You Gotta Be Bold...

I found a great book at the library used book store the other day. I will have to get out my Goo-Be-Gone to get the stickers off, but then it will make an awesome art journal! I love the picture on the front, and there are illustrations on the inside too. Check it out...
And I finished another circle journal layout! This one is for my album. Theme is "Scrap a Song Lyric and Include a Photo of Yourself." I had so much fun with this one!

The background paper is white cardstock painted with acrylic paint. I used the current Next Step technique of shadowing with charcoal again on this layout (around the photo). Other materials used include dictionary paper, Jenni Bowlin vintage black star paper, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday Alpha paper, Autumn Leaves Whirligig buttons, Stampin Up Newsprint Alpha stamps and a black sharpie.

Now I've got a big mess to clean up in the scraproom! I will be back tomorrow with another update. I hope your weekend is going well! I wish you a wonderful Sunday!

Circle Journal Cover...

I finished my Circle Journal cover - yeayyyy!!! I had so much fun with this! My theme is "scrap a song lyric and include a photo of yourself." I decided to title the journal "Self-Portraits in Song," It's made from the record album cover that came in my SiStv Homebody collection, cut down to 9 1/2" x 8 3/4." Here's the front...After glueing on some sheet music, I used spray ink and purple acrylic to muddy the background a little bit. I wanted it to still show but allow the bird to stand out. The bird is painted with acrylic and outlined with a black sharpie. His telephone wire is made from dictionary paper. The title is painted and outlined as well.

Here's the inside front cover. I used the latest technique challenge from The Next Step, which is to use charcoal for highlighting. It's very subtle, but I charcoaled around the edge of the sheet music...
and I also charcoaled around the scallops on the inside of the back cover. I like the effect. It gives it a little extra whimsy...

and here's the back cover, which is also the back of the record album...

I still have to add a middle ring (I only had two handy), but other than that it is done!

So, I'm SLIGHTLY behind on my goal of completing all 7 Circle Journal layouts this week - I've only done one plus this cover. LOL. I've still got the rest of the weekend tho, so we shall see...

I'm so excited to get my Studio Calico kits I can hardly stand it! Happy mail is so much fun!

I'll be back tomorrow with another update - hopefully more circle journal layouts!

Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Miscellaneous Rambling...

Diane B asked where I got the Rheotech paints. Thanks for the question Diane! I got them at a local art store called Art Materials. Here's a link to their online shop. You can also go directly to the Rheotech site to find out where to buy them near you. If anyone tries them, I'd love to know what you think!

I've been playing in my scraproom all night and it's been really freeing. I am working on the cover for my circle journal for sisversary - just playing and going with my gut which always makes me the happiest! I finished the front of the cover, but I want to wait til it's all done to share. My theme is "scrap a song lyric and include a photo of yourself." More to come on that.

I just found out tonight that Dina Wakely is doing another art journal class - HOORAY!!! It's called "Art Journaling 201 - A Masterful Journey." I have taken two of Dina's art journaling classes already and each one was amazing. You can read more about it at Dina's blog here.

Life is so inspiring right now I just can't even believe it. It's like there just aren't enough hours in the day. Here it is 12:30 a.m. and if I didn't have to get up and go to work in the morning I swear I could stay up all night scrapping! There's something so magical about night time for me.

But - the days are magical too, and if I want to enjoy them, I guess I need to get my sleep. I used to always wish I could just have a windup key so I didn't have to sleep - LOL. I wouldn't go that far anymore. Sleep is a lovely thing.

So that's it for today - I think this is the first post without a photo. It feels weird. I am such a visual person it doesn't feel complete if I don't have a photo. Well, I will make up for it tomorrow with at least two photos. Ha.

Have a wonderful Friday my scrappy friends - thanks for stopping by!

New Scrappy Supplies on Their Way!

Oh my! I meant to do a bunch of scrapping tonight, but I got caught up in the hoopla of "Reveal Night" over at Studio Calico! I had a gift certificate to use (that I won over at the BASB challenge blog), so I decided to try one of their kits. Turns out they have a big party every month on the night they reveal the new kits! It was a lot of fun, and I ended up buying the main kit plus two of the add-on kits! Yikes! They are so cute I couldn't resist! It will be fun to have new goodies to scrap with!

I did get started on my circle journal cover tonight, but I didn't get very far. I will get more done tomorrow for sure!

I got some new heavy body acrylic paint the other day and I am absolutely LOVING it! This stuff is so thick you can hold the jar upside down and it doesn't move! It's super creamy and the colors are so intense! I only got two jars, but I can tell I will be buying more in the future! The brand name is Rheotech - here's what it looks like...


So, that's all the news I've got for today. I will be back tomorrow and hopefully have some finished projects to share!!!

Have a wonderful, beautiful, happy day my friends!

Project 365 Week Twenty-One

On Monday, when I mentioned that it was the memorial day holiday here in the U.S., I got a few questions about what the memorial day is for. Our memorial day is set aside to honor the men and women who have died while in military service. You can read more about it here.

So, on to Project 365 - we are in week 21 already! Wow, almost half-way through the year!

Monday, May 18: Michael and I saw these lilacs on our walk and it reminded both of us of our childhood! The smell is so sweet and nostalgic!
Tuesday, May 19: I used the Starbucks gift card my Secret Sister sent me to get a Large Iced Soy Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel! YUMMY! Thanks Secret Sis!
Wednesday, May 20: This is my creative project to-do list that I keep in my scraproom.
Thursday, May 21: These two just amaze me.
Friday, May 22: My sweet man washing my car for me - he is so wonderful!


Saturday, May 23: A little father-son game of catch in the yard - Michael and Tony...
Sunday, May 24: It was a beautiful day at Lake of the Isles. Michael and my first walk around the lake this year...

and here's how the layout turned out...

I am loving this project so much! It has completely freed me of the feeling like I should be scrapping a layout for each event - there is no more feeling of not being caught up. Snapping a photo a day has become such a routine and fun part of my life. And putting the weekly layout together doesn't take long at all. The thing that takes the longest is trying to get a decent picture of the layout - it's hard to photograph clearly.

If you want to know more about Project 365 - click here.

That's all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with another update - take care and thanks for stopping by!

Why I Scrapbook Circle Journal...

I finished my first Circle Journal layout for my Circle Journal swap! This one is for Becca's journal, and her theme is "Why I Scrapbook." She also specified that it should include journaling! I had so much fun making this! I am calling it the 65-hour layout cuz I kept changing my mind as to how I wanted to do it - it's the only thing I got done all weekend - LOL. It's an 8x8 double page spread...Everything is hand-drawn except the words "life is" which are done with Doodlebug alpha stickers.

There are seven of us in the swap and the way it works is - each person comes up with a theme and then everyone in the swap group creates a layout for that theme and gives their layout to the person who came up with the theme, so she ends up with a whole album of layouts which include everyone's interpretation of her theme. Does that make sense? So I have seven different layouts to do - one for each group member. I have wanted to do a circle journal swap for a long time - it's so much fun to finally do one!

My goal is to get all seven layouts done this week - one a day. I hope I can do it!

OH - I just want to mention again about the voting over at Lotus Paperie. It's the final day and I could really use your vote! I am behind right now by two votes - aargh! I think it's over at like 8 am or so. So, if you wouldn't mind checking it out and possibly voting for me (if you like my layout) I would really appreciate it! Click here!

Have a wonderful Tuesday my friends! I will be back tomorrow with another update!

Free To Be Me at Scrapping The Music!

Happy Monday! The new song is up at Scrapping The Music and it's "Free To Be Me" by Francesca Battistelli! I must admit I had never heard this song before we featured it, but I love it and it has sooooo many great lyrics for scrapping! I had originally picked a different lyric to scrap, and was having a terrible time coming up with a layout - I think I was pushing myself too hard - then I realized that the lyric I really NEEDED to scrap was "Perfection is my Enemy," because really - once in awhile I start worrying too much about it and I forget to just have fun. So silly. I am working on this tho, and there is nothing more fun than just playing with art. This is my ode to imperfection. The title is the lyric, the rest is just my own journaling...
Come on over and play along with us!!! I'd love to see what you create!

So, how has your weekend been going? I had a wonderful Sunday! Michael and I went back to my neighborhood from when I was single - in the city, and walked around the Lake. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!!! Here's a few of the sites we saw...

I love the guy stretching his back leg, and the other one looking straight at me - so cute!




So, I'm excited about having today off (it's memorial day here - is it in other countries too?), and I am just going to scrap scrap scrap! Yeayyy! SiSversary is starting to get close and I have lots of swaps to do!

Have a fabulous day! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Hallelujah

My online friend Marit recently did a beautiful art journal page inspired by the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah. That song is on my mind now, and I wanted to share my favorite version of it - Jason Castro from American Idol. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Meanwhile, I am working on lots of projects today, but nothing is finished yet. Last night I worked on assignments for Collage Couture - which by the way is a super fun class! Today I am working on my circle journal layouts for SiSversary. As soon as I have something finished I will post.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend my friends!

Project 365 - Week Twenty

The theme this week seemed to be color - Everything looks so beautiful this time of year!

Monday, May 11: I'm still loving my Mother's Day bouquet...
Tuesday, May 12: Willie is more interested in sniffing the camera than having his portrait taken...

Wednesday, May 13: The trees are in full bloom at Lake of the Isles...

Thursday, May 14: The trees in our yard are breathtaking!

Friday, May 15: I need to clean up my scraproom! Clutter creates a logjam in my brain...

Saturday, May 16: My new haircut...

Sunday, May 17: My beautiful oil crayons...

and here's how the layout turned out...

I hope you are having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you tomorrow!

Scrapping The Music and Collage Couture!

Happy Tuesday!!! Monday was beautiful, and it's so nice to still have daylight after 9:00 pm! I love it!

This week's song at Scrapping The Music is "These Are The Days" by 10,000 Maniacs. Come on over and play along with us! We'd love to see what you create! I had a lot of fun making my layout for it. I used the Homebody Collection from SiSTV, plus a little Adirondack spray ink on the bottom behind the word Lucky. The title is a lyric from the song...
The journaling reads:
I've watched you grow from the little kittens I adopted from the rescue center, both with snotty noses and respiratory infections; thru your kitten stage when you were into everything and climbing everywhere. You made me laugh and exasperated me at the same time. You've moved twice with me - both times loving your new home (to my relief.) You were a comfort when I was lonely, and now you share my joy. You accepted Michael right away, and I love watching your cute relationship with him. My funny, snuggly comedians that love to watch the birds and stay up late scrapping with me. I love you both and I am blessed and lucky to have you in my life!

Next is my first project for the class I'm taking at SiS called Collage Couture. It was my first time using gloss gel medium and I think I will be using it a whole lot more!

I will be back tomorrow with a Project 365 update! Take care and thanks for stopping by!

The Next Step and Creative Therapy...

This week's challenge at The Next Step is to make embellishments with stamps and paint, etc. I've been having fun trying different methods of coloring the same stamp. Below from left to right I used 1) Oil pastels blended with my finger, 2) Watercolor crayons, and 3) Watercolor paint...
here's a closeup of each - this is the oil pastel (I like the way the middle of the flower turned out on this one)...

the watercolor crayon...

and the watercolor paint (this one got the most intense color)...
The differences are more obvious in real life. It was a fun experiment, and I will refer to it the next time I am trying to decide which medium to use on a project!

So, the next thing I did was cut all three flowers out, and I used them as embellishments on this art journal page I did for this week's "Creative Therapy" challenge, which was to create something around a personality trait that you admire. Here's the result...
The journaling reads: Being able to talk to each other is the key to understanding each other. Really talking. Being able to express your thoughts and feelings is a trait that I admire and one that I need in a relationship. To talk to someone about who you are and how you really feel is to allow yourself to be vulnerable and that takes courage, but it's really the only way tobecome close. Talking is sharing, and sharing is connecting, and connecting is loving.

Materials used include acrylic paint, magazine image of a cat, duct tape, gaffer tape, dictionary paper, white and black sharpies, Stampin Up alphabet stamps, and various bits of patterned paper.

I hope your weekend is going well! I will be back tomorrow with another update! Take care my scrappy friends!

Charm Time...

It's been a five-star day! So much fun! I stopped by the local scrapbook shop garage sale this morning and alot of my items had sold already which made me feel fabulous! Then I got my haircut which always makes me feel good!

It helped so much to make a list of my projects for the weekend. I've been updating it as I go (see post below).

I finished my 20 charms for the SiSversary charm swap! It was fun! I used bottlecaps which I hammered flat, acrylic paint on cardstock, hand-drawn clouds on dictionary pages, a red glitter pen, and a word stamp. I adhered the tiny artwork with Crystal Effects by Stampin Up... In this pic I turned a few over so you could see the back...
The only bad thing is I realized after they were all done that the clasp I used is called a spring ring - I thought it was a lobster claw. One of the rules is that we have to use lobster claws, so I will need to redo all the clasps - DRAT. Oh well. Live and learn - still I like how they turned out, and it was fun to do a different kind of project! I can't wait to see all the different charms that people come up with!

So, now I have started my assignment for the Collage Couture class, and it was really fun playing with the gloss gel medium! I've never used that before! It's still drying. Since the Next Step challenge is all about creating embellishments, I think I will create some that I can add to my collage - why not?!!!

I will be back tomorrow with another update, including the newest Scrapping The Music Challenge. Have a super-duper Sunday everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Creative Projects For The Weekend...

Okay, so I didn't get a whole lot of cleaning done, which means I also didn't get any creating done. I think I need a list. Here are my creative goals for the weekend...

1. Finish cleaning scraproom. Done
2. Make charms for charms swap. Done
3. Complete a project for current challenge at "The Next Step" blog.
4. Complete two circle journal layouts.
5. Take lots of pictures.
6. Stop in at the scrapbook garage sale. Done
7. Pick up some glossy gel medium and/or modeling paste. Done
8. Complete first assignment for "Collage Couture" class. In Progress

It's good to have goals. I probably won't make it through the whole list, but I am going to have fun with it and try. I will be back with updates.

What are you up to this weekend?

Just Checking In...

Hey everybody - I got a new camera! Yeayyyy! I am a point and shoot kind of gal and what I look for is something small (so I can carry it around in my pocket) that takes good pictures without much fuss. I ended up with the new Canon Powershot SD780 and I love it! Here's a pic of Willie modeling with it...Oh my it's been a busy week! I've been working on some layouts for Scrapping The Music that I can't share just yet (drat), and I've also been getting ready for a garage sale at my local scrapbook store! I was up late last night pricing and bagging and organizing. I'm so excited because I will get store credit equal to the amount I sell, and I filled five grocery bags with stuff! Whatever doesn't sell will go to charity so that's good too. In the process I made a big mess in my scraproom which I now have to clean up before I can create anything. Aargh. Oh well. It will be worth it in the end.

So, I needed 20 bottlecaps to make charms out of for this charm swap I'm in, and I only had eight. I looked at the local craft stores and couldn't find any blank bottle caps, so I've been drinking diet root beer like crazy to gather enough caps! Now that I have enough I will be finishing the charms this weekend - I hope they turn out the way I have envisioned them! I will be sure to share a picture as soon as I can.

I will have more of an update tomorrow, but for now I will leave you with a pic of this dude that was hanging out in the yard this week with his partner - how cute is he?!!! (I especially love his little foot up in the air)...
I hope you are having a beautiful spring! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you tomorrow!

Exciting News and Project 365 Week Nineteen...

I'm so excited!!! I received word this morning that my "Morning Pose" layout (which features my sweet cat Johnny) has made the final three for April over at Lotus Paperie! What happens now is that people have a chance to vote for their favorite of the top three and that determines the winner! No pressure, but I'd love it if you would vote for me! Click here to check it out... and thanks in advance if you do!

So, on to Week Nineteen of Project 365...

It was a bit of a quiet week at the Rydell household...

Monday, May 4: Son Stevie gets the credit for catching this awesome shot of a pair of geese that were hanging out on the neighbor's lawn...

Tuesday, May 5: Buttons and beads in my scraproom...

Wednesday, May 6: My project 52 ATC ribbon is filling up...

Thursday, May 7: The boys are bored...

Friday, May 8: Michael bought us a groovy new welcome mat!

Saturday, May 9: Thinking about Harold and Maude as I worked on my mini-album at the crop...

Sunday, May 10: My second year as a "mom!" The kids were so sweet to give me these beautiful flowers! The first photo will be my journaling spot...
and this one will be my photo of the day...

and here's how the layout turned out...
I just love how quickly these layouts come together! It makes it so easy to keep up with it!

For more details about Project 365 click here.

Have a wonderful Wednesday my scrappy friends! I will be back tomorrow with another update!

The BASB Challenge...

The current challenge at the BASB blog is to create a layout about an artist that inspires you. I loved this idea for a challenge, and it made me think about Maxfield Parrish, who has long been an inspiration to me!

I had fun playing around with my paints, and ended up doing a double-page spread in honor of Mr. Parrish... Journaling reads:
I discovered Maxfield Parrish's work as a teen, and have been enthralled with it ever since. His intense colors, the way he created light in his paintings, and the unique whimsy of his illustrations are all so inspiring. Maxfield Parrish 1870 - 1966. A truly magical artist.

Materials used include:
Brown textured cardstock, acrylic paint, images from a book about Mr Parrish, a white glaze pen, white sharpie, purple thickers and white remarks alphas.

and here are a couple of closeups:


So, what artist inspires you?

I will be back tomorrow with a Project 365 update. Take care my scrappy friends, and thanks for stopping by!