WOYWW #320 - Cardboard!

Exciting, eh? This is one of about 20+ boxes I have on hand from the carpet squares we bought for the office. They measure about 18.5" square and maybe 2" deep. Now that they are empty and the carpet is in place, I could not bear to part with this really good cardboard. Not when I finally have a spot to actually work on mixed media, art journals, etc. So I put two of the boxes aside. One to hold full 18" square pieces and one to hold the top portion of the box. (see the top has a hole cut in the upper corner)

So why am I showing you cardboard? Because this is what is on my desk and every week near 100 bloggers join in the snoop of each others workspaces courtesy of Miss Julia at StampingGround. You are welcome to join us! I'm sure what you have on your desk is way more exciting than mine!

So here is what one of the boxes looks like in progress....

I am trimming all of the excess away, retaining the 2 larger pieces. The boxes I'm storing them in will stand on end in the mixed media area of the art studio. Keeping these larger pieces is having me take a look at the variety of pieces I have downstairs that will probably get taken to recycling.

I should have something with a bit more color next week. 

Creative Blessings!

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY - #LoveSummerArt

Did you spend the weekend zoning out to all the craft videos on YouTube for the #LoveSummerArt fest?  I watched several. Not as many as I'd planned but enough to amp up my creative juice. I know.. like I needed extra wattage!  So I thought I'd link you to some of the videos I found most interesting.

First and foremost - and this is the one that will get me into trouble - is from theartsharpa. This hastag event was her brainchild. She is the enabler for all the cool things we have the opportunity to view.  I loved her beach picture in acrylics for beginners.

I do NOT paint. Okay.. I said that once before then my super artsy friend, Carla (see her button on the right - Carla Scraps) taught me One Stroke. Fell in love with One Stroke. I think Sherpa may very well be the person to teach me to let go and enjoy playing with the acrylics. We'll see. I do plan to attempt this project - and have an idea to take it a step further into the Mixed Media world. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a list of a few of the other videos I really liked:

Krazy Island Studios - art journal page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7oIPUGr85w

She is moving to Hawaii so is working with limited supplies but does a lovely layout. Made me want to doodle flowers!

Cat Hand - art journal page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6_0YqZ5RkQ

Cat summer thought went to watermelon and shows how to do the cutest addition to an art journal page using mosaics made from Gelli prints.

There was one other gal. I can't find her video right now but her summer is all about vacation and travel so she showed how she packs her basic art journal supplies - even for flying - so that she can still journal wherever the summer fun take her. As soon as I find her link I'll add it back here. I was also captured by her granddaughter. Made me miss crafting with my girls.

The cool thing about this hashtag party is that they plan to do a new theme every month. Subscribe to Sherpa's page so you'll know when the next one starts. As soon as I hear, I'll post here or my sidebar. 

The other thing is that as we all know, anything on the internet is there forever - so six months from now when it's cold and there's nothing to do, we can search #LoveSummerArt and be taken away to warm, creative places.

Creative Blessings!

FRIDAY FREEBIE - YouTube Crafting Extravaganza

I just snagged this video link from PBR mate, Pam over at PSILoveYouScrapbooking. If you're in need of inspiration then this 3-day LoveSummerArt Event is the perfect StayCation.  Check out what everyone is up to.. then come back and leave a comment linking up to something you've done.

Creative Blessings!

TANGLED THREADS & TECHNIQUES - Row By Row 1

I love this sentiment. Now if I just had the time. Hopefully, that will open up with the new studio organization. I'm preparing for the event, in any case.

This was the quilt plate from Quilts and Quilts in Branson MO. There are two stores in Branson on the Row By Row Experience. While Bob and I were on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I made this one of my 'must stop' places. I loved the selection and could have wandered longer than I did had it not been we wanted out of town ahead of a nasty thunder storm.

The first thing I ask about was the guitar fabric like I'd found a small quantity of in Llano Texas. She had some as well as a couple other fabrics that coordinated well.

the one on the left is hard to see but is a sheet music print then the other is just an all over design that matches.

Then I found Tim Holtz fabric! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I bought a quarter yard of every print she had... well except for one. the bluish colored 'Correspondence' fabric will fit in my studio perfectly so I bought three yards plus this quarter.

I bough t (from left to right: Cigar Box, Documentation, Mercantile, Rulers, Travel Labels and Correspondence.

Notice tht postage print has a bit of blue and brown and I think I can even make an undertone appear peach. Wish I could have afforded to buy enough for the Valances in here but I'll turn it into something :-)

I also fell in love with this floral that almost has a postage stamp look with the way the lace border around each blog is presented. I'm thinking this will be lovely cut apart and applied to a fabric journal I want to do.

Lastly, I found a couple of things I can use as I begin organizing the office. I'll show them to you know then as I put the studio together, I'll show you how I use them.

That fabric organizer is perfect size for quarter yard pieces. And those tags... they are a swatch ring! 

WOYWW #319 - Seize the Moment and The Little Bits

Wednesday already?! Where does the week go? This is our weekly snoop at what other artists are up to. We'd love to see what you are working on... or accumulating. Both work LOL For all the details, check in with our sweet Miss Julia at StampingGround. 

This week, I am dedicating my WOYWW to dear Eliza. She left us all to suddenly last week. We were a lot alike. Like me, Eliza loved DOING. She seemed to always be busy. Her creativity and how she saw things always left me in awe - as you'll see from ther latest ATC to Julia when you stop over at Stampin Ground. You will be missed, dear Eliz, but we will continue to be inspired by your artistic legacy and zest for life. Blessings on you journey. 

My desk is full of the stuff from my shopping trip to Hobby Lobby last night (well except for the fabric to the left you'll see tomorrow and the paper trimmer in its near permanent home these days hehe)

The Memory Keeper was on clearance. I now have two - one for each of my granddaughters so I can start organizing their albums. the 12x12 paper keepers is what I went after. Those will hold the SU catalogs I showed you HERE. Aside from the Tim Holtz item I found in the clearance, I found the cute little bits in the jewelry isle. They are from Blank Slate - a category from Hobby Lobby as best I can find. There are ephemera pieces such as miniture playing cards and postage stamps. The whole Traditions line (which Blank Slate is part of) was all 50% off this week.

I also picked up a couple packages of 4x6 pocket pages from Snap only to discover they will not work in The Paper Studios Binder. I wanted them for a seed packet storage album but will have to use these in another project and pick up actual TPS next time I go... yet another unfinished task. :: sigh :::

So what's on your desk? Inquiring minds want to know :-)
Creative Blessings!
Kel

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY - Home Decor

While I was in Texas, Bob temporarily hung a sign in our bathroom that states 'Captain's Quarters'. He purchased the sign at a flea market type place in Bourbon MO earlier this year with the intention of hanging the appropriate sign (He is a boat Captain) in his Man Cave once it is finished - which will not be until we've moved me completely out of the space into the new studio. I kind of like the sign hanging in the bathroom and the sea/ beachy theme already matches the white/ seafoam blue-green color scheme. But I decided we needed something more than a sign to carry the theme through.

On a wander through Walmart craft department the idea struck me to make a new candle piece... one without a real candle. I know there are suppose to be ways to clean melted wax out of those jars but the glass is so fragil. So I opted for a 'pretend' (I disklike the word fake  hehe)  That day I purchased the sea shells and the 2 glass containers.

While my sister-in-law, Rhonda was here, we made a trip to Hobby Lobby where I bought the sand and the seashells. I wasn't in the candle shopping vein then... just crafting. When Bob and I went back a couple weeks later I found THIS blue L.E.D Flameless candle. The Electronic Flickering can be set to ON or has a TIMER and runs on 3 AAA batteries. I liked this one because of the timer and the batteries are easy to acquire and less expensive than the button batteries.

The completed project came out like this:

Not enough light to read by but with all the other lights out in the bathroom, the soft glowing flicker is very relaxing. 

Oh, and if you think I'm missing a scent, I use the night light style wax melt pots so I can pick the scent. I usually use an Ocean Breeze or Clean Linen for the bathroom.

Wishing you Creative Blessings on your week!

WOYWW #318

WHOOOO HOOO!!!

I'm not sure how consistent I'll be for the next few weeks but for now I am THRILLED to have a spot in the new space to play again. I have 2 projects going and while this might seem staged, it kind of is. I had to clear my projects off a temporary surface, set up a different temporary surface then put stuff back on. I'll shift stuff around as I work this afternoon but I wanted to show both parts.

The Left - is my Documented Life bag with immediate planner essentials. Most of those items will work for the Finding Your Voice class I started last week. Because my first book is about my early childhood years and I'm a child of the 60s, I chose girly prints popular in that time period. So there are two different Paper Studio slabs to work from. The solid piece under the small pad is the hardback book I'm altering. I'll be showing progress on Monday.

In the center you'll see I'm back to cutting the pages out of the thicker books (3 more in upper right) to make the SU embellishment boxes. I saw a sample in their (2012?) catalog as part of their layout and knew that's how I wanted to store my SU embellishments. I hope to show these to you next month when they are completed and filled with SU Embellishment goodness. 

I am excited to be back to window peeking in everyone else's studios this week. Remember to leave me your number so I can find you.

Not sure what this is all about? Love to see how other artists work? Check out Miss Julia's Stamping Ground (or the WOYWW 5 button on my side bar) for all the details!

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY - Project in Progress

Yep, I've shown you my project bag before... back when I first introduced you to the Documented Life Project. I'm still playing with that but last week I found something else to play in that will let me use the only tools I really have handy at the moment.

I signed up for a FREE class called FINDING YOUR VOICE. Kristin refers to herself as a Feminist Scrapbooker. I'd never heard the term but I like the way she thinks. This 6-week class is about learning to tell OUR story. We spend so much time telling everyone else's story through our scrapbooking, we fail to leave our own for future generations.

As a writer, I am all about finding my voice unique so that when people read my books or articles they know that I am the only one who could have told the story... just as we are the only ones who can tell Our Story.

While the class is free, Kristin has an entire line of products to go with this class and other adventures she offers.  You can buy the class KIT or you can order any of the items individually. I choe not to order the Kit because I have enough paper and other supplies to play with. But ordering helps keep the classes FREE or low cost so I ordered a couple of the stamp sets. I ordered CURRENTLY (which is discounted) and THIS IS MY STORY.  When you sign up for their mailing list, you get a FREE DOWNLOAD of the CURRENTLY hard copy that you can print off yourself. I wanted the stamp set so I could use different colors of ink.

I have been to a couple of the chats. Before Wednesday I hope to get my first lesson completed as well as make my cover for the journal. Just needed to spend the weekend clearing a little space.

How do you tell YOUR STORY?