Slippery, Icey, Icky Day--just right for Playing in my SB room!

I've been scrap booking the past 2 days at a crop with lots of my Besties and other than one LO  I wanted to get done, I concentrated on stamping and copic "coloring".  (Of course, did I get any pictures of the event--Oh, no!)  I did , however get all these little critters stamped and colored.  They are the toppers for little bags of candy kisses I will give out to my kids class this coming month.

  Today, I was suppose to teach a cricut, Expression 2 class, but we woke up to so much ICE that even my poor dogs could not stand up outside.  In fact, our 2 older dogs, Sadie and Lily, actually fell several times.  didn't seem to bother Lily, but her back legs are not good and I'm sure she will feel it tomorrow.  Sadie, on the other hand is a huge dog, very old and in very poor health.  She has extrememly poor back hips and when she fell, my husband would have to brave the ice and get her back to safety, as she couldn't get up on her own.  Needless to say, even our gravel road was solid ICE!  It is now 5:30 pm and there is little if any relief yet.   So I have spent the day in my SB room (I hate when that happens--NOT!)   I finished the bags up today and I think they turned out very cute.  The stamp is one of the Taylored expressions stamps.

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 I also spent a lot of time stamping and coloring my new Phyllis Harris Stamps that I am soooooo in love with right now!       Today I cut them all down and made cards out of them.  This one is just absolutely so cute.  They are known as the Emma and Brandy series.

 This one is one of her little girls with their hair flying
 in the wind.  They just seem to be full of action and fun!

 This is another Emma and Brandy stamp. 

and this is another version of the bike stamp.  I have several more stamped and colored, just waiting to be made into a card and I have several more stamps to stamp  and prepare for cards yet.  It's suppose to warm up and melt this icey mess, but that WAS suppose to happen earlier today.  It has not happened yet.  The snowplow has been down our road 3 times now trying to break the ice layer up--he doesn't even come around that much when we have 10 foot drifts blocking our road!          So here's hoping that Monday is warmer, the ice goes bye-bye and we all have a great Scrapbooking week!  I plan to! 

"Love" and Cropping all in the same Week!

This has been MY KIND OF WEEK!   All days full of scrapbooking in one form or another!    Yup, this is the kind of week I dreamed about before I retired--just doing what I love best--no pressures, no drama--just fun of the best kind.          My week started out on Saturday (no pictures, unfortunately) when I taught a 4-H photography class in Marshall co.  I really love these classes--lots of kids and parents. 

Then on Sunday, I took a class at my favorite SB store, Memory Bound in Ankeny, Iowa!We decorated the letters L O V E in beautiful papers, a little stamping and embossing, painting and inking--you name it--we did it. (I loved being covered in SBing "mediums"

In the end we had beautiful "towers" of Love!, ready to embellish and display at home.  Below, is our instructor, Betsy who is so very talented and very fun to be around, no matter what.  Great Class, Betsy!

and now, I'm getting ready for a 2 day crop --yes at my favorite SB store, Memory Bound!  and with tons of my closest and BEST friends ever!  I really want to concentrate on card making this time.  I have one LO to get done and then it's ALL cards, I hope.  I so want to use my New Phyllis Harris Stamps (all ready to go), as well as my other two favorite brands, Taylored Expressions and Pink by Design! and----my Copic Markers--I never get to use them enough, it seems!  I also love to heat emboss all my images (I really think that pops them, if you know what I mean).

These are a few of my "card elements" I have already stamped and colored (with my Copics).  They will need a little "touch-up" and then they will be ready to go.

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and these are "things" ready to head out!  and yes, I did leave stuff at home.  I'm anxious to use some of my "card mats and tops" that I worked so hard to cut a few weeks ago (previous post).   Imagine what I take if I'm SBing pages

I often take a big "rolling tool chest", but this weekend, I will try to get by with just my rolling carts (3 of them) and several large "bags" of supplies.------all this for a few cards--it really is more convenient to work from our own rooms, but there is just something magical about the "friend" element----the conversations,----the laughter----the sharing-----that is PRICELESS!    It adds so much to the spirit of creativity----I can't wait             IF ONLY EVERY WEEK WERE LIKE THIS ONE!!

                                       

It's Free to Create Friday!

Well, today was a relatively quiet day for me.  Danny works on Fridays, I have my 4-H Photography workshop for tomorrow pulled together somewhat--no errands to run, so I decided to "play".      I finished up these blocks the other day, actually.  A little Valentine deco for my Living room shelves.  THe paper is one of our new Valentine papers at the store.  All 4 letters on one sheet.  So with 4--- 6 x 6 blocks, some paint, some stamping, some bling--pretty easy, but I like them a lot!

Today, I painted a multimedia picture I had been thinking about for some time--well, since Christmas, when I took a countdown calendar out of my lime green frame.  I thought I wanted to do a "she' painting, but when I recently got some new phyllis Harris stamps from the Unity Stamp Co., I fell in love with the little girls, their hair blowing in the wind.   I ended up stamping her on a piece of paper, then enlarging her 350% and printing her on vellum.  I fussy cut her out,  and colored her with my copic markers. 

I then started on my canvas (it is a stretched canvas--16 x 20", prepped with gesso and ready to go).   I painted the background, blues and greens, sky and grass and then started adding.  I stamped, painted, sprayed with mists, added words.

I used acrylic paints and inks for the stamping,  some bubble wrap accents here and there--even incorporated some netting in the upper sky, saturated in glue and seal (and not quite dry in this pic)

It added a lot of dimention and allowed the "sky" details to show through.

This pic shows some of the "bubbles" from the bubble wrap use.  Even put a couple strips of some new "washi" tape I got with birds on it.   That's the fun of multimedia--anything goes--the more the merrier!

 

I added a light source--the sun--it also brought some bright "orange" to the picture, one of my favorite colors.

But, of course, my favorite part of the whole picture was the precious little girl (who I think looks like my little Grand daughter, Callie Jane!).  I added her with modge podge (no easy task on vellum).  It caused the vellum to bubble in places, giving it a really neat , slightly 3-D effect, that made her pop on the page.  and the vellum seemed to make her almost see through and"air" like.  I loved the effect it gives to the picture.                                                                             So this has been my day, so far---The girls are none too excited about being so ignored all day, so I guess a little play time is in store!         Have a great weekend everyone!

2013 --Wow, You're here Already!

AND---January is half over!  Ok, so it seems I have been gone for awhile and it's time to get my you know what in gear and start posting again.  It's not that I haven't had anything to post, it's just that I haven't gotten around to it.    So Happy New Year to all by blog friends out there--hope 2013  is all you want it to be and more!
     There is really no use in rehashing the Christmas season, but to say we had a beautiful celebration with the kids and Grandkids on the 28th of December.  Santa was very good and there was a lot of fun to be had.

With the New Year comes new Adventures, and I thought I'd get mine off with a SNAP book this year.  and as the word implys, these books really are a "snap" to put together and so far to keep up!   As with any junk binder that I do, My cover usually ends up a hodge-podge of stuff.  but I love it that way--after all the inside will be that way in the end, too.

Inside the front cover  I've added more ---

 and so the pages go.  I've already filled up most of January's space (a usually boring month) and it's only half over.  I have already figured out I will be getting a second binder and the year will be in two books--as this one is already bulging at the seams with all the months in it and
no pictures--or "stuff".











With a junk binder on my mind, I designed a very simple one for my Scrappin Kidz class for Jan.  Since we don't have time to make a really elaborate one, I just designed 1 page   for each month and will give them a handout on how to add more pages, pockets, envelope pockets, cards, etc. to it.  It will be able to expand as far as needed and I think will be a fun way for them to save some of their 2013 memories.  I have a full class, so it must intrigue them some.

March

July

September

and December are just some of the pages!

 What else have I accomplished in recent days--well--look quick, because it won't last for long--but I've been "straightening" my "studio" --hehe!
I've decided to call it my "studio" instead of a scrapbooking room, since it just seems to take on more and more all the time, the organization is there among the caos,  I do know where everything is--really---but it is looking more like the "rooms" I see pictured in the designer (meaning scrapbook, multimedia designers) magazines where everything seems to be everywhere!  They do not spend a lot of time making their rooms look showplace perfect--they actually have rooms that look like they might use them to create in.  Mine certainly looks like that most of the time--not saying I'm at all as creative as any of them, but I can make a mess with the best of them!    At any rate, this is my stamping, card making desk-ready to go again.

I moved this little sewing cabinet of my mom's in (my brother refinished it for me)--for a little added storage and because I just love it.  Note--I even have a basket with NOTHING in it yet! (but not for long, I predict)

 and I moved my little cart on wheels to the opposite side--it holds all my ink pads, blocks, embossing powders, etc.  the little tuquoise thing (not really that little and VERY heavy wood), was one of those old tool caddy's my late father-in-law had (and probably made).  I rescued it from my husbands garage and he sanded it off and I painted it.  It is bigger than most you find in antique stores (and did I say LOTS heavier), has 8 compartments and is perfect for my favorite stamps at this moment.  I change it out with the seasons  and as my whims change--keeps my favorites right at my finger tips!

 I moved some of my jars over to the other side of my room.  This way I can see them all together--They have some of my buttons (yes, I have tons more of them too!), my twine spools, and wooden numbers and scrabble letters.

The jars now sit next to these handy little drawers with flowers, bells, clothespins, tags, etc., etc., etc. in them!

My next huge accomplishment (Thanks to a suggestion from my friend, Maggie B.!), I went through my huge, bulging at the seams "scrap" box and spent a whole day just trimming it all down into card "mats" and "fronts".  I think I ended up with hundreds in sizes to fit A2, A7 and note card fronts.  My scrap box is far from empty but it tidied it up quite a bit and it's now "manageable".  Now we'll see how many cards I actually get made--at any rate, I'm ready to go at any moments notice!

 

and then last of all, I finished up my little "explosion" box for my February Kidz Class and a Valentine bookmark below.

eThis bookmark is designed with a cute "birdcage" valentine paper and I used a T.H. sizzix cut for the bird and cage, a couple of hearts with pearls on them, and some ribbon to top it off.  Simple, but very elegant.     So this has been the past two days.  (I actually had the Snap album done --just added to  it.  I do find when I actually stay home, I get a whole lot done.  Back at it tomorrow--Kidz class and GNO ---one of my favorite days every month!  Have a great week, everyone---I'll be back soon!