Thanks to all of you for your support and friendship. If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been…you can catch up with me at my new blog here:
Come on over and join the party!
Try something new
I love sketches, right? They offer great inspiration when you need that extra little push. A few weeks ago, I was totally inspired by a sketch over at the Studio Calico blog and I created this page based on that sketch.
It was a big leap for me:
1) I used the sketch that week AND uploaded my layout to the challenge gallery (and won! by the way :))
2) I incorporated digital elements onto my page. This is somewhat new for me – I’ve been using some digital elements in my project life pages – but using them on a traditional layout was new.
3) SEWING!!! My dear friend Amy A taught me how to sew on pages the weekend before I made this page – and it was my first attempt at sewing on a page. I LOVE IT and am totally addicted. I’ve always drooled over pages with stitched elements but was afraid to try it. I’m not a seamstress! I don’t really know how to sew – and that held me back. But – NO LONGER! I now need to find space in my craft room to set up my machine permanently!
Here’s the rest of the page:
Supplies: Studio Calico: sketch, Cuppa Printables by Hello Forever, fabric butterflies, Mister Hueys, stamps from Cutting Edge class. Paper 3-D elements, buttons by Bo Bunny (LOVE this line!)
Hope this inspires you to try something new! Sewing…digital elements…entering a challenge…get out there and get crafty!
Love canvas
Hey there, everybody!
I worked on this canvas a few months back and couldn’t decide how to put the word “love” on there – vinyl, paint, cardstock, etc. Inspiration struck in the form of black matte board! I hand drew and cut the letters with my exacto knife. And here is the result:
I just love the way it turned out. It’s the largest canvas I’ve ever made – it is 24 x 36 and is the perfect size on the shelf next to our fireplace.
I started out with the blank canvas. I adhered some Tim Holtz newsprint tissue paper using Mod Podge. It was the perfect size to do 2 stips (it’s a full 12 inches wide). I knew I wanted the background to be pretty neutral so the hearts would just pop off the canvas.
So…the hearts. I parted with most of my Basic Grey “solid” color paper – it was hard (I’ve been hoarding it for YEARS!!) but knowing I’d see it everyday on my wall helped :). I cut the hearts out on my Silhouette and arranged them in a rainbow pattern and adhered adhered them with Mod Podge. Once dry, I used my Faber Castell Big Brush markers to add shading and shadowing to each heart:
Can you see the yellow marker in the inside of the hearts and they grey marker on the outside of the hearts? LOVE this added texture and dimensions the markers add. The layer of Mod Podge allows the markers to go on smoothly – and while they are still wet you can blend them a little more with your fingers. However, once they are dry they are permanent (love these markers!).
The next step was to add some paint and outline each heart with my Studio Calico detail pen. I added quite a bit of doodling with the pen work. I also added some detail stickers, more marker and pen work, and more paint to make all the bits and pieces cohesive. The final detail step was adding Christy Tomlinson rubons and some stamp/ink detail. I used both Tim Holtz texture stamps and Christy Tomlinson doodle stamps. This last detail gives the work such a great look and some much-needed pops of white.
Hope you enjoyed the post today – thanks for stopping by!!
There is something else happening on May 4 besides Derby…
I live in Louisivlle – and I love this city. The people. The town. The family-friendly in environment. And, yes – I LOVE all things Derby: the people watching, the activities, the atmposhere, the hospitality, the sense of community – the steamboat race, the fireworks, the chow wagon….I love everything…except that it also falls on National Scrapbook Day. Always.
Usually, I don’t do scrapbooky type things because it’s Derby (and usually my daughter’s birthday party.) This year, I decided to schedule Em’s party earlier and PLAY on National Scrapbook Day. My dear friend Amy is coming over and we’re going to participate in an online crop through Big Picture Scrapbooks – it’s FREE and going to be a BLAST. Can’t wait!!
Plus, I just opened an AWESOME box of goodies from Close to My Heart. My friend Amy sells it – and I can’t WAIT to play with this new stamp set on Saturday – perfect for my project life!!!
Close to My Heart acrylic stamp set
If you are just kicking back with nothing to do on Saturday – I’d love to meet you online at the crop!!!
Hello again.
It’s been a VERY busy Spring in Louisville. I’ve had to travel for work, Mike has traveled for work, we’ve had cheer competitions, Passover, Spring Break and my niece’s Bat Mitzvah in Detroit. Life has happened – in a good, and BIG way. No complaints. Not one.
And yet…:) there has been little time for me to play in my craft room. A few weeks ago I found time to play with my friend Amy at a local scrap store and I was able to get 3 weeks done – and once I can get those photos taken, I will post them. My hope is to do that mid-week this week as well as upload some new freebies!! For now, I’d like to share a project I created in just a few short hours on Wednesday night. It was a gift for my niece who has a belief that art can change the word. I couldn’t agree more. The sentiment is “She set out to change the world” – and I believe my niece has already – and will continue to to just that.
It’s all in the details. I had the bulk of the project complete – and then I went in and added all the details. Using my archival inks in black and timber brown, I began stamping using Christy Tomlinson’s doodle stamps. Holy Cow. These things are AWESOME!!! Look at this incredible detail!
I also used some of her rub-ons and then doodled the heck out of the piece with my Scarlet Lime journal pen (love this too). My project wouldn’t have been complete without the Faber Castell Pitt Big Brush pens – I always use these to add shading/dimension. Just when I thought I was “done” I decided to add in some Stuido Calico wooden butterflies – coated in Mr. Huey’s, doodling and rub-ons. This one I added a tiny bit of bling to:
Thanks so much for stopping by. I will make a concerted effort to getting back to bringing you my Project Life stories and freebies later this week. Have THE BEST day.
My Sweet Girl
Here’s a layout I worked on (my first traditional one of the year!!) using some Heidi Swapp goodness. Loved this teal cheetah paper. I made the hexagon background in Illustrator and pulled it into the Cameo software and cut it out. I used some of the cutouts on the reverse side to fill in some of the gaps. I added some of the Studio Calico hexagon wood veneers. I used some various Close to My Heart sentiment stamps to add some detail.
I am traveling for work this week so Project Life is on hold for a week. I am awaiting my March Studio Calico kit – I’m bummed it didn’t show up prior to me heading out – I’ll have to wait another whole week to see it — BOO! But, it will be a great little treat for me when I get home. Have a great week, everybody!
Project Life – Week 6 (and .png freebie)
I used lots of bits and pieces from my Studio Calico kit – and I LOVE it — and I have tons of bits left…(and my March kit is waiting to be shipped – how fun is THAT?) We had a week filled with Girl Scout stuff – rock climbing and World Thinking Day. I didn’t get into a groove this week – it was hard for me to put together. I’m happy with the end-result – BUT! It was tough to get here:
The freebie this week is Love Today and you can pick it up here.
Hope you have a fabulous week!
Project Life – Week 5 (& another .png freebie)
FINALLY! I’ve gotten a few minutes to finish up my spread and get it posted on my blog. It’s a GREAT thing I am able to keep my wits about not being “behind” – this “just” week 5. I LOVED working on this layout because I was able to use my first Studio Calico Project Life kit. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. The cards are gorgeous and all the little bits and pieces are great.
We had a little bit of snow this week and Mike and Em had a BLAST playing in the snow. I just love the sound of her laughter – it always takes me to a happy place…and she laughed ALOT as she tried to “get” daddy with the snowballs…and when he buried her face in it. They also spent quite a bit of time “staging” this little PSA “What Happens When Barbie Texts” (bottom right corner). They dug into my stash (both from the kitchen AND craft room) to put it all together. Fun times.
Here’s the .png file this week if you’d like to download it – click here.
In addition to the Studio Calico February kit, I used some Little Yellow Bicycle papers and some stickers from My Mind’s Eye – (these ROCK), some CTMH stamps and inks and some really old Q&Co. snowflake felt stickers. I also grabbed my Pitt Big Brush markers and my Studio Calico journal pen and went to town on some of the journal cards.
One of my “go-to” techniques is to write my journaling and grab colored pencils and “highlight” random words as I did on this journal card here:
Lastly, on this journal card (from the Feb. kit) I added a SC wooden arrow and that little heart flag is actually cut off some packaging from the kit. That space needed a little something – and I thought that little heart sticker would do the trick. 🙂
Hope you have a FAB week and thanks for stopping by. If you use any of my downloads – I’d love to see what you do with them. You can use them as a cut file – or as an overlay in Photoshop~
Project Life – Week 4 (and cameo cut freebie)
We had a great week – and I had a blast putting this one together. This is the first week I’ve had more photos than I used – and it was great to be able to “edit” those down, and decide which days NOT to include. So my biggest lesson learned this week: take LOTS of photos! Another thing I’ve learned/decided is that I really like the page protector layout “A” — it comes together really quickly for me. I bought the big pack of mixed protectors – but I think I’m going to use lots of the A’s!!
I used a hodge podge of material this week – and love the whole mix and match. I used some of my Clementine Core Kit, and some Close to My Heart papers, inks and stamps, some Studio Calico velum stickers (LOVE these skinny little arrows!), and wood veneer butterflies, some Basic Grey washi tapes, BoBunny Rubons, Thickers and some hand-drawn word art I cut on my Cameo.
Here’s another thing I love: my Cameo – being able to draw things up in Illustrator with my Wacom Intuous tablet and convert those into cut files. I have MORE fun with that than anything else. I am sharing my first cut file this week. The You & Me seen here:
Feel free to download this .png for your personal use – youandme – Enjoy! This .png file can be imported and traced and cut in your Silhouette software – or placed in Photoshop as layer.
Hope you have a fabulous week – and have some time to get crafty!
Project Life – Week 3
So…I can see this is going to take some getting used to! I was not diligent about taking photos this week – and it was one consumed by cheer. So lots of pictures around cheerleading – we went to the game on Friday night and the competition on Saturday. It does certainly depict the week we had. I used some pretty old Studio Calico wooden veneer stars with some Golden paints which I think really pop off those journal cards. Looking at it now, I’ll probably go back and add a little doodling here and there (I just can’t help myself)…
I had several vertical 4×6 photos and so I used this protector layout…and I have to say I struggled with it a little. The horizontal journal cards threw me for a loop! I ended up using some of my Clementine Core kit and some new paper I picked up at Archivers a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I cut the cards up — and don’t remember the brand — but I love them — that yellow is a perfect match to some Studio Calico printables I used and Emily’s cheer outfit!
The other thing I REALLY need to figure out – is how to photograph these double-layouts without getting horrible glare or shadows. I’ve started taking the inserts out and placing them on top of the protector, but I’m still getting pretty dark shadows and wonky colors. Guess I’m going to have to invest in a tripod!
I’ve already started on week 4 – and I’m having more fun with that — lots more photos to choose from and more “scrappy” that week 3.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a super week.
i scrap my world 