Nice to Be Back...

I've had two days in a row with no creating - eeeekkkk! Wednesday night Michael and I watched a couple of episodes of 24 (season two - we've got some major catching up to do, so please no spoilers!); and then Thursday I had some dental work done and my jaw was hurting, so I just vegged on the couch again, watching American Idol catch up shows.

Now tonight I'm back in the studio working on my homework for Art Journaling 102 and I'm feeling really inspired! Sometimes when you step away for a bit, it makes it even more fun to come back to it! I've got the whole weekend ahead of me to do lots of scrapping - yeay!

I finished my last layout for the Crop Suey Design Team this week - it's a 6 x 12 of my little friend Willie, made with the February "Cocoa Critters" kit...

The look on Willie's face just cracks me up. Everything is from the kit, except for the orange plaid gaffer tape (SiSTV) and the spray ink behind the photo (Adirondack Terra Cotta). I also used a felt "t" from my "Storytellers" kit. I had so much fun being part of the crop suey team, and I thank Bree and Camille for the opportunity to design for them!

In other news - I was excited to find out that I won a "Me and My Big Ideas" RAK over at Lauren Gick's blog! I can't wait to get my new goodies and create something fun with them! Thank you Lauren!

Now I'm off to see if the background is dry in my Art Journal, so I can continue on with my homework assignment! I will be back tomorrow to share how it turned out!

Have an awesome Saturday my friends!

A New Art Journal

Dina's Art Journaling 102 class is starting off FABULOUSLY! I am loving what we are learning, and I am so excited to try the new techniques out! I decided to first make my own journal to use and WHAT FUN I HAD!

The cover is made from an old Chuck Mangione record album cover that my awesome sister Renee gave me (thank you Renee!) And inside I put a mixture of cardstock, shipping tags,
watercolor paper, paper bags,
junk mail, ledger paper (I glued a few pieces of these together to make them thicker),
book pages and postcards.
I bound it all together with my bind-it-all!
I had such a blast doing this!!!!
I can't wait to start filling it up! I better get going on that because the first lesson was already posted yesterday! Eeeekkk!

Oh, and can we talk SiSversary for a minute????? I am so excited about it I can't stand it! I am finally going to get to meet a lot of my online friends in real life!!! Yeayyyy!!! Workshops and Crop Time and Jenni Bowlin - yeayyyy! If you want more info on this fun and fantastic event, click on the blinkie towards the top of my blog. It will take you right to the site.

Also, today is Wednesday which means it's Project 52 day! I think my ATC will have something to do with the excitement of SiSversary!

I'll be back tomorrow with another update - I hope your having a fantastic Wednesday!

Art Journaling 102 Starts Today...

The UPS man delivered my supplies yesterday - I'm all set to start Art Journaling 102 with Dina Wakely today! I'm so excited!
Also, it's my last day to blog over at Crop Suey. My design team term ends at the end of the month. Come on over and say hi! I'd love to see you there!

Tomorrow I will be back with an update on how the first day of class went! I can hardly wait!

Project 365 Week Eight...

Monday: Michael and Steve at the movie theatre - they're ready for "Coraline" to start - they've got their 3D glasses on!

Tuesday: I was excited to win the Prima paper pack in Nat's workshop! I can't wait to start creating with these gorgeous papers! This pic is taken in the doorway to my scraproom.

Wednesday: A romantic dinner for two with my Michael...

Thursday: I came upon this little country church while out driving and it looked so pretty I just had to stop and take a picture.

Friday: Johnny loves to hang out with dad (Michael) in his office. Give him a pile of soft socks and he's happy!

Saturday: My new purchase arrived - Claudine Hellmuth's new book! I can't wait to try it out!

Sunday: The last of the roses Michael gave me on valentine's day. It's still beautiful eight days later!

I wish you a week filled with purpose and inspiration! I will see you tomorrow my friends!

D is for Decide...

The weekends fly by so fast, don't they? I can't believe it's Sunday evening already!

I finished my "D" page for my "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal" group. The word prompt is Decide. The lyric is from a song by Shinedown called "Fly From The Inside." I used Peerless Watercolor sheets, and dropped water onto the dried page to get the splotchy effect. The butterfly is a glitter diecut by Crate Paper. The word "decided" is Sassafrass alpha stickers, The lyric is stamped with Stampin' Up's newsprint font, white ink, and micro glitter. You can see the glitter a little better in the pic below...

So, now I am off to work on my last project for the Crop Suey blog. Tuesday will be my last post, as my design team term ends at the end of February. I will miss it!

I will be back tomorrow with my Project 365 photos for week eight!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Top-Secret Project is Done!

I finished my top secret project - yeayyyy! And Michael loves it! Super yeayyyy! I'm so happy!!!! So now I am excited to share it with you! This is a project I did in an online workshop called "The Storyteller," taught by my friend Nat Kalbach. Here's how it turned out...The base for the album is by Urban Lily - it's called the "Secret Keeper", and it's part of the workshop kit. Actually everything I used comes with the kit, except for the paint, glimmer mist, journaling pens, and one piece of purple patterned paper. Most of the materials come from Prima.
I just loved the layers and different shapes to the pages...
So, here's the story (click to see the details)









I had so much fun writing our story and making the album! If you would like more info about taking this class - click here.

Oh, and one more fun thing! One random person got a prize in their workshop kit and guess what - it was ME! It's a GORGEOUS pad of 5x7 Prima Papers from the Sasha Collection. Here's me holding my prize...

so I want to say a big THANK YOU to Nat for teaching such an awesome workshop! I had so much fun!

I hope you are all having a great Saturday night! See you again tomorrow!

C is for Clearly...

Happy Saturday my friends!!! I'm about to get started on my top secret valentine's project, but I wanted to just take a moment first to share my new page for my ABCs of Me Journal. (Also known as "A Year In The Life of An Art Journal."

It's called "C is for Clearly"... (click to see details)I used the Peerless Watercolor sheets again for the background (love those!) plus magazine images, including one of Mikhail Baryshnikov who was/is my dancing HERO (I got to see him dance once - it was AMAZING!) Alpha stickers (unknown origin - they are really old) and a Making Memories clear tag for the C. I stamped the C on the front with stazon, and the swiped a little orange paint on the back to make it stand out more.

Ignore all the little green post-it tags. I marked where each letter will go to make sure they will fit and be spaced out well. The other pages will be filled in with random quotes, thoughts, etc.

So, now I am going to start in on my top-secret project in hopes of finishing before Michael gets home from work at 3! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Project 52 Week Seven...

I finished my Project 52 ATC for the week! The background for this ATC was done in layers - gesso, acrylic paint, bubblegum pink glimmer mist and finally Bravo Burgundy Stampin Up ink sponged over a paper heart doily. The making Memories felt alphas and handcut hearts are from the "Girly Girl" collection at SiSTV. I inked the edges of everything with a chestnut roan cateye inkpad. Dotted border done with a sharpie. The journaling on the back explains the front...

I also wanted to share with you a pic of how my ribbon display is filling up!

I can't believe it's already Friday? Wow. I am working on a top-secret project that is a gift for my hubby Michael for valentine's day! I know, I know - valentines day is already over, but we just celebrated on Wednesday! I wanted to have it done by then, but alas - I think it will take me one more evening. I can't wait to give it to him! After that I will also share with you! Hopefully tomorrow!

Have a wonderful Friday my friends!

Candlelight Dinner...

Hey everyone! Just a quick post here - I didn't get any scrapping done last night cuz it was Michael and my night to celebrate valentines day! We went to our favorite thai restaurant for a candlelit dinner - it was lovely (sigh)...Soooo, my Project 52 ATC for the week will have to wait for tonite! Hmmm... I think the subject will be something valentiney. :0)

In other news - I signed up for Claudine Hellmuth's new class at SiSTV - "Creativity Kickstart!" I'm so excited - Claudine does AMAZING work, and the class is based on her new Creativity kit! I ordered the book and supplies, and they should be here soon. Class started today, and so far it's looking fun! What's cool is that the instructions will come out in a PDF so they can be used anytime! Yeayyy!

So, I've been wanting to start a daily writing practice of some sort, but what's holding me up is that I always think I have to decorate the page before I write. So, then more often than not - okay MOST OF THE TIME I don't write anything. AARGH. Do any of you do daily writing practices? Do you do them in an art journal or regular journal or what? I would love suggestions in this area.

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Coraline and Project 52 Weeks Five and Six...

OMG we had so much fun at Coraline! It was QUITE the movie! SO imaginative! Fantastic 3D effects! Awesome animation! It was a great way to spend the President's Day Holiday! I highly recommend checking it out!

I've been working on my Project 52 ATCs and I've got Weeks Five and Six to share with you. I did week five with the SiSTV Retro Modern Collection, plus some Stampin' Up! White Confetti cardstock for the background and a black journaling pen. (The journaling on the back explains the front)...


And here's Week Six - I've been thinking alot about following my heart this past week. The photo is of my sweet Wilbarino. Stamps by October Afternoon. The heart doesn't show up very well in the photo, but it's grungeboard sprayed with glimmer mist, covered with Crystal effects (thick clear glue), and sprinkled with microglitter. I got the idea from a tutorial on Julie Balzer's blog. Thanks Julie!
So now I will be ready to continue on with week seven on Wednesday!

Oh - I almost forgot - I AM SO EXCITED! I signed up for Dina Wakely's next journaling class! It's called "Art Journaling 102". I learned a TON in her "Art Journaling 101" class and can't wait to learn more! Click here to check it out!

Alrighty - that's it for today my friends! I will be back tomorrow with more news! Take care and have fun!

Two Awards and Project 365 Week Seven...

Hello and Happy President's Day! I am on Holiday today and I LOVE IT! I have sooo much to share... First things first - two awards!

I got this awesome award awhile ago from my Scrapping The Music friend Julie Dudley. This is called The Proximity Award. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who can choose eight more (if they so desire):

Thank you so much for the award Julie! Three people come to mind right off the bat. These three women artists are talented and supportive and always there with a kind word for others. And now I pass it on to the following bloggers:

Penny
Julie TW
Tracy P

If you haven't visited their blogs, stop by and say hello - they are top notch people!

The second award comes from Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. It's the Kreativ Blogger award. I appreciate getting this award from Julie so much because she has one of the most fantastic blogs ever! Full of new ideas, tutorials and her awesome artwork - check it out if you haven't already!


Thank you so much Julie! I am honored!

On to Project 365 - Week Seven...

Monday - Feb 9: I picked up a Minnesota postcard to send to my SiSTV friend Heather's son Jacob. I scanned it into my computer so I could post it here, and I can't figure out how to get it from my scanner overview page to my iPhoto - AARGH! Oh well - imagine a lovely postcard here with a Minnesota Timberwolf on it...


Tuesday - Feb 10: It was time for the boys annual checkup. Not their favorite day, but they behaved well - I was so proud!

Wednesday - Feb 11: The boys were extra tired today (side effect from their vaccinations). I will never get over how adorable they look when they are sleeping. Here's Willie...

Thursday - Feb. 12: Finished my Scrapping The Music layout for the upcoming song...


Saturday - Feb. 14: This was waiting for me when I got up this morning - a valentine from my sweet Michael - he made my day! I'm going to print this out 6 x 8, and place it in two 4x6 photo holders - one on top of the other so it has a special focus for the week (hence no photo for Friday)
Sunday - Feb 15: Vintage glass glitter ROCKS! This is the collection I won as part of my Project Catwalk prize from SiSTV and I display it proudly in my scraproom! Isn't it beautiful?

So, that's it for today folks! It was a long post - hope you made it through!

I'm off to see the movie Coraline in 3D this afternoon with Michael and son Steve - yeayyy! I'm so excited! I will be back tomorrow with more stuff to share! Have a wonderful, sunshiney day!

Scrapping The Music, Round Robin and a Tag...

The new song is up at Scrapping The Music and it's one of my FAVES! The song is "1, 2, 3, 4" by the Plain White T's! I used the February Crop Suey kit for this one - it's the first time I've done a round layout I think! Everything is from the kit...

here's a detail shot...Come on over and play along with us!

We played Round Robin with the new "Retro Modern" collection at SiStv today. Thanks so much to my fellow team members Angie and Kimmie, and to Angie for organizing the game! If you've never played Round Robin before - it's a game where one person starts a layout, and then each person in turn, adds to it, until the last person finishes it off! It's a fun way to stretch your creativity, and it's great to see how different everyone's turns out, even tho you have the same directions, and the same basic materials! We did a wall hanging this time. Along with the Retro Modern collection, I added some vintage woodgrain contact paper, avocado green cardstock, pom-pom trim and a distressed piece of fabric...
Awhile ago my fabulous friend Tracy P tagged me with a quiz! I have to answer these questions with words that begin with "m". Thanks Tracy! It was fun! It took awhile for me to come up with the answers!!! LOL...

1. What is your name: Michelle

2. A four Letter word: Moon

3. A Boy's Name: Matt

4. A Girl's Name: Marge

5. An occupation: Missionary

6. A Color: Mauve

7. Something you wear: Mittens

8. A Food: Mock Duck

9. Something found in the Bathroom: Midol

10. A Place: Minneapolis

11. A Reason for being late: My car broke down

12. Something you Shout:

13. A Movie Title: Meet Joe Black (such a sweet movie!)

14. Something you Drink: Mountain Dew!

15. A Musical Group: Matchbox 20

16. An Animal: Mastiff (my old lovable dog Dacotah was one!)

17. A Street Name: Morgan

18. A Type of Car: Mini Cooper

19. Something Scary: Middle Age! (lol - just kidding - I'm trying to embrace it!)

20. Sorbet Flavor: Mango

So, now I tag everyone who reads this post who wants to play! Copy the questions into your own blog post and fill in the answers with words the start with the first letter of your name! It's not as easy as you'd think...

I'll be back tomorrow to pass along a couple of awards, share my Project 365 photos for the week, and who knows what all else!

Take care everyone and I will see you tomorrow!