Back to scrapping...

I've not been scrapping (or crafting at all) much lately. But, I joined a 52 week challenge over at Scrappin' n Chattin' and I've made seven layouts so far this year. I'll get them all uploaded in another post, but I wanted to share this one. I used a sketch from TPV and will be entered to win an awesome prize!

Feeling crafty

I've been making quite a few cards and layouts this year. Over on Scrappin-n-Chattin we did a challenge in March where I made a card every day of the month. That was fun and I've got quite a stash of cards to send out now! Yesterday I had time to craft some and made these cards and a layout. I just love the new paper I got from My Mind's Eye and am happy with my creations.

I am loving my new scalloped punch and my Martha Steward butterfly stamp and punch set. I really like how I can punch out two butterflies, glue the bottom one down and the top one only along the center to get a 3-D effect. Thanks for looking!

Hope

Dye Resist Tutorial

Over at Scrappin-n-Chattin we have a challenge this month to create a tutorial, so I thought I'd share this cool over-stamping dye resist technique that makes stunning cards. I added this slide show with pictures of the steps and have them written out in detail below the slide show.

1. Gather up your supplies. You'll need glossy CS, a resist ink (I think VersaMark would work, but I've never tried it myself.) You'll also need two or three colors of coordinating inks, a permanent ink, an image and saying stamp and a makeup sponge. This is my tried and true tool- I attempted the Tim Holtz ink pad that goes on my inking tool, but I didn't feel like I had enough control. 2. Begin by randomly stamping your image with the resist ink onto your glossy CS. As a rule, an odd number of stamped images produces a more pleasing composition for the eye to follow. 3. Heat the resist ink for about 15 seconds or let it sit for about 15 minutes to ensure it's dry before going on to the next step. 4. Start staining the CS with your lightest ink. This first layer of color should be applied with firm pressure to ensure a bright resist. 5. Shade to deepen your colors. Blend and keep inking until you're happy with the result. 6. Use your darkest ink to overstamp the images, offsetting the image slightly from those that are in resist. This stamping of the design the second time is called overstamping. 7. Stamp your phrase in permanent ink for a high-contrast last layer. 8. Spray to seal, if you desire. I like Matte finish the best, but it's a personal preference to use glossy. Or, you don't have to seal it at all. 9. Trim your image, mat it and voila! A beauty of a card! I learned this technique from Nancy Curry and it is featured in her book, "Texture Effects". I hope you all try this fun and easy technique soon! Have a creative day, Hope

The Beautiful U.P.

Mark and I spent last weekend in the UP. We were hoping to see the beautiful fall colors, but all of Michigan is still mostly green... We still had a great time and I got some beautiful pictures. I especially love the ones of the Crisp Point Lighthouse, the most remote Lighthouse on Lake Superior. (Remote it was too... I thought we were going to end up having to ditch the car and walk there.) I'm really glad we went and am hoping to go back someday in the summer so we can do more hiking.

Ashley's Graduation Video

Well, the day has finally come... my baby is all grown up.

The first video is the class president. The third is the Salutatorian, Emily. The rest of the video clips are Ashley.

I'm so proud of this beautiful young lady and grateful that she is my daughter.

What I've been working on

As always, it's been a busy week- getting everyone ready to go back to school; and I HAD to get it done this week because my classes start on Monday and we have an out-of-town wedding next weekend. I told the kids whatever didn't get done now wasn't getting done and somehow they found the time to go shopping... lol. I am ALMOST done getting all my photos organized... just a little bit more to go. I will be so relieved when that's done. I feel like I just cannot scrapbook anything while my pictures are so disorganized. I make my books in chronological order, one for each year, and I can't put them together properly with pictures all over the place. Already I've found several sets of pictures that go in the middle of what I thought was a completed album, so I'll have to scrap those layouts and then take the album apart and put it back together... ugh. I did learn a lesson here (something good comes out of every situation, right?)- I will be very diligent with the organization of my photos from now on... I'll label not only what they are, but the month and year. You wouldn't believe how many pictures I had "organized" in envelopes that simply said "Up North"- well... when? Labor Day? Fourth of July? Memorial Day? And without a year, I've been having to look at my kids- haircuts, what swimsuit they had that summer, whether the braces are on or off their teeth, etc. to match them up to the proper year. What a nightmare! The other thing I MUST do is have a specific place to put doubles. I have spent HOURS going through pictures that I just don't know if they're doubles or the original pictures... so, once again, I have to look through everything- pictures in envelopes, scrapped pages- to see if they truly are doubles. Anyway, I should have it done by tomorrow- Yay! And I'll be the model of organization from now on! :) So, right now I'm taking a little break from the photo organizing and thought I'd upload some more pictures of what I've been working on lately.

This is the first stage of the second spread in the altered book I'm woking on.

Second stage- and all I've completed so far. I really like this... it's so vibrant and cheery. I think it will be a very fun page.

I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

This is an altered canvas that I made.

I made this card for a swap using the "gel" technique.

The little fish is behind a plastic baggie filled with hair gel- to give the illusion of water.

This is some textured paper that I made by gluing plastic wrap, masking tape and some mesh from an orange bag to heavy hard stock and then coloring it with alcohol inks and a little gold from my Krylon pen.

In real life, it is stunning.

I used a little bit of it to make some ATCs and now I'm saving the rest for something very special. (The "hoarder" in me shows up often when I'm dealing with art and scrapbook supplies!)

Another swap card... this time we had to make something in the shape of the letter B.

I decided to color glossy paper with alcohol inks and then stamp over it collage-style. I used brads as the center of the clocks and finished it off with a thin, glittery fiber down the side.

I broke out my watercolor pencils to color this simple but pretty "Thank You" card.

The background of this card was made using the bleach technique.

Another altered canvas. I made this as a gift for my best friend.

Playing with alcohol inks again... Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend- do something creative!!!

It's been SOOOO long

I know, I know... this is ridiculous. It's been MONTHS since I've posted here. I honestly contemplated just giving it up, but... We've had so much going on in our lives- some good, unfortunately a lot of bad, but we finally seem to be back on track so I'm hoping to be a little more regular with my blogging here. First off, I got accepted to nursing school! I start my clinicals on Aug. 25th. I'm very excited, but a little nervous too. I've got 24 hours of actual class time per week and then all the reading and studying. It's going to be an adjustment for all of us- especially since we just found out Mark is going to be moving to the afternoon shift the same day I start classes. There will be some juggling on how to get kids to and from school and the girls are going to have to pick up some evening slack- making dinner, helping Joey with homework, etc. But, it will all work out. We did a lot of projects around the house over the summer and I've been trying to get all of my photos organized. That's still on-going but I really want to have it completed before I go back to school. I haven't had as much time to create as I would like, but I've done some things and have many projects/pictures I'd like to share. I'll start off with the first spread of an altered book. I've never altered a book before and it has been loads of fun!

Trish, over at Next Generation Stampers, gave me the inspiration for this book.

For detailed instructions you can visit her at Trish Bee's ArtVenture- the link is on my home page.

This was step 1

Step 2

Complete!

I'm so pleased with how it came out- I can't wait to get started on the next two pages!