Another Smash*ing challenge

It took me a few days to finish, but the smash*aholics facebook challenge was to use paint, glitter, and three pictures!

I had this page pegged from the day I bought the book!  I couldn't wait to smash it in...

Work got in the way Sunday and Monday, so I finally finished it tonight! 

All pics of food/ us eating those foods!  MMMMM  

We had a great time last summer in Philly and Washington DC with my sis and the fam,  seeing all the sites of our wonderful capitol! 

I was super happy to use Mary's photo transfer tutorial (find it here!) 

for the Jim's steaks sign that I printed out on reg-o printer paper! 

Just a little bit of glitter glue for the "Ben's" sign, and I was almost done!  

I washi'd up the pics, and voila!  a fun smash* page was born! 

I hope you're enjoying all my creations!  Feel free to follow along, or leave lovely comments!  Have a smash*ing evening!  Remember to create something today!

Made my own Smash* book

I seem to be on a bit of a smash* kick lately!

Last week I got my first "real" smash* book, and I love her, I have already done a few pages in her

and that got me thinking how much I would love to have the freedom of being able to take pages in and out,

and move them all around

You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out...

Sorry I digress..

So I pulled out all my double sided scrapbook paper, found I had enough to make a pretty book

Stopped by a local thrift store, where I picked up a smallish three ring binder and I went to work!!!

I had to make a cover, so I pulled out my pretty batiks, and made the red cover, in the process I found these crazy quilt squares that I had made and were in my UFO (unfinished Objects) pile!

What a perfect place to use a few right??

Once the cover was finished I just had to cut the papers to fit inside, and punchy some holes in them and voila, my very own smash book!!!  With removeable pages, and versatility!!! 

These are just a few of the inside pages I can't wait to get to work on these new pages!!! 

Any suggestions for my inagural page?? 

Prompt: Wacky

This past weekend at our smashing Smash* crop

Holly gave us a prompt for the evening... it was Wacky...

I had literally smashed the background of this page prior, using my new 

Acrylic Dabbers using this technique and had added the Starburst wrappers 

thinking I would do a candy page!

But the colors just screamed WACKY

and so I went to work... Hoping that my toils would win me a small smash* book prize

The pics I happened to have taken with my Ipad on our recent Grand Canyon

trip with mom and dad... they are in "infrared"

I had stamped and painted the kites earlier in the day

using of course my ranger distress inks after stamping and embossing the outline I 

used my paintbrush with a little water and the ink I filled 

in the kites... it gives a cool water color effect

Next I added some of my smash* pad top 10 notecards

I added the washi, made some "Wacky" "Color" tags

Voila! While I don't think it won me a new smash* book (I left before the drawing,) 

it was very satisfying to finish a page

and to use the funky pictures that I thought would never make it into any

book! 

Do you have that funky picture that you don't think will fit anywhere??  Are you bold enough

to just go for it??

Coffee makes the world go round... or at least mine!

Coffee...

Oh sweet coffee!!! 

I do literally think it makes my morning brighter, 

and is the cure all for any headache!

I'm not a huge fan of regular Starbucks coffee,

but when I heard their Fraps would be only $2 over Memorial Day weekend

I knew I'd be there... (to clarify, they were only at the Starbucks inside the Safeway stores!)

Friday I mozied on over to my local Safeway and ordered up a nice cold 

Cookie Crumble Frap!

MMMMMMM sweet goodness... 

I spied these little cards on the counter, and picked up a comment card to boot...

Perfect for some smashing

Then the next morning I finished off a can of White Chocolate Carmel Latte 

Creamer.. so I ripped the wrapper off that bad boy 

hit it with a little heat gun, and voila... perfect for smashing...

Finally, my favorite piece of the smashing puzzle...

This little tag.. the coffee ring is made with real coffee, out of a real coffee cup! 

Super easy, just splash it over the edge, like what happens when your cat jumps up and the coffee sloshes 

over the edge.  Let it dry, stamp a little saying in the middle, add a rusty washer and some twine (from the twinery of course) 

And you've got yourself a smoking hot (and great smelling) smash* page.

FYI, I modge podge'd a napkin to the page as the background. 

What gets you up and going in the morning? How many cups does it take??

Where'd this come from?

This is what happens when you leave your supplies out

and your scrappin buddies come along and make you a smash* page

Last night I went to my very first smash "crop"

I nervously packed up a bunch of supplies, and wondered what to expect.

I had been working on some of the pieces of this page all day... Especially the "ROXY" sign

Which is was all hand made, and the ribbons and lace and washi were added by the girls

during the crop hop.

The washi flags on twine were a hit, and I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of those

in the girls work over the next few weeks! 

And they're super duper easy to make!

As a last minute addition to my supplies I pulled out the tag... I didn't know it if

would get used, but it's just perfect with the additional "dog"

bling! 

This page just screams Roxy... She's a bold fun princess...

Who we learned doesn't really love the outdoors as much as we thought she

would, and always sleeps at my feet to "protect" me.

Thanks girls for the wonderful page!

The best part about the crop (other than the company of course)

is that I have lots of pages to share with you this week! 

Come on back tomorrow for inspiration monday! 

Flowers??? How thoughtful

Sometimes I find myself wandering around those big box stores admiring the pretty "spare parts" 

the wonderful flowers that look flawless.....

I pick them up and do my best to try to figure out how they were made....

I of course picture a big factory where these flowers are churned out by the thousands... 

I CAN do it! 

So I decided to try.... 

1. Pick out your fabric.... Satin seems to work best but you can use any kind you want.

2. Cut circles from your fabric.  These can be as big or small as you would like, but you want them to get progressively smaller.

3. Light your candle.

4. Burn just the edges of the fabric.  If you're using satin you will notice how the edges start to curl up.

5. Layer your burnt circles with the largest on the bottom.  There are many ways to finish off the flower.  You can glue the circles together, you can sew them, you could punch a hole in them and use a brad to hold them all together.

Voila!  You have a beautiful hand made flower to add to your art project! 

I like to make them while sitting on my couch watching my favorite show... then they are all ready to go when you start a new project!

Saturday finds

About two months ago I stopped working the graveyard shift, and now have to be up at 4:30

in the morning 3 -4 days a week.  

However I'm off on Saturdays! 

So at 6 am I get up, make a cup of coffee, and head out to see what I can find to use in my art!

Today I ventured up to a 55+ community and ran into a couple of estate sales.

Sometimes they creep me out.. but I'm in search of maps, and vintage metal findings,

books, ect...

Today was a bit of a treasure trove!

Maps, pictures, a copy of "Little Women" with a signature and date of 1949. 

The pictures are all old black and whites, 

 

 

 

and there are actually about 5x's the amount of 

postage stamps as you see...

The maps are from Germany, and most dated in the 80's

There was also this little hand held scorecard for Bridge

All are enough to get the creative juices flowing...

The bonus is that the stamps I found have some value... I paid 50 cents for them, and I found one worth 15.00!  I'd say that's an investment... If I could find anyone to buy it of course!!!

What do you look for at yard/estate sales??  How do you plan to use them in your future projects?  

Please feel free to post your pictures, or link up to the treasures you have found!  T

Thanks for looking, and come back soon!

No Art Days!

Yesterday was one of those... No Art Days....

My work week starts on Sundays right now, and I work 12 hour shifts... It makes creating on work days difficult!

And yesterday was one of those "I'm too tired to even eat dinner" days!!!

Today however.... I was wide awake at 4 am and had 2 hours before work.... 

I still didn't create... I did however get to the gym... 

OHHHHH how wonderful that felt... 

Its just the start I needed to get the juices flowing, and hopefully keep me up those few extra hours tonight so I can create!  

On the agenda is a Graduation Card for my brother in law, (Master's from Duke!!!) and of course a Mothers Day card for mom... and A birthday card for my sister!!!  

That should keep me busy for an hour or two!   And on top of it I'm gonna get hubby to help since one of the cards is for his bro! 

Sorry I don't have any pics today... Hopefully tomorrow I'll have lots of pretty pictures of cards created!  

When do you have the time to create??   

Self portrait

I love to follow the challenges on http://artjournaling.ning.com 

While I haven't had a chance to do any of their challenges up until now, I love the 

inspiration that they throw my way!

This week the challenge is to do a self portrait.....

While looking in the mirror, and without really lifting the pen from the paper! 

Oy I said...

I can't draw....

Then I realized that was the whole point right??  

Just do it!!!  

Try something new!

Sooooo......

this is mine.....

No, I don't have pink hair!  or green eyes for that matter....

Part of the challenge was to use your favorite color...

So I colored my face yellow! 

Then I looked over at my doggin Sierra, and figured why not... so I drew her too!  Isn't she cute??

Check out the challenges...

And enjoy the journey.... after all isn't your art journal a place for discovery and trying new things???

Translating a hobby!

#5 Hobby

My list of journal prompts from Mary

includes this beauty...
When I was at a recent meet up one of lovely ladies triggered an idea for this page. 

You see art journaling was not my first love... In fact, I had a whole life as a sewer and quilter prior to this adventure.  I even tried to sew a pair of pants once... that was a MAJOR fail!  

I am a lover of all things sewing though...
 I would love to have a dress form just for the inspiration it might lend to me!

I was super excited to use a leftover apron pattern in my art journal. 

I modge podge'd up the page and slapped that bad boy down!

Then it tore... and it didn't fit quite right... 

So I added some more pieces, and I stamped it up some using my Ranger distress inks!

It was starting to look better.... Then it hit me... since I was already going for a little sewing theme, why not actually sew on the pages??? 

So I pulled out my embroidery threads that mom had given me last time she was here.. and I went to work on the edges! 

Then I added a little sewing in the middle of the page with a piece out of my scrap dictionary about a "pattern." 

On the opposite side I used some glitter glue to write "Sewing Machine" 

and some ribbon that looks like a tape measure.  

Finally I added a quick sewn paper flower that I adapted from this tutorial.

I hope you enjoy!
What is a hobby that you would journal about?? 

Turning Vacation into art?

 My husband is a perpetual goof ball!

My parents love to go to thrift shops when they come to visit... Dad is always looking for local t-shirts, and mom is looking for household goods......

My husband on the other hand... he's never looking for anything in particular, and is more so just along for the ride!

Flagstaff, Arizona is just far enough north of Phoenix that they get snow most every winter, and are even close to skiing. 

This is my amazingly funny husband dressed up in the Flagstaff good will.

In case you can't read the bib below, it' reads "Don't feed the Bears, Feed Me!" 

What sort of silly and fun things do you do on vacations??  Do you sing in the car?  Do you make up games to play in the car?  Do you try on silly bibs??    How would you translate this into a journal page?? 

Orange

Create an orange page!

It's such a bright and happy color... but how do you make a whole page of orange???

This page is similar to one that I saw online, and while I should have written down the site, I didn't, and then of course I couldn't find the site... Luckily for me I did however write down some of the things on the page... This is my version of that page.  

I journaled exactly what I was doing at the time I was doing it.... 

The background is orange watercolors mixed with wild honey Ranger ink, and orange glitter watercolors.  The lettering is stamped using black soot Ranger ink.  And the white writing is a jelly roll.  

This page was super easy to make, and I love that it went together so quickly!

Journaling with a group

If you've checked out my bio at all you know that I moved to Arizona from Florida a few years ago.  And while I wasn't much of an "artist" while I was in Florida, I fancy that I have much more of an artistic streak now.  And while I have my very safe haven of my studio craft room I have found that it's important to have someone to bounce ideas off of. 

Since my work schedule has been all over the road for the last 4 years, it's been hard for me to stay with a group! 

First there was a group of quilters/ sewers that I met through a friend.  I was (and still am) a novice to the world of quilting, and it was great to have some older women who could give me tips and tricks to get things done!  Sadly this group met on Wednesdays, and when my work schedule changed so did my ability to go.

Then last year I wanted to try my hand at cake decorating.  I signed up for a class at a Joanns, that was cancelled, and rescheduled, and then cancelled again.  I finally got into a class and it was awesome to have others that were learning the same thing as me.  However when the class ended, and I signed up for the next one, it was cancelled, and changed, and cancelled and changed again.  I got annoyed and moved on to something else.

January is usually a month of resolutions and beginning new things.  As I looked around my studio I saw a lot of remnants of started projects, and thought what can I possibly do with these?  Enter art journaling.  It is a perfect outlet for trying new things, and of course using up some of those old things too! 

After about a month of going it on my own I turned to meetup to find a group of likeminded artists friends that I could bounce ideas off of, and get inspiration from their work as well.  I found a great group that meets periodically at the local starbucks.  How wonderful to know that there are others doing what I'm doing, and they are willing to share their knowledge with little old me!  What tools have you used to jumpstart your art??  Where do you go for inspiration??

Challenge #15

I had to read the rules twice before I determined that an art journal/ smash book entry would be fine! 

This is my first entry to the saturated canary challenge I am super excited to start using these fun digi stamp creations by Krista you can find them in her store here. 

This is my big beauty!  

I used copic and prismacolor markers to color her.  

And her close up!

The background for the page was painted with a wash of glitter watercolors, and the raindrops are of the same.

Some of the raindrops have a little Ranger Distress Crackle paint on them.  

Thanks for taking the time to stop by hope your are enjoying creating something today!

Journaling your favorite book

I woke up super early... Super excited about Mom and Dad coming to visit!! And it's also Mom's birthday... I will post about her present later...  What an adventure that was!  The house is all cleaned (or hidden!) Except for the studio that I just don't have the patience to clean now!  And since I was up so early I decided 

to tackled another prompt....

13. Favorite Book.... 

 I first read Gone with The Wind when I was 10 or 11 years old. Most likely I didn't understand parts of it, but I remember that I had gone on vacation with my family (I don't remember where) and I stayed up all night sitting on the bathroom floor, in the hotel, reading this amazing book. 

 

 I was simply mesmerized by all the flowing dresses, and the romance! I have read it quite a few times since, but that first time was the clencher, of all the hundreds of books I've read since, this has remained the most precious to my heart.

 I had some fun doing this page in my journal. I even copied the beginning of the book onto the background. I used Distress Inks to make the "weathered" look 

and the library card is from a pack of colorbok Antique Paperie die cuts. I added the info about the book that I found in Wikipedia. 

What is your favorite book? How would you journal it?