LunAria Design Studios

I am donating 20% of any card and jewelry sales in November and December to the Food Bank.  I set up a display at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on show nights last week and have thus far made enough to donate $150! Thanks to those that bought, I am very pleased but would like to give more.  As you know, the Food Bank is having a tough year due to the economic crisis.  If you have seen anything in my blog that you would like or would like to view my current stock of jewelry and/or cards, please contact me at sheila at sheilachristie dot com. I am working at getting pics up on here and Etsy but the opera has slowed down that process….at least Tris will have less to photograph after my sales at the opera! Here is a picture of the miniature craft sale that I set up in the rehearsal room at the Queen E. I was accused of being a gypsy carting this back and forth on performance nights but it was worth it!

This past Saturday, November 22 was opening night of Eugene Onegin, the opera that I am performing in right now with Vancouver Opera.  This opera is by Tchaikovsky and we are performing it in the original language in which it was composed….Russian.  It’s been great fun but a lot of work too!  You can check out my singing blog here. Here is a picture of me as a peasant in the show, more pics on my singing blog.

I was asked by the Chorus to make a thank you card for the lady that coached us on the Russian. I based it on a previous design but made it bigger so that the whole chorus could sign it. I made the envelope with my new toy, The Enveloper, that I picked up after a class at Scrapbook Warehouse last weekend.  Raissa’s name on the envelope is stamped with my SU! Lovely Letters Alphabet set (part of my SU! demonstrator starter kit). It is on a different colour because I originally tried to eyeball the letters right on the envelope…big mistake! But, as it turns out, a happy accident! Here are the pics, taken by my sweetie, Tris.

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree
Ink: SU! Basic Black and Whisper White (both Craft), Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree and Lovely Letters
Ink: SU! Whisper White (Craft), Not Quite Navy
Paper: SU! Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

A friend and former classmate from UBC, Rhoslyn Jones, played the leading lady, Tatiana in the opera. Rhoslyn is from Aldergrove, BC (a local girl!) and is embarking on what is proving to be a very successful career. She looked stunning and sang beautifully at every performance. After creating Raissa’s card, I experimented with one for her.  I was clearly influenced, yet again, by Michelle Zindorf, you’ll notice that the first one has the background of the owl card I made and posted about previously. Here are the results of my experimentation:

Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs, Local King Rubber Stamp Elegant Ladies, Stampendous Marble Texture Cube
Ink: SU! Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black
Markers: COPIC – C3, C5, C7, B000, B00, B02, R27
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Basic Black, Not Quite Navy

Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs, Local King Rubber Stamp Elegant Ladies
Ink: SU! Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Basic Black
Markers: COPIC – R27
Paper: SU! Whisper White, Basic Black, Baja Breeze

I ended up giving her the second one along with a cluster necklace that I made.  Rhoslyn and two other good friends, Melanie and Jeanine, and I all went out for lunch last Wednesday.  Rhoslyn wore the necklace, I guess she liked it! Here are the lovely ladies:

Brava to Rhoslyn for a fabulous run!  I hope that we get to here her again here in Vancouver very soon!

Okay, so this blogging thing is a great idea in theory but when one is working three jobs and performing in an opera, it can be a bit of a time suck.  So, in lieu of a long post, here are some pics. Photos by Sue Farrant.

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Riding Hood Red

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Versamark with white embossing powder

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Aqua Blue and Navy CS (not SU!), Whisper White CS
Ink: Adirondack Aqua, Denim, Purple Twilight, Versamark with White EP

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Aqua Blue and Purple CS (not SU!), Whisper White and Baja Beeze CS
Ink: Adirondack Aqua, Denim, Purple Twilight, Versamark with White EP

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, and Kiwi Kiss, and Baja Breeze CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Riding Hood Red and Kiwi Kiss

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Riding Hood Red CS, Ski Slope DP
Ink: Versamark with silver EP, used the faux metal technique for the embellishments

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy CS
Ink etc.: Baja Breeze, Not Quite navy, Night of Navy, Adirondack Butterscotch,
clear and white EP, Uni-ball white gel pen

Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree and Snow Swirled
Paper: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, and Basic Black CS
Ink etc.: Baja Breeze, Not Quite navy, Night of Navy, Adirondack Aqua,
clear and white EP, Uni-ball white gel pen

Thanks for looking!  Hope you enjoy the cards!

This past Sunday, November 16 marked my first Stampin’ Up! workshop as a demonstrator. Some good friends came by and we had a lot of fun making these two cards (photo credits to Susan Farrant and Tris Hussey):

Thank you to Sue Farrant (the SU! demonstrator with whom I joined up),  Sue C. (another SU! demonstrator), and Raphael and Melanie (two close friends and opera colleagues) for their support. Everyone made beautiful cards and took some artistic license with their individual creations – way to go girls! Here are some pics of the fun (some photos by me, some by Susan Farrant):

The whole gang L-R: Raphael, Me, Sue C., Melanie (minus Sue F. – taking picture)

Melanie hard at work cutting out a monogram letter

Raphael hard at work – gotta get it straight!

The finished products! (L-R: Melanie, Sue C., Sue F., Raphael)

I somehow only got a picture of Sue F. with her finished version of the second card.  Hmmm….must have been the wine that made me forget! Doesn’t she look pleased though?

All in all, the evening was a success and I hope to do more soon.  You can read Sue Farrant’s version of the evening on her blog by clicking here. Here are the meterials used in the two cards (all materials are SU!, images copyright SU!)):

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Best Yet, Always, Curly Label Punch Bundle, Lovely Letters
Inks: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip,
Paper: Pink Pirouette CS, Kiwi Kiss CS, Whisper White CS, Riding Hood Red CS, Chocolate Chip CS, Bella Rose DP, Ski Slope DP
Accessories: Silver Brads, Coluzzle, Designer Brads – flower asst., Curly Lable Punch, 1/16″ circle punch

Thanks for stopping by!

Sphere: Related Content

This past Sunday night I went with Sue Farrant and some other lovely ladies to a technique based COPIC marker class in Pitt Meadows.  The class was offered through “Be Creative!” – a wonderful stamping supply store in Pitt Meadows.  It was taught by Marianne Walker, a graphic designer who works for COPIC. Check out her blog – she is amazing! We played a lot with what the markers can do and I coloured in this stamp:

It was a lot of fun and despite my initial frustration with the markers, I bought this group of markers:

Last night I played with them and created this card (picture courtesy of Tris Hussey):

I totally cased this design from Michelle Zindorf. I fell in love with it when I first visited her site. She uses Prismacolor markers to colour in the owl in her tutorial but I used my COPICs instead. The stamp is from a set called Yoo Hoo! from Firecracker Designs by Pamela. Here is the full recipe for the card:

Stamps: Firecracker Designs by Pamela’s Yoo Hoo!, Stampendous Marble Texture Cube
Inks: SU! Classic – Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, and Craft – Basic Black
Markers: COPIC – C3, C5, C7, E25, E27, E29, Y17
Paper: SU! Card stock – Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, and textured Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Clear fine detail EP, white gel pen, pewter brads, 1/8″ ribbon

Thanks for checking it out – I will be posting more after I play with them a bit.  Have a great day!

My Etsy store is launched and on it’s way to being officially up. You can find it here LunAriaDesignStudio. For those of you who do not know what Etsy is – it is a gigantic online craft sale. My store will feature my jewelry designs and handmade cards. Customers can view and purchase on the site or, if you are local to Vancouver, or know me you can contact me to purchase an item and save the shipping. I am hoping to have items posted in the store within the month, just in time for Christmas gift buying! Check back for more news soon but in the meantime, here are a few samples of what I have been working on (photos courtesy of Tris Hussey):

About 2 weeks ago, I attended a stamping party at my friend Brenda’s house. I used to stamp a long time ago in my Lethbridge years and, so, I had my Mom dig out my Tupperware crisper full of rubber stamps and stamping supplies from my parent’s storage space in Calgary and bring it across 2 provinces when they came to visit in August so that I would have it after the party to use if I felt like it. I have to admit that I went to the party thinking, “I won’t buy anything. I really don’t need to get back into another hobby.” Of course, the party was amazing! We made three lovely cards and I got to meet a wonderful lady named Susan Farrant. Sue was the demonstrator for the party, the line is called “Stampin’ Up” and she is one of the original Stampin’ Up demonstrators that introduced the company to Canada 7 years ago. Needless to say, she is amazing and incredibly knowledgeable and I was quickly hooked. Turns out that stamping has changed in amazing ways in the 15 years since I was into it and so, of course, I just had to order a pile of things that night! I went away excited and anxious for my order to come so that I could get back into things.

(I should preface this my saying that when I discover or get back into a crafting hobby, it tends to take over my life in an almost obsessive fashion).

Before the order came, Sue had a workshop at her house using a set called Upsy Daisy. I went and had a great time and made another set of charming cards. At that workshop, I found out that Sue wrote a stamping blog. Hungry for more, I looked up her blog and started reading through, finding links to many other stamper’s blogs (who knew there could be so many?) and felt like a new world had opened up! I poured over Sue’s blog, Split Coast Stamper Galleries, Michelle Zindorf’s blog, Laura Fredrickson’s blog, and many more as I felt the fire of inspiration burning inside. I ordered more stamps online, discovered many lower mainland Scrapbooking shops where supplies could be found, and dived right back into creating. I remembered why I found card making so satisfying as mini works of art came alive by my hand and knew that I had to keep going.

I met with Sue this morning to discuss the possibility of me joining her team of Stampin’ Up Demonstrators. I showed her the work that I had done so far and she said, “Why wouldn’t you do this?”. So, spurred on by the encouragement of a real pro and the comments of friends and colleagues that had seen my cards and agreed to come to parties, I dove in deeper and joined Stampin’ Up as a demonstrator.  As of, 12pm today, I am one of Sue’s Stampanions! For my personal website, click here.

This blog will be dedicated to my creations and will contain Stampin’ Up news, workshop information, and techniques. Stop by anytime to see what I have been up to or to book a party. Creating with friends is always more fun!