Project 52 Week Two...

The word I chose for this week is FAITH. I really enjoyed making this little ATC. The background is an image from a magazine. I stamped the word "faith" with Pink Paislee alpha stamps - first in paint; and when that dried I stamped again over the top with stazon ink. The edges are light blue vintage glass glitter. That stuff is sharp - be careful if you work with it! I put clear glue around the edges of the card, and then dipped the card into the glitter. I put some paper over the top and then pressed it in so it stuck pretty well.

The journaling on the back is a line from the song "Hands" by Jewel:

I did not want to stick these ATCs away in a book - I wanted them out so I could see the collection grow! I couldn't decide how to do that, so I asked for advice from some of my SiSters at SiSTV and got alot of great ideas! In the end, this is what I came up with.
It's just a simple ribbon tied between two push pins on the wall of my scraproom. I had to put it high enough so the cats couldn't reach it! Here's a closeup:
It's a simple solution, but I really like it! It's going to be so fun to add to it each week! I don't know that all 52 cards will fit on it, but if they don't I will simply add another ribbon above or below to accommodate the rest!

How do you store and/or display your Artist Trading Cards? I'd love to hear about it!

Week Two of Project 365...

I found out, much to my chagrin, that my Project 365 kit is on backorder, and it will be four to six weeks til it ships. Oh well. At least I can stop stalking the mailman now. I guess I will just keep taking my photos and notes and keep them in a folder in iphoto til it comes. So, here's what I've got for week two:

Monday: A happy find. A new Scrapbook Shop in the neighborhood, and The Jenni Bowlin Black Vintage Star Patterned paper I've been looking for!

Tuesday: Michael models his new gaming headphones. Doesn't he look like a pilot? Cute.

Wednesday: A father-daughter moment as Michael helps Becca change the battery in her car. I love catching candids of Michael with the kids!

Thursday: My holiday card mini-album in the making.

Friday: Willie just loves this feathery toy.
If you blow on the feather he squeaks with excitement!

Saturday: My Project Catwalk prize package arrives!

Sunday: A late-nite snack. Grapefruit is my favorite fruit!

So that's it. Week Two is complete. This is fun!


I also want to share a layout with you that I did with the January Crop Suey kit. This kit is so much fun to work with! Everything in the layout is from the kit, except the black paint around the edges and the doodling marker across the top.

I've almost finished my ATC for week two of Project 52. I will be back tomorrow to show you the results! Until then - have a wonderful day my friends!

Overwhelmed and Grateful...

Hey everyone! My Project Catwalk Prize Package arrived over the weekend and it was so much more than I expected! I'm telling you - just the sheer size of the box had my heart palpitating! The cats couldn't believe it either...I was seriously overwhelmed. It was great to have Johnny and Willie there to celebrate with me as I took my goodies out of the box...

Once I got everything unwrapped I set it all up to take a pic to share with you! Note, the jacket I'm wearing is part of the prize - the red SIS letters are glittery! Yeayyy!!! Click on the picture and you can see it larger...
There were so many fun things in the box it was unbelievable! Vintage glass glitter in 7 colors! Claudine Hellmuth's new paints! An awesome new sturdy dispenser with 3 rolls of gaffer tape! Two different tote bags! A set of ALL the SiS papers! and so much more! I absolutely can't wait to start using all my new goodies!

I have to admit I got a little choked up while I was unwrapping everything. When Project Catwalk started I never in a million years thought I had a chance at winning. I just entered because I love doing scrapbook challenges, and I thought it would be super fun! And it was! But it was so much more than that. The inspiration that was flowing through the gallery each week, and the encouragement everyone had for each other was (at the risk of sounding corny) truly heartwarming. I feel so grateful that I got to be a part of it. I encourage all of you to try it next year if you have the inkling at all. It will stretch you as an artist - you will do things you never thought you could, and have ALOT OF FUN along the way!

I'll be back tomorrow, but until then I wish you peace, love and creativity!

The Online Crop Was Fun!

Yesterday's first Online Crop at the Crop Suey Blog/Forum was a success! We had so much fun taking turns posting challenges!

Bree and Camille's challenge was to use the colors red, black and teal and use something sparkly and make it pop! I came up with this 8 x 8 layout of the boys:
Kim's tutorial/challenge was to create a ribbon flower and add it to a layout, so I added it right on to my first layout above! It's the red lace with the white sculpted button! Thanks for the instructions Kim - I had never made a flower like that!

Next, I did Kristina's challenge, which was to use something old, new, borrowed and blue! For the borrowed part we were to scraplift someone on the DT. I chose Kristina's layout called Photos by Sam, and came up with this:

and my challenge for everyone was to create an intuitive collage from magazine images. The idea was to spend a few minutes thinking about your hopes and dreams for the coming year, and then tear images out of magazines to create a layout. Optional was to include a self-portrait. This is what I ended up with:
If you'd like to try one of these yourself, check out the blog for more details! It's too late to win prizes, but it's still fun to do!

The new song is up at Scrapping The Music! This week we are featuring "Pictures of You" by The Last Goodnight - perfect for scrapping! Head on over and check it out!

I will be back tomorrow, but until then have a wonderful evening everyone!

A New Mini, Plus It's Online Crop Day!

It's the weekend - yeayyyyy!!! And later today is the Crop Suey Online Crop! We are starting at 4pm Central Time and going through the night! We will have games and challenges and prizes! Come on over and join us for some laid-back scrapping fun!

I finished my mini-album last night and am excited to show it to you! There was a recent thread at SiSTV talking about different ideas for storing/displaying your holiday cards, and I was so inspired by nanbhack's pug album, I decided I needed to do something similar to keep our holiday photo and handmade cards in. Here's what I came up with:
I used the SiSTV "Girl Next Door" collection to make it. The covers are chipboard covered with cardstock and that red plaid border is actually packing tape - it comes with the collection! I drew the tree on patterned paper, and used woodgrain contact paper for the trunk.
I used the front of one of our greeting cards for the 2008 divider page,
and a very simple design for the contents - I just backed the cards with cardstock to make a mixed-size mini. That's our card on top. :0)
For the 2007 divider page, I added a pic of Michael and I from Christmas that year, plus my favorite Jenni Bowlin black patterned paper. The red square is a gel sticker that says "Let Christmas happen in your heart." This was so much fun to make, and it will be great to be able to add to it each year!

I've got happy mail coming and I can't wait! Any day now I am expecting my prize from Project Catwalk, my Qtea kit, and my Project 365 kit! I've been stalking the mailbox!

Alrighty then that's about it for this morning, but don't forget to stop over at the Crop Suey blog/forum this afternoon/evening for some fun! See you there!

First Week of Project 365...

While I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my "Project 365" kit, I thought I would share my first week's photos with you. It's kinda fun seeing them all together!

Monday, December 29th: Window Shopping at Balboa Island

Tuesday, December 30th: Checking out of our California hotel.


Wednesday, December 31st: A quiet New Year's Eve.


Thursday, January 1st: A visit with brother Matt and nephew Jackson who were here from Texas.


Friday, January 2nd: Singing happy birthday to Tony. (I love the joy of this photo!)

(I'm cheating and adding this photo of Tony with his candles as the journaling spot for Friday.)


Saturday, January 3rd: Cold feet and my new slippers.


Sunday, January 4th: My 2008 scrapbook is complete!

Don't forget - there's an online crop party at the Crop Suey forum this Saturday! We don't have the exact times yet, but we are thinking late afternoon and on through the nite! Stop by the forum and let us know you are coming! It's going to be fun!!!

I started a mini-album to house my holiday photo greeting cards, but I didn't finish it yet - hopefully I will be able to post it tomorrow!

Until then I wish you merriment, music and marvelous moments!

Mission Accomplished for Week One - Yeayyy!

I finished my ATC for week one of Project 52! It was so much fun! Here it is:
I used the technique for backgrounds that I learned in Dina Wakely's journaling class. I first painted the playing card with gesso and put some texture in with bubble wrap and my paint brush. Then, after that dried I painted several layers of pink and orange paint, followed with some brown paint to bring out the texture. Other materials used include a piece of a dictionary page, fabric, a star sequin, some thrift store yarn in hot pink and my ATB labelmaker. On the back I put the journaling, which was pretty much quoted right from yesterday's blog post - that made it easy!

Now to clean up my scraproom - yikes. Who would've thunk that making a tiny card would create such a mess???

That's it for today folks, but I'll be back tomorrow with more news! Take care!

Inspiration Everywhere...

It's the first Wednesday of 2009 and that means it's my first day for Project 52! I'm so excited! I've chosen to make an ATC each Wednesday which will focus on one word or phrase that somehow relates to my life at this moment. My chosen phrase for today is INSPIRATION EVERYWHERE. I figure it's a good phrase to start with cuz not only is it the name of my blog, but it is also how I feel in general about life, and especially right now! People seem to be bursting with new ideas right now and there is so much good energy in the air! I will share my ATC tomorrow morning after I finish it, but for now I wanted to share some of the inspiration I've been seeing around the web.

Donna Downey's Inspiration Journal
Suziblu's latest Art Journal workshop
A new challenge blog called Eccentric Therapy
Angie B's Daily Inspiration posts at SiStv
and of course Project 365 and
Project 52
oh, and of course the upcoming online crop at Crop Suey this Saturday!

I also went back to Ali Edwards blog to see how she does her mixed-size layouts in her album. Here's the blog entry I found. Hers look great in all different sizes, so I really think I can make it work. I just need to play around with it a little more. Thanks so much for all of your suggestions! I am going to try some of them out and I will let you know how it goes!

I will be back tomorrow, but for now - here's wishing you a friend to share your days with...

Pondering Layout Sizes...

I love doing layouts in all different sizes. 12 x 12, 8 1/2 x 11, 6 x 12, 8 x 8, 6 x 6 - you get the idea. And I love the idea of having them all in one binder, so... being inspired by Ali Edwards, I did that this year. But here's the thing. When I flip through my album, I find that the smaller layouts tend to get swallowed up by the bigger ones. Know what I mean? The distraction of having the bigger layout behind it, makes it hard to focus on the small one in front. Here's an example:
do any of you have this problem? And if so, have you found a solution for it? I can't decide what to do. Maybe I need to start a separate album for each size?

I got an email from Creating Keepsakes that my Project 365 kit shipped - yeay!!! I can't wait to get it! I've been taking my photos and notes and I can't wait to start putting my album together!

I've been pondering what approach I want to take for Project 52, and I think I may have found it. I was really inspired when I saw my Scrapping The Music friend Alex's 52 ATCs she created in 2008 - one each week. They are so beautiful and I adore how they all look together! I love that idea and I think I will join her in doing that this year as my Project 52. Alex does hers on Sundays, but I think I will do mine on Wednesdays - starting this week! Thanks so much for the inspiration Alex!

That's all today folks, but I will be back tomorrow with more to chat about! Til then I wish you peace and happiness my friends!

We're Kicking Off 2009 at Scrapping The Music...

Greetings fellow scrappers! There's lots going on at Scrapping The Music this week that I want to share with you! First, we are bidding farewell to two longtime design team members - Barbara and Christiane. These two beautiful and talented women have been such an inspiration to me. I will miss you both, but I will visit you in blogland and I wish you the best in your future endeavors! P.S. On a tangent - did you know that Christiane has started a sister site for Scrapping The Music in Germany? How cool is that - check it out!

I'm also excited to say that we have three new design team members! Julie Tucker-Wolek, Mandy Dodd, and Donna Whalen have joined the team and I am so excited to be able to work with them! Welcome and congrats to you!

2009 is starting off with a bang if you ask me! I am so excited about the January songs I can hardly stand it! The first song is "Hands" by Jewel. I love it - it's so inspirational! Come on over and play with us! Here's my take on the challenge: I used the January Crop Suey kit, which I am JUST LOVING! I made the earth from the patterned paper in the kit, and did some shadowing of the continents with colored pencil. The little words on the continents say "In the end only kindness matters..." which is another lyric from the song. I made the paper dolls from the front page of the newspaper and drew the little hearts on with Sakura gellyroll pens - the glittery ones (love those). It's hard to see on the photo, but the swirls are filled with Pink Paislee Pixie stix glitter in light blue. It's super cool stuff and it comes in the Crop Suey kit - I think it will show up better when I try it on a lighter paper - like white.

On a completely different note, it's a cold, cold day at the Rydell homestead - the kind where you just want to stay in your comfies and snuggle up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. Here's a pic of Willie getting snuggly with his "dad" (Michael) this evening...

I had loads of fun getting all my 2008 layouts organized into a binder and here's the result:
I sat down with Michael and we looked through them all together. It was fun! Lots of memories! It made me realize that I don't really need a complicated plan for organizing all my stuff. I just need to get a new binder. LOL. After all that planning and organizing! I think I am just going to make a list of projects I would like to complete, and write the ones with a deadline on my calendar so I don't forget them. Hmmm... I think that could work, but who knows, I could change my mind again tomorrow. (grin)

Oh - I finished my first week of photos for Project 365 and it was fun! Yeay! I can't wait to get my kit!

Oh and P.S. There's an online crop at the Crop Suey Forum this Saturday - January 10th! I hope you can swing by and have some fun with us!

Alrighty then, I guess that's it for today! I will be back tomorrow with more news to share! In the meantime - stay warm and snuggly! (unless you live where it's hot - then stay cool and breezy!)

Part Two of Organizing My Creativity...

"*Reach* out. Take a *chance*. Get *hurt* even. But play as well as you can. Go team, go! Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me an E. L-I-V-E. LIVE! Otherwise, you got nothing to talk about in the locker room. "
~ Maude (from the movie Harold and Maude)

Good morning! - it's Sunday and I missed blogging altogether yesterday - aargh! I had a great day tho - super busy, and I finished my first project with the January Crop Suey kit - "Tea and Sweet Cake." Watch for it later tonight on the Scrapping The Music blog! Speaking of Scrapping The Music, it's a big day for us tomorrow cuz we announce the winner of the holiday prize AND three new design team members, so tune in tonight and check it out!

Okay, my mind is still on this whole subject of "Organizing my Creativity for the New Year." Friday I talked about where I'm going to Put Stuff; and today I'm pondering the second part of the system - "What Projects I'm Going to Work On." This year there are two new projects I am planning to take on:

1. Project 365
I talked about this project Friday - it's the Becky Higgins' one-photo-every-day project. I am already having so much fun with this one!

2. Project 52
This is Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Project - My idea for this one is to pick the same day each week and complete an art journal page. I just realized I already missed the first week of this - I better get a move on!

Tomorrow I will talking about organizing my time to make sure I am able to fit these projects (along with my current, continuing projects) into my life.

Thanks for humoring me thru all this planning and organizing - LOL. I would really love to hear about your new projects for 2009! What new things are you doing?

I will leave you with a card I made for my stepson Tony, who turned 21 this past week:

I used some vintage sheet music along with ransome-style alpha stickers, black duct tape, SiS gaffer tape and patterned paper. I hope you like it!

Have a super groovy day my scrappy friends!

Organizing My Creativity for the New Year...

Hey everybody - HAPPY 2009!!! Have I mentioned how much I love the new year's holiday??? Okay, I know I did yesterday, but I just need to proclaim it again today -

I LOVE NEW YEAR'S!!! YEAYYYY!!!

I've got lots to share with you today! First of all - the January Crop Suey kits are up for sale! I got the "Tea and Sweet Cake" one and it's FANTASTIC! It includes the fabulous paper line by none other than Lucy Folch! I was so excited when I got the kit I was doing a happy dance! There is so much fun stuff in there it's amazing! We are talking light blue frosty glitter, vintage labels, adorable white fuzzy alpha stickers, dominos, tulle and much more - you are gonna LOVE it!!! Head on over and check it out - they won't last long!

I also want to show you this adorable necklace and holiday card my awesome friend Bree made for me. They were waiting for me when I got home from my trip and it was such a wonderful surprise! I absolutely LOVE them! The fawn on the necklace is so cute, and she did this clever knotting thing so you can adjust the length of it - it's so cool! And how cute is that card??? I LOVE the woodgrain Rudolph! THANK YOU BREE - YOU ROCK!!!


Okay, my head is swimming with ideas for creative projects for 2009!!! I've got to figure out a way to organize it all, cuz when I get like this I end up with a traffic jam in my brain and don't get anything done at all. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Three Main Parts to my System:
The way my brain is seeing it, there are three main things I have to organize:

A. Where I'm physically going to put stuff.
B. What Projects I'm going to work on.
C. How I will fit it into my schedule - timewise.

Today I'm going to talk about the first part:

A. Where I'm Physically Going to Put Stuff
(i.e. what albums will I have on my shelf)

1. Project 365.
One photo everyday with a small journaling block/caption to describe it. This will replace my current chronological yearly album. I'm going to use Becky Higgins "Project 365" Album/kit, which I learned about through Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog. I can't wait to get started on it!

2. Layout Album(s) - Yet to be Named.
This will be where all of my layouts go. I'm going to back each one with plain cardstock and label it with the date it was created, along with any other pertinent information, such as what challenge it was for, dates the photos were taken, etc. I am also going to challenge myself to do all different sizes of layouts in these albums. It will be my own little personal art gallery. I am not going to name the album until it is full. Then I'm going to give it a name like a record album would have - HA What fun - I always wanted to be able to name my own record album! I can pretend I am a rock star! I can't wait!

3. Art Journal.
This is where I will put all my experiments, doodles, and more personal art-journally stuff. I always have such a tough time describing what goes in an art journal. This is probably where most of my Project 52 stuff will go, along with art journal challenges - like "Creative Therapy" and my own random reflective collages and stuff. (I am no longer going to keep my calendar in my art journal, cuz I made a separate day planner for 2009).

So that's it - A daily photo album, a layout album and an art journal. I'm going to try to keep it simple. I'm sure I will do mini-albums and altered projects along the way - I'm planning on it in fact, but those are separate from my main, ongoing albums.

I think I will tackle these organizing system parts a day at a time, so as to not get overwhelmed. Tomorrow I will post about the second part - What Projects I'm planning to work on...

Do you have new albums you are starting for the new year? I'd love to hear about your system!