Penny Duncan Creations

A little fun with paper….

2012-02-12T20:30:00.001-06:00

Happy Sunday Everyone….I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend….WOWZERS it was COLD here……no snow but crisp and windy temps……

So……nothing earth shattering created by me this weekend…but I did manage to get a couple things made I had been thinking about for a while…..I think they turned out pretty….and would be perfect adornments to a Mixed Media project or perhaps a card or scrapbook page…..

I had a lot of fun creating these….I used my PDC Grungy Rose File for the roses, my PDC Calla Lily File for the Calla Lilies and a couple of leaf files I’ve not yet shared……and some of my Butterflies….

I’m not sure if anyone would have the perfect project for one of these creations but I have listed them on My ETSY Store if someone might be interested……

It felt good to just play and I so love making roses…..so it was a FUN weekend for me…..I’ve started on a new project I have been thinking about for a while and hoping to have it done by next weekend…I really think some might like it……hoping so anyway…..

As always…THANK YOU so much for stopping by to visit with me…..I pray you all have a wonderfully blessed week and I hope you’ll come by again….Until next time….

It’s been a Wonderful Sunday…..

2012-02-05T20:10:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone….I hope you’re all enjoying your weekend and those of you watching the Super Bowl…I hope your team is doing well……..I’m not a sports fan so I’m trying to be productive!!

So….I’ve had A LOT of fun this weekend……I PLAYED WITH PAPER!!! Yeah ME and it felt WONDERFUL……I was able to create something just because I wanted to….and I’m so thrilled with it….thought I would share it with you if you care to see……..

It’s a Card/Box set……..and could be for most any occasion….

I am SO pleased with the way this turned out and am so excited to share it with you…….I’ve listed it on My ETSY Store if anyone is in need of a card for a special someone in their life…….

In addition I also decided to try something new……I am going to try and offer Card/Box Kits on My ETSY Store……so here’s the first one I’m offering……

If you’re interested….you can see more details about it on My ETSY Store.

Ok….I think that catches me up for the night…..I SO hope you might have enjoyed seeing my creation….It feels SO AWESOME to feel like being creative again and actually creating something!!!! It’s been a relaxing weekend for me and I’ve totally enjoyed it….

I would like to THANK ALL OF YOU for the AMAZING love and support I’ve received from you…..You’ve lifted my spirits and TRULY and sincerely HUMBLED me!!! I pray you all have as blessed as week as you’ve made my weekend!!!!

I hope you will come by again…..until then…….

The Lord ALWAYS has PERFECT timing…..

2012-02-02T06:57:00.001-06:00

Good Morning Everyone…I hope you all are having a VERY blessed day!!! I want to start off by saying THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the warm and amazing love and support I received from so many!!! I am TOTALLY blown away and very humbled…..

You know how when you have a down part in your life for whatever struggle you may be facing and just at that PERFECT time the Lord lets you know…..I AM here and I Love You!!!…….Well….I was blessed with one of those moments yesterday afternoon when I returned home from work……I had a package waiting for me…….I knew an amazing lady named Faye Webb had sent me an email to let me know she was sending me something just to say Thank You for help I’ve given in the past……..But OH MY GOODNESS……What she sent was NOT just “something”……You MUST SEE THIS…..The detail and LOVE she poured into this is beyond measure to me…..

Isn’t this GORGEOUS…..each and every one of the cards inside this beautiful box contains a scripture which calls out MY NAME……every single one of them……the blessings that are behind this are beyond measure…..and I will TREASURE this always….It will sit on my ART desk and I will view one of them every day……So above is the scripture verse I pulled for today…..

Preserve Penny, O God: for she puts her trust in You. psalm 16:1

Oh My….HOW TRUE THIS IS!!!!! I will receive SO MUCH joy from these….Faye I can not THANK YOU enough my sweet sweet friend….Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!

As a side note…..after a lot of thought and prayer (because I do NOT want anyone to think I’m taking advantage of anyone) I did list my collections on my ETSY store due to the volume of requests I had received asking me to consider this……

I want to THANK YOU all so very much for stopping by to visit with me and seeing the BEAUTIFUL gift I received from Faye!!!!! I hope you’ll come by again because I hope to be creating again very soon….I would like to wish you all a VERY blessed day today!!!

A tough decision made…..

2012-02-01T07:17:00.001-06:00

Good Morning Everyone……I come to you with a bit of a sad heart today……After much thought, prayers and consideration I’ve had to make a very tough decision for me to stop sharing my cut files, digital stamps and blog/background designs…

I’ve always chosen to share what I CREATE from my heart with joy and hope that others would get even a wee bit of joy out of them for themselves….and for the vast majority I know they’ve been received in that exact manner…..However….sadly…there are always those that have to pick and question and make others feel it is never enough or we didn’t create something I KNOW I created……I consider myself to be a very computer savvy ARTist……I enjoy all things digital and am a very fast learner…I get a lot of enjoyment drawing things on my computer that I can utilize in my ART…tweeking things here and there……going from an idea and creating it into something that I can use in my ART…..and I enjoy sharing that for others that may not enjoy creating or perhaps do not understand programs used to create these things…..

But….at the same time…..it is SO disheartening when someone sharing their passion gets (attacked, or constantly questioned) about their abilities…..So much so that I’ve begun to allow it to cause my mojo to create to be damaged….and I just can’t do it any longer……And it truly breaks my heart!!!!!

I know so many of you will not understand but I also know there are so many that do and have talked with me and shared with me enough is enough….it’s time I think about my creative mojo and whether or not I want to get it back….and I KNOW I do……so this decision for me must be made….

I pray everyone will understand and if you choose to unfollow me…..I TOTALLY respect your decision and understand……I would like to wish you a very blessed day and Thank You for all the years of support and encouragement you’ve offered…..If you decide to stick with me while I share my ART and ideas….I THANK YOU……I get so much joy from visiting others blogs and the ideas it sparks for my creativity!!!!

So I end this with a THANK YOU to all…for taking time to read this and wish you all a VERY BLESSED day!!! Perhaps you’ll come by and visit me again!!!

We come to another Sunday…..

2012-01-29T20:36:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone….I trust you’ve all been blessed with a wonderful weekend!!! My they just seem to go by so quickly don’t they!!!!

Well….I think I had a productive weekend…..thought I didn’t create any new files in the creation of the following pieces…I did have a lot of fun playing with paper…and hope you’ll still enjoy seeing them even without new files…..It’s been so long since I’ve done this much creating in one weekend!!! LOL

So the first think I needed to work on were some ATC’s for my ATC Swap I host every month in my ARTHaven Creations & Friendships group……this months’ theme was Hearts/Love….so here’s what I came up with……

I really love the softness these seem to have…..with a bit of grungy…..I ‘m quite happy with these…I hope the recipients will be….

So…the next thing I had to work on was a Hangie Dangle swap…..again in my ARTHaven Group…Now before I show you this I’ll go ahead and say I struggled with this….just couldn’t come up with an idea I really liked…..but I ended up with something I like….not love….but like….The flowers you see on this piece I did not create…they were some I’ve had for quite a while and figured I would use them……

The buttons create a heart shape…(this idea I love…) It was an idea I found off Pinterest!!! Isn’t that site AMAZING!!! LOL So many gorgeous gorgeous pieces others create!!!! I think the button heart is my favorite part of this piece!!!

So…..the next thing I worked on is a Tag Swap in the ARTHaven group….This was to be something reflecting Valentine’s day…..I love how it ended……was nothing like I had originally envisioned…LOL.. don’t you just love how that happens!!! Now I DID create the long stem roses for this piece……I colored them with Jumbo Java Chalk ink on the edges and spritzed with some of my homemade spritzers with Pearl Ex, Pump Hairspray and Worn Lipstick Distress Reinkers…….

The rhinestones were clear….on the ribbon slide and half the rhinestones on the swirles…..I colored them with alcohol markers to match the colored ones I also used…..they turned out perfect….it’s a nice way to be able to custom color things to get the perfect color you need…..Just thought I would throw that out there….

Now I KNOW some of you are going to fall in love with the “torn” notebook paper cut file I’ve made……I can’t take credit for creating this file….Our Paulo made this a while back….it’s it AWESOME!!!!! If you want the file for yourself…you can find it on his site here…. http://scale-files.blogspot.com/2009/10/nbpaper-piece.html …..Oh yeah…if you’ve not been to his site before….Just let me tell you to be prepared…You are going to be AWED!!!! He’s SO gifted and an amazing person to boot!!!!

Ok….now I have one more piece to share with you…I needed to make a card/envie for a swap in ARTHaven…..I had drawn a blank when it came to this…LOL…..so I tried to use scrap papers to create this……after playing around I did come up with something I’m quite happy with……

Got a lot of bling going on don’t I!!! LOL But I just loved it when I did it!!! Now…I did not make the flower on this piece…but isn’t it AWESOME!!! My very dear friend…Angie Hall Haviland made these…and I just HAD to buy some from her……I LOVE them….You can check out her shop here…. http://www.etsy.com/people/AngieHallHaviland She is SUCH a gifted ARTist….I just can’t say that enough….

Okie Dokie….That catches me up for the night!!! It felt SO AWESOME to play with paper…..And I can’t THANK YOU all enough for coming by to visit with me to check it out..I really hope you like what I’ve shared…..I also hope you will come by to visit with me again soon…I would like to wish you all a very blessed week!!!! Until next time…

What a 24 Hours!!!!

2012-01-23T21:45:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone…I hope you’re all having wonderful Monday!!!! What a 24 hours I’ve had….sometime yesterday afternoon I was advised through emails by others that My Free Cut Files that I offer on my Windows Live account were cut off…..they were having some struggles….I thought that it was a bit puzzling….scratching my head no doubt!!!! I tried to access it with no luck….so I sent an inquiry into Microsoft….they respond back “there’s no issued” things are working fine…..Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh NOT!!!! So after several emails and finally resolving to the fact my files were lost in a dark dark hole…I am SURPRISED by a very dear friend with a phone call to inform me my files are back on line……..WHAT???????? You’re kidding!!!!

Well…..she’s RIGHT….apparently whatever Microsoft’s issues were….they’ve resolved them……So I took this opportunity to revamp my blog…….trying out some of the new cutting edge blog layouts Blogger is offering…and have placed the links to My Free Cut Files on the top of my blog…..which I might say is pretty cool!!!!

So…..I hope you like the new layout….I think I do…seems the page loads A LOT easier!!!! And you can change to look at what ever format you prefer by clicking on the down arrow on the left top of my blog!!! Would love to hear what you think!!!

If you’re wanting to follow my blog there is an RSS Feed link in the very top right…..it’s not very prominent………Hopefully they will improve on that very soon!!!!! I’ve heard from several it’s loading MUCH faster which is a GREAT thing!!!!!! Also for any interested….IF you are interested you can click on the Google+ below and follow me on Google+….as I’ve cancelled my Facebook account and have removed all my information from there…it’s just a personal choice I’ve made for myself….I never really visited Facebook and as time went on began losing more and more interest for it….To me…Google+ offers more direction for those of us who share the common ART passion…..

THANK YOU so much for your patience, knowledge love and support to this trying issue!!! I pray you are all having a very blessed day!!!!

Another Sunday Rolls Around….

2012-01-22T13:21:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone!!! I hope you’re all enjoying a WONDERFUL weekend!!!! So much snow for so many around I hope you all are staying safe!!! For me it’s been a bit of rain and rather gloomy….but I’m happy to report NO snow!! Not very nice was it!!! LOL

So…….I can actually say I’ve had a productive weekend!!! I created a card with scraps and things I had left over in my ARTHaven Spot with a sprinkle of a couple of different things….It was fun challenging myself…..Over at my ARTHaven Creations & Friendship group one of our AMAZING ladies…Diann challenged us to send little “thinking of you” notes to people that come to our thoughts….I LOVE this idea and am determined to do some of this myself….so I sat down yesterday determined to create something…..it’s nothing fancy but I rather like it and wanted to share it with you……

Yeah…I know….kinda used a hodge podge of flowers didn’t I!!! the 2 blue creations I combined a few paper flowers you can purchase at the craft stores with a die I created and rolled into the flower and added the beads in the middle…..I think they turned out kind of cute….Of course the brown rose is one of my handmade grungy roses as well as the hydrangia and butterflies and ivy….the yellow roses are some paper roses I had purchased eons ago…..so proud of myself for actually USING them!!!

Now the “Just Thinking of You” graphic….I’m really liking this…..the graphic I downloaded from this AMAZING lady’s blog that creates digital ART…I LOVE her taste in style…..

She has such elegance!!!!! I took the image and brought it into Corel Draw…..made a shadow layer so I could do the Print and Cut Technique then made another shadow layer and used one of my other background graphics and did the Print and Cut Technique with it as well……Did the very same for the “Friends” tab I made……Using these graphics is so making me love love love my Kitty “Sable” even more because it does SUCH a beautiful job with the Print & Cut……

This card will be finding it’s way to someone very near and dear to me tomorrow….I really hope she likes it…….

So…..Now I thought I would let you all know that I’ve FINALLY gotten around to getting the things listed on my ETSY store that I’m purging out of my ARTHaven since I’ve moved my ARTHaven from a room to half of my living room!!! LOL It’s still amazing how much “goodies” I’ve been able to “tweek” into my area now!!! LOL But I did find some “treasures” to remove and list……

Here’s a sneak peak to see if there’s something you might be interested in…..NO PRESSURE!!!!!

If you’re interested you may either click on the image or go to MY ETSY Store to check out more detail…….

Now…..I wanted to share one more thing with you……The other day I switched back to a desktop computer…..It’s just ME…I LOVE my desktop….just can’t get into a laptop…especially since I have my amazing Lenovo Tablet that is awesome….But anyway…back to my point!! LOL Sorry…I get distracted easily!!!

While loading all my programs into my new desktop I realized I no longer had my registration code for my Mystic Thumbs program so I took a chance and emailed them sharing what bit of info I had confirming my purchase back in September….within an hour I had received a response and was able to get my program up and going again…..This person is totally amazing!!!

So I thought I would take this chance to give a shout out about this program for them…Mind you I’m NOT getting ANY kickback from them…It’s just a program that is FANTASTIC and the word needs to be spread about it….

You know how so many of us WANT to be able to see our SVG files BEFORE we open them as we are trying to find the perfect file to use in our project….but get so aggravated when we can’t see them….We all USED to be able to use Adobe SVG Viewer or Rensis for years….but now since Windows 7 came out we don’t have that luxury any longer…UNTIL NOW!!!! That’s EXACTLY what Mystic Thumbs does…….check this out…..

This is a screen print of one of MY folders on my computer…and what you are seeing are SVG FILES!!!! Looks AWESOME doesn’t it…and I can see them BECAUSE OF the Mystic Thumbs program……

Now the program is not free…BUT…It is VERY VERY reasonably priced……and well worth every “penny” (NO pun inteneded!!! LOL) You don’t have to believe me either….you can check it out for yourself…because they allow you to download it and try it out before you buy it to verify it works on your system……If you’re interested in it I would highly recommend check it out here…..

Okie Dokie….I “think” that catches me up for today!!!! Now that I have all this updated I get to go PLAY WITH PAPER!!! Yeah ME!!! I want to THANK YOU all for stopping by to visit with me….it means more then I can EVER express!!! I pray you all have a very blessed day and will come by to visit with me again!!! Until next time….

Wahoooooooooooooooo……Mojo came home!!!!

2012-01-10T21:37:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone……Happy Tuesday to you all!!!! I hope you are all having a very blessed week so far……..It’s going to be getting chilly here again and rain is on it’s way….but all is well in the world cause I PLAYED WITH PAPER!!!! Yeah ME!!! It really felt good to be creative again and I had a lot of FUN!!!!! I needed to work on an ATC for a swap I’m participating in over at the Black Cat Forum…….. http://www.blackcatus.com ……a WONDERFUL group of ARTists over there….and EVERYONE is welcome…you don’t have to own a Black Cat Cutter at all to join in on the fun and friendship……..people own every cutter imaginable and they are all welcomed with open arms!!! The theme for the ATC Swap this month is “Express Yourself” You’re to create an ATC that shares a bit about yourself…….Soooooo……I thought about it for a while……Purple is my favorite color…..I am a VERY strong Christian….and I consider myself a Sister in Christ to all fellow believers!!!! Here’s what I came up with…..

So….Do you like it????? I am quite pleased with the way it turned out…I used one of my Cross files, my Grungy Rose file, one of my Vine Files and I had make the banner file based on one of the dies on the market……I love using these as a cut file because I can resize to whatever size I want…..I’m listing the files I created below as a refresher to where they are if anyone is interested in them and hadn’t previously gotten them……I had so much fun making these and I “think” it’s got my creative mojo working again….I sure hope so as I have other things I need to create for some swaps I’m in my ARTHaven group……..LOL

PDC Iron Cross with Layer 7-6-2010

PDC Grungy Rose File 5-14-2011

PDC Leaf Stems 3-26-2011

I have something else I want to share with you too…This is EXCITING…….You know how so many of us like to try to get as much use out of our cutting mats as possible……we try everything we can think of to “re-sticky” our mats……from the Jumbo Zig Glue Pens….to the Tack it Over and Over Glue/Water Solution…..to Spray Adhesive….then we have to wait and wait and wait for it all to dry….then knock down some of the sticky before we can begin using again….It works…but isn’t it a PAIN in the booty…..LOL Well GUESS WHAT!!!!! You’re going to LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS…I PROMISE you!!!!! Sherri over at That’s Scrap Inc…….You know…the person I ordered my Black Cat from….Well…she has come out with this AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING stuff……..You are going to FLIP over!!!!!! It’s called…..

Re-Nu sheets

It is SO SO SO easy to restick your mats using this stuff and it’s very reasonably priced….you get A LOT of use from these…….the sticky is the perfect amount to hold your paper but releases SUPER SUPER easy!!!! If you’re looking for something to make your life easier to get the papers off your mats…You’ll definitely want to give some of this a try….And just so you know…NOPE I’m not getting any kind of a kick back for this……It’s just an amazing product and I know you all are going to LOVE this stuff!!!!! Just another product that Sherri and Dawn are striving to find/create for us ARTists to make our creating time more fun and easy!!!!!

Okie Dokie Artichokie!!!! Guess that catches me up for tonight!!!!! THANK YOU so much for sticking with me…….I hope you like my little creation and I hope you’ll come by and visit me again….I also pray you all have a very blessed week!!!! Until next time….

How special I feel…..

2012-01-04T20:30:00.001-06:00

Hey all my AMAZING cyber friends!!!! I just had to stop in and tell you I have been TRULY humbled….I know it’s been almost a month….will be this Friday….since my last post…….got my new ARTHaven Spot all set up and then wham….my mojo packed up and moved out….went on an extended vacation…….It has been such a struggle getting it going again……

So I begin to think…..well it’s no big deal….no one really misses me anyway…there are SO MANY talented and gifted ARTists out there…they won’t miss my posts and shares……and begin to wonder…..do I really need to continue my blog…..does it REALLY make a difference…..does anyone really care????? Now I’m not saying this for pity at all……so please don’t think that for one moment….

But…during the last couple of days I have been totally overwhelmed and humbled by the outreach of love and concern for so many of you checking in on me to see if I’m ok……..It has truly brought tears to my eyes!!!! Some of you have shared with me the struggles you are going through and challenges you are overcoming and I can’t tell you how much it means to me…..and it really has opened my eyes and heart to know that we have a community of AMAZING “FRIENDS” in our ART world and I’m SO HONORED to be a part of it!!!! THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart for letting me know I’ve been missed!!! It has truly humbled me and I PROMISE to get my bootie in gear and force that mojo back home!!!!!! So I can start enjoying my little ARTHaven Spot that I have now tweeked every inch of so I can enjoy playing!!!! So I’m making a commitment to myself and all of you to share SOMETHING by the end of this coming weekend!!!!! See, now I’m made a promise I MUST keep it!!!!!

Again…THANK YOU ALL for the immense amount of love I have received from you!!!!! I’ve truly missed you and look forward to getting active again!!!! I pray you all have a VERY blessed Thursday!!!! Talk with you soon so I hope you’ll come back by!!! Until then….

I’m still around…..Hope you missed me…..

2011-12-06T06:56:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone and Happy Tuesday to you all……I’m sorry to be gone so long and I hope maybe I was missed a wee bit??!! I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and searching in my heart and made a big decision for me……it’s probably no biggie for most…but was driving me nuts!! LOL I have had my own ARTHaven for years…..in which I spend most all of my ME time……but as of late I’ve been feeling rather isolated back in my room while my hubby and youngest son (17 yr old) hangs out in the living room……..I have SO MUCH “STUFF” in my ARTHaven I began to feel as if my mojo was beginning to get suffocated……It’s then that I FINALLY realized that just because I had just about every creative supply available in my ARTHaven it’s not what gives me the ability to or the desire to want to create……SOOOOOOOOOOOO….I made a huge decision for ME……..I decided to move out of my ARTHaven into a corner of our Living Room so I could be around hubby and son all the time and still be able to create…..

OMG….talk about a J.O.B.!!!! LOL You NEVER realize how much we accumulate until we go to thin out and clear out…LOL I’ve been working since Thanksgiving night on this project…LOL I’m getting closer….I do have my new ARTHaven SPOT set up in the corner of our Living Room and I gotta say….I LOVE IT!!! It has been CONSIDERABLY downsized by probably half in comparison to what I had and it’s like a HUGE WEIGHT has been lifted!!! LOL….Wanna see my NEW ARTHaven SPOT…..

So my aunt…BLESS HER HEART….decided to come “shop” in my thinned out items I plan on clearing out and selling…….the day she left her car was PACKED FULL!!! LOL and I still have a fair amount that will be listed on my ETSY store in time….but I can’t tell you HOW AWESOME it feels!!! It’s like a new excitement to create has been given back to me!!!! I have things right at my fingers and a wonderful atmosphere to create in!!! Of course you can see my 3 bestest creative friends ever!!! LOL….My laptop, my Black Cat LYNX cutter!!!, and my Black Cat Foil Master!!! Gotta love the kitties!!! Still have to order the tables for Sable as soon as they become available so my mats will run through flat…..for now I have it “rigged”….LOL I plan to do A LOT more digital printing of my papers just as I do my digi images….so did not need near as much space for papers…which in itself is a WONDERFUL space saver!!!

So……since I have this done I actually created a couple of tags….thought I would share them with you real quick as well as the files I created to make these…..they’re simple…..work up very quickly and I think kind of cute……

They were fun to make…..I was trying to come up with some that would work up quickly…….You can see on the round tag I used my Foil Master….I LOVE this machine!!!! I printed my swirlies in black laser toner and then foiled and then used the print and cut technique with my Black Cat “Sable” by using Inkscape/Signcut…..

If you would like to have these 2 files as well as a couple of others….I’m attaching them below….I hope you might like a few of these……

PDC Candy Cane Tag 11-27-2011

SVG / DXF / GSD / WPC / PDF

PDC Round Ornament 11-27-2011

SVG / DXF / GSD / WPC / PDF

PDC Split Ornament 11-27-2011

SVG / DXF / GSD / WPC / PDF

PDC Mask Scallop Design 12-4-2011

SVG / DXF / GSD / WPC / PDF

Okie Dokie Artichokie!!! Guess that catches me up for now!!! Hope you might have found something you might like…..As always…THANK YOU so much for stopping by to visit with me….I so hope you will come by again…..I would like to wish you all a VERY Blessed Day!!!! Until next time….