Shadow box mini album with Helmar

I'd love for you to visit me over at the Helmar blog, I've been playing with my glue again and I discovered a fun way to use glitter with the Helmar Quick Dry Adhesive when I was making my Prima inspired shadow box album. 

Over on the Helmar blog you get a step out tutorial on how I used to embed trinkets into my glittered glue, but over here on my blog I have a very short slide show on the album itself.

Enjoy!

Dog Days: noun plural

This term means "sultry, summer weather" and also "a period of stagnation or inactivity."

But it has nothing to do with pets.

Sirius (known as the Dog Star) seems to reappear in the skies in early July. Its rising coincides with the warmest time of the year in the northern hemisphere – thus, the dog days.

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If you are one of my regular's then you might have noticed that I didn't blog for a whole 4 days in the beginning of July...for me, that's like missing in action, come find me, unheard of, oh wow! LOL If you're now wondering what I was doing I was madly making one of my Sassy Quotes books, 2 to be exact. One was commissioned and the other one was needed in the store.

entering my Sassy Quote book into:

2 Creative Chicks - 3-D challenge #4
 

 

For anyone that's never seen them ( these are # 4 and 5 ), I love that women buy them for their friends! To see them read it is a hoot, they giggle and chuckle...brings a smile to my heart!

Glitz Designs - Cashmere Dame papers

 And while we are smiling, let me introduce you to my newest friend...

Stella from Bugaboo Stamps!

You know I love snarky, funny humor!

Bugaboo Digital Stamps - Catch the Bug Sketch Challenge #139
Stella - bellybutton

And since Cath from Moxie Fab is having a Mixy Match Challenge, and I have tons of scraps left over from my Sassy Quotes albums, I made this card featuring Stella!

I broke out my neglected Sakura pens and colored in Miss Stella and the border, using my water color pencils for her flesh tone.

Added 2 very tiny yellow rhinestones to her glasses ( they just have to match her blouse, right? )

I also added a blob ( highly underused technical term ) of Helmar Liquid Scrapdots under the wave of the banner so it won't get smashed in the mailing, after all, Stellas's boobies are already flattened, we need something to be perky on the card!

Are you smiling? If you are, then my job is done!

Year in Review

Limor Weber posted a challenging challenge, lol

December Challenge : A Year in Review

Using any type of journal you choose. Mine is a Maya Road chipboard mini album.

I want to start off by mentioning that I don't do art journals. I don't make "all about me albums". But in the last 3 years I have undergone some changes that were forced on me. So 3 years ago, I did make some "all about me" lay out pages, and I did make an mini album full of quotes that helped me get through a very rough time in my life.

So I was at first concerned with being able to do this challenge. If it wasn't for the prize that's offered, I don't think I would have even tried, ( so you can see how badly I want to try out Pan Pastels, lol ). But now I am glad I did because I can see the proof that I am evolving, changing for the good. I started off with my "word for the year" for 2012 which was FOCUS, so I titled my album
"Focus on the Possibilities".

The front of the album is acrylic so I adhered a Creative Imaginations overlay using Aleene's Tacky Glue to the front, ( dried crystal clear!! )added a Prima flower, Ranger's stickles and glitter sticker letters by Recollections.

I used Ranger's Watermelon alcohol ink to color the back of the heart and outlined the wings with stickles. Left side was easy, the right side on the other hand had proved to problematic, I was trying so hard to be creative that it failed miserably and I ended up painting it with black acrylic paint. In hindsight, using a gloss paint and shiny gold foil letters by Pioneer was just not a good combination. Just too hard to read. But I do like the puffy butterflies from K&Co. that accent the theme of the quote about Happiness.

 

On this next page, I think I finally started to enjoy the process, and discovered that by using by Pinterest quotes I had collected, I could virtually trace my last year and I began to enjoy seeing how my attitude was last year compared to where I am now. I began to relax and have fun.

 

  First I put down a layer of gesso and then crumbled some blue Conte pastel on top, using my credit card applicator ( very fancy tool ) to smooth it out. I really liked the outcome, it looks like wood grain. Very cool.

The next page was a lesson I already knew but had forgotten which is, Ranger's Dylusion spray inks need to have a fixative sprayed on them before you add a gel medium on top. Yeah, I know, lost my beautiful background but kept working anyway, no time to cry over spilt milk. I became a woman on a mission.

 

Encouraged by the gesso and pastel mixture I decided to try a similar technique but with my modeling paste. I combined red and yellow pastels and mixed it together, spread it out over my brick stencil. Loved the effect. Used Ranger's Distress Marker and Faber Castell PITT pen for the wording.

 

This page was also a "oh wow" moment for me, lol First I covered the chipboard with masking tape  and then drew with my Conte Pastel pencils. It had a VERY smooth finish to it. I have learned that pastels and masking tape go well together, go figure, huh? Finished off with Faber Castell PITT pens. Background and flowers all done in pastels.

 

The heart was gesso'd first and then 3 different pastel colors crumbled on top, be careful to try and not blend them together when smoothing them out. The background of the page is colored in with pastels and blended together with my fingertip. A mixture of pens and stickers to finish it off.

 

The next page was more of a play in Faber Castell's gelatos. They covered the plain chipboard very well :) I did use some pastels to shade the bucket and the tone down the word strips.

The last page's background was created with assorted sprays. I printed the seahorse clip art on some text book paper and colored in the image with my Faber Castell PITT pens, the seaweed is made with Liquitex Soft Body Cobalt Teal acrylic paint and added some gold micro beads. I used pastels to shade in the edges of the book print and around the edge of the page itself.

So there is my year in review...not such a bad year...I can see myself becoming more positive and achieving more goals!

 

abhor: verb

to regard with extreme repugnance : loathe

pronunciation
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Faber Castell's January 'Take the Challenge with Mou' - Creative Resolutions

to document your resolutions
combined with
Frosted Designs - Fabulous Friday Challenge - Bucket List
Anything but a Card - Things with Wings

 

Well, I am just now working on my 2012 Year in Review mini album, but a lot of my resolutions will still apply for 2013 as I didn't achieve most of them last year.  But I figure, better to keep working on them than to give up on them! I mean, a bucket list doesn't expire until.......you kick the proverbial bucket! Until then, every time I reach a goal I am going to put a gold star by it. You can see I have 2 stars on there already, one of my goals had been to participate in a craft fair, and after doing that my next goal fell into place which was to be in a store where I can sell my art. I wouldn't say that I abhor craft shows, but it's a lot of work to set up for just one day and then pray the weather is good. I am sooooooooooo thankful for being in the Art MoB Studio and Gallery.♥

Faber Castell's -black,gold,blue metallic gelatos-PITT pens
Hero Arts - bird stamp
Cricut - Paperdolls cartridge, p. 41
chalk, assorted pens, rub -on - misc.

hark back: verb

to turn back to an earlier topic or circumstance

or

 to go back to something as an origin or source

 

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Over at Anything but a Card, they asked us to choose either to do a new Anything Goes project to create or to choose a favorite non-card project from 2012. I chose the more difficult selection
( figures, right? )...which is to pick my favorite non-card project. Which led me down the road of not only choosing a favorite project, but a favorite crafting medium? a favorite moment?  How was I going to achieve this? lol

So first, here are my favorite picks from the 2012 year.

I would like to start off with the greatest moment for the year, which was a major accomplishment for me, and that was joining the Art MoB and selling my creations. It was a "check off the bucket list" feat for me, and I am so glad that I did it too. You may not know the courage it took to have my art juried before they accepted me there. I was very nervous!

Top of my head were my mermaid wall hangings...I still sigh that both are sold, but it's a happy sigh! One of my biggest pleasures for the year 2012 was discovering that people wanted to buy things I made...one of the hardest things I discovered was letting go of them!

Then there was my lay out that used a lot of white space, and I was pretty proud of myself for accomplishing that feat! I also discovered that this past year, I didn't take as many pictures hence my album wasn't as full as previous years...I think my blog has replaced my scrapbook in a lot of ways.

Or how about the scarab I created for the peep hole on my door, still freaks my company out when they exit my place, but I loooooooove it, lol I love how they all want to go look out through the peep hole before they leave, it's very funny.

 

And my favorite picture of 2012 is the doe who was in my backyard and didn't seem to mind at all my amateurish photography skills, thank goodness for zoom, eh?

 

And I would be remiss if I didn't add a favorite card for the year, which was hands down, the 50 Shades card for Thanksgiving, for it's humor alone...;) I made 2 of these cards which sold before making it to the display at the store. I loved the reactions of the women buying them, lol

 

But in the end, I chose a mini album, that I giggled and cackled the whole time making it, and click HERE to see all the pages and the hilarious sayings that go along with those fab retro images! It's too picture heavy to post here. ) I have to note here that I have made 3 of these albums, the first two having already been sold and the third one is in the Art MoB.

 

So  as I hark back for the year, I find myself nostalgic for my projects, a lot that I sold ( which is fantastic ) and will never see them again except for the photos!

Dame: noun

Used formerly as a courtesy title for a woman in authority or a mistress of a household.

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Hi everyone, this post will be a little picture heavy but well worth it: if you like humor, and adorable cuteness anyway! ::wink:: I have had the honor and the extreme pleasure of trying out Kim Hughes new mini album kit called "Oh, what a Dame", featuring the Glitz Designs Cashmere Dame embellishments and papers! I haven't had this much fun in awhile, it's a fantastic kit. She does provide you with step by step instructions or you can just make it anyway you want! It makes for a fun girlfriend album, or an All about Me album, or like the one I made, a mini album filled with sassy quotes....I call it..

"Quote this"

I just love the retro images in this kit! Kim gives you ribbons, gems, tulle...all sorts of goodies to have fun with! I added quotes, and drew figures, but Kim leaves you lots of room to do whatever you want! A great kit leaves the imagination free to roam!

I enjoy altering embellishments like the typed paper that came with the chipboard typewriter. I printed out my own saying, cut it size and then cut a slit into the typewriter and slipped what I wrote into it. The top of the paper has a pop dot strip under it which gives lift and dimension.

I used one of my favorite techniques, printing out sentiments on the computer and tracing over it with my Faber Castell Pitt Pens using my up light box. It gives it a handwritten apperarance, but so perfect and even!



 I also like to print out a saying, hold it over the up light box and then tape a shape or a scrap piece of paper over what I printed and then run it back through the printer. Perfect placement every time! The sentiment in the heart was created that way, and then I hand stitched around the edges before adhereing to the page.

The 2 pages side by side.

 I love using my Dymo Label Maker, which in it's own right has a very retro look to it.

The folders are not only cute but gives the mini album and interactive element.

I fussy cut the bathing beauty out of one of the cards that came with kit, and Kim gives you detailed directions on how to make the Gorgeous Dame banner hanging on the hanger.

I love fun quotes that make me laugh, not everything has to be serious all the time, and Pinterest sure has supplied me with a ton of humor!

 

I love changing an embellishment, you don't have to accept it for what is is. Case in point, the wording on this tag isn't what I needed so I covered their words up using my Dymo Label Maker, therefore making it my own.



I fussy cut the flowers from scraps and added them to the inside and the outside portions of the folder. Nothing should go to waste in this beautiful kit! 

Even the Cricut got involved, I cut the wine glass from the French Manor Cartridge, colored in the wine with the Faber Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencil and then used my water brush to smooth out the look, adding a small touch of Ranger's Antique Linen Distress stickles for a few sparkles. 

The friendship quote is the perfect way to end this mini album, all ready to be dedicated to that special friend. The inside of the letters were filled in with my Ranger Distress Marker, Broken China.

I would love for you to pop over to Kim's blog ( Lazy Cowgirl )and tell her what a wonderful job she did putting this together. She has really been busy putting this together, as soon as she gives me a price for it, I will post it, plus the link where you can order one for yourself!
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UPDATE:

You can purchase Kim's "Oh, What a Dame!" mini album from her Etsy store for ONLY $20.00!! Wow!! What a great deal folks, I hope you rush over there and get one!
 

pottery slip: noun

A liquefied suspension of clay particles in water, often used in decoration.  Slip is usually the consistency of heavy cream.

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Jamie and I went to a paint your own ceramic place called Fired Up! while she was visiting me. We both went out separate ways in the store picking out our pieces to paint and thought it was funny that we both had picked something with a woodland theme to it. Mine is the fairy and Jamie's is the mushroom. It was a lot of fun to do and I am looking forward to a return visit to this place with Jamie!

Entering this in PanPastel's challenge: #28 Magical and Mystical
 

The most difficult thing about painting with slip is that it soaks into the ceramic so quickly that it is hard to see the color being used. I wanted to add more shading to her arms, but was worried about leaving streaks since I couldn't really tell what I was doing! lol I also needed a magnifying glass to really get into the details, like the eyes and fingernails...oh yeah, my fairy has painted toes and nails! lol And you can see that Jamie and I really got into dots, they had these cute little bottles with these small tips to do dots and lines with, I really think I need some of those bottles!

Now I just need to go find her a plant to hide in while she daydreams out on my balcony!

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and my next mini album page:

page 6

some cute glittery fish jumping and swimming around

Really Reasonable Ribbon twine

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coaster: noun

 A small mat or plate placed under a vessel to protect a tabletop or other surface beneath.

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page 6

figured it would be good for a restaurant shot ;) or cocktail picture ;0

I love the little seagull, I don't use stickers very often but I could use this guy on every beach page! You can see how I pop dotted him up, so I will be able to slide Shirley's picture under it.

This element is giving me so much grief already, I have left the bottom on the wine glass un-glued because I am sure we will go somewhere that will have one of the coasters I can snitch to lay under it. Much better than making one, but in the mean time it is flapping around because I added a metal seashell charm to it which is kinda heavy.

Really Reasonable Twine

and Burlap Natural Woven Ribbon

Ranger - Glossy Accents

pages 5 and 6 together



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