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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

7 Photo Page



And for our final process video of 2014...

We are using 7 photos on one single page layout!

I really hadn't planned this page when I cropped and printed these photos.  Fortunately they lined up almost perfectly for a collage.  In place of the paper strip in the sketch, I used some die cuts from the Silhouette.



To mimic the hydrangeas in some of the photos, I cut some flowers on the Silhouette in white on white pattern paper.  The centers are Perfect Pearls.

Lemonade Stand from Bo Bunny is a really bright collection; however this one muted paper made a good background and went with the soft, serene look I wanted to capture.

Here's the process video at YouTube:


And here is the sketch:


This will be part of the 2014 Sketchbook available in just a few days.  I'll let you know here on the blog and via my mailing list.  You can sign up for the newsletter/mailing list on the blog's sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Christmas Card Swap


Never has going to the mailbox been so much fun!!!

This holiday season I participated in a card swap on one of the message boards.  The relaxed rules allowed us to send as many or as few cards as we liked. They could be handmade or store bought.  There were over 80 names I think by the end.  I did 30 something cards.  I haven't counted how many of these are from the swap but I'm sure I received more than 30 in return.

They are gorgeous, creative, fun cards filled with the love of the makers/senders.  I plan to do a page on this event later one but just wanted to share my holiday spirit.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent me a card this year!  Every card brought a smile when I opened them and again when I put them up and I'm sure again when I go through them at the end of the season.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Wrapping Up and Starting Fresh

I always say that Christmas is my favorite holiday.  I do love Christmas.

I'm starting to think though that there is really another holiday that is my absolute favorite - New Years.  Now we don't do anything special at all for New Years Eve.  I've stayed up only a handful of times.  To great the new millennium, we actually set an alarm for a few minutes to midnight, got back up and rang in 2000!  I'm just not a night owl.

What I love about the New Year is the chance to reflect and make plans.  Last year I did a whole series of blog posts on the new year.  I thought I'd share the links again:

A week of endings and beginnings - Prompts for reflecting on the current year.  I promise you doing this exercise will give you a real boost.  You have accomplished even more than you think.

Accomplishments Page and Video - Creating a page from answers to the prompts

New Year's Resolutions - How to make resolutions that stick.  I finally figured out a few years ago how to make a resolution and keep it all year long!

A dream or a wish?  -  The difference between goals and objectives and how to use them to help you.

2014 Next Steps (layout with video) - A way to organize your plans in a booklet on a scrapbooking page. It makes a great reference throughout the year.

I'm reflecting on 2014 - what worked, what didn't, what I accomplished, what is in process.   Sometimes it is perfectly okay to discard an idea or plan.  I'm also starting to think of what I want to accomplish in 2015.

There will be some scrapbook layouts on this in the new year.   If you want to follow along with you own layout, be sure to get some photos of yourself for the pages.  The holidays are a great time to get someone to take your photo or of course you can do a selfie.

I hope you are having a safe and happy holiday season!

Monday, December 22, 2014

Thrift Store Finds

One person's trash can truly be another's treasure.

I found some brand new and slightly used Stampin' Up! goodies at the Goodwill.  Also, I've been to a repurposing warehouse in our area run by one of the missions.  They sell creative things people make by repurposing fabric, wood, old furniture, nuts and bolts, pretty much anything you can think of. In the back are things you can purchase for your own projects. I share a few of these in the video.



There will be one more process video with sketch this month.  Soon the 2014 Sketchbook with 52 sketches will be available.  Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Wedding card and gift


I went to a cousin's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  I could tell from the invitation they were going for a country theme.  There was an image of a mason jar with a daisy in it so I lifted the idea for her card.  The jar is an image from the Silhouette store and I put the inside in vellum.

The wedding was a perfect blend of theme and tradition.  The bride wore a traditional but not fussy ivory gown. The bridesmaids wore red satin knee length dresses paired with cowboy boots.  They carried a mason jar with a lit candle inside and a sprig of greenery and a pine cone on the outside.  The groomsmen had on red shirts, ties and black pants and probably boots though I didn't notice.  The Christmas tree covered with Chrismons and one altar arrangement were her flowers.  The programs were printed on kraft paper and reminded me of a placard for a old country store with each item typed into a box in varying fonts. We didn't go to the reception as it was quite a drive away but I'm sure it was also tasteful and fun.  I do love a unique take on a traditional wedding.

Using the colors from the invitation as a cue, I did this canvas for them as a gift.


They can add their own wedding photo.



Congratulations, Samantha and Dustin!  We wish you much happiness.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Using PL cards as anchors for embellishments


I'm not one on the forefront of trends.  You might call me a late adopter.  I just bought my first Project Life cards.

I have looked a them before.  I knew I didn't want to do the whole system but I liked some of the cards I was seeing I just never liked them enough to get a big kit or even a pack like they have a Michaels.  I found these from WR Memorykeepers the other day at Walmart and really liked the colors and designs.  Plus there were only 18 in the pack for $1.77.  Easy and cheap enough to experiment with.

For the layout, I used photos of my husband's family from his visit back home in June.  He sees his sister at least once a year and this year got to see quite a bit of the rest of the family. He will handwrite in the names.








The cards anchor each of the embellishment groups.  More detail is in this YouTube video:



And here is the sketch.  It is actually a 2 pager and I just used one page for this layout.




I'm hard at work on my 2014 Sketchbook which I plan to have out in early January.  I have one more process video for this year coming up next week.  We may sneak in a shopping video or something else too before the year winds down.

Thanks for visiting!

Monday, December 15, 2014

For a boy and a girl (and shop video)


One thing I'm learning about making canvases that serve as photo frames, it is really tough to do one for both a boy and a girl together.  I had a request to make one for a gift that would have a photo of a little girl about 1 year old and a boy about 4 or 5 years old.  Pink and blue was the suggested color combo and she wanted the design to completely wrap the canvas.

I used the children's initials. The little girl's part was easy, some flowers and rhinestones, jewels buttons, and lace. Piece of cake.



A boy is much tougher for me.  Adding some citron green would keep the pink from overtaking things I reasoned.  I also used some Tim Holtz gears.  The little boy's grandfather is a mechanic and I'd been asked to incorporate a car.  Stampin' Up!'s Loads of Love has a truck that I stamped at the top of the frame.   I kind of wish I hadn't colored it in, but I needed a bit more blue.



Adding the flair was a last minute decision. That and the little boy and girl in the key are my favorite embellishments here.  There is also sheet music from "It's a small world."

My understanding is that the grandmother who will use the canvas was delighted.  Personally I think next time I would do a multicolor one with a lot of white space in the background.

Over the weekend, I made a video of my work area and my canvases currently in my Etsy shop. There is a multcolor one with lots of white space.



My shop is Lovely Layers Art. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I have a scrapbooking process video for you tomorrow or Wednesday.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Good Fishing



When my husband goes to see his grandson each summer, they fish - a lot!  I always ask if they caught anything and he quickly explains that they are about the 'fishing experience.'  In other words, no, they don't catch anything.

So imagine my surprise when about 10 minutes into his fishing at a local lake when he is already catching something. I had to scramble for my camera.  We thought it was a catch and release pond but later found out it wasn't so next time he will take a cooler.

This is one of my favorite layouts of the year.  I like the photos on the diagonal and the Silhouette die cut.  This month's focus is on using my electronic die cutter. It is the biggest single investment in my craft room and I want to put it to even more use.


I used some ink on some of the edges of the trees and waves.


The papers are from a My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad called Jubilee that I've had for months.  I love the colors.

Here is the Process Video on YouTube:



And here is the sketch:


This will be part of my 2014 Sketchbook available in early January.  The December newsletter goes out later this week. Sign up on the sidebar.

 Thanks for visiting today!

Friday, December 5, 2014

Photo Canvases



I've been playing with using photos on canvases.  I did these for friends.  (The girls are adorable but they are not mine to share photos of.)  The photos are regular prints from Walmart that I painted over with Mod Podge.


I added lots of lace, flowers and gems.


The book paper is from a 1950's sewing book.  It is filled with illustrations and just a couple with little girls.


I struggled more with the small canvas than the larger one.  I had this idea of what I wanted to do but I put the photo a little too far in the corner for it to work so I used more flowers and buttons.  The children's mother was very pleased with it.

Light modeling paste is one of my favorite mediums.  It is like marshmallow fluff in consistency.  I usually color it with ink refills or sometimes highly pigmented paint.  Sometimes I leave it white as I did with the alpha stencil design.  I snuck in a few Studio Calico butterflies as well on the large canvas.


These were such fun to do.  I have another one on my table in process.  It is a commission and I've been asked to cover the entire back base rather than leave the white areas.  Just a different look.

Thanks for stopping by!  Visit me at my Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/LovelyLayersArt

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Cooking on Tuesday


A simple 4 square grid took me a bit longer than I expected.  I played awhile on this page.  The subject is a day-to-day one this year as I have been doing some cooking for my parents once a week.




The papers are from October Afternoon's Public Library. The B sides are very homey.  Originally I was going to use an ivory background but changed to a warm woodgrain from Crate Paper that really makes those patterns pop.


This month my YouTube videos will feature die cutting.  The 'shelf' is cut on the Silhouette.  I started as a one color image but I cut a bunch of them and paper pieced with a little stamping and rub-ons thrown in.

Here's the video at YouTube:


And here is the sketch:



There is a reference early on to my newsletter. You can sign up for the free newsletter on the sidebar of the blog.  I'll send out one for December in a couple of weeks.

Oh and since it is Tuesday, lunch for 4 is simmering away in the crock pot.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Sunday, November 30, 2014

November Gratitude and TrueScrap Discount Ending



Reminder:  TrueScrap 6 Individual classes discount price of $9.99 US per class ends tonight!  Find out more here.

How was your Thanksgiving?

I had a really nice Thanksgiving week.  Now for me that is quite remarkable because I admit I'm a Thanksgiving Scrooge.

Turkey is not my favorite and I just plain don't like stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pumpkin pie.  You can imagine how I feel about cooking all that for only 3 other people.  So this year I cooked ham, sweet potatoes (the one traditional item I do like) and pumpkin pie for my husband who loves it.  I had plenty of chocolate ice cream in the freezer so I survived the holiday just find :-)

The other reason I'm a Scrooge at Thanksgiving is that something always goes wrong in November.  And plenty did this year but the week of Thanksgiving ran smoothly and I enjoyed myself a lot.

My parents joined us for lunch and seemed to really like the meal.  I got all my Christmas decorations up by Wednesday afternoon.  I even vacuumed and put the boxes back upstairs!  We helped my parents rake leaves getting that task completed before the holiday also.  I had my first experience using a blower.  If my aunt was watching us out her kitchen window, I'm sure she had a chuckle or two at my efforts although I did get the hang of it.

I do love decorating for Christmas, I like the baking, cardmaking and sharing, and just the general feel of Christmas.

So I have several things to be grateful for this week including:

My mother starting me on decorating my garlands.  It was her idea to put a garland up the stairway years ago and she bought a lot of my ornaments at after Christmas sales.  She is not a shy shopper and has been known to climb up on displays to get the ornaments she wants.  I've added to the collection and still love my garlands.  I finally gave in and went to a small artificial tree rather than a large real one.

My family for being flexible in what they eat for Thanksgiving (since I'm the only one who cooks, they don't have a lot of choice but still...)

My first Etsy sale!

Electric leaf blowers and mowers that pick up leaves.  I remember as a teenager having to rake and haul and we did the work in a quarter of the time with the right equipment.  The 50 year old trees at my parents house produce a lot of leaves!

My husband who is the most easy going person in the world taking everything in stride.

With just a hectic month, I haven't always noted my gratitudes but I do find myself counting my blessings more even if I don't write them down.  So for that I'm also grateful to November.


Reminder:  TrueScrap 6 Individual classes discount price of $9.99 US per class ends tonight!  Find out more here.

Friday, November 28, 2014

From Pins to a Page



Isn't Pinterest a wonderful thing?  I still don't really know how they make money but I know I love having a place to organize my links online.  Are there ads?  I haven't noticed.

Recipes, mixed media inspiration, and other scrapbooker's pages are some of my favorite things to pin.  I'm good at referring to the recipes and the mixed media but many of my other boards get added to but not really used.

That is why I took Kelli Crowe's Saw This, Made That class from True Scrap 6. The individual classes are on sale this weekend.  Check them out here or with the link at the end of this post.

Kelli shares how she uses pinboards for inspiration for scrapbook pages.  She shows 10 layouts with several techniques along the way.  She inspired me to create the layout above from this pinboard I'd done months maybe a year ago for some challenge on Two Peas or some other reason.  I can't remember but I'm glad I did. I love the images I just didn't quite know what to do with them


When I created the board I was drawn to brighter colors (still am) and the rainbow effect.  So I used this idea for the watercolor flowers on my pages.




The flowers are cut on the Silhouette after coloring the paper and letting it dry thoroughly.  I used the coverstock setting with blade depth of 7 and only a single cut, not the double cut it defaults to.  I recommend a very sticky mat for this as that watercolor paper wanted to start crawling on my last piece.

Here is the process video at YouTube:

If you want to catch Kelli's class or any of the other great instructors in True Scrap 6, the classes are $9.99 through November 30.  (Regular price is $14.99)  There is also a code on this link to purchase them all for a lower price.  True Scrap 6 Individual Classes link

Today I'm grateful to have mailed off a canvas from my first Etsy sale.  Yeah!  Can't wait to make more.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

True Scrap Classes Available

The individual classes from October's True Scrap event are on sale now.

And through November 30, they a great discount at $9.99 each. (regular $14.99)

Classes from Nichol Magourik, Jennifer Gallacher, and many more.  I love the individual classes because I can buy just what I want and watch the class replay whenever I like.

You've got lots of scrapping stuff.  Learn more ways to use it from these talented ladies.

Click here for more info...

Hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  And a big thanks from me to those who have purchased my classes and who watch and comment on my videos!

Monday, November 24, 2014

My Everyday Circus (video)



Normally, I never use preprinted title pages.  I'm more of a B side scrapper.  This paper from Fancy Pants has a really pretty red circle pattern B side; however, I couldn't resist the actual title.  It is especially true of a layout about dealing with one of the many invaders of our bird feeder - a small opossum.  The little critter lodged itself in the feeder at night last March and refused to move until daylight.  Finally my husband put wire around the feeder in the late afternoon and removed in the mornings until the opossum got the "no vacancy" message.

So few creatures seem to understand that a bird feeder is for birds.  Don't even get me started on the squirrels.

I trimmed the A side paper down some to save a bit of that red for other projects and used the homey plaid for the background with the middle cut out of course :-)


Some Washi dresses up this tag with a squirrel - I doubt anyone makes a opossum embellishment.


Here's the video at YouTube:  (this has been reloaded to get all the audio)


Thanks for visiting today!  If you are traveling this week for the US Thanksgiving holiday, I hope you will be safe and enjoy your time with family and friends.  Today I am thankful for my kitty Jasper who keeps us entertained - and mouse free!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Pre-Thanksgiving Sale!

One thing I am thankful for this week is great television. I've enjoyed all my favorite shows this week. I'm particularly addicted to the Thursday night lineup on ABC. One thing I'm sad about though is that several of my shows are taking a break until after the new year.

With TV slowing down, it is a great time to catch up on on-line classes.  I have a treat for you...

All of my classes are 20% off through Monday at 5:00 p.m. ET!

Check out the class page for info on Creative Cardstock, Two Page Terrific and Scrapbooking with Stencils and to register.

Hope to see you in class!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sale coming! Have you heard?

In the November newsletter that went out yesterday, I announced a pre-Thankgiving sale.  All of my classes will be 20% off!  I'll send out an e-mail in a couple of days to give you the exact sale dates.  Be sure you are signed up for the newsletter or check back here on the blog this weekend.

Also today, I have a little story that expresses a gratitude this month.  See this blue crock?  It originally came from the All Healing Springs hotel.  All Healing Springs was a popular summer resort in the early 20th century here in my area.  The hotel burned decades ago.  I thought it had burned before my parents were old enough to remember but I was wrong.  I was treated this week to a little memory of my mothers from when she was a teenager.  This is very rare and I'm grateful something good came out of the challenges this month.

The day after my uncle died, my mother called and told us her washing machine was leaking. Water was coming out all over the utility room floor and she didn't know how to turn it off. Daddy has been under the weather and couldn't help her.  We raced up there.  Her water controls are behind the washer in such a way that it has to be moved to turn the water off.  Fortunately my husband was home and could move the washer and do this for us.

He spent 2 hours trying to fix the washer and figured out the problem but by then she had decided she would replace it altogether. So later in the day, DH went to see some clients while Mother, Daddy and I shopped for a new washer. On the way home, she asked if I was coming up to help her get everything out of the utility room.  Daddy reminded us the washer was still between the cabinet and the wall making the room impassable. So I said, we would have to wait until my husband could get home, right the machine and move it.

Did my mother listen to that?  Well, she listened, she said she agreed but you can imagine what happened. She was determined to clean up her utility room.  I'd also noticed some precariously leaning shelves when we were out there and told her we needed to secure those to the wall.

About an hour and half after we got home from the appliance store, she called and I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying. I'm still not sure.  I literally dropped the phone on the floor and raced up there.  The shelves had turned over on her.  She was sitting in the living room unhurt, thankfully.  The same can not be said for the utility room, particularly the carpet. When the shelves came down so did a open gallon of Windex followed by an open box of Tide.  To say it was a mess is an understatement.  So I finally persuaded her to stay outside while I held the shelves with one hand and handed her stuff with the other.

We got everything cleared and over the next few days, new carpet and a new washer were installed.  I brought home a few things she had stored there including this crock that she said was valuable.  Mother isn't a blue person so I really didn't know why she had it at all.

One evening they were here at my house and I asked where the crock came from.  She told me she bought it at the estate sale for a house at All Healing Springs.  She also told me about going to the hotel when she was a teenager for dinners sponsored by political parties.  The Republicans had chicken at their dinners and the Democrats ate fish.  Apparently this was a longstanding tradition.  She talked about the family that owned the hotel and she and Daddy recalled the movie theater the hoteliers owned in town.  She told about going to matinees there during the war. This led to other reminiscing.

I'm grateful for this because my parents seldom talk about their lives as teenagers and young adults.  They married a little older than was the custom at the time so their single years are ones I've always been curious about.

So the little blue crock is at my house.  I don't know anything about its history but because of it, I know a bit more about my parents.
---

Don't forget to check back this weekend for more info on the pre-Thanksgiving sale!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Golden Age



Gold and lots of it are part of this page.  This is the third and final page using this sketch:



This time I did some flipping and photo size changing.  Most of the embellishments are with the circle element which is a stenciled design in gel medium tinted with Perfect Pearls in heirloom gold. For more on using stencils, check out the Scrapbooking with Stencils class where we use all kinds of mediums and techniques on our pages.



I'm having a lot of fun with flowers lately both on canvases and on scrapbook pages.  These are from Wild Orchid Crafts shipped from England. The quality, price, and customer service are great.



Here is the process video at YouTube:



If you aren't already a newsletter subscriber, sign up on the sidebar. The free newsletter goes out Wednesday or Thursday of this week and contains an exclusive video and a little special holiday cheer :-)

My gratitude for today is my aunt Betty, my godmother.  We had a nice chat on the phone last night about caring for parents and it helped.

Hope you have a great day!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Announcing Lovely Layers Art...


my new Etsy shop.

I've shared some of my mixed media canvases on the blog but not nearly all of them.  I have several for sale on my new Etsy shop called Lovely Layers Art.  I hope you will stop by for a visit.

All of my canvases like my scrapbook pages  are built in layers.  On the canvases, I love adding layers of book paper, designer paper, paint, modeling paste, lace, buttons, flowers and whatever else works to create the design.





The layers give the canvases dimension.  You see more each time you look at them. It is a lot like people and life. We are made up of all the things that have happened to us, the decisions we made, and all the people who have influenced us.  We are all layered and it is in exploring those layers that make people especially interesting.


Some of the canvases have photo frames where you can add your own photos to capture a favorite memory in a beautiful space.  These make great gifts.



Some canvases like 'the Four Seasons' below are purely decorative.  Others like the one on top have an inspiring quote.



I hope you will find exploring the layers of my art pieces at Lovely Layers Art interesting as well.

Thanks for stopping by.  Oh, and the November newsletter will be coming out this week so be sure to sign up on the side bar if you haven't already.
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