Painted Mini Album (B71B)

General supplies for making album base: pages made from "Today's Story" cut-apart cards from the Echo Park Photo Freedom System; standard office hole punch; upcycled toy linking rings used to bind album; pony bead upcycled from old jewelry.

This month the challenge theme at Berry71Bleu is "you color my world."  I think that the people who add color to our lives are often unsung heroes.  This includes people who support their communities by creating fun, family-friendly activities.  In the case of my family and community, the staff at the Como Park Zoo and the local libraries do so much to enrich our lives via their outreach programs.  So, my project for the "you color my world" challenge is a painted mini album about a fun day out that was co-sponsored by the zoo and the library.  

In this post I'll first walk you through the album (which has only six pages), and then I'll explain my various painting techniques.
 

Supplies for page one: banner stickers by Doodlebug; phrase sticker by Bella Blvd; alphabet sticker negatives by Lawn Fawn; die cut by October Afternoon; stamp by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; watercolors by Angora; acrylic paint by Plaid.

Title: "Discover Africa"
Page one: "Summer fun creates lasting memories."
 

Supplies for pages two & three: labels and blue photo corners by October Afternoon; zigzag photo corners by Bella Blvd; watercolors by Angora; zebra sticker by Doodlebug; lion sticker by Creative Imaginations; pen by Creative Memories.

Page two: "First, a map game and a story about a zebra."
Page three: "Then ambassador animals...a hedgehog and a SNAKE!!!"
 

Supplies for pages four & five: labels and sticker negatives by Cosmo Cricket; die cuts by Lily Bee; word sticker by Bella Blvd; stamps by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; Distress Stain & pearlescent paint by Ranger; pen by Creative Memories.

Page four: "When A. sees snakes he feels compelled to mimic them!"
Page five: "We also had the chance to view African plants."
 

Supplies for last page: die cut card by October Afternoon; label by Cosmo Cricket; elephant stickers by Creative Imaginations; all other stickers by Bella Blvd; stamp by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; pen by Creative Memories.

Page six: "Thanks for all the fun, Como Park and Hennepin County Libraries!  Bravo!"

And now for a few notes about my painting techniques...
 

On page one, I used green watercolor paint to stencil over the background paper, using the negative from an alphabet sticker sheet as my stencil.  I also brushed some yellow watercolor paint along the edges of the page.  After the watercolors dried, I dry-brushed some bright orange acrylic paint onto the edge of the page and also onto the photo itself.  This album uses pint-sized phone photos, and the paint helped the small photo stand out on the album cover.
 

On page three I added a splash of color with a yellow/orange/green watercolor wash.  These watercolors add excitement and interest to the page, yet they are still light enough to be the base for my journaling.
 

My final technique was to use sticker negatives as stencils again, but this time with Liquid Pearls paint.  After the Liquid Pearls dried, I carefully cut along the edges of two of my painted butterflies, so it appears that these butterflies are holding my photo to the page.

I hope that you had fun viewing my mini album.  I certainly had fun creating it! 

Spring Card (SOS)

This is my second post for the day.  (The first one was my OUAS March entry.)  The two posts are unrelated, except that they both incorporate pieces of green doilies.  These doilies are actually shamrock doilies from St. Patrick's Day, but they are "in disguise," since neither of my projects is actually about St. Paddy's Day.  :)

The post you're reading now is my entry for the current challenge at Shopping Our Stash (SOS).  The task is to create a spring-themed card.  We're still covered in snow here in Minnesota, so creating a card with bunnies, flowers, clovers, and pastel colors has really brightened my mood!

Supplies: tag & papers (striped, text, & turquoise floral) by October Afternoon; stickers & papers (purple & pink florals) by Bella Blvd; scalloped circle die & cutting machine by Ellison; doilies by Royal Consumer Products; thread by DMC; vintage playing card from Olla Podrida; Distress Stain by Ranger.

I cut my card so that the top flap is just a bit shorter than the bottom flap, thus revealing the striped pattern that is inside the card.  I glued a journaling card to the striped paper, to provide a writing surface.

Additional supplies for inside of card: journaling spot by October Afternoon.

As the name implies, Shopping Our Stash inspires crafters to use up their "stash" of older supplies.  Here are the items from my stash that I used in creating this card:

• I originally die cut the scalloped circle for a different project last year, but ended up not using it...until now!
• All of the October Afternoon products are *years* old (though still timelessly charming in my opinion). 
• The Bella Blvd products are from last year's "Sunshine & Happiness" line.
• The DMC embroidery thread is left over from my cross-stitching days.
• The tiny green doilies were trimmed from the larger doilies that I used in my last layout.  Since the doilies on the layout are tucked behind the photo on that page, you can't see that there are pieces missing from them.  :)

I had a lot of fun making this card, and I hope it brought a lot of "spring cheer" to you!

It's the Weekend! (OUAS)

Whoosh!  In my family, weekends are filled with energy and activity, and they sure fly by fast!  I wanted to capture that feeling in my layout for this month's Once upon a...Sketch challenge, since the theme for March is "weekends."

Supplies: cardstock by Bazzill; stamps by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; paint by Deco Art; doilies by Royal Consumer Products; photo-editing software by digiKam.

This is the sketch for March...

...and I rotated it ninety degrees to suit my landscape-orientation photo, like so:

I started with my photo, an action shot of my son in his kung fu class.  Words are an important component of any OUAS layout, and this time I placed my title and journaling directly on my photo, so that they wouldn't get lost in the busy-ness of the page.

I wanted all the embellishment that I added to the page to reflect the idea of movement and energy.  I achieved a lot of this through different stamping techniques.

Seeing double is a sure sign that things are moving fast!  I double-stamped the rocket ships in green and black ink.

I layered stamped images in black and green ink.

And then I layered some more stamped images, for an even greater sense of movement.

I dragged the chevron stamp around the edges of the page to create a border.

I also used the string painting technique to add energetic swirls of sparkly green paint to my layout.

Finally, I layered some green doilies behind the photo of my son.    Their metallic, reflective surface adds oomph to the page.

This layout is a bit different from my usual style, but I think it perfectly reflects the atmosphere of weekends in the Price family.

Speaking of weekends, I hope that yours is off to a good start.  Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Out with the Old, in with the New!

Okay, I was a good girl.  I destashed some Echo Park supplies.  I destashed some My Mind's Eye supplies.  So now I can, in good conscience, play with new EP and MME supplies!  :)

Two of the newer items that I've bought recently are Allison Kreft's Today's Story 4x6" journaling cards from Echo Park, and the Boy Crazy stamps from My Mind's Eye.  Today I want to share with you two projects (a card and a layout) that I made with these new supplies.

Supplies: all paper & stickers by Echo Park; stamps by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; punch by EK Success; tulle by Wyla.

First up is the card, which you see pictured above.  It's one of the cut-apart Today's Story cards, and I treated it somewhat like a postcard: I wrote my message on the back, then decorated the front, using MME stamps that coordinated with the printed heart in the corner of the card.  Unlike a postcard, though, this card went in an envelope to be mailed.

I go a bit crazy for Allison Kreft's designs, and one thing I like about them is how well they mix and match.  To make the heart that is the centerpiece for this card (pictured above), I layered punched strips from Allison's older Echo Park collection, Everyday Eclectic.  These older papers match well with the new 4x6" card.

Supplies: ledger & heart papers by Crate; ruler paper by Kaiser Craft; all other papers by Echo Park; stamps by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; punch by EK Success; pen by Creative Memories.

I used another Today's Story card on this layout, and I also incorporated some more of the "Everyday Eclectic" strips.  

I've always admired Volkswagen Beetles, though I do not own one.  At least I now own this Beetle-like stamp, from My Mind's Eye, which was a perfect accent for a page about driving to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The final touch on this page was to use the tiny scraps generated by my border punch to form a line of confetti above the photo.

I had a lot of fun combining newer and older products on my card and layout.  The colors remind me of spring, which makes me happy.  Hope that you are having a happy day, too!

One More with MME

In my last post, I wrote about lots of My Mind's Eye projects.  I thought I'd be ready to move onto a new topic soon, but now I actually have one more MME layout to share.  The PSX mouse stamp makes another appearance, too.  :)
 

Supplies: papers, button stamps, word stickers, & decorative stickers by My Mind's Eye; mouse stamp by PSX; die cuts by Lily Bee; alphabet/punctuation stickers, labels, & word bubble by October Afternoon; ink by Hero Arts; pen by Creative Memories; upcycled envelope & postage sheet selvage.

A couple weeks ago, the place where I get my photos printed (Walgreens) had a great sale.  All photos, in any size, were fifty percent off--no restrictions!  I decided it would be a great time to print all the photos that were piling up in my inbox.  These are photos that people have e-mailed me...mostly just cute little photos that make me smile.  Among these e-mailed photos were a couple sweet ones from my husband...
 

The journaling reads: "Scott comes up with creative e-mails: a heart made of cable ties, and a kiss!"  Cable ties are a typical office supply for electrical engineers, so Scott came up with a "techie" version of an "office supply Valentine."  :)
 

Playing on the idea of "mail," I used an envelope with a canceled love stamp as the base for my photo cluster.  I had just used up a sheet of those same stamps, and I used the selvage from that sheet to make a wonky little homemade frame around the photos.

Creating this layout was a fun way to incorporate some cute phone photos onto a page.  I hope it brought a smile to your face on this Monday morning!

10 on the 10th: My Mind's Eye

Welcome to the second edition of "10 on the 10th."  For the month of February, my de-stashing focus was on My Mind's Eye products.  This time around I ended up making eight cards and two layouts, for a total of ten projects.  If you're a regular reader of my blog, you've already seen the two layouts.  So, I'll show you the new items (the cards) first.

Projects 1 & 2: all paper, die cuts & stickers by My Mind's Eye; stamp by PSX; ink by Hero Arts; pen by Creative Memories.

The first pair of cards is very pink.  I also got a chance to use an older stamp.  That little mouse used to belong to my husband's grandmother!

Project 3: background paper, butterfly paper, floral rub-ons, & word stickers by My Mind's Eye; alphabet rub-ons by October Afternoon; hexagon sticker by Jillibean Soup; faux brad by Craftworks; pen by Ranger; corner punch by Creative Memories; household sandpaper.

With the card above I had fun building the flower out of assorted bits and bobs.  Adding all the rub-ons and doodling was even more fun.

Project 4: die cut, stickers, & all paper by My Mind's Eye.

The card above is 100% MME.  I enjoyed mixing and matching creamy, pastel papers and embellishments, then arranging them on a dark card base.

Projects 5 & 6: papers, stickers, & stamp by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; pen by Creative Memories; Stickles glitter glue by Ranger.

I made this pair of "masculine" cards for Men's Day, which is celebrated in Russia on February 23.  The robot stamp is brand new, but I used it with a bunch of 6x6" mini paper pads from older MME lines.

Projects 7 & 8: papers, stickers, & stamp by My Mind's Eye; ink by Hero Arts; pen by Creative Memories; Stickles glitter glue by Ranger.

The second pair of robots have English sentiment stickers.  This time around, I also thought to give the robots noses.  :)

Project 9:  blogged here.

The layout above incorporates some MME paper scraps and stickers.  The negative from an alphabet sheet forms the photo mat. 

Project 10:  blogged here.

My final project in this series of ten is the layout pictured above.  For this one I used lots of MME die cuts and papers.

Despite my creating ten projects with it, my MME stash did not shrink much!  The photo above shows how the stash started out, and an ending photo would not look much different--the main change would be that the 6x6" pads would be rather thinner.  I think that, at some later point in the year, I'll return to my MME file for further de-stashing.  I have something different planned for next month's "10 on the 10th," though, so stay tuned!

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope your week is off to a good start!

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue...Part Two

I realized that it's been a very long time since I last posted photos of my handmade jewelry.  Though I spend more time on paper crafts than on bead work, both hobbies are enjoyable and important to me.  So, without further ado, here is a necklace-and-bracelet set that I made recently.

As with paper crafting, I tend to favor clean and simple designs in my jewelry crafting.  I also enjoy playing with pattern and color in my jewelry designs.  I mentioned recently that lately I've been exploring the color combination of blue and red, and you can see more of that exploration in this jewelry set.

With the bracelet I used more red (and I'm linking up to Rednesday)...

...and with the necklace I used more blue.  So, the pieces go together, but they're not too "matchy-matchy".

I like to put a few special beads on either side of the clasp.  I often wear my hair up, in a pony tail or a twist, so that the clasp is on view.

That's all for now.  Bye until next time!

This & That: Art Journal Roundup, Scrap for Help, & The Color Room

Hello, hello!  It's the beginning of a new month, so it's time to share a few of my latest art journal pages.  Autumn/fall is the overall theme of my art journal.

Supplies: recycled envelope & denim jeans scrap; patterned paper scraps from Authentique, October Afternoon, Teresa Collins, Echo Park, & My Mind's Eye; die cut paper by Graphic 45; kraft paper by Cachet; black pen by Zig; white pen & blue paint by Ranger; orange paint by Plaid; texture paste by Deco Art; embroidery floss by DMC; bird sticker negative by Echo Park; label stickers by October Afternoon.

^First up is a two-page spread, from which the detail photo at the top of this post originated.  This page celebrates the beauty of orange leaves against a blue autumn sky.  The top part is an airy, simple design, while the bottom part is a heavily-layered collage built on top of a used envelope.

Supplies: sticker negatives & paper squares by Cosmo Cricket; other paper scraps by My Mind's Eye; punch by EK Success; paints by Ranger; pens by Zig; assorted colored pencils; recycled clothing tags.

^Next up is a page with the red/blue color combo that I'm lovin' at the moment.

Supplies: alphabet stickers by Lawn Fawn; acrylic paint by Deco Art; Distress Stain by Ranger.

^Finally, I have one more double-page spread to share.  I kept this one very simple, so that the focus remains on the photo.  I love how that snapshot turned out--almost like a painting!

The beginning of the month also heralds a new Scrap for Help challenge.  Your mission in March, should you choose to accept it, is to create a project that incorporates recycled burlap.  Here are a few ideas from my portfolio, to jumpstart your creativity...

blogged here

Burlap pairs well with other fabrics and fibers.  For the card above I created a fabric flower and added handmade burlap leaves.

blogged here

For more contrast, pair burlap with different textures, like the hard  buttons and smooth staples in the banner above.

blogged here (toward the end of the post)

Pressing burlap into wet paint can create interesting textures, as on the chipboard frame above.

There are many, many more ways to add burlap to craft projects.  I'm excited to see what the Scrap for Help participants will create this month!

Note: At present, the winners of the February challenge have not yet been chosen; check back in a few days to see who won.  The March prompt is already up on the Scrap for Help blog, though, so you can get busy creating right away.

Remember, Scrap for Help is partnering with the Color Room all year.  If you wish, you can create a project using burlap and Palette #145, and then enter your project in both the Scrap for Help challenge and the Color Room challenge.

^ my winning entry ^

Speaking of the Color Room, my project from the end of February is currently being featured there--hooray!  You can read the good news on the Color Room blog.