Another Fabric Scrapbook Page

This will be the first page in my fabric album. I painted the canvas page with a landscape scene using acrylic paint. The house is raw canvas that I colored with Stampin' Up ink pads and water. I bought the fence at Joann's and I added the mini roses.

I created the tree by tearing circles out of patterned paper and then crumpling them. Then I tore into each circle to create an almost petal effect. Then I glued the circles one on top of each other and added the roses to the center. I used real branches for the tree trunk and cut the bird free-hand, then inked it to coordinate with the color scheme of the page.

I used the Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly punch to create this butterfly. I am totally in love with this punch and while it was a little pricey, I can see myself using it a LOT. I punched the butterfly out of vanilla colored cardstock and inked it with the same way I inked the house.

This house is not anything like our house. We don't have roses and it's much more Victorian than our house is. I could never live in a fancy, frilly house like this, but I find myself admiring the Victorian Cottage style and it makes me happy. So this is my little fantasy house. In reality, I'm a much more casual, rustic girl. I guess that's why I had to add the roughness of the burlap to the roof of the house. :)

{Again, the canvas page, album and house are part of Donna Downey's Fabric Scrapbooking line and can be purchased from her website}

Fabric Scrapbooking Page

This is my first completed fabric scrapbook page! I started the page during my weekend with Donna Downey and I finished them last night. I absolutely LOVE working with canvas as the foundation for the page. The various layers were added by using techniques I learned from Donna. I'll walk you through how I put these pages together.

First, I absolutely love this photo. This is one of those photos that was taken, uploaded (or downloaded?) onto my computer and then forgotten about. When I was searching through photos I came across it and I simply adore it. It was taken on a hike when Taylor was about 2 1/2. So, now for the details of the page...it's a raw canvas page, no gesso, and I began by gluing down the photo with fabric glue (Aleen's Tacky Glue works well), smooth out the bubbles. I chose to tear the corner of my photo before gluing it down, but that's just because I don't like the harsh edges of photos. Next, I used the tree stamp and then embossed the image. I wanted my trunk longer, so I painted the trunk with a dark brown acrylic paint. Then I spritzed the background with walnut ink. I painted the canvas butterflies with acrylic paint (watered down), and used a scrap of patterned paper on the corner of the photo. Then I added the ribbon tab to the outer edge of the page along with the strip of frayed burlap. Finally I typed the journaling and cut it into strips, then adhered it to the page. Oh, and then I added the little flower because every page needs a flower. :)

My journaling reads:

Life is a journey;

a path with twists and turns,

we never know what's around each curve,

but, little one, rest assured,

whatever this journey brings, I'll be there to hold your hand.

For this page I started by painting a "color within a color". That was the instruction that Donna gave during the workshop. So I painted brown edges with a muted green inner circle.Then, I added the patterned paper as a mat for the torn photo and attached the wire heart to the page with the the ribbon scrap. I added the canvas tab that says "Family" and stamped the word "Cherish" on a scrap of vanilla colored paper. Then I inked it with pink and purple chalk ink to coordinate with the other page in this 2 page spread. To make it more distressed and blend in with the other page, I also spritzed some walnut ink on this page and stamped the butterfly image, and added the burlap. Finally, I took some cream colored Prima flowers, spritzed them with the walnut ink and then added some copper colored glitter glue to give 'em a little shimmer.

I love how they turned out! I can't wait to work on the rest of my pages!

{Updated to let you know that you can buy several of the supplies for these pages (canvas album, rustic wire, and canvas tabs and canvas butterflies) from Donna's shop!}

Dreams do come true...

My dream of meeting Donna Downey finally came true this weekend when my friend, Jen, and I drove to Valencia, CA to spend the weekend creating in workshops taught by Donna. It was all that I had hoped it would be and more. I didn't walk away with any "finished" projects, but I have all the supplies, tools and knowledge on how to complete them. The projects are all started and are at various stages on their way to completion. The weekend was all about learning techniques to create incredible mixed media pieces. While we carted in a lot of our own paint, brushes, stamps and inks along with some patterned paper and random embellishments, Donna supplied all of the products I've been drooling over in her shop. We worked on 2 canvas albums and learned layering techniques and the secrets behind Donna's unique style.

My workspace looked like this for most of the weekend...

This is a picture of Donna demonstrating a watercoloring technique in my friend, Jen's, canvas album. How COOL!

Here are some random snippets from my weekend:

- Although we allowed 5 hrs of travel time that should have taken 2 1/2 hrs, we were a 1 1/2 late for the first workshop. Gotta love LA traffic!

- The Remember When Scrapbooking store was ammmaaaaazing! They have awesome products (including Donna Downey products and Unity Stamps and a large selection of Tim Holtz products), and an incredibly friendly staff. They even had a tab going for me on Saturday and Sunday! How awesome is that...an art supply tab! I have to give a huge shout out to J.P. who is probably the nicest person in customer service I have EVER met!

- Donna autographed and wrote a quote on my canvas tote bag that I'll be painting once I decide how I want to decorate it...

- On Saturday we had lunch catered by Panera and ate and chatted with Donna about her journey as an artist how she was "discovered" and some of her goals and dreams. She was just as down-to-earth and as approachable as I expected her to be.

- When we weren't in our workshops we went to Joann's and Michael's (where I got the cutest little inspiration binder I'll be sharing soon!) and we ate really yummy food that we can't get at home!

Meeting and learning from Donna was a dream come true and I had such an awesome, relaxing weekend with one of my best girlfriends!

Thanks, again, Mom for helping to make this happen!

{Thrifty Thursday} Music to my eyes!

I love the look of sheet music. I was very into music during my childhood. I sang in choirs and musical groups, I played the trumpet in high school (oh, and just to clarify, at my high school, all the "cool kids" were in the band, it wasn't a nerdy kind of thing, by any means). Our high school won multiple musical competitions for years at national musical festivals. So, music and sheet music holds special memories for me. I love the look of it in art, too, so I was thrilled when I found a few books of sheet music while thriftin' last week.

In the same trip I picked up another embroidery hoop, some vintage-y looking trim and some really pretty beads...

All this loveliness for a grand total of $2.18.

Not bad.

{The Artistic Mother Art Group} - I'm joining the fun!

I'm so happy to have discovered the book The Artistic Mother and The Artistic Mother's Group. Trudi recently commented on my blog and personally invited me to join the group. I just received my copy of the book yesterday from Amazon and I've soaked up lots of inspiration already. I love Cole's down-to-earth style of writing and she had my full attention once I read her statement that she has days when she's a "good mom" and other days when she's "overwhelmed and crabby". It's always nice to hear I'm not the only one! And, like me she says the more she creates, the more good Mommy days she has. That is exactly how I feel. I've always said I craft to stay sane.

So, I just wanted to share with you all, that I'm officially joining the Artistic Mother's Group and I'm excited to work my way through this book and be more thoughtful and purposeful in my creating. Thank you, Trudi, for hosting this incredible group and inviting me to join. I want all my readers to know that anyone is welcome to join the group, all you need is the book and your imagination. The supplies needed to create the projects are minimal and easily found in arts and craft stores or online. Click on the button for more information on the group and how to join.

You can find Shona Cole's blog here.

Mixed Media Monday - Something Blue

I'm participating in my first Mixed Media Monday challenge. If your visiting from MMM, thanks so much for stopping by! This is my first "official" mixed media project. The theme for this week's challenge is Something Blue. Given turquoise is my favorite color, I was quite excited to jump in and get started on my piece. I picked up this dress form from a thrift store awhile ago and I knew I could alter it and make it more beautiful. Ever since I started sewing I've developed a love for dress forms. Here's what it looked like before I started the transformation:

I set the paint bottle there so you can see the size.

So, let me share the techniques I used in making this. First, I painted the entire piece white, just kind of haphazardly. I knew I'd be adding multiple coats of various shades of blue. Then, I used alcohol inks to color white buttons various shades of blue. This was my first time using alcohol inks and let me tell you; I'm in LOVE. These are SO cool! Here's a before pic of the buttons:

Once the buttons were dry, I used tacky glue to adhere them to the bodice of the dress form. For the flowers, I mixed white, blue and turquoise acrylic paint and dipped 2 cream roses into the paint. I swirled them and smooshed them and used tissue paper to sop up the excess paint, then I hot glued them to the arms of the dress form. I added stickles to the petals as a finishing touch.

For the skirt, I mixed blue liquid water color paint with water and a dollop of royal blue acrylic paint, then I soaked white eyelet trim in the paint and then hung it to dry. Once it was dry, I cut it into strips and hot glued the strips around the dress form to create a ruffled skirt. I added more stickles to the flowers in the ruffles simply because glitter is addictive!

I added some white fiber ribbon to the waist and a string of thrifted beads around the neck. I think all of the elements of this piece were thrifted except the paint.

I love how it turned out and it's the perfect decor for my studio!

I'd love to hear your comments!

Beachbound!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I've had a sick girl this week (yes, she really does get sick every month! We're working with our docs to determine if it's more than just out of control reflux and asthma). Anyway, obviously she's needed my attention and I've had to tend to my other responsibilities that are part of my daily life (I need to figure out a way to pay the bills by crafting!). So, I haven't had time leftover for blogging. I was able to pop into a thrift store earlier this week and gathered some awesome goodies for a grand total of $2.18. I'll share those with you next week.

I've got some projects on my mind and some things I hope to finish up next week and show all of you, but in the meantime, my girl is feeling much better and hubby and I are going away for the weekend ALONE! Taylor's staying with a very dear friend who's got a houseful of girls of her own so they're sure to have blast while hubby and I soak up some sun and enjoy the cool ocean breeze.

I'll catch up with you all next week and please check in next Friday to see who's been featured as the Featured Follower.

Have a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July!

We're heading out to enjoy some patriotic festivities with some friends. Taylor and I created this American Flag canvas earlier today and I got a serious lesson on allowing on our children the freedom to explore their own creativity. I hope your having a good Fourth!

Cookie Sheet Magnet Board

Very simple, oh so cute and oh so functional! Here's the tutorial:

Supplies:

2 cookie sheets (I got mine from the dollar store)

Spray paint (optional)

Coordinating scrapbook papers (I used 4 sheets of 12 x12 and had scraps leftover)

Coordinating solid cardstock (Stampin' Up has the best and it's worth the extra money)

Coordinating Ribbons in various colors, widths and textures

One Shoelace (or long piece of ribbon, rope or cord to use as your hanger)

A Drill or another tool to create the holes that the hanger goes through. You could also use heavy duty glue, I suppose, but not sure how it would up.

Step 1: Determine the layout of your papers and cut to size. My cookie sheets were 9x13 and I cut one paper 9x5 and another paper 9x7 to cover the entire back of the cookie sheet (the raised part). Then cut your accent strips that create the dividing border (in my project those are the striped strip on the top sheet and the polka-dot strip on the bottom sheet). Mine were 1" wide and then I cut one strip of red cardstock that was 1.5" wide and one strip of yellow cardstock that was 2" wide and. I layered each strip as shown in the photos.

Do NOT glue your papers to your cookie sheet yet!

Step 2: Drill holes at the top and bottom of the cookie sheet that will hold your hanger. Drill holes in the top of the second cookie sheet (These holes will tie the cookie sheets together).

Step 3: Spray paint your cookie sheets in whatever color suits your fancy!

Step 4: While your cookie sheets are drying, create your ribbon hanger. I started by folding my shoelace in 1/2 to determine the center of the shoelace. Then I simply cut ribbon and tied it onto the shoelace, starting at the center point, then cutting 2 pieces of the same ribbon and tieing one on each side of the ribbon at the center point. Then choose a different colored/textured ribbon and cut 2 pieces and tie one onto either side of the ribbons that have already been tied on. Make sense? I hope so. Be sure to alternate colors, widths and textures to get a scattered ribbon look.

Step 5: Once your cookie sheets are dry, glue your papers to the cookie sheets using Mod-Podge and then cover with another lay of Mod-Podge.

Step 6: Thread equal lengths of ribbon through the holes to attach the 2 cookie sheets and tie a knot in each ribbon. See the photos for clarification (I'm referring to the 2 pieces of turquoise ribbon that hold the 2 cookie sheets together).

Step 7: Thread your shoelace (now covered with lots o' pretty ribbon) through the holes in the top of the top cookie sheet and tie a knot in each end of the shoelace.

Now stand back and admire your work!

I made this magnet board for my daughter to use because our stainless steel fridge is not magnetic. This would be a great gift for a teacher, too!

Thanks for looking - leave a comment to let me know you saw this and leave me a link if you decide to make one of your own!

I'm joining these fun linky parties:

I'M GOING TO SPEND A WEEKEND CREATING WITH DONNA DOWNEY!!!

{Photo courtesy of Remember When Scrapbooking}

Excuse me for just a second...

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!

Deep Breath.... Sigh.

OK. I think I've composed myself. I have that I'm-SO-frickin'-excited-I-think-I'm-going-to-jump-out-of-my-skin feeling! OMG. O. M. G.!!!! In 3 wks I'm going to spend the weekend playing with paint, and paper and fabric and flowers and ink and stamps and all kinds of artsy goodies with DONNA DOWNEY!!! I'm going to Remember When Scrapbooking in Valencia, CA and I'll be attending 4 workshops taught by the one and only Donna Downey. If you've been a long-time follower of my blog, you know how much I LOVE Donna Downey. I first shared my love for her when I came out about by my craft addiction. Then, I told you how much I love her studio. I've also shared with you some projects that were inspired by her and I shared more about my love of her, her studio and her fabric scrapbooking here. Donna and I share a love for turquoise and my recent mixed media canvas was also inspired by her. I love browsing Donna's blog and her shop for inspiration.

This is a DREAM come TRUE! I still can't believe I'm going to be in her presence and creating with her and learning so many creative techniques that she uses so I can expand my skills and let my creativity soar! I've been telling everyone I know but I simply cannot put my excitement into words. I don't think I'll be able to sleep at all that weekend!

And I need to tell you that I have the BEST MOM in the WHOLE WORLD! While there are many reasons why she's the best mom, the number one reason today is that she is helping with the cost of the weekend. Of course, I offered to foresake all Christmas gifts for the next 10 yrs if she would help pay for this amazing opportunity. I also have the BEST HUSBAND in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, because he is letting me go away for this amazing weekend ALONE. I'm leaving Taylor with him for the weekend as I enjoy the creativity and the moments of solitude! I hope they're both still alive when I return!

Did I mention I'm excited?

{Featured Follower Friday}

The first Featured Follower Friday is HERE! Check out this post to learn how to become a Featured Follower!

I've looked through the profiles of all of my followers (and browsed your blog if you have one!) and I want each of you to know how much I appreciate that you think my blog is worthy of following. We all have busy lives and time is precious, so if you actually spend a few minutes of your day clicking on my blog and viewing my projects and reading my ramblings, I am truly appreciative.

This world of blogging is a wonderful thing, isn't it? Once you step into it, it becomes a part of your daily life. Or maybe I'm the only one who's addicted to the blogging world? OK, enough with my ramblings...without further ado I'm thrilled to announce my first Featured Follower is...

Kristin of Twinkle, Twinkle.

Let's give a big round of applause to Kristin! I am fortunate enough to know this very talented lady in real life. And, She has even credited me with inspiring her to create her own blog. She makes time for art now, and does more creating because she has a blog to post to. I am also very excited that Kristin was just published in the July/August issue of Somerset Studio magazine! How cool is THAT! This is her first time being published! Again, let's give a big round of applause to Kristin!

I'm glad I inspired Kristin to start her own blog because her blog inspires ME! I didn't know what her art of choice was when I was first talking with her about creative blogging (which was last summer) and when I clicked on her blog for the first time and browsed her mixed media projects, I was instantly in awe. She created art that I had only ever seen in magazines.

Kristin is an incredible mixed media artist and here are just 2 of my favorite pieces of hers:

Not only is she an amazing artist, photographer and writer, she's also a wonderful mother. Our daughters are in the same class at preschool. Most days, my precocious Taylor barges through the doors of her preschool, with me not far behind trying to catch up with her comb in my hand, pleading with her to let me comb out her bed-head. I'm always frazzled, running late, and almost always arguing with Taylor about something. I'm often greeted by Kristin, who is there with her gentle demeanor and her undeniably adorable daughter, Kendra. Somehow despite the hustle and bustle of a busy morning surrounded by energetic preschoolers (some happy to be with their friends, some in tears as they're pried out of their parents arms), Kristin remains calm and smiling. Kristin and Kendra have a very special connection that I cannot put into words. Kendra and Taylor had been at the same preschool for over a year before Kristin told me Kendra is adopted. I was shocked. Kendra looks so much like Kristin, I couldn't believe that she wasn't her biological daughter.

So, given Kristin says I inspired her to start blogging and given that she inspires me as a person, an artist and a mother, I thought it would be perfectly fitting for Kristin to be my first Featured Follower. So, be sure to stop by and visit her and then come back here and let me know if you're just as inspired by her as I am!

Oh, and she has me wishing I had kept my daughter's beloved pacifiers. She keeps a collection of Kendra's pacifiers in a jar in her studio. What a clever idea!

Kristin - Please be the first to grab my Featured Button and post it on your blog!

P.S. Be sure to become a follower of my blog so you have a chance to be a Featured Follower!

{Thrifty Thursday} More Craftin' Goodies!

Sorry today's Thrifty Thursday post is a little late. Will you forgive me?

I totally scored the other day when I got these goods. The bright bundle of flower leis was only 10 cents! They're brand new!!! I plan to put a few in Taylor's dress up trunk and use the rest for crafty stuff! I absolutely LOVE flowers! Here's the run down for the other stuff:

paint brush - 25 cents

1 yd of turquoise velvet ribbon (of course I had to have that!) - 50 cents

glass jar to store crafty stuff - $4

I'm a happy thrifty girl.