3 Panel Mixed Media

(Caution:  Photo heavy post.)

When I took Christy Tomlinson's wonderful Behind the Art workshop last April, I had in mind doing something for my guestroom/scraproom.  I've had several other things hanging over the bed.  The last was a wall quilt I made but I removed it when I changed the bedding about 3 or 4 years ago and it didn't match.  Since then, this wall has been bare with only nail holes to remind me that it was time I dressed it up.

So after making a few mixed media canvases, I dived into this project. The concept was inspired by NC Weekend's logo.  This is a show on our PBS channel and they have a simple line drawn logo with mountains, to the city to the sea.  I didn't use city buildings but opted for houses instead and a whole lot of paint and color!

 I took a few photos along the way.  As I got toward the final coats, I forgot to take pictures.  This took me weeks of doing a bit at a time.  I'd spread everything out on my worktable, do a layer or two and then set it aside and stare at it off and on over the next week.  Then I'd try again the next weekend.

The first layer of designer papers and fabric pattern tissue paper.  I used the lines in the multi-size patterns to create mountains.

Added some paint and stenciling.

The houses without any detail - just paper.  The trees at this point are fiber paste colored with brown stamping ink refill and some green pattern papers.

All the basics in place but no shading.  The sky is pretty busy here and there are some 'flowers' too near the beach house.

As I got close to done, I went ahead and hung it to get a better view and decide what was missing.  It wasn't what was missing, it was that there was too much. I had the flower bushes (I guess that was what I was going for).  I finally pulled those off altogether and added another tree.  Also, I had too much color change in the sky so I toned that down a bit. I did add another stencil and yellow paint for more focus on the sun. I love paint.  You an just keep going over things until you are happy.

Well, I'm OK with it.  I'm not overjoyed.  There is still something that doesn't quit sit right with me.  I like many of the components.  I'm especially happy with the 'grass' area, the wording and the beach house. It just isn't quite the sum of its parts to me.

However, it is done.  My wall isn't bare anymore. Yeah!

A close up of the grown with the large stencil areas and some of the fabric pattern 'mountains.'

The quote is "The World is but a Canvas to the Imagination."  Thoreau.  

The tree I added to replace those flowers.

Some house details.

A little calmer skies.

So I have something cheery over my guest bed.  And now I can finally film a scraproom tour video.  As soon as I clean up...

Using old product - 70's anyone?

(caution:  photo heavy post)

Today's challenge at Layout A Day has us digging into our stash for old scrapbook product, really old.  I still have scrapbook product and tools going back to 2001.  And if I can count the non-scrapbook specific crafting materials that I now repurpose for scrapbooking, I can go back to the 1970's.

That's right, the 70's.  That is when I did counted cross stitch and accumulated a lot of DMC embroidery floss.  In the '80's, I gave candlewicking a try and did one project.  But I still have the thread and it is in with my twines for scrapbooking.  So those went into this selection of old stuff.

The scrapbooking items here include stickers and large chipboard letters I bought at a scrapbook outlet about 2004.  There are Zig markers that I got when my husband took me scrapbook shopping for our first wedding anniversary in 2002.  There's mulberry paper, remember that?  The raw chipboard is the last of some I got from Oriental Trading so long ago they have finally stopped sending me catalogs.  I selected these things to use on my page:

Those huge letters on the left were bought about 2006, I think, and I've used two letters total, but there is only one of each letter of the alphabet so they are very limited.  What was I thinking?

I did not do a video today.  I took photos along the way so I'll go through a bit of my process for creating the page above with really old stuff.

For the background, I'm using something from my mulberry paper folder.  This is the weight of cardstock but has the textured look and feel front and back.  The backside is a chartreuse green and I have two pieces of it.  The letters are Oriental Trading.  I debated cutting my photo in a circle with my CM cutters (2001) that I still use all the time.  But I decided to keep something about this a bit more modern.

For the letters, I'm using a technique from Wilna Furstenberg's wonderful class heART class at Two Peas (the first one, haven't had time to take her 2nd one yet.)

I painted all the chipboard with a heavy layer of gesso.  She encouraged us 'glob' it on.  Then go over all of it with watercolors.  It really is a beautiful technique.  I also used this on some covered chipboard from K& Company that wasn't the right color for my project - but it is several years old too.  I outlined a few pieces with the old Zig markers.  The beauty of using old stuff is if you mess it up it doesn't matter.  It seemed to be hard on the pens - marking on the paint - but they recovered.

Just this morning I saw on Chantal Vanderburg's blog a layout where she used modeling paste on her chipboard 'waves.'  I decided to give it a try and used what was left of that Oriental Chipboard as a stencil. It turned out pretty but I thought a bit too white for the rest of my page so I gave it a coat of Heidi Swapp mint green mist with a paint brush leaving a little white showing through.

We're almost done!  I adhered the large "love" letters down and then glued all the other words over top.

To work in the DMC floss, I stitched around the photo very casually.  I didn't even use a punching template for this.  I'm getting brave here.

And here's the page again and the details:

There's no journaling.  I think this will be a title page for our 2013 album.

Worked in the candlewicking thread to hold together my tags.  I did have to sneak in a couple of wood veneer pieces.  The one on the bottom covers a seam in the yellow cardstock.

So that's my page!  The only products from this decade are modeling paste, mist, and the wood veneer hearts.

This was such a fun challenge.  I'm really glad I didn't have to time this one!  As you can tell, I save a lot of stuff.  Don't tell my husband that, OK?  I'm always after him to clean up.  :-)

Hope you have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by!

In under 30 minutes

I knew this one was coming - a LOAD prompt to do a page in a short amount of time.  Today is the day so I timed myself doing this page.  I already had the idea of what I wanted to do.  I spent 5 minutes gathering all the supplies except embellishment.  That is where I got a bit stumped.  Then I remembered a stamp set I'd recently gotten.

I typed up the journaling. The actual page took 13 minutes to do!  I didn't fuss over everything so the lettering isn't perfectly straight.  The story got told.

Journaling reads:

My mother always said she didn’t know how she would have gotten me fed in the morning if not for Captain Kangaroo.  She put my high chair in front of our only TV and I sat mesmerized by the Captain, Mr.  Green Jeans, Moose, the bunny rabbit and the falling ping pong balls as she scooped in baby food.

I started with the '50's clock' stencil from Crafter's Workshop on an ivory cardstock background.  I added Washi tape to the opposite corner and then built in the rest of the layers. The baby-themed stamps provided the embellishment.

Here's the SHORT process video at YouTube:


Here's the sketch for this page:

And all of 2013 sketches are available in one PDF for only $8.  Each page gives measurements and substitutions to stretch the sketches even further.  More details here.

I can't say I was looking forward to doing a fast page, but I do like the result.  I also learned some things about my stash and my process.  I truly do need to buy more embellishments.

Also, I need to declutter my adhesives.  I kept getting things out and then putting them up.  I wish I'd realized this before I went to the Container store last week.  I'm sure I can find or make something that will fix the problem. I never realized what a time waster my current system is.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cookbook Memories

My very first cookbook was one published by the church I attended growing up.  It is still my favorite and the source of many treats.  One of those is our Christmas cheese ball. I've made that recipe almost every year since I was a teenager.

Today's LOAD prompt has us focusing on the small events of life.  I thought I was picking this one memory from Christmas.  When I started thinking and journaling, I really had 3 stories to tell with these photos.  So I included them all in the pocket behind the photos.

My aunt Betty recommended this particular recipe and gave me a tip to make it easier to make.  I've since learned that if you mix everything up in your mixer with the dough maker attachment, it is a snap to make.  I haven't learned how to take all the calories and cholesterol out so we just save this for the holidays.

I didn't have any cooking themed stamps or embellishments so I framed a little cutout from the pattern paper.

I had a friend who loved cheese ball and the recipe always makes me remember him.  I also journaled quite a bit about the cookbook.  I could have gone on and on about my early cooking efforts.  It is amazing what a photo or two can bring back.

For the page, I used a 3 photo sketch from my sketchbook PDF which you can find out more about here.

And the video is here or at YouTube:


Thanks for watching today.  LOAD continues and I'll do more videos but probably not every day.  I've got a class to get ready!

Welcome to February! Heritage page and video

Februarly is a busy, busy month here on the blog.

The 21st is my blogaversary.  5 years!  So I'll be having a giveaway a bit later in the month.  Be sure to stay tuned for that.

Soon I'll be announcing my next self-paced class.  I'll give you a hint - you can have twice the fun!

And today is the first day of LOAD214 - Layout A Day for February 2014.  I've already said I probably won't create a page every single day.  I do plan to do several of the prompts sent out by the organizer, Lain Ehmann.  So there may be more scrapbook pages and hopefully more videos coming along this month.

I finished my first page before noon today!   Today's prompt related to less than perfect photos.  I chose to interpret the prompt by using a photo that used to be just about perfect.  Everyone said what a wonderful photo it was of my grandmother and me.  It was made in one of those traveling photo booths that had setup in the supermarket parking lot one weekend in the late 1970's.  I don't know how anyone talked my grandmother into the photo but I remember it being taken.

The photo is now very faded and stained a bit on the side.  I found it in a box of her things in storage.  I've scanned it and am using the original on the layout as I can't think of a safer place for photos that scrapbook albums.

What I love about the photo is that my grandmother is smiling.  Here's the journaling:

Maw Maw rarely smiled.  She was a kind woman who’d had a hard life.  And she was a worrier. At the end of the day, she would often be sitting with her head resting on one hand looking so sad. I’d ask her what was wrong.  “I’m just worried, honey,” she’s reply.  I always thought what a waste of time it was to worry.  I didn’t understand her until I grew up and realized how easily worry can invade your thoughts and steal all your time and spirit.  I love this photo, not just because it is a rare photo of the two of us, but because she is smiling.  When she would smile, it was magic.  She was transformed from the worrying wife, mother and grandmother into a younger spirit.  

The page uses an older Stampin' Up! paper collection and matching stamp.  I did a lot of distressing to the edges of the papers and added some stitches.  To keep everything from being too matchy matchy, I used some very old book paper behind the journaling, for the embellishment and for the date.

Here's the process video at YouTube:


And here's the sketch.  I allocated the whole day for the first day of LOAD so I had enough time to do a new sketch for this one. Last year's sketches are available from the link on the sidebar to the right.

If you'd like to join in the LOAD fun, you can find all the info here:
Click here to view more details

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp Set Prize

Look at all the fabulous goodies I got in the mail!

I won Mary Marsh's blog candy from her blog The Charmed Life.  I mentioned in a video recently how my husband had been given a box of pinball parts that you would have thought was gold.  Well, I was the same way opening this box with gobs of Stampin' Up! stamp sets, paper and buttons.  It was a delight!

It's gotten me back to making a few cards for Operation Write Home.  I sent off my last box in August so it was high time I made a few to give away.  Here are a couple of those made in the last few days.

Sometimes you just want to color.  This uses the Time Well Spent set.  

I also got some coloring in with the Love Ya Bunches and Smorgasboarders sets.  My paper piercing pack helped with the holes for stitching around the buttons.

So thanks so much, Mary!  I'm loving all these goodies.

We are all snowed in today here in the South.  It only takes a little to keep us housebound. Hope you are warm and dry wherever you are.

1 Sketch the 4th way

We love biking on Hilton Head Island. There are miles and miles of bike paths.  All are flat and well maintained.  There are also miles of golf course paths - not so flat but very pretty. Occasionally you get hit with a sprinkler but that is part of the fun.  I've done photos and layouts before about biking on the golf cart paths in the evenings. Good thing because those days may have come to an end.  They are changing the rules.  I hate that!

This is just one of the courses so I don't know about the other one we have access to. Last summer we were just biking around and saw they had painted over the hours on the sign.  So basically NO biking, jogging or walking on those paths anytime.  That's a shame because the courses are so pretty and near deserted in the evening.

This is the last of 4 pages using this sketch.

For the page, I expanded from 3 photos to 4 and moved the band at the bottom up to take up the entire lower part of the page.  I didn't have a bicycle stamp I liked so I used clipart for the bike image.

After finishing and photographing, I realized that should have been an exclamation mark not a question mark.  I added some arrows to emphasize a photo and journaling.

Wood veneer starbursts, Washi and enamel dots finish off the embellishments.

Here's the process video at YouTube:

And here are all 4 layouts using that sketch.  The other blog posts with videos are:

Trash to Treasure

Happy 90th

Home Remedies  the first video in the series

I've gotten such wonderful feedback on this series.  Thank you all for your comments.  I'll definitely do it again - I've already scribbled out a sketch and picked some photos.  It may be March though. In February I'm going to be following many of the prompts from Layout A Day.  There will be plenty of videos to go with those pages, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges - Neutrals and Texture

This page started as a challenge to myself to do a neutrals only page.  I'm a color person.  When I bought some vintage neutral flair from Prima, I was saying to myself "What were you thinking?"  So I decided to use it on a layout and make it neutrals only.

I was only into this for a short time last weekend when I figured out it would need more than the neutral paper and flair I'd picked out.  This page was going to need some umph in the form of texture. So it works for another challenge, too - a texture challenge.

Texture and neutrals really go together.  I should know this. My mother wears a lot of neutrals.  In fact, just after I finished this page, she showed up here wearing a textured beige and gold jacket with little gold threads woven in.  Her sleeves were peeking out from a black and white chevron sweater with gold buttons.  Layers and texture is what neutral dressing is all about and apparently neutral scrapbook pages, too.

The trim here adds a bit of texture also.  "Sis" is what my husband calls his sister.  I've left room in the pocket for him to do some handwritten journaling about her.  The photo is from a visit last summer.

In the video, I quickly add the stenciled background which gets its color from some distress inks.  I was quick and easy. The finished background is here on the right.
Sponging on the ink gave me lots of control and kept the paper from curling as it might with mists.

I used some stitching for the pocket and around one of the paper layers.  I also did some embossing.   Does anyone know of a beige or ivory embossing powder?  White is often not quite right.

There is some stamping on the vellum journaling pocket.

I added some twine behind the pieces of flair.  I chose the frog riding a tricyle for some whimsy and to commemorate my sister-in-law's diverse collection of pets over the years.  I don't think she has ever actually had a pet frog but she has had guineas, peacocks, Dalmatians, geese (that I threatened to turn into Thanksgiving dinner - Geese are mean!), oodles of other cats and dogs.

The video at YouTube:


So that's my page for today.  Thanks for stopping by!  The last of the 1 Sketch 4 Ways series will be up later in the week.