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Drum roll please....congrats to Sandra Smart for her outstanding Valentine's featuring Paint and for winning the first ever "Use Your Stash Challenge from Grove's!!!!!! The Jenni Bowlin paints will be on their way to you this week!!!!! Congrats! Here are some pics of Sandra's "paintwork"! Stay tuned for our new challenge to debut this week!!!!
I have found new love for "sketching" when doing page layouts! As a result I've completed 48 page layouts since January 1, 2011. It's amazing to me that with the help of these little "page maps"... I've completed that many layouts! I'm also amazed that the layouts, although they resemble each other are very different. I used sketches sooooo many years ago, and really got away from them...I think Becky Higgins started the rage way back when, then there was Page Maps and now...they are everywhere! I enjoy Sketch Inspiration, Liz Chidester and Sketchy Thursdays frequently. I try to complete 4 layouts with each sketch, rotating the sketch each time and trying different themes with each as well. I am not scrapping my photo's/events in chronological order but am actually using coordinating papers and elements to create the page layout and THEN I search through my photos to fit the page. It warms my heart as I use my stash, get pages done and work through my stack of photos! I'm CHANGING the way I complete pages!
Here are my most recent layouts using My Mind's Eye goodies from my stash. I completed 4 layouts with the sketch below but only changed the direction once this time around. I was definitely in "the zone" when working on these...thus the "same direction" use. I have a few other ideas for this sketch, replacing the brackets with some scallops, circles and waves. Hope to finish those and share soon.
Used some paint on these too...remember to submit those entries for the Jenni Bowlin paint giveaway...tomorrow's the end of February! Post your link in the comments section or email pics of your work to me. Winner will be announced on March 1st! Happy Monday!
I missed sharing these with you so wanted to catch up and make sure I officially (albeit belated) wished you all a Happy Valentine's Day! Funny how these little hearts popped up everywhere I looked. I see them everyday but they stood out a bit more over the last 2 weeks! My heart is happy surrounded by these special "hearts"! They help me remain commited to "Change"!
Hearts even showed up in our Ham Pot Pie! Definitely...lots of {heart} LOVE went into making it and there was alot of {heart} enjoying it as well!
Hope you had a great {heart} day!
Metal, Metal and more metal! Thanks to Cheryl and Ten Seconds Studios I am addicted to metal! It's a wonderful problem to have and it goes so well with the felt, fabric, paint (remember Paint is our challenge for the month...post links in the comments below or send me your pictures-we have a prize to give away the end of the month!), ink and paper problem that I am trying very hard to manage! Cheryl was a core teacher 3 years ago at Inspired. Friends Laurie and Jen were with me at the class and will tell you that I just couldn't get enough of it. Ideas swirled in my head and I was talking in incomplete sentences and wasn't really caring if anyone was thinking! There's been no turning back since and I have been fortunate to attend a few other classes with Cheryl and continue to be in awe of her work and all that can be done with metal. Thankfully Grove's carries all the TSS goodies! Nothing like enabling myself! What can you do with metal? Well...you can roll it......
You can piece it....just like a crazy quilt....
and of course you can emboss, write, inscribe, deboss and you MUST distress or de-stress it...whichever works best for you at the moment! Thanks to Lisa Patterson and Art on a Limb, I was able to spend more quality time with metal and created these to swap with the other creative metal crafters attending. These embossed/debossed/distressed diecuts....out of METAL are wonderful little things that can be used everywhere!
One last project that I'm still working on but loving it more each day...this Holiday canvas album...I'm using "everything" in it but...two favs...felt and metal adorn this cover....
With that said...I'm climbing back into the craft room...(literally-even though it's alot better than it was) after 2 weeks of dealing with "changes" and not being able to create! IT FEELS GREAT to be back! I missed it and will work hard to NOT let that separation happen again!
Watch out...there's some catching up to do!
Happy Metalizing!!!!
It's Monday Madness time! This week I'm highlighting one of my all time favorite craft passions! Knitting and yarn...I think there's another connection with my "home ec" background and the entire felt and sewing thing too! I've been knitting since I was about 7 years old. Thanks again to my Mom and my "Nan" (my grandmother) and growing up in a time when learning those home arts was the cool thing to do! I'm sooooo thankful for it too! Needless to say I have a stash of yarn amongst my hoard of goodness and it was time to pull it out and start using it. I taught a beginning knitting class at Grove's this weekend so the timing was perfect to play with the yarn. I love working with wool yarn... hmmm...wool felt, wool sweaters ...why not wool yarn...LOVE IT. I purchased some Manos wool yarn at KnitWitts Yarn Shop in Brookfield, MA this summer and knit a few fair isle sweaters. I had a few skeins left and decided to do some Skinny scarves and flowers. Still working on the flowers but here are a few of the scarves...
and one I'm still working on...love these colors...they remind me of Inspired (register now...hint...hint)... Can't wait to finish this scarf and those flowers! You'll see them coming up on a few projects! Stay tuned and Happy Knitting up all your stash!!!!
Albeit a little later than anticipated but...it's here! Our first Challenge begins today and has everything to do with using your PAINT stash! Here's what you need to do...we'll be giving a prize to one lucky participant who "uses their paint" this month and gets lots of projects finished. Cards, page layouts, canvases...doesn't matter what it is...just use your paint and then....this is important....make a comment below and add the link to your blog or website so we can check out what you've done. If you don't have a blog or website...post them on facebook at the Grove's page and add that link OR....email me a picture(s) of what you've accomplished! Entries need to be listed by February 28th and we'll make the drawing and announce it March 1st! I do have a video of techniques as well. Have to do some editing before posting though. Check back for it later.
First up... the prize...5 bottles of Jenni Bowlin acrylic paints. Nothing like some chewing gum, lemon drops, malted milk, brown sugar and seed packet to spice up your projects!
For this acrylic mini album I used the Jenni Bowlin cough syrup and lemon drops. First painted the edges of each page and then painted by brush, dabbing, sponging, stamping and streaking. Each page is different and I dried each layer before adding another. Here are the blank acrylic pages....
Love the texture on this one and it's looks nice on the reverse side as well.
The completed book and pages...
Next we have some page layouts using paint. Below is a painted background with painted chipboard letters and paint stamped onto an acrylic circle under the photo. I also painted the fabric diecut "laugh". Make sure all are dry before adding photos. Stay tuned for the video full of techniques.
Another with a background stamp...use the paint dabbers as stampers...Great for allover design.
Pictures are a bit blurry...sorry about that...you get the idea though! Stay tuned and Happy Painting!
