Skissedilla 230 - A Dad and His Girl

Its a new month and that means a new sketch up at Skissedilla for December.  This month the lovely Laetitia gave us a cool sketch to use, check it out:

Really rather cool and funky, right?

I wasn't quite sure what I'd do with my take at first but once I slapped some paste down through my new Circles and Squares ScrapFX stencil and had my picture it all just kind of came together through some picking over of bits my stash.  

I've been waiting to scrap this photo for a couple years now and I'm so glad its finally done.  This ScrapFX wordlet was perfect for it and adding some Amy Tangerine vellum stickers as a subtitle was a fun addition to lead in to some simple and quick journaling about the day. 

I do hope you take a quick time out from your festivities this month and join us at Skissedilla to play along with the sketch.  You could get some of those Christmas past memories scrapped while you're feeling festive or get a jump start on the present ones being captured - or like me just scrap the everyday.  Regardless I'd love to see you there!!

The Magic of Bubbles - Skissedilla #229

Hello There!  It has been a flurry of activity around my house as I prepared, set up, and participated in the first of a few markets for the season yesterday.  It was a blast as I had my baby girl with me helping and I'll be sure to share photos soon.  

In the meantime there is a new sketch out at Skissedilla for you to play along with during the month of November:

The lovely Brit created this one and you have oodles of time to join on in with the new adjustments to our posting - one sketch per month now instead of weekly sketches.

My page started off looking like this:

I had a vision of where I was going to go with my page and began playing with some watercolors along with my NeoColors.  I'm really smitten with circles these days in my projects.  I've always had a thing for them when I doodled and that dates back to when I was a youngster in school - zentangles of circles could be found all over my notes. ;)

I continued to layer up the circles using a variety of stencils to help out this time.  I used a few bits from the Studio Calico Sundrifter Mask and then of course I had to use my all time favorite stencil now - Random Dots from ScrapFX.  Each of these were used with some modeling paste and once dried they were highlighted with different mediums - the Sundrifter circles with more NeoColors to blend in and certain Random Dots with a Stabilo pencil.

With some very simple layers, ScrapFX chipboard, a couple wood veneers, letter stickers, and some stamping my final page came together quite quickly.  I really wanted to create a string of bubbles that seemingly continued on from the ones my niece was blowing in the picture.  Since the picture is more of a silhouette I didn't want too much going on around it - the background was busy enough - and so simple layering with the cheesecloth under seemed to work best. 

As you can tell I continued the circle theme throughout the entire page by using a Hambly transparency with circles, a graphic chippie from ScrapFX with circular elements, and of course the stamping is all about the circles.  I worried it might be overkill but in the end I liked the flow it created.  The chippie here was altered up with some black paint, decked out with a little touch of sparkle, and then highlighted with just hints of white gel pen. The words and letters are from Cosmo Cricket, Amy Tangerine, and ScrapFX.  I love, love the new vellum letters/words from Amy Tangerine - wish I would have picked up two packs of each!!

So there you have it the Magic of Bubbles and Mittens because yes my niece is in fact wearing mittens while she is blowing bubbles in the middle of some of the hottest days we had this past summer - that is just how she rolls - ha!  She found them on the porch from when I'd been pulling weeds since I couldn't find my proper gloves to do it with and thought they'd be the perfect addition to blow bubbles with - I think so too!!

I do hope you join us over at Skissedilla - check out what the other DT have been up to and we have a magnificent Selected Scrapper joining us this month as well!!

Take good care and enjoy your Sunday!

 

 

Seize the Day - Skissedilla #228

Happy Monday Peeps!  Its a new week, new month, and there is a new sketch up at Skissedilla along with some new changes.  

Instead of having weekly sketches posted to the blog there will now be just one monthly sketch with the entire DT posting inspiration for that sketch. That is a heap of eye candy!!  Of course there will still be a selected scrapper, this month the we have the spectacular Michelle of My Analog Life joining us - Yahoo!!  The blog will be written in both Norwegian and English - so excited about this since I've been working on my Norwegian since I first joined the team - and we do hope this will help more scrappers from around the globe play along with us regularly! Now on to my take for October :D

I couldn't wait to get going with this sketch.  I had all sorts of ideas and when it came down to it - I did none of the ones I had in my head - ha! Crazy.  I wanted to do something different and just started playing with my background.  Lots of watercolor, acrylic paint, paste, and NeoColors II were combined to get this look along with my current fav ScrapFX stencil - Random Dots.

I knew I really didn't need a lot of extras/embellishmets for this page and I started by adding the hot air balloon sticker.  From there I busted out the sequins which you can obviously tell I had fun with, LOL.  My daughter even helped out by digging for gold in a huge bucket-o-sequins I have.  Then I added in some cheesecloth under the photo to soften the background a bit and draw more attention to the photo.  

To finish off the page I stamped some leaves with metallic paint using the ScrapFX Leafy Stem Stamp on some text patterned paper, outlined, cut them out, and tucked them under the photo.  The ScrapFX wordlet title was colored with NeoColor in red to bring that back out and match the balloon up top, stamped randomly, highlighted with a white gel pen, and adhered to the page to complete it. 

Now its time for you to head on over to the Skissedilla blog to check out the rest of the inspiration waiting there for you - oh goodness it will blow you away - so fortunate am I to scrap with such an amazing group of ladies, love them to bits. I do hope to see you join on in with the sketch challenge too!  You have the entire month of October to play along so plenty of time to get that mojo flowin' and page pumped out! 

Have a super start week and take good care! 

Getting Pinned - Skissedilla #226

Hi There!  Its a new week and that means a new sketch is up at Skissedilla for you to play along with.  This week the lovely Nabon created this beauty for us to work with:

Totally gorgeous, right?  I sat and looked at it for a bit wondering what to do.  I'm not necessarily a flower gal, but I'm warming up to them I must say.  I also have some amazing dies in my stash that could surely use a workout so I figured why not play up the flower angle a little since I had the perfect pictures for it.

 This series of photos of my son 'getting pinned' with his flower before the Snowball Dance (the one where the girl asks the guy) seemed very fitting for a flowery type LO.  Not that I went overboard with heaps of flowers but for me having any type of flower cluster be the main embellishment is huge LOL!  I must say though I had a ton of fun playing with my flower dies again and I need to make some time to just sit and create some flowers so I have them available.  Much more practical then doing it LO by LO.

 Here you can see the background texture and lots of the details in general better.  I used acrylic paints and watercolors to create the various blue tones and then went over that with a Ronda Palazzari Designs stencil and some paste.  This same stenciled design is used in the corners of the LO also.  I brought in the pinks and greens by using some glitter glue and my finger and added some confetti bits and gems.  The chipboard piece was dry embossed, coated sparsely with gesso, and then highlighted with some gold, and outlined.

The dies I used are from My Favorite Things, chipboard is ScrapFX, and the leaves are made from a hand carved stamp and some paint.  The lines that are highlighted in black would be negatives when stamped but the paint smooshed a bit so I highlighted. ;) 

To share the back story on these photos before I go - starting at the top is my son and his date.  She was trying so hard to get the flower on him without poking him and to have it look nice - didn't work.  Then I tried to get the flower on him.  I didn't worry so much about poking him, I just wanted the thing on him.  I got it but it wouldn't stand up straight.  Next his date's mom tried - that is the photo with the doodled border around it.  She couldn't get it either!  Finally one of his buddies came over and said I can do this.  I was all thinking in my head - yeah right - but by golly he did it!  No poking of the skin, the flower stood up straight, and looked great.  Who would've thought.  We all had a good laugh over it and then declared the next time the better option would be a magnet attachment - did you know they make those now??!  Totally cool and much easier - ha!

Well thanks for letting me share that little story, ahh the joys of high school right? I do hope you join us at Skissedilla this week.

Take good care!  

 

 

10 Years Strong

Greetings!  So happy to be here.  A few technical glitches have made it frustrating around these parts but thankfully things are better.  My hubs still isn't all too happy with Apple and thinks I should give up using the brand but.......that is a discussion for another day ; )

Instead we'll discuss the anniversary I just celebrated! WooHoo!!  10 years married to my best friend as of August 29 - we've been together 14 and half.  This bunch of sunflowers came home with my hubby as a surprise to kick off our celebration.  They're my favorite flower and came from a little roadside stand around the bend from our house.  I love that he knows just what to bring me to put a smile on my face from ear to ear - and he was so sweet to drive out of his way to get them after a super long day at work.

This is a throwback page from last year's anniversary.  I wanted to include a picture of us in this post and since we've yet to get one together this year..... I resorted to this which is fun because its crafty too! :D

Lots of fun ScrapFX chipboard pieces used on this page, along with some Glitz Design papers, and washi tape.  The glittery word strips were made with a Crafter's Workshop stencil and I should really get a tutorial going for that technique.  Its super easy and fun, fun!

Flash forward to this year and here is the card I created for him.  Kind of funny it has a lot of the same elements going on, huh?  Even right down to the doily! Wow, weird.  

On this card (sorry for the terrible shot) I created my own woodgrain background using the ScrapFX Wood Grain stencil and some paste to start off with the misted it up with a variety of Lindy's Stamp Gang mists.  Once it was all dried I went over it in spots with the ScrapFX Heart Confetti stencil and ink.  Then it was just a matter of playing with layers.  I'm really diggin' PL cards for actual cards right now.  I picked up some Me & My Big Ideas ones from Ms and love them for this!  I'm sure they'll make their way in my PL album too, but for now this is what I've been using them most for and have thoughts of ways to cut them up for LOs, AJ pages and tags too!  LOL

So that is how I've been spending the long weekend - enjoying time with the one I love and our kids.  Hope you've been having a great one too!

2 Lil' Bums - Skissedilla #217

Hey, Hey!!  Its Wednesday and there is a fantabulous sketch up at Skissedilla for you to get your craft on with.  

 

I always dig the artsy feel of the sketches the talented Nabon.  She blows my mind!!!  Sometimes I think I could just hang them up as is - ha!

My take this week involved some play with: an older photo (ala 2006 from our FL trip) - 4x6 - gasp! (giggles), the Uncharted Waters line by Glitz Design (love), watercolors, Liquitex products - fluid ink & paste, sequins, new goodies from Paper Issues (oh yeah I hit up that 50% off sale!!), some other various texture items for layers, and of course my ScrapFX chippies and a new stencil was put to work to create those spectacular little dots!  This is what the stencil looks like:

Random Dots Stencil

Sorry for the blurry image - not sure what that is all about - but I wanted to show how fun this stencil is.  Perhaps I should have shot the actual stencil.  I love the freedom in this design and the actual stencil itself is really flexible so I was able to manipulate it all over my background to get just the portions I wanted.  Super important since I don't readily use a whole stencil much.

This is my full page reveal.  I had such a good time reminiscing while creating.  Hard to believe the kidlets in this photo are teens now! O.o  Up to this point I'd used some of my Uncharted Waters stash here and there, but this was the first real nautical page I'd created with it.....I can honestly say going in to this I didn't really care for anchors......coming out I am a bit more keen on them.  Don't think I'll be jumping all over them when I see them - just know I can use these papers better now! :D 

The background was super easily put together with my paste, watercolors, and I soo wish you could see the all the misting!!!!  I used my Tsukineko sprays - Goosebumps and Pssts!  to be exact and the texture and shimmer is out of this world!!  These are some of my favorite sprays eva'.  I may have to do a little tag or try again with a shot to help you see the awesomeness of these mists.  They're that good people!!! 

With that, I'll leave you for today and wish you a grand one!  Thanks for the well wishes on drying out - so far so good.  Today its supposed rain again.... the skies tell the tale it probably will.  We've been enjoying our days in the sun though and will get out and enjoy today as well ;)

Take care!!

Skissedilla #159 - Adventure

Hey there everybody!!!  How's your Monday?  Ours is windy, windy, windy!  I can't wait until the crops get growing around here so the fields aren't quite as open.

Well Sketch #159 is up at Skissedilla and it is a fantastic one!! - Carrin created it and I fell in love with the fact it was an 8.5 x11 sketch - that never happens - I'm always trying to downsize, LOL.

Lots of ScrapFX chippies used on this page - so much fun altering them up - I'm not going to share too many deets because I'm thinking I'll post all that juicy info on the ScrapFX blog - teehee - such a tease I am because I'm thinking you may want to know how I did some of what I did - but alas I'm going to make you wait!!!  I can tell you I used up some of my large October Afternoon Thrift Shop stash - seriously crushed on that line!

See what I mean about the sketch being super cool!!  I love the whole office/clipboard feel I got from it before starting my page - I stayed pretty true to it as well with the exception of adding a picture and bellies where the big ol' ink splat is - not that I don't love a big ol' ink splat ;0) - just felt moved to add a photo instead.

So I won't be totally sassy - there are a couple detail shots I've got to show you all!

These are hands down my new favorite go to alpha!!!  They're called Itty Bitty Bets "Groovy" (2005104) made by ScrapFX and you NEED them - seriously they are the perfect size for any project - you'll be seeing them lots more in the future from me for shiggity!

This is a shot of my hand carved stamps - the hot air balloon and hexagons are my own design! - I'm really hooked on carving and could spend a lot of time thinking up designs!!  Have you tried carving your own stamps?

I've also linked this LO up at MSW for Ann's hexagon challenge - even though the page doesn't scream hexagon - they are still there. ;0)  Speaking of MSW if you're looking to participate in the hop going on until the end of tonight you can go here.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!!  Have you gotten those submissions ready for Scrapbook News and Review yet??!  If not you should totally put that on your to do list - just sayin'.  You never know unless you try!

Dreaming of the Beach

Hey there!  How's your weekend going??  Its been a whirlwind of a week around here preparing for the GSDCA-WDA National competition (Schutzhund Dog Sport)(hubbie is there now competing in the tracking phase today), start of the softball season for baby girl(two scrimmages+practice this week and an all day tourney about an hour away tomorrow), and cheering on my boy at track - whew!

All this running around has left me dreaming of the summer days to come when time on the beach relaxing can be spent!  Then this thought sparked the notion in my head I'd yet to share the LO I created for the Skissedilla DT call!!!  

I had a blast creating this page!! Tons of bits and pieces that have been in my stash for years were used on this page - Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel line is what I used for paper - loved this line soo much!!

I so wish my youngest was still this size!!!  I cannot believe how much she has grown in 6 years.... she is just about as tall as I am!!

I spread on some paint with a credit card and then added droplets of paint -  I loaded up a foam stamp with heavy gesso and stamped the waves - really like how this looked with no color - really subtle but still adding to the overall look and texture of the page - I need to do this more

I used a paper doily as a mask for the sun to sit on - layered a doily from The Chip Chop Shop over some mist dyed cheescloth and under a Maya Road bottle cap that was painted yellow (although you can't really teall) - and filled with sunshine!  Added layers of paper bits, photos, cheescloth, stickers, mini paper bags to finish off the page.

What are you dreaming of today?  I shouldn't complain too much - its lovely here today and I'm about to go outside to enjoy it!

Be back tomorrow with some super fun stuff for you!  Til' then have really terrific days!

Neon!! + ScrapFX = FUN!!

Hey Friends!  I've been immersed in so many projects - its wonderful!  My table has been messed up and cleaned up numerous times today - so can't keep plowing through a mess - what about you?  Do you clean up after each project? Plow through?  Clean as you go??....gasp! (<---I've tried this one and it doesn't work well for me - I'm a go with the flow, pull everything you own out, kind of girl - yep, that's me!)

One of my favorite projects to work on was for Michelle's Neon Challenge being held on Yvonne Yam's blog.  Michelle has wonderful posts about her love of neon - you should totally check them out - and I have to say I've got a soft spot in my heart for the stuff as well - I loved getting decked out in all my gear when I was a tween - although I wasn't called a tween - we didn't have that label way back then - as my kids would say - for me, its like yesterday because everywhere I go in stores I see it!

Not entirely pleased with my neon selection I ran to the store - scored some terrifically fun neon gel crayons (Crayola) - colored through circle stencil (Crafter's Workshop) to create first layer - these crayons are COOL! - they glided across the cardstock like butter - left cool chunky rings around the edges - stenciled again using black ink to create arrows - this was cumbersome - worth it - but cumbersome!!! -  the black tag is from ScrapFX - more on those in a different post because I REALLY like them!

My daughter is all all over the neon craze right now - I was informed its very fashionable right now - she about dropped her jaw when I said I used to wear stuff that pretty much looked just like what she wants - oh the horror!!!! - Nah, its all good, baby girl says I look cute in ev'rything - she's the sweetest girl in the world!!!

Do you see that title??!!  Oh how it sparkles and shines - photos just don't do it justice - that's a ScrapFX wordlet chippie!!  Keep your eyes peeled on the ScrapFX blog this month because I'll be posting a quick and easy tutorial on how to create this look - there are even tiny confetti star pieces on it!!  Do you spy the other ScrapFX tag I used?? - the circle edge - love!

It felt good to knock out another LO from our Disney trip in 2006 - the album will be done in true freestyle/eclectic fashion - just the way I like it - ready for the full page?

So while I was at the Do More With Less blog checking out the neon challenge, I read post after post - Yvonne has an amazing amount of tips and beautiful projects to share - one tip I used and will be adding to my arsenal was using bubble wrap as a layer - I use it all the time to stamp - why hadn't I thought about layering it???! - Thanks Yvonne!!  Such a happy person I was - this totally toned down my background enough to let the rest of the layers shine! - And of course thanks Michelle for the super fun challenge!

I'll let you all know when my ScrapFX post with the tutorial goes live - in the meantime go leave my fellow teamies love - they are knockin' it outta the park!!!

Skissedilla #157

Hey there and happy Sunday to you all.  Its dreary and cold here - one would think I'd be bummin' about that - actually rather glad.  I've got a couple projects in the works I want to finish - plenty more I want to start.  My first box of chipboard from ScrapFX arrived!!!!! and I so cannot wait to get started playing with some of that as well.  What about you?  Any scrappy plans for the day?

If you're finding yourself with a lack of mojo - or adore sketches as a launching pad - head over to Skissedilla to check out sketch #157 created by Nabon.

This week I stuck pretty close to the sketch - rearranged my photos a bit so I could fit all 5 - I think that's probably close to a record of some sort for me since I'm typically a 1-2 photo scrapper - oh how my iPhone has changed all that!

The stamped image on my LO replaces the tractor - you can see I took inspiration from the squares for the background I created

Letters are from Crate Paper and October Afternoon - I ran the woodgrain OA letters through my Cuttlebug and embossed them with a woodgrain folder - outlined them with a Sharpie - the other letters were outlined with a white Sakura gel pen - some bits of tape, journaling, and a stamped doodled border made this little corner feel complete.  The journaling reads: its always been a struggle for me to celebrate myself.  I'm a people pleaser through and through.  At 35....

...I want more.  I want to learn how to truly embrace who I am.  I also used the quote from the book "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett to go with my pictures - although I modified it a bit - "You is Kind, Smart, Important" - I believe every girl and woman should be told this repeatedly every day - for real.  The stamped image was colored with mica powders and a waterpen - love this technique and use it most often for my stamps.

Background was created with colored gel medium rubbed through a Crafter's Workshop stencil with my finger - allowed it to dry completely then added the ink splots through another CW stencil and Tsukineko VersaColor ink - the grid paper is actual grid paper from the office supply store.

That's it for now friends.  Hope you play along at Skissedilla this week.  We've got a new Selected Scrapper for the month and a fun RAK up for grabs.  

On the pneumonia front - thank you all who've prayed and offered special thoughts - I feel much better and am hoping the last of this garbage will be out of my system for good.  Again, thank you.

Have delightful days - See you soon.

Skissedilla 156, Pneumonia, and a Picture of the Goods

Hey Friends!  How were your Mondays?

Its that time of week when Skissedilla has a new sketch posted for you to check out.  This week Nabon made the sketch; its really quite different in a wonderful way.

Skissedilla #156

My take:

I've got tons-o-Disney pictures from when we went in....ready for it?......2006 - yeah, been avoiding them a bit only now I want them documented - see I don't want pages that scream Disney - little bits here and there, with my style and sense of the story really shining through - make sense??

Mickey Mouse colors along with the bottlecap I've had in my stash for years say 'hey this is a Disney page' - This photo has been a fav for a long time and I've known the title foreva' - my three goofs lovin' their ponchos at MGM - thus the filmstrip (tim holtz) and stars (the Crafter's Workshop) - eluding to the park we were at - Disney stickers from my stash - jenni bowlin letters paired with Echo Park - EP paper and stickers too - my own felt umbrella - would you buy one of these?, seriously I'm trying to open a shop and I want handmade bellies to be a feature

In an effort to embrace my love for creating my own backgrounds and using up my mounds of patterned paper I've been experimenting - clear gloss gel medium (Liquitex) through a stencil (TCW) - allowed to dry completely - inked (Tsuikineko VersaColor) over and wiped color off stenciled drops with a baby wipe - really like the color being removed so easily from the gloss gel - still can see the pattern through the drops and on the paper, but not dominantly anymore - dig that

Closeup of umbrella bellie - drops traced from stencil and cut out - added some tinsel like fabric?? - I've no clue what this stuff is or where I got it - like it on the drops though - fun stuff - do you spy it elsewhere on the page

Pneumonia.....is kicking my butt - yep for real and for a couple months - can't seem to shake it - not really as bad as it sounds - it cycles in severity - but could use prayers and thoughts from friends that would like too - I try not to dwell on this - I'm alright in the grand scheme of what could be going on - just really tired and ready to be fully well - I believe in the power of prayer and special thoughts - thanks

Goodie Time - been trying to get this post and picture together since Sunday - the canvases still up for grabs are posted here - the rest of the goods look like this:

Sorry for the crummy picture - taken with phone in a not so ideal setting - some mesh, a mini journal, tube of gloss gel medium (same as used above in LO), Sassafras whimsie cards - but wait there's a tad bit more - I'll also have some handmade flowers to throw in

Until next time - xxo

Gonna Let Loose, A Page to Peep, and the Rest of the Goodies

Well, how's that for a title?! Hey Friends.

Life took a REAL crazy turn around here and while my mind has been wanting to blog - it was preoccupied with some unforeseen nonsense (I'd have stronger words, but I've used up my allotment for years in the past days!!! I'm not proud).  So, things are a bit behind - but that's good news for you because I'm going to be having some splendid things going on here - giveaways, a tutorial or two, some eye candy, and one more supa' exciting thing to share!  Starting tomorrow it shall be all about me letting loose, taking time to craft, and enjoying what makes me smile - my family of course.

Ready for a page to peep??  

I ran out of time to do Brit's sketch at Skissedilla - before I knew it my first DT reveal was up and the rest is a blur - for the most part its been a good blur - but I had this page now taunting me - I know myself - I won't finish if it sits too long - I finished.  Check it:

  Here's Brit's sketch:

I rotated the sketch 90 degrees for my page and of course I scrap 8.5x11 so I adjusted a bit for that.

I did a ton of stamping on this LO - discovered I adore stamping on cork - its seriously cool people! Papers are back in the day Sassafras and a few bits of Echo Park.  Don't you just love that lil' bicycle stamp? - Maya Road -  Doily bit is from The Chip Chop Shop, my fav Etsy to pick these up - there's a sale going on right now too - just sayin'. Stenciled the background with ink - Studio Calico stencil - used negative of heart punch for a stencil.

Close up of the title.  I wish you could see the dimensional glaze I put on some of the hearts, but alas it doesn't shine through.

Sigh...I love clouds - been wonderfully blessed to lazily lay and look at them some this week - created the background clouds with a The Crafter's Workshop cloud stencil - outlined with NeoColor II and added some water to blend a bit - fussy cut popped up clouds, added dimensional glaze and outlined - stamped the sun on cork with paint and ink - added colored gel medium to center - sprinkled with glass beads

Are you still with me??  I hope you've made it because now you get to see the goods I'll be shipping out, along with a canvas creation, to one lucky winner.  You can go here to see the canvases.  Be sure to leave a comment (and share which canvas is a fav) on any recent post to be entered - all comments received before midnight on the 22nd will be counted.  I'll have a winner on Friday with more loot to vie for coming this weekend!!!  YAY!   International peeps welcome!

Liquitex Coarse Gel - some mesh (looks so cool on LOs) - a mini journal - 3 fabric roses rolled with love by moi - a Smash journal tablet - 2 wooden spools wrapped in baker's twine - Smash sticky notes and envelopes - How's that??

Have relaxing nights my friends, see you tomorrow.