Giveaway Winners!

Thank you all so much for your kind comments!  As of this morning, I'm at 4,996 subscribers on YouTube so far this morning!  Thank you!   And one other statistic; I counted the other day and I've done 86 videos in 2015.

So let's get to our winners of the giveaway...

Ashley H

Ashley HDecember 28, 2015 at 11:20 AM

5000! That is amazing!:)
I like to keep up by following on You Tube and if I won, I'd prfer the scrapbook/card kit.
Congratulations!

and

Christine

ChristineDecember 30, 2015 at 10:45 AM

Hi Lisa,
Congrats and getting close to 5000 subscribers!! If I won, I would love the mixed media kit. I am now subscribed to your you tube channel.

You will each be getting the kit you prefer.  Just send me an e-mail at lynnelisa@bellsouth.net by January 4 at 9:00 am ET.  If I do not hear from a winner, I will pick another comment. 

Thanks again for your support this year.  I get so much joy out of sharing my projects and learning from everyone else on-line.  I think YouTube is just the greatest thing not just for papercrafting but for learning how to fix stuff and do all kinds of wonderful things.  In fact I have a New Year's Resolution for my own learning in 2016 but more on that later.  For now, Happy New Year!

Looking forward to many more videos in 2016!

Process Video and Title Work

Finishing off 2015 with a process video using the Silhouette for a cute die cut and some title work to match what came with the die cut.

The story here is quite long and will be hidden in the pocket.  My husband and his family went on a tubing trip in 2014 that proved a bit longer for him than expected.  He got separated from the group and ended up spending the night on the Buffalo River with no water or other supplies.  Fortunately he came out the next day just fine with only a bit of poison ivy.

He has told this story so many times I could probably type up the journaling for him, but I want him to do with all the embellishments - ah, I mean facts. :-)

The photos here were at the start of the journey.  For the title, I added onto the die cut to match it as closely as possible.

Here's the video at YouTube:



And here is the sketch:

Check out my Silhouette Titles class on the CLASS page tab.

Be sure and enter the giveaway on this post.  Thanks for stopping by!

The Joy of Holiday Cards

Look at all my cards!

I am so enjoying my holiday cards this year. There are about an half dozen more since I took that photo. About a third of these are family and friends.  The rest are from a card swap I'm doing again online.  It is such a treat to go to the mailbox and have all this happy mail.

Because I was sick with a cold Thanksgiving week when I normally do my decorating, I decided not to put out anything for Christmas.  Almost everything is stored in boxes in the attic and it is an all or nothing project.  So these cards are my decoration.

We have also enjoyed Christmas activities away from home.  I went to Biltmore to see the holiday decorations on a daytime visit.  We've been to a Christmas party and a couple of musical events.  So I've had the pleasure of enjoying other people's decorating efforts.

Thanks to all who sent a card.

5000 Subscriber Celebration giveaway!

4998

4999

5000

I'm almost at 5000 subscribers on YouTube.  Want to help me get to that milestone and celebrate?

If you aren't a YouTube subscriber, I'd love to have you join us.  Click here for my YouTube channel.

Also, I have some goodies for 2 randomly picked commenters on this blog post.

To enter, leave a comment for this post and answer 2 questions...
1)  Which of the two prize packs would be your pick if you won - Scrapbook/Card kit OR the Mixed Media kit.
and
2)  What is your favorite way to keep up with my videos and projects
a) by being subscribed at YouTube
b) by following my blog
c) following me on Facebook
d) following me on Twitter
e) following on Google+
f) being a newsletter subscriber

It is great if you follow more than one way.  I'm just curious which is the favorite.

Comments must be in by midnight December 30. The winners will be announced on December 31.  Check back here to see if you have won and then contact me.  (The vast majority of time, I can not trace back an email address from your comment so you have to check back here to see if you have won and contact me.)  If the winner does not contact me by the morning of January 4, I will pick a new winner(s).  I will ship internationally.

Here is a look at the two kits via YouTube:



(And if you saw the video early on Christmas day and couldn't comment, I apologize.  I uploaded it public before I intended to.)

Again, leave one comment on this blog post answering the 2 questions above by December 30 and then check back on New Year's Eve to see if you have won.

Thanks for following my posts and videos.  I look forward to doing many more videos in 2016,

Using Laminating Film on the Gelli Plate

Hi!  I'm currently watching my driveway start to disappear under the water.  It hasn't quite got there yet but the water is rising.  We are fine in the house.  The ground was saturated before all of this recent rain.

So it looks like a rainy holiday for us which is a perfect time to stay in and play with paint and crafting supplies.

When ordering some perfume for my Mother (shh!  She hasn't opened it yet) from Amazon, I tacked on laminating film and deli sheets for playing with my gelli plate.  Here is my first art journal page using the laminating film in this video on YouTube:



Hope you have a wonderful holiday!  Stop by on Saturday for a special surprise!

Gibbs Gardens

Last September, my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting Gibbs Gardens north of Atlanta. It is only about an hours drive from the city but it truly seems a world away in a very rural setting.  The gardens were private until just a few years ago and are such a treat.  I have a lot of photos and this is my first spread.

It is my 3rd layout from the kit I shared a couple of videos back.  For this layout, I used cardstock for the background and just a little of the designer paper.  More stickers helped out.  Also I had a bit of a time with my embellishment as you'll see in the video:



Thanks for watching today!

Title page from Kit

This layout is to be the title page for our 2015 album.  I'm continuing along with the kit I created in the last video.  This page uses a lot of the papers and trims.

That isn't the best photo of a layout I've ever done.  IRL it is definitely not that crooked.  Here's the video at YouTube:  (If you aren't already a subscriber, I'd love to have you subscribe.  I'm trying to get to 5000 by year end.)




And here is the sketch:

Thanks for visiting!

Creating a Kit and a 2 Pager (Video)

For this layout and a couple of others coming up, I assembled a kit using Basic Grey's J'Adore and Kaiser Craft Fly Free products.  I also added some more trims, embellishments and cardstock from my stash.

For this first layout, I used some cardstock generously given to me recently.  The colors are lovely nature colors and I'm sure I'll get a lot of use from them.  The photos and embellishments are grouped to form a triangle around the 2 page spread.

First I added some stitching around the entire page.  Also included are a little trim and wood veneers, two of my favorite embellishments.  And this is quickly becoming one of my favorite layouts for the year.

Here's the process video at YouTube:


And here are the sketches:

Paint an Overlay

I love it when a page tells the story almost by itself.  That is my goal on almost all of my pages to choose papers and embellishments that really tell the story.

For this page, it is the technique that helps set the stage.  I've used paint on an overlay to simulate the color throwing that occurred in this charity event.  I think they used chalk instead of paint.  Whatever, the paint 'on' the photos helps convey the idea.

I did most of this layout over a year ago.  For some reason I set it aside and found it this past weekend.  Fortunately I'd recorded most of the work on video so here is the video on YouTube:




Thanks for watching today!

Fall Leaves

I love fall leaves.  So why is it I don't take more photos and do more layouts?  I really don't know.

It seems I do one fall page per year and drag out everything fall in my stash. So for this layout I had to make some decisions.  The video captures some of the though process that goes into sketch design.

The page is also about dividing photos around the page rather than grouping them all together.  It is just a different look in this case.  Of course, there could be a story dictated reason why you might want to separate your photos, I suppose.

Here's the video at YouTube:


Thanks for watching!

Art Journal Process Video

I have an art journal process video for you today.  This one uses the 3x5 Gelli plate over a painted background.  I also do quite a bit of stamping with paint.  The Gelli plate makes applying paint to stamps very easy and even.

Clean your paint brushes and stamps at the same time by running water over both, brushing the paint off the stamp surface.

Here's the video at YouTube:


Thanks for watching today!

Happy Thanksgiving and a new Layout

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers.  I hope you are having a wonderful day with family and friends.

It is just the 4 of us for a simple meal.  Unfortunately I have a cold so I'm keeping the meal as easy as possible.  And truly, I don't care for all the traditional foods anyway.

For my layout this week, I'm going back to summer, one of the hottest days where we spent a couple of hours at an indoor play place with my youngest stepdaughter's children.  It was such fun watching them discover new things. There was so much to do here, I really wanted to be a kid again, too!

The page really stretches one piece of designer paper and gets in quite a few photos and some die cuts.

The video is here:


And here is the sketch:

I'm thankful for all of you who visit and leave me comments or thumbs up on the vidoes.  It means a lot to me that you enjoy the process videos and find some inspiration as I do looking at others videos and blogs. Isn't this a wonderful time to be a crafter with so much inspiration?

Repurposing Craft Items

Do you have a box full of buttons?  I do, plus lots of other things I want to put to use.

I've used a few things already in my craft room for making texture with my gelli plate in this video at YouTube:




Thanks for watching!

Family Time - 5x7 Photo

I could not have planned better colors to match up with this collection from Simple Stories if I had tried.  And I definitely didn't try.

This photo was made when we were leaving one stepdauther's home to drive several hours to the other stepdaughter's.  Comfort, not color, was on my mind when picking clothes.

I couldn't have come up with a more perfect sketch for this background paper if I'd tried and again, I didn't.  It just worked out.   I love it when that happens.

For the page, I used Simple Stories So Rad papers.  I did know that I wanted to use the star theme when I made the sketch but that was it.

The page also gave me a chance to work through some of my chipboard collection.  I want to pare it down but not completely out as I do like painting and stamping chipboard on some of my layouts.

Here is the video at YouTube:


And here is the sketch:

Hope you enjoy!  Thanks for visiting today.

Photos in Circles

Remember when we cut our photos into circles... or ovals... or stars... or hearts?  Oh, my but we did.  That was back in the days of film cameras.  Now where are those negatives to do a reprint?

If you are like me, there is a box stuffed with negatives I'll probably never go through. So when I started seeing layouts with photos in circles I had to talk myself into trying it again.  These days though, if I want a reprint of something heavily cropped, no problem.  I have a digital image and it is backed up.

So bring on those circle cutters!

For the page, I used the Creative Memories circle cutters for both the photos and the pattern paper.  I did wish I'd done the pattern paper on the Silhouette as I explain in the video.

I did use the Silhouette for the descending 'LOW' title as the story tells about my husbands shock at how low the water was near our local park. Where has he been all summer?  Until recently we have been in the midst of quite a drought.

We enjoyed our hike and got in a selfie.

Here's the video at YouTube:



And here is the sketch:

Check out my new class "Using Your Silhouette for Titles and Text"  here.

Thanks for watching!

Making LOTS of holiday cards and using the Washi stash

.

Knowing that I wasn't going to stamp and color all the cards I needed, I designed this card in my head one day.  As I worked on it and filmed the process, I had this sense of deja vu.  Had I made this same card before, I wondered?

I searched my YouTube videos as sure enough, two years ago I made a tree card with Washi tape.  However, this one uses the Silhouette and has several other variations.

Here's the process video for this card on YouTube.  The older version is linked up at the end of the video:



I completed 27 cards this weekend! Yeah!  I had a few more than I thought to begin with so I think I have enough now.  That's good as there are so many other projects underway or rattling around in my head.

Hope you have a great day!

Walking at Branson Landing

We were looking for a walking area while visiting my stepdaughter and her family this summer.  This track was a pretty spot along lake Tanneycomo in Missouri.

For this two pager, I stenciled the background after masking off an area for the 6 photos - some portrait and some landscape.

The title is partially Silhouette and partially Thickers.  I like mixing them for longer titles.  In this video I didn't do the step-by-step for the Silhouette but I do all that in the class I just released.

The leaves are cut from some gelli prints.





Here's the process video at YouTube:



This layout is like a sampler of classes of created.  I didn't intend it that way yet we have a cardstock background, stenciling, a 2 pager and a die cut title!  If any of these fit your scrapping style, check out my class page here.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's here.... Silhouette class is live!!!

Using Your Silhouette

for Titles and Text

Put that Silhoeutte cutter to use and make fabulous pages that really tell your story!

The beauty of having a die cutter is to make lettering in the colors and fonts You want for Your pages.  Plus you can do all kinds of neat things with your lettering that are just way more fun than stickers.

The new Silhouette class is available starting today.

More details and to register, click HERE

Are you getting the most from a valuable scrapping tool?

Using Your Silhouette

for Titles and Text

When I bought my Silhouette (and the Cricket before that), I justified the expensive purchase by saying, "I'll cut out all my titles and I won't need to buy Thickers anymore!"

Sound familiar?  Well, if you've followed my videos you know that I love my Thickers.  However, I do get tired of trying to find the right letters I need in a pack of heavily used ones or having to settle for a color or size that just isn't the best for my layout.

There is a simple fix for this.  USE the Silhouette I bought!  Now I have continuously used the cutter ever since I bought it.  I use it for text and shapes but I knew I could do more.  And I knew that many of you would like to do more with your cutter.

So I hope you will come along with me as we really USE our Silhouette to create titles for our scrapbook pages.

I have a new self-study class available November 4 called

Using Your Silhouette for Titles and Text

In this class you will learn to ...

• Select the best fonts for cutting on your Silhouette
• Use Silhouette cuts for masks and stencils
• Mix fonts and sizes for a fun title
• Use the offset feature for a border around your letters
• Learn a really easy trick for getting long titles of small letters adhered neatly and easily
• Create a long title cut out of the background paper - simple and easy!
• Shape text to a curved line
• Mix text and an image for a custom design to tell your page's story
• Print and cut a title

The class contains 9 layouts from start to finish including step by step instructions for the titling shown in the Silhouette Studio ® software.  There are many more tips for using the Silhouette, design and creating scrapbook pages.

With over 3 1/2  hours of video content, you will become confident in using your Silhouette to create custom titles for your scrapbook pages, cards and other papercrafting projects.

This class is perfect for beginners or more experienced Silhouette users.  The only prerequisite is that you have set up your Silhouette and used it to cut out a few shapes so you know what cut settings work best for the paper you most use.  This class is perfect for beginners or more experienced Silhouette users.  (This class does NOT require the designer edition, only the regular free software available for use with the Silhouette cutters.)

I hope you will join me for this self-paced class available starting November 4!  Introductory price is $20 US.

I can't wait to hear how much more you use one of your most valuable scrapping tools after taking this class!

Shells

Hilton Head Island has a beautiful long, wide continuous beach.  It is perfect for walking, running, playing but shelling?  Not so much.

It is very rare to find good shells on the beach but this year we found a bunch.  It was a treasure trove for us.   Maybe it was all bad weather out at sea or that we were there during a full moon when the tides are higher but whatever, we brought home some pretty things.

For the page, I used a stencil with Martha Stewart Pearl Paints.  I really love how these paints glisten and they dry fast.

Here's the process video at YouTube:



And here is the sketch for this page:

Thanks for watching!

Over the last couple of months...

I've accumulated a few scrapping and mixed media goodies.  Here's the shopping video on YouTube:


Stay tuned to see some of these in upcoming videos particularly the stencils.

Hope you have a great day!

Not sure where this will lead

Often when I start an art journal page, I have no idea where it is going.  I pick colors or stencils that just sort of speak to me that day and go from there.

That is what happened with this page.  I was quite a ways along when it dawned on me that these 3 circles reminded me of spinning plates and I do a lot of plate spinning to keep life on track.

My husband had some serious health issues earlier in the year.  He is doing much better.  My parents though have lots of things that come up. Currently I'm taking my dad to speech therapy twice a week and doing therapy at home with him twice a day.  Some weeks there are 5 doctor appointments between the 3 of them and almost all are in a town 20 miles away.

So this page is about keeping everything running.

Here's the process video at YouTube:


Thanks for watching!  I just finished all my next scrapbook class layouts so I"ll soon be back to regular layouts for you on the channel.

Christmas Card production

Today my mother said she wished spring was starting rather than fall.  I hope she is looking at least a little bit forward to Christmas because these are her cards.  I make a couple of different designs for her each year.

For this one, I used a Stampendous set called Nativity Christmas which I snagged on Ebay.  The process video is here at YouTube:



I'm working on a new scrapbooking class.  Stay tuned for more info coming in the next few weeks.

Thanks for visiting!

2 Art Journal Pages using Distress Paint backgrounds

Distress products are all designed to mix well with water.  One technique with paints and inks is to spread the ink or paint on a craft mat, mist with water and then press your paper into the color.  You get a mottled, marbled look.  It is always different and fun.

The only challenge when working with an art journal is the middle.  All that paint and water can seep down between the pages.  I started with pages that were one continuous sheet across the center. It still left me the holes where the paper is bound together and I did get some seepage in those holes.  You can avoid all this by covering the center with tape and going over it all with gesso.  The trouble is I'm just not that fond of gesso as a background for my pages.

Coating with gesso automatically curls the paper no matter what else you do with it.  Spray inks don't adhere to the back of the paper.  It does have advantages as paint moves well and can require less paint for coverage.  I suppose it is really what look you are trying to achieve.

I've decided that a little bleeding of paint or ink from one page to the next is not going to bother me that much.

For the first page (above), I used some black accents and a stenciled design with a sun theme.

For the 2nd page, I'm welcoming fall.  Now when I did this page almost 2 weeks ago, I didn't know that fall would arrive in the form of a monsoon.  I think we are at 10 inches of rain the the last few days but nothing compared to some parts of the south.  Hopefully all this will go away and we can settle into a nice normal cool fall pattern.

Here is the process video at YouTube.  I used music as I didn't think I needed to talk through it all and I had a cold.  This is my first effort with music and admit that I didn't try to time the music to the activity.



Thanks for visiting today!

Future Scrapbookers of America

My stepdaughter thought I'd enjoy a little scrapbooking when my husband and I visited her in August.  She bought a page kit and set everything out on the dining table.  The first thing she did was unwrap glue sticks and give them to her 2 year old and her 3 1/2 year old.  So you can imagine how things went from there!  :-)

It was fun to play for a few minutes with the Future Scrapbookers of America.  For the page, I used a lot of stickers for the embellishments adding a few wood veneer accents.

Here's the process video.  Watch at YouTube


Thanks for watching!

Summer Stash Use Wrap up

Happy Fall (or Spring for those lucky ones in the Southern Hemisphere)!  Fall is most welcome here after a very hot, dry summer.  It is also time to wrap up my summer challenge.

Around Memorial Day I did a video sharing all the stuff I had pulled from my stash that I wanted to use this summer.  Today I have a video sharing my progress.  I used a few things up.  Mostly I worked down my stash of chipboard, paper and some embellishments.

Did you take the challenge?  Have you used some of your scrapping stash this summer?

Watch at YouTube


Thanks for visiting today!

Art Journal Process Video

I've started a new art journal and wanted to share one of my pages with you.  I'll do a few of these videos mixed in with my regular scrapbook pages.

For this page, I used the 8x10 gelli plate with the journal.  I also used a stencil cut on the Silhouette and a quote from a really cute movie called Hector and the Search for Happiness:

"Avoiding unhappiness is not the road to happiness."

For me this means that if you spend all your time trying to keep away from things that might cause you grief you miss out on opportunities.  Plus it isn't that much fun avoiding grief, trust me. I spend a lot of time doing that rather than just going with the flow - which my husband does.

Here's the video at YouTube:


Thanks for stopping by today!

I love art journaling!

I was so sure that I couldn't do it.

I started an art journal almost two years ago.  I had a plan.  I would do pages about fall and the holiday season with lots of typed up journaling to go with them.  I lasted about a half dozen pages and that was it.

So much for plans.

I tried a couple of other times and was convinced that my left brained self just could not do this.  I would stare at a blank page not sure what to do with it.  I'd make a pretty background and not be able to figure out what to put on it or not want to mess it up.

So what happened?

Well, I kept playing with gelli plates so much that I had more than I knew what to do with.  So I thought I would give it one more shot.

This time I invested in a nice journal and just told myself I wanted to make pretty pages.  I didn't have to add to the background or have a theme.

And it worked.  I loved it from the first page!

So here are the pages:

Watch part 1 at YouTube:



Watch part 2 at YouTube:


Have you tried art journaling?  Do you like it?

Thanks for visiting!

Two pages, 7 photos and some Silhouette titles

For this two pager, I used some Summer Vibes collection from Simple Stories and several things from my stash.

The doily I've had for years.  It came from Hobby Lobby in a pack of different sizes and really fits in with the photos.  I also used an older punch.  Still working through my stash as we wind down summer.

The titles are cut on the Silhouette.  I'm working on a new class for fall all about using the Silhouette to cut lettering.

Here's the video at YouTube:


And here is the sketch:

Thanks for visiting today!

Like Mother, Like Children

It's funny the way you can see the parent in the child.  I never knew my stepdaughter when she was her children's age.  I met her when she was approaching her teenage years but I can still see her traits in her children.  This was the first time I'd met the little girl.  We took them to this play place that made me wish I was there age.  It was full of fun activities including every kind of block to build stuff, areas to climb or crawl around, a 'fishing pond,' and a make believe store.  They had a lot of fun and I enjoyed watching them.  They really concentrate on each of their activities with the same determination I remember in their mother.

For the page, I used a whole bunch of Thicker sets starting with ones that were nearly out.  I also used some Project Life cards.

There are two videos for this week. The first has the entire page from start to finish and the 2nd is the part about printing on the journaling cards.  There are two methods shown for getting the text lined up on the card.  I've always used the first but am doing more with the 2nd 'text box' method as it is really easier.

I didn't say in the video but I print on a just an old Epson ink jet printer, nothing special.

Tip:  When buying a printer, choose one where the paper feeds from back to front as opposed to one that feeds the paper in the front and returns to the front.  The former's paper only has to make a 90 degree turn in your printer and you will have fewer jams.

Process video at YouTube:


Technique video at YouTube:



Thanks for watching!

Quick Page from Sketch

Today's page celebrates a visit from one of Lenny's college friends.  I've heard of him now for 25 years but this summer was our first chance to meet. We had a very enjoyable day.

For this quick page, I used some Basic Grey papers and a sketch from my 2014 Sketchbook found here:  52 Scrapbook sketches

Here's the video at YouTube:


Thanks for stopping by today!