Announcing the January 2017 Vera Lane Studio Design Team

With an overwhelming number of applicants for our first Vera Lane Studio Design Team  we are confident this talented group of ladies will inspire you with their weekly makes.  We will be adding guest designers so others will also have an opportunity to showcase their talents using our whimsical and quirky digi stamps. 

We are a friends community first.  Our closed FaceBook group allows a safe haven for sharing and new friendships.  Vera Lane is a place to play, a place to get away from daily worries and escape into creativity and inspiration. 

A special shout out to our Design Team Coordinator Nikki Woodward for her dedication and hard work behind the scenes as well as being and super talented designer!

Meet the Design Team!

Nikki Woodward; Design Team Coordinator

Our VLS Design Team Coordinator has been behind the scenes at Vera Lane for quite some time!  Nikki has coordinated for other stamping site challenges but has found her happy place here on Vera Lane (and we are excited to have her park here)!  Nikki has been an admin for VLS as well as our crafty cheerleader! She hails from Canada with roots in the UK.

Nikki, is mom to three (handsome) superheroes, a wife and a passionate experimenter of all things arty and crafty. She describes her style as eclectic, having a love for whimsical, quirky and the unusual. Nikki loves mixed media, colour, using different techniques and tools. Her favorite thing to make and trade are artist trading cards, but also make cards and art journal. Nikki tries to approach everything with a positive attitude and a lot of humour, its got to be fun - right?  

Stephanie Eaton

Stephanie is our "Grunge Designer in Residence" here at Vera Lane Studio. Her painterly style and grunge techniques offer a unique look with our VLS characters.  Stephanie is currently working as the education coordinator at her local JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store in Jackson TN. She was also a Head Start teacher for 9 years. Stephanie has a passion for teaching and sharing all things art and crafts. 

Stephanie is a 42 yr old mother of two creative adults and touts that her creativity grounds her and keeps her sane!  Look for Stephanie's creations on Instagram.

Teresa Morgan

Perhaps you know Teresa from her 100 days of Vera Lane Studio ATCs!  What an accomplishment as she inspired many with her endless creativity!

Teresa lives in Staffordshire, England with her partner, daughter, her partner and two cats! Teresa has been crafting in one way or another for most of her life and started card-making around 12 years ago. Teresa  decided to start blogging a few years ago, and this led to her invite to couple of design teams.

Teresa is an "outside of the box" thinker and has fun trying out new products and techniques. She enjoys altered art, journaling, and mixed media, as well as card making.

When not covered in paint and glue, Teresa loves to get outside and enjoy the countryside. She is an avid photographer, always looking for interesting details or beautiful plants to photograph.

Teresa has made wonderful friends on social media through her crafting, and is looking forward to making some more lovely friendships in this team!

Carole Jones

Carole is from the North West of England and lives with her lovely hubby and kitty, Casey. Carole loves all types of arts and crafts and can spend hours in her craft room, losing all track of time. She currently enjoys making cards, tags, ATCs and boxes - in fact anything from paper. Carole's eclectic taste can range from cute and whimsical to shabby chic and vintage. Carole is an avid fan of challenges and we look forward to her challenging you!

Sharon Rogers

Sharon Rogers in not new to Vera Lane -- she has been playing on our lane from the very beginning!  Active in our FaceBook group Sharon's creations are always inspiring. 

Sharon has been crafting for at least half of her forty-eight years. From rubber stamping, sewing, papercrafts, ceramics, cross stitch, beading –" LOL you can imagine the “stash” of things I have – can’t bear to throw anything out not even a scrap of paper – never know when it might come in handy!"  Don't we know it!

Sharon is married with two adult daughters (23 & 19) and two dogs.  Sharon works in their own turf Management business as a greenkeeper and drives a truck!!

Crafting is Sharon's only hobby and form of relaxation and creativity – She crafts whenever she can – even take digi images to bed to colour before she goes to sleep!

Sharon has been on several design teams but now chooses to park her truck here on Vera Lane! And we are thrilled that she is here!

Miscelle Smith

Mischelle Smith has been in the papercrafting world for over 20 years.  In her ‘old life’ she was the founder of a stamping company that reached stampers worldwide.  Today, this die-hard stamper has spread her wings into the worlds of mixed media, journaling, scrapbooking and everything she considers ‘Artsy Fabulous’. 

Mischelle considers most of her work ‘Art Therapy’.  “Art heals me – the entire creative process heals me and feeds my soul.  Without art in my life I would be nothing more than an empty vessel.” 

Mischelle’s style is broad – from eclectic to creepy, whimsical to unique, traditional to classic – she likes to explore and experiment with everything the industry has to offer.  “I love pretty much everything made for papercrafters.  Yep.  Pretty much everything.”

Over the years Mischelle has been published in many of the industry publications; has been a guest artist on the Carol Duvall show several times; and has made guest artist appearances on Paint, Paper and Crafts.

Mischelle lives in the heart of Kansas with her husband, Kevin, and their two kids – Kevin II (Boy) and Sophie.  Their American Bulldog, Stella, is not only the glue that holds the family together – she is also the most photographed member of the family.

Meet our special "Pop-up" Designer, Jane (Not so Plain Jane) Wetzel

Our intros would not be complete without a special shout out to Jane Wetzel.  Jane is no stranger to design teams but like a true artist does not conform.  Jane has been playing on Vera Lane for a while with her creative and unique art pieces offering a little something different and whimsical.  Jane is a true mixed media artist, whether she is using home-made stencils or creating small canvases or wooded boards her creations are truly inspirational.  Don't look for Jane on any given day -- she's our pop-up designer, you just never know when the VLS mood strikes her!

Welcome all design team members! 

We are looing forward to your creativity and sharing.

Please leave a comment and a chance to win a set from our shop!

Digi Stamps for monthly birthdays

Vera Lane Studios has over 150 active sets in our Etsy Shop with new images arriving all the time.  While many of our image sets are perfect for a unique birthday greeting we have also included a special "Birthday Club" line with exclusive image sets for that special birthday. 

While all our bundled sets carry that "Vera Versatility" we certainly hope that these monthly sets add some additional whimsy to your collections no matter what birthday month you are looking for.

If you are looking for inspiration and how to work with our images you are welcomed to join our private Vera Lane Studio FB group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SDC206; Under the Sea

Kristen is hostess for the SDC206 Stampotique Designer's Challenge.  Kristen says she loves the calm and soothing feeling of the ocean and finds this as her happy place.  I'm inclined to agree that the ocean creates a peace and calm life nothing else.

I began this piece with wet on wet Inktense blocks on watercolor paper.  Then I lightened the color up with layers of Gelatos wiped with a baby wipe.  Amy Wilson Wellenstein's Tangled was stamped on the background with white pigment and embossed to create a dreamy ocean.  Amy's fish images Caerleon and Gawan were stamped and colored with Copics.

Share your version of under the sea or ocean inspired art and have a chance to win a $30 voucher to perhaps some ocean themed stamps in our monthly drawing. 
 

Simple prompt Sunday; Put a hat on it

Hat from #Realmen , Cat from #Girlandcatwithpartyhats
cloud from #allthings  (house is inactive)

This is our third Simple Prompt Sunday and I hope more of you will be playing along.  It wonderful to see how Vera Lane Studio sets are mixed and matched to create new scenes.  I love seeing your unique vision, style, coloring and techniques.  From newbies to advanced designers, the learning and sharing that is taking place is really quite lovely.


Simple Prompt: 
Put a hat on it! 
Be creative.  Pick a VLS character or your choice and add a hat, a headpiece, a crown or a bow.  Have FUN and don't forget to post!




 

Simple prompt Sunday: Scribble it, just a little bit

For those of you who have joined us last week bravo and thanks for posting!

I stated these prompts would be simple for a creative quick fix.  Sometimes simple is hard -- does that make sense?  I heard some apologies out there. It's O.K. -- we are just having fun, right?

But today's prompt IS simple.

If you read the title you are probably now humming that obnoxious silly song that it's a near rip off from.  Let's scribble it.  Just a little bit.

Simple prompt:  Scribble a background for a tag.  Attach ONE Vera Lane Studio image of your choice and snap a pic.  Post it on our group page and mention what you liked or didn't like about the challenge.

I love to scribble. Pencil is my favorite media to scribble in but you can experiment.  I like to think of random thoughts or ideas and just let my hand move swiftly --- if words make no sense it doesn't matter, it's not meant to be read. Scribbles create a great visual texture and is a nice complement to a graphic image.

You can take it up a notch, scribble over Gesso and add a little colored media.  Or Gesso over your scribble to expose a tad of texture underneath.  Splash it with watercolor, color with Inktense and drip water on it, smear some Gelatos with baby wipes.  Play!  Invent! 

The image in my sample is from Buds and Birds.  It's a seven image digi stamp set with a couple of whimsical birds, a flower (as shown), a sun image (which can also be used as a flower) and a couple of sentiments.  As with all my sets images can be used together or alone.  Vera versatility!

 You never know when you need to pop a colorful and arty tag to a gift bag, bottle or wine, or cellophane bag of home baked goods.  So scribble, and make someone happy.

SDC 202; Use ribbon!

Corrie is hostess this week over at the Stampotique Designer's challenge and the topic of the week is "ribbons."
Incorporate some ribbon in your stamped project and enter your creation for our monthly drawing to win a $30.00 voucher to some stamps of your choice.

When I saw this challenge I immediately thought about making muslin ribbons dyed with Inktense® blocks.  I tore fabric into strips and wet them then applied color and pressed and twisted the fabric.

My background is a combination of sprays, Gelatos® and scribbles.  I stitched the fabric ribbons with a textured ribbon for the bottom of the card.  The Tweedles were stamped and clear embossed then colored with Copics®.  I wanted to dress them in swimsuits so I trimmed the image and drew new outfits.  "Marco and Polo" are placed in clip art speech bubbles printed from Microsoft Word®.  I added scraps dots and doodles.
Hope it gives you a giggle.

Welcome to my lovely garden...

Pandora is the newest character to appear on Vera Lane.  She comes with three flower stamps and a flying bird stamp image. 

Scale the digi images up or down for your paper craft needs.  Make thank you cards, birthday, or just a cheery hello.  The versatile image set can be used for your own interpretation.  Use for ATCs or your personal art journal. 

This digi set is available now for instant download.  Check out this set and others at the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop today!

Wearing hats

Much of my inspiration comes from my years working with children.
One of my favorite lessons for my fifth graders were Modigliani portraits.  Students learned to exaggerate proportions with elongated necks and faces, often giving a lyrical tilt.  The digi stamp set, "Ladies who lunch"  come right from my lesson plan journal. 

The digi ladies are designed to wear their own personal hats.  With a little resizing, the hats can be customized to swap with any of the ladies in the set.  While none of these digi hats have the couture look a  Phillip Treacy , I found some of his quotes appropriate for some simple card and tag designs.

Fast Art Doll:  The image on the left is a quick art doll.  I painted some canvas, cut into a rectangle and sewed in an oval base.  It sewed quickly on machine but you can use hand stitching as well.  The body is filled with rice and the digi image (sized, colored and trimmed) is tucked in the opening and stapled shut.  Obscure staple with fabric, a ribbon or button.  How fun to create a set of tall and short ladies?

Reverse image, different hat:  The image on the right shows the same figure.  One is in reverse and pulled slightly to create a wider face.  Hats are adjusted to fit.  Their dress tops are paper pieced.  Just another way to play with this versatile digital stamp set.  Use the ladies with or without hats, swap them out, use the ladies together or alone,

This set and other images are available in my Etsy shop for instant download.  The six digi stamps are downloaded in 300dpi png format and will be clear of watermarks.  They are designed for unlimited personal use.
So make some cards and tags for the ladies and perhaps try some fast art dolls.

Thanks for taking a look!

Early Halloween

The Stampotique Designer's Challenge (SDC 166; Get Your Spook On) this week is calling for entries with an "Early Halloween" theme.  There are some exciting and wonderful projects the team has created for Carol's challenge.

My little collage and stamped card was inspired from a funny sentiment I saw in a card shop in Ann Arbor.  My little characters are two of my sketchy kid-art inspired Halloween kids - Corie the little witch and Frankie, the pumpkin head boy. 

Digi Stamp Tutorial

In this YouTube video, Vera Lane Studio shows you how to create a page layout of your favorite digi stamps to get ready to print and color.

You will learn to insert your stamps, resize, rotate and flip.  The page can be printed and is ready for you to cut, arrange and insert into your composition.
This video shows you how to fill a page with multiple images to take advantage of paper economy.  It does not address specific card layouts.  I recommend using a 100 - 110 lb weight card stock for printing.

Why digi stamps?

I love rubber stamps.  I've been designing rubber stamp images for about thirteen years.  But not every image I make can go into rubber.  So I design for the digital stamper too.  As a rubber stamp designer I understand media used and how artists like to color their images.  I take this into consideration when I create my sets of digi images.  Vera Lane Studio images always offers a variety of options in each set.

So WHY digi stamps?  And what is the deal about them?
Digi stamps are designed by artists specifically for the purpose of paper crafting as you would with rubber stamps.   Unlike "clip art" digi stamps are made to design with.  They come to you in a high resolution file to allow resizing and printing.   The small license fee allows the end user to use again and again for personal use.  While they can not use the dye and pigment inks and certain techniques as rubber stamps, they do have many desirable advantages.

1. Cost effective
2. Resizable
3. Images can be reversed
4. Colors can be altered even in Word -- no fancy program needed!
5. Save images in a file system on your computer -- no storage issues
6. Overlapping with ease
7. Save money and storage -- you can have hundreds of images concealed on your computer drive!
8. Great for the beginner -- not a lot of supplies are needed
9. A great addition to your rubber stamp collection as "make up stamps"
10. Instant download -- instant gratification!

Thank you for taking a look at my posting.  If you have jumped on board to Claudine's Altered Playing Card Challenge I am offering a 20% discount in my Etsy shop.  Discount is good through September 14, 2014.

Vera Lane Studio's photographer

"The Photographer" is Vera Lane Studio's latest digi stamp set. 

Dorothea  (do you get it?) comes with four sentiments and a frame.

The frame can be resized to layer with your photographs or use digitally as I have done here.  You can also crop another digi image to be inserted in the frame or use Dorothea alone.

So capture life!  This isnstant download is available with many others in my Etsy shop. 

I hope you'll check her out!

 

Image release Monday

Happy Monday!
Vera Lane Studio Digi Stamps just released two new image sets. 

"Hope and Honey" is a set of five files, three images and two quotes.  Hope is a sweet little clown that would be perfect for a good cheer card, children's birthday, invites, or a thank you.  She is versatile with her little pup Honey.  He comes with a hat too!

"Thinking of You" is also a five file set.  Colette comes holding a flower with a sun and cloud image for layering or using alone.  Two quotes are in the set for your designing options.  The expression on Colette's face makes her suitable for so many difference uses.  The simple sun and cloud images enhance the mood, use together or alone, change the layering to create the feeling tone of your choice.

I hope you enjoy Vera Lane's newest additions.

Modeling Paste, Gesso, Stencils

Prior to Stampotique's Designer's Challenge last week I had created a stack of backgrounds utilizing stencils, modeling paste, and gesso. 
I have a heavier gesso that worked well with a stencil, the lighter gesso was preferred to prime my paper surface.  While the heavier gesso works well with stencils, I slightly prefer the modeling paste for this application.

For this background: I scraped some gesso on cardstock with an old credit card.  Shades of green and blue green acrylic paint were also applied with the card. In the area behind the cat family  I masked an section to create a block image with antique border  and allowed to dry.  Modeling paste was applied through a portion of a chevron stencil.  I used  Liqutex modeling paste in a tube with a flip lid.  It's a simple motion to squeeze some paste onto the stencil and scrape.  I can flip the top back without stopping to cap a container to prevent my product from drying out.  This may not sound like a big deal, but when you are working with mixed media and accumulate a mess in the process, it is easy to neglect capping something and ruin your product.

I softened the antique border images with a light scraping of gesso.  A bit of Dylusions was sprayed on the modeling paste and wiped away. 

During this experiment session I used gesso and or modeling paste with either acrylics, spray inks, or a combination of both. My sheets were quite warped, so I used a book press to flatten them before adding them to my stash. This was not one of my favorite backgrounds but I decided to challenge myself to give it some life.

Bird in a cage and the cat family image were stamped with StazOn and embossed. Watercolor pencils were used to color the stamped images.

The rest of the piece is assembled with my usual scraps and scribbles.

I'm more of a dog person, so Carol Fox, this one is for you.

A tag for sister

My sisters birthday is tomorrow. 

I must confess, I bought a card. I did.  One of those cards that makes you burst out laughing, (we try to topper-kill

each other that way).  So with the SDC "Tag, you're it" I can at least make a hang tag for her gift.

 

I layered and lifted (paper toweled) various colors to create my background and added paper scraps on the edge of the tag.  Accented with Pitt pen and white Gelly Roll make a loose boarder.  "Sister" is stamped and cut from Kraft paper and "Midge" is stamped on the tag surface and partially paper-pieced. Prisma colors and Pitt are used to touch-up the image.

 

The ribbon is torn from white cotton that is stained from my inking fingers. It's amazing that a small simple tag can create such a mess. : -)

Document Folder

A single sheet of cardstock scored and folded 1" from the bottom  makes a functional document folder. 

1. Lay cardstock flat to stamp, color, and collage.  Measure 1" from the bottom edge and score from the back of the sheet. 
2. Fold up at score line and rub flat with a bone folder or scissor handle.
3. Secure folder  by attaching a button with a cord to keep your folder closed.  Make sure the cord is long enough to wrap around the folder.
4. Create a matching envelope to tuck inside if desired.

The three Stampotique stamps used for this simple project are from Stampoptique.com.  Look for Antique Description (7228), Carol's Flower Large, 9165, and Little Friends (9154)

Digi Stamps now available for instant download on Etsy

I'm pleased to announce that Vera Lane Studio Digi stamps are now available for instant download in my Etsy shop. 

 

 The current catalog is available by request.  Please email me at:

 

janet@veralanestudio.com

 



Count your rainbows

I received my shipment of Stampotique Wizard of Oz characters this week. After stumbling across the quote, "Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms,” I respond to this week’s designer's challenge no. SD91 Sketch featuring the Dorothy image.
 

The colors from the background papers were motivation to pull additional scraps that directed the color palette of the piece.  Dorothy is colored with Copics and a little glitter for her ruby shoes.

Note: The background painted paper is made with tempera in my children’s workshops.  We set up trays of diverse colors at each station and apply watered down tempera to make solid sheets.  After the sheets are colored, children will move about to different stations where there are a variety of gadgets to print with.  Repeat patterns added. When the papers are dry they are flattened and cut in quarters.  I use these papers for a wide variety of projects.

New Images from Background Stamps

 

I was playing with some dry wash and paper mask techniques for my young students and decided to use it as a springboard to respond to Sam Read's Stampotique Designer's Challenge #90; Song Inspiration.  "Good Day Sunshine” (Beatles) uses three Stampotique  images; Love Definition , Vintage Script,  and Flower Girl. 

I cut a circle mask for the sun and tore out a curved shape to create a hill.  Pebbles Pearlescent chalks, Copics, and a little glitter pen scribble was applied after laying down  the paper masks.  Flower Girl's dress is paper pieced.

 The next images use all background stamps with paper masks and a little line work. 

I created three random mask shapes for the trees by cutting into a post-it note and tearing desired shapes.   A dry wash of chalk was applied prior to stamping background stamps. For the house I cut out the rectangle and triangle on separate masks and applied the Baroque Background with colored dye inks.

Scrap paper completes the house door.

 

 

 

 

Bee Happy

Vera Lane Studio has been my safe haven this week. With thoughts of retirement, an ill parent, and completion of 850 report card grades (two semesters to go) my head has been in a state of "whirl." Although I am surrounded with plenty of inspiration and things to play with, life just seems to get in the way.

Vera Lane Studio is slowly getting ready for little artists to explore, share, create. Doors will open late summer to early fall. In the meantime, I putter, rearrange, and try to draw when I can.

I am really excited about a new image line that I'll have coming out with Stampotique. The company has a variety of outstanding artists with new ones added to the winter catalog. I am happy to be able to add a few images here and there -- there is something about having your art indexed in black on a little block of wood that gives you such a thrill! A simple,happy pleasure.

But with all the images floating in my brain, and some perhaps not lending themselves to rubber, I am taking a stab at digis. Plenty of artists are doing them I know, but I hope my own brand of funk and whimsy will be enjoyed by some crafters out there.

My latest digi posted on the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop is "Bee Happy." She's perfect for Valentine's Day. Her perplexed, little face just may be my own expression of late. The versatile side-kick images are two different flowers which are great to use with or without Bee or to even incorporate with your rubber images to give new life. The heart and circle flowers come in PNG format, so you can overlap them and tuck them neatly under other images without the chunky, white outline box that the jpegs sport.

Oh, life is calling me. Have to run.

Until next time, be well, bee happy.

Treats

I’m not so sure my dogs like the Trader Joe’s natural dog treats nearly as much as I enjoy the packaging.

The lettering is too inspiring to toss in the recycle bin, so I used it as my inspiration for this gift card holder. Cas-ual Fridays put out a challenge to use ribbon as a tab or a loop. So here is my response, featuring the word “treats” from the Trader Joe’s dog treat box. Believe it or not, this was fast to put together. I created the card holder and made a pouch that was ¼" wider to accommodate the fold and the card. I extended the dimensions to create a side and bottom tab to glue the pouch closed. The pouch was decorated with Tim Holtz Distressed Ink in Milled Lavender, and scribbled with NeoArt water soluble wax crayons. I used Stampotique stamps; dots Medium checkerboard . The "inchies" are cropped from my Corie and Little Skull Boy images also Stampotique. I used a circle punch to allow the card to be pulled easily from the pouch. A piece of ribbon attached with a grommet. Pop in your gift card and you are all set for a spooky and sweet surprise!