Vintage Spring Ephemera Swap...

It's been absoutely AGES since I participated in a swap, but today I found one that I absolutely couldn't resist! It's called the Vintage Spring Ephemera Swap, and it's being hosted by Jessica Rodarte...
All the photos on Jessica's blog of previous swaps look gorgeous, and it sounds like a lot of fun, so I signed up. The sign ups only go until May 27, so check it out here right away if you are interested.


Thank you all so very much for your kind comments about my video! You made my day!!! I also love that so many of you liked the music I chose! The song is called "Bottom of the Barrel," and it's by one of my VERY FAVORITE singer/songwriters - Amos Lee. Here's a video of Amos singing the song...




This guy has so much heart and soul in his music it's amazing. If you want to know more about Amos, you can check out his website by clicking here: Amos Lee.


Have you heard about the new journal class that Mary Ann Moss is teaching in June? It's called "Full Tilt Boogie," and it utilizes those old victorian photo albums. I got one on ebay recently, that I am so excited about! It is blue velvet and the inside pages are woodgrain! Talk about funky! Here it is...

I already took Mary Ann's "Remains of the Day" journal class and it was awesome!!! If you want to know more about "Full Tilt Boogie" click here.

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

My First Video...

Hi everyone! I had fun last night, making a little video of some of my work, and I'm excited to share it with you! It was my first attempt at using iMovie, so it's not fancy, but for a first try, I'm happy with it. I hope you like it...



Now I feel like next time I want to make a video for something, it won't be so intimidating, since I will have done it once, right?

Anyhoo, I just wanted to share. I hope your week is going great!!!

Beautiful You, Radiant You

I'm back working on my 21 Secrets Projects and I'm excited to share with you! I finished my journal page for "Beautiful You, Radiant You," which is taught by Ingrid Murray. It was a class with many facets to it, but each one focused on knowing who you are. I made mine 11" x 15"...
I picked my images for the mandala with no pre-planning, but when I was done I realized they were almost all of animals, so I made the journaling about my relationship with them - something near and dear to my heart. The photo on the right is of me at about 10 years old, with my dog Teak.


The photo is on a flap that opens with answers to some reflective questions on the back...
Ingrid is a warm and encouraging teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed her class!!! Thanks for the inspiration Ingrid!!!

Now, I get to pick a new 21 Secrets workshop to start on - YEAYYY!

How is your week going?

Weekend Wedding, A New Baby and Happy Mail!!!!

It was a big weekend for the Rydells that started with a trip to Texas to attend Michael's brother Matt's wedding! We traveled with Michael's parents Sue and Stan - Here are the four of us having fun on the plane...


The wedding was just beautiful! Here is a photo of Matt and his bride Leigh. Isn't her dress gorgeous?

They had the reception in a park and it was a perfect day for it! Michael and I rarely dress up, but it was fun for this special occasion...!

Don't Sue and Stan look elegant? They are so sweet - great role models for a happy marriage...


and then, to make the weekend even MORE special, Michael's sister Anne & hubby John had a baby - their first!!! We were all so excited that we stopped at the hospital on the way home from the airport!!!

Here she is - little Georgiana Clover - or Georgie for short...
Oh my word. New life is so amazing. And Georgie is beautiful. Anne and John are happy parents and everyone is doing well.

One more thing I want to share with you is the fabulous happy mail I received this week! I was so excited to find out that I won a beautiful journal from a giveaway at The Glossy Project blog. The journal is handmade by Penney Klaproth of Faerie Acres. It is even more beautiful in real life than the pictures showed...


Look at all the detail! The stitching and the beading are gorgeous! So much fabulous texture...

Inside there are tabs and a whole bunch of different kinds of papers...


including some handpainted backgrounds...

You can see more of Penney's handmade treasures at her etsy shop! Click here to check it out! As for this journal, I already have an idea of what I might do with it and I'm so excited to start!

Thank you Penney for a beautiful gift!

Giveaway Winner and an Announcement...

We have a winner of the journal kit giveaway! I let Willie and Johnny pick the winner - check out the video.....



Congratulations goes to......









gssfam!


Please email your mailing address to me gssfam and I will get your kit out to you right away!!!


If you didn't win, but would still like a journaling kit, there will be a chance to buy one soon! I am planning to open an etsy store! I'm so excited about this - I've been wanting to start an online shop for a long time. I would love to get your input, so if there is anything in particular that you would like to see in the shop, leave it in the comments okay? This does not obligate you to buy anything - I just want to get an idea of things people might be interested in.

Congrats again to gssfam! and look for a new shop opening soon!

My "Room to Bloom..."

Hi everyone! I'm very excited to share that my studio is being featured today in a new blog series called "Room to Bloom." It's over at Tracie Hanson's blog - Click here to come on over and say hi!!! I hope to see you over there!

A Giveaway for My Awesome Readers!

Hi everyone! Awhile ago, I decided that when my blog hit 50,000 hits, I would do a giveaway to celebrate. Well, guess what? It hit 50,000 over the weekend! Yeayyy! I'm so excited and grateful to you, my blog readers for visiting me! Here's the giveaway I put together for you.

It's a little journal kit! It includes over 30 unique pieces of journal fodder - some vintage, some retro, some handmade, all from my personal stash. These are things I would use to create my own journals...

and to go with it, I made a little journal. It is 5.5" x 7.5," and filled with 32 pages of kraft paper.

I bundled it all up into a little kit for you...



If you would like to win this kit, just leave a comment by this Sunday, May 15th. I will draw a name and announce the winner on Monday, May 16th.

Good luck and again I thank you so much for visiting my blog!!!

National Scrapbook Day Was Fun...

Hi everyone! How was your National Scrapbook Day? Mine was fun! I completed three projects from the Big Picture Classes Celebration...

1. Use Text on a Page...
I had this page all planned in my head and text was the most important part, so it worked out great! This is an assignment for "The Self-Portrait Experience," over at 21 Secrets...
I thought about what to write on this one for over a week. I knew what I wanted to express, but couldn't think of the right words at first. The red piece at the top is an actual cover from one of my childhood piano practice books!


2. 10 Techniques, 10 Products and 10 Words:
This one was harder, but also fun...
10 Techniques: Ripping, Stamping, Painting, Gessoing, Detail-cutting the photo, Mosaic, Stitching, Doodling, Popping Up the flower, and hand-journaling. 10 Products: Patterned paper, paint, gesso, contact paper, alpha stickers, embroidery floss, ephemera, stickers, brad, magazine images.


3. Use Woodgrain:
For this one I used a Scarlet Lime kit.

There were 12 challenges in all, and they aren't actually due until midnite tonight, so I could do some more, but I'm not sure if I will, cuz I've got some other things in the works too. It was a fun day, and it felt good to do some scrapbooking again!

Stay-tuned tomorrow for a giveaway and announcement!!!

Inspired by Tracie...

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! Do you ever get SO inspired by something you see, that you have to set aside whatever you are doing and try it yourself??? That happened to me this past week! I was deep into the 21 Secrets Workshops, when I saw this journal (click here and scroll to the April 30, 2011 post) in the gallery. I just LOVED it!!! Tracie was happy to share with me that she made it by doodling on a big piece of kraft paper and then cut it up. I can't seem to link directly to specific posts at her blog, but If you go to her January 26, 2011 post, she shares a bit of the process. Wish I could have taken that class - looks like fun!!! With her permission, I got busy and tried it myself, and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Here are a few pics of the process...
I got out some of my fave paint colors and randomly doodled some stuff.


Then I outlined with black and put in a few white accents...


Here's how the big doodle looks all finished...

Then I cut it into 9 x 12" pieces, and added a Hambly clear overlay for a cover. (The word "journal" is pasted on top of the overlay)...

Here are a few of the inside pages...



In between the kraft doodle pages, I am adding some stitched "Remains of the Day" style pages...


My plan is to start this journal in June, for my daily writing. I may collage in it too - who knows? I love that I can add pages as I go, and re-arrange if the mood suits me. Thank you SO MUCH to Tracie Hanson for the inspiration! Be sure to go and visit Tracie's blog and see all of her wonderful projects!!!

Tomorrow is National Scrapbook Day and I'm getting super excited for the BPS Crop! I haven't felt much like scrapping at all this year and I'm hoping to get some mojo back for it. Maybe I will see you there?

Take care and thanks so much for visiting!

Tiny Smashbook Update...

The K & Co. Smashbooks are finally available for pre-order, and I got my order in right away! While I wait, I was lucky enough to get a freebie giveaway from the Smashbook blog. It's a tiny version of the Smashbook and it's SO CUTE! It's about 3.75" x 5.75." I've just started putting things in it, so I thought it would be fun to share how it's looking so far:

The cover is plain, but it will be fun to doodle on...

The inside front cover has these cute little pockets. I used some washi tape to label my dried flowers...


Here's a room key I accidentally left a hotel with (oops)...

I found this adorable paper doll Owl on the internet, and I wish I could share a link, but I've forgotten where it came from. If anyone knows, could you link me up? I'd love to give credit where it's due. Anyhoo, I made a tiny clear envelope to put his extra clothes in. He even came with sunglasses and a hat!...

I haven't done anything to these two pages yet, but wanted to share cuz they make me chuckle...

When you turn the page, he looks like this - ha!...
And notice the back cover has another little pocket, and it came with some tiny labels with cute sayings like "I love this" & "Oh Snap." HA.

I think Stop and Scrap still has Smashbooks up for pre-order. Click here to check it out.

I was recently SUPER inspired by a new kind of journal that I saw in the 21 Secrets gallery, so I'm now working on creating one with my own style and I can't wait to share it with you soon! When I do I will be sure to link you up to the fabulous artist who inspired me too!

What's been inspiring you lately?

Oh, and have any of you signed up for the free online crop this Saturday at Big Picture Scrapbooking? It's looking like it will be fun! Click here to check it out!

Thanks so much for visiting! I appreciate you!!! Have a fabulous day!

A New Month in my Daily Journal...

Hi everyone! Last night I finished my intro page for May in my daily journal. Each month, I'm trying to capture the weather, some local and world news, one or two photos of daily life at our home and a quote. I think it will be fun to look back at these months later...


My journal is about half-full now...
I'm thinking it will probably last through the end of May, which should be perfect timing because my Smashbooks should be here by then, and I have a new plan brewing!

Oh, and speaking of Smashbooks, I've started filling my tiny freebie one. I will share pics of that tomorrow. Also - they are still holding weekly giveaways for the big ones on the blog - check it out here.

I hope you are having an awesome week! Thanks for visiting!

New Scrapping The Music AND Fave Things Challenges...

It's movie week again at Scrapping The Music and this time we are paying tribute to the movie "Once," by featuring the theme song "Falling Slowly." I decided to make an art journal page (big surprise, eh?), and here's how it turned out...
The daffodil is a photograph I took on a recent walk with Michael. The rest is acrylic paint, dictionary paper and pan pastel around the edges.

Come on over and play along with us! Click here to go directly to the STM challenge!


We've also got a new challenge for you over at the Fave Things blog. This time we want you to answer the question - What's your favorite thing about Spring? Here's how mine turned out...
The blooming trees take my breath away in the spring. The colors are sooo beautiful! This photograph was taken in the park where Michael and I got married. For the layout I used my Scarlet Lime "Vintage Love" kit, along with poster paint sharpies for doodling.

Come on over to Fave Things and tell us what you love about spring!

Oh, and speaking of Scarlet Lime - owner Christy Tomlinson has a really neat giveaway on her blog right now! Check it out here.

That's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comments! I really appreciate them and you!!! Have a wonderful Sunday my friends!