Brenda Pinnick -news, ideas, events and more...

Quilt Market!

It's always so exciting to be leaving for a trade show and quilt market is certainly one of my absolutely favorites! The reason? COLOR. everywhere...Color! Beautiful, exciting , amazing color, put together by fabric/quilting artists from all over the world! 

I believe there is no group of people on this earth who are better colorists than quilters. They get it. The subtlety of gradations, the intensity of saturations, the varience of hues... makes this girl's heart swoon!

I'm so excited to  say that I have two new collections debuting this Quilt Market!! The first is of course, fabric! For those of you who have purchased my latest scrapbooking lines on HSN, the new fabric collection is the basis for it. 

And, TO TOP IT OFF... SIZZIX is releasing two new dies for quilting, featuring designs pulled from my fabric plus one more - my fun little sock monkey. I can't wait to see what Linda ( from Sizzix ) has created using this die! I'm finishing up a couple of sample projects for the SchoolHouse I'm teaching on Thursday and I'll have a give-away prize plus a free pattern for all attendeees. 

I hope to see your there!

Whooo doesn't love owls?

We live in Georgia which means we are on the migratory path of many bird species. Can this explain the scene from our afternoon walk in our favorite field across the road? You tell me…

 

This guy was embellished with my  Sizzix Beauty Bloom die made into layered flowers then stitched and gathered to create dimension.

When I designed this die, I wanted to give people a very, very versatile flower so I included a single petal, two smaller flower centers and the base piece which is three petals. You can use this die with paper/cardstock or with fabric.

Tip: when cutting fabric with your Sizzix BigShot or other machine, layer the fabric in between two pieces of copier paper for a really clean cut. I found that I can cut four layers of cotton fabric this way. For the flowers I used here, I used my Couleur Vie fabric collection by Henry Glass. The beaks were made from felt by National Non-wovens.

materials:

Flower, Beauty Bloom, Originals Die #655455 by Brenda Pinnick

Felt – National Non-Wovens

Fabric – Couluer Vie by Brenda Pinnick for Henry Glass & Co.

(Henry Glass and Company website here)

 

Day 6 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Welcome to day 6 of my 7 day card crafting / giveaway week!

Thank you for all the thoughtful comments, it's so interesting the different points of view on the floor color choices. Each suggestion could totally work in that space - I've decided on a clean, clear apple green for my floor. Green is energetic while grounding. It also invokes creative thinking and is easy to look at for long periods of time, (think of a beautiful, rolling pasture or forest). Green is considered a neutral and it is wonderful as a stand alone hue to combined with a variety of other hues...perfect for my studio! 

WINNERS -Friday's winner is Cori and yesterday's winner is Kimberlee, as chosen by random number generator. Congrats, Kimberlee and Cori, please send me an email with your mailing address! brenda@brendapinnick.com

Today's prize- Day 6 Red Ink & Aquarelles Set, Red PITT artist Pen Set, Red/Yellow Gelatos, AND, from me, you will win a set of fabric fat quarters ( 4 ) from my last collection, Couleur Vie. Even if you don't sew, these fat quarters are great for all types of crafting including scrapbooking, card crafting and more.

Tomorrow is the grand prize and it's pretty darn wonderful!!! ****** In order to be eligible to win, you must have commented on every single day, on both blogs -here and on http://designmemorycraft.typepad.com/ 

so if you haven't already done so, go leave your comments on each day's post and you might be the LUCKY WINNER!

Today's card-

Once again, I used my Piccadilly Circus stamps and Faber Castell BigBrush Markers to create this purse card.The circle is made from a piece of diecut chipboard and metallic paper, cut from my new dies for jewelry making, found here, on the Sizzix website or in various retail outlets. If you would like this pattern, just join my mailing list today and it's yours for free! I'll email it to you personally.

Thank you for your continued visits and I so look forward to the big day tomorrow!! See you then!

Thank you Cori for pointing out that I left out my daily question! (never post before morning coffee)

Today's question- Do you feel you understand color theory and all it's complexities? If no is your answer, would you be interested in taking an on-line class to learn more about color? 

Day 4 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Welcome to day 4 of my 7 day give-away! In case you're just joining in, Faber-Castell and I have teamed up to showcase their wonderful mixed media products for crafters, it's called Design Memory Craft and they've built the program around color - which is what I'm all about! I'm creating one card a day using both their product and products of my own- Sizzix Dies and Embossing Folders, my new stamp line and some fabric from my last collection with Henry Glass and Co., called Couleur Vie. The line is about sold out, making way for my new collection to debut soon. It's pre-selling right now at the International Quilt Market and should be in stores by late June or early July. I CANNOT WAIT to show it! And yes, it is COLORFUL!

Each day, we are giving away a prize to one lucky winner who leaves a comment of BOTH blogs and who answers the question I pose. 

Yesterday's winner is - Molly Smith! Molly, congratulations and thank you for joining in! Please send me an email with your address. Molly won a set of two Embossing Folders from my Sizzix collections, seen here.(type my name in the search to see all of my current offerings).

Here is today's card

 Sometimes it's nice to make a fun, simple, easy card, especially when pressed for time, which, who isn't?

Sizzix die-see below

Here's what I used:

My Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Card, A2 w/Flap 

Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders 2PK - Garden Flowers Set

Sizzix Bigz L Die - Borders, Fringe & Frolic (Flowers, 3-D)

For the papers, I used a soft, metallic gold wrapping paper. For the fushia, I used silk, cut from a Goodwill find then backed with medium wt. interfacing. I cut three layers total and highlighted the ends of the fushia silk with the gold Gelato. I also used it to highlight the embossed flowers. Finally, I used a Pitt Pen to darken the insides of the flower so they would stand out.

And now, for tomorrows prizes-  This little set of dies. These are small little layering flowers which can be used for just about anything, including jewelry. Go take a look at the adoarable bracelet Beth Reames made using these dies! Wow! And, from Faber Castell, an awesome prize which includes:Neutral Palette Ink & Aquarelles Set, Neutral Brush Pen Set, Black & White Gelatos

Here is today's question- When making purchases, how important is color in your buying decision? Do you feel you're influenced by color to make a purchase?  A lot, somewhat, hardly or never ?  If you can give an example, I'd love to hear it! 

Remember, you must leave your comment of BOTH blogs, here and on the Design Memory Craft blog.

Day 3 card and giveaway with Faber Castell Design Memory Craft!

Welcome to day 3 of my card crafting series and give-away! 

Yesterday's winner is...conniemelancon! Congrats, Connie! You've won your choice of two prints from my Etsy store! You'll need to send me your addy - brenda@brendapinnick.com then I'll get them sent to you.

OK, let's show the card already...

We talked about color combinations earlier and here's one I'm all over lately. This combo is relaxing with the turquoise but refreshing with the greens. A small bit of yellow adds some happy, which we all love!

For this card, I used my Sizzix products, available on HSN.com or from various craft supply stores across the country or the web. The base is cut from my Decorative Edge Stationery Die, using Strathmore's Bristol board, one of my Favorite surfaces to work on. The embossing was then done using one of my Sizzix Embossing Folders, the Birds and Flowers set, also on HSN.com, a terrific value kit including 10 folders!

For the coloration, I used Faber Castell's Big Brush Markers and watercolor pencils. I love the mix of strong saturated hues with softer tints of the same hue. The pencils are great for subtle blending - I used a little bit of water to create soft transitions in the coloring. Even though the markers are India ink, while they are still wet, you can use water to dissolve them and move them around, using a small paintbrush.

Okay, now for day 3 prizes: From Faber Castell, Yellow, Green & Blue sets of Art GRIP color pencils and from yours truly, one of my embossing folder two-packs, available on Sizzix.com

And finally, today's question, inspired by Carla's comment about her husband- Do you and your husband or significant other or best friend tend to like the same general family of hues? 

Leave your comments here and on Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Blog to be eligible to win!

Oh, and please tell your friends about my 7 day giveaway! 

Some fun, new products I have with Sizzix

I know so many crafters are now entrenced in the delicious art of jewelry design and guess what? ME, TOO!

Isn't it the most addicting thing? Start by checking out the fun projects the Sizzix Designers made using my new dies for jewelry making, (and beyond). Here is a gorgeous bracelet made by Designer Beth Reames - a MUST SEE!I know you are always on the lookout for something new, right? Well I (and Sizzix ) have it! My small jewelry dies recently launched and are in store now! I designed these to be organic in shape, therefore offering all kinds of fun possiblilites. They can go uptown, downtown or midtown - whatever your personal style is.

I had a lot of fun designing these little gems! I also used my Sizzix embossing folders to create patterning as well as my new stamps and some of my previous fabric line by Henry Glass. ( the paper staging is from my very first offerings on QVC, a few years ago - but, it's still one of my favorites! ) The shiny effect is made by using a metallic paper. I rubbed Faber Castell gelatos over some of these, wetting them a bit and then adding a slightly lighter hue so the embossing would stand out. 

Here's a close-up of one of the neckpieces, ready to go on a nice chain with some beads.

 

Here is one of my favorite quotes by Mark Twain. I read this every morning to remind myself of the possiblilites available for each of us. I believe in putting yourself out there, taking risks like rejection or losing money or embarrassing myself. I believe that every single one of us has diamonds in our possession, all we have to do is mine them. Sharing what you have is your duty to the world and to yourself... 

Sneaky Peek

I'm reformating my portfolio today and decided to go share a bit of some of my recent work.

This is from my Canterbury Park collection. What you're seeing here is the handpainted version of the flowers. I'm kind of a messy painter so it always gets cleaned up in the computer before sending files off. Sometimes I just go ahead and trace the elements after placing the file in Illustrator so that it's easy to format for various products. If you bought myDecorated Life stamp collection on HSNlast Monday, you'll recognize the birdcages. I also licesned them for Sizzix E-Clips electronic cuting machine. I bought some vinyl and plan to cut them out to put on my walls. I just don't seem to ever get tired of birds... I've always loved them! 

Hubby was out watering the lawn yesterday when he spotted a yellow finch sitting on top of the birdfeeder. He said it looked full sized but I suspect it was still a baby. It seems he was pretty close to it and it didn't seem at all scared. He gradually inched his way up and placed his finger under it. The little guy just stepped right up and perched himself on his finger where he stayed for several minutes! I wish I would have seen that- how sweet!

BTW- I'm now back with Two Town Studios after taking a little break for a year. I'm looking forward to working with them again, such nice people. For licensing opportunities, please contact Jim or Ronnie for porfolio viewing or requests. Thanks!

 

Stamping on Fabric

Well, I'm back home from HSN and the show went really well! The people there are truly amazing! It was such a pleasurable experience and I loved being hosted by Shivan- what a doll! I had the opportunity to show my Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders along with my Bigz XL Decorative Edge Card die. While I wasn't able to actually demo the embossing folders going through the Sizzix Big Shot machine, it is so very simple! 

And of course, I showed my new stamp collections!  , including this one, and this one. For those of you who are new to stamping with clear stamps, the first thing you'll want to do upon opening your package is to use an eraser over the surface. Somehow, this "primes" them for use. 

On air, I mentioned that I had designed these stamps to be slightly larger than many of the stamps currently on the market. My vision for the Piccadilly designs included home decor and even sewing projects. Here is a tote bag I created using several different dies from the collection, along with some of my Sizzix embossing folders.

Here's how I used them- place the embossing folder underneath the fabric then lightly add the color on top, using the  Faber-Castell Gelatos. It's really fast and gives a nice, distressed look to the project. I used regular pigment ink for the stamped part of the images. I love the patchwork feel of this bag, don't you? I've been really into yellow and orange/reds lately. Must be the optimistic nature of yellow and energy of red/orange. I've needed both lately and it's funny how we crave colors to help us along! 

If you tuned in on Monday, THANK YOU from the bottom of my  heart! It's so nice to hear from people who have bought my products so please don't be shy about leaving a comment- I'd love to hear from you.

 

Tomorrow, some close-ups of the projects shown on air... 

Brenda

A little help from my friends....

It's not often I ask for help. Almost never. BUT, I really, really needed some help these past couple of weeks and put out a call to some friends here in the States who work in the crafting industry. Carol Heppner ( Queen of Creativity )and Lisa Rojas ( The Stamping Queen ) were so kind and generous, I want to thank them publicly for their HUGE contribution to my HSN show, airing on Monday, 9/26/11. I also want to thank the Faber-Castell Design Team for their help! They created projects showcasing my stamp line and Faber-Castell gelatos, big brush pens and more from the new Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft line. 

I asked Carol to share a bit about herself here on my blog as well as a couple of pictures. First, look at the card she created using my stamps!

This card is a mini work of art! Thank you Carol! 

Here's Carol's information if you would like to hire her for project design. She's the consummate professional! Read all about her below-

Learn more about  Carol-

As a mixed-media artist, writer, and design member of the Craft & Hobby Association, I work with various craft manufacturers and national craft publishers, providing them quality design services to assist in growing their business and inspire consumers. 

Through my books, published articles, and Internet articles, I show crafters how to create fun projects in many different mediums.   I love working in paper arts, but I am also passionate about batiks, wearable art, and digital photography.   

I am a bit of a chameleon in my style – or I should say, styles.  I am equally comfortable working in a grunge or aged look as I am with ultra feminine, frilly style and every style in between.  Many times, my style is inspired by the company for which I am working or the needs of the project.  It can be altered by the audience who will view it as well.  This is a plus when working with many different manufacturers, publishers and editors.  If there is one signature that you can pin to my style, it would have to be an asymmetric look.  I find asymmetric composition to be more interesting.  

I really enjoyed creating greeting cards with Brenda’s new Sizzix® Textured Impressions, XL BIGZ stationery die with a decorative edge and her new line of rubber stamps.  They made creating the cards so much fun and allowed me to be a chameleon -- because they worked with every style I tried.  Her rubber stamps worked beautifully and the images came out so crisp.  Each set can produce as many different looks as you can imagine.

 If you like the look of the cards I created, you may enjoy my new inking tutorial that can be found on my blog,http://heppnerstudio.blogspot.com.   Carol’s Chronicles is a new publication that deals with paper art tutorials.

*******Tune into HSN on Monday, Sept. 26 for a full day of incredible crafting values. See Brenda in the 12 noon hour, eastern time, showing and selling her Sizzix Textured Impressions and her own stamp line.