Sunday, July 31, 2011

One more for the road

Forgot to post this one - I used a sketch from Scrapbook Circle and criteria from Memorable Seasons to stamp, distress/sand, sew, handwritten journaling, and a picture of me.  I used some of my leftover Scrapbook Circle kits that I really loved to document me.

The Joy of Music

Materials used:  cardstock, Tattered Angels glimmer mist, colorbox ink, fabric, Jolee flowers, Prima jewels, Tim Holtz tape, lace from michael's craft store, tag, and picture from photobucket (not sure who, but thank you for a lovely picture).

I have always loved this poem (sung by Wayne Watson) about the Touch of the Master's Hand and when I was thinking about the prompt at Scrapping Everyday Miracles it hit that this was a wonderful time to document what this means to me.  We were challenged to tell about how music/a song effects us and to use fabric.  As I thought about this these words poured out of my pen...  I don't acutally know the words to any songs.  I've played so long that I don't listen with my ears, but with my heart.  It is the most awesome thing when the music begins to flow - I completely lose myself.  It's as if the cloud of glory - the Shekinah glory descends and I ascend.  These are the moments that I search for with a hunger that can't be quenched.  To be in the prescence of God Almighty is my all consuming passion, to be touched by the Master's Hand.

For those of you who don't know me personally, I have played the violin since I was 5.  I have played on church worship teams since my first time on Easter Sunday when I was in 6th grade.  I have developed from a classically trained violinist into a Holy Spirit filled violinist and it has been the most rewarding journey of my life.  Yes, I can play weddings and teach, been there done that!  But, my passion is playing for my Master and that is the way I choose to use my talent that the Lord has blessed me with.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Christmas in July - ornaments

Here is another one of my challenges that I gave over at Citrus Tree Studio's Christmas in July crop, altering plain ornaments.


Supplies:
  Glass Ball ornaments
  Mist product
  paint
  Queen & Co felt (or other sticker products)
  rub-ons
  Hot glue gun

Steps to create my ornaments:
1.  Take off the tops and trim any sharp pieces.

2.  For most of my balls I painted them before altering them.  You want to squirt a little paint into the ball and then spray some type of mist, now put your finger over the opening and shake!  Keep going until the ball is covered in color - you don’t want to put in too much paint, but you can always add more.  (I used FolkArt - Metallic Peridot and Black Cherry; DecoArt - Oyster Pearl Metallics and my favorite that didn’t need any mist added Rich Espresso Elegant Finish Metallic Paint; and Iridescent gold glimmer mist)

3.  Now, for these balls I adhered Queen & Co felt onto the exterior of the ball.  Keep your scissors nearby b/c you will need to nip the felt in certain places to make it fit around your ball.

4.  These ornaments are decorated with stickers (you could also use rub-ons, but I was out of Christmas type ones).  You could use your hot glue gun if you want; my white ones stayed without any trouble, but the snowflakes needed some extra help.

And finally, my favorites!
5.  Grab your hot glue gun and anything you want and glue it onto your ornament!

Hope you try these - they are really so easy and gorgeous!  I'm thinking Christmas presents this year!  :)


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Christmas in July has begun!

There is still time to head on over to Citrus Tree Studio to join in our Christmas in July crop. 

Here is my first challenge I offered up, thought I'd share it here too.




Supplies:
Canvas (8x10)
Gesso
Mist product
Rub-ons (white)
Matte Medium (Liquitex or other)
Buttons (red & green)

Steps to create my canvas:
1. I used Ranger’s Perfect Pearls Mists in Sunflower Sparkle - spray this on your canvas - we are using the flip side to create a shadow box type project.

2. Now Gesso the bare wood on the sides and any other parts that you don’t want showing.

3. Next, I applied rub-ons randomly to my background - I wanted to keep the background low key so I used white ones by Basic Grey - you can use any color ones that work for your project. I also splashed some Gesso on the background to give a little more texture to it.

4. Now, apply buttons to form your shape. I tried a hot glue gun and I had strings everywhere so I went back to my trusty wet glue.

5. You can be done or… Grab that glue gun and all the Christmassy findings you have (Michaels had some neat K&Co ones with their Christmas things that are already out) and stick them on! This is the part I love!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Thinking Christmas!

Citrus Tree Studio is having Christmas this weekend and I am totally into starting now.  I love Christmas - and all the possible projects there are.  My hot glue gun is already smoking with all the projects I tested before deciding on my challenges.  Here are some sneaks: 

A button tree canvas and some ornaments.

I hope you can join us, I will post the finished projects and a step by step sometime this weekend too.

So anyway, since I was looking at ALL my beautiful Christmas paper some by Imaginisce caught my eye, 2 whole pieces in all my whole paper stash - pretty low and time to refill.  So while I was on their blog I saw this great sketch and so I decided to use up my stash totally and create this
I added in a few Prima flowers and some cork (my new favorite), some colorbox ink,  my EK border punch, star sizzlet die and my very old but trusty Quickutz alpha dies.  I'm totall loving making flowers anymore (2 are in this layout).  And I'm so happy that I've unearthed my die cut machine - so many fun things I am learning to do with it!

I've got to run, kids are napping so I am supposed to be working on my to do list right now.  I've got to finish up getting our homeschool paperwork ready and check into another book for Tracy.  I think I might see if I can find a decent art program too, that is definitely her thing!  "Train up a child in the way she should go."  So I guess art and dancing is that way - the joys of a creative child!!!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Misting goodness!

http://shimmerzpaintsed.blogspot.com/2011/07/shimmerz-enamelz-are-here.html  You've got to go check out these new products by shimmerz, I've just now tried my first mist by shimmerz and I LOVE them!  I can't show you my layout yet using these but it reminds me of buzzy bees!

Here is a layout I made using some Glimmer Mist and my new punches that I found REALLY on sale at JoAnn's last week. 
This was for another challenge at Memorable Seasons - we were supposed to use different color mediums and texture.  I used my mists and ink for color and for texture I used drywall tape, masking tape, cardboard, and cork.  My July kit from Scrapbook Circle included cork embellishments (which I used already) so I thought I would try it out with my dies, totally in love!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Christmas time!

Christmas in July!  Come visit http://www.citrustreestudio.com/ from July 22-25 for some great fun, wonderful projects, and prizes!  http://www.citrustreestudio.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5644  You can see the materials list and some sneaks if you follow the link - I promise you won't be disappointed.  Hope you all are having a restful Sunday, I've got to go take care of my little ones, they are calling!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Today

Today is a new day, aren't you glad?  I know I am!  This week has been trying for some reason, couldn't really tell you why, just it has left me very weary.  But, each day is a new start and for that I am very thankful.  Even though yesterday(s) were rough, I don't have to base my today on them.  Now even though I have these brilliant revelations (thank you Holy Spirit), it doesn't mean that I totally get it or practice it.  As I sit here eating the caramel popcorn that I just made and drinking my Dr. Pepper!  Yes, I am the same person that was trying to lose that baby fat and actually lost some a few weeks ago.  Remember tomorrow is a new day!  :)
Here is a layout I created for Scrapping Everyday Miracles - they challenged us to scrap a new day.  I had just printed this picture out that I had taken from my early morning time and it was the perfect fit.  I had tried this background out in my art journal a little while ago and as I was paging through I saw it and it screamed for this picture.  I made the background by coating my paper with gesso and then using my Faber-Castell gelatos on it (mustardy color, yellow, orange, and red), a little water and I had a sunset.  I sprayed my Ranger sunflower mist over it to add a sparkle. 

Journaling reads:  I love to rise early in the morning while everyone sleeps.  I love to hear the quiet hum of my babies breathing and the birds chirping.  I love to watch the dawn of a brand new day.  I love that nothing is left from the previous day - everything is washed clean, no clutter or chaos, the possibilities are endless!  And then the sun rises with the promise that, "His mercies are new every morning," and my spirit soars as a bird let out of its cage.  I am free to once again follow my hearts call, Today.

Materials used:  Faber-Castell gelatos, Ranger mist, gesso, Webster's Pages alphabet, Prima bling and flowers, Glitz stamps, Unity stamp, Tattered Angels stamp, Staz-on.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Red, white and blue

Materials used: Glitz stamp, Li'l Davis rub-ons, Magic Mesh, Cosmo Cricket pp, Doodlebug alphabet, American Crafts chipboard, Tsukineko ink, Liquitex ink, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Jolee sticker, paint
I created this layout using a sketch by Audrey Yeager over at Memorable Seasons - totally love it! These are the pictures my daughter took while at the monster truck show this past Saturday. No, I'm not really that caught up, the pictures just screamed all American. Paper Issues is looking for your red, white, and blue paper projects if you have any, here's the link http://paperissues.blogspot.com/2011/06/red-white-and-blue.html . We had a wonderful 4th of July, we met up with our church in the Walmart parking lot where they were selling fireworks for the youth group - go figure! But, it was tons of fun hanging out with everyone.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

July Citrus Tree Studio kit

Here are the things I created with my July Citrus Tree Studio kit, you can find it here "Memoirs of Longwood" http://www.citrustreestudio.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=5546 . The kit included a mixture of Webster's Pages in a 6x6 pack, buttons with twine, alphabet stickers, and other stickers. Also included in the kit were some Maya Road flowers and some great trims.
July "Memoirs of Longwood" kit with the addition of a Webster's sparkler.
July "Memoirs of Longwood" kit with the addition of a Maya Road transparent doily
and Webster's alphabet from a previous release.
July "Memoirs of Longwood" kit with the addition of a birdhouse from Michaels $1 spot
and some cheesecloth sprayed with Glimmer Mist.
July kit "Memoirs of Longwood" with the addition of cheesecloth and stickles. July kit "Memoirs of Longwood"

There is also another kit available "Summertime Fun" with some great colors. http://www.citrustreestudio.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=5545

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

KaiserCraft page stand tutorial

So today is reveal day at Citrus Tree Studio for the July kit and it is awesome, but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see why... Today I thought I'd show you how I decided to alter my Kaiser Craft page stand that came in my DT kit using my July kit. Here is what my finished product looked like. This is the product that I received, hmmm... Well, first I started using it to house my layouts when I would photograph them and I fell in love b/c the arms don't cover any of your layout, yea! But, what in the world do I do with this thing... Then the ah-ha moment came (yes, of course in the middle of the night). I pulled out my trusty gesso and painted my stand with a base coat - figured I couldn't go wrong there. Next, I had the inspiration to pull some tissue paper out of my stash and spray it with my absolute favorite item, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Patina. (Did you know that you are supposed to roll it in your hands - kinda like you would with 2 sticks trying to start a fire - I didn't, but it works wonders!) After I let the tissue paper dry, I next applied a coat of gel medium to my stand (just one section at a time).
I wanted a water look so I made sure to leave some wrinkles in the tissue paper - believe me that wasn't hard! :)
Next, I ripped off the excess - carefully. I'm sure you could wait for it to dry, but I was impatient and on a roll so I ripped wet.
And now I had a wonderfully covered page stand with some beautiful texture and color (which I forgot to take a picture of!). Thanks to my daughter for taking pictures of my project - she thought I was nuts I do believe!
Here are some more shots of the finished product which I finished altering with the July Citrus Tree Studio kit - Webster's Pages, cheesecloth sprayed with Wheatfield Glimmer Mist, and some Distress Stickles in antique linen and frayed burlap for a touch of sand.

Friday, July 1, 2011

New Year's Resolution - accomplished x2!!

http://paperissues.blogspot.com/2011/07/lets-celebrate.html I am apart of the new creative team at Paper Issues!! Quite excited about that - now if everything else that I wanted to accomplish this year would just get started we would all be good!
Here is a layout I created for the Last Scrapper Standing contest at Memorable Seasons. The challenge was to use a non square/rectangle shape for the background, small pictures, and homemade flowers. I had just taken these pictures of Gino and b/c they were nicely framed I knew that this would be the perfect time to scrap them in little style. Totally LOVE how this turned out!

Materials used: Sassafrass pp and flower, Prima flowers, Crate Paper chipboard, Magic Mesh, Queen & Co. flower, Hambly overlay, assorted buttons, flowers, and trim from stash, colorbox ink, HS chipboard for a background that I used inks on - I think I might attach it to the heart b/c I do love the colors!

This is the last day of the "break" I gave the kids - Mommy wanted time to scrap and rest up, but next week we are back on school and our schedule. Gotta run!