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  • Inspired by…

    Inspired by……

    Woodlands Fairy close up3424ac

    Good Morning! 

    A couple of weeks ago, my dear friend and fabulously talented paper crafting artist, Kittie Caracciolo honored me on her blog as an artist she is inspired by!  I was so thrilled and honored by her post!
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    Kittie is well known in crafting circles and on Splitcoast Stampers. She joined Splitcoast in 2004 and was inducted into the Dirty Dozen in 2007. We first became friends through the challenges on Splitcoast shortly after I joined in 2007 and I’ve always been inspired by her fabulous style and genuinely sweet personality. Kittie is a wonderful water colorist and ultra talented dimensional paper artist. She serves on the Impression Obsession design team and is a new member of the Splitcoast Featured Stamper Challenge hostesses. If you’ve never visited her blog, KittieKraft, pull up a chair and prepare to be amazed.

    Along with this honor, Kittie asked that I answer a few questions and share a couple other artists who inspire me.

    Here are the questions!

    1. What am I working on?

    Even when I’m not working on a release or a challenge (I love the challenges!), I’m always working things out in my head. Right now, I’m preparing for the Our Daily Bread designs release tomorrow and also a new release for DRS Designs. That means new Thanksgiving & Christmas images/dies! I also serve on the design teams for Serendipity Stamps, North Coast Creations and as one of the Hostesses for the Splitcoast Featured Stamper Challenge on Sundays.

    2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

    That’s a really tough question…I’m not sure it does. Friends tell me they recognize my cards before they even see the closeup but at the same time, they’re never sure what to expect… that’s it’s different every time. I love working with a lot of styles of images & I love to make my own backgrounds. My three biggies when designing are color, composition and construction. The main one being color. I adore color and especially contrasts. Most of the time I rely on my coloring skills to carry the card. And I love to try different techniques.

    Here are some of my favorites from over the years (click on any picture to make it larger or go to original post info):

     NCC Birthday Poppies 03726Blakes 8183   Anchor 04218 Beautiful Clover 01549 Hang On 9248
     Julie Warner -justwritedesigns - The Write StuffJulie Warner -https://thewritestuff.justwritedesigns.com Learning to Sail 9695
     Lighthouse 03873Watercolor Pottery 02020NCC Poppies 02605 Julie Warner -justwritedesigns - The Write Stuff LSC249 Peace 4024
     Crayon Bday 04010Get Well Teddy 02539 
     Summer Seascape comboAutumn Leaf Pears 6415Flowers on a Grid 3352a1 Delft Tile Card Deco Faces 8204Classic Red 7639Best Fishes 2929a1  Winter Eve 4161Bluebonnet Sky 9867Beautiful Geraniums 04234 FS290 Moonlit Lake 022
     Holiday Season 04088Aloha 2820a1 Cherry Blossom Umbrella  01137Hooked on You 01197Julie Warner -justwritedesigns - The Write Stuffic149-reindeer-1009aRed Checlle 03968fs84-zig-or-zag797aRuby Slippers 03030Party Candles dk 9009 Sweet Stamps Flower Frame 02911 DDIC13 Fall is in the Air 3533a2
    3. Why do I create what I do?

    I feel driven to create and since I’m just a bit impatient, I love the almost instant gratification of creating cards..my mini artworks. I started out in water color but that grew to include a lot of other mediums. As long as I’m able to color, the method or medium doesn’t really matter. Creating for me is fulfilling, frustrating (when it doesn’t work as planned), and always gives me a sense of accomplishment when the project is finished.

    4. How does your creative process work?

    Usually with something I see. It could be a magazine picture or one on the internet..or a card that has a technique that I want to try. A lot of times I look at an image I want to work with and an idea or finished design will appear in my head. Sometimes it works out just as I envisioned, but most of the time it morphs and evolves as I work on it. If I get stuck, I work on backgrounds. I find they usually get me going and sooner or later, I’ll pull one out and it will be perfect for what I need at that time. I never throw things out, lol. Even if I’m not crazy about it as a whole, parts or pieces of it will usually end up in another project.

    And now I get to nominate a couple of lovely ladies who are not only friends, but always so inspiring to me!

    Karen Dunbrook – Snippets

    photoI first met Karen when we were on the Innovative Stamp Creations design team in 2009 and our friendship continues through Splitcoast. Karen is always a favorite in the Splitcoast Challenges…her remarkable CAS (clean & simple) style is easily recognized. Karen currently does design work for Penny Black and is a regular in the SCS Challenges. From conversations/emails I know Karen has a super busy life as a caregiver for a group of little ones which doesn’t leave her a lot of extra time. If you haven’t, check out her blog Snippets and her SCS Gallery. You’ll be floored by her beautiful creations!

     

    Jenny Gropp – One Krafty Kat

    *-2

    Jenny & I first met around 2010 or 2011 (in real life, yay!). There are a group of us in the Atlanta area and we usually get together a couple of times during the year. Recently, we all went to the CHA Hobby Show in July. Jenny and I are on the Serendipity Stamps design team and we were also on the Outlines Rubber Stamps design team. Jenny is a super talented Copic colorist and super sweet lady. She also serves on the design teams for Impression Obsession, Perfect Paper Crafting and Impressive Ideas (a stamp store where she teaches classes and handles the purchasing). If you haven’t, check out her blog One Krafty Kat and you will be amazed at her creativity! 


    Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and you’ll be inspired to check out the blogs of Kittie, Karen & Jenny!

    Julie2 sig


  • ODBD August Release Blog Hop!

    Julie Warner - justwritedesigns - https://thewritestuff.justwritedesigns.com

    Welcome to the August release blog hop! If you arrived here from the ODBD Blog, you are in the right place! If not, you might want to start at the ODBD Blog where you will see the entire list with links just in case any are broken along the way!

    Julie Warner - justwritedesigns https://thewritestuff.justwritedesigns.com/

    For my project, I made a 6×6 card, which could also be put in a scrapbook or a frame.   These are my grandparents, Margaret and Elmo, circa 1935 when they were married. While I sat looking at all the wonderful new releases, I looked up and saw these pics of my grandparents and remembered how much my grandmother loved to sew and knit and crochet. She taught my mom to sew, who then taught me. Grandmother also taught me to knit. I remember Grandmother’s old black Singer w/ the knee pedal, and she never would trade it for a newer model.  My grandmother had an identical twin sister and I don’t think they lived more that a few miles apart all of their lives. They looked identical their entire lives and while it may have confused others, the family never had trouble telling them apart.  My grandfather survived a devastating hurricane when he was a little boy. Almost the entire city flooded and he was separated from his parents for 3 days. Thankfully, they were all reunited and they even found my Granddaddy’s pony! We used to love going to his Kiwanis club pancake suppers when we were little. Pancakes for supper! What could be better?

    I copied and reduced the pictures to fit. There were so many things I wanted to include, like a copy of the patterns of two of my grandmother’s dresses (w/ material swatches) she made for her trousseau. But there just wasn’t room and in the end, I kept to the same sepia tones of the photographs.  Since she loved crochet, the addition of the crochet border seemed the perfect choice. The date w/ the hand stitched border, was from the copy of her dress patterns and is their wedding date in her handwriting.  I included four buttons to represent their four children. Looking at these pictures, it’s funny how much my aunt & uncle (they are also twins) look like these pictures of their parents!

    I wasn’t sure whether or not to add the ending. But I’m one who always likes to know how a story ends. For my grandparents, it ended too soon. My grandfather lived until he was in his mid sixties and was coming home from a funeral when he was killed in a car accident. About five years later, my uncle Bud, their oldest son, was killed in a plane crash. My grandmother was a strong, deeply religious woman, but she was never the same after that. Really, none of us were. She lost her battle with cancer about five years after that and her twin sister followed a few years later. We have a lot of happy memories of all of them and I believe as long as the memory lives, the loved one never really leaves us. So the next time I see pancakes, I’ll think of my grandfather and smile. And when I knit or sew,  I’ll think of my grandmother.

    Thanks so much for stopping by!
    Julie2 sig

    Supplies:

    Stamps: ODBD Spool & Tape, Blessings Collection (Sewn w/ Love), Serve the Lord
    Paper: ivory, dp (Prima – Moulin Rouge collection), small amount of lace pattern dp (HOTP), vanilla vellum
    Ink: Archival sepia, Colorbox frost white pigment
    Accessories: ODBD spool & tape die, crochet border and circle dies, Spellbinders petite oval & circle dies,  Pixie sewing machine, piercing tool, white embossing powder, buttons, ribbons, Scor Buddy, copy machine, mini scallop scissors

     


  • Snowy Day in the Deep South

    The weather channel said the snow was coming, but lately, we believe it when we see it. Friday afternoon, it started snowing. A heavy, wet snow. It snowed all afternoon into the early evening. Most years we  get a little snow here in N. Georgia, but usually not this much. This picture was taken just before dark on Friday. This poor little cardinal looks a little bewildered.

    This is what it looked like this morning. Snow everywhere, but bright sunshine and a sky so blue it’d make you cry. I took this picture from my driveway, looking across the street at the other side of the cul de sac.

    Footprint in the snow. It was a little deeper than I thought it would be.

     

    This is view looking into my back yard. So pretty! I’m glad I took these early. Even though our temperature never made it above 34 degrees today, the brilliant sun melted a lot of it. And the wind picked up and blew the snow off of the tree branches.

    Thanks for stopping by! Keep warm, y’all!