Finish in Five

Hey All!  I've been trying to squeeze a bit of fun play time in just lately.  Ten minutes here, ten minutes there.  As a result, I've been able to complete a few art journal pages.
To further help things along, I've joined Art Geeks, which has a number of instructers with different areas of expertise in a range of art mediums.  They issue challenges to get your juices going and so far, so good. 
The first one I've tackled has been put out by Kim, with her "Finish in Five" challenge ...
Taken from her blog ...

I will randomly choose 5 techniques or products, and create a journal page or spread, using ONLY those 5 techniques or products.

I have been doing this for a while, and find it really gets me inspired, and able to create an art journal page easily and pretty quickly (if that’s what I want). Sometimes I only have a few minutes to play in my art journal, and I used to waste those few minutes staring at the blank page! Not any more.
So, the idea is to take the 5 techniques/products, and let your imagination run wild! Seriously! With only 5 things to think about, just play play play! You can use the chosen 5 in as many different ways as you want. Here are the five products/techniques I’m using again:
1. spray (any kind of spray – homemade, Dylusions, alcohol, water…..)
2. stencil (homemade, or other…even household items can be used as stencils!)
3. stamp (as many different stamps as you want, with any medium you wish)
4. Doodle (draw, write, scribble….)
5. tape (washi, double-sided, duck, packing…)

I'll admit, mine are not at all elaborate.  But to be honest, I just don't have time for anything too involved right now.  I just want to get to play with colour for a few minutes a day and this fit the bill.

The first spread was done with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Primrose, Georgia Peach and Mustard in diagonal swathes over a gessoed background.  Interestingly, the sprays pebbled as they had nowhere to sink in.  By using a heat tool, I was able to create even more of the pebbled effect as it dried.

 I used a mixture of black gesso and water to make my own black spray.

Supplies: 

Journal (Donna Downey Inspiration Journal)

Spray Ink (Heidi Swapp Color Shine)

Black Gesso (Liquitex)

Stencil (The Crafter's Workshop)

Stamp (Unity Stamps)

Ink (Ranger Archival)

Tape (Prima, Freckled Fawn, Glitz)

Pen (Uniball)

The second spread used Kim's original example as colour inspiration.  I had to skip in a few pages so that I could have paper that was clean and wouldn't need gesso.  This time, I used the vibrant Dylusions for my background colours (Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise & Crushed Grape) and for the stencil layer (Black Marble). 

Once the inks were dried, I used a Liquid Acrylic Ink and dip pen to outline the each image and fill with dots.  Super simple.

I've been messing around a bit with making my own stencils using the Silhouette and it's software. The Crafter's Workshop sells plain sheets of stencil material that can be run through a diecutting machine or cut by hand. I've used an Echo Park Silhouette image to create this 12x12 stencil.  You'll notice a faint scale pattern in the plastic ... my first run at cutting a stencil didn't quite work out.  I've had to fiddle with the blade depth, etc. to get a decent cut, but the first cut didn't go all the way through so I thought I'd reuse the sheet and it worked fine.  I'll be definately making a few more of these in the future.

Supplies:

Journal (Donna Downey Inspiration Journal)

Spray Ink (Ranger Dylusions)

Liquid Acrylic (Daler Rowney Waterfall Green)

Stencil Blank (The Crafter's Workshop)

Die Cutting Machine (Silhouette)

Stamp (Unity Stamps, generic date stamp from office supply)

Ink (Ranger Archival)

Tape (Prima, Freckled Fawn, Glitz)

Pen (Uniball)

Thanks for the push Kim!  I needed it :)

July Up The Street Kits

I've been back for a week now from camping, and feel like I'm still not caught up.  So many things I had planned to get done are just not being done.  Ah well ... such is summer.
The July kits went live on the website yesterday and I've made a bit of a dent in them already.  (Click on any of the photos for a closer look).

I went with Bob's class for their field trip this June and one of the activites was climbing the rock wall.  The colours were perfect for "Workin' For The Weekend" kit ...

I like to mount the stickers on cardstock and then trim so that they're a little more firm when I put foam adhesive behind them.  The camera image was more of a grey colour and didn't really work.  A problem easily solved with some Copic marker colouring.  One of my favorite title techniques right now is to cut my word using the Silhouette twice from white paper and spraying one layer with mists.  Whether the coloured version or the white version goes on top depends on the background colours.  The coloured version on this layout uses Studio Calico Water Cooler with a layer of Shine over top.

A quick tag cut from patterened paper is sprayed using the Water Cooler and a Dyan Reavy stencil.  The Studio Calico badge is from the Destinations line (not included in the kit but available in the store) and the "June" tag is from the "Hit The Beach" kit.  A few Unity Stamp images are stamped and fussy cut.

Another one with the same kit.  The Studio Calico paper in the background is my new favorite.  I can't decide if this layout is done or not.  I add things and they look too busy so as of right now, I'm calling it good.

Lovelovelove these Amy Tangerine stickers.  I'm trying to contain myself and use them sparingly but I'm so tempted to just go wild with them.
That's it for today.  Visit the Gallery to see some more work done with the July Kits.
Stay cool!

June Stuff

Oh ... such a bad blogger.  I have no excuse.  I'm just lazy.
But I did want to share a few layouts done with the (sold out) "Summer Daze" Up The Street kit.
A rare photo of me ... and of course, Bob has to be the dingbat in the back.  Typical

I couldn't figure out what to do with the little photo of the cup and decided to make it part of my title.

I love using 8x12 photos.  They make for such fast and eye-catching layouts.  This is hanging in the store right now and everyone comments on it.  It's a good photo, but I don't know if it's a great photo.  Still, when you enlarge it to make it the focal point, it takes on a life of its own.

Some fast paper piecing and not-quite-so-fast hand stitching ...

And typing on a doily.  Fun, fun.

Take a quick peek at the June Gallery.  Great stuff :)

A layout and a Project

A full month ago, my friend Sarah nominated me for this ...

Liebster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five other bloggers. Please stop by and visit them.

The Rules are:
1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.
5. Finally and the best rule of all.....have fun and spread the love!

Her exact quote when mentioning my blog was, "lovely pages, but never posts enough ;)".  What a surprise that it's taken me so long to post about it.  I am the absolute worst.  She came in to crop with me last week and gave me a good natured verbal spanking regarding the fact that I STILL had not posted.  So thanks Sarah ... I need the odd push to help me update once in awhile :)

But now ... who else to nominate?
1.  Laura ... my constant scrapping companion (she has a few more than 200 followers, but I'm going to cheat)
2.  Jenn ... our niece who has just taken up scrapbooking this year and is banging out the layouts and projects at a furious pace
3.  Tetsy ... a local gal who shares her beautiful photography and the odd handmade card
4.  Erin ... a new friend I've met through the store who is much, much better than I at updating her blog with cards and layouts
5.  Jennifer ... a local professional photographer with a wonderful eye

Now that I've gotten that out of the way I can move on to some scrappy things ...

A layout of my mom from Christmas with the sold out Sweet Love kit ...

Using a newly arrived Unity Stamp ... layered and accented with Iced Spruce Distress Ink, Mallard Glimmer Mist and Everglade Glitter from the Art Institute ...

I've been trying to use my Silhoette more lately.  I've had the thing for years and know I don't use it nearly enough.  And I'd love to upgrade to the Cameo but just can't justify it unless I'm making use of the one I currently own :)

Love the handwriting images for titles and the shadow technique that Nicole Magouirk uses frequently.  I like to add a layer of Glossy Accents to the top layer of the word to further accent it ... 

Another fun little project I finished last week ...

I used one of the new Christy Tomlinson stamps from Unity ... stamped first onto kraft coloured tissue with Jet Black Archival Ink, attached to the 6x6 canvas with Claudine Hellmuth Matte Medium and allowed to fully dry.  By just masking the image with paper towel, I sprayed a few different Glimmer Mists and filled in bare spots with a paint brush, I created the background.  I then used a blender pen and Distress Inks to colour the girl.  I was wishing I had the Ranger Distress Markers already :)
To finish, I printed out a quote I saw on Pinterest and attached over the existing stamped quote.

I do have more projects to share, but I'll maybe save a few and try to post again in the near future.

Have a great weekend!

January Kits from Up The Street

Happy New Year!  One of the things I was going to try to do in the new year was blog more often.  You can see it's going really well.  Hmph.
However.
What a crazy winter we've had.  The boys had put up a skating rink in the backyard this year and Friday was the first day they were actually able to use it.
When I left for work on Saturday, they were all out enjoying the day ... sunny ... not too cold ... perfect for outdoor activities ...

They used it a bit yesterday ... and now it has rained all night. 
I honestly don't miss the snow and extreme cold.  I think they should put up this rink every year if it means we'll have a mild winter :)
But on to scrappier things ...
January Kits from Up The Street ...
"Live in the Moment" ...

and "Little House" ...

Here's the funny thing about the kits ...
You'll see that "Little House" is absolutely crammed full of October Afternoon goodness.  I find that on a local level, for whatever reason, October Afternoon just doesn't sell.  I still order every line ... just small amounts of it.  But plunk it in a kit and it catches everyone's eye.  Maybe it's just this particular line that appeals to my local customers, but it's moving more quickly than the other side this month.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this kit has been selling so well is the gallery.  Lesley and Sarah always create such beautiful projects, and this month was no exception.  Definately one of my favorite galleries of all time.  In fact, I've already had to remove one of Sarah's layouts from this month's gallery because it's been picked up by Scrapbooks Etc.!  I feel like a proud Mama :)
As for my scrapping mojo, I haven't had much time to play (big surprise), but I think I've also found myself in a bit of a rut.  I don't know if I just need a fresh batch of photos to inspire me or what.
I've been receiving daily e-mails from Creative Jumpstart 2012 organized by Nathalie Kalbach and have been trying my hand at some mixed media and art journaling.  I'm hoping this will help me get back to the scrapbooking.
I'll try to remember to take photos of my new projects today, but until then, here are a few layouts completed with the January Up The Street Kits ...

For the faux folder behind the photo, I just traced around the tab on a regular office folder and cut down my patterned paper to the size I wanted.

Once I had the bird stickers on the layout, they looked too yellow against the rest of the layout.  I just coloured over the yellow portions with an orange Copic marker in layers until I was happy with the colour match.

This looks like a lot of layers of paper, but in fact, I've "gutted" the backs (cut big portions away that are covered) to use on other projects.

I have so loved the wood Pink Paislee alphas from the last release.  I have now used all three fonts in different kits.  Hoping to see some new fonts with the new CHA releases! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week :)

December Kit from Up The Street

This past week has been just crazy ... a new kit and a Christmas Open House at Up the Street, an incident with the dogs and a bit of Christmas shopping to round it all out.
I'm also bound and bent that I will complete a December Daily this year.  Although ... "daily" might not be the correct word.  Does "December Every So Often" sound OK?  I'm trying to keep up with some of Shimelle's prompts and hope to be able to put together some sort of December journal.  Fortunately, I've included loads of product in the December kit that will help me with my project.

I'm looking forward to working on this tomorrow ... even if I can get a day or two caught up, I'll be a happy scrapper :)

Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas

We were just talking about this course the other night and I wanted to make sure I signed up before I became distracted.  I love all of Shimelle's courses and have always wanted to tackle a Christmas project like this.   And I've got my album ready to go ... the Bazzill Likety Slip Album with lots of cool page inserts.  I can't wait to dig into my Christmas stash that goes back several years but it just as gorgeous as it was when I first bought it all.  Go here to check it out.  Once you've signed up, you have access to previous years and will get any future years as well.  Fantastic deal :)