Week 10 Project Life and One Little Word Blog Hop



Left side page

  For those of you that are participating in Becky Higgin's Project Life this year I wanted to show something I did on this layout that I've been stuck on for awhile.  Left side page is pretty simple, cut some cardstock for the title card and journaling cards, added some pre-made embellishments and letters.  This is the only page so far that I didn't use a weekly title card that came with the kit.  The right side page I added one of the diecuts I showed you yesterday.  I made this little guy with Cricut's Baby Step cartridge.  I used a Flip Flop to make the hinge between the diecut and journaling card.  The diecut (this one was made at 6")stays outside the page protector.  As you can see in the third photo this give you room on the


Right side page

 journaling card to write.
Also, wanted to let you know that tomorrow is our monthly One Little Word blog hop.  The blog hop starts at 11am EST so I hope you'll join us for that. 


Right side page with diecut lifted up to see journaling card



Cricut Baby Steps

I finished these cute little baby boys yesterday.  This cute baby boy is from Cricut's Baby Steps cartridge and is pretty quick & easy to put together.  I made several at 6" and a couple of 5 1/2.  I did a few different things with the faces.  For most of them I ended up using my Copic markers to do the smile, nose and rosy cheeks.  I didn't like the paper pieces for the nose & cheeks - didn't look very realistic.  I tried chalk for the cheeks and didn't like that as well as the Copic markers.  I added some "googly" eyes(as my little friend, Ali, called them) and there they are.

Clipboards

Today I painted 2 clipboards that started out as brown $1.69 6 x 9 clipboards from Office Max.  I promised myself that I wasn't going to obsess over trying to make them perfect.  I'll be using them for Big Picture Classes and Stacy Julian's Finding Photo Feedom that starts this week.  So they are just for me and for fun.  I ended up not liking the acrylic paint on them so I ended up covering most of the clipboards with paper and Mod Podge.  Then used some embellishments and flowers to dress them up a bit.  Both papers are from Close To My Heart.  I've had them awhile and I don't believe they are available any longer.  The flowers are Prima and I added a little pearl to the center of each.  I've decided in the future when I paint something that I have to use a better quality acrylic paint.  After 3 coats of the yellow you could still see a brownish cast.  And I like something that leaves a smoother coat without brushlines (if that's possible).  I'm also switching to Claudine Helmuth's Multi Medium as I don't like the Mod Podge either.  I need to get some gesso to and try that.  So more experimentation will be in my future as I work to find products that I like for these type of projects. 

May Blog Giveaway - We have a winner!

Wow, time got away from me and I forgot to do the drawing!  My apologies!  Thank you to all that left comments on my blog hop post at the beginning of the month.  I truly enjoy reading them and appreciate the time that you took.  I put the names of everyone that left a comment in a basket and drew the following name as the winner of the giveaway:

learncreatedo wrote: These are great goals. Congratulations on becoming a Gran :)

May 1, 2011 5:39 PM

 

Please send me your mailing address and I will get your package of craft goodies in the mail to you!

Next One Little Word Blog Hop will be Wednesday, June 1st at 11am EST and I will be offering another giveaway! 

Sketchbook Project 2012 - fast shipping!

Here's how it comes in the mail

Giving you an idea of the size

In my last post I told you about the Sketchbook Project.  I placed my order online last Sat. and it arrived yesterday so I thought I would show you a photo of the actual sketchbook that I got (everyone gets the same type but you get to pick your theme).  I measured the book - its only 5 x7!  I wish I had known that last year - I might not have felt so intimidated by the project.  On the back cover there is a label with my name, town, & state along with my theme and a barcode which will be how the book is logged in at the Brooklyn Art Library and for the tour.  The card that came with it has the rules which is nice - then you don't have to refer back to their web page.  It has the submission date, address to mail and some other helpful info.  On there website you can link up with others doing the sketchbook so I think this is going to be a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people!  I'm also hoping next year to visit my oldest son & his wife to make a trip into San Francisco when the sketchbooks are on display there during the tour!!  That'd be cool.  (They are only a little over an hour away from San Francisco.  So we'll see how the creative process  goes!

Sketchbook Project 2012

I'm very excited!  I just ordered my Sketchbook for the 2012 project.  I've been looking at this for the last 2 years and have been too intimidated to enter a sketchbook.  This year I'm just going to do it!  If you're not familar with the Sketchbook Project please go here
www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

for all the details.  But if you've ever wanted your artwork to tour the world, here's your chance!  For a fee, they send you a sketchbook (its not huge) and you pick one of the themes that are available.  The theme is a starting point and you go from there.  Once you've completed your artwork in the sketchbook you send it back to them (by 1/31/12).  After the world tour it will be displayed at and becomes a permanent part of the Brooklyn Art Library.  How cool is that?

I've Got Mail! WooHoo!

I love getting mail especially fun mail.  What can I say?  Today, in the mail, I received my blog giveaway that I won from Lacey Igo and her blog.  I placed a comment on Lacey's post during the Destinations Blog Hop just a little while ago.  Not only did she send me an ice cream cozy from her etsy shop - go here to see http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaceyBugCreations

but she also sent me some Memory Works items from their Simple Stories line including Destinations, Ele.ment.ary, Life Documented and 100 Days of Summer.  How cool is that?  To see these lines go to

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaceyBugCreations
To check out Lacey's blog go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaceyBugCreations
So far I have the Life Documented kit and the Ele.ment.ary kit and love them both.  They make scrapbooking so easy and beautiful.  They work especially well for my Project Life albums.
You can see all my great goodies in the photo - Thanks Lacey!

Baby Boy layouts

 

ready for action

 


Owen and Friend

Can you tell that I'm having a blast scrapbooking photos of my grandson, Owen?   Yes, indeed.  These are the other two layouts that I did over the weekend for Big Picture Class's Creative Crop for National Scrapbook Day.  The challenge for the top one Ready for Action was to use 2 different materials to mat the photos with.  And the challenge for Owen and Friend was to create a page with a banner.  Leave me some comments and let me know what you did for National Scrapbook Day.

 

Scrapbooking layouts

Can't believe its already a week since my last post and I keep promising myself I'm going to post more often.  I can't figure out how others post daily.  I was able to spend some time yesterday online at Big Picture Classes at their Creative Crop for National Scrapbook Day.  Caught a couple video chats with various instructors and participated in a few of the challenges.  I'll share those photos after the prizes have been handed out.  Stiff competition - while all of the layouts were great there were several in each challenge that were absolutely Amazing!  Today, I am posting photos of 2 layouts I was inspired to do that didn't qualify for any of the 12 challenges.  So you can see by these 2 layouts I'm pretty much having a great time making layouts with my grandson's photos!   And with this virtual crop I could do it all in my jammies and not have to cart my stuff around!

Everything I used I already had.  It always feels good to use up supplies and I have to get over the habit of saving "pretty" papers for what I'm not sure.  But I've always had a hard time using my favorite purchases.  I'll post the other 2 layouts I did this weekend in a day or two.  Thanks for stopping by!

One Little Word May 1st Blog Hop

Illuminate

Welcome to our 4th monthly One Little Word Blog Hop!  I'm so happy you could stop by.  Our assignment this month was to write a letter describing where we are right now with our word and where we hope to be in a year. 
Top photo is my Illuminate photo. 
Next photo is an overview of both pages for this month. 
The third photo is a close-up of my left hand page which consists of a piece of printed paper (the same print as last month) and a downloadable element that I printed out onto a piece of white cardstock that has "Note to Self" and "April 2011" on it.  Below that is a picture of my new grandson (first grandchild).  He's 3 weeks old in that photo which was taken at the beginning of April.  I want to put a saying with the photo but I haven't found what I want just yet so I'm still thinking about that.  I don't have PhotoShop or Elements so I'm looking for a rub-on or vellum piece that might work. 
The 4th photo down is the right side page with the letter to myself.  This is a short version of what's in the manila envelope behind.  I wrote a fairly lengthy letter to myself that was quite specific so I tucked it away in that envelope.  I should probably seal it otherwise I'll probably be peaking at it in a few months.  This exercise was particularly helpful to really think through what I've been doing so far this year and consolidate my thoughts in one place.  Also, it helped me envision where I want to be next year - celebrating my success and achievements in a couple of areas!
The last photo is our previous month's assignment that I did again in April.  For those of you that visited on April 1st you know that I'm trying to lose weight.  So I'm hoping that this exercise will help keep me accountable.  I'm weighing in at Weight Watchers each week but I wasn't able to stay for 2 meetings and keeping my food journal daily is happening sporadically.  I plan to continue March's assignment each month through the end of the year.  I appreciate the time you took to visit and hope you'll leave a comment.   For those who leave a comment their name will go into a drawing on May 10th for a giveway of some craft goodies.

The next person to visit on the blog hop is

Nikki

http://www.inkyart.com.au/

The entire list: Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog Lisa www.backtoallen.com/writers_blog Joy www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com Abbey http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/ Jill http://jillconyers.typepad.com/ Sam http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/ Amanda. http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com Rebekah. http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/ Lynn. http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com Nikki http://www.inkyart.com.au Monica http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/ Chrissy http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/ Jen www.byjen.com Monica http://www.Scraplifters.blogspot.com Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/ Julie http://julieannshahin.blogspot.com Jenn www.studiojenn.blogspot.com Donna http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com Jamie http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/ Karen http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/