ART - A Recycled Album

When I was originally putting together this album, I had no idea what the subject would be, but then it quickly came together when I started looking at all my pictures on the computer.  I was seeing all these great thumbnails of all the CREATIVE work I had accomplished in 2009.  So there you have it!  Each page is dedicated to a different type of art, and has a coordinating ARTSY quote to go with it.

The album is made from a PRIMA flower package (vines) which is nice and long and can be folded in half.  This was a great project to use up scraps and bits and pieces of embellishments.

Happy Monday!

Gettin' Messy with Distress Ink!

I read on Tim Holtz' blog that he was having a Distress Ink Contest, so I thought I would do something I've always envisioned would work well, and that is letting the water drip and drop everywhere!

If you want the full tutorial, visit my NEW tutorial blog! I am excited to have all my techniques and tutorials in one place. I'll be adding to it in the next few months, so be sure to check back!

The stamps are Technique Tuesday (Ali Edwards) and that boy is my cute son! Thanks to Julie Johnson of Vine Images (my lovely and talented sister) for the picture.

Happy Retirement Card, Penny Black

I am heading to a retirement party and wanted to make a special card for a special lady. She is quite classy, so she needed a classy card.

I used one of my favourite techniques, the 4 coat UTEE and crack technique. If you won a bottle of UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), you really should try this! Simply use VersaMark to adhere the crystals to the image, and heat set, repeat to achieve 4 coats. Let sit until it cools, then crack and have fun! I also take some liquid ink and try and get it into the cracks so that they stand out a bit more.

The stamp is by Penny Black, one of my only wood mounted stamps, and I love it. The sentiment, I made in Photoshop and printed it. Paper is 7 Gypsies (cream and black) and Kaisercraft (blue). I altered a light blue velvet ribbon by colouring it with a Forest Green Copic marker. The lace was sprayed with Patina Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.

See you around!

2 Sketches 4 You, Greeting Farm and Kaisercraft

Makes a great combination if you ask me! So, the post below, you can see the OTHER "Me Time Anya" image that comes in the set. This bathtub one is too cute and I am glad I made this purchase!

The card is based on this week's sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You, I just rotated it and played with the shape of the card. The paper is by Kaisercraft (Devonshire and Gypsy Sister Collections). The image was coloured with Copic markers, and that lovely soft blue around the edge is Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, applied with Cut n' Dry Foam, one of my favourite products and must have!

Bye for now! And play along if you can!

Me Time Anya

I just got a really cute stamp set from The Greeting Farm, called Me Time Anya. This one stamp is perfect for a gift card, with the inside sentiment being "Pamper Yourself". I pulled out my trusty dusty Copic markers for this one, and used Antique Linen Distress Ink to ink around the image with Cut n' Dry Foam. The papers are My Mind's Eye from Scrapbook Star's April kit. Beautiful paper! I am a BIG My Mind's Eye fan.

By for now!

2 Sketches 4 You and Moxie Fab World Challenges

I have little time these days, so I thought I would play along with 2 challenges and make 1 card! How efficient of me!

Over at PaperCrafts' Moxie Fab World, they have a challenge to make a card with FABRIC. I bought this Silhouette Victorian Chair die cut shape for Moxie Fab's CHAIR challenge, but never had the time to make a card. So I'm using it now. I decided to use fabric for the upholstery part of the chair. I took white FABRIC and inked it with Spun Sugar Distress Ink (a new colour by Tim Holtz/Ranger). I then took a polka dot stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms and stamped some brown dots on my FABRIC. I covered the dark brown chair with Glossy Accents and the FABRIC with some clear drying glue.

The card design is based on a sketch provided by 2 SKETCHES 4 YOU. It is sketch #52 by Laura. Have a peek and play along too with either challenge.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Rub-on Stitches: Daisy d's

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Kioshi

Chair: Silhouette Die Cut

Ink: Ranger

Adhesive: Glossy Accents, Art Glitter Institute

Dies: Spellbinders

Lace: Prima

Buttons: Basic Grey

Twine: Marth Stewart

Some Cuteness Coming Your Way

Is this not the sweetest hair do EVER? Look at that curl, that one single curl! I finally got out the camera today to capture my baby's hair style for the last month. My sister wanted me to cut it off, but I say - WHY? It's so stinkin' cute!

And then, as if that weren't cute enough, throw in this little pup. He is 3 months old, and when I went to Homesense the other day, I bought this doggie sweater for Chewie. It was $12.99 and I couldn't say no. My husband HATES these kinds of things, which makes it all the more fun. I teased that I would be buying the dog some boots for the winter. Surprisingly, Mark sees the value in this! What fun is a dog if you can't dress it up! That's what I say.

And for some paper crafting goodness. I finally learned how to use my Silhouette's Print n' Cut feature, and now that I know how to do this - YOU WILL BE SEEING LOTS MORE! The Butterfly image is from House of 3, and you can purchase it from the Silhouette site. I made the outline slightly larger to cut the matte (with black cardstock). I made 9 cards in one cut, making it so easy to mass produce for swaps, etc....

The inside of the card has a fold/pocket for a gift card, and it is decorated with a strip of Basic Grey decorative tape. It's an easy way to dress up a card! The pink distressing is actually Shimmerz Paint, applied to the shaven edges with a paintbrush. The stamp is Cornish Heritage Farms.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in the cuteness!

Amazing Love....How Can it Be?

As I was creating this layout, I knew the title would be "Amazing Love", because life and birth is amazing. The love a person can have for their own child in unconditional, beautiful, unexpected.

But I also had in my mind, this worship song called You Are My King - see previous post for the You Tube Video and to listen to it. Amazing love, how can it be? Brings tears to my eyes.

I want to thank my sister Julie Johnson for all the amazing photos she has blessed me with over the years, and she is also in the midst of writing a book called Unexpected Love - it includes many of her lovely artistic photographs as well as scripture verses that remind us of God's love, and how we can relate God's love for us, as we love our own children. Is there a greater love?

This layout is of my son William, my third, my beautiful boy. I love him so much! He is sleeping now, contently. I got messy with this layout pulling out Shimmerz Spritz and Ranger Paint Dabbers, and some other paints as well.

The paper and letters are from Kaisercraft.

Painted Letter Instructions:

1. Paint the raw chipboard letters with BOTTLE colour paint.
2. Apply dabs of POOL colour paint.
3. Spray with a glossy craft coating (optional).
4. With a paint brush, apply white/cream coloured paint around the edges using up and down strokes.
5. Apply to the layout with foam dots for a raised effect.

You Are My King

Scrapbook Star's June Kit Sneak!

It looks awesome, doesn't it! Sam at Scrapbook Star puts together such wonderful kits, and this sneak of June's kit is sure to impress!


This is a project I made using April's kit. The rub-ons, letters, and flower are Pink Paislee and the patterned paper is My Mind's Eye.

Don't the rub-ons look awesome on metal?

Daddy & Sophie

I am usually a bit modest when it comes to using flowers on my page, but this time, I let loose and almost used a whole pack of Primas. I figure when you have coordinating patterned papers with flowers that were designed to match, it would be wise to put them together and just enjoy the outcome, and what could be more beautiful than a huge splash of colourful flowers?

I recently won a Unity Stamp Scrapbooking challenge, and I just got my winning kit in the mail (Vintage Chic). You can see the measuring tape and "a love beyond measure" sentiment in the corner.

Other stamps used were 7 Gyspies (date stamp), and the quote from an Ali Edwards set from Technique Tuesday in the other corner.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Rita & Les...Happy National Scrapbook Day!

We are having a little National Scrapbook Day challenge session over at Scrapbook Star and the Design Team has come up with some good ones! Click here to see the challenges and to participate.

My challenge is to use what's on your desk. If you saw my desk, or should I say 3 desks shoved together, you would know that I have an abundance of products to pull from within arms reach and it is always a mess! You know what I love about doing this sort of thing? You don't waste time wondering what you can dig out, just use whatever is there and make it work (like Tim says from Project Runway). You can see I used some packaging, some My Mind's Eye paper, a Maya Road sheer clock, some random die cuts (Making Memories and K & Co.), Prima Flowers, etc...

These are my cute grandparents back in 1938. My Grandpa passed away on St. Patrick's Day last year at the ripe old age of 93, and he was Irish! It was the perfect day for him to go, as we will never forget him.


This is the prize I am offering up, just post your project to be entered at Scrapbook Star.

• Prima Pebbles
• Maya Road Velvet Ric Rac
• 8.5 x 11 Sheet of Black Glitter Felt

Hope you can play along!