Thursday, November 4, 2010

Sewing itch

I've had a sewing machine... for maybe 4 years now.  But I rarely ever used it.
For some reason lately I can't seem to get enough of it.  And I've started using it a lot in my scrapbooking as well.  Really, that was all I used it for before.  So the occassional straight line stitch across some paper was the extent.

Having said that, I probably don't need to go into the fact that I have little to no sewing experience.
But I decided in my little noggin that I really wanted to make a tote bag for Eleanor.
Ya know how you go to the stores... and you never really find exactly what you're looking for.  There are so many cute bags... but none that scream "I was made for your baby!"
So my mission I set forth upon myself was to make such a bag! One exactly for Eleanor. But really, exactly for me because she really doesn't seem to care what kind of bag I put her stuffed piggy and crocheted vampire from Aunt Shirley in.  She just cares that she can carry it around and take em' out... and put em' back in...  etc...

So I did end up with two bags because the first...  didn't quite come out the way I liked... plus, I was using some scraps of material I had handy instead of looking for something special.  But it's still cute...  just too crooked... and too blue.

But the second bag, I went out and got some canvas and some of those $1 scraps from walmart and I think it came out a lot better.

It's still kinda stringy at spots...  and maybe next time, (if I try for #3) I'll put all three initials, since it now says ED.  hahaha....








I'm also working on a name banner for Eleanor's room.   (once I get all the Eleanor projects out of my system, I'll start expanding a bit...  )

I never really decorated her room with wall stuff, so I thought a sewn banner would look cute.  I'm two letters in, I'll post a pic once it's finished.  But I think it'll be nice... in a sloppy kinda little girl way.  Just wish I named her something shorter!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Digital Yo!

Digital Scrapbooking. 
 I have to say I didn't like the idea at first... but I tried it...   and ya know what.  It really looks great. 




These pages were made through Close to my Heart.  The Digital Scrapbooking online is fairly new, but very user friendly and EASY! So it's perfect when you want something quick but that also looks like you spent a few minutes...



I was looking at the embellishments online and wondering how they were gonna look...   but actually, they somehow were able to make them look 3d...  and the pages still have that layered look...



I'm still exploring the Digital Realm of scrapbooking other than this program... so I'll keep ya posted, but for now this is wonderful.  And I'm definitely making some Christmas presents with this.n  And of course some more albums for myself...





 This was a good way to sum up a group of related pics without scrapbooking an entire book for one event...   So click the link up top and give it a try, you might find yourself sucked it like it's bejeweled... ha, coz it's actually a lot of fun as well as productive!



Well, have a good wednesday morning!


Sunday, October 3, 2010

HEY! sunday nighters...

So... been blog slacking.. it happens....

So here's that scrapbook I attempted to "make"

It didn't turn out all that bad...
I thought this type of thing might be cool if you wanted to do separate scrapbooks for events or holidays...  For example, if I wanted an entire scrapbook of just Christmas...  I could go hunt some cool Christmas fabric and make a special book.... just a thought...

So anyway,  the stuff I used,  which I kinda mentioned before...

*modge podge
* book board
* material
* batting
* screw posts
* needle and thread
- and that's it!
and I decorated with some buttons and made a loop latch...  so as far as decorating, that's up to you.




I'm not quite finished.  My goal was before her first birthday, which was a month ago...  I got it in a finished "looking" way...  but I need to add some pages...

Here's a couple finished pages...     


I do often go back and throw out pages... it's that whole look at it later and it all of sudden sucks thing that happens.  But generally the pages I end up loving the most are the ones I did the fastest... and usually the latest in the day.. or earliest in the morning. Ya know... like I'd say the magic hours are between midnight and 3am. I recently heard someone say that their "art" comes out at night.  And it's sooo true.  When it's the middle of the night and I'm tired, I get the best results...  



on that note... since I already spent last night staying up waiting for my art to come out... I think tonight I'll just force myself to be in bed at a decent hour...

Friday, August 27, 2010

I stabbed myself with the stabby tool...


so there's a hole in my finger...

things are just getting messier...

I'm going to hold off on more pics for now, because my camera died...  and I took these with my phone...   and the camera I ordered is on back order... YAY!  I love to wait for things that I shouldn't be buying anyway...

But really... me without a camera is like me without coffee...
 and I also promised Norma and Cliff I'd do a photo shoot with them like old times...
 I admit Roo has been the main attraction since she's been born....  and the fuzzy all fours walkers are getting jealous.  And not in a good way.

In other news, I made my first stab at making a scrapbook.  I mean, the actual outerings.  The banana peel if you will.  The thing the pages go in.  I mean, I had some book board... and some batting... and some fabric so I thought... how hard could it be?  So it's not quite as sturdy as the store-bought ones...  but I kinda like it. I probably need better board... and better supplies in general.  But I just made due with what I had handy..
 So far I've only got a flowery fabric on it. I'm planning on decorating it a bit...  since I think I'm going to use it for Eleanor's "first year of life" book. ha...
I don't know about you... but I could just stand in AC Moore and stare at the scrapbooks for 10 hours and still not know which one to pick...   so I figured if I made my own, it could be exactly how I want it. ( well... exactly as far as my skills go...)
I remember once my Dad compared mine and my brother's artwork.  He said we had similar taste and styles except his was missing the "insane" part.
In my opinion...  I am missing a lot of the actual know-how when it comes to creating things.  I just kind of trial and error till I like it.

Now I'm gonna take a stab at sleep...  since I should've been there 3 hours ago...  then I would've avoided the stab at my left index finger.  But I would've been four pages less done in my scrapbook. And I'm giving myself till her first birthday party to finish it!  Which is in a week...
which I also hope I have a camera for...

Thursday, August 12, 2010

keepsakes

So we all have some "hospital" pics... Wait... scratch that...  I've heard many birth stories... and many of them involve kiddie pools and living rooms and burying placentas in the backyard....
But I digress.... Anyway... I saved the bands roo and I wore at the hospital.  And I wanted to include them somehow subtlety. And I think you almost don't notice them...  



Ok, I guess you do notice them... but the monkeys are more apparent...

so there's some acrylics happening here... which do well on paper.  Don't seem to make it bendy. I guess if you poured a bottle of acrylic paint on the page... damage would happen. But a branch here and there...  a breeze for a heavy scrap paper! And on a side note: Do trees ever go out of style?  Not in my book... but I'm the one with a tree tattooed up the side of my body so I guess my opinion doesn't count...
 I don't know what I'm saying really... it's borderline babble and very non-imformative!  I apologize...  roo roo and I were just dress shopping at the mall for 3 hours...  We did stop for dinner though... so that took up some of that time. 


I will shut up now!  yay!


I wish you all a happy Friday in one hour and 15 minutes!  
Thanks for browsing my blog!
 there are no monkeys


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Feets feets feets




So...  instead of going to bed early, I had some peanutbutter cup blizzard and some chai with whippy.  And this is what came out of it...

And honestly, these kinds of pages are my favorite... kinda borderline altered or collaged... but still work as a scrapbook page...   All I know is I have gel medium... spray glue... and paint all over me.

If you've never worked with Gel Medium, YOU MUST! It actually works great as a transfer on canvas. You can take a picture, swipe a coat of gel medium on it, paste it onto your project, let it dry, and then peel it back, and TADA! It's transferred onto your art!  (in backwards style of course)  And if you're working on a canvas, you can actually wash it off and the paper clears, but the ink stays.

In this particular work, I transferred some pages from an old children's book... Another great transfer is sheet music. Paper paper works better than photo paper because it peels easier...    Ya know.. paper paper...  ha...

Ok then.... I'm off to wash some stuff off a babies knees ....

Have a GREAT TUESDAY!



Sunday, August 8, 2010

Eleanor


I'm tryin' to finish her first year scrapbook by the time she turns 1... But I'll leave some room at the end for the actual birthday pics. So far I have an parade of random pages...  so I'm now going back to fill in the holes... (I keep thinking about my un-born, un-conceived second child Henry and how I'm probably not gonna do this for him...  but hey, I'll think about and really really really feel guilty...  often...)

In any manner....   I guess it goes for any kind of art... sometimes you get so drunk on it.
I have this photo of Daryl and Eleanor, and even though it's a little fuzzy...  it's just so sweet. And when I was making this page, It just plainly made me feel fuzzy.
So I decided to make it the opener.  It's not her first picture taken... but she's still pretty new...



So... anyway...when it's for me, I tend to get a little messier.  This page has lot of extra's...                                       First of all, that Somerset magazine...  I ALWAYS find interesting pictures in there. As well as all the other stuff... but I've used pages from that magazine in my art from time to time.
 big ol' bunch of flowers...
why not?

And I found this great "ribbon" at AC moore.  Though it looks more like curtains...                                The birdie is cut out of somerset with the micro scissors... and those foam stickies make it stand up a bit...

Ok well...  Roo is doin' a bongo solo right now, so I'll be back later...   I may be pulling an all- night scrap off with myself...  






Wednesday, August 4, 2010

For GG... with ♥

Been meaning to make a few pages for Grandma for a couple months now and finally got a chance to.

My lovely cousin was up from Florida last month, so we all got together with our kiddies at Grandma's house. And of course, it was a good opportunity to get some pictures of Grandma with six of her grandchildren. (she has way more than six, but I stopped counting after my brain exploded) 







Occasionally, I'll bust out my sewing machine when I scrapbook.  I really... don't know how to use it all together. I never made anything that could be worn, or hung, or sat on...  but a short straight line I can handle.  And I love what it does for a page! I wish the tension on my machine would stop getting all screwy... coz it gets all jammed up... and I'm running out of ideas on how to fix it other than just asking someone who knows how to sew....

And if you don't have a sewing machine, hand stitches are adorable on a page!


I started with two pages, and ended up with four. I could've probably made an entire scrapbook with photos from this 4 hour meet up if I wanted. But I'm sure her book could use pages from some other events as well.








And sometimes, a little journaling, or in this case, a note to GG fills a space nicer than jamming another photo.

Ok.  So good night all.  I'm either going to wawa for an Italian Hoagie, or to bed.  ...   ....  I know what I should do... but man I'm hungry...

Monday, August 2, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Dreaming through the long winters


I just recently had a garage sale... and I unearthed boxes and boxes of Cd's while looking for stuff to sell.  I came across this one, and I can't believe I didn't just carry it with my wherever I went.  Because I love it that much.
I remember where I was when I first heard it.  I was in Barnes & Noble. They were playing it throughout the store.  I went up to the register and said, "I have to have this cd, who is it????"And so I bought it and it makes me feel like I just drank a bottle of wine.

The last song, Recessional, might be my favorite song ever.

The whole cd is beautiful...  you just can't go near it.  So a Miller High Life toast to Vienna Teng this evening. THANK YOU! I love you!


On a side note, I had a dream the other night that I went to a Long Winter's concert.  And certain people had special passes to not only meet John Roderick, but to lay on him.  Ha... lay on him while he was on stage.  I don't know how he played with people laying all over him, but somehow the music kept on...
Anyway, I had one of these "special" passes, and when it got to be my turn, somehow something happened and the one of the guys in the band got sick.  Anyhow, it must've been a keyboard player cos next thing I know, they're asking me if I can read these charts... so I say, "SURE!"  So I guess not getting to lay on John was redeemed by getting to be in the band.  I wonder if they kept me around?  ha...  DAMN waking up always gets in the way of AWESOME happenings....  I at least got to hear myself play a couple tunes... wish I remembered which ones....

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Beach Baby

I Really Wish my printer WAsn'T out of black ink right now. And I really wish my camera wasn't dead.
  So ...  I may have said this before, but it's hard to get good pics of paper art...  so forgive these bad pics, but I'm sure you get the idea. The roof of my mouth is burned from frozen pizza.  HA, that doesn't make sense...  you're asking me how frozen pizza could burn me...  
YOU KNOW HOW!  Don't EVEN!  
ok, I need to go fix things now.  like... my ice maker... my life... the second drawer of the bathroom vanity...





Customer 2.51

Customer 2.51 is allowing me to post the progress of her scrapbook.  So I am going to do just that in this particular post.

Here are some visuals:




Aren't her kiddies cute!  So this book is going to focus on the wittle girly...  but some brother is allowed here and there...



My favorite thing I recently discovered:  GLUE DOTS ...   make attaching ribbon so much less messy...
And no need to point out, I always overdo brads...  *sigh*  ...  and flowers...  and ...  marshmellows...


Anyway... can I just say that I CAN'T  WAIT TILL HALLOWEEN!

If anyone has any ideas for my daughter's costume, pour em in... coz I have no idea right now...
She'll be almost 14 months by then...

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

An excuse for more pink stuff!



Can I just tell you how much I love the dimensional elements!  (The big circle thingie)
And I think I might stamp myself a pancake breakfast tomorrow if I'm not careful! So to tie together those two sentences, the circle is colored pink with pencil, then I took the waterbrush and smooshed the color a bit to make it look more water colory...  (yes... I make up words just like everyone else)...  then I stamped over it with some wordy stamp. And TADA! Antiquey style circle thingie!!! Compliments little Norah's cute as ham face nicely!


Ok... I really just can't think of anything to say about these pages so I'm babbling.  But here they are... even for just some ideas for the ladies out there.  Hmmm... I'm sure they exist, but I might point out that I've never scrapbooked with a guy... or had him say "YES! THAT SOUNDS AWESOMELY FUNTASTIC!" when I asked him to come over and scrapbook with me.

And my might turned into an I did.

GOODNIGHT FRIENDS!  ('nother page below)



Sunday, June 6, 2010

ACEO cards

Art Card, Editions, and Originals.

Also known as the ATC - artist trading card.

Art small enough to be mailed.  Small enough to be traded.  Apparently, according to Wiki- they started in the 90's in switzerland.  So this little idea isn't that old.  And I must say I've spent a lot of time admiring other artist's ATC's, but furnishing none of my own.

But now I've finally started, and I posted some on etsy for trading or selling.



Monday, May 24, 2010

Tastefully Scrappy

One day in last saturday land, Fitty and Ninny had a Shin type of Dig.  We tasted and we scrapped... and we shared it with our FRENS!

So thanks to the friends and family who participated, it was a messy and delicious!

Here are some of my latest pages. 

This little cutie above Lukey is so photogenic!  So making scrapbooks revolving around him is way too easy.
this page uses some  DISTRESSING TOOLS,  STAMPS, Dimensional Elements and some Filigree charms.  Also brads, conchos, ribbon, and of course neutral papers and cardstock.

The dimensional elements (LUKE) I covered in paper, sanded with the micro files to make a nice and clean edge, and then stamped the top using VERSA MARK INK.  Then I brushed over the ink with chalk, and the pattern of the stamp sticks to the chalk so you can make it as subtle or strong as you like. Versa Mark ink is an invisible ink that lets you use a stamped image as a sorta glue.  You can chalk it or glitter it...  creates a really nice effect. I actually chalked Luke's name with two different colors, to bring a little contrast to the outer edge.

The EYELET TOOL makes it very easy to add eyelets and conchos to your page.  (shown above Luke's picture) The conchos are wide enough to fit a ribbon through. It's fun to use and makes for a very easy way to add interesting little touches.


And now Luke's all growed up! ha.. ok, not really but we jumped around 15 months in time...


 So when you've picked up your pics, and you're goin' through and you notice a series like this...  It's pretty much a no-brainer for a page.
I had em all kinda spread out at first and then said...  Hey, why not just shover em' right up against one another. Yes, I meant shover.  And actually... I lied.  I never spread em out. I kinda knew they wanted to be together.
So, needless to say, he's enjoying some cake... and the cake is what makes these pics so charming. So I decided to focus on that.  And I thought the flowers appropriate because he was in my mom's flower filled yard whilst he enjoyed this cake.
So...  nothing crazy again...
Just some paper, ribbon, stamps, and these things.  The stamps were little flowers, and I cut them out and pasted em' on to make em' pop a little. That's one of my new favorite things to do with stamps.  Cut em' out and they make a 3D focus to your page, or card. Color em' with pencils, chalk, or Markers if you like. 

The bottom of the page was actually done by just taking the whole ink pad in hand and dragging it over the paper. Kinda in a way so the edge would make a grassy type line here and there...

So that's it for the Luke update.

I am now going to practice my can crushing and hit the hay!

Check out Ninny's Tastefully Simple PHOODS! Our party was a double play featuring tastefully simple food. I recommend the beer bread, nana's apple cake... any of the spices...    etc..  It's really all good.  And quick and easy.  













Thursday, May 13, 2010

Neat Ideas from CTMH


So Close to my Heart makes a lot of neat little things like this besides just your run of the mill scrapbooks.

I ended up with a lot of nice photos from Easter, and I didn't want to just put em' in a book, so I decided to feature some of them in this Acordian style scraptastic thingie.  ha...

You can see the various items here: 3D Creations  The one I used here is called "Memory Showcase", it comes in two sizes at the bottom of that page I linked.


I didn't really get too fancy with this, I wanted it to be pretty clean. I did some stamping, included some dimensional elements on the first and last pages... and brads and ribbon.. etc.


Anyway, it makes a great gift as well as something different to display around the house.
Perfect if you want to isolate an event, or a tribute to someone, or even a group of family photos to throw on the mantel.

Anyhoo, night night folks :)

Yes, I had two bowls for dinner: One filled with cheerios, and one filled with peas.
 There's no rules when it comes to PHOOD!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

On the porch



This page is just kinda something that came about because I love this picture of my baby.
She was just hanging out on the porch in her high chair and I was trying to powerwash....

So anyway...  there's a bit of filing again going on here...  and stamping, a few cross stitches...
I took some pages out of one of those books I found on the side of the road and incorporated some lines and background points.

If you glue old pages to your paper, and then peel em' off before the glue dries... you get the affect shown on the bottom up there. The words kinda have more staying power than the paper...  and then I filed it a little if too much paper stayed.

I'm not quite sure if I'm done with these pages...


but then again, quite often I go too far...  so I'm leaving them alone for now.