New Year - New Projects

Happy New Year! I am a few days late, but that's okay. I got together with 2 of my dear scrappy pals on Saturday and finished a bunch of ATCs, cards and an art journal page. Here is what I took a picture of:

At work, our department sends cards around for each birthday. I told the person who takes care of the stash that I would be willing to make some cards to add to said stash and above are the first 3 that I have made. When I brought them in today, she said they were beautiful and was very thankful for them. I am glad they turned out well :)

This year I hope to get more scrapbooking done and am going to try my hand at Project Life so that I can have an album done at the end of the year (and it will be for me - not the girls!). Let's hope it goes well and that I keep up with it...

When a Disaster Becomes a Masterpiece

I usually pride myself on being really good at choosing my colors and having an idea in my head to go on. This latest canvas started out with an idea, but quickly spiraled out of control and ended up being one of the most messed up pieces I have ever done. I kid you not, it was just awful. Just take a look at the before and after pics and I will explain the journey:

Now you see why I refer to the first one as a disaster...It was just sooooooo wrong on so many levels! My first mistake: using pastel colors. Since when am I a pastel kinda chick? I should've known that it was already headed in the wrong direction...Then I added the lettering with molding paste. Once it was dry I used some twinkling H2O's, but as you can see, it was a very stark contrast (and I was starting to really feel uncomfortable with what it was turning into). Then I decided that outlining the words would help. I then chose black (seriously?! what was I thinking?). Then when it still felt horribly wrong, I thought maybe I would try some drippage (with India ink?! geez...I think I was channeling Halloween). Have I mentioned that the entire time I kept saying to myself, "maybe it's really not as bad as I think it is...maybe my friends will reassure me that I am just being picky and being my own worst critic again". So I turned it around and showed the girlfriends I was sitting with (we were at an all-day crop in October). My sweet friend, Carla, took one look at it and said, "Oh, honey. Just no!" She confirmed my thoughts exactly! Then my other friend, Karin, said, "Live, laugh, love...and bleed!" Oh my goodness! LOL! The giggles that ensued after this were insane. I do not remember the last time I laughed so hard I could barely breathe! Carla, Karin and Linda (who I was sitting with) have always been very encouraging of my projects and scrapbook pages, but we all agreed 100% that this canvas did not convey the sentiment on it at all!!!

So here is the first canvas again:

Goodbye Silks, Twinkling H2O's, India Ink, and silver glitter paste...time for gesso:

I am very thankful that Carla said I should take a pic of the first version so that I could show that anything can be fixed. I really wasn't sure if I could salvage this, but the final version has made me a believer in gesso being a great way to start fresh:

The first thing I did was change the glitter paste to blue. Then I took some modeling cream and smeared it in a few spots and then pushed a stencil against it for some texture. Once dried, I went to my trusty Dylusions ink sprays. Voilà! This makes me happy!! I love color and this was much more natural for me to do (it came together so fast once I just went back to what I love ~ color!). I learned a valuable lesson: I need to work with colors I love, not the colors I think others will love. I painted a bit of acrylic paint on the letters to make them lighter so that they would stand out. I did not want them stark white, so the fact that it reacted with the colors underneath was perfect. Now I can give this to the people it was originally meant to go to. A little piece of me with a nice message for them :)

Citrine #2, 3 & 5

I have not done a Midweek Mojo for Scrapbook Steals in forever...Tonight I did 3 of them! All week I have been itching to do some layouts (which has not been the case for some time). So, here they are:

This is the one based on this week's sketch (Citrine #5). I flipped it over and modified it a bit, but you can still see where it came from. I used patterned papers from Bo Bunny's Apple Cider line. I love how warm this is. I also used some glitter paper behind the title (which is from paper by Simple Stories, I think - I forgot to write it down). Some Vintage Photo ink around the edges of each paper and it makes me smile. This is a "selfie" picture I took last weekend while hanging out with the girls and I have been wanting to scrap it all week. So much so, that I did 2 pages with it tonight (one for each girl's album). Here is the second one:

Everyone says that you can definitely tell these are my girls and I have to agree. This layout was inspired by another Midweek Mojo (Citrine #3). Again, I used Bo Bunny papers, but this time they were from the Hello Sunshine! line. I seriously love that picture!

And here is my final layout of the night (Citrine #2):

This one has different lines on it: My Little Shoebox (City By the Bay paper, Little Ladies die-cut), DCWV (The Neon Chic Stack papers) as well as chipboard stickers from Basic Grey (Hopscotch). These pictures show just how much my girls love being together. My oldest was sick and the youngest climbed under the covers to be with her. They are 2 peas in a pod!

Kiwi Lane October Blog Hop

It's Blog Hop time! Woo hoo! Can I just say how excited I am to be a part of this (as well as nervous considering the talented company I am keeping)? There is lots of inspiration at each stop (of course originating with Kiwi Lane, which definitely helps when it comes to being inspired). Have you ever used their designer templates? You are in for a treat...So, here are the details - listed below are the stops you should have made along the way and where you have left to visit:

1. Kiwi Lane
2. La-Vie Borde-Perry
3. Lyne Schnable Blodgett
4. Jennifer Budge
5. Meka Matthews
6. Jenn Nicholes
7. Joan Holmes Leitch
8. Michelle King (you are here)
9. Gail Owens (your next stop)

Be sure to stop at each post and leave a comment by Sunday, October 6th 11:59pm MST. This will allow you to be a part of the draw for $25 for the Kiwi Lane Shop (the winner will be announced on the Kiwi Lane blog on Thursday, October 10th. That $25 could get you some fantastic templates like the ones I got to use. 

Being part of the period for World Card Making Day, I was a little bit stressed because I am NOT a card-maker. I tend to stare at my folded cards trying to figure out what the heck I am going to make (it's like my mojo stops at the word "card"). Let me tell you how easy it was to put one together using both the Sentiments templates and the Tiny Shapes set. I was literally done within about 15 minutes (a record for me). Here is the card I made using Sentiments borders (2A and 3A) as well as the hexagons from the Tiny Shapes (2T and 6T):

Even my husband commented on how nice it was (phew!).

Then I decided to do a layout. I used the Sentiments borders (1B, 2A, 3A and 3B) to frame the picture I was displaying. I then used the circles (3T and 7T) for journaling. So easy! I must admit that I have been getting into mixed media, so some of it also made its way onto my layout to embellish my focal point (I am already thinking about how to use different textures while using a few more of KLD's templates - especially the 12" borders). So this is what I came up with:

I love how the borders bring the focus to the picture so that it didn't get swallowed up.

And, I decided to try out a few shapes on an art journal page (shapes 1T, 3T and 6T). Because art journaling is so hot these days I wanted to show you that these templates can be used in a variety of ways:

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win $25 to spend in the Kiwi Lane Shop :)

Happy Hopping!

Lots of Fun

Yesterday I got to work on some canvases and one art journal page. I decided I wanted to play with my acrylic paints and Luminarte Silks. The first one turned out like this:

 I started with 4-5 acrylic paint colors and just blended them all together. Once they were all dry, I used gold glitter paste from Viva and a new leaf stencil from StencilGirl. I added a quote I found online and then outlined everything with my Gelly Roll pens. This is an 8x10 canvas I think I may hang in my office at work.

The next canvas started out the same way, but this time it was with one acrylic paint color and 2 Luminarte Silks. I used glitter paste again and the silhouettes are girls from StencilGirl (one of my FAVORITE sets). I also borrowed a stencil of raindrops from a friend of mine (we were 4 getting creative together). I then outlined a couple of raindrops here and there with another Gelly Roll pen. So here is piece #2:

 I really liked how this one turned out (as did my 4 year-old, so it is going in her room), so I decided to do another on a larger scale (14x16 canvas). It's not quite finished, but here is how it looks so far:

I am in love with those silhouettes. So cool!

I also did an art journal page. I had taken some old paper towels that I had been using to blot inks and clean my brush on and stuck them on a page. Then I used my acrylic paints and Silks to make it a picture with a tree:

I think it's pretty cool, myself. Lots of texture because of the paper towels. An experiment that turned out pretty well, I think! That's what I need to remember: art journaling is not about being perfect, it's about letting go and trying new things (no matter how weird they may seem). You never know where you may end up!

New Stencils!

I got some new stencils (StencilGirl's 9x12 Jump for Joy) Thursday night and was itching to use them. I used the first set to do 2 projects. On the first one I decided I was going to use Silks as a background (I forgot to take the initial picture - DOH!) on an 8x10 canvas and then trace the stencils onto it. Then I covered the canvas with black gesso to allow the Silks to be the colors in the stenciled images:

Then I took my Gelly Roll pens to outline everything. The colors came up from under the gesso and kept with the hues of the rest of the pictures. I also freehanded the outlines of both girls. I like the zig zag feel that adds to the "movement". Here is the final version of the canvas:

My next project was in a mini art journal for my daughter. I am going to use it to chronicle all the cute things she says and does over the years. I'll give it to her when she is somewhere around 16 or 18. I started by spraying the pages with Dylusions spray inks and using the last part of the stencil and red glitter paste:

I then added Silks to add some sheen. The sentiment and outline were done with a white pen:

Then I wrote the story I wanted to put down about my daughter and her first time jumping. I used a black craft marker and then doodled around the edges of the pages to make it feel finished. I love the end result:

I am pleased with the first entry in that journal and can't wait to do more! I have so many cute exchanges already planned to add...

Doodling

I literally did this page while watching a movie on tv last weekend. I used black gesso across the whole page and then used some Gelly Roll pens to doodle (the rays and butterflies were stenciled and then the filling was just doodling on my part. Easy and fun. Here it is: