you, Susan, for a LOVELY day. I hope we can do it again soon... I would love to come with a project to complete and not be so "all over the boards" -- but then again, that is part of the joy, isn't it? Mouah! (that's a big kiss, because I love you!)