It's Been a Long Time...

Wow! It has been about a year and a half since I last posted!  A lot has happened in that time and I just didn't make blogging a priority.  Last summer I bought my first house (yay!) and then one month after that my parents sold their house and moved into a new one.  Ever since then, the new house(s) have been the priority.  I now know what people mean when they say, sarcastically, "The joys of home ownership."  I had every wall and ceiling in the house repainted, then I recarpeted the whole house.  However, when we pulled up the carpet in the basement we discovered that the floor was cracked...like, a jigsaw puzzle!  PANIC!!!  I had an inspector come out and he told me that part of my house had "sunk" about 1/2 inch.  I had to have the back corner of the house lifted on stilts...well, they call them piers.  YIKES!  That was definitely not in the plan...not in the budget!  But, I have gotten over it.  I now love my house! 

Much time has been spent trying to figure out the best way to arrange my craft area in the basement.  The basement is a walk out, which I love!  But it is part "entertainment" and part "craft space".  The problem is, I need more craft space and I just don't have the room.  I guess I could get rid of the couch and chairs...but I don't think it would be fun to have everyone over to watch movies and make them sit on the floor.  Hmmm...summer project?

I have been doing some crafting during this time.  I still make mini albums, but I recently got into Mixed Media Art...it is so exhilarating!  I am kind of a perfectionist when in comes to mini albums and they take me forever to complete.  But, with mixed media there are no rules...no expectations...it is so liberating!  I feel FREE when I am doing mixed media. Granted, I don't have much experience under my belt, but I am learning.  I have been watching TONS of YouTube videos and learning new techniques...and buying a ton of new tools and paints and yummy Faber Castell Gelatos and all sorts of templates and masks and Mod Podge and gesso and all that goodness.  Today I signed up for an online class called FACEcinating Girls, which is starting in a few days on May 1st.  It is taught by the fabulously talented Andrea Gomoll who lives in Berlin, Germany.  She came up with this brilliant idea to help people to paint whimsical girl faces by providing them with clear stamps that are elements of the faces--3 sets of eyes, 2 noses, 2 lips that you can mix & match to make adorable girl faces. She is going to be teaching us how to position the face parts correctly and then she'll show us techniques on shading and making backgrounds using mixed media.  I am so excited to start this class!  Here is the link to her class if you haven't already signed up.  Check out her blog anyway because her work is amazing and so inspiring!  Andrea Gomoll - FACEcinating Girls Class

I plan to post my completed works if they turn out okay...but in the meantime, here are some pics of my first mixed media canvas series.  These are 6x6 canvases...I thought I should start small since I was experimenting.  I loved doing these.  They were so quick and easy and fun!  It was also fun to scrounge around in my stash and use up some things that I had been hoarding.  Remember, these are my first canvases...so they are not the greatest!  I am still learning!!  Excuse the mess...I just snapped these shots right after I finished so I could email them to my mother.  I need to set up a space to take pictures of my crafts.

Summer Dreams Mini Album

Hello!  I just wanted to share this little mini album that I made over the summer.  I wanted to try a smaller size with a simpler format--this is a 4 x 6 album.  The paper collection is DCWV Summer Dream which I got at Joann Fabrics when it was on sale.  I love the colors and patterns of the paper.  I decided to paint the edges of the chipboard with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers by Ranger Ink.  I used Pearl, Purple Twilight and Lettuce to coordinate with the papers.  I also used the Pearl dabber on some of the flowers.  This is one of my favorite colors because it has a soft shimmer that is so pretty!  I can't wait to use it in some Christmas mini albums.  On this album, I also incorporated things from my stash: Me & My Big Ideas chipboard embellishments, Prima paper flowers, buttons, fibers, Ranger Stickles, and more. 

Hope you like it!  Thanks for looking.

Grad School Scrapbook Layout

Here is another 2-page 12x12 scrapbook layout of me and the Musketeers from grad school.  This layout features us in class goofing around and celebrating Kristie's birthday.  I used paper from the Basic Grey Sugared collection.  The rest of the embellishments are from my stash and include Basic Grey buttons, American Crafts fabric Thickers, Chatterbox Dimensional Stickers, paper scraps and miscellaneous bling.  Nothing too fancy, but I loved the colors and trying new things. 

Jubilee Bliss Mini Album

I finished this mini album quite some time ago and I'm finally getting around to posting it.  This was my first scrapbook mini album.  I wanted to try something different.  I like making these because they are interactive and you can touch and feel the pages and embellishments versus hiding them behind plastic as in a traditional scrapbook.  I've made several of these now and plan to share them on this blog. 

I used Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper for this album.  I love the colors and patterns.  The book is 6 x 6 which is a fun size to work with.  The theme was "happiness", hence the name Jubilee Bliss.  I did a lot of research on YouTube and other blogs to determine what elements to use on the page.  I found great ideas from many wonderful and talented scrapbookers--cute pockets, tags, even a mini-mini album that is so easy to make I was amazed.  This post is picture-heavy, so fair warning!

Here are the front cover and the first two pages.  Fairly simple with a tri-fold photo mat and a pocket with tag.  I used the Urban Prairie stamps throughout this album too.  They are so adorable!

The next two pages use techniques borrowed from Laura from Following the Paper Trail and Steff from With a Grin.  Laura came up with this great envelope pocket with 4 pockets for 4 double-sided tags.  And Steff always tries to incorporate the large paper bag pocket page with 2 pockets into her books.  I modified it and used one large envelope instead of a paper bag.  They are easy and a great way to add an extra page to your book. 

The next page is the other side of the large envelope pocket which provides a great space for a photo or two.  I added a little tag for interest and maybe some journaling, then another page for a photo or for journaling with a white marker.  I used a white rub on for this page.

The next page I created a corner pocket and a little 2 page tag.  The following page features the mini-mini album that I tied to the page with a ribbon.  I created little tags to insert.  I love this little book!  I am happy with how it turned out.  I followed a great tutorial on YouTube by Tracy.

Okay, next is a simple page--the paper is so beautiful that I didn't want to cover it.  After that, a flip up photo mat with a spot to journal.  The final page has a photo mat and a pocket with cute round tags.  The back cover is simple with a cute butterfly flying away.

I also used fibers, charms, buttons, bling, etc. from my stash.  So, that is it!  I hope you enjoyed the many many pictures.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think! 

Thanks for visiting!
Stephanie

Another day, another page...

I'm still working on my 1st mini album but it is going so slowly!  I think I am being too picky or trying to make it perfect and I'm not just letting it flow.  I tend to do that...it's the perfectionist in me coming out.  I am trying to work on that.  Anyways, I hope to finish it soon so that I can post it here even though I have very few followers.  It is still nice to catalog what I am doing on this blog.

In the meantime, here is another Musketeer 2-page layout.  This one is to introduce the 4 Musketeers individually.  I tried to make each panel unique and representative of each girl.  I was inspired by a layout that I saw in one of last year's Scrapbook, etc. magazine articles.  I used paper from the Basic Grey Sugar Rush collection which I love.  I love anything Basic Grey even though I tend to hoard it rather than use it.  I'm trying to get over that too.

For this layout I used Cindy Loo and French Manor Cricut cartridges for the frames and Lyrical Letters for "Wendi".  The other letters are Basic Grey chipboard letters.  I used chipboard pieces from Me & My Big Ideas and Oriental Trading Company bling.  I traced and hand-cut the flowers to bring in some old-school crafting.  My mom continues to remind me that "you could just use the Cricut to do that", but I find hand cutting to be relaxing.  It reminds me of all of the paper dolls that I cut out when I was a kid. 

I hope you like the layout!

Stephanie

The 4 Musketeers!

Okay, so back to the beginning...here is the intro layout of the Musketeers book that I am working on.  I'm actually nearly done with this book, but I'm working on my first mini-album right now so the 4 Musketeers are on hold.  But in the meantime I will post some of the layouts that I've already completed.  Maybe eventually I'll go back to the Jamaica book. 

It has been fun doing this book because I can make it more girly that the previous beachy book.  The 'Teers and I went to grad school together and completed a dietetic internship in Edmond, Oklahoma.  That was some time ago, but I am keeping the memories fresh by doing this book.  It has been so fun going down memory lane.  Anyways, we worked, studied and played together for about 6 months.  I had some of the best times of my life with these 3 special ladies--Amy-lou, Wendi-lou and Kristie-lou {a.k.a. The Lous}.  We gave ourselves a lot of nicknames...silly girls!

Page 1:  The 4 Musketeers!

For this layout I used We R Memory Keepers "Tiffany's" paper.  I loved the colors and the soft, yet distressed look of the designs.  I layered some Prima flowers and added some brads from Oriental Trading Company.  For the flourishes, I cut DCWV Rock Star paper using the Cricut Straight From the Nest cartridge.  The chipboard adhesive letters are Heidi Grace Midnight Kisses, which I found at Big Lots for $1.50. 

Hope you like it!
Stephanie-lou

Hmmm...maybe I'll blog today...

I've taken a hiatus from blogging, scrapbooking, baking...I guess life just happens and sometimes I forget to make time to do some of the things that really make me happy. So, a few weeks ago I snapped out of it! I decided to finish the layout that I started back months and months ago...I can't even remember when I started it--that's how long ago it was. I think it was before Christmas. All I had to do was bling it up and be done already!

So I did and that got the wheels turning and renewed my interest in scrapping.
Here is the layout that I finished. It is from an album that I am doing of me and the girls I hung out with in grad school. We called ourselves The 4 Musketeers. This is about the 4th or 5th layout of the book--it is so unlike me to drop this in without starting at the beginning of the book. But, maybe this is the new me! Jump right in and don't worry about being so "sequential"! {okay, we'll see how long that lasts}

"Night Life"
I used Me & My Big Ideas paper, Tim Holtz fragments to make the guitar and flower embellishments out of DCWV Rock Star paper, DCWV All Dressed Up chipboard pieces, and Oriental Trading Company black felt flourishes. I made the paper flowers by dipping them in embossing powder and heating them several times to make them thick and shiny. Then I blinged them up w/ some black and clear rhinestones.  The letters are Thickers.

Hope you like it! More to come! I am working on some new things and trying out mini albums. Oh my gosh! I'm having fun now!