It's the last day of Marit's "Top 2000" challenge! The song I chose to scrap for today is one of the all-time greatest songs ever (in my opinion) - "Imagine" by John Lennon, which comes in at #41...
For this layout I painted a watercolor rainbow background onto white cardstock; and then whitewashed over the top with gesso to soften the colors and add texture. The dove was drawn onto white cardstock and then layered for dimension. I happened to have some sparkly copper colored vines, so I cut off a little piece for the dove to carry. The lyrics are written with a fine point journaling pen.
I've learned some things during this challenge that will carry over to Scrapping The Music. In the past, I've always picked which songs I will scrap for our challenge blog, based on if I can envision the lyrics applying to my life - thus giving me a page to scrap about. Now I'm thinking I can scrap any song I love! I can scrap about the song itself! Yeayyyy! I love those little a-ha moments!
Speaking of Scrapping The Music, you've still got a few more days to play along with our Christmas Vacation challenge! We need more players and we'd love to have you join us!
It's the second to the last day of the Top 2000 Countdown challenge on Marit's blog! My contribution for December 30th is 1971's "Vincent" by Don McLean. It comes in at #395...
I painted a gold border on the backside of a hambly overlay and placed that on top of some patterned paper. Then continued the overlay design with a white sharpie on top of the Van Gogh self-portrait. I also used some happy tape at the bottom of the self-portrait, and popped out the photo of singer Don McLean with pop-dots for some extra dimension. The lyrics are done with Sharpie Poster Paint Pens.
I've loved this song since it first came out when I was a kid. The beautiful and sad poetry of the lyrics are what first got me interested in the life and art of Van Gogh. Altho I knew the song was written about Vincent Van Gogh; I did not know the back story of how McLean came to write it; so I did some checking, and found out at McLean's website.
Here's a video of the song "Vincent" which showcases some of Van Gogh's paintings. Aren't they beautiful?!!!
There are so many things I love about this song - the energy, the urban feel, and the lyrics - oh the lyrics... I tried to reflect those things in my layout. The silhouette is actually a photo of frontman Adam Duritz which I cut out and used as a mask for misting.
Here's the meaning behind the song, in Adam's own words, during VH1 Storytellers. (Taken from this link)...
“It’s really a song about my friend Marty and I. We went out one night to watch his dad play, his dad was a flamenco guitar player who lived in Spain, and he was in San Francisco in the mission playing with his old flamenco troupe. And after the gig we all went to this bar called the New Amsterdam in San Francisco on Columbus and we got completely drunk. And Marty and I sat at the bar staring at these two girls, wishing there was *some* way we could go talk to them, but we were, we were too shy. And we thought, we kept joking with each other, that if we were big rock stars instead of such loser, low-budget musicians, we’d be able to, this would be easy. And I went home that night and I wrote a song about it.
And I joke about what’s it about, that story. But it’s really a song about all the dreams and all the things that make you want to go in to , you know, doing whatever it is that like seizes your heart, whether it’s being a rock star or being a doctor or whatever it is, you know. And I mean, those things run from like ‘all this stuff I have pent up inside of me’ to , ‘I want to meet girls’ you know, because I’m tired of not being able to. And it is a lot of those things, it’s about all those dreams. But it’s also kind of cautionary because it’s about how misguided you may be about some of those things and how hollow they may be too. Like the character in the song keeps saying, ‘When everybody loves me I will never be lonely.’ And you’re supposed to know that that’s not the way it’s gonna be, probably. I knew that even then.
I'll be back tomorrow with my contribution to the second to last day of Marit's challenge. Don't forget to go to Marit's blog to see all of the layouts for today's songs - they are all so awesome!
The Countdown continues in the Netherlands of the Top 2000 songs of all time. My pick out of today's songs is "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. (click to see the details) It comes in at #1067...
I totally thought this song was about a woman who left a relationship to find herself, but I was wrong. I found out that it was inspired by a dream Pat Monahan had after the death of his mother. Here's a video where he explains it...
I wish you a fantastic Monday my friends! I will be back tomorrow with yet another Top 2000 layout! Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments! They really mean a lot to me!
I had so much fun making this layout - I'm a huge James Morrison fan so it was awesome to see "Wonderful World" on the Top 2000 Countdown list. It comes in at #1234. This layout is my contribution to the December 27th edition of the Netherlands Top 2000 songs of all time countdown...
For the background I used Peerless Watercolors on Watercolor paper, and then added salt to give it a spotty effect. The photo came from a free desktop wallpaper I found on the internet.
It's been really fun looking a little deeper into the songs for this week's challenge. I was researching the meaning behind Wonderful World, and I found it in this video. Turns out it's an empathic song he wrote for a deaf man he met on a bus. Check out the video below, where he explains it and then performs an awesome version of the song...
Thank you to Marit again for hosting this week-long inspirational challenge! Don't forget to check out all the layouts for today at Marit's blog - click here!
The song I picked for today is "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's. It's #1680 on the Netherlands Top 2000 countdown...
This is such a wonderfully romantic lyric and sweet melody - I just love it. I've read that there is a real Delilah, and that the T's frontman - Tom Higginson wrote "Hey There Delilah" in an attempt to woo her. Sadly, it didn't work and they never got together. I don't know how she could resist being charmed by it! Click here for the story.
I will be back tomorrow with the song for December 27! Take care everyone and thanks for stopping by!
I've always said that music is a universal connection, and today I really feel it. It gave me shivers to go to Marit's blog today and see all the beautiful artwork from people all over the world - all connected by music.
I picked this song because - well first of all I love it, but I also love that it makes me think of all the women that have inspired me, and I love that. From what I've read, K.T. wrote this song about Punk Rocker Patti Smith. How cool is that?
I finished my first two layouts for Marit's Top 2000 game, and it was super fun!!!!! They will be revealed on December 25th and 26th, respectively, but here are some sneak peeks...
Now I'm off to get ready for Christmas. Shopping, Cleaning and Wrapping! I will see you tomorrow with another update! Have an awesome Wednesday my friends!
It's time for Marit's Top 2000 Game to begin! Yeayyy! I'm so excited! I went to the site that lists all 2000 songs, and spent HOURS perusing all the choices. It was so difficult to choose just one song for each day of broadcast! I tried to pick songs that speak to me, or have some meaning for me, or that I just really love, as opposed to thinking about how I would scrap them. Know what I mean?
I'm sitting here with this list of seven songs in front of me. All fun, inspiring songs. Now to get busy. I want to do 12 x 12 layouts. I think I want to do something different tho. Not necessarily layouts with pics about my life. I'm thinking more collagey, painty-type layouts that focus on the content of the song. Hmmm. We shall see what happens once I get going. I'm not sure what I will end up with, but that's part of the fun, right?
For those of you that are also playing along - are you doing layouts? Art journal pages? ATCs? What's your plan? I'd love to hear it!
The one thing I know is that if I want to actually complete these layouts I'm going to have to not overthink them. It's a super busy time and I will just have to fly with whatever comes out of my head. Yeayyyy! That means no pressure!
The featured song for the next two weeks at Scrapping The Music is the theme from the movie "Christmas Vacation!" It's a super fun, festive song and I hope you will want to play along! I know the holidays are busy, so we are giving it an extra week to make it easier for folks to participate. Here's the layout I made:
I used the December "Orchestra" kit from Studio Calico for this layout. The white alphas are from Doodlebug, and the word magic is hand-drawn and cut. The stars are drawn with a sharpie. Oh and the black and white border at the top is happy tape!
Speaking of Scrapping The Music, I am excited to say that I will be coordinating the blog starting with the new year! It's only temporary, as our founder Mary, needs to take a break for awhile; but I am really excited to learn from her. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that she does, and she has kept it running like a well-oiled machine. Everyone on the design team is so supportive of Mary and of the site, that I know together we can keep it going until Mary is ready to return!
I'm sooo looking forward to Marit's "Top 2000 Songs of 2009" challenge which will start on December 25! I plan to post a layout here each day from December 25th thru December 31 that will correspond to one of the songs on the Top 2000 list that is published in the Netherlands each year. Marit will also be posting my layout along with hers and anyone else who participates! I know my friend Jeanet is going to play too - can't wait to see what you create Jeanet!
So now the rush for Christmas starts! We still have to pick up a few gifts, plan what to serve on Christmas Day, wrap gifts and clean the house! Yikes! I am going to try to keep a little time for creativity each day, but we shall see if that actually happens or not. LOL.
One of the many fun things about this time of year, is seeing all your year-long projects start coming to completion! Yeayyyy! Of course, I am behind on most of them, but that's beside the point - LOL. Anyhoo - I'm catching up with my "Year In The Life of An Art Journal" project, and I'm up to the Letter "U."
I picked the subject of backyard birds and squirrels because November is the month of Thanksgiving, and I am SO thankful for the beautiful creatures that visit our feeders everyday...
I was going to use my own photos, but they are all taken thru our window, so they're not that clear, and these were too beautiful to resist...
One of the many things I am loving about Kelly's Art Journaling class, is that it has given me reason to record some things about my life that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. Case in point is my page from December 15th about my first sleepover...
I used the current Studio Calico kit called "Orchestra" for this Fave Things layout. The challenge (obviousy) was to scrap your favorite car...
The photo of me in the car was something I made for the Project Catwalk contest back in 2008. It was part of a greeting card. It seemed a perfect fit to print another photo of it for this layout! The flowers are a new addition, and are made with papers from the "Orchestra" kit.
The next thing on my list is to do some catching up with the "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal" project. But first, a napinski...
I'm SO EXCITED and HONORED!!! I was asked to be an "Honorary Gutter Girl" at the Gutter Girlz Challenge blog in March! This is going to be super fun!
You've probably heard of the Gutter Girlz, but just in case you haven't - it's a challenge blog with an "edge." They "take you places scrapbooking normally doesn't" with their challenges, and I am so excited to be going along with them on a paper adventure! I will keep you posted about the exact date in March - I hope you want to play along! And a huge THANK YOU to my awesomely talented friend Glenda Tkalac for inviting me!
The next thing I want to share with you is my layout for the December sketch at the TATS blog. TATS is currently on hiatus, so the December sketch wasn't posted, but I want to share my layout with you anyways! I had so much fun with it...
I used Ashley Wren's "Rainbow Sushi" papers for the first time, and the layout practically made itself! I love the uniqueness of her paper line! Along with that I used lots of orange buttons from my stash I got from my sweet friend Penny, and some dictionary paper!
and December 14. Sometimes I have a hard time letting go of my job at the end of the work day, so I skipped the prompt for this day, and made this for therapeutic reasons...
I hope your Friday has been fabulous! I will be back tomorrow with another update - thanks for stopping by!
I am going to be joining the design team for the "These Are A Few of My Favorite Things" challenge blog!!! Yeayyyyyy!!!!! I am so happy to be joining this group of sincerely wonderful and talented women. PLUS, it's my favorite challenge to participate in!!!! And Julie, the founder - what can I say about my dear friend Julie?!!! She is one of the most supportive and fun people in the scrapbooking world for sure! I am really looking forward to this new adventure! I will be starting with the first new challenge of 2010 - I hope you will come and play along!
I'm also excited because our Christmas preparations are coming along quite nicely. Our tree is up and decorated...
I've done my online ordering for out of town loved ones, and we have made an action plan to get everything else accomplished. Yeayyy!
I'm still trying to play catch up with my art journal pages and other projects. I should have known this time of year would be so busy! I did finish the December 12th page...
Materials used: acrylic paint, oil crayon, pan pastels, paper doily, collage image from Kelly Kilmer, plaid happy tape, woodgrain contact paper, red cardstock and pink white and black sharpies.
I'm playing catch-up with my journal pages - I'm a few days behind, but here's what I've got so far...
I finally finished my "Fave Holiday" layout for the Fave Things blog! This is my way of visually expressing how I feel about the New Year's Eve/Day holiday... New Year's Eve is wonderful because it gives me cause to look back and be grateful for everything that's happened in the past year. New Year's Day is FABULOUS because I feel like a new, fresh adventure is starting! What could be better than a new adventure?!!!
Anyhoo, I used the Studio Calico "Over The Rainbow" kit for the layout; plus some turquoise and pink cardstock and some happy tape along the bottom.
So, do you have creative goals for the upcoming year? I'm still trying to decide what I want my creative goals to be. I LOVE the process of figuring it out almost as much as actually doing it!
Good morning - er afternoon! It's a beautiful, quiet day at the Rydell household. The cats are in the scraproom window, and we are all watching the birds. We've already seen a female cardinal, a blue jay and a chickadee!
I have finished my embroidery hoop album - yeayyy! It was a project from my Super Fun Autumn Love class with Elsie Flannigan and Rachel Denbow! I ended up using WAY more pages than the project called for, but I am happy with the result! Figuring out how to bind it was the biggest challenge, but in the end I just used a simple ribbon, which as you will see was glued to both the front and back hoops, and then fed through each page; and it works pretty well. The subject is our family trip up to the North Shore this past fall.
The cover was the idea from the class. The inside pages are my own design. I have been saving this bright orange thrift-store doily forever, and I finally found a use for it - yeayyy!
I made a little pocket for memorabilia by stitching some fabric to the chipboard which I covered with patterned paper and glued into the inside back cover. As you can see I'm no seamstress, but I kinda like the imperfect look...
Working on this project made me start thinking about all the things that could be made into mini-albums! Just about anything - hmmm...
My friend Marit has decided to embark on a fun project and I've decided to play along! From December 25 - 31st, I will be making a layout based on a song from the Netherlands Radio "Top 2000," and posting each one here on my blog. Marit will also be posting them on her blog. For more on this fun project check out Marit's blogpost here. She's looking for more people to play along too!
Oh, and speaking of music, don't forget that you have an extra week to play along with the current challenge at Scrapping The Music! Check it out here!
Alrighty then, I guess that's it for today! I will be back tomorrow with my "Fave Holiday" layout as well as some Art Journal Pages. Have a fantabulous Sunday my friends and thanks SO much for visiting and for your comments! They really make me happy!
I'm sooooo tired, but I had a FABULOUS time at the crop! Here's a pic of my awesome friends - Christina, Anne and Lynn...
We scrapped like crazy and I actually finished my embroidery hoop album!!! I'm so excited to share it with you! I must hit the hay tho, as I can hardly keep my eyes open. I will be back as soon as I wake up, and will post pics of my project.
I just love starting a new journal! It feels like a new adventure is just beginning! This is a journal I altered awhile ago for a Next Step Challenge, (I posted it then too) but I haven't done anything with it until now. It will be my December Art Journal. Here's the cover...
For the inside pages, I glued about five pages together at a time (with glue stick) to make them about the thickness of cardstock. I removed pages randomly throughout, to adjust for the thickness of the finished entries. It's hard to see here, but the painted backgrounds are transparent enough to still see the print coming through, and I love that!
I discovered a new challenge blog tonight called Scrap A Tale, and the amazingly talented Kimberly Garafalo is the guest designer this month. She's got a really fun challenge posted, with a prize full of Sassafras goodness! Check it out here!
Today's Prompt-A-Day journal entry was the very last one in my current journal! I LOVE completing a journal! It's such a feeling of accomplishment! So, here's my last entry...
The image is from an old children's magazine. I also used a gift bag and some woodgrain contact paper for the collage elements.
The other thing that is fun about finishing a journal, is that you get to start a new one! Tomorrow I will post a pic of the journal I'm going to start next.
Tonight we had a lot of fun putting up our christmas tree and hanging the stockings! Johnny enjoyed pouncing on the ribbons and watching from his latest box fort...
We watched The Station Agent the other nite, and we give it two thumbs up. It's one of those movies that has you laughing at how odd it is, but at the same time, the characters each touch your soul in their own way. Cool. Have any of you seen it? What did you think?
Alrighty then, off I go. I have an idea for my "Fave Holiday" layout for the Fave Things blog, and I only have a few more days to get it done. I better get on it.
Hi everyone! I'm excited to report that my red Smashbook is all done! Yesterday was my monthly girls crop, and I played happily with i...
Hi friends! I'm so excited to tell you that I have a seat to give away for Pull Pen Paint 2018! Check out the post below this...
The Mixed Emotions workshop is technically over now. The classroom is still open so that students can finish their assignments; but the las...
Are you ready to find out who won the seat in PULL PEN PAINT 2018??? I used a random number generator to pick a winner... Congratulat...
Hi friends! I've got a catchup post on the Top 2000 party today, since I didn't post about it yesterday. Yesterday was day five an...
I'm so excited! Today is the day that I get to be an Honorary Gutter Girl! I did a special layout for the current challenge, and there's also a bio a little article and some of my fave layouts! I'd love it if you stop over there and say hello in the comments! Thanks so much for asking me to be an honorary gutter girl Glenda! P.S. Glenda has some super-inspiring work of her own in today's post too - she is the queen of misting and masking!!!
Last night I finished another layout for The Street Where You Live. This one is about our local post office (click to see more detail)...
I used one of the class sketches for inspiration, and the Studio Calico "Quilting Bee" kit for this one. I love how one of the Sassafras Papers just happened to have some stripeys in it that remind me of the old air mail stripes that used to be on envelopes! For this one, I used only the border and the flowers from the Sass paper, and cut the entire middle out to use on another layout. I backed the border with navy cardstock from my stash. The scallop at the top is actually cut from the inside of a security envelope - :0)
Don't forget - tomorrow is our farewell tribute to Marie at Scrapping The Music. I hope you will stop by and check it out!
Also, the new challenge is up at the Fave Things blog, and this time we are scrapping our Fave TV Shows! I actually have about five favorite shows, but Flash Forward is the one I really felt like scrapping about. It's a real mind-bender if you ask me, and I love the mystery and imagination of it. Here's my layout...
The February 28th prompt at Artful Amblings was "Silence," and the technique was to use inchies. If you are not familiar with inchies, they are tiny works of art that are one inch square. I took a simple, photographic approach to the prompt, and here's what I came up with...
I edged the photos with acrylic paint and wrote the quote with a sharpie. The inchie photos are miscellaneous ones from peaceful, quiet moments in my life, and the big one was taken on a solitary road trip for work. Sometimes I listen to the radio, but more often than not, I drive in silence. It gives me time to think and I love that.
We've got an awesome song at Scrapping the Music this week! It's "Fireflies," by Owl City! Here's my take on the lyrics...
I used Sharpie Poster-Paint markers to create the background and write the lyrics. I just love that photo of little Wilbie catching a few zzzzz's in his Snowman bed.
I had three fun things happen yesterday, and I just have to share with you all! First, I was contacted by Debbie Hodge of Get it Scrapped yesterday. She told me that three of my layouts were featured in an article at their site about the "Street Where You Live" class! I was so excited and honored!!! I would love it if you have time to check it out and leave me a comment! Click here to go to the article.
It was also an awesome happy mail day too! Harmonie Products was kind enough to send me this selection of their new product line to play with...
Isn't it beautiful stuff? It's even prettier in real life. The patterned paper is a nice heavyweight, and they are all double-sided. I think my fave paper is the one on the top right with the butterflies and dragonflies! I also love the wood frames and patterned brads! Can't wait to start creating with this stuff! Thanks so much Harmonie!!! You can visit their website by clicking here.
I also received my Noel Mignon kit and WOW I LOVE IT! I am such a color-oriented person, and these colors are fabulous!!! The other thing I noticed about this kit is you get LOTS of embellishments, which makes me happy happy HAPPY!!!
Stay tuned to Scrapping The Music for some upcoming news. We have a few changes that will be announced very soon! In the meantime, you still have a little time to play along with this week's challenge! Check it out here, but hurry!!!
I hope your Friday is going fantastically!!! Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments - they mean alot to me!!!
Spring has sprung in our neighborhood and it's so wonderful! The sun is shining and the temps are climbing upwards and we have started our regular walks! I finished another layout for my "The Street Where You Live" class, using a couple of pics we took this past week...
I used the Studio Calico "Quilting Bee" kit for this one, plus some pom pom trim and green cardstock from my stash, a white sharpie and blue watercolor crayons. The design was inspired by one of the sketches they provide. Another lesson goes up tomorrow at the "Street Where You Live" forum, and I can hardly wait! Even though it's a free class, the lessons are really in-depth! They give you lots of ideas and options, plus a few sketches to help you along! I am really loving it! If you want to check it out, it's not too late. The class goes all year long and you can jump in anytime. Click here for more info.
I've heard such great things about the Noel Mignon kits from my friend Julie, that I decided to try one of their kits. I ordered this one, and I can hardly wait for it to arrive! It looks amazing!!!
Speaking of kits, the Studio Calico reveal is this weekend too, and it looks like it's going to be a good month for them. Click here to see sneak peeks.
Oh, and I'm SO EXCITED that I'm going to be featured on the Gutter Girlz blog next Tuesday as an honorary gutter girl! I finished my layout and interview, so now I'm just waiting for Tuesday. I hope you will stop by and check it out!
Okay, I guess that's it for today. I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday, and I will see you tomorrow with another update! Thanks for stopping by!
The new song at Scrapping The Music this week is "Just The Two Of Us" by Will Smith. I'm telling ya there are SO MANY possibilities for scrapping this song it's amazing! Here's what I came up with...
Besides being brothers, Willie and Johnny are the best of buds, so it seemed fitting to scrap this song about them. I used the Studio Calico "Quilting Bee" kit for this one, and I am loving that kit! I especially love the "Dear Lizzy" ribbon that looks like roses - it's so soft and pretty! Anyhoo, head on over to the STM blog to see what the other Design Team members did! We'd love to have you play along with us!!!
In other news, I'm still in organization mode. I spent all day yesterday organizing my 2009/2010 layouts into albums, and it was so much fun! Here's the list of albums I started:
Now I just have to decorate and label each album cover, and put some tabs in to divide the sections!
Happy Sunday everybody! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted - I've been in California helping out with some family health issues that are going on, and celebrating my mom's birthday.
I came home from my trip to find a surprise package waiting for me from my sweet friend Julie. Look what she sent me! How cuuuuuute is this????
It is from a really neat etsy shop called Melbean. I put it up on my scraproom wall immediately! THANK YOU SO MUCH JULIE!!! You really brightened my day, and I will think of you everytime I look at it!!!
I have a couple of layouts to share, but first I want to answer some questions that came in from my last post about my scraproom.
I used to have a real problem with everything looking yellow in the evening, but I switched to Reveal (true daylight type) bulbs, and they work great! Now I can set my camera to the daylight setting and the colors are pretty true to life, even at night.
Willie and Johnny are six years old now, so they have mellowed out quite a bit from their kitten antics. My biggest worry is always that they will swallow some ribbon or something sharp and end up in the emergency room. This has never happened, but I still make sure that any ribbon or pins I have out are in a secure container. I also avoid those cute displays of embellies some people have in their scraprooms, where they put buttons and rhinestones in muffin pans or cute bowls. If I did that I would have this problem...
Willie loves little things that he can bat around, so I just make sure that my embellies are in a closed container.
Both of the boys love to chew on anything plastic - These were some nice crop bags that I had in my bucket on the floor, and I quickly learned I needed to put them up out of reach. LOL.
Jeannie, you specifically asked about paper getting ruined and I have never had that problem. The only thing is Johnny likes to lay on it if I have it spread out on the floor. Also, I keep my kits in boxes and this is what happens...
HA! That box is full of kit contents. He doesn't hurt anything, he just crawls in there and lays. I think it's cute, so I let him until I need something in the box.
I always go with the motto - better safe than sorry, and try to keep anything that could potentially hurt them out of reach. It's a little extra work keeping it cat proof, but it's also so much fun having them to scrap with!
The current challenge at the Fave Things blog is to scrap your favorite beverage! I don't buy these very often, but knowing I had to do this layout gave me an excuse to go and get one...
Caribou is Michael and my FAVORITE coffee place, and my FAVORITE drink is the caramel cooler, no whip and extra drizzle! It's fabulous!!!! I used the Studio Calico "Soda Fountain" kit for this one.
The other layout I have to share is for the current challenge at Scrapping The Music. The featured song is "Free Me" by Joss Stone. I thought these lyrics were perfect for this picture of the kids...
For this one I used the Quilting Bee kit from Studio Calico which is one of my faves! The starburst/flower embellie at the top right is made out of wood veneer which I dyed with spray ink, and the bottom part of the title was drawn onto dictionary paper.
So, that's it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by and for your comments - they mean alot to me!
I'm so excited to report, that after many many hours of working, my scraproom is all done and it feels GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeayyyyyy!!! I've got tons of pictures to share!
Okay, now for the FINISHED ROOM. These pics start at the left side of my room, and work their way to the right...
This is my desk area and inspiration wall. This is where I do my day job, as well as my personal computer work, so it's a mix of both things. The beautiful "Beauty" painting was made by Aimee. The rest of the artwork in this picture is mine. You can see my Project 52 ATCs from last year hanging from the ribbon, still waiting for the last four to complete the series. (Note to self - get those done)...
Another angle of the same wall. On the left, you can see a washboard I altered, where I keep my to do and project lists. It comes in soooo handy...
Moving to the right you can see my personal printer and my two adorable scrapping companions Johnny and Willie. Below the desk are two carts. One is full of art journaling stuff, and the other is rubber stamps. The beautiful pillow was made by my sister, and the gorgeous green throw was made by my mom. I love them both so much! Then you can see one end of my ikea bookcases. These cubes house cardstock, patterned paper, and other miscellaneous goodies. The tall boxes are repurposed postal boxes that have scrappy kits in them...
Here's the rest of the bookcase, along with my attached scrapping desk. This is where almost all of my scrappy stuff is organized. The red and orange buckets next to the desk house my newest kit, and other newest items, so they are easily accessible..
These are the most important cubes, because they are right next to the desk. They have my most frequently used items in them. Markers, mists, paintbrushes, tools and some adhesives...
Continuing to the right, you can see the newly organized part of the room. On the far wall, is a set of blonde cubes that house printer paper, ink, Blank CDs and various other tools.
A close up shows the newly organized clip-it-up. I decided to keep only alphas on the bottom row. This is where I keep paints, and also my beloved retro 70's typewriter...
and this is my new Ikea entertainment center. (Well, it was new for Christmas.) The big space in the middle will eventually hold a flat screen tv (when I save up the money for one - which might be awhile); but for now it's a good place to display my art journals and layouts. The entertainment center also has albums, books, stereo, embellies, fabric and other miscellaneous stuff...
Here are a few closeups of the cubes. One thing I love is that I still have room for expansion. Like, for example, there are still some empty jars to fill...
Here you can see a vintage train case, which is now my portable art journaling kit. And the big roll of paper from Michael's papermill...
Here is my little ATC pouch. I made this at a make and take led by the adorable and talented Jeannie Lutz...
Do you ever have a situation where you can live with something for just so long and then, all of a sudden YOU CANT STAND IT ANYMORE??? That happened to me this morning! I wasn't even out of bed yet, and all of a sudden I thought "I absolutely HAVE to get my scraproom organized TODAY!!! It's been a mess since I got my new bookcase back in January, and I just can't stand it anymore! HA! I have been bitten by the cleaning bug!
Here are some quick pics of how things are looking now, and believe me, they look worse in real life...
EEEEKKK! Off I go. I will report back later with how it went. Wish me luck and continued motivation!!!
Here's wishing you all a wonderful Saturday!!! I hope your crafting areas are more organized than mine!
I finished binding my Let it Loose Journal tonite and now it's all done! It feels great to finish a big project, doesn't it? Here's how the finished book looks...
I used a grocery shopping bag that already had a sunburst graphic on it, and wrote the title on with a white sharpie. The rest of the cover is happy tape, and Love, Elsie adhesive fabric.
I used some Stampin Up ribbon, and a bunch of beads I still had from my beading days. I just love this binding technique and I can tell I will be doing alot more of it!!!
Let it Loose was a fun and inspirational class to be sure! Here's a recap of all the pages I made...
I don't know if I could pick a favorite lesson. I think what I loved most about the class was the variety! I also really loved getting reacquainted with my markers again! Now, I'm thinking I might have to invest in either some copic markers, or some of those Tim Holtz refillable alcohol ink markers. For any of you who have either of those types of markers, what do you think? Do you recommend one over the other?
Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway for the Mixed Emotions Workshop Seat; whether thru this blog, Facebook or Instagram. I appreciate you spreading the word and showing interest in the class!
If you didn't win, there's still time to register and join us anyway!!! Class starts on August 31st, so don't delay! Click here for more info and to register - we'd love to see you there!
Mixed Emotions is a six-week online Art Journaling Workshop taught by Marit Barentsen and me! Lessons start on August 31 and I HAVE ONE SPOT TO GIVE AWAY!
Share the announcement with a link to the Mixed Emotions workshop info: www.maritspaperworld.com/shop/product/mixed-emotions/
When you share announcement of this online workshop, just come back and let me know in comments below how and where you shared.
ONE WINNER will be selected on Friday, August 21 and announced on my blog (I will notify the winner via email)
If you already registered for this workshop, you can still join the giveaway. If you win, we will refund your money.
A Six-Week online Art Journaling Workshop taught by Marit Barentsen and Michelle LaPoint-Rydell August 31 – October 8, 2015
Art journaling focuses on putting your personal thoughts and emotions on paper – and you don’t always have to use words to do that! Even if you’re not a writer you can create meaningful art journal pages; because an emotion can be expressed through a photograph, a color, a material or a particular technique.
In this workshop we will explore one specific emotion each lesson; and take that emotion as the basis to create a personal art journal page. (…) You are encouraged to explore your inner world, your perception of your emotions, and turn them into art journal pages. Each lesson also explains a different technique, step-by-step, through photos or an instructional video.
12 lessons with assignments in pdf format. Techniques will be clearly shown through photos or demonstrated on video. Both beginners and advanced art journalers will find pleasure in working with the lessons.
Access to a private group discussion forum where you may share, ask questions and interact with the teacher and other class participants.