Round Robin Altered Book: "Girlhood"

This darling book, "Girlhood-With A Touch of Pink", belongs to Rachelle & it is just as sweet as can be!  Here are my pages created in Rachelle's book:

Now, off to finish my pages in Carla's book, "Paper Dresses"; I'll be posting those later today.  Bye for now!

Lovely Daze

I've been really enjoying a few days off work & using the time to get creative, explore new friendships & savor the beauty of my everyday world.


This past Friday evening, I met up with 2 new art friends, Kaprice & Tracye, to visit & play in altered books we are each busy with.  We decided to call our little group "Journal Junkies" & we'll each be making a themed journal that we will then swap among each other; our themes are Garden (Kaprice's book), Travel (Tracye) & Dress Up (me).  I'll be posting pix of our creations in our books as those come about.

Saturday, I attended my first art journaling class at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville, CA. thestampartshoppe.com & it was WONDERFUL!  Our instructor, Karen, is so much fun & has an amazing depth of fabulous techniques to show us; we'll meet monthly for an entire year & I'm thrilled to be on this journey to explore the world of art journaling!  

A sign posted in the classroom is a great reminder to just jump on in & give it a try:

Here are my supplies I brought for the class:

Playing in my class journal; our assignment is to write a 4 word "self-help" sentence; I immediately thought "art feeds my soul" & that's what I wrote!  I will continue to explore this thought within the pages of my journal.

Later that day, after my class, I strolled through a nearby neighborhood & came upon a lovely tulip tree in bloom, complete with a bench beneath; perfect spot to sit a spell, don't you think?

The sky was blue, the weather was mild & the tulip tree's blooms were soooo pretty:

Much too nice a day to be inside, so I ended up at a favorite spot along the river for a cocktail & to enjoy the sunset:

Missed catching the actual sunset on camera, but love this silhouette of palms against the dusky sky:

What a beautiful day it's been!

Rockin' the Round Robin - Part I

It has taken me quite some time to complete my pages in the first book I received from Pen Stuart's altered book round robin (RR), but FINALLY I have finished them!  Visit Pen's blog here http://infinityandjellydoughnuts-pen.blogspot.com/

There are 14 books in this RR from artists all over the U.S. plus several in Australia-WOW!  The book I've just finished working in belongs to Kaitlyn Brannon & has "Night" as its theme; Kaitlyn created this lovely cover for her book:

And here are the 4 pages I created inside:

I wrote a haiku for this "dream" page; it says:  "At night, dreams take hold.
Our world becomes limitless
and we are set free."

"Nightlife" - the sassy lady has a faux fur collar made from soft black fiber I had in my stash

"Nightingale" - the bird image is from packaging that held an acrylic stamp; it was too pretty to throw out!

"Stand by Me" - lyrics from the classic song..."when the night has come & the land is dark & the moon is the only light we see...stand by me."

Now, off to create in the next 2 books for this RR plus create my pages in the second RR I'm playing in.  More to come on my creations for those, so stay tuned!

How Fun...I Won!

Yesterday was a "happy mail" day-Wheeeeeee!  First, I discovered I had won this great rubber stamp from Two Peas in a Bucket:

"Love Grows" rubber stamp by Penny Black

Next, I had a package from my brother, Paul, that contained a Valentine's card & other fun items with wishes for a happy heart day!

And, finally, I received another altered art book to create in for one of the 2 round-robins I'm playing in (I'll have a post up tomorrow with more on that).  Here's a sneak peek:

Ta-Ta for now!

Messin' Around

Today I am taking on a challenge from Cocoa Daisy Scrapbooking http://www.cocoadaisy.com/blog/.

The challenge is "Layer Cake" & the goal is to create a layout (LO) using the 10 suggested "layers" in the design.  It is a perfect jumping off point for me to dive in & play with my new Crafters Workshop stencils (mine are all from Julie Balzer's new line for them)

 http://www.thecraftersworkshop.com/The_Crafters_Workshop/New_Products.html

& Ranger Ink Colorwash Sprays by Tim Holtz plus Perfect Pearls mist

 http://www.rangerink.com/products/prod_dyeink_adirondackcolorwash.htm

http://www.rangerink.com/products/prod_perfectpearls_mists.htm

Here is layer #1 for my challenge LO-mist the page:

Close-up view; the camera really doesn't do justice to the beautiful colors.  I sprayed the leaf stencil with the Colorwash in "lettuce" & "espresso" then sprayed a layer of Perfect Pearls mist in "bronze".  Love this combo!

And, here are some other results I got from messin' around with the Colorwash sprays & the templates:

The color combo used with this stencil is "red pepper" & "wild plum" Colorwash plus "heirloom gold" Perfect Pearls mist.  This one was sprayed directly through the stencil & the others are the result of laying plain colored cardstock on top of the stencil after it was sprayed; the colors & design then transfer onto the cardstock.  It's a great way to use the leftover ink that's been sprayed onto the stencil.

And, here is the result of laying a piece of colored paper onto the leaf stencil after I had sprayed it for my challenge page LO.  This rocks!

Now, on to layer #2 of my LO-add some paint:

Acrylic paint color is a mix of sky blue plus tan; my sky blue paint is really blue so I used the tan to soften it.  I think this color works so well on the page!

Layers #3, #4, #5 are:  a bit of sparkle, some patterned paper & add a sticker on the patterned paper.  Layer #6 is the photo, which I don't actually have yet so am skipping this for now.  Layer #7 is to add a bit of ribbon.

Layer #3-the glittery word "beautiful", layer #4-the brown patterned paper in the center of the page, layer #5-the phrase at bottom left of the page, layer #7-ribbon tied at the top of the brown patterned paper.

Layer #8-add stitching:

This was the hardest part of the challenge for me.  I love  the look of stitching on scrapbook pages but never do it because my sewing machine is not convenient to get at & stitching by hand on a page layout always seems to be difficult.  Nevertheless, I did manage to add a wee bit of hand-stitching with some twine.

Layer #9-a little stamping:

Stamped some lovely butterflies near the bottom left & top of my page.

Layer #10-add a title
My title is "Enjoy the Beauty of Nature"  So, no need to add anything else; I am done & here is the final page:

Such a fun way to spend a relaxing afternoon!

Wishing you all a beautiful 

& 

creative year!

Nourished in the New Year

As the new year approaches, I've been pondering on what I want for myself in 2012 & I kept returning to a need to feel nourished; not just nutritionally, but physically, emotionally, creatively & spiritually.  And so, I'm committing to nourishment of my being starting RIGHT NOW!  Feels sooooo good!

This morning's breakfast

Today I am being creative & completing some unfinished art projects; I'll be posting them here so I hope you'll stop back by & visit to see what's new.

Happy & Blessed New Year to you!