Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap

Kat Sloma from KatEye Studios is once again hosting the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap.   See her website here   http://kateyestudio.com/   Kat's idea for the swap is to get people's artwork out into the world whether its photography, scrapbooking, quilting, mixed media or wherever your creativity leads you. 

Last year was the first year that Kat hosted this swap and she ended up with 170 people from 37 states and 13 countries participating.  She's hoping for 200 people to participate this time.  She allows lots of time to prepare the postcards and I found it very easy to do.  I was taking a class with Claudine Hellmuth and used artwork from that class for my postcard last year.I ended up with 8 postcards last year - 5 from the original swap, one from Kat and 2 from people that I sent my postcard too!   I'm looking forward to the postcard swap again this year.  Its a lot of fun!  Hope you'll join in!

For more information on the postcard swap and to sign up go here  http://kateyestudio.com/liberate-your-art-postcard-swap

Double Take Week 1 Sketch 1

One of the best things about Double Take is the number of photos I'm getting onto layouts!  Most of the sketches are for 5-9 photos on the 2 page layouts.  For this layout I took orange cardstock and since I'm trying to use more printed paper on my layouts I pulled out the soccer stuff I had.  I had several soccer print papers but I chose this one and cut the soccer balls out and put them on the orange cardstock - I love the way the colors all stand out.  I cut a few banner out of some other soccer print paper and added some black dewdrops.  Pretty simple and I love it!

Art of Observation Week 6 Memory Files

 For this week's assignment I tried using one of Heidi Swapp's Memory Files from her Color Magic Collection.  It starts out mostly white with just a design (in this case a shell/scallop design).  For the front I used a mist from my LSS and for the back I used a Mr. Huey mist.  I used the Mr. Huey mist on the inside as well as it is only white (no design).  If you try the Color Magic Memory Files you'll definitely want to watch a video to see how Heidi does this.  My red did not turn out as vibrant as I had hoped.  Heidi told me I needed to do more layers of red.  Which is what I did with the black but boy that was messy!

It was difficult to make sure that the black didn't end up on the red and vice versa.  I'm sure it gets easier with practice.  Here is a link to Heidi's collection
http://store.scrapbook.com/products/heidi%20swapp%20memory%20files.html?gclid=CNnKnbDBl7ACFQtThwodciiT0w
And here is a link to a YouTube video of Heidi showing how to mist the Color Magic Collection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmAeMuo8tE&feature=BFa&list=PLE93CBE4DEA0D7B80

The theme for this week if you can't already tell was "love" so I'll be using this Memory File for all the things I love on our trip to see my oldest son and DIL in California.  I like that I'll have the two little paper bags to hold memorabilia in and the "openable" to add journaling to.  I recovered the openable with leftover paper from one of the hearts so it matched.  In the future I'll just make my own little book.

Art of Observation Week 2 Memory File

Anticipation was the second week's theme for Art of Observation.  However the file that we created will eventually hold two weeks of classwork.  In the photo below two file folders are held together with a strip of embossed cardstock acting as a binding.  This file will also hold photos of our trip to Tahoe in September.

The first section will be completed towards the end of the class so this is blank for now.

The inside of the second folder is the Anticipation part.  Heidi provided a download to print out where we can add in our itinerary, description of the trip, a checklist of things to remember and the dates involved.  I added a FotoStack that I made.  (I believe Heidi's FotoStacks are not available currently and may not become available until her next release after Summer CHA).

See yesterday's post for links to all Heidi's Memory File items and YouTube videos showing how to use them.

Art of Observation Week 1 Memory Files

I finally finished up a couple of week's projects for my Art of Observation class over at Big Picture Classes (BPC).  This one is from Week 1 with a theme of "Beautiful"

The folder is from the No Limits Memory Files collection.  The rest of the pieces are cardstock that I had on hand.  The vellum piece has a quote that Heidi supplied as a download.  There are no photos yet as I'm using this Memory File for an upcoming trip in September to visit my oldest son and DIL.  We'll be visiting Tahoe as part of that trip and I'm sure it'll be easy to take lots of "beautiful" photos.
I'll be back with this Memory File once its complete this fall.

Use this link to see all of Heidi Swapp's Memory File items http://store.scrapbook.com/products/heidi%20swapp%20memory%20files.html?gclid=COKY9fPKj7ACFegbQgodBCoaoQ
Here is a link to YouTube videos featuring the Memory Files
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Heidi+Swapp+Memory+Files

Double Take layout

Over at Big Picture Classes May Flaum & Nic Howard's class Double Take started last Thursday.  The idea of the class is to learn new ways of creating double page layouts so that they are cohesive rather than looking like two seperate layouts.  Today was the first chance that I had to complete a layout.
We were given 4 sketches and then May & Nic each showed us their interpretation of the sketch so we essentially got 8 layouts of inspiration!  And what's not to love about layouts where you can scrap 9 photos at once!  Others sketches had space for 5-7 photos.
Also had time to actual put one of my Memory Files together from my Art of Observation class.  Have been playing around with this but needed a few more supplies.I'm glad I waited - I'm really happy with how its turning out.  Hope to have it done soon to show you.
I'll be using several of the files for photos, etc for trip to California in September.  
Weather is beautiful here today - I've found some time to be outside but enjoying the leftover creative "buzz" from last weekend's Creative Crop and iNSD.  What are you working on?

Use kraft in two ways.

 Here's the last of the eight layouts that I did over the past weekend for Big Picture Classes's Creative Crop.  I've been trying to a little bit each day since Sunday so I don't loose that energy that you get from such an event.

Use this sketch.
I stayed pretty true to the original sketch.
I added a few more circles.

Feature a photo with a fanciful frame.
Stacy Julian used buttons to create
a heart around her daughter's photo.

Scrappin' photos of me

Use any cast-off items on your layout.
The green braid type pieces is something I got from
someone else who didn't want it.

 I've really avoided creating layouts with old photos and those with photos of me but the Creative Crop inspired me to pull these photos out and get them onto layouts.
And I'm really happy with them.  I'll be doing more of them in the future.






Do you create layouts with photos of you?

Grab a photo from a few years back
& a photo from today & tell a story about
how things are the same or
different.

Do you create layouts with old black & white photos?

Scrap a favorite childhood memory

National Scrapbook Day Recovery

Wow, what a great weekend!

Use a library pocket on your page,

  There's nothing like getting into a creative zone and having a blast with it.  I was a little slow out of the gate (I did take time on Saturday to watch the Kentucky Derby - with 2 veterinarians that specialize in horses in the family its kind of mandatory.) on Saturday morning.  I was trying really hard to get my Week in the Life/Project Life album current before Big Picture Classes' Creative Crop started at noon.  I got almost all the photos in but need to go back & do the journaling and add bits & pieces.  I was also getting some paper and tags misted that I hoped to use to create some pages I wanted to get done.  I was hoping that they would work for some of the challenges and they did so I was glad I got a head start on those and they had time to dry.
I completed 8 out of the 12 challenges between Saturday and Sunday which I was very happy with.  I'll be sharing those over the next few days.  I never did get over to scrapbook.com to do their NSD challenges.  I have some ideas for next year that will hopefully better prepare me to do both events.  Besides creating layouts for the challenges I did catch 2 of the live chats - one with Stacy Julian and one with Ali Edwards.  I also participated in another chat (with just typing back & forth) with Nic Howard.  I was especially happy to be in that chat as I'll be taking the Double Take class with Nic and May Flaum (can't wait to be back in a class with May!).  With the chat I felt like I had "met" Nic.  I wasn't planning on taking Double Take as I have quite a list of Big Picture Classes (BPC)  that I'm already taking & felt I should focus on those.  However, I had participated in last week's BPC week-long giveaway contests and won a spot in Double Take!  WooHoo!  Very happy.  Really added to the festive feel of the weekend.

I did the photo at the top for the challenge "Use a library pocket on your page".  I had a package of these blue library cards so I used one of those.  I added the kraft card "GROW" and wrote a little note to my grandson, Owen on it.  I decided to decorate the card as well using crushed velvet to make the snowbank and Liquid Pearls to mimic snowflakes. The rest of the page came together quite quickly.  I cut a sheet of corrugated cardboard paper (from Michael's) into strips and adhered those onto a sheet of kraft cardstock. I was trying to mimic the look of the fence behind Owen.

One of the challenges was to use photos from your iPhone and if you didn't have an iPhone to use everyday photos for you layout.  I used photos that I had taken during A Week in the Life of the department I work in.

Everyday Photos

Stop back tomorrow for more photos of the layouts I complete during the Creative Crop!

Project Life Blog Hop

Welcome back to our monthly blog hop and Happy National Scrapbook Day! 
Project Life has been a little bit of a challenge for me this year.  I've not taken a lot of photos this year at least yet.  There's been a few reasons for that.  For one, life has been pretty ordinary & I just didn't feel motivated to capture just the routine day in/day out things.  I use Week in the Life for that.  Secondly, I've become very conscious of how many albums I already have created and the space that they take up so I'm trying to find a balance between preserving the memories of my life (ordinary or not) with the amount of materials I'll leave behind to my children/grandchildren one day. So I switched to a monthly format for February through March instead of a weekly format.  In May I'll switch back to a weekly format as we have several things scheduled in May that will provide photos.
This is also the second year that I have done (or attempted) A Week in the Life (WITL) in my Project Life (PL) album.  Ali Edwards' set the last week in April for WITL.  I suprised myself and took 54 photos in one day which I think has to be a record for me.  However, there are days I only took 1-3.  I did pretty well with the journaling although I have some ideas for next time (I think Ali will be doing this again later this year) that I think will help prompt me to write down some other details.  I think I'll adapt Ali's journaling sheets for that. I want to add prompts to remind to write down what I'm reading, restaurants we go to, movies we watch, etc.
So here are my regular April pages.  I had hoped to have my Week in the Life pages done too but
I'm still working on them.

left side

right side

left side

right side

Not too much going on - you can probably see the weather was back & forth.  Spring one day, winter the next. I used the journaling cards from the Cobalt kit along with some items from Simple Stories.  I can't remember if they were from Life Documented or year.ography sets.  A little Easter basket added to the photo of my cats. I also put the postcard for the Art of Observation class I received with my scrapbook.com order along with my Heidi Swapp Memory Files stuff.  So nothing fancy or exciting - just me and my life!  Thanks so much for hopping by!
If you've been hopping along from the start the next blogger to visit is Lois & you can find her here http://loishouston.typepad.com/thoughts-along-lifes-highway/

     

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com   To start at the beginning START HERE

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Nikki www.inkyart.com.au

Laew www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Lois http://loishouston.typepad.com/thoughts-along-lifes-highway/

Helen www.helen-mills.blogspot.com

Jennifer http://vogtstories.blogspot.com

Brighton www.dearbrighton.wordpress.com

Project Life Blog Hop, National Scrapbook Day and more

Its been a busy week for me so far.  After work I've been busy getting my house cleaned & picked up, running errands, getting groceries, picked up my printed photos and cleaning/organizing my craft room.  I'm trying to get everything done and off my "to do" list so that Saturday and most of Sunday is free & clear so that I can be creating all weekend (or most of it).  I'm signed up for Big Picture Classes Creative Crop (click on box at right for more details) for Saturday which is National Scrapbook Day (NSD).  I'm also participating in Scrapbook.com's National Scrapbook Day event (http://www.scrapbook.com/ > click on forums> NSD forum).  Both events start at noon eastern time and are full of challenges, prizes and plenty of inspiration.  Scrapbook.com has a schedule that you can print out once you are at the NSD forum and shares what you need for each challenge.  I'm really looking forward to Sat.  Tonight I'm making one last run to my LSS and maybe Michael's to pick up more adhesive, some mists and whatever might catch my eye.  Tonight and tomorrow I'm pulling some more photos & supplies together - I'm looking to get a lot done this weekend.
Also this Saturday is the Project Life Blog Hop beginning at 8am. As you probably know all ready Project Life (PL) is an easy way to document your memories and everyday life  Developed by Becky Higgins this is my 2nd year participating.  I've also am using Project Life to get my photos from past years into albums.  I do a mix of both Project Life and traditional scrapbooking layouts in my PL albums.  I hope you'll take time to hop around the blogs on Saturday.  You can start here or at the top of the list with
Jill http://jillconyers.com/       
What are your plans for National Scrapbook Day?