studiosuzanne

New Stamps - The Bonbon Collection

 

I'm excited about the release of the new Bonbon rubber stamps from Oxford Impressions! Those of you who know me, or are familiar with my art, know I'm a chocolate lover.  I have been sneaking chocolate images into my collections for years.  Finally, I've given my passion full reign and created a complete chocolate collection.  As always, I've attempted to make the collection as versatile as possible with background, focal point, and accent images.  Oxford Impressions has always had a strong leaning towards images with a French flavor and Bonbon is no exception.  The text images make fabulous backgrounds.  I hope you all will love this collection as much as I do!

Suzanne

Penny Bennington Book

 

I was the lucky recipient of a gorgeous tile book created by artist Penny Bennington.  The book has eight coordinated pages featuring some of the beautiful women images by Oxford Impressions.  The quote that ties each page together is: "So much more than a pretty face, her beauty comes from deep within herself." Penny, I absolutely adore it!  Thank you so much for your beautiful book. Showing above and below are a selection of pages.

 

 Thank you again, Penny!

Suzanne

Contest Card - Almost

 

If I had created a category, "Favorite Card to arrive AFTER the contest deadline", Laura Turner's creation would have won, hands down.  I love this composition.  Laura, I don't mean to torture you, but if I had received your card on time it would have been a strong contender. It is an interesting and beautiful card! (I'm still going to mail you a free stamp even though I couldn't consider your card for the contest.) Thank you for taking the time to send it to me!

Suzanne

Christmas Card Contest Follow-Up

 

I know, I know, Christmas is long past.  I just wanted to share a few more of the wonderful cards I received in the OI Christmas Card Contest. The two cards posted today were among my favorites for "non-traditional" use of images.  The Cowgirl card is by Sharon Sams and the Seasons Greetings Card was created by Colleen McCafferty.

About the FREE Stamps:  Today, I mailed out the last of the free stamps.  I didn't mean for it to take me so long, but since you all wrote me, I wanted to write you back. I had originally asked which stamp plates you owned so I could choose a stamp for you that you didn't have.  If you didn't send me a list, I just guessed.  Hope I did okay!  If you don't have your stamp in about a week, email me and let me know. Thanks again for sending me mail!

 

 

Suzanne

Card contest winner - Marion Bockelmann

 

I was attracted by the composition of Marion's card.  She combined images from very different collections, Haunted, a Halloween collection, the Bird's Nest and Winter Snow.  I love the multiple shades of color she used on the little boy and the dimensional hat on the bird was a whimsical surprise. I think Marion could have turned ANY image into a Christmas themed card.

So, with Gail Hart's card that was shown when I posted the winner's list, that's the winning five. I sincerely want to thank everyone again for playing!

Suzanne

A Christmas Card Winner - Deb Corder

 

The first thing that caught my eye about Deb Corder's winning entry was the unusually rich background. She writes in her note that it is a TechniqueJunkies technique called "Burnished Background". The cool blues were a perfect choice for a snow theme and the embossed white imagery seems to leap from it. Deb did such a good job with the multiple layers of embossing that it took me a minute to realize they were all individual stamps - MY stamps! It is hard to emboss such detailed images and get them to turn out so clearly!  I don't even attempt it, myself. Her choice of background images completely compliment the focal image of the little boy with the shovel.  Brrr! Cool card!

 Suzanne

Christmas Card Winner - Connie McGinnis

 

Connie McGinnis was one of the winners of the Oxford Impressions Christmas Card contest this year. Here was her entry.  I love the colors and the way the central image color coordinates with the background papers.  I also enjoyed her creative use of a non-christmas image, the Bird from The Bird's Nest Collection. The snow detail she added to both the branch in the stamp and the word "Joy" ties the layers together. The dimensional snowflakes add an extra pop.  The classic visual triangle created by the snowflakes also draws the eye around the card in a pleasing way.

Suzanne

One of the Christmas Card Winners - Petra Tillman

I've had many requests to see the winning cards in the Oxford Impressions Christmas card contest.  I'm happy to oblige.  The above entry was Petra Tillman's. I liked Petra's card because of the vibrant and unexpected colors and textures. She did a really beautiful job coloring the children with multiple hues to bring out highlights and shadows. I also liked how the black accents unify the entire card and the postmark stamp links the paper layers.

Suzanne

 

Debrina Pratt Original for Sale

 

Hi all!  Remember I pledged to do better about cluttering up my studio?  I said that if I brought something in, something had to go out.  This is MUCH harder than I thought!  I love all my stuff or I wouldn't have dragged it home in the first place! Since I bought my cool new Dog mixed media piece from Dean Russo,(see post from Dec.), I thought I should let go of a piece of art. I have a couple of Debrina Pratt's little fairy creations so I though I could pare down with the least amount of trauma by letting go of one. This little jewel is only about 6 inches tall and is free standing. (Yes, it is much smaller than my dog painting, but I'm still counting it!)

Debrina Pratt DollHouse listing on Ebay.

Suzanne

Winners - Christmas Card Contest

 

Hello all! Today I'm pleased to announce the winners of the Oxford Impressions Christmas Card Contest! First, I truly appreciate everyone who entered.  I know it took a great deal of time and effort on your part.  It can also be so hard to send your personal creations off to a stranger. So, thank you, thank you for taking the time to make me a card. Believe me, I will treasure your art.  Watch your mailbox for your free stamp!

In no particular order, the winners are:

Deb Corder
Marion Bockelmann
Gail Hart
Connie McGinnis
Petra Tillman

Beautiful job, Ladies! Congratulations! Be on the watch for your gift certificates!

Any time I have to "judge" art, it makes me a little uncomfortable.  Art is so personal and so subjective! However, there were some things I looked for when choosing the winners, and I'll share that those criteria with those of you interested.

Initially, I looked at what appealed to me overall, without consideration of complexity.  If the basic composition and color worked well together, those cards were considered first.

Secondly, I looked at execution.  That means if layers were mounted, they were straight. Stamps were crisp and embellishments well attached.

Speaking of embellishments, it is important that they accent the overall design. There is a tendency for most of us to overdo the glitz - myself included. Sometimes the 'extras' actually detract from the overall look.  I think about what my mom always said about accessorizing - get ready to go out and then take one thing off.  There is also a quote about art being finished when nothing else can be removed without detracting from the piece. Anyone know that one? Let me know.

Lastly, I looked at technique.  All winning cards had some type of SLIGHTLY advanced technique, meaning the card had texture or the images were hand-colored with multi-level shading. Only one card chosen was very elaborate, the others were simple, elegant and well-executed.

Best wishes for the New Year!

Suzanne