Nutcracker Sweet Mini Album

I'll be teaching this great folded mini album featuring Graphic 45 Nutcracker Sweet Christmas paper and stamp collection at the Stamp Boutique

Gypsy ladies

More Art Journal Experiments
This one totally inspired be the fabulous Lynne Perrella

Another day another page

Art journal

For my good friend who said my pages were too cool not to post

LO Challenge

My friend Nancy has posted a LO challenge over at Craft Happens And what a challenge it was, starting with a blank piece of paper.

So I decided to give it a shot since it has been too long since I made a 12x12 LO.  

I started with a 12x12 sheet of white paper and  a 12x12 gear stencil from Crafter's Workshop I sprayed it with glimmer mist then did a little stamping, butterflies and words.  I used border punches on the edges of the page, also tearing the edges to make the page a little smaller that 12x12. I also used a border punch and  embossing folders on the photo mats and some of the cluster elements as well as the die cut flourish.  There are two handmade flowers, one I cut with a TH die in three different materials (drier sheet, crinolin, paper) one I crocheted from twine. I clear embossed the title (together, cut with cricut) 

I tried to use all the challenge options and it was really fun! Not the way I usually approach a layout, it really made me think about all the tools and techniques at my disposal.

Thanks Nancy for an awesome challenge!!!

Art tiles

I recently came across a talented youtuber who posted a tutorial for making theses awesome cool art tiles.
Her YouTube channel is livartnow you can it check out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd1rpU6qTEI
( sorry I'm experimenting with posting directly from my phone and I don't know how to hyperlink)
Very easy and fun, go... Make some cute art tiles today!

Secret garden mini

Cute little coin envelope mini I made for a swap on Mini Album Scraps Ning we had to make a garden themed mini out of coin envelopes or coffee sleeves. This one is made with 6 coin envelopes and chipboard covers. I used Prima's Nature's Garden paper along with paint, stamping, dimensional stickers, vellum garden fairy stickers, twine, burlap, eyelets and glimmer misted canvas binding. It's a tiny little mini that came out super cute.

Tags

just a couple of tags that I made following along with Anna Dabrowska on Ustream 

I used old paper scraps, and I didn't have the same embellishments so I improvised and cut some shapes (the crown and the bird) with my cricut, which is great because it's made me want to use my cricut again! I really love how these came together, I have to play with these techniques again!

Paper Clip Swap

Just a little peek at the Embellished Paper Clip swap I joined at Mini Album Scraps
It's been a while since I participated in a swap so I thought I would start off with a smallish project and when I saw the paper clip swap I though it would be fun and simple.

I decided to do a little stamping, with some Inkadinkado Inchie stamps, coloring with twinkle H2Os (my fave!) then I embossed the whole image with clear embossing powder to give it some shine.  Embellished with little "bling" stickers from Stampendous and Voila!
Fun embellishments for mini book, cards, whatever!

Journey

This weekend I had the absolute pleasure of taking a class with the fabulous Anna Dabrowska, a mixed media artist who traveled from her native Poland to teach several classes in the US.  I was fortunate enough to attend the one she taught at Everything Scrapbook and Stamps in Lake Worth FL

We started with a Prima Resist Canvas Covers
Embellished with Canvas word, resist canvas flowers  and a bunch of other stuff including buttons and lace etc.  Then painted with various sprays, pigment powders and acrylic paints. The whole thing is just layers and layers built on top of each other, creating a  complex composition that is integrated and intriguing to look at.  Kind of messy process but oh so much fun! I came home with dirty, inky fingers and a gorgeous project.
We also did o couple of pages for the inside using different techniques.  I have been scrapping for a long time but I learned so much from this one class.  Thanks you so much Anna!

Birds and Flowers

I just finished another mini, this one is an envelope album with a paper spine that I embellished with ribbon.  This mini is full of cute birds and flowers, I especially love the fabric stitched bird and birdhouse stickers from Heidi Grace.

More pictures here

Seaside Holiday

I just love the Tropical Travelogue collection form Graphic 45 

Here's the cute little mini I made with these fab papers and a burlap covered spine.

The dimensional flowers were all hand made, I finally found a technique for creating beautiful flowers that I can customize with distress inks

More photos of this mini here

Tres Magnifique!

sneak peek of my next class at the stamp boutique 

this mini book is made with glitz papers and stamps french kiss collection

embellished with lots of flowers and die cuts in paper and fabric

By the Sea

Brand new mini made with Pink Paislee Nantucket Colletion

Added a little paint to the edges of the paper bag pages 

I just love the way the papers and colors remind me of sunny days at the beach.

see more pictures here

Lots of new minis to share

Where does the time go?
I've been super busy with visiting family and making minis and now teaching!
I have a cute new mini that I will be teaching at The Stamp Boutique In Pompano Beach

and a peek at the others I've been working on

Ice cream Memories from DQ

We love icecream and have been going to our local DQ for  for years now, but I never really took pictures of these special trips to for sweet treats.  I did however find 1 photo from 2004 and last night when my DH said "wanna go to DQ for icecream?" I was there with my camera, took a bunch of photos and and today made a page with a pic from 2004 and 2012. And the cool thing is I never would have thought of doing that kind of page without the 12  class at bigpictureclasse.com! Thank you Stacy!

Project Life

Here's a little peak of the title page for my Project Life 2012  Album. It's still laying on my work table all in pieces just waiting for the page protectors that I ordered to arrive.  I decide to use paper from my stash to create all date and journalling cards, instead of purchasing a kit because I've got lots to work with and I wanted to see if I like this approach enough to do it for a whole year.

I have all the photos for week 1 printed and ready to go, all the journal cards too, Week 2 is ready all I have to do is print my photos and I have notes for the journalling.  

We are now in week three and I have a few comments to share about my process.  I have decided to have my photos printed every couple of weeks or maybe just once a month since I don't want print them at home and I don't want to run to the Target every week.  On Sundays, I plan out which pictures from the previous week to use and where they will go. I use a sketch on the worksheet I created to keep me organized. I also use the worksheet to jot down notes and observations throughout the week. 
So far so good, I just have to remember to take pictures everyday and upload them from my camera and phone at the end of every week. 

I also spent a little time this week creating journalling card to print and use throughout the year. 

Hello 2012!

I've got a lovely new mini to share....

A flower shape chipboard mini with a pretty painted wood butterfly on the cover and stamped butterflies inside.

See more photos here

I'm also working on some personal projects this year including Twelve with Stacy Julian and Project Life.  My approach to Project Life is simply to take more photos every week, take note of everyday little things and with a focus on favorite moment of the week and points of gratitude.  I decided to embark on this particular project because my kids are already teens, they are growing towards adulthood so fast and I feel like my little ones are slipping away, I want to savor every moment for as long as I can in a vain effort to slow the relentless passage of time.  I will be posting my progress of Project Life as well as some comments on my planning and process. Stay tuned!