Journal Collages for Friday and Saturday...

I'm having a ball with my new journaling ritual. My plan is to collage a little bit each night before bed, and then the next day, when I wake up from my napinski, I can do my daily writing on the already-collaged page!

Here's my entry for Friday, March 2...
I included a flap so I'd have more room to write (and also cuz I liked how that funky scrapbook paper with all the different frames looked with the pink paint on the page behind it - ha).


Here's how it looks with the flap open...

Isn't that dog with the flat feet just the cutest? Both he and his feline counterpart came from my Best Friends Magazine (one of my fave resources for animal pics). The cloud in the corner is my hand-carved stamp.

This is an overview of Saturday's entry...

and the detail shots...
Those are Julie Balzer's cloud stencils (love them!), with handcut raindrops. The woman is cut from a photography book.


The right half of this page is something that was handmade by a Full-Tilt Boogie class mate (hence the FTB label on top). It's a nice piece of cardboard decoupaged with aged book paper on top. Yesterday was my monthly girls' crop, so I included my name tag from Archivers, and a candy wrapper from the day. You can also see a portion of a check from 1889 that I got from a vintage swap or ebay (can't remember which). It's in the a mount of $252.20. That must have been a lot of money back then!


I had done some extra journaling early Saturday morning, so I attached this vintage envelope from the IRS to hold it.

One project for today is going to be gathering a bunch of weather related stuff, so I am ready to add the daily weather to my pages. This will include clouds, snowflakes, suns and raindrops. Yeayyy!

Oh, also - I finally signed up for 21 Secrets 2012! It starts April 1st - yeayyyy! Are you going to sign up? The lineup of teachers this year looks fantastic!!!

I hope you are all having an awesome Sunday! Thanks so much for visiting!

Journal 33 is Finished...

I love the feeling of filling up a journal, putting a tag on it and calling it finished. I give my journals numbers only when they are completely full. This one is full, and it's number 33.

The bottle cap tag was made with my epiphany shape maker. On the back it has the number...

It's a pretty basic journal - but i enjoyed the ritual of writing in it daily. Here's a few pics to give you an idea of what's in it. Some of these pics I've posted before, but I want to give you an idea of the order of things...

At the beginning of the month, I like to make a mind map of things I want to accomplish...


Then I make a collage for the month, with an envelope for receipts and other tidbits I want to keep...





and after that, the journal is just filled with daily journaling...

I was missing writing in more of an artsy journal, so now I am going back to this one (made in the Full-Tilt Boogie class) for my daily writing...

And here's my entry for March 1st...
The base page on the left is an old country western magazine; and on the right is a map. I still need to make my March collage and envelope, so I left room for those on the preceding pages. I will share once I get them done.

The beauty of journaling is that there are so many ways you can do it! If you journal, what kind of book are you using? I'd love to hear/see!

Thanks so much for visiting my friends! I will see you again soon!

One Little Word - A Start...

Last night I started working on my "One Little Word" mini album. I didn't get very far, but I had a lot of fun! Since I just signed up for the workshop (which started January 1st), I'm already two months behind, but that's okay. I'm just going to take my time.

I decided to use a Melissa Frances Chipboard Bingo Card Book that I've had forever. Here's how far I got...
I cut a piece of Hambly transparency for the cover. I wanted to be able to see the title page, but have it protected.


Title page...


and opening page spread...
and that's it. That's as far as I got. HA. What took me the longest was figuring out how to do the photo overlay (the white frame and the part that says "welcome 2012") in photoshop elements. To say I'm a novice at photoshop would be putting it mildly. HAA.

I did start on preparations for the next couple of pages...

More to come on that project next week.

I am putting the finishing touches on journal 33 tonight. I'll share more on that tomorrow.

I hope your week is going fabulously!!! Thanks for visiting my friends!!!

Project Life - Week of February 20 - 26, 2012

I tried a new experiment this week with my Project Life Layout. I picked a color scheme in advance, and cut background papers. I went with the Clementine colors. Here's how my week started out looking (sorry for the glare - aargh)...

It was the first week that I added an insert. First tho, here's how the layout looks without the insert (click to see the details)...


Left side...I loved having a color scheme to work with! Ephemera includes a piece of a sock that I wore a hole in and the label off of a roll of fun tape that I used for the first time. The top left is a photo of Chris Cornell performing a tribute to Whitney Houston. I happened on the video and found it very touching, so I included it here. I also included an old photo from 1987 of our dog Suzie (just cuz I was thinking of her), my cloud stamps, and an alphabet stamp set that I received this week (I had to buy it after being inspired by this layout of Patricia's). The quote on the bottom in the middle is from pinterest.


Right side...
Ephemera includes an email that I got from Gina Armfield, letting me know that I won her drawing for a free class!!! (I'm so excited - more on that later). I also included an ATC that I received in a swap from a Sistv friend, Kim Maxey, in 2008. Can I just say AGAIN how much I love having a place to put ATCs where they will be seen?!!! The highlight of the week was celebrating Sue and Stan's (Michael's parents) 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday. (Now there's a true love story).


Sue and Stan's anniversary celebration is also the subject of my insert for the week. Here's the layout with the insert in place...

And here's a closeup of the insert. This is the invitation for their party. I used a WeR Memory Keepers 5.5x8.5" page protector...

And here's the layout with the insert flipped over...

The backside holds the announcement that was in the paper for Sue and Stan.
I am going to continue on with picking a color scheme for my Project Life layout at the beginning of the week! It really made it a lot of fun!

Thanks so much for visiting! I will see you again soon!!!

The New Challenge is up at Scrapping The Music!

The fourth Monday of the month is movie week at Scrapping The Music! This month we are paying tribute to the movie "Final Fantasy" by featuring the song "Every Time We Touch" by Cascada! To be honest, I never saw the movie, BUT the song is great for scrapping!!!

Here's what I created for the challenge...
I was so excited to capture this photo of Willie watching TV with Michael. His little paw on Michael's arm is so expressive of his love for his "dad."

I used my Noel Mignon Charm School kit for this one.

Come on over and check out the challenge! We'd love to have you play along with us!!!

Thanks so much for visiting! I will be back tomorrow with a Project Life update. See you then!

Stamp Carving 101 and a Scrappy Weekend Update...

The Stamp Carving 101 Class is over, but I am still plugging away at my lessons and loving it! I'm on Lesson 5 (out of ten). This lesson was all about learning to do points and curves. I've been wanting to carve my own cloud stamps, so I thought this was the perfect time to try it. I had so much fun! Here's how they turned out...



I haven't shown you all much of my daily journal pages, cuz they are mostly just writing; but I always record the weather. Now I can use my very own stamps for cloudy days! See...
Next up is Lesson 6, which is all about carving a complex design. Still deciding what I want to do for that one, but I will keep you posted.

If you want to check out the class, you still can. Julie is a fantastic teacher! Click here for more info or to register.

I'm very excited because over the weekend I signed up for Ali Edwards' "One Little Word" class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. It goes all year long, and each month you have prompts to work with your "word" for the year. At the end of the year you have a completed album. My word this year is "peace." I'm so excited to start working with it. I'm extra-excited because I'm going to use a journal that I thought I wasn't going to have any use for! I can't wait to show it to you. As soon as I complete the first prompt I will do that.

If you are looking for something scrappy to do today, there's still time to play along with this week's Scrapping The Music challenge! The deadline is tonight (Sunday) at midnight. Click here to check it out!

Alrighty, I'm off to do some scrappy stuff. See you again soon!

A Year In The Life of an Art Journal... "Favorite Things"

The latest prompt at "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal" is as follows:

THE PROMPT: My Favorite Things
ie: a few of the things you LOVE about someone you love. Can be alive or dead.
THE STUFF: Lists and ephemera
ie: have a few tokens from that someone? Maybe the cover of the CD with "your song" or a napkin from the restaurant you both love to eat at...
THE TECHNIQUE: Pockets
ie: Use pockets to store those "things" on your page.


I put my own twist on this one, and made mine about the online artsy community. I made a list, and used a tag instead of a pocket. Here's how my page turned out...
The base for this page is from an old country-western music magazine. If you look closely, you can still see a man in a white cowboy hat in the middle of the page. The earth is cut from an ATC I made a long time ago for earth day. I've been loving using old ATC's lately!

Here's what it looks like with the tag flipped open...

I can't believe how much my world has changed as a result of discovering the online arts community! I never get over how amazing it is to be able to connect with people all over the world and share our love of crafting!

If you want to check out the Year In the Life of an Art Journal prompt - click here to go to the challenge.

Thanks for visiting and I will see you soon!

Caro Emerald at Scrapping The Music...

I had never heard of Caro Emerald until Design Team Member Frauke suggested we do "That Man" as a Scrapping The Music Challenge. I'm so glad she did cuz it's a super fun, catchy song and great for scrapping! It's our challenge this week, and here's how my layout turned out...

This photo was taken on Honeymoon 5 this past October. We were standing in line for the Harry Potter ride and it was soooooo hot and crowded; but we were still EXCITED for the much-talked about ride! I used my Studio Calico "Handmade" kit. The wooden letters got a spritz of Mr. Huey in Heirloom blue (one of my fave colors).

Come on along and scrap with us! We'd love to have you! Check out the challenge here!

Project Life - Week of February 13 - 19, 2012...

Hey there and happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I worked on my Project Life spread a little each day this week, and it worked out great! I can't believe it's already done! Here's how it turned out...
Noted this week: Valentines day flowers and date, Michael's computer tower, some art I created, movies on Netflix and other every day things.

Left side closeup...
The one that cracks me up this week is the photo of Johnny with Willie's fur hanging out of his mouth. They had been fighting, and I broke it up. I had to laugh when he was looking at me like "what? I didn't do anything" and that big hunk of fur was hanging out of his mouth - ha. I also included some of the fur. I also found an ATC that I received from Cait Durham in a swap a long time ago. It fit the theme this week so I included it. Thanks Cait!


Right side closeup...
The boys have been having alot of trouble with hairballs recently, so we got some Petromalt - a gooey, sticky substance that they lick right off your finger. It's supposed to prevent hairballs. Let me tell you they are CRAZY for it! So, I had to include a piece of the box. The Netflix collage was done in photoshop elements. I created a 4x6 canvas with a grid, and dragged the movie poster images around on it til they fit. The Faith ATC is one I created a couple of years ago. The Good Carma badge is actually a magnet someone put on my car door while it was parked downtown at a meter. I thought it was cute.

This week I might try pre-cutting background cards from patterned cardstock, to create a color palette for the week. It's fun to try different things to see how they work.

In other news, the slideshow for our "Art" challenge is up at Scrapping The Music! Come on over and check it out!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

A Year In The Life of an Art Journal... "Imagine"

I had so much fun with this page for the "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal" group! The guidelines for the challenge were:

THE PROMPT: Imagine
ie: what's in your imagination or where do you imagine yourself
THE STUFF: Pictures or words from magazines/newspapers etc
ie: Words, letters or images that develop your idea
THE TEChNIQUE: mask/stencils
ie: can be anything from flowers, letters, rubberbands or professional mask or stencils

I ended up doing my page in my Vintage Record Album Journal, on one of the LP Sleeves. Here's how it turned out...

My journaling reads: "Let the images in your head spill onto the page without judgment. Follow your "what ifs" to find out the answer. Let your imagination run free."

The model in the magazine image had a slicked back ponytail, so I fixed her up a bit to be more of a flower child, with a china marker, acrylic paint and a rub-ons from Basic Grey.

The masking and stenciling may be hard to pick out. I used masking fluid from Maya Road on the bottom layer - there are some words on the bottom, a doodled border and scallops around the hole in the middle of the sleeve. I used a stencil to make the "bubbles" floating out of the urn in the middle of the page. The black and white illustration is done by one of my all-time fave artists, Maxfield Parrish.

The new prompt at "A Year In The Life" just went up today. Check it out here!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

Project Life - The Fun Continues!

I finished my Project Life layout for February 6 - 12 last night. The last couple of weeks I've started taping the week's page protectors to my wall, and adding tidbits as the week progresses. It's really been helping to see it evolve that way.

Here's how the layout turned out (click the image to see the details)...
Please excuse the glare on these photos. I had a particularly hard time getting rid of it this week; and this is the best I could do.

Closeup of the left side...
The creativity quote is from pinterest. When I went to the dentist this week, I was delighted to see free coloring sheets on the kids table! I had to grab one, even if the other woman in the waiting room, did give me a funny look - ha. I love how the Cocoa Daisy kits always come with a little card with a quote on it. A nice little perk. :0)


And here's the right side...
I'd been meaning to order some of Aunt Lydia's crochet thread ever since Amy Tan recommended it at her Scrapfest class in September. I finally did it, and it came this week. Gorgeous colors and so cheap! The tissue paper on the Wednesday card was leftover from that day's art journal session. The quote is something I heard at work, and thought it was a very wise thing to remember. Not everything has to be perfect! I asked Michael if I could take a pic of him in his paper-making uniform and he reluctantly obliged - ha. The rest is pretty self-explanatory I think.

This week I'm going to try an experiment. Complete each day's Project Life addition by the following day. I will let you know how it goes...

I hope you are having a fabulous Valentines day my friends!!! Big hugs from me to you!!!

"Art" at Scrapping The Music - check it out!

The new song at Scrapping The Music is "Art" by Tanya Davis! I am super-excited about this one!!! I love the song AND the video, and of course, the subject matter is so close to my heart.

If you're not familiar with the song and video - you've gotta check it out! It's very unique - click here to go to the challenge.

I chose to do an art journal page for this one...
The lyrics to this song remind me of a journal entry, so I thought my art journal would be the perfect place for them! This is one of those pages that I turned to to get rid of extra paint after painting on other pages - do you do that too? For example - where it says "trust your heart," I had used that stencil on another page, and I just used this page to wipe the extra ink off the stencil. I actually ended up liking this image better than the intended one. Anyways, all I added to this page to finish it off was the photo of myself journaling, the lyrics, and the word "Art."

Come on over and play along with us at Scrapping The Music this week - we'd love to have you! Click here to go to the challenge!