Your Just My Style!

I keep saying I want to take more pictures of my canvas before the final product just so you can see the progress.  Well that didn't happen...LOL!

I did however, take a photo of what I thought was the final product of my latest Art Journal entry.  Here it is:

I'm working on the page on the left side.  It's a combination of acrylic paint, ink and sprays.  I also used some of my Wink of Stella white glitter pen - love this!  It is my favorite purchase from the Scrapbook Expo this year.

So what to do with this colorful canvas, you ask??  I handcut scrap paper to create another She Art.  Can you tell that She Art is becoming my favorite thing to do in 2015?

I inked up and highlighted portions of the "She" and added some rub ons and stamped images (bees and sentiment "You're Just My Style"

Here She is:

Happy Spring Everyone!

Paper Dolls...? Yes, Please

I don't know about you, but I LOVED paper dolls when I was a young girl.  I loved the little tabs you'd have to fold to dress the paper doll and all the accessories that came with the clothes.  I loved how the sheets (that held the punched out clothes) were also decorated even though you'd never use the sheets again.

I loved paper dolls so much that one of my sisters' friends, Julie would draw little people and sell them to me.  I remember I'd pay a nickel for each person.  I couldn't change their clothes, but I would play with those drawn dolls all the time.

When I first saw those Julie Nutting paper doll stamps, believe it or not, I wasn't really that interested.  I thought, what the heck am I going to do with those things....

And then I wanted to buy one with curly hair and I couldn't find one; until I did.  Once I bought my first one, I realized that I needed lots more because not everyone has curly hair.  I only have three now, but they are SO FUN to play with and use.  You've seen some of the mixed media canvases I've done with the curly hair girl, but here are a few more:

I am ready for another one!

Here are some older ones:

Layers, layers, and more layers

I've been participating in the Teapot Tuesday challenges at Splitcoaststampers.  I love the variation and the teapotters are so funny and talented.

This week was putting lots of die cut layers on a card.  Here's mine:

I made the patterned paper using old Sale-a-bration stamps from SU!  The color scheme I used worked perfectly with the floral die cut I added later.  Next I added the green frame and a pale yellow lattice die cut (it was a bright yellow, but I sponged some white paint over it).  On top of that I added the coral floral die cut and lastly the two birds.  I painted Wink of Stella glitter to add some sparkle.  I finished it by putting some enamel dots.

I love participating in challenges so I can think outside the box.  I would have never done this on my own and I really like the way it turned out.  

More Pocket Pages

More pocket pages from the Orlando trip album:

I used an old Sizzix train track cut out for the roller coaster track and the Mickey in a cup was from a swap I participated in on SCS years (I really mean years!) ago.  I love these pictures of me and my nephew, Dwayne.

The background for these "cards" were made by me too.  I grabbed some cardstock and then mixed media'd it with a safari theme.  I then cut them into three 4x6 pieces and six 3x4 pieces.  I LOVE how they turned out.

Here's a closer look.

Now this...I love!  I wanted to do something different so I treated this strip of 4x3 pockets into one 12x4 pocket.  I put together the strip (using last year's CTMH National ScrapbookingDay kit).  I thought the colors matched perfect with Poccahontas' dress.  Once I came up with the layout, I cut them into four 4x3 pieces and slid them in.

I have now completed Day TWO and have started on Day THREE.

Beautiful Baby

Today Carly and I attended a baby shower for our good friend.  She's having a girl.  Awhile back I bought a beautiful dream catcher at a holiday boutique.  Of course I forgot to take a picture of it before I wrapped it and then was caught up in the gift opening and forgot to take a photos when she unwrapped it.

I had fun wrapping the gift box.  I used a plain kraft box, gold and pink tulle and sewed pink and gold circles to create a string of circles.

Here's the photo of the box:

The card was made this morning following the sketch on this challenge blog.  Here's a closer shot of the card:

I love the card and color combination.

Here are some photos of the gift bag that Carly gave her.  I love the embellishment that we put on it.  Under the rolled roses is a "messy bow".  

A messy bow is gathering scraps of ribbon together and then layering them together - messy.  It's a great way to use up ribbon scraps.  With the addition of the rolled roses, it makes a beautiful impact.  I love it!

Canvas and Cabernet & Caroline

Oh my goodness!  So last weekend two of my sisters and I went to a place called Canvas and Cabernet in Walnut Creek - last minute plans for my sister Caroline's birthday.  And YES, it's just as the business name implies...painting while drinking wine.  Check out their website here.

They provide the canvas, paints, brushes, apron and instruction and we purchase drinks of our choice.

So here's the basic idea of the place:
Each session focuses on a specific painting.  The instructor/host takes you one step at a time to paint that particular painting.  It's basically a "Paint by Numbers" and can be as simple or difficult as you make it.  Follow the directions...simple - Get creative...more difficult. As you can imagine, each artist created their own version of the featured painting.

Before I reveal mine, I want to let you know the featured painting on this particular session was Van Gough's Iris.  Out of all the pieces of art they offer, this is probably my least favorite.  But, my hope was to learn something that I didn't already know.  I've never had an art lesson therefore I was looking forward to it.

Here's my painting:

After the "instruction" was done, I knew this would not be something I'd hang up so before leaving, I added the loopy outlines around the flower petals and also, dipped my wine cup in paint for the circles in the dirt.  I then added some white and black accents.  Still don't love it, but felt better about the painting.


It was a lot of fun, but I wish we would have received more tips on painting.  The class is definitely geared towards the beginner.


But, a good time had by all and a great way to celebrate a birthday!

Linking to the Craft Therapy Thursday Link Party Here

Animal Kingdom

I just finished Day Two in my Orlando Trip album.  I love that I'm doing a mixture of pocket pages and regular 12x12 layouts.  This layout is the title page for Day Two.  The day at Animal Kingdom:

The sketch follows the weekly sketch at Let's Scrap.  Go to their sketch challenge site by clicking on the badge to the right or HERE.

Here's their sketch:

As you can see, I flipped the sketch and made it a one page.  I stamped some brown ink using some bubble wrap and then stamped some scratches with my new Gorgeous Grunge stamp set by Stampin' Up.  Some animal print washi tape, black diamonds and a doily.  The Disney badge on the top right was given to me while at Animal Kingdom when I donated $1 to the project.  I wanted to add something "Disney" and that's why I added the Mufasa sticker.  

His Wisdom & Understanding

This week we found out one of my cousins is in the hospital and things don't look good.  He's been struggling with illness for many, many years but he's still very young.  I can't remember the last time I saw my cousin, Joey, but it still weighs heavy on my heart.  I do remember all our visits at my aunt and uncle's home and also when all the cousins got together at my grandparents for the holidays.  He has an amazing artistic talent and would draw all the time.  Maybe he was a little on the rough side of things, but always fun to be around!  Many, many prayers to my aunt and my cousins.

When I called my cousin, his sister, she mentioned that not more than a month ago, Joey met with her pastor and he had positive things to say about him.  Talk about God's perfect timing.  Joey is now in ICU with machines hooked up to him and sleeping but I bet God's talking to him now giving him the peace he needs to let go.

The bible study at Triple the Scraps is about WISDOM.  I thought this is so perfect for the situation.  Proverbs 3:13 spoke to me so I created a piece in my art journal with this verse.

This page started completely different as I added book page, ink, paint, etc, but after speaking to my cousin, I decided to paint over everything with black acrylic paint.  As you can see lots of the ink came up from the paint after I added white texture paste on it.  It's messy and I love it!  After splatering some yellow paint, I used a white marker to draw some circles.  The only other thing I did was add the verse.  This page is dedicated to him.

You can click on the badge on the right of Glory Art or click HERE to get to the website.

Thanks for looking.

Scrapbook Expo Stash & More Pocket Pages

Back from the Expo and I had so much fun!  The thing I'm most excited about is my cup holder with the attached trash bag.  I'm sure it has an official name, but you know what I mean.  I already screwed it to my tabletop and have used it today.

I spent time in the Command Center today and put some finishing touches on my Pocket Pages since I bought some embellishments from the Expo.

Here's some more photos of the pocket pages in my Orlando, FL album.

I love this Day One final pocket page layout.  The photos I had did not work in the areas of the pockets so I treated it like a solid page.  I layed it out and then cut it according to the size of the pockets.  Pretty creative I say :)