Paper Pierced card with Scallop Corners

Happy Tuesday!  Here is the last of the paper pierced cards using the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack from the Stampin' Up! main catalog.  All the cards were designed to be used with the pack but not necessarily having all the punches and dies.  I think this one is my favorite.

I'd had an idea of using this pierced image on a card with something in the middle.  I was flipping through the catalog in preparation for a Sale-a-bration order when I spotted on one page 114 that was similar to my idea.  They used a butterfly and only one row of piercing.

In the middle of my card are just notched rectangles.  The video shows how to create the notches using a 1/2" circle punch.  The scallops are done with the regular scallop punch.  I'm not sure the exact size.  It is the one we've had forever in the SU! catalogs.

These cardstocks are from Papertrey Ink as they matched my designer paper best.

Watch at YouTube


I've really enjoyed playing with the paper piercing pack.  Here are links to the other 4 cards made with the pack:

Circle Scallop Edge
Cross My Heart
Countryside
Rainbow Card 


Thanks for joining me today!  A Project Life/multi-photo layout is coming up later in the week.

For Good Health

When I sleep, I grind and clench my teeth - a lot.  It has created all kinds of problems with my teeth and jaw.  I've worn some type of bite guard for nearly 20 years now.  A couple of years ago, my guard suddenly wasn't enough.  I tried a lot of things to help me sleep better and be calmer including acupuncture which was very helpful, massage that felt great but I'm not sure helped much and mediation.  (ETA:  I mean Meditation not mediation.  That would be fun - debating with my jaw "If you'll let me rest good tonight, I'll give you ice cream tomorrow." :-)

Also along the way, I noticed some changes in my sleep that didn't have anything to do with teeth grinding.  Age was catching up with me!  Oh how frustrating.  So I did some research and found that I might improve things with some dietary changes.  Believe me, giving up chocolate ice cream and soda were definitely the last things on my list I wanted to try.  

Yet, it was one of the best things I've ever done.  I try to eat a cleaner diet.   I choose foods that have few ingredients, eat mostly things I prepare myself.  It's been nearly a year since I had a single sip of soda and really don't miss it.  I replaced the chocolate ice cream with a much smaller amount of fruit sorbet and have a fruit, oatmeal and Greek yogurt smoothie for breakfast every day.  I so still eat some chocolate but with fewer ingredients.  I do sleep better and I have more energy each day.  This sounds so cliche yet it is true.   

So this page reflects some of the things I tried in my quest to be a healthier and calmer in 2012.

For the page, I CASEd the design from one in Wilna's Art class at Two Peas.  I used a larger grid with fewer photos and more chipboard pieces.  Wilna showed us a technique with gesso and watercolor paints that creates a beautiful finish for chipboard.   The pieces look like an faux finished wall.

I love undressed or raw chipboard.  You can paint it, stamp it, color with a marker, cover with pattern paper and emboss it.  It is one of the most flexible scrapbooking supplies.  I haven't bought any new pieces in a long time because I bought so much a few years ago from Oriental Trading company and Stampin' Up!

One of the most important thing I learned about being healthy is to trust your heart and your instincts.

Thanks for visiting today. Tomorrow I'll have the last Paper Piercing Pack card and video.

Lattice Background and Watercolors

Have I mentioned that I am now in love with watercolors?  Oh, I do love the pretty effects of mixing colors and less-than-perfect is what is beautiful.  We've been using them in Art Class and I haven't even tried all the techniques yet.  So much fun in such an inexpensive package.

For this card, I CASEd two different cards using the lattice background stamp from Hero Arts.  This one from Mary Dawn has the pretty hand cut edge which I thought was an ingenious take on this stamp. And this one from Jennifer McGuire uses distress markers to color in each of the little space.  I used warm color watercolors over the embossed image.  The colors ran into other spaces. I'd then dab a bit more on and get layers and layers of pretty colors.  I can't tell you how long I sat at my worktable coloring this and I loved every minute of it!

The background is Stampin' Up! Basic Gray as a not-too-stark neutral for the warm colors. The card got a very simple finish with some silk flowers and ribbon.

Now off to work so I can have some time to play later on!  I have so many crafty things I want to do this weekend.  Hope you have a great first weekend in March.

Page and Video - Building Embellishment Groups

You know that commercial with the woman who says she needs to go shopping for some new shoes and the next thing you know she is climbing up that itty bitty rock way over the canyon?  My husband covers his eyes.  He can't understand why anyone would do that.  Well, I don't either.  I would never take up rock climbing.  On the other hand,  I do like to get a good view as long as I do it from dry land.  (I get seasick on a ferry.)

Here is the journaling for the page:

The video shares how I line up the text on the ledger lines.  I created the embellishment groupings from a Stampin' Up! stamp, wood veneer pieces, word stickers and a combo of ribbon and Washi.

In the video, I share my process for choosing the elements and layering.  My title ran a bit long so I used some smaller letter stickers and words where possible to finish it off.

Some of the mist is a bit smeared.  It was actually a LOT worse.  At the end of the video you'll see my near disaster or what we'll call a Misting Mishap.  Fortunately there was a way to recover.  The lesson I learned was to blot with a paper towel, not a cloth and to put the mist bottle down when not in use!

With several things covered in the video, it is a longer on than usual.  After the sketch and paper selections, there is a screen that tells what minute each thing starts so you can jump ahead to embellishments or another part if you like.

Watch at YouTube:


Here is the PDF with the sketch and a few tips:  Page with Embellishment Groupings

Next week, I'll have a Project Life page for the last two weeks of February.

Thanks for visiting!

Rainbow Card

The circle portion of the Stampin' Up! Essentials Paper Piercing Pack is one that I could use with my punches as I have several circle punches.  However, I wanted to try something a little different since sewing is so popular right now.  I have two containers full of DMC embroidery floss left from the 70's and 80's when I did a lot of counted cross stitch.  It has come in handy on several papercrafting projects .

The first card I tried, I stitched across and back for this effect:

And the 2nd time through - the one in the video - I did this running stitch - although you don't run so fast on paper :-)

Which do you like better?  I thought I liked the first one best but seeing the card side by side, I think the running stitch makes the rainbow seem bigger.

For the bottom of the card, I've used an old Inkadinkado sentiment.  A St. Patrick's Day one would be perfect here.  The cardstock is Stampin' Up!'s new Gumball Green.

Here is the video at YouTube:


I've got one more of these paper piercing cards coming next week.  It is a dressier card and probably my favorite of the series.

Thanks for visiting today!

First Mixed Media Canvas

I've been wanting to try some mixed media on canvas for quite some time.  I took a short class in December, watched a video and then got busy on other things.  As I've been taking the Art Class at Two Peas, I became reinspired.

All of Wilna's class examples are scrapbook pages.  However, many of these techniques can be done on canvas - probably a lot of them originated there.  To dip my toe in, I bought some little 4x6 inch canvases that aren't stretched over wood but have a chipboard backing.  I created the one above as a stand alone piece but I could also adhere one to a scrapbook page.

The phrase for my piece came to me last week after visiting my financial adviser  As he walked me out, we were reminiscing about the good old '90's.  What a decade!  If I could live any time in my life over, it would be the 90's.  He was thinking of the good interest rates for investments, the long growth spell in the stock market and the reasonable unemployment rates.  I was thinking of those but also the happy times from my corporate career (I tend to forget the working weekends), the years of getting to know the man who became my husband, the vacations when we could go anywhere and do anything without complaining knees, hips and whatever, etc.  It was a wonderful time.  I wish I could relive it.

That doesn't mean that this isn't a wonderful time, too.  And this phrase came to me:

"May today be one I want to Relive, not rewrite."   May I look back on this day and want to do it all over again, just the same.

So I used some stickers and a few typed words to add this to my piece.  The background is a technique from class using art masking fluid and watercolors.  I'm in love with watercolors!  I certainly would have never known what art masking fluid was, much less have used it, if it weren't for class.

I like mixed media because it is very liberating.  Everything here is from my stash. Probably the newest thing is that flower that came in a kit last fall.  I also like that I can put things like the flower on there and not worry about it getting squished in my albums.

So this little piece is propped up in my bathroom window where I can see it while I'm brushing my teeth - starting and ending my day.  Will today be one I want to live again if I could?

The new bed

Hi!  I have a page today about somebody besides Lenny and me!  

Dillon is getting very tall and he got a surprise this Christmas.  Here's the journaling for this page:

“Go clean your room.”  Ah, man, that is not what you want to hear right before Christmas.  Dillon had been trying to guess what his gift would be.  He cleaned up his room and soon his dad was dissembling his bed.  Then they went over to the neighbors and carried a mattress over (the neighbors had been hiding it).  Dillon still didn’t know what was going on.  “It’s your new bed.”  Dillon was thrilled to graduate from a twin to a regular bed for Christmas.  He was even happier when his mom carried in a new TV for his room (though he did think it was for his dad, at first).  Grandma Jeannie gave him a new coverlet. The only drawback was cleaning his room and having to carry in his own mattress.  The price of growing up – and up and up.

For the page, I combined traditional elements like October Afternoon stickers and my homemade tags with a couple of techniques from Art Class.  I got the idea for the negative space lettering without filling in the middle of 'e's and 'o's - sooo much easier! - from Wilna.  I painted strips of acrylic paint in the red, blue and greens to go behind the letters.

The page is for the challenge to try some different kind of stitching techniques on a page.  I tried metallic threads.  I'm glad I gave it a go here and not on a sewing project.  I'm also glad Wilna says she "isn't in the perfect business" because this sure isn't perfect.  You can see that a lot of my stitching rows don't complete or they stop and restart.  My thread broke on every single row.  I finally had luck with a smoother metallic threat.  I've had this thread for years before I got this last sewing machine.  I was working on a Sunday so I couldn't call my sewing machine repair shop to see if they had suggestions - and I admit I still haven't called them.  I'd love to figure out why the metallic is breaking on my Pfaff machine when it sews everything else like a dream.

Anyway, it was a fun technique.  I also sewed various ribbons on a die cut Christmas tree for the embellishment.

I think the marriage of clean elements and artistic, handmade elements worked well.  Now if Jaime will just send me more pictures....

4th Anniversary and *Winner*

Hi!  It's been 4 years since I started blogging.

I know that blogging isn't as 'hip' (or whatever the current word is) that it once was.  Clearly, I'm not that 'hip' either since I don't know the lingo. Perhaps some of you with teenagers can enlighten me.

Other social media has been getting the attention - Twitter, Pinterest (which I love, too), Instagram.  Facebook and YouTube have grown even more popular since I started blogging 4 years ago.  But blogs are still my favorite.  I love to post and to read your blog posts.

Blog are where you can really find out the details on a project, learn more about other people, benefit from other's experiences, and discover common ground.   I've found some value in Twitter but mostly it just tweets me off to other places with links.   Pinterest pictures may be worth 1000 words but I often find myself following the link to get the story behind the photo - how was the project made?  The photo doesn't usually tell you but the blog entry does.

So blogging is still a love of mine. Thank you for stopping by to read my posts and comment on the projects.  I could keep doing this even if know one visited but it is way more gratifying that you do!

And speaking of feedback, I have a winner for the giveaway.



The winner is...

** MSCONWAY2010 **

(MSConway, I've sent you a YouTube message.)

Thanks to all who left me feedback.  I appreciate all your kind comments and am always open to suggestions.  While I enjoy prattling on, I'd still like you to learn something here on the blog and my YouTube channel.

Speaking of YouTube and earlier Pinterest, I've added little buttons on the side for you to find my channel and boards easier.  

Also, I added pages for the blog along the top of the screen.  I have my favorite projects, popular videos and a bit about me.

Now for my card for today:  I've been playing a bit with ideas from the Art Class at 2P's before I use them on a layout.  For the card base, I used a homemade stencil and some gesso which is a new product to me.  It is like a thick white paint.  I then added some splatters of Heidi Swapp Amethyst mist and a homemade blue mist.

The flower was stamped with paint and then stamped again with gesso.  I used some of Wilna, our instructor's, style for creating the borders.

Thanks for visiting today and thank you again for all your feedback!