Gwen

Your eyes do not deceive you.

Not only two posts in a week, two posts with layouts.

I'm still doing some of the challenges from NSD at Studio Calico and last night I did one to use stencils without mists. So, I pulled out my recently acquired mono / Gelli printing skills (I use the term "skills" very loosely. lol.) and used the Studio Calico Sundrifter stencil with acrylic plates to make some cool background paper. And to go with that paper, I could only use photos from the Muse show last month.

The monoprint is the one with the blue and gold. I added some silver Inka Gold rubon waxy stuff and some red liquid pearls.

I added some brads, sequins, and metallic puffy stickers from the stash, along with a glitter and washi tape border.

This was fun. Maybe I'll actually start doing layouts again. Who knows?

Aside from that, I've been in serious Instagram withdrawl over the last 2 days. I can see my feed, but every time I try and post a photo it crashes. What's up with that? Last 2 app updates = epic fail. Anyway. Off to play a little more and finish the laundry.

South Africa - Safari Mini Scrapbook Album

Whew... I finished it! I originally started doing this album almost exactly two years ago (and it's been just over 5 years since I got back from South Africa). I posted the first part of the album two years ago, thinking I'd keep going right away. About four months later I posted the next two pages and then I just put it away until about a week and a half ago.

For some reason I was jazzed to get this out and finish it. I printed off the rest of the pictures from our safari and got to work. I used a lot of the techniques I'd been doing in the Get Messy class with my Goreme album, including massive overuse of Liquid Pearls. lol. And since the last half of the album was looking so different, I took my liquid pearls back through everything I'd already done and added to it to make the whole thing more cohesive. And it's done. Yay!

These are the types of mini albums I love - lots of texture, different sized pages, and little goodies sticking out all over. I used an old Fancy Pants album with a mixture of transparent and chipboard pages (I didn't use the felt ones) and a mix of other product - mostly older. I used a little safari themed stuff (hard to find anything that isn't campy) and a lot of the Basic Grey Origins line, which I still love.

The front page is a transparency and I printed the photo of the sunset 8x8 and cut it to the shape of the book. Cutting that bracket for all the pages was a pain, but in the end I really like the effect.

So without further ado, here are the rest of the pages. You can scroll through the thumbnails - all of the inside pages plus a few close-ups of some of the details. (If you're in a reader, I don't think this shows up well - if you click through you can scroll through the photos easier.)

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And that's it! This was a lot of fun and I'm glad I finished it... now I'm just enjoying looking through it and remembering that part of our trip. It really was a lot of fun - all of the animals and the game drives... stuck out in the bush with a flat tire and sleeping in a treehouse at the Pezulu Lodge. I'd love to go back some day... it was just a wonderful adventure.

 

Getting Messy with Celine - Part Deux

I finished! I absolutely LOVED doing this project and the class was so much fun. I always forget how much I love to "get messy" so this was a great reminder.

It ended up being quite a bit bigger and more involved than I anticipated...

28 total pages, all of them using some kind of technique, even if just a little bit.

And let's face it. Me? Going overboard? Not really unexpected. lol.

And because I did go so overboard, there are a LOT of photos of the album. So instead of having a humungous post clogging up the front page of my blog, I put it on its own page.

Without further ado, my completed Getting Messy Goreme mini scrapbook.

Enjoy!

Getting Messy with Celine

May's class at Studio Calico is Getting Messy with Celine Navarro and I've been working on my project for this class for the last few nights. Tonight, I really got into it and got a lot more done! Doing projects like this makes me wonder why I don't do more mixed media techniques in my albums - I really have so much fun doing this. But maybe I like it so much because I don't do it as often.

Anyway... the class is all about techniques, so we could choose any theme we wanted. I decided to do my album on a part of my visit to Cappadocia when we were in Turkey three years ago. We saw a lot that day, but the part I was most looking forward to was when we went to see the carved churches of Goreme. They were just incredible... and I thought the pictures from that would work well with the techniques we were learning in this class. So far, so good!

Here are the front and back covers to my book:

I kind of love them.

I wanted to do something that would kind of reflect the colors and feel of the frescos inside the carved churches - I was really pleased with how the gesso, modeling paste, and Mr. Huey's mists helped achieve that.

I used a Crafter's Workshop template - 12x12 Peony, along with Pumpkin Spice and Manila Mister Hueys mists. I added wood letters from Making Memories - I like how off-setting them over the pre-cut "today" in the cover (October Afternoon) actually kind of pulls your eye away from the "today" all together - better than if I had tried to cover it up, but I still get the window effect.

And it's no surprise that where I have modeling paste and stencils, I also have Liquid Pearls. I'm using a lot of them in this book - I love the pops of color and touch of richness that they're adding. Plus they're fun to play with :)

I just used the stencil from a different angle on the back. I had a little smear that was on the stencil and I didn't realize it until later, but I think it adds to the fresco effect. lol.

In the class, Celine gave us 3 photo transfer techniques and 7 things we could do to decorate our inside pages. She challenged us to go ahead and make all the pages at once instead of doing them one page at a time adding pictures and final embellishments as we go. I decided to go ahead and try that out - see how I like it.

First, here are the photo transfer techniques - the first are gel transfer. Those are the bigger ones on the bottom.

They turned out really well! I was excited to try a photo of one of the frescos in a transfer - it came out great. Rubbing the paper off of everything was a total pain, but the effect is nice. Now I'm trying to flatten them.

And then acetone and packing tape transfers - acetone are on the tags, packing tape is on the bottom left.

I think my paper was too thick for the acetone to really work right, but considering I'd never done it before, the fact that I can recognize the images in the transfer is kind of awesome! The packing tape one came out great - I just need to decide what I'm going to layer it over. I'll get there...

And now for the inside pages. Again, just techniques for now. The first was using gesso, mists, and diecuts to make a page background. The second was using modeling paste and stencils (which, as we all know, I absolutely LOVE to do!)

I used a peacock patterned file on my Cameo for the left:

I added some jewels and some Golden Gold Mica paste in the centers.

I love this page... I used a Tattered Angels glimmer screen for the shape - it was thick so the design is nice and defined. I love the little jewels and dots of Liquid Pearls.

Next up, we sprayed mists on a craft mat and kind of dipped the paper in them. The 4th technique was to create a collage-type background.

I stuck to the same colors of mists with the turquoise ink to highlight - I like the continuity. On the left, I stamped and embossed on top and added some more gold mica paste to both pages.

The 5th technique was to create a pocket / confetti page with vellum. I actually broke out my sewing machine for this one. It's kind of a miracle.

I put metallic sequins in as the confetti which I like. Since the entire page went into the pocket, I had to have the back ready too so I did the dip in the mist technique again and then stamped and embossed on top. I just wish I'd put the rubon on the outide of the vellum... wasn't thinking, I guess. It still looks nice, though.

Six was to alter the kraft star stickers with gesso and mists, and the seventh was to use a mask and mists two ways - including using the mask as a kind of stamp to make a 2-color effect.

The thin white lines on the left are another stencil and modeling paste. I spritzed the background with Mr. Huey's Pinstripe to tone down the pattern so the modeling paste would stand out, then added some gold irridescent paint, the altered stars and more jewels and liquid pears.

I decided to use a corner mask for the 7th technique - I thought it could make for a good journaling page.

There's still one last lesson in the instructions that I haven't done yet - making divider pages with my Cameo. I'll try a few of those, and then it's time to start adding in photos.

But first, tomorrow is NSD and I've got to get my goods together for a day at Doodlebug! Stacy Julien will be speaking, we get to do a class, have lunch, and all kinds of fun stuff. Then I'm going to work on some challenges at 2 Peas and Studio Calico. Time to knock out a few layouts!

I guess I'd better get my supplies packed up and then get to bed, huh? Off to get it done!

 

Project Life Week 10 & Another Happy Moment

I've got lots of stuff to share today... a little catch-up from the weekend as well as this week's Project Life layout.

Project Life first... here's this week's spread:

This week is just a bit different... no templates! Also, all the paper and elements are by Gennifer Bursett. (As of this week, I'm kind of on her unofficial creative team. Is that fun or what? I never thought I'd ever do any digital DT work of any kind, and I love her stuff.)

One of the journaling spots, ribbon, film strip frame, tape, rosettes and flag banner are all from County Fair Part 2. The doily paper is from Ever After, the chevron paper, numbered list card and journaling card are from Favorite Things. The index card with the dates is from the Writer's Block Weekly Journaling Cards set, the big scalloped journal spot is from Grandma's Easter Bonnet.

I was mostly good with my Healthy in 2012 stuff last week. Except for Girl Scout cookies, but they don't count, right? As you can see, I was also loving my box of Studio Calico goodies. I volunteered at Bountiful Baskets again - we got kale this week. Woohoo! Also lots of sweet peppers and anaheim peppers, so I'll be doing some southwestern or maybe a stir fry pretty soon, I think.

In other news, the treadmill is no longer blocking my stairs! Melody and Vic stopped by last night and helped me move it up the stairs and into my room. I spent a few hours putting it together and got my first workout this morning. It's bigger than the last one, but it works great and it's smoother and quieter. (It folds up too.)

Over the weekend I also did another section in my Happy Little Moments book. This was about the beach in Dubai... I'm not much of a beach person, but I loved that beach. Especially at 11pm when the worst of the heat eased (it was still 90... lol) and a breeze came in over the gulf. I would lay in a chaise enjoying the breeze, watching the moonlight ripple on the water and listening to the waves lap at the sand. It was wonderful.

This layout got a bit out of hand... but I started it as an assignment using solid stamps in Jen Gallacher's Scrapbook Stamping class at 2 Peas. I've barely started the class, but I'm having lots of fun so far.

I used Papertrey Ink's original jar stamp set and the Summer fillers along with another shell stamp to make this tag. I sewed a piece of vellum on top and the other shell is just tucked in there.

And the right side was where I started with the solid stamps - Papertrey Ink Beautiful Blooms II.

I did the stamping and embossing and added some brads and buttons, but it felt a little empty so I started doodling some henna inspired sketches on it and then went over it with a tan PanPastel wash. I like it (I don't LOVE it) but it was fun and it kind of fits. So it works for me :)

And last but not least... just sharing a quick recipe from something I threw together tonight.

I had a bunch of pears from Bountiful Baskets that I needed to use so I sliced a few up and made little pocket thingies from them. I had a tube of reduced fat crescent roll dough in the fridge so I pulled it out and separated the triangles onto a cookie sheet. I laid about 5 slices of pear in each one, sprinkled them with cinnamon and a good-sized pinch of brown sugar and just a sliver of butter. Then I wrapped them up (the pears hang out the sides) and threw them in the oven on 350 until they were golden brown. I topped with just a drizzle of fat-free caramel and some fat free cool whip. With the caramel, they're 6 points plus on Weight Watchers. Without, they're 5 (I had lots of points left over today, so I went for it.) They were YUM. They don't taste diet in the least and they were super easy to make.

That's it for now... laters!

Happy Moments, a layout, and BIG mail.

The last two days have been like Christmas! I got my Studio Calico box with my March Story Hour kit and add-ons and I was practically squealing in delight as I opened it all. Not literally, of course. Well... maybe just a little bit on the inside. I LOVE this kit. Love it. I couldn't resist doing a layout right away, so I pulled out my PDF from Kelly Purkey's downloadable Sketchpad class. I've been meaning to do this before Sketchbook 4 starts in April so why not now? I'm going to try and work straight through the sketches, so this is using the first one and some fun pictures from Greece.

Pretty much everything here is from the kit or an add-on... I used my Cameo on kraft cardstock for the doilies and chevron shapes, but that's it.

During our pre-trip research, someone discovered that in Greece, a man proposes to a woman by giving her an apple. I'm not sure how true that actually is, but the other girls wanted to do something fun with this while we were there. Our fake togas drew some funny looks on the roof of our hotel.

The funny thing was, there was an actual marriage proposal going on over on the other side of the roof. We couldn't get close enough to see if he had an apple, though.

You can tell I was just along for the ride by the fact that I was the only one that wasn't willing to go to the effort of stripping my bed to get a toga when there were nice, big towels in the bathrooms. lol. It was a lot of fun, though. And how about that view?

For the letters on the layout, I took the white foam Thickers and painted with with Claudine Helmuth Modern Red and then dotted on some turquoise Liquid Pearls.

Kind of a simple layout for me, but I'm really loving it.

And of course, I'm still working on my Happy Little Moments class. I finished two more sections.

This page was actually inspired by a previous piece I did, which was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest a while ago. I stamped the Papertrey Ink roses directly on the page and then outlined them in black pen.

(And I'm kind of digging the sequins I sewed into the border on the right side. Sparkly!)

I colored in with PanPastels - I like how it's still a little translucent. I sprayed it with Krylon fixative to keep the pastels from rubbing off.

The work field trip made it in... how could it not?

And on the right, a pocket page! I cut down one of the pages of the three that get glued together to form a section to make the pocket. And while I was at it, I cut a window to see some of the smaller things tucked inside. It's backed with a scrap of a Hambly transparency and then outlined with Liquid Pearls (I love those things lately).

I think I'll add another section or two (I know the next one for sure) and then I might leave a few sections blank so I can add more later. We'll see.

The other big thing? Today was my treadmill delivery day. I worked at home since I had to be here to meet the delivery guy, and this was a HUGE box. Way bigger than my last treadmill which was small enough to fit in the back of my mom's old CRV. This one? No way. But I needed it out of my garage so I could pull my car back in, so this is where it's at right now.

I got the old treadmill disassembled and out to my garage without any help, but this is a different story. I wrangled it inside and onto the stairs by myself (no mean feat!) but this is where it's staying until Melody and Vic can come over and help me move it. I was hoping to have it up and running for a Saturday workout, but I might have to go down to the gym instead. I'm stubborn, but not crazy enough to try and get this sucker the rest of the way without help! For now I can still get up and down the stairs and my car is in the garage. It's all good.

After this was delivered I was back to work when the UPS guy rang the doorbell. I wasn't expecting anything else today, but he had another big box for me. Guess what was in it?

I've been in desperate need of a new vacuum, and my mom had been telling me to get a Dyson. Duh. Who wouldn't like a Dyson? But they're $$$! However, earlier this week my mom forwarded me an email - Woot had refurbished Dyson DC25s for a really good price. Since I got such a good deal on my treadmill (and free delivery!) I had enough left over from my tax return to snap one of these up. It was a shock to get it because it just shipped yesterday! So yay! I'm now a proud and happy Dyson owner. And really, how often are you proud and happy about a vacuum? Just sayin'.

Anyway... after all that, I'm ready to crash. Happy weekend!

More from my Happy Little Moments class

I'm still having a blast making my altered book for this class. I'm probably about half-way through at this point although I might not finish it all at once... but then again, maybe I will. Who knows? I'm playing it by ear and just having fun and experimenting a little too.

Lots more pictures of the next 3 sections...

I used my Cameo on these - the circle shape on the left side and the words on the right (and that one-click welding in the Silhouette Studio software is AWESOME.) I cut part of the circle shape off and pasted it all down and then added the other stuff to it.

On the right, I did some stamping in the background and then just layered the rest on top and hand-stitched the border.

The next section is a slightly different style, but I just love it. I brought back my stencils and modeling paste again to do this moment from Istanbul when I was there last May. This moment *had* to be in this book since it was probably the best of the entire trip.

I don't have pictures of the exact moment, but these are pictures that contributed and helped tell the story.

And some close-ups of the modeling paste - I used some different colored Perfect Pearls on top / around it.

I like the second one - you can really get a feel for the dimension it brings to the page. Love.

On the other side, I tried making a window with a super-extra-jumbo Marvy circle punch. I chain stitched around the opening and then backed it with part of a Hambly transparency for some stability since the circle didn't reach in all that far.

The glass nazar and raffia are actually leftover wrapping from some rose scented soap I bought on my first trip to Istanbul a few years ago. I've wanted to use it in a project somewhere and this seemed perfect.

And I'm going to be doing LOTS more of that modeling paste stuff. I just can't get enough of how fun it is and how cool it looks (at least I think so, anyway.)

Last spread for tonight...

Pretty basic pages... just some patterned paper layers worked around the transparency.

It was inevitable that food and cooking would be in here, because I have so many lovely moments when I get to relax and make something special. These pictures are from when I was making boulognese and homemade rigatoni last year - that sauce was AMAZING. I need to make it again. But it's a vivid memory because of what a wonderful, relaxing and just happy afternoon it was. No pressure, no timelines... I wasn't making it for anyone but me and it was wonderful. I need to do that again.

The little chef is a stamped image (stamp by Stamping Bella) that I colored and cut out. The page just cried out for me to add this little guy. How could I refuse? I also hand-stitched the zig-zag border with some red embroidery floss. I'm having lots of fun with the stitching :)

I have more techniques I'm dying to use in this book so I'll be back to share those soon. But for now, bed! I'm exhausted (which is what happens when I miss my Sunday nap. Sigh.)

Happy Little Moments Class

I've really gotten into taking online arts and crafts classes... when I've taken classes in local shops, I learn fun techniques, but I rarely use the projects after I get them home. Online classes are fun for me because they tend to be technique driven and I provide my own supplies and kind of make it mine as I go which works out much better for me. This year Studio Calico has started offering an online class every month, and my first one is their March class - Happy Little Moments taught by Maggie Holmes. It's basically an altered book class. I've been working on it since Thursday night, and I'm having so much fun. I still have a ways to go before my book is done, but I thought I'd post my progress so far. Get ready... tons of pictures ahead!

First up, getting the book prepped and doing the cover. I had a blast with the cover of mine.

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My book was originally red, but I covered it with a layer of gesso and then painted it with Golden Cobalt Turquoise. I left the inside red, though... I love the contrast. After it was dry, I pulled out my trusty modeling paste and a 6x6 woodgrain stencil by The Crafter's Workshop to get the texture - I just slathered it on with a palette knife. I ran a few ink pads lightly over the surface to make it not quite so stark, and then set to decorating. That stitched felt flower is one I made about two years ago that I've held on to... the polymer clay button is one I got from Tessa Ann on Etsy. Loving the turqoise and red! So me.

Then the intro page - I've always wanted to do one of these confetti pockets that are so trendy now. Lots of fun...

The stiching around the page is all done by hand - I back-stitched it all to make it look a little neater. The alpha stamps are the regular sized lower case alphabet from Educational Insights. Love them!

I bought the class kit, but as you can see... I've mixed in a lot of my own stuff, which I love. I punched out my initials to add into the confetti, and there are also some stars and a few buttons.

Then the first two pages:

This book is all about happy moments, and for me it's just random things that make me happy... memories, friends, moments in time and very likely food will be involved at least once. lol.

And a bit of a close-up of the 2nd page:

I just love this picture of Francesca, Emily and I when we were hanging out on the floor of the Lima airport with Starbucks hot chocolate and alfajores. It was the end of our trip, and feels like it just kind of sums things up.

For the 2nd spread, I focused on Rick's birthday when I was home for Christmas, using some Instax prints that I had taken at the restaurant.

I go home for Christmas every year, but I never stay for New Year's so I always miss celebrating Rick's birthday in person. This year I stayed a lot longer and got to be there... it made it so special and I wanted to capture that here.

And some details from the other side:

The robot stamp is from a fun little set by Hero Arts. The "Happy Day" ticket is from an old Cocoa Daisy kit.

The tags were kind of stuck into the binding and then I stitched them down by hand. On the page itself, I used another 6x6 template - Star Shower by The Crafter's Workshop and a yellow ink pad to do the background. One of my favorite things about this project is that it's such a great medium for experimenting. It feels so much more okay and so much easier to play in an altered book than on a regular layout and I'm loving it! I added some details with a pen, threw on some glitter and then used some liquid pearls.

That's it so far! I'm still plugging along... I need to take a break to do my Project Life update, but I'll get it done :) For now, I've got a hockey game and some leftovers calling my name.

Projects!

I actually have a few things to share! First up, I had a Shutterfly Groupon that was all set to expire on the 28th. What day is it? Yup. I'm a procrastinator. In all fairness, I did try to get my act together enough to use this as a gift, but it just didn't happen - everything was taking longer than I thought it would. So, rather than kill myself trying to finish it when I had time before I needed to give the gift, I decided to do a graduation book instead. I had been planning on it anyway, so it worked out great. It's an 8x8 hard-cover photobook and you can see it here:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own personalized photo books at Shutterfly.com.

I put the entire thing together in just a few hours... start to finish, including editing most of the photos. Probably my fastest project ever! I did have help... I used a template album by Paislee Press. If anyone is interested, you can buy it at OScraps. I had the 8.5x11 template set but the book I did was 8x8, so I obviously did a little tweaking to make it work, but it was really awesome. I love the minimalist feel - it made it nice to not be worrying about papers and embellishments and stuff.

And now, just a few other things I've been working on here and there... a few more smashbook pages. One from conference weekend when Mel and I went for Ladies night out, and another from the weekend before last when I met up with Mindy and her girls, and Chad and his brother and sister, Courtney and Sean to grab dinner and see Footloose.

The pages:

Here are some of the pictures from Footloose. We killed a little time in the arcade at the theaters - we were amused by the guys riding the motorcycle game/ride thing. They got into it!

Courtney, Sean, Mindy and Maddy:

Chad taking his turn, with Kenzie and Griffin watching on the left:

Me, just hanging:

We went to the Mad Greek before dinner for gyros and souvlaki, and then hit up Sweet Tooth Fairy (Mindy needed to pick up Sunday night dessert for her family, so we all went.) And then after the movie, I think we all stood around in the parking lot for almost an hour and a half, just talking and joking. Too bad the weather has gotten cold... no more of that for a while! But it was a great time.

One other project I've been working on... I saw some ideas on Pinterest that made me want to try this - I stamped on a vintage dictionary page and then colored with Pan Pastels. I love how it looks - I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I had a scrap of letterpress that I think looks good with it. Maybe a collage? We'll see... too much else to work on right now, but it's kind of bumping around in the back of my mind.

and a little close-up:

And with that, it's way past my bedtime. But I'm thrilled that I got a photobook done... one more thing off my pre-trip checklist!

Off to bed. Happy Friday!

Fun with stamps!

And ink and paint and crayons and tape and mist... lol.  I've been really inspired lately by some great tutorials posted on the internet like the roses in my last post.  Today was from a couple of different places.  First, I really wanted to try this idea for building your own stamped doily designs using different sets of Papertrey Ink stamps.  I already had the stamps so I thought it would be a blast.  The other inspiration was from Julie's Art Journaling Week... she had a whole week of posts on art journaling last week and it really got me revved up to do something in my journal.

I've been feeling generally happy and optimistic lately so I thought I'd do a page about that and use the build-a-doily technique at the same time.  Here's the base of the page before I added the journaling:

 

I stamped in white and then heat embossed all the stamping.  Then I decided to get really crazy and try coloring the designs with my Caran d'Ache crayons.  I colored and then blended with a water pen; they're really highly pigmented so the colors actually turned out awesome on the black paper.  I also used one of my new Prima masks with some Tattered Angels chalkboard mists.  That didn't work out too hot, but you can still kind of see it at the top.  Some closeups of the "doilies:"

You can see where I did a little bit of outlining with Stickles to enhance the jewel tones on black.  For a page titled "hope," I really loved the idea of bright, shiny designs standing out from a black background.  It seemed cool and symbolic :)

I love how the embossing plus color makes the whole design seem to float on top of the page just a bit.

And lest you think I didn't actually write anything, here's the finished page.  I blurred out most of the words since they're too generally mushy for the old blog... lol.  I also added a bunch of Golden Pearl Mica Flakes in the corners and along the edges... just for kicks.

I liked it better without all the words and stuff, but I guess that defeats the purpose, huh?  Anyway, I had a ton of fun doing this page tonight. I'm sure I'll be doing this kind of stamping on some layouts soon! 

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!

(That song is now stuck in my head.)  The problem with using Saturday as your day to sleep in is that by the end of the day, you wonder what happened to it.  I was feeling like it was still Friday night just now!  I think I need a vacation.  lol.

Anyway, aside from catching up on sleep, I did get a few things done today... Sunday School lesson... check!  We're talking about Balaam and his talking donkey tomorrow which is always one of my favorite Old Testament stories.  Or one of the most interesting, at least.  Also watched some hockey... sadly, Colorado did not beat my expectations and were ousted from the playoffs tonight.  But nobody expected them to even make it there (me included!) so it was still okay.  Now I'll have to see who wins Caps vs. Habs... at least one of my 3 favorite teams is guaranteed to make it to the 2nd round! 

I've also done a little art journaling this weekend - trying something a bit new.  I've had a Moleskine journal sitting around unused for quite a while - mostly because I was intimidated by all the blank pages, afraid I'd ruin them by putting something on the paper.  I thought the best way to get past this was to just do something, so I took some inspiration from Pam Garrison and just started drawing.  This is all pencil (colored and sketching pencils).  I had a lot of fun with it - I need to think of something to write on here, but for now I'm happy with it because I actually DID something.

 

I followed it up with another page - I sketched a little bunch of these white flowers that are all over the trees here.  They're gorgeous, but they stink!  I threw the flowers away (outside!) after I finished sketching.

And of course, I had to make a little jewelry.  I decided to do something fun for this week's church outfit.  This is the dress... paired with a little brown cardigan and heels:

 

And here's the necklace.  I tried doing it on a display, but for some reason all of the black throws off the camera and it doesn't get enough light for a good shot.  This gives an idea of the length, though...

I've really wanted to do something like this for a while... definitely my most complicated piece so far.  Bronze chain and findings, faux pearls, carnelian beads, and some other plastic and ceramic beads mixed with bronze leaves and lucite flowers and leaves.  Won't it be just perfect with that green dress? (I love that color green too.  So happy!)

Obligatory close-ups:

The pendant is about 55mm - it's a thick, carved shell material (feels like and has a sheen of mother of pearl) with bronze and lucite flowers and a big 'ol plastic faceted bead.  This might be my new favorite :)

Hoping to do some layouts tomorrow... I've got my study group coming Monday night so I have to make sure everything is cleaned up and I'm up to speed on all my case studies first... we're studying for our Operations final on Tuesday night.  Bleh.  But I'm making strawberry shortcake for dessert, so at least it won't be completely awful, right?

I'm hopelessly addicted.

First, let me just say "thank you!" to everyone for the lovely comments about the PageMaps sketch contest.  I'm still buzzed.

As for what I'm currently addicted to, three guesses (if it starts with a "j" and ends with an "ewelry," you nailed it!)

Here's what I did while I watched the Avs blow another game tonight... (I'm looking at it this way.  If they don't make the playoffs, I have more time to spend on homework and hobbies and such instead of watching more playoff games.)

This is a result of my absolute love of aquariums and my total fascination with sea horses.  I'm totally going to wear this (I'm wearing it now, in fact.)  In case you haven't guessed, my taste in jewelry isn't all that subtle.  lol.  Here's another view:

Look Mom!  It's monochromatic!  (heehee... I couldn't resist.)  

I mixed some store bought (sales and coupons, of course!) with bargain bin and found objects.  I had a bag of old metallic necklace strands and this one with the plastic silver balls was the perfect length and compliment for the other strands.  I had to do some creative wire wrapping to attach it, but I'm pleased.  I just wish I had mixed in some rust colored beads to set off the focal pendant more.  Oh well!  It still looks good and I'll remember to think of that kind of thing for next time.

I also did a quick page in my art journal... this is an idea I've had for a while based on some cool fortunes I've gotten in fortune cookies.  I pasted my two favorites onto the page, including the one that predicted Steph's wedding back in May of 2009 (I'm so not kidding!  I marked the date and saved it... I had a feeling as soon as I got it that it would be Steph, and just a few months later she announced her engagement.  True story!)

I used all kinds of goodies from China... the rice paper calendar pages are awesome when you decoupage them onto a gesso covered surface... I also added some little embellishments that were actually from the charm swap our tour group did.

That's it!  I'm just hoping that the snow is gone in the morning (it's our annual April Fool's storm).  I'm so tired of Winter!  It's time for Spring. Seriously.

TTFN!

A lesson in throwing a tantrum.

Last week when I called home (or was it the week before?  whatever...) Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh was throwing a bit of a tantrum because no one would take her outside for a walk and my mom was giving me the play-by-play over the phone.  Erin grabbed the camera and posted pictures, and I couldn't resist turning them into a layout to go with the story.  This little one is a Drama Queen.

I'm sure my enjoyment of this story had a lot to do with being 2,000 miles away from the kicking and howling.  lol.

I was also, FINALLY, able to get back to my art journal this weekend... I've really been wanting to do some journaling and this page is totally symbolic of all the ideas I've got brewing that I have no time to explore.  I'm doing a little here and there, but what I've been getting done is a drop in the bucket compared to what's going on in my head.  I find it rather ironic that all the inspiration is coming when I'm so busy I can't indulge... but maybe the busy is causing the inspiration.  lol.  Food for thought, I guess!

Here's the page... symbolically, this is a self-portrait, but it doesn't look anything like me and I never intended it to... lol.  It's a conceptual likeness (*wink*).

The pages of my journal are black, so I put down a light coat of gesso and then outlined the head and shoulders and filled them in with decoupaged phone book pages (of course!)  I used Pan Pastels and Caran d'Ache crayons to do the coloring and a Copic Multiliner to draw the face.  Then I just started adding stuff.

Okay, that's it for now.  As usually happens when I get working in my journal, it's now way too late at night... I should have been in bed at least two hours ago.  Great way to start the week, huh?  Oh well!  At least I had fun and was able to get some of my ideas out of my head and on to paper :)

P.S.  What's up with the Avs?  I mean, it's like they're afraid they're going to miss April tee times so they're deliberately tanking so they don't make the playoffs.  Or they're playing Andy too much in goal.  Or both.  Whatever, this is insane after the great year they've had.  Shaking my head.  Hopefully they pull it together.

Work in progress

I feel like I always start my posts off the same way lately... I've been busy.  lol.  But it's true!  Anyway, I've got a few projects in the works that I finally took some pictures of to share.  No scrapbooking since the last layout posted, but I've been working on my new mixed media piece as well as my online class project.

First, the class.  We're on week 2 and I realized I hadn't posted anything, but I did take pictures before I started this week's phase.  So, this is the class I'm taking.  I'm excited to get to learn a little about making art dolls.  The first week, we assembled and painted our wagons.  I ended up using flocked paper instead of patterned and added some Glimmer Mist to give it the color I wanted.

 

and a view of the back...

Week two is all about embellishing the wagon to get it ready for our doll.  I used the instructions as a general guideline, but deviated here and there to really make it *me* (which is what it's all about, right?)

And another view with the side as well:

I didn't take a picture of the back... it still looks the same as above except for the wheels.  They match the front only without the glittered chipboard pieces.  Here's a close-up of the wheels:

I stamped and embossed a doily image onto the wheels and then added some small rhinestones.  I made the book flowers from an old dictionary and sprayed with LuminArte Radiant Rain (I LOVE that stuff!) and added the glittered chipboard to the front.  I also happened to have that mini lion's head door knocker tucked away in my stash and I thought I'd use that as my handle for what's essentially supposed to look like the door of the wagon.

For the top panel, instead of patterned paper, I used alcohol inks with a blending solution and a gold Krylon pen for a marbled effect and then used the pen to paint some wood accents I found cheap at Hobby Lobby.  I layered on an old gold jewelry piece with a turquoise metal flower and the red jewel thingy... I couldn't get a good picture of that.  Maybe next time I'll photograph in daylight. :)  So next week we start on the doll.  Should be fun!

The other project I've been working on is my Venetian themed mixed media piece.  I've been working on the canvas a bit - it's still far from done... don't judge.  lol.  I started laying things out just to see how it was pulling together and snapped a quick photo:

I'm not much of a painter, so we'll see how this comes together in the end.  I'm actually pretty pleased with the perspective I got when I was sketching the gondola and the boats, so maybe it won't be half bad.  Still definitely working on the paint, though... hopefully it comes out somewhat similar to what's in my head.  Sadly, most things don't.  lol.  Oh well!  At least I'm having fun, right?

Being sick stinks.

I hate colds... I woke up with one on Thursday morning and it's steadily gotten worse.  I'm sure it's because I don't get enough sleep and so I brought it on myself, but I'm still annoyed.  I can't get the taste of cough syrup out of my mouth.  Yuck!  But right now I can breathe, which is a huge improvement over recent days.  But enough of that.

I didn't get to play in my studio as much as I wanted to this weekend (a side effect of that "sick" crap), but since I slept all day Sunday I ended up not being able to sleep very long tonight (last night?) and so I got up early to work on some things.  First, a layout of a totally sweet picture of Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh.  This is based on a great sketch from PageMaps that inspired me to scrap this picture.

And the journaling... "2/28/10 - Seeing this photo of Eraleigh made me think of a lot of things that I really appreciate... having such a sweet, beautiful niece to love and spoil... her fun and spunky personality (spunky is a euphamism for diva, of course) and appreciation for digital cameras, the internet and blogs so that I can share these sweet moments from 2,000 miles away.  Although I’m sure Rick & Erin appreciate something entirely different about moments like these... a little peace and quiet!"

Also a few close-ups (of course!) of the non-photo fun parts...

 

I love having all these cute, girly photos so I can cover them with flowers and butterflies... so fun!

And on my mixed media project front, I made a little more progress this weekend... if you remember those masks I posted the other day, here's an update of where they are now:

The big one is intended to be a different take on Venetian masks... there are a lot of similarities, but I decided to use paper clay to take it in a slightly different direction and I'm pretty pleased so far.  I just wish I had done the base out of papier mache to begin with, but since I had started it with clay (which didn't work too well), I decided to just use paper clay to fix it so it would be usable and it didn't turn out too badly!  The other part of this project has been to start re-working this canvas that I did a few years ago (and which I never really liked... I've been dying to paint over it for a long time now!) I've got the first coat of gesso down over the old painting and it felt great to do it!  Once it's dry I'll need at least one more coat before I can start the base for my new piece.  Guess what the theme is (still!) going to be?  lol.

Finally, I'm about 90% sure that I'm going to sign up for Teesha Moore's Journalfest in October.  Since my trip to Peru was postponed, I've been looking for something small, fun and affordable to do this year to kind of make up for it.  This takes place over my birthday weekend in Port Townsend (where I've been for a family reunion and it's fabulous), and has a ton of classes that look like a lot of fun as well as a way to get inspired and broaden my horizons.  It seems like the perfect choice!  I'm still thinking about it, but there's a pretty good chance I'll be sending in my registration form this week :)

On my desk today...

Aside from homework, that is.  I'm sure I sound like a broken record but this accounting class is only 6 weeks and I think the professor is trying to make up for that!  I have a few last minute things to do with the case study questions, but the rest is done!  Until next week.  lol.

But!  I was still able to play a bit after I finished while listening to the Avs game online.  I did some more work on Steph's wedding album... I started these little figures for the album cover the other day and they're finally dry so tonight I adhered them.

 

I got a Maya Road chipboard album made up of these people and took it apart.  I put handmade paper on top, cut / sanded and then covered them with diamond glaze for some shiny dimension.  I stuck the paper roses into the diamond glaze while it was wet and now they're nice and stuck on.  I also sprayed the dude figure with red Luminarte Radiant Rain before I covered it so that it would show through the holes in the flowers in the paper.  It turned out so cool!  It's sweet in person... I almost decided not to put them on the album so I could keep them! You can kind of see it here:

The girl has a subtle embossed flower pattern that you can almost see here.  I also sprayed her with Marshmallow Glimmer Mist before putting on the diamond glaze so there's a cool sheen to it.

I also got a page done for the album...

I'm keeping the album pretty simple so it will focus on the photos.  I can't wait until it's finished and I can give it to Steph and Mike!

Finally, a little peek at another art / collage / mixed media thingy that I've started working on.  I have so many ideas for projects right now, but this is the one that I was most excited to start.

I wanted to use pre-made papier mache bases, but I couldn't find any small ones out there so I just made my own.  I molded the masks from paper clay last night and let them dry; tonight I painted them.  The gold is Solar Gold Luminarte pigment mixed with matte Modge Podge and the white is Tim Holtz Picket Fence crackle paint... it's going to have a little more added to the base before I start decorating :)  I also re-molded a larger mask that I made before these - I'd used a different kind of clay that just didn't work out so the redo is drying right now.  In the meantime, I found a site where I could get 20 yard spools of bead and gimp trim for $4 or less, so I ordered a few spools and I can't wait to get it to add to this project.

So now I'm just finishing up a few last things before I call it a night. :)

Happiness is a journey...

Whew... another busy week!  Time is certainly flying, though.  Between work, school and homework, though, I still snuck in an hour or two here and there to work on a new project.  After I finished my last layout I had an idea for a new collage piece that I wanted to try.  I sketched it out and realized it would work really well with one of my favorite quotes, so I worked on it this week and finished it tonight (staying up too late yet again... with an early meeting in the morning, of course!)

So... here's my new piece:

 

I worked the entire thing around the hot air balloon which I was really excited to make.  I wanted it to be 3D, so I cut the base shape out of chipboard and then did the balloon in papier mache on top of it.  The basket is made from modeling paste mixed with paint and mica pigment powder and spread about 1/8" thick on a chipboard base.  I cut the lines into it while it was still wet and let all of it try overnight.

The background is watercolor and glimmer mist and then I did the mountains in chalk pastels (sealed with Mod Podge).  I stamped the dot images in acrylic and made the clouds out of Mod Podge, tissue paper, Pan Pastels and Stickles.

Some close-ups, of course!

 

After the papier mache dried, I covered the balloon with Japanese Washi tape, a sheet of letterpressed paper, fabric, a handpainted design with acrylic paint, patterned paper and more fabric, with lace and other trims in between.  The little bags on the basked were hand sewn from tiny scraps of Amy Butler fabric and they're stuffed with tissue paper.

I cut the butterflies out of thin chipboard, decoupaged phone book pages on them and then colored them with my spray mists.  Then I stamped on them and heat embossed and then curled the wings.  I edged them with a Krylon leafing pen and added the crystal pins and pearls.

 

And the last close-up:

 

And that's it!  I always have so much fun when I work on these types of projects... in fact, lately I've been very interested in making other 3D figures and I've gotten interested in Art Dolls.  So today I signed up for an online class to make a specific project.  I'm really excited about it - I'll post as I work on it.  The class starts March 9th, and I should get my supply list soon.  Should be fun!  I can't wait to start.

Anyway, I'm up too late again, so off to bed!  Here's hoping I stay inspired over the weekend and I get some more fun projects done.

Happy New Year!

2009 was a pretty good year... lots of wonderful things happened.  Going to Turkey, going to Disney with the family, a few trips to San Francisco and then going home for Christmas.  Not to mention lots of changes at work and starting my MBA.  It hasn't all been good... there have been a few rough spots of course, but the positives far outweigh the negatives and I'm very grateful for how blessed I've been this year.

So that said, I decided to do a new spin on resolutions this year.  "Resolutions" don't work for me, so I thought I'd come up with some goals to help me grow personally that are based on stretching the boundaries of my strengths.  There are also a few "get healthy" goals, but that's because I really need and want to get back there.  So I created an art journal page around that concept, using a tree to symbolize growth and the leaves as my goals.

I cut the tree and leaves out of chipboard and then decoupaged phone book pages on top, spritzed with Glimmer Mist (plus my first homemade shimmery mist!) and then I added pastels, acrylic mica and gold leaf pen until it looked right.  The background is oil pastels with stamped and embossed doily stamps. 

 

I've also seen some really fun posts counting down favorite layouts of the year.  I went back through the ones I've made this year and had so much fun looking at them again that I thought I'd follow along and post some favorite projects of my own :)

1.  Some traffic-blocking baboons near Cape Town (May 2007).

 

2.  The Great Wall of China (September 2008).

 

3.  A layout of the first time I got to hold my nephew Ben in July 2006.

 

4.  The Temple of Heaven in Beijing in September 2008.

5.  Seeing the penguins at Boulders Beach in South Africa in May 2007.

 

6.  The Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia, Turkey last February

7.  Disney World with my family where I met Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh for the first time in person last May.

 

8.  Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh enjoying her wading pool (Summer 2009)

 

9.  A sweet moment with Eraleigh and Rick (first half of 2009).

10.  One of my Banana Frog projects - Eraleigh playing in the first snow of the year (November 2009).

I was going to stop at 10, but I couldn't post without my favorite art journal projects.

11.  My 3D papier mache collage thingy

12.  And still probably my favorite project all year, my globe art journal page.

So that's it... I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

P.S. - I guess this means it's officially time to take down the Christmas blog design, huh?  Time to get to work on a new banner!

My new favorite thing

I've been sick again all weekend... I don't know why.  Possibly tons of stress, lack of sleep and going in and out of freezing cold weather?  Maybe.  But I don't exactly have time to be sick so I'm knocking back the Robitussin and trying to get everything done anyway.  Today I spent about 5-6 hours working on the write-up for my team's marketing project... still plenty left to do.  I also made good progress on Banana Frog projects, made a cough syrup run and even started my laundry!  I decided while I was at it to stay up a bit longer and do a few things just for fun.

So this is my new favorite thing... I can thank Marah for helping me see the beauty in die cutting cardboard, but tonight I really played with it.  When I opened the drawer to pull out the plates for my Cuttlebug, I glanced at my embossing folders and thought to myself, "self, what would happen if you tried to emboss cardboard?"  As it turns out, embossed cardboard is SWEET.  I diecut a bunch of circles and embossed them and then tried inking and painting them.  I ended up making a whole bunch of them to make a wreath in my Christmas journal inspired by this cool one on the Maya Road blog.  I inserted it before day 4... where you can see some bleed through from Careless Copic Use on Day 5.  Oh well, adds character, right?

 

And a close-up, though it's still a little hard to see the effect of the embossing in the photo (the smallest circles are chipboard - I painted them, stamped on them and heat embossed):

And now day 5... I did this earlier this week and just got around to taking pictures.  I was actually really glad to be so far behind when I did this one since I had just seen this awesome technique from Tim Holtz that seemed perfect for a page about advent calendars.

And the obligatory close-up... for my version I just used chipboard numbers and tin foil instead of grungeboard and metal tape.  I also used Copics instead of alcohol ink in those pens... pretty much the same thing, right?

 

That envelope in between the pages is from my company's holiday party - it has the schedule of events during the party so I added it in since that was also on the 5th.  Here's the view of the advent calendar I included... Nicole found this in the store and she and Brian mailed it to me - she thought it would be a fun way to remember when we had these as kids.  I love it!  I open my little door every day.

 

I decided to skip day 6 - that day's prompt just didn't resonate with me... I didn't really have anything for it and decided that since I was so far behind I'd just skip it rather than doing an alternate prompt.  So here's day 7:

So, um, yeah.  A lot of un-checked items.  lol.  I did die-cut the other 7 check marks since I absolutely intend to do everything on that list!  I also did some more diecut and embossed cardboard here.  For these, I brushed PanPastels over the raised areas for some subtle color.

And finally, as if there weren't already enough pictures in this post, one more fun thing I discovered with the cardboard tonight.  I decided that since I was embossing it, I should try letterpressing my cardboard with ink and an embossing folder.  It actually turned out kind of awesome!  It's like grunge letterpress... considering it's cardboard, that's probably appropriate... lol.  I can't wait to use this on something.

Kind of hard to see the debossing in a photo, but it's cool!  The one in back is the first one I tried with gold ink.  That doesn's show up too well on this color, but it's shimmery if you look close :)  Okay.  done now.  Time for cough syrup and sleep.

I can almost smell the weekend...

Some of my co-workers and I got into this stupid joke at work.  One of them had once made a comment about it smelling like Friday and of course we couldn't let that go.  So someone will come in and pretend to be sniffing the air and say something along the lines of "what's that smell?  It smells awful!"  And naturally we delight in sucking people in so they try and figure out what smells bad.  The answer, of course, is that it smells like Friday!  (Yes, we are all 12 years old.  lol) 

I'd say I'm ready for the weekend because it's been a VERY busy week, but the weekend includes an all-day-into-the-evening work session with my study group to work on our presentation / final paper for our Marketing Management class.  Oy.  It would probably go into the night as well, but my office Christmas party is Saturday night so I have an escape :) Sunday will probably be my relaxing day, but I also have to study for another final on Tuesday.  At least it's wrapping up!

In the meantime, I caught up on the pages to go with days 1 and 2 in my Christmas journal.  I also did a little Christmas art journal piece that I really like that I attached to the backside of my manifesto.  Here's the collage plus day 1:

 

Day 1 is on an envelope and inside is the print-out of the post from my Banana Frog guest appearance on Tuesday :) (with Banana Frog stamps on the outside, of course!) 

And on the back of the envelope is day 2 - a prompt from Shimelle that I paired with a picture I took almost 2 years ago of what the snow looks like here on my street:

 

And because you know I love me some close-ups, here are a few more of the collage so you can get a bit more detail.

 

k, I'm up even more too late than my usual too late (I had to come home and work after class and then ended up playing.  Smart of me, yes?) I'm hoping tomorrow I can spare an hour or so to drop by the American Crafts warehouse sale.  That's always fun, but we'll see what the day brings.

I'm seriously having so much fun.

I know there are a few people wondering if I'm ever going to do regular scrapbook layouts again... lol.  Of course!  I've got a fun one finished for Banana Frog and there will be more.  But to be completely honest, there was a point recently when I just didn't want to come into my craft room at all because I was just bored!  Taking these classes from Julie and Marah has been the best thing I could have done for my mojo.  Now I have so many ideas running through my brain I'm frustrated that I don't have all day every day to just sit and play!  I'm writing them down as they come, though... I'll get to them! 

In the meantime, I think this is one of my favorite things I've done in a long time.  Yup, another art journal page.  But I LOVE IT!!! It's been a while since I've really loved so much of what I've been working on, but lately it's been happening more and more.  It's been good to find the old me... the one who used to really love scrapbooking and crafting and finding ways to combine the stories I want to remember with some creative therapy.  I guess getting my fingers all inky and gluey has been kind of a therapy in itself.  So yeah.  I'll get off of that now and just post pictures already!

Did I mention that I LOVE this?  Because of that, I'm sharing in great detail.  Apologies in advance ;)

Phase 1 (or really like phase 12, but the first point when I took pictures).  I had this idea for something using a globe that would represent my love of travel.  It was a pain in the butt, but I'm loving how it came out.

 

Basically, I found a picture in Google images that showed the side of the globe I wanted to use, blew it up to the right size and printed it on plain white cardstock.  Then I sat down (forEVER) with phone book pages, a jar of Mod Podge and a paintbrush and collaged the phone book pages into the shape of the land.  Then I layered oil pastels, opalescent watercolors and Golden Pearl Mica Flake acrylic on top.  Then I mixed some mica pigment powders with more Mod Podge to create the border I was going to glue the collage to.

Phase 2:

 

I added journaling, jewels and covered a chipboard heart with more phone book pages, lumin art (liquid) and more Pearl Mica flake and stamped "carpe diem."  I thought I was finished when I decided to play with my PanPastels a bit.  Which leads to...

The final product!  Which I love!

 

And because I'm in shameless display mode, I'll share close-ups :)

 

And finally...

 

Okay, that's it.  Now I've GOT to get some sleep.  The only problem with creative overload is that I tend to not go to bed on time. (Who am I kidding... when do I EVER go to bed on time?)  But seriously... lots of meetings tomorrow and then class tomorrow night and study group afterwards.  Nothing like going through that list to make the eyelids droop!

Art journaling

I started the day with every intention of working on Christmas projects.  That went out the window!  Instead I opened my blinds to watch the snow while I listened to Christmas music and just played.  (Oh, and if you like classical, check out the Eaken Piano Trio... they have some beautiful holiday music).

I've been really inspired lately by some books I've been reading including Alphabetica and 1000 Artist Journal Pages as well as drooling over Teesha Moore's work and watching some great videos she put together... I've loved her work for years!

So here's what I came up with... a page for my much neglected art journal:

 

I used a few techniques we've learned in Julie's class on here... first, I did the background with Adirondack color wash and gel medium over a phone book page and then I did a textured tissue technique at the bottom (in this case textured phone book page... lol.)  The "S" is a stencil that I covered with modeling paste, paint and Lumin Art.  I made the fish out of cardboard and spritzled glitter while the paint was wet and I just free-hand painted the background.  Tons of fun!  Here's a close-up:

Finally, yesterday I got the frame I ordered for my bird collage - I got a cheap gallery frame from Dick Blick and I LOVE it!  I hung it with my little fish collage I did a while ago:

 

Okay... off to watch the Avs game and get some dinner, but after that I swear it's time to get down to work on my Christmas projects!

12 hours of scrapping fun

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had signed up to take some classes with Marah Johnson at a nearby scrapbook store.  Yesterday was class day and it was so much fun.  I signed up because her projects looked awesome and I'd heard that she's a great teacher for learning new techniques... I wasn't disappointed!  I loved my first class so much that I grabbed the last spot in her 3rd class so I could take all of them.  The first class (Bird mini-album) started at 9am and we were there finishing our third class until 9pm.  Here are a few photos from the day.

Marah, showing off her awesome bird book:

 

We worked at different technique stations set up at the next table and as we finished each one, we brought the pieces back to pile up and get ready for the album assembly.  We used glitter, glimmer mist with flocked paper, alchohol inks with Krylon pens, Lumin Art sprays and mica pigment powders mixed with Mod Podge.  It was awesome to learn so many new ways to use products I've got in my stash at home.  Here's the pile at my work spot as I finished the components:

And a shot of the technique stations as we worked on the Twilight album:

 

Here's a shot of my versions of the projects from the three classes, including the book paper flowers Marah taught us how to make.  We did the bird album, the Twilight album and this awesome box full of 3x3 chipboard mini books.

 

And the inside of the book box:

The insides of the chipboard books are still empty - I haven't figured out what I'm going to use this for yet.  I've got all of the backgrounds for the pages in the mini albums done, but most of them aren't assembled since they need photos first.  I'll have to figure out what to put in those too.  When I do, I'll post the finished insides. 

I'm so glad I signed up... I had a great time and learned a lot more than I had thought I would.  I also met some really fun ladies that I hope to see at more classes and crops in the future.  Now I'm hoping that I'll have some time this week to play with some of what I learned!

Glue on my fingers

I forgot how fun it can be to really get your hands dirty... tonight I smeared oil pastels with my fingers and then painted and decoupaged with Mod Podge and as I sat waiting for my photos to transfer off my camera, I also remembered how it's kind of cool to sit and peel glue off your fingers.  I'm not sure exactly why I moved so completely away from doing this kind of thing, but I'm really glad I challenged myself by signing up for this paint and ink technique class.  I've only done two of the techniques so far, but I'm having so much fun!  Not to mention using art supplies I've had tucked away for years...

Tonight I chose to do a project that used oil pastels and watercolors.  I've always loved collage and art journaling and this seemed like the perfect technique to try and go in that direction.  Here's what I came up with after following the instructions and Julie's video:

And a side view...

 

At this point I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do next, but then I looked up and saw two papier-mâché birds that I made a while ago as an experiment just sitting on the top of a bucket and the idea for a finished piece just popped into my head.  So... I mounted the background on a thin sheet of chipboard and then pulled out stamps, ink and paint. I also grabbed an old phone book, a butterfly punch and some Mod Podge to kick it up a notch.  I guess it's kind of a 3D art journal page... lol.  Voila!

 

And a few closer shots of the birds... (click to see it bigger)

 

I really like how this turned out... I think I might need to go get a frame!  The downside to this is the fact that it's now almost 2:30am.  lol.  I think I might have to resort to a Mountain Dew before class tomorrow night ;D

Playing with paint

I probably should have considered the fact that I just signed up for a messy scrapbook class before I splurged on a manicure at the spa, but after a few hours of playing with paint last night it held up surprisingly well!  I tried one of the techniques from my Technique-a-Palooza class with paints and aluminum foil and it was a lot of fun!  I've moved away from doing lots of involved techniques and that kind of thing over the last year or so and I had forgotten how much I loved it.

Here's what I did... first, I made some fun butterflies using the technique from Julie's lesson:

 

And a close-up...

 

And then I took it a step further with a little bling and some edging with my Copics to add a little definition:

 

At that point I was going to stop for the night, but an idea for a layout popped into my head and I just *had* to follow through and do it.

 

I decided that since I had my paint out anyway, I might as well play just a little more and distress the background a bit.

I'm looking forward to doing more playing with all these fun new techniques :)

Three Little Fishies

I mentioned that this last weekend I got a bunch of frames 1/2 at Hobby Lobby to frame some canvases.  The first time I went, I just grabbed 3 frames from the 8x10 spot and got them home, unwrapped them and started putting in the small canvases before I realized that the 3rd frame was 8.5x11.  Doh.  I ended up having to go back and get another 8x10, but since I had already opened the other one I couldn't return it.  I decided to save it - I figured I'd eventually have a picture to frame or something, right? 

Eventually ended up being yesterday. I got in the mood to do some painting / collage-y type stuff so I went ahead and did a piece to fit the frame.  I call it Three Little Fishies.  That doesn't sound very serious, though.  Maybe I should name it Three Fish Pondering the Purpose of Life in a Deep Abyss or something else deep and philosophical.

I'm really kind of liking it... especially the background (which would have been even cooler if my modeling paste hadn't been dry. sigh).  I could probably have taken a break from doing yet more fish, but they're really fun to make and I couldn't help myself.  Now I just wish it was bigger :D

More Avs tonight.  The last 9 games are all within the division and I'm hoping Forsberg and Foote get back in the lineup soon... tonight would be nice.  Go Avs!

Thanks Mom.

So I go to get my mail and I have the typical junk, my new Creating Keepsakes magazine, and an envelope from my mom.  Well that was unexpected, so I was excited to open it and see what she had sent me. 

Gee thanks.  That was subtle.  lol.

So aside from that, just a few things that have been making me happy this weekend...

First, I finally got over to Hobby Lobby while frames were 50% off and picked up frames for the fish canvases going down to the lower level.  It's amazing what a difference it makes to have everything framed.

Second, there's nothing like a clean fridge.  I went through and cleaned it all out and then got to the store to get healthy stuff (still on the bridesmaids / hockey diet) and organized it so that it's easy to grab what I need when I'm packing a lunch.

Finally, there was a layout in the new CK that used butterflies that made me want to make something with butterflies on it.  I realized I had pictures from our last trip to Monterey so I printed them out and started playing.  Out came the stamps and the Copics!  I totally lost track of time while I was coloring.  I think now I'll make some Easter cards :)

Proof positive of hockey geekiness.

I've mentioned a few times recently that I'm pretty much a total hockey geek when it comes to the Avs (although I have to say that I'm not nearly as hard core or rabid as I've come off lately... ) so I'm going to go all out and share proof.

Exhibit A:

When I said I was a Forsberg fan, I wasn't kidding.  (Although I have nothing on my dad's Guy Lafleur collection.  lol.)  I even managed to get my hands on the Swedish postage stamp where he was featured after he scored the shoot-out goal to win an olympic gold medal for Sweden.  (Oh, and since Foote came back too, his card is there too... autographed even!)  See?  Geek.

Okay.  Done with hockey and moving on.  (For now. I mean, they're playing again tonight so I make no promises... lol.)

Last night I again found myself needing to think and working in my art journal helps me to focus.

I think this one was partly prompted by my recent (continuing and frustratingly recurring) bout of insomnia and the migraine I had all day yesterday.  Possibly they're related?  lol.  After I took this picture I added my list of things that come to mind when I think of being tired.  Again, so cathartic.  I'm really glad I started doing this again.

I need...

Another art journal page.  This one worked itself into a kind of personal to-do list.  Aside from what I ended up putting here...

I need to remember that hair is shorter when it's dry.  Of course this wouldn't have been an issue if the stylist had actually cut my hair to the length I specified.  It got a bit shorter when she added the layers.  Nonetheless, there's a silver lining... it will be the perfect length by Nicole's wedding so I won't need another trim.  Not that I don't like it now, and it's nowhere near the pre-teen atrocities that I committed while attempting to be stylish way back when.  It's just a bit shorter than planned.

I need to continue avoiding making this wicked recipe I found for fried polenta cheese balls (the recipe calls for gruyere, but I bought brie).  It's for my own good.  I keep telling myself the brie will keep.  It's already mold, right?

And I NEED to see Peter playing with the Avs again. (Come on.  You HAD to see that one coming, right?).  Too bad there's no teleportation to get him from Sweden to Calgary for tonight's game.  I'm guessing nothing before the weekend but hopefully sometime on this road trip.  I'm also thinking the next game in Denver will be a sell-out.  Just a hunch. (I'm such a geek about hockey sometimes.) Have I mentioned that several of my co-workers had worries about my sanity starting about 3 seconds after I read the news that he signed?  Kylene asked me which cheerleader I was channeling.  Actually now that I think about it, she asked me that before I read the news.  I'll blame that on the diet Code Red.

A little art therapy.

So while I was working (playing?) in my little attic room tonight, I noticed my old art journal on my shelf and flipped through it.  I think that was fortuitous... maybe serendipitous?  I've had a lot on my mind lately and looking at my old entries (I haven't touched it since before I moved to Utah) reminded me that I have an outlet where I can work things out a little.  I pulled out some paint and stamps and just started throwing things on the paper.  After I took this picture I added the words.  It was cathartic. 

I'm keeping this book out.  I need to do this more.

A New Wall and Harry Potter Part Deux

At long last, the painter showed up at my house to do the accent wall going up my stairs.  I won a free accent wall when I renewed my lease in May, and I've been sooooo excited to get some color in my VERY white stairwell.  The painting has been delayed several times, however, due to lack of the proper equipment to paint a wall that high over the stairs.  As it was, James (the painter) still had a hard time.  But, I now have a gold wall :D  Mannered Gold is the color, and I LOVE it!  I was a little unsure about how it would look, but I figured it couldn't be worse than white. 

Of course, after I looked at my nice and *sophisticated* new wall (okay, comparitively sophisticated ;), I realized that there was no way I could put my avian wall collage back up the way it was but I still wanted to put it back up.  So, I ran over to the Hobby Lobby in South Jordan (LOVE that there's one close by!  Although totally bummed that they didn't have the new Love, Elsie scrapbook line which was the REAL reason I trotted out there with a coupon...lol)  They had a whole bunch of frames on sale for 50% off, so I got enough to do all the canvases for that wall.  I'm really liking the results.  It gives it a more finished look that it didn't have before which has been bugging me for months.  So, here's how it looks:

Before:

And a few "After" shots:

The flash from my camera washed the color out a bit - it's actually darker than the pictures show - the bottom left corner of the picture to the left is a better idea.  Anyway, I'm very pleased.  Now I just have to save up a bit more money and wait for another 50% off sale to get frames to do the little fishies on the other side :)

Also, I was finally able to see Harry Potter this weekend :D  I had a bridal shower to go to on opening night, so I figured since I was waiting, I might as well wait until Saturday and do a matinee at the Imax.  I'm so glad I did.  I had an awesome seat and I LOVED the movie!  I know there are people out there who aren't quite liking the changes that were made to get an 850 page book into a 2.5 hour movie, but I really felt like a lot of the changes made a great impact.  And I thought the scene at the end when Sirius falls through the arch was just beautifully done; achingly poignant.  I have to see it again.  And again.  lol.  I was going to get tickets to go again this Saturday when I realized... duh!  Book 7 is being delivered Saturday.  Like I'm going to want to put it down long enough to go to a movie I've already seen once!  I'm re-reading book 6 this week and I can't wait to FINALLY get to see how it ends.  I've heard rumors that JK Rowling was thinking of killing off Harry at the end to make sure no one could write any sequals, but I really hope she doesn't.  He has to get together with Ginny!  Okay.  I'm getting off my geeky HP rant now ;)