My First ATC Swap-Famous

Over at Soul Scrappers I participated in my first ever ATC swap. The theme was "Tim Holtz" and we had to use one of his techniques. I used tissue tape to create the background and then stained it with distress ink. I used some of his film strips (love them!) and the picket fence die over the main image.

It's titled "Famous". It portrays a golden age film star feeling trapped by her fame. I had a great time and the best part is that I now have 9 special ATCs from the other ladies that will inspire me.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get to be crafty today!

Day 6 - Big Idea Festival

Our word today was "Nest". I knew immediately that I wanted to use this picture of Ashley and her daughter Lily. The hardest part was the journaling. I wasn't sure how to tie in the picture with the style of journaling I've been using throughout the minibook. I finally looked up "nest" in the dictionary and then I had the angle I needed to complete the page.

We're having a great time at Big Picture Classes. There's still time to join in the fun. It's free so what's stopping you? Come on over!

Big Idea Festival

Have you been over to Big Picture Classes yet? They are having their Big Idea Festival. It started on Monday and it's lots of fun. Each day we're given a word by the guest instructor along with a template for a 6x6 mini book. They even include a png file if you want to go digital. On Wednesday Peppermint Granberg gave us the word "Less". This is a picture of the 2-page LO I did using some embellishments from Catrine_Day At The Park Kit.

Over the summer our family disconnected a little. Starting in August we are making an effort to spend less time with our gadgets and more time with each other. Peppermint's word choice was perfect.

I used a photo I've used before in another LO. It was the perfect picture for this LO and will fit well in the mini book. I don't think there's anything wrong with using the same picture to tell a different story. Steph from The Daily Digi even did a post about it recently. There's alot of great articles over there. You should check it out if you've never been there.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Me and My Gesso

I started an Art Journal a few weeks back. I liked the idea of using my craft supplies to create a visual diary. I discovered during my page prep that I am addicted to gesso! I may have overworked my first couple of pages, I couldn't help myself, it was so much fun. At one point I imagined I was like Tom Sawyer whitewashing a fence...lol. Of course, if I wanted to get any journaling done I had to stop gessoing and start writing.

I used some images from Catrine of Catscrap's "Day at the Park" digi kit as a base for my page and then me and my gesso (sounds like a song...me and my gesso, painting wherever we go...lol) played. Although I'm not entirely happy with the page the cool thing was that I did it. I got out my supplies and enjoyed myself.

I hope you have a chance to do the same! Thanks for stopping by.

I SPY...Inspiration

A few weeks ago one of my co-workers was wearing these super cute sandals. I asked if I could take a picture of them not so I could remember what they looked like to buy a pair...NO...it was so I could put it in my inspiration journal. Look at those colors and the pattern is so interesting! I haven't thought of a project yet, but that's what so great about an inspiration journal. It's there when I need it. Although now that I'm looking at them again I may have to get a pair to wear too!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Keeping It Real

As a Mom I'm prone to scrapbooking all the cute and fun memories. But it's equally important to document other moments as well, because it's not just the cute and fun memories that have an impact on our lives. It's also great scrap-therapy. Today's example is about my son's 6th grade year. It was debatable if he was going to finish the school year at his current school or get sent to military school! It was a rough time for all of us. It felt good to journal about it and when I showed my son we had a good talk about all that had happened and how glad we all were that those days were behind us!

Keeping it real is a good thing.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

I've Escaped the Doldrums!

It took a concerted effort, but I finally escaped the doldrums. Lately, Ive been in a funk and I couldn't seem to shake it. I heard about a book called "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. He talks about all the things we do to block whatever our creative passion might be. I've been enjoying it. I'd made it to about page 40 when I told my husband about the book. I'm still at about page 40 because my husband is reading it! About the time my husband commandeered The Book I listened to a Digi Show Podcast http://thedigishow.com/ about Art Journaling. I now understand with all my being the word "EPIPHANY"! I started my art journal that night and I can feel the difference in myself already. With the art journal I can use all my crafting tools to express my thoughts and feelings. For me it was the perfect thing to kick my Mojo back into action.

Do you art journal? What do you do to get your Mojo going again when it's stalled?

Thanks for stopping by!