My First Smashbook Page...

Last night, Michael and I had the pleasure of seeing the amazingly talented Jackson Browne do a solo acoustic performance at the State Theatre in Minneapolis. Oh. WOW. Words cannot describe the magic. The way this man uses words to create visual pictures just blows me away. It has for decades now. Incredible. And oh, so fun to create my first SmashBook entry about it! The timing of that just worked out fabulous!!! Here's how it turned out (click on the image to see the details better...)
That adorable owl was already on the page, but I colored him with my colored pencils, and gave him some headphones and music notes to fit in with the theme. The photo at the top right-hand corner of the page is a painting that is right over the stage. The State is a super-old theatre that went through a grand renovation awhile back, and the ornate decor is breathtaking! Anyhoo, The piece of text on the left was cut from an environmental flyer that we got at the show; and the cut out lines of text are lyrics from his encore song. It was so much fun to do old-school scrapping like this! It will make me smile every time I look at it and remember that nite!

Here's a video of Jackson doing the song that he played for his encore last night...



If you got a Smashbook, have you started it yet? I'd love to hear about it!

Three Journals Come to a Close...

Hi everyone:
My goal was to finish my current journal (the grid journal) by the end of May, so that on June 1st I could start my new art journal and smash book - and I did it! There is something I love about coming to the end of a journal, putting a tag on it, and adding it to my shelf! I ended up titling this one "Days Go By," after the Keith Urban lyric. It seemed appropriate. Here's a couple of photos of it, all finished up...

It was really fun working in a grid format - something different for me...

I also loved the larger format (81/2 x 11")...


I finished off the back cover by pasting in the aforementioned Keith Urban lyric...

While I was at it, I put the finishing touches on two other journals. My Soul Journal...



and my "Good Things Daily" journal...


So here they all are now, in their new home on my shelf. Journals 1 - 5 of 2011...


Tomorrow I will share my first entries in my two new journals! When one journal closes, another one opens, right?

Thanks for visiting and see you then!

Weekend In Texas Mini...

Remember that beautiful handmade journal I won from Penney? This one.....?

Well, I got busy and put it to use right away! It was so beautiful I just couldn't let it sit there! So I'm making it into a mini-album about our recent trip to Texas! I worked on it at my monthly crop and got about half-way done. Here's how it looks so far...

It was amazingly easy to adhere the envelope onto the inside cover - I just used fabric glue. I put our packing and shopping lists in the envelope.



The 4"x6" pages are the perfect size to fit 3x4 photos...


On the left page here I made a little pocket to hold the hotel map.








Next month I should be able to finish 'er up.

Now I'm looking forward to a long weekend with plenty of time for creating! My first plan is to finish up my current journal so I am ready to start my first SmashBook on June 1st! Yeayyy!

What are you up to this weekend?

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!