Composition for Collage

Here is my last collage for Claudine Hellmuth's Composition for Collage class which ends this Wednesday. This one is using a grid compositional structure and I found this to be the easiest of the four that Claudine taught us (asymmetrical, horizontal, vignette and grid).  I think that comes from my scrapbooking and crafting background.  Vignette is my next favorite structure for the same reason.  Boy, those 4 weeks flew by!  I don't think I'll get another collage finished between now and Wed.  I'm getting my work space(s) straightened up and cleaned so I'm ready to start MotherLOAD on Thursday and continue with Finding Photo Freedom.  Those 2 classes will take me through the rest of the summer.  For Photo Freedom I'm working on some of the tasks on the weekly task lists but I'm in a holding pattern until the 2 new storage binders I ordered arrive on Tuesday than I continue filling those and then work on my category drawers. 
Just a reminder that the monthly One Little Word Blog Hop will be this Friday, July 1st starting at 11am ET.  Hope you'll stop back and hop through the blogs.  This month's prompt was a very creative one so I'll think you'll enjoy and maybe find some inspiration for your own work as well!

A Week in the Life, Composition for Collage, Finding Photo Freedom, Mother LOAD



Horizontal compositional structure - Composition for Collage



Three full storage binders - Finding Photo Freedom

I thought this would be a good time to provide an update with where I am with the Big Picture classes that I am taking this summer along with some of my other projects.   Top photo is my horizontal compositional piece that I finally finished.  I just really laugh every time I see that piece.  Kind of my view of how life goes - your sailing along just fine and then a duck comes along blocking your way!  Hope you enjoy it and get a laugh from it as well!  Just a fun piece and trying not to take it all so seriously!  This Thursday is then end of Composition for Collage - I'll be working on a grid compositional structure piece between now and then. 
Bottom photo is the 3 storage binders I have filled (more in them then there should be).  I've ordered 3 more binders from scrapbook.com and they should be here Tuesday.  I'm not sure at this point but I may need to order 1-2 more.  These are Pioneer 3-up storage binders.  In Finding Photo Freedom (formerly Library of Memories) storage binders are where the photos you want to scrapbook in the future go.  This is after purging & rating.  I'll try to remember to take a photo of the inside and talk a little more about this in the future.  I'm just keeping my head above water with the two classes these last 4 weeks but I'll try to go into more detail in the next few blog posts.
I need to finish up my postcards this next week for the Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap - its due July 15th (where did June go?).  I'm trying to decide whether to use one of my compositional structure pieces from the Composition for Collage class or the piece I did for One Little Word this month.  Stay tuned!
Ali Edwards posted the code for this year's A Week in the Life if you want to pick that up for your blog.  Just go to http://www.aliedwards.com/ and check out her blog post for June 23rd.  She also posted links (same one I provided in my last blog post) to resources for A Week in the Life.  If you are thinking of doing Project Life in the future this is a great opportunity to see if you like this style of scrapbooking.  A Week in the Life is a more intense, in-depth type of Project Life. 
As Claudine Helmuth's Composition class ends, Lain Ehmann's MotherLOAD (Layout a Day) class will begin.  Very exciting!
Hope your finding creative time as summer swings into high gear!

Viva Decor Pearl Pen

One of the items I purchased last Friday was an impulse buy.  I picked up this Viva Decor Pearl Pen and while I was pretty sure I knew what it was I was happy to find this YouTube video that showed all it can do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXWD9yVY60M
I like the fact that I can make my own pearls as needed in whatever size or color I need and I don't need to keep multiple packages of pearls.  I definitely plan to pick up a couple more in a few other colors.  The one at right is Ice White.  Hope you enjoy the video - watch to the end to see how this works on fabric too!

Shopping Trip and A Week in the Life

This past Friday I was in Buffalo, NY (about one and a half hours away from my home) and I stopped into my favorite scrapbook store Buffalo Stamps.  In the top photo is are some of the items I got while I was there.  I also got $10 off my purchases for filling up my frequent shopper's card.  A modest day of shopping.  While I'll mention some of the other items over the next few days today I want to show you the item at the very top of the first photo.

These are Scribbles Glitter Borders Weekdays in Black (item # 4935).  The second photo down has a close-up of the one side of the package.  Saturday, Sunday and three phrases are on the back.  The 3 phrases are "a good day", "this week" and "enjoy today".  The 3rd photo has a close-up of the packaging top.  These looked similar to some of the digital stuff that Ali does and since I've not gotten into digital scrapbooking in a big way I thought these would be perfect for other paper scrapbookers!

These caught my eye as I am planning on doing Ali Edwards' A Week in the Life" this year.  She has it set for Monday, July 25th through Sunday, July 31st this year.  Here's the link to the basics about A Week in the Life http://aliedwards.com/2010/04/the-basics-of-documenting-a-week-in-your-life.html

Another link that has information on how to prepare for A Week in the Life is http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/week-in-the-life.html

The information provided on these 2 links will get you started & ready.  I'd also advise that you sign up to get Ali's emails from her blog so you'll have updated info delivered right to your mailbox.  She has tons of great info and I've learned so much from her. 



Vignette compositional structure



A close-up of the smaller pieces

For Derek, Katie & Arlington

As many of my followers know I am taking Claudine Hellmuth's class Composition for Collage online at Big Picture Classes.  This is my piece for the 3rd week of class.  This week we're learning about vignette compositional structure.  (If you've been following my blog closely you may be wondering where week 2's piece is - its still in progress and I think you'll love it).  When I saw the horses in the downloads this past Thursday I immediately knew what I wanted to do.  Some feedback from Claudine and a few small tweeks and its done. I hope you enjoy it!

More than art at Allentown Art Festival

 There is so much more than art at the Allentown Art Festival.  Sometimes my husband and I just find a spot to sit and people watch.  Along the route there are food vendors (yum) along with a variety of restaurants to try - many with outdoor patio areas.  There are also shops along the way.  At the dress shop in the 2nd photo I was mesmerized by the "live" mannequins.  Its hard to tell because of the glare on the window but there are 2 mannequins in the window and occasionally they moved like wind-up dolls to a new position accompanied by some great music.  They attracted quite a crowd and the shop was doing a brisk business.  I also love to look at the variety of houses along the route.  The third photo being an example of just one.  I'd love to see the inside of the towers!  Buffalo and the Allentown area has quite an architectural history and there are several tours that you can take to check it out - I need to do that one of these days.  Hope you have some great plans for the upcoming weekend.  My weekend is starting early as we head back to Buffalo tomorrow.

Second asymmetrical collage

Here's my second practice piece for my Composition class with Claudine Hellmuth.  The birdcage and man are some of the images that Claudine includes with the class as downloads.  So far we've gotten 5 sheets of images to download each week.  The dark paper with the gears is a piece of DCWC paper.  The stock market piece is from the newspaper and the definition of work came from an old dictionary that I got when a local bookstore went out of business.  The letters are chipboard and colored with Tim Holtz's Distress Stain (this stuff is great - so easy!)  This week's assignment is a horizontal line composition - I'll post when I finish it.  I've been working on finishing my piece for One Little Word - I'm really happy how that has turned out.  That will be posted in the OLW Blog Hop on July 1st.