F is for Freedom...

Oh my gosh it's been a fun night of creating! First of all I got my Drama Queen collection from SiSTV late last night and it is absolutely fabulous! So much vintage goodness! I took a picture of the contents which I will post tomorrow. I've been playing with some different ideas for this collection, but I haven't finished anything yet. Maybe tomorrow...

In the meantime, I did finish my "F" page for my ABCs of Me journal - also known as "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal" project. This time, there was no given word for the letter F - we were to come up with our own, so I chose FREEDOM... (click to see the details)
I used acrylic paint in orange and magenta for the background (kept the brush pretty dry to let the texture of the paper come through), orange oil crayon around the edges, a Stampin Up background stamp, SiSTV gaffer tape for the tab, magazine images and journaling pens. I decided not to draw lines for journaling this time, to allow my words to float more freely on the page (in keeping with the theme).

That is it for today - but I will be back tomorrow with more to share! Have an awesome, artsy, inspiring day my friends!

Project 365 - Week Thirteen and Still Going Strong!

I think this project 365 thing gets more fun the longer it goes! So, here are my photos for this past week:

Monday, March 23rd: Just a few of the images from the Stamped Images Swap that I received in the mail today...

Tuesday, March 24th: A couple of thrift store finds. I couldn't believe my luck in finding that bright orange vintage tray! The old book is super cool too - it will make a great altered art journal or mini...

Wednesday, March 25th: Friends Christina, Lisa, Deeann and me at the Minnesota Social Services Association Conference. This annual event is something I look forward to each year. It's a great place to connect with friends/coworkers, attend workshops and get recharged! (Thanks to coworker Bev for taking this photo!)

Thursday, March 26th: Michael filling the birdfeeders is a sure sign that spring has arrived!
Friday, March 27th: A family evening in front of the tv watching American Idol. Michael working on his computer project and me cutting fabric. Johnny loves to "help" with the fabric!

Saturday, March 28th: A morning pose...

Sunday, March 29th: An evening walk in the neighborhood. Time to relax and talk with Michael - a perfect way to end the weekend...
This one is also from Sunday's walk - I'm printing it 3x4 to use as a journaling spot...

and here's how the finished layout looks. (click to see the details) In addition to the usual kit contents, I added some Little Yellow Bicycle rub-ons to the title card and one of the journaling cards. The ribbon on the title card is from the kit. The quote says "If you pay attention at every moment, you form a new relationship to time." ~Michael Ray
Have a great scrappy day my friends! Thanks for stopping by!

Signs of Spring and Super Cool Stamps...

Hello and happy Monday my friends! It's the beginning of a new week, and the day has been beautiful here in Minnesota! The cats and I are starting to notice all the summertime birds showing up at the birdfeeder again! Today we saw a female cardinal and a goldfinch! Yeayyyy! The bird bath is thawing out again (for the second time), which is good because when it froze up after the first thaw, the little birdies would hop up there and quizzically peck at the ice like - what? I felt so sorry for them!

Michael and I are trying to get out for walks on a regular basis, and it really helps my energy level! The long winter has left me feeling sluggish and I've been relying far too heavily on caffeine to keep me going. Anyone else feeling this way? Aargh! I want to feel all bubbly and dancey again! Soon, I hope!

Anyhoo, have I linked you up to Michelle Ward's rubber stamps yet? Dina Wakely linked us up to the site during her latest art journaling class and I LOVE THEM! My favorite set is the one called Crow About - Be still my heart!!! It's so hard to find raven stamps, and here's a whole set - yeayyy! These are going on my wish list for sure. I love the alpha ones too! Actually they are all gorgeous. Now that I have a way to organize my rubber stamps I am starting to get into stamping again, and it's super fun!

Alrighty, I am off to work on my Project 365 layout for this week, and maybe if I'm feeling inspired I will also do something in my journal.

I will leave you with a photo of what Willie and Johnny are doing right this second - they have a bed on the table right next to the computer. It's so sweet to listen to them breathing when they are asleep - such a peaceful sound.

See you tomorrow my friends! Happy scrapping!

Photo Swap Fun!

Happy Sunday everyone! The new song at Scrapping The Music this week is "Everyday" by Dave Matthews! It's a super fun scrapping song, and I thought it was the perfect inspiration for the photo I got from my new friend Karalyn (aka Artsyk at SiSTV)! Karalyn and I were paired up for a photoswap over at SiSTV - This is a pic of her and her hubby Jason on valentines day - don't they just look like the happiest couple ever?! It was such a fun photo to scrap! Anyways here's how the layout turned out...Materials used include background paper by Mustard Moon, Not Quite Navy cardstock, white cardstock, and alpha stamps by Stampin Up, two shades of pink acrylic paint, brown and floral Prima paper, vintage black stars paper by Jenni Bowlin, orange plaid gaffer tape by SiSTV, a white sharpie and a versamarker (for the circles on the blue cardstock). I hope Karalyn likes the layout - I had a lot of fun making it!

Come on over to Scrapping The Music and play along!

Daydreaming...

I rushed through my Project 52 ATC for last week, so I was really looking forward to just relaxing and taking my time with this week's card. I did just that and it felt great! Here's what I came up with...I used the Farmhouse Chic collection from SiSTV, along with a Marah Johnson Bird Brad and some hand-drawn clouds cut from foam scraps. My sister Renee hooked me up awhile ago with an article about weaving a journal cover; which gave me the idea to try a weaving technique on an ATC. The weaving is a combination of fabric and paper strips, and they worked together quite nicely! Instead of using a playing card for the backing, I cut a piece of a mountain dew carton to 2 1/2" x 3 1/2." This gave me a sturdier surface for the weaving. Here's the back of the card...
My ribbon is really starting to fill up with these cards! I will take another pic soon so you can see it!

Scraplift of Glenda and Project 52 Week Eleven...

I finished my layout for the Lotus Paperie March Challenge! I've never participated in their challenge before, but when I heard that my fab friend Glenda Tkalac was this month's guest designer I had to go over there and check it out! So, at the beginning of March they introduced Glenda, and she posted three of her fave layouts. The challenge was to scraplift one of Glenda's layouts during the month of March. Click here to see the post. All three layouts are awesome, but I chose to lift the first one entitled "Love." Thanks for the inspiration Glenda! I hope I did it justice:
I used the SiSTV Songbird collection for my layout. Almost everything you see here is from the collection. The title is hand-drawn and cut from the sheet music in the collection, which I painted blue. I added some orange plaid gaffer tape and a few scraps of Sassafrass red and white hearts paper.

I also completed my Project 52 ATC for week eleven (which was last week). I got really behind last week so I decided to keep Julie's intent in mind of keeping this project low stress. I made a very quick card that reflects how busy my week was. LOL...
It's as simple as can be. I just took one of my cute M&M playing cards (a gift from my awesome friend Julie Tucker-Wolek), and slapped a message on it with ATB labeling tape. Done! And just in time to create another one for Week Twelve! Tonight I should have more time to put into this week's card.

The new SiSTV collection called "The Drama Queen" goes on sale today and it looks like a good one! Check it out!

Have a great Wednesday my friends! I will see you tomorrow!

Art Journaling Article and Project 365 Week Twelve...

I'm so excited and honored to share that there is an article in today's SiSTV newsletter about my art journaling! I don't know how to link to it, but if you are a member of SiSTV you will get one in your email inbox!

Okay, on to Project 365! It is week twelve already, and here are my photos from last week:

Monday, March 16: This is a self portrait for a layout that I can't reveal yet.

Tuesday, March 17: I discovered a scrapbook store/gift shop in downtown White Bear Lake called The Gathering. I didn't buy anything, but I loved how they had the outside painted, especially the little dog on the door!

I printed this extra photo out 3x4 to use as a journaling spot.

Wednesday - March 18: Daughter Becca out for a walk in the wonderful weather!

Thursday, March 19: My sister Renee works in Studio City and sent me this photo (taken by one of her coworkers) of the Presidential Motorcade arriving at NBC studios for Obama's appearance on the Leno show. Fun!
Friday, March 20: I decided it might be fun to take a pic out my scraproom window on the first day of each season, so here it is on the first day of spring! This doesn't look very springlike does it? LOL. The blurry spot in the middle is a raindrop on my lens.


Saturday, March 21: Michael and I went on our first spring walk in the neighborhood.
These photos turned out blurry, but they captured our mood that day so well, that I printed them out 2x3 anyway and included them together in place of the journaling spot for the day.


Sunday, March 22: We went for another walk - this time up to the hardware store to look for orange paint for our entryway - saw these cattails along the way. (There's a pair of ducks in the background if you look really hard)...

And here's how the finished layout turned out... (click to see it up close)
That's about it for today! I will be back tomorrow with another update! Have a happy happy day everybody!

Stamped Images Swap and Authenticity Website...

I participated in a stamped images swap at SiSTV and got my images in the mail today! I just have to share! Look at all these great images I received...










Aren't they fantastic? They are going to be great additions to my layouts and cards! And look at what our awesome hostess Amy included in with the swap...
super fun vintage playing cards! I can't wait to use them on a page or in my art journal! THANKS AMY!

I also want to share that I found this great website through Elizabeth's blog and I absolutely love it...
Dr. Brown has a whole website around the subject of authenticity and I spent a good deal of time there, looking around. Check it out here if you're interested. I also put the badge for the website in the right-hand column so you can access it anytime. Thanks for the link Elizabeth!

Fun fun stuff!

Now I'm off to work on my Project 365 layout for the week! Have an awesome scrappy day!

Super Fun Scrappy Game at SiS...

Oh my word I've been having so much fun this weekend at SiStv! I participated in a game hosted by Angie Backen called "You Lift Me Up." The idea behind the game is that someone would post a set of two numbers - the ones I got were 28/7. So, what I had to do was go to the 28th page of the gallery, and lift the 7th layout on that page, which for me was this super-inspiring layout by Andrea Wiebe. Here's what I came up with for my lift...
I used the songbird collection from SiS, plus some Jenni Bowlin paper, my little bird stamp, ATB labels, a little paint and a couple of embellies given to me by my happy mail partner Lorena!

I really loved the design and also the spiritual quality of Andrea's layout, so I really tried to honor those two things. I love how it turned out and I'm so grateful to Angie and Andrea for the inspiration!

There's still time to get in on the game if you hurry! Check it out right here! You've got til tonite at midnite PST to post your layouts.

I also completed another layout that I had a lot of fun doing, but I can't share it yet, cuz it's super secret! I think I can share around the first of April - as soon as I can, I will!

I hope your weekend is going great! I will see you tomorrow for Project 365 week 12!

AND THE WINNER OF THE IDEA CATCHER NOTEBOOK IS...

Tami: aka Michigirl74 said...

Congrats on 10,000!!!

That book is too cute and that little russian doll OMG I seriously want a real one now!

March 19, 2009 2:07 AM

Send me your address Tami and I will get the book out to you! Thanks for your comments everyone!

I will be back with another post for Saturday!

I'm Celebrating 10,000 Visits with a RAK...

Hey there friends! Guess what? I hit the 10,000 visitors mark on my blog! Yeayyy! I'm so excited! Thank you so much for visiting my little world and thanks especially for leaving comments - it always brightens my day to hear from you!

To celebrate, I am doing a little giveaway. This is a composition notebook that I altered to be used as a place to capture project ideas. It's a great place to keep track of those song lyrics you know would be great on a layout, or those cool color schemes you see in a magazine and don't want to forget. Or it could be used as a journal, or a place to sketch layout ideas. Basically anything you want to use it for!
It features papers designed by the fabulous Lucy Folch!

If you would like to win this idea catcher notebook, just leave me a comment in this post. I will draw a random name this Friday - March 20.

Thanks for visiting and have a fantastical, magical day!

Project Catwalk Webisode and Project 365 Week Eleven...

Happy Tuesdayyyyy my friends! The new webisode is up at SiSTV and I'm so excited because there is a segment that talks about Project Catwalk and JJ shows my minibook! Yeayyy! I feel so honored! Click here to check it out...

So it's already week eleven of Project 365! WOW! I've been having so much fun with this project - it's got me taking pictures everywhere I go! I now find myself stopping on the side of the road to capture an interesting sign or building. I'm snapping out the window of the car when I stop at stoplights - I'm seeing the world in a whole new way and it's WONDERFUL!

I've been getting some questions about what Project 365 is so I want to share just a little bit about it again with you. I know there are a bunch of "Project 365s" out there, but I was introduced to the concept through Becky Higgins blog. Click here to see her post about the concept. Project 365 was the January Creating Keepsakes Kit of the Month. Unfortunately, it is all sold out now - in fact it sold out in mere minutes, which left a lot of people disappointed. I was lucky enough to get one, but it was backordered and I just recently received it. Since the sell-out, alot of people have been coming up with their own versions of the idea, and it really is something you can do without the kit. The concept is just to take one photo every day and document it with a little journaling. Click here to go to Becky's blog post that talks about alternatives to the kit for creating your own Project 365. There is also a yahoo group for Project 365 that you can access here. The yahoo group talks alot about different ways to create your own version of this project. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, please leave them in the comments and I will try my best to answer them!

So, on to week eleven's photos! Here we go:

Monday, March 9. I keep my scrapbook collections in these boxes, which Johnny absolutely loves to curl up in. I guess having a slightly wrinkled Romantic collection is a small price to pay for having a happy cat!

Tuesday, March 10: After over two months of waiting, I finally received my Project 365 kit! Yeayyyyyyyyy!!!! It's so exciting!

Wednesday, March 11: I learned how to fold fat quarters of fabric!

Thursday, March 12: Crossing the Mississippi River with downtown Saint Paul in the background.

Friday, March 13. I've used the same palette for many years and I don't ever clean it. I love how colorful it has become!

Saturday, March 14: My friend Christina and I attended a 12-hour crop at my new neighborhood scrapbook store! It was so much fun!

A full garbage is a sign of a productive crop session! (Note: Since this is the second photo for Saturday, I printed it 2x3 and attached it to the journaling card on the bottom of the layout)

Sunday, March 15: I worked all day on this double-page spread for Scrapping The Music. It brought back some great memories of my high school days! I cropped it to fit on a 4x6 photo, so you don't see the whole layout here.

And here is how this week's layout turned out all put together and embellished (click to see details)...
For Saturday's journaling, I used one of the tri-fold cards, so I could include a second picture and write a longer story...


On a completely different note, I want to say Happy Birthday to my beautiful mother today! She was born on St. Patrick's Day and her name is Patty - isn't that awesome! I LOVE YOU MOM!

That's about it for today! I will be back tomorrow with another update - take care and happy scrapping!